Avoid Doubt: Trust in the power of Christ - 1 Corinthians 15:12-41

[0:00] Good morning church. It's pretty cool seeing some baptisms. We need more of those. Amen.

[0:14] We'll go ahead and turn open to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and we're going to be looking at verses 12 through 34 this morning. So we have much ground to cover. So I'm going to pray for us and then we will just dive into the word. Let's pray. Father it is good to be here this morning and to be reminded that you're a God that loves to rescue sinners. Lord we believe that you are presently at work in our lives. We ask Father that you would give us whatever it is that we need this morning. Lord if it is conviction that you would provide that. If it's encouragement that you would dispense that. If it's repentance Lord whatever it is that we need would you by the power of your Spirit accomplish that in our lives today. Thank you that you tell us personal things about yourself and that you always tell the truth. And so we delight to hear from you this morning.

[1:24] So would you fill me with your spirit. Give me clarity of mind, unction, the spirit. It's in your name we pray Jesus and all God's people said. Amen. So this morning we're going to continue in our study in 1 Corinthians and this is part two of the resurrection and we'll have a third installment in a couple of weeks. But structurally this morning just to give you kind of a high level view for you outlining people. We've got three sections that Paul breaks this passage into. Think of it like an Oreo cookie. We've got kind of the cookies on the outside and then the best stuff right in the middle. And Paul does that here in verses 12 to 19. He's going to talk about the resurrection as though it's hypothetical. And then at the bottom in verse 29 to 34 again he will speak of the resurrection as though hypothetical and then in the middle verses 20 to 28 the crescendo of the passage is the certainty of the resurrection. So verses 12 to 19 if the resurrection is hypothetical versus 20 to 28 the certainty of the resurrection and then verses 29 to 34 the hypothetical if the resurrection is hypothetical. So now you have the outline and we'll get things underway. It's interesting to me that Paul takes almost 60 verses here to speak about the resurrection in this letter to the Corinthians and you sort of have to ask why? Why would he take this much time to speak about the resurrection? Well he's going to tell us. So let's dive in beginning here in verse 12. Paul writes, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? So in Corinth presently, the resurrection of Christ is on the chopping block. At this church we'll call it Corinth Memorial

[3:51] Church. And Paul understands that the resurrection of Christ is on the chopping block because there's this thinking that has already taken place amongst some of these believers. It says in verse 12 here it says there are some that are saying there is no resurrection of the dead. So already the Corinthian believers at least some of them are embracing the notion that there's no resurrection of the dead. That once a person dies that's it. There's no afterlife, there's no heaven, there's no hell, there's nothing. It's annihilationism. And Paul knows that it's only a matter of time that if you reject that that the Christians will then alter their theology to align with that particular belief. And Paul recognizes and wants to call out this incompatibility or sloppy thinking of holding to this idea that there's no resurrection, there's no afterlife while at the same time claiming that Christ rose. And that's what he says now in verse 13. He says, but if there is no resurrection of the dead then not even Christ has been risen. And so Paul's point is it logically follows. If you reject that there is a resurrection of the dead, there is not, then you will also deny that Christ rose from the grave. They're inextricably linked together. You can't have it both ways. It would be like me saying in a world without cars I drive a Volkswagen. Well those two things they don't go together. And so this is why Paul emphasizes talking about the resurrection of Christ. Because there are folks in Corinth that have probably embraced this idea that there's no future after death because it benefits their lifestyle. Because what you have are a bunch of folks living in a very sinful city wanting to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it with whomever they want and really have zero accountability. I got a friend, pastor, who says it this way, cats and dogs run free. Why can't we? So no wonder this belief is prevalent in Corinth because people were living like hell. They have this temple to Aphrodite. They have these temple prostitutes. And you have to wonder if they were participating in that sort of worship during the week and then come Sunday wanted to worship Jesus. And so I would say it this way if, as the critics would say, Christianity is a crutch for the believer. It's a crutch for the weak. Well then in the same way annihilationism is a crutch for the unbeliever, for the atheist. See faith in no

