Participants: Tony Moore
Series Code: IFP
Program Code: IFP000013
|
00:59 Paul would write to the church at Corinth and he would
01:03 explain his views about the future life more clearly to 01:06 this church, then in any other letter he would write. 01:10 In this special episode, from a cemetery in Corinth, 01:15 I want to explore with you Paul's understanding of death 01:19 and how Jesus' resurrection from the dead brings hope 01:24 that stretches beyond the grave, 01:26 it stretches into eternity. 01:29 But first I would like to survey with you. 01:32 The prevailing attitudes toward death Paul encountered 01:36 when he entered in to the great city of Corinth. 01:39 The first was that of the Epicureans, we encountered them 01:43 in Athens when they invited Paul with the Stoics to come 01:47 and share his beliefs about Jesus and the resurrection 01:52 before the Areopagus. 01:54 The Epicureans were founded by Epicurius, and Epicurius 01:59 had a certain attitude toward death. 02:02 He said. 02:14 Yes Epicurius taught that we do not worry about death, 02:18 for while we are alive, death doesn't bother us. 02:21 When we are dead, what we are dead so what 02:24 can we worry about? 02:26 The philosophy of the Epicureans was be happy, live for 02:30 the moment, seize the opportunity, and take no thought 02:34 for tomorrow, and yet death comes upon all. 02:37 As Germanus, that Roman citizen living in Gadara 02:41 correctly observed in the inscription he had placed 02:45 above his hinged tomb. 02:59 Yes death is a great reality for all human beings. 03:02 According to the Bible only two people got out of this 03:06 world alive, Enoch and Elijah. 03:08 All of the others have had to submit to this ultimate 03:13 reality of death. 03:15 As Paul came into the city of Corinth, there were many 03:19 here who were filled with a sense of hopelessness, 03:22 of the Epicureans philosophy nothing beyond the grave. 03:26 This is reflected in so many of the grave steles that 03:30 have been uncovered throughout ancient Greece. 03:32 Grave steles are from the fifth century and fourth 03:37 century BC, steles that show a mother who has died. 03:41 It shows the father bringing the baby and holding the 03:45 baby before her and yet there is a hollowness in the 03:50 mother face, she does not respond for she is dead. 03:54 There are grave steles of a family coming before the 03:58 father, or seeking to encourage the father but he stares 04:03 blankly into space, he cannot respond. 04:07 A steles of a mother who has died, a servant holds her 04:14 jewelry and yet she cannot take it. 04:17 Her child pulls on her robe, but she does not respond. 04:21 Yes there was a sense of hopelessness, for death was an 04:24 endless night without a morning. 04:26 Paul came in and so many of the people in this great 04:30 Roman city were infected with a sense of hopelessness 04:33 about the future, hopelessness after death. 04:36 But there were new philosophies also being taught 04:39 here in Corinth, a prevailing philosophy must've 04:42 been that of Plato. 04:44 Plato and his teacher Socrates taught that we are in 04:49 innately immortal, they believe in a special dualism that 04:53 the body was bad, but the soul was good. 04:57 That matter was bad, but spirit was good. 05:01 They taught this dualism and they believe that when you 05:05 died your soul was released from the prison house of this 05:09 body, it was released to travel to a higher plain. 05:13 They taught that indeed death comes upon all but it is 05:17 not to be feared for you will be released to a higher 05:21 plain of existence upon death. 05:24 Certainly this would have been a prevailing 05:26 philosophy here in the city. 05:28 The city also had trade with Egypt, the Greeks had 05:32 established themselves in Egypt and certainly the 05:36 Egyptians philosophy of death would have been widespread 05:40 in a city like Corinth. 05:42 A port city with much traffic down to Alexandria. 05:45 The Egyptians with their belief in the afterlife revolved 05:48 around the Ka and the Ba, they believed that death the 05:52 deified soul would be released. 05:54 This immortal soul would be released and that it would 05:58 wander aimlessly until it is able to recognize 06:01 the body of the deceased. 06:03 Once it recognize the body it could come back and be 06:07 there, this is why the Egyptians mummified their dead. 06:10 This is why they carved representations 06:13 into their caskets. 