TEXT: 1 Corinthians 15 SERMON: “Stand Firm”
In today's passage, Paul tells first century believers to stand firm in their faith because Christ's resurrection is founded on:
A. Overwhelming Evidence (for it) vv 1-11
B. God's Plan for Salvation (underlying it) vv 12-34
C. A Life-Giving Spirit (powering it) vv 35-58
This Easter morning we’ll be looking at what Paul says about the foundation of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The first reason Paul gives the 1st Century Believers for standing firm in their faith are vv 1-11 and is because Christ's Resurrection is founded on:
A. Overwhelming Evidence
Explanation:
v. 3 "what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that (1a) Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that (1b) he was buried, that (1c) he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that (2) he appeared to..."
"first importance" - stresses centrality of the 3 doctrines cited of the Gospel
1. Testimony of Old Testament: - NOT QUOTED, BUT PROBABLY...
Psalm 16:8-11
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead (1b),
nor will you let your faithful one see decay (1b).
11 You make known to me the path of life (1c);
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand (1c).
Isaiah 53:5-6, 11
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities (1a);
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all (1a).
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life (1c) and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities (1a).
2. Eye Witness Testimony:
- VALID EYE WITNESSES MUST BE CITED FOR RESURRECTION TO BE BELIEVED
Paul Lists Six Resurrection Appearances
1. Peter - Luke 24:36; John 20:19
2. Twelve - refers to the group of disciples - Luke 24:26; John 20:19
3. 500 Brothers - possibly referenced in Matthew 28:10, 16-20
4. James - half-brother of Jesus - Matthew 13:55; Act 1:14, 15:13
5. apostles - Ascension - Acts 1:13-15
6. Paul - Damascus Road
"one abnormally born"
- a few years after the Resurrection
- not part of original group of disciples
- abruptly removed from his former way of life
- persecuting "church of God" - persecuting Christ!
Gospels Lists Other Resurrection Appearances
Matthew (28:1-20): Mary Magdalene & the other Mary (wife of Clopas); Eleven
Mark (16:1-20): Mary Magdalene; Two walking in the country; Eleven
Luke (24:1-53): Cleopas & someone; Simon Peter; Eleven
John (20:1-29): Mary Magdalene; Ten; Thomas + 10; Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John & two other disciples
Illustration:
What historical events have you been witness to?
Did you witness Pearl Harbor? Hiroshima?
Did you witness the Vietnam War on your TV set during the evening news during the 60"s?
Did you witness Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a Dream Speech?"
Did you witness John F Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for your speech?"
Did you witness the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy?
Did you witness the first mood landing and Neil Armstrong's one giant leap for mankind?
Did you witness the start of AIDS?
Did you witness the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism?
Did you witness the Gulf War?
Did you witness 911?
Did you witness Iraqi Freedom? The War in Afghanistan?
Surely everyone of us has witnessed at least one of these historical events in our lifetime.
Some of us have witnessed more than one and thanks to mass media some of us have witnessed several of these events.
What is the importance of your's and other's witness of these historical events?
Does your witness matter? Does it make any difference?
What part does the collective witness of you and others play in the historical record?
Does it validate what happened?
Or is it irrelevant?
There are conspiracy theorists for almost everything including those who say the moon landings were staged, fake?
Do you believe the conspiracy theorists or the collective historical record?
Moon Landing Hoax? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5MVVtFYTSo
Application:
So what is Paul saying to us this morning about faith and the evidence for Christ's Resurrection?
He is telling us we are to stand firm in our faith because of the overwhelming evidence for Christ's Resurrection.
How are we looking at that evidence this morning?
How are we looking at what Old Testament Prophecy says about the resurrection of the Christ?
How are we looking at what Paul and the Gospel's say about the eye witnesses accounts of Christ's Resurrection today?
Do we think eye witness accounts of the Resurrection are less validating than our eye witness accounts of historical events today?
Do we think the Resurrection is a hoax like some of the Corinthians did?
Do we look at the evidence and make a conclusion similar to that of moon landing conspirists?
Or are we able to stand firm in our faith because of the evidence Paul lays out for us today on Easter Sunday?
