12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

1. I CORITHIAS 15:12-19
Edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I quote many authors both old and new in this study. If any author does not want their wisdom
shared in this way, they can let me know and I will remove it. My e-mail is
glenn_p86@yahoo.com
The Resurrection of the Dead
12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from
the dead, how can some of you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead?
1. Barnes, “ow if Christ ... - Paul, having 1Co_15:1-11 stated the direct evidence for the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, proceeds here to demonstrate that the dead would rise, by
showing how it followed from the fact that the Lord Jesus had risen, and by showing what
consequences would follow from denying it. The whole argument is based on the fact that the
Lord Jesus had risen. If that was admitted, he shows that it must follow that his people would
also rise.
Be preached - The word “preached” here seems to include the idea of so preaching as to be
believed; or so as to demonstrate that he did rise. If this was the doctrine on which the church
was based, that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, how could the resurrection of the dead be
denied?
How say - How can any say; how can it be maintained?
Some among you - See the introduction to 1 Cor. 15. Who these were is unknown. They may
have been some of the philosophic Greeks, who spurned the doctrine of the resurrection (see
Act_17:32); or they may have been some followers of Sadducean teachers; or it may be that the
Gnostic philosophy had corrupted them. It is most probable, I think, that the denial of the
resurrection was the result of reasoning after the manner of the Greeks, and the effect of the
introduction of philosophy into the church. This has been the fruitful source of most of the errors
which have been introduced into the church.
That there is no resurrection of the dead - That the dead cannot rise. How can it be held that
there can be no resurrection, while yet it is admitted that Christ rose? The argument here is
twofold:
(1) That Christ rose was one “instance” of a fact which demonstrated that there “had been” a

2. resurrection, and of course that it was possible.
(2) That such was the connection between Christ and his people that the admission of this fact
involved also the doctrine that all his people would also rise. This argument Paul states at length
in the following verses. It was probably held by them that the resurrection was “impossible.” To
all this, Paul answers in accordance with the principles of inductive philosophy as now
understood, by demonstrating A fact, and showing that such an event had occurred, and that
consequently all the difficulties were met. Facts are unanswerable demonstrations; and when a
fact is established, all the obstacles and difficulties in the way must be admitted to be overcome.
So philosophers now reason; and Paul, in accordance with these just principles, labored simply to
establish the fact that one had been raised, and thus met at once all the objections which could be
urged against the doctrine. It would have been most in accordance with the philosophy of the
Greeks to have gone into a metaphysical discussion to show that it was not impossible or absurd,
and this might have been done. It was most in accordance with the principles of true philosophy,
however, to establish the fact at once, and to argue from that, and thus to meet all the difficulties
at once. The doctrine of the resurrection, therefore, does not rest on a metaphysical subtilty; it
does not depend on human reasoning; it does not depend on analogy; it rests just as the sciences
of astronomy, chemistry, anatomy, botany, and natural philosophy do, “on well ascertained
facts;” and it is now a well understood principle of all true science that no difficulty, no obstacle,
no metaphysical subtilty; no embarrassment about being able to see how it is, is to be allowed to
destroy the conviction in the mind which the facts are suited to produce.
2. Clarke, “ow if Christ be preached, etc. - Seeing it is true that we have thus preached Christ,
and ye have credited this preaching, how say some among you, who have professed to receive this
doctrine from us; that there is no resurrection of the dead, though we have shown that his
resurrection is the proof and pledge of ours? That there was some false teacher, or teachers,
among them, who was endeavoring to incorporate Mosaic rites and ceremonies with the
Christian doctrines, and even to blend Sadduceeism with the whole, appears pretty evident. To
confute this mongrel Christian, and overturn his bad doctrine, the apostle writes this chapter.
3. Gill, “ow if Christ be preached that he arose from the dead,.... As he was by the Apostle Paul,
when at Corinth, and by all the rest of the apostles elsewhere.
How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Who these were is not
certain, whether Hymenaeus and Philetus, whose notion this was, were come hither, or any of
their disciples; or whether they were some of the followers of Simon Magus and Cerinthus, who
denied the resurrection; or rather, whether they were not Jews, and of the sect of the Sadducees,
who though they believed in Christ, retained their old principle, that there is no resurrection of
the dead, cannot be affirmed: however, it is certain that they were such as were then at Corinth,
and went under the Christian name; and it is highly probable were members of the church there;
and who not only held this notion privately, but broached it publicly, saying, declaring, affirming,
and that openly, before the whole church, what were their opinions and sentiments: it was indeed
but some of them, not all that were chargeable with this bad principle, which the apostle asks
how, and with what face they could assert, then it had been preached, and so fully proved to
them, that Christ was risen from the dead; and if so, then it is out of question that there is a
resurrection of the dead; for their notion, as it is here expressed, was not only that there would be
no resurrection of the dead, but that there was none, nor had been any: though the apostle's view
is also to prove the future resurrection of the dead, and which is done by proving the resurrection
of Christ, for his resurrection involves that of his people; for not only the saints rose in, and with

3. Christ, as their head representatively, and which is the sense of the prophecy in Hos_6:2 but
because he is their head, and they are members of him, therefore as sure as he the head is risen,
so sure shall the members rise likewise; nor will Christ's resurrection, in a sense, be perfect, until
all the members of his body are risen: for though the resurrection of Christ, personally
considered, is perfect, yet not as mystically considered; nor will it till all the saints are raised, of
whose resurrection Christ's is the exemplar and the pledge: their bodies will be raised and
fashioned like unto Christ's, and by virtue of union to him, and as sure as he is risen, for he is the
firstfruits of them that slept. Besides, as he became incarnate, obeyed, suffered, not for himself,
but for his people, so he rose again on their account, and that they dying might rise also; which if
they should not, one end at least of Christ's resurrection would not be answered: add to this, that
the same power that raised Christ from the dead, can raise others, even all the saints; so that if it
is allowed that Christ is raised, it need not be thought incredible that all the dead shall be raised;
and particularly when it is observed, that Christ is the efficient, procuring, and meritorious cause
of the resurrection from the dead, as well as the pattern and earnest of it.
4. Henry, “Having confirmed the truth of our Savior's resurrection, the apostle goes on to refute
those among the Corinthians who said there would be none: If Christ be preached that he rose
from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 1Co_15:12. It
seems from this passage, and the course of the argument, there were some among the Corinthians
who thought the resurrection an impossibility. This was a common sentiment among the
heathens. But against this the apostle produces an incontestable fact, namely, the resurrection of
Christ; and he goes on to argue against them from the absurdities that must follow from their
principle.
5. Calvin, “But of Christ. He now begins to prove the resurrection of all of us from that of Christ.
For a mutual and reciprocal inference holds good on the one side and on the other, both
affirmatively and negatively — from Christ to us in this way’: If Christ is risen, then we will rise
— If Christ is not risen, then we will not rise — from us to Christ on the other hand: If we rise,
then Christ is risen — If we do not rise, then neither is Christ risen. The ground-work of the
argument to be drawn from Christ to us in the former inference is this: “Christ did not die, or
rise again for himself, but for us: hence his resurrection is the foundation. f825 of ours, and what
was accomplished in him, must be fulfilled in us also.” In the negative form, on the other hand, it
is thus: “Otherwise he would have risen again needlessly and to no purpose, because the fruit of
it is to be sought, not in his own person, but in his members.”
Observe the ground-work, on the other hand, of the former inference to be deduced from us to
him; for the resurrection is not from nature, and comes from no other quarter than from Christ
alone. For in Adam we die, and we recover life only in Christ; hence it follows that his
resurrection is the foundation of ours, so that if that is taken away, it cannot stand f826 The
ground-work of the negative inference has been already stated; for as he could not have risen
again but on our account, his resurrection would be null and void, f827 if it were of no advantage
to us.
6666.... Carl W. Conrad, “Let me quote what R. C. H Lenski wrote in his commentary. “I would think

4. it's fair to say (a) that absence of the article with EKROS is far more common than presence of
the article, (b) that when the article appears it means reference is to a specific corpse or two or
more specific corpses, and (c) that the sense is more appropriately corpse than dead person;
although that involves some conceptualizing, it seems to me thatpersonhood is simply not
something one thinks of as associated with EKROI.
He criticizes some commentators as follows: They take EK EKRW to mean: from among,
out from among the dead. There is no article: from THE dead in the Greek. The idea
contained in this phrase is not that when Christ arose, he left all the other dead behind. Christ
came out of death and re-entered life.
How reasonable is Lenski's interpretation? I am aware that some interpreters would like to take
some meaning from the fact that the phrase is rising from among the dead, not just rising
from death. Isn't there a better way to express rising from death in Greek? I certainly can't
see how a PARTITIVE notion is to be applied to EK EKRW--and that is what from among
the dead would seem to me to involve; rather it's strictly ablatival, it seems to me.
As for whether there's a better way to express rising from death in Greek, it should be
understood that it's not a notion that is much to be associated with ancient Greek thinking--
certainly not the notion of revival of a corpse. In so far as there is a conception of survival of the
dead it generally involves a separable spirit, a YUCH or PEUMA. What appears to be the
original Judaeo-Christian notion of resurrection of the body is
fundamentally alien to the Greek cultural tradition (I don't mean to say that it never appears,
but that it is not, I think, the way an ancient Greek would normally conceive of survival of death.
The notion of from the realm of death would, I think, be expressed with the phrase EX
hAiDOU, from Hades' (house/realm) where hAiDOU is a genitive that must be understood
with an implicit ablatival-genitive noun dependent directly upon EX.”
6B. John Gregson, “Just how important is the teaching of the resurrection of Christ? MacArthur
states, Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the
resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which
all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter. Without
the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all
other human philosophy and religious speculation. The resurrection is the focal point of every
other truth Christ taught. He taught His disciples that 'the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again' (Mark 18:31; cf. 9:9, 31). He said, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me shall live even if he dies' (John 11:25) (p. 398).
12, 13 This passage of Scripture deals with the importance of Christ's resurrection, the order of
the resurrections and the moral value of the resurrection. Paul begins this section with the
hypothetical question, ow if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? In other words, Paul had preached the
resurrection of Jesus during his second missionary journey when he visited Corinth; however,
evidently some of them were denying the resurrection of the dead. To deny that there was a
resurrection of Christ or the saints, is first step in a logical chain of thought that ultimately
shows that if any part of the Christian rationale is rejected, the rest of it cannot be true. If Jesus
Christ of azareth is alive then every issue, be it moral, philosophical, political, social, economic,
aesthetic or psychological is settled and there is ground for optimism. If He is dead then nothing

