Hope for Today

We learn by comparisons or relationships. Definitions are often made by comparison. For example, synonyms for the word dark are dim, dusky, dusk, darkly, obscure, murky, opaque, gloomy. Then the dictionary gives this definition: “lack or deficiency of light, or illumination of whatever kind.” You see what I mean? We learn by comparisons. This was Jesus’ method of teaching. He taught by parables. He often said, “The kingdom of heaven is like .. .” Then He made a comparison. But there are some conditions in life that we find difficult to define. We may call them incredible, that is, hard to believe.

One of them is space travel, like the space platform, 240 miles into space. What several decades ago appeared impossible is now an everyday experience. Who would have thought 40 or 50 years ago that people would go 240 miles into space and live there for weeks or months?

To the critics certain realities revealed in the Bible are impossible. Therefore, they reject what the Bible reports as having happened. One of those is the resurrection of Jesus. We have been examining the apostle Paul’s great discourse on the resurrection in I Corinthians 15. Now to understand this, the first step we must take is to believe Paul’s argument. Faith will unlock truth that reason finds impossible. I further state, that faith is not unreasonable; it goes beyond reason. So from I Corinthians 15:35-50, I wish to help in your UNDERSTANDING THE INCREDIBLE.

35 But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.

40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.

41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.

42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.

48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Follow me as I show you the necessary STEPS to Understanding the Incredible from Paul’s words.

Step one is:

35 But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.

There was a self-styled intellectual who thought he could raise a question that would really stump the apostle Paul. So he asked, “How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?” He thought that certainly would put the apostle Paul in a corner. But you see, both questions are based on the present order. None of our knowledge has in view a resurrected body. So how do you prove that? How do the dead come forth? What kind of a body do they have?

The apostle Paul meets the question and teaches that the seed is different from the plant. When the Lord God created the earth, He said, “Let the plants bear fruit. Let the plants reproduce themselves after their kind” (Genesis 1:11). Now the apostle Paul picks this up and says that you don’t plant the plant; you plant the seed. Do you remember that great oaks from little acorns grow? Pick up a little acorn. Take a look at it. You would never dream that a great, monstrous oak tree would develop from this tiny little acorn.

Paul goes on to say that all flesh is not the same. There is flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds. Mortal existence is not the same as the resurrected body is what he is telling us. So the question is ridiculous. There is no way you can make a comparison except, as he has attempted to do, by the seed and the different kinds of flesh.

The resurrected body is of a different order. We must not rule out the resurrection simply because we have no reality with which to compare it, except by these somewhat parabolic comparisons the apostle makes.

Barnes has a word for us in this regard. He refers to the man whom Paul calls “thou fool”:

The meaning is, that it was foolish to make this objection when the same difficulty existed in an undeniable fact which fell under daily observation. A man was a fool to urge that as an objection to religion which must exist in the undeniable and everyday facts which they witnessed. The idea is, “The same difficulty may be stated about the growth of grain. Suppose a man who had never seen it, were to be told that it was to be put into the earth; that it was to die; to be decomposed; and that from the decayed kernel there should be seen to start up first a slender, green, and tender spire of grass, and that this was to send up a strong stalk, and was to produce hundreds of similar kernels at some distant period. These facts would be as improbable to him as the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. When he saw the kernel laid in the ground; when he saw it decay; when apparently it was returning to dust, he would ask, How CAN these be connected with the production of similar grain? Are not all the indications that it will be totally corrupted and destroyed?” Yet, says Paul, this is connected with the hope of the harvest, and this fact should remove all the objection which is derived from the fact that the body returns to its native dust.

So the first step is do not ask such a Ridiculous Question.

The second step is:

40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.

41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.

42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The apostle goes on to point out that there are different types of bodies. There is the celestial, which is heavenly, and there is the terrestrial, which is earthy. Earth has its properties and heaven has its properties. So he goes on to illustrate this by referring to the sun, moon, and stars. The sun has one kind of glory. We know something about the sun. Our scientists have explored the sun carefully from this distance of 93 million miles, and they tell us what it is composed of. They can see the sun storms and the sunspots and so forth. It has a certain glory all its own. We are told that if the earth would move away from the sun a few degrees, we’d freeze to death, and if it went closer to the sun, we would boil, and burn up.

Paul says there is also another glory in the moon. In September 1996, we were told that there was a full eclipse of the moon at 9:12 at night, Eastern Standard Time. Unfortunately, a cloud cover obscured the sky, so we could not see the eclipse of the moon. We’ve had astronauts visit the moon. That was a tremendous experience. I’m sure the man who stepped out of the gondola onto the moon’s surface was right when he said, “A great step for mankind.” The astronauts didn’t find what they expected to find, but they found some things of great interest to the entire world.

Then Paul says that there’s another glory of the stars. And one star differs from another star in glory. NASA has been trying to explore the planets—Mars, Jupiter, and others. We have probed some stars. Each has its peculiar properties. That’s a reasonable suggestion.

Look what Paul then says, “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” He goes on to explain how in the resurrection of the dead the body is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption. Corruption means that it wastes away, but the resurrected body will not waste away. It is incorruptible. The body is sown in dishonor, greatly humbled. It is raised in glory. Marvelous! It is sown in weakness. All of us know that. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body. Marvelous! Earthy, humble, corrupt, dishonored, weak, natural, raised in never-ending beauty, glory, honor, power, and spiritual life. The order is the natural then the spiritual.

So the second step is Reasonable Suggestions, to answer the question, What kind of body is the resurrected body?

The third step is:

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.

48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The contrast is made between the first man, Adam, and the second man, Christ. Adam was natural. God created him out of the dust of the earth, so he is called earthy. Then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul. The last Adam is spiritual. And by the resurrection, He is the Lord from heaven. In fact, He was the Lord from heaven before He was incarnate in the flesh.

The earthy is unavoidable. We are earthy. As is the earthy, such are the earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they that are heavenly. Then Paul goes on to say that since we have borne the image of the earthy, we will bear the image of the heavenly.

Now the apostle is speaking to Christians, believers. But everyone is going to be raised from the dead. Even the wicked will be resurrected. Jesus said there are going to be two resurrections, the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked. So every descendant of Adam is a subject for death. And because Christ rose from the dead, all the dead will rise from the dead. As we have taken part of the earthy, so we shall take part of the heavenly.

Pay very close attention to verse 50: “Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” There must be a change before the kingdom of God can be inherited.

How will the kingdom come? That’s a good question. Once when He was near Jerusalem, Jesus gave a parable and said, “The kingdom is like a noble man going into a far country to receive the kingdom, and then to return” (Luke 19:12). Clearly, this refers to Jesus who came to earth, sacrificed Himself on Calvary’s cross, arose from the dead, and ascended to glory to receive His kingdom. He will come to take His kingdom, to establish His kingdom. So I must tell you with all candor, I’m not a kingdom builder, nobody else is. We have had a number of people say, “Yes, we’re going to bring in the kingdom.” They’ve said it repeatedly throughout generations and centuries. “We will bring in the kingdom of God if we can just get everybody to have all they need. From each according to his ability, and to each according to his need. We’ll have the kingdom of God on earth.” But that will never happen.

