But in Fact, Christ Has Been Raised
February 8, 2015 · 1 Corinthians
Scripture referenced 4 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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1 Corinthians 15:3 Carl's first point: Christ died for our sins, just as the scripture said
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
1 Corinthians 15:4
Christ was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the scripture said
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
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1 Corinthians 15:12-20
the main passage preached through, the if-then logic about the resurrection
12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
John 3:16
quoted to connect the word perished to eternal death for those not in Christ
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon worked through 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, picking up where Carl's message from two weeks earlier had left off. The pastor used Paul's tightly reasoned argument to show that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is not optional to the Christian faith but is the whole thing. The resurrection either stands or falls as a historical event, and everything else stands or falls with it.
What was said
Carl's earlier sermon had laid the foundation: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day, just as the scripture said. The pastor came back to that foundation because the section he was now covering only makes sense against it. Paul had also listed the witnesses, more than five hundred people, most of them still alive when he wrote, people you could still go and question. That is the ground on which Paul stands before he begins his argument.
The argument opens with a pointed question: if Christ is proclaimed as risen by all of these witnesses, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead at all? Paul's logic is simple. You cannot carve out a special exception for Jesus while denying resurrection as a category. If there is no resurrection, then not even Christ has been raised, and you cannot have it both ways.
Paul then works through what follows if Christ has not in fact been raised. He lines them up one after another. All preaching is worthless, talk with nothing behind it. Faith is worthless, resting on something that never happened. Every apostle and witness, including Paul himself, is a liar who has misrepresented God. Those are serious enough, but Paul is not finished.
He pushes further. If Christ is not raised, your faith is not just worthless but hopeless, and you are still carrying every sin you ever committed. Worse, everyone who has died trusting in Christ has simply perished. There is no comfort to take to a graveside, no promise that holds. The pastor paused on that one because it is the point where the argument stops being abstract.
Rudolf Bultmann came up here as the clearest modern example of where this kind of thinking leads. Bultmann was a serious German theologian who wanted to retain the moral and spiritual meaning of Jesus while treating the resurrection as ancient mythological language that modern people need not take literally. He argued that what matters is whether Christ rises in your heart, not whether he rose from a tomb. The pastor said he thought Bultmann genuinely loved Christ and may well have known Him, but that he missed something foundational: Paul would not let the resurrection be reinterpreted that way, and this passage is the reason why.
Then verse 20 turns everything around. "But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." The pastor went back through each grim consequence from the earlier verses and flipped it. Since Christ has been raised, preaching is not worthless. Faith is not hopeless. The apostles are not liars. Believers are not still in their sins. Those who have died in Christ have not perished. And the people living this out are not the most pitiable of all, but the most blessed, holding something real that they can extend to everyone else still living without it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Carl's sermon two weeks ago presented three simple points: Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day. Why do you think Paul considered this the most important thing he could pass on, and what does it mean to you personally that the gospel can be stated that simply?
- Rudolf Bultmann argued that it does not matter whether Jesus physically rose from the dead, only that He rises in your heart. What do you think is missing from that view, and why did Paul consider the bodily resurrection non-negotiable rather than just one optional piece of the story?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 10,169 words
0:00
Speaker 2Hey. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Hey.
0:03
Just FYI, we are we want to make our best effort to make room for everyone as they come in. So would you please, as you're coming in, can you move forward and in? So when people come in, they see open seats and not go home. We don't want anybody going home today. We want them to stay.
0:25
Good morning. We are glad that you're here. Should we start worshiping song? We serve a faithful God. Let's sing to him.
0:32
Let's stand up together.
1:35
Speaker 3Forever God is faithful. Forever God is strong. Forever God is with us. Forever. Forever, forever.
1:54
Rising to the set, rising to the setting sun. It's love you doers forever. The grace
3:18
Speaker 1Amen! I'm glad to be here, and this Sunday today is Scouting Sunday. If y'all don't know this, you've never been here on Tuesday. This Scouting Sunday is not the normal time for all the Boy Scouts to get here together but troop number six sixty seven, forty, and two sixty eight have been meeting in this building for a long long time. Eighty something years.
3:47
Nobody knows exactly. Eighty two or eighty three years. Yeah. So a a bunch of them are here with us today, and I'm gonna ask them right now, if they would, to go ahead and do their opening ceremony. These are very active troops.
4:05
If you don't believe me, come by on Tuesday, it's wonderful, we love having y'all here, I'm glad that y'all came this morning. So Scouting Sunday. This Sunday morning there's a middle school and high school girls study downstairs in the common grounds room in between services, so at the 10:00, the connect hour is in the fellowship hall, but the girls are studying downstairs, and you're welcome to come to that if you're a middle school or high school girl. Yes, Melissa, thank you very much, you can get in touch with Diane or with Renzi, can they get in touch with you? Yeah, alright, very good.
4:39
This firstbjackson.org, the reason I put this up here is because I always forget about it, but my mom called and said she listens to the sermons online, and she does it at firstbjackson.org. If you miss one and you want to go back to it or if I confused you horribly and you think that hearing it again will help, then you can go to firstbjackson.org. And one other thing that we have going right now, if you don't know about this, it's probably because you're fairly new. For the last two and a half years or so, we've been using rightnow.org. It's RightNow Media.
5:08
They have thousands and thousands of Bible studies available. They're video based things that it's pretty good, and we pay as a church a little bit, because we started doing this three years ago, and it's not a big deal, and your name can be added to our list of people that can access it. It's like Christian Netflix, so if you would like to be on that list, if you'll get your email address to the office, that'd be great. Rightnow dot org is good, so I thought I'd mention that. There are baby bottles sitting back there in the back, and those baby bottles, this is, I don't know how many years they've been doing this campaign for Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center, but it's a big deal.
