Well, it’s wonderful to sing some of those resurrection hymns. And that last one just has a good flow to it. And I just love that so much.

Well, you know, one of the jobs basically that I have around here since we’re doing these things is they keep the old guy around to help the other two young boys in the ministry and help them out and things like that. And so I try not to usurp that kind of authority too much or anything, but Pastor Steven, I have to tell you something. This morning, during the announcements, you know, the announcements in Baptist churches is where it’s a very touchy issue. And you need to be careful to not use those announcements for your own personal gain.

And this morning, if you were here, he was announcing how we’re going to have a great celebration next week. The people coming back from Portugal and you need to be here, bring friends and just find out what’s really going on and some of the highs and the lows. And there have been some lows there, but there’s been a lot of highs too. And to be here, part of that service. But then there’ll be a time of celebration following. And he took that time to, it’s just so hard to think that a Baptist preacher would do this, but he mentioned food. And he tried to, and he emphasized just how much he loved that push for apple pie.

And I know that his mother-in-law makes a good apple pie. Everybody knows about Linda Kirby’s apple pie. You should never, ever do that. If you got a little bit discouraged because you would be afraid to bring apple pie, you can always bring peach cobbler. Just letting you know. Never lower yourself to gain the attention of others to bring something just to please you. He is risen. Well, we’re going to find out how much We really believe that.

Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of First Corinthians, the letter of the Apostle Paul, probably the third letter. The first letter just was not inspired, but there appears to have been some some letters they at least had written to him. And he had made mention of the fact of of what he thought of answering some of their questions. And in chapter seven, verse one, it points that now concerning the letter which you sent to me. And so we kind of generally think it was the second letter, but it’s the first letter that was inspired. And the second Corinthians, which would have been the third letter, was inspired, which only reminds us that much more than in New Testament times.

We have to keep it in context that not everything the apostle Paul wrote was inspired. There could be plenty of other letters by John. No doubt there were other letters, but they were not written by the inspiration of the spirit of God and for the churches down through the ages. But these were. We also need to realize that sometimes we can get lost in some of the facts where we want to say we want to be just like a local New Testament church. Well now you got to kind of keep that tempered because some of the letters that are written first Corinthians being a prime example were written to correct some of the things that were going on that were wrong. You know, there have been those absolutists that would believe in like the signed gifts and said that every church and every Christian ought to speak in tongues.

Well, in the New Testament, even when they were doing that, they weren’t all supposed to be doing it. And you could do it and not do it right. And hence, Paul had to give some instructions to that. So those are sometimes letters that you kind of have to keep it into context and and to say, well, I want to be exactly like them. Also, we are we know for a fact that the local or the New Testament was written to correct things that were wrong. And many of the things that were written were doctrinal. But First Corinthians, for the most part, was written to correct some practical issues. They had issues of church discipline. They had a man that was extremely sinful with respect to improprieties within the family and was told, told the church that they needed to basically deliver him over unto Satan, where they were being proud. Look how good we are. We are a loving church.

Well, you have to understand that love has to have an object and it isn’t just a sinner, but it’s our ultimate love is to Jesus Christ. And this man was living in a very ungodly lifestyle. And they said, you’re proud of your love, but your love is misplaced and you need to correct that. Now, in Second Corinthians, we find out, as I would believe, that that man eventually repented of his sin and was to be forgiven and was restored, which is always the goal of church discipline. So this letter of 1 Corinthians has so many good things in it to teach us this. But when we get to chapter 15, we get to a doctrinal problem. And it is a serious one. I mean, it is so serious. It goes to the very heart of the gospel so that he has to, in verse three of chapter 15, make sure they even understand the gospel or what the good news is.

So when he says, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I received, that which Christ, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And so he talks about the death, burial and resurrection. And there had come and then he talks about and he justifies that historical account that Christ was crucified. He was buried. He rose again. And then he has to say in verse 12, which must have been a stinging rebuke in the ears of the believers at the Church of Corinth when he says now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead. And so really that is an if but it’s really since because he already said that’s what we preached. That’s what we received. And that’s what you read. And that’s what you received. And you’ve been changed on that. Now since Christ has been preached that he has been raised from the dead how And it isn’t in the text, but I think it would be implied. How dare. How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

So there was this question, obviously, it was a local New Testament church, it was full of believers and so many good characteristics, he still calls them brethren throughout the whole letter. So it’s written to believers. But yet some had come even within the first 70 years of the gospel and of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. You got some people denying the resurrection. Now we know after the resurrected Christ and on that day when Mary went and so forth and the soldiers went back and they told the high priest and so on. Tell him this line that his disciples came and stole his body. And then we’re told that many believed it unto that very day.

