1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,920 Well, good morning. As you can see on the screens, 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,160 we're going to be in First Corinthians chapter 15. 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,360 We're going to go through the 1st 11 verses. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,400 So if you want to go ahead and turn there that way you don't 5 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,239 have to do it in just a minute. Over the last few weeks, we've 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:21,480 been reading and studying this letter to the Corinthian church 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,320 called First Corinthians. It's Paul's first letter. 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,520 You guys might be tired of being in First Corinthians. 9 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:27,720 I promise there's light at the end of the tunnel. 10 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,560 We'll be finished before Christmas, actually, Yeah, 11 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:36,320 before Christmas, maybe, anyway. But we've we've seen so much in 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:38,600 this letter about what it means to be the church. 13 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,120 Lately, we've been talking about the gifts of the Spirit. 14 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,920 Pastor Joe taught us that, that if you're a believer, right, you 15 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,440 have a gift. And he also taught us from 16 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,240 Chapter 13. Excuse me, that if you use your 17 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:59,480 gift outside of the context of love, you have nothing and you 18 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:06,160 are nothing, right? You're no more than a noisy gong 19 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,680 or a clanging cymbal. In other words, you're annoying, 20 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:10,440 Joe said. I didn't say that. 21 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:15,120 Joe said it last week. Pastor Jake talked to talked to 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,360 us about the importance of using our gifts in the church in an 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,920 orderly way. We need to come here and worship 24 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:27,200 the Lord in an orderly fashion because that's how he wants to 25 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:28,560 be worshipped. We see that all through 26 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,240 Scripture, right? We see it in the Old Testament 27 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:33,360 books. We see it in the law. 28 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,640 We see all through. Like there's chapter after 29 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,280 chapter in Exodus that you guys went through before I came here 30 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,120 about how the temple should be set up. 31 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,760 How should we set up the Tabernacle as we travel through 32 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,600 the wilderness? He gave specific instructions on 33 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,480 how he wants to be worshipped. God wants to be worshipped in an 34 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:55,600 orderly way. I'd like to ask you a question 35 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,760 this morning, though, like like Pastor Jake, he he emphasized 36 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,400 building people up. It's important for us to come. 37 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,600 And Paul has been doing this all throughout the letter. 38 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,840 He's been asking us and telling us that that everything we 39 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,320 should do should be for the purpose of building others up. 40 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,000 So I want to ask you this question this morning. 41 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,280 What are we building each other up in? 42 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:17,560 Is it self esteem? Am I? 43 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,840 Am I here to give you a pat on the back and make you feel good 44 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,000 about yourself? Is it just good feelings? 45 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,160 Hey, you did a good job or hey, your sports team won? 46 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,280 Is it just encouragement? Am I supposed to come here and 47 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,760 just offer a warm smile and easy conversation? 48 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:40,120 Thank you. Is what I'm supposed to do? 49 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,120 Is that what I'm supposed to do? Is, is, is that all we're 50 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:44,600 supposed to do to build each other up? 51 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:47,240 All of these things are good things, right? 52 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,880 We should encourage one another. We should offer an easy 53 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:56,280 conversation and a warm smile. We should do these things. 54 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,760 But all of that can be done in the context of, of where you 55 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,920 work your job. That can be done at the Rotary 56 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:04,240 Club. I was talking to someone last 57 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:05,280 night. I was watching the parade in 58 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,120 Kingsville. And we're talking about like, 59 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,200 oh, you know, if you just want a social club, join the Rotary 60 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:09,720 Club. They do. 61 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,120 They do social things better than the church anyway. 62 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,960 All of those things can be done outside of the context of the 63 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,400 church. But what different what? 64 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,120 What differentiates the church from the from a Country Club? 65 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,720 What what is the big difference? What makes having coffee with a 66 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,520 friend, a Christian friend different than having coffee 67 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,560 with with a non believer? Well the answer it should be 68 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,640 very obvious to us right? The difference is the gospel of 69 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,640 Jesus Christ. Paul has been beating the drum 70 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,040 of building others up through the whole letter. 71 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,760 And now here when we get to 1st Corinthians chapter 15, he's 72 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,360 trying to make something abundantly clear. 73 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,640 He's been responding to all sorts of things, right? 