Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the daily Bible podcast. It is Tuesday, December 3rd, and we are in first Corinthians 15 through 16, finishing up the book of first Corinthians today. And, uh, yeah, we are. Uh, coming, coming down to the wire here. We're now in the last month we've got first Corinthians. We're going to be in second Corinthians after this go figure, and then we'll make our way all the way through. We still got. Some time left and act. So remember that as we're reading these, remember we're not done with the book of acts, that the book of acts we're going to be in all the way through December 14th. And so we've got still a little ways here, still in the book of acts. And then after that, we'll finish it up. But we are coming down the, down to the wire on reading the Bible. And so if you've been with us the whole year or half of the year, or. Uh, whatever it is. Good job. We're grateful to have you. We're thankful that you're reading the Bible. You're reading the Bible consistently. That's why we do this is because we believe that it's so important to be in God's word on a regular basis. Speaking of which we're going to jump into first Corinthians 15. First first Corinthians 15. Uh, you probably know this chapter. If you do know the book of first Corinthians as the resurrection chapter, and that's really what it is. And Paul begins by saying, look, here's the gospel. Remember the gospel? Remember, as I talked about yesterday, Um, We've been talking about the unity of the church, building up the body of Christ, the common good of the bride of Christ, right? And so we're now shifting to first Corinthians 15 and, and what's the foundation of the common good. What's the foundation of the unity of the body of Christ eat is the gospel. And he says, I'm going to remind you of this, the gospel in which you stand, which you've received and notice by which you are being saved. I've mentioned this before, but we are being saved as Christians. We are saved positionally. We have been justified by faith in Christ. But also we are being saved in the sense that we are in process of being saved. We are in process of being delivered into glory, and that's a process of the holy spirit, but the foundation of that is what he goes on to talk about. I deliver it to you as a first importance that Christ died for our sins. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day that he appeared to see FIS then the 12 and a more than 500, most of whom are still alive. And all of this in accordance with the scriptures in policy, this is the prophecy. The prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus. Remember this? And then he says in verse eight, the last one that he appeared to. Uh, untimely. Born is me, is Paul. And that's why he says, I'm one of the least of the apostles because formerly I was a persecutor of the church. And so Paul still carries some of that, but it doesn't stop him from serving God. I think that's so important, right? You have a background, you have a past, and maybe your past is one that you look back on and with a little bit of guilt and shame, but notice Paul with his background of persecuting the church and killing Christians and everything else, he did not let that stop him after he was saved. From serving the Lord and doing great things for him. So hopefully you won't either, whatever your background is, hopefully you will be serving faithfully. As you labor. One more point here before we get to the resurrection text here, he says he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. Most of whom are still alive. Why would he put that in there? Most of whom are, who are still alive. Cause he's saying, go talk to him. You've got questions or doubts. Go talk to him. Send a letter. Go go find somebody and say, you actually saw Jesus alive. Yeah. I saw him alive. I was one of the 500. That's why he puts that in there. It's a little bit of an apologetic there. Anyways. Uh, chapter 15, starting in verse 12, then, uh, all the way down, really through the end of the chapter, he's talking about the importance of the resurrection in, in the first part here, which it goes down through verse 34, he's going to deal with the reality of it. And he's going to say, look, some are among you who say Jesus, hasn't been raised. He says, but there's problems. If she's hasn't been raised. And the main problem, if Jesus has not been raised is that you are still in your sins, in your faith is feudal. Why? Because if Jesus hasn't been raised, then the payment was not accepted. Uh, we were not, uh, uh, Uh, the payment was not approved. We are still in our sins. We are still guilty before God, a holy God. And we are still alienated from him. So the resurrection was God's stamp of approval saying yes, payment accepted. If Jesus doesn't rise, our payment has not been made and we're still in our sins. And our faith is futile and we are of all people most to be pitied. By living this, this life of Christianity here, but he says in verse 20, in fact, Christ has been raised. I love that. In fact, he has been raised. He's the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep by the way, remember Corinthian church. You've got questions. Go talk to any of the 500. In fact, it is one of the most well attested historical facts that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and there's evidences there. Apologetic evidence is the, the, uh, the, the life of the. Um, Uh, of the apostles and the disciples and how that transformed Peter's life, their willingness to die for their faith, all of these things. Point to the reality of the resurrection. So in fact, he has been raised and then he calls him the first fruits first fruits. In what sense? Well, The first fruits is the guarantee of what's going to follow. So what's going to follow is the resurrection of others. And so as Christ rose, so we will rise as well. And then he says at the end here, he says in verse 29, the end of this section, at least otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the debt? Okay. You may be wondering, they're like, wait a minute. Baptized on behalf of the debt is what is Paul talking about here? Well, this was probably vicarious baptism, similar to what you see in the Mormon church today. When the Mormons go in and they have a list of names and they will be baptized for those other names. And it's, it's this desire that hopefully it's going to be vicarious and somehow it will be applied to those that are already dead or, or past family members. Or somebody else. Uh, who may have walked away or never been part of the Mormon church, Colt, a ward. Uh, Paul is not condoning this. Okay. If this practice, if that's what this is, and that was taking place in the Corinthian church, Paul never wants here says, and this is a good thing, right? He never once says, this is right. You should do this. People should be. Baptized on behalf of the dead, rather he's appealing to their practicing. See you believe the resurrection is true. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing this. Instead trust that what? That the, the, the. The resurrection is, is, uh, a good doctrine. And then he goes on to say that the line that we've told our kids so often bad company corrupts, good morals. What's he talking about there? It's talking about theologically. You have people influencing your doctrine and your theology negatively is what he's telling the church there. And that's important for us to understand as a, as we think about this, people will, uh, if we hang around the wrong people, doctrinally, theologically, uh, people will. We'll end up influencing us that way. And we need to be on guard against that. He says that people have been encouraging you to, to deny. The resurrection. That's a problem. That's a bad thing. He said, bad company, corrupts, good morals. Instead, the resurrection is legitimate. Okay. So then what are the resurrected bodies going to be like? That's the question that comes next. And, and that's what we find starting in verse 35. And he goes on to talk about, look, it's going to be different than anything that, you know, in other words, Paul's saying, I can't point to something earthly and say, this is the resurrection body. He says there are differences and we understand differences, not all flesh verse 39 is the same. There's one kind for humans and another for animals and birds and fish. He's pointing to the varieties here. He's saying, look, there's, there's different kinds of bodies. And then he says here, you know what, there's also heavenly bodies, a glorified body, a heavenly bodies going to be different than the earthly body. And it's going to be something that you've, you've never known before. It's going to be imperishable. He goes on to say glorious, powerful, and spiritual. Um, And then when he goes on from there, he says that. Verse 47. The first man was from the earth made of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust. So are those who are of the dust. And as in the main of heavens or those who are, who is the, who are rather of heaven. And then verse 49, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. In other words, our glorified bodies are going to be like, Jesus. John says that in first, John, we are going to be like him for, we will see him. Right. And we will be like he is. And so, uh, that glorified body is going to be different. It's going to be unique. It's not going to be like anything you've known before. Imperishable glorious, powerful and spiritual. That's what he's talking about there. Spiritual, not in the sense that the body is spiritual, it's immaterial, but spiritual in the sense that it's not of the earth. Uh, in that sense. All right. Verse 50. And following there, he talks about this mystery. When we receive our glorified bodies, when the trumpet will sound, this is going to be the rapture is what we believe is going to happen here. The church will receive her glorified bodies. Uh, but only after those that have died first, only after those that are, have, have gone to the grave before us, they will receive theirs. And then if, if we're still here first, that's. For we who are caught up with him. W we who remain will be caught up together with them. We will have our glorified bodies. At that point. And then notice he says this. That's the moment that death is swallowed up in victory. And so we'll often quote that around a grave. We'll often quote that and say, look, death is swallowed up in victory, death, or where's your staying where. Eh, we still feel the sting of death until that day. We still feel the loss until that day, but that day is coming. That's why we don't mourn as those without hope because that Dave glorification, when we receive our bodies, Never to die again, that day's coming, but that's going to be the day that's going to be the day when we finally receive that, that glorified body. And we can say death is swallowed up in victory. Um, Uh, let me. Before we get to chapter 16, I'm just noticing here. I skipped over something back in 25. Uh, it says of Jesus. He must have rain, uh, first con. Corinthians 15, 25. He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy to be as short as death. Okay. We were just talking about that. Verse 27 for God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, all things are put in subjection, it's plain, that he is accepted, who put all things in subjection under him, meaning the father is, is accepted from that. Verse 28. When all things are subjected to Jesus, then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him. That God may be all in, in all. This is just a different way of Philippians two, nine through 11, that he's received the name that is above all names. The name of Jesus Christ. Every knee should bow and tongue confess. That Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the father. That's the same day as we read about right there. All right. Chapter 16, some final comments here, the collection of the saints, he's taken up a collection to be delivered to the Jerusalem church, probably to yes. Help the Jerusalem church, but also be. Uh, divvied out from there to other churches that need help there. That's what's going on in the beginning of chapter 16. And then he talks about some of his personal plans, his, his plans to travel to them. Uh, verse eight, he says I'm going to stay in emphasis. That's where Paul had been acts chapter 19. Just remember the context there. Acts chapter 19, Paul's been in Ephesus. He's going to remain there for a little while, until he is able to come and visit them again. He's going to send Timothy in the meantime. And then he gets in and, and give some final admonitions final instructions. Final. Encouragement verse 13. stand firm in the faith act like men. Be strong. Let all you do be done in love. These are a lot of summaries for the whole letter that we've just read. He doesn't want them drifting anymore. He wants the drift to stop. He wants the factions to stop. He wants the, the, the morale. Did you put, you put out of the church? He wants. Relationships to be accurately handled first Corinthians seven. He wants freedom and love to be. Expressed and in right ways, first Corinthians eight and nine, he wants spiritual gifts applied in the right way. First Corinthians. 12 through 14. He wants us confident in the resurrection chapter 15. That's what Paul has been writing about here in the letter to the Corinthian church. So there you go. Um, Man a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of ground to cover, but let me pray. That will be done. God. We desire to be a church that is steadfast and immovable. Uh, we desire strong men as we've often prayed and talked about who will act like men and tow the line and, uh, and, and do good things for you and lead our church and our families. Well, and so we thank you for your word. We thank you for the hope and the resurrection that we have that this life is not all there is, but we will one day receive our glorified bodies. We can't wait until that day. In the meantime, help us to be found faithful in all that we do for you. We pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. All right. I'll keep her in your Bibles and tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the daily Bible podcast by.