06:15 In addition there would have been a Persian or Oriental 06:19 influences here in the city of Corinth. 06:21 We see the influence that has manifested in a shaft tombs 06:26 there in Palmyra and Syria, they too believed in the 06:30 dualism between the body and the soul. 06:33 They too believe that at death the soul was released 06:37 from the body to ascend to higher plains. 06:40 The common thread uniting both Platonic philosophy and 06:44 Egyptian mysticism, and Persian dualism was the idea of 06:49 the innate immortality of the human being. 06:52 The idea that at death the soul was released to ascend 06:56 to a higher plain. 06:58 Paul came to the city and was confronted by two major 07:02 attitudes towards death. 07:04 One was a sense of hopelessness, a sense that there was 07:07 nothing beyond the grave, that it was an endless night 07:10 without a morning. 07:12 It is reflected in the pagan epitaphs that have been 07:15 discovered in the catacombs of Rome. 07:17 Goodbye my mother, I will never see you again. 07:20 Farewell my darling, I will never see you again. 07:23 It was a sense of hopelessness and despair, but he would 07:26 also encounter Platonic philosophy and Egyptian 07:30 mysticism and Persian dualism, with their belief that there was 07:34 something beyond the grave. 07:35 That is soul ascended to a higher plain. 07:38 Paul is confronted by these various philosophies in the 07:42 city of Corinth, but he was not affected by them for his 07:46 mind was filled with the Hebrew Scriptures. 07:49 He was a Jew from Tarsus, a Greek city that was a center 07:53 of Greek philosophy, but Paul had not been infected with 07:58 Greek philosophy, he was a Jew and in his mind it was 08:01 filled with the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures. 08:05 Tarsus was on the edge, the frontier of the Orient, but 08:09 he was not infected with the ideas of 08:11 Persian mysticism and dualism. 08:14 Paul did not believe in the innate immortality of man. 08:17 He did not believe that when you died your body went 08:20 to dust and your soul, your immortal soul went off to 08:23 some other existence. 08:25 Paul was arrested and when he was brought before the 08:29 Sanhedrin in Jerusalem he said it asked 23:6. 08:44 Paul believed in the bodily resurrection of the dead. 08:49 He said I am on trial for my hope in the 08:52 resurrection of the dead. 08:54 The idea of a bodily resurrection was foreign 08:58 to the Greek mind. 09:00 It was not in the vocabulary of the Greeks. 09:03 When Paul was witnessing before the Epicurean and Stoic 09:07 philosophers on the Areopagus in Athens, they said we 09:11 want to hear you about this again. 09:13 They said that Paul was advocating foreign gods, 09:17 yes foreign gods, how could it be plural? 09:21 They thought Paul was talking about two gods, 09:24 Jesus and the resurrection. 09:27 The idea of a resurrection was not in their vocabulary. 09:30 It was not in the vocabulary of the Egyptians, 09:33 they believe the Ka or the Ba went off and would return, 09:36 if it could recognize the body. 09:37 It was not in their vocabulary of a Persian dualism. 09:41 Paul said I am on trial for my hope in the resurrection 09:45 of the dead, he believed in the bodily 09:48 resurrection from the tomb. 09:50 As Paul entered into the great city of Corinth, 09:52 he proclaimed Jesus Christ and Him crucified and how 09:58 Jesus was buried in the tomb and slept peacefully over 10:02 the Sabbath hours and then came back to life on the 10:06 first day of the week. 10:08 He proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. 10:11 Yes as a Pharisee he'd believe in the bodily 10:14 resurrection all his life, but it was not until he 10:17 encountered Jesus Christ on the Damascus road that 10:20 he understood how it could take place. 10:22 Jesus Himself was bodily raised from the tomb and this 10:26 was the basis of his hope, his hope of the 10:28 resurrection of the dead. 10:30 Paul wrote to the church of Corinth his most complete and 10:36 extensive teachings on this great subject of death. 10:40 We want to read about it in 1 Corinthians 15. 11:02 This was the basis of Paul's gospel, the death, burial, 11:07 and resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 11:10 Paul taught that according to the Scriptures, Jesus went 11:12 into Jerusalem and was crucified on Friday. 11:15 That He peacefully slept Friday afternoon, that He slept 11:18 in the tomb during the Sabbath hours, but He came back 11:20 to life on Sunday morning. 