If I’m not mistaken, it’s in the gospel of Luke, but that they believed it into this very day. So it was a common belief that the resurrection was not real. But it is the heart. Of the gospel, you can’t every born again believer is to believe. That he is risen from the dead. For many reasons, if he isn’t risen from the dead, that he couldn’t be who he said he was. And if he wasn’t who he said he was, then we’re still lost in our sin. And that’s exactly what we find in those verses where he talks about the disastrous effects of the denial of the resurrection in verse 12. Look at what he says in verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how say some of you that there is no resurrection of the dead? And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain.

Preaching has no oomph because it’s based on a lie. Our preaching is empty. It’s vain. It’s vanity. And your faith is empty also because you have faith. You were taught and you said you believed in the death, burial, resurrection. Even the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle. Remember, remember what he said, how that we have to confess Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead and then we can be declared. Then you are saved. And so your faith is empty if Christ isn’t risen. Yes. And we are found false witnesses of God. So the all the apostles are basic liars because we have testified that Christ has risen up whom he did not raise up. If in fact the dead do not rise for if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen.

So he restates that to prove the point. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. You see, he’s taking this deeper, kind of like those bombs that were dropped into the bunker busters. They go down, they explode. But then another one went in and exploded. This is the second explosion. And then you’re still in your sins. Not only is your faith vain, you’re still in your sins. And you know what that means? You’re not safe sinners. You’re just sinner sinners. And sinner sinners are judged by a holy God.

So he’s going for the juggler vein on that. Then also those who have fallen asleep. And this is the wrap up. The bunker bombs of the gospel in the proof of the resurrection don’t have two stages. This one has three. And guess what? Then also those who have fallen asleep, the dead in Christ have perished. Your loved ones. Yet they are no more. It’s over. You have no hope of ever being reunited with loved ones. People die. You know, it’s kind of like some of those very depressing songs. If this is all that there is in life, then let’s eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. In fact, he’s going to mention that later on. And so. And you know what the result of all that is? If in this life only we have hope in Christ because he’s dead to guess what were of all men, the most pitiful were to be pitied.

I mean, how sick, how sad you people came tonight to listen to a liar, to tell you lies and and and and to give you a false hope. And all this is a joke. So what if Christ is not risen? What if there is no resurrection? Well, that’s why in the first 12 verses he says, yeah, but Christ is risen from the dead. And yeah, it’s all true because of all these people that saw him, it is a historical fact. So now that that’s true, what if, well, the what if is, He did. So since so now we can come to the if and then clause. Now we can say since he is risen from the dead. Now what? What does that really mean? And that’s what we have at verse 20 where we want to begin tonight.

At verse 20, after we’ve gone through the confession of the resurrection and its proof, the disastrous effects, if it’s not true, now we come to the so what, with an affirmation of the resurrection, verse 20, and then he’s gonna talk about its logic. Notice what we find here. But now, verse 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead. That’s an affirmation of absolute truth. But now Christ is risen from the dead. So what? And you want to know what? He has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. He introduces now the continuation of what theologians refer to as personal eschatology. You know, two sermons ago for me, I talked about the book of the Revelation and I talked about how that people come to the book of the Revelation. They think it’s about the revelation of last things. And that’s so wrong. It’s about the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Well, when people come to this sort of thing, they say, well, what do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Yes. And if you ask him, so what? Well, he rose from the dead and it’s good. If they know this passage, you’ll say, therefore, my faith is real and they go there. But so what? Well, Paul goes on to say, well, this is what he’s the first fruits. Now, that’s an Old Testament concept. We know how that they would go out, they would plant a harvest and whatever that harvest would be. We’ll just call it corn because I like corn. And so corn and they have corn. And then once they would harvest that or whether it be barley or weed or whatever, they would take the first fruits and they would offer that unto God. And it was a thanks, a praise, an offering, but it was also, in a sense, in a commemoration of what was to follow a good harvest. It was a recognition of a good God who had given of the exact same things.

