Job 14:14a gives us a greatest question
If a man dies, will he live again?
In this sermon, Jesus himself through his apostle Paul will answer this question.

So, this is the Chapter of the Truth that is “first important” in the World, especially for every believer of Jesus Christ.
And just as the heart pumps life blood to the body, so the resurrection is the very heart of the gospel pumping life into every other area of truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns.
➢ The gospel is the good news about the sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins. This good news reveals the human problem (sin), the tragic consequence (death), and the divine remedy (Jesus). By believing in Jesus, we are saved from sin, death and hell.
- This is the gospel we are saved and called to preach, the Resurrection gospel.

Introduction.

#Corinth was a Greek city, and the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. When Paul had preached at Athens and declared the fact of Christ’s resurrection, some of his listeners actually laughed at him (Acts 17:32).
Most Greek philosophers considered the human body a prison, and they welcomed death as deliverance from bondage.

Plato said the body is a prison that binds the spirit and the man waits to be released from his prison. To Plato a resurrection with the body, a rejoining to a body would be like a second hell. So he denied it and Greek culture went along with it. In fact they had a proverb. Their proverb said, “The body is a tomb, I am a poor soul shackled to a corpse.” They thought only of the fact that the body was evil, the body was matter, the body was flesh, it would just die and you would flee away to be united with immortality

➢ This skeptical attitude had somehow invaded the church, and Paul as their Pastor had to correct the error.
Why? Because, the Truth of the resurrection doctrine and practical implications in a life of a believer is very important.

Now the resurrection is the core of the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul said, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” In other words, salvation is predicated on the confession of the Lordship of a resurrected Christ. And if there is no resurrection of Christ confessed, there can be no salvation. So people who deny the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ may call themselves Christians, they are not.
They may say they reflect the Christian tradition or the Christian position, they do not. They could not be Christians and deny the resurrection.
According to Romans 10:9 you are saved by confessing that God has raised Jesus from the dead.

# Focus
Let’s read verse by verse~
- Paul brings back the Church to its belief roots

#Our lives are surrounded by every kind of information, and advertisement attracting us to believe what the World is saying, where by the TV is 8hrs on a day, people spend more than 3hrs online everyday, messages from Cell phones, mail, websites, magazines, newspapers, books, blog, movies, radio and innumerable forms of advertising.
> All of these are likely to influence & shape someone’s way of thinking.

- Paul brings them back to the roots of the Gospel, by reminding them that if they are true Christians and they give evidence of it by continuing to believe, then they’re the ones who’ve already received the gospel, they already stand on the gospel, they are being saved by the gospel and the gospel is a gospel of a bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. So they’re already resurrection believers.

The greatest subjective proof of the resurrection is the very existence of the church.
And every time the church baptizes another believer, they portray His resurrection, into the water and back out again.

Breakdown/ exegetical

3Proofs of Resurrection

Proof # 1. –their Salvation (Vv.1-2)
-The Corinthians had believed the gospel and come to Jesus

Proof # 2 – the Old Testament Scriptures (vv.3-4)
-The Old Testament scripture testifies his resurrection, that Christ shall not see decay.
Proof # 3 – Christ was seen by witnesses (vv5-11)
- 500 plus brethren all saw Him at the same 1cor 15:6, so it could not been a hallucination or a deception.
- But one of the greatest witnesses of the resurrection was Paul himself, for as an unbeliever he was soundly convinced that Jesus was dead, BUT Paul himself heard Him speaking to him and led him into this way.
- And then there’s the type of Jonah, of whom Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, “As Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the earth three days and three nights.” Jonah was a type of Christ.
- The resurrection is also prophesied in the Old Testament. It can be seen in Leviticus 23 in the offering that is given there, which is a picture of the resurrection. It can be seen in Psalm 16 where the psalmist said, “He will not let His holy one see corruption.” But in the next verse it says, “He will show me the path of life.” In other words, the holy one will be buried but His flesh will never see corruption but will come out of the grave to life. That’s a clear prophecy of the resurrection. And in Acts chapter 2 verses 30…25 to 32 and in Acts 13:34 to 37 both of those sermons there quote that passage in Psalm 16 as explicit prophecies concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

# When are the dead Raised? (Vv 20-28)
Paul used three images to answer this question.

1. First fruit (vv.20, 23) connected to Lev 23:9-14.

As the Lamb of God, Jesus died on Passover. As the sheaf of firstfruits, He arose from the dead 3days later on the first day of the week.
-When the priest waved the sheaf of the first fruits before the Lord, it was a sign that the entire harvest belonged to Him. When Jesus rose from the dead, it was God’s assurance to us that we shall also be raised one day as part of that future harvest.
- At the resurrection, the body will be “awaked” and glorified.