11:23 It was not some disembodied spirit that when up, 11:25 it wasn't some soul released from his body. 11:27 No, Paul taught that Jesus was bodily resurrected. 11:32 He was resurrected with a perfectly spiritual body. 11:37 Jesus entered into the realm of the dead. 11:41 You see the old devil invented death, that was his realm 11:46 he claimed as his own. 11:48 He claimed the Greek word Hades for the realm of the grave as 11:52 his special place, he claimed the cemeteries of the dead. 11:56 Jesus died and went to Hades. Jesus died and went into 12:00 the grave and the devil rejoiced, I have Him now. 12:03 He is mine, He is under my charge, I am His keeper. 12:06 Yet Paul said, the miracle of miracles happened. 12:11 Jesus came forth from the grave alive, in His body. 12:15 Alive for evermore and Paul says that is 12:20 the basis our hope. 12:22 The apostle would write in Hebrews 2:9. 12:40 He says we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the 12:44 angels that He might taste death, that He might experience 12:48 death for everyone, why did Jesus become a human being? 12:52 Why did He enter into this realm of human affairs? 12:56 The apostle goes on in verse 14. 13:15 Yes Jesus had to become a man so that He might be able 13:19 to die, He might be able to experience death. 13:24 Then by His resurrection, He might destroy the one who 13:28 has the very power of death. 13:30 Yes Jesus defeated the Devil in the grave. 13:33 Jesus came back to life and the apostle says He has now 13:37 delivered us from fear of death all our life time. 13:40 Subject to bondage, that we were afraid of death and 13:44 yet as Paul came into Corinth he was confronted with 13:48 Greek philosophy, so what that Jesus came back to life? 13:53 Socrates and Plato taught that everybody continues 13:57 to live after death. 13:58 That their existence just changes to 14:01 a more exalted state. 14:03 So what if there was a bodily resurrection of Jesus? 14:06 What do you need a body for, a soul is much more pure? 14:08 The body is a bad. 14:10 In this context the death of Jesus 14:14 had no special meaning. 14:16 Paul was confronted with these various attitudes toward 14:20 death here in the city of Corinth, and yet He came 14:22 preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 14:26 Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected from 14:29 the dead, on the third day, as the basis of His 14:32 hope in eternal life. 14:34 The basic crux of the problem was, if at death when you 14:39 go to Hades, you have already received your reward. 14:44 Whether they be good rewards or bad rewards. 14:48 Why should there be a future resurrection? 14:51 This attitude even affected people in the church. 14:57 Paul confronts the falsehoods. 15:27 Yes some of the Christians here in Corinth were teaching 15:30 there was no resurrection from the dead. 15:33 There was no need of a resurrection since their soul 15:36 already gone to its place of eternal rewards. 15:40 Paul said if that is true then there is no power in the 15:43 gospel, Paul said if that is true then there is nothing 15:46 special about the resurrection of Jesus. 15:49 Paul says let me assure you that indeed Jesus was 15:52 resurrected from the dead and that He is the first fruits 15:55 of all who will believe, that we too if we should die 15:59 before the Lord comes will be raised in His likeness on 16:02 that great day. 16:04 Greek philosophy and other world religions were 16:07 diametrically opposed to the Hebraic 16:10 concepts of life and death. 16:12 The Hebraic concept was very, very clear. 16:16 Scripture teaches that man is mortal, there is not 16:21 one instance in the Bible where it says that man 16:27 has an immortal soul. 16:29 Yes the word soul is used over 1600 times, and not once 16:34 does it say that we have an immortal soul. 16:38 The Bible consistently teaches that man is mortal. 16:42 This was Paul's understanding of death and life. 16:47 He would have been familiar with Job 4:17. 16:59 Paul understood that God alone was immortal. 17:04 Writing to Timothy in the sixth chapter of his first 17:07 letter in the 15th verse he said. 17:28 Yes the Greek philosophers taught that we innately 17:32 process immortality, they believe that at death the body 17:36 would decay and go back into the dust. 17:39 But they believe that pure soul would be released 17:42 to go to higher plain. 17:44 This is diametrically opposed to the teachings of 17:47 Scripture, Paul taught that God alone has immortality. 