Transition:
Another reason Paul gives the 1st Century Believers for standing firm in their faith comes from vv 12-34 and is because Christ's Resurrection is founded on:
B. God's Plan for Salvation.
Explanation:
v 12 But if it is preached (as it is) that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
verb form Paul uses expresses the "certainty" of Christ's bodily resurrection
"if it is" - as it is
Paul uses this verb form 7 times to emphasize the certainty of the Resurrection
God's Plan for Salvation is the Answer for those who say there is no resurrection:
Paul presents the logical conclusions of those Corinthians who say the dead are not raised:
1. not even Christ has been raised v 13
2. our preaching is useless v 14
3. so is your faith v 14
4. we are "false witnesses" that God raised Christ from the dead v 15
5. your faith is futile v 17
6. you are still in your sins v 17 and still carry the guilt and condemnation of sin v 17
7. those who have fallen asleep (have died) in Christ are lost v 18
8. "we are to be pitied" who "only for this life... hope in Christ" v 19 and put up with persecution and hardship
Paul's categorical conclusion, his major proposition is given in:
v 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep...
Paul categorically states that God's Plan for Salvation underlies the Resurrection
- Necessary because "in Adam all die" v 22, i.e. his descendents
- God's Salvation Plan: "in Christ all will be made alive" - GOD'S GUARANTEE!
- related to him by faith
- made alive at the resurrection
v 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits. then, when he comes, those who belong to him...
"firstfruits" (OT Concept) - the first sheaf of the harvest offered to the Lord
- prior to main harvest
- assurance the rest of the harvest was coming
"each in his own turn" - Christ precedes people in his bodily resurrection and guarantees theirs at his second coming
"when he comes" - second coming
- John 5:25
25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
- 1 The 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
- Rev 20:6
6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death (SPIRITUAL DEATH VS PHYSICAL DEATH [FIRST DEATH]) has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
In this section Paul talks about:
- the process of handing over the kingdom to God:
-Christ's second coming with the rapture
-millennial reign
-new heaven & new earth
v 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
- the destruction of death will occur at the end of the second coming events after Christ conquers his enemies (Rev 19:11-21)
- at the great white throne of judgment when death & Hades are thrown in the lake of fire (Rev 20:5-14
v. 29 Paul returns to the issue "if there is no resurrection"
- futility of Baptism
- futility of endangering themselves
- futility of life "eat, drink & be merry for tomorrow we die"
"Bad company corrupts good character " - quotation from Greek comedy Thais (Poet Menander)
TEACHERS OF NO RESURRECTION CORROPT HOLDERS OF CORRECT DOCTRINE
Illustration:
THAIS, a Greek courtesan, who lived during the time of Alexander the Great. She accompanied him on his Asiatic campaign, and is chiefly known from the story which represents her as having persuaded the conqueror to set fire to the city of Persepolis. This anecdote forms the subject of Dryden's Ode to Saint Cecilia's Day. But its authenticity is doubtful, since it is based upon the authority of Cleitarchus, one of the least trustworthy of the historians of Alexander. Thais subsequently became the wife of Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt. Numerous anecdotes and witticisms attributed to her will be found in Athenaeus.
Application:
What is Paul telling us this morning?
What is he telling us about standing firm in our faith?
And does standing form in our faith have anything to do with the company we keep?
Paul tells us one reason we are to stand firm in our faith is that Christ's Resurrection is God's Plan for our Salvation.
Are we keeping company with God's Plan for Salvation or are we keeping company with some other plan of salvation?
Do we believe in God's plan for Salvation, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and are we spending time with the Risen Christ in word and prayer or are we spending time with the TV, our computer, our cell phone, our DVD's - our technology instead?
John 3:!6 says the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us not the word became technology and made his dwelling among us.
Too much time with technology turns it into "bad company" and like Paul quote the Poet Menander as saying in the comedy Thais, "bad company corrupts good character."
And when our faith is corrupted it is more difficult to stand firm.
Thais corrupted Alexander the Great and he destroy a city.
Corrupting influences on our faith can destroy it too.
Transition:
Let's move on and look at the final reason Paul gives the 1st Century Believers for standing firm in their faith from vv 35-58.
In these vv Paul tells them Christ's Resurrection is founded on:
C. A Life-Giving Spirit
Explanation:
In v 35 Paul says, "But someone may ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?
