I Corinthians 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
35  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

Biblical separation is an important doctrine. All Bible doctrines are important. Biblical separation is there to protect the saints from being deceived. There are proud people who assume they are strong enough to handle what they consider to be false teaching.

I Corinthians 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14  Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

We have already looked at the above verses. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how easily we are deceived. In verse 12 we see that we can convince ourselves that we are strong. In verse 13 we are reminded that God is good to His children and He provides a way to escape temptation. In verse 14 we, saints, are commanded to “flee from idolatry”. We, those who are saved, are given the power to be called sons of God; however, we do not always submit ourselves to that power.
In our text, Paul was directed to address the seriousness of rejecting the resurrection of the dead. This rejection began with a denial of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 33 we are warned that we should not be deceived. There is no reason to be deceived. However, if a person chooses to attend a church that does not teach the truth, they are already deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Those who are saved will be broken down by bad company. Saved people have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. He is there to guide the true saint into all truth. However, true saints can be carnal like the saints in Corinth were. Paul addressed many of the false doctrines they had accepted. He began this letter by pointing out that they had been fighting over some good men. Rather than listening to the teaching of those good men, they were fighting over personalities.
Sadly, today there are many people who are foolishly choosing people based on personalities and are not concerned about the false doctrine of those men. God does not need a man who has been groomed in some elite school. He chooses men who are humble servants who will submit to Him. God’s Word does not need some “professional” trying to spin it in a new way. God’s Word is powerful and needs to be preached with Biblical conviction and boldness. Those who are saved will desire the truth. God is good and He will guide the saved person to the truth. The saved person needs to listen to God’s leading.
In our Friday Zoom meeting we talked about the importance of a true church. One of the participants wondered why that was important. It is extremely important for the very reason God gave here. A bad church will corrupt a saint. No saint is strong enough to stand in a ring with the devil and fight him off. The Bible commands us to:

James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

In verse 34 of our text we are commanded to awake to righteousness. Sleep walking is not allowed in the Spiritual life. Dabbling in heresies is not a mark of spirituality. It is a mark of carnality at best and of being lost at worst. We are further commanded not to sin. Paul stated that there were people in Corinth who did not have the knowledge of God. This was to the shame of the saints in Corinth. They were carnal and could not help anyone to know the true God. We need to know Him. He is a holy God.
He presented Himself as a Holy God to Moses at the burning bush. He reminded Isaiah that He is a Holy God. Peter commands us to be holy as God is holy. Holiness is not optional for the true child of God. It is essential to Christianity. There is much activity in corrupt churches today. People are drawn to that because they love entertainment. A few people will be drawn to true churches. A true church will help those who attend to know the truth. Many will take offence to that. A few will appreciate the truth and be strengthened spiritually, if they are saved. In II Timothy Paul stated that it takes endurance to receive sound doctrine. It is not classified as “fun”. It is needful and it is rewarding, but it is not designed to entertain.
In verse 35 Paul acknowledged a further question regarding the resurrection. How are the dead raised, and with what body do they come? In verse 36 God directed Paul to rebuke the saints regarding this line of questioning. This was something they should have known. They could have known it if they were not so carnal.
Paul referred back to the farmer. The farmer sows a seed. He does not go out to the field and expect to see a bunch of seeds laying on the ground. He expects that seed to sprout and produce a new plant. Later on that seed will not be found. That seed will have died. The energy that was in that seed was used to produce the new plant and the seed had outlived its usefulness.
In verse 37 Paul continued to teach this important truth. The farmer chooses the seed and sows it. He has that opportunity to choose the seed and to plant it.
We know that in modern farming, the farmer will often buy registered seed. That seed is supposed to go through testing to see what the germination content is in it. The farmer puts time and resources into sowing the seed and he wants to be sure his efforts will produce good results. Prior to the modern technology, a farmer might take a small sample of grain and try to sprout it to see how many of the seeds actually sprouted. If the percentage was not very high he would look for a different source for seed.
In verse 38 Paul reminds us that God gives that seed a body. A kernel of wheat can only produce a wheat plant. It will not produce corn or oats, etc. God designed the seed with the correct germ. Man has meddled with God’s design and we have some seeds today that did not exist in the past. We call those GMO seeds. Some company claims ownership of those seeds and demands a high price for their seeds. They try to control the market this way. They ignore God’s design and operate on the basis of greed rather than desiring to provide healthy food for the people.
God designed the seeds to produce good plants that will produce seed of the same type as that which was planted. Man has not improved on the quality of seed by his manipulation of the seed. In a greater sense, man has not improved on religion by his manipulation of what God has decreed. Corrupt religion does not lead to God. It exalts the devil. It defies the true God.
In verse 39 we are reminded that all flesh is not the same. God took the people back to His Creation. He created things after their kind. A human being does not become an animal. Man did not come from the monkey. A dog will never become a cat. A trout will not become a jackfish, etc. The same is true with birds. A robin is not a sparrow. God designed all things with unique features. There are some common factors because there is One True Creator. However, there are distinct differences and those lines of differences cannot be crossed.
Paul was directed to continue to develop this fact in the following verses. We will look at this further next time, Lord willing. It is important to note that God has a certain design for everything. Everything was designed for His glory. Since the fall things have changed. However, in humanity, God had provided the only means for man to please Him. That is through true Biblical salvation. True Biblical salvation requires a repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. As we will see, those who are truly saved have been fundamentally changed by God. They must produce the fruit that God designed them to produce.
Pastor Bartel