20260719 1 Corinthians 15.1-19 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful

for your helping and guiding and directing thus

far. We come now to confess once again our need

of you, our inabilities to accomplish anything,

to understand anything apart from you. So we're

asking that you would empower your word this

morning through the power of the Holy Spirit

that would go forth in all clarity. in a way

that honors you and is helpful to all who hear.

I pray that you'd help us all to receive it,

to apply it to ourselves, and to put it into

practice in our own lives. We're asking for the

lost once again, Father, that they might be found

of you, that you would have mercy on some here

and in other places where your word is accurately

preached, to bring them unto yourself. And so

we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, as advertised,

we're going to be looking at 1 Corinthians 15

this morning and subsequent mornings as well

for as long as the Lord gives us something. It's

a very long chapter, I'm sure you know, and primarily

on the resurrection. So, according to chapter

15 and verse 12, we read, Now if Christ be preached

that he rose from the dead, how say some among

you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

So, evidently, right from the start, men who

don't know Christ have been... spreading these

lies that there is no resurrection. It's in our

day as well. It has been for the last 150 years.

It's filled what are now not churches at all,

but what were once Orthodox churches. But they

no longer believe in the bodily resurrection

of Christ. They no longer believe in the virgin

birth of Christ. In other words, they don't believe

in anything. supernatural activity that is revealed

to us in the scriptures so as we've seen before

when we had occasion to mention it that christianity

is in fact a supernatural religion it's not something

that has been constructed by man it's not something

that can be constructed by man but it is god's

work so obviously it is supernatural Something

has happened outside of ourselves and has been

applied to us inwardly by God himself, God the

Holy Spirit. So Paul is going to have to deal

with this issue, so we're going to look at it.

There's other little side trails here and there,

but for the most part, the chapter in Revelation

is on the resurrection. So he sets out to prove

to all concerned that there is a bodily resurrection,

that Christ has been bodily raised from the dead,

and if we don't believe that, then we have no

gospel. The resurrection of Christ is every bit

as important as the death of Christ, or the life

of Christ, or the ascension of Christ. Christ's

bodily resurrection is the orthodox understanding

of the gospel. So Paul thinks it's highly important,

as do I hope all of us, that this doctrine be

defended and the false teachers be rooted out

and cast aside. So there's essentially four sections

here in 1 Corinthians 15. So, in the first section,

it's the longest section, 1 to 35, which we're

not going to cover today, but he sets about to

prove that there is a resurrection of the dead.

The second section, 35 to 51, will show the nature

of the restored bodies. What kind of bodies will

we have in the resurrection? And then the third

section, what will become of those who are alive?

in the day of judgment, or alive when Christ

returns. And then there's a one verse fourth

section where Paul shows us what our lives should

look like because there is, in fact, a resurrection

of the dead. So we've got those four different

sections to look at here in 1 Corinthians 15.

So we're going to get, we may get through 12

verses, I don't know, we'll see. We'll see what

the Lord has, but let's read beginning in the

first verse then. We'll read through verse 4.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel

which I preached unto you, which also you have

received, and wherein you stand, by which also

you are saved. if you keep in memory, or if you

stand fast in what I have preached unto you,

unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered

unto you first of all that which I also received,

how that Christ died for our sins according to

the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that

he rose again the third day according to the

Scriptures. So Paul's whole basis of his argument

is the scriptures. And he's telling them that

he's already preached this to them. And they've

already believed it. But, as is not surprising,

troublers come in and start to sow false teaching.

And so to lead people astray, lead them to themselves.

to gain power for themselves, is how it normally

happens. But in any case, we see here, what scriptures

did Paul rely on? When he says, according to

the scriptures, in two instances here in these

first four verses, he says, according to the

scriptures. Well, sometimes, you know, we start

to think about the Gospels. They tell us all

about the life of Christ. And there are a couple

of people that believe that Matthew and Mark

were written just shortly before Paul wrote 1

Corinthians. So they tend to think that there

may have been some New Testament influence here

in Corinth. But it's probably Old Testament scriptures

is what Paul's talking about. By and large, those

were the scriptures that they had, same Old Testament

scriptures that we have. So Paul was able to

preach Christ from the Old Testament. Now, hopefully

that's not surprising to us, but we have said

that repeatedly, and we've encouraged everybody,

really, to see Christ in the Old Testament. give

a few verses here that possibly, we don't know,

he doesn't tell us what exact verses he used

from the Old Testament scriptures, but these

could be some. Right off the bat in Genesis 3

.15 we read, And I will put enmity between thee

and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.

