1 Corinthians 15:18

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST - in communion with Christ as His members. 'In Christ's case the term used is death, to assure us of the reality of His suffering; in ours, sleep, to give us consolation. In His case, His resurrection having taken place, Paul shrinks not from the term death; in ours, the resurrection being still only a matter of hope, he uses falling asleep' (Photius, 'Quaestiones Amphilochiae,' 197). PERISHED. Their souls are lost in misery in the unseen world....

18._Then they who are fallen asleep. _Having it in view to prove, that if the resurrection of Christ is taken away, faith is useless, and Christianity (41) is a mere deception, he had said that the _living _remain in their sins; but as there is a clearer illustration of this matter to be seen in the _dead, _he adduces them as an example. _“Of _what advantage were it to the dead that they once were Christians? Hence our brethren who are now dead, did to no purpose live in the faith of Christ.” But if it is granted that the essence of the soul is immortal, this argument appears, at first sight, conclusive; for it will very readily be replied, that the dead have not _perished, _inasmuch as their souls live in a state of separation from their bodies. Hence some fanatics conclude that there is no life in the period intermediate between death and the resurrection; but this frenzy is easily ref...

12-19 Having shown that Christ was risen, the apostle answers those who said there would be no resurrection. There had been no justification, or salvation, if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no use, if he is still among the dead? The proof of the resurrection of the body is the resurrection of our Lord. Even those who died in the faith, had perished in their sins, if Christ had not risen. All who believe in Christ, have hope in him, as a Redeemer; hope for redemption and salvation by him; but if there is no resurrection, or future recompence, their hope in him can only be as to this life. And they must be in a worse condition than the rest of mankind, especially at the time, and under the circumstances, in which the apostles wrote; for then Christians were hated and persecuted by all men. But it is not so; they, of all men, enjoy solid comforts amidst a...

Verse 18. _THEY ALSO WHICH ARE FALLEN ASLEEP_] All those who, either by _martyrdom_ or _natural death_, have departed in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, _are perished_; their hope was without _foundation_, and their faith had not _reason_ and _truth_ for its object. Their bodies are dissolved in the earth, finally decomposed and destroyed, notwithstanding the promise of Christ to such, that he would raise them up at the last day. See John 5:25, John 5:28, John 5:29; John 11:25, John 11:26, c....

THEN THEY ALSO ... - This verse contains a statement of another consequence which must follow from the denial of the resurrection - that all Christians who had died had failed of salvation, and were destroyed. WHICH ARE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST - Which have died as Christians; 1 Corinthians 15:6 note; 1 Thessalonians 4:15 note. ARE PERISHED - Are destroyed; are not saved. They hoped to have been saved by the merits of the Lord Jesus; they trusted to a risen Saviour, and fixed all their hopes of heaven there; but if he did not rise, of course the whole system was delusion, and they have failed of heaven, and been destroyed. Their bodies lie in the grave, and return to

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

THEN THEY ALSO WHICH ARE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST,.... That is, who are dead, and have died in Christ: death is often represented by a sleep, and that more than once in this chapter; and doubtless with a view to the resurrection, which will be an awaking out of it, since it will not be perpetual: some understand this of such only who were fallen asleep, or died martyrs for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; as Stephen, James the brother of John, and others; but rather it designs all such as die in Christ, in union with him, whether in the lively exercise of faith, or not; of whom it must be said, if Christ is not risen, that they ARE PERISHED: soul and body; for if there is no reason to believe the resurrection of the dead, there is no reason to believe the immortality of the soul, or a future state, but rather that the soul perishes with the body, and that there is no existence after de...

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. ...

How, in face of this preaching, can any Christian say there is no resurrection? If a resurrection of the dead is out of the question this involves a denial that Christ has been raised. This fact, however, stands fast for both parties. They have been convinced _by the_ historical evidence, and on that conviction their Christianity rests. This exception disproves their universal negative. If Christ has not risen, the apostolic preaching, the readers-' faith, are alike a delusion. Worse still, they are found out as having told falsehoods about God (Paul's only alternatives are truthfulness and conscious deception, he knows nothing of hallucinations) in saying that He had raised Christ, which He could not have done if there is no resurrection. What terrible consequences follow! their faith empty, their sins unforgiven, those who have died as Christians perished! If in this life they had only...