Jesus told us to pray like this in the Lord’s Prayer: “Let Thy kingdom come.” I would remind you that is an incident, an act, not a process. Very clearly in the Greek New Testament, it is that way. It will come when the King comes back. The book of Revelation tells us that at one point they’re going to say, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15). Yes, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God in our mortal existence. That’s what flesh and blood means, mortal bodies. No way can mortals enter God’s kingdom.

So, my friend, we rejoice in the truth of the Resplendent Confession of the resurrection. As surely as the seed grows into the plant; as surely as there are varying glories of the sun, moon, and stars; as surely as there are the earthy and heavenly, so surely is the resurrection. By faith, we Understand the Incredible.

Paul undergirds this faith by answering

About how the dead are raised and

the kind of body they will have.

He then makes

That the natural body gives place

to the spiritual body.

And he concludes with

That nature itself bears witness

to the certainty of the resurrection.

Our right of choice lays upon us moments of serious consequences. Often it is impossible to retrieve the outcomes of the choices we make. They are cast, as it were, in irretrievable molds. For that reason, we must weigh carefully every decision we make.

Every decision we make has moral consequences. We cannot operate in a moral vacuum. To put it another way, we cannot operate in a no-moral zone, commonly called “the gray zone.” We are either moral creatures all the time or we are moral creatures at no time. We cannot turn it on or off at will. We are what we are all the time.

The moral climate of the United States through the years has swung more and more to the no-moral zone. In the short run, it appeals to many of our fellow citizens, supposedly relieving them of responsibility, at least for the moment. The word of God teaches us in Romans 14:12 that “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” That means we are personally accountable to God. From that, there is no escape.

Of course, this is not the first age or country when people planned to evade the judgment of God. The human family has a horrendous record of trying to run away from God and responsibility.

Recent decades have brought this into the public square with a new venom poisoning the minds of the multitudes to the belief that what God has said in His word can hardly be expected to apply in this enlightened near 21st century.

The anti-moral crowd has chopped away at the moral law of the Bible until they have caused many to not only ignore what the Bible teaches, but they have ridiculed its truth, replacing it with the empty philosophies of men.

The apostle Paul faced this same attitude in his day. He lived in the age of the Greek philosophers, men of keen minds. Their teachings penetrated all levels of society. In I Corinthians 15:29-34 the apostle wrestles with the results of several of these improper philosophies.

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this]to your shame.

Here Paul teaches us how to avoid the INDULGENCES that lead to IMPROPER LIFESTYLES.

The first indulgence to avoid is:

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

If there is no resurrection, the apostle says, “why be baptized for the dead?”

Let me point out immediately that the apostle Paul is not condoning the practice. He is showing how ridiculous it is. The argument is called ad absurdum, meaning “reduced to an absurdity.”

Well, you see Paul was standing there with those who said there was no resurrection and yet baptized for the dead, which practice refuted their basic position. He said that if there is no resurrection, then why be baptized for the dead.

In the inmost spirit of every person is the fact of death. We know we will not live here forever. The question is what about the hereafter?

The word of God clearly teaches us that death is a stalking reality. Hebrews 9:27 states, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

The Pulpit Commentary has these helpful words:

The interpretations of this verse are so numerous that it is not even possible to give a catalog of them. Many of them are not worth recording and are only worth alluding to at all as specimens of the willful bias which goes to Scripture, not to seek truth, but to support tradition. They are most futile and fantastic because they pervert the plain meaning of the plain words. It is a waste of time and space to give perpetuity to baseless fancy. . . . It has been very usual to represent it as we think it ought to have been, and not as it was. This disuse of this vicarious baptism among orthodox Christians may have been due to the discouragement of it by St. Paul when he went to Corinth, and “set in order” various erroneous customs (11:34).

Therefore Paul is correcting the indulgence I have called Fruitless Practices. To be baptized for the dead, if there is no resurrection, is clearly a contradiction. Paul reduced their practice to an absurdity.

The second indulgence to avoid is:

31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

The apostle states a solid truth. He says, “I die daily.” For Paul life was expendable. The quality of life was more important than the quantity of life. So it didn’t make much difference how long but how well one lived. It is proper for us all to aspire to live to a ripe old age. But it is much more important for us to aspire to live a good life serving God.

Paul referred to his conflict in Ephesus as fighting with wild “beasts.” We consider this a figure of speech since no Roman citizen could be required to fight with animals in the arena. And we know that Paul was a Roman citizen. We also know that Paul had troublesome times in many cities. He then asked a withering question: “If there is not a resurrection, why fight?”

Grosheide, the Dutch writer, has these comments to make about this text:

First, it is almost impossible to fight with beasts and still escape with one’s life. Secondly, there is no reference to such a fight in Acts, although Paul’s stay at Ephesus is related very circumstantially. A rescue from the fight in the arena would have furthered the preaching of the gospel to such an extent that Luke, in keeping with the plan of his second book, could hardly have omitted reference to it. In II Cor. 11 where Paul speaks of his many experiences, he does not mention any such conflict. Finally, a Roman citizen could not be condemned to the arena. If the Ephesian magistrates had condemned the apostle in spite of this fact, Paul would not have failed to appeal to his citizenship. For these reasons, we take this fighting against beast to refer to an extreme kind of opposition from which Paul escaped.

Rather, adopt the philosophy of the fun lovers, called in his day the Epicureans. Scores of them are living today. The name has not come down, but the philosophy has. “Have Fun” echoes at the parting of friends at home, at the bus and railroad depots, and at the airports. “Have Fun!” Eat and drink for tomorrow we die! Indulge is the word. By the size of some who patronize the smorgasbords at restaurants, the idea has caught on! Have you noticed? They advertise “All you can eat.” Of course that makes the pockets of the health providers jingle as they do heart by-pass surgeries and prescribe medicines to control the bad cholesterol.

Paul corrects that Improper Indulgence that I have labeled Fleshly Pleasures.

The third indulgence to avoid is:

33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame.

Watch your company! Paul says. Bad company corrupts good morals. Two biblical men come to my mind to illustrate this. The apostle Peter vowed to go with Jesus to death rather than to deny Him. But Peter was in the wrong crowd at the right time, at the trial of Jesus. He was there with the soldiers, warming his hands at the fire. Three times he denied Jesus. And the third time he denied Him with an oath. You know what, he was keeping the wrong company, and it corrupted him.