5:48
Last year they raised $10,000 by just having people fill up these bottles with their change, you can put in bills or checks if you want to too, but there are a bunch of bottles back there, if you would, grab one of those on your way out and just put your pocket change in it, and then you can bring them back here or you can take them to Turning Point when you fill them up, and that is something that Judy Bacy, who plays piano in the second service and everybody in Jackson knows, Judy Basie said that we raised 10,000 last year but she has a goal to double that this year, so I'm just letting you all know. Melissa Landis will be presenting on the people that she is ministering to and the ministry that she's currently serving in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. It's a potluck lunch today. So, free to come join. There'll be meat and a couple of sides provided but if you have something to bring along, please bring it and share and there you go.
6:41
So, Crossroads is the ministry that she's working with and I'll let her tell you more about it but that's at twelve right after the close of the second service today. So, you have time in between this one to go get something. Come back if you want to. There's a family mission trip going to Guatemala, May 9 through the sixteenth and the McCooies have kind of taken the lead on answering questions and sharing details on that. KC McCooeyGmail.
7:04
Com is a way to get in touch with them. Tanya and I have been to this ministry. I've I have pictures of my own and I know what it's about. I know what the ministry is about. If you want to ask me questions, I'll be glad to answer em.
7:14
Men's snowmobile retreat, I've been on that one too. February twenty third to twenty second, It's always a fun time. If you want more information about that, John Micus or Matt Litzelman are the guys to talk to. It'll be at Old Faithful Christian Ranch up in Island Park. So, that is February twentieth through twenty second.
7:31
That's not next weekend but the next, right? The World Day of Prayer. This is the Women's World Day of Prayer. First B is hosting it this year. These things bounce around from church to church each year.
7:42
Some years, it's really great and there are lots of people and some years not so much. I'm advertising it early. March 6 is a Friday. It happens at twelve noon and we'll get together and the ladies will get together here from all the churches in town and they will go through basically a script that was written by ladies in The Bahamas for this Women's World Day of Prayer but it is a call to prayer for the ladies and we are hosting it. And if you would, you can stand up and shake one another's hands, but try to find a scout and greet them and tell them that you're glad that they're here, alright?
11:22
Speaker 2And I am not skilled to understand God, I thank you for being the living God through your death, burial, and resurrection. We have life in you. God, we sing of hope this morning. We'd sing of your resurrection. We sing of new life in you.
14:38
We thank you God that you are alive. Amen. Again, God, how wonderful that we serve you, the living and risen Christ and God again, we we sometimes just fail to acknowledge that you are alive in us and that you are at work in us but I thank you God for the testimony that comes from it. I really do. I thank you God for how as a church family we can gather and with you, your through your perfect life, death, and resurrection.
19:10
We have this new life in you and we can live life the way you truly intended it. Life to the full measure. God, we thank you for giving every good and perfect gift. We we acknowledge it comes from you. Where would we be without you, our creator and our sustainer?
19:28
And that's guy, that's God why we can live our lives with an open hand to you. And walk along the way and see God how richly you bless. Not just in here Jackson but in Jackson God but I I pray that you would you would care that we would be carriers of this gospel to the ends of the earth. Would you use us? Would you use these offerings we pray in Christ name?
19:50
Speaker 1Amen. You can be. Like every song today has been talking about what we're going be talking about today. It's because it's right in the center of what we as Christians ought to be thinking about, talking about, expressing, and living in the hope of. So, we're going forward.
20:05
Last week, we digressed a bit because Carl skipped over section and I went back to the section that he'd skipped but speaking of that, last week, I would have loved to covered more points but my goodness, we we're twenty minutes long anyway. Is there anybody in here right now, male or female, that has an orderly encouragement that they would like to give? Anybody? Does anybody have one? This is not normal, I know.
20:29
Anybody? Seriously? No? Yeah, amen, that's one right there. And they come back, that's even better.
20:40
Anybody? Ladies? Melissa's already Matt, thank you, go right ahead. Matt, go ahead. Amen.
21:07
Cool. Anybody else before I go on? It says two or three, and I wanna be third. Alright? I'm just kidding, we're gonna go ahead.
21:18
I want to start by flipping the slide. First Corinthians 15 twelve-twenty eight, I skipped the last eight, last week was way too much, We're bringing it down. So, 12 through 20 is what we're going to cover today. Just these verses, 12 through 20. Last week, I've already mentioned and we'll come back to that at intervals, that that subject.
21:40
Two weeks ago, Carl just preached the straight up gospel, I wasn't here but I did listen to it at firstbjackson.org. The plain truth of Christ's resurrection is what he came down on, in fact, his first point, Christ died for our sins, and he got that from where? First Corinthians fifteen:three, Christ died for our sins. It's lovely when your preacher's points come straight from what it says, just as the scripture said, so it's affirming everything before that. He goes to the second point, He was buried.
22:08
You don't bury a swooning man, you don't bury a living man, you bury a dead man. He was crucified for our sins and He was buried, and that's what Carl backed that up with, it's scripture, straight up, no doubt about it. He was raised from the dead on the third day. Where did he get that? '19 and he was raised from the dead on the third day.
22:30
Just as the scripture said, it goes back to everything the prophets had said. It goes back to the story from all of the apostles, the ones that Jesus sent out, all of the disciples, one who's had been following him, all of them agreed on this testimony and I'm going back all the time. It comes up in this text that it comes down to the message of the cross. Jesus Christ died for sin. That's what he died for.
