The Implications of the Gospel

Turn to 1 Corinthians 15

Paul, as he wrote to many of the churches he started, had a great burden to see those churches remain pure and steadfast to the Lord.

The Corinthian Church was almost an apostate church at this time. Paul had to write over five letters to this church that he had labored over so long. Of course God only saw fit to put two of them into His word, but we do know of 3 others in existence penned by Paul.

He sent men of God to help that church, teach them the right way to follow God from the scriptures, he visited them, and yet that church had enormous problems.

The primary reason why that church had so many problems with so many areas of personal and corporate activity was because of the failure of these people to individually stand for Christ.

They didn’t stand for Christ in their personal lives where they were involved in all sorts of personal sin, fornication, adultery, even incest.

Because of this, they began rejecting the basic tenants of the Gospel which we will be looking at shortly

They didn’t stand for Christ in their corporate worship of the Lord; they were making noises in their services, saying what they were doing was tongues. Paul simply rebuked them and said, So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken?1 Cor. 14:9

Then he said; 1Co 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:

At that time and today as well, people claiming the gift of tongues do not use it as designated here, to reach the unsaved because it is simply not from God.

these Corinthians were using their supposed gift of tongues, which Paul earlier said was “noise” to confuse the unsaved, rather than witness to them, in contradiction to God’s word… very unfortunate…

They had serious personal and corporate spiritual problems and near the end of 1 Corinthians, Paul has to “finally” admonish them to keep the Gospel pure and share it. Admonish them to stick with what they were taught and not turn away to other doctrines.

And so, here we find Paul saying “did I preach something else”? Did someone else?

1) THE GOSPEL DECLARED

a) 1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

i) Here Paul is admonishing the Corinthians of yet another problem in which they were now apart of, failing to preach the Gospel or even recognize the trappings of the Gospel.

b) They were failing to follow or were in confusion over the basic tenants of the Gospel which they had believed.

i) They were even failing to acknowledge the fact Paul had lead them to Christ. They were unrepentant and unwilling to follow the Lord.

ii) The Greek word for Gospel is εὐαγγέλιον; euaggelion; yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on;

iii) It simply means the good message, the Gospel; From the same as G2097; a good message, that is, the gospel

c) The farther people get from Christ in their sin, when they know Him, the more difficult it becomes for them to proclaim the “Good News”.

d) Of course those that don’t know Christ can’t even mention His name without cringing, unless they are willing to consider Him for who he is.

i) The primary reason for this is, they are convicted of their own sin and to declare what God has done for them, while they have gone back into their sin, is to proclaim outright, I’m a hypocrite.

ii) I deliberately do wrong, but even though you see me doing wrong, you should still trust Jesus as your Savior. People aren’t going to do it, because they see no change in us and therefore people surmise, there wont be any change in them

iii) Whats the point

iv) When we do wrong and others see it, we are not going to proclaim the good news because right at that time it is no longer good news.

v) One of the problems of sin in the Corinthian church was they were getting into some heresies.

vi) Great conviction comes on anyone who live a life of sin.

e) 1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

i) Paul goes on here to say “by which ye are saved”.

f) You were saved right, so why is it you are not keeping this in memory. Why are you rejecting such a clear teaching of the Gospel

i) He’s trying to shake them up and get their attention

ii) Hey wakeup Christian, you have a responsibility to God to walk with Him.

iii) To follow Him when everything else says don’t

iv) Jesus paid your sin debt, the least you can do is acknowledge that he is your Savior and try to live like He is your savior

v) Paul goes on “unless ye have believed in vain”.

g) The word vain is the Greek word εἰκῆ; eikē; i-kay'; it has the idea of failing to believe completely.

i) Whatever you believed, it wasn’t complete and you failed to grasp that it’s not outward but an inward truth.

ii) Now its time to acknowledge what I delivered unto you. Here it is, did you believe this?

h) Paul finds himself going back over the simple Gospel trying to get these people to acknowledge how they were saved or to be saved, since it was apparent not everyone in that church new the Lord

i) 1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

j) 1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

k) Did you get that Corinthian church? Christ died for your sins. He rose the third day from the grave!

i) Do you remember me teaching you that?

l) [1]One of the problems the Corinthian church faced was that some were saying, “There will be no resurrection of the dead” (15:12).

m) 1Co 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

n) One of the early heresy’s during the first and second century was the denial of the physical body of Christ.

i) [2]To the Greeks, immortality was a “purely” spiritual concept, and they had no place for the resurrection of the physical body.

ii) The Greeks looked at the body as evil. Since matter was considered essentially evil, release from a physical body was regarded as liberation, and a physical resurrection would amount to a return to bondage.

o) This belief that release from the physical body was liberation, is continued today in Hinduism, Buddism and other mystical false religions

i) Part of the burial rights of these false religions is the cremation of the body founded in Greek mythology and later Eastern mysticism.

p) However, Historical Christianity, having its base in OT Judaism, never advocated such a “release” from the body.

i) The body as viewed Biblically is the “temple of the Holy Spirit” and at the death of the saint of God (Christian);

ii) That persons body was cared for just as much as anyone living, because it was seen then, and still is scripturally seen today, as the temple of the Holy Ghost.

iii) To burn the Christians body is to burn the temple of God, even though God no longer resides in that lifeless body.

iv) That’s why Christians historically have stayed far away from cremation because it was seen as desecration of God’s temple even though God was nolonger using it. I don’t want to go to deep on this, but that’s the gist of it.

q) So Paul, as he explained the Gospel to these people whom he had lead many to the Lord, was dealing on several fronts, heresies that lead to other heresies.

i) The denial of the bodily resurrection of Christ and the believer as well.

r) He had to clarify and re-clarify the Gospel, the good News and what God had in store for us, the resurrection of the dead.

