Sunday, January 20, 2013
Studies in 1 Corinthians
(53)
One Born Out of Due Season
1 Corinthians 15:5-11
Tonight we continue our study of 1 Corinthians.
In our last lesson, we began examining Paul’s discourse
concerning the resurrection.
For some reason there were some in Corinth who questioned the
resurrection, perhaps of their brethren (not necessarily the
resurrection of Jesus). But
this prompts Paul to address this subject.
Paul began his study by describing the gospel they had
received (vs. 1-2). Then he
noted what the gospel consists of, “For
I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried,
and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
(1 Cor. 15:3-4)
This is followed by a mention of some of appearances of our
Lord, then a brief description of why he is an apostle (vs. 5-11).
In our lesson this evening, we want to discuss these points.
a.
It goes without saying
that the resurrection is a key doctrine to be grasped if we are to be
saved. Our faith is based
upon the fact that Jesus left heaven, came to this earth to live a
sinless life, and thereby qualified to be the perfect sacrifice God
demanded for our sins. He
was crucified, buried and then arose from the dead on the third day.
b.
The appearances
mentioned in this text.
i.
Because of our recent
studies concerning the life of Jesus, including several lessons on His
crucifixion, a lesson on the grave and three on the resurrection, we are
not going to discuss these in detail at this time.
However we will take a few moments to notice the particular
appearances that are mentioned here, as most of them are exclusive to
this text in dealing with the resurrection.
ii.
He was seen by Cephas (Peter) – if you study the resurrection accounts you will
find that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), and
then to other women (Matt. 28:9-10).
Later He would appear to Peter.
Why Peter is mentioned here first we are not told.
Perhaps it was his relationship with these brethren.
Recall how in chapter 1, there were disciples in Corinth who
said, “I am of Cephas.” (1 Cor. 1:12)
Paul is pointing out that HE witnessed the resurrection of Jesus
(several times).
iii.
Then by “the twelve” – this is probably a reference to the 10 apostles present the
evening of His resurrection. (John 20:19-25)
Because of their continued association with Jesus it is possible
that one of the ways the apostles were referred to was “the twelve”,
even if all were not present.
Something of this effect is necessary in this text because Judas
would not be replaced until after Jesus ascended back to heaven (Acts
1:15-26).
iv.
After this, by over 500 at one time
– this is the only
record of this occasion. He
noted that most of them were still alive as He wrote this epistle.
There are two possibilities as to
when this was – at some point during the week after His resurrection,
Jesus appeared to a LARGE assembly of His disciples, (a possibly others)
who were anxious to see Him.
If so, we have NO shred of evidence of this appearance, but it is
certainly possible.
The other possibility is that a few weeks later Jesus appeared to this
crowd in Galilee. Recall
that after Jesus arose, He was told by the angles at the tomb, “And
go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and
indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.
Behold, I have told you.” (Matt. 28:7, cf. Mark 16:7)
IF it is this occasion, we must reconcile it with the order of
appearances in this text (as they are described in chronological order –
“seen by Cephas, then…after that…after that…then by….then last of all He
was seen by me.” 1 Cor. 15:5-8) which we will attempt to do in a moment.
v.
After this by James. This James is
probably the Lord’s brother who, prior to His resurrection was skeptical
at best. John 7:5 says His
brother did not believe in Him. (cf. Mark 3:20-21).
But we find James to be a disciple and influentially involved in
the church after he sees His Brother arisen (Acts 1:15, Gal. 1:18-19).
Very likely it is this James who wrote the epistle.
vi.
Then by all the apostles – Jesus made several appearances to various apostles.
We read in John 20:26-29 that a week after His resurrection, He
appeared to the apostles (including Thomas).
He also saw all of them as He ascended to heaven (Matt. 28:16-17,
Mark 16:14, Luke 24:50, etc.)
Consider this in light of the appearance of Jesus to the recorded crowd
of over 500. If this
appearance to the apostles was the week after His resurrection, then He
had to appear to the crowd in Jerusalem.
BUT, if the crowd was in Galilee (I believe this to be more
likely), this appearance was a reference to a latter appearance of the
apostles – either an occasion not recorded (possible) OR when He
ascended to heaven (though others were present on that occasion).
vii.
Last of all, by Paul himself – let it be clear: The Lord DID appear to Paul.
First, on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-5, 22:6-8, 26:12-18).
And it is likely that at some point after his conversion, he was
called up to “the third heaven” where he heard words inexpressible. (2
Cor. 12:1-5) That context is
written in such a way that Paul is almost with certainty speaking of
himself. He doesn’t use his
own name because of humility and the nature of his defense in that text
(he is defending his apostleship).
viii.
Paul is compiling a
partial list of appearances after Jesus arose.
His reason is because he is about to address the resurrection of
Jesus and how it relates to OUR resurrection.
He is appealing to it as FACT.
In fact, He saw Jesus himself and he wants them to know that.
a.
Born out of due season – Paul’s apostleship was clearly different than that of the
other apostles (In 2 Corinthians he will defend both his ministry and
his apostleship). And so was
his witness of the resurrection of Jesus.
i.
Paul here is
acknowledging that his experience is different.
He is not trying to cover that up.
Paul’s conversion began on the road to Damascus, a few years
after the establishment of the church. As
such, his witness of the resurrection of Jesus was also different (see
above). BUT he DID see the
resurrected of Jesus. And it
changed his life!
ii.
Lesson:
Results don’t always come from the typical places and in typical ways.
Let us consider this in seeking to reach the lost.
Don’t write people off before you attempt to teach them.
