All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
1 Corinthians chapter 15. I'd like to deal with verses
11 through 19. The Apostle Paul in this chapter had said of himself, in verse
9, he said, I am the least of the apostles. Paul truly considered
himself to be the least in importance, the least in authority, of all
the apostles, I am the least. And he based his thoughts on
the fact that he had persecuted the church. He said, I harassed,
I troubled, I molested God's people. Those that he had everlastingly
loved, died for, lives for, intercedes for, Paul said, I persecuted
them. And he considered himself to
not even be worthy to be called an apostle. He said, I'm not
even worthy to bear the name or the title. I'm not even worthy
to be acknowledged as an apostle. But he said, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And that's what we dealt with
last time. What are you, Paul? He said, I'm a sinner. A sinner
to whom God has been pleased to show mercy. A sinner that
Almighty God by His Holy Spirit granted life and kept. Kept him. To that point where
he said, I've finished my course. I've run my race. I've kept the
faith. But he said, he said, verse 10,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet the Spirit of God moved on him to say this, not
I. But the grace of God, which was
with me and every believer, says that. Every believer will admit,
I'm still here because God's kept me here. It wasn't because
I've just been so faithful, I'm so strong, I'm so worthy. No. But though he was the last
of the apostles called, Paul was made to remember the disrespect
that he had shown the church. And the Lord taught him, it's
not the messenger. God could raise up rocks to be
sons of Abraham, but it's the message. It's not Me standing
here or some other man, it's the man that God has raised up
standing to preach the gospel, the message of the gospel. Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, for though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
the gospel. If I preach not the gospel, I'm
sorry. if I preach not the gospel. So it's not the messenger, the
message. It's what he says in verse 11. That's where we'll begin. Therefore,
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so you believe. Doesn't matter whether those
at Corinth heard the gospel from the first of the apostles' call,
from Peter and Matthew, doesn't matter. The Lord's message is
the issue. Or whether they heard it from
Paul, the last of the apostles. The one who considered himself
not even worthy to be called an apostle. The apostles preached
the same message. They preached the glorious incarnation
of Almighty God. The Word made flesh. They preached
God's eternal purpose. to save a people that He'd everlastingly
loved. And they preached the same message
of the Lord Jesus Christ who laid down His life for the sheep. They preached the message of
that effectual calling out by the Spirit of God, His crucifixion,
His burial, His resurrection, His ascension into glory. They
preached the same message. But then Paul began to deal with
a problem, another problem, that had arisen there in the midst
of the assembly, and it was this, it was the denial of the resurrection. A denial of the resurrection
is a denial of the gospel, because we preach a risen, living Christ. If Christ is not risen, we have
no hope. The scripture says, verse 12,
now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, and we
do preach that, how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? Since it is declared according
to the Old Testament Scriptures, and that's the only Scriptures
that they had when Paul wrote this. These letters became Scripture. But at the time that Paul was
writing this, all they had was the Old Testament. We preach,
Paul said, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
according to the Old Testament. That He was buried, rose again
according to the Scriptures. Now, how is it that if Christ
be preached that he rose from the dead, since that's declared,
since we who were called of Christ to be his apostles actually were
eyewitnesses of his resurrection, we saw him. Paul said, I saw
him. I saw him on the road to Damascus.
All these other apostles, they were witnesses of his resurrection. They saw him. How say some of
these tares, is what they were, among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? I began to think on that. Why
would a man, why would a woman deny the resurrection? What was their basis? Why would they say, why would
they hope that there's no resurrection? Well, I can tell you, first of
all, the reason they said it was because they were lost and
they don't believe God. But I tell you the reason that
anyone would want to deny that there is a resurrection, especially
when the scriptures declare that in the last day, the day of the
Lord, the day of judgment, the trump of God is going to sound.
The dead in Christ are going to be raised first. What that
means is their spirit, that new man, created in righteousness,
born from above, is going to re-enter This body, it's gonna be changed. It was
laid in corruption, it's gonna come out in incorruption. It
was laid mortal, it's gonna come out immortal. I can't explain
exactly what it's gonna be like, but I can tell you this, Job
said, in this flesh, these eyes, I'm gonna see God. This body
right here now, why would anybody want to deny that there's a resurrection? If you know, according to these
scriptures, that everybody is going to come out of the ground
and is going to stand before God and the books are going to
be opened and all outside of Christ are going to be judged
out of those books. You hope there's no resurrection.