Now here, that’s what Christ is called the first fruits. Well, he is the first fruits of what? Well, the first fruits of believers that will be resurrected, we’ll find out is what’s in the context. That’s why when we say we shall see him and we will be like him for we shall see him as he is because he’s the first fruits and we follow after. That’s why when we say, well, what kind of a body will we get at the resurrection? We’re gonna be resurrected? What does that mean, our bodies come out? Well, just so that you kinda wonder about that. They were wondering about the same thing. Look at verse 35. But someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?

So he is gonna answer the question. He’s kind of hard on him. Foolish ones, what you sow is not made alive until it dies. In other words, you wanna be resurrected, you know what has to happen first? You gotta die. But then there’s other life. And so he goes on and talks about what kind of a body that we’re going to get. And we can then think about things such as in the Gospel of Luke where it talks about in the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus he was flesh and bone. It doesn’t refer to him then as flesh and blood. Now, when I was a teenager, when I first saw that verse, and then I went back and saw, I thought, ooh, the resurrected body has no blood, but we live. The life of the flesh is in the blood. Ooh, and then you can’t be thinking about that, and to get too specific. This morning, I had the privilege of teaching the junior class, and they were asking questions like, you know, will we eat with a new body? And so we can ask the question, did Jesus eat? He did.

But inquiring minds want to know, but then do you have to go to the bathroom with a glorified body? I don’t know. And notice and no one else does either. Maybe we can eat with 100 percent efficiency. You know, there’s the science coming out. You know, we we break this second law of thermodynamics. Well, we continue now with the idea. He’s proven the resurrection. He’s proven if there is no resurrection, things are really bad. And at this point. But. So what? What does it mean that he did rise from the dead? Well, we learn, first of all, in verse 20, that he was the first fruit. And notice the way that and he has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. And that’s a euphemism, a lightening of the term and said instead of just saying the dead or the dead in Christ and so forth. Those that have fallen asleep.

It’s kind of like First Thessalonians chapter four when it says in the dead in Christ shall rise first. And it’ll talk about, you know, some wonder about those who have fallen asleep. So he’s the first fruits. of those who have fallen asleep. Four, and that four is explanatory. He’s going to explain now how is he the first fruits and why do we have to be resurrected and so forth. And so at this particular point, after the clear affirmation of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and proving to us that he is the first fruits of the dead believers.

Now he’s going to go through verses 21 and 22. The logic of the resurrection with respect to the first Adam and the second Adam follow along. 21 for since by man came death. And that would be Adam. He’s going to be mentioned in just a moment by man. Also came the resurrection of the dead when that would be Jesus. So it’s first Adam, second Adam, for as an Adam all died. That’s true, good apostle Paul doctrine and so forth. Even so, and this has tripped up some people. You always got to look at all the words of the text. We’re gonna have some difficult verses tonight. And this is one that people mess up. So even in Christ, that’s kind of important. And Christo. Even so in Christ, all shall be made alive.

Now some have tried to make this a universalist statement that everybody’s going to get saved. No, because not everyone is in Christ. And so what he’s talking about is all of mankind in Adam fell in sin. But those in Christ. shall all be made alive. So the resurrection unto life, at least technically everyone’s gonna be resurrected, but he is talking about the resurrection unto life. Those are believers. So in Christ, all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order. You see, and again, the idea of the idea, he’s explaining the logic of it all. Well, what is it? Christ, the first fruits, now pause. Was Christ the first person to come back from the dead? No. No. Lazarus. Lazarus, come forth. But guess what? He died again.

There were others, you know, the widow, the widow’s child. There were others. But they all had to die again. And when Christ is the only one who died, and then rose again in power never to die again and that’s going to come up as we continue to read. Now the only other two exceptions you would have to consider and I even have a maybe a bit of a radical view on that would be Enoch who was not for God took him We read an awful lot into that, that he could have died in some way. Or Elijah who goes up in, you know, in the chariot. You can only go up so far. And guess what? You can’t breathe. So I wonder if in that chariot he died and then, you know, went into his spiritual body. You can’t say he didn’t, I can’t say for a fact that he did, but it’s appointed unto man once to dine after that the judgment. But that doesn’t mean that there cannot be exceptions. I know that as dispensationalists who follow the rapture, they all say, we avoid that death, and so forth.

