We've been studying Paul's first letter to the Corinthians since last September, and we're coming now towards the end of our study. Including tonight, we should have four more messages on this epistle. And I want to read the passage that we're going to be looking at from chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, reading verses 1 to 11. The apostle writes, now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I have preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in them. For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles. and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace to me was not without effect, no. I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. Amen. We pray for God's blessing upon the reading and the preaching of His holy and infallible word. Well, we've got to know the church in Collins quite well over the last nine months. A very lively church. A church with great gifts and strengths but also a problem church. A church with a lot of hang-ups and difficulties and confusion. And Paul has been patiently working through the different issues and problems that have come up in the life of the church. And he now comes in chapter 15 to the last great topic that he wants to consider in this letter with the Corinthians. And he mentions that topic for us in verse 12 of the chapter. How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? A number of people in the church were teaching that when believers died, their bodies never rose again. There would be no future bodily resurrection. They were teaching that heaven was simply for the soul. And this is the same problem that we've seen right through Corinthians from the very beginning. Here was a church which was influenced far too much by Greek philosophy. The Greeks downgraded the body. The philosopher Plato said the body is a tomb. It is the prison of the soul. And for the Greek intellectuals, happiness was getting rid of your body. The body kept us back from knowing God, from growing spiritually, It was a hindrance, it was a drawback, it was a great clog on any progress. And we've seen that this gave the Corinthians a false idea of what it meant to be spiritual. For them to be spiritual was all to do with the soul and nothing to do with the body. And we have seen how this caused them moral problems. how it caused problems in marriage relationships, how it affected their attitude towards heathen temples, and many other issues. And this same poison is working through the church, and this is its last manifestation. 1 Corinthians is all about what does it mean to be spiritual? And they had a false idea, an idea that is still common in many churches today. And this is the last manifestation of it. To be spiritual means that you look forward to saying goodbye to your body forever. It will rot in the ground. It will never be reconstituted. You will never see it again. Heaven to all eternity will be a place of existence for disembodied souls. And these people were teaching in the church, in Paul's words, there is no resurrection of the dead. And that's a very serious heresy. And Paul intends to deal with it in chapter 15. And what's interesting to me is that in dealing with it, he produces one of the great treasures of New Testament theology. Because in order to deal with this heresy, he has to give us teaching about the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of believers that we wouldn't get to the same extent anywhere else in the New Testament. And perhaps, friends, perhaps that's one reason why God in his wisdom allows heresy to come into the church from time to time. If there hadn't been this heresy in Corinth, we wouldn't have had this passage. The heresy compelled Paul to deal with this, and that has happened time and time again. For example, in the 4th century AD, there was a heretic called Arius, and Arius had false views about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. and his relationship in particular to God the Father. That was a heresy. Why did God allow it? When he raised up men like Athanasius and others, great fathers of the faith, and the church was compelled to say, what do we believe? And to clarify their thinking, and to move forward in their understanding. Or at the time of the Reformation, There was heresy being taught as to how you got to heaven. And Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and Knox and the others had to sit down and say to themselves, what do we believe? And they produced wonderful treasures of theological writing. Then a few years later, the Dutch theologian Hermann Arminius came up with another heresy, that salvation is in man's hands. And so the Dutch theologians in Dort and the Westminster theologians and others had to sit down and deal with this and work out and say now what do we believe? And today in our generation the church is having to say what do we believe about the Holy Spirit? What do we believe about the nature of the Word of God? What do we believe about how the Word is to be interpreted? And the reason why they're having to face these things is because of these heresies. So you see how God can overrule evil for good. He can bring good out of evil. It is a pity that this heresy was being taught. But God brought good out of it for his glory, as he always will. I'd like us to look first at Paul's method, and then at his reminder, and thirdly and lastly at his conclusion. First of all, Paul's method. I don't want to spend too long on this, but to me it's interesting. Because, note this, grasp this, he does not begin with the heresy. He does not mention it for the first eleven verses. He does not attack it head on. He begins with God's truth. He lays out the great facts of the gospel before he even mentions the errors of the Corinthians. He says in verse 1, Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel. He focuses on what they know. what they have agreed, what they hold in common, what they acknowledge to be the message of salvation. And then having done that, he moves on to the false teaching and demolishes it. But note the order. He is dealing with the heresy