It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise

his head. That's the first proclamation of the

gospel. But there's a coming seed of the woman

that will gain the victory over Satan himself.

It's a prophecy. It's the first proclamation

of the gospel. In Psalm 22, 15, we have this

testimony. My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast

brought me into the dust of death. Depicting

Christ on the cross. In Isaiah 53. But he was

wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised

for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace

was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.

A very clear passage. Dealing with the crucifixion

of Jesus Christ or the Messiah. And then in Daniel

9 .26 we read. After threescore and two weeks

shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.

And the people of the prince that shall come

shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and

the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto

the end of the war desolations are determined.

So there's a prophecy of the death of the Messiah

from the Old Testament. Now, there's many others.

These are in my Bible, so these are the ones

that I used. But I just wanted to emphasize the

fact that Paul's not making stuff up. He's not

pulling it out of a hat. He's not a philosopher.

He's an expositor of the scriptures. He's giving

us the truth of God's word in all of his teachings,

including here as he teaches on the resurrection,

the importance. of using the Bible. When we witness,

we should have Bible. It's fine to give a testimony.

We should give testimony to what God has done

for us. But we should have a witness of the scriptures

that confirms the fact that this is what he said

he was going to do. And we should be able to

either carry it in our pocket, or have it memorized

where we can give out the scriptures. The scripture

is the power of God unto salvation. So that's

what we should use. It's like Paul used, like

he continues to use. So we read then that this

is what we're supposed to be keeping in memory

that King James has, our standing fast. In this

truth is probably the more widely translated.

Stand fast. Paul uses the same word in Galatians.

Where he tells us to stand fast in the liberty

that is ours in Christ. Don't be moved from this.

Stand fast. And you will be saved. You are saved

and you will continue to be saved if you stand

fast in the truth. The truth of the gospel. Including

the resurrection. So. If we were to go. Theologically

we would say. This is the perseverance of the

saints. So what Paul is calling us to do. We're

to persevere. And he doesn't leave it in any

doubt. As to what we're to persevere in. We're

supposed to be persevering. In the truth of the

word of God. And particularly the gospel of God.

That we are to persevere. We are to hold on.

We are to stand fast. Keeping close to the Savior.

And all the truths and all the beautiful things

that are written about our Savior. All that he's

accomplished for us. We can never run the well

dry. There is always something there to be had.

To be experienced. to be comforted by, to be

convicted by. The psalm says, teach me. We read

it this morning. Teach me, O Lord. I need to

be taught. I need to be guided, directed. Perseverance.

Persevere in the word, in the truth of God, in

the gospel of God, in the love of God, in the

love that we should have for the Savior and for

each other. We will. We will be, in what Paul

has in mind, resurrected or saved when we do

stand fast in the truth. And Paul is pretty clear

here as well that this is what I delivered to

you and this is what I also received. What I

received is not different from what I have told

you. It's the very thing that God told me. It's

the very thing that was revealed to me I have

told you. You can have confidence in it. I didn't

make it up. It's what God would have me to tell

you. That's beautiful if you can appreciate it.

God revealing to one man what he is to tell another

group of men. And that group of men he then enables

to receive that which they have been told and

to act upon it. That's what we're relying on.

That's what you should be relying on when you

speak to your children about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you should make it plain. You didn't make

this up. This is what God has told you to tell

them. And you should have confidence that when

you do, God is going to enable them to receive

it. That was Paul's confidence. That's what we

preach in confidence. That's the only thing that

we can have confidence in when we share the gospel,

when we teach, when we're up here preaching,

that God is doing something. It's God who must

work. We can accomplish nothing apart from God.

But everything we can accomplish according to

God's plan and purpose. And that's what we want.

That's really all that we want. We want God's

plan and purpose. We want it to be accomplished.

So we preach what we receive. And he gives a

summary here of the gospel, doesn't he? How Christ

died for our sins. How he was buried. And that

he rose from the dead the third day. And all

according to the scriptures. He kept the scriptures

perfectly. He did God's will perfectly. So then

he goes on. And gives us all of these eyewitness

accounts. Of the resurrection. So we'll read

them. Beginning in verse 5. and that he was seen

of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he

was seen of above five hundred brethren at once,

of whom the greater part remain unto this present

day, but some are fallen asleep. After that he

was seen of James, then of all the apostles,

and last of all he was seen of me also, as of

one who was born out of due time. So he gives

this list of witnesses. Now this is bold. You

appreciate what he's doing here. These people

are still alive, some of them. When Paul wrote

this letter, they can be found, they can be asked.