On the other hand, Daniel, in the Old Testament, was quite different. He would not defile himself with the king’s meat. He was an outstanding servant in the king’s court. King Nebuchadnezzar said he had no one like Daniel in his entire realm. Daniel didn’t keep bad company and his morals were not corrupted.

Paul instructs us to wake up and seek righteousness. Avoid sin. This corresponds with what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these other things will be add unto you.” Our day has its pitfalls. Avoid them.

Kistemaker in his commentary makes a comment about the final aspect of these indulgences that the apostle Paul made that I call to your attention.

Instead of being followers, the Corinthians should have been leaders in the church of Jesus Christ. They must know that ignorance of God and His word is a shame to anyone who bears the name Christian. Therefore, Paul shames his readers in the hope of seeing a complete reversal of their lethargy. He expects that a correct understanding of the resurrection and its meaning will cause them to abandon bad company and strive for reputable qualities that God approves.

The knowledge of God will be the protection you need. Seek company that builds up. Thus the third indulgence to avoid is The Filthy Principles.

Let me review for you the Improper Indulgences that ought to be avoided.

Being baptized for the dead

Have fun!

Keeping bad company

To this end, let us seek God’s help.

The second pronouncement is:

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming

24 Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

“Christ the firstfruits.” No one else arose as Jesus did. John 11:43 tells how Lazarus was raised. Jesus was there by the tomb of Lazarus, and the Bible says, “He cried with a loud voice, and said, Lazarus come forth. And Lazarus came forth.” But do you know what? Lazarus died again. He didn’t have a resurrected body; he had a resuscitated body. The same thing is true of the widow’s son, the widow of Nain. The people were actually on the way to the cemetery to bury this lad. Jesus met them on the way, and the Bible describes it for us in Luke 7:11-15:

And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

Now Lazarus and this widow’s son both died again. They were raised from the dead, but not like Jesus was raised from the dead. As He was speaking to John on the Island of Patmos, the Lord Jesus made a comment to John as he lay at Jesus’ feet. Jesus said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:17,18). Now that’s different. Jesus has a resurrected body, and so He could say to John, “I will never die again. I am alive forevermore.” Lazarus and the widow’s son did not have resurrected bodies. They had resuscitated bodies. And so they died again. Do you see what I mean?

We notice that Jesus is the firstfruits. In the Old Testament times, at the time of the harvest, the Jews were to bring a sheaf of grain of the first to be harvested and dedicate it to God, with the high priest’s service.

One time we were in Israel at the time of the harvest of firstfruits. We were to be at a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As we came, they gave each of us a barley head to help us to understand that this was the offering of the first fruits. Well, that’s what they did in those Old Testament days, and still do.

When Jesus is called the firstfruits, that means He is the guarantee of the resurrection of all the dead. Our text says He is the firstfruits and afterwards they that are in Christ at His coming. The Greek word for “afterwards” epeitais a temporal adverb. The length is not specified, just sometime afterward, after the resurrection of Jesus, then they that are His at His coming. Paul did not know when this would occur. He did not know how long. But he knew that it would occur. It is nearly 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus. And so far they that are His have not been resurrected, but they will be. We can be confident of that.

The apostle goes on then in the next verse to say, “Then cometh the end.” Here the Greek word for “then” eitais also a temporal adverb. It does not mean immediately. The word can very well convey a length of time from they that are Christ’s to the end.

The book of Revelation tells us how long that time is. It is 1000 years from the time of the first resurrection until the time of the second resurrection. In other words, the resurrection of them that are His until the resurrection of them that are not His.

Then the apostle says in this text, “He must reign, till all enemies are put under his feet.” Again the Bible informs us how long that reign will be. In Revelation 20 we learn that it will be 1000 years. And He shall reign on the earth for 1000 years. He must reign. It is necessary for Him to reign until the second resurrection. Now He is King by the decree of God, the Latin term is de jure. But then He will be King in His own right, functioning as King. He will be King de facto. He will be there in power and great glory. Praise God!

When He comes in power and great glory, Jesus will be identified as King of kings and Lords of lords. He will have indisputable priority. He will be first. The first fruits and then they that are Christ’s at His coming. And then comes the end.

The third pronouncement is:

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death.

27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

All enemies will be subdued under Him. All enemies will come under His rule. “For He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Just look at verse 26 again, and let that truth bear upon your heart. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Praise God!

Death has been master ever since Eden. It has been dethroned by Christ because He arose from the dead. He arose from the dead with an immortal body. “Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?” Christ has invincible victory. The battle is won! Yes, He came, He saw, He conquered!

Look at verse 28 now. “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him.” “When” is a particle of time, a time known to God. God does not plan anything loose-endedly. He knows when it will be. He knows how things will come out. He knows who will be there. And He has given Jesus Christ invincible victory. The final victory will be when all things are under Him when all things have been subdued when death has been destroyed. What God planned from eternity past will come to pass.

The resurrection of Christ is an inescapable fact. The result is that

to reverse death that Adam brought upon us all.

for He is first to rise from the dead to live forever.

to put all things under His feet.

Since we have no physical proof of the resurrection of Christ except the empty tomb, our affirmation must rest on belief or faith. But what is faith?

For some faith is ignoring the supposed facts or the absence of facts. For others faith is credulity, by which they mean simple-mindedness, not being able to think through the propositions or the problems. For still others, faith is evidence of low intelligence. They believe education will replace the need for faith. The more you know, the less you need to believe.

Many a university professor of biology no doubt on the first day of class may take delight in telling his freshman students something like this: “Here in my classroom, you will soon learn that what you may have been told in church is just so much garbage. I base all my propositions on the assured results of scientific research.” Then on day two, he may say what the Encyclopedia Britannica says, “In the evolution of horses during 60,000,000 years, the average rate per genus was 7,500,00 years.” And he expects his students to accept what he says as proven facts because he said, “I base my conclusion and propositions on scientific research.” To me, that is an example of amazing ignorance or arrogance. There is no way scientific research can make such a statement. Scientific research deals with what is observable, and, of course, 60,000,000 years are not observable.

I am unashamed to tell you my understanding of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is based on my faith in the Holy Bible as the revelation from God. I believe the records in the New Testament are true and without error.

So I come to I Corinthians 15 with confidence that the apostle Paul wrote the truth, not only as he understood it, but as it was revealed to him from God by the Holy Spirit. Every serious-minded person must consider the reality of the resurrection of Christ. There is no escape from this. I have based my message on I Corinthians 15:20-28 and have called it BELIEVING THE INESCAPABLE.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming

24 Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death.

27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

From Paul’s words, I have collected several convincing PRONOUNCEMENTS that lead us to believe in the inescapable fact of the resurrection of Christ.

The first pronouncement is:

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

The first two words of verse 20 are specific words: But now. All argument is closed off. Paul has entertained all the questions so far that might be raised, and by these two words, he makes it emphatically clear. It is a logical position. “But now is Christ risen from the dead.” All argument is closed off. Look farther. “For since,” he says, “by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” Man brought death. Therefore man must bring the resurrection. That is a necessary fact. What Adam spoiled, Jesus restored.

