Will you please open your New Testament, add
the first letter to the Corinthians, first letter
to the Corinthians, chapter 15, the
first verse.
Now, I make known unto you, brethren, the
gospel which I preach unto you, which also
ye received, wherein also ye stand, by
which also ye are saved.
I make known, I say, in what words
I preached it unto you.
With these words, the greatest apostle that Jesus
Christ ever had draws his mantle together over
his shoulders and sets himself to
gather up everything that he has been saying
into a climax and a consummation.
We can almost hear him breathe a sigh
of relief that he has got through all
the unpleasant business that was imposed upon him
in the writing of this letter and having
got through it, he says, now, I make
known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I
preach unto you.
He had been compelled to write about a
whole lot of unpleasant and difficult matters.
He was at the time in Ephesus about
to conclude a very wonderful time of ministry
there.
And his fellow laborer, Apollos, had arrived, told
him the state of things, Corinth, and sent
three other people, probably slaves, of the household
of Chloe in Corinth had also arrived, and
they had poured out a very deplorable story
of things in the church in Corinth.
Sad story of divisions and schisms, quarrels and
disorders, moral evil, social wrongs, of
spiritual immaturity, of Christian unkindness, one to another,
and so on.
It's all here.
By either Apollos or these others, they had
sent a letter to Paul asking him to
answer a number of questions on a lot
of matters about which they were troubled.
And as you know, this letter is his
answer to that whole situation and all those
aspects of it.
A laborious thing.
You can't read it without feeling how the
apostle was laboring with this situation as well.
He might be troubled, heartbroken, deeply moved.
He passed on from point to point, covering
the whole.
And then with what is the end of
chapter 14 in the dividing up of men
of this long letter into 16 pieces, he
finishes that.
And I think, as I have said, gladly
finishes that.
He might very gladly finish that as far
as the job is concerned.
And he, in effect, says, having dealt with
all that, I'm not prepared just to leave
it there.
Let me take you back, brethren, right to
the beginning of your life and history as
a company of the people of God and
remind you of that basis upon which you
came to be.
A church and a company of God's people.
What I preached unto you and you then
believed and upon which you stand.
That is, you have your very existence and
by which you are saved.
Having written all the rest with a sick
heart, he concludes that he must preach the
gospel, he calls it, which he had preached
and which was the ground of their existence.
Now, while all the conditions at current, all
of them, may not obtain today in many
churches, thank God, there are some things that
passes and are at least the abiding peril
of companies, of God's people.
In any case, there's something that comes out
of this final resolve of the apostle, which
is of inestimable value to the church and
the churches in all ages.
We are not glad that the Corinthians were
what they were, were like that, but here
is the wonderful sovereignty of God that he
takes hold of a most deplorable situation and
makes it the means of drawing out some
of the most sublime things in divine revelation.
And who would be without what we call
the fifteenth chapter of the first letter of
the book?
Who would be without it?
Thank God for his power to use the
darkest background to bring forward the most glorious
revelation.
Well, you notice that this chapter or this
section is a summary and is a consummate
restatement and a climax.
Paul uses this word preach you see several
times.
Verse 1, verse 11, verse 12, verse 14.
A thing preached.
So you look to see what was the
heart and the essence of that preaching.
What you've only got to underline one word,
Christ.
You find yourselves right at the beginning in
the presence of a mention of Christ no
fewer than thirteen times I say at the
beginning showing what the foundation really is.
What the preaching really is.
Now into this consummate restatement the apostle
gathers a revelation which is
well nigh unparalleled in Holy Scripture for,
if I may make this parenthesis you read
through this long chapter you are amazed and
you hold your breath and you say where
did the apostle get that?
Where did he get that?
How did he come by that?
Things that he's telling you here about glory
and the differences in glory and the resurrection
body and what it will be like and
so on.
You see this is something that no man
ever concocted this never arose in a man's
brain something here of unparalleled revelation into
a designation of Christ.
He gathers all this wonderful unveiling and unfolding.
