1 Corinthians 15:19
If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
If our hope in Christ
The phrase "our hope in Christ" is central to the Christian faith, emphasizing the belief and trust placed in Jesus Christ as the foundation of salvation and eternal life. The Greek word for "hope" (ἐλπίς, elpis) conveys a confident expectation rather than a mere wish. This hope is not based on human effort or worldly circumstances but on the promises of God fulfilled in Christ. Historically, the early Christians faced persecution and hardship, making their hope in Christ a profound anchor amidst trials. This hope transcends temporal realities, rooting believers in the eternal promises of God.

is for this life alone
The phrase "for this life alone" challenges the notion of a purely temporal or earthly perspective on faith. The Greek word for "alone" (μόνον, monon) underscores exclusivity, suggesting that if Christ's benefits are limited to earthly existence, they are incomplete. In the historical context of Corinth, a city known for its philosophical diversity and materialism, Paul addresses the danger of reducing Christianity to a mere ethical system or social movement. The Christian hope is not confined to the present life but extends into eternity, offering a future resurrection and eternal communion with God.

we are to be pitied
The term "pitied" (ἐλεεινότεροι, eleeinoteroi) implies a state of being deserving of compassion or sympathy due to a perceived misfortune or delusion. Paul uses this strong language to highlight the futility of a faith that does not extend beyond the grave. In a world that often measures success by tangible achievements and visible results, a life devoted to Christ without the assurance of resurrection would indeed seem pitiable. This underscores the radical nature of the Christian message, which finds its ultimate validation in the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of eternal life.

more than all men
The phrase "more than all men" emphasizes the extent to which Christians would be considered pitiable if their hope were limited to this life. The Greek word for "more" (πλείονες, pleiones) suggests a comparison, indicating that Christians, who often endure suffering and sacrifice for their faith, would be in a worse state than those who live solely for worldly pleasures. This comparison serves to reinforce the transformative power of the resurrection, which assures believers that their sacrifices are not in vain and that their ultimate reward lies beyond this earthly existence.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing the church in Corinth, providing theological insights and practical guidance.

2. Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece, known for its diverse population and cultural influences, which often led to moral and spiritual challenges for the early church.

3. The Resurrection
The central event in Christian theology, affirming Jesus Christ's victory over death and the promise of eternal life for believers.

4. The Corinthian Church
The recipients of Paul's letter, struggling with issues of doctrine, morality, and unity, particularly concerning the resurrection of the dead.

5. Hope in Christ
The expectation and assurance of eternal life and resurrection, which is a foundational aspect of Christian faith.
Teaching Points
Eternal Perspective
Our hope in Christ should not be limited to this life. The resurrection assures us of eternal life, which should shape our priorities and decisions.

The Pitfall of Earthly Focus
If our faith is only for earthly benefits, we miss the true essence of the Gospel. Our lives should reflect the eternal hope we have in Christ.

Living with Hope
The assurance of resurrection should inspire us to live boldly and sacrificially, knowing that our ultimate reward is in heaven.

Encouragement in Trials
Understanding that our hope is not confined to this life provides comfort and strength during trials and suffering.

Witness to the World
Our hope in the resurrection should be evident to others, serving as a testimony to the transformative power of the Gospel.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the hope of resurrection influence your daily life and decisions?

2. In what ways can focusing on eternal life help you navigate current challenges or sufferings?

3. How can you ensure that your faith is not limited to seeking earthly benefits?

4. What practical steps can you take to live with an eternal perspective in mind?

5. How can your hope in Christ serve as a witness to those around you who may not share the same faith?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Paul discusses the hope of resurrection and the return of Christ, emphasizing the comfort and assurance it provides to believers.

Philippians 3:20-21
Paul speaks of the transformation of our earthly bodies into glorious ones, highlighting the future hope beyond this life.

Romans 8:18-25
Paul contrasts present sufferings with future glory, reinforcing the idea that our hope extends beyond this earthly life.

