Last time we studied I Corinthians 14:21-40, which concluded Paul’s section on spiritual gifts, especially, the gift of tongues.

 

Tonight we begin I Corinthians 15, otherwise known as the Resurrection Chapter:

 

(1 Cor 15 NKJV)  Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, {2} by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain.

 

 

What is the gospel?  It is the good news, but what is the good news?  Paul spells it out:

 

(1 Cor 15:3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

 

 

His death:

He died as the sacrificial Lamb of God!

 

His burial:

Proof of His death, and something that becomes a pattern for us in baptism.

 

 

(Rom 4:25 KJV)  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

(1 Cor 15:14) And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

 

(1 Cor 15:17) And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

 

There are two important things to Consider:

 

(2 Th 1:7-8 KJV)  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, {8} In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

 

How do you “obey the gospel”?

 

Is the summation of the gospel

 the death, burial and resurrection of Christ?

 

If so, how do you obey the gospel?

 

(Rom 6:3-4 NKJV)  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? {4} Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

(1 Cor 15:5) and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. {6} After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. {7} After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. {8} Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

 

“He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.”

 

(Mark 16:6-7 NKJV)  But he [the angel] said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. {7} "But go, tell His disciples; and Peter; that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

 

Peter’s denial of our Lord is not to be taken lightly.  Our Lord restores him later.

Paul really never forgets his mistakes.

 

Paul’s assessment of himself: (1 Cor 15:9) For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. {10} But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

 

(Gal 1:13 NKJV)  For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.  (“and wasted it:” KJV)

 

Regardless of who did the preaching, the main thing is that the message was believed:

 

(I Cor. 15:11) Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

 

Those who deny the resurrection:

 

1 Cor 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

 

(1 Cor 15:13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. {14} And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. {15} Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up; if in fact the dead do not rise. {16} For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. {17} And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! {18} Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

 

 

(1 Cor 15:19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

 

Are there those who teach “No Resurrection”?

Yes!

 

(2 Tim 2:16)  But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

{17} And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, {18} who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.

 

 

Here is a cartoon that sums up their belief:

Note:  The significance of AD 70 is the Destruction of Jerusalem.

 

What’s the “all” that happened in AD 70?

According to Preterists:

The second coming of Christ,

The resurrection of the dead,

The final judgment,

“The end of the age.”

 

According to these preterists, we will not have a bodily resurrection.  The resurrection is already past.  Christ will never return again.  This world will just go on and on like it is.

 

I am not a Preterist!  I believe:

 

(Titus 2:11-13 NKJV)  For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, {12} teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, {13} looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

 

Lord willing that we live, we plan to begin with this verse next week:

 

(1 Cor 15:20) But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

 

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