When God placed the man in the Garden of Eden, He said that man should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, putting this restriction on it: “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Well, the record is clear. Eve and Adam ate of the tree and brought sin and death to the human race.

Sin brought death. “For as in Adam all die.” There is no debate. The Bible is very clear on it. Adam and Eve died as a result of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I want you to pay very close attention to the fact that the all is all-inclusive.

Then observe the second clause in verse 22: “even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” That’s where the debate takes off. I would like to tell you that I believe the all of the first clause and the all of the second clause cover the same fact, cover the same race. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” All human beings will experience resurrection.

This is very clear in the Bible. For example, see what Jesus said to His followers in John 5:28-29:

Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves will hear his voice, And shall come forth: and they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Do you see what I am telling you?

Also, in the book of, Revelation, chapter 20:4-5, the apostle John heard and saw what was going to happen at the end of the age, and he wrote:

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Now notice carefully:

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

The first resurrection is the resurrection of the righteous dead. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the wicked dead.

We turn to Paul’s letter to the Colossians and the first chapter. You must hear this, my friend, you must hear it from the pen of the apostle Paul as he wrote to the Colossian believers in chapter 1:15-18. He is talking about the preeminence of Christ:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature; For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him; And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Do you see it? Paul affirms that Jesus, being the incarnate God-man, has the right, the incontestable authority, over death. Amen.

Mountain climbers scale cliffs that turn back the average hiker. They do it by training and practice.

In the field of industry, researchers defy what some say is impossible. Over a hundred years ago, it was suggested that the patent office be closed since all the inventions had already been made. How wrong they were! For example, the invention of the transistor in 1948 by Bell Telephone Laboratory revolutionized communication. But that has been left in the dust. In the past fifty years, we have seen the development of much more complex systems based on microchips, a distant relative of the transistor. What was thought to be impossible has become a reality.

Mrs. Yoder and I have hosted seminar trips to the Holy Land for a number of years, and in the 1960s and even the 1970s, when I wanted to telephone the office, I would place my telephone call with the operator at the hotel, and she would say, “I’ll call you.” And generally, I had to wait thirty minutes for that call to get through.

In 1994 when we were in Israel, I telephoned the AAA traveler’s checks office in the US. The call went through so quickly that I thought I was talking to Tel Aviv. Instead, I was talking to New York! Can you believe it! Right from the hotel in Israel, without any delay it seemed, I was able to talk with the people in New York City.

Communication is frightening in some respect. If such achievements are possible in the physical sciences, what about the areas of philosophy and metaphysics? Some progress has been made there. Of course, our minds are not programmed, although they operate by certain laws. In other words, in the physical sciences, you can program and come out where you expect to come out. However, in the field of the mind, it’s different. For example, no statement can be true and false at the same time. That’s a philosophical law.

Paul was well trained. When the Holy Spirit directed his intellect, Paul was used of God to present the truth. In I Corinthians 15:12-19 he faces the impossible.

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

By raising certain false positions, the apostle Paul deals with Resolving The Impossible. The first position the apostle raises is:

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

The false premise was there is no resurrection. That was based on the ordinary. Nobody had seen anyone else rise from the dead. For that matter, nobody saw Jesus actually rise from the dead. So since nobody saw Him, some said there is no resurrection of the dead.

Well, I remember a number of years ago when we lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a certain man who was quite “a spiritual leader” died. His followers were absolutely convinced he would rise from the dead. They had the date all set. Now they had buried him in the cemetery like other people, in a concrete vault. But when the day approached, would you believe it, people actually flocked to the cemetery to see this man rise from the dead. But you know what, he didn’t. And the result was devastating for some people because they had been so sure he would rise from the dead. He didn’t. So they could argue, as they did in Paul’s day, that no one else arose from the dead, how could Jesus arise from the dead? But He did, that’s true.

There is one factor in here that isn’t spoken about by Paul. It is true no one else arose from the dead as Jesus did, but then no one else lived as Jesus did either. Keep that in mind. Look deeply into the record of Jesus’ life and you will see that there is a particular reason why He arose from the dead and other people didn’t.

The apostle goes on to say that if there is no resurrection if the basic premise is no resurrection, then there is no risen Christ. And if there is no risen Christ, then we have empty preaching and empty faith, useless, no content. We are, as it were, beating the air, wasting our breath.

Into this mix, we must see that belief is foundational. Today it is not possible, visually, to see Jesus rise from the dead. As I said before, nobody saw Him actually rise from the dead anyway. The angel came down and rolled the stone away, and the disciples could see the empty tomb. But nobody saw Him rise from the dead. They saw Him after He had risen from the dead. So it is a matter of believing, a matter of faith. That is the whole secret, but I will say a little more about that later.

I have had great help from Barnes’ commentary on I Corinthians. Let me share a bit with you again now:

The doctrine of the resurrection, therefore, does not rest on a metaphysical subtilty; it does not depend on human reasoning; it does not depend on analogy; it rests just as the sciences of astronomy, chemistry, anatomy, botany, and natural philosophy do, on well-ascertained facts; and it is now a well-understood principle of all true science that no difficulty, no obstacle, no metaphysical subtilty; no embarrassment about being able to see HOW it is, is to be allowed to destroy the conviction in the mind which the facts are fitted to produce.

So the first position is The False Premise, which he resolves.

The second position is:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

Paul said if there is no resurrection, then what we have been preaching is false. We are false witnesses to these things. There is no message if there is no resurrection. Why go to all the ends? Why travel across the Roman empire? Why hazard your life on the high seas, among robbers, if there is no message, if there is no resurrection? It is a delusion, a disordered state of mind. If there is no resurrection, then there can be no risen Christ.

I want to point out that the whole matter rests upon the faith a person has, and faith is a decision of the will. Don’t tell me you can’t believe. You can’t believe because your mind won’t let you believe. If you get the consent of your mind, then you can believe.

So if there is no resurrection, there is no pardon. You are yet in your sins if there is no resurrection, think of it. All the people of all the world throughout all the generations that have believed in Jesus have simply believed a delusion, a disordered state of mind.

And so there is a false promise. Paul said, I have been a false witness if there is no resurrection, then hang it up. No forgiveness, no forgiveness! What a tragedy? Paul is resolving the impossible.

I refer again to Barnes. Here are his words:

This passage is full proof that Christ did not die merely as a martyr, but that his death was to make atonement for sin. That he died as an atoning sacrifice, or as a vicarious offering, is here declared by Paul to be among the first things that he taught; and the grand fundamental truth on which the church at Corinth had been founded, and by which it had been established, and by which they would be saved. It follows that there can be no true church, and no well-founded hope of salvation, where the doctrine is not held that Christ died for sin.

