they that sleep in Christ shall
rise from the tomb." Evidently, some of the preachers and teachers
among the people at Corinth were denying the resurrection of the
dead. Look at verse 12. Paul said, Now if Christ be preached
that he rose from the How say some among you that there
is no resurrection of the dead?" So, evidently, there was a problem
in this area from some of the teachers and the preachers. But
the resurrection of the dead is fundamental to the gospel. Without the resurrection, we
have no gospel. Listen to Paul in verse 16. If the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised. If the dead do not rise, then
Christ is not risen. Now listen to verse 17. And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. You have no hope. You have no hope. And we are
yet in our sins. The resurrection of the dead
is fundamental to the gospel. And then much of the persecution
which the apostles endured was because they preached the resurrection
of the dead. I want you to stay at that chapter
and let me read a portion over here in Acts 23. And this is what Paul said in
Acts 23. But when Paul perceived that one part of his audience
were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out, Men
and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, and of
the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called in question. I have been called before this
august body because I preach. The resurrection of the dead.
And let me show you a few other places. In Acts 24-21, he says
this. Acts 26, 6-8, he says this, And
now I stand, and I am judged by the hope of the promise made
of God unto our fathers, under which promise our twelve tribes,
instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which
hope's sake I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? Why is this incredible? Paul
said, why am I called on the carpet for this doctrine? Why
am I judged? Why am I appearing before these
assemblies charged with preaching the resurrection of the dead?
Is it incredible that God should raise the dead? Now, I'm going to divide this
chapter into four parts. I believe it has four divisions. First, Paul talks about the dead
shall rise. They shall rise. We're going
to read that. And then secondly, in Christ, our representative,
we who believe, are already risen. It's just a matter of it being
played out. It's like Christ was the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. And it's just a matter
of it being fulfilled. Because it's done as far as God's
concerned. Where is it? We're going to see
that. Thirdly, Paul deals with the subject, how are the dead
raised? And then fourthly, this is the
goal of salvation. Behold, I make all things new. New body, new kingdom. New body, new nature,
new life, new kingdom. Raised. Alright. So let's start
reading. Verse 1, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which
also you have received, and wherein you stand, and by which also
you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless you believed in vain, For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received." How that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, according to the Old Testament
tithes and promises and prophecies and pictures. He died for our
sins according to all that God has written, from Genesis to
Malachi, according to the Scriptures. How many times have we read that
the Scriptures might be fulfilled? He set out first that the Scripture
might be fulfilled. They break not the bones of his
body, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I told you a few
weeks ago, Mary and Joseph took the baby, the infant, down into
Egypt, that Scripture might be fulfilled. Out of Egypt have
I called my son. So he died for our sins according
to the Scripture, but listen, verse 4, that he was buried and
rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. That's the
hope of the Old Testament believers. Job said, Oh, that my words were
written in a book. Oh, that they were graven with
an iron pin in the rock forever. I know my Redeemer liveth. He liveth. He is life. That he
shall stand on this earth. And though after my skin, worms
destroy this body and it goes back to the dust, I shall rise. In my flesh, I'll see God, and
not a stranger and not another. I'll see God for myself. Job's counting on several things
now. His Redeemer redeeming him, his
own death, his own resurrection, and his own Such complete change
that he's able to look on God and live. No man, God wouldn't
let Moses look at him. Moses was here in the flesh,
a human being on this earth. And God said, I'll hide you over
here in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand. No
man can see God and live. Job said, I intend to. But it
won't be while I'm on this earth in this flesh with these eyes.
It'll be after God has raised me. And I have a nature like Christ.
