LESSON PLAN FOR 1 CORINTHIANS 14-16

ICEBREAKER

Play the “What’s Missing?” Game.  Display a slide with a bunch of pictures on it like this and say they have 30 seconds to study it, but after 30 seconds you are going to show them another picture with all the objects mixed up and one of them missing. Their job will be to identify which picture is missing. 

TRANSITION

Remember how we said that Corinthians is a book of problems? Well, Paul has saved the biggest and most serious one for last.  Their faith is missing a key truth. They are doubting and denying one of the core doctrines of the gospel.

Q: Which doctrine is “missing” from their faith according to vs. 12? 

A: The doctrine of the resurrection.

Q: Why would they deny the resurrection? What’s the draw or motivation for denying that particular doctrine? 

A: I believe that verses 32-33 may have a hint. If you deny the resurrection, that means there is no afterlife—that this life is all there is. And if this life is all there is, and there’s no judgment or repercussions to our decisions here on earth, then what becomes the most tempting philosophy for how to live your life? Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. And remember that Corinth is a very hedonistic society, a YOLO, live in the moment, do what feels good today and let tomorrow take care of itself kind of society. And I really like what Paul says in vs.33, evil communications corrupt good manners. Or, bad doctrine leads to bad behavior. You can understand why Satan attacks our doctrine so fiercely, destroy the doctrine and our behavior will soon follow. I think it’s interesting that enemies of the church don’t usually criticize our behaviors. It’s hard to criticize our devotion to family, service, honesty, hard work. So they don’t really go after those things, they attack our doctrine. Our belief in priesthood, man’s divine potential, the Restoration, and our understanding of the plan of salvation. Perhaps you’ve seen that in somebody, as soon as a person loses their doctrinal footing in the church, it’s amazing how quickly their behavior changes too. So, keep your doctrinal foundation firm, and you will less likely be deceived. 

TRUE/FALSE ACTIVITY

You could give them these questions on a handout or display them on a slide, or write them on the board. And let them go through and answer them based on what they know. Then you can display the verses of scripture where the answers are found in 1 Corinthians 15 and use the scriptures to correct them. 

1. The only witnesses of the resurrected Jesus we know of are Mary Magdalene, the original 12 apostles (minus Judas Iscariot), and Joseph Smith.

2. No one was resurrected before Jesus was resurrected.

3. Everybody who has ever lived will be resurrected, whether good or bad.

4. Except for Jesus’ resurrection, everybody will be resurrected at the same time.

5. Those that die without baptism have no hope for exaltation.

6. There are different levels of resurrected bodies. Not all resurrected bodies are created equal.

7. A resurrected being is glorious and powerful.

8. A resurrected body has blood in its veins.

9. The process of an individual’s resurrection will require many hours to complete.

ANSWERS

1. The only witnesses of the resurrected Jesus we know of are Mary Magdalene, the original 12 apostles (minus Judas Iscariot), and Joseph Smith. 15:4-8

• FALSE

• According to 1 Corinthians 15, we can add “more than 500 brethren at once, and Paul”.

• Q: Who else could we add to this list?

• Other Women at the tomb. Matthew 28:1-10

• Two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:13-32

• 2500 Nephites at Bountiful. 3 Nephi 11

• The lost tribes of Israel. 3 Nephi 16:1-5

• Moroni. Ether 12:39

• Sidney Rigdon. D&C 76:14-24

• Oliver Cowdery. D&C 110:1-10

2. No one was resurrected before Jesus was resurrected. 15:20

• TRUE

• V. 20 tells us that Jesus was the first fruits of them that slept. So, as far as this world is concerned, Jesus was the first to be resurrected. Now sometimes I’ll have a student say “What about Lazarus? Wasn’t he the first to be resurrected?” And the answer to that is no, Lazarus was not resurrected, he was raised from the dead and brought back to his mortal body, but eventually, Lazarus died again. But to be resurrected is to be reunited with a perfect eternal body that will never die. So in that sense, Jesus was the first. 

3. Everybody who has ever lived will be resurrected, whether good or bad. 15:22, 51

• TRUE.

