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Highlands Church

The Resurrection Is Everything

Kevin Yule | Dear Church | September 29, 2025 | 35:10
Gospel Resurrection Sin and Salvation Eschatology Worldview

Pastor Kevin Yule shows that denying the bodily resurrection collapses the entire Christian faith, but because Christ has risen, believers have living hope, forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life.

Primary Verses

1 Corinthians 15:12 1 Corinthians 15:20 1 Corinthians 15:24

Introduction: A Wake-Up Call from a Hard Conversation

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We are in the book of 1 Corinthians. In fact, we're right in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Ed, last week, we began to kick off this whole chapter on the resurrection. And so we're going to get into that today, and we're going to look at a really weird word. In fact, only time the word is used in the entire Bible is used in our passage today, and it's this word, wake up. So I want to set it up for you this way. Many of you guys know, I've shared with you the journey before. My little brother, Corey, passed away a little over a year and a half ago of cancer. But throughout that entire journey with Corey, I remember sitting down with him in the very beginning.

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When he just got the diagnosis, and he was meeting with the doctors, and they were giving him his treatment plan, I remember sitting down with him, going, all right, how you doing? He goes, man, I think I'm doing pretty good. We've got a plan. They're going to put this stuff in me, and then a couple of months later, we're going to do this stuff. And then they all seem real optimistic. I think we're going to be OK. And we're thinking, man, that's great. We're all excited. We're celebrating that. Three weeks later, I sat down with him again. I said, all right, man, you're getting ready to go to church. We're going to go in. How you doing?

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He goes, well, I had my wake up meeting with the doctor two days ago. I said, wake up meeting with the doctor? What does that mean? He goes, there's one doctor at Mayo. I don't even know if he's an actual practicing doctor or if he's just really good at telling people the truth. But this doc came in, sat Corey down in a chair, and said, we're going to have the hard conversation, but you need to hear it. We're about to start an endeavor. We're going to inject your body with so much poison that you're going to feel like you just want to die. It is going to be hard. You're going to feel gross. And you're going to wake up at least three days, if not more, going, I don't want to do this anymore.

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I want to give up. And I remember the doctor just looking at me. He described it perfectly. He was looking right in the eye. He goes, when those days come, I need you to remember that if we don't do this, you will die. So we have to do this so there's a chance that you will live. And for Corey, he described it just that way. It was a wake up moment. All of a sudden, it was the reality of this is what it's going to be. And there were three, if not more, days where he would tell me later on, oh, yeah, I don't want to. I remember that moment. I woke up this morning.

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And man, I did not want to do one more thing. But I remember that doc saying, if we don't, you will die. And it was inspirational. It was motivating for him in those times when he needed it the most. But it took a doc sitting him down going, hey, wake up. This is no joke what you're in for.

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Paul's going to use that similar word today. In fact, he's going to say this, wake up from your drunken stupor. Because Paul's not too happy with the people that are sharing some less than true theological things. Wake up from your drunken stupor. Same message he might have for us today. Wake up from what? Well, I think it might be for some of us, would you wake up?

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Would you wake up and would you realize that you are a sinner going to hell without Jesus Christ? Can you wake up from that? Can you come and realize that? Because to believe anything different is to believe some candy -coated version of a lie. Can we wake up and can we realize that we are sinners in need of a Savior, but Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead? And so because of our faith in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God and that alone. Wake up. It's not about what we do.

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If you were here today going, well, I grew up in the church. I go to church all the time. Wake up. Your church attendance does not matter. What you believe about Jesus does. Well, but I fed 780 kids for the year. Isn't God happy with me? Happy, maybe. Satisfied? No. The only way we appease the Lord is through our faith in Jesus Christ. So wake up and ask yourself the same question Paul's going to allude to in these first few verses. Where does your hope lie?

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Where does your hope lie? Paul's going to say everything in our Christian faith is linked to this idea of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. And when we find our hope in Jesus Christ, everything falls into line. When we put our hope into anything else, Satan wins. He rubs his little hands together and goes, keep looking there.