22:55
He was dead, buried, and raised on the third day, and that message is what has every Christian that is a Christian in the world today living eternal and abundant life. That is what it is. It is the simplicity of that straight up gospel. It's the shortest, most succinct version of it in the New Testament that Christ died, was buried, and raised from the dead on the third day for our sins. So this message sounds like, my goodness, it sounds like a myth, honestly.
23:25
That's what most moderns thought in the middle of last century, there was a guy named Rudolf Bultmann. Rudolf Bultmann was a German theologian, the Tubingen School, and he was studying at the time where Hitler was raising up and gaining power, and he rejected the Nazi, control, not in the same way that Dietrich Bonhoeffer did. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, some of y'all know, stood up against it and held to the Bible just as it is. Rudolf Bultmann would try to say, it still matters, but it didn't really happen. It still matters, but it was just old ancient language.
24:03
They believe things we don't believe but Christ, if he rises in your heart, it doesn't matter if he rose. He was killed on the cross. His bones are somewhere. It doesn't matter but if Jesus, the spirit of Jesus, the thought of Jesus, being kind to your enemies and lovely to one another. If that is what wakes you up in the morning, he rises in your heart every day, that's what really matters.
24:27
Now he went deeper than that, and I actually kinda like him. I think we'll meet him again in heaven, but he rejected something that absolutely is a foundational thing to Christianity. I think that he just missed it because he wanted to trim the sails to culture. Does that make sense? I think God is gracious.
24:44
He did always profess that faith in Christ matters. Faith in Christ matters. Faith in Christ matters. But he missed it on this one, and he missed it so clearly because Paul, in this next section, tells it. Now a couple weeks ago, the clearest and most succinct statement of the gospel, I passed on to you what was most important.
25:02
If he's got three points and the resurrection's one of them, don't skip that one. Don't let culture tell you that it's not true. Our hope lies in the resurrection. You can stand firm on the Gospel of because Christ is risen. I just thought it was such a good point, wanted to make it again Carl, that's it, that's awesome.
25:21
If you are a believer here, you're standing on the Gospel, you're not standing on what you do, it's not a morality thing about how you live being good enough or not good enough. None of us are good enough. It has to be on the fact that Christ died for your sins. It has to be. You can stand on the gospel of good news because Christ is risen.
25:41
So the next thing that in Carl's passage went on, it said, this is the list of the reliable people who can authenticate the message. Peter, the twelve, five hundred followers, most of them still alive at this writing. It only been like twenty years, twenty four at the most since the actual crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He appeared to James and all of the of the apostles and I put the small A because it was all of those 500 or all of those that were with him at his ascension, he sent out with that great commission. So, the sent ones were still around and Paul saying, ask em.
26:17
Ask them. Ask any one of them. Ask Thomas who put his hand in his side. Ask them. I saw him myself and I know that this happened.
26:24
There are lots of people that can verify this message, so he starts off with, this is the gospel and the resurrection part I know is true, and then we get into the today. That's the argument from his logical side. I love Paul's legal logical mind where he thinks about things and he comes up with this way of getting you to see what he's talking about. He starts off that way today. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead by all of those people, over 500 people that saw him and knew it.
26:56
If Christ is preached or proclaimed as being raised from the dead and that it's an interesting verb form there that he has been raised. It's a divine passive meaning God raised him up and he raised him up once and it has effects that go into eternity future. That one time event, God raising him up has everlasting effects forever. You don't necessarily see that in English? If Christ is proclaimed as having been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
27:30
Now, in Corinthians, we've seen that there are divisions of plenty, there's sin that's rampant, and he's saying, if you think that Christ wasn't raised, I mean if you think that nobody is gonna be raised, how is it that you're trusting in the fact that Christ was? If there's no resurrection, there's no resurrection. If you say that there's no resurrection, then Christ was not even raised. That's the next verse actually. I do want to come back to this Psalm because Paul is preaching to people that he had ministered to and he knew for eighteen months he was with him and he saw the Holy Spirit moving.
28:04
He saw the church growing. He saw people coming to Christ and being saved and he knew that they were but they were starting to be led astray by some of these powerful influencers that said, no, no, no, no, no. The resurrection doesn't really matter. As long as the spirit of Jesus rises in your heart, that's all it no. It really matters, and Paul's trying to stop this.
28:26
And he says, some of you how can some of you say? He is bolstering the masses. He's bolstering everybody else to say, that's not you don't have to put up with that. You need to believe what you believe. These are the three points.
28:38
Christ died for sins, buried because he was dead, raised again because oh, where's the song, Carl? What's that last song? You're doing my job for me. This living, he loved me. Dying, he saved me.
28:54
Buried, he carried my sins far away, but rising, he justified me. He made me right before God. That is the place where God imputed Christ's righteousness in the resurrection. We're going from there. Some of you say that there's no resurrection of the dead, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
29:16
Does that make sense? Very simple argument, ad hominem argument. But he starts this if then logic, ad hoc. If then logic in verses 14 through 19. If there is no resurrection, underline, then not even Christ is raised.
29:36
I wanna say something right here. I wrote this down. Renzy saw my notes before and he said, did you really write something up there? Yes. If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his when he jumped.
29:49
Have you all ever heard that before? No? No? Okay. I've heard it my whole life.
29:55
I don't know why you all haven't heard it before. If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his rope when he jumped. Does a bullfrog bump his rope when he jumps? Have you ever seen a bullfrog jump? Yes, he does.
