A Moment Of Clarity • 1 Corinthians 15:1-12

1:19:49 Teaching begins

Notes

You can believe in Jesus but not have much benefit. I’m sure at one time or another everyone here has thought, “I believe in Jesus, and yet I have discouragement and doubts. It’s hard to keep going.” It’s possible to be in a fog about what’s important and be confused. What’s the right way to go? Is my life going where Jesus wants it? How come it feels like it isn’t?

You deal with fog and confusion by looking at truth and facts. Easter is facts about Jesus and they have a fabulous built-in benefit: they bring unmistakable clarity, purpose, perseverance, and fruit.

I’m reading in 1 Corinthians 15 from verse 1.

1. The context for 1 Corinthians 15 is teaching in the church that conflicts with the gospel.

A. Someone or a group in the church was teaching that there is no resurrection of the dead.

1. It’s hard to piece together what they were thinking or where they got this idea.

2. They got this from someone outside the church or maybe they made it up among themselves. Even at this early time in church history people speculate, they theorise, and unbiblical ideas creep in. If the one who proposes the idea is impressive and articulate it sounds plausible, superficially true-sounding.

3. But they didn’t get it from Paul.

B. Paul has heard about this and says, we have to be clear and unmistakable about resurrection. There can be no several ways of interpreting it, no one can play around with resurrection and keep it or reject it if they feel like it. “We’re going to be the Church of the Un-Resurrection”. That sounds edgy and cool. No.

2. Paul reminds the church how they received the good news.

A. I preached to you. Nobody else. You heard it first from me.

B. You received it for yourself. You said, “Jesus died for me. He rose again for me.”

C. You stand fast in it. You hold tight to the facts.

D. By which you are saved if you hold fast the word which I preached to you. This is the point now being considered. Will the believers continue believing and trusting in Jesus?

3. Paul tells them the facts of the gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A. He also received it. He’s not on a separate program for big names and leaders. Everyone has to receive Jesus or you can’t be saved.

B. The gospel is about Christ Himself, who He is.

1. He is the Son of God, eternal, all-powerful.

2. He became fully human, only born without sin.

C. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Last Friday we looked at many prophecies Jesus fulfilled such as Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. You should check it out on YouTube.

D. He was buried, because He was dead. It was confirmed by the Roman governor, by the centurion supervising the execution, and by the chief priests, who asked for a guard for the tomb.

E. He was raised from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-47 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

F. None of this is made up or subject to misinterpretation. Jesus Himself taught them the Scriptures.

4. Paul gives eyewitness testimony for Jesus’ resurrection.

A. He appeared to Cephas. That’s Aramaic, and means “Peter”.

B. “The twelve” refers to the disciples, minus Judas, because he betrayed Jesus.

C. Over five hundred brethren at one time. A hallucination is subjective, in one’s head, and can’t be shared. Five hundred people shared the same experience, and most of them were still alive when Paul wrote.

D. James was Jesus’ half-brother, same mother but his father was Joseph, while Jesus’ Father was God.

E. “All the apostles” refers to a larger number of disciples called by Jesus to establish people and churches in the gospel. He enabled them to work miracles, to prophesy, to teach and guide the churches. One qualification is that they saw Jesus raised from the dead. In Romans 16 Paul mentions Andronicus and Junias, who were apostles before him.

F. Last of all Paul saw Jesus raised from the dead. You remember the circumstances. He was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and punish them. Jesus appeared to him from heaven in glory.

5. The resurrection gave unmistakable clarity to each person who saw Jesus.

A. The first clear thing is that Jesus is God.

1. Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, “Put your hand in My side and your finger in the nail prints.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God.” No ambiguity there.

2. Paul, when the bright light from heaven shone down on him, said, “Who are You, Lord?” because he already suspected the answer. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” After that there was no more ambiguity in Paul’s life. Before he thought that Jesus was a false man. Now he knows, Jesus is God.

3. That’s true for the disciples, for the five hundred, for all the apostles. The resurrection proved clearly that Jesus is God. There is no other possible interpretation of that fact.

B. Another thing that became unmistakably clear was how wrong they were. They were completely convinced they were sinners.

1. Again, we saw this on Friday night. Peter was convinced the night Jesus was betrayed. He realised he couldn’t give his life for Jesus. He really loved himself over Jesus and that realisation crushed him.

2. Each of the twelve knew he didn’t believe Jesus, even when the women came in and said, “He’s alive! We saw Him!” “Crazy women!”, they said. That can’t be.

