Line Upon Line

Pastor Miles confronts the common Christian tension between serving God and being happy, arguing that our real difficulty is not desire but a belief problem—we have been deceived into seeking ultimate joy in created things. Drawing on Scripture and Psalm 16:11, he insists that in God's presence is fullness of joy, and that the only way to overcome lesser desires is to nourish them with the superior promise of joy found in Christ.

Opening a seven-week series on joy, Pastor Miles argues that Jesus offers a fullness of joy that supersedes circumstantial happiness, and that this joy is found paradoxically through self-denial and the loss of all earthly things to gain Christ Himself. Drawing from John Piper, C.S. Lewis, and a harrowing personal story, he establishes that Jesus is the treasure in the field worth joyfully forsaking everything to possess.

In this 52nd and final study in 1 Corinthians, Pastor Miles draws two observations (the leading of the Lord and the treatment of leaders) and two exhortations (to be watchful, steadfast, courageous, strong, and loving) from Paul's parting words, closing with the sobering choice between the grace and the curse of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Drawing from Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, Pastor Miles examines the Bible's extensive teaching on money and possessions, arguing that God addresses giving not to raise money but to raise His children. He shows that all believers are among the world's wealthy, that everything we have belongs to God, and that the cure for greed is to repent, recognize God as owner, and resolve to give sacrificially.

Continuing in 1 Corinthians 15, Pastor Miles answers the mocking question "how are the dead raised, and with what body?" by showing that man is more than physical flesh and that God, who created the glorious diversity of the universe, can certainly raise the dead. The resurrection is a mystery revealed only by God, in which the corruptible, dishonored, weak, natural body is transformed in a moment into an incorruptible, glorious, powerful, spiritual body—removing the sting of death and giving the believer fearless purpose.

Drawing on Steve Jobs's reflection that death is "life's change agent," Pastor Miles contrasts the world's resignation to death with the gospel reality that Christ rose as the firstfruits of the dead. He teaches through 1 Corinthians 15:20–34, showing that death entered through Adam, is conquered in Christ, and will finally be destroyed at His coming, calling believers to awake to righteousness because the resurrection is true.

Paul outlines the simple message of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures—and Pastor Miles argues that the resurrection of Jesus is the crux of all human history, attested by more than 500 eyewitnesses. The teaching traces the announcement, cover-up, and proclamation of the resurrection, the dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and the devastating consequences if the resurrection were not true.

On the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, Pastor Miles confronts the question "why?" behind the world's wickedness and tragedy, locating the answer in sin, and points to the gospel: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, the way God has intervened to deal with sin's penalty, power, and presence.

Examining Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, this teaching reveals our missionary God who goes to the places no one else will go and reaches the people no one else will reach. Jesus reveals to a needy outcast both the gift of God and the giver of that gift, calling believers to carry that same knowledge into a thirsty world.

Opening the great resurrection chapter, Paul declares the gospel afresh to the already-saved Corinthians, reminding believers that the gospel is not a "what" but a "who"—Jesus Himself—and that genuine saving faith holds fast to Christ alone. The teaching explores salvation in its past, present, and future tenses and the conditional "if" that distinguishes true faith from vain faith.