5. is settled, we have lived always in a random universe and no one can predict when and how the
end will come - or indeed if there is any end to this exercise in futility which we call life...There
follows in verses 13 - 19 what has been called the greatest demonstration of formal logic ever
written (Yeager, Volume XIII, p. 168). For the sake of argument - if there is no resurrection of
dead saints, our Lord did not arise from the grave. He is still in Joseph's tomb where he was
placed two thousand years ago, or His body was placed in some other resting place. 14 - 19 If our
Lord has not risen from the grave, then all the preaching of the Apostles, and all of those sermons
and testimonies that have been given for these two thousand years are vain (kenon), false or
empty, and those who have placed faith in a living Savior have believed in vain. The one great
truth that makes Christianity unique is faith in a Savior that is alive. Anyone who does not
believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is wasting his time and effort as well as the time of his
hearers. There is no such thing as the late great Jesus Christ. Robertson says of this verse (14),
Both Paul's preaching and their (the Corinthian's) faith are empty if Christ has not been raised.
If the skeptics refuse to believe the fact of Christ's resurrection, they have nothing to stand on
(p. 189).
1.Every witness to the fact that Jesus is alive, beginning with the Apostles down to this present
hour, is a false witness (pseudomartures) or a liar if He is not alive. This word translated false
witnesses is found only twice in the ew Testament, here and in Matthew 26:60 where at least two
false witnesses came forward to accuse Jesus of saying they heard Jesus say that if they destroyed
the temple of God He will rebuild it in three days. If we are false witnesses, Hobbs writes, This
means that we are preaching a lie. But, even more, that God Himself lied! God promised to raise
Jesus. If He did not, then He lied to His Son! Unthinkable! But logic can draw no other
conclusion--if there be no bodily resurrection (Baptist Standard, July 21, 1976, p. 19). In verse
16 Paul restates his testimony for emphasis; if the dead rise not then neither has Christ Jesus
been raised. Over thirty times, from Matthew 8:15 to Revelation 11:1, the word egertheis is used
with reference to the physical resurrection of the dead. Finally Paul writes if Christ did not arise
from the grave after three days in Joseph's new tomb, ye are yet in your sins. If the Lord Jesus
Christ did not arise from the grave there is no justification. In Romans 4:25 Paul writes, Who
(Jesus) was delivered from our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Yeager says
of this verse, The doctrine of justification, forgiveness, redemption, pardon - it all depends upon
the fact of the bodily resurrection of our Lord, for only if He arose, as He predicted, can we be
sure that the man on the cross was God incarnate. The Romans crucified many people - two
others on that same day. What was unique about Jesus of azareth? (p. 172). If there is no
resurrection then is our faith vain, empty, or useless; faith is devoid of truth, a lie. All these
passages (Romans 4:24; 5:1f; 8:11; I Corinthians 15:3,4) imply that Christ's death is only of value
if He also conquered death and as the Living One applies the benefits of His death to sinners
(Grosheide, p. 359). The logical conclusion is that if Jesus did not arise from the grave, all the
saints from Adam to the present time are perished (apolonto), doomed or defeated. Then Paul
writes, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable (eleeinoteroi),
pitiable or 'more deserving of compassion or pity'. Believers are in a worse condition than the
unbelievers, for our hopes are dashed if Jesus did not arise from the grave. The believers are
victims of a cruel hoax, and we are robbed of the joy of expectation of life eternal which will
never be ours; the unbeliever did not expect anything anyway. Thank God, our hope is in Christ
and His bodily resurrection, we will never be disappointed in Him. If our hope is limited to this
life, we have denied ourselves what people call pleasures and have no happiness beyond
(Robertson, p. 190).

6. 6C. Doug Goins, “The culture that was informing them was Greek. The Greeks didn't believe in
the resurrection of the dead. Remember the story in Acts 17 of how Paul came to the great
intellectual center of Athens and preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as
historic reality. They laughed at him. They thought a dead body's being raised to life was a silly
idea. Most Greek philosophers considered the human body a prison, and they believed that at
death the soul was freed to a kind of immortality, but it involved the complete dissolution of the
conscious identity and personality into the cosmos, or absorption into some kind of divinity. Some
schools of philosophy in Greece denied any kind of afterlife at all. All of these ancient
perspectives are also very modern. We hear our contemporaries in the world talk these same
ways about the possibility of life after death.”
6D. Godet, “From the Greek point of view, especially since the time of Plato, it was customary to
regard matter, u{lh , as the source of evil, physical and moral, and consequently the body as the
principle of sin in human nature. It is obvious, therefore, that the resurrection of the body which,
from the Jewish Messianic viewpoint, was looked upon as the consummation of the expected
salvation, and as an essential element of future glory, must have appeared to the Greek mind as a
thing very little to be desired, as the restoration of the principle of evil. This view had even gained
the Jewish thinkers of Alexandria who came under the influence of Greek philosophy, such as the
author of Wisdom and the philosopher Philo, to whom we may add the Essenian monks. They all
agree in regarding death as setting man free from the bonds of the body, and in making the
immortality of the soul , of the soul alone, the object of their hope.
There is nothing, I think, to prevent us from connecting with the denial of the resurrection by
certain of the Corinthians what Paul says in 2 Tim. 2:18 of two heretics: “That, according to
them, the resurrection of the dead was past already.” Evidently these teachers would not see in
the resurrection anything else than spiritual regeneration; the restoration of the body was
relegated by them to the domain of fable.
Ver. 12. “ow if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead?”—Why, then, it has been asked by Ruckert and Scherer,
would the resurrection of Christ be denied by denying the resurrection of the dead? If Christ is of
a different nature from us, as Paul holds, it does not at all follow from the fact that He rose, that
we ourselves should rise. And M. Scherer adds: “It is easier to doubt apostolic infallibility than
the laws of logic.” Grotius, Meyer, and Kling have sought to answer by these very laws of logic,
and explained the reasoning thus: If there be no resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of
Christ cannot be a fact; the genus not existing, the species cannot. But if such were the apostle's
thought, he would certainly, in ver. 13, have put the oujk e[stin before the subject; for this verb
would contain all the force of the argument. Besides, it is not of the resurrection of the dead as an
abstract idea that Paul would speak; he designates by this name a definite historical event, the
resurrection of the dead expected at the end of the earthly economy. Finally, the argument would
not be decisive, for one might always lay down an exception in favor of Christ, not only because
of His superior nature, but especially, as would apply much better here, because of His perfect
holiness, which did not allow of His remaining under the power of death. Paul is not reasoning as
an abstract logician, but as an apostle. The basis of his argument is a fact which pertains to the
essence of the Christian salvation: our new life, flowing from union with Christ, is nothing else
than participation in His life. Salvation therefore cannot be realized in us otherwise than it is
realized in Him. If to the heavenly life upon which He has entered there belongs the possession of
a risen and glorified body, it must be so with us. Our glory being His glory, which He

7. communicates to us, it must be homogeneous with His. The apostle's question, ver. 12, is therefore
perfectly justified: How say some among you . ?”
7. Hughes notes that “One of the problems the Corinthian church faced was that some were
saying, “There will be no resurrection of the dead” (1Co 15:12). It has been suggested that these
were Sadducees (Matt. 22:23-33), but this is unlikely since the Sadducees were associated with the
Jerusalem temple, which was far from Corinth. They were probably Gentiles influenced by
Greek philosophy. To the Greeks, immortality was a spiritual concept, and they had no place for
the resurrection of the physical body. 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. Paul addressed these views through implications drawn from Christ’s resurrection.
(Hughes, R. B., Laney, J. C., Hughes, R. B. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill.:
Tyndale House Publishers)
7B. Bob Deffinbaugh, “Verse 12 discloses the problem which prompts Paul to write this chapter:
some of the Corinthian saints are saying there is no “resurrection of the dead.”216 Denying the
resurrection of the dead is seen in several different forms in the ew Testament. The Greek
pagans denied the resurrection of the dead, as we can see from the Book of Acts. In his sermon to
those in the market place of Athens, Paul preached these words:
30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all
everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by
raising Him from the dead.” 32 ow when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began
to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this” (Acts 17:30-32).
The Greeks may have believed in the immortality of men, as spirits, but they did not seem
responsive to the teaching that God raises the dead so that they may stand in judgment before
God.
The Jewish Sadducees did not embrace the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead either:
6 But perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in
the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and
resurrection of the dead!” 7 And as he said this, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees
and Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there
arose a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue
heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken
to him?” (Acts 23:6-9)
The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection of the dead, and in spirits and angels, but the
Sadducees did not. Basically, the Sadducees were anti-supernaturalists—they did not believe in
miracles. It would almost seem the Sadducees were farther from the truth (at least about the
resurrection of the dead) than the Gentile pagans.
There were those in the church who professed to believe in the resurrection of the dead but who
insisted that this “resurrection” had already taken place:
16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk
will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone

8. astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset
the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:16-18).
This “resurrection” was a present possession rather than a future hope. It must therefore have
been some kind of mystical or spiritual “resurrection” rather than a literal, bodily resurrection.
In saying that there has already been a spiritual resurrection, these heretics were denying that
there was a future bodily resurrection. And for this they receive Paul’s indictment that they have
“gone astray from the truth” (2 Timothy 2:18). The error is so serious that it “upsets the faith”
(verse 18) of those who embrace this error.
We are not told exactly what form the denial of the resurrection of the dead took at Corinth. I am
inclined to think it was the same kind of error Paul exposed in Ephesus (2 Timothy 2:16-18),
where Paul told Timothy that such error would “lead to further ungodliness” (verse 16). We can
see some forms of ungodliness this doctrinal deviation took in the earlier chapters of 1
Corinthians. While the theological error regarding the resurrection of the dead is not exposed
until chapter 15, the fruits of this error are everywhere apparent in chapters 1-14.
In the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with the divisions and factions which had
disrupted the unity of the church at Corinth. These divisions were based upon the pride which
some took in certain leaders and their teachings. The Corinthians were puffed up because their
leaders “were the greatest” and their teachings were so “wise.” Their esteem for these leaders
resulted in a corresponding disdain for Paul and the other apostles:
6 ow these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes,
that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might
become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. 7 For who regards you as superior? And what
do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not
received it? 8 You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings
without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9
For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we
have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s
sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but
we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly
clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands;
when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we
try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now
(1 Corinthians 4:6-13).
Paul’s gospel (which was one and the same with the gospel proclaimed by the other apostles) was
disdained because it was too simplistic, too naive, too foolish. The “new gospel,” proclaimed by
the Corinthians’ new leaders, was much more sophisticated, much more acceptable and
appealing to the pagan culture of that day.
Just what was the problem the Corinthians had with Paul, his theology, and his practice? The key
is found in the word “already” in verse 8.217 The Corinthians seem to be claiming that they have
already arrived, spiritually speaking. Christianity has three dimensions or tenses: past, present,
and future.218 We were chosen in Christ in eternity past, and 2,000 years ago, Christ died, was
buried, and was raised from the dead for the forgiveness of our sins and our eternal salvation. We
are now being saved;219 we are currently being sanctified, daily being transformed into the image
and likeness of Jesus Christ. Our final salvation comes when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to the
earth, and when we, with glorified and transformed bodies, live eternally in His presence.

9. Difficulties arise whenever we confuse these three tenses. Some Christians live as though Christ’s
atoning work at Calvary (in the past) has no great impact on our day-to-day living in the present.
Such people live out their lives naturalistically, as though the supernatural power of God has no
practical relevance to daily living. They go about their daily living little different from atheists.
They employ merely human methods and mechanisms. They raise funds, for example, using the
same methods as the Red Cross or the United Fund. They seek to sanctify and utilize secular
marketing techniques to evangelize and to produce church growth. They use human management
techniques to run the church and Christian organizations.
Other Christians go to the opposite extreme. They confuse the future blessings, which Christ has
promised and purchased, with His present blessings. In short, they think the Christian can and
should experience heaven on earth. They believe no one needs to be sick (or perhaps even to die),
because of the atoning work of Christ at Calvary (see Isaiah 53:5). According to this version of
“spirituality,” we should expect to be happy, healthy, and wealthy now. They claim the future
blessings of Revelation 21 and 22 as their present rights, and they tell us that if we do not
experience these blessings now it is due to our lack of faith.
This health and wealth doctrine does not find its origin in the Scriptures, but in the wishful
thinking of those who do not want to face up to a life of suffering, a life that is lived out in a fallen
world. The context of 2 Timothy 2 and 3, the teaching of the Book of Hebrews and 1 Peter, and
the example set forth by Paul and the apostles points to a different view of spirituality in the
present age (see also Romans 8). The Scriptures speak of our identification with Christ in this age
through our participation in His sufferings (see Philippians 1:12-26; 3:10; Colossians 1:24-29; 1
Peter 4:12-19), rather than in our escape from them.
o wonder the “spiritual” Corinthians looked down upon Paul. They had already arrived; Paul
had not. They were kings; Paul was homeless. Paul and the apostles were a disgrace, and the
proud Corinthians were ashamed of them. The apostles did not look nor act like royalty, but like
the “scum of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:8-13). To speak of the resurrection of the dead as a
future certainty meant they had not already arrived, that the kingdom of God had not yet come.
It meant that they must identify with Christ in His earthly humiliation and rejection and not in
His triumphant reign. And so they set aside the literal bodily resurrection of the dead, embracing
in its place some kind of spiritual resurrection which already brought them into their kingdom, a
kingdom of this age and not the next, a kingdom which the apostles and their gospel would not
embrace or sanction.
8. Alexander Maclaren, “Party spirit and faction were the curses of Greek civic life, and
they had crept into at least one of the Greek churches--that in the
luxurious and powerful city of Corinth. We know that there was a very
considerable body of antagonists to Paul, who ranked themselves under
the banner of Apollos or of Cephas _i.e._ Peter. Therefore, Paul,
keenly conscious that he was speaking to some unfriendly critics,
hastens in the context to remove the possible objection which might
be made, that the Gospel which he preached was peculiar to himself,
and proceeds to assert that the whole substance of what he had to say
to men, was held with unbroken unanimity by the other apostles.
'They' means all of _them_; and 'so' means the summary of the Gospel
teaching in the preceding verses.

10. ow, Paul would not have ventured to make that assertion, in the face
of men whom he knew to be eager to pick holes in anything that he
said, unless he had been perfectly sure of his ground. There were
broad differences between him and the others. But their partisans
might squabble, as is often the case, and the men, whose partisans
they were, be unanimous. There were differences of individual
character, of temper, and of views about certain points of Christian
truth. But there was an unbroken front of unanimity in regard to all
that lies within the compass of that little word which covers so much
ground--'_So_ we preach.'
ow, I wish to turn to that outstanding fact--which does not always
attract the attention which it deserves--of the absolute identity of
the message which all the apostles and primitive teachers delivered,
and to seek to enforce some of the considerations and lessons which
seem to me naturally to flow from it.
I. First, then, I ask you to think of the fact itself--the unbroken
unanimity of the whole body of Apostolic teachers.
As I have said, there were wide differences of characteristics
between them, but there was a broad tract of teaching wherein they
all agreed. Let me briefly gather up the points of unanimity, the
contents of the one Gospel, which every man of them felt was his
message to the world. I may take it all from the two clauses in the
preceding context, 'how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures.' These are the things about
which, as Paul declares, there was not the whisper of a dissentient
voice. There is the vital centre which he declares every Christian
teacher grasped as being the essential of his message, and in various
tones and manners, but in substantial identity of content, declared
to the world.
ow, what lies in it? The Person spoken of--the Christ, and all that
that word involves of reference to the ancient and incomplete
Revelation in the past, its shadows and types, its prophecies and
ceremonies, its priesthood and its sacrifices; with all that it
involves of reference to the ancient hopes on which a thousand
generations had lived, and which either are baseless delusions, or
are realised in Jesus--the Person whom all the Apostles proclaimed
was One anointed from God as Prophet, Priest, and King; who had come
into the world to fulfil all that the ancient system had shadowed by
sacrifice, temple, and priest, and was the Monarch of Israel and of
the world.
And not only were they absolutely unanimous in regard to the Person,
but they were unbrokenly consentient in regard to the facts of His
life, His death, and His Resurrection. But the proclamation of the

