The Resurrection Makes All the Difference
First B Jackson
2015-03-01

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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This morning, I'm glad that the girls, Christine and Laura and Grace are here to sing with us. Would you stand and join us as we sing? Amen. God, thank you for your great name. It's in your name that we gather this morning, lord and we look out to you and I I've been impressed this week that every time that anybody in scripture reaches out to you in faith, you answer that call.

So, God, thank you that you do that and we lift your name up. In Jesus name, amen. Y'all can have a seat and I've got a few announcements before we get back in the more praise and worship. Fill this up baby bottle campaign. I keep Brent mentioning this.

This is kind of the start of this and you can take one of these baby bottles which they're sitting right out there and we will refill them. They're not just sitting out there and nobody's gotten any. There are other folks that have gotten these already but they're sitting out there on the back table just under the Monday night poster and if you would, take those and fill em up with change or with bills or with big bills or with checks or whatever you would like and that will help Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center to gain so that they can help women who are in either crisis pregnancies or sometimes it's not a crisis pregnancy, but that's what our main focus is. And this campaign last year, they raised $10,000 doing this, and the goal for this year is 20,000. So I'm saying that if one of y'all picked one up last year, would two of you do it this year?

Does that make sense? We're trying to double our efforts on that. There's a family mission trip going to Guatemala right now. There's one family that's going on that mission trip, but if you wanna go and you have just been kind of shy about saying so, you feel like you ought to go, would you please come and see me afterwards? Brian McCooey and Casey McCooey would also answer questions that you have but if you'll see me, then, I'll be able to speak to it because I've been there before.

The World Day of Prayer, this used to be called Women's World Day of Prayer. The World Day of Prayer is this Friday, March 6. It's at twelve noon. First B is hosting it. So, it will be in this room right here.

We will have ladies from all the different churches in Jackson hopefully coming. Tell em about it. Please, at twelve noon, if you can be here, Friday, March 6, it'll be a prayer event here at First B and we're hosting. So, please know that and come to it. Ridge Life, did anybody do this last week?

I know it was a very strange announcement from a pastor saying, hey, go to this other church. Did anybody go? No? Do I have to announce it again? No, I'm just kidding.

It's a great service. It's a great service. Actually, after I sat down, I had somebody say, why don't you just tell him to come here? They do come here. They do come here and they do fellowship but we are a bigger body of Christ than just any one church here in Jackson.

So, the rising tide right now is pastors getting together and loving one another. So, Jeremiah Fike is the guy that's the pastor of this church meets at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse Sunday at six. You probably won't hear me mention it again but I do want to say they are doing what they feel motivated to do by God. They have seven people that have moved here specifically with the purpose of starting a church and now they have lots of Christian friends that they didn't know that they would have but if you want to, 6PM, Sunday, Old Wilson Schoolhouse. Every Monday night at 06:15, we have meal music and a message.

Carl is going through Matthew. He's going to be talking about the triumphal entry of Jesus and healing of blind men this week. So, if you want to be there tomorrow night, 06:15 and I have one more announcement. De Musica. Jackson.

Okay? Comedor in the fellowship hall. Alright. Did you all get that? Good.

Every Friday at seven. Good. Would you stand up and greet one another and we will bring you back together with a few more songs. So, this morning, I've got a, how many of y'all wrestled? Oh, sorry.

Children's church. This might be for the kids too right here. You can answer this question. Raise your hand as you're leaving. How many of y'all have wrestled with pigs?

Alright. Good. That's a silly question for those of you who are not from here but how many of you have done some insane cultural festival somewhere? Okay. Eating mud bugs down in New Orleans, anything like that?

Alright. In actually, before we start anything else, I've got in Costa Rica, the thing that they do is called Festejos Popularis. It's festival popular festival. Some of y'all been there. In Zapote, Costa Rica every year, they get together right around Christmas for fifteen days.