There can be exceptions to general rules, and that’s okay, however, Let me just say Enoch and Elijah could have died. There is some openness to that. But notice he’s talking about the logic. Verse 23, each one in his own order. Christ, the first fruits afterward, those who are in Christ’s at his coming. The dead in Christ shall rise first and then we who are alive and remain Christ comes in the clouds the resurrection happens and That’s when we get our glorified bodies. We are Christ that is coming Then comes the end And again, this is his personal eschatology. And let me pause to say again, even as what we saw in the book of the Revelation, not all the details are here. OK, he can be skipping things. Where’s the millennial kingdom? Where’s the tribulation? This isn’t a passage of eschatology to give it all to us. He’s got he just says, OK, so Christ rises, rises from the dead.

Then after we’re that and it will be after already we’re after that, that then we will be resurrected who are Christ that is coming. So we get our resurrection takes place at the coming of Jesus Christ, the second coming. Now, again, we could say is that pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath? Yeah, we could go all there. Let’s just leave it tonight. He’s coming and the dead in Christ will rise. OK, because notice he just skips the whole millennium and everything, assuming that there is one that says then comes the end and he delivers the kingdom to God, the father. So he’s giving the panoramic view. Remember what the argument is. We will be raised from the dead because he rose, he’s the first fruits, we will rise, and it’s all part of the great consummation of the plan and purpose of Almighty God.

That God has redeemed a people unto himself. He sent his son, identified with them, he became the first fruits, we will be like him, and then comes the end, and then the kingdom goes over unto God the Father. I mean, how awesome is this plan? When he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. Praise God. And then he identifies what the enemy is. And the last enemy will be destroyed is death. For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under his feet, it is evident that he who put all things under his feet is accepted because it isn’t God the Father goes under the feet. It’s God the Father who receives the kingdom. And then notice what he says. Now when all things are made subject to him, in the eternal state, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all and all.

We get a glimpse into the grandioso relationship of the consummation of it all. with the father and the son, the father who has all authority, power, gives it over to the son. But as a word, the son administrates underneath the glorious honor and holiness of God, the father for hero Israel, the Lord, our God is one. And so it’s a glorious story. He’s going to go on and he’s going to take on some more subjects. But notice in the climax, just in case I don’t get there. The reason why this has to happen is because on the first day of creation, God started creating. On the seventh day, he rested, and then it fell into sin, and he’s going to redeem it so that we have, verse 50, this is where it’s all gonna go now. See, that’s an important word in this passage. He wants to grab your attention.

Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit and corruption. You know, I’m the pastor of congregational care, and tonight the pastor of congregational care is going to say two things to you. I love you. But none of you, myself included, are fit or able to go to heaven right now. As you are. You are not fit nor able to spend eternity. Everybody wants eternal life. They want to live forever. You can’t. You got to change. We were really lost in our sin, but we were also locked in our bodies and our mortalness. And we cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We must be born again. John chapter three. We got to change. There has to be your body. Is not cut out for eternity. It’s got to change. It’s got to become different. You need incorruption, but you are all corrupted. And me too. We are a mass confusion of corruption.

So when he says, behold, I tell you a mystery. Wow, really? Because does the world understand this? No way. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will rise incorruptible. That’s us, why? Because he rose, we’ve got the promise. That’s why it’s important. The what if, so what? That’s why it’s important that Christ really rose from the dead and we can have confidence that we will rise from the dead. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Because we got to be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible is put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then, yeah, that’s a big then, then, then, shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Death. What is death? Oh, yeah, we already heard that. The last enemy is death. When do we find this out? It’s at the end. That is at the end of God’s kind of complete in the whole process. And then we get this praise note of doxology. Oh, death. Where is your sting? Oh, Hades. You know, this is the time that the old King James just sounds better. Oh, hell, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. Not that the law is sinful, but it points us to our sin and it’s strong. But thanks be unto God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now. So what if Christ be not risen from the dead? Well, none of this happens. And we just die and we’re nothing more than just a bunch of animals evolving and in an endless nothingness. And if you’re people like Kant and all those other guys that were just way off base in their theology and the philosophers and Sartre and all those guys, they’re just gonna, they die and you know, they’re just distraught, distraught. But Christ did rise from the dead. He is the first fruits. We will follow after him. And it’s guaranteed because he rose from the dead and because of who he is. And he will have victory over sin and over death. And we receive a special body in the likes of his. And then what does that mean? Well, I’m going to go to the end of the sermon, but we still got some more things that we’re going to look at in between these verses. Verse 58. Therefore, he wraps it up. Therefore, my beloved brethren. Be steadfast. How say some of you that there is no resurrection? Get rid of those people. That’s wrong, heresy, filthy doctrine. Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Guess what? We’re not to be pitied.