11. external fact is no gospel. You must add the clause 'for our sins,'
and then the record, which is a mere piece of history, with no more
good news in it than the record of the death of any other martyr,
hero, or saint, starts into being truly the good news for the world.
The least part of a historical fact is the fact; the greatest part of
it is the explanation of the fact, and the setting it in its place in
regard to other facts, the exhibition of the principles which it
expresses, and of the conclusions to which it leads. So the bare
historical declaration of a death and a resurrection is transmuted
into a gospel, by that which is the most important part of the
Gospel, the explanation of the meaning of the fact--'He died for our
sins.'
If redemption from sin through the death of a Person is the
fundamental conception of the Gospel for the world, then it is clear
that, for such a purpose, a divine nature in the Person is wanted.
Your notion of what Christ came to do will determine your notion of
who He is. If you only recognise that His work is to teach,
or to show in exercise a fair human character, then you may rest
content with the lower notion of His nature which sees in Him but the
foremost of the sons of men. But if we grasp 'died for our sins,'
then for such a task the incarnation of the Eternal Son of God is the
absolute pre-requisite.
Still further, our text brings out the contents of this gospel as
being the declaration of the Resurrection. On that I need not here
and now dwell at any length. But these are the points, the Person,
the two facts, death and resurrection, and the great meaning of the
death--viz. the expiation for the world's sins: these are the things
on which the whole of the primitive teachers of the Apostolic Church
had one voice and one message.
ow, I do not suppose that I need spend any time in showing to you
how the extant records bear out, absolutely, this contention of the
Apostle's. I need only remind you how the opposition that was waged
against him--and it was a very vigorous and a very bitter
opposition--from a section of the Church, had no bearing at all upon
the question of what he taught, but only upon the question of to whom
it was to be taught. The only objection that the so-called Judaising
party in the early Church had against Paul and his preaching, was not
the Gospel that he declared, but his assertion that the Gentile
nations might enter into the Church through faith in Jesus Christ,
without passing through the gate of circumcision. Depend upon it, if
there had been any, even the most microscopic, divergence on his part
from the general, broad stream of Christian teaching, the sleepless,
keen-eyed, unscrupulous enemies that dogged him all his days would
have pounced upon it eagerly, and would never have ceased talking
about it. But not one of them ever said a word of the sort, but
allowed his teaching to pass, because it was the teaching of every

12. one of the apostles.
If I had time, or if it were necessary, it would be easy to point you
to the records that we have left of the Apostolic teaching, in order
to confirm this unbroken unanimity. I do not need to spend time on
that. Proof-texts are not worth so much as the fact that these
doctrines are interwoven into the whole structure of the ew
Testament as a whole--just as they are into Paul's letters. But I may
gather one or two sayings, in which the substance of each writer's
teaching has been concentrated by himself. For instance, Peter speaks
about being 'redeemed by the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb
without blemish and without spot,' and declares that 'He Himself bare
our sins in His own body on the tree.' John comes in with his
doxology: 'Unto Him that loved us, and loosed us from our sins in His
own blood'; and it is his pen that records how in the heavens there
echoed 'glory and honour and thanks and blessing, for ever and ever,
to the Lamb that was slain, and has redeemed us unto God by His
blood.' The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, steeped as he is in
ceremonial and sacrificial ideas, and having for his one purpose to
work out the thought that Jesus Christ is all that the ancient
ritual, sacerdotal and sacrificial system shadows and foretells, sums
up his teaching in the statement that Christ having come, a high
priest of good things to come, 'through His own blood, entered in,
once for all, into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us.'
There were limits to the unanimity, as I have already said. Paul and
Peter had a great quarrel about circumcision and related subjects.
The Apostolic writings are wondrously diverse from one another. Peter
is far less constructive and profound than Paul. Paul and Peter are
both untouched with the mystic wisdom of the Apostle John. But, in
regard to the facts that I have signalised, the divinity, the person
of Jesus Christ, His death and Resurrection, and the significance to
be attached to that death, they are absolutely one. The instruments
in the orchestra are various, the tender flute, the ringing trumpet,
and many another, but the note they strike is the same. 'Whether it
were I or they, so we preach.'
II. ow, let me ask you to consider the only explanation of this
unanimity.
Time was when the people, who did not believe in Christ's divinity
and sacrificial death, tortured themselves to try and make out
meanings for these epistles, which should not include the obnoxious
doctrines. That is nearly antiquated. I suppose that there is nobody
now, or next to nobody, who does not admit that, right or wrong,
Paul, Peter, John--all of them--teach these two things, that Christ
is the Eternal Son of the Father, and that His death is the Sacrifice
for the world's sin. But they say that that is not the primitive,

13. simple teaching of the Man of azareth; and that the unanimity is a
unanimity of misapprehension of, and addition to, His words and to
the drift of His teaching.
ow, just think what a huge--I was going to say--inconceivability
that supposition is. For there is no point, say from the time at
which the Apostle who wrote the words of my text, which was somewhere
about the year 56 or 57 A.D.,--there is no point between that period,
working backwards through the history of the Church to the
Crucifixion, where you can insert such a tremendous revolution of
teaching as this. There is no trace of such a change. Peter's
earliest speeches, as recorded in Acts, are in some important
respects less developed doctrinally than are the epistles, but
Christ's Messiahship, death, and Resurrection, with which is
connected the remission of sins, are as clearly and emphatically
proclaimed as at any later time. So these points of the Apostolic
testimony were preached from the first, and, if in preaching them,
the witnesses perverted the simple teaching of the Carpenter of
azareth, and ascribed to Him a character which He had not claimed,
and to His death a power of which He had not dreamed, they did so at
the very time when the impressions of His personality and teaching
were most recent and strong. It seems to me, apart altogether from
other considerations, that such a right-about-face movement on the
part of the early teachers of Christianity, is an absolute
impossibility, regard being had to the facts of the case, even if you
make much allowance for possible errors in the record.
But I would make another remark. If misapprehension came in, if these
men, in their unanimous declaration of Christ's death as the
Sacrifice for sin, were not fairly representing the conclusions
inevitable from the facts of Christ's life and death, and from His
own words, is it not an odd thing that the same misapprehension
affected them all? When people misconceive a teacher's doctrine, they
generally differ in the nature of their misconceptions, and split
into sections and parties. But here you have to account for the fact
that every man of them, with all their diversity of idiosyncrasy and
character, tumbled into the same pit of error, and that there was not
one of them left sane enough to protest. Does that seem to be a
likely thing?
And what about the worth of the teacher's teaching, that did not
guard its receivers from such absolute misapprehension as that? If
the whole Church unanimously mistook everything that Jesus Christ had
said to them, and unwarrantably made out of Him what they did, on
this hypothesis, I do not think that there is much left to honour or
admire in a teacher, whose teaching was so ambiguous, as that it led
all that received it into such an error as that into which, by the
supposition, they fell.

14. o, brethren; they were one, because their Gospel was the only
possible statement of the principles that underlay, and the
conclusions that flowed from, the plain facts of the life and the
teaching of Jesus Christ. I am not going to spend time in quoting His
own words. I can only refer to one or two of them very succinctly.
'Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' 'As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up.' 'My flesh is the bread which I will give for
the life of the world.' 'The Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.' 'This
is My body broken for you; take, eat, in remembrance of Me.' 'This is
My blood, shed for many for the remission of sins; this do ye, as
often as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.' What possible
explanation, doing justice to these words, is there, except 'Jesus
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures'? And how could
men who had heard them with their own ears, and with their own eyes
had seen Him risen from the dead and ascending into heaven, do
otherwise than eagerly, enthusiastically, at the cost of all, and
with unhesitating voice of unbroken unanimity, 'so preach'?
I quite admit that in Christ's teaching in the gospels you will not
find the articulate drawing out into doctrinal statement of the
principles that underlay, and the conclusions that flow from, the
historical fact of Christ's propitiatory death. I do not wonder at
that, nor do I admit that it is any argument against the truth of the
divine revelation which is made in these doctrinal statements, to
allege that we find nothing corresponding to them in Jesus Christ's
own words. The silence is not as absolute as is alleged, as the
quotations which I have made, and which might have been multiplied,
do distinctly enough show. Even if it were more absolute than it is,
the silence is by no means unintelligible. Christ had to offer the
Sacrifice before the Sacrifice could be preached. He Himself warned
His disciples against accepting His own words prior to the Cross, as
the conclusive and ultimate revelation. 'I have many things to say
unto you, but you cannot carry them now.' There was need that the
Cross should be a fact before it was evolved into a doctrine. And so
I venture to say that the unanimity of the preaching is only
explicable on the ground of that preaching in both its parts--its
assertion of Jesus' Messiahship and of His propitiatory death--being
the repetition on the housetop of the lessons which they had heard in
the ear from Him.
III. ote, briefly, the lesson from this unanimity.
Let us distinctly apprehend where is the living heart of the
Gospel--that it is the message of redemption by the incarnation and
sacrifice of the Son of God. There follows from that incarnation and
sacrifice all the great teaching about the work of the Divine Spirit
in men, dwelling in them for evermore. But the beginning of all is,

