Paul goes on to explain to the Corinthian church that if there is no resurrection then pretty much everything we are doing is in vain and not only that we are in big trouble. He says: “Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised” (1Cor. 15:15). Paul says if Christ wasn’t raised then we are still in sin, our faith is worthless. The resurrection of Jesus Christ if the very crux of our faith. Without it we have nothing, nothing at all; and as Paul stated: “we are still in sin. Think about that for a minute. This is what we should hear more of, not less. We should hear and be reminded of the gospel on a daily basis or at least weekly. Our very lives should revolve around the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Sure getting a new car, or being blessed with a new house, becoming prosperous, and all of the other “getting” lectures are good and dandy, but in comparison to the gospel how important are those things. When we really get a hold of the gospel and understand the compassion and the grace God the Father has shown us it changes our perspective on life. The entire “I want God to bless me ” perspective changes to “I want to be a blessing to someone else.” I want to give my stuff, I want to give my life. I want my life to be given to those who have not come to the knowledge of what the God has done for us. This is what the Gospel does to us and in us. This what why we the resurrection should be taught and explained more than on Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Paul says: : “If the dead are not raised, Let Us Eat and Drink, For Tomorrow We Die.” I say the same if Christ hasn’t been raised from the day lets stop waisting time being religious, Let Us Eat and Drink, For Tomorrow We Die.

As we continue to step thru the scriptures, we find ourselves in Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is one of those books of great theological controversy. Chapter 11 when it deals with “communion”, Chapter 14 when it comes to speaking in tongues and prophecy and how the church should meet and should women speak at all when the church meets. Chapter 15 and being baptized for the dead and even the trumpet (for my eschatology folks) back to Chapter 11 and head coverings for women and the infamous “man is the head of woman”. Chapter 5 and “church discipline” and finally Chapter 7 and divorce and remarriage.

These conterversies has caused a divide amongst Christians for years, especially since the protestant reformation (the 16th century); however, what is so ironic is that Paul actually wrote the letter to destroy the divisive spirit amongst these saints and we use the letter to divide. Weird right? There is a quite a bit we can focus on in this letter but I want to focus on this section here:

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Now I know your bible may break apart verses 9 and 10 but I included 9 for a very specific reason.  Before Paul gets into the division part he says (paraphrasing here) “God called you altogether to have an intimate relationship with Christ which means means you have an intimate relationship with one another”.

This would have been an interesting preface to not only the following verses but also to entire letter. Why? Well simple they were dividing over everything. Yet Paul is telling them they are one in Christ.

Just like then our culture is fascinated with Charismatic personalities. It just happens to be something that has been the fiber of humanity since the beginning. You remember Israel didn’t want God as their king, they begged for a king like the nations around them. When all were supposed to hear from God in Exodus they told Moses “you go for us”. And even in the church age where Paul taught that each was as important as the next, they still had problems with following someone other than Christ. Yet Paul says “I was sent to preach the Gospel”

That leads to the obvious question? Who is the leader? Who are we to follow? With so many voices coming over the loud speaker who should we listen to? The guys on TBN? The guys with the big churches? The guys that Larry King bring on his show? What about the guy who is the spiritual advisor to the president? What about the guy who sent the flyer to your door? What about the guy who has the best selling book? What about the guy with the sell out conference that has all the celebrities? You see we are not lacking in our choices of people to follow today. But Paul asks

“Is Christ divided”

This is a rhetorical question but the answer is no! Christ is not divided as we will see any division causes the Temple (the body of Christ/Church) to be destroyed and anyone who destroys Christ body will be destroyed (we will see this quote in a later chapter).

So who are we to follow? Christ! And we will find out in Chapter 13 what exactly is the fruit of one who is following Christ. Listen, there is nothing wrong with having a favorite teacher, having convictions in common with certain denominations, even associating with a specific doctrinal stance (Westminister, London Baptist, Catholic…). The problem is when thse convictions lead to a division in Christ’s body, a division that prevents us from living out the “one anothers” (as they are called), then we are bringing destruction to the Temple of God.

Following Jesus looks like the Cross. If your following of Jesus makes you pompus, pious, self-righteous, gives you a level of arrogance, and doesn’t allow you to be spit on, beat, whipped and hung so that you “die daily” then you aren’t following the leader.

Romans 16 provides us with a totally different perspective of womanhood and manhood in the church, at least at Rome. Here is what Paul says:

16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Jon Zens whose latest book “What is With Paul and Women” says this:

Paul designated Priscilla and Aquila as his “coworkers”(cf. Rom. 16:3). The same word, sunergos, issued with reference to people like Timothy and Titus. Junia and Andronicus [wife/husband or sister/brother] were greeted by Paul as “outstanding among the apostles” (cf. Rom. 16:7). They were his relatives and had been in prison with him. Clearly, there were many identified as “apostles,” like Barnabas, who were not among the original Twelve. Junia was also among such apostolic workers. There is no reason to think that she was the only such female apostle or that female apostles were regarded as rare or unusual. This illustrates that apostolic labor was not male-specific. Among all the people Paul greeted in Romans 16, ten were sisters among whom were “Tryphena and Tryphosa [who may have been twins], women who work hard for the Lord” (cf. Rom. 16:12).

