Category: Devotions

TUESDAY February 13^th

 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

‘Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.’

Now, just as we all have a birthday, (it happens to be mine today) should the Lord Jesus tarry, we will all one day have a death day!  We cannot escape it, because death is the consequence of Adams sin, which has been passed onto all who are born, for we are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity.

We celebrate our birthday, but I guess we don’t even want to think about what will be our death day, nor even when it will be, but the good news of this gospel that Paul is writing about here in these verses is that the sting of death has been dealt with—or as it? See, in the verses for today, Paul is referring to those who say that there is no resurrection of the dead, and he then continues to list all the negative outcomes if this were to be so.

1. Christ has not been raised—he couldn’t be if there was no such thing as resurrection from dead.
2. All of Paul’s preaching, the other apostles preaching and those who have since then preached the gospel will have been in vain.
3. For all who have believed what was preached, then their faith has all been in vain and we are still in our sin.
4. We will also have been liars if we have preached about something that has not happened.
5. Those who have already had their death day will have perished.
6. We who at this moment are still living will also one day die and perish.
7. Because we have believed we are to be pitied, how stupid of you to believe such nonsense.

Wouldn’t it be a terrible thing if those who say there is no resurrection were right! And what if all these points I have highlighted were right! But thank God they are not right, therefore for those of us who have believed we are not to be pitied, we are not stupid, we are not still in our sins, our faith has not been in vain, all the preaching has not been pointless, and we do not need to fear our death day because it will not be the end, the sting of death has been dealt with, it will be the moment when should Jesus tarry that we will leave this world and enter into that which is already being prepared for us in the presence of God.

And Paul after listing all these things, gives a message to all the doomsayers who deny the resurrection of the dead by continuing with verse 20 ‘But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.’ We will take this up in our next devotion, for today, rejoice in the wonderful truth that Jesus is alive, and because of his resurrection we who have come to believe in him, will also share in his resurrection life.

MONDAY February 12^th

1 Corinthians 15:10–11

‘But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.’

I love this first sentence in these two verses, Paul acknowledges that he is what and who he is, not because of anything he had done or by anything he had achieved but solely based upon the grace of God. He then gives honour to the grace of God by recognising the grace that God had shown toward him and showered upon him had not been in vain. He had begun the race on the Damascus Road, he had continued in the race, which had taken him to the Jew, to the Gentiles and to Kings and he knew that the same grace would enable him to arrive home, that is to his eternal destination.

The grace of God had enabled him to fight the good fight of the faith, to defend that which he himself had previously sought to destroy and to preach the gospel whatever the cost so that others would believe.

He acknowledges that the grace of God was with him, without it, he would never have succeeded, without it he would never have managed to get out of the starting blocks, the grace of God, so undeserved yet at the same time so necessary.

May we also recognise the work of the grace of God in our own lives, and ensure that we do not get caught up, or entangled in anything that would cause the grace of God to be in vain. This world is full of so many things and sadly people who if we allow them to, would distract us and pull us away from God, things that could so easily cause us in the context of the verses I mentioned in the previous devotion to take our eyes off Jesus who is the author and the perfector of our faith, things that will cause us to focus on other things that in the long term do not really matter.

In the words of a verse from Matthew which has already been quoted a few times this year from the preaching in Emmanuel, ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’ (6:33).

One of those things that will be added to our lives as we seek first the kingdom of God is his grace and favour.

Your grace still amazes me,

Your love is still a mystery.

Each day I fall on my knees,

‘Cause your grace still amazes me.

Your grace still amazes me.

FRIDAY February 9^th

1 Corinthians 15:8-11

‘Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.’

As we continue with this theme of that ‘which is of first importance’, Paul then relates back to the moment when he encountered Jesus for himself on the road to Damascus, he says ‘Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me’.

When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, Paul knows what he is talking about, not just because he will have heard the apostles giving witness to it, but primarily, firstly, because he himself had met with the risen Jesus!

And what a meeting it was, as we have already covered as I started this series, he was one who hated Jesus and hated all who followed Jesus, seeking to destroy the spread of the gospel and all who had responded to it, but God had a plan for him, and it was going to lead to an interruption in his scheduled journey that would cause his eyes to be temporarily stopped, but spontaneously opened again as Ananias prayed for him.