74 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,640 We'll do a quick review. He he's he's he's responding to 75 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,920 like explicit relationships in the church, meat sacrifice to 76 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,600 idols, gifts given by the Spirit, when to Mary, when to 77 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,480 divorce. And now he's addressed all of 78 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,480 these things. He says, all right, I'm done. 79 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,240 I'm done answering your letter to me. 80 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:15,000 Now I've got something to tell you. 81 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,200 And he moves on to the main thing. 82 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,399 So I want you to read with me here in First Corinthians 15. 83 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,160 We're going to read the first 11 verses. 84 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:30,200 I'll be reading from the Christian standard Bible Paul 85 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,240 writes. Now I want to make clear for 86 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,240 you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which 87 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,560 you received, on which you have taken your stand, and by which 88 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,760 you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preach to you, 89 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,480 unless you believed in vain, for I passed on to you as most 90 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,680 important what I also received. That Christ died for our sins 91 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,960 according to the Scriptures. That He was buried, that He was 92 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,400 raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 93 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,440 And then He appeared to Cephas, then to the 12. 94 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,320 Then He appeared to over 500 brothers and sisters at one 95 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,600 time. Most of them are still alive, 96 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,840 but some have fallen asleep. And then he appeared to James, 97 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:15,920 and then to all the apostles. And last of all, as to one born 98 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,000 at the wrong time, he also appeared to me. 99 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,120 For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be 100 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,840 called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God. 101 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,560 But by the grace of God, I am what I am. 102 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:35,600 And His grace toward me was not in vain, On the contrary, I 103 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,840 worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God 104 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,960 that was in me. Whether then it is I or they, so 105 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,840 we proclaim, and so you have believed. 106 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:55,640 Let's pray. Well, good morning, Father, we 107 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,160 recognize this morning that we can only call this day good 108 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:04,920 because of you. And Father, the good news of the 109 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,600 message of your son, Jesus Christ. 110 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,800 So we recognize that this can only be a good day and a good 111 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,320 morning, not because of the weather, not because of of of 112 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,520 how beautiful you made it, but because of, of what you did in 113 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,680 sending your Son to us. So Lord, we pray that you would 114 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:23,120 help us to understand that today. 115 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,800 Help us this morning to incline our hearts to the testimony of 116 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,520 Your Son, not for selfish or prideful gain, but for Your name 117 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,840 and Your name alone to be glorified and worshipped. 118 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,880 Father, I ask that You open our eyes to behold the wonderful 119 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:46,520 things in Your Word and help us to understand the message, the 120 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,640 meaning, and the might of the Gospel. 121 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,880 We also ask that You, You, unite our hearts to fear Your name and 122 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,280 satisfy us this morning with Your steadfast love. 123 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,000 And we pray all of these things together in the name of Jesus. 124 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,320 Amen. So as I mentioned before, Paul 125 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,880 is moving from gifts and order in worship to make something 126 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,520 very clear and utmost importance. 127 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:14,520 The good news. So he starts this chapter with 128 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,920 this phrase. He says, Now I want to make 129 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,360 clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I 130 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,640 preached to you. The translation you're reading 131 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,920 might say remind, it might say make known to you. 132 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,880 But I think the CSV gets it closer to Paul's intent here. 133 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,800 It's more than making the gospel known, and it's more than 134 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:38,160 reminding you. What we see here over the course 135 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:42,240 of chapter 15 is that Paul wants to make it abundantly clear. 136 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,640 What we see here is one of the most robust, like one of the 137 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,600 most robust explanations of the doctrine of the resurrection 138 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,920 that you'll find in the entire Bible. 139 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,040 He's going to clarify in these verses what it means, what to 140 00:07:58,040 --> 00:07:59,720 believe the message of the gospel. 141 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,240 Danny Aiken, who's been so helpful with his commentary for 142 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,560 us and helping us organize our outlines and organize how we how 143 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:07,960 we present First Corinthians to you. 144 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,240 He says this. He says the church is unique in 145 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,040 many ways compared to any other institution or entity in the 146 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,480 world, not the least of which is because the mission of the 147 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,440 church is actually determined by the message of the church. 