Why Paul Said "I Die Daily" — 1 Corinthians 15:31 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, ready to go again? And for those of you on our television viewing, why, this is our fourth program in a row. You know, I have to mention that once in a while because every place I go, you know, people say, well, you do have a different shirt. And I know when they see four programs in a row and I'm in the same shirt and slacks, why, they may wonder. But I got to tell them once in a while, we tape four programs right in succession. And this is number four for today. And again, we just appreciate so much all of you folk coming in from some of you from quite a distance, some of you from around Tulsa. And we know we couldn't do it without you. All right, we've got a long ways to go yet before we finish 1 Corinthians 15, but we're getting closer. So now let's come in at verse 31. Now you remember in our last program, we were dealing with, again, the consummation of all things. And first Christ will be King of kings and Lord of lords, and everything is put under His feet. And then we go on into the eternal. Then everything is consummated in God Himself. And then Paul said in verse 29, What's the use of all these things if there is no resurrection of the dead? And as I mentioned in our last program, remember that there is no other religion on earth, nor ever has been, that has a resurrection of the dead in its so-called theology. None of the mythologies teach it. None of the cults teach it. They have reincarnation, but resurrection is strictly a Christian concept, a biblical concept I should say, because it was certainly also part of the Old Testament economy. That everything centers on the resurrection of the dead. Otherwise, what's the use? I mean, you might as well, as we're going to see in the coming verse, eat, drink, and be merry. But, let's come back to verse 31, where Paul says, Now the word in the King James is protest, and I had to look up in a little later Greek, and it's affirm. And I like that because it makes so much more sense. Now he says, I affirm by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. In other words, the Apostle, even though this is a carnal congregation, now don't lose sight of that. Here this Apostle is writing these deep doctrinal things concerning resurrection, but the people to whom he's writing are carnal. They're not spiritual. And so again, he reminds them that he affirms by their rejoicing. Even as carnal Christians, they had that much sense that there were some things to rejoice in. And he says, And by that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. Now, I think there's a two-fold approach to that, I die daily. Number one, you want to remember that Paul teaches so strongly the idea of the old and the new nature. The question came up, and so I've answered it in our newsletter. And I guess that's one announcement I've never made on the program. For those of you in television, if you would like to receive our newsletter, it's nothing long or profound, but at least it keeps you up to date on where we are and what we're doing. If you would like to get our newsletter, it's free of cost. You write to us or call us and we'll get it in the mail to you. But anyhow, the question I've answered in our next newsletter is, Do I believe in two natures for the believer? Absolutely. We are still with the old nature, that old Adam that just constantly pursues us. And we also have, of course, the new nature as a result of our salvation experience and our union with Christ. And that's a Pauline doctrine, that we are constantly in a warfare. The old sin nature against the new divine nature. And so what he's speaking of here in Dying Daily is that he has to constantly keep old Adam in subjection. He has to put him to death. In fact, let's go back to Romans, because that's where he makes it so plain. And, you know, Paul's writings all fit together. They all dovetail. In Romans chapter 6, verse 13, I think is sufficient. And throughout this whole sixth chapter of Romans, of course, he's dealing with reckoning that old Adam as our mortal enemy and putting him constantly to death. Now, that may sound like double talk, but we have to realize that God in His omnipotence and in His sovereignty, the moment we believe, God reckoned our old Adam as crucified with Christ. He's dead. But in experience, He's still with us. And He plagues us, and He will until we leave this body of mortality. But now in Romans chapter 6, verse 13, he says it so clearly. "...neither yield or give in to your members," that is, in the old Adam, "...neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin," or unto the old Adam. See, it's that up to us. You are given with that free will. God is not going to take you by the nap of the neck and say, You will obey Me. You will walk in My way. No, He doesn't do that. It's that constant urging, of course, by the indwelling Spirit. So here we have that. "...neither yield," don't give in. "...don't yield your members," that is, of the flesh, the functions of the body, "...as instruments of unrighteousness to sin," and remember when