To me this speaks of what happened to his spiritual eyes, his seeing Jesus was like a cataract being removed, what he couldn’t see or understand beforehand now became very clear. The Man who hung on the Cross, really did bear his sin, really did die for his sin and was buried and rose on the third day, and he himself had seen him, encountered him and now as it seemed before as if nothing would stop him destroying all who followed in the way, this encounter now meant that nothing was now going to stop him speaking about Jesus, preaching the gospel, calling men and women to follow in the Way.

And he reminds the Corinthian believers that this was the gospel he had preached to them, the gospel in which they stood and by which they were being saved—but then he added these words (v2) ‘if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain’.

Let us all ensure that we have not believed in vain, but that we are holding fast to all that this gospel has done for us and means for us as we too are being saved. May nothing hinder or distract us, but may we be so captivated by the wonder and reality of the gospel, in all that it means to us and has done and continues to do for us that we ‘lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’, Hebrews 12:1-2.

THURSDAY February 8^th

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

‘Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.’

As I have been preparing the devotions for this week, the words of a song have kept coming to mind.

In the grave God did not leave Him

For His body to decay

Raised to life – the Great Awakening

Satan’s pow’r He overcame

 

If there were no resurrection

We ourselves could not be raised

But the Son of God is living

So our hope is not in vain

 

The third part of this ‘which is of first importance’ theme is that ‘he was raised on the third day’. The resurrection, both the truth of it and the wonder of it are so essential to our Christian faith.

 

Why? Well Paul says later that if Christ has not been raised, then everything is in vain, we will cover this more in a later devotion, but for today, if Christ had not been raised, why then did the apostles continue in the Way, why would they have been so willing to undergo suffering in the many ways in which they did through persecution and in martyrdom? Something amazing, incredible, astonishing, (we could list so many more words) something life transforming MUST have happened to persuade them that without any shadow of doubt whatsoever, Jesus really was who he claimed to be and fulfilled all that the Scriptures had foretold about him.

 

He really was worth forsaking all else to follow! Now, the fourth aspect of this ‘which is of first importance’ is that Paul continues to say that he appeared, that is, the risen Jesus appeared to many, and in doing so was giving undeniable proof that the One who had died and who had been buried, really was alive.

 

Luke says it this way, ‘He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God’ Acts 1:3.

 

He Has Risen, He Has Risen, He Has Risen, Jesus is Alive!

WEDNESDAY February 7^th

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

‘Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.’

The second part of this gospel which is of first importance is that Christ not only died for our sin, but that he was buried.

There was absolutely no doubt that Jesus had died, the gospel writer tells us that to hasten death, because the next day was the Jewish Sabbath, the soldiers came to the three that were crucified that day to break their legs which would have caused them to suffocate and die, but, when it came to Jesus it says that they saw that he was already dead. In the previous verses we read ‘When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit’,(John 19:30).

Jesus definitely died and it was for OUR sins and the account continues that he was later taken down and laid in a tomb in the garden.

So many have tried to make out that Jesus didn’t really die, but just passed out and when he was laid in the tomb, he recovered, but Scripture is clear and the testimony of the soldiers is clear that Jesus died and was buried. Now we often highlight that Jesus died and that he rose again, but this is of equal importance that he was buried, and why, well as Paul says because it was all in accordance to the Scriptures. It all took place to fulfil what had been prophesied so many hundreds of years previously, and these things happening exactly as foretold help point to the truth concerning who Jesus really was at the time and still is today, the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners.

Isaiah in that most wonderful of chapters in the Old Testament, prophesied concerning the suffering servant, who we now know to be the Lord Jesus Christ and he says in verses 8-9 of chapter 53, verses that follow on from what he has prophesied concerning his suffering, ‘By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.’

He was cut off – that is he died. They made his grave with the wicked – he was buried. The burial of the Lord Jesus Christ was essential in God’s plan, because if there had been no death, if there had been no burial, then there could not have be a resurrection! That’s tomorrows devotion. But I end today with the words of Jesus himself, where he prophesied that he would be taken like a seed and planted in the ground, foreshadowing his death and burial so that as a result new life would spring forth. John 12:24 ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’

TUESDAY February 6^th

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

‘Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.’

