The Resurrection Chapter

Death and Unbelief as the Two Great Enemies

You know, I think there are two great enemies when you look at the Bible and kind of summarize the whole story. There are two great enemies and those enemies are death and unbelief. You know, sometimes living in this world, we get the idea that our enemies are, you know, these people over here and, you know, the devil tries to pit people against each other.

And there's the term, your own worst enemy, right? And nations are enemies against each other. But really when you look at it spiritually, big picture, the two greatest enemies are death and unbelief.

Now as far as death, Jesus conquered that enemy, didn't he? When he rose from the dead, he defeated death. Now just remains the enemy of unbelief. I almost preached a sermon this morning. You know, I've never preached someone else's sermon in my life and I probably never will.

And if I did, I would tell you that it wasn't my own. But Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached a sermon, an Easter sermon, probably 120 years ago or longer. And he talked about the resurrection. It never really occurred to me, but let's turn to Mark chapter 16.

We're going to be looking at first Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter. But this is a, I think a profound truth that I just never really thought about it. Mark chapter 16, Jesus had told his disciples on many occasions that he would suffer.

He would die. And on the third day he would rise again. And when we would read those accounts, it's like it would just go in one ear and out the other. Like they didn't understand it. They didn't believe it.

Maybe they didn't want to believe it. But even after it all happened, just as Jesus said, and he died, of course, on that first Easter Sunday, do you realize none of the disciples were actually looking for him to be risen from the dead?

They didn't really believe it. And Spurgeon and his sermon, he said, and this again, back in the late 1800s, he said, this is the biggest problem in churches. The people, many of them, they don't really believe it.

They say they believe it, but the way they live from day to day, and even convincing themselves in their mind, they believe they don't really live in light of that truth that Christ rose from the dead.

And he said, it all started back here, where even the disciples of Jesus, those who walked with him for three and a half years, that first Easter morning, they didn't actually expect Christ to come out of the tomb.

Let's just read this and then we'll get into first Corinthians 15. So just remember that two great enemies, death and unbelief. It says, now, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Salome brought spices that they might come and anoint him.

Think about that. Where was Jesus? He wasn't in the tomb, was he? He had risen from the dead, and yet they went to the tomb to anoint his body. They didn't believe that he would rise. Verse two, very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

And they said among themselves, who will roll the stone from the door of the tomb for us? And when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away already, for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe, sitting on the right side.

And they were alarmed. And of course, this was an angel. But he said to them, do not be alarmed. You see Jesus of Nazareth, who is crucified, what he is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

But go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee, and there you will see him, as he said to you. So you see, Jesus told them, I'm going to die, I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die, I'm going to rise from the dead, and they just didn't believe it.

Verse eight, so they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Verse nine, now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared, Jesus did, first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons.

And she went and told those things, told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard, that is when the disciples heard this, that Mary had seen the risen Lord, that he was alive, and that he had been seen by her.

What does it say? They did not believe. So even after Jesus rose, the tomb was empty, Mary saw it, he appeared to Mary and the others, she tells them, and they still don't believe. Two great enemies, death and unbelief.

The Gospel of Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection

All right, now let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and again, death has already been conquered, death has already been defeated by Jesus. He rose from the dead, conquering death that first Easter or resurrection morning.

But of course, Christians still die. All people die. We have many loved ones, people that were former members of this church, they're not here because they passed on. So that final enemy hasn't completely been defeated, it was defeated in Christ, but we're still waiting for that to be applied to us, as it were.

So here's the thing about 1 Corinthians 15, it's been called the resurrection chapter. It starts out by talking about the resurrection of Jesus, how he has conquered death. But as Paul goes on to explain, it ends with believers conquering death as well, because just as Christ rose, the promise for all who believe, we shall rise as well.

So let's look at this chapter, the resurrection chapter. Mark read it, but I'm just going to read the first four verses again quickly. This is the gospel. Moreover, brethren, Paul says, I declare to you the gospel, which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved.

If you hold fast that word, which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. So one thing about faith, one thing about belief, you have to keep believing. Otherwise, Paul says, you have believed in vain.

See, there are people who say they believe in a moment of time, but five years later, well, I don't believe that anymore, or 20 years later, they no longer believe. You have to keep believing because a true saving faith will endure.

He says in verse three, and this is the most clear definition of the gospel message anywhere in the Bible. He says, for I delivered to you first of all, that's which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.

So asking you this question, what is Easter all about, or what is resurrection Sunday all about? Well, it's in the name, right? It's all about the resurrection. Okay, next question. Why did Jesus have to die?

Why did Jesus have to, or excuse me, why did Jesus have to be raised from the dead? Well, to answer that, you have to answer the question, why did he have to die in the first place? So Jesus had to die on the cross for several reasons.