2) THE WITNESSES OF THE GOSPEL

a) Paul’s confirming to the people of the Corinthian church;

i) listen did you receive this Gospel? I know you did, and since I know you did, you need to quit denying the Good News.

ii) Put your sin away. Quit bringing in this idea that Jesus was not resurrected from the dead.

b) After Christ’s death burial and resurrection, he was scene of many people, not just the Apostles.

c) 1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

d) 1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

e) 1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James (Jesus brother, not James and John); then of all the apostles.

f) 1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

i) So here listed are at least 514 people who saw the resurrected Jesus, the Son of God in a body of flesh and bone

g) Two main heresies then and today claim opposites concerning Christ; these same ones existed then as well.

i) One heresy says “Jesus was spirit only (God) and had no physical body”; but the Bible clearly says here He did

ii) The second heresy teaches that “Christ was not God”, just a great prophet, and definitely not deity.

iii) The second says he was physically man and not God at all

iv) Both suppose different ideas. One rejects the physical because of their view of evil. The Greeks believed the body is evil

v) The other rejects the spiritual because of their view of deity. God could not ever be in the flesh

vi) Turn to John 20

h) These opposing ideas directly violate scriptures teaching that “BOTH” are true

i) Jesus is fully God and fully man

ii) Doubting Thomas saw that He was fully man after His resurrection and fully God as well!

i) Joh 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

j) So here’s Jesus; just appeared in the room, with the doors being shut.

i) As I understand humanity, we cannot do that, Amen!

k) Joh 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

i) Though Jesus could appear in the midst of a room proving His deity, with the doors shut tight,

ii) He still had a physical body that he could challenge Thomas with the physical touch of the wounds received on the cross

l) Look at thomases response

m) Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

i) Turn to Revelation 1

n) Though Thomas completely rejected the resurrection of Christ, He realized at Jesus appearance, He was wrong.

i) Jesus is the GOD MAN; both are true; just because I don’t understand something doesn’t mean its nto true.

ii) I don’t understand how an atomic bomb can be built, but I know it can be built. Something is not negated just because we don’t understand it.

iii) We cannot accomplish that which Jesus did because we are only men

o) Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

p) Here is the establishment of God, the Alpha and Omega

q) Look down to :17

i) Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

ii) Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead

iii) If Christ was he that lived, the Alpha and Omega, and He was also dead. That points to Jesus being God and being man

r) God’s word clearly establishes both to be true, and yet these Corinthians were rejecting for reasons of sin as we noted earlier, the physical resurrection of Christ.

s) The truth of the Gospel; people reject the truth of the Gospel, even saved people as these Corinthians did, because they live lives unworthy of Christ

t) Turn back to 1 Corinthians 15

3) THE RISEN SAVIOR

a) The primary reason the Corinthian church were rejecting the Gospel they had freely received when it was originally preached to them was because people who were not saved were coming into the church creating havoc and teaching false doctrine

b) They were bringing with them the denial of the combination of the spiritual and the physical, in the resurrection of Christ

c) 1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

i) In other words, if the Son of God was not physically raised from the dead, then we are believing falsely and really foolishly.

ii) We of all men are most miserable, because we have a false hope.

d) 1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

i) BUT, we realize this isn’t a joke, its not false, its reality and for those who are unsaved, and for those who deny the power of God in their lives, need to trust Christ as their Saviour and Lord; He is the firsfruit of the resurrection of the dead, and everyone who follow Christ will be resurrected as well.

e) 1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

f) 1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

g) We begin seeing and understanding and hearing the gift of God in Christ.

i) We die because we are the descendants of Adam and sin of our own; but we are made alive in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hymn # 150 HE LIVES: I Serve A Risen Savior

Pray and share the gospel if necessary

There must be a time when we desire to come to that place of renewal in our lives, we must admit we are sinners condemned to an eternal place called the lake of fire.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Do you realize the lake of fire was not meant for you and I? It wasn’t created for us, but for the devil and his fallen angels.

3.17. God wants none to perish. He created us to have fellowship with Him in heaven, but because of our own personal choices we condemn ourselves, that’s why we need renewal, and that renewal only comes from Jesus Christ our Lord.

3.18. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; (that wage we earn for sin is death) but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

3.19. Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

3.20. God says you must believe in your heart

3.21. Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

3.22. Many people believe they must make religious changes before they go to church or become a Christian. No, it’s a change of heart inside and a receiving the eternal gift of salvation thru Christ.

3.23. Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You wanna do that today, know your on your way to heaven? Maybe you’ve trusted Jesus Christ already as your savior, but you havent walked with Him for years. We’re going to have an opportunity to pray and you will be able to trust Christ as you savior; We’re going to open the alter and provide you with the opportunity to come forward.

If you’d like to trust Christ as your savior, get the place of your eternal destination settled, when we pray you can pray with me in your heart and have that settled.

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[1] a) Hughes, Robert B. ; Laney, J. Carl: Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (The Tyndale Reference Library), S. 557

[2] a) Hughes, Robert B. ; Laney, J. Carl: Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (The Tyndale Reference Library), S. 558

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