Oh, my friend, the second position is The False Promise, rectified by faith in Jesus Christ.

The third position is:

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

No hope! If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable, most to be pitied. And believers are dead and gone, no hope.

Some years ago when I was engaged in evangelistic services in a rural community, we went to visit in a home. When we got there, the man was out repairing his chicken coop, on a Sunday afternoon. He apologized a bit. As we were talking, he looked over to where several of his horses were in the pasture lot and said, “When I die, I will die like one of those horses.” His daughter, who was standing nearby, said, “Oh, Dad!” Yes, that is the point. Is there any hope beyond this life? If there is no resurrection, that man was right when he said I’ll die like a horse.

But if there is a resurrection, there is another chapter to the whole story. We are more than a better-organized animal walking on two feet. We have not come up from the animal race. We have come down from the hand of God. We can escape our ordinary train of thought.

I mentioned a little while ago about having been in Israel. You know, when I was talking about that, I saw it. Yes, I was there, trying to make a telephone call.

We can soar to mental heights unknown by the higher order of animals. We have powers of the mind that we need to control and exercise.

Our hope transcends all earthly ideas. I want to emphasize the word transcend. It is a wonderful word, because it goes far and away beyond and above the ordinary, beyond all earthly ideas. The apostle John in I John 3:2-3 said, “We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure,” speaking of Jesus of course.

Again let me share with you a word from another writer:

“Most miserable!” Could there be a greater torture? “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” The hope of being with him hereafter, of seeing and enjoying him, of becoming more and more like him,—this is our heaven of anticipation; the crown is “a crown of righteousness;” the eternal reward is nearer and fuller communion with him. But this hope is all vain. Himself uncrowned, himself left to the dishonor of the grave, what can Christ be to you and what relief afford you—you of all men most wretched? Other men resign themselves to their dreams of earthly joy, seek the pleasures of sense and find them, fall down and worship Satan and get their kingdoms of power and wealth and passion. These you have denied yourselves and put far from your pursuits. Heaven has been enough for you. But lo! this heaven is a vain hope, a fleeting creature of fancy, and you are the victims of a supreme folly, the lowest on earth in hopeless misery.

If there is no resurrection, that is the situation.

So the third concept is The False Piety bound by earth ties.

The apostle Paul resolves the impossible and presents the correction of three false positions:

No resurrection

No message

No hope

My friend, to experience the true premise, the true promise, and true piety, believe, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.

One person supposedly made this statement why he was not a member of a church. He said, “I have never found a perfect church; therefore I am not a Christian.” To which his friend replied, “When you find that perfect church, don’t join it.”

Do you see the point? If he did join, it would no longer be perfect. He would spoil it.

Probably every congregation has its good points and bad points, and likely the membership would be able to list them. Which side would be longer? I don’t know. We hope the good points outweigh the bad points. The reason there is this difference is very simple. The members are all human beings. And all human beings have some good points and some bad points. Even people who are Christians still have a few bad points. In every human organization, there is a need for ideals that challenge for improvement. That is true in the church.

In I Corinthians 14:34-40 Paul sets forth THE IDEAL CHURCH:

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

35 And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The Ideal Church, according to Paul, has several distinguishing MARKS. These marks make it recognizable.

The first distinguishing mark is:

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

35 And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

The apostle makes a sharp statement when he says that the women are to “keep silence in the churches.” Their presence is there, but they are to have a low profile. In I Corinthians 11:2-16, the apostle Paul taught how women may pray or prophesy. That was not limited to the home. It seemed also to be applicable to the church. They ought not to pray or prophesy with unveiled heads. Under the circumstances he is addressing in I Corinthians 14, they are to keep silent.

A little reflection may help us to understand why he said that. It may be that their more emotional and psychological constitution formed the basic reason. Women are more emotional than men and often go to extremes. In the midst of the condition described in verse 26, they might be inclined to extremes: “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.” Under those circumstances, they might have been inclined to be quite emotional and quite vocal. So the apostle Paul instructs them to have their personal relationship with their husbands. This assumes of course that the husband is the head of the home.

Some years ago I was listening to a man who was promoting Vacation Bible School material. He said, “When you go to the home to find out whether the children will come to Vacation Bible School, talk to the mother.” He said, “This is a matriarchal society.” Well, it is not supposed to be.

During my revival/evangelistic services years ago, I often preached a sermon on rearing the family. I based my message on Deuteronomy 6:4-25. Here are Moses’ words in verses 4-6 to the children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land.

Love the Lord Thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

I went on to the rest of the chapter, and as I concluded my message I asked fathers to commit themselves to conduct family worship daily, and to create and maintain the family altar. As I remember there was only one congregation where I had 100 percent participation.

When the Bible was taken out of the school in 1963, supporters argued that this is the responsibility of the home. But that is sorely lacking today.

Matthew Henry’s commentary has these comments:

As it is the woman’s duty to learn in subjection, it is the man’s duty to keep up his superiority, by being able to instruct her; if it is her duty to ask her husband at home, it is his concern and duty to endeavor at least to be able to answer her inquiries; if it is a shame for her to speak in the church, where she should be silent, it is a shame for him to be silent when he should speak, and not be able to give an answer, when she asks him at home. We have here the reason for this injunction: It is God’s law and commandment that they should be under obedience (v.34); they are placed in subordination to the man, and it is a shame for them to do anything that looks like an affectation of changing ranks, which speaking in public seemed to imply, at least in that age, and among that people, as would public teaching much more: so that the apostle concludes it was a shame for women to speak in the church, in the assembly. Shame is a mind’s uneasy reflection on having done an indecent thing. And what more indecent than for a woman to quit her rank, renounce the subordination of her sex, or do what in common account had such aspect and appearance? Our spirit and conduct should be suitable to our rank. The natural distinctions God has made, we should observe.

Now, friend, don’t argue with me. I am only explaining what the apostle Paul said. The first distinguishing mark of The Ideal Church is The Place of Women in the Church.

The second distinguishing mark is:

36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Assess where the message of truth has come from. The apostle Paul made a rather striking statement when he asked them, “Did the message come from you, or did it come out from you?” So remember, the message did not come from the congregation. It came from God. We have the revelation from God. Every congregation must recognize that we have the Book from God!

And then the leader must have a certain amount of discipline. You see, the apostle Paul was raising that question. He said, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (verse 37).

Affirm the writings of the apostle as the commandments of the Lord. I want you to know, my friend, that inspiration, that is, the work of the Holy Spirit in the writing of the Scripture, ceased when John the apostle wrote the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. The statement “Thus saith the Lord” occurs well over 3,500 times in the Bible. Therefore, we have the word from God.

Paul claimed special authority for his writings. He said he wrote the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, no one has the authority to modify what he wrote.

Some years ago a friend asked me, “Don’t you think if Paul were living today, he would write differently than he did in the first century?”