One of the reasons is the scripture said he had to die, but ultimately Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. This is the gospel message. The scripture says that the wages of sin is death.

Do you realize that first man, Adam, that God created, do you realize he would have lived forever? Him and Eve would have just lived forever if they had never sinned. So Jesus had to come to die to pay the penalty for that sin.

Adam, Christ, and the Covenant of Reconciliation

Another thing that most of you probably know this, but God works in and through covenants. Today we call them another word to be a binding agreement, like a contract, a promise, but this is the biblical term covenant.

God works in and through covenants. So the first man, Adam, Adam had a covenant with God. Adam had an agreement with God. God said to Adam, I will give you life. I will give you this wonderful, beautiful paradise.

I will give it all to you, Adam. All you have to do is tend to the garden, which was very easy. There were no thorns in the ground would have been a very easy task. Adam was given one rule though, and that rule was do not eat from that.

You can eat from all the trees of the garden, but do not eat from that one tree. And we know what Adam did. He broke the agreement. He broke the covenant. And because Adam broke the covenant, that relationship that mankind had, Adam had with God, it was affected.

So Adam, as the head of the covenant, our representative, he and all his descendants, the human race, us, because of that sin, breaking the covenant, mankind has become alienated from God. It's not hard to see because this world is now filled with what natural disasters, disease, death, suffering.

God isn't speaking to people as he did in the garden. It said he walked with Adam in the cool of the day. They spoke. I mean, I know we sing that song in the garden. He walks with me and he talks with me, but he's not actually here, is he?

And he doesn't actually speak to us one-on-one like he did with Adam. So clearly the relationship between God and man has been affected. We are now alienated from God. That's kind of the bad news. And then Paul gets into the good news that because of God's grace, because of God's love for mankind, he sent Jesus into the world.

Everything was broken. Christ came into the world to fix it. The first man, Adam, broke the covenant. But the last Adam, look at first Corinthians 1545. Jesus Christ is called the last Adam. He's the new representative of the human race.

First Corinthians 1545. And it says, and so it is written, the first man, Adam became a living being, but the last Adam, Jesus Christ became a life giving spirit. So God sent the second Adam, Jesus Christ into this world to atone for what the first Adam did and to bring reconciliation between God and man.

So this is why Jesus had to die. Adam sinned. Jesus came to atone for that sin. Jesus was the solution. So the message of the gospel here in first Corinthians 15 is if a person would believe, if a person would love God and worship God and put their full trust in God, they would be saved and inherit the gift of eternal life.

Why look at first Corinthians 1522, first Corinthians 1522 says for as an Adam all die. Even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. So here's the thing, going back to God, working through covenants, you realize every human being on earth, including everybody here, you are either in Adam or you are in Christ.

How do you get in Adam? Well, that's easy. All you have to do is be born and you're in Adam and you will die as all people will if the Lord tarries. But if you are in Christ, you believe on Christ, you trust in Christ, you love him, you worship him, that's how you become in Christ.

And the outward symbol for that is to be baptized and to join a church and we worship God. And this is how we are in Christ. All who are in Adam die, the Bible says, but all who are in Christ shall be made alive.

That's good news. I don't know about you, but when you look at this world and all the death and destruction and natural disaster and warfare and pestilence and disease and everything else, it's good news to know there is deliverance from that.

That's the good news of the gospel. Okay, we've got that most important message out first. Now, this is the resurrection chapter. So I just want to go verse by verse. I have a lot to get to in about 14 minutes.

So let's let's get started. 13, 13. All right. I'm taking a minute back just for that. Okay, so picking up in verse four. And again, this is all about resurrection starts out with the resurrection of Christ, but then it ends with the resurrection of believers.

So there is application for us. So Paul talks about how Jesus rose from the dead according to the scriptures, verse five, and that he was seen by Cephas. That's the apostle Peter. And then by the 12th.

Okay, so now Paul is basically giving a defense because if you say that somebody has risen from the dead, I mean, that's not just something you can say happen. You need to have evidence. You need to have proof.

And there's no greater proof than eyewitness testimony. Scripture says, let all things be true by the testimony of what two or three witnesses. Even in a court of law today, if you have three people who all say they saw the same event, I mean, that's pretty solid testimony.

So Paul says that Peter or Cephas, he saw him then by the 12th. And after that, verse six, Jesus was seen by over 500 brethren at once. And then he goes on to explain that the greater part of them remain until this present time.

He said, you could actually find these people travel to Galilee, travel to Judea. You could actually find most of these people because they're still alive. He said, a few have fallen asleep. A few have died, but you could actually talk to upwards of 500 different eyewitnesses.