It is summed up by him in a
title a double title verse forty five It
is written the first man Adam became a
living soul the last Adam a life giving
spirit forty seven the first man is of
the earth healthy the second man is of
heaven there's your title or designation second man
the last Adam and
in itself dear friends that double title of
the Lord Jesus is a summary of human
history from the beginning and in the immediate
context it is a summary of human history
on both sides that of the first Adam
the human history of tragedy the last Adam
the story of human history in recovery and
glory Christ Jesus the second man the last
Adam always be correct in how you put
it even such a scholar as John Henry
Newman has slipped up on it as we've
just sung and you sang it so glibly
no he's not a second Adam it's a
last Adam maybe a second man but it's
a last Adam finality is reached in Christ
in human history now in the first place
that is an explanation of Jesus and it
is quite right to say dear friends that
the whole of the New Testament is a
combined operation to declare and explain Jesus Christ
do get hold of that the whole of
the New Testament is a combined operation to
declare and explain Jesus Christ and it should
never be used in part or as a
whole for any other purpose because it has
been used for all sorts of things for
all sorts of things for everybody who has
some particular bee in their bonnet will put
something in the New Testament to support their
view because it has been used for so
many things it has lost its mighty authority
the New Testament may be used for one
thing and one thing alone and that is
to explain Jesus Christ explain why ever there
was a Jesus Christ why ever Jesus Christ
came into this world why he lived taught
and walked why he died why he rose
again and why he is in heaven the
New Testament I say is all gathered into
the business of explaining Jesus Christ one question
should always govern our reading in part or
in whole whenever or wherever we read in
this book that question should be what has
this to say about Jesus Christ what light
does this throw upon him either by direct
statement or by right and true implication or
inference what does it say about him now
these these words in verses forty five and
forty seven are a very important instance of
this very thing the explanation of Jesus Christ
how is he explained by these words the
second man the last Adam dear friends it
does not require profound scholarship or great intellectual
ability to see that such a title such
a double designation puts the one referred to
into a position of unique relationship to the
whole human race a second implies a first
a last implies an original and by the
two everything in human life and history is
encompassed you cannot get before the first there
is no such thing as before the first
in anything anywhere and you certainly cannot get
behind the last nothing beyond the last and
so here we have human history for that
is the subject encompassed by this but what
does it imply clearly the conclusion is that
two different humanities stem from two different
racial heads one humanity stems from the first
man Adam another and quite another and that's
the theme of the New Testament stems from
the second man the last two
distinct lines two distinct kinds but Mark again
in this very connection the teaching of scripture
is that the second man the last Adam
stepped into humanity in order to supplant and
displace the first and the original to set
aside all the damage which the first had
brought into humanity by his sin by his
wrongdoing the second and the last was a
necessity because of the utter breakdown of the
first and the original Paul has, as you
know a corresponding paragraph on this very thing
in his letter to the Romans chapter 5
verse 12 from verse 12 to verse 21
he dwells upon this as by one man
sin entered and death through sin as by
one man's sin so by one man's righteousness
a good strong section on the function of
the two racial heads you can read it
but there in that chapter Paul in referring
to the first Adam says Adam was a
type of him that was to come but
all, all too briefly so all too briefly
so Adam's typological position was
just this in his being the first and
the progenitor of a kind and I think
that's where it ended before his fall he
was the first of a race he was
the progenitor of a race and in that
sense he was a type of him that
was to come maybe other features at that
time but that is the significance of Adam
being a type there was a gap you
see in his history the gap of probation
and test he was placed and
then there was to be in the intention
of God all that he was meant for
made for but between the placing and the
fulfillment there was this gap of probation when
he was put on test all the immense
potentialities which were crammed into that gap that
probation that is what we are going to
see I trust today the immense potentialities that
were there in the balances in the balances
of that gap that probation what tremendous things
hung upon one thing one thing and that
one thing how he would use the great
trust of free will the great trust of
free will on the one side all that
God meant intended and hoped for in the
creation of man demanded that man should be
a free agent not compelled not forced not
just a piece of machinery going without its
own volition desire or thought you would never
be satisfied with anybody giving you anything on
those terms so they couldn't help themselves they've
got to do it you've got it because
they had no volition you would only be
satisfied if by the choice of their own
heart and reason and desire they gave it
to you so God made this great trust
gave him the at the same time trust
and responsibility of free will everything was in
the balances of how he would use that