[7:52] God gives man great license in this life to do as he wants. And so no wonder Paul is hearing this mantra in Corinth that, oh, there's no resurrection of the dead. There's no resurrection of the dead because then I can do what I want because there's no accountability at the end. And so there's a benefit to that. On the flip side, however, there is a cost in denying that there is a future resurrection for God's people. Because if that isn't so, then in fact Christ did not rise, and if he did not rise, there are significant consequences. And so what Paul does here, he starts out by painting a picture for the Corinthians that if Jesus did not rise from the grave, you're going to have some consequences. And so Paul in a way plays the role of that angel and it's a wonderful life, giving George Bailey a picture of this is what life is like if you didn't exist. And so what Paul's going to do is he's going to paint a picture for us. Hey, this is what life looks like if Easter does not exist. So let's start here with looking at six consequences if Jesus is indeed still in the grave beginning here in verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised, Paul writes, then our preaching is in vain. And your faith is in vain. The first consequence of Christ having not risen from the grave is that preaching, it's in vain. This is a waste. In fact, that word actually means empty. It's like somebody on your birthday giving you this extravagant gift and you taking it and then unwrapping it and there's nothing inside. And you're like, thanks for the box. Like you're welcome. And that's what Paul is equating preaching to without the resurrection. Because the preacher no longer has a message. He no longer has a gospel. As we learned last week, the three necessary ingredients for the gospel are deity, death and resurrection. And if you remove the resurrection, you also remove the deity. And so what are you left with? Jesus died. Oh, he said some things and then he died. And so it doesn't matter how clever, wholesome, intelligent the messenger is, the message is earthly. There's no power in it to alter a life in any substantive or eternal manner. In fact, why am I even talking right now? I mean,

[11:05] I should be eating brunch. And that's just not what Paul is saying. And you kind of laugh, but you know what's worse? You're listening to me. And that's what Paul goes on to say. He says, hey, your faith is in vain. The preaching is in vain. Second consequence, your faith is empty.

[11:27] Your faith is worthless. It's a waste. You ever thought that? Well, I'm not gonna tell you if I have. Well, you don't have to because other folks have, right? We have Asaph in the Psalms. He says in Psalm 73, he says, all in vain in futility, I've kept my heart clean. In futility, I've washed my hands of innocence. If it is that there's no life after death. If it's just about the wicked prospering in this life, then this is in vain. See, if there is no resurrection church, then Jesus, then the gospel isn't about joy, knowing Christ, relating to God, living for His glory. It's simply about control. That's the second cost. Let's look at verse 15. Paul writes, we are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testify about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. So not only am I up here wasting your time,

[12:58] I'm actually lying to you. I'm fabricating something about God that isn't true. I'm giving him credit for something he didn't actually do. Oh, I like to talk about the resurrection because, man, the sermons are a little punchier. You know, like, man, there's just something there. So let's talk about God rising from the grave, even though it didn't happen. In fact, it says if there's no resurrection, I'm lying and I'm no different than other preachers telling you things that aren't true about God. Oh, God wants you healthy, wealthy, and wise. Oh, hell doesn't really exist. Hey, I got to tell you guys, love is love is love is love is love is love. And what Paul is saying is, in fact, the entire team of preachers, we are charlatans if there's no resurrection. Look at verse 16.

[14:14] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Preaching is in vain. Faith is in vain. Folks up here proclaim in the gospel are liars. Fourth consequence here is you're still in your sins.

[14:44] You're not forgiven. None of us here are actually new creations. See the sins of yesterday, they are still there. The slate has not actually been wiped clean. And in fact, we each will wear that scarlet letter unto the grave, and we are now bound to repeat the sins of our fathers. And on top of that, because we worship a holy God, none of us are permitted to enter into His presence ever, ever. But man, the benefits, no resurrection, freedom, so good.

[15:34] I've traded eternity for 80 wonderful years of living like life's a party. Wow, best trade ever.

[15:50] That's sarcasm. Look at verse 18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

[16:06] Fifth consequence, if Christ didn't rise from the grave, there's no future reunion. For those who have died in Christ, they're gone forever. We are gone forever. And in fact, we ought to grieve like the world and do so without hope. And you have to then ask the question, why even bother? Why even spend a lifetime connecting with those around? Well, and finally Paul says, verse 19, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pity. And so the sixth consequence that Paul lists here is if Christ didn't rise, Christians, you are pathetic.

[17:14] You are to be pity. You are the most wretched of humans. The world ought to look at us and feel sorry because our lives have been based upon a lie. Anyone depressed yet? Good, because that's how you ought to feel. Well, Paul changes direction here. And now we get to the section where he affirms the resurrection. So we're in this section now, verse 20 to 28. And Paul writes in verse 20, but in fact, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. But in fact, Christ has risen. Stop being depressed. All those six consequences, they're not real because the facts are Christ rose from the grave. Amen. Do we do that in this church? Amen. Yes, we do that. Church, I want you to feel the gravity of who is proclaiming this.