17:53 When writing from Corinth to the church at Rome, 17:56 he reminded them that they were seeking for immortality. 18:11 Paul's mind was bathed in Hebraic thinking that he 18:15 understood that man was mortal, God only is immortal. 18:19 That man is seeking immortality and he teaches 18:24 the Corinthians that one day we shall 18:26 receive that immortality. 19:03 What happened here in Corinth was not unique. 19:05 With the decline of the old pagan philosophy, many 19:09 teachers tried to harmonize the old and the new. 19:13 The Jew, Philo was teaching down in the Alexandrian 19:18 Egypt, try to harmonize the Hebrew Scriptures 19:21 with Greek philosophy. 19:24 He tried to harmonize the Old Testament Bible with the 19:28 teachings of Plato and Socrates, but at their root the two 19:33 teachings are diametrically opposed to one another. 19:36 The Hebrew Scriptures teach that when a person dies they 19:39 will sleep, they will sleep with their fathers until a 19:42 very sure event in the future, 19:45 the event of the resurrection. 19:47 Daniel 12 is an example of that, but in contrast Plato 19:52 taught that at death, the immortal soul was released from 19:56 the body to go to a more high, exalted, and pure state. 20:01 This caused great confusion, even in the Judaism of 20:05 Paul's day, as the gospel penetrated the Greek speaking 20:10 world, the problem was amplified. 20:12 After Paul's death, the problem would resurface in places 20:17 like Corinth and other Greek cities. 20:19 As this idea would return of the immortal soul even 20:24 to Christian thinking. 20:25 The first man we have a record of, who had adopted this 20:30 as a Christian, was named Athenagoras. 20:34 Yes Athenagoras, he was a Greek lawyer, trained in Greek 20:39 philosophy, he wrote in 187 A.D. about his belief as a 20:44 Christian and the immortal soul. 20:46 Do you know which verses in the Bible he pointed to? 20:49 Not one verse in the Old Testament. 20:51 Not one verse in the New Testament. 20:54 Instead he quoted Plato, yes his thinking, 20:58 his schooling, his education had been in platonic thinking 21:01 and now he inserts that into the Scriptures. 21:05 This was a foreign idea in the Bible, but it comes over 21:09 from Greek philosophy. 21:10 Little by little, gradually it begins to permeate the 21:14 church until it replaces the very idea of sleep 21:18 until the resurrection. 21:21 Paul was concerned about this and so he wrote to the 21:24 church at Corinth to resist the pagan philosophy, and the 21:28 pagan ideas of the immortal soul. 21:31 He wrote to them to accept the good news of Jesus' 21:34 death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 21:38 He said that Jesus has defeated the last enemy. 21:41 He has defeated death, this is the basis of our hope, 21:44 our hope of a future life. 21:47 All through Scripture, the consistent teaching is that 21:50 we sleep until the event of the resurrection. 21:54 Jesus clearly taught this in John 5. 22:14 When does that happen? Jesus says His voice will sound. 22:19 Paul says that will happen with a voice of the Archangel, 22:23 the trumpet call of God, that last trumpet. 22:25 For the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ will 22:29 be raised first, then this old mortal body will put on 22:33 immortality, this perishable will be putting 22:36 on the imperishable. 22:39 Yes the consistent teaching of Scripture is that we are 22:43 mortal, that we seek for immortality and we receive that 22:48 immortality on the day when Jesus returns again. 22:54 If we should die before that happens, we will come forth 22:57 from the grave and be clothed with it. 22:59 If we are still living when it happens we will be 23:02 caught up in the air and receive the gift 23:04 of immortality at that time. 23:07 Right now we have the assurance of the gift of 23:11 eternal life, we possess that, it is ours as a 23:15 gift to encourage us. 23:17 But what about the wicked? 23:19 Will they to be raised from the dead? 23:21 Jesus said indeed there will be a resurrection of both 23:25 the good and the bad. 23:27 Some will be raised to life everlasting and some to 23:29 everlasting death. 23:31 Paul seems to interpret the words of Jesus when 23:34 witnessing before Felix. 24:00 Paul taught that there were be a resurrection of the 24:02 righteous and the wicked. 24:04 Jesus taught two resurrections. 24:07 Yes Daniel seems to be the source for both Jesus and 24:10 Paul, they seem to be referring to his teachings. 