2. Adam (vv.21-23).

Paul saw in Adam a type of Jesus Christ by the way of contrast (Rom 5:12-21). The first Adam was made from the earth, but the last Adam (Christ 1cor 15; 45-47) came from heaven. The first Adam disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the World, but the Last Adam obeyed the Father and brought righteousness and life.
-When Jesus returns in the air, He will take His Church to heaven and at that time raise from the dead all who have trusted Him and have died in the faith (1Thess. 4; 13-18)
- Jesus called this “ the resurrection of life” in John 5:29. When Jesus returns to the earth in judgment, the lost will be raised in “ the resurrection of damnation” John 5:29, Rev 20:11-15.

2. The Kingdom (vv24-28)
Read Revelation 20:1-6

-When Jesus Christ comes to the earth to judge, He will banish sin for a thousand years and establish His Kingdom. Believers will reign with Him and share His glory and authority. Prophet teachers call this Kingdom, prophesied in the Old Testament, “the millennium”.

-But even after the millennium, there will be one final rebellion against God (Rev 20:7-10), which Jesus Christ put His power. The lost will then be raised, judged and cast into the lake of fire. Then death itself shall be cast into hell, and the last enemy shall be destroyed.
- Jesus Christ will have all things under His feet, He will then turn the Kingdom over to the Father and then the eternal state-the new heavens and the new earth-shall be ushered in (Rev 21-22).
- Jesus Christ reigns in heaven today, and all authority is under his feet (Ps, 110; Ephesian 1: 15-23).
Satan and man are still able to exercise choice, but God is Sovereignly in control. Jesus Christ is enthroned in heaven today (Ps.2) The resurrection of the saved has not yet taken place, nor the resurrection of the lost (2Tim.2: 17-18
About His coming? It will be like the twinkling of any eye, 1John 2; 28-3:3 tells us to be just ready.

# Why are the dead raised? (Vv.29-34, 49-58)
The Call for,

- The resurrection of the human body is a future event that has compelling implication for our personal lives today.
If the resurrection is not true, then we can forget about the future and live as we please, But the resurrection is true, Jesus is coming again, Even if we die before He comes, we shall be raised at His coming and stand before Him in a glorified body.

Paul cited 4 areas of Christian experience that are touched by the fact of the resurrection.

1. Evangelism (v. 29) what does it mean to be “baptized for the dead’?
The baptism word here is used to mean to believe in Jesus Christ. So as the Church, we are to win others to Jesus, but if the Church couldn’t believe in the resurrection message because of the World Teachings influence, there could be no point of evangelism.
The reality of the resurrection is a motivation for evangelism.

2. Suffering (vv. 30-32). I die daily does not refer to “dying to self,” as in Romans 6, but to the physical dangers Paul faced as a servant of Christ (2cor. 4: 8- , 5:10; 11:23-28).
Why endure suffering and danger if death ends it all?
- What we do in the body in this life comes up for review at the judgment seat of Christ. (2Cor. 5:10).
God deals with the whole person, not just with the “soul”. The body shares in Salvation. (Rom 8:18-23).
The suffering endured in the body will result in glory at the resurrection (2Cor.4: 7-18). If there is no future for the body, then why suffer and die for the cause of Christ?

3. Separation from Sin (vv.33-34).
-If there is no resurrection, then what we do with our bodies will have no bearing on our future. Immorality was a way of life in Corinth, and some of the believers rejected the resurrection in order to rationalize their sin.
“Evil company corrupts good morals” is a quotation from the Greek poet Menander, saying no doubt familiar to Paul readers.
-The believer’s body is the temple of God and must be kept separated from the sins of the World (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). To fellowship with the “unfruitful works of darkness”
(Eph. 5:6-17) is only to corrupt God’s temple.
>It was time for the Corinthians to wake up and clean up (1Thess.5: 4-11). The believer who is compromising with sin has no witness to the lost around him, those who “ have not the knowledge of God.” What a shameful thing to be selfishly living in sin while multitudes die without Christ.

