1 Corinthians 15:11

Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. WHETHER IT WERE I OR THEY (the apostles) - who "laboured more abundantly" (), the subject of our preaching was the truth stated in 1 Corinthians 15:3....

11._Whether I or they _Having compared himself with the other Apostles, he now associates himself with them, and them with him, in agreement as to their preaching. “I do not now speak of myself, but we have all taught so with one mouth, and still continue to teach so.” For the verb κηρύσσομεν _(we preach) _is in the present tense — intimating a continued act, or perseverance in teaching. (31) “If, then, it is otherwise, our apostleship is void: nay more — _so ye believed: _your religion, therefore, goes for nothing.”...

1-11 The word resurrection, usually points out our existence beyond the grave. Of the apostle's doctrine not a trace can be found in all the teaching of philosophers. The doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection, is the foundation of Christianity. Remove this, and all our hopes for eternity sink at once. And it is by holding this truth firm, that Christians stand in the day of trial, and are kept faithful to God. We believe in vain, unless we keep in the faith of the gospel. This truth is confirmed by Old Testament prophecies; and many saw Christ after he was risen. This apostle was highly favoured, but he always had a low opinion of himself, and expressed it. When sinners are, by Divine grace, turned into saints, God causes the remembrance of former sins to make them humble, diligent, and faithful. He ascribes to Divine grace all that was valuable in him. True believers, though not...

Verse 1 Corinthians 15:11. _WHETHER_ IT WERE _I OR THEY_] All the apostles of Christ agree in the same doctrines; we all preach _one_ and the _same_ _thing_; and, as we preached, so ye believed; having received from us the true apostolical faith, that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again for our justification; and that _his resurrection_ is the _pledge_ and _proof_ of _ours_. Whoever teaches contrary to this does not preach the true apostolic doctrine. Paul was the last of the _primitive_ apostles. The _primitive_ apostles were those who had _seen_ Christ, and got their call to the apostolate immediately from _himself_. There were many apostles after this time, but they were all _secondary_; they had a Divine call, but it was _internal_, and never accompanied by any

THEREFORE, WHETHER IT WERE I OR THEY - I or the other apostles. It is comparatively immaterial by whom it was done. The establishment of the truth is the great matter; and the question by whom it is done is one of secondary importance. SO WE PREACH - So we all preach. We all defend the same great doctrines; we all insist on the fact that the Lord Jesus died and rose; and this doctrine you all have believed. This doctrine is confirmed by all who preach; and this enters into the faith of all who believe. The design of Paul is to affirm that the doctrines which he here refers to were great, undeniable, and fundamental doctrines of Christianity; that they were proclaimed by “all” the ministers of the gospel, and believed by all Christians. They were, therefore, immensely important to all; and they must enter essentially into the hopes of all....

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1 _The doctrine of the resurrection. _This chapter, and the thirteenth, on Christian love, stand out, even among the writings of St. Paul, as pre-eminently beautiful and important. No human words ever written have brought such comfort to millions of mourners as the words of this chapter, which form a part of the Burial Service of almost every Christian community. It is the more deeply imprinted on the memory of men because it comes to us in the most solemn hours of bereavement, when we have most need of a living faith. The chapter falls into six sections. 1. The evidence of Christ's resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1). 2. The resurrection of Christ is the foundati

THEREFORE WHETHER IT WERE I OR THEY,.... By whom Christ was seen first or last, we were all eyewitnesses of him; or whether I am the least, and others the chief of the apostles; or whether I have laboured more abundantly than they all, this matters not: SO WE PREACH; we agree in our ministry to preach Christ, and him only, and with one heart and mouth assert, that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day: AND SO YE BELIEVED; these several truths relating to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Thus the apostle, after he had made a digression upon his own character, as one of the witnesses of Christ's resurrection, returns to the subject he set out upon in the beginning of the chapter, in order to lead on to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which he proves by the resurrection of Christ, in the following verses. One of Stephen's copies read, "so we believe...

1 Corinthians 15:1. _Moreover, Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain._ Paul preached the gospel, his hearers received it, and also stood in it: «wherein ye stand.» It is essential to salvation to hear the gospel, to receive it, and then to stand in it. Now, what was this gospel? Paul is going to tell us; and instead of making a list of doctrines, he mentions a set of facts. 1 Corinthians 15:3. _For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,_ Notice that the preacher does not make the gospel. If he makes it, it is not worth your having. Ori

III. RESURRECTION AND THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH AND CONCLUSION: Chapter S 15-16 1. Resurrection and the Hope of the Church. CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:1 .)_ 2. If Christ were not raised--then what? (1 Corinthians 15:12 .) 3. Christ the Firstfruits and what follows. (1 Corinthians 15:20 .) 4. Further practical arguments about Resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:29 .) 5. Concerning the Resurrection of the Body. ...

1 CORINTHIANS 15. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. This discussion seems not to have been elicited by the church letter, but by information which had reached Paul through another source. Some were denying the doctrine of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12). On what grounds they denied it and what view they held of life after death _is_ not said. Probably they held that current in Greek philosophy, that death was a release from the prison-house of the body, that the spirits of the good passed into a state of bliss while their bodies went to corruption. Paul insists that this doctrine cuts away the very basis on which their faith and salvation rest. But his own doctrine is far removed from the crass belief that the body would be simply reanimated. It would be entirely transformed. Neither the principle of continuity between old and new, nor the nature of the resurrection bod