148 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,440 I want you guys to get that. Our mission as a church is 149 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:31,440 determined by the message of the church, and that is the gospel. 150 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,440 If we get nothing else right, we have to get that right. 151 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,480 Everything we do here at LEMC has to be centered on the gospel 152 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,880 of Jesus Christ. It has to be what we talked 153 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,280 about the most. It has to be what we talked 154 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:49,400 about the loudest in all of our meetings. 155 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:51,800 If you're in a leadership meeting, if you're meeting with 156 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,760 a ministry team, the gospel has to be front and center. 157 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,520 Otherwise, you're not doing what the Bible says we're supposed to 158 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,600 be doing. It's the most important message 159 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,200 of the Bible and the message of the church, and we must make 160 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,240 every effort to proclaim it to the world. 161 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,680 There are a lot of issues in Scripture that we can focus on, 162 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:13,560 and we should. We should give time and 163 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,720 attention to. And while they're important and 164 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,560 should be discussed, they aren't what we need to be defined by. 165 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,080 I'll give you a few examples. This is like you go to a doctor 166 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,320 or you go to the hospital and you go into the emergency room 167 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:30,840 and you're in there and you you have your wrist chopped off. 168 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,920 You're going to get seen faster than someone who has a cut on 169 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:35,240 their finger. It's called triage. 170 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,440 The nurses are going to say that guy needs, certainly needs 171 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:39,480 service more than that guy. So we're going to take that guy. 172 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,480 First. Let me give you some examples of 173 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,160 what we call theological triage. Couple of examples, not many. 174 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,040 There are some Christians who make it their number one 175 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,720 priority and they're most concerned with the three to five 176 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,560 verses you read on Friday. If you're reading in the church 177 00:09:56,560 --> 00:10:00,640 reading plan in Revelation chapter 20, where John describes 178 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,200 that there's going to be 1000 year reign. 179 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,360 And some people are so concerned with that that they lose the 180 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,920 message of the gospel here. They would, they would more, 181 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,240 they would, they would prefer to, to talk about those four or 182 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,120 five verses in Revelation chapter 20 than they would to 183 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,080 talk about the whole gospel and the rest of the New Testament. 184 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,160 And it is important for us. I'm not, don't get me wrong, 185 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,880 don't hear what I'm not saying. It is important for us to 186 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,600 understand and interpret the Book of Revelation and those 187 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,400 specific verses. But if when I look at you and 188 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:34,800 you're walking up to me and I'm walking up to you and the first 189 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,600 thing that comes to my mind is your stance on that particular 190 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,520 issue, then it may be possible that in my interactions with 191 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,520 you, one or both of us has prioritized that over the 192 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,200 gospel. Another example would be like 193 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,160 the mode of baptism. We believe in this church that 194 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,400 those who profess faith in Christ should be baptized. 195 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,320 Those only those who have professed faith in Christ should 196 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,080 be baptized. And that means that the person 197 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,440 confess, confessing faith needs to be old enough to understand 198 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,480 the good news explained and to be able to confess with their 199 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,960 mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's called believers baptism. 200 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,560 We believe that here in this church, but I have friends who I 201 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:20,280 know that are Christians, I know they're saved, that believe 202 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:21,760 something different about baptism. 203 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,880 They believe that it's biblical to baptize infants into the 204 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,160 church. And on this point, we absolutely 205 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:32,880 disagree. However, neither of us would 206 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:34,960 believe that baptism is what saves us. 207 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,880 Only repentance and faith according to the gospel can do 208 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,680 that. But making the mode of baptism, 209 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,400 if that, if that's the key issue among us, then something other 210 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,080 than the gospel has been is put in place of the main thing. 211 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:53,320 So we have to think about what matters most. 212 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:58,120 And we can happily discuss and debate issues like this, but we 213 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,920 should never elevate them above these matters of less importance 214 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,200 to above the main thing, which is the gospel. 