Would you turn to First Corinthians
Chapter 15? I want to read verses 28 through 34. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all. Else what shall they do which
are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why
are they then baptized for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy
every hour? I protest. By your or my marginal
wreathing says our rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus
our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage it be if the dead
rise not? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die. Be not deceived. Evil communications
corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness and sin
not. For some have not the knowledge
of God." I speak this to your shame. Verse 34 says, wake up. Wake up. Now, here the word means return
to one's senses from drunkenness. become sober. They had become intoxicated by
false doctrine, by evil doctrine, by the influences of the world.
They had become intoxicated, and they were in danger of being
deceived. Paul says in verse 33, ìBe not
deceived.î Evil communications corrupt good manners. Now, this could Read literally,
wake up righteously. Do not be intoxicated by these
worldly influences. You ought to be, he says to the
church at Corinth, ashamed of yourselves. You look at the knowledge
God has given you. Not everybody has this knowledge.
Now, I'm looking at some people tonight who have been blessed
greatly with the knowledge of God, the knowledge of his gospel. How many people have been blessed
to know the things that you and I know? What a blessing, what
a mercy of God, and he's saying, I speak this to your shame that
you've allowed yourself, and he's speaking to believers, he's
speaking to the Church of Corinth, he's speaking to believers, and
he says, I'm distressed that you've allowed yourself to become
intoxicated by these wrong principles, it's time to wake up and sober
up. Wake up. And don't sin anymore. Make it truly, not just in words,
because you know it's the right thing to say, but make it your
ambition to sin no more. Now, that's strong language,
isn't it? The way Paul talks to them. He says, wake up, wake
up. And I was thinking, maybe it's
to me. I hope the Lord speaks to me
if it is, or to you. I don't know what the Lord's
intention is in this particular message, but it's time to wake
up. You know, sometimes a good slap
in the face is needed, isn't it? And you know something that really
scares me when I think about this? I'm thankful for the mercy
of the Lord toward us in speaking to us like this. He's got ways
of getting our attention that are more severe than this. That's
a scary thought, isn't it? It's a scary thought. And I don't
want to have to have a more severe way of getting my attention. Wake up. Sin not, for some have
not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Now,
what led Paul to speak this way to these people? Well, he's dealing
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 with an error that had risen in the
church. Look in verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached. That
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there's no
resurrection of the dead, we've seen that in the last several
weeks, that's the error he was dealing with in the church of
Corinth. And so let's pick up in verse 29. You know, he had.
He, in verse 29, he says, if there's no resurrection, what
shall they do which are baptized for the dead? If the dead rise
not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead? Now, let
me say at the outset, that does not mean that they baptize dead
people. That's not what was going on.
Some say this is where infant baptism began, this verse of
Scripture. Now, where do you get infant
baptism out of that? Well, this is what I read anyway. I thought
it was interesting. They said, well, When a baby would die,
or if it was born dead, what they do is baptize it, which
is wrong. I mean, Paul wasn't teaching
that, but people took this verse of scripture, and they abused
it, gave it a wrong meaning, and said, well, we need to baptize
dead people, and that way they'll be saved. That'll get them out
of purgatory, or that'll save them, or whatever it is it's
supposed to be doing. So they went from baptizing dead babies
to saying, well, we ought to go ahead and get them before
they die. So let's just baptize them as soon as they're born,
and that way we can cover their salvation. Now, that's obviously ridiculous.
They didn't practice anything like that in the New Testament.
What Paul is talking about is baptism. What is baptism? It's death, it's burial, and
it's resurrection. Now, if there's no resurrection,
let's hold them down under. That's what that means. You make
baptism meaningless if there's no resurrection for the day.
Now, let's remember what baptism means. The word means immersion. It's
the believer's public confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the way I confess Christ. This is my confession of Christ
before the world. I confess my only hope is union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what baptism teaches.
When I confess Christ in believer's baptism, here's what I'm saying.