In other words, women were not just passive, standbyers waiting to be told what to do by men. They were filled with God’s Spirit, which means they were gifted just like men and these gifts were used to build the Church along side of their fellow Spirit filled male contemporaries.

If the Church is to be all that it can be, then we have to allow all who are gifted to operate in their gifts. This is not exclusive to women but also children who are filled with the Spirit. As the Body we dont’ want to mute anyone who can speak on the behalf of God, rather that is gender, age, or tenure in the faith. All of God’s people can speak, can be used and can “bear burdens”, “admonish”, “teach”, “encourage” and “edify”. As Paul says “when Jesus ascended He gave gifts unto men” these gifts are to be used for His body and these gifts are not exclusive to any specific demographic as all are “one in Christ”.

God gave the Israelites one another and if a man was found in need there was a certain response. Now this is Law; however, look at what YAHWEH appeals to. It is because what He had done for them in their deliverance from oppression that He appeals to. He appeals to His grace and kindness to get them to understand how they are to relate to one another. This is a gospel picture my friends.

We then see Jesus casting out demons, healing the sick, and touching the leper. Touching a leper is a post in and of itself, but needless to say, lepers were social outcasts and for Jesus the holy one to go and touch Him, shows us the real heart of God even in the Law.

Let me explain something here. COMPASSION is the mark of the believer, it is a defining factor that we have been born from above. Studying the bible, memorizing scripture, going to seminary, reading the latest great books, speaking in theological language, sharing the Gospel and even being a good family are good things, but compassion is a great thing. He says this in Matthew 12

12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Our Lord is compassionate towards the have nots, shoot, you and I were have nots. God didn’t save us because of ourselves. He didn’t save us because he “peeked down into the corridor of times and saw us choosing Him”. That position is the foundation for haughtiness. We were dirt, trash, filthy rags, good for nothing but the furnace! However just like He told Israel, it wasn’t because of something they had done, it was because He loved them.

We weren’t good people needing a nudge, a boost of some sort, we were hell bound and needing saving completely and that is why we are to be compassionate, we above all the world have experienced this compassion and we are to express this compassionate God to a cold and dead world!

Jesus touched the leper, feed the poor, restored sight to the blind, touched the prostitute, gave strength to the lame, casted demons out of the possessed, ate with sinners and tax collectors, raised the dead, loved the outcast and unclean, He took on the role of being responsible for others. We see this in Leviticus where God demands such a response and we see this in the life of Jesus flushed out (the Israelites didn’t follow this law, just read in later OT books). He has now given us this responsibility and there are NO CONDITIONS, Jesus knew some of the people were probably responsible for their condition and He extended them grace, we have no excuse to do anything otherwise!

 ”The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”

I remember reading a book by John Piper called “God is the Gospel”. Piper has developed a theme called “Christian Hedonism” and under that theme is the slogan “God is most satisfied in us, when we are most satisfied in Him”.

Now that may sound wordy or like some catchy slogan. But read it again. God is most satisfied in us, when we are most satisfied in Him. Now I want you to think of all the books out there “Have Your Best Life Now”, “Being An Over comer”, “Slaying Your Giants”, and on and and on. If you go to the preaching it is even worse! Many churches are packed everyday, full of good information on how to be wise business man, how to get your kids in a good college, how to be successful, how to save your marriage by having good sex and on and on and on!

And the most important person, the person we are to gather around, the person whom we come to hear from and through one another, rarely ever comes up! My friend, having a good life is having Christ. Having a good marriage is having Christ, Having a successful “business” is having Christ, for He is the BEST news ever! Nothing else matters my friends, this world and its fleeing pleasures will be destroyed and the eternal Jerusalem will come down from heaven and we will dwell in the city of God!

If you want to satisfy God, be satisfied in His Son. Mark is going to show us who He is and show us why He is the good news! Don’t let this okie doke preachers convince you that having Jesus is some basic truth, He is Truth! Our bodies are going to get old, the economy will fool you, your marriage will end, your children will leave, your sex life will evaporate, success is not guaranteed, but Jesus is the rock from where the water flows and when we are satisfied in Him, all of our hunger, thirst and desires will be fulfilled. My friends Jesus is the good news, everything else is “vanity”.

There are so many things to say about our readings today, but the only thing I want to focus on is the love of Christ. Hebrews 12:2 talks about the Joy of Jesus. Ultimately He knew what had to be done. As we are reading through Leviticus we see animal after animal killed, cut up and consumed by fire. We are now going to see a human sacrificed. The three years are up, Jesus has lived the sinless life, He has been prepared as Brian pointed out, by the oil being poured on His head. The betrayer has put things in motion and things are looking bleak.

But again we see a future statement in Matthew 26:32. He says “but when I am raised”. They have not yet understood this, but for us who look back we know fully. He who will be crucified raised from the dead and that is our hope. We know the end of the story. Christ is raised as the firstfruit of the ressurection and He promises us the same salvation.

I don’t want to get to far ahead, but last not look at the disciples with too much piety, we know that we will be raised from the dead and we still doubt, they had not yet experienced such a truth.