Open your Bibles with me to 1
Corinthians 15. We're continuing through this
chapter concerning the blessed truth of the resurrection of
the dead in Christ, resurrection unto glory, because of Christ's
resurrection from the dead, which is the foundation, the basis,
and the power of our salvation, in every aspect of salvation.
We go back before the world began in election, God choosing us
in Christ. We talk about justification. A lot of people have different
ideas about that, but justification is God's legal sentence. that exonerates all for whom
Christ died, was buried, and arose again. He put away our
sins by the death that he died, his obedience unto death, and
he established righteousness for us. The title of the message
this morning is Awake to Righteousness. You'll find that in verse 34, actually the last verse that
I'm gonna deal with, but I'm gonna draw it all together under
that heading. to righteousness. And that has
to do with knowing and understanding and believing in Christ as the
Lord our righteousness, among other things that we'll talk
about. But we talk about justification, we talk about sanctification,
being set apart by God, by his grace and his power. We talk
about redemption. That's what Christ accomplished
by his one offering as our surety and our substitute and our redeemer.
doing the work all by himself for his people, the one for the
many, having our sins charged to his account, took him to the
cross and satisfied justice in full. That's what propitiation
is about. That's why if Christ is your
propitiation, you cannot be condemned, you cannot be separated from
him. because you're going to be in him, with him, and he will
come and get you and bring you to glory. What a thought. And in that state there'll be
no sin, there'll be no struggle, it'll all be the bliss of his
grace and his glory in Christ. We talk about regeneration and
conversion, that's the new birth. Under the preaching of the gospel
where God changes us miraculously and powerfully, Gives us life
from the dead that we didn't have. You know, we're born spiritually,
we fell in Adam. And we fell into spiritual death
and depravity, enmity against God. That's us by nature. But
at some point in time, that God appointed, you know, that's what
Paul said in Galatians chapter one, when it pleased the Lord,
when it pleased the Lord to do this, he brings his sheep, his
elect, under the gospel at some point in your life. It may be
early on like Timothy, or it may be on your deathbed like
the thief on the cross. I spoke of that this morning.
I said, don't get the idea, well, I can just wait, and when I die,
I'll give my heart to Jesus or something. That's not even scriptural. Plus, you don't know when you're
going to die, and you don't know what shape you'll be in. Isn't
that right? None of us do. Now is the day
of salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But that's what happens, and he brings us to repentance, and
then he preserves us unto glory. And when he comes again, we'll
be brought up, caught up with him. That's what the rapture
is about. You know, people have all kinds of different ideas
about that. But it's just Christ coming back one time and gathering
his church up unto himself, declaring before the whole universe that
we are his people, and we'll live forever with him in the
new heavens and the new earth. So that's what it is to awake
to righteousness. But what Paul's dealing with
here is false preachers had come in claiming to believe the gospel,
claiming to look to Christ, but denying the resurrection from
the dead. And of course, Paul says, look,
if there is no resurrection from the dead, then that automatically
says that Christ did not rise from the dead. Because the two
are so interconnected. Christ is the representative,
the surety, the substitute, the redeemer, the preserver, the
intercessor of his people. And we are one in Christ. And
that's our standing before God, which never changes. Now think
about that. chosen in Christ, justified by
Christ, all of that. Now, when we're born into this
world, our state in this world is lost, our natural state, even
enemies of God, but that changes. That changes when we're brought
under the gospel and given life in the new birth, begotten again
by the word of truth. But our lives as believers, our
lives as children of God, elect of God, sheep, is so connected
to Christ, who is our hope, who is our surety, who is our goal,
and it cannot be separated. So, if Christ arose from the
dead, and Paul makes it clear in the first verses of this chapter
he talks about how many witnesses saw Christ after his death. When
he arose from the dead, when that stone was rolled away and
he came out of that grave and he showed himself to so many
witnesses, Paul says. I think he said Over here. He says all the Apostles that
saw him he was verse 6 says after that he was seen of above 500
brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this
present But some are falling asleep some have died from this
physical body But that's the witnesses that we saw him he
arose and if he arose that is the guarantee he is the guarantee
that that all of his people will be resurrected in the last day
and you cannot have one without the other. If you deny that God's