15. 'Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.' And,
brethren, that message meets, as nothing else meets, the deepest
needs of every human soul. It is able, as nothing else is able, to
open out into a whole encyclopædia and universe of wisdom and truth
and power. If we strike it out of our conception of Christianity, or
if we obscure it as being the very palpitating centre of the whole,
then feebleness will creep over the Christianity that is _minus_ a
Cross, or does not see in it the Sacrifice for the world's sin. You
may cast overboard the sails to lighten the ship. If you do, she lies
a log on the waters. And if, for the sake of meeting new phases of
thought, Christian churches tamper with this central truth, they have
flung away their means of progress and of power.
Let me say again, and in a word only, that the considerations that I
have been trying to submit to you in this sermon, show us the limits
within which the modern cry of 'Back to the Christ of the Gospels,'
is right, and where it may be wrong. I believe that in former days,
and to some extent in the present day, we evangelical teachers have
too much sometimes talked rather about the doctrines than about the
Person who is the doctrines. And if the cry of 'Back to the Christ'
means, 'Do not talk so much about the Atonement and Propitiation;
talk about the Christ who atones,' then, with all my heart, I say,
'Amen!' But put the Person in the foreground, the living-loving, the
dying-loving, the risen-loving Christ, put Him in the foreground. But
if it is implied, as I am afraid it is often implied, that the Christ
of the Gospels is one and the Christ of the epistles is another, and
that to go back to the Christ of the gospels means to drop 'died for
our sins according to the Scriptures,' and to retain only the
non-miraculous, moral and religious teachings that are recorded in
the three first gospels, then I say that it is fatal for the Church,
and it is false to the facts, for the Christ of the epistles is the
Christ of the gospels: the difference only being that in the one you
have the facts, and in the other you have their meaning and their
power.
So, lastly, let this text teach us what we ourselves have to do with
this unanimous testimony. 'So we preach, and so ye believed.'
Brother! Do you believe _so_? That is to say, is your conception
of the Gospel the mighty redemptive agency which is wrought by the
Incarnate Son of God, who was crucified for our offences, and rose
that we might live, and is glorified that we, too, may share His
glory? Is that your Gospel? But do not be content with an
intellectual grasp of the thing. 'So ye believed' means a great deal
more than 'I believe that Christ died for our sins.' It means 'I
believe in the Christ who did die for my sins.' You must cast
yourself as a sinful man on Him; and, so casting, you will find that
it is no vain story which is commended to us by all these august
voices from the past, but you will have in your own experience the
verification of the fact that He died for our sins, in your own

16. consciousness of sins forgiven, and new love bestowed; and so may
turn round to Paul, the leader of the chorus, and to all the
apostolic band, and say to them, 'ow I believe, not because of thy
saying, but because I have seen Him, and myself heard Him.'
9. Barclay 12-19
If it is continually proclaimed that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some among
you say that the resurrection of the dead does not exist? If the resurrection from among the dead
does not exist, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then the
proclamation of the faith is emptied of its meaning, and your faith has been emptied of its
meaning too. If that is so we are shown to have home false witness about God, because we
witnessed about God, that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if indeed the dead are not
raised up. If the dead are,not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been
raised your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins; and, if that is so, those who died trusting
in Christ have perished. If it is only in this life that we have hope in Christ, then we are more to
be pitied than all men.
Paul attacks the central position of his opponents at Corinth. They said flatly, Dead men do not
rise again. Paul's answer is, If you take up that position it means that Jesus Christ has not
risen again; and if that be so, the whole Christian faith is wrecked.
Why did Paul regard a belief in the Resurrection of Jesus as so essential? What great values and
great truths does j, conserve? It proves four great facts, which can make all the difference to a
man's view of life here and hereafter.
(i) The Resurrection proves that truth is stronger than falsehood. According to the Fourth
Gospel, Jesus said to his enemies, ow you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth.
(Jn.8:40). Jesus came with the true idea of God and of goodness; his enemies procured his death
because they did not want their own false view destroyed. If they had succeeded in finally
obliterating him, falsehood would have been stronger than truth. On one occasion the Earl of
Morton, regent of Scotland, sent for Andrew Melville, the great Reformation leader. There will
never be quyetnes in this countrey, said Morton, till halff a dissone of you be hangit or
banished the countrey. Tushe! sir, said Melville, threaten your courtiers in that fashion. It is
the same to me whether I rot in the air or in the ground.... Yet God be glorified, it will nocht ly in
your power to hang nor exyll his treuthe! The Resurrection is the final guarantee of the
indestructibility of the truth.
(ii) The Resurrection proves that good is stronger than evil. Again to quote the Fourth Gospel,
Jesus is represented as saying to his enemies, You are of your father, the devil. (Jn.8:44). The
forces of evil crucified Jesus and if there had been no Resurrection these forces would have been
triumphant. J. A. Froude, the great historian, wrote, One lesson, and only one, history may be
said to repeat with distinctness, that the world is built somehow on moral foundations, that in the
long run it is well with the good, and in the long run it is ill with the wicked. But if the
Resurrection had not taken place, that very principle would have been imperilled, and we could
never again be certain that goodness is stronger than evil.
(iii) The Resurrection proves that love is stronger than hatred. Jesus was the love of God
incarnate.
Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love Divine.

17. On the other hand, the attitude of those who procured his crucifixion was an almost virulent
hatred, so bitter that in the end it was capable of ascribing the loveliness and graciousness of his
life to the power of the devil. If there had been no Resurrection, it would have meant that the
hatred of man in the end conquered the love of God. The Resurrection is the triumph of love over
all that hatred could do. This very beautiful poem sums up the whole matter.
I heard two soldiers talking As they came down the hill, The sombre hill of Calvary, Bleak and
black and still. And one said, `The night is late, These thieves take long to die.' And one said, `I
am sore afraid, And yet I know not why.'
I heard two women weeping As down the hill they came, And one was like a broken rose, And one
was like a flame. One said, `Men shall rue This deed their hands have done.' And one said only
through her tears, `My son! my son! my son!'
I heard two angels singing Ere yet the dawn was bright, And they were clad in shining robes,
Robes and crowns of light. And one sang, `Death is vanquished,' And one in golden voice Sang,
`Love hath conquered, conquered all, O heaven and earth rejoice!'
The Resurrection is the final proof that love is stronger than hate.
(iv) The Resurrection proves that life is stronger than death. If Jesus had died never to rise again,
it would have proved that death could take the loveliest and best life that ever lived and finally
break it. During the second world war a certain city church in London was all set out for harvest
thanksgiving. In the centre of the gifts was a sheaf of corn. The service was never held, for, on the
Saturday night, a savage air raid laid the church in ruins. The months passed and the spring
came, and someone noticed that, on the bomb site where the church had stood, there were shoots
of green. The summer came and the shoots flourished and in the autumn there was a flourishing
patch of corn growing amidst the rubble. ot even the bombs and the destruction could kill the
life of the com and its seeds. The Resurrection is the final proof that life is stronger than death.
Paul insisted that if the Resurrection of Jesus was not a fact the whole Christian message was
based on a lie, that many thousands had died trusting in a delusion, that without it the greatest
values in life have no guarantee. Take away the Resurrection, he said, and you destroy both
the foundation and the fabric of the Christian faith.
10. Steve Zeisler, “So the question remains, why did some in Corinth hold that humans are not
raised from the dead? I suggest that two basic and prideful notions are involved. First, there was
the long-standing belief in in that Greek culture in Plato's philosophy that the soul of man is
immortal but not his body. In their view, the physical world served only to limit and imprison the
soul. Death was the means of escape for the soul from the limitation it was forced to bear in this
physical world. At death, the soul achieved immortality, and the body was needed no longer. This
perhaps was one reason some in the Corinthian church denied the resurrection of the body.
This viewpoint, which is mirrored in the thinking of the ew Age movement today, progressively
denies the dependence of mankind on a personal God who creates and sustains everything.
People who do this deny the need for a Savior, and ultimately intend to become godlike on their
own merits. Getting rid of one's body therefore is a good thing, because by doing so limitless
horizons beckon the once-imprisoned soul to become like God himself. This philosophy, of course,
denies any need for a Mediator between God and man, and thus denies the work of Christ. If
man can make it by himself, where is the need for repentance and faith?
C.S. Lewis wrote in Miracles:

18. ...the resurrection was not regarded simply or chiefly as evidence for the immortality
of the soul. On such a view Christ would simply have done what all men do when they
die; the only novelty would be that in His case we were allowed to see it happening.
But there is not in Scripture the faintest suggestion the resurrection was new evidence
for something that had in fact always been happening. The ew Testament writers
speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead is the first event of its kind in
the whole history of the universe. He is the first fruits, the pioneer of life. He has
forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met,
fought, and beaten the king of death. Everything is different because He has done so.
This is the beginning of the new creation. A new chapter in cosmic history has been
opened.
Those who are forever seeking to raise the level of their own consciousness, those who speak of
endless reincarnations and vain hopes of expanding their spiritual authority, would deny the
resurrection of the body and seek instead to become gods in their own right. This perhaps is the
motivation which lay behind the teaching of some in the Corinthian church; and, as we have
pointed out, is the same philosophy which underlies the ew Age movement in our own day.
THIS LIFE OLY
The second reason why some of the Corinthians may have denied the resurrection was that they
felt that man had no need for God at all. The elite in every age tend to focus on this world only
and pay scant attention for what might happen after death. The elitist Sadducees of the first
century, the wealthy intellectuals of their day, denied the resurrection too. This was the basis of
their doctrinal split with the Pharisees. They were so enamored of the high standing which they
occupied in this life, they had no time for any thought of the after-life.
'
This is what the modern intellectual elitist would have us do also. He has achieved victory in this
life, whether it be in commerce, education, or whatever. Calling on him to focus on anything
other than what he has accomplished-on the next life, especially-brings him down to the level of
everyone else; and that is something that has no appeal for him. He does not like to be reminded
that his accomplishments on this earth give him no advantage in eternity. More than that, he
encourages others to do the same, saying that this is all there is; there is no resurrection of the
body; there is no after-life. But because of the resurrection of Christ, Paul insists that we too will
be resurrected. It is man's destiny to be raised.
LIFE AS A PILGRIMAGE
Before we look into these verses in detail we need to consider some facts that are necessary
conclusions of what we have learned so far. First, we need to remember that this life is, in a sense,
a warm-up, an 80-year span when we learn the rudiments of walking with God, when we make
decisions about what we will become; when we lay a foundation. This life then is merely the title
page in a book which will be written in eternity. We are pilgrims on this earth. We are looking for
a home, a city that will last forever.
When I played football in college, the thing I hated most about the coming season was the endless
practice sessions of August. This was the month when football players said goodbye to their
friends on the beach and went back to the college training fields, back to the hard slog of

