2018-04-01 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 What if It's Not True?

WHAT IF IT’S NOT TRUE? (I Cor 15:12-19) April 1, 2018 Read I Cor 15:12-19 – A man asked his doctor, “Are you sure I’ll get well? Don’t docs sometimes treat the wrong disease. I just heard of a guy who was being treated for pneumonia who died of typhoid.” The doc replied, “Don’t worry. When I treat a man for pneumonia, he dies of pneumonia.” Not very reassuring. So our question today is, do you have the right treatment for guilt? We all have guilt. It covers our life like a great cloud. Every time we ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why am I being punished?” or “How can I make this right?” we are acknowledging feelings of guilt. Some would tell us do penance; others, it’s a false feeling, ignore it. But are they right? Paul had an answer. He says in v. 1, remember the “gospel I preached to you which you received”? Gospel. Good news. The good news in 3-4: “that Christ died for our sins. . . 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.” That good news. That the forgiveness you could not achieve on your own, Christ has achieved for you and all who believe in Him. The answer to your guilt problem isn’t you; it’s Him. That’s the message your heard and received. But a problem has arisen. V. 12b: “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” Some in Corinth were denying that anybody could rise from the dead. They were probably Greek dualists who taught all matter is evil. The soul is immortal, but imprisoned in the body. At death the good soul is liberated from the evil body, so the last thing these folks would want to take to the afterlife was a body. They believed Jesus’ resurrection was spiritual, not bodily. They believed in following His example, guilt might be alleviated, but they wanted nothing to do with a bodily resurrection. They wanted their cake and eat it too. Forgiveness thru Christ, but no embarrassing resurrection. Current day liberal theology arrives at exactly the same place, just by a different path. It denies anything supernatural, including resurrection of dead bodies. That’s not possible. But they still want forgiveness – so they assign some ethereal spiritual significance to Jesus’ resurrection and claim a new beginning. It’s a message being preached in churches all over the world today. Paul’s message, however, powerfully refutes the idea there is relief from guilt apart from the physically risen Christ. Easter is, indeed, about new life. But it is new life in Christ based on His physical resurrection. Without that, the 1 whole of Christianity fails. So Paul says, let’s assume Jesus didn’t rise. Here is the logical end. There are 2 major problems – 1 theological, 1 personal. The theological problem is the gospel is a lie. It’s not good news, it’s bad news. The personal problem is we’re all still guilty before God. That’s devastating. I. Denying Resurrection is a Theological Problem A. It means Christ was not Raised -- Paul gives a fourfold reason the gospel is a lie if there is no physical resurrection. First, that means v. 13b: “then not even Christ has been raised.” Why is that a problem? Well, first it’s a problem bc Christ predicted His death and resurrection multiple times in passages like Lu 9:22: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” So, He was literally rejected, literally killed, so must have meant a literal resurrection, right? He’s lied if there’s no physical rez. START HERE Second, the evidence says He rose again; it takes a lot of explaining to deny it. We’ve examined it before, but let me summarize quickly. You must explain an empty tomb that virtually no one denies. And it was not a case of the body being stolen by cowardly disciples who overcame a trained Roman guard, nor of opposition officials moving the body or surely they would have produced it later to negate the apostle’s teaching. There are credible eyewitness accounts, including that of women who would never have been cited as the first to find the empty tomb if someone were making this up. Eyewitnesses also included people previously hostile to Jesus like brothers, James and Jude, and the Apostle Paul – all of whom became devout believers. You must explain that? After an exhaustive 2-year investigation to disprove the resurrection of Christ, Harvard educated lawyer, Lee Strobel says this: “In light of the convincing facts I had learned during my investigation, in the fact of this overwhelming avalanche of evidence in the case for Christ, the great irony was this: it would require much more faith for me to maintain my atheism than to trust in Jesus of Nazareth!” Many other honest investigators like barrister Simon Greenleaf; writer, Lew Wallace; lawyer Frank Morison and cold case detective, J. Werner Wallace, have come to the same conclusion. Denial of Christ’s resurrection demands an explanation no one has yet managed. B. It Means Apostolic Preaching is in Vain – 14b: “then our preaching