It's after Christmas up through New Years and for fifteen days starting the day after Christmas and they get together different times during the day. It's kind of during a fair. There's a big fairgrounds. They have rides for the kids and all that sort of stuff but there is a Redondel which is the round bullfighting ring And in Costa Rica, it's not legal to kill the bull like a bullfight normally in the old fashioned Spain would kill the bull or Mexico or wherever. So they don't do that anymore.

They do what they call improvised bullfighting. They don't use professional bullfighters that know what they're doing, they use toreros improvisados. Improvised bullfighters. Improvisational laughter, like the laugh staff comic, that's hard, that's bad, that's tough. But improvisational bullfighting is really tough.

You don't know what you're doing. They allow a 175 people at a time, and one bull comes out and runs them out of the ring, runs around the ring with a 175 people. And you can jump over a little wall and get away from them, but the fun is being in there with them. Right? And this is old school.

We actually have a VHS this morning. So is it going to play? Let's see. VHSs were always that way. Blue screen of death.

Okay. Here it is. That is a bull in the middle right there. And those are the 175 crazy people. Do you see him going out to smack the bull?

And then getting smacked by the bull? We're only going to do this for a couple of minutes but this is this is what they call a fun. See the improvised bullfighter there With the cape? I'll let you worry about him a minute. He's alright though.

Instant replay New Year's Eve two thousand three Yes. Idiocy. Absolute idiocy. Idiocy. Yeah.

Oh, never have I been more embarrassed. Thank you, Renzy, for hooking up a VHS to the system just for that. Just for that. So I've wrestled pigs too. I've done that here, and it's it's I don't know.

I'm a literalist in a lot of ways. I like language. Y'all know that because we go through it every single week but there's something in here that reminded me of that and so I brought it brought it out. It's been sitting on my shelf for a long time. First Corinthians fifteen thirty through 34 is Paul continuing this argument that the resurrection is really, really, really important.

I actually slowed this down and we've had it now for like six weeks in a row. We've been going through how Christ died for sins. That's why he died. A substitutionary atonement. He had no sin but he died to pay the penalty for sin.

He was buried because he was dead. And he was in the tomb and on the third day, he rose again and that Paul says makes all the difference. He grounds absolutely all of his preaching everywhere he goes on that very fact. His life before as a Pharisee, as a Pharisaical Jew, changed utterly when he saw the risen son of God. The resurrected Christ.

That makes all the difference for Paul and so he makes this argument in first Corinthians 15 from verse one all the way through to the very end. Now, we're going to go 30 to 34 right now and then fifty seven fifty eight is the those are the last two verses of this chapter but honestly, if we ended it at 34, it's just such a downer that I wanted to do this. Now, Imma read it twice before we get going and then we'll go through a little at a time. First Corinthians fifteen thirty through 34, why am I in peril every hour? I protest, brethren.

By my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus, our lord, I die every day. What do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus or San Jose, Zapote, Costa Rica. If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.

Come to your right mind and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God and I say this to your shame. The essay this to your shame part is the but let's go through a little time. I said I was going read it twice. Why am I in peril?

You know what? I'll read it in a different version this time and why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? Actually, that's a better translation. Why do we because it's it is plural. Why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?

I affirm by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus, our lord. I die daily. If in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived.

The evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness and do not sin. For some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. So, I've read it twice.

You know where we're going but I wanna examine it kind of one verse at a time like we do going through. I think that this is a sermon that absolutely preaches itself. It has some very very good points that are straight from the text and rather than trying to get the context of this one, we already know it. We've had it for six weeks. We've been going through this and knowing that the ground is the resurrection of Christ.

That's what he's talking about and when he asked the question right here, why is it that I'm in peril every hour? Why do we put ourselves in peril or in danger all the time. Why is this the normal course of life? In second Corinthians, Paul will give him the list of things that he's been through for the sake of the gospel. Y'all remember it?

Shipwrecked three times. Snake bit. Twice. He keeps on and he list all of the things that he's endured for the gospel. Lower down over a wall, beaten, multiple times.