And I can look on Him myself. See, that's the hope of the gospel. Our gospel is a gospel of life,
a gospel of resurrection, according to the Scripture. We talked about
the eyewitnesses. Look at verse 5. And he was seen,
Christ arose according to the Scriptures, and he was seen of
Cephas, then of the twelve. After that,
he was seen of a five hundred brethren at once, of whom the
greater part remain under this present. Some have fallen asleep. And listen, five hundred saw
him after he arose from the grave. And none of them recanted. I'd like to see you get 500 people
together who have seen something and all of them agree. And none
of them after a while say, well maybe I didn't see it. But nobody
ever sat down. 500 brethren at once. None recanted. After that, verse 7, he was seen
of James, and then of all the apostles, and last of all, I
saw him. Saul of Tarsus saw him on the
road to Damascus. See, an apostle had to have seen
the Lord. And an apostle had to have received
his message directly from Christ. Our Lord chose twelve. One of
them, son of perdition from the beginning. But Paul took his
place, and he saw the Lord on the road to Damascus, and he
said, I saw him as one born out of due time, an abortive birth. What is an abortive birth? It
doesn't follow the pattern. It doesn't follow the pattern.
And so Paul said, I saw. Our Lord said, saw? Why persecutest thou me? Who
art thou? I'm Jesus whom thou persecutest."
That's when he saw the Lord. And an abortive birth, he means
by this, I didn't see him following the pattern that the other disciples
were chosen, saw the Lord, walked with the Lord before he died
on the cross. After he died, I saw him in his
glory. I saw him. In verse 9 he says, I'm the least
of the apostles. I'm not worthy. Meat is sufficient,
worthy to be called an apostle. Because I persecuted the church. None of the other disciples did
that, but I did. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. We can all say that, can't we?
By the grace of God, I have what I have and am what I am. And
His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. Nothing
God does is in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, and yet not I, not I, but the grace of God which
was with me. Therefore, it doesn't matter
who preaches, whether it's I or they. It doesn't really matter
who preaches, it's whom do we preach. It really doesn't matter
whether it's they or I. So we preach. We preach what?
The crucified, buried, risen Christ, according to the Scriptures.
So you believe. Then he shows us the consequences
of denying the resurrection. Now these are the consequences.
There are about seven of them. We'll read them along. Verse
12 says, Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how
say some among you there's no resurrection of the dead? Number one, if there's no resurrection
of the dead, Christ is not risen. Because he was a man, born of
a woman, walked this earth in human flesh. Secondly, if Christ
be not risen, our preaching is vain, and your faith is vain. This is all a waste of time. Verse 15, and we've lied on God. You remember when God said about
Job, he told the truth about me. Well, we haven't told the
truth about God. If there's no resurrection, we're
false witnesses. Because we've testified of God
that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so, be that
the dead rise not. And if the dead rise not, Christ
is not raised. And listen to verse 17. And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain and you're yet in your
sins. And Christ said, if you die in your sins, you can't come
where I am. And here's another horrible thought. Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ. We have so many from this congregation who have fallen asleep, who have
died, resting in this gospel, in Christ. Fallen asleep in Christ. When the dead are not raised,
They're perished. Perished. Never hear from them
again or see them again, forget them. That's horrible, isn't
it? And I'll tell you something else
he said, if only in this life, in this life only, you have hope
in Christ, you're a miserable man. A miserable, miserable creature. That's strong, isn't it? Alright,
here's the second part of this. Now actually, actually in Christ
we're already risen. He's our representative. Now
watch this. In verse 20. But now is Christ
risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that