30:07
So the if there, it's a double negative, I know. Anyway, it's a double negative in Greek that says, this is contrary to reality but for the sake of argument, I'm putting it forth. We all know bullfrogs do not have wings but if they did, they would not bump their rump. They would softly land. If there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
30:31
He's saying, this is contrary to reality, but if I'm gonna go with you with your argument, these are the consequences from that. If there's no resurrection, not even Christ is raised. And then the next verse, If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. Why is it church? Why do we come together if Christ has not been raised?
30:57
If Christ has not been raised, our preaching, and Paul was talking about he himself, Peter, James, all of the apostles, everybody that was proclaiming, every new Christian that felt what it was like to receive forgiveness from sin was proclaiming this, and he's saying that if Christ has not been raised, then that preaching, all that proclamation is completely worthless. And your faith is worthless because that's what we're saying it's based on. Your faith in this that Christ died for your sin, that's what we're basing it on. So if Christ is not raised, our preaching is worthless, and your faith is worthless. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith is in vain.
31:43
We are even found to be misrepresenting God, which is a very very serious offense in Judaism. We're even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ. We have said it, and we're gonna keep saying it, but we'll be found to be misrepresenting God whom he did not raise if it's true that the dead are not raised. Does that make any sense to you? It's almost like the princess bride scene whereas if I choose the one in front of you, you know what I'm talking about?
32:15
It sounds like but it makes perfect sense if you slow down and look at it. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, whom he didn't raise if it's true that the dead are not raised. So what do we get on our little list here, our depressing little list? God did not raise Christ, then we're all liars because we're presenting it that he has, and he was saying it for people who had seen it with their eyes, with their physical senses, not just reading it in the Bible, but Jesus said more blessed. Thank you, Thomas.
32:45
When he put his hands in his side, you, because you are believe because you've seen it are blessed, but for those who have not seen, we're reading it. We're trusting in what the prophets and the apostles, the scriptures say. He says, even more blessed are we. So, God did not raise Christ. We're all liars.
33:07
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. I didn't mess up. He said this out again. It's exactly the same as he said it before. If a bullfrog wings, he wouldn't bump his rope when he jumped.
33:17
It's contrary to reality, but for the sake of argument, he says it again. If the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile. Now before he said vain, and that means worthless, now futile, it's hopeless, absolutely hopeless, and you are still in your sins. Oh, that's a problem.
33:42
A lot of people have that very dramatic feeling of forgiveness at the beginning of their relationship with Christ. If they then go back into sin or disbelief or doubt, that feeling kinda dies away. You stop being able to hear the Holy Spirit a bit when sin gets in the way and it kinda dies away. But if he says, you never were even out of your sins. All the load of your sin comes back onto you at one time if you really believe that Christ was not raised.
34:14
That's where the power is. Your faith is worthless, it is hopeless, and you're still in your sins just like everybody else. And it was commonly agreed upon that we did need to be forgiven of sin. Actually, at this time, it was commonly agreed that the soul lasted forever, that it was an immortal soul, but they didn't really believe in the body being resurrected, and that's what their culture was telling them that, yeah, the soul yeah, sure, everybody knows the soul lives forever, but the bodily resurrection of Christ was very, very difficult concept. So trimming the sails to culture, they decided what we would do.
34:53
No, that didn't really happen, but he did die for good reason. He was a good guy. He was a great teacher, all that, but no way. That's that's unthinkable. Couldn't really do that.
35:03
They didn't like the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Paul goes from there. If Christ has not raised, your faith is futile and you're still in your sins, then those who have already fallen asleep in Christ have perished. So it's bad enough that he says that you're still in your sins, but your mama and your grandmama, the ones who heard, your friends, your friends who might have been murdered, persecuted, and killed, those who died in Christ and we took comfort in that at their funeral, then they're dead, perished, gone. There's no hope for them if Christ is not raised.
35:43
He hangs that then on the if Christ has not been raised, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. That's a tough one. Because we all want to know. We all all want to feel that comfort. Is that me, Renzi?
35:58
Make a noise? So, if Christ is not raised, you're still in your sins and your loved ones have perished and I'm talking in the eternal sense. They're just not gone in their bodily form, they're gone. Our hope is in this life only. That's the next verse.
36:19
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, and some people would say, well, Christ's teachings are great, and and it's wonderful. If you live by his teachings, you'll live a moral life and you'll be better off in this world, and that's good. So we should act according to his principles, and we'll live a better life, and I kinda agree with that. But if you think about it like this, you remember Paul's list of the shipwrecks and snake bit and beat up in this town, lowered over a wall? He was doing all of that for Christ.
36:50
We've been in some sticky situations. Y'all have been in some sticky situations. You've been in some unpopular situations, I'm sure, where the things that you were saying tick people off, and it was an uncomfortable position to be in Christ. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, this life is hard, then we are of all people most to be pitied because what we're saying is true and what we're taking our hope in is a myth. It's an illusion.
37:17
It's not out there. If that's the case, he'll come back later and say, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. That's later on. I'm not getting to that point. If in Christ, we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
37:36
Because what we're living our lives for is a lie. Paul says, contrary to reality. If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his rope when he jumped. This is where it comes in, but, I love it when it just turns around like that, but, this very very strong disjunctive, but, first Corinthians 15 says, But in fact, now Christ has been raised from the dead, he makes it very apparent that this was a one time act in real time history for the real man, Jesus Christ, he has been raised from the dead, that's that point where it goes forward into eternity future. From this point, it makes a difference.