They can be asked to testify. Hey, Paul says

you saw Jesus after he was dead. That he was

walking on the earth. Did you see him? You could

go and ask. These are eyewitnesses of the resurrection

of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of Jesus

Christ, not a spiritual resurrection. He had

a resurrected body. His body came out of the

tomb. It was a glorified body, but it was the

same body. It still had the marks. Of the crucifixion.

You could talk to these people. You could ask

them. Now I don't know if that means anything

to you. Because it's like 2 ,000 years ago. But

if somebody had. Could list. I didn't count it

up. What is it? 500 to 400 people. That saw and

could testify. About some fact. Would there be

any doubt. That that was true. Well, of course

not. People are convicted with less evidence

than that. They're sent to jail with less evidence

than that. Over 400 people could testify that

Christ was alive and they saw him. There is,

in fact, a bodily resurrection of Christ. It's

a fact. It can't be disputed, really, by any

rational person when you have that many eyewitnesses

to the truth. Remember the graves were opened

up. Remember the miracles that happened at the

cross. I mean, it's beyond doubt that Christ

was resurrected from the dead. And I don't think

anybody here has any doubt about that. But we

certainly should be encouraged in our belief

In our resurrection from the dead. Because of

Christ's resurrection from the dead. So there's

a second aspect of the importance of the resurrection.

Paul is going to get into it in a moment. So

we're going to read this then. Verse 9. For I

am the least of the apostles, that am not meet

to be called an apostle, because I persecuted

the church of God. But by the grace of God I

am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed

upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly

than they all. Was in me. Therefore. Whether

it were I or they. So we preach. And so you believe.

So in other words. All of the preachers there.

All of the apostolic preachers. They all preach

the same thing. That's what that last verse is

saying to us. This isn't something that's unique

to Paul. It's the common. Common subject. It's

the common belief. When they preached. That Christ

rose from the dead. And I don't know if you're

not, I don't know how often you read through

the scriptures. But it's amazing, really, the

emphasis that is put on the resurrection of Christ.

It's all through Acts. It was all there on Pentecost.

And it's all through all the preaching. Paul's

here, we're dealing with this. But it's all through

the New Testament. The importance of the resurrection

of Christ. So let's make sure that we give it

the importance that the New Testament preachers

and writers did. There's no gospel apart from

the resurrection, remember. Remember when we

have the Lord's Supper every Sunday here. We're

celebrating the resurrection. We're remembering

the resurrection as well as the life and the

death of Christ. Mike mentioned it this morning.

It's an important aspect of the gospel. And Paul's

going to tell us why again shortly. But here,

I want us to pay attention here to the way Paul

describes himself. And it's how we should think

of ourselves. It's how Christians should think

about themselves. So here's Paul, the humble

Paul, the humility of Paul. For I am not the

least of the apostles, that I'm not even meet

to be called an apostle, because I persecuted

the church of God. He doesn't deny or in any

way make light of the fact of his grievous sin

that was in his life. He persecuted the church.

He persecuted Jesus Christ through his people.

He's not claiming that there's anything good

about it. He's not even worthy to be called an

apostle. But he doesn't stop there, does he?

He goes on, and that's what we should do. We

all have plenty of things in our life that we're

not proud of, I think. Maybe some of you aren't

old enough yet. But if you're old enough, you'll

have things that you'll regret. But you don't

stop there. You don't dwell on that. You go on.

Just like Paul here. But the grace of God, but

by the grace of God, I am what I am. See there?

Paul is something. And not because he is anything.

But he's something because he's got the grace

of God in his life. By the grace of God, I am

what I am. Now we should all be able to say that,

folks. By the grace of God, I am what I am. You

are in Christ. You have received the Holy Spirit.

We all are what we are by the grace of God. Well,

what does Paul have to show for it? And his grace

which was bestowed upon me was not in vain or

was not empty, was not powerless, but I labored

more abundantly than they all, yet not I. but

the grace of God that was in me. You see there?

The grace of God, in other words, had a great

effect upon the apostle Paul. It made him what

he is. And what did it make him? He outlabored

every other apostle. That's what he's saying.