215 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,000 When we do that, we risk distracting the church from the 216 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,880 mission given to us by Christ. In Matthew 28 he says this, He 217 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,280 says Jesus came near to them and said all authority has been 218 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,720 given to me on heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples 219 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,000 of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the 220 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,000 Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've 221 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,720 commanded you. And remember I'm with you always 222 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,600 to the end of the age. We don't want to get distracted 223 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,880 because the mission of the church, right? 224 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,360 The mission of the church is determined by the message of the 225 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:41,840 church. Paul's telling us here that we 226 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,800 must prioritize the message of the gospel in our churches. 227 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:46,680 He says this. He says, now I want to make 228 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:49,160 clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached 229 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,640 to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand, 230 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,520 and by which you're being saved if you hold to the message I 231 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,520 preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 232 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,240 So he brought them the gospel, the good news. 233 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:03,560 They received it and they made it. 234 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:05,400 They made it the priority of their lives. 235 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:06,760 They said they're staking their lives. 236 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,240 They're taking their stand on the gospel, the good news of 237 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:11,400 Jesus. That's what they're doing. 238 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,200 He references an earlier point from the beginning of the letter 239 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,680 and he says the gospel, this good news, is how they're being 240 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:21,080 saved. Remember we talked about that 241 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,280 way back months ago. They're being saved. 242 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:25,880 It's a process of sanctification. 243 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,080 The gospel is what we're is what is saving us. 244 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,720 It's why we can't stop talking about it, like we can't just 245 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,520 make it what we talked about at the beginning and you're 246 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,440 converted and OK, you don't have to talk about the gospel 247 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,640 anymore. No, brothers and sisters, you 248 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,520 are being saved. You are being built up in 249 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:43,600 Christ. If you get tired of hearing the 250 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,720 gospel, then I don't know if you're a Christian. 251 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:53,520 The gospel is the good news. What does he say? 252 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,040 What does he mean when he says? Unless they have believed in 253 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,600 vain. Well, it made me think of the 254 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,920 parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 13, the parable of the 255 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,280 soils where the Gospel seed is spread out all over different 256 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,920 different types of soil. We can read that together here. 257 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,040 It says, It says. Then he told them many things in 258 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,400 parables, saying consider the sower who went out to sow. 259 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,280 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds 260 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,480 came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground 261 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,080 where it didn't have much soil and it grew up quickly since the 262 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,480 soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, it was 263 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,080 scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 264 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,240 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns came up and choked 265 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,440 it. Still other seed fell on good 266 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:46,560 ground and produced fruit some 100, some 60, some 30 times what 267 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,800 was sown. But anyone who has ears, listen. 268 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,560 So here in this parable, Jesus is teaching, he's teaching us 269 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:56,560 that there are some who will hear the gospel. 270 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,520 And it seems like that there's something real there. 271 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,280 It seems like that there's a a true conversion, there's a 272 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,040 sprout, but the root is never able to take hold. 273 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:13,360 So what does that mean for us today? 274 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,080 It means that I think that that it is a place for us to really 275 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,360 take a moment. This, this is a just, it's just 276 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,760 an aside Paul throws in there. He says unless some of you have 277 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,440 believed in vain, but but what it take a moment and think, 278 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,600 think about yourself and your life as a believer. 279 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,080 The goal here, my goal here to to bring this up is not to have 280 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,000 you question your salvation, but it's for you to think about how 281 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,520 you live your life and ask yourself this question. 