19. repetitious training exercises, yelling coaches and aching muscles. It was not all bad, of course.
We got to participate in the occasional scrimmage; there was a large degree of camaraderie
between the participants. But who would want to go through an August like that unless there was
a football season coming later?
This is the apostle's perspective on the Christian life. If this is all there is, he is saying, if there is
nothing else coming, then Christians are most of all to be pitied. We have lived restricted lives,
taken on difficult assignments (albeit with some accomplishments and fellowship along the way),
and we are deserving of pity. But no. This life is a warm-up. Our faith in Christ will ensure that
we will be raised with him. We will have new bodies ready to interact with our spirits-bodies that
will interact with the new creation in a way that will be glorifying and satisfying.
UIO WITH GOD
Secondly, in the resurrection we have a radical connection with Christ. In Jesus, God became
man, wedding himself forever to humanity. When Jesus went to heaven, he did not give up his
humanity but rather took his humanity-and us-with him. He ascended in a resurrection body;
thus the human race will forever be one with deity. I have a friend who had heart transplant
surgery at Stanford hospital. In a profound sense, my friend will always be connected to the
person whose heart now beats in his body. As long as he lives, this connection between them will
remain. Because of the resurrection, the same is true for God and us. Christ has been raised,
therefore God and man are forever entwined. There can never again be a separation between us.
And third, we should remember that the history of the cosmos as we know it will end. A day of
reckoning is coming. Look at verse 24,
...then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when
He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
One of the important jobs parents have is to teach children about deadlines and consequences.
When they are very young, we tend to soften the hard edges of an absolute deadline. If you tell
your little children that it's time to go to bed, you find yourself shortly saying, I'm going to
count to three and you'd better be in bed by the time I finish. Five minutes later you go through
the same routine. But if you are a good parent, the older your children become the less likely you
will be to continue doing this. You find yourself saying, rather, If you don't get your homework
done on time, you will pay for the consequences. If you don't get your application in on time,
you won't be able to go on that outing, etc. Anthony Hembrick, the Olympic boxer, was a few
moments late for a bout and was declared the loser. There was no second chance. o individual
human being, nor the human race all together, has unlimited opportunity to choose. A day of
reckoning awaits us. The end will come, and when it does, we are either in Christ or in Adam.
There are only two choices.
A DOWWARD SPIRAL
ow let us look more closely at Paul's argument. Verse 12:
ow 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? But if there is no resurrection of the
dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false

20. witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He
did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even
Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you
are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we
have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied.
otice the downward spiral of conclusions in the apostle's words as he proceeds from one degree
of terrible recognition to the next. If Christ is not raised... The result of each succeeding if
clause become more serious and frightening. First, he says, our preaching and our faith are both
in vain. The whole of the Christian life-preaching, teaching, study, prayer, fellowship-are
ridiculous because they are based on make believe. But, even worse, it's blasphemous. If Christ
has not been raised, Christians are lying by saying that God raised him. The prophets of Baal,
who falsely claimed that they represented God, were slain for their misrepresentation. This claim
by Christians, if it is not true, is not just vain, it is blasphemous.
But matters become worse yet: ...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; and you
are still in your sins. Vain, blasphemous, eternally guilty. If God has not accepted the sacrifice of
Jesus, which the raising of Jesus proclaims, then there is no answer to the problem of sin; we are
still in our sins. Beyond that, those who have already fallen asleep in Christ are lost to us forever.
They have not gone on to be with the Lord; they have perished. In recent months we have had
cause to rejoice in this church as some of the most beloved and faithful members of this
congregation have gone to be with Christ. But if Christ has not been raised, their bodies have
decayed and that is the end of them.
Lastly, says Paul, if Christ has not been raised, then Christians are pitiable, wretched specimens.
If this is just a made-up story, a charade to help people through their threescore and ten years,
then we are deserving of pity. We are nothing but fools. I had a schoolmate once, a beautiful girl
who was elected a Miss Teenage something or other. By her late twenties she had become a
pitiable, sad person. She hoped that winning such a contest would lead to a lifetime of personal
success. It failed to deliver. If Christians have set their hopes on an event that never occurred, i.e.
the resurrection, then they too are wretched, and pitiable.
ASCESIO
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (verse
20). There is an order to these events. The first fruits recalls the Old Testament pattern of
offering the first portion of the crop to God, thereby signifying that all of it belonged to him. This
is how Paul regards the resurrection of Christ. It is the earnest, the promise which is the
Christian's hope. We now know that the single human cell created at conception contains the
complete genetic information relating to the child who will be born, a child who will grow and
learn and bear the image of God. One single cell is a prediction, a down payment on the dreams,
relationships, creativity, etc., of the person. Paul is saying that through the resurrection of Christ,
the first fruits, all Christians who follow him will also be resurrected one day.
My father and mother were friends in junior high school. In college, they became engaged, and
after graduating they married. Recently I came to the realization that as my own children are
now in junior high and high school, it's conceivable that they have already met their future
spouses. An already existing friendship may be the first step of something much more. A family

21. might ensue, grandchildren might be born to us, lives lived in a community, witness for Christ-the
process may already have begun, one that will bring a delightful harvest. Christ's
resurrection is the announcement that the rest of the story will follow in due time.
Scripture predicts that after the first one, Christ, is raised, he will come again, and that those who
are alive at his coming will be caught up with him in the air. We also know that the dead in Christ
will be raised to be with him. We know that he will win a victory over the evil one; that death will
be destroyed; and that as he takes us with him in his victory, everything will be subject to him,
and he will offer himself in subjection to God (we along with him), that God might be all in all.
FOREVER DEPEDET
If verses 12 through 19 are a descent into wretchedness and pity, then verses 20 through 28 are a
glorious ascension. From most to be pitied to most to be envied; lives of blasphemy or vain hope,
or those who will inherit with Christ. Those are the options. There is no sentimental middle
ground.
The Corinthians had allowed their pride to sway them to believe that men's souls are immortal
and do not require resurrection. In saying this, they had planted a seed that proclaimed the
possibility of men becoming like God himself. They would no longer be dependent, but be
independent of God. Or else they had so grown to love this world that they rejected the
resurrection so that they could pay more attention to the payoffs of this world, especially so that
the elite could become more elite. One of these two viewpoints had infiltrated the church in
Corinth. The ew Age movement, the health and wealth gospel, the prosperity preachers of today
share the same kind of reasoning-loving ourselves as god or saying that we have no need for God.
But this passage teaches that, for real Christians, Christ is the center of everything. Any teaching
that makes the resurrection a lesser thing is a direct attack on the centrality of Christ in
Christianity. Christians believe that humanity is forever dependent upon Jesus. He is the first
fruits of the resurrection, and our resurrection is in him. Listen to just how central Christ is, in
verses 20 and following: Christ has been raised (verse 20); by a man came resurrection of the
dead (v.21); in Christ shall all be made alive (v.22); Christ the first fruits (v.23); he
delivers up the kingdom (v.24); He must reign (v.25); He has put all things in subjection
under His feet (v.27). Christ is at the center of everything; and because he and we are raised, he
is central to us. Any attack on the resurrection therefore is an attack on the central place which
Christ occupies in Christianity.
And because we are raised, he is central to us. That is the most important notion of all. We will
always need him. There is nowhere to go without him. Any attack on the resurrection is an attack
on the central place of Christ. It divorces those who have believed in him from radical faith in
him. So we need to reassert that Jesus has been raised. We will be raised, always creatures,
always dependent, gloriously unified with him, caught up into the life of God. Without Christ
there is no spirituality, no Christianity, no religion, no knowledge of God.
Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once he all doth save,
Where thy victory, O grave?
Love's redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won.

22. Death in vain forbids Him rise,
Christ has opened Paradise.
Soar we now where Christ has led,
Foll'wing our exalted Head.
Made like Him, like Him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
11. James Davis 12-19, “I want to talk about our bodies, the way we’re going to be after Jesus
returns and He takes us to heaven. I trust this message will not only instruct you, but inspire you;
not only lead you, but also feed you with the reality of the soon return of Jesus and the
resurrection of God’s people. Later I will be dealing with more verses in this same chapter as it
relates to the glorified, resurrected body of God’s people.
I challenge you first and foremost to not allow the thief of doubt to rob you of the resurrection. I
want to say with all the function, unction, and emotion of my soul—if you were to extract the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Gospel, you will have emasculated Christianity. All of
Christianity falls apart like a house of cards when one card is removed. You can’t have
Christianity without the Resurrection any more than you can have mathematics without
numbers or music without the notes of the musical scale.
Paul was a great logician. He said if Christ had not been raised then some things were definitely
true. I want to give you six propositions that relate to Jesus being in the grave. These propositions
flow one after another.
FIRST, OUR PREACHIG IS PROFITLESS
If Christ is in the grave then all of our preaching is profitless. Paul said in verse 14, “And if
Christ be not risen then our preaching is in vain.” I want you to see it. If Christ is in the grave,
then it is useless to preach the Gospel.
I realize some preaching is profitless. It’s like the two women who were going home after the
Sunday service. They were talking about the sermon. The first lady said, “He read his sermon
today.” The other lady answered, “He didn’t read it well.” The first lady followed, “Since you
brought it up, I don’t think it was worth reading.”
I trust this message is worth hearing. If Jesus is still in the grave our preaching is profitless. It is a
waste of time for you to come to church and hear sermons. It is a waste of time to study the Bible.
It is a waste of time to grow deeper and deeper in the things of God if Jesus is still in the grave.
ot only is our preaching profitless, but our faith is also futile.
SECOD, OUR FAITH IS FUTILE
A) The Resurrection is a Fundamental Belief -- Paul says in verse 14, “And if Christ be not risen
then our preaching is in vain and your faith is also vain.” Paul is saying that our faith is no better
than its object. If Jesus Christ is still in the grave and dead, then we cannot possibly have faith in
Him for our faith is futile. Paul is saying our faith is to be in Christ because He is risen.