He goes on to described the difference between our current bodies and our resurrection bodies using the analogies of
- sowing seeds v 37 with each type of seed growing into its own body v 38
- all flesh not being the same: human, animal, bird, fish v 39
- there being differences in the celestial bodies: earth & heavenly bodies v 40 differing splendor of the sun, moon, stars v 41
Our Bodies:
- sown perishable vs raised imperishable v 42
- dishonor vs glory v 43
- weakness vs power v 43
- natural body vs spiritual body v 44 -
- first man Adam became a living being vs the last Adam a life-giving spirit v 45
- first man was of the dust of the earth vs the second man from heaven v 47
God will take a perishable, dishonorable, weak body - a natural body characterize by sin and through the resurrection change it into an imperishable, glorious, powerful body
A different order of life!
Spiritual body
- doesn't mean "non-material" similar to the present one in organization but radically different and fit to live eternally with God (continuity with change!)
- an imperishable body that has received eternal life from Christ, the life-giving Spirit
- similar to Christ's resurrected. glorified physical body!
- Genesis 2:7 - SPIRIT BREATHING LIFE INTO OUR PHYSCIAL BODY
7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being
- John 5:21 - SPIRIT BREATHING LIFE INTO OUR SOUL
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
- John 6:57-58
57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
- Romans 8:2
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
vv 48-40 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we are borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
v 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.
"mystery"
1. not all Christians will fall asleep for some will be alive when Christ returns (1 Th4:15)
2. All Christians will receive changed bodies when Christ comes back and summons his people at the sound of the last trumpet - "rapture" (Rev 11:15)
3. The change will occur instantaneously and completely for all Christians whether living or dead
4. The change will occur from one kind of body to another, those in Christ whose bodies are decaying in the grave will be given imperishable bodies and those in Christ in mortal bodies will be changed into immortal bodies
v 54-57 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
the sting of death is sin
- Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men - because all sinned...
the power of sin is the law
-the Law of God gives sin its power (reveals our sin & condemns us because of our sin)
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
-Romans 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
- Isaiah 25:8
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.
- Hos 13:14
14 “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?
“I will have no compassion,
Illustration:
time lapse sprouting seeds
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/time-lapse-radish-seeds-sprouting-top-and-roots-growing/0f178f0f0087484b0d850f178f0f0087484b0d85-889304121797?q=youtube+time+lapse+sprouting+seeds&FROM=LKVR5>1=LKVR5&FORM=LKVR3
Application:
What is Paul telling us this morning?
He seems to be mocking death when he says,
"where o death is your victory?"
"where o death is your sting?"
And he seems to be telling us that we are like these radish seeds we saw sprouting.
That it is not until our perishable bodies are planted in the ground like seeds, until we have physically died and have been buried,
Will the life giving Spirit change us, change our bodies to the imperishable, immortal, glorified resurrection body of eternity.
He is telling us this will not occur with time lapse photography but in an instance at the Lord's second coming when death is swallowed up, when death is put to death!
He is telling us that because of the life giving Spirit of Jesus Christ we can stand firm in our faith at all times and in all circumstances.
Transition:
In this passage, Paul tells first century believers to stand firm in their faith because Christ's resurrection is founded on:
A. Overwhelming Evidence (for it) vv 1-11
B. God's Plan for Salvation (underlying it) vv 12-34
C. A Life-Giving Spirit (powering it) vv 35-58
Conclusion:
In this passage, Paul tells believers today to stand firm in their faith because Christ's resurrection is founded on:
A. Overwhelming Evidence (for it) vv 1-11
B. God's Plan for Salvation (underlying it) vv 12-34
C. A Life-Giving Spirit (powering it) vv 35-58
THEREFORE,
May Our Faith Be Assured by the Overwhelming Evidence!
May Our Faith Be Assured by God's Salvation Plan!
May Our Faith Be Assured by the Life-Giving Spirit!
May We know that death has no victory.
May We know that death has no sting.
May We STAND FIRM!
May We let NOTHING move Us!
May We always give Ourselves FULLY to the work of the Lord, because we know that our labor in the Lord is NOT in vain!
May We know that our labor is not in vain because our victory is in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.
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