How often do we prejudge who we THINK will respond?
I once heard a preacher say that when we do that we are deciding
who we think is worthy to be saved.
Peter resisted the idea of going to Gentiles, until the Lord
appeared to him and told him to God (Acts 10:9-16).
Don’t give up after the first rejection.
Paul rejected Jesus strongly until the events occurred that
changed his life. Sometimes
when people say no, perhaps even strongly, we just need to back off for
a while and then try again.
Pray for them and for opportunities. Maybe
they need more answers.
Maybe they need to come to grips with what they have to give up which
can take time. But DON’T give up
on them.
b.
Least of the apostles
– Paul was not saying that he was inferior to the other apostles (2 Cor.
11:5). His point is that
when he considered his past, he saw his former character as worse than
that of the other apostles.
i.
He said he was not
worthy to be called an apostle.
Why? Because he persecuted the church of God.
Paul’s former conduct including consenting to the death of
Christians such as Steven (Acts 7:57-8:1), putting Christians in prison
(Acts 9:1-2), and blaspheming the name of Jesus. 1 Tim. 1:13 says, “…I
was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent man…”
He called himself the chief of
sinners (vs. 15).
Paul was feared by Christians including Ananias who was told to go to
him (Ac. 9:10-16).
ii.
Lesson:
Again, we reminded to be careful in judging who is unworthy.
NOTE: While not always the case, there are times that the
strongest opponents to the truth are such because they are desperately
seeking answers. Many of our
well known apologists (those who defend the Bible and God) were at first
rabid atheists and skeptics (Lee Strobel was an atheistic reporter whose
investigations caused him to become a believer,
Josh McDowell was a skeptic of
Christianity, C. S. Lewis was also an atheist – NOTE: While I disagree
with some of the key doctrinal views these men hold, their work in the
area of apologetics is superior in quality)
c.
By the grace of God, I am what I am
i.
While Paul’s past was
terrible, it was through God’s grace that he was saved.
It was through God’s grace that Paul could dismiss his past and
proclaim that he was a Christian.
1 Tim. 1:12-15 says, “And I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me
faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a
blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
And the grace of our Lord was
exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
ii.
God’s grace saves us – we need to continually remind ourselves of this.
We sometimes emphasize our obedient faith (and we need to) but it
is God’s grace that is the primary factor in our salvation.
Without the grace of God, our faith and our obedience are
meaningless. That was
Paul’s point in Eph. 2:8-9, when he said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast.” In
context, Paul is describing how God has put the pieces of the puzzle in
place that we CANNOT. He
provided the sacrifice and the avenue through which we can come in
contact with Him. (NOTE:
That does NOT dismiss our responsibility!)
Romans 3:23-24 says, “for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus…”
God’s grace can change lives through His word – Rom. 1:16
describes the gospel as the power of God unto salvation.
Heb. 4:12 speaks of the word of
God being “living and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of
soul and spirit, and of joins and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The word of God changed Paul’s life!
iii.
Lesson:
Your past doesn’t matter! We sometimes come across people who
think they are too wicked to become Christians.
They have done too much evil (Perhaps there are Christians who
think they have strayed too far to return).
Are there many who can say they
acted as Paul did against the truth?
God can forgive any sin we have committed.
Your past doesn’t matter if you are willing to repent and obey
Him. Ultimately, it is His
grace that saves us. The
question then is, how do we come in contact with that grace? (Through
obeying the gospel).
NOTE: This does NOT mean we do not have to repent or that there are no
consequences to our former conduct.
While the guilt of sin is removed, the results of our conduct
remain and we have to bear with it.
Paul, for the rest of his life had to think about the lives he
destroyed prior to becoming a Christian.
BUT, he could live with himself because, “by the grace of God I
am what I am.” Let us strive
to develop this attitude within ourselves.
d.
His labors were more
abundant than others
(possibly the apostles) (vs. 10b).
i.
Paul here notes that his
work load is great. Ever
since becoming a Christian he did everything he could to further the
cause of Christ. What he
endured came with a great cost.
Phil. 3:7-11 he speaks of his former heritage that he counted loss for
Christ. He suffered so that
he could gain Christ. And he
did it gladly.
2 Cor. 11:22-29 described some of the suffering that Paul reluctantly
“boasted” about. Yet in all
that he never gave up.
Why does Paul have this attitude?
Perhaps it is gratitude for the gift of God’s salvation.
Paul’s former state caused him to realize he can NEVER pay the
price for his guilt. But he
will do what he can – EVEYTHING that he can do.
In Romans 1:14 he called himself a debtor both to Greeks and
barbarians, to wise and to unwise.
ii.
Lesson:
What about us? Do we
have that attitude? We are all sinners and we all have a debt we owe to
Him. He has forgiven us of
so much that we can NEVER repay Him.
BUT, does our life demonstrate our gratitude for what He has
done?
Jesus told a parable once in the home of a judgmental Pharisee.
It was about two debtors who were forgiven of different amounts (Lk.
7:40-42). He then asked the
Pharisee, who would be more grateful.
The answer was, “I suppose the one whom he forgave the more.”
Jesus then exposed his attitude toward a woman who was bathing
the feet of Jesus with her hair.
He forgave her sins and said, “her
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.
To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Lk.
7:47). I ask, what does our
actions say about our love for God’s forgiveness?
On another occasion Jesus said, “For
everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to
whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” (Lk.
12:48). Paul demonstrated an
understanding of this in his life.
So should we.
Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace
of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age.”
Eph. 2:10 after speaking
of our salvation by grace says, “For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”