I'm saying my only hope of salvation is that when He lived, I was
united to Him. When He kept the law, I kept
the law. When He died under the wrath
of God, I died under the wrath of God, because I was united
to Him. Whatever He did, I did. When
He was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. And that is my only hope. Such is my case. I think it's
very interesting there in Mark chapter 1, verse 4, where it
says, were baptized of him confessing their sins. That doesn't mean
they confessed their sins and then they were baptized. The
act of baptism was their confession of sin. I'm confessing when I'm
baptized that the only hope this sinner has is union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm confessing that the only
hope I have is the life, the death and the burial and the
resurrection of Christ and what a glorious hope that is. That's
the believer's confession of Christ. Every believer is to
confess Christ in believer's baptism. If you haven't been
baptized, what are you waiting on? Somebody says, well, I don't
feel led to. You know, that's a wrong statement. You know, when my dad said, go
do something, I didn't say, well, I don't feel led to. Boy, if
I would have said that, Dad would have just, he would have blistered
me. I wouldn't have survived that. You know, I don't feel
led to. It's obedience to Christ. Every believer is called on to
obey Christ in believer's baptism. And I'll tell you what. I personally,
it doesn't matter whether I personally feel this way or not, I just
don't have any confidence in somebody who refuses to confess
Christ and believe in baptism. Whoso believeth and is baptized,
the same should be saved. And what I want to say to anybody
who has not been baptized, if you believe the gospel, what
are you waiting on? What hinders you? It's really
plumb stupid, isn't it? You know it is. You know it is.
You know, every time we have a baptism, I'd like to be baptized.
I know you can't be baptized again. I realize that. There's
only one. Somebody says, I've been baptized three or four times.
No, you haven't. There's only one baptism. That's believer's
baptism. You might have gone through that. You might have
gone under the water and come up six or eight times. I don't
know. But that wasn't baptism. You're only baptized when you're
a believer. It's believer's baptism. Now, Paul is saying, if there's
no resurrection from the dead, baptism is a meaningless And
let me also say this about baptism. Turn with me to Romans chapter
6 for a moment. Verse 3. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. You know, if I'm not walking
in newness of life, that makes my baptism a meaningless religious
ritual, doesn't it? It really does. May God give
us grace to walk in newness of life. Let's go on reading back
to our text. He says, if there's no resurrection, what's baptism
mean? Then it says in verse 30, and
why stand we in jeopardy every hour? Now, because of Paul's
preaching, he stood in jeopardy every hour. He was always in
trouble in some form because men hated the gospel he preached.
Remember how he said in Galatians chapter 1, if I yet please men,
I wouldn't be the servant of Christ. But the message he preached
always got him in trouble. He said, bonds and afflictions
await me anywhere I go. He says, now if there's no resurrection
of the dead, why am I even bothering with this? Why bother? Look how Paul was viewed by the
world. Let me read you a scripture from Acts 24, verse 5. It was Tertullus who said, We
have found this man a pestilent fellow. He's a pest. I think
that's interesting. A pest. A mover of sedition among
all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the Nazarenes. After his testimony in Acts chapter
22, they all cried out, away with such a fellow from the earth.
It's not fit that he should live. Now Paul said, why would I go
through all this? And I mean, his life was one...
I mean, he'd go in one place, get stoned, get up and go to
another place, get beat. I mean, it was a continual series
of things like that for him. He was always persecuted for
the gospel of Christ. He says, no, there's no resurrection.
Why would I even bother? Look in 2 Corinthians chapter
11. Verse 23. Now he's comparing
himself to these. False apostles. And he says in
verse 23, if they ministers of Christ, they claim to be, but
I'm speaking as a fool. I'm more. In labors more abundant
in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in debts
oft of the Jews. Five times received I 40 stripes.
Save one, and I try to picture what Paul must have been thinking
when he was tied up to that post and they were beating him with
a cat of nine tails and the flesh being ripped off his back. You
reckon he wondered, is it worth this? I guarantee you he thought
that's up. Now, by the grace of God, he
continued. But can you imagine what he went through with this?
Look what else he went through. Verse 25, thrice was I beaten
with rods. Once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep. Out
in the water wondering if I'm going to drown. In journeys often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness, beside those things that are without, the things
which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Now
you look at what all this man went through. Now, somebody says,
why? Well, turn over to John 15. Let me remind you of something. Let me remind myself of something.
John chapter 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. Now, our Lord was not hated because
of His conduct. Never has a man been more gracious. Never has a man been more perfect.
