Ironside says that the last trumpet was a figure of speech that came from the Roman military, when they broke camp. Raised in incorruption raised in glory raised in power: Our resurrection body will be glorious! We write a letter by saying who the letter is. So when he says, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The idea is that we have been purchased to permanent freedom. i. a. does not mean moral or ethical corruption, but physical, material corruption. How sobering this is! But resurrection means, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. No doubt, many of the Corinthian Christians were beginning to think of themselves in high terms because of Gods work in them. ii. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. The ancient Egyptians, at the end of a big banquet, often escorted a wooden image of a man in a coffin around the tables, telling people to have a good time now, because youll be dead sooner than you think. The ancient Christians were for the most part slaves and men of low station; the whole history of the expansion of the church is in reality a progressive victory of the ignorant over the learned, the lowly over the lofty, until the emperor himself laid down his crown before the cross of Christ. (Alford, quoting Olshausen). And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching, If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, : If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not risen, and Paul and the other apostles have preached. Flesh and blood, in this context, means our present bodies. Jesus resurrection body was not a pure spirit body, but a material body described as flesh and bones (Luke 24:39) instead of flesh and blood. However, we learn something just from the meaning of the ancient Greek word apostolos, which has the idea of a special ambassador. Paul was a special ambassador of Jesus Christ to the world and to the church. God loves them, bears them hearty good-will, and bestows on them his fatherly smiles and blessings. : The book of Acts does not record an occasion when Paul faced wild animals in an arena. But that the, : It would be strange and inappropriate for us to receive resurrection before Jesus. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-2. i. Paul had an extensive history of contact with the city of Corinth, beginning with when he established the church in Corinth, coming there after Athens and staying a year and a half (Acts 18). In Ephesians 1:10, Paul reveals Gods eternal purpose in history: When He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, to men, to Satan, and even to death. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloes household, that there are contentions among you. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. It wasnt so much that they thought Apollos was great, but that. : Corinth was one of the great cities of the ancient world, and a community very much like Southern California. The words message of the cross sound kind of noble and religious to our twentieth-century ears. : As Paul describes the gospel in the following verses, it is important to notice that this gospel is not insightful teaching or good advice. iii. However, we never speak of the physical sufferings of Jesus to make us feel sorry for Jesus, as if He needed our pity. Instead of being torn apart, Paul pleads that they would be joined together in the, : A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. This is not always the case; some of the most brilliant men of history have been Christians (such as Isaac Newton). 1. He was also humble enough to know that even his hard work was the work of Gods grace in him. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changedin a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. See passages such as Numbers 16:3, Numbers 20:4, Deuteronomy 23:1, and 1 Chronicles 28:8. iii. 1. i. Truly it is never a pleasant sound, that rattle of the clay upon the coffin-lid, Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, nor to the farmer, for its own sake, would it be a very pleasant thing to put his grain into the dull cold earth; yet I trow no farmer ever weeps when he sows his seed. (Spurgeon), ii. Probably, was Pauls scribe (or, more technically, his, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called, with a building where Christians meet. to travel between Ephesus and Corinth. : This was doubtless some very religious matron at Corinth, whose family were converted to the Lord; some of whom were probably sent to the apostle to inform him of the dissensions which then prevailed in the Church at that place., : The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict. It is a vain inquiry here, whether he means good or bad angels. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. Jesus was a unique case. If there were not men who differed a little in their creeds, we should never get as much gospel as we do God has sent different men to defend different kinds of truth; but Christ defended and preached all Christs testimony was perfect. (Spurgeon), ii. (35) What is the nature of the resurrected body? Trapp says Paul can write this Because none out of hell ever suffered more than the saints have done.. There may have been many more meetings that are not described in the gospels. i. Morgan says well in his introduction to 1 Corinthians: The measure of failure on the part of the Church is the measure in which she has allowed herself to be influenced by the spirit of the age We are sometimes told to-day that what the Church supremely needs is that she should catch the spirit of the age. : Its hard to understand what our resurrection bodies will be like, so Paul will use, Raised in incorruption raised in glory raised in power. The answer is, Yes! God does it and we do it. For it is written: In this quotation from Isaiah 29:14, Paul shows that in spiritual matters, God opposes the wisdom of man. . However, we learn something just from the meaning of the ancient Greek word " apostolos ," which has the idea of "a special ambassador." Paul was a "special ambassador" of Jesus Christ to the world and to the church. : In Pauls day, the Jewish world was looking for a, . The apostle was addressing Christians, and warning them to beware of the temporal judgements with which God chastised his offending servants. Famous athletic contests known as the Isthmian Games second only to the Olympian Games were held at the temple of Poseidon in Corinth every two years. (22-25) The wisdom of God, though foolish to the world, triumphs. i. : Jesus made a special resurrection appearance to Peter (Luke 24:34). 