23. Some time ago, in Los Angeles, there was a person called the “Human Fly.” This man could
literally climb the sides of department store buildings and slide along the walls without help from
any outside force. He was a master. That’s why they called him the “Human Fly.”
One Friday afternoon, a crowd gathered to watch him climb. He had already climbed twenty
stories and had ten more to go. Suddenly, he stopped moving. It appeared that he was looking for
something to hold on to so he might continue his climb to the top of the building. Gradually, they
saw his right hand moving to the side of the building, as if trying to get hold of something there.
Suddenly, he lost his footing and fell to his death. When they pried open his right hand, they
found he was clutching a cobweb. He must have thought he saw something he could hold, instead
it was nothing.
There are a lot of people like that. They are grasping for the wrong truths. Their faith is in the
wrong object. Since they do not have belief in the Resurrection, their faith is futile and is headed
for failure and defeat. I trust you will build your confidence and faith in the Word of God. Jesus
is risen. It is a fundamental belief. If Jesus is not risen, the Word of God is a falsehood. ot only
is the Resurrection a fundamental belief, but it is a factual belief.
B) The Resurrection is a Factual Belief -- Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:3-8, “For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. 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. After that he was seen of James, then also of the apostles. And last of all, he was
seen of me also, as one born out of due time.”
ot only is it a fundamental belief, but the Rapture of the Church is a factual belief. Paul says in
verses 51 and 52, “Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Verse 54, “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
“ow 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? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even
Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is
also vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against
God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ
has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your
sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in
Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the
dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)

24. When Jesus returns, there is going to be a glorious resurrection of God’s people. The
Resurrection is a fundamental belief; it is a factual belief; and, it a fervent belief.
C) The Resurrection is a Fervent Belief -- The song of the living and the raptured saints will be,
“Oh death, where is thy sting?” The song of the departed but resurrected saints will be, “Oh
grave, where is thy victory?” If Jesus is still in the grave then our faith is futile, our preaching is
profitless, and the disciples were deceivers.
THIRD, THE DISCIPLES WERE DECEIVERS
In 1 Corinthians 15:15, Paul adds, “Yea and we are found false witnesses of God, because we
have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise
not.” In other words, the disciples said they were witnesses of His resurrection. Some were saying
the disciples were deceivers.
How do we know they were telling the truth? Sometimes people will live for a lie, but I tell you it
is seldom that people will die for a lie. Martyrs and hypocrites are not made of the same
substance. How do I know they were not deceivers? Because they all died for their belief in the
resurrection. Peter, James, the son of Alpheus, Philip, Simon, and Bartholomew were all
crucified. Thaddeus was shot by an arrow. James, the brother of Jesus was stoned. Thomas was
speared to death. James, the son of Zebedee and Matthew died by the sword. And, Paul was
beheaded. These people were not deceivers because they were willing to give their life for their
belief.
So, if Jesus Christ is still in the grave, our preaching is profitless, our faith is futile, the disciples
were deceivers, and sin is sovereign.
FOURTH, SI IS SOVERIG
Paul says in verses 16-17, “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And, if Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain. Ye are yet in your sins.”
I said earlier that the Resurrection is a fundamental belief. If it is not the Word of God then it is a
falsehood and Christ is a failure. If Christ is still in the grave, then we are still in our sins. Jesus
Christ came out of that grave and He is seated at the right hand of the Heavenly Father making
intercession for you and me. “Living He loved me; dying He saved me; buried He carried my sins
far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He’s coming, oh glorious day.” When Jesus
came out of that grave, He broke the chains of hell and death. He was resurrected and went back
home to be with His Father. ow, He is our Advocate, our High Priest, making intercession for
us. He is covering our sins and pleading our case every day that we live.”
If He is still in the grave, then our preaching is profitless; our faith is futile; the disciples were
deceivers; sin is sovereign; and, death has dominion.
FIFTH, DEATH HAS DOMIIO
Paul says in verse 18, “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” If Christ is
in the grave, our loved ones are like a pet, or an animal, because they are gone forever. People

25. don’t like to talk about death. They will avoid it like smallpox. But, Mother ature and Father
Time are causing us to die. Someone has said, “The heartbeat is a muffled drum beat to the
grave.” One day we shall all see the face of death if Jesus Christ does not come to take us away.
Some time ago an unbelieving man bid farewell to his little six-year-old daughter who was lying
in a casket. He kissed her little face and fingered the curls about her ears for a moment. Then, he
turned away from the little white casket in utter despair, saying, “Farewell, forever.” But, the
Christian mother stroked the little girl’s forehead and kissed her face as she uttered these words,
“Though you have been with us for only six years, life is richer and sweeter, my darling little girl.
Good night. I will be with you, and with our Lord, in the morning.”
Eternal bodies -- One day we will see again those who have perished while serving Jesus. It is
going to be a glorious time for God’s people. They will come forth with eternal bodies like His.
Jesus proved that to Thomas in John 20:26-29, where He says, “Touch me, Thomas. Look at me,
Thomas. See me, Thomas.” We shall have the same bodies as Jesus.
Stainless bodies -- ot only are we going to have eternal bodies like Jesus, our bodies are going to
be stainless bodies. In verse 53 of this chapter, Paul says, “For the corruptible must put on
incorruption…”
Splendid bodies -- They are going to be the same bodies as His, stainless bodies, and splendid
bodies. This mortal must put on immortality. Paul tells us that we shall live for eternity.
Spirit bodies -- Same bodies, stainless bodies, splendid bodies, and spirit bodies like that of our
Lord’s glorious body. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:44, “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body.” There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.
Oh, what a truth! Those believers who went to the grave lame will come forth to walk on streets
of gold. Christians who were blind will arise to see the face of our Savior. Followers of Christ who
were deaf will someday hear angels sing, “Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb”. Godly men and
women who died of cancer, leukemia, diabetes or other sicknesses, on Resurrection morning will
leave all sicknesses behind. Oh, what a day when Jesus returns for His own.
Our ministry has allowed us to travel to many places throughout the world. On several trips to
the Hawaiian Islands, we have taken the tour out to the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor. After a
short boat ride of five or ten minutes, there is a scenic spot erected directly over the sunken U.S.S.
Arizona battleship. On the platform, the names of those who died are engraved in marble. Then,
looking into the water, parts of the ship are still visible. Inside that ship are hundreds of bodies of
sailors who died that day on December 7, 1942.
I could not help but think that many of those men knew Jesus Christ as Savior. Even though their
bodies are now enclosed within the iron coffin of that ship, under the surface of the water, they
one day will come forth in the Resurrection to meet their Lord in the air.
If Jesus Christ is still in the grave, then death has dominion, sin is sovereign, the disciples were
deceivers, faith is futile, preaching is profitless, and our future is fearful.
SIXTH, OUR FUTURE IS FEARFUL

26. Paul says in verses 19-20, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most
miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep.” I
tell you if Jesus has not come out of the grave, our future is fearful.
Gilbert West and Lord Littleton were two agnostics who set out to disprove the Bible. Gilbert
West would seek to prove that Saul was not converted. Before they reached their goals, both men
came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Francis Lamb, a well-known, sophisticated lawyer wrote a 248-page report on the ew Testament
entitled, “Tested by the Standards and Ordeals of Jurally Science.” The conclusion of his study
and report is that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as a demonstrated fact.
ot only did Jesus hang and die on a cross nearly 2,000 years ago, not only was He buried in a
borrowed tomb, but on schedule He came out of the grave and He lives today! Because of His
Resurrection, when Jesus returns, we too shall be resurrected and receive a glorified body. Those
who are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the clouds and forever
we shall be with the Lord! Those who have gone into the grave before us will one day come out of
their graves and be reunited eternally with the Lord and His people.
Oh what a day that will be! When Jesus returns, we shall forever be with our glorious Lord. In 1
Thessalonians 4:17, Paul writes, “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” But, not only shall we be
with our glorious Lord, we shall be in a glorious land. There will be no more sickness, death, evil,
immorality, drug abuse, or child abuse. What a day it is going to be when Jesus comes for you
and me. We shall be seated with Christ at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and later will rule
and reign with Him for ever and ever!
Since Jesus Christ is alive, preaching is profitable, faith is feasible, the disciples are dependable,
sin has been subdued, death is defeated, and our future is fabulous. Jesus lives--do you? You do
not live until the Risen Savior is invited into your heart and life.
COCLUSIO
Many years ago, as the story goes, a young woman had been placed into an insane asylum.
Although she protested her innocence, no one would believer her. In time, however, she won the
favor of an old man who was the coffin maker for those who died at the asylum. He agreed that
when the next person died, she could get into the coffin with the dead person and he would let her
escape before the body was buried.
Soon, someone from the asylum died. In the dark, she hurriedly rushed to the side of the casket,
lifted the lid, got inside with the body, and closed the lid in anticipation of her desired freedom.
An eerie feeling came over her as she felt the body next to her. In time she heard voices and felt
the casket being moved into the hearse. She felt the thump of the casket as it was placed inside
the vehicle. At any time, she thought, the old man would open the casket for her to be free. She
heard the door slam, the engine start, and the hearse begin to move.
It was only a short drive to the cemetery. Soon the casket was placed in the ground. When voices
were no longer heard, she thought the old man would open the lid and let her escape. Instead, she
heard the first of several shovels of dirt being thrown onto the casket. Thinking someone must
still be with the old man, she fought the anxiety of her delayed release. As time passed, she