Never has a man been more humble than the Lord Jesus Christ. He
wasn't offending men because of his character. He was offending
men because of the gospel that he preached. Let's go on reading. Verse 29, if you were of the
world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of
the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. Now, remember the word that I
said unto you, the servant is no greater than his Lord. If
they persecuted me, they'll also persecute you. And if they kept
my sayings, they'll keep yours also. But all these things will
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I'd not come and spoken unto
them, they'd had no sin. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But
now they have both seen and hated, both me and my father. But this
cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law. They hated me without a cause. Now, our Lord is explaining
to us at this time, why, folk, if I'm faithful to the gospel
message, I'm not going to win any popularity contest, am I?
Not if I'm true to the gospel message. Now, what Paul is saying
is, is if there's no resurrection, this is the error that come up
in the church. If there's no resurrection, why would I bother
with this? Let's go back to our text in
1 Corinthians 15. Verse 31. He says, I protest. That's a
solemn affirmation. I protest by your, my margin
reading says I rejoice, and I think that's what it means. Every believer
is rejoicing in Christ Jesus. I protest by your rejoicing,
which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I die daily. Now, I protest by our rejoicing,
our rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now,
what's he talking about? We'll turn with me to Galatians
6 for just a moment. Here, the word rejoicing is translated
glory. I protest by our glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. Look
here in Galatians chapter 6 verse 14. But God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Now Paul says
I protest because of And he's looking at the Church of Corinth,
and he's got some problems with the things they were doing, with
the doctrine they were espousing, with a whole lot of things, as
you read this book of 1 Corinthians. I mean, he had all kinds of problems
with them. He brings them up. But he says, I protest by our
rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. And in light
of the rejoicing we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. I die every single day. Now,
what do you mean by that? Well, first, let's talk about
our rejoicing which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. He's talking
about glory in the cross of Christ. You know, I do rejoice. If you're a believer, you rejoice
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't you? You glory
in it. You find confidence in it. Now,
you remember who's talking, it's Paul. The man God used more than anybody
else to expound the gospel. He wrote 13 books in the New
Testament. There's never been, as far as men go, there's never
been a greater man than the Apostle Paul. What a blessing he is to
us, and yet Paul says, God forbid that I glory in any of that.
Paul knew he was what he was by the grace of God. He said,
all I glory in, all I have confidence in, All I rejoice in, all I can
find comfort in is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing
else. Glory in the cross. Here's my
confidence. God looks at me right now while
I'm talking to you as holy and unblameable and unassailable.
And if God looks at me that way, you know why He looks at me that
way? That's because I am that way. How can you say that? Because of union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. If He's holy and unblameable
and unapprovable, I am too. And the cross accomplished that
for me. The cross of Christ washed away my sins, and this is the
only thing I have confidence in. Not in the fact that I've
been used by God to write the scriptures, not because of the
revelations God's given me. Paul says, no, I just, I count
all that, doesn't even count. The only thing I glory in is
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he talked about his rejoicing
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, I die daily.
I die daily. You know, in light of the cross,
look at Galatians chapter 6, verse 14 again. But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me. It's a dead thing to me. It's
a crucified thing. And I unto the world. Now, in light of the cross, this world, it's just really not attractive.
It's not attractive in comparison with knowing the Lord, being
saved by Him, being found in Him. I know I'm supposed to say that.
I know there's something wrong with me if I do not say that.
And I know it's the right thing to say. In light of the cross,
I see this world as a crucified thing. But you know, I really
do. I really do. This world is nothing but a bunch
of vanity. And it's nothing in comparison
with knowing the Lord Jesus Christ simply being found in Him. Paul
said, I die daily. Listen to the words of our Lord
in Luke chapter Nine, verse 23, he said, if any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily. What's the cross for? It's for
death. And when he's talking about taking
up a cross, he's not talking about, you know, I've heard people
say, well, this is my cross, this is my burden to bear. I've got this
sickness or this this problem, and that's my cross to bear in
this life. No, that's not what that's talking about. The cross
of Christ that he calls us to daily bear is our confession
of him that brings on the hatred of the world. Now, he says, except
I'm to deny myself. Self. What's the biggest problem you
have? Yourself, isn't it? That's the
biggest problem you and I have. I'm to deny self. Self-righteousness,
self-promotion, self-seeking, self-whatever. I'm called upon
to deny myself and to take up my cross. I'm called upon to
crucify the flesh with the affections and the lusts. That means put
it to death. And you know you do that every day. Paul said,
I die daily. I die daily. You might have crucified it yesterday,
but it's alive again today, and you've got to crucify it again
today. I die daily. I'm called upon to deny myself,
to take up my cross daily, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, to die is gain. You know, we live with the knowledge
that we will soon die. And isn't that a blessing? If you really believe that you're
going to soon die, you're not going to get too taken up with
the things of this world, are you? And we die to what this
world thinks. I die daily. You know, I'm interested
in the elections and the caucuses. I read about what's happened
in Iowa and I'm interested in those things. But, you know,
not really. I'm interested as a dead man
in those things. I mean, Whoever God intends to
be elected, that's who's going to be elected. And I don't worry
about it. I mean, I'm not even really much
concerned about it one way or the other. You see, I'm not a
citizen of this world. I'm a citizen of the king. And I died. I'm just not concerned about
what's going on here. Boy, it's a blessing when I think of things.