there was a law governing a law governing
not the law of compulsion at all but
it was the law of dependence upon God
just dependence upon God whether he would use
that trust of free will in dependence upon
God or whether he would use it in
independence what delicious things unspeakably great
things were bound up with that probation that
test that question all heaven might have been
holding its breath at that time we know
we know we know all too well what
happened I say we
know all too well before I am through
God helping me you will see what is
involved for us well we know the story
how he used that trust how he broke
that line of dependence upon God he
severed that link and took his trust into
his own hand to realize all his potentialities
out of relation to God in independence upon
God and because of that and all the
entail the terrible terrible entail of that a
second man our last Adam became necessary if
the world was to be saved and humanity
was to be saved now look at some
of the essential facts of this last this
final Adam this second man in order to
really undo all that which we have not
yet touched upon but in order to undo
all that entail he himself must be the
negation of the violated law if the law
was everything everything by dependence upon God and
that law was broken and Adam said everything
without dependence upon God for that was the
issue and the option that law was broken
the redeemer must himself be the embodiment of
that law absolute dependence upon God and nothing
else nothing else to it nothing to help
in himself humanly in the world anywhere of
any kind nothing god of life to
the last very last grand man breath the
first of a new type you tell me
that that's the Adam race not a bit
of it not a bit of it not
as you know yourself as I know myself
not like that is it this is another
order of being that is like that and
will go that way even unto death and
the most ignominious death whereby deliberate choice he
refuses any kind cause he is a committed
man to the will of God he then
as such a last one such a second
one is the progenitor of a race which
is to be like himself in this very
respect a race of people who on this
very principle of his life will be constituted
the principle of everything to the last fraction
by dependence upon God oh brethren doesn't that
in itself open up the first letter to
the correct read from the beginning again and
see these come in read
from the beginning again and see these come
in and all their self-sufficiency self-strength
self-ignoring glorying in worldly wisdom what not
that's an aspect of the whole we must
leave for the moment I just mention it
to let in light on this why Paul
preached Christ and said when I came to
you I I determined to know nothing amongst
you save Jesus Christ and him crucified what
does that mean what does that mean it
does not mean crucifixion to all that independence
of God which came in through the first
all that taking into his own hands all
that seeking for himself drawing to himself that
acquisitiveness that possessiveness that assertiveness that pride that
is characteristic of all who have come from
that but none of it in him and
as the first the second in this new
movement of God he must reproduce must reproduce
after his own kind must reproduce after his
own kind now that dear friends after all
is only introductory I hope I'm not wearying
you that is very important that we get
our foundation well laid that brings us right
to our present point there are some things
that every seriously minded person will be concerned
with sooner or later everybody will be seriously
minded about life sooner or later but Christians
are particularly supposed to be seriously minded people
who are really concerned about this matter of
life and there are four things that comprise
that concern one is the meaning of human
history the meaning of human history have
you ever really sat down with your bible
to seek from it the explanation of human
history the second is the meaning of Christianity
the third the meaning of spiritual experience and
the fourth the meaning of the Christian church
and the meaning of all those four things
is gathered into one person Jesus Christ and
he as the second man, the last Adam
as such he explains human history as such
he explains spiritual experience as such he explains
Christianity and as such he explains the church
now then I don't propose to try and
cover all that ground so fear not but
I'm I'm tremendously concerned dear friends I'm burdened,
this is no mere subject that I'm interested
in occupying if you are a seriously minded
person this really does concern you and are
you not are we not being forced being
forced in our time to have a serious
question about human history what's the meaning what's
the meaning of it all the human race
mankind and all the history of mankind what
does it all mean you know we are
being headed right up to that question today
leave that for the moment as a Christian
are you not increasingly confronted with the question
as to the meaning the meaning of Christianity
the meaning of Christianity after all what is
this thing what does it mean as we
view it in general or in particular what
does it mean further if those are too
objective are we not being forced more and
more to face the question of the meaning
of spiritual experience is there not in our
heart a recurrent question why why are we
doing the way we are doing why is
God taking us this way and through this
why is this being allowed and that why
to the children of God is all this
if that is not a really pressing question
in your heart I'm not giving very much
for your spiritual life or anybody who is
really alive to ultimate things is very concerned
about this what does our spiritual experience in
the hands of God really mean what does
it mean what is God after what is