24:16 Daniel chapter 12 describes a time, a great time of 24:19 trouble such as not been since there were nations 24:22 upon the earth and at that time Michael, the great 24:25 Prince, would stand up for His people and there would 24:28 be a tremendous deliverance. 24:30 Verse 2 of chapter 12 actually says that multitudes 24:33 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, 24:36 some to everlasting life and some to 24:38 everlasting condemnation. 24:40 Yes they will sleep in the dust of the earth until 24:43 the great event of a resurrection. 24:44 This is the blessed hope of the gospel, death is not 24:48 the end, our hope goes beyond the grave and it 24:52 goes beyond the tombs. 24:54 Paul summarizes it in 1 Thessalonians 4:18. 25:02 What encouraging words, believers are not immune from 25:05 tragedy, believers are not immune from the grim reaper 25:09 of death, but we have a hope that goes beyond the 25:12 grave, we have a hope that goes beyond the tomb. 25:15 Our hope is based in Jesus Christ and His defeat 25:19 death by the resurrection from the dead. 25:21 Our hope is based on the fact that one day Jesus, 25:24 the Lord Himself, will return from heaven with a shout, 25:27 with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet call of 25:29 God, and the dead in Christ will be raised first. 25:32 Paul says don't grieve like those who have no hope. 25:36 Oh friend of mine, perhaps you have lost a loved one. 25:39 Perhaps you have lost a spouse, a child, a parent, 25:43 a brother, a sister, a friend. 25:45 Perhaps your heart is grieving even right now. 25:48 Paul says that there is good news, don't grieve like 25:51 those who have no hope. 25:53 For when our loved ones died believing in Jesus, we have 25:57 a hope of seeing them again. 25:59 We have a hope that there is more than just this present 26:02 reality, more than just this present world. 26:05 That hope is based in the good news, that one day Jesus 26:09 will descend from the heavens and will come back a second 26:13 time and resurrect those who have died believing in Him. 26:17 That is the grand hope, that is the fruit of the gospel. 26:20 It is very interesting that in the catacombs of Rome you 26:24 can read the pagan epithets that say. 26:35 Then Jesus came into the human body. 26:40 He was incarnated and He lived the life, and He died a 26:43 perfect death, and He came back to life by He is 26:46 resurrection from the dead. 26:48 Christians died with a triumphant hope and they would 26:52 often be buried right next to pagans in the catacombs. 26:55 Above their graves would be written, goodbye my mother, 26:59 I will see you again when Jesus comes. 27:01 Farewell my sweetheart I will see you on that glad day. 27:05 Yes they were filled with hope because Jesus, their Lord, 27:09 had defeated death. 27:11 Death was no longer an endless night without a morning. 27:15 Death was no longer a time of despair for there was hope. 27:19 Jesus had defeated death and they look forward to the 27:22 time when their loved ones would live again. 27:25 Jesus said the time is coming when many who sleep in 27:28 the dust of the earth will hear the voice of the Son of 27:32 Man and come forth from their graves. 27:34 What a glorious time that will be. 27:36 When Jesus comes again, this hope is not based 27:40 on pagan philosophy. 27:42 This hope is not based on Platonic teachings of the 27:46 immortality of the soul. 27:48 It is not based on some New Age idea or even philosophies 27:51 that might have infiltrated the Christian church through 27:54 Athenagoras and others in the past. 27:57 This hope is based solidly on Jesus' resurrection from 28:01 the dead, and the fact that one day soon, and very soon, 28:05 He will come again and call the believers who have died 28:09 in Him forth from the grave that they might live 28:12 for ever and ever. 28:14 Let's pray together. 28:16 Father in heaven, here in this cemetery in Corinth, we 28:19 thank you for the powerful teaching the apostle Paul gave 28:22 to the church here. 28:24 A teaching that was filled with hope when he said listen 28:27 I will show you a mystery, we will not all sleep but we 28:29 will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 28:32 Oh Father, we thank you for that blessed hope. 28:36 Bring encouragement to each of our hearts we pray 28:39 in Jesus name, Amen! 28:43 From this beautiful cemetery here in Corinth we want to 28:47 encourage you to join us for our next teaching as Paul 28:51 goes to the great city of Ephesus. |
Revised 2014-12-17