27. thought the old man would surely dig her up as soon as everyone left. Then she would be free.
The coldness of the earth began to fill the coffin. The eerie feeling of the body next to her
bothered her. She began to panic as she realized that the oxygen would soon be gone and her life
would be over if something did not happen quickly. She kept telling herself that her friend would
come and everything would be fine--but everything was not fine. She began to gasp for breath
and realized that time was running out.
At that moment she struggled to find the lighter that was in her pocket. She stroked it and the
flame lit the cramped coffin. Suddenly, she saw the face of the coffin maker. ow she did panic
and began to scream, but no one was able to hear her.
I ask you, with whom are you going to the grave? If Jesus is not in your heart, you will be lost for
all eternity. Our preaching is profitable. Our faith is feasible. The disciples are dependable. Sin
has been subdued. Death is defeated. And, the future is filled with hope for those who know Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord!
12. Alan Carr 12-20, “WHAT IF THERE HAD BEE O RESURRECTIO?
Intro: In the opening verses of this chapter, the Apostle Paul reminds us that the doctrine of
Christ's resurrection from the dead is a vital and foundational doctrine. In fact, he tells us that it
is an essential component of the Gospel of grace, v. 3-4. With that in mind, he proceeds to offer
proof that Jesus did indeed raise from the dead, v. 5-8. Apparently, there were some members of
the church in Corinth who doubted the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead.
In this chapter, Paul is writing to remind them that the resurrection is essential to salvation and
to any hope of Heaven. In an effort to awaken the Corinthian believers to the importance of the
resurrection, he paints a dismal picture of what life would be like if there had been no
resurrection. You see, if there had been no resurrection from the dead, then we would be in sad
shape this morning! As the Lord leads, lets take the time to consider what would be true if there
had been no resurrection.
I. V. 12-19 A BITTER ASSUMPTIO
(Ill. If there was no resurrection from the dead, then we have:)
A. V. 12-13 o Foundation - Paul reminds us that if there is no resurrection from the
dead then Jesus did not rise again, If He is dead, then everything we believe in come
crashing down around us. If there is no resurrection from the dead, then Jesus
Himself is no better than the tens of thousands of others who have claimed to be sent
from God. If He did not rise, then His death was the unfortunate end to a misspent life
and His teachings are nothing more than the raving of some maniacal madman! If it is
true, and there is no resurrection from the dead, then the very system of belief that we
cherish so deeply is nothing more than just another religion that offers life and hope to
no one. If Jesus is still in that tomb today, then our way of life is a farce and we are
among the greatest of fools to have ever walked upon this planet. For, if Jesus is dead,
then our system of belief is dead, our foundations have crumbled beneath us and we
might as well go home right now!
B. V. 14-16 o Faith - In these three verses, the great Apostle moves to paint an even
more sobering portrait of how things would be if Jesus were indeed dead today. He
tells us three areas that are truly of base if Jesus is dead.

28. 1. V. 14 Our Preaching Is Vain - Paul tells us that if Jesus is dead, then all
the preachers have wasted their words and time proclaiming the message
of the resurrection. Form the first witness, Mary Magdalene - John 20:2, to
the several hundred mentioned in verses 5-8 of our text, to great men like
Spurgeon, Wesley, Sunday, Jones, Graham, Edwards, Talmadge, Moody,
Truit, Criswell, Evans, Carroll, and millions of others have been fools, if
Jesus did not raise from the dead!
2. V. 14 Our Faith Is Vain - Paul tells us that if Jesus is still dead, then we
are wasting our time serving Him and worshiping Him. If Jesus is really
still dead, then you would be just as well off worshiping a rock, a tree or an
image of some type. If Jesus is still in the grave, then everything we do is
false, phoney and foolish! If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then all the
preaching you have listened to over the years is a lie, all your praying,
serving, witnessing, and church attendance have all been a waste of your
time. If Jesus did not rise from the dead then you are the victim of the most
cruel hoax ever played on humanity and the Christian faith is the greatest
joke of all time.
3. V. 15 We Are False Witnesses - Paul tells us that al those who spread the
Christian message of salvation through the crucified and resurrected Jesus
are liars if Jesus did not in fact rise from the dead. Every time we open our
mouths to sing, to witness, to testify, to preach, or whatever we do in His
name, then we are liars if He did not rise from the dead.
(Ill. Just consider for a moment what a leap of faith this is! Paul was a man
of wealth, social standing, influence and great education. Yet, he was
willing to throw all of that away for the cause of Jesus. He was beaten,
imprisoned, assaulted, stoned and left for dead, all for the name of Jesus.
Here is a man who was at one time dead-set against Christians and
Christianity. His single purpose in life was to destroy everyone and
everything associated with, that name! For Paul to turn his back on
everything he loved and then devote his life to spreading a lie is simply too
much to believe. If Paul did this, then he was absolutely crazy!)
C. V. 17 o Forgiveness - As if things couldn't get any worse, Paul now tells us that if
Jesus isn't alive, then we are still lost, hell bound and still in our sins this morning.
The heart of the Gospel message is the great truth that Jesus Christ left Heaven above,
was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and died on the cross to pay for the sins of the
world. It doesn't stop there! The Bible goes on to say that He rose again the third day
for our justification, Rom. 4:25. If Jesus is still dead, then we cannot be justified and
we are still lost in sin this morning! If He is dead today, then we are still looking for a
redeemer and we are all headed to Hell!
D. V. 18-19 o Future - Paul now moves beyond this life to consider things of an
eternal nature. He tells us that if Jesus is still dead, then we have no hope for the
future at all. otice 2 terrible things that are true if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
1. V. 18 Our Loved Ones Who Have Gone Before Are Gone Forever - One

29. of the blessings of the Christian life is the knowledge that one day, we will
participate in a reunion in Heaven which will include all those we have
known and loved who knew the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Paul tells us
that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then every one who dies is forever
lost. Either we are like a dog and go to the grave, or we go to Hell to be
forever separated from the Lord. If this is true, then there will be no
Heaven, there will be no gatherings on the other side. There will be no hope
and there is no future to anticipate. If Jesus is still dead, then we might as
well live it up down here and enjoy the time we have left. If Jesus is dead,
then we are all but dust and when we die, we are gone forever!
Heaven is a cruel joke, mom and dad are gone forever, sons and daughters
are gone, brothers and sisters are gone, grandparents are gone, if there is
no resurrection from the dead.
2. V. 19 We Have Lived Our Lives In Vain - Paul is saying that if Jesus did
not rise from the dead, then every child of God has wasted his/her life in
living for Jesus. We have a believed a lie and are headed to Hell! If the
Bible lied about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, then you
and I can believe nothing this Book tells us! (Ill. Matt. 11:28; John 6:37;
John 3:16; Heb. 13:5; Psa. 103:12; 1 John 1:9 - All bitter, cruel lies if Jesus
did not rise from the dead!)
(Ill. All of this paints a pretty bleak picture for us. If there is no
resurrection from the dead, them we are all in real trouble and need to seek
psychiatric help to be delivered from the delusions that have gripped and
enslaved our minds. But, thank God, aren't you glad that Paul did not stop
writing with verse 19? Verse 20 stands like a majestic lighthouse pointing
the way to hope, safety and salvation.)
I. A Bitter Assumption
II. V. 20 A BLESSED ASSURACE
(Ill. Paul states, for the record, the thrilling fact that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead! He lives
this morning just like the Bible says He does. The storied penned by the Gospel writers aren't
just the ranting of deluded men, but are in fact the truth of God and the means of salvation for
lost souls. When the angel told the women that Jesus was risen, his witness was true! He lives! He
lives! ow, because He lives, all of those negatives I spoke about a minute ago are transformed
into positives. You see, before the first ray of sunshine ever broke the darkness on that Sunday
morning 2,000 years ago, God had already stretched forth His hand and had called the Son to
some forth from the grave. Then, the Father sent the angels to roll away the stone. ot to let
Jesus out, for He was already gone, the stone was rolled away so that you an I might look into the
most sublime and powerful event the world has ever known! Yes Jesus lives and now all our
negatives have been placed in the positive column. He lives therefore:
A. Our Foundation Is Firm - The bedrock doctrine of our faith is true. Jesus lives and
Christianity stands as the only valid means whereby a lost sinner can reach the God of
Heaven.