Hebrews 11:13-16
The faith of the patriarchs is described as looking forward to a heavenly country, illustrating the eternal perspective of faith.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Paul encourages believers to focus on the unseen and eternal, rather than the temporary and visible.
Alas for Us, If Thou Wert All, and Nought Beyond, O EarthC. H. Spurgeon.1 Corinthians 15:19
Hope in This World OnlyD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:19
Life Most Miserable Without Hope in ChristF. D. Maurice, M.A.1 Corinthians 15:19
One Life Only an Argument Against GodJ. Parker, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:19
The Importance of the ResurrectionCanon Liddon.1 Corinthians 15:19
The Penalty of Piety and its PromiseW. Clarkson, B.A.1 Corinthians 15:19
The Exposition and Defence of the ResurrectionJ.R. Thomson 1 Corinthians 15:1-58
Christ's Resurrection the Ground of Belief in Our OwnL Cochrane, A.M.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Consequences of Denying the Resurrection of ChristW. Johnson Fox.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Did Christ Rise?E. Hurndall 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no ResurrectionC. H. Spurgeon.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no Resurrection Christ not RisenM. Dods, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
If There be no Resurrection, What Then?G. D. Boardman, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Logical Consequences of Rejecting ChristianityJ. M. Buckley, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Our Lost OnesJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Reverse the PropositionJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Supposing Jesus be not Raised from the Dead, What ThenReuen Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Terrible Conclusions Resulting from the Denial of Two GreD Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
The Certainty of the Resurrection of ChristCanon Diggle.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
What Comes of a Dead ChristA. Maclaren, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Denying the Resurrection from the Dead, and What the Denial InvolvesC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
People
Adam, Cephas, Corinthians, James, Paul, Peter
Places
Corinth, Ephesus
Topics
Christ, Hope, Hoped, Miserable, Nothing, Pitiable, Pitied, Present, Rest, Resting, Unhappy
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 15:19

     9613   hope, as confidence
     9615   hope, results of

1 Corinthians 15:12-28

     5110   Paul, teaching of

1 Corinthians 15:17-20

     5535   sleep, and death

1 Corinthians 15:17-22

     5288   dead, the

1 Corinthians 15:19-23

     9312   resurrection, significance of Christ's
     9315   resurrection, of believers

Library
The Image of the Earthly and the Heavenly
Eversley, Easter Day, 1871. 1 Cor. xv. 49. "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." This season of Easter is the most joyful of all the year. It is the most comfortable time, in the true old sense of that word; for it is the season which ought to comfort us most--that is, it gives us strength; strength to live like men, and strength to die like men, when our time comes. Strength to live like men. Strength to fight against the temptation which
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Third Sunday after Easter Second Sermon.
Text: First Corinthians 15, 20-28. 20 But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fourth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 35-50. 35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come? 36 Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die: 37 and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind; 38 but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men,
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fifth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 51-58. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Paul's Witness to Christ's Resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15, 1-10. 1 Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Small Duties and the Great Hope
'But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 10. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; 11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 13. But I would not have
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christian and the Scientific Estimate of Sin
"Christ died for our sins."--I COR. XV. 3. Nothing is more characteristic of Christianity than its estimate of human sin. Historically, no doubt, this is due to the fact that the Lord and Master of Christians died "on account of sins." His death was due, as we have seen, both to the actual, definite sins of His contemporaries, and also to the irreconcilable opposition between His sinless life and the universal presence of sin in the world into which He came. But it is with the Christian estimate
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

Outward and Inward Morality
OUTWARD AND INWARD MORALITY I Cor. xv. 10.--"The Grace of God." Grace is from God, and works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a light which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The Divine Light permeates the soul, and lifts it above the turmoil of temporal things to rest in God. The soul cannot progress except with the light which God has given it as a nuptial gift; love works the likeness of God into the soul. The peace, freedom and blessedness of all
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

April the Sixth First-Hand Knowledge of Christ
"Last of all He was seen of me also." --1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11. And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also found the dynamic of the immortal hope. "Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