I have been to these verses a few times while preparing the devotions and we come to them again, the reason being, because they are the first things that Paul has to say in this chapter, and they are the first things of importance in regard to the gospel and they are the first things that we need to come to accept and believe to be able to enjoy the things that Paul continues to unveil to us concerning the resurrection to eternal life.

In a nutshell, without the gospel as Paul defines it here, there would be no resurrection!

So, how does he define the gospel? In a simple sentence, ‘that Christ died for our sins . . . was buried . . . was raised again on the third day . . . appeared to many, and all in accordance with the Scriptures’.

Our sin required a sacrifice, it was made on our behalf by Christ, who as a result of his atoning work has become our Saviour, and as the remainder of this chapter shows us the guarantee of our own future resurrection to eternal life.

We spent some devotions defining what Paul saw as being the gospel, which he proclaimed, and of which others have proclaimed so that as a result we have come to believe and be saved.

In these opening verses are some as Paul calls it, important, essential truths concerning the gospel, the first being that Christ died for our sins. This is the doctrine of the atonement, Christ became the One who laid down his life as a sacrificial lamb, taking upon himself our sins, and taking onto himself the punishment for those sin, and bearing toward himself the wrath of God for those sins so that as we come to believe by faith we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.

MONDAY February 5^th

1 Corinthians 15:57

‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’.

We are returning to 1 Corinthians 15 over the next few devotions, in fact I can now add in that it will take us through to the first of March as I have already prepared ahead. This is my favourite chapter in the whole of Scripture,  it is a chapter that gives us great hope for eternity, reminding us that this life on earth for however long it may be, is very short in comparison to eternity.

And we remind ourselves that eternity will be spent in one of two ways, heaven or hell, or as hell is described in the book of Revelation, the lake of fire that will be a place of torment day and night forever and ever. That is a long, long time! therefore it is vital that we ensure that we do all that is necessary to be sure that we are prepared, and so for any that read or listen to this devotion, if you have not given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are on the road that is taking you to the place of eternal torment, what is required is that you come to the place of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, surrendering your life over to him, allowing him to become your Saviour and Lord, this is the only way that you can be sure of being transferred onto the road that leads to life everlasting. For Jesus alone, is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

This incredible chapter helps us to understand something of eternity, especially for all who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course we are still considering the apostle Paul and his life and his ministry, we have just spent some devotions considering those things which he called a mystery, and yet God had given revelation to him about them, and the resurrection is one of them.

I will break this chapter into sections, which commence with the gospel and ends up with us being in glory! At first we are victims as a result of sin, but at the end we are victorious as a result of the Saviour.

In fact Paul uses language that consists of opposites in this chapter:

Perishable – imperishable, dishonour – glory, weakness – power, natural – spiritual, but that is jumping ahead! But, at the end of the day so to speak, the opposites remind us of the power of the gospel to change things around. And it is only through this wonderful gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved. This will take us to the first few verses in our next devotion.

FRIDAY February 2^nd

1 Corinthians 15:51–52

‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.’

Well, when I first mentioned about the bus company that advertised the ‘mystery tours’, it was a tour that only lasted a few hours, well the mystery tour I have taken us on has lasted for eight devotions and for free! And I end the tour at these incredible verses from 1 Corinthians 15 which are all about the wonderful truth and doctrine of the resurrection.

This is talking of a future mystery, which in this instance I would suggest is emphasising the fact that we don’t fully understand the wonder of what the resurrection means for each one of us but we believe it by faith. In other words we cannot explain how it is going to happen but we believe it will, and our confidence is based upon the wonder of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One Old Testament character had already received a revelation concerning the mystery of the resurrection for he exclaimed in the book named after him, ‘For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another’, it was Job in chapter 19:25-27.

The mystery of these verses is only possible because one came and tasted death for all men and rose again triumphant, and Jesus himself said that if we believe in him, that although we die we will live again! And Paul is visualising in this chapter the moment when those who have died in Christ will be raised and changed, and those who are alive in Christ will be raptured and changed, we will be raised or raptured from that which is perishable to that which will be imperishable and it will happen in a flash, in a twinkle of the eye.