[19:00] But in fact, I mean, this is the greatest critic of Jesus in the first century. Paul the Pharisee or Saul the Pharisee, the academic, the intellect. This is like Bart Ehrman or Richard Dawkins or Charles Darwin of the first century saying, but in fact, Christ has risen. Jesus is alive. You would never, ever, ever expect these words to come out of the mouth of this man. But see, we don't think that way because we know Paul, right, as Paul the apostle, the great missionary, the great church planter, but he wasn't always so. And he's saying, Jesus is alive. You would never expect this guy.

[20:07] It's like the day that I came to church and saw one of the worst sinners that I knew standing there. A man that I coached high school football with. The only thing that was keeping him alive and sober and out of jail was the fact that he had to show up at 2 30 in the afternoon for a bunch of high school guys. This man's life was a train wreck of the highest degree to the point where we would go out, coaches, dinners before games and I just, I didn't, I didn't contribute to the conversation.

[20:49] I had nothing to contribute because these men were like, they were worse than just carnal high school unbelievers. They were, they were bad. And, and I can still remember the Sunday morning, came to church and I saw him standing there and my mouth just about hit the floor. And he looks at me, says, Jason. And I was waiting for like, just profanity because that's all he knew. I had never heard like real verbs and nouns. It was like, that's it. And now the son, he says, I met Jesus.

[21:26] And I'm just like, that's not possible. Like, I mean, that's, that's what I was feeling. And that's what we should be hearing when we hear Paul saying Christ is risen. No way. Yeah. Notice what Paul says about Jesus. He says Jesus is the first fruits of those who fall asleep. First fruits. It's not really an analogy that we throw around these days, first fruits. But Jesus is the first fruits of those who will fall asleep. What is this about? Well, back in Leviticus 23, there's a feast, an offering related to first fruits. In fact, we have these three spring feasts in Scripture in the Old Testament, Passover, first fruits and Pentecost. And this feast, the first fruits, you bring the first of your crop, even before the rest of it's in, and you make an offering before the Lord. And it is in a sense a way to dedicate the harvest to the Lord to thank Him for the harvest. And it's a promise that there is going to be a harvest to follow. And so it's cool that

[22:58] Paul says Jesus is our, he's the first fruits of the resurrection. So there's going to be a harvest that follows the first fruits. We're that harvest. As believers, we are that harvest. See, our resurrection is going to be different than Lazarus, right? Because he died, was brought back, he still had the same arthritis. He still had that, I'm going to die body. But see, Jesus, when he resurrected, he received a glorified body. And so we too are going to resurrect unto eternal life with glorified bodies. And Jesus being the first fruit is the promise of our resurrection.

[23:53] And guess what? God's already accepted the first sacrifice. You get it? Which is then the promise that there's going to be a harvest that follows. This should get you excited, church, because guess what? Things are in motion. The clock has started. The harvest is guaranteed. You know, Pentecost occurs 50 days after Passover. You guys know when the Feast of First Fruits occurs?

[24:33] Let me tell you. I know you were asking. It says in Leviticus 2311, it says on the day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. The day after the Sabbath, Feast of First Fruits occurred during Passover week during that celebration. Isn't that interesting? Jesus died on a Friday. Then it's the Sabbath. And the Feast of First Fruits occurs the day after the Sabbath. So when does it occur?

[25:14] The day that Jesus rose from the grave. You get it? That is the day. That is the day that that offering would have been given. Jesus rose from the grave on the day when the offering of First Fruits was given. And Paul says he's the promise. Is that a coincidence? No. You see what I'm saying?

[25:38] Our resurrection is guaranteed. How is it that Christ's resurrection is able to accomplish this?

[25:53] Like Jesus did a lot of miracles, right? And none of them bear down upon our lives quite like the resurrection. This touches us very differently. How is it that this is possible? Well, Paul tells us again, so good that he's answering all our questions, verse 21 and 22. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Now, Paul pulled the Peter again, gives us cliff notes. You can read about this, you know, in the expanded version in Romans 5, 12 to 19. But he just he just gives us a blip here. And essentially saying, hey, Jesus is able to do what Adam could not do. Jesus represents us, in fact, the same way that Adam represented us. Because all of us begin life in Adam. He is the first man. And as a result, he is the federal head of all of humanity. And because he represents all humanity, his rebellion in the garden, resulting in death entering this good world that