38:19
He's the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. The first fruits concept is that of giving the offering from the harvest, the very first sheath that was to come in of wheat, you were to offer it back, and it was a guarantee of the rest of the harvest, and the rest of the harvest was coming in, but that first one, and that's what he's saying that Jesus was, he is the first one back from those who have fallen asleep, and falling asleep even points to the fact that this, when we have death on this side, he calls it falling asleep because he points towards a resurrection when we will awake. Those who have fallen asleep will awake, they will wake back up. So verse 20 turns things completely upside down. It's like, yeah, if our hope is in this life only, we're most pity to be indeed, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep turns it upside down and says this.
39:18
I want you to look at this, and I know it's tedious, but think about this, I'm gonna go through the verse and then I'll go through the opposite of that. Sometimes when you see it in a verse and it's negative and it's kind of garbled, I want you to turn around and see the positive in it. So we're gonna read these one at a time. If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain, but since Christ has been raised, our preaching is not in vain, And your faith is vain, but since Christ has been raised, then your faith, people, is not in vain. If Christ has not been raised, we're found to be misrepresenting God.
39:50
We are false witnesses. We, me, Carl, Paul, Peter, all those guys, the 500 of them. Because we testified of God that He raised Christ. But since Christ has been raised, the apostles are not false witnesses about the work of God. Verse 17, If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins, but since Christ has been raised, we're not still in our sins.
40:13
If Christ has not been raised, then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished, but since he has, those have not perished. Those who are in Christ have not perished, but they have eternal life. If Christ hasn't been raised, if Christ oh, it's the if and since, sorry, if Christ has not been raised, but since Christ has, because in fact, I know it to be true, if Christ has not been raised, then we of all men are most to be pitied, but since Christ has been raised, then we are not to be pitied. In fact, we have an enviable position for everybody else who still lives life in peril. It's something that we have that we can extend to them, and it will help them forever, literally forever.
40:59
Since Christ has been raised, preaching that is powerful. Not preaching human intelligence, but preaching that Christ has been raised. Preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ has power. Have you all seen it? Have you felt it?
41:14
Do you know it? I've seen it in different places, and I don't even know how it works. That's what throws me off. I don't know how that works. It seems like that can't be the answer to everything.
41:23
It's the answer to everything. If you think about it and you go, what what does that matter? I I hear somebody that says, well, I was kinda saved just by reading the Bible alone, and I think, wow, that's awesome. I know that it's God's word. I know that it's powerful.
41:37
It's the power unto salvation for all who believe. That's great. I heard Bob Wells in the second service one day. I heard somebody tell him that I got saved just by reading the Bible. He goes, what part?
41:47
I want to know exactly what part. He's like, I want a test subject on this. I want to know exactly who it was that which which part of the Bible that it was and that simple succinct statement, the gospel, Christ died for sin, buried, resurrected, that's it. Since Christ has been raised, your faith, Christian, is well founded no matter what your culture says. This Bible says this is true, we trust and believe this, You can't worry about what the culture says.
42:21
You can love them. You can pray for them. You can proclaim it as truth. Since God did raise Christ, we proclaim that truth. Since Christ is raised, believer, your faith is effective, your faith is forgive that you are forgiven, and those who are asleep in Jesus are alive.
42:39
And since our hope extends into eternity, we are most truly blessed. I'm gonna end with Carl's stuff. Well, message of the cross. I know that if you're sitting in here and you're not a believer, you might just happen in today. You might hear this and go, yeah, I agree with you.
42:56
That doesn't sound like that could be the answer to every problem, preacher, but it is and I know how it sounds. It sounds like foolishness to those who are perishing but that's why Paul wrote this whole letter. I'm convinced that he wrote that in first Corinthians one, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, to us who are being saved, it's the power of God, and as we move further and further in, this chapter 15 shines that light back over the whole thing. Y'all have gotten off in a lot of different ways, and then he says, theologically though, this is the biggest problem that you have. When you deny the power of God through his resurrection to change people's lives, you've given away the farm.
43:36
You've given away everything at that point. Clearest and most distinct statement. I am passing on to you right now. That which is most important to me and what was passed on to me. That Christ died for our sins.
43:51
Just as the scripture said, he was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture said, you can stand firm on the gospel Christian because Christ is risen. For those of you who not believe, this is it. Christ dead, buried, resurrected. He will do the work. He's already done the work.
44:14
It's not about morals. It's not about what you do. It's about believing this and putting your trust in him. So, amen. Band, would y'all come on up?
44:25
I don't even know what time it is today. That's good. Stand with us if you would and we're going to sing because he lives. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. I actually want to read the words to my tribute to the song that she led in today.
44:38
How can I say thanks for the things that you've done for me, God? Things so undeserved, yet you gave to prove your love for me, the voices of a million angels could not express express my gratitude. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it all to thee. To God be the glory for the things that he has done. He raised Christ from the dead.
44:58
With his power, he saved
44:59
Speaker 3us. Yep.
45:04
Speaker 2God
47:29
Speaker 1Amen. Now, praise be to God. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, we live with great expectation and we have a priceless and incorruptible inheritance. An inheritance that's kept in heaven for you.
47:45
Amen. So, I have First Corinthians fifteen twelve through 28. Actually, the longer the week went on, the more ministry that happened, the more I thought, you know what? This is a simpler message than that and I scaled it back. So, it's fifteen twelve through 20 is what we're going to go through today and I divided up the rest of chapter 15 and really bite sized little chunks.
48:08
So, we don't we don't get what we had last week which was twenty five minutes over in the first service and just a few over in here but last week, we discussed the idea of orderly worship and having people speak in turn and given an encouragement, something that builds up the church or consolation. Does anybody here, male or female, have anything today, a short word that you'd like to stand and just share? An encouraging word. Anybody? Thought I'd give you the opportunity.