Why is it that he puts himself out there? Well, he's already answered that question up earlier. He said, Christ died. According to the scriptures, Christ died. For my sin.

And for your sin, and I will keep on telling that no matter what peril it puts me in. Why am I in peril every hour? Literally, why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour, all the time? The I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus, our lord, I die every day. The protest right there, this is a revised standard version.

It's not one I normally use and I protest that's that's a decent translation. The word right there is one little particle and that particle nay like that, that mean nay like nay. It means to affirm or to swear. It's funny the links to which people will go not to say, I swear in the scripture because if it says, I swear and that's what he's saying. He's making a swear based on the pride that he has in them in Christ Jesus.

He's saying still, I know you're sinful. Remember the slide from last week, 70 something sins? He's mentioned in Corinthians. He said, I know you're Christians. I already know it.

I have pride in you before God because you converted. You know Jesus. You know him and I'm proud of that and the I swanny. Have you all ever heard that that slang, that term? I don't recommend looking things up on urban dictionary.

Usually, they're foul. But I will I will find a definition if I can somewhere. Aswanee is what my mother always said when I was little when she meant I swear. It's a euphemism for I swear. It is putting your foot down like this and saying, I swanee.

Does that make sense? It's a southern hospitality vernacular phrase used for, I swear. God bless their hearts. They don't put up no cuss down here, y'all. Do y'all get that?

I swanny, the little swanny river in the South Of Georgia, North Florida. That's what we use. If you ever hear me say it, that's what I mean. I'm I'm skipping, I swear, but it's I, Swanee. Well, I, Swanee.

So, Paul has this little particle in between. This is the New Living Translation actually, for I swear. They just say it flat out. I swear, brothers and sisters that I face death daily. I put myself out there daily.

That is as certain as the pride that I have in what Christ Jesus our lord has done for you. That's a good translation. That's a really really good translation. He's saying, this is certainty and I want you to know it. I'm calling it out.

I, Swanee, alright? Brothers and sisters, that I am facing death daily. It is a progressive action. He's saying, I wake up in the morning knowing that my message that I carry is important enough to put myself in danger daily, every day. I'm going to keep on doing this because the message I carry is precious and it's worth it.

For me and for anybody that I'd share it with and you're an example of that because you took it and you accepted it and God saved you. You stand saved right now. Now, he's got advice for him. Paul always has advice, right? But he's grounded it in what Christ has done in them.

So, why am I in peril every hour? I protest, brethren, by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our lord. I am dying every day. What do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus. Now, this one, that's a long Greek word.

It's made up of two others and it means, I fought with wild beasts. So, that's when I said I'm a literalist, you know, the bulls are wild, somewhat wild beast. I fought with wild beast and in this particular case, it's metaphorically used. I was exposed to fierce hostility. You might think, well, no, they put Christians to the lions in Paul's day and they did but they didn't put Roman citizens to the lions in Paul's day but that's why he uses the metaphor because people at this time, a lot of them had seen people ripped apart by wild beasts and Paul felt at Ephesus, remember the riot in Ephesus where Paul was dragged out into the street and in the theater.

We talked about this extensively when we're going through Acts. He was exposed to some very very fierce hostility from people. A lot of it verbal. When he's standing before the synagogue and he's presenting Jesus as the Messiah, The answer to every prophecy, the answer to everything that they had been looking for and then he's rejected. That's fierce treatment.

That's fierce hostility. Corinth, we knew that it happened. It starts off, hey, remember Sostenes? Remember me and Sostenes who started in the synagogue and then moved next door? We moved next door because of the fierce hostility.

Ephesians. Mama say mama say mama. No, I'm just kidding. I was exposed to fierce hostility because people are like wild beast when they don't agree with what you have to say. The other thing I want to say right here is anytime that you try to tell somebody that it is by grace, by the goodness of God, the grace that you're saved and that's it, really.

That's it. People will argue with you. Nope, you gotta do this. You gotta do that. You gotta do this.

You gotta live like this. You gotta do that. And you can't do this and you can't do that. You can't do this and you can't do that. No, it is by grace because of what Christ has done on the cross.

