God's People Must Be United and Growing in Holiness
1 Corinthians 15:12-19[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, July 29th, 2012
Last week Matt brought us a solid challenge to walk in humility and repentance, and I'm grateful for that, brother. The week before we studied 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 where we observed the non-negotiables of the gospel you received, the testimony of Christ's resurrection, and the negotiable of the gospel, the 'if', which is 'if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain' In that passage Paul declared in writing to the believers in Corinth what he has already declared to them in person – the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He was buried in the tomb, and He rose from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Then he strongly supported the case for the resurrection of Christ as the focus of the gospel.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Let's pray. I've summed this passage up with this sentence. Stay away from the folly and the fruit of rejecting the resurrection; and hold fast to your hope of resurrection. So first…
Verse 12 Folly of Rejecting the Resurrection
Why don't you think? I believe this is a good way of re-wording, "How can you say that?"
Why don't you let go once and for all of whatever you believed before? There is a very good chance that Greek and Roman mythology affected the views of some of these church members. Dualism (matter/body is bad, spirit is good) was huge in their paganism, and possibly influencing the weaker Corinthians[2].
Why don't you let go once and for all of what pagans around you believe? Forget your synchronism, and your pluralism, and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Why don't you receive the gospel as it is, complete and unadjusted?
Why don't you hold fast to the OT?, Daniel 12:1-2 "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Also the story of The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37, and Job's belief that he would be raised to see His redeemer, 19:25-26 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
Why don't you hold fast to the words of Jesus? John 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Luke 9:22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."
Why don't you hold fast to what we preached and what you believed/received?
Why don't you think first? It's not logical. It is like today's PC crowd screaming that people who disagree with homosexuality therefore hate people who claim to be homosexual. Not true! To disagree with someone or to believe that their belief is wrong is not to hate them. THINK. This is sheer folly to reject the resurrection of the body.
Verses 13-19 Fruit of Rejecting the Resurrection: if there's no resurrection…
Christ hasn't been raised. No resurrection for you, no resurrection. It won't start and stop because your friends reject it.
Our preaching and your believing were useless. "in vain", same as your belief, v 2.
We are proven to be liars. All this labor and suffering for the spreading of a lie!
You're still in your sins. All this freedom, all these gifts – vanished, nothing.
Dead brothers and sisters have perished. No eternity in heaven, unknown end.
We are the most foolish, pitiable people on earth. We have the least hope, most loss.
Paul was saying Corinth, stay away from the folly and the fruit of rejecting the resurrection, and hold fast to your hope of the resurrection.
Don't let the lie that this life is all there is sink into your soul. Look up, look to Christ, look ahead, and look in faith! Let the testimony of the Old Testament, The Lord Himself, and the apostles strengthen your faith that you will be raised!
Rolling Hills Church, stay away from the folly and the fruit of rejecting the resurrection, and hold fast to your hope of the resurrection.
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
[2] Page 407-408 of John A. MacArthur's New Testament Commentary, 1 Corinthians, © 1984 Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
No comments:
Post a Comment