slept. What are the first fruits? The
first fruits are just what it says. They're the first fruits
that spring out of the earth. They ripen first. There is always
a first tomato, a first cantaloupe, first beans, first fruit, first
wheat. They ripen first, they reap first,
and they are offered to the Lord. The first fruits belong to the
Lord. So Christ first arose from the grave, and ascended to heaven,
and presented Himself to the Father, as the representative
of his people. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of those who sleep in
Christ. But preacher, other people were
raised, but they died. They were raised. Lazarus was
raised, but he died. The widow's son was raised, but
he died. Jairus' daughter was raised,
but she died. Everybody who was ever raised
from the grave died again. Christ arose to die no more. He arose to immortality. That's
what that says. He's the firstfruits. And there'll
be more. He came forth from the grave,
taken to glory, the right hand of the Father. And all of us
will experience the same thing. He's the firstfruits. There'll
be many more raised from the grave, taken to glory. For since by man came death,
by Adam came death, and Adam all died. By one man sin entered
the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. By man came death, by man, the
man Christ Jesus, came the resurrection. He restored our soul. In Adam
we lost Our souls in Christ will be restored. That's what he said. Look at verse 22. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. All who identified
in Adam died. All who were in Adam. That's
everybody. All who were in Christ when he
was raised, they were raised. That's what I'm saying. In God's
purpose, we're already risen. It's just a matter of ending
this life and dying, being buried, but
it's already done. In Adam, it's already done, we
die. In Christ, it's already done,
we're raised. Made alive. But every man in
his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and afterward, they that are
his, that is coming. And then cometh the end in that
great day of the Lord. What a day that will be. Then
cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God. What is that kingdom? Well, it's not houses and lands
and buildings. It's people. His kingdom is people. You know, when you talk about
people saying, I'm going to church. What do you mean you're going
to church? I'm going to a building. No, the church is not a building.
People. God's people. And His kingdom. His kingdom is not acreage, places, people. That's His kingdom. He's king
of a kingdom. Head of a church. Then He'll
deliver up all the redeemed to God. All the kingdom to God. Even the Father, when He shall
have put down all rule and all authority and all power. Contrary
rule and contrary authority, contrary power, principalities,
rulers of the darkness. He must reign till He has put
all enemies under His feet. And the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. When He comes and the graves
are open, there will be no more death. No more pain, no more
tears, no more sorrow, no more death. For He hath put all things under
His feet. But when He saith, all things
are put under Him, it's manifested that He's accepted which did
put all things under Him. That's the Father. The Father
has given everything to the Son. Put everything under His feet.
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh that He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. I have all authority
in heaven and earth, so you go preach the gospel. And when all things shall be
subdued unto Christ, then shall the Son also Himself be subject
unto Him, that put all things unto Him, that God may be all
in all." Now if there is no resurrection of the dead, look at verse 29,
"...else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if
the dead rise not at all?" Why then are they baptized for the
dead? In other words, when a person is baptized, Here's the message
that he's sending forth, that he's declaring. I died with Christ. I'm being buried with Christ. And I'm rising to walk in newness
of life with Christ. This is the message of baptism,
death, burial, and resurrection. So if the dead rise not when
a man is baptized, keep him down there. Don't finish the picture if the
dead rise now. And we're baptized as dead people,
dead to this world, dead to our idols, dead to those and risen
with Christ. That's what baptism is saying.