from verse 1. He is dealing with the heresy from his opening words. But he does it firstly by a positive exposition of the truth and then when he's explained the truth and only then he turns to the negative. I think that's a fascinating approach and an excellent example for us. Now don't misunderstand me. It is vital to attack error. Where there is error we must explain it and expose it ruthlessly and in detail. We have no time, I hope, for that woolly mindedness that is reluctant to criticise any view as being unloving. That's not biblical. Some things are false. And if they're false, they should be shown to be false and exposed for what they are and destroyed. But always, you see, Paul is saying, you approach it by way of the positive teaching of the Bible. Some churches are known for what they're against. Some communities are known for what they're against. Think of some of the slogans in Ulster. Ulster says no. No Pope here. Not an inch. All completely negative. They're known for what they're against, but for what are they for? If you were going to invite somebody to come to our church and become a member, would you say, listen, you must come to our church. And the person says, well, why should I come to your church? And I say, well, the two great things that we have to offer are that we don't have an order and we don't sing hymns. The person will say, wonderful, I've been looking for a church like that all my life. Don't think so. The very word Protestant has changed in its meaning. We think of it as meaning to protest. That's not its meaning at all. It comes from two Latin words which mean to bear witness on behalf of. To bear witness on behalf of. The original Protestants were positive they stood for something. All too often in Northern Ireland, it is interpreted negatively as being against something. Now Paul sets us a good example. He's going to go for this heresy, but before he does, he says, well now wait a minute, what do we believe? Let's get the basic facts of the gospel clear. And then in the light of that, we will see the wrongness of this new teaching. That's very valuable. It's valuable for all of us. We don't need to be theologians. A Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon comes to the door. Now what do they want you to do? They want you to start discussing the details of their faith. Don't do that. You start discussing with them the details of your faith. Now do you believe? that this is the only inspired book that God has ever given us? Do you believe that Jesus is the only saviour? Do you believe that the only way you can go to heaven is by faith in Christ? That's the way to engage in controversy, with a positive, with what you know to be true. If you make any new teaching, if you start reading some book and it teaches things you've never heard before, how do you evaluate that? You say to yourself, well wait a minute, what do I believe? What do I know to be true? Does this agree with what I know to be true? And if it doesn't agree, out with it! Start with what you know. Judge everything in the line of what you know. One of the Church's greatest needs today is for our members, for our young people, to be thoroughly instructed in basic Christianity. If we know what we believe, we will be immunized against a lot of these false teachings that abound. So Paul's method, I think, is worth noting. I want to remind you of the Gospel. And it's only after he's done that that he goes on to speak of this heresy. Secondly, we have Paul's reminder. Paul's reminder. I want to remind you of the gospel. You Corinthians who believe that there's no resurrection. And particularly says, I want to remind you, that Jesus actually died a real death for sin. There was a moment when his heart stopped beating. There was a moment when, if you could have measured his brain waves, they stopped. And he was clinically, physically, objectively dead. And that his inanimate corpse was buried in the ground. And that that very same body was raised to life. That's what Paul's driving at here. He was a real man, a true human being with a normal body just like yours or mine. A doctor could have measured his blood pressure, everything about his body, apart from the fact that he was sinless and whatever implications that had for the human body, in every other way he was like ourselves. And he died physically, just as we shall all die if he doesn't return first. And it was that very body which was raised It wasn't a spirit, it wasn't a phantom, it wasn't a myth, it wasn't just an idea, it wasn't just a vision of his soul, it wasn't just a heavenly light, it was a real, earthly, physical body that was brought out of the grave by God's power. It was glorified. There were differences, but it was the same body. And Paul is saying here, the resurrection of Jesus in his body, in his body, is at the very heart of the gospel. That's what he wants to remind him of, and obviously you don't need to be a genius to see the relevance of that to this heresy. Because if you don't believe in a bodily resurrection, well then what do you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ? And then where are you with your Christianity? You'll go on to that in our next study. But it's an amazing statement. That a dead body came back to life. A dead body was resurrected by the power of God. One day he was dead, several days later he was walking and talking and eating and drinking and showing them his pierced hands and the wound in his side and sitting and having fellowship with them and cooking them breakfast. The same body. Now what grounds are there for believing such an astounding claim? Paul mentions three here. There is in the first place apostolic tradition. Verse 3, For what I received I passed on to you. Now those two verbs, to receive and to pass on, are important words for the student of Greek. They are technical terms. for the handing on of a holy tradition from one generation to another. To receive from someone else and to hand on to someone else. They would be used of receiving sacred vessels, receiving the scrolls, It wasn't, I just heard something as I was