April the Seventh if Christ were Dead!
1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26. "If Christ be not risen!" That is the most appalling "if" which can be flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade! "Your faith is vain." It has no more strength and permanency than Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Paul's Estimate of Himself
'By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.'--1 COR. xv. 10. The Apostle was, all his life, under the hateful necessity of vindicating his character and Apostleship. Thus here, though his main purpose in the context is simply to declare the Gospel which he preached, he is obliged to turn aside in order to assert, and to back up his assertion, that there was no sort of difference between him and the other recognised teachers of Christian truth. He
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Unity of Apostolic Teaching
Whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.'--1 COR. xv. 11. Party spirit and faction were the curses of Greek civic life, and they had crept into at least one of the Greek churches--that in the luxurious and powerful city of Corinth. We know that there was a very considerable body of antagonists to Paul, who ranked themselves under the banner of Apollos or of Cephas i.e. Peter. Therefore, Paul, keenly conscious that he was speaking to some unfriendly critics, hastens in the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Certainty and Joy of the Resurrection
'But now is Christ risen from the dead ... the first fruits of them that slept.'--1 COR. xv. 20. The Apostle has been contemplating the long train of dismal consequences which he sees would arise if we only had a dead Christ. He thinks that he, the Apostle, would have nothing to preach, and we, nothing to believe. He thinks that all hope of deliverance from sin would fade away. He thinks that the one fact which gives assurance of immortality having vanished, the dead who had nurtured the assurance
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Remaining and Falling Asleep
'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.'--1 COR. xv. 6. There were, then, some five-and-twenty years after the Resurrection, several hundred disciples who were known amongst the churches as having been eyewitnesses of the risen Saviour. The greater part survived; some, evidently a very few, had died. The proportion of the living to the dead, after five-and-twenty years, is generally the opposite.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Death of Death
'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. 21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.... 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound;) and the dead shall
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Power of the Resurrection
'I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; 4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.'--1 COR. xv. 3, 4. Christmas day is probably not the true anniversary of the Nativity, but Easter is certainly that of the Resurrection. The season is appropriate. In the climate of Palestine the first fruits of the harvest were ready at the Passover for presentation in the Temple.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

On the Atonement.
"How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."-1 Cor. xv. 3. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."-2 Cor. v. 21. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."-Rom. v. 8. "The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness' sake: he will magnify the law and make it honorable."-Isa. xlii. 21. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood,
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

Victory Over Death.
Preached May 16, 1852. VICTORY OVER DEATH. "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."--1 Cor. xv. 56, 57. On Sunday last I endeavoured to bring before you the subject of that which Scripture calls the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. The two points on which we were trying to get clear notions were these: what is meant by being under the law, and what is meant by being free from the law? When
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Thoughts on the Last Battle
When I select such a text as this, I feel that I cannot preach from it. The thought o'ermasters me; my words do stagger; there are no utterances that are great enough to convey the mighty meaning of this wondrous text. If I had the eloquence of all men united in one, if I could speak as never man spake (with the exception of that one godlike man of Nazareth), I could not compass so vast a subject as this. I will not therefore pretend to do so, but offer you such thoughts as my mind is capable of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

"Alas for Us, if Thou Wert All, and Nought Beyond, O Earth"
We will try and handle our text this morning in this way. First, we are not of all men most miserable; but secondly, without the hope of another life we should be--that we are prepared to confess--because thirdly, our chief joy lies in the hope of a life to come; and thus, fourthly, the future influences the present; and so, in the last place, we may to-day judge what our future is to be. I. First then, WE ARE NOT OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE. Who ventures to say we are? He who will have the hardihood
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

A Leap Year Sermon *
"One born out of due time."--1 Corinthians 15:8. PAUL THUS DESCRIBES himself. It was necessary that Paul, as an apostle, should have seen the Lord. He was not converted at the time of Christ's ascension; yet he was made an apostle, for the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the way, as he was going to Damascus, to persecute the saints of God. When he looked upon himself as thus put in, as it were, at the end of the apostles, he spoke of himself in the most depreciating terms, calling himself "one born
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

Resurgam
I propose this morning, as God shall enable, to listen to that voice of spring, proclaiming the doctrine of the resurrection, a meditation all the more appropriate from the fact, that the Sabbath before last we considered the subject of Death, and I hope that then very solemn impressions were made upon our minds. May the like impressions now return, accompanied with more joyous ones, when we shall look beyond the grave, through the valley of the shadow of death, to that bright light in the distance--the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

28TH DAY. A Joyful Resurrection.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "This corruptible must put on incorruption."--1 COR. xv. 53. A Joyful Resurrection. Marvel of marvels? The sleeping ashes of the sepulchre starting at the tones of the archangel's trumpet!--the dishonoured dust, rising a glorified body, like its risen Lord's? At death, the soul's bliss is perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of the valley. But tread lightly on that grave,
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

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