That's not proxy there, that's not the Mormons have taken that
and somebody dies and you get baptized for him. Like you vote
by proxy or something, I'll do it for him. No, you can't do
that now. And that's not what that's saying. It reads like
this, else what shall they do which declare in their baptism
that they're dead? Baptize as dead people if the
dead rise not. Why then are they baptized if
the dead rise not? Why are they brought up out of
the water? It's a whole picture. And here's another thing, if
the dead rise not, why stand we in jeopardy every hour? Why
do we preach this gospel and get all this opposition? Why
don't we quit? That's what he's saying. Why
am I putting myself in this position to be tried and sentenced and
imprisoned for preaching what is not going to happen? I protest. by your rejoicing which I have
in Christ Jesus our Lord." I die daily. I die daily. If after the matter of men I
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage it me if the dead
rise not? Why do I preach under persecution
if the dead rise not? Eat, drink, and whatever. Tomorrow
we are going to die like dogs and we are not going to be raised
if that is true. Just forget the Bible and everything
else if the dead rise not. Now, listen to verse 33. Now,
you don't be deceived. Evil communications corrupt good
manners. What does that mean? Don't be
deceived by these false teachers and false preachers who say that
there's no resurrection. If you follow them and associate
with them, it'll corrupt you. That's what he's saying. companions
and evil communication corrupts good doctrine and good morals
and good principles. So awake to righteousness, verse
34, awake to righteousness and truth and sin not, because some
have not the knowledge of God. These people down there in Corinth
that are denying the resurrection, they don't have the knowledge
of God. I speak this to your shame, that you didn't even listen
to them. That you didn't even put up with them, that I'd even
have to write this, Paul said. That's shameful, that this church
hasn't raised up. I hope you would. If someday someone comes in this
pulpit after I'm gone and preaches that which is not true to the
Word of God, I would hope that you'd rise up Paul said, I don't understand
why somebody down there is not objecting. I speak this to your
shame that such a thing could go on and not be challenged. Challenged. Alright, verse 35,
how are the dead raised? Some man will say, well, how
are the dead raised up? With what body do they come? When we went out to the mausoleum
at Ashton Cemetery after Brother Homer's memorial service. The
Lord gave me a little liberty to talk about this subject right
here. How are the dead raised? I don't usually say a lot out
there, but I had a lot to say and I read three Scriptures. Now the first one, let's read
three Scriptures. I want you to turn to these. 1 Thessalonians
4. How are the dead raised? 1 Thessalonians
4. Look at this first. 13 through 18. I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. If we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede them which
are asleep." Say, our Lord were to come tonight, or right now. Some of our friends are at Ashland,
Dixon, Rose Hill, other cemeteries. Their bodies are in the grave.
They're not. Their bodies are there. They're with the Lord,
but their bodies are there. And God's going to raise those bodies.
But He's saying here, if He came tonight, we who are living would
be changed. But we wouldn't precede them.
They'd come forth from the grave. Actually before us. That's what
he says. Listen. For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Then, we which are alive and
remain, and are standing here when He comes, we'll be caught
up together with them. in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So now, you
comfort one another with these words. We're not all going to sleep,
but we're all going to be changed. We'll see that in a moment. But
there's going to be a resurrection. When our Lord comes, the bodies,
the graves are going to yield. The sea will give up the dead
which are in it. All the graves will give up the
dead. Every believer will be raised. Now here's the other
verse. Luke 24. And our Lord was raised from
the grave. Our Lord died. He died on the
cross and they buried Him. And three days He lay in the
tomb. And He arose in a glorified body. And He appeared to His disciples,
Luke 24, 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus
Himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace
be unto you. And they were terrified. They
were affrighted. And they supposed they had seen
a spirit. And He said, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? He told them He was going to
come for them. Behold My hands and My feet, it's I Myself. Look
at My hands. They saw those nails. driven
into those hands and nails into his feet. Scars of death. Scars. Look at them. It's me. It's I myself. Handle me. Reach out here and shake my hand.
Put your arm around me. Touch me. See your spirit doesn't
have flesh and bones as you see me have. And when they had thus
spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they
yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said to them, Have
you here any food, any meat? They gave him a piece of fish
and a honeycomb, and he stood and ate it before them." What are we going to be like
when we are raised from the grave? Just like Him. We are going to
see Him and be like Him. We are going to have flesh. and
bones. That's right. We're going to
eat. I can't wait to sample that fruit on all those trees and
that crystal clear water flowing from the throne of God. I can't
wait. We're going to eat it. Flesh
and bones. But what kind of flesh? Go back
to my text, 1 Corinthians 15. Here's the third scripture. 1
Corinthians 15, 35, "...but some man will say, Hire the dead,
raised up, with what body do they come? Will thou fool?" This
is a strong statement, isn't it? You're a fool. Anybody who
denies the resurrection is a fool. Anybody who denies what he can't
explain is a fool in reference to God. Well, you're a fool,
he said, to even question God. Is it incredible that God should
raise the dead? He made Adam in his own likeness.