God explaining what is he doing now
on the one side then on the one
side human history on its one side we
must see that God has taken all time
now I'm not going to say how long
that is human history at
least embraces 10,000 years well let's leave
it at that let's leave it at that
if that's all that's all we know God
God has taken all time to demonstrate to
demonstrate the meaning and the results of the
wrong use that man made of his trust
of free will when he took that into
his own hands and it became self will
instead of God's will shall I repeat God
has taken all time to demonstrate the meaning
and the results of that act it's
here that we come to a point which
is very full of the most important instruction
what was God left to do you say
you say why when man did that when
man did that broke that law of dependence
took his will into his own hands out
of God's hands and then violated his trust
why didn't God destroy him finish that right
away and start again there and then well
that's easy isn't it talk like that perhaps
that's what you would do perhaps that's what
you think he ought to have done in
view of all we know do you not
see that for God to have done that
would have been to have simply said he
never did give man free will to have
nullified the whole principle of option he would
have destroyed at once the primary thing free
will it is never free will if when
you use it you are at once destroyed
for doing so no but
what did God do what did God do
ah that's history that's history the Lord's way
has been and still is like it or
not to let the choice have full course
and destroy itself bring its own judgment upon
itself that's history it's a long term business
a long drawn out business and just into
that into that let me say a thing
a very intimate thing to you and to
my own heart there are some prayers that
God answers which oh to God he'd never
answer would to God he'd never answer because
man would not take a no or an
alternative the little fragment about Israel long stiff
neckedness and hardness of heart this little fragment
is he gave them their request but sent
leanness into their soul have you ever prayed
and insisted and refused to take a no
or an alternative a wish to God he'd
never answered your prayer that's possible it's where
your will is on your own side or
on his side there's a lot spiritual history
bound up with that isn't there but here
we are saying that the Lord has taken
all time to demonstrate the folly the madness
the iniquity of this wrong use of a
sacred tongue note then the development of this
all the immense potentialities to which we for
ourselves in man have been allowed to express
themselves have been drawn out by history and
today we are amazed we marvel at the
potentialities in man why in the last fifty
years what a story of the uncovering, unveiling
and exploiting of the potentialities in man make
no mistake about it in five hundred years
we've moved from the making of iron cannon
balls to the atomic bomb call that progress
to you but look what man can do
what is in man to do we are
all wondering aren't we what he's going to
do next if things go on for another
fifty years as they've gone on in the
last fifty my where shall we be where
shall we be this is no no jewels
bound imagination is it these are realities realities
it's going apace and all this is in
the man that God made me but do
you recognize and recognize with the acceleration and
the intensification of this process that man has
never yet either made a discovery or an
invention but what there has come along a
parallel curse with it a new problem that
almost almost did not all together be devil's
any realm you like any realm you like
oh that we were here long enough to
survey the ground adequately that's all we can
do these potentialities which were in the man
that God created have been given full play
by God through all time to express themselves
but but always with a curse what is
a curse what is a curse I could
put the curse into one word fear fear
the further man goes the more fearful he
becomes it's fear fear that is alive to
the greatest discoveries and inventions of man it's
fear dear friends that is ruling men's hearts
today they are conscious of insecurity mother
insecurity they are striving for some kind of
security in order to overcome this fear this
fear the bible is right you know it
always is it is right on this that
a mark of the end time will be
men's hearts failing them for fear oh you
would only have to read some of the
books that have been produced by the discoverers
of the nuclear and they'll tell you they'll
tell you in unvarnished language that it only
wants the touch of a finger to end
the whole human race by this very thing
that they have discovered and are now exploiting
the end of the human race and an
awful end have you read the story of
Hiroshima Nagasaki spread that over the whole human
race now I don't want to be a
sensationalist but these are facts they are in
volume form by the very men who are
mostly related associated with this very matter men
are afraid there is a fear in their
hearts and all this effort to find some
way of security security isn't that a word
today because of this fear and mark you
the point is this that is accentuated and
intensified the further men go in their inventions
and discoveries and in the development of the
potentialities in their own beings that's the end
coming very near I repeat God has taken
all history and what a lot that word
history covers past, present and future it's not
a contradiction to speak of the future as
history but there is a history that is
being made for the future history is on
the one side demonstrating beyond any question or
doubt that man has oh he has made
a mistake somewhere he has gone wrong somewhere
he has defaulted somewhere no worse than that
