Worsley - I Corinthians - 15

15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached to you at first, which ye received, and wherein ye stand.

15:2  By which also ye are saved, if ye retain it as I preached it to you: unless indeed ye have believed in vain.

15:3  For in the first place I delivered to you, that which I also received, to wit, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures:

15:4  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.

15:5  And that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve:

15:6  after that He appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain yet alive, but some are fallen asleep.

15:7  Afterwards He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

15:8  And last of all He appeared to me also, as one born out of due time: for I am the lest of the apostles,

15:9  not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his favor to me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

15:11  Whether therefore I or they laboured most, thus we preach, and thus ye believed.

15:12  Now if it be preached that Christ is risen from the dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrection of the dead?

15:13  for if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

15:14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

15:15  Yea, and we are found false witnesses concerning God, for we have testified of God, that He raised up Christ; whom He did not raise up, if indeed the dead do not rise.

15:16  For if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised:

15:17  and if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

15:18  Then they also that sleep in Christ, are perished.

15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

15:20  But now Christ is risen from the dead, and is become the first-fruits of them that slept:

15:21  for as by man came death, by man cometh also the resurrection of the dead.

15:22  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

15:23  But each in their proper order: the first-fruits, Christ; afterwards they that are Christ's, at his coming.

15:24  Then will be the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father; when He shall have abolished all rule, and all authority, and power.

15:25  For he must reign till He hath put all his enemies under his feet.

15:26  The last enemy that is destroyed is death:

15:27  for He hath put all things under his feet. But when He saith that all things are put under Him, it is plain that we are to except Him who put all things under Him.

15:28  And when all things shall be subjected to Him, then shall the Son also himself be subject to Him, that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

15:29  Besides, what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why then are they baptized for the dead?

15:30  And why are we in danger every hour?

15:31  I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I am even dying daily.

15:32  If, to speak as a man, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage have I, if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. ---

15:33  Be not deceived, bad conversations corrupt good morals.

15:34  Behave soberly, as ye ought to do, and sin not: for some of you have not the knowledge of God; to your shame I speak it.

15:35  But some will say, How are the dead raised, and with what body do they come?

15:36  Silly creature! that which thou sowest, is not quickened, except it die first.

15:37  And as to what thou sowest, thou sowest not the very body that shall be produced, but a bare grain, it may be, of wheat, or any other corn:

15:38  and God giveth it a body as He pleaseth, and to every one of the seeds it's own body.

15:39  All flesh is not the same kind of flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

15:40  There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies: but there is one glory of the celestial, and another of the terrestrial.

15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: and one star differeth from another star in glory.

15:42  So also will be the resurrection of the dead. Our body is sown in corruption, it is raised incorruptible: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory:

15:43  it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

15:44  it is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body: for there is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body.

15:45  And so it is written, "The first man Adam was made a living soul." But the last Adam is an enlivening spirit.

15:46  However, the spiritual is not first, but the animal; and afterwards the spiritual.

15:47  The first man being made out of the earth, was earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

15:48  Such as the earthy was, such are they also that are earthy: and such, as is the heavenly, are they also that are heavenly.

15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

15:50  But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor doth what is corruptible inherit incorruption.

15:51  Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed in a moment,

15:52  in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet (for the trumpet shall sound) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed:

15:53  for this corruptible body must put on incorruption, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

15:54  And when this corruptible shall be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory."

15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

15:56  the sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law:

15:57  but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:58  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.