It is by grace that we're saved and not of ourselves so that no one can boast about what we've done. And if you stand up and say that from the scripture, that's what the Bible teaches, no doubt. People will argue with you. People will come at you. I promise they will.

Carl this week got a call from a guy in Jacksonville, Florida and he said, how must I be saved? That was his question to Carl. I talked to this guy eight months ago. He saved our number. He called back.

His opening question is, how must I be saved? And my response was, wow. Praise God that you're asking the question. He has made a way. The work is done.

In Christ, Jesus, death on the cross, he's made the way available. He asks that you put your trust in his finished work. He said, You a false prophet. That's what he told Carl this week. You, a false teacher.

You and everybody else. Nobody is saying the truth. In 1999, I asked God, how must I be saved? And he said, give away everything that you have. You have to be poor because this is the world of Satan.

You have to be poor. You have to renounce everything. We hadn't renounced his phone. He's got an address. But he's saying, it is not by grace.

It is by poverty that we're saved. That was that guy's thing and it was Carl got off the phone seething. He was so angry. He texted me and said, I'm infuriated. I said, I talked to that guy eight months ago.

I know his name. He emailed us. He emailed us after he got off the phone with Carl. He emailed us. If want the Email, call me.

Ask me for it. It is something. It's about that long too but he had his whole theory of everything and it was works. And every other religion is works. Even the way some people practice a pseudo Christianity is works.

It's about what you do, not what you believe. Paul says that what you do will follow what you believe. If you don't believe that there is a resurrection and you believe it's just another philosophy of men, it will make a difference in the way that you live out your life and that's what he's saying. So, I'm withholding that guy's name right now. Hand his phone number but if you want it, ask me and I'll give it to you.

What do I gain humanly speaking if I fought with wild beast at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, then let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. If the dead are not raised, then it makes a difference how you live your life. Most people don't believe that the dead are raised. They believe that this is the way things are.

Do you all see the way that they live their life? Let's eat, drink, and tomorrow we die. That is an old expression that's go for the gusto, do whatever, you'll hear it in every age way back. When? Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

That is a slogan that we don't have to look for references. He goes further though and says, do we do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Now, how many of y'all when you saw bad company come up there and thought of this? Me too.

I heard of a guy one time that was preaching and he he said that when he got saved, that's the sermon that the preacher was preaching. Bad company ruins good morals and he went out to his car and he got his cassette tapes of bad company and threw him out the window. Bad company. It's all Paul Roger's fault. Bad company ruins.

Actually, bad company ruins good morals is a quote from about somewhere between 341 and two ninety BC. Somewhere in there, Menander, a Greek comic writer or Greek drama writer but this one happened to be a comedy wrote Tais. It was written probably more like three hundred years earlier, not 400 But in that, he put bad company ruins good morals, and it was a comedy, and his point was, yes, bad company, which is what we probably normally we think of associations. Bad associations with a bad crowd. One, bad apple, you know, that kind of thing.

We typically think that it's the the company you keep, the people you hang out with, that makes a difference in your character, and that is one way to take it, just like this. Homilei is the word in Greek, and it means companionship, conversation, or association and I think typically, when we're speaking to teenagers especially, we always say, hey, watch out with who you hang out with because who you hang out with makes a difference in how your life's going to be lived. You know, if you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. There are lots of different expressions that mean this, and that's good. But if you look at that word homily eye right there, it looks like homily, which is what I'm doing right now.

It's the the speaking to people, a conversation that you're having with people and that is probably the primary definition. Interplay, conversation. It's what it is that you choose to concentrate your time talking about. Now, what did Paul choose to talk about everywhere he went? The gospel, the resurrected Christ.

That's what this whole passage is about. That's what he spent his time on but he's modified company or conversation. He he modifies that with bad company. So, he's saying that if you're not concentrating on the good things like the resurrection but you're concentrating on bad things, bad theology. If you're having the conversation with somebody about something and they're saying, you know, you don't literally have to believe that, right?