282 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,120 Have I prioritized the message of the gospel in my life? 283 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,320 When I'm faced with challenges in my own life, do I reflect 284 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:51,360 what Christ has done to reconcile me to himself when I 285 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,400 have the opportunity to speak into the lives of others who 286 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,200 give who come to me for advice or or who come to me for 287 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,240 consolation, Maybe they maybe they want to come to you and 288 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:02,640 they just want to commiserate. They want to like they want to 289 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,240 say, Hey, I'm this is this bad things going on in my life? 290 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,000 Isn't it so bad? They just want you to say, yeah, 291 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,840 it's bad. Is what you what you the first 292 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,600 thing that comes out of your heart and your mind is it? 293 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:14,880 Is it the gospel? Is it sent? 294 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,600 Is the advice you're about to give centered on the gospel in 295 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,240 their life? We have to remember this, guys, 296 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:26,600 that anything that is almost the gospel isn't the gospel, right? 297 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,360 You can't almost believe the gospel. 298 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,640 So when it comes to our ministries and our events here 299 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,800 at this church, we need to ensure that we are prioritizing 300 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,800 the gospel in everything. If the gospel is not the center 301 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:47,800 of everything we do, then we don't need to do it based on 302 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,880 Scripture. We don't need to do it if it's 303 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:56,720 if it's just to come and have a good time, we don't need to do 304 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,600 it. That's not that's not what the 305 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,520 church is for. The church is for giving the 306 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,360 gospel to a sick and dying world. 307 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,319 That is what it's for. Invite your sick friends who are 308 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:08,880 sick because they're aren't they're lost. 309 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,319 Invite them to the church so that they can hear the gospel. 310 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,880 It I've been in churches where, where you can, you can invite 311 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,880 someone to the church and you never know what's going to be 312 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,079 preached. You never know if they're going 313 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:21,920 to get the gospel And you honestly, I don't even want to 314 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:25,440 invite somebody to that church because if I'm inviting a lost 315 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,960 friend to church, I want them to get the gospel and everything. 316 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,600 I want them to hear that Jesus is the only way that they can be 317 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,640 reconciled to the Father. We must prioritize the message 318 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,320 of the gospel. So if we're going to prioritize 319 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,000 the message of the gospel, we better know what it means, 320 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,600 right? So we must recognize the meaning 321 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,040 of the gospel. That's our second point today. 322 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:47,520 I've been saying that word a lot. 323 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,960 For those of you who count, gospel is probably the number 324 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,000 one word in the sermon Alexand. She counts the words. 325 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,120 But so I've been saying it a lot, but what does it really 326 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:00,680 mean? What does it mean? 327 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,200 You may know this already, but the the word gospel literally 328 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,600 means good news. So as a preacher of the gospel, 329 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,040 what that means is I'm a herald of the good news. 330 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,480 It has to be the the thing we we shout the most and the loudest. 331 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,800 Paul's helpful in how he transitions. 332 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,920 He's he isn't going to leave the important issue to chance in 333 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,320 this text by assuming that they remember. 334 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,600 Remember he says what I delivered to you that he does. 335 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,600 He's not going to assume that they remember what he delivered. 336 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:31,760 So he's going to spell it out for him. 337 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,480 He says this in verses three to four. 338 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,920 He says, for I passed on to you as most important what I also 339 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,200 received that Christ died for our sins according to the 340 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,120 Scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the 341 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,600 third day according to the Scriptures. 342 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,160 Friends, this gospel, the gospel is summed up beautifully here 343 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,480 using 3 components. All right, three components. 344 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,560 The first one is this. Christ died for our sins 345 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:01,480 according to the Scriptures. There's nothing or out of the 346 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,200 ordinary about someone dying. I think we all have experienced 347 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,640 that in our lives and we will all experience it personally one 348 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,200 day. There's an old saying, right? 349 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,600 It goes like this. It's like there's only two 350 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,520 things guaranteed in life, death and taxes. 351 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,720 It's a guarantee. Death is a fact of life. 352 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:26,600 So Jesus dying wasn't unusual. In fact the the way that he died 353 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,480 crucifixion wasn't unusual during that time period. 354 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,280 In his book The Wickedness of the Crucifixion, John MacArthur 355 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,400 suggested that that during the time of the Roman occupation of 356 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:41,480 Israel as many as 30,000 Jews were crucified. 357 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,880 So what made what made Jesus death different? 