Adam was flesh and bones in the garden. God didn't make Adam
to die. Sin killed Adam. Adam's body would have been still
living just like God made it if he hadn't of sinned. That which thou sowest
is not quickened except it die. You take a grain of... Verse
37, and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that
shall be, but bare grain. It may be wheat, it may be some
other grain. But you sow the shriveled up little old seed,
put it in the ground, and God gives it, and it dies. It germinates,
it goes back to the dust. And then here comes a beautiful
plant, and God raises it. If God can do that with a grain
of corn, If God can put a grain of corn
in the ground, in the dirt, cover it up, let it rot, and then bring
forth a tree with all kind of corn on it, an acorn, bring forth
a tree stands for 600 years. Verse 38 says, God giveth it
a body as it pleases Him to every seed His own body. Now listen
about this flesh thing. I've got flesh now that's dying. Always something wrong with it.
You have to. As the older it gets, the more
things get wrong with it. This is not the kind of flesh
that Christ was raised with. This is not the kind of flesh
we're going to have in the new Jerusalem, the new earth and
the new heaven. And he tells us in verse 39, I can't explain
what this flesh is, but I know this, all flesh is not the same
flesh. There's one kind of flesh of
men, there's another flesh of beasts, dogs have flesh. But
if I see a dog run over by a car out there, I'd get a shovel and
shovel up his body, put it in a wheelbarrow and come dump it
somewhere and bury it. But I wouldn't do that to you. Because the flesh of a man is
more valuable than the flesh of a dog. Special flesh. There's a flesh of fish. You
fellas fish. You got not much tenderness for
those fish, do you? Kick your nose and scrape some
flesh off. But it's flesh. and another of
birds. There's celestial bodies and
terrestrial bodies, and the glory of the celestial is one, the
glory of the terrestrial is another. There's the glory of the sun,
the glory of the moon, the glory of the stars, one star different
from another in glory. So is the resurrection of the
dead. Listen. It's sown corrupt flesh. It's
raised incorrupt. We're going to have a new flesh
and bones. and body, like Christ. Incorruptible. Listen, it's sown
in dishonor, raised in glory. It's sown in weakness, oh, the
weakness of this flesh. Raised in power. I might add
it's sown in ignorance and raised in wisdom. It's sown a natural body, oh,
it's raised a spiritual body. That doesn't mean you can't see
it. It's foggy. No, it's real, but it's made
in the image of God. There's a natural body and a
spiritual body. And as it's written, the first
man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam is a quickening
spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual. Which was first? Adam was first.
Christ is before Adam. But that new body, It wasn't
for Adam. Christ brought it from the grave.
That's right. Adam's body was first, natural. Christ was raised from the grave.
That's the first spiritual body of flesh, glorified flesh, ever
seen. That which is natural is first.
Afterwards, that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. That's who
we are. We're going to see Him and be like Him. As is the earthy,
so are they that are earthy. That's me and you by our natural
birth. And as is the heavenly, that's
our new birth. Such are they that are heavenly.
As we have borne the image of the earthy, which hurts and weeps
and withers and dies, thank God by His grace we shall bear the
image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God like you are now. Not like you are now. Corruption
doesn't inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep. We're not all going to die. Somebody's
going to be here when the Lord comes. Wouldn't it be wonderful
if He'd come in the next year, the next 2000, year 2000? But we're going to be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet, the trumpet's going to sound,
he said, and the dead shall be raised. I told you the dead,
we'll not precede them. They'll be raised incorruptible,
and we'll be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, Death is
swallowed up, conquered in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin. Sin
is the cause of death. Had it not been for sin, we would
not die. Sin gives death its power over us. And the strength
of sin is the law. The strength of sin is without
God's law, there would be no sin. but thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
brethren, be steadfast, believe God, unmovable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord. Look into Christ, resting in
Him, preaching the gospel. For as much as you know, your
labor is not in vain in our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a good one.