4. Death (vv.49-57).
-When Jesus returns, the bodies of living believers will instantly be transformed to be like His body (1John 3:1-3), and dead believers shall be raised with new glorified bodies. Our new bodies will not be subject to decay or death. Now, remember, when you die, anytime, your soul goes to be with Christ. The resurrection is for that new body to meet that soul.
-Christians have Victory in death and over death, why?
Because of the Victory of Jesus Christ in His own resurrection.
Jesus said in John 14:19. “Because I live, ye shall live also”

#Now, Jesus said if you continue in My Word, then you’re my disciple for real. So from God’s standpoint a true believer is kept, but from our standpoint a true believer is manifest to us because he is one who continues in the faith. The one who departs give evidence of never having really been saved.

> In Hebrews chapter 10 verses 38 it says, “Now the just shall live by faith.” You can tell a just man because he lives by faith. He doesn’t have a bang moment of faith, he doesn’t have an experience of faith, he has a life of faith and he continues in that life and he follows it out. The just shall live by continual faith. But if a man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But he says we Christians are not of them who draw back but of them who continue to believe to the saving of the soul. So you can tell a false Christian, one with empty faith, vain faith because he falls back to perdition.

Lastly, Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith, prove yourselves.” You better look and see that your faith is not empty, ineffectual, useless, worthless faith with no commitment. Emotionalism, wrong Philosophical views and other religious beliefs have swept your Faith in the resurrection gospel, which ye are saved.

Therefore, there is an alternative. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believeth in Me, thou he were dead, yet shall live.” Eternal life is yours if you believe in Jesus Christ and invite Him into your life

Let’s Pray

Part 2
1Cor 15:35-58.

Dealing with 2Questions(The foolish questions)

1. How are the dead raised?
2. With what kind of body will they come?

How is the Dead Raised (vv. 35-48)?

Being philosophers, the Greeks reasoned that the resurrection of the human body was impossibility. After all, when the body turned to dust, it became soil from which other bodies derived nourishment.
- Paul’s reply to this kind of reason was very blunt; “You fools!” Then he made the important point that resurrection is not reconstruction. Nowhere does the Bible teach that, at the resurrection, God will “put together the pieces” and return to us our former bodies. There is continuity (its is our body), but there is no identity (it is not the same body).

Paul knew that such miracles couldn’t be explained, so he used 3 analogies to make the doctrine clear.

1. Seeds (vv.35-38, 42-48).
- When you sow a seed, you do not expect that same seed to come up at the harvest. The seed dies, but form that death there comes life. (John 12:23-28, Jesus used the same analogy) You may sow a few grains of wheat, but you will have many grains when the plant matures.
Are they same grains that were planted? No, but there is still continuity. You do not sow wheat and harvest barley.
-Furthermore, what comes up at the harvest is usually more beautiful than what was planted.

Paul discussed the details of this marvelous change in 1Cor. 15:42-48. The body is sown (in burial) in corruption, because it’s going to decay; but it is raised with such a nature that it cannot decay. There is no decay or death in heaven. We shall be like Jesus.
- The point is, the resurrection body completes the work of redemption and gives us the image of the Savior. We are made in the image of God as far as personality is concerned, but in the image of Adam as far as the body is concerned.

# 1cor 15:46, states an important biblical principle;
Let’s read John 3:1-8, also~
➢ The natural (earthly), and then the Spiritual (heavenly).
-God rejects the first birth, the natural and says, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.
He rejected Cain and chose Abel; He rejected Abraham’s firstborn, Ishmael, and chose Isaac, the second-born.
He rejected Esau and chose Jacob. If we depend on our first birth, we shall be condemned forever, but if we experience
the new birth, we shall be blessed forever.

2. Flesh (v.39)
- If God is able to make different kind of bodies for men, animals, birds and fish, why can He not make a different kind of body for us at the resurrection?

3. Heavenly bodies (v.40-41)
- The point here is that, if we believe in the resurrection of the body, then we will use our bodies today to the glory of God according to 1Corinthians 6:9-14.
- The lost will be given bodies suited to their environment in hell, they will suffer forever in darkness and pain (Matt. 25:41), therefore, we who are saved we must seek to rescue them from judgment, because we know the terror of the Lord, we persuade men (2Cor.5: 11)
- So, if you are here and have never trusted the Savior, do so now before it is too late.

# Christ’s resurrection is the evidence of our justification (Rom. 4:24–25); the assurance of our resurrection (1 Cor. 15:14–18); the source of our spiritual power for He was thus constituted the giver of the Holy Spirit (John 7:39; 20:22). Knowing Him, therefore, involves not only justification through His death but also sanctification through His life, feeling the transforming efficacy and virtue of His life, through the Holy Spirit.
In other words, When Christ died, he forgave sin and fulfilled the law and defeated death and obtained not just our souls but also our bodies.
Therefore God will honor the work of his Son by raising your body from the dead, and you will use your body to glorify him forever and ever. That is why you have a body now. And that is why it will be raised imperishable.