You can still live a good life and not really believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. I mean, that's kind of silly, don't you think? It's exclusive. It leaves everybody else out. That doesn't believe that.

Paul says, yeah. It does. The gospel matters. It matters that much that Christ died, was buried, and was raised again is the ground of Christianity. There is no reason to do this otherwise.

He said, let us eat, drink, for tomorrow we die. Let us feast and get drunk more to the point because tomorrow we die. There, if there's nothing more than this, inebriate yourselves and go, whatever. That's what he's saying. If there's nothing more than this but he's saying, no, there is more than this though.

So from there, he goes into so the bad company. Don't just think of it as guilty association with bad people. It is bad conversation where people are trying to convince you that this is not true because you start to slide away from it. Maybe it's not true. Maybe it is just a small minded way of being.

I guess I'll just back away from that. I guess I could have I guess I could do that. Why not? Rather than say, no. I don't need to do that.

I'm cool. No problem. I I no, it's because of what I believe but I'm not trying to change you. I don't have the slightest interest in changing the way that you act. Not at all.

I don't see that as my job one bit. I don't care how you act. I care how you are because how you are makes a difference in how you act. So, that's what Paul's saying too. Now, when he gets to this, come to your mind, right mind and sin no more.

He's saying, come to your right mind. I know you're a believer. I know you know this. So, get to that. In fact, the word used there is sober up.

Sober up. Get away from the stupor that you find yourself in, sober up, and do not go on sinning. Another progressive nature verb where Jesus said, to the woman accused of adultery, he said, no, get up. She's already been literally arrested, brought to him, shamed, and he says, no, get up, go and sin no more. That's what Paul's saying right here.

Get up. It's over up. Go and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God and this is his point. Just because you're in church, don't make you a Christian.

Any more than just because something's in a garage doesn't make it a car. Right? Some have no knowledge of God. He's saying, people, philosophies, the world has infiltrated your church and what they're telling you is not of God. It's against the gospel of God.

Some people have no knowledge of God and the the shame part, he said and you don't even recognize it. That's the shameful part because if somebody says the resurrection is not true and you let that stand, whether they be speaking in tongues and translated and all the disorder that we've been talking about for, you know, three chapters. Whatever the reason is, if somebody stands up and says, Jesus is a curse, you can't let that stand. That's not true. That's not Christianity.

The gospel stands as it is. Christ died according to the scriptures for sin was buried and was raised and the resurrection makes all the difference. Now, that's the end of that passage and like I said, wah wah. But go to the last couple of verses in this chapter because they call back over the whole argument he's been making the whole time. So, we're going to cap it off with this and then, we'll go into a time of communion.

We'll call back to the eleventh chapter where he says, we come together. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is nobody that has anything personally that they can add to this gospel. So, we come together and we celebrate the fact that Christ died and we're going to remember the body and blood in a minute but look at 57 but thanks be to God who gives us the victory. Why am I putting myself in peril every single day?

Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory. Even if we die, yet shall we live. Y'all have seen some disturbing images in the past few weeks and I have seen some disturbing images of the Isis guys leading the Egyptian Christians out on that beach. I don't know if y'all watched the whole video or if you just saw the orange jumpsuits and the black guy up.

Those guys died with the words of the Bible on their lips as their throats were cut, as their heads were removed. Why? Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory. Even though we die, yet shall we live.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ and that is the only way. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast. They were saying the Lord's prayer. They were quoting from the New Testament as they were sitting there. Standing there waiting for their execution.

Steadfast, immovable, they had the opportunity to convert to the system that was in charge where they were, but they would not do it. Why? Because the gospel matters because the resurrection of Christ makes a difference. Steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

Whatever you are doing for the sake of the gospel is worth it. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Now, I have some takeaways. I don't know if they're short and pithy enough to be takeaways but they come straight out of the text.