Sometimes I get concerned and I get miserable when I'm like
that. But thank God, you are dead. If you ask a dead man what
he cares about what's going on in this world, what's he going
to say? Well, he's not going to say anything. It's not even an issue with him.
It's not even an issue. He just doesn't care. You're
dead! Isn't it great to be dead? You're dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you appear with him in glory. Mortify,
he says then. Put to death, therefore, your
members which are upon the earth. Put them to death. Die daily. You're the only way to live is
to die. That's the only way to live. And you'll be a lot happier. You want to give you the key
to being miserable? Seek to be happy. If that's your
goal, if that's your, I just want to be happy, I want to be
happy, you're going to spend all your time miserable. But if you
die to yourself, you're going to be happy. I guarantee you,
you will. Somebody says, I don't believe
it. Well, try it. Try it. If you die to yourself,
if I die to myself, my own, my ambitions, my plans, my... just
die to self. It's a blessing too, by the grace
of God. Look what Paul said in Acts chapter
20. I love this verse of Scripture. Verse 22, And now, behold, I
go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I've received
of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Now, how is it that you're going to finish your course with joy?
By not counting your life dear to yourself. May God give us grace to do that.
To die daily. Let's go back to our text in
first Corinthians 15. He says in verse 32, if after
the manner of men, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage
is it to me if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die. Now, evidently, at Ephesus, Paul
was thrown into a ring with wild beasts because of his confession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've heard of what they did
back in those days. They put gladiators in in rings,
and they'd have to fight off wild beasts. Well, evidently,
Paul had to do that. I can't help but thinking of
all the things that he went through. In order to preach the gospel,
but he's saying, now I was in Ephesus. They threw me in a ring
with wild beasts to fight them off. Now, why would I even bother
to do that if the dead rise not? Let's eat and drink and be merry.
Have a good time. Go for the gusto. If the dead
rise not, if right now is all there is, go in and have a good
time. Give yourself to that. You're going to die tomorrow.
Have the best time you can here now. If the dead rise not. But
everybody deep down knows that that's not so. There's an eternity. This isn't life. This is just
temporary. It's going to be over soon enough.
Now, he says in verse 33, be not deceived. Evil communications
corrupt good manners. Now, in the context, he's talking
about this false doctrine that there's no resurrection. False
doctrine, no resurrection will corrupt right living. Understand
this. Now, listen real carefully. False
doctrine. always corrupts. It is evil. It's anti-God. And it will live in its way through
the whole lump. False doctrine always leads to
sin. There is always, without any
exceptions to this, there is always an evil motive behind
false doctrine. And it always corrupts. Always. Don't look at false doctrine
in any form as harmless, because it's not. It always corrupts. Evil communications corrupt good
manners. This is also talking about companionships. You make your companions people
of this world, and they will always bring you down. You will never bring them up.
They will always bring you down. Now, don't be deceived by this.
You make people of this world your friends? Now, understand,
we're to be salt in this world. We're to be a witness in this
world. I'm not talking about having some kind of holier-than-thou
attitude where you stay away from me. I'm afraid you'll corrupt
me. I'm not talking about that at all. You know that. But if
I make my companions men of this world, they'll always bring me
down to them. Evil communications corrupt good
manners. Now, he says in verse 34, Awake to righteousness and sin
not, for some have not the knowledge of God. And I speak this to your
shame. Don't be intoxicated by the corrupting
influence of false doctrine. Do not be intoxicated by the
corrupting influences of people who do not love Christ. Be sober. Wake up. Live righteously. Do not sin. Now, I know every
time I say something like that, or the Bible says something like
that, somebody says, why would you say that when all we can do is sin?