• The key word in vs. 22 and 51 is ALL.  Everybody gets resurrected. We shall ALL be changed. This blessing is given to all that have kept their first estate, or who did not rebel in the premortal world. So all mortals will be resurrected regardless of how they lived. Everyone from Mother Theresa to Osama Bin Laden is going to be resurrected, From Celestial beings to Sons of Perdition. Christ overcame death for all people.

4. Except for Jesus’ resurrection, everybody will be resurrected at the same time. 15:23

• FALSE.

• Verse 23 tells us that everyone is resurrected in his own order. There is more than 1 resurrection. 

1. The resurrection of celestial-quality people at the time of Christ’s resurrection. (D&C 133:54-55/Matthew 27:53)

2. The resurrection of celestial-quality people at the Second Coming. (D&C 88:97-98)

3. The resurrection of terrestrial-quality people after the righteous are resurrected at the beginning of the Millennium. (D&C 88:99)

4. The resurrection of  those who led a telestial life at the end of the millennium (the resurrection of the unjust) D&C 88:100-101)

5. The resurrection of the sons of perdition after the telestial resurrection (D&C 88:102)

5. Those that die without baptism have no hope for exaltation. 15:29

• FALSE.

• That’s why we have baptism for the dead.

• Go deeper by saying: In D&C 128:17 Joseph Smith said that baptism for the dead is “the most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel”.

• Q: What is “glorious” about baptism for the dead to you?

6. There are different levels of resurrected bodies. Not all resurrected bodies are created equal. 15:38-42

• TRUE.

• Paul is going to use three different metaphors to explain this principle. The metaphor of seeds, flesh, and astronomy. Each metaphor basically making the same point. There are different kinds of seeds that grow into different plants. There are different kinds of flesh, or creatures on the earth, you have people, and beasts, and fish, and birds. Then you have different levels of glory or brightness in the heavens. The glory of the sun, and the moon and the stars. Each one differing in the amount of glory it produces. Now as members of the church we usually like to quote these verses as a support for our view of judgment and the three degrees of glory, which it certainly does, but it’s not necessarily the context that Paul is speaking about. He’s focused on the resurrection part of that equation. The bodies we receive will be different in and of themselves. How different? A Celestial body is as different from a Terrestrial body as wheat is compared to a carrot, or a dog compared to a seagull, or the the light of the sun is compared to the light of the moon. In other words, not all resurrected bodies are created equal. They are different, very different. There are things a Celestial body can do, that a Telestial body cannot. Now I know that begs the question, what are those differences, and there could be a lot of speculation on that, but there is at least one thing that sets a Celestial body apart from Terrestrial and Telestial bodies. And that is found in D&C 131:1-4 which tells is a person cannot enter into the highest degree of the Celestial kingdom without entering the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, and if not, he cannot have an increase. Increase in this sense would mean children. So, a resurrected Celestial body can have children, but no other kind can. I can think of another difference and that would be what members of the godhead those bodies can stand in the presence of. A Celestial resurrected body can abide the presence of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. A Terrestrial body can abide the presence of the the Son and the Holy Ghost, but not the Father, and a Telestial body can only abide the presence of the Holy Ghost. And this is laid out in the following verses (D&C 76:62, 77, 86, 112)  Other differences in the bodies I don’t know, I’m sure there are, but I don’t wish to speculate. 

7. A resurrected being is glorious and powerful. 15:43-44

• TRUE

• Alma 40:23 A resurrected body will be in it’s perfect form and proper frame.

• JEFFREY R. HOLLAND: I bear witness of that day when loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle or happier for them that they are fully perfect and finally “free at last.” (Conference Report, October 2013, Like a Broken Vessel)

• LORENZO SNOW: In the next life we will have our bodies glorified and free from sickness and death. Nothing is so beautiful as a person in a resurrected and glorified condition. There is nothing more lovely than to be in this condition and have our wives and children and friends with us. (Lorenzo Snow, Conference Report, Oct. 1900, 63)

• BRIGHAM YOUNG: The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible.  . . If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we want to see the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and we see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then temporally, and spiritually it still remains. And when there we may behold the earth as at the dawn of creation, or we may visit any city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand how they are living here on these western islands, or in , we are there; in fact, we are like the light of the morning.  (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 14: 231.)