3. None of Jesus’ brothers believed Him before the resurrection, so when Jesus appeared to James that must have been humbling.

4. Paul was completely aware that he was a sinner. What can you say when God says, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”? I am wrong. He didn’t eat or drink for three days, repenting. He repented for the rest of his life. I was a blasphemer and an arrogant man, he said. I am the chief of sinners.

C. Another thing that was unmistakably clear is that Jesus loved them.

1. Even as all these people are absolutely convinced of their sin and unbelief in the presence of the risen Jesus, He doesn’t reject or destroy them. Imagine Paul’s terror, wondering if Jesus is going to destroy him now that He has him in His power.

2. Jesus says, “You’re working for Me now.” He called each of them to represent Him and serve Him. He forgave all their sins. He gave them His Holy Spirit. They knew He loved them with everlasting love. There is no uncertainty or question. It is crystal clear for the rest of their lives.

D. Another clear point: they serve Jesus for the rest of their lives, right to the death.

1. Paul says, “I’m not fit to be an apostle, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I laboured more than they all, yet not I but the grace of God in me.”

2. He didn’t work for Jesus to somehow make up for being such a persecutor, out of a heavy pressure of guilt. He served because He knew he was forgiven and loved. “He gave up His life for me, I give up my life for Him.”

3. Every single one of them shared this clarity: “I do not deserve anything from Jesus. I failed Him in every way. But He called me and redeemed me, so anything He wants from me, He can have it. Anything He wants me to do, I can do, because He is enabling me by His grace.”

4. They served even to death, saying, “Jesus alone is the Lord God.” They were all martyred because they wouldn’t negotiate to save their lives. Jesus is Lord and no other.

6. Every Christian should experience this clarity.

A. Because you notice Paul says in verse 11, Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

B. All the apostles preach the same good news about Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead.

C. The Christians in Corinth had the same reaction to the preaching of the good news about Jesus, just like the apostles. The had a clear moment:

1. They believed they were sinners.

2. They believed that Jesus died in their place and took their sins upon Himself.

3. They believed that Jesus rose from the dead with new life.

4. The same result happened. It was clear. Following Jesus for the rest of my life is the only way to live. He alone is God. That is clear and non-negotiable in my life regardless what happens to me.

7. Paul says, “You experienced Jesus’ resurrection, how in the world can you listen to someone teach there is no resurrection of the dead?”

A. You can read on in the chapter and see how Paul demolishes this theological impossibility. If Jesus is still dead, you’re still in your sins, we have no future.

B. When there is no resurrection our lives are empty, fruitless, vain. We are completely, stupidly, wasting our time and energy. There is no foundation for our faith because Jesus is still dead. Dead teachers don’t save anyone. There’s nothing to believe in, and there can’t be any fruit because there’s no life.

C. The Scriptures, the apostles, and Paul all testify that Jesus is risen from the dead. Therefore we hold on to these facts.

8. So what?

A. But do you hold on to the facts? Have you had that moment of clarity where you grasped that Jesus died for you and rose from the dead for you? Are you growing in that clarity?

B. Your relationship with Jesus demands depth of knowledge and understanding.

1. Shallow acquaintance with Jesus doesn’t make you stable, it makes you prone to drift because you have no foundation. Forces come from outside, currents of thought, winds of doctrine that blow through, and that’s enough to blow you away from a relationship with Jesus.

2. The currents and winds outside conflict with the relationship inside. Those contrary directions leave you unstable and unclear. Which is the right way to go? What is my true purpose, and what is a waste of time and energy?

3. When you have conflicts and ambiguity you can’t do anything.

D. Everything Jesus does is opposed by the devil and spiritual forces of wickedness. When you stick up for Jesus you will receive direct opposition. If you don’t hold your ground and stand firm you won’t complete your work, bring it to maturity and bear fruit. Only with perseverance can you bear fruit.

E. The facts haven’t changed. The eyewitnesses still testify. 2000 years of history testifies that Jesus rose from the dead. It is the only explanation of the good that has gone around the world in His name: lives transformed, nations transformed, individuals standing against evil, persevering in doing good when there is no immediate payoff, because they obeyed Jesus’ command to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, because He was with them, because He is still alive.

F. Grow in depth in your understanding of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Grasping the facts brings clarity, certainty, perseverance, and fruit that lasts.

Let’s pray.