he has done something infinitely evil and it's
come out of himself by the wrong use
of his own will his own will do
you not see are we blind are we
blind are we not taking account I said
seriously minded people are concerned about history are
you not taking account of this that where
the state of things in development of uncovering
of intensification of application of discovery of invention
everything is most pronounced you have the most
awful strength of human will against God against
God isn't that true that is beyond any
argument it's a soul strength a strength of
human soul and how we
fail to see that the one thing that
history has revealed is this contradiction this strange
but so patent paradox the greatness of man
and at the same time his smallness the
greater he seems to be the less he
seems to be able to cope with his
own dreams is that true he has brought
it out now he is a mere pawn
a mere puppet a mere plaything of his
own greatness how little he is at his
greatness greatest isn't it true well look that's
the way of history and that's what's happening
dear friend the greatness of man the greatness
of man yes as God made him but
now because of this one thing a greatness
that is cancerous no other word to explain
and define it it is a cancerous greatness
what is cancer what is cancer well I
can't answer all the research on that matter
but I'll tell you what is know that
cancer exists because of the loss of one
central governing and regulating authority got that it
is something that is broken away from authority
and ignores controlling and regulating authority in the
organism and becomes an authority in itself becomes
something that is something in itself has
absolutely refused that central authority regulating and governing
within the organism taking things into its own
hands that's cancer this greatness of man is
like that look at it it has broken
right away from the great controlling authority of
God and God's will the authority of God
the answer what a scourge on humanity now
at that point where it's possible I could
put in a tremendous section by way of
illustration I only have to mention things without
without any additional words what about international relationships
what are you going to do with it
what are you going to do oh the
tentacle this cancerous thing in human life in
humanity now you cut one off and half
a dozen more spring up at once isn't
it like that international relationships why you think
that you've just got the thing nicely settled
and it breaks out in more than one
other place cannot cope with this cannot be
up side with this international relationship you've got
all the existing potential of a prosperous and
happy world but upon it
what a curse destruction instead all the instruments
and the institutions for peace and there was
never so much loss of peace in human
history all the amenities and facilities for rest
for rest for rest think of all your
gadgets save work think of all the inventions
to make life easy never so many amenities
and facilities for rest and leisure and never
in history so much discontent is that so
something wrong with this humanity and we might
look at industry and we might look at
science and we might even look at religion
if you want me to stop somewhere so
I must leave it there for the moment
that's one side one side but dear friends
we're not talking just objectively that is you,
that is me by nature the deepest truest
thing about you and about me naturally is
self-will is pride is possessiveness is
can you agree with me?
all right all right you'll allow the Holy
Spirit to take you anywhere at all and
you'll discover that is true that's first man
that's the old Adam and you will see
at once how that opens the door for
the second man and the last Adam to
start things all over again on another basis
to be the racial firstborn and head and
progenitor of another kind and you'll see a
lot more once you've seen that but I
am very well aware that all that I
have said may be oppressive may be the
heavy side but friends, you and I have
got to understand history and present history what
it means what it means what are the
forces and what are the things that are
producing this marvelous wonderful amazing startling
terrible world and where is it leading?
well, you see, God has said all right
all right you have made your choice you
have decided this and you would not have
it otherwise very well very well the history
of a kind person or race like that
will lead on and on and on until
the final verdict of sin sin is wrought
up it's I wonder if you still bear
with me just this moment something that you'll
be well to just store up you know,
dear friends one of the things that is
going to amaze us perhaps more than most
other things a few things will amaze us
when we get to heaven will be this
our discovery of how much more infinitely more
there was in any one statement of God
than ever we imagined when God speaks, he
doesn't speak just platitudes he does not speak
just observations and remarks casually in anything that
God says there is the infinitude of his
knowledge and his wisdom and if any life
comes into the hands of the Holy Spirit
that's when you discover there is an unfathomable
depth of meaning in anything that God has
said and you'll never exhaust it preach, preach,
preach on the same thing all your long
life and you haven't exhausted that same thing
it's come from God and I say we're
going to be amazed when we get to
heaven to see the infinitude of what was
in some things which were all most commonplace
things with us oh, if God uses the
word sin disobedience rebellion self-will there's
all time gathered into that in tragedy you
never, never will fathom that the last Adam
did went to the bottom of it drained
it in his cross but that's where the
other side opens up we'll go on later