Living Like There Is A Tomorrow
1 Corinthians: "Life Under Grace" • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Stephen Charnock: “He is the true Father, that hath a quicker pace in meeting, than the prodigal hath in returning.”
Preparation Hymn #369
†CALL TO WORSHIP based on Psalm 24:7-10
Pastor Austin Prince
Minister: Lift up your heads, O you gates;
Congregation: be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in!
Minister: Who is this King of Glory?
Congregation: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. We come to worship him today!
†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION
O God, our resurrection and life, the promise of new life in Christ is like cool, sweet water in a dry and thirsty land. We have gathered as believers and as those seeking your truth, which is truth. Guide our worship this hour; speak to us, touching not just our intellects but also our affections–the yearnings of the soul. We bring our daily concerns and our eternal questions. Send your Holy Spirit to us that we may be welcomed into your presence. By His work in us today may you shed light upon our walk and unite us forever with you.
†OPENING HYMN OF PRAISE #216
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
† CONFESSION OF SIN & ASSURANCE OF PARDON
based on Psalms 25:6-8, 11, 16-18
Before Confession
“let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7, ESV)
TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION]
Minister: Let us confess our sins before God and one another –
Congregation: Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness sake, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore you instruct sinners in the way. For your name’s sake, pardon our guilt, for it is great. Turn to us and be gracious to us, for we are lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of our hearts, and bring us out of our distress. Consider our affliction and our troubles, most of all, our sin.
Minister: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Congregation: let your face shine, that we may be saved. Amen
Minister: Hear the assurance of God, and know that your sins are forgiven: I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sins against me, and I will forgive.
CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Exodus 15:22-27
Craig Hoffer, Elder
THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
†PSALM OF PREPARATION #149A
“Give Praise to the Lord”
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Lord, thou hast given us thy Word for a light to shine upon our path; grant us so to meditate on that word, and to follow its teaching. That we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SERMON 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 // Life In Light of The Resurrection
TEXT 1 COR. 15:12-34
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. 29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
AFTER SCRIPTURE
The Lord bless to us the reading of His holy word, and to His name be glory and praise
INTRO
If tomorrow you turned on the news and it was discovered that Jesus’ body was found, would that change anything about your life and the way you live it? If Jesus’ teachings remained and the history of Christianity remained and Christian ethics remained but the resurrection turned out not to be true, would it matter? What would it be that you had just lost?
Apparently, for many of the Corinthians, it didn’t matter that much. Some of them had come to the conviction that there was no such thing as resurrection. They seemed to believe in Jesus well enough and had become followers of his teaching. But they likely believed that it was only their souls that would be raised in some sort of eternal state, and they were skeptical about bodily resurrection, Jesus’s and their own.
And Paul catches this and is shocked. Not only is this false, and not only does this fall short of the gospel (as we saw last week), but it is an unthinkable belief for a Christian to hold. A Christian’s life is powered by resurrection power. A Christian’s perspective is a resurrection perspective. A Christian’s hope is resurrection hope. You can’t be a Christian who has pulled out the heart and still demands the function of a Christian life. You can’t live a Christian life with out resurrection impact.
So Paul shows in this text what exactly that impact is which the resurrection must have on our minds and beliefs, and also our actions and our lives. Here five things from this text that help us see this impact:
1) There are damning consequences of denying the resurrection
1) There are damning consequences of denying the resurrection
Paul lists them in quick succession.
Our faith & preaching vain
“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, ESV)
If Christ has not been raised then this gospel which we go on and on about, which we sing about, which we take to all the corners of the world, is just a bunch of wind. If Christ were not raised, then it’s all just talk and philosophy with no power. And not only is the preaching of hope and resurrection pointless, so becomes your faith. You no longer have the strong God who overcomes the grave, you just have another teacher who has his own tomb - someone like a Plato or Aristotle or an MLK.
Our faith is futile and still in our sins
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:16–17, ESV)
If Christ hasn’t been raised then we have no alternative. There is no one next in line for bringing hope to the world. For where do we go rid ourselves of sin? Jesus says for us to come to Him and He will give us rest. But if he is just like us, then there may be some comfort from his words, but he only proved to be a man — a trickster and a charlatan. He told us that He is the good shepherd, who not only lays his life down for the flock but is able to take it up again. If He is raised then He really is the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He is the strongman who has overcome sin and death if that tomb is empty. But if it’s not then our sins remain and the chains around our hearts and minds and lives are still locked, and we must bear that slavery still.
The dead are dead & gone
“Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” (1 Corinthians 15:18, ESV)
If there is no resurrection those who die are simply gone. Worse, those who are in Christ as simply gone. They have gambled and lost. They hoped they would rise but they went to the grave gullible and there they will remain.
If Christ has not raised then death’s sting bites really hard. Without resurrection the landscape of our world isn’t sown with the seeds of lives that will spring forth into new life, our landscape merely become an ever-increasing graveyard and testement to death.