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 New International Version The Resurrection of Christ 15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. Paul, knowing death is a defeated enemy because of Jesus work, can almost taunt death, and mock it. Paul thought, with all I have endured for Jesus Christ, if there is not a resurrection and a heavenly reward beyond this life, I am a fool to be pitied. Can we, in our super-comfortable age, say the same thing? III. They are shown to have, at times, morality problems, doctrine problems, church government problems, spiritual gift problems, church service problems, and authority problems. Get Prayer Requests and Updates from David Guzik . : The Corinthian Christians had their strong points, and they had their weak points. If you are an unbeliever, death is not your friend; it is your enemy. f. His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: In these first 10 verses, Paul refers to Jesus in every verse, for a total of 11 times. 1. ii. i. Philippians 3:21 repeats Pauls theme: , the best example we have of what a resurrection body will be like is to see what Jesus resurrection body was like. : Jesus perfectly shows us, in His teaching and life, Gods wisdom. Each of these were resuscitated from death, but none of them were. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grainperhaps wheat or some other. 3. e. If the dead do not rise, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Pauls third proof for the resurrection in this section is also compelling. But Hodge recognizes that Paul isnt necessarily referring to only believers of his day with all; it is a word that properly embraces all believers, over all time. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. i. Through much of this book, Paul deals with the moral problems of the Corinthians: envy, divisions, pride, immorality, greed, irreverence, and selfishness. At the first meeting of the resurrected Jesus with His disciples, Thomas was absent and Judas had killed himself. They take the submission of God the Son as proof that He must not be equal in deity to God the Father. d. You come short in no gift: Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble. Instead, a stalk of wheat grows. Those who believe that Jesus gathers His people after He has poured out His wrath on a Jesus-rejecting world sometimes argue that it is the last trumpet of judgment, cited in Revelation 11:15-19. It was common in the ancient world to dictate a letter to a scribe who would write it all down. How can we die daily? Instead He rose. God has called the weak and ignorant first, but not exclusively; shepherds first, then wise men; fishermen first, then the educated (like Paul, who was himself an educated man). To remain willfully ignorant of the truth is. c. To us who are being saved it is the power of God: Though it is a strange message, and regarded as foolish by the perishing, to those who trust in it and are being saved, this message of the cross becomes to them the actual power of God. It might be easy for us to think they werent even saved! Paul will tell the Corinthian Christians something they could not have known by reason or research. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. The work of God in the Corinthian Christians could be seen by what they said, by what they learned, by a supernatural element in their lives, and by their expectant anticipation of Jesus return. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. But dont expose Him to the horror and the humiliation of hanging on a cross. But God wanted Christ crucified, and if we dont embrace the cross, even with all its strange contradictions and demands, then we are lost. : If these few Corinthians were right about the resurrection, then Jesus was still dead! You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. Although Jesus bore the full wrath of God on the cross, iii. i. Clarke on Chloe: This was doubtless some very religious matron at Corinth, whose family were converted to the Lord; some of whom were probably sent to the apostle to inform him of the dissensions which then prevailed in the Church at that place., b. Contentions among you: The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict. i. Paul expressed the same idea again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. i. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changedin a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. I speak, Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits., Where did the Corinthian Christians get their strange ideas about the resurrection, ideas Paul spent this chapter trying to correct? But every man Shall be reanimated, raised, and glorified; in his own order Or in his own band, as more properly signifies, denoting a band of soldiers, a cohort, or legion; the word for order being rather . those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. They did not value the wisdom expressed in, i. b. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. Copyright - Enduring Word | . In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. i. Christ (Messiah) meant power, splendor, and triumph. iii. There is much in 1 Corinthians that is unflattering to the Christians of Corinth. Mans flesh only is informed by a reasonable and immortal soul, not so the flesh of other creatures: and hence the difference. (Trapp). i. Foolish one: In the wording of the ancient Greek, it is even stronger: Fools! We work in a partnership with God, not because He needs us, but because He wants us to share in His work. Jesus paid our admission to the resurrection! They were, is mere flattery, Pauls way of preparing them for coming rebuke. But because of all the time Paul spent in Corinth, and all the letters he wrote them, we know more about the Christians at Corinth than we know about any other church in the New Testament. The destruction of death was shown at the resurrection of Jesus, when, But when He says all things are put under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted, : Paul reminds us that the Son will not someday be superior to the Father. Our resurrection body will be a heavenly (celestial) body, suited for life in heaven, not only life on this earth. : God was at His most foolish and very weakest at the cross, but it was infinitely wiser and stronger than anything man could do. The way Paul lived his life all-out for the gospel was evidence of the truth of the resurrection. : In verses three and four, Paul will describe the. Importantly, each person of the Trinity desires to glorify another person of the Trinity. Understanding the tension between the church and the city is important to understanding the letter of 1 Corinthians. The Book of 1 Kings; The Book of 2 Kings; The Book of Job; The 119th Psalm; The Book of Ecclesiastes; The Song of Solomon; The Book of Isaiah; The Book of Jeremiah; The Book of Daniel; New Testament. But the ancient Greek word for church (ekklesiai) was a non-religious word for an assembly of people, typically gathered together for a specific purpose. During the time after His resurrection, but before His Ascension, Jesus met with His followers on many different occasions. An objection commonly raised concerning the necessity of baptism is based on Paul's statement to the church at Corinth - cf. You can check these in your browser security settings. We know that Jesus could do this after His resurrection; He could miraculously appear in a room that had all the doors locked and the windows shut. Yet, these positives were no great credit to the Corinthian Christians themselves. This Pauline letter is one of earliest writings in the New Testament, alongside his Thessalonian correspondence. Finally, one could only read we, and the church also just became another social gathering place, all about we and not about God. a. Session 6: Paul and Titus. Paul says, In light of what God says in Isaiah 29:14, ? Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. Death is a defeated enemy because of the work of Jesus, an enemy that will one day. I am of Apollos: There was the Apollos Party, who declared We are following in the footsteps of a man who is great in power and spiritual gifts, and an impressive man. Sanctification speaks of our behavior, and how the believers are to be separate from the world and unto God. This previous letter is lost. : The death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, is the center of the gospel. : The cumulative testimony of these witnesses is overwhelming. It is true that knowing Jesus and loving Jesus can make this life better, but sometimes it will make this life worse. Believers in Palestine are described this way (1 Corinthians 15:9), as well as the church at large (1 Corinthians 10:31-32). Believers in Palestine are described this way (1 Corinthians 15:9), as well as the church at large (1 Corinthians 10:31-32). They say, Here is a Christians body, lying in a grave with no casket. d. Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect: Paul makes it clear that it is possible to preach the gospel in a way that makes it of no effect. The point is plain: There is no wise man, no scribe, and no debater who can do what Jesus Christ has done. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. In His work, He communicates three things to those who are in Christ Jesus. Sin is the ultimate cause of death (Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:17), and the, : This defeat of death is only possible for those who live. They were not the spiritual achievements of the Corinthians, but the work of the. Finally, have all your affairs in order so that you are ready to die. But as the ivy grew, one could only read. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory., O Death, where is your sting? ii. Ancient writers considered Corinth rich, prosperous always great and wealthy (Mare). He knew that he was forgiven; yet he remembered his sin. This wisdom is often in contradiction to mans expectation. ii. We are no longer subject to the penalty of the law (death), and we are set free from sin. b. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then death has power over Him and defeated Him. Can even this much be said about many churches today? a. Paul: The apostle Paul follows the normal pattern for writing a letter in ancient times. If one preaches the word with a reliance on, i. So, he persecuted the church before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: Corinth was an important and wealthy city on the isthmus (narrow strip of land) separating Northern and Southern Greece. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. If the cross doesnt seem strange to you, then you either dont understand how the cross was seen in Jesus day, or you dont understand who Jesus is. So, preaching a high moral standard is not preaching the gospel, preaching the universal fatherhood of God is not preaching the gospel, and preaching the universal brotherhood of man is not preaching the gospel. iii. c. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God: For Christians to resist Gods process of transformation by the renewing of our minds is to neglect the knowledge of God. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Through much of this book, Paul deals with the moral problems of the Corinthians: envy, divisions, pride, immorality, greed, irreverence, and selfishness. d. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed: Since sleep is a softer way of describing the death of a believer, Paul tells us that not all Christians will die, but there will be a final generation who will be transformed into resurrection bodies at the return of Jesus before they ever face death. In terms of what love "is not," Paul says it is not self-seeking, short-tempered, and offensive. i. Barclay on joined together: A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated. No. a. 2. (1) The sin of an unnamed Christian in Corinth. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. This last trumpet may be connected with the trumpet of God in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, but not with the trumpets of angels in Revelation 11. , he does not speak of his spiritual identification with the death of Jesus. Paul always remembered how he had sinned against Jesus church. (50-53) The need for the resurrection. (14-17) Paul is grateful he did not happen to baptize more people in Corinth and thereby add more fuel to the partisan debate. In the Septuagint it is one of the words used to denote the people of Israel in their religious character as Yahwehs assembly. (Bruce in his Acts commentary). The Corinthians boasting about their party leaders was really boasting about themselves. The term church of God has Old Testament associations, especially in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament). i. Youre no great bargain. There were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble among the Christians at Corinth. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. If you must execute this man, do it honorably. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ii. They both describe a work in progress. All the redeemed on the earth at that time will rise up to meet the Lord in the clouds, and will receive their resurrection bodies. He wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth from the city of Ephesus (Acts 19), which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9. Everything good the Corinthian Christians have from God has come to them by grace. 1 Corinthians 5 - Confronting Immorality in the Church A. i. Many things made Corinth famous. Therefore, if Jesus is not risen, He is unable to save. The Listener's Bible: NIV Edition Copyright 2011 by Max McLean. through the pride and cleverness of men! iv. Today, some are told to embrace death as a friend, but that is not Biblical thinking. For some, this would just be spiritual sounding talk, which showed more pride than humility. It is better to bear trouble in this world, than to be miserable for ever. Where is your scribe? Why then are they baptized for the dead? body, suited for life in heaven, not only life on this earth. We get our English word. How different for the Christian! 3. Even in his introduction, Paul thinks about the critical issues he needs to communicate to the Corinthian Christians. After what has been said about the value of love only one admonition is in place: "Pursue love!" Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and, But that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, . This thought will not only to keep you going, but 1 Corinthians 15:58 also says that it can motivate you to always abound in the work of the Lord.' I believe that God has used this exhortation to encourage the guardians to abound in the work of the Lord. To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. The growth of the ivy, covering the message, showed the spiritual decline. i. ii. We sometimes sing: You ask me how I know He lives; He lives, He lives inside my heart. But that is not the best way to prove Jesus lives. Surely, Paul remembered his converts, but the issue of baptism, though important, was not as important to Paul. What happened to change them? ix. 2. When Paul first came to Corinth, the ruler of the synagogue was a man named Crispus. (30-31) True wisdom belongs to the believing. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. If Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and remove our guilt, then why is the resurrection of Jesus so important? But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from Godand righteousness and sanctification and redemptionthat, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.. c. Not with wisdom of words: How did Paul preach in Corinth? We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. . But largely, the smarter one sees himself, the less regard he has for God. For others, there is resurrection and eternal life, but unto damnation. , and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. At these meetings He ate with them, comforted them, commanded them to preach the gospel, and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after His ascension. This is due to the fact that grace is the source of peace. And in the midst of judgement, God remembers mercy: he many times punishes those whom he loves. It is important to understand that when Paul says, . But God did not respond to the polling data. But in the first century, saying, is foolishness to those who are perishing, To us who are being saved it is the power of God, : Though it is a strange message, and regarded as foolish by the perishing, to those who trust in it and are, in the preaching of the true gospel, when it is received with faith.
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