[27:10] God created, it affects everything. We call that original sin. And so hence, the creation, the earth and all of mankind, we have been marred by sin. And I want you to catch this. We sin because we are sinners. We sin because we're born sinners. I mean, David says it in Psalm 51, right? I was born into iniquity. Now, yes, we also are sinners because we sin. Both realities exist. But I want us to understand man is not born generally good. It just does some occasional bad things. Scripture doesn't teach that. And if you somehow are here, which I wouldn't think, because this is a church that's a Bible church, and we teach God's Word, so you've never heard it from the pulpit. But if you're here thinking, well, I think, I think people are generally good, Jay. If you're there, I would just suggest if you're married, have a child. And you'll know for certain, there'll be no doubt in your mind, your theology will change like that. You're like, well, I don't want to have a kid. Well, then just come to my house. Okay. And we will adjust your theology very quickly on the matter.

[28:53] Fine, Jay, but I don't want Adam representing me. Who gave him permission? Who elected him? God. But I didn't choose him to represent me. Well, let me ask you a follow up question. How do you feel about Jesus representing you? Well, I kind of like that. That's, yeah. Well, you have to actually be in Adam. You have to be a person, a human, in order to put your trust in Jesus, the second Adam, who corrected the sin of our Father through perfect obedience to God. So for all you choosy people, you now have options. You can stay in Adam, have him represent you, or you can repent, trust in the deity, death and resurrection of Christ and allow Christ to represent you, to be in Christ. Let me just say that's a better option. You don't want to be judged based upon your works when you face God. You don't. I don't. None of us do. Because even the best is like a filthy rag to a holy God. Now, maybe you're here this morning like, man, we get resurrected bodies.

[30:20] Like it's in motion. Maybe some of you here this morning are just like, Jay, I'm ready. Like, let's do this. I want 2.0. Like this thing is groaning. It's like in a tent. Like, when does this happen? I want this resurrected body. Well, Paul gives us a sequence of events related to there and our resurrection. Let's read it together. Verse 23 to 28. But each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ, then comes the end. When He delivers the kingdom of God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power, for He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. This is a cool verse. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under His feet, under Jesus' feet. But when it says, when God says all things are put in subjection, and for He under Jesus here, it is plain that He, God, is accepted, or a better word there is excluded, who put all things in subjection under Him, under Jesus. When all things are subjected to Him, to Jesus, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him, God, who put all things in subjection under Him, Jesus. Did you guys get that? We don't got a lot of time to unpack this, but let me just summarize what Paul is saying here. This little tongue twister. He's saying, hey, the kingdom, Jesus is going to deliver it to the Father. It's going to happen. It's guaranteed.

[32:24] But note throughout that Jesus stays in submission to the Father. And when it says all things will be subject to Christ, that's excluding God the Father. So Paul's given us some really detailed theology in terms of authority and submission in the Godhead. But the peace that we need to understand is it's going to occur. That Jesus is going to deliver the kingdom to His Father, and God will be all and all. But the phrase we need to focus on, because it follows the thinking Paul has and the argument he's making is verse 23 where it says, but each in his own order.

[33:16] Christ's the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ, then comes the end. Again, Paul packs a lot of theology here. He gives us a concise description of future events, but he doesn't expand. He doesn't talk about the rapture. Doesn't talk about the tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ. None of that is described here. He is simply focusing on, when do we get our resurrected bodies? And what Paul wants them to understand is, it's guaranteed. The clock is ticking. Christ is the firstfruits, he says. Christ resurrected around 30 AD. It's already occurred. God's resurrection plan is set in motion and it cannot be stopped. I have like a sprinkler unit at our house when you turn it on to test it. If you want to test a zone, like I want to test zone four, you can't test zone four. You got to like wait and you have to go one, zone two, zone three. You can't stop it. You can't just pick. I can't just take test zone one. If I test zone one, guess what? It goes through zone two, zone three, zone four, and that's what Paul's saying. Jesus is the firstfruits. You can't stop it.

[34:46] God's people will experience bodily resurrection. Well, Jay, what about my friends that have died in Christ? What about my wife? Love Jesus in this life. She's already died. What about my kid who died? What about my husband who died in Christ? Where are they if the resurrection doesn't happen until later? Where are they now? Well, Scripture, it indicates, 2 Corinthians 5, 8 says, Hey, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Philippians 1, 23. Paul was wrestling. I don't want to stay here. I want to depart so I can be with Christ. So nowhere in Scripture does it teach us this theology of soul sleep. It says that when the believer dies, they are ushered into the presence of the Lord. Well, Jay, I'm confused. How do we resurrect then if we're already with Jesus? 1 Thessalonians 4, 14 to 18 described for us the return of Christ, or this is the first part of a two part return. It's known as the rapture of the church. Paul writes, For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not proceed those who have fallen asleep.