Wake Up: You Are a Sinner in Need of a Savior

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Where does your hope lie? And maybe today is our wake up and look to Jesus. Jesus and Jesus alone. We'll get into some of it in just a little bit. Let me pray for us, and then we'll dive into the word and see where God takes us today. God, thank you so much for this beautiful thing called the word. God, you saw fit to write down every single word.

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God, keep it safe to preserve it. Do miraculous things so that we could sit here today and hear exactly what you want to say to us as your kids, your family. God, I pray for any man or woman here. God, why they're here may be unknown to them, but God, it is absolutely known to you. God, you are chasing after each and every one of them. Each every one of them. Each and every person in this room relentlessly because you love them. God, your desire is for them to find everything in your son Jesus. And so God, I pray your Holy Spirit would not relent today from moving, from convicting, from God, as Paul would share in Ephesians, God, would you enlighten the eyes of our hearts.

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God, to see and to understand just how beautiful this thing called the gospel is.

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And God, we'll thank you in advance for whatever you choose to do and however you choose to move. But God, you do what only you can do. We love you and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Chapter 15, we're going to pick it up in verse 12. We're going to go all the way through to verse 34. And I need us to understand.

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Sometimes we can read the Bible and we think, oh, everything's always loving. It's always encouraging. Paul is not super encouraged with the people of Corinth in this part of the letter. In fact, he's pretty frustrated. And if we don't realize that going into it, we can go, what's the big deal? He's discouraged that this heresy is creeping its way into the church. And so he's going to address it by pointing out a few things. Here we go. Chapter 15, verse 12 says this. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there's no resurrection of the dead? But if there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

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And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ, they have perished.

The Domino Argument: If No Resurrection, Everything Falls Apart

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If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we of all people are most to be pitied.

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Big long argument to say this. If you deny the bodily resurrection, everything goes out the door. You remember playing with dominoes as a kid? Not like prison dominoes where you're actually trying to play the game. Talking like remember when you just line up all the dominoes and then you'd pray your brother or sister didn't come in and hit that first one and knock them all down and rob you of all your joy. You'd set up all these dominoes. And then you'd get down on one end and you'd go, all right, here we go. Bink. And then what would happen?

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They'd all fall down. Let's do it again. I mean, hours spent stacking dominoes and knocking them over. Paul is making a domino argument. Let's line them all up. And if you hit the fact that there is no bodily resurrection, bink, everything else falls apart. Let's go back. Let's look at the chain. Paul says, look, some of you are claiming. There's a group called the Sadducees. Jesus interacted with them. They've now crept their way into Corinth. That was just love knowledge. So a group shows up and goes, hey, we got new truth. There's no bodily resurrection. Oh, really? So they started listening. Paul shows up and goes, hey, some

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Of you believe in this nonsense. Let me just explain to you, if you want to give up on the bodily resurrection, what happens? First domino falls. You deny the resurrection of Jesus. If Christ has not been raised, verse 14, then our preaching is in vain. And your faith is in vain. You're believing a lie. It's all worthless.

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Verse 15, Paul would say, look, even we, as ministers of God, we're misrepresenting God. And we're telling you that Christ raised from the dead. And if he didn't, we're all liars. You shouldn't believe us. Everything falls apart. Domino number four.

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Verse 16, if the dead are not raised, even Christ has not been raised. And 17, and if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile. And you are still in your sins. And everyone who's fallen asleep or passed away believing in Jesus Christ, they have utterly perished.

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Another domino. Look, you remove the resurrection, the physical resurrection of our bodies when we die. And you deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything falls apart. Every domino goes down. And you are still in your sin. That means we all gather here and we sing a hallelujahs to a God that's not real. We study a Bible that is not true if the resurrection never happened. It all falls apart. It is all in vain. This is all just one big, weird show.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 10:15

"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."

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Everything hinges on the resurrection. And then we get to verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. That's what we celebrate every Easter. We gather together and we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They killed him on a cross. They stuck him in the grave. And three days later, the resurrection That stone was rolled away and he walked out.

