Be A Winner

BE A WINNER

I Corinthians 15:50-58

S: Death and resurrection

C: Victory over death

Pr: WE ARE TO ACT LIKE WINNERS.

Type: Inductive

Because of the resurrection, we are…

I. TRANSFORMED (50-53).

II. UNBEATABLE (54-57)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• We are to be deeply rooted in the truth.

• We are to be fully engaged in God’s work.

Version: ESV

RMBC 15 May 05 AM

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever noticed that some changes are welcomed?

ILL Change: Wonderful, Marvelous [revised]

A rich man went to his pastor and said, "I want you and your wife to take a three-month trip to the Holy Land at my expense. When you come back, I’ll have a surprise for you". The pastor accepted the offer, and he and his wife went off to the Middle East.

Three months later they returned home and were met by the wealthy parishioner, who told them that while they were gone, he had had a new church built. "It’s the finest building money can buy, pastor," said the man. "No expense was spared." And he was right. It was a magnificent building both outside and in.

But there was one striking difference. There was only one pew, and it was at the very back. "A church with only one pew?" asked the pastor.

"You just wait until Sunday," the rich man said.

When the time came for the Sunday service, the early arrivals entered the church, filed onto the one pew and sat down. When the pew was full, a switch clicked silently, a circuit closed, the gears meshed, a belt moved and, automatically, the rear pew began to move forward. When it reached the front of the church, it came to a stop. At the same time, another empty pew came up from below at the back and more people sat down. And so it continued, pews filling and moving forwards until finally the church was full, from front to back.

"This is wonderful!" said the pastor, "This is truly marvelous!"

The service began, and the pastor started to preach his sermon. He launched into his text and, when 12 o’clock came, he was still going strong, with no end in sight. Suddenly a bell rang, and a trap door in the floor behind the pulpit dropped open.

"This is wonderful!" said the congregation, "This is truly marvelous!"

Over the past weeks, we have been studying the changes that are going to come to us as believers in the Lord Jesus.

These are changes that will most certainly be welcome, like a sermon ending on time.

TRANSITION:

This is our last study of I Corinthians 15.

We have been looking at this chapter off and on since Resurrection Sunday.

In these studies…

1. We have been studying the essential nature of the resurrection.

Paul wants us to know that there is a reality after we leave this earthly life.

It is an essential teaching, for the resurrection of believers is of critical importance to our faith.

For though our body dies, we never die.

If we lose this teaching, we are in danger of losing everything.

So…

2. We have examined the evidence of the resurrection (1-11).

First, Paul tells us the facts.

Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.

He was buried.

And He was raised on the third day.

Then there are the witnesses.

First there was Peter, then the twelve.

Then Jesus appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom were still alive when Paul wrote this letter.

After that, He appeared to James, His earthly brother.

Finally, Jesus appeared to Paul, and as he put it, as to one untimely born.

Following this evidence…

3. We have considered the consequences of denying bodily resurrection (12-19).

If we do not believe in the bodily resurrection, then Christ is not risen.

If Christ is not risen, then the good news we proclaim is not good, but rather, it is meaningless.

It is also means that our faith is worthless, and all those that confess to believe in Jesus are liars.

Not only that, we are still stuck in our sins, and we are a people to be pitied.

Following the consequences…

4. We studied God’s design in regard to the resurrection (20-28).

It is during this section we saw that God had a plan of a Redeemer.

He was determined to make sure we would not remain lost.

He had a design to restore us to the status we lost at the garden.

After examining the design…

5. We explored the motivation we receive because of the resurrection (29-34).

Here we discovered that the resurrection makes us take salvation seriously.

Matters about Jesus, sin, confession, grace, and baptism are of utmost importance.