I don’t know about you, but to me as we have quickly surveyed the mysteries that are found in the writings of Paul they tell us something of the power and the majesty of Almighty God. It reminds me of the wonderful truth that Paul had penned that where sin abounds, his grace abounds even more, for despite the entrance of sin into this world, bringing death, bringing lawlessness, bringing sin and sorrow, God had a plan and he has outworked it in the realm of time to enable us who have believed to be with him throughout eternity.

Yes, much may still seem to be a mystery to us, but one thing is for sure, we know that our Redeemer lives and if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in our mortal bodies, we too shall be quickened and raised incorruptible. I will let Paul have the final word – after all he says it all far better than I can.

‘The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain’, 1 Corinthians 15:56–58.

THURSDAY February 1^st

1 Timothy 3:9

‘They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.’

In its context, this verse come into the list of qualifications for any who are called into the office of deacon or elder in the church, and of course we would agree, that one who holds office should be one who holds to the mystery of the faith, with a clear conscience, that is knowing that they are standing firm upon the doctrine of the Christian faith, not abusing it or misusing it.

Doctrine is so important, and not just to those called into leadership, but to each one who has come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and as a result have come to become a part of this wonderful church which he is building.

To hold the ‘mystery of the faith’, along with ‘with a clear conscience’ is to hold onto or to adhere to healthy doctrine.

I want to liken it to the need for us to live out those things that we believe, for example if we believe that godliness and good morality are part and parcel of the doctrine of our faith, then we should seek to live in a godly way and to live within healthy moral boundaries.

Doctrine does matter, and so does practise. That is the outworking in our lives of the very truths or doctrines that make up the faith which we have come to believe. So, good practise is not only important for those in positions of leadership, but for each one of us who make up the individual members of the church.

You may recall that recently I used an illustration of us taking the word of God as using it like a mirror, and as we read it, we need to see those things that are revealed in the word of God that should be a reflection in the outworking of our lives. That is how we can effectively hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, for as we read the word and it challenges us in any or every area of our lives, we seek to make the adjustments required.

The word of God is living and powerful and ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work’, 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Are our lives a reflection of the word or of the world? Do we hold onto the mystery of the faith with a clear and a good conscience?

WEDNESDAY January 31^st

2 Thessalonians 2:7

‘For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.’

I think we would be justified in asking the question, Why on earth didn’t God deal with the devil immediately after he had tempted Adam and Eve into sin and obliterate evil immediately? I suppose knowing our theme I could say it is  mystery which we will one day get to understand, but we suffice ourselves in knowing that God knew what he was doing, because he already knew what he had planned in eternity past, and although there is still the presence of both good and evil in the world, one day evil and the forces of darkness will be dealt with once and for all. But until then. . . .

Well, our text talks about the mystery of lawlessness which was already at work in Paul’s day and is still at work today, but with the good news that lawlessness is being restrained. In other words if we think that lawlessness is bad today, there is worse to come for it is going to get worse, but when?

Paul tells us that it will be once the one who now restrains evil is out of the way. And then once the restrainer has gone, the man of lawlessness will be revealed who is the son of destruction.

I think we would all agree that lawlessness is seeming to get worse almost daily as one week passes into another, but this Scripture reminds us that we have seen nothing yet in comparison to what will yet be on this earth.

Now, I am giving my own personal view here, you may feel differently, but I believe that this is pointing to the rapture of the Spirit filled Church being taken up from the earth into the presence of God and immediately afterwards lawlessness will be released on the earth like it has never ever been before as the son of destruction is revealed, the anti-Christ, the lawless one who by the activity of Satan will produce false signs and wonders and deceive those who are already perishing because they have failed to love the truth and to be saved (see verses 9-10).

It is a mystery, and as I have said I have expressed what I personally see in these verses, but it assures us that despite lawlessness, God is still in control, and the whole mystery of the gospel is that we who have come to saving faith will be taken out of this world before this lawless one is revealed and lawlessness reaches a never before reached level. But the continuing good news is, that after the lawless one has unleashed his evil for a little while, the Lord Jesus will appear, will come again and destroy him by the breath of his mouth (V8).

And the mystery of lawlessness concludes when after a period of peace upon the earth, the devil, the beast, the false prophet, that is all those who have unleashed evil upon the earth will be cast or thrown forever into the lake of fire and sulphur where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever Revelation 20.

I end here by reminding us, despite the lawlessness we see all around us, God is still in control!