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Separates Christianity. Separates Jesus from everything else. You can go. You can visit the tomb of Muhammad. You can go find the grave of Joseph Smith,

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Founder of Hinduism. He was cremated. They sent the ashes to eight different villages. You can go visit those sites. People come from all over to pay homage to these places. You know what you can't do? You You can't go visit the tomb of Jesus Christ. Because he's not there. He ascended and he's now seated at the right hand of God. And the word says he intercedes for you and for me. Those moments when you're going, God, I don't know what to do. Jesus is sitting there right next to the father going, God, that's one of ours. Let me tell you what Kevin needs right now. And he's interceding for me and for you. He's defending us, says 1 John, against our adversary, the enemy, the Satan that we are.

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The enemy that are. The enemy that would love to accuse us. Jesus defends us. Why? Because he's alive. Because he beat death and he rose from the grave. In fact, Christ has been raised. And he is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. What is this first fruits of those who have fallen asleep? Jesus is the first one to be raised from the dead. He's going to get into the timeline here in just a little bit.

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Verse 21 and 22 is the gospel. I want to read this. And then I want to unpack it. Verse 21 says this, for as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order. We'll stop there.

But in Fact, Christ Has Been Raised

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This is our wake up moment. At least for me, this is what I would share with you. Again, if I'm a hard, direct telling doctor, this is what I would tell you. Wake up. You are a sinner. You are a sinner in need of a savior. And you can look at the person next to you and go, yeah, but I'm not as bad as them. And that might be true. You're still a sinner.

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You're still a sinner. Think of the worst person you could think of. The one that's done the most heinous things in the world. Sinful. Think of this. It was hard. My grandmother was sitting right back here. Last service. I had a little white hat on. And I stood up here and said, think of your grandmother. She's done all the nicest things in the world. Never said anything bad about you. Done nothing but encourage you.

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She's a sinner in need of a savior. Every human being that has ever breathed air is a sinner in need of a savior. We can convince ourselves we're not that bad. We can buy some sort of lie the world might feed us that would say, you really mean to tell me that a loving God would send somebody that didn't do anything really that bad? To To hell for all eternity?

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That's what it says. Because we're all sinners. Inherited through Adam, we can all blame him if we want. And you can start there. But then just look at the last 24 hours of your life. If it reads anything like mine, there's been a lot of dumb things said.

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Few actions that you might want to go, eh, not fit for Sunday morning service. Certainly a lot of dark thoughts running around in my brain. All of those make me a sinful human being,

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Separated from God and destined to spend eternity in hell. That's reality. Wake up. We're all there. But I served. Yep. Still going to hell without Jesus. But I meant church. Yeah. Great. You're here. This place. Your attendance does not change the fact that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.

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But I give. I do. I do. I do all these things. All great. None of it changes the fact that you're a sinner in need of a Savior. And until we acknowledge that we are all in this state, sinful because of Adam and every choice that we make, we're missing it. Wake up. You're a sinner in need of a Savior. Our Savior is Jesus Christ, the one that Paul would go on to say in verse 21. If we have death through Adam, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Why? Because Christ beat death. Christ paid the price you and I couldn't pay on the cross. He died so that you and I could place our faith, is what we say.

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We say that phrase all the time. It's a very churchy thing to say. Put your faith in. Here's what that means in its purest, simplest form. It means to say, I'm not perfect.

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I really do. I think I am. I'm a sinful person. I've made mistakes. I do dumb things. God, I'm not perfect.

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Step one. Step two is now to put your faith in Jesus Christ. It's to acknowledge to God, God, I'm not perfect. I can't fix this on my own.

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But your son died on a cross. And he said because he loved me. And God, you said he shed his blood so that I could be forgiven. He rose from the dead and beat death so that I could have a living hope in him. And so I want to put my trust not in myself, not in what I do, not in all the things, not in being good enough. I want to put my trust in Jesus because I can't be good enough on my own. That's what it means to put your faith in Jesus Christ.

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And if our faith is in a man that's still bearing the cross, buried in the ground and didn't beat death, then as Paul says, our faith is in vain. It is futile. We are most to be pitied. But in fact, Jesus was raised from the dead. And our faith is not in a dead man. Our faith is in a live, risen Savior sitting at the right hand of God. And so because of that, we get to experience this thing called eternal life. Look what he goes on to say.