>The question as to why does God go to all the trouble to dirty his hands to reestablish your body and clothe it with immortality?
It is because his Son paid the price of his life so that God could be glorified in your body forever and ever. “You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies.” God will not dishonor the work of his Son. That’s why he will raise your body.

In Conclusion

God by raising Christ from the dead; our longings are met through the Living Jesus Christ.

• God has given us forgiveness and glorified Jesus as the all-sufficient forgiver;
• God gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;
• God has given us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation for truth and righteousness;
• God gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful, and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life and all ministry;
➢ And he gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Let’s pray.

NOTES.
I shall rise again.

The Lord’s Supper, The Ordinance.

Part 1 & 2

# Today as we read these verses, we will focus on what the Lord’s Supper mean to the Church as the body of Christ. In so doing then, ill address four main themes found in the Lord’s Supper,
1. The Proclamation Of the Gospel
2. Remembrance of Christ
3. Communion/Feasting/ Covenant and Worship
4 Judgment/Self Examination, which leads us to repentance as we embrace Christ’s forgiveness.

# Now let me give you a brief history on the unmannered Lord’s Supper as it was being mistreated by the Corinth Church

A leading statement, This is my body and Blood~

Luke Chapter 22, records the Lord’s eagerness to eat the Passover with His disciples (the Church) in these words from Verse 14. When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until it’s meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
- In this Chapter Christ helps His disciples to know that it is no longer the Old Testament Passover of the Exodus 12 which will take a lead into the Redemption work of God, but His suffering on the Cross and the shading of His blood that brings salvation would become the atoning Sacrifice to man.

# Before we cover those 4 Lessons from the Lord’s supper and what it means to the Church today as our Lord said- This is my body, This is my blood,
Let’s read Verse 23. “The Lord” “Gave Thanks” “Broke it”

1. Proclaiming the Gospel
First, according to 1 Corinthians 11:26, the Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the gospel. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
> Every time we eat the Lord’s Supper we proclaim the gospel. We proclaim it to ourselves to sustain faith, and we proclaim it to unbelievers, who may be watching, to awaken faith.

2. Remembrance of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25)
1 Corinthians 11:24 and 25, “Do this in remembrance of me.” “This is my body” means: Let this representation of my body and blood reminds you of me.
First, the death of Christ is proclaimed. And then by this proclamation we are reminded of Christ. Remember me, Jesus says, sitting with you in fellowship. Remember me being betrayed – and knowing all along. Remember me giving thanks to the God who ordained it all.
- Remember me breaking the bread just as I willingly gave my own body to be broken.
- Remember me shedding my blood for you so that you might live because I died.
- Remember me suffering to obtain for you all the blessings of the new covenant.
- Remember me promising that I would drink this fruit of the new vine in the kingdom (Mark 14:25). Let the memories of me, in all the fullness of my love and power; flood your soul at this table.

3. The Communion/Feasting/ Covenant and Worship
# According to John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

> “This is my body,” means, as you eat this bread and drink this cup come to me and believe on me. That is, sit with me at table and trust me to be your life-sustaining food and drink. Let the proclamation of my death and remembrance of all that I am for you awaken faith and draw you into deeper communion with me.

# “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” means to eat spiritually, that is, eat by faith. That is, feed your soul on all that I am for you. Nourish your heart on all the blessings that I bought for you with my body and blood (see 1 Corinthians 10:16). That is what faith is: faith is being satisfied in all that God is for us in Christ. Christ has given us the Lord’s Supper to feed us spiritually with himself.
So, when you partake are you thinking about Jesus, are you confessing your sin? Are you devoting yourself to him? Are you standing up to publicly identify yourself with him? Or is it just, “This is what Christians do. This is the bread part of the show?” Paul says that’s where that church had gone. They’re not really partaking.

4. Judgment/Self Examination, which leads us to repentance as we embrace Christ’s forgiveness Let’s read verses 27-34
- Paul warns the Corinthians that to continue sinning is to invite punishment, this discipline can be severe if we resist it, resulting in sickness or even premature death.
# The Lord’s Table, as it is called in 1 Corinthians 10:21, is holy and demands our reverence. If we sin carelessly and then expect to partake of the elements depicting Christ’s suffering and death for our sins, we are hypocrites.