We are, in a sense, to be coveted after if they had any spiritual sins, which they don’t. Now, that kind of explains the passage. But in between those two verses, he goes on and he’s going to talk about not just the logic of the resurrection, but in verses 23 to 28, he talks about the order of the resurrection, verse 23, and about that Christ is first and then we that will follow and how he will have everything under his foot. But in verse 29, we go into a very unique circumstance talking about, and I think it goes to where verse 58 is, how we’re then to live. But in the words of John MacArthur, this is almost a direct quote. Beginning of verse 29 is probably one of the most difficult verses in all of the Bible. Yeah.

So that should wake us up a little bit. And you’re not going to get any special wisdom from me necessarily. But I’m going to give you some things that will just blow your mind. And I’ll tell you how. And it has to do with the doctrine of baptized for the dead or people being baptized for dead people. And what on earth is that? Let me read the passage and then we’ll come back to it and I’ll give you some some what some people have said. It says we’ll go up into it. I always love to back up to go into it.

Now, when all things are made subject to him, when the son himself also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all. In other words, praise God, the Godhead is together. Otherwise, if that were not true, you know, if that were not true, otherwise, what will they do? That word do is going to become so important, I think. What will they do who are baptized for the dead? And I like what one man said, if we only knew who he was talking about, we don’t know. We don’t know who he’s talking about. He just said, well, what about those who were baptized for the dead? Interesting. And let me just say, it’s not a translation thing, because And this I’m reading from my old older Bible and it’s New King James. But if you have a newer translation of it says something else it for the dead is a valid translation of the words that are present in the original language. For those who are baptized for the dead. If the dead do not rise at all.

Now, do dead people rise? Yes. And so he somehow is tying this together. So what about those who are baptized for the dead if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? And we’re still trying to figure out who are these people? Well, baptism was a sign of the new covenant. They would appear that these are it’s it’s talking about saved people. And so forth now. And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? Now, notice he’s talking. This is all in present tense. So he’s talking about right now and Christians are being persecuted. That’s something to learn. I affirm by boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily. If in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus. And what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise? Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. In other words, that we just lose all kinds of hope. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits.

That’s good advice, but it’s kind of like, but what is that doing here? Awake to righteousness and do not sin for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. So whatever he’s talking about it’s a problem within the within the church at Corinth. He’s talking about what some people believers are thinking and doing. They’ve sought evil company corrupts good morals. Remember this is a rebuke. How say some of you that you don’t believe. So the elements of the entire context fit. And you know, that’s why I went to the other part to show you this is couched in the middle. We can understand everything on the sides. This one’s a little bit harder to figure out what on earth are is this all about? And he said, what is he talking about? Well, let me just tell you that historically, This whole phrase has run wild with professing believers on how to interpret.

There are at least nine that I have here. Listen to some of these. Some believe that because it’s a present tense that this was a current practice known to Corinthians. In other words, what we would normally say, just take each word and take it at face value that that believers were being baptized in behalf of other believers who maybe did not have the ability to be baptized. You know, like they’re they’re trusting Christ in jail and then they’re put to death, but they didn’t have the opportunity to be baptized. And, you know, Christians are to be baptized, right? But is this a sin if you’re killed or you die before you’re baptized? No, it’s not a sin. And we all understand that. But maybe the church at Corinth just wanted as believers, they wanted to be baptized in behalf of Brother Jones, who who couldn’t get baptized. Problem, that is nowhere found one in scripture nor in church history.

Well, so that one’s kind of a tough one. Others say it’s the vicarious or proxy baptism for the dead for their salvation. Oh, now there you see, that’s when you have the introduction of you have to be baptized to be saved. United Church of Christ and other groups who, you know, you got to be saved if or you got to be baptized if you’re really going to die and go to heaven. So therefore, that, you know, if they died and they weren’t baptized.