people the redeemed of the Lord, the elect of God, the sheep of
Christ, are going to be saved unto glory and be resurrected
from the dead and united with a new body, a spiritual body,
and that comes later in 1 Corinthians 15, then you deny the death of
Christ. You deny that he arose again. And to deny that he arose again
is to deny the gospel. It's to deny salvation. So look
at verse 30. Now what Paul does in this passage,
he says, if it's true that we're not going to be resurrected from
the dead and that Christ hasn't died, then why are we going through
all the stuff that we're going through over the gospel? He says, I protest by your rejoicing,
which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily. Now what he's talking about is
in light of the reproach, the persecution that comes to God's
people over the preaching of the gospel. You see, the gospel
is offensive to the natural man. Look at verse 30. He says, and
why stand we in jeopardy? That's danger. every hour. And that was a real issue in
their day, more so than our day, because, you know, I've always
said that we've been spoiled. Because we live in a country
where we have a constitution that protects us. They didn't
have that. They had the Roman government
after them, which claimed that you had to give credence to Caesar
as God. And then they had the Jewish
unbelievers against them. who called them blasphemers,
wanted them dead. I think it's in the book of Acts
where Paul said there was, I think it was 40 men, Jewish unbelievers,
who put a bounty on him and said they wouldn't sleep until he's
dead. This is the thing they had to
put up with then. Now, we've been spoiled, I know,
but it may not stay that way. It could come about where we
have to run for our lives, you know. And Paul was saying this,
he said, if Christ be not risen, if we're not risen, why are we
going through all this stuff? Why do we make our family members
who are unbelievers, they get angry, don't they? They shun
us. That's why Christ had to say
poignantly, he that hateth not mother and father, and deny me
is not worthy of me. And he's not talking about how
we should hate them. as a sinful hatred, what he's talking about
there, that's the way Luke puts it, as he was inspired by the
Spirit, what he's talking about there, we love them, but we reject
them as being brothers and sisters in Christ. It's just like I've
told people that I know and love, I say I love you, but you're
lost. and I want your salvation. I
desire that. I pray for that. But here's the
way God does it. This is the only way God does
it, through hearing and believing the gospel. And so you suffer
this, and Paul says, I protest. To protest here means to affirm. It means to declare as certain.
I'm telling you something that is certain here. And by your
rejoicing, literally means to glory or boast in you. gloried
and boasted in them, but look what he says, which I have in
Christ Jesus our Lord. This is a statement of assurance
of final resurrection of all true believers, and this rejoicing
is not in Paul himself or even in the Corinthians, this boasting,
but it's rejoicing in Christ. Is Christ your Savior? Do you
claim to believe in Jesus? You say yes. Now, here's the
second point. Is the Jesus or the Christ you
claim to believe in, is he the Jesus, the Christ of the Bible? Because there are false Jesuses,
there are false Christ, there's a whole denomination, claims
to be Christians, claims to be saved, who deny the deity of
Christ. Their Jesus is not the same as
mine. You understand that? And then
go to a topic that's a little more sensitive and covers a lot
more people. Those who deny the sufficiency
and the success of His work. on the cross. Did he die to make
you savable if you would cooperate? Or did he die to ensure your
salvation, including the new birth, which would be your cooperation
by the power of God? One's a false Christ. The other's
the true Christ. And if you awake to righteousness,
you'll know that. And you'll know that not because
you're smarter than the rest of them or better than the rest
of them. You'll know that because God
has revealed it to you and convinced you. That's how you know it. I didn't convince you. If you
know it, if you're awake to righteousness, I may have been the one that
preached it to you. That's okay. But you don't glory in me. I
didn't save you. I can't even save myself. I'm
just like you. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only
a sinner saved by grace. I'm just a conduit in the sense
of delivering a message. So here it is. And Paul says,
I rejoice in you because you're in Christ. And God put you there. The preacher did. And he says,
I died daily. That's a term Paul used to describe
his suffering in the Lord's service. He faced opposition and persecution
from the world over the gospel. You know, he told Timothy one
time, he said, the reason I do it, the reason I go through all
this, I mean, let me say this first. Hasn't there been times
that you just want to throw up your arms and say, what the heck
with it? Why am I put up with this? And of course, we know
if we're truly one of the Lord's, he won't let us bask there. He
may let us go out on the lease, but he's gonna bring us back.