48:39
It says we can do that. Alright. Alright. If not, it says two or three and so if if if one or two of you want to go, I want to be third, alright? There you go.
48:52
Becky Murphy, would you please? Fantastic. Thank you very much. I just saw Emiliano walking down the hall. Emiliano was a Spanish speaker about this tall, and he walked down and he was looking at the pictures up there and he said, Es mi amigo Martin.
49:15
He was pointing at your picture. He said, it's my friend Martin. So, that that's a testament to Iwana right there. Crossing language barriers. Two weeks ago, Carl preached a straight up gospel and it was a very clear message.
49:27
I went to firstbjackson.org and listened to it and it was just a great three point sermon about what's important and so, I'm going to go back and refer to that today but last week was out of sequence. Y'all know that. We had skipped a week and so I'm building off of of Carl's sermon for a couple weeks ago. It's just the plain truth of Christ's resurrection and Paul states it very simply and Carl did a wonderful job of saying, this is the most succinct presentation of the gospel. It's one of the few where everything's included in one passage.
49:59
So, Christ died for our sins was his first point. Just as the scripture said, he got that from first Corinthians fifteen three. It's right there in the verse. I love it when preaching comes directly out of what it says. It doesn't bow to the winds of culture or try to figure things out and present it in some smart sounding way.
50:17
This is what it says. Christ died for our sins just as the scripture said. Remember, that he was writing to the church that he founded, that he had been with them for eighteen months. He knew that they were already believers but he also knew division had crept in and other things, sin had crept in and they were having a hard time just focusing on the major things. They were majoring on minors instead of majors.
50:41
So, Christ died for our sins. First point. Second point was he was buried and he chose this from one of the gospels that Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a long sheet, clean linen cloth, placed it in his own new tomb which had been carved out of the rock and then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. He was buried. You don't bury living men.
50:58
You don't bury people who have swooned. You don't bury somebody unless they're dead. Crucified means he was dead. Crucified, dead, buried, and then the third point was and he was raised, resurrected from the dead on the third day and he gets that where? From the next verse.
51:16
He was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture said, first Corinthians fifteen four. So, in those two verses, he hits Christianity right at its absolute bedrock. Christ died for sin. Sacrificial, vicarious, atonement. He was dead and buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day.
51:34
So, that's the message of the cross right there and I've brought this slide back week after week after week. We keep seeing it because it's still true. He starts with this. He starts off first Corinthians in the first chapter with this. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved, it's the power of God.
51:57
Have you experienced that in your own life? Yes. Amen. Me too. I love it but does it sound foolish to say it to somebody else in our culture?
52:06
Yes. We've experienced that too and I understand that it sounds foolish but it is the power of God. That's the truth of the matter. So, the clearest thing, I passed on to you. Paul says, what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.
52:20
He recognizes that he didn't make it up. He recognizes the Corinthians didn't make it up. It wasn't just for them, it's for everybody. I passed on to you what was most important to me that Christ died for our sin just as the scripture said. He balances it all on the great foundation of the prophets and apostles, the Old Testament and he was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture said.
52:43
That's it. You can stand firm on the gospel because Christ is risen. Now, that's Carl's sermon from two weeks ago but that is what leads into this sermon. In the same passage that that Carl covered, it it says that Paul mentions those who had seen the risen Christ, bodily, resurrected Christ. Peter, the twelve, five hundred followers, most still alive at the time of this writing.
53:11
It had only been twenty years, maybe twenty four at the most years since the actual crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The historical happening of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Twenty, twenty four years. Do you all remember what happened in 1995? Yes, we do remember what happened in 1995.
53:29
Twenty years ago, right? If you had seen somebody who had been raised from the dead, put your hand in his side, received teaching from him, would you remember it? Oh my goodness, yes. He also appeared to James and all of the ones that he sent out at the Ascension when he gave the great commission. All of those guys had seen him and he had appeared to Paul himself as one untimely born.
53:53
He had he had appeared to Paul himself. So, Paul knew that this was a reliable message. He presents it as absolute fact in the in the passage that Carl was preaching and then, we get to this. First Corinthians fifteen twelve and we're only going to go through 20 today but let's start right there. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
54:21
So he's saying that the whole thing that when I presented it to you, when I was there a couple, you know, years ago for two years, eighteen months. When I was there and I proclaimed it to you and then Apollos is there and he's proclaiming it to you and then all these other guys have been there and I'm giving you the list of people that you can go see. People saw this. They're most of em are still alive. You can still ask them, if price is proclaimed by all of those people as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there's no resurrection of the dead?
54:51
That's a simple argument. It goes on, the sum though I think is really important. The Psalm there, he's saying that I know not all of you are going for this hogwash. I know that a lot of you are conscientious Christians that take your faith very seriously and you have placed it in a risen Christ and you know because he lives, I can face tomorrow. You know that Jesus has been raised because you know it.
55:17
He says, but there are plenty of people out there that are trying to get you to change your mind. If anybody's preaching to you that there's no resurrection of the dead, Next verse says, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. He's saying, what they're presenting and you're arguing with it based on your culture. Now, Greek culture believed in the immortal soul but they did not believe in resurrection. That they thought that the soul was where it was at, that the body didn't really matter once it was gone.
55:50
It was gone. There's nothing there. The soul would continue on but not the body and resurrection was something that was completely unthinkable. In our modern time or postmodern now but in the modern times, there have been a couple of people who've been proponents of exactly this. For one of em, probably most influential theologian of the twentieth century was Rudolf Bultmann.
56:11
Has anybody heard of him before? Rudolf Bultmann. He was a German from the Tubingen School and he presented that it didn't really matter. Let me read what he said actually. Let me see.