I had I witnessed to a United Church of Christ person when I was in seminary. And he didn’t know I was a Christian, didn’t know I was a seminary student either. And he told me, tried to lead me to the Lord. And he said, and if I accepted Christ, I’d need to come to his church and get baptized. And I said, well, can I get, what if I die before Sunday night when you’re having baptism? He said, oh, then you’ll die and go to hell. You see, that’s called baptismal regeneration. You’re not regenerated till you get in the waters. That’s why we’re always trying to be very careful, you know, If you feel a tingling, it’s probably because the water’s too hot or too cold, but no, there’s nothing that goes on in there. And so some people have said that this was vicarious or proxy baptism for salvation.

The heretic Marcion held to that, and here it comes, so do the Mormons. If the Mormons have baptism for the dead, and this would be the place that they come and get that. Now, another one says that this was baptisms for those on their deathbeds. It’s kind of like that first one. Others have said this is baptism of believers on behalf of of living believers for dead believers in hope of the resurrection. Because while they could be believers, they and they may go to heaven, but they never get a resurrected body. Believers baptized above the grave.

This was interesting. This is a guy that wrote a well-known commentary. He said believers baptized above the graves of relatives who had died. Their baptism of the dead had died. Believers baptized for other believers who had been disconnected to the church. whether through church discipline or they had, you know, had fallen away, they didn’t go to church anymore. I don’t know how much that happened this early in the church, although it happened some, because in the book of Hebrews, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. And so if you were forsaken the assembly, believers would get baptized for you so that you could still be resurrected. Bizarre, bizarre stuff.

Others said this is a believers baptized for others so they could be could be saved, yeah, that’s baptismal regeneration. Some say, you know, there’s different kinds of baptism. You know, there’s baptism by fire. There’s a spirit baptism. And sometimes you have to read the context. And so these people were being baptized, maybe, I don’t know, being baptized by the spirit. I don’t know how that would be, since that happens when we’re saved. Being baptized into fire through some of the, Heat that you might get from. I don’t know how that would have fit. And others just said this was a superstitious custom. And it was never approved by Paul or the church.

Well, you can pick and choose any of those, but let me just kind of tell you how I’m kind of looking at it, keeping the context, because the context goes from verse twenty nine, ultimately through verse thirty four. He says otherwise. And remember, I said it was the word do I think is a key. What will they do who are baptized for the dead? And this is talking a Christian life. What are they doing? Because that’s a present tense. So it isn’t talking about the dead. What will they do who are living who are being baptized for the dead? For if the dead do not rise at all. In other words. Your life. And is it worth living a Christian life? having been baptized, identifying with Christ and all of that.

Is all of that worth and going to show you that you are going to be resurrected? Why then were they baptized for the dead? Why do they not? The hour. Or I affirm by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily. So he’s saying this. I’ve been baptized. I die daily. I don’t need anyone to be baptized for me. and it is worth it. I fought with the beast. You see, my life is showing the truth at Ephesus. What advantage is it to me? Is my baptism just empty if I don’t, if I don’t, if there is no resurrection, if the dead do not rise? You see, he’s still arguing that. If the dead, if there is no resurrection, the deads do not die, because then it’s no better than just eat, drink, and be merry. In other words, does your life back up a life of a person who has been baptized and is trusting Christ and the things that you do? And that’s why then it comes in.

Don’t be deceived. Remember those evil doers that are there questioning the resurrection. Evil company corrupts good habits, awake to righteousness and do not sin. For some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak to your shame. Now. You can take that for what it’s worth. But notice what then verse 35 says. But some will say, how are the dead raised up? See, now he’s still continuing the resurrection. With what body do they come? He rebukes them, for some reason, it shows a stiff rebuke, says, foolish ones, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And now he’s gonna teach them a little bit of what our bodies are gonna be like. And what you sow, you do not sow that body, what it shall be, but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he pleases to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same.