He's gonna say, wait a minute, this is for my glory, not yours.
That's what he does. But Paul told Timothy one time,
he says, the reason that I suffer all this is for the elect's sake. What? You mean you preach it
for the elect? You believe God has a chosen
people? Yeah, Paul would believe that. And he sent Paul out and
others to preach the gospel seeking his sheep. And that's what happens. He brings them into the fold
by his power and by his grace. And so Paul said, this is a daily
thing with me, I die daily. Paul's saying here that he's
so certain of his and their resurrection and the glory that he's willing
to suffer the reproach and the hatred that comes from the world,
even our nearest and dearest loved ones who don't believe.
But he declares it, boldly preaches it. I die daily. Sometimes I really feel like
it's daily. It is daily. Sometimes it feels like it more
than others. But look at verse 32, he says,
if after the manner of men I have fought with beast at Ephesus,
what advantage it may, what advantage it may if the dead rise not? Let's eat and drink for tomorrow
we die. There's that hedonistic philosophy.
Eat, drink, be merry. Tomorrow you die. Huh? And what's Paul saying here?
He said, I fought with beasts at Ephesus. Now, you know, we
know that the early Christians were thrown into the lion's den
and into the Roman arena and wild beasts were set forth on
them. I don't think that Paul was actually
attacked by lions and tigers and bears and all that. I believe
the beast that he's talking about is false religionists who were
after him. You know, the book of Revelation
calls them beast, untamed. And I believe that's what he's
talking about. But it doesn't matter. Whatever trial he was going through,
he said, what advantage is there of that if the dead rise not? If our hope, he'd said this before,
if my hope is in this life only, I'm of all people most miserable. Think about that. Somebody says,
well, you know, I have a good hope. I do too. That's a good
hope of salvation in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. But if it's
not there, if it's not in him, what advantage do we have? We
just die and snuff out of existence? Eat, drink, be married, make
the best of it. You know that old false preacher
in Texas? He wrote that book, Your Best
Life Now. Well, if they believe what he's preaching, this is
the best they're gonna get. I'm not saying that facetiously. I say it tearfully. If you don't
know Christ, if you don't awake to righteousness as God wakes
you up, wakes me up under the reality of it, and the fact that
it can only be found in Christ, this is the best we're gonna
get. I don't know about you, but I heard a lot of times, that's
the best. No, this isn't the best. The best is yet to come, most
definitely. And that's not just pie-in-the-sky
religion. That's not just an opiate for
the people, as Karl Marx said. That's a reality because Christ
arose from the dead. And why did he arise from the
dead? Because he satisfied the justice of God for the sins of
his people laid to his charge. Propitiation. Resurrection. Oh, it's a glorious thing. And
you've already got the guarantee of it if you're a believer. The
down payment, you might even say, Because the Holy Spirit
has given you new life. He's given you eyes to see things
you didn't see before. Ears to hear things you didn't
hear before. Hearts and minds to understand
and love things you didn't love before. That's a glorious thing. So he says in verse 33, he says, be not deceived. Evil
communications corrupt good manners. Now a lot of people take that
verse out of its context and use it to teach one bad apple
spoils the whole bunch, that kind of thing. And that's true. If you hang around evil people
for evil purposes, it'll rub off on you because you have the
flesh still in you. They don't have anything in common
with you except that flesh. But what Paul's talking about
here is the preaching of a false gospel. These preachers who came
in saying there's no resurrection of the dead. And that's what
it is. You know, I've experienced over
the years, and you have too, there are people who strive for
purity of doctrine. On the surface, there's nothing
wrong with that. I want my doctrine to be right. I have changed on some of the
things I believe, especially in particular interpretations
of verses of scripture. But there's one thing that I