Takeaways are the peril that you endure for the gospel is worth it. Whether it's just being made fun of or literally having your head removed. The peril that you endure for the gospel is worth it because there is a resurrection. Dying to self daily is normal for the Christian life. Christ says, if you would follow after me, you must deny yourself daily.

Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live but it's Christ who lives within me. I die to self, mortify the flesh every single day. The resurrection changes everything. The conversations that you entertain will influence you and I should say or they will influence who you're talking to.

If you carry the words of the gospel on your lips and you proclaim what it is that Christ has done, not what you have done or how you see it. If you proclaim what it is that Christ has done, God will use that. The conversations you entertain will influence you but they'll also influence them. Realize that and move forward. And not everyone is a safe person who knows what they're talking about.

Watch the History Channel for crying out loud. You get so many different versions of what has happened because everybody thinks they know everything. Not everybody is a safe person. The ground is right here. This is what can be trusted.

Stand firm. On this. The peril you endure for the gospel is worth it and I think that's it. God, would you bring our hearts right now to a place where we understand it is not about what we think, it's about what you've done. It is about what we believe.

So, God, would you convince us daily of your righteousness and your goodness and that the only way we can have any part of that is through your broken body and your shed blood. In Jesus name, lord, convince us of that to the point that we would be firm and lord, please bless this bread as we distribute it. Amen. On the same night, Jesus was betrayed. He took bread after supper and after he blessed it, he gave thanks.

He said, this is my body that's broken with, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Almighty God, we praise you for sending, Jesus. Jesus, we thank you for coming. We thank you for living that life perfectly surrendered to the father's will, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

I thank you that you've given that Holy Spirit to those who put their trust in you. But God I remember your blood and that that blood spilled was redemptive. That is what makes us able. That is what assures us of our salvation, our hope in the resurrection. God, would you please bless this cup as we distribute it, Calling all of us into a oneness, a unity through bond of faith.

Amen. And in the same manner after supper, he took the cup. He said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Amen. That new covenant in his blood, Paul says, when we declare this, we declare his death until he comes.

That's the forgiveness of sins but his resurrection is the hope of glory. I think I wanna let you go with this. And y'all be feel free to play afterwards but I'm gonna read this. This is a version of the Bible. Those guys those guys on that beach, Todd Seaton and I were in The Middle East a while back and we got a chance to meet some guys that were formerly bad guys.

I've mentioned them a time or two. One of those guys was in the process literally of beheading a Christian when he saw the man's face and God convicted him and converted him. And what we were there for is to get a translation of the Bible in every mother tongue in The Middle East and this guy who wrote this translation of the Bible is one of the people there training people to translate the Bible and I want to read his implicit information version of the Bible to you on the same passage we just covered. So, first Corinthians fifteen thirty through 34 says this, 30 through 34. Furthermore, if God will not cause us believers to become alive again, it is very foolish for me and for other apostles to be constantly putting ourselves in danger and being killed.

That is as true as the fact that I am pleased with you because of your close relation relationship with Christ Jesus our lord. If God will not cause us believers to become alive again after we die, I will receive no benefit at all from having opposed those who attack me so strongly in Ephesus. They were fighting with me like wild beast. If we believers are not to be raised again, we might as well say as people often say, feast and get drunk. Don't let yourselves be deceived by those who say, God will not cause believers to live again.

If you associate with evil people who say such things, they will destroy your destroy your good moral way of living. Start thinking correctly again about these matters as you should. Stop your sinful behavior that has resulted from your wrong thinking. I say that because it seems that some among you just don't know God and as a result, they have this wrong way of thinking. I say that, you can't recognize it to your shame.

Now, fifty seven and fifty eight. But because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, he enables us to be free from having to obey God's laws to be saved and to be free of being afraid to die. We should thank God for that. So, my fellow believers, whom I love, continue to hold strongly to the things you believe. Don't let anything cause you to doubt them.

Always be be enthusiastically doing the work of the Lord that he gives you and remember that the work you do for the Lord is never in vain as it would be if God will not cause us to live again after we die. Amen. That's it. Benediction, stand up and leave. That's it.