walking down the street and I mentioned it to someone else. It's very solemn, very official language, very stately and serious language. It's used sometimes in ordinary Greek of the passing on of a trust. If you were made trustee for young children, You would have to care for their property, to manage their money and to pass it on to them, untouched, undamaged, unchanged. He uses the exact same two verbs you remember perhaps in chapter 11 verse 23 where he says, for I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. This message of Christ's Paul says, it's not something I made up, you know. I didn't pass on a rumor. I have been given an exact, precise account and I have passed it on unaltered. Some scholars, in fact, believe that from verse 3 onwards we have an early Christian confession of faith here. Either something I received And I have passed it on to you unchanged, unaltered, exactly as I received it. Do you remember he tells us in Galatians where he received it? Galatians 1, 11, and 12. I want you to know the gospel I preached is not something man made up. I did not receive it, same word, from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation. from Jesus Christ. Paul had received this message directly from the lips of the risen Savior. He says, I heard Jesus. Jesus spoke to me. And I have told you exactly, exactly what he said to me. The facts of the gospel are not gossip, they're not rumor, they're not legend. The gospel has been given to us from a small group of authorized teachers, the apostles, with strict qualifications, and they and their associates wrote the New Testament and were kept by the Holy Spirit from all error. Here we have in the New Testament what Jesus told the apostles. We can be sure of it. I receive from the Lord what I passed on to you. This is a message from Christ himself. So that's the first ground, apostolic tradition. But then secondly, there's Old Testament prophecy. Note how he uses the phrase in verse 3 and again in verse 4, according to the scriptures. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried, he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Everything he says that I've preached have been foretold centuries earlier in the Old Testament. A clear sign that it was true. Now we're used to hearing of the prophecies of the astrologers, the stargazers, the pretended prophets of our day. These prophecies are not like that. They're clear, they're specific, they're detailed. The gospel says Christ died for our sins. Hundreds of years earlier, Isaiah said he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He was cut off from the land of the living. Christ died for our sins. The gospel says he was buried. Hundreds of years later, in Isaiah 53, 9. Hundreds of years earlier, in Isaiah 53, 9, the prophet said he was assigned a grave with the wicked And with the rich, in his death, he was buried in a rich man's grave. Joseph of Armathea, a wealthy Jew, provided a new tomb for Jesus to lie on. How did Isaiah know that Jesus was going to be buried with the rich? He was raised on the third day. Hundreds of years earlier, David wrote in Psalm 16, verse 10, you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay. In Jonah 1, 17, we're told that Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. Why was Jonah kept in the fish for three days and three nights? So that hundreds of years later, the Lord Jesus could say, As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. According to the scriptures. According to the scriptures. And if we had time, we'd need a lot of time. We could go far further, for the Old Testament is packed with prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ. There are over 60 separate prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament, well over 300 references. Let me just list a few of the prophecies, a few of the things that were foretold about Christ and that came true. He would be born of a virgin. a descendant of Jesse, born in Bethlehem. He would enter Jerusalem on a colt. He would be betrayed by a friend. He would be lied about by false witnesses. He would keep silent before them. He would be mocked. He would be spat upon. He would be struck. His hands and feet would be pierced. His clothes would be divided by gamblers. He would be given vinegar to drink, none of his bones would be broken, and he would be buried in a rich man's grave. That's just a sample of the incredibly precise, detailed, specific prophecies which were made in the Old Testament and were all fulfilled to the letter in the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. And we need a mathematician to sit down. I've seen figures but there are so many knots that I can't tell you what the figure is. But the statistical odds of all those prophecies coming true by coincidence are so incredibly large that we couldn't compute them. If you don't believe in Jesus, how do you explain these prophecies. I ask you to think about that. If you claim to be an intelligent person, a reasoning person, if you claim to have an adult view on life, how can you explain how all those prophecies were fulfilled so accurately, apart from the fact that this is the word of God? There's the apostolic tradition, there's Old Testament prophecy, and then thirdly, there are the post-resurrection appearances. People saw him. In verses 5 to 8, Paul mentions six appearances. He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve, after that to more than five hundred at the same time, most of whom are still living, then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me. Six, and there are at least five or six other appearances mentioned in the Gospels which are not mentioned here. The Lord Jesus after his death was not seen by one or two people. He was seen by a huge variety of people in many different places and in many different circumstances. And Paul says many of the people who saw him are still living. You can go and ask them if you want. They'll tell you they saw him. Now if you were in court charged with a crime, The prosecuting counsel said, I can produce hundreds of people who saw this person