we were back in Romans, we called that three -lettered word sin what? The old Adam. That's right. The old Adam. The old sin nature. But, see, the flip side is, "...yield yourselves unto God," in other words, be what God wants us to be, "...as those who are alive from the dead, "...and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Alright, now this is exactly what Paul is talking about here in this verse in I Corinthians. Now come back to I Corinthians 15 again. So he says, I die daily. And then as you move into verse 32, I think he is also alluding to the fact that he was under constant physical pressure and suffering. We have no idea how much the Apostle Paul suffered for the sake of the Gospel. Now, of course, you want to remember the Lord promised that back there in Acts chapter 9 when He told Ananias that He has chosen of me to go to the Gentiles, and He will suffer for my name's sake. And the man did. He suffered at the hands of the Jews, He suffered at the hands of the Romans, He suffered at the hands of physical disabilities and sickness and what have you. Alright, now then in verse 32, He said, "...if so to speak." I think that's the best way to put it. "...if so to speak, I have fought with the beasts at Ephesus." Now, I think most people, they just read that casually, and he's probably thinking about the Roman Colosseum where they actually tossed him into the lions. No, I don't think that ever happened to Paul. I don't think he ever had to face the lions of the Roman Colosseum. But what he's talking about are his physical enemies. As I was reading all this, I came across a quote by Ignatius, one of the early church fathers, who had written to the congregation at Rome, much the same kind of language, that he was beset with these beasts. And you know who the beasts were? The ten Roman soldiers who were guarding him. And I think it's the same kind of beasts that Paul is referring to. It was this constant opposition from his fellow men, ungodly men. And so he said, "...if, after the manner of men, or so to speak, I have fought with the beasts at Ephesus, these men who were constantly opposing him, what does it advantage me, why should I fight against them, why should I constantly oppose all this, if the dead rise not?" See, you can't get away from resurrection in chapter 15. It just hits you in every verse. What's the use, Paul says, of my facing all of this opposition to the Gospel, if there's no resurrection? Then I might as well forget about it. Then I am, of all men, most foolish. So what is the advantage to me, if the dead rise not? And so he comes back to the pagan outlook on life, and especially the Epicureans. Now the Epicureans, remember, were of the mindset that, just that, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you're going to die anyway. No thought for ever meeting God, no thought for an eternity in one place or another. We're just like animals, we're here today, we're gone tomorrow, forget it, and let's just eat, drink, and be merry. Well now you see, that's becoming pretty much the mindset of our own nation today. Most people are not, as I said in the last program, they're not thinking in terms of eternity. They're thinking in terms of what's in it for me today. I think you've all seen the expression I have, I've read it more than once, and I've heard it more than once, instant gratification. That's all people are concerned about. How can I gratify the flesh the fastest and the easiest? Well, Paul says, if there's no resurrection, then have at it. Why not? Because that's all there is, if there's no resurrection. But, there is. There is resurrection. Alright, now then, again back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33. So what's the admonition? Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Let's go back to Proverbs. We don't use Proverbs all that much, but let's go back to Proverbs, that follows the Psalms, and I want chapter 13, Proverbs 13, verse 20. And if I happen to have young people listening to me, I know we have some, but if we have young people, I wish they would take this verse to heart. Because I know, looking back at my own youth, and looking at the lives of others around me, how many times good young people have been totally destroyed by their bad friends. That's where it's all at. And of course, that's what's making it so difficult to raise kids today, is because so many of them are just simply bad people. They have no compunctions for right and wrong. They have no principles. There are no absolutes in their life. And so it's hard for good parents to raise a good child in the midst of all those bad friends. But the Scripture, the Word of God, is so adamant that this is what's going to happen. All right, you've got Proverbs. I've got a lady up in Minnesota, and she'll be tickled that I've even thought about it. So you often ask her, Well, when are you going to teach a whole series on Proverbs? Yeah, I've got heads tomorrow. Well, maybe we'll have to do that sometime. All right, Proverbs 13, verse 20. He that walketh with wise, now the word men is italicized, but we'll leave it in there. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Now you see what that says? If you are operating and functioning in the midst of good company, you're going to be successful. Now, of course, Solomon, I think, writes the Proverbs. He, of course, writes a lot of times in the area of the material. But nevertheless, it holds both ways. Even in the area of the spiritual, you are never going to rise any higher than the people you fellowship with. In fact, I learned years ago in my youth, as I saw what happened to churches in the community in which I was raised. Then already, I could see that great, strong, Bible-preaching churches, by just the coming of one liberal, Bible-doubting preacher, could go down the tube. And you've seen it. We've all seen it. And again, that brings me to the place that a church will rise no higher than its leadership. Now, naturally, that centers in the pastor. But it doesn't stop there. It also involves his leadership of lay people. Whether you call them elders or deacons, that's beside the point. But that church congregation will rise no higher than that leadership takes them. And the same way in our everyday intercourse with people. We are going to be like the people with whom we spend our most time. Now this is going to sound a little crude, but I thought of it during the night last night as I was mulling this whole portion over. We once had a politician up in Iowa, and of course my Iowa listeners are going to know immediately who I'm talking about. He did a lot of speaking in churches around the state, and he could preach better than a lot of them. But he had a favorite little cliche that as a politician, he adhered to. And my wife is probably going to cringe when I say it. He said, if you're going to run with skunks, you're going to smell like them. Very apropos, isn't it? And that's exactly the picture with all of our activity. If we are going to run with the people off color in their behavior, if we are going to run with people of no integrity, if we are going to run with the people who have no compunction about things right and wrong, we're going to get like them. Now you just can't help it. It rubs off. But on the other hand, if we maintain, and now I guess that brings up another verse. Come back to Hebrews again. I hope I can find it. Maybe I can't. I'll quote it for you. The verse I want is, Neglect not the assembling of yourselves together. You may have to help me find it, and if we can't, well, we're going to go on. But the verse just comes to mind again. Why does the Word, the Word of God... Okay, 10-25. Thank you, Merlin. Hebrews 10, verse 25. Hebrews 10, verse 25. Well, we almost have to go back up a little bit. Let's go to verse 23. You know, I don't like to use just one verse alone. Verse 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. Now it's speaking, of course, of the faithfulness of Christ. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. Now, of course, never lose sight of the fact that Paul thought the Lord was going to come in his lifetime. And so we have to look at it in the light that if Paul was alive today, he'd say the same thing. Do not neglect your Christian fellowship because as we see the end time approaching and we've got all of this opposition, we need the encouragement of each other. We need the prayers of one another. Now, there's nothing that thrills Iris and I more than when people write that we pray for you twice a day, three times a day. And when you realize that people all over the country are doing that, that's quite an encouragement. But listen, we all need that. And we have to have that fellowship with like-minded believers. Now, when professing Christians turn their back on that kind of fellowship and start running with the world, I can just about tell you what their end is going to be. Now, it's no different than we take our kids, whether it's in grade school or high school or college, whatever. They are going to be like the friends that they run with. They have to be. And I know that I've tried to encourage my kids when they were in school and college and everything. You seek out kids with your own principles, with your own values. They're there, and they're not alone. They're out there. Sometimes it takes a little looking. And when you find them, that other person is as tickled to see that they're not alone as you are. And the same way with believers. Don't ever just be like Elijah. Lord, just go ahead and take my life. I'm the only one left. No, you're not. You know, wherever you go, there are believers who look at it like we do. And so, neglect not then the assembling of yourselves together because now back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and again verse 33, evil communications. Now, that doesn't mean just the words, but it's our concourse with people. And if it's going to be with evil people, it's going to rub off. All right? Verse 34, awake to righteousness and sin not. Wow. We talked about that in our Tulsa class the last time we were together. Is it possible to live without sin? Is it possible to live sinless? No, it's not possible. Not because the new nature can sin. We