I mean, this, my friends is evidence. It's, it's proof. And then he says he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. Now he did say the 12 and now he says all the apostles that could be people like Barnabas and others who have that title of apostle.

We don't know. But then Paul says, and last of all, verse eight, he was seen by me. And this is Acts chapter nine. When Saul of Tarsus, who is the greatest enemy of the, you want proof that God changes lives.

You want proof that Jesus is a risen savior. Here you had Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, a man who hated Christianity. He was on his way to Jerusalem or on his way to put people in prison for believing in Jesus.

And what happened? He experienced the risen Christ. And from that moment on, he dedicated his life to serving the Lord. So he was seen by all of these people. And then Paul goes on to talk about how I did not deserve that.

I was the, I'm the least of the apostles because I persecuted the church of God. And by the way, I think this is another strong evidence for the trustworthiness of the testimony that Jesus rose from the dead.

You remember before they saw Jesus, before the disciples saw him, we read it here in Mark 16. None of them actually expected Jesus to rise from the dead. Where were they when Jesus was hanging on the cross?

They were all in hiding. Peter was ready to go back fishing. They had all pretty much given up. How do men like that, who essentially acted as cowards, go to being bold witnesses, go from that to being bold witnesses for the gospel, willing to suffer, in some cases be tortured, and even give up their lives.

See, nobody gives up their life for what they know is a lie. The only thing that explains the transformation of the apostles and the fact that they were willing to die for this truth is that it was true.

They saw the risen Lord. All right, now starting in verse 12, Paul, what he's doing is, he's kind of going through a logical argument. He's addressing those who are in the church that do not believe the dead are raised.

I said this in Sunday school. This proves there's nothing new under the sun because you could travel. Hopefully, nobody at Morris Corner Church thinks this, but there might be one or two in the room who don't really believe Jesus rose from the dead.

But I know for a fact there are people in churches all over the land. They say they believe in Jesus, but in their heart, they don't really believe Jesus rose. Well, that was the same here in the church at Corinth.

There are people who didn't believe in the resurrection. Paul is addressing them. Look at verse 12. He says, now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

See, there are people in Corinth who didn't believe this. Then Paul says, but if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ, that means Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is what?

It's empty. And your faith is also empty. And yes, more than that, we have found false witnesses of God because we have testified that God has raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if, in fact, the dead do not rise.

You can see that Paul is kind of working through a logical argument showing them the absurdity of saying, hey, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe in the resurrection. Like that makes no sense. There's no Christian faith there.

If that's what you say. And really, this is the litmus test for whether or not a person is a true believer. Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead? See, every person knows in their heart whether or not they believe that.

If you believe it, you're probably a Christian because only Christians believe this. But that is the litmus test. The whole Christian faith hangs on this one point. If Jesus did not rise and there's a whole argument here, he goes on to say, basically, you know, you might as well eat, drink and be merry.

If there's no resurrection, if none of this is true, then all the apostles are liars. What they say is false. You might as well just eat, drink and be merry because there's no hope. This life is all you have.

That's a pretty bleak message, isn't it? And yet that's what most of the world thinks. This life is all you have. You only go around once, so you might as well make the most of it. Well, the Christian faith offers more than that.

The Resurrection, the Last Enemy, and the Final Victory

Look at verse 20. He talks about the last enemy to be destroyed. Again, there's two great enemies of the faith, death and unbelief. Verse 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead and he has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

In other words, he's the first one to rise, but everyone who believes in him will rise in the future at the last day. Christ was first. Verse 21, for since by man came death, Adam, by man also came the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ.

For in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. And the all there is in context of all who believe. Verse 23, but each one in his own order, Christ, the first fruits afterward, those who are Christ at his coming, then the end comes.

So when Jesus returns, which he has promised to do when he returns, the end comes and he puts an end to all rule and authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is what?

Death. For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who has put, and this is basically, I could read it, but it's a kind of a confusing statement.

He's saying the only thing that is not under Christ is God, the father. So everything is under Christ except for God, the father. Now, starting in verse 29, he gets into the effects of denying the resurrection.

Do you all believe in the resurrection this morning? Well, OK, so that's the majority. The majority of you believe. Good. Here are some of the effects of not believing. Verse 29. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead?

If the dead do not rise at all, why then are they baptized for the dead? The only group that I know that practices baptism for the dead today are the Mormons, and that's like a different subject for a different day.

But back then, apparently, some people were baptizing people for the dead. The idea is that, hey, my, you know, my great great grandmother, whatever, was not a Christian. So we're going to kind of baptize her by proxy, you know, baptize someone else in her name.

And the idea is maybe that'll get them to heaven. That's not the way it works. But Paul is saying, if you don't really believe in the afterlife, like, what's the point of even doing that? Again, it doesn't make any sense.