I said, “No. No, I don’t believe so.” You see the whole point is this. If that is true, then we don’t have a Bible. We don’t have a word from God. We don’t have an eternal, universal word from God. So I take it that what the apostle wrote are the commandments of the Lord. Therefore no one has any right to modify what has been written.

I would like to quote again from Barnes’s commentary on I Corinthians:

I do not speak by my own authority, or in my own name, says Paul. I speak in the name of the Lord, and to obey the commands of the Lord is a proof of being influenced by his Spirit. True religion everywhere, and the most ardent and enthusiastic zeal that is prompted by true religion, will show their genuineness and purity by a sacred and constant regard for the commands of the Lord. And that zeal which disregards those commands, and which tramples down the authority of the Scriptures and the peace and order of the church, gives demonstration that it is not genuine. It is false zeal, and, however ardent, will not ultimately do good to the cause.

I say, “Amen. Thank you very much Dr. Barnes.”

The second distinguishing mark then is The Grace of the Leaders in the Church.

The third distinguishing mark is:

39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The apostle says to cultivate balance. Covet to prophesy. Be zealous; desire earnestly to prophesy. The word covet really means “to be very zealous.” So Paul is saying, “Be in earnest to prophesy.” Prophesying edifies the church. It is desirable because people are instructed, encouraged, discipled, and helped to walk in the ways of divine truth.

Then the apostle says, “Covet to prophesy, but do not forbid to speak in tongues.” Of course, this has to be qualified by the directions the apostle gave with respect to speaking in tongues. In other words, if no translator is there, then there should be no expression in public. Let that person who speaks in tongues speak to himself.

Paul concludes this chapter by urging his readers to maintain propriety: “Let all things be done decently and in order” To be in the presence of God, the God of the universe and eternity, demands decency and orderliness. I sometimes am greatly discouraged in spirit when I see how some people come into the presence of God. Some people come to worship looking like a slouch. We ought to have more regard for the awesome than that. We ought to realize we are coming into the presence of the Holy God. Oh, yes, He accepts us as we are. But He wants to make us as we ought to be.

Again I quote from Barnes’s commentary:

Ministers of the Gospel should not aim to be admired. They should seek to be useful. Their aim should not be to excite admiration of their acute and profound talent for reasoning; or their clear and striking observation; of their graceful manners; of their glowing and fervid eloquence; of the beauty of their words, or the eloquence of their well-turned periods. They should seek to build up the people of God in holy faith, and so to present truth as that it shall make a deep impression on mankind. No work is so important, and so serious in its nature and results, as the ministry of the gospel; and in no work on earth should there be more seriousness, simplicity, exactness, and correctness of statement and invincible and unvarying adherence to simple and unvarnished truth. Of all places, the pulpit is the last, in which to seek to excite admiration, or where to display profound learning, or the powers of abstract and subtle argumentation, for the sake of securing a reputation.

So the third distinguishing mark of The Ideal Church is The Base of Order in the Church.

Let me review these distinguishing marks of The Ideal Church.

You will recognize it by

You will recognize it by

You will recognize it by

We are told that the Ethiopian Christians during the Communist regime multiplied greatly, in spite of being restricted. In fact, the restriction seems to be the seed that made them grow. Public gathering was prohibited, so they went, as we say, underground. They had cell groups and they met in secret. Their neighbors and friends gathered with them, and the church grew in great numbers.

That was the way it was in the early church, in some respect, because when the Romans began to persecute the church, the believers went underground, and they multiplied greatly. They outlived and out-died the Romans. That’s how it was in the time of the Reformation in 1500, too. The more the Reformers were persecuted, the more the movement grew. Throughout the history of the church, the statement “The blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church” has stood true.

Underground gathering and individualism are not normal for the church. The Greek word ekklesia means “a called-out body.” The church is not an individual matter. It is expected that the called-out body will meet for edification and worship. The place is not as important as the act and the attitude.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says it well because the church comes together for edification, exhortation, and comfort, as we learned in chapter 35. In Hebrews 10:23-25 we have a very important and definite counsel: 

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one other to provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

You see, it is not so much the place as the reason. The gathering of the body is important.

Christians normally do not live in isolation. Now we have learned of a few believers in other countries who have said, “As far as I know, I’m the only Christian in my village.” So they live in isolation. They depend upon us and our radio broadcast with other Christian broadcasters for their fellowship.

In I Corinthians 14:23-33, Paul teaches us how to conduct the worship of the gathered body.

23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in [those that are] unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or [one] unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:

25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on [his] face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

27 If any man speak in an [unknown] tongue, [let it be] by two, or at the most [by] three, and [that] by course; and let one interpret.

28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.

30 If [anything] be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.

32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Paul has several REQUIREMENTS that need to be met to have the experience of MEANINGFUL PUBLIC WORSHIP.

The first requirement is:

23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in [those that are] unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or [one] unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:

25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on [his] face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

When we began our Scripture, we noticed that the apostle Paul was having considerable problems with the way the worship service was carried on. He said, “If all speak with tongues, why then the unlearned and the unbeliever is not admonished or helped” All speaking in tongues nullifies communication. To communicate requires a common language. I learned that long ago. One of the principles of teaching is that the teacher and the learner must have a common language so they can communicate. Tongues deny this, Paul argues. When the congregation has confusion of tongues, nobody gets anything.

The speaker must speak in a language that is understood. When Jesus was here, He spoke in simple language, and the common people flocked around Him from all over the area. So for there to be communication, a language must be used that the hearers can understand.

To prophesy is to speak to edification, the apostle repeats. If all prophesy, then a common language builds up, and it informs the members of the church. I try to use carefully phrased ideas in my messages so you’ll be able to hear what I am saying and get something you can relate to your own personal life.

When I was teaching in seminary, I always told my preacher boys, “Don’t advertise your education. Speak in simple language to the people who listen to you. Everyone can understand simple language.” To prophesy means to speak to edification. Each listener then can relate what is spoken to his or her own condition.

The purpose of prophecy is to lead the listener to worship God. And that needs to be done in a language that is common to all. So that’s the point we make. There is a need for communication and that communication requires a common language.

The second requirement is:

26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

27 If any man speak in an [unknown] tongue, [let it be] by two, or at the most [by] three, and [that] by course; and let one interpret.

28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

Paul has a number of different exercises in the congregation. Let me quote verse 26 again: “When ye come together, everyone of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.” Do you see that all of that results in confusion? Each one is trying to get his point across, all at the same time. Can you imagine what kind of a bedlam that would be? Boredom, no one is listening. Paul instructed that all things should be done for edifying. If everybody was speaking his own way with all these different ideas being promoted, how would anyone get any benefit from it? That would not be worship; that would be competition. So the apostle says let all things be done to edify.