He went to work. He went to work on what God

called him to do. There was never any hesitation.

He went and he did it and he accomplished it.

And is he bragging about it? No. He's saying

the only reason that I did it is because of the

grace of God that was in me. But he does say

it made him what he was. Now what if we were

to say the grace of God made me what I am? That's

what we should be thinking about. That's what

we need to make sure that we recognize here.

Is there any evidence in your life that you're

not what you were? Is there evidence in our lives

that God is at work? The grace of God making

me what I am. What's the difference between pre

and post conversion? What's the difference of

10, 20, 30 years in Christ? That's what Paul's

declaring unto us. And that's the confidence

that we should have in the grace of God. It works,

folks. It does exactly what it's designed to

do, and that is transform us into the image of

our Lord Jesus Christ. Does that mean we sit

there and wait? No, we follow Paul's example.

We labor on doing everything that God has called

us to do. Spending time in the Word. I don't

need to enunciate them all over and over again.

Prayer, attending the meetings, serving one another

in love, gospel. be a gospeler at every opportunity

that you give. That's what God has called us

to do. Yeah, he's given us secular work that

we have to attend to also. Not denying that.

That's all part of it. If you're a good employee,

it's because of the grace of God that is in you.

And you should be. And you should be able to

say that. I serve the boss at work because I

am a Christian. Because of the grace that is

in me. Not because I love the boss. He may be

a total dope. But that's beside the point. It's

important. It's the gospel. The gospel is the

gospel, folks. It's the power of God. The reason

we defend the gospel is because it's so important

to us. It says so much to us. We can't stand

to see it demeaned or lessened or ruined, really,

by all of the false teaching. All those false

teachers out there, they should cause us grief.

The dishonor that they're doing to the Lord Jesus.

It's a terrible thing. And they got money everywhere,

don't they? So, you know what the Lord thinks

of them, right? No, you don't if you just judge

by that. You know what the devil thinks of them.

He put all that money into their hands and gave

them all that influence over all those poor people

that believe. The gospel. Stand fast in the gospel.

Be able to declare, I am what I am by the grace

of God. The gospel is effective. Christ has been

raised from the dead. You know all those crucifixions?

That should just disgust us. Christ on the cross

everywhere. You can't hardly go through a day

without seeing something like that. That's terrible.

That's not where Christ is. That's not the Christ

of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is off

the cross. He's alive. He's risen. He lives.

He's with us today. He's not some dead body on

a cross. It's almost a denial of the resurrection.

The emphasis that is put on those crucifixions.

Now, then, verse 12, well, I read that in the

beginning. Now, if Christ be preached that he

rose from the dead, how say some among you that

there is no resurrection of the dead? But if

there be no resurrection of the dead, then is

Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen,

then is our preaching vain, empty, useless, and

your faith is also vain, empty. Yes, and we are

found false witnesses of God, because we have

testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom

he raised not up, if there be no resurrection

of the dead. For if the dead rise not, then is

not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,

your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins.

So there you have it. There's the importance

of the resurrection. And there's the utter truthfulness

that we are all going to be resurrected because

there is a resurrection and Christ was resurrected

and he was the first fruits of the resurrection

and thus we can all be assured that when we die,

we will be with the Lord. And when he returns,

Those old dead bodies will be resurrected into

glorious bodies when we will serve him in our

glorious bodies all eternity. All of that's nothing

if Christ is not raised from the dead. It's nothing.

There is no gospel. We're still in our sins.

We are of all men most to be pitied for believing

such a thing as the gospel apart from the resurrection

of the dead. That's the importance. That's what

Paul's telling us. We've got to have the resurrection

of Christ. And since we are in Christ, we also

are resurrected. It doesn't do any good to say

Christ was spiritually resurrected. And thereby

absolving yourself of thinking that this dead

man could return to life. That dead man did return

to life. Because he did, we all will. And if

he didn't, we have no hope. There is no hope

apart from the resurrection. Christ is risen

from the dead. We celebrate that resurrection

every Sunday. That's why we worship on Sunday,

because on Sunday the Lord was raised from the

dead. He came out of the grave. He was victorious

over death and the devil. He was the first fruits.

God declared him to be his son on the day of

the resurrection. Not that he just did become,

but that he was alive and his son once again.

The resurrection of Christ is the gospel. Without

it, there is no gospel. I'm going to stop. We'll

pick it up next week, continuing on with the

necessity and the importance of the resurrection

for all of us.