Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:13–19

Introduction

A. When Paul entered Jerusalem, everyone knew that his presence there was going to stir up trouble (Acts 21:21–26).

B. When the tribune took Paul before the Sanhedrin, his goal was simply to find out why the Jews had tried to kill him.

Discussion

I. What’s this all about?

A. This hearing does not have the appearance of a formal trial (Acts 22:30; 23:5).

B. The accusations against Paul don’t appear on the surface to have anything to do with belief in a resurrection (Acts 21:28–29).

C. For Paul, the resurrection is always the primary issue (Acts 24:15; 26:6–8; 28:20).

II. The resurrection is everything.

A. It was the reason that Paul was willing to suffer all the things that he did (Philippians 3:7–11).

B. The hope of the resurrection still marks the difference between us and the world (Romans 6:1–7).

C. The resurrection changes everything (1 Corinthians 15:12–19, 54–58).

D. For many of the Jews, their everything was the temple, but that wasn’t enough (cf. John 2:19–22).

E. The life centered around the resurrected Christ enjoys a clear conscience (Acts 23:1) and good cheer (23:11).

A. Nobody was going to take Paul’s focus off what mattered most.

B. What is this all about for you? Is it something worth sacrificing everything else for? If not, you need a new everything.