Then Paul goes on to illustrate further for us that there should be order in the speaking in tongues—only one or two or at the most three. Then if there is no translator, the person who attempts to speak in a language that is not understood should keep silent. Let him speak to himself and to God. There is no place for competition in worship. There is to be a translator. When that person who wants to speak in a tongue has no translator, he should speak to himself. As the apostle Paul earlier instructed us, such a person is not speaking with his mind. His mind doesn’t comprehend what he is saying.

Now as I said before, I don’t want to be unkind to anybody, but it would seem to me rather serious to be talking something that you do not know what you are saying.

Well, I remember my first trip to Nigeria. I was there on the first Sunday of the year of 1976. The brethren of the congregation where we were worshiping asked me to have the morning sermon after I got there. The associate pastor had warned me that this might happen. So I was not altogether unprepared. The service went on and on and on until ten minutes to one when they finally gave me the pulpit for the morning sermon. They had other necessary activities for the first Sunday of the year. As I went to the pulpit, my pastor friend said, “Pay no mind to the clock.” Ten minutes to one, Sunday morning. I know of one congregation, not in Africa, that didn’t like their pastor because they said he preached so long Sunday morning they had to stand in line at the restaurant when they got out. Well, that’s too bad. So the second requirement is to accommodate the message to the audience.

The third requirement is:

29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.

30 If [anything] be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.

32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Now we pick up the other side of the question. We were talking about tongues; now we talk about prophecy. “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.” We call that a multiple ministry. Few denominations today, if any, exercise themselves that way. We have one pastor or one preacher, particularly in a Sunday morning service or worship service. We have one who preaches. Apparently, in the Corinthian church, they had more than one who could minister, who could prophesy. And if something was revealed to the one sitting by, then the one who was speaking should hold his peace and let that other person speak.

Well, I have had that experience already. While listening to a preacher, my mind caught hold of some idea that he said, and I began to explore that. I practically lost my connection with him because my mind was going in another direction. I never asked for the floor, of course. But imagine what would happen if that kind of worship service were conducted. It could be inspiring.

All may prophesy that all may learn and be instructed. In a sense, we have that kind of situation in some Sunday school classes. But some Sunday school classes are a repeat of the worship service. The teacher gets up and lectures for the whole period, and nobody has any interaction. Other Sunday school classes are conducted in an interactive way.

I remember my good friend Panos Giorgos in Greece. He asked, “How do you conduct your service?” I said, “We have a Sunday school and in the Sunday school class we are able to interact with each other as the Sunday school teacher leads us in the discussion of a subject.” “Oh,” he said, “my mother would just love that.” They were members of the Greek Orthodox Church, where the theologian had a message like in many denominations. Nobody had an opportunity for any kind of interaction.

But in Sunday school classes where there is this opportunity for interaction, one prophet can prophesy and others can’t interrupt and the congregation is built up. However, rivalry is excluded because the apostle says the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. In other words, there should never be any rivalry in the congregation in public worship. God is the author of peace, not of confusion.

WhenI was in my graduate program in Chicago, I learned to know Moses Gitlin, a dear Jewish brother. He invited me to come to the Lithuanian Baptist church and have the service one Sunday evening. We did, my wife and family. It was a glorious experience. There we were right in the heart of Chicago, but we were in Lithuania because the entire service was conducted in the Lithuanian language, except for my message. I was impressed with the way they did the forepart of the service. When they had the prayer time, people in different parts of the congregation led in prayer, loud enough so everyone could hear. When they came to the close of the prayer, everybody said, “Amen.” I liked that. It was nice. I have never practiced it in the congregations where I have ministered, but it seemed that there was spiritual interrelation.

Once when Mrs. Yoder and I were in Nigeria, we met a man there from New Zealand. We all went to church on Sunday morning. You should have heard him when he got back to the guesthouse. He said, “A three-hour service! I don’t see how they stand it.” But you know, the good Lord was there, and He was meeting with that congregation. Now I believe the way for me to conclude this discussion is to quote from Chafin’s commentary on this portion:

If Paul were writing the average congregation today, his advice would have to work on the other side of the street. Rather than an unstructured spontaneity that creates bedlam, he would be confronted with a well-regulated order of worship that often creates boredom. The smallest of churches often prints or mimeographs for its members a program of everything that is going to happen during the hour and the sequence in which it will take place, and once it has been printed it becomes a sacred thing to those who planned it. And the likelihood of the Spirit’s leading anyone to say or do something that was not anticipated on Tuesday when the stencil was cut is very remote.

While the church does not need the disorder that comes from not planning, it does need to recognize the importance of using both human intellect and emotion in our expressions of gratitude to God for His love. It is a shame to waste all our tears on the plots of soap operas, all our shouting for a basketball game, and all our enthusiasm for the latest toy and then come into the presence of the Creator and sustainer of life without expressing our deep feelings of awe, of reverence, of unworthiness, and of thankfulness. I say, Amen!

Let me help you to profit more from public worship. Reflect on these requirements the apostle Paul laid out for the Corinthian Church for Meaningful Public Worship.

in a language all can understand.

If there is no interpreter, then let that person who speaks in a language be still.

by giving deference to one another.

Don’t create a bedlam because everyone has a psalm, a revelation, or a doctrine and so forth.

of a prophet to speak

to the edification of the members.

As they interact, each one can have some part in building up the congregation.

We may wonder where all the languages came from. We might even wonder where language itself came from. Those who advocate that we came from lower animals have a problem. Lower animals have no languages. Of course, they argue, this is a part of the evolutionary process. Yet evolutionists suggest that language began when cavemen uttered a series of grunts, which later became words. But the study of languages has revealed little about their origins. Encyclopedia Britannica suggests that languages go back about five thousand years.

The Bible tells us the first man, Adam, had language skills sufficient to name all the animals. Notice what the Bible says in Genesis 2:19-20:

And out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a help suitable for him.

The Bible also reveals that God spoke into being the universe and all in it. At least nine times in Genesis 1 we find the statement “And God said.” We have no other adequate explanation for the beginning of language except for the Bible. Some linguists have argued that there is sufficient evidence among the various languages of the world to indicate that there was once a universal language. Of course, that is what the Bible teaches us. In fact, the Bible teaches us in Genesis 11 that God disbursed languages to frustrate the plan of the human race to build a tower to heaven. Observe Genesis 11:6-9:

And Lord said, Behold the people are one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they imagine to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there did the Lord scatter them aboard upon the face of all the earth.

As we study language, we learn that there are several different language families. There is the Indo-European language family, consisting of English, German, Latin, Greek, and others. Then there is the Semitic language family, consisting of Hebrew, Arabic, and similar languages. It is interesting that God revealed His will and word to us in two very distinct languages—Hebrew and Greek.

Paul was conversant in at least two languages. He spoke Hebrew to the crowd in the temple when he was arrested. And He spoke Greek to the elite in Athens. As far as we know, he wrote all his letters in Greek.