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Christ, all shall be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ, the firstfruits, he rose first. Then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. You will hear us say that often. Hey, when God's done and comes back for me or calls me home,

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Either when I die because God's done with me here or Jesus comes back. And the moment Christ comes back, it says the dead will rise first. That's what Thessalonians tells us, right? The dead in Christ will rise first. They'll meet him in the clouds.

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Why? Because the resurrection happened. And because Christ is coming back. That's why it's 1 John 2 .28, right? Live your life, if you're a believer in this room, live your life in such a way that when Jesus returns, and he didn't, I was hoping for 9 .45 this morning because that's when I was telling this. I'm hoping for 11 .31 today would be great for Christ to come back. I'm ready. I'm done. Come, Lord, come.

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And when he comes back, live your life in such a way that when he returns, you might not shrink back in shame at his coming, but rather might approach him with confidence. We live in life on mission for the Lord that when he comes back, we would say, God, I'm ready. Here I am.

The Timeline of the End: Christ's Return and Final Victory

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But he's going to come back. The dead in Christ will rise first. Let me get into some more eschatology here. What is this? Then comes the end. Again, I would argue a big gap between, or at least a nebulous amount of time in between 23 and 24 when he says, then comes the end. When Jesus will deliver the kingdom to God the Father. After destroying every ruler, every authority and power.

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For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

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Christ is going to return. Then he is going to rule and reign. He will reign over all things. And the last enemy that he will defeat is death. What does that mean for us? That means the day is coming. When God is going to come back for us or call us home. And there will be no more death.

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No more death. No more pain. Isaiah paints this beautiful picture of God literally wiping away every tear from every eye because there is no more sadness. There is only joy.

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Why? Because Christ beat death. He came out of the grave and conquered death once and for all. And when he returns, he's going to make all things new. We keep going. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.

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But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who puts all things in subjection under him. Verse 28. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all and in all. A lot of pronouns to say this. Let me insert what I believe the hymns are.

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Verse 27. For God the Father has put all things in subjection under Jesus' feet. He's quoting Psalm 86. But when it says all things are in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to Jesus,

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Then Jesus himself will be subjected to God who put all things in subjection under him. God. That God may be all and in all. What does all of this to say is that the day is going to come, we're going to sing about it in a moment, where every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, every ruling power and authority, everything we see is all going to be subject in submission to Jesus Christ. He is going to rule and reign over us. He is going to reign over everything that we know.

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And when every knee bows and every tongue confesses, then Jesus is going to take everything and he's going to submit himself to the Father, much like he did in the garden. God, not my will, but your will be done. And you get this beautiful submission of Jesus taking all authority and putting it all under God.

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God is one. Trinity works together. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all are one. There's a lot of mystery. There's a lot of seminary that we could get into here, but we're not going to, that describe the submission of Jesus to the Father, to the Son, all equal. And yet here, this is just, all Paul is trying to argue is this, the day is going to come where everything is going to be under Christ and then Christ himself is going to give it all over to the Lord and then he's going to make all things new. He is the Alpha and the Omega. There is no place to find our hope other than in Jesus because he wins in the end.

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So again, back to our question. Where have we put our hope? Interesting when it says every rule, every authority and every power will submit themselves to Jesus Christ.

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Well, we'll get to it in just a second. Let's keep going because we've got to get to this next part. It's interesting. You read the commentators on this and when it starts with multiple volumes have been written about this verse with no clear conclusion, you know that Thomas did it to me again. So here we go. Verse 29. Chapter 15, 29 says this. Otherwise, what do people, keep an eye on that, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?

Baptism for the Dead and Paul's Own Testimony

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If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? What is this baptism of the dead? It's a practice nowhere affirmed in scripture anywhere else. In fact, it's not mentioned anywhere else other than in this verse right here. So what is Paul saying? Look, people are being baptized on behalf of the dead if there's no resurrection. Why are we doing that? Is Paul affirming baptism of the dead?

1 Corinthians 15:29-32 22:42

"Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

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I would argue no. I think what's Paul's whole point in this whole section? To wake these people up who are denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the physical resurrection of our bodies when we die. So his whole point is, I just need to prove to you that the resurrection is real. So now he's going to use a pagan practice.