What else are you going to say? It's OK to sin? No, it's never
OK to sin. It's never OK. These things have
I written unto you, that you sin not. Well, what about the
evil nature I have? Wrong question. Wrong question. Yes, sure, you've got an evil
nature, but these things have I written unto you that you sin not. May God give us the grace to
truly, from the very depths of our hearts, make it our ambition
to never sin again in any way. Awake to righteousness. And sin
not, for some have not this knowledge of God that you have. And I'm
speaking this to your shame. And I got to thinking about this
thing of the knowledge. And I'm not just talking about
a speckle of knowledge where I've been educated better than
somebody else. I'm talking about a saving revelation
of Christ. I'm not just talking about I
know something that you don't know. And you know, with the world,
knowledge is power. If I know something you don't
know, I've got power over you. I'm not talking about that kind
of stuff. That's foolishness. That's the knowledge of this
world. That's the knowledge that corrupts. Knowledge puffeth up. Charity builds up. I'm talking
about the precious, saving revelation of Himself that He's given us.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded. that He is able to keep that
which I committed to Him against that day. Now isn't that precious
knowledge? What about this knowledge? Romans 8, 28. And we know. They
may not, but we do. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. 1 John 3, 5 says we know that
He was manifested to take away our sins. Isn't that precious
knowledge? And in Him is no sin. That means that if I'm in Him,
if I'm united to Him, I have no sin. In 1 John 3, 2 we read,
we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. For we
shall see him as he is." What wonderful knowledge. This is
wonderful knowledge. Paul said in Romans 7, I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Isn't
it precious knowledge to know you're a sinner? And to know
that, you know, I know I'm a sinner. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I know that. And knowing that,
it makes it easy for me to trust the Lord as my righteousness.
What precious saving knowledge. In 1 Corinthians 2, 12, we know
that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Isn't it a blessing to know that everything you have is given
to you freely? That means without a cause in you. God didn't have
to find a reason in you to do it. He does what He does freely. 1 Corinthians 15, 58, you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5,
1, we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle fall,
we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Isn't that precious knowledge?
Peter said in 1 Peter 1, 18, you know that you are not redeemed
with corruptible things. You know that, don't you? You
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. In Ephesians
3, 18, Paul spake of knowing the love of Christ, which passive knowledge. In Philippians
chapter 4, verse 18, Paul said, I know both how to be abased
and how to abound. That's precious knowledge, isn't
it? I know how to be abased. I know how to see myself as nothing
but sin. You know, it's precious. You
know, when I see myself as nothing but sin, it's so easy to trust
the Savior as my righteousness before God. It gets hard when
I see myself some other way. That's when it gets hard. I know
how to be abased, and I know how to abound. If God gives me
the grace to honor Him, I know it was grace that enabled me
to do it. If God gives me some liberty in prayer, I know it's
because He gave me the liberty in prayer. If God enables me
to preach, I know it's because He enabled me to preach. If God
enables me to be kind to somebody, I know it's because He enabled
me to do that. I don't have any... It's not I, but Christ in me. It's you really. But I know how
to be obese. And I know how to bow. That's
precious knowledge, isn't it? Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.8, we
know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. Now, with
this precious knowledge, Precious knowledge. Not just information. Not just
right data. Not just knowing the facts. You
can know the facts and split hell wide open. It's a saving
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said not everybody has this.
Not everybody has this. Some have not the knowledge of
God. And I speak this to your shame,
he said. And you think of the knowledge,
the saving knowledge the Lord has given you. Don't you want
to not be intoxicated by this world, by the doctrine of this
world, by the maxims of this world, by the principles of this
world, by the way? Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. And if you're a believer,
you don't love the world. That doesn't mean you don't love
or appreciate nice things. Nothing wrong with that. But
this world that hates Christ, that hates his gospel, I don't
care whether it's the religious world or the irreligious world.
You don't love this world. And if any man does love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. So, here's what
my desire is. Lord, give me grace to do this. I die daily. Don't you want to
die daily? Die to yourself and live unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Awake to righteousness and sin
not. Let's pray together.