know it can't. And I maintain the new nature is divine and it cannot sin. But what did I say a few moments ago? What is in there opposite our new nature? That old Adam, see? And that old Adam is working on us constantly to sin. And he succeeds too often. But if we can keep old Adam in subjection and we can feed that new nature, that divine nature, then we can see what this Scripture talks about. We're not supposed to sin. Grace is not licensed. My, I'll repeat that until my dying day. I'm a promoter of the grace of God. That where sin aboundeth, grace is greater. But for the believer, grace is not licensed. And this is what Paul is talking about. Turn from the instincts of old Adam and put him down. Keep him under control that we sin not. Now then, remember who he's talking to. He's still got the Corinthian church in the back of his mind. And he says, "...for some have not the knowledge of God." Well, who is he talking about? I think people within his congregation at Corinth. They were carnal. They were believers, but they didn't have that knowledge and wisdom. Now that brings up another one. Come over to Ephesians. Oh, I've got honey working today, don't I? Ephesians chapter 3. Oh my. Someday we're going to get here if the Lord cherries. And we're in Ephesians in our Tulsa class, and my goodness, how long have we been going in chapter 1? A long time. Because again, there is so much in there that just jumps out at you. Now here we are in Ephesians chapter 3, and drop down to verse 16. And again, it's a prayer of the Apostle Paul, not only for the Ephesian believers, but also for us. Now here it comes. "...that ye may be able to comprehend." Now what's the difference between knowledge and comprehending? Nothing. Except maybe putting it into action. But if you have knowledge, you can comprehend. And when you comprehend, you have knowledge. Alright? Now if I�m not mistaken this was something that old Einstein was the first to promote, and the world didn�t know what he was talking about. He was talking about a fourth dimension. We always live in three. But when old Einstein talked about a fourth dimension, and his so called formulas and so forth, the world didn�t know what he was thinking. But listen, this is what the Bible says that we are to enjoy. We are to enjoy a knowledge that goes into the fourth dimension. Not just height, width and length, but also a fourth one. Now to know the love of Christ, which passeth, goes beyond knowledge. Now you see we always like to sit back and say, �Well I can�t have this kind of wisdom, I don�t have this kind of knowledge, I�m just not that strong a believer.� Listen, if you have Christ in your heart, you have the potential for all this. It�s laying there, waiting for you to exercise it. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that you, and remember I�m always going back to Tyndale, and who were the people he was most concerned about? The plow boys in England, those guys who didn�t even have a third grade education. That�s who Tyndale risked his life to get him the Word of God. Every believer has this potential within him then, that we can be filled with all the fullness of God. Oh listen that�s beyond understanding I know, but with God�s help we can. Now then he closes that prayer with that Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Now he�s not talking to angels, he�s not talking to people who have gone on to glory, he�s talking to people in his own day and time living there in the area of Ephesus. Now let�s come back quickly to the first Corinthians, we�ve got two minutes left. Now verse 34 again, "...for some have not the knowledge of God." I speak this to your shame. What would Paul say to the average Christian today? The same thing. You know what he said in Corinthians? Let�s go back, it�s been a long time since we were back in I Corinthians chapter 3, but see this is what you have to constantly remember. These are the kind of people that he�s writing all this heavy stuff to, and it is deep, I know it is. But listen, he would not have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to write this to a carnal church if it would have been too much for them to handle. But it isn�t. It�s here for every believer, even the babes in Christ. I Corinthians chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. Now remember these are the people that he�s writing to. And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, or fleshly, even as unto babes in Christ. Remember that? And then the next verse. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for you�re carnal, you�re fleshly, and you cannot get excited about the deep thing. Now that�s too many people today, and God doesn�t want people to be fleshly and carnal. He wants them to be spiritual, and to enjoy this knowledge of God. But I�m going to stop with this verse, and stop with this thought. Are you a shame to God, because of your biblical ignorance? Or are you something that God will one day say, �Well done, now good and faithful servant.� Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That�s Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.