56:25
He was one of the founders of form criticism, primary exponent of demythology mythologicalization. He wanted to demyth the Bible. He didn't believe that anything that seemed supernatural mattered. The process of distinguishing the essence of the Christian message from its ancient mythical trappings. Bultman attempted to reconcile Christian teaching with the modern philosophy of existentialism and emphasize that each person experiences judgement not in the afterlife or during some future cataclysmic event but in each moment and he or she chooses to reject or accept the call of God in their human heart.
57:03
He says that it doesn't matter if Jesus was raised, resurrected. All that it matters is that he rises in your heart. Paul disagrees with him very, very, very strongly. He believed that you could say, Christ is lord but have nothing to do with any miraculous anything. In fact, about the resurrection, he says, and historical fact which involves resurrection from the dead, it is utterly inconceivable it was something that happened to the disciples who came to believe that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead.
57:37
That's all, that's a big group of people to come to believe to something. Paul is saying, no, this is a real thing and you can ask but I'll go with you on your logic and so that's where he starts right here that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ. You can't have it both ways. If there's no resurrection, no resurrection. Not even Christ has been raised and the way he states this in Greek is a double negative which emphasizes a couple things but it also shows that it's contrary to reality.
58:05
The construction grammatically on this says that it's contrary to reality. I'm going to use an example that might or might not understand but if a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his rump when he jumped. Have you all ever heard that before? If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his rump when he jumped. Now, does a bullfrog have wings?
58:26
No. Does he bump his rump when he jumps? Yes. But if a bullfrog did have wings, then he wouldn't. It's contrary to reality.
58:35
Paul is using the same kind of logic here. If there is no resurrection from the dead, that's contrary to reality because I know that there is. If there's no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ is raised. He wouldn't bump his butt when he jumped, okay? Rump, sorry.
58:50
If then, logic is what he presents. So, he's got an if and a then and if and a then and he does it multiple times throughout this passage and that's the whole passage today. If there is no resurrection, not even Christ is raised. He goes on to say, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. So, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is worthless.
59:19
When he says in vain, it means it's worth nothing. It's just talk. It means nothing at all because our proclamation of what Christ has done is not true if he's not been raised and your faith is worthless. It's vain. It means nothing.
59:37
That's a tough one but it follows the logic. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Your faith is in vain. And we and he's talking about himself and everyone else who has proclaimed including those 500 guys including Peter and James and he didn't mention the women because they were not legal witnesses at the time. There were lots of women that saw Jesus too.
1:00:02
He mentions the guys. All of us who have presented Jesus as the Christ, as in Acts, it said daily and in every house are teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, then all of us, we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testify about God that he raised Jesus Christ whom he did not raise if indeed it is true that the dead are not raised. Does that make sense? It sounds a little bit like one of those arguments I mentioned The Princess Bride. Have you all ever seen that movie?
1:00:30
The Princess Bride. I do not think I can choose the wine in front of you. It's that thing, know, it sounds like it but it makes sense if you slow it down and think about it. No. We testified that God had raised Christ whom if there's no resurrection from the dead, he didn't do.
1:00:44
If it's true that they're not raised. It's just, it sounds like a circular argument but he's right. He's presenting something that is contrary to reality but he's listing the things that go along with it. This is this then list up here is a depressing list. Not even Christ is raised.
1:01:00
Our preaching's worthless. Your faith is worthless. We're all liars and it gets worse. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. He actually says that again.
1:01:10
I didn't make a mistake. That's what he says in chapter in verse 16 and I bring it back up here and the not raised. He said it the the first time and the second time it means the same thing. It's listed exactly the same way. That raised there is a certain aspect of verb that means that it's something that happened one time in the past that has continuing effect.
1:01:34
We talked about this last week. It happened once and has continuing effect into all eternity future. In this case, it's negative. If the dead are conditional, if the dead is not raised, then, not even Christ has been raised. He says it again, the dead are not raised and not even Christ is raised.
1:01:49
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile. Now, before he said vain, which means worthless, futile means, it's hopeless. Not only is it worthless, it's hopeless and you're still in your sins. Oh my goodness. Take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ and everyone is still in their sins.
1:02:12
Christianity is based on the vicarious atonement of Jesus for those who put their trust in that atonement. You're still in your sins if Christ has not been raised from the dead. You can't have it both ways. He says to the Corinthians, now knowing that all the problems that had crept in, all the unity problems they were having, the division they were having, the powerful leaders, sin for crying out loud. All of those things were happening.
1:02:40
Paul says, because of this, this one thing that they were willing to give away. When Bulltman says, yeah, didn't really happen. The historic, let me see another place here. If he says that the Bullman asserts that biblical myths such as the three level universe, heaven, earth, and hell, angels, Satan, incarnation, resurrection, ascension, second coming, judgement, and all miracles require an an existential interpretation to be meaningful for modern man. That that didn't really happen.
1:03:14
That's what he presents and he's presenting it all because the culture was right there. It has to be about things we can see, feel, touch. It has to be these things that we can experience for ourselves objectively. He's arguing that Eternal life to Bulletman was not life after death but it was interpreted as a quality of life here and now. Now, the the problem with that is that that's kind of true.
1:03:40
We can experience Christ in his risen state in our human bodies right now on this Earth. If Christ is not raised, then your faith is futile, empty, hopeless. You're still in your sins. Everybody agreed that all souls were in peril. Some religions said you had to do certain things a certain way.
1:04:02
Some said you had to just hope for the best but do things the right way, give, whatever, works was what all the other ones were raised on but Christianity was not. Christianity said, Christ dead for our sins, crucified for our sins, buried, and resurrected. That's what Christianity claims and that's where it is. That those sins have been nailed to that cross and his rising is what justifies us and allows us to walk forward. If that's not true, then, we're still in our sins.