[36:19] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, just like with Lazarus, right? Come forth with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

[36:48] Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Encourage fourth memorial with these words. Folks, this is going to be a great day, a surreal moment, but it's going to be amazing. Is this happening?

[37:05] Yes. So the saints who have died in Christ Scripture indicates they're with Jesus. They just don't have glorified bodies. So apparently they're like disembodied spirits, but they're present with God, but they don't have that glorified body like Jesus did after the resurrection. That happens at the rapture of the church. You see, God brings with him those who are with him, but they don't get the body till the body, right? Presently the body's in the grave. And there's going to be some sort of like, I mean, there's like sound effects I can't even make, right? And then, and we're going to see it if we're still here, right? And this would be like, whoa, it's like, oh man, when's it happened?

[37:55] You know, and like, and then all of a sudden, I mean, I don't know. And then we go and then we're, and it's like, and then we just, it's like this big old high five, like, whoo, like Jesus, Jesus is risen. Like this is the best. Be encouraged. Be encouraged. It's going to happen. The biggest critic of Jesus is like, man, it had, yeah, yep, yep. Okay, let's finish final section back to what if the resurrection did not really occur? And you've been waiting for me to hit the verse. And I have a little time. So we'll talk about it. Verse 29. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? We're out of time, actually. Let me just pray and what do we do with this verse? It's wacky.

[39:05] I don't know if you're allowed to call verses in the Bible wacky. So, but this one is, I mean, do we build a doctrine around this verse? The Mormons have, and they do, they actually do something that's very dark. It's actually very demonic. Having their children go to temple in the early mornings during the week, and be baptized, put on these robes, and then priests, or there, and, you know, they're shouting out names of people that have died. And, you know, just whoever Joe is like, yeah, I'm going to be like for Sally and baptize you for George. It's like, I mean, it's, it's demonic. So what do we do with this verse? Why in the world is this here?

[40:00] Well, when you come to verses that are challenging in Scripture, what do you do? You look at the rest of Scripture, right? That's just a law of interpretation. You interpret the Bible in light of the Bible. And there's things that we know for certain that this verse is not teaching.

[40:21] We know that once a person dies, Scripture says, that's it. Hebrews 9.27, it's a point for man to die once, then face judgment. So it's not teaching that there's some ability to affect a person who has already died. This life is it. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach the doctrine of purgatory. It's not in there. And just as an aside, just saying purgatory, that doctrine in and of itself alters the gospel. It's now by works. It is not by grace to have a purgatory where you can do something where you can work on your salvation. The very doctrine itself alters the gospel. But this is not teaching that you somehow have the second chance in the afterlife. Additionally, what else do we know about salvation from Scripture? We know that people are not saved through baptism. Ephesians 2.8, Titus 3.5. It's not your works. It's God's mercy. John 1.12, but as many as received him that believed in his name, they had the right to become the children of God. So knowing these two things, it then logically follows that if I cannot be saved through baptism, like there was nothing this morning salvific in what occurred. That was a testimony that God is here. That I am a new creation. I've already identified with the death, barrel, and resurrection of Christ. But if I cannot be saved through baptism, how can I save someone else through it? It's by faith. And it's not faith in this life and works in the afterlife. It's faith through and through. But J, it's like it's in the Bible. Yeah, there's a lot of other sinful behavior listed in the Bible. Like Judas went out and hung himself.

[42:44] What do we do with that? Okay. So why is Paul then talking about it here? Well, he brings it in here. He's not condoning the behavior. He's not building a doctrine on this activity. But what he's doing is he's pointing out the contradiction in the minds or the actions of those believers in Corinth who are saying there's no afterlife. Well, if you guys are claiming there's no afterlife, why in the world are you participating in this pagan activity of ritual baptism for your ancestors?

[43:21] Oh, you caught that. Yeah. Yeah, I did. Your thoughts, right, the Jedi, your thoughts betray you.

[43:32] Your actions actually betray you, which is what the world does all the time. A modern day equivalent.

[43:43] You see an unbeliever, you see an atheist, and they, something happens in there, angry, and they shout out. Well, they don't shout out Joseph Smith, right? There's no power there.

[43:57] Yeah. Are you hearing atheists or someone who's just like, I don't believe we got it though. Oh, thank God. See, what's in there, it betrays them. It's Paul saying you guys aren't even consistent.