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Something that the pagans in Corinth, those people outside of God's church were going, hey, we are going to baptize people on behalf of the dead.

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Paul says, look, if you guys are OK with that practice going on, then in concept you're already saying, well, they're already dead, but we want to be baptized for them just in case this resurrection is true. Paul's saying, look, if you're OK with that, then you're already conceding that there is a resurrection.

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So he's going to begin to use pagan practices. Here's the other reason I think that. He's going to start to use some pagan slogans, some sayings of the day in Corinth to help validate this point as well. It no way, shape, or form has any commentator ever said, nor would we ever say, yes, there should be a practice where we would baptize people on behalf of the dead. Not in Scripture. I don't think that is at all what Paul is meaning here.

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Verse 30. Why are we in danger every hour? We being who? Well, Christians, but certainly the apostles, Paul himself. Verse 31. I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have made in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our Lord. I die every day. Does Paul physically die every day? No. Speak in hyperbole.

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Verse 32. What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus if the dead are not raised? What is this fighting with beasts at Ephesus? Well, here's what I think it is. If you know the story of Paul, it's a great story. Paul rolls into Ephesus and basically goes, hey, this pagan god you guys are all worshiping, it's nonsense. It's all about Jesus.

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The people of Ephesus don't like this. Why? Because they make all of their money off of this pagan god. It would be like if, I don't know, if I rolled into Las Vegas and said, hey, no more drinking, gambling, or entertainment. The people of Vegas would be like, dude, we're a city in the middle of the desert. You take away those three things, no one's coming here. We're all going to starve to death. Let's throw this guy out. So that's what Paul does. No more worshiping this false idol. Everyone goes, that's our livelihood.

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Let's get this guy. And so there's a huge riot. And they all want to rip Paul apart. And Paul, I love Paul, probably a short little dude. Paul's like, let me at them. I'll go take them all on. And his disciples are like, no, no, we've got to hide you in the back and get you out of here. This whole scene became such a huge story. Everyone started talking about it. So Paul references that here. He goes, why would I do that? Why would I risk my life in front of all those people for a lie?

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No. Resurrection is true. You guys are doing a pagan practice to validate it. I'm a living testament in my own life. And then we get this last statement.

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If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. This was the Epicurean model, right? Eat, drink, and be happy. Why? Because tomorrow, we don't know. Well, if there's no resurrection of the dead, if there's no eternal hope, if it's all just about this life here and now, and the day you breathe your last, you're done, then why not eat, drink, and and be merry?

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Paul says, that's just not true. We were never meant to live here forever. We were meant to live in eternity in the presence of God. And so live your life now because how you live your life now matters. It matters on into eternity. Then verse 33. We'll close on this one here, 33 and 34. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 27:01

"Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."

Bad Company Corrupts Good Morals

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Another saying. Another slogan from the day. Another proverb. Bad company ruins good morals. And then we get the weird word only used here. Wake up from your drunken stupor. He's not happy. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of God.

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And I say this to your shame. It's interesting. So many other times, Paul challenges courage, corrects these people, and he goes, I'm sinning. I'm saying all these things to spare you. I don't want you to get hurt. I'm saying this to spare you. Here, he's not saying, I'm saying this to spare you. He's saying, I'm saying this to shame you because you should be embarrassed.

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Why? So they would live in shame? No. But shame, on some level, often triggers a reaction. Wake up. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You have allowed this false teaching to enter into your mind, and you don't even understand that, and if you let that domino go, everything falls apart.

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Shame on you. Wake up. Bad company corrupts good morals. Clearly, these people had gotten in and began to tweak the true theology of what Paul had shared with them, and they began to believe something that just wasn't true. I would argue, maybe for us, and maybe for us for different reasons that are even more sad, I don't know if denying the resurrection is our thing. I think we're probably there.

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Can I share this with you? I did it first hour. I'm already getting emails, so why not? Lead with your chin two times in a row. Bad company corrupts good morals.

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Essentially, what that means is be careful and cautious what you choose to indoctrinate yourself with because what you choose to listen to, what you choose to allow to be before your eyes, to build the foundation in which you view all things in the world, will absolutely begin to corrupt your moral integrity.

