(1Co 15:12) “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?”  I remember disputing with ten “Jehovah Witnesses”who said Jesus did not really rise bodily. One cannot make people believe the Word of God. But remember, dear ones: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God)….” (Heb 11:6”.  It’s a wicked thing not to believe God Who never lies.

(1Co 15:11) “Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.”  Remember the context: it has been since verse one the resurrection of Jesus. He did not remain in the tomb, His body to rot away. No, He walked out of that tomb, physical body changed – yes, but still a physical body. This one made to never suffer, to never die!

(1Co 15:10) “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”   Notice, it wasn’t “me” that labored harder, or fuller, but the “grace of God” in “me”. He’s referring to both the gifts received from God and the Lord Himself working, leading, giving the words, and bringing about the success. Now, take the following to heart: Paul’s labor and results was through the same Holy Spirit that lives in you if you are saved.

(1Co 15:10) “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”  There is no false humility here. If you have not been changed through the birth of your spirit (Jn 3), then you cannot possibly begin to please God. That gift of spirit life is given purely through grace (favor given not deserved in any way).

(1Co 15:9) “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”  If we see ourselves rightly, we have to each confess our unworthiness to be named a “son of God”. “Grace”: favor received but not deserved describes us all, each and every one. Unworthy of the “least of Thy tender mercies”.

(1Co 15:8) “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”  Paul saw the resurrected Lord Jesus. Remember, context is referring to a standing before you, I can touch and bear witness to the reality that Jesus is bodily alive. The Lord Jesus came at some point, stood, and had a conversation with the Apostle Paul. No one knows for how long and to what degree.

(1Co 15:7) “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.”  Here is something never referred unto, for there is no mention of it anywhere in Scripture but here. Jesus made a special appearance to James. Which James? Was it James, the brother of John who would be the first of the apostles to give their life? Or was it James the half brother of Jesus who would lead the Jerusalem church?

(1Co 15:6) “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”  Notice the words “fallen asleep”. It is the term speaking of the death of their bodies. A saved person upon their death experiences the movement of their soul and spirit to the presence of the Lord in heaven. That body is said to “sleep” for it will be resurrected unto a glorified physical, eternal, body.

 (1Co 15:6) “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”   One might doubt the truth of twelve men, but five hundred? No. Without doubt they saw the Lord Who in some way proved to them the reality of His resurrection: (Act_1:3) “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:”