In the Old Testament, the priests had become casual towards holy things and were rebuked for it:
“You place defiled food on my altar.
But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible.” (Malachi 1:7)
“Examine yourselves (peirazō) to see whether you are in the faith; test (dokimazō) yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
# The Lord’s Supper is a reminder to us that now is the time to examine ourselves, this is the day to get back on the path. Paul writes:
“As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain… I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
(2 Corinthians 6:1)

Finishing statement Sometimes Grace maybe Sweet and Severe.

Lastly, My prayer for both you and I is that Jesus’ intention for his Supper might be fulfilled in us, in our congregations, and in our world — now and until Jesus’ return in glory. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Let’s pray~

What are the Pharisees doing here? They’re not just raining on John’s parade… Luke says that John called the whole crowd a brood of vipers, and that crowd was coming to be baptized. They were there to participate! So why does John reject them?

The first words from God to his people in 400 years are intense. John sets the standard of salvation at an impossible level, which Jesus will reaffirm in the Sermon on the Mount. John comes to say: there’s only one way to salvation, and nobody’s got it.

What was the star of Bethlehem, and for that matter, who cares? As Matthew shows us again, nothing is as it seems on the surface, or what Hallmark has made it out to be. Forget the Christmas card version: while the chosen people in Jerusalem slept, God’s kingdom was given over to tax collectors, prostitutes, and foreigners.

The Magi came from the end of the world to worship, following the star every step. It led them – just as the cloud had led Israel in the wilderness – to the cradle of the King.

The glory of God fills up Jesus, and our experience of it is unrestrained joy. The word “glory” in Hebrew literally means “weight,” and if you’ve never felt the weight of joy, or long to feel it again, this message is for you.

CORRECTION: I mention that Job fits in between Genesis 3 and 4. Given his lifespan of 210 years (traditional), this places him more toward the end of the patriarchs, that is, around Genesis 10-12.

OEMB (08-30-09)

One of Matthew’s major themes is the confusion, misunderstanding and downright offense that the coming of Jesus brought.

The conception of Jesus presents a hopeless dilemma for the last Old Testament believer, Joseph. Joseph is engaged to Mary, who is found to be mysteriously pregnant. As an Israelite, his only two options are to divorce her, according to rabbinical law, or kill her, according to God’s law.

Because he is a “just” man, Matthew tells us, he decided to divorce her quietly. But why was that his best option? And what does “just” mean, when everything you do is wrong?

Jesus of Nazareth was born to an unmarried woman in a backwater town of a backwater province of the Roman Empire 2000 years ago. He was the incarnation of the second person of the Triune God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born by a virgin, under numerous circumstances that coincide with ancient Hebrew prophecy.

He came on a mission – to establish a kingdom on Earth, with himself at the head, to rule from Jerusalem over every nation on the planet. There was just one catch – his kingdom was not like any other kingdom. Instead of a throne, he had a feeding trough; instead of a scepter, he had a carpenter’s hammer. He came in complete humility, the way no one expected a king to come. This is the beginning of his story.

Matthew begins his gospel, or “good news” (a declaration of salvation through the story of Jesus’ life and work), with a genealogy - a list of Jesus’ ancestors going back to Abraham, the father of the chosen Hebrew people. Through history, we see God’s promise to Abraham and David fulfilled in Jesus. God is outside time, and sovereign over time, but he stepped into time to rescue us from its curse, and from our sins.

OEMB (08-16-09)

Everyday Worship (OEMB 8-9-09)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

This week we looked at Abraham, the moon-worshipping Iraqi pagan who, by God’s grace, left his home and went to the promised land of Canaan to worship the One True God and become the father of a great nation. He lived his life as a foreigner among the locals, knowing that his true citizenship resided in heaven.

God is taking people from diverse nations, cultures and classes and is building his church right here in Bucheon. Come and be a part of it next Sunday.

Abraham: God Ruins Your Life

Unfortunately, ten minutes in, our recording software crashed. This means that we lost three to five minutes of the sermon trying to reccover data and relaunch the program. It also means that this week’s sermon comes in two parts… Part one is about 10 minutes and  part two is about 40 minutes.

God bless.

07-sharing-life-and-speaking-out-1-thessalonians-2_1-16-feb-8-2009-part-1

07-sharing-life-and-speaking-out-1-thessalonians-2_1-16-feb-8-2009-part-2