The resurrection changes everything

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. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 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.  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.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  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 labor is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:3-20, 29-32, 50-58 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The Resurrection is the heart of Christianity. Without it, we have no New Testament. There was doubt, even those days, that Jesus rose for the dead.

Paul presents the case that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus showed himself to five hundred people.

Changed Person

If Christ is not raised, then we are still in our sins. Dead people just stay dead. We are misrepresenting God. All the things we do: prayer, worship, fasting... is useless and ridiculous. Missionaries are to be pitied. There is nothing after the grave. There is nothing more than eating, drinking, and tomorrow we die (epicureanism). But Christ has risen. He is the firstfruit of things to come. He was bodily resurrected. But it was a glorious body... That walks through walls. The essence is the same, yet so much better. So it will be with us, we will be ourselves, yet much, much more gloriously so. The power that raised Christ from the dead is the same power at work in believers. We are new creations. We are being freed from our sins and idols. Christ guarantees that we can and will conquer.

Changed Purpose

In Christ, our work is not in vain. Our work in this life has eternal impact. Don't waste it on inconsequential things. There is a form of continuity from this life to the next. When you truly labor for God and His kingdom, it will not be in vain. The smallest details of our lives that we strive to live for the glory of God, it will bring us joy in eternity. The suffering of this life for Christ will have profound meaning in eternity.

Death is not natural. Saying goodbye to people is not how things should be. Atheists may consider death part of the cycle of life, but God meant us to live with Him eternally. We were created for eternity, not death.

The church should display the new heaven and the new earth. No racism. No class-ism. The divisions that will disappear in heaven... have no place in church. We are a model home displaying the future glory of our heavenly home.

Anger and fighting the right things

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.- Ephesians 4:26-32 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

We may have said to ourselves during this sermon series, "I don't struggle with this, I can tune out." But everyone struggles with anger.

Distinguishing two types of anger

Not all anger is sinful. God can get angry and be righteous.

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!  O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah  But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.  Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
Psalm 4:1-4 ESV

David is angry because he is being falsely accused. But he is trying to show the difference between anger and sin. Even when we are angry about righteous things, it can become evil. Anger about injustice can be twisted into something evil.

Sinful anger is called wrath. It has no righteousness. How can you tell what it is? We'll look at holy anger. Holy anger is against actual sin and God's kingdom and concerns. It expresses itself in holy and life giving ways.

Clamor, brawling, is a hot type of anger. Much like wreath. But bitterness and slander is cold anger. It is not explosive, but rather an inward simmering.

Diagnosing anger

What is the root of both? Love. What we get angry over points to what we love. When we are not angry over godly things, it points to our idols. When we get angry over traffic, it could be that we are upset about how we appear to be at work, or we love what our job does for us. We are placing things above God. Not only that, but we are playing God. We are rejecting what reality should be. You are setting up your own kingdom with it's own rules. Anger is directed to people around us for failing to follow our rules. It is destructive to relationships.

Defeating sinful anger

We have a king who has his rules. He had a just and righteous anger against us. But instead of pouring out his anger on us, he laid it upon the only righteous one, Jesus. So to defeat this sin, we need to find our contentment and fulfillment in Jesus. We need to have God as our chief desire. When we get sinfully angry, we need to ask God to keep God as Lord over our lives. Ask Him to change our hearts to turn toward the life giver and lover of our souls. Turn to God and ask what it is that we are hoping with bring us fulfillment... And turn from it and turn towards God. Do this over and over to become more loving and more righteous.

Sloth

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.  Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.- Hebrews 5:11-6:12 ESV

Define

We see sloth as sluggishness, laziness, and passive. But you can be busy and still suffer from the sin of sloth. "It is that whole poisoning of the will which beginning with indifference and an attitude of 'I could care less'. It is not merely idleness of mind and laziness: it is that whole poisoning of the will which, beginning with indifference extends to the deliberate refusal of joy and culminates in morbid introspection and despair." The picture is not one of a sluggard, but rather a zombie. Someone who goes through the motions but takes no joy in it. They can be busy, but the do not perform excellently nor do they desire to. So what moves them? Comfort. They seek to minimize discomfort and the path of least resistance. At the first sign of difficulty, they contemplate quitting.

Diagnosis

This is what it looks like in the modern day. "... evenings without number obliterated by television, evenings neither of entertainment nor of education but of narcoticized defense against time and duty." - Richard John Neuhaus Your heart lifts comfort to the highest priority. Why? Because your heart is bored with God.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.- 2 Peter 1:10 ESV

Those who profess to follow Christ and are apathetic to the things of Christ should check themselves. Are they truly saved or just self-deceived? If you say you are a Christian but are largely not concerned with the outworking of the Gospel in your life, do you have saving faith?

Sloth causes you to suffer loss
- You waste your time, talents, and treasure... Your life.
- You move further away from the true source of comfort and leisure, God.

Slothful people seek to gorge themselves on comfort, but ironically move away from the real place to find comfort and rest... God.

Destroying Slothfulness

By faith in the promise of the gospel

Believe in the Gospel. That Jesus is the source of true comfort. But there is a difference between comfort and being comfortable. Jesus will turn your life upside down. He does not promise a comfortable life, but he will give you a real comfort.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Comfort is offered... Through labor, not  leisure.

Through patient perseverance

We look at God, the holy one, and are bored. Our hearts are warped to look upon the one from whom angels hide their faces... And are unimpressed. We must take the things of God seriously. Reformed people need to know that God is not opposed to effort. It is only opposed to salvation by effort. There is no shortcut, we need to commit ourselves to the Word and prayer. The devotion of an hour and a half every week is not sufficient for the maturation of our joy and love in Christ. If your relationship with Jesus is limited to just under two hours every week, you will remain in sloth. Any meaningful relationship requires effort... in friendships, in marriage, and in our union with Christ.

Gluttony and the fight for self control

Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.  Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,  for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. - Proverbs 23:19-21 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!  Oh, fear the Lord , you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!  The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.- Psalm 34:8-10 ESV

Rev. Dan Whang

Gluttony is not about what you eat. It is about why and how you eat. It is the spirit in which we eat. Do you eat to satisfy some thing other than hunger?

Feasting was a communal event to praise God. For the Israelites, they were week long events. The rest of the time, they were to live restrained, disciplined lives.

What is so dangerous about gluttony?

Don't look at body weight. Bad health is a shallow perspective and largely a cultural pressure. A skinny person can struggle with gluttony just as much as an overweight person. Gluttony is seeking rest and our deepest satisfaction in food. We turn to the pleasures of food and forget to turn to God.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. - Philippians 3:17-19 ESV

We stress eat. But when we do this, we avoid addressing the sin in our lives. We eat and forget why we were angry or upset. The sin is left unaddressed.

We can eat without thankfulness. We eat only the best. So this is gluttony by quality rather than quantity. But the heart is still dominated by food. We want our food and we want it exactly the way we want it.

Gluttony can fracture community. If you are eating with others without being considerate of others, we can eat taking from those we eat with. If you are eating family style and take more, someone is eating less.

It throws up barriers to others. From being too picky or unloving or self centered, food takes the place of loving God and loving others.

Jesus

He is the bread of life. He will satisfy us deeply and fully. He is here to fill our spiritual needs. Choose him over food. In times of stress, anger, or spiritual emptiness, turn to God. We cannot be gluttonous in regards to the word of God. We cannot overdo the bread of life.