In I Corinthians 14 Paul took up the question of languages in the body of Christ when believers get together. Our Bible translates the word languages as “tongues.” Now I will discuss THE PROPER FUNCTION OF TONGUES, from I Corinthians 14:10-22:

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification.

11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.

12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue pray that he may interpret.

14 For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.

20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

21 In the law it is written, With [men of] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying [serveth] not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

Paul’s first ARGUMENT in The Proper Function of Tongues deals with:

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification.

11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.

12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue pray that he may interpret.

The apostle said there are a multitude of voices or languages in the world. Each has its peculiar sound. Some sounds carry across from one language to another, which is what makes language families. The Indo-European language family has a number of sounds that come across in English, German, Spanish, and French; but they are specific sounds.

Each language has its peculiar sound. When that sound is strange to the hearer, there is no comprehension. Mrs. Yoder and I have traveled to a number of countries in the world. We have found it difficult in certain areas to understand people because we were not conversant in their language. In 1962, when we were traveling through the Bible lands, we went to the market to buy food. There was no way I could say what I wanted. So we pointed to the vegetable and then indicated we wanted a half kilo or a kilo. When the clerk would say, “How much?” I would indicate please write it down so I could see what the cost was, for he used Arabic numerals.

Once when we were traveling in Yugoslavia in winter, we were caught in a snowstorm. We followed the snowplow until we came to a pass where the snow was too deep. The truck driver came back and, as he knew I would speak English, said, as best he could, “Snechdief meter, nix.” That meant “the snow is a meter deep; you can’t get through.” So we turned around.

Then I went to a coffee shop and found some men playing a game. I tried to communicate, so I said, “Is there anyone here who speaks English?” No answer. Then I tried my German on them: “Sprechen sie fleichtdeutsch,” but nothing happened. One of them spoke to me in French. But I don’t understand French. So there was no communication. When the language is not common, there is no communication.

The apostle Paul spoke of how the Corinthians were zealous for spiritual gifts. But they should have been zealous about edifying the church. The speaker in a tongue or language should hope to translate from one language to another. I am glad to tell you that our radio broadcast is being translated into five languages—Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and Guarani.

Speaking in a language that a person doesn’t understand means the speaker would be speaking only with his spirit, not with his mind. So he should pray to be able to translate so the hearers would be edified. Therefore tongues are limited: if there is no translator, the speaker has no reason to speak.

The second argument the apostle uses is:

14 For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

18I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.

Paul does not say that tongues are sinful, but he does say it is important we understand how to appropriate tongues if indeed, they are used in the assembly. Understanding is essential for communication. When one prays in a tongue, he prays only in the spirit; he doesn’t pray in his mind, Paul says. And when he sings in tongues, he sings in the spirit, but he does not sing with his mind. Then when somebody comes into the congregation and hears someone speaking in tongues, he is not able to endorse it; he is not able to support it with his Amen because he doesn’t understand what is going on. You wouldn’t want to say Amen to something when you didn’t know what was happening, would you? So the support of Amen comes from understanding what is spoken.

It appears the apostle Paul is saying that tongues are to be used in private, in the confines of your own home and your own spirit, unless there is somebody who can translate. I prefer to use the word translate instead of the word interpret. The apostle then says that five words in an understandable language are worth more than ten thousand words in a language not understood. Millions of words that are not understood have no value. Without a translator, tongues should not be used.

When Mrs. Yoder and I lived in Jerusalem in 1961, we attended the Messianic Assembly every Sabbath morning. Brother Zvi Cofsman was the elder in the congregation. He preached in Hebrew and Yiddish. His wife said he never knew Yiddish until the Lord blessed him so that he could speak in Yiddish. When he spoke in Hebrew and Yiddish, translation was done in English and other languages, like French or Scandinavian. It was a wonderful experience to realize that believers of various backgrounds were worshiping the Lord in truth—beautiful.

Thus the appropriation of tongues is for edification to build up the church, to help the church grow and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

The third argument for the proper use of tongues is:

20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

21 In the law it is written, With [men of] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying [serveth] not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

Here we get into a sticky understanding because some people sincerely believe tongues are the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But the apostle Paul tells us to be balanced. Grow up in understanding. Don’t be children in understanding. Be childlike in malice, in your relationship to others. Forget the next minute. Hold no grudges. Be balanced. The truth must get through.

I have learned that many people do not hear because they don’t want to hear, like the little boy playing in the yard. When he heard his mother calling him, he said, “My mother calls me, but I don’t hear her.” He didn’t hear her because he didn’t want to hear her. Many do not hear because they don’t want to hear. And sometimes they set up artificial barriers to understanding.

The apostle Paul then tells us that tongues are for a sign, but not for an effective sign, because observers marvel. They are surprised. Maybe that’s what created the challenge in the Corinthian church to speak in tongues.

I remember once talking to a fellow pastor who was present in a meeting where somebody spoke in tongues. He said that he was so glad because he always wanted to hear how that would sound, how that would be carried on. I said, “Isn’t that interesting? Everybody in the audience could have understood English, right?” He said, “Yes.” “Then what was the point in speaking in tongues?” I asked. “Oh,” he said, “you don’t believe in speaking in tongues.” I said, “No, that is not the point. The point is not whether I believe in speaking tongues, but if everybody there could understand English, and they could, why speak in tongues?

Prophesying is a sign to believers, for the edifying of the body. This is the central purpose of Paul’s chapter, that the church should grow. Therefore, whatever creates problems should not be on the front stage. Use what is most useful. What Paul very clearly indicates and what I mentioned in the last chapter is the Priority of Prophecy.

Tongues certainly are secondary. Nowhere do we learn that anyone is to teach others how to speak in tongues. But they do it. I was in a meeting once when the pastor was trying to demonstrate to the congregation how to speak in tongues. The Bible nowhere teaches that. The speaking should be in private unless there is one who can translate.

One evening in Ghana, West Africa, Mrs. Yoder and I were ministering in a church. We spoke in English, and because there were people there that didn’t understand our language, our words were translated into two other languages. The service was conducted in three languages: English and the other two languages we didn’t understand. So whenever a translator is present, the message can get over to the others who do not understand the language being spoken.

From Paul’s arguments, we can learn about The Proper Function of Tongues. There is

The one who is speaking should aim to edify the church.

So if by his speech he does not edify the church, as we shall see in the next chapter, he should not speak.

Then there is

This is a private ministry.

It is not essential in the body of Christ. For personal edification, it may be proper.

Then finally there is

The aim is to reach unbelievers.

Speaking in tongues will not necessarily reach unbelievers because, as the apostle says, when an unlearned person comes into the congregation, he is unable to say Amen because he does not understand what is going on.

If everybody were to observe carefully what the apostle Paul teaches concerning The Proper Function of Tongues, there would be fewer problems with this.