• And just a few other abilities a resurrected body apparently has are the following: 

• Resurrected people can eat. (Luke 24:42-43)

• Resurrected people appear or disappear from view. (Luke 24:36)

• Resurrected people can fly or hover in the air (JSH 1:17, 30/3 Nephi 11:8/Acts 1:9)

8. A resurrected body has blood in its veins. 15:50

• FALSE. 

• Paul tells us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and he’s right, but flesh and bone can. 

• JOSEPH SMITH: Concerning resurrection, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, or the kingdom that God inherits or inhabits, but the flesh without the blood and the Spirit of God flowing in the veins instead of the blood, for blood is the part of the body that causes corruption. Therefore we must be changed in the twinkle of an eye or have to lay down these tabernacles and leave the blood vanish away. . . . Blood is the corruptible part of the tabernacles. (The Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 370-71)

9. The process of an individual’s resurrection will require many hours to complete 15:52

• FALSE.

• vs. 52 reveals that the process of resurrection happens in the twinkling of an eye.  The change apparently, is instantaneous. 

APPLY

Q: How many of you have ever lost a loved one before?

Q: How do the following verses help or comfort you or how could they help someone who has lost a loved one?

• 15:22

• 15:25-26

• 15:54-57

CONCLUSION

• Q: After what we’ve talked about today. What do you look most forward to about the resurrection?

• JOSEPH SMITH: “Those who have died in Jesus Christ may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy when they come forth,  . . . Lay hold of these things and let not your knees or joints tremble, nor your hearts faint; and then what can earthquakes, wars and tornadoes do? Nothing. All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it. …” (History of the Church, 5:361–62; paragraph divisions altered; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 16, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Wilford Woodruff and Willard Richards.)

1 CORINTHIANS 14

Chapter 14 addresses the problem the Corinthians are having with the gift of tongues and really would probably go better with last week’s  lesson on spiritual gifts. But  in Corinth, the gift of tongues seemed to be the most desired gift because it was the most showy or popular of all the gifts. And more likely than not, they are desiring it for self serving reasons-to draw attention to themselves. You know, hey look at me, I’m so spiritual I can speak in tongues. And Paul is going to teach them the real purpose of spiritual gifts.

SEARCH

Q: What is the major purpose of spiritual gifts? Look for the common similar word that is repeated in each of these verses:

14:3, 4, 5, 12, 17, 26

A: Edifying, edification, edifieth. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to edify or build up the church and each other, not ourselves. 

That’s why Paul declares that the gift of prophesy is a greater gift than the gift of tongues because people could understand what was being said. But just watching somebody speak a language that nobody gets, doesn’t really help anybody much. It doesn’t edify. 

That’s why Paul says in vs. 19:

19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. 

APPLY

Q: How can we liken this chapter to us?

Q: How could we apply Paul’s message to the way we approach our church meetings?

DALLIN H. OAKS: Some say “I didn’t learn anything today” or “No one was friendly to me” or “I was offended” or “The Church is not filling my needs.” All those answers are self-centered, and all retard spiritual growth. In contrast, a wise friend wrote: “Years ago, I changed my attitude about going to church. No longer do I go to church for my sake, but to think of others. I make a point of saying hello to people who sit alone, to welcome visitors, … to volunteer for an assignment. …“In short, I go to church each week with the intent of being active, not passive, and making a positive difference in people’s lives. Consequently, my attendance at Church meetings is so much more enjoyable and fulfilling.”

All of this illustrates the eternal principle that we are happier and more fulfilled when we act and serve for what we give, not for what we get.

(Conference Report, May 2009, Unselfish Service.)

I CORINTHIANS 16

READ 

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

More easily stated:

• Be on your guard

• Stand firm in the faith

• Be men of courage

• Be strong

• Do everything in love.

APPLY

Q: Which one of Paul’s exhortations do you need most in your life right now?

Q: What could you do this week to follow it?