And then Paul goes on to talk about why do I put myself in jeopardy every hour? Verse 31, I affirm by boasting in you, which I have in Christ our Lord. He says, I die daily. In other words, Paul is putting himself in these difficult situations.

He's fought with beasts at Ephesus. We don't know if those are literal beasts or people acting like animals. But Paul, basically, wherever he went, he was a marked man, and he could lose his life at any moment.

Why am I doing that if this isn't true? That's what he's saying. But here's the verse to focus in on. Verse 32, if in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise?

What does he say? Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Like this life is all you got. So if you don't believe in the resurrection, you should despair because you're just going to die and none of it's going to matter.

You know, it's pretty clear that the majority of people out there, I think, are living with this truth that they think this is true. That all I have is this life. And what's the point? Suicide rates are up.

Drug use is up. Despair. Everything since 2020, everything is through the roof. People feel like they have no hope. But here's the thing, the ideology, and I'm not going to get into this on Easter, and I only have a few minutes anyways, but what people are taught from a very early age is you're nothing more than an animal.

You're an evolved chimpanzee and there's no God. And what does that lead to? It leads to despair. But Paul's saying there's something more. Verse 35, but someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?

Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. For what you sow, you do not sow that the body that shall be but mere grain. He talks about putting a seed into the ground. And it's interesting, you put a seed into the ground, what does it do?

It dies. The seed decays. And from that seed springs forth what? New life. What's the picture with Christian burial? The body goes into the ground. It's there. And up, when Jesus comes back, up comes new life.

There is life beyond the grave. He talks about different types of bodies for animals, for plants. You know, a plant, God has given plants a body. And the grass and the plants are here for a purpose. They serve a purpose and then they fade away here for a short time.

He talks about the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, the stars. They're there for a very long time and they serve their purpose. But you know, when God created mankind, he created us for eternity. Mankind was created to live with God forever.

The Promise of Immortality and the Defeat of Death

So for the sake of time, I'm going to have to skip to the end. Look at verse 49, going back to the covenant with Adam and Jesus. He says, as we have borne the image of the man of dust, Adam, we, speaking of believers, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.

Starting in verse 50, this is titled our final victory. Remember, two enemies, death and unbelief. If you have faith, we conquer both of these enemies. He says in verse 50, now this, I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

That is, you cannot get into heaven the way you are now. We are not fit for heaven in this corruptible body, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Verse 51, behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Sleep is a euphemism in the Bible for what? Death. So he's saying we're not all going to die. He says, this is a mystery. This is something that people didn't always understand. Not everybody, not every Christian is going to die, but we shall all be changed.

And he's talking about the return of Christ here, which, by the way, the Bible says is at hand. It's drawing near. Do you realize the return of Jesus? According to scripture, the term we use, it is imminent.

It could happen. Any generation could be the generation that sees the return of Jesus. So he says, when this happens, verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible.

And we, that is those who are alive when this happens, the dead are going to be raised. And we who are alive and remain, we shall be what? Changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Who's this for? For every human being who ever lived?

No, it is for those who have overcome that second enemy, which is what? Unbelief. Jesus ultimately has overcome the greatest enemy, which is death. But if you overcome that second enemy, unbelief. And by the way, the devil wants to keep you in unbelief.

This world system wants to keep you in unbelief. And maybe even your friends want to keep you in unbelief. But if you conquer that last enemy of unbelief, this promise is for you. Death is swallowed up in victory.

He says, oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, but the strength of sin is the law. And you can look at the 10 commandments and you can say, yeah, I've broken all of them.

And the ones I haven't broken, I've thought about breaking them. That's true for every person. But thanks be to God who gives us what? The victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore, here's the application.

Here's where you can walk away with. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. If I can just put this in my own words, just keep going, keep believing, keep serving God, take a one day at a time.

If we go by the way of the grave, the promise is what? Just as Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, so will we. But I kind of like to be part of that generation that never tastes death.

And by God's grace, we will be here when he returns. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, whether one is true or the other, whether we go the way of all men or whether we see the Lord's return, Lord, help each and every person here to believe, to overcome that enemy of unbelief.

Lord, we see that even on that day, that first day of the week, so many centuries ago, almost 2 ,000 years at this point, Peter and the disciples, they didn't really think that Jesus was going to rise from the dead.

And yet you transformed those men into the greatest witnesses the church and the world has ever seen. Lord, if there's someone here today who is doubting, someone here today who they're in that situation, they don't really believe this.

Lord, transform them into bold, courageous followers of Jesus Christ. Put that hope into the hearts of each one here. We thank you. We thank you for your grace. We thank you most of all that he is risen.

And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.