can tell you, every true believer has purity of doctrine, and that
is in the gospel. We have a perfect gospel. You say, well, how can you say
it's perfect? Because it's the gospel of God. The message of the gospel is
a perfect, complete, glorious message. And it can't be changed. It's not to be changed. And I
can tell you that of all the things in my growth as a believer,
as a pastor, As I study the scriptures and I see some things that maybe
I didn't see before in scripture, the gospel that God revealed
to me from the very beginning has never changed. And it will never change. There are some men who seek for
purity of doctrine beyond the gospel. And they keep adding
things. If you don't agree with me on
this particular subject, which is not a gospel issue, but if
you don't agree with me, then you're lost. That's wrong. Our gospel. And when he says,
be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. You see,
realizing that we are going to be resurrected, which means we're
going to stand before God at judgment, All right? And God is going to declare the
reality of things. That's what the judgment is.
Nobody goes to the judgment to determine if they go to heaven
or hell. That's already been determined.
The judgment will be the declaration of the reality of our standing
in our state. And all who are in Christ, it
will be declared before the whole universe, this is a sinner saved
by grace, washed in the blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness,
and bound for glory. Not by any merit or work of their
own, but by the merit and work of Christ. And then it'll be
declared for those who stand before God without Christ, having
their sins imputed to them, that they are lost and condemned,
deservedly so, and they'll be consigned to hell. That's what judgment's about.
But here's the point when he says evil communications corrupt
good manners. Knowing that these things Our
truth, and let me give you a scripture on this. Turn to 2 Peter chapter
three. And look at this with me, 2 Peter
chapter three. Knowing this to be true, how should we live? What should our manners be, our
manner of life? Because evil communications corrupt
good manners. In other words, if you're living
unbelief that we're not going to be resurrected and stand before
God at judgment, how are you going to live? Eat, drink, and
be married. Tomorrow you die. That'll be your manner of life.
Get your best life now. Make all you can get. Step on
all you can step on. Rise as high as you can get because
this is it. But knowing that God has saved
us by his grace in Christ, knowing that he keeps us, knowing that
we'll be risen from the dead and given a new body and stand
before God at judgment, we're to be declared that we're in
Christ, saved by his grace. Now, how should we live? We should
live in gratitude and grace and love and truth. Look at 2 Peter
verse 10. Now he's already said, well,
let's look at verse nine. That's somewhat of a controversial verse. It says, the Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. Now what
he's talking about is the promise of his return. Christ said he's
going to return. And people who are unbelievers,
they say, well, he hadn't done it yet, so that means he never
will. No, he's not slack. concerning his promise as men
counted, but his long-suffering to us-ward." Who's the us-ward?
Peter identified the us-ward in the opening lines of this
passage. The elect of God. God's got some
people out there that he chose before the world began. Their
names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. He sent his son to redeem them
on the cross by his obedience unto death. He sends his spirit
to give them life and bring them to faith. He preserves them,
and he's not willing that any of them should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. God's gonna bring them all to
repentance. Christ said, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh in, I will no wise cast out.
He'll lose none of them, he said. So he says in verse 10, but the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, when you
least expect it. In the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved. What manner of persons ought
ye be in all holy conversation and godliness? What kind of people
should we be? And the rest of this chapter
tells us. He says that we ought to be people of anticipation.