Most to be pitied
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:19, ESV)
If Christianity only serves as an illusion, helping us get by through a hard life, then we are of all people most to be pitied. We are wishful thinkers who have believed in, preached, taught our children, and spread, a lie.
There are negative consequences of no resurrection, and there are positive consequences of the resurrection which you cannot enjoy if it isn’t true.
2) New birthday and new identity
2) New birthday and new identity
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:20–22, ESV)
Paul reminds them bluntly that the resurrection is true. This was partly the focus of last week’s sermon — how many people saw Christ, many of whom were still alive. Christ did rise from the dead, becoming the firstfruits of those whom have fallen asleep.
The bible frequently likens death to sleep, that daily parable to us of what this reality is like. We pass but then we rise again. And he takes up here an agricultural metaphor which is great — Christ is the first fruit. When a crop is ready there is gathered a firstfruit and it is supposed to tell the farmer and those who benefit from the crop what is to come, what to expect from the rest of the harvest. That’s what Christ is. He is the firstfruit. When the future is mysterious and scary, we have the ability to look at Christ and know that those in Him will also rise with Him. His life is what we are to expect.
Death came through one man and in Adam all die, but life has also come through one man — Jesus Christ. And all those in Him shall rise.
One of the realities of this world is our ability to identify with Adam. We are in Adam’s line and bear Adam’s curse. If we were to be asked to pull out our ID and give a record of which family we belong to, we can easily pull out examples of us belonging to Adam. But because of the resurrection, the gospel is true. Paul says in Romans 6 that we die with Christ and we are raised with Christ. We are no longer of the line of Adam but not adopted into the line of Christ. So when the tempter and accuser comes to throw your sins in your face, you say “well, that would have been true of the old man, but I have been born again into Christ”. Here’s my ID — I have a new birthday, the day that Christ rose from the dead. When the accuser comes to sow despair you can do the same thing. He’s a one-trick pony. So you take out your ID and present the truth of your identity. I am not one who carries this sin, it has been paid for. I am not one who has no hope, Christ has been raised from the dead.
Part of living the Christian life is having a resurrection conscience. “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there
who made an end of all my sin.”
3) The victory of Christ — optimistic eschatology
3) The victory of Christ — optimistic eschatology
“But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:23–26, ESV)
Part of that resurrection conscience is optimism in Christ’s work. As we live in what is often called “the now and the not yet” world of being redeemed in Christ but not resurrected, we believe that God has not forgotten us, abandoned us, but is using us as His ambassadors in the world. Our preaching is not in vain but is bearing the testimony of God’s great glory. God is subduing the world through the gospel — Philippians two tells us that Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but that he subjected himself to death, even death on a cross, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. j
We look forward to the last enemy of death being destroyed. And we have hope in that because we look to Christ who has already beaten death. We already know that death has been defanged and has lost its sting. We no longer live under the shadow of looming death and darkness; we live in the power of the living God who is storming the gates of hell and building His church.
4) Paul’s life of hope — Who would choose to believe what demands everything?
4) Paul’s life of hope — Who would choose to believe what demands everything?
“Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”” (1 Corinthians 15:29–32, ESV)
Paul mentions a practise of the Corinthians that some of them are baptized on behalf of the dead. Now little is known about this. It isn’t something that Paul commended. It is likely either an honorary baptism on behalf of those who professed Christ but died before baptism or something more like a cleansing ritual on behalf of the dead like we see in Numbers. But either way, Paul’s point is the same: if there is no resurrection, even your practises don’t make any sense. If there is no resurrection, then the sign of baptism is hollow.
But since the resurrection is true, Paul calls us to look at his own life and his own example. He isn’t believing in vain. And he isn’t preaching in vain. And he isn’t living in vain. The resurrection changed everything.
Not to put it irreverently, but the resurrection is a bit like a receipt. You aren’t free to go unless the bill is paid, but when the receipt comes and you see that there is no balance, you are free to go.
In Christ, the receipt has come. The bill has been paid. But we aren’t merely free to go on to our pleasures without any ambition or cares. We are free to go into the world as new men and women who bear the marks and testimony of a resurrection life.
Paul says that the resurrection changes you. It changes your priorities and purpose. As for his unique missionary life, he’s put it all on the line. It’s hard for us sometimes to consider going to church if the kids game schedule falls on a Sunday.
And if there is not resurrection, then sure, eat, drink, and be merry while you can.
But if there is a resurrection, then don’t just eat and drink and be merry like the world does. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you live. Life is meant to be spent, not preserved. Death has no sting. Follow Christ in giving life and follow Him out of the grave.
5) Bad company ruins good morals — the influence of doubters, worldview and those too lazy or unaware to warn you of danger
5) Bad company ruins good morals — the influence of doubters, worldview and those too lazy or unaware to warn you of danger
“Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15:33–34, ESV)
Paul lastly reminds them not to take counsel and company from those who would do not live in light of the resurrection.