You hope that when you died, that that was going to be the
end. You hope that when you hear that God's going to hold you
accountable, that that's not true. Carnal man certainly hopes
that there is no resurrection. But the scriptures clearly declare
that God Almighty is going to raise all men from the dead. So what did the Apostle Paul
say concerning these? Now, if Christ be raised, verse
12, if Christ be preached that some rose from the dead, how
say some? How is it? Why is it? Why is it? Why is
that? How can that be that some say
there's no resurrection of the dead? What did the Apostle Paul
say concerning these false professors? What were to be done, those that
wormed their way into the midst of the believers, those who were
nothing more than tares among the wheat? What did he say? Hold
your place right there and turn to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2,
verse 16. 2 Timothy 2, verse 16. Here's what we're to do. But shun, turn yourself about,
turn your back on, but shun profane, that is unhallowed, and vain
babblings. Separate yourself from that which
is contrary to the truth. Avoid, the apostle is saying,
this useless and empty talk, because it'll do nothing but
lead people into more ungodliness. Shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And here's what'll
happen. Those that are denying the resurrection,
the risen Christ, here's what they're denying. The Lord Jesus Christ, the surety
of the sheep, the one in whom all the elect were placed, were
chosen, and called, he came into this world. And he lived for
and died for his elect. When he ascended into heaven,
he intercedes for his people. The resurrection declares that
all those that he's everlastingly loved are going to come out.
And they're going to be with the Lord. And those left to themselves
in rebellion are going to be separated and cast into everlasting
damnation. So they shun that. They call
God a liar. It's what they're doing. Paul
says, shun this profane and vain babblings. They'll increase more
and more. Their word, verse 17, will eat
as doth a canker. It's like gangrene. of whom is
Hymenaeus and Philetus. These two men that Paul used
as examples, these men contradicted. They contradicted the scriptures
that in these eras that they set forth will do nothing but
infect the body like this infection, like gangrene. Avoid them. Verse 18, who concerning the
truth have erred. saying that the resurrection
is past already and overthrow the faith of some. The scripture
is actually silent. When it says that they declared
that the resurrection is past, it's hard to say. Many of the
writers that I read said that they, these men right here, could
have been saying that, well, the resurrection that it's talking
to is only spiritual resurrection in regeneration is what they're
talking about, or they could be talking about water baptism,
but whatever they were insinuating, whatever they were saying, it
was contrary to the Lord's Word and therefore they subverted
or they attempted to destabilize the faith of some. They denied
the actual re-entry. I went back and I looked at the
word resurrection. What does that mean? And this
is it. The re-entry of the soul back
into the body. The actual re-entering. Can a man live again? Can a man? Yeah. You think about this. Wherever, whatever the circumstances,
water out in the ocean, I mean, died and went to dust and whatever
the state. The scripture says the soul is
going to come back and re-enter the body. And wherever that man
was in relationship to Christ is where that man is going to
be eternally. But there's going to be a resurrection. He's going
to come back and he's going to stand up and be raised again
unto life. He's going to be raised from
the dead. We're going to live again. Whatever the reason for these
men denying the resurrection, it goes back to carnal man's
hope of avoiding being raised from the dead and standing before
God. Now these men denied the resurrection. Paul said, you shun them. But
then Paul is going to make some statements concerning the possibility
if there wasn't a resurrection. What if there wasn't? Well, turn
back to 1 Corinthians 15, 13. As I went over these verses,
my heart was truly stirred to thankfulness and appreciation. for the mercy of Almighty God,
to number one, raise the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead as
our hope of glory and raise us in Him. 1 Corinthians chapter
15, these men have been saying there's no resurrection. And
then Paul says in verse 13, but if there be no resurrection of
the dead, then is Christ not risen? Now here's what he said, if it's
true, if it's true, if it is, and it's not, but if it is, that
the whole subject of the resurrection was a lie, then Christ is not risen from
the dead. He died and was buried and he's still there. And if that's the case, then
his human soul, when he said, unto my father I commend my spirit,
then his body is still in that grave and it saw corruption. If there be no resurrection of
the dead, then is Christ not risen. Now you just, you think
on that. What if? You know it's not so. But what if? Now just listen
to the reasoning of this apostle. And look at verse 14. And if
Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith
is also vain. If Christ wasn't raised from
the dead, If God the Father did not prove His acceptance of Christ's
sacrifice for our sin at Calvary by raising up His Son, if God
the Father did not raise Him from the dead, if the Lord Jesus
Christ, under His own power, He said, I have power to lay
down my life, I have power to take it again. If He did not raise from the
dead, then it's vain and useless. I
am wasting my time and I'm wasting your time. And the reason I'm wasting your
time and my time is because Christ was not raised from the dead,
if that be the case. And all I'm doing right now is
lying to you. I'm just telling you something
that's not so. All I'm doing is I'm lying about
Christ And if he didn't come out of the ground, then I'll
tell you this, God didn't accept him. He didn't put away our guilt. We preach a resurrected Christ,
one at the right hand of the majesty on high, ever living
to make intercession for his people. And if he didn't rise
from the grave, then he's not alive. And he's not in heaven. And there is no great high priest.