Now let me just pause him to say what he’s already said and what he’s going to say. He’s going to use some nature illustrations. You take a seed, you plant it, and then it’s going to grow and change. It’s still kind of like that seed, but only it becomes a full plant. It’s the same, but it becomes different. It matures. It becomes its ultimate goal. Put that in the concept text. We have been created in the image of God, but do we show that image the way we’re supposed to? Not now, because we lost it in sin. He’s already explained that in the theology part. But that is what we’re headed to.

So now he says, all flesh is not the same, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, heavenly bodies, and terrestrial bodies. Pause. That is why some people have said there’s a body we receive when we go to heaven and then we leave it in heaven and we get our new glorified bodies back. I think that’s reading way too much into this. We do have an existence. Absent from the body. What kind of body? I don’t know. A celestial body. It’s a spirit body. And we say, but spirit is defined as non-material. Okay, that’s how we define it. Is Jesus in heaven? Yeah. Does he have a body? Yeah. He’s sitting on a throne. So are there thrones? Are there chairs? And at some point, is heaven real? What’s it made of? Yeah, your quietness proves the point. What is, I mean, it’s like the asphalt is gold. Is it like our gold? Eh, that’s how we explain it. But is it gold gold? Eh. Is it the same chemical?

You know, it’s because we’re talking about a realm we know nothing about. We’re not saying it’s not real, it’s not understandable. Okay, so verse 40 again. For there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial one and the glory of the terrestrial one is another. Your body, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. This is nothing compared to what our glorified body will be. Jesus had a physical terrestrial body. After his resurrection, he could appear and then be gone. Wrote on Emmaus in the room with the disciples. He could eat, he didn’t have to. It was an awesome kind of a body. He could transport places, didn’t have to walk, never get tired now.

So we have a glorious body, but that one’s more glorious. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. Brethren, listen, he’s talking about us, you. The body is sown in corruption. Yeah, I can feel that. It is raised in corruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. Just explained it as Christ’s body. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life giving spirit.

Now, this is not to say in the resurrection, we become like Casper the ghost. That has been proposed. No, it’s a real body. It will look like us, it’ll talk like us. There is a resurrection of the dead in power. It’ll never die. It is a wonderful, glorious body. but it’s a spiritual body. It is ultimately what we were supposed to be at the beginning. However, spiritual is not first. Nobody starts out that way. The natural and then afterwards the spiritual. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. This was the man of dust, also are those who are made of the dust. And as it is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, from dust we come, to dust we go back, we shall also bear the image. Brethren, this is our goal. This is where we’re headed in our resurrected body.

May I with the spirit of the text say, if Christ be not risen from the dead, we stay dirt. If Christ is risen from the dead, let me change that. Since Christ is risen from the dead, we shall bear the image of Jesus Christ, the heavenly man. That is the so what? How important is the resurrection of Christ? Our whole future. All that we will ever become. And that’s in that context, we now go to verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He had to come. We gotta die, he had to die, but we will be raised in power because he was risen from the dead, just as he said. He will have victory over death and hell, over sin, all of that will go through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, since that is true, Beloved brethren, be steadfast. I’m not budging. Jesus is my savior. He walked a sinless life. He died the death prophesied. He was buried and he rose again, just as he said. And because he rose from the dead and my God tells me he’s the first fruits and I will follow when he comes again, I get a glorified body also. And it’s guaranteed and I will be immovable. I will not. Though people come into the church and preach another gospel, that will lead the Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians to say, if any man preach any other gospel than that which you have received, let him be accursed. And in case you didn’t hear me, even if an angel from heaven comes down and preaches any other gospel than this, let him be accursed.

Because, brethren. Jesus did rise from the dead. and he is the first fruits of those that sleep in Jesus and those who are alive at his coming. That begs the question then, do you know him? Those phrases that were in there, even in the difficult passage, those in Christ, that’s important, that’s all important. for all eternity. I trust you are in him. If not, always talk to someone about your soul’s need of what salvation is really about.

Would you stand with me tonight as we close? Our Father in heaven, we say those words, he is risen. We respond with he is risen indeed. May that come from souls that are steadfast, thoroughly grounded, fully believing, because it’s important. It’s really important. Father, may we rejoice that our Savior lives and that because of that, we will live also for all eternity. and a resurrected body that he is, that he has promised us that it will be like his most glorious body. And while we can think of questions to ask, we would never want that to be interpreted as being with doubt. But with firm assurance, Father, thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray these things in his precious and holy name, amen.