What do you mean? Look at verse 12. Looking for
and hastening unto the coming of the day of God. Oh, he could
come back any day, any time. He could come back before I finish
this message. We don't know. Being diligent,
verse 14, or being diligent to obey, to love one another, and
account that the long-suffering, we won't go into all that, growing
in grace and knowledge, all of that. Now go back to 1 Corinthians
15. That's what he's saying here in verse 33 of 1 Corinthians
15. Don't be deceived. That kind of preaching that denies
the person and work of Christ, denies His blood securing the
salvation of His people, His righteousness, denying that He's
coming back to gather His church together. We're all going to
be raised together in glory. That kind of preaching corrupts
good manners. It corrupts a good way of life
that is meant to glorify and honor God. and it causes you
to live for self. Eat, drink, be merry. See? We ought not live for ourselves.
We're to live for the glory of God in Christ. That's our manner.
But evil, false gospels will corrupt that. It makes a person
legal, mercenary, selfish. And so what's the remedy? Look
at verse 34. Here we go. Awake to righteousness
and sin not. Awake to righteousness and sin
not. To deny the resurrection of the
dead is to deny the reality of righteousness that Christ wrought
out in his obedience unto death for his people. Because righteousness
that we have in Christ demands our complete salvation unto final
glory. To deny the resurrection of the
dead is to live in sin, because without righteousness in and
by Christ, we're nothing but sin. We always fall short, and
we can do nothing but sin, even at our best. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. what the Bible says. And to sin not, as he says, awake
unto righteousness and sin not, can refer both to our position,
our legal standing before God in Christ, because as we trust
and follow him for all forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life and
glory, and to our believing and following him as we strive in
the warfare of the flesh and the spirit to be conformed to
him, fight sin, as we're motivated not by law, but by grace and
love and gratitude. You see? And he says here in
verse 34, for some have not the knowledge of God. To deny the
resurrection of the dead means this, you don't know God. You
don't know Christ. To live in a manner of evil manners,
eat, drink, you don't know God. You don't know God. And so he
says, I speak to your shame. The fact that there would be
some within the church community who have not the knowledge of
God is a shameful thing for the church of God. Now that doesn't
mean that every congregation where the gospel is preached,
that everybody there is going to be saved. But if they take any assurance
of salvation, it shouldn't come, if they don't believe now, talking
about unbelievers, sitting under the gospel, if they take any
assurance of salvation, it shouldn't come from the pulpit. You see
what I'm saying? Now they may misunderstand, and
we do our best, I try, you know me, I try to, Jim same way, and
Randy when he preaches, Mark, we try to make it as plain and
as clear as we can. But we're not accountable except
for preaching the truth. What I preach, I want it to be
true. So what is it to awake to righteousness? Let me just give you this quickly.
It's number one to know and believe the reality of righteousness.
What is righteousness? Righteousness is perfect satisfaction
to God's law and justice. That's what it is. Righteousness
is really not a moral quality of character, it's a standard
by which qualities of character are measured. That's why the
Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. We don't measure up. For example, we who do believe
the gospel, who've been brought to new life by God, we can say
we love God, honestly, without any doubt. But we know this,
our love is yet imperfect. Our love doesn't measure up to
the perfection of love found in Christ. But that's what I
ought to strive for. I ought to strive to love my enemies
as I love myself. And so many times when that happens,
when that opportunity comes, I fail. I fail. To awake to righteousness is
to know and believe the reality of it. Secondly, to awake to
righteousness is to know and believe our lack of it in ourselves. I am righteous in God's sight,
not in myself, but in Christ, who is the Lord my righteousness.
And so that's the third thing, to awaken unto righteousness
is to know and believe in Christ, the Lord our righteousness. And
then fourthly, to awaken to righteousness is to know and believe the power
of righteousness. Now what is the power of righteousness?
The power to save me, the power to keep me, and the power to
raise me unto glory in the end. So if you deny the resurrection
of the dead, you don't know God. You're living an evil way of
life, whether you're religious or not. And you don't know, you're
not awake to righteousness. You don't know righteousness
except by that understanding that brings us to have the assurance
of Christ within us that we will be raised in the end with him. All right.