committing the crime. What would be your chance of getting off? No. Hundreds of people saw Jesus in all sorts of different circumstances and situations. Paul's not trying to prove the resurrection here, he's writing to believers. I don't want to get into this now, but I don't think we should use this passage primarily to prove the resurrection to unbelievers. I think we have to take another approach. But he's wanting to remind these believers how solid this truth is. I want to remind you of this gospel, he says, and how stable it is, how secure it is. And that's going to be important in the next section of the chapter. Paul's method, Paul's reminder, and then briefly and lastly, Paul's conclusion. Verse 11. This is what we preach, and this is what you believed. Again, verse 1. I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received. He says to the Corinthians now, before we get into this heresy, You have already committed yourselves to believing that Jesus rose from the dead. You received that message, you accepted it, you trusted it, you committed yourselves to it. He goes further, verse 1 he says, on this message you have taken your stand. The idea is of a solid foundation, a base, a stable thing underneath you that keeps you steady. And he says in verse 2, through this gospel, you're being saved. This message is delivering you every day from the power of sin. This message is working in you. It's changing you. It's transforming your life. It's giving you strength. to overcome temptation, enabling you to grow in grace and likeness to Christ, bringing you to glory. This is the gospel you believe. This is the gospel you've taken your stand on. This is the gospel that is saving you from day to day. And he says it's not just something in the past. Verse two, if you hold firmly to the word I preach to you, otherwise you have believed in vain. You see the tremendous power and force of what Paul's doing. He says to these Corinthians now, before you throw the gospel out, because that's what you're doing. He's going to show that in the next section. Before you contradict it and deny it and repudiate it, let me just remind you how solid and sure, how firm and certain this message is. Let me remind you of the proofs of it. Let me remind you that you believed it. That you were changed by it. That your whole Christian existence depends on it. And you've taken your stand on it, and you're relying on it, and it's saving you from day to day. And then he's going to say, are you going to throw it away for a bit of Greek philosophy? This truth has brought them to everlasting life. This truth is keeping them. This truth is blessing them. This truth is protecting them. And he's saying, friends, don't give it up. Don't give up the gospel. Let it govern anything else you believe. Don't contradict it. Don't set it aside. We'll see the relevance of that in our next study, God willing. Any so-called Christianity, which is not centered on a risen Savior, is in vain. Paul speaks with passion, for he knows what difference the gospel has made to him. Verses 9 and 10. For I am the least of the apostles, and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace to me was not without effect. That's the most important thing, Paul says. That's the ultimate reason why I hold the gospel. Because I know what it has done for me. Paul says, I was a murderer. I was a criminal. I had broken the law. I was a guilty criminal in the eyes of the law. Decent people looked at me with disgust. I'd made a mess of my life. I had no hope, but Jesus Christ came to me, and he saved me, and he changed me, and I am a different man. I can never let go of this gospel, because Christ's grace has changed me. And that's still the gospel today. That's the gospel that goes out to any human being this evening. Perhaps you're feeling that you've made a mess of your life. Perhaps you've broken the laws of man. We've all certainly broken the laws of God. Perhaps you think there's nothing in religion for me. But the Apostle Paul says, God's grace saved me. Christ saved me. And that same Christ can save you too. and can change your life, no matter what your need is this evening, if you will come to Christ, he will receive you and make you a different person so that you will have a new beginning in your life. I was the worst of sinners, but Christ saved me. And that's the best argument for all of us. My friends, if you know what difference the Gospel has made to your life, you won't ever want to give it up, no matter how attractive the temptation. Amen. Let us bow in prayer. Thank you, O Lord, for the great Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He loved sinners, that He died for sinners, that he took upon himself the wickedness of his people and was punished in our place. And Lord, every single one of us in this building is by nature a guilty sinner before you, and we all, without exception, deserve your anger. And there is only one hope for any of us, and it's not in the respectability of our lives It's not in our apparent morality or our status in the world, but it is only, Lord, if we have come to put our trust in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray especially this evening for the young people in our congregation. They are going to go out into the world and they will meet so many subtle, attractive, intellectual and convincing arguments and ideas which would lead them away from the truth of the gospel. Lord, we pray that you will so fill their minds and hearts with the knowledge that this message is your message, your truth, the only truth, given to us by the holy apostles, written down in the scriptures which are free from any error, the very word of God, witnessed abundantly again and again by the prophecies of the Old Testament, proved true in the lives of millions. Lord, may none of our young people cast aside this glorious truth for the rubbish of man's empty thinking which can only destroy them and their lives. Help us, we pray all, to hold firmly to the gospel, to believe it for life, and to trust in it of death. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.