[44:16] You guys like this notion of no afterlife because it allows you to just live like life as a party. Well, Paul ends the section by getting personal. He's basically, you know, if the facts are that Jesus didn't really rise, we'll consider this verse 30 to the end. Why are we in danger every hour? I protest brothers by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day.

[44:46] What do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with the beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised? Well, let us eat, drink, and for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts or ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right and do not go on sinning for some have no knowledge of God. Stop sitting. Folks have no knowledge of God and I say this to your shame.

[45:17] So Paul says, hear this Corinth Memorial Church. If there's no resurrection, why am I living in danger for my life? Why am I dying to my flesh every day? Why did I in Ephesus fight off beasts?

[45:41] And I think Paul there is referring to men, not actual animals. And if you read that story in Acts 19, you'll see man, there was a riot and chaos that just people got saved. They stopped buying little idols from all the little idol makers and there was a whole part of the economy affected and these guys were angry and it was violent. Paul is like, why am I going through all this?

[46:11] If this is a lie, if Jesus didn't rise, there's better ways to live. I think actually what Paul does here is he actually, he crushes a sort of a Christian platitude that often I hear floats around today and maybe you've heard this sentiment and maybe you've even said it but don't tell me.

[46:43] Okay, just don't just pretend. I knew this guy and the sentiment is this, hey, if we're wrong, well at least we lived a pretty good life. I mean, if we're wrong, this is still pretty good.

[47:01] That's insanity and that's actually what Paul is saying, to labor in ministry. I mean, sometimes Scott sneaks in on days he's not supposed to be here because there's just work to be done and I know he would much prefer to use that time to go sit on a tractor somewhere and just be out in a field, right? But he doesn't. I mean, there's better ways to live, to be called hateful in this life.

[47:44] That's a good life, to be made fun of based upon a lie, self-denial, pursue holiness, feel like an outsider oftentimes for your faith, a good life. No, to follow Christ, it's hard. It's hard. And I'm not saying there's not joy because there is, but it's still hard. And what I love and I hope that when you hear Scripture say this, I hope that your regard for God's Word increases because the Bible is telling you the truth on the matter. In fact, what it essentially says here is if Jesus has not risen, toss out the book. That's what the book is declaring. Get rid of it. There's much easier ways to live. In fact, Paul gives us one, be Epicurian, right? Hey, if Jesus didn't rise, you know what? If all there is is today, let's eat, drink for tomorrow we die. Let's just get all we can while we can in this life. But this is not the case. This is not the case, brothers and sisters.

[49:26] And I think there's application for us today and it's this. We need to stop living as though the resurrection is a fairy tale. We cannot live life as though the resurrection of Christ isn't so and as though our future resurrection isn't so. There is a calendar event on God's day timer when He is going to return. And for some of you, you're thinking, man, it's just never going to arrive. It's never going to arrive. It's just never going to happen. And then it's going to happen. You're like, I was wrong.

[50:05] I don't know what is going to happen. Maybe in our lifetime, maybe not. But the wheels have been set in motion. And so let's not live life as though the resurrection is not so. In a sense, you, what Paul is saying is you Corinthians, you're living like Epicurians, you're living like Corinthians, you're living like the city around you. There's no different. There's nothing distinct.

[50:33] There's no pursuit of God pursuit of holiness. Concern for others. Don't live that way. And be carefully says with those that you make your closest friends. Bad company ruins good morals. You want to live and hang out with people who believe there's no future appointment they have with God, it will affect you. It doesn't mean that we become monastic and we're not in the world. But if those that you pal around with are those that deny that there is an afterlife, it will impact, affect who you are in this life. It's inevitable. And the worst part Paul says is a very last verse.

[51:22] He says, Hey, wake up from your drunken stupor, because there's folks that have no knowledge of God. How does a person place faith in Christ? They have to hear. But they also have to see that there's something legit about us. If we live as though we're not accountable to God, the unbeliever sees and is condemned in their sin, and they don't have opportunity to consider.

[51:51] What the Lord says, spray. Father, we thank you that you have given us your spirit, but you've also given us your word. And Lord, I love the fact that you tell us the truth. I love, Lord, that indeed you have risen from the grave. I love that the first, worst critic of Jesus became to see that it was so. And Lord, let us not be blind to even the words of those that presently reject you. That the critics claim that either you appear to your disciples, Jesus, or they were seeing things. For one of the leading atheists of our day. I pray that we would continue to be a church that baptizes many. Because people are coming to faith in the risen King. Might we honor you this week, Jesus, and all that we say, do and think to your glory.