is in vain.” Vain = empty, useless. Okay, so what were the apostles preaching? No question about that, right? They preached Rom 10:9: “But if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God 2 raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Sins forgiven. Guilt demolished. Heart cleansed – forever – based on believing in His death and resurrection. Almost 30 times the terms “resurrection” or “raised from the dead” are used in Acts. It’s at the heart of every sermon. “God raised” is heard over and over. And it’s physical. Peter quotes Psa 116 to show it was predicted 1,000 years before it happened in Acts 2:27: “For you (the Father), will not abandon my soul (the Son) to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption” – that is, rot in a grave outside Jerusalem. Peter clarifies that this had to be about Jesus. Acts 2:29: “I may say with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. . . but 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.” The message was absolutely crystal clear. Guilt can only be relieved because Jesus took it on himself in his death and resurrection. But if there is no resurrection, this preaching is empty, vain, lies. But is it all lies? Four apostles died for their faith for sure (Apostle James, James the brother of Jesus, Peter and Paul). Strong tradition says all the rest of the 12, except John, died for their faith. So you have to ask, “Are you kidding me? All these guys died for a lie? And not one of them broke ranks?” That’s incredibly naïve. But that’s where you land if you deny the resurrection. C. It Means Faith is in Vain – 14c: “and your faith is in vain.” If the preaching is empty, useless, then faith in the message would be equally useless. You believe your sins are forgiven on the basis of a resurrection that never happened, then your faith is just as empty as the tomb is full! Faith doesn’t turn a lie into truth, right? When we were kids we had a tire swing in our climbing tree. We’d go 12-15 feet up and launch ourselves for a great ride. One day we decided to pile about 5 guys on at the same time. We tested the rope below and it held fine. But when we launched from the branch, the added centrifugal force caused that rope to break. Lucky we didn’t kill ourselves. Believing it true didn’t make it true. Neither would faith in a resurrection that isn’t true be of any use. It would be a crash landing waiting to happen. If the preaching is wrong, the faith will do nothing to correct it. D. It Means the Apostles Were Liars – 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ.” “Found” = “caught out, detected”. The reputation of all the apostles, including him, is on the line. If there is no resurrection, they’ve lied about God! It can’t 3 be simply a mistake. They claim they saw a risen Christ. It’s either true or they are absolute liars. They have “testified about God” – better, testified against (κατά) God. They’ve gone to court and said God did something He didn’t do. If you say there is no physical resurrection, you have undermined the credibility of the whole apostolic witness. That’s a serious, serious charge. But that brings you back to the need to explain why these men suffered horrendous persecution and nightmarish deaths for what they knew to be a lie. Yes, people die for a lie all the time. The Muslim extremists of 911 believed they had a guaranteed place in heaven – with 70 black-eyed virgins for company. They died for a lie – but they were in no position to know for sure that it was a lie. The disciples either saw Jesus or they willfully lied about it. If it was a lie, they knew it for sure – and no one dies for a lie. II. Denying Resurrection is a Personal Problem But denying the resurrection is not just a theological problem; it’s personal. The very forgiveness you think you have, you don’t – bc it all depends on Christ’s resurrection. Without resurrection the new life you claim is stillborn. The cleansing you claim is just whitewash. The acquittal is non-existent. Note how Paul repeats his premise. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.” It’s a repeat of 13b, but now with 3 personal consequences. First, 17b your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.” This is the heart of the passage. No physical resurrection; no forgiveness. Your sins are on you like glue. Your guilt is real. No resurrection; no redemption. Satan won. In v. 14 Paul defines their faith as vain = empty. Like opening a new bag of potato chips and finding nothing by air. Now he says, it’s “futile” = useless. Your faith can do nothing! After Booth killed Lincoln, it took two weeks to run him to ground. He was shot thru the side of a burning barn. But he lived for a few hours, laid out on the Garret’s front porch. Just before he died, he asked to see his hands, and when they were lifted, he looked at them and said, “Useless, useless.” They were of no help to him. Neither is faith in a dead Christ. So what do we do with guilt. From day one