1:04:37
Is that a hopeless thought? That's a hopeless thought. And then he goes bad. I mean, it goes even beyond we still in our sins. Then, we have to think about all of those who have gone on before us, our dear mothers, brothers, sisters, those who have died in accidents, and whatnot that we knew they were Christians but they're dead.
1:04:56
He says, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ, those who have died, we would say passed on. Those who have passed on in Christ, they have perished. Same word in John three sixteen says, God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believed on him should not this die. Eternal death forever. Not perish but he says, if Christ has not been raised, then, everyone who's gone on before you Kaput.
1:05:24
No promises, no comfort there, dead, perished, eternally. And then the next verse is, but if in Christ, we have hope in this life only, We are of all people most to be pitied. So, Paul, the apostle, y'all remember his list? He's been shipwrecked, snake bit, all of the different things that he went through for the sake of the gospel and spreading this word that Christ was died was crucified for our sins, dead, buried, and resurrected. That's the message that Paul lived to give and he went through horrible, horrible stuff to spread that message.
1:06:02
Have you all gone through it? I've been through it. Have you been ridiculed? Yes, we've all been ridiculed. If we really believe in and proclaim it and present it, it happens.
1:06:10
He's saying, in fact, he will say it outright in a few more verses. He'll say that if this isn't true, then, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. This is all there is. Live however you want to live. Don't make any difference at all.
1:06:24
If in Christ, we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Now, so far that's depressing but there's a big but right here but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. So, in fact means, but now, we, I'm going to tell you just like I told you a few minutes ago. I saw it and know it and all these guys saw it and know it and this is the truth of the gospel.
1:06:56
Christ died for our sins. He was buried and he was resurrected. Have you all experienced? I I I'm a preacher. Y'all know that.
1:07:06
I I I am constantly amazed by this fact that that works. That Christ being crucified and buried, really dead, and being raised and that truth right there, the gospel is what can give us hope. It's the truth that that is the case. I don't know how God did it beyond that. That's all that he's given us that he does but have you seen it take over somebody's life?
1:07:31
I have. It took mine over just like that. I can say with Paul, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. I experience in the same way Bulletman was talking about but it is because of the fact that Paul's talking about. This verse, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1:07:48
This verse right here, it turns everything upside down. Everything that he's just been arguing in their logic, it turns it all upside down. If there's no resurrection, not even Christ is raised. Our preaching is worthless. Your faith is worthless.
1:08:01
We're all liars. Not even Christ is raised. Ugh. Your faith is futile, hopeless. You're still in your sins.
1:08:07
Your loved ones are gone forever. Nothing you can do about it. We're most to be pitied indeed. That's horrible but this verse turns that upside down completely. In fact, look at this.
1:08:18
I'm going to read em out. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain but since Christ has been raised, this is what he's saying. Since Christ has been raised, our preaching is not in vain. Your faith is not in vain. If Christ has not been raised, we're found to be misrepresenting God.
1:08:36
We're all false witnesses and liars but since Christ has been raised, the apostles are not false witnesses about the work of God. He still changes lives and he does it through this very simple thing that he did. If Christ has not been raised and those who have fallen asleep have perished but since Christ has been raised, the dead in Christ have not perished. They are living an eternal life in Christ and if Christ has not been raised, we are all of all men most to be pitied but since Christ has been raised, we are not to be pitied. We have a very enviable position as children of the king lasting into eternity future in his hand.
1:09:17
That is an enviable position because all of us began life in peril. Everyone of us. All of us have sinned. So, it goes from an if then logic to a sense then logic and since Christ has been raised, preaching is actually powerful. Have you seen it?
1:09:35
Just proclaiming what it is. I don't know how it is. I just know that it is and proclaiming that simple message and having people put their faith in it. Your faith is well founded since Christ has been raised. Your faith is well founded and we proclaim that truth not even understanding it completely.
1:09:56
We proclaim it. God did raise Christ so we proclaim that. Christ is raised, believer, so your faith is effective. It's not hopeless. It's effective.
1:10:06
It's not useless, and you are forgiven and those who are asleep in Jesus are alive and our hope extends to into eternity. So, we are truly blessed. Now, that gets us back to the message of the cross. That all sounds like hogwash. It might sound like a circular argument argument to some of you and most of us haven't been born in the last century or so.
1:10:32
Would look at that and think as moderns, one thing and as postmoderns, we think nothing matters. Meta narrative doesn't exist at all. Foolishness to those who are perishing but those of us who have experienced it know that it is the power of God to change life. That's it. So, I'm going to do it again.
1:10:53
I'm going to pass it along to you just like I heard it from Paul. What's most important? What's been passed on to me? Christ died for our sins just as the scripture said, he was buried. He was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture said, you can stand firm on the gospel because Christ is risen.
1:11:11
Next week, we're going to go into the next few verses and it's going to be another kind of an argument for the resurrection. It'll get into the bodily resurrection. It might even get into, it will get into those who are baptized for the dead. So, it will come up against the culture that we live in. Existentialism is the culture that we have lived in for a long long time and the risen Christ is something that seems like a myth and is presented as foolishness but it really does work.
1:11:42
I think that's it. Judy, would you come on up? And we're going to sing. Actually, we're going to sing because he lives, aren't we? Because he lives.
1:11:51
Would you stand with me and sing that? And this is a song of triumph because Christ lives, we can face tomorrow. So, Scott, would you come up and let's sing this one like we mean it.
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