There's no priest that ever liveth to make intercession. Then the faith of God's elect
means nothing. And we're trusting in a dead
imposter. He said He came into this world
to save His people. If He was not raised from the
dead, if He was not resurrected, as some of these say, that Paul
says, you shunned them. Because if He didn't come out
of the grave, He's dead. Verse 15, Yea, and we're found
false witnesses of God, because we've testified of God that He
raised up Christ. whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. If He didn't rise from the dead,
then we as God's spokesmen, I'm a false witness. You'd be a whole lot better off
to go listen to somebody pump you up and make you feel good
and tell you that you're all good and there's a little good
in everybody and that, you know, just give your heart to Jesus
You'll have a whole lot better chance with them than you do
hearing me. If I'm a false preacher, if Christ
didn't come out of the grave, then I've misrepresented God.
And Paul said, and we lied when we saw him after the crucifixion. Thomas lied. when he said that
the Lord told him, Thomas put your hand right here, put your
hand in my side, put your finger right here. Thomas lied when
he said, I saw him and said to him, my Lord and my God. Peter
and those other apostles, those that said, I go fishing, the
apostle says, we go with you. and they fished all night. Next
morning, John said, it's the Lord. He lied. He lied. And Peter said, he said to me, Peter,
lovest thou me more than these? And Peter said, I told him, Lord,
you know I love you. If Christ be not risen from the
grave, Verse 15, Yea, we are found false witnesses of God,
because we testified that He raised up Christ. We testified
that we saw Him, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead
rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you're yet in your sins. They also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If the dead rise not, then this
is just one big fabrication. And Christ's proclaimed resurrection
never really happened. Therefore all who claim to believe
on Him, they make an empty claim with a false faith, and they're
still dead in trespasses and sin. And all who died trusting
in Him for life eternal, They're in hell. All of them. They're suffering eternal torment
realizing now that everything that they were told about salvation
wasn't so. And if the hope that we have
now is a vain hope, limited to this life only and it's going
to come to nothing, we're made to know that faith in Christ
avails nothing, then we know that the end of man before God
without an advocate or a mediator, if we know that, then we know
that our lot is going to be just like all that's going to perish
under the judgment of God because Christ was our only hope. When
Peter told him, he said, Lord, where are we going to go? You
have the words of eternal life. Where are we going to go? If the Lord wasn't raised from
the dead, then we have no one to call us unto Himself. And
if we're not going to be raised from the dead to be united with
Him in glory, and we know something of what we know about standing
before God without an advocate, then I'll tell you, we are, of
all men, most measurable. Because we know what's coming.
An unbeliever doesn't. But if we know that Christ was
not raised, then we're in trouble. But now, is Christ risen from the dead? Boy, that's like a breath of
fresh air in it. and has become the first fruits
of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Brethren,
the lie of Satan. that there is no resurrection
to glory and peace in Christ Jesus is exactly what that is,
a lie. Almighty God raised Him from
the dead and thanks be unto God, He who
everlastingly loved us, stood for us. lived for us in
this world, died for us in this world, was buried, conquering
death and hell in the grave, and three days later, God raised
him from the dead, received him into glory, and he now ever liveth
to make intercession for us. And that blood that was shed
at Calvary The father ever sees that blood, and he's satisfied. And there is therefore now no
condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. And a few more
setting suns, we shall behold him face to face. As Job said
with these eyes, I'm going to see him. These hands right here. As John said, we touched him.
We handled the word of life. Christ is risen from the dead. Lord willing, this is where I'm
going to start next time. Verse 20, 21, 22. But I could
not end this service without at least reading those scriptures.
Because even the insinuation that he was not raised from the
dead, even the lie that's being told, even hearing the lie is
so disheartening. What I want is to hear one more
time, you tell me of him who ever liveth for his people. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake, amen.