guilt has dominated the human psyche. So how do we deal with it? We’re modern. So what can we do? One way is by shifting blame. It’s not my fault. He led me on. She hit me first. My boss insisted I lie. I had to cheat to get into college. The government already gets more than it deserves. Shifting blame. George Carlin had a classic line: “Women are crazy. Men are stupid. And the main reason women are 4 crazy is that men are stupid.” We’re a society of victims with no one responsible except some poor, forgotten 4th grade teacher who ruined our selfimage. It’s been so since Adam said, “She did it. The woman – the one you gave me – she made me do it.” Shifting blame, but the guilt refuses to move. Another tactic. Redefine sin. Adultery is an affair. Pre-marital sex must be okay as long as no one gets hurt. Everyone does it. We throw out God’s definitions, spin things our way, but the guilt – still there. Bc we can’t redefine our heart where His law is written. How about escapism? Escape guilt by some distraction. Stay extra busy at work – get involved in lots of activities, pursue pleasure. You can throw yourself into sex, substance abuse, hobbies, materialism, even ministry – all to escape the feeling. But late at night – there it is – the guilt won’t erase. Or here’s a good one – listening to or providing gossip. At its core, gossip, speaking ill of others, is a guilt-based event. If it weren’t for guilt, gossip would be no fun at all. Why do gossip magazines sell? Why do we find it delicious? Why do we enjoy reading of other people’s foibles? Why do gossip shows proliferate? Because they show the seamy side of everybody. It makes us feel less guilty about ourselves to others with similar or worse struggles. There’s nobody in this room – I’ll be the first to say I hate gossip. I don’t want to hear it. But I’m human too. It’s delicious. It tastes good. Why? It makes me feel better. Comparing, fault-finding, criticizing, gossiping – just ways of dealing with our own guilt. Think of that next time you’re tempted. Or, Overachieving. Makes us feel like a good person. Or another way many choose – rescuing others. Helping people can be good – or, just another way of trying to get rid of the burden of guilt. The problem is none of it works. None of it. Why? Bc guilt isn’t primarily an emotional problem. It is primarily a spiritual problem. V. 56: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Why guilt? Bc we really do break the law in word, thought and deed. And the only solution is to have someone keep the law perfectly for us. That’s Jesus. What we can’t do, He’s already done. But if He did it, died and stayed dead, then there’s no victory, no forgiveness, no cleansing and no relief from guilt. “You are still in your sins.” That’s the heart of the passage. Now Paul gives two more personal consequences of denying the risen Christ. First, 18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” If there’s no resurrection, then your dead friends and relatives have perished, 5 Paul says. The gospel promises Phil 3:21: The Lord Jesus “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” It promises I Cor 15:53: “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” It’s not just the soul that is saved, but the body as well. The whole person is renewed in a perfected body. Which is why we can say, “O death, where is your sting?” (I Cor 15:55b). But if there is no resurrection, then even Christ was not raised, and if he was not raised there is no eternal life of soul or body. All is lost. Which means I Cor 15:19b: “we are of all people most to be pitied.” We are either the most envied people on earth or the most pathetic. It all depends on whether Jesus arose. If He did not our common future is to stand before God to hear the verdict – Guilty, now and forever. If He could not save Himself, how could He save us? Conc – Thus, to try to have Christ without a physical resurrection is only to fool oneself. Paul’s logic is irrefutable. What if Jesus didn’t rise again? Then we are all alike “dead in trespasses and sins” with no hope of recovery. But – v. 20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.” That makes all the difference. We need not be in our sins; dead believers have not perished and we are the most fortunate people on earth. In Randy Alcorn’s children’s book, Wait Until Then, he tells the story of a boy in a wheelchair who loves baseball and dreams of running the bases. His grandfather, once a pro player, now relies on a walker. But fast forward to the final page where Nathan arrives on the new earth. He is running the bases after hitting a home run, family, including Grandpa cheering him on. At the far left of the pix, two relics – Nathan’s wheelchair and Grandpa’s walker – with flowers growing up thru them. Only possible if Jesus truly rose from the dead. But the best evidence says – He did, indeed. So now, Rom 10:9, “Bc if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Now and forever. Let’s pray. 6