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And I'm not saying that for any other reason than to say if we are building our worldview on anything other than what is written in the pages of this book, we are in danger of having bad company corrupt good morals. When we allow the opinions of a political system, a news outlet, social media, and the algorithms that drive so much of our lives to tell us what to believe, what is true, who to hate, who to love, what side we're on and what side others are on, and we begin to list people as others and not image bearers of God, we have allowed bad company to corrupt good morals because we're listening to something other than what is in this book, the Word of God.

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If we aren't building our foundation, our foundation on this, wake up and be careful. Wake up from your drunken stupor. Don't go on sinning. For some of you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. This is Paul trying to wake this church up and remind them our hope is in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.

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It's in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. Look, if I get everyone to believe in a conservative political system, everyone buys into my conservative ideology. They're all voting this way. They're all doing everything this way. We're running this country this way and they don't know about Jesus. When they all die, they're going to hell. So what good have I done?

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Let's preach Jesus. My hope is in Jesus Christ. My faith is in Jesus Christ. He is the beginning and the end. He is the one that's going to come back for us and he's the one I'm going to stand and build my life on. To do anything else, I think we just need to wake up and be careful.

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Last thing. Paul is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul has the ability to say, I say this to your shame.

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I'm super fearful and even convicted right now. My goal is not to shame anybody.

Closing: Fix Your Eyes on Jesus and Let the World See Him

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It's not. And if I have done that, if in any way you feel shamed by me, I apologize because that is not of the Lord. But man, I do have a heart that we would wake up and that we would allow the word of God to dictate our lives and not what everyone else says or thinks.

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We're not going to answer to anybody else other than God, so let's let him be the source of truth, right? But man, if I have shamed anybody, I apologize. I'm sorry. We're going to close out our time in worship. I would love to pray over us and thank God for the gospel and the fact that a wretched sinner like me can be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me? God, I thank you.

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I thank you for your patience and your grace with me. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would guard and protect your flock, God, your brothers and sisters in this room, in this place.

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God, as I pray often, I pray that you would protect your church from me,

32:34

That you would never allow me to do anything that would hurt your church. And so God, I ask for your love, your grace, your forgiveness. God, I pray the same from anybody here.

32:45

But God, we long to be a church that fixes our eyes on you, God, solely cares about you and what you long for us to see, to realize, to understand. And so God, I pray that you would wake us up. We would not get lost in the chaos of this world, but God, we would fix our eyes solely on your son, Jesus Christ, who sits at your right hand because he beat death so that we would have hope.

33:12

So God, one day we will be in your presence as well. So God, I would ask if there is anyone here searching for you, God, you would not relent one second from pursuing them. God, that your Holy Spirit would convict their hearts. God, that you would draw people into your kingdom. God, that you would do what only you can do.

33:31

And God, I pray for divine appointments even as they walk out of this place, that they might find themselves talking to somebody else. It would be the exact person that you put in their path. God, to help them discover who you are and the love that you have for them.

33:46

God, do what you do. And we'll thank you in advance for it. We love you and we pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We get to hail King Jesus now temporarily here. The day is coming we will hail King Jesus on into eternity forever and ever and ever. And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.

34:08

Some of us will do that as we just did in adoration and praise and celebrate who God is. Some of us, we're going to acknowledge who Jesus is from a point of, I can't believe I missed it. Wake up. Don't miss who Jesus is. Don't leave trying to save yourself. Find everything in Jesus Christ. There are plenty of people who would love to talk to you about that. Keep coming back to this place. You're going to hear a lot about Jesus every time you show up here because he's our answer for everything. We now have a chance to go put that hope on display as we live out in a world that wants to see something different from us.

34:44

Let them see Jesus. Let them see Jesus. Let's lead with the gospel. Man, service isn't over until you love somebody. Make sure you love somebody on your way out. You can love your church staff here tremendously if you would help us just for five minutes after service. We got to get these boxes out to those gigantic trucks so that we can get it to the kids that need the food. So if you can, stick around, help us out in here. The rest of you have a great rest of your week. We'll see you all next weekend.