Those who set their hope only in the eating, drinking and merry making of this world. Those whose god is their belly and their immediate appetite. They are not serious people who consider their souls and consider the grave. They are not friends. They do not warn of danger to your soul. They are those who fill their time with distraction and comfort themselves by including others in their distraction. They mock the cross, the resurrection, and the church, and they are often those who complain the most about the unfairness of the world.
Paul says, “wake up”. Don’t live like you have no knowledge of God. Don’t live like you don’t have resurrection hope. Christ is alive! Your hope is alive!
Conclusion
Conclusion
We live all of life in light of the resurrection. Today is a good reminder of that. The Sabbath used to be on Saturday, marking the pattern of rest that God displayed ont he seventh day of creation. But that day has now moved to Sunday, marking weekly a reminder of Christ’s resurrection —making the source where our real and lasting rest comes from. Rest is no longer at the end of the week after work, but it is at the beginning. It is the starting point of how we go into each new week. We go in resurrection perspective and resurrection power.
Our preaching and our faith isn’t futile and in vain
We are not still in our sins
Those who have died will rise again
We have shed the identity of Adam and have a new one in Christ.
We are not to have lives that are pitied, but lives that are envied — lives that pull people to the hope that we have in us through Christ.
†HYMN OF RESPONSE #281
“Rejoice, the Lord is King”
THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Minister: Lift up your hearts!
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!
CONFESSION OF FAITH
Nicene Creed p. 852
Congregation is seated.
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
// ad hoc invitation or use below if needed //
The Israelites in the Passover ate the unblemished, firstborn, male lamb with wine and unleavened bread. By this they were not only celebrating how God delivered them from the 10th plague in Egypt, they were having held out to them the greater substitution that was yet to come. Instead of sacrificing a lamb and putting its blood on the doorposts, God himself would offer up the blood of his own son to save them.
That meal provided the pattern for the one between Jesus and his disciples. Matthew records in his gospel:
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
All of this is the background for the meal set before us this morning. At the table our Lord sets we are united by faith with him by the Holy Spirit. In this mysterious working we receive, by faith, the same body that was born of Mary. The real Spiritual presence of Christ is present in the sacrament inasmuch as the Holy Spirit is able to unite us to Christ. It is therefore not a mere memorial or a pledge of our fidelity but is first and foremost a means of grace and a pledge of God’s faithfulness.
Don’t you long for some sign from God? Some sense of his presence? Some token of his having accepted us despite the weakness of our faith and obedience? Here, at this table, the holy one, whose mere voice sent terror into Israel’s bones, clothes himself in humility and gives himself to us.
This supper’s benefits are in substance the same as those communicated through preaching and baptism: Christ and all his benefits by faith. This means that the supper is itself a means of persevering grace. It does not give us an additional ingredient or a power not present in preaching, but supports those means as a perpetual ratification of God’s peace treaty with his people. Faith is created by the preached gospel and confirmed and strengthened by the sacraments. God works supernaturally through natural, created things.
This cup that we receive is a cup of forgiveness. In it we find the blood of Christ, which was shed for the remission of sins. By definition therefore it cannot be for anyone but sinners. “Jesus said that those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The forgiveness of God is the medicine for poor, sick souls.
This cup is the blood of Jesus Christ; the one who offers living water. He told the woman of Samaria that if she were to drink of it she would be fully, and finally, satisfied. This cup does not forgive sins, but as we take it by faith we receive the grace of God which unites us to Christ in his forgiveness. In this we too can be satisfied inasmuch as we are satisfied with the one who gives it.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS
//once all elements are received//
The Lord has prepared this table for all who love him and trust in him alone for their salvation. It is for those who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and continuing union with his Church.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”
[motion to partake]
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” This cup is the new covenant in the blood of Christ, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Drink of it, all who believe.
PRAYER
OUR RESPONSE #234
Tune: The God of Abraham Praise
The whole triumphant host gives thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God and mine! I join the heav’nly lays;
all might and majesty are thine, and endless praise.
†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE
Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Go in confident peace, for the Lord is with you. Amen.
Grace Notes Reflection
Can you imagine what your faith would be like if the resurrection wasn’t true? Paul paints the grim picture well in 1 Cor. 15:12-34, asserting that all Christians would lose the core of the gospel’s power, hope for their resurrection, the loss of an optimistic view of our current lives and the future, along with an embarrassing futility in our self-control and devotion.
But the resurrection is true.
And for the Christian, our entire worldview is shaped through the resurrection and its power. It has validated Jesus’ identity, proved His sacrifice approved, defeated death, and authenticated God as the strong man over sin and of history past, and future. Worship. Rest. Hope with resurrection courage. For all shall be well.