0:00 / 35:10

Major Points

1

Denying the bodily resurrection triggers a domino effect that destroys every essential Christian doctrine — preaching becomes vain, faith becomes futile, and believers remain in their sins

1 Corinthians 15:14-17
2

Every person is a sinner in need of a Savior, and no amount of church attendance, service, or good deeds can substitute for faith in Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 15:21-22
3

Christ's resurrection is the decisive event that separates Christianity from every other religion — He is alive, seated at the right hand of God, and interceding for believers

1 Corinthians 15:20
4

Christ will return to defeat every enemy including death itself, subjecting all things to the Father so that God may be all in all

1 Corinthians 15:24-28
5

Believers must guard what shapes their worldview — building on Scripture rather than politics, media, or cultural ideologies — because bad company corrupts good morals

1 Corinthians 15:33

Discussion Questions

  1. 1

    Pastor Yule says that if you remove the resurrection, 'every domino goes down.' Which domino in his chain of consequences do you find most personally unsettling, and why?

  2. 2

    Pastor Yule describes placing faith in Jesus as admitting 'I'm not perfect' and trusting Christ instead of yourself. What things do people most commonly trust in place of Jesus, and how have you seen that in your own life?

  3. 3

    Pastor Yule warns that 'bad company corrupts good morals' and applies it to media, politics, and algorithms. How do you practically evaluate what is shaping your worldview day to day?

  4. 4

    Pastor Yule shared that he would not shrink back in shame at Christ's return. What does it look like to live with that kind of confidence, and what tends to undermine it?

  5. 5

    Pastor Yule made a distinction between shaming people and waking them up. How can the church deliver hard truths in love without either softening the message or crushing people with it?

Word Studies

eknepho (eknepho) Greek

To return to sobriety; to wake up from a drunken stupor. A hapax legomenon in the New Testament, used only in 1 Corinthians 15:34. It carries the force of snapping out of a morally and spiritually intoxicated state, implying that the Corinthians had allowed false teaching to cloud their judgment as though they were drunk.

aparche (aparche) Greek

Firstfruits; the first portion of a harvest offered to God, signifying the whole harvest to follow. Paul applies it to Christ's resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20 and 23, meaning that Christ's rising from the dead is the guarantee and prototype of the future resurrection of all believers.

mataios (mataios) Greek

Vain, empty, devoid of result, purposeless. Used in 1 Corinthians 15:17 to describe a faith that would be utterly worthless if Christ were not raised — not merely disappointing but completely void of saving power.

This Week's Reading Plan

Go deeper this week with the passages from this sermon.

Monday 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Read 1 Corinthians 15 for the full context

What stands out to you in this passage? How does it connect to the sermon?

Tuesday Ephesians 1:18

Read Ephesians 1 for the full context

Is there a promise, command, or truth here that applies to your life this week?

Wednesday 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Read 1 Thessalonians 4 for the full context

How does this passage shape the way you see God's character?

Thursday 1 John 2:1-28

Read 1 John 2 for the full context

What would change in your daily life if you took this passage seriously?

Friday Psalms 8:6

Read Psalms 8 for the full context

As you finish the week, what one truth from this series of readings will you carry forward?

Cross References

Romans 6:5-9

Paul argues that believers are united with Christ in both his death and resurrection, guaranteeing that death no longer has dominion — the same resurrection logic underpinning the domino argument in 1 Corinthians 15.

2 Timothy 2:17-18

Paul warns about Hymenaeus and Philetus, who taught that the resurrection had already happened, showing that resurrection denial was an ongoing threat in the early church, just as it was in Corinth.

Acts 19:23-41

The full account of the riot at Ephesus that Pastor Yule referenced — the silversmiths who made shrines to Artemis started a citywide uproar because Paul's preaching threatened their livelihood.

Revelation 21:4

The ultimate fulfillment of the promise Pastor Yule described from Isaiah: God will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more — the final defeat of the last enemy.

Romans 5:12-19

Paul's most developed Adam-Christ parallel, expanding on the same contrast made in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22: through one man came death, through one man came the gift of righteousness and life.

Further Reading

The Resurrection of the Son of God

by N.T. Wright

Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything

by Adrian Warnock

Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

by N.T. Wright