358 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,400 Well it was the fact that he died for our sins. 359 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,160 Jesus death had a purpose. In Galatians 1 Paul writes this. 360 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,640 He says Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue 361 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:04,560 us from the present evil age according to the will of God, of 362 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,920 our God and Father Jesus death wasn't an ordinary occurrence. 363 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,240 And Paul doesn't quote it says according to the scriptures, 364 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:14,920 right? He says he says that twice here. 365 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,520 He doesn't give us a specific scripture when he's saying that 366 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:22,240 Jesus is the fulfillment, but perhaps he had Isaiah's words in 367 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,440 mind. When I think of the gospels, I 368 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,760 think of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but I also think that of 369 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,200 the 5th gospel, Isaiah, because in Isaiah you get a beautiful 370 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,640 picture of what Christ did for us. 371 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,000 Thinking Isaiah has been given an insight into what God is 372 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,080 going to do in the future and he describes in very beautiful 373 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:45,600 words what happens, says it's in Isaiah 53, five But he was 374 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,760 pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of 375 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,480 our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on 376 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,000 Him, and we are healed by His wounds. 377 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,760 And perhaps Paul had this other verse in mind. 5312, just just a 378 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,160 few verses down. Therefore I will give them. 379 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,400 Excuse me. Therefore I will give Him the 380 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,560 many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, 381 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,080 because He willingly submitted to death, and was counted among 382 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,760 the rebels, Yet He bore the sin of many, and interceded for the 383 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,080 rebels. Jesus died for a reason. 384 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:24,360 He died for our sins as a fulfillment of the Scriptures. 385 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,840 The second thing we need to see here that Paul spells out for 386 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,840 us, it's very clear, Paul wants to make it abundantly clear that 387 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:37,120 Jesus was buried. Denny Akin points out again that 388 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,360 while this may seem like a redundant thing to say, of 389 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,400 course you bury dead people. That's what you do. 390 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,920 It's it may be redundant to say that a dead man was buried. 391 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,800 It's much more than that. It's tied to fulfillment of 392 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,880 Scripture again. Again, we'll go to Isaiah 53. 393 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,520 In the in verse 9, he says he was assigned a grave to the 394 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,560 wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death because he had 395 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,880 done no violence and he had not spoken deceitfully. 396 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,360 Paul's making it abundantly clear, perhaps answering rumors, 397 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,600 that Jesus didn't die. There's a theory called the 398 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:10,800 swoon theory that Jesus just passed out on the cross and they 399 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:12,080 pulled him down. He wasn't dead. 400 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,400 In that case, why would they put Roman soldiers in front of the 401 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:16,800 tomb? All of those things to think 402 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,760 about when you think about the resurrection. 403 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,440 The important thing that Paul wants to say here is that Jesus 404 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,440 did die. He died and he died for our 405 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,280 sins. He was buried. 406 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,520 And the third thing is he was raised on the third day. 407 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,000 Friends, the first two things don't matter at all if this 408 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,280 didn't happen. It it doesn't matter one bit if 409 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,080 the resurrection isn't true. The effectiveness of Jesus death 410 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,800 for the forgiveness of sin is proven out by the resurrection. 411 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,960 I'm reminded of the questions that the Pharisees had after 412 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,960 Jesus heals the man, remember he heals the man in Luke 5 that's 413 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,520 lowered down through the roof. They dig out of the top of the 414 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,600 roof and they lower this guy down and the first thing Jesus 415 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,640 says to them, it's like, friend, your sins are forgiven. 416 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,200 And the question the Pharisees asked him in Luke 521 is that is 417 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,080 that then the scribes and the Pharisees, they begin to think 418 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,840 to themselves, who is this man who speaks blasphemies? 419 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,400 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 420 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,240 Paul said that Jesus died concerning our sins. 421 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,160 He died for the forgiveness of our sins. 422 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,400 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 423 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,520 Friends, the resurrection of Christ proves that He is who He 424 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:32,320 says He is. Jesus Christ is God, the One who 425 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,200 has the power over sin and death. 426 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:39,120 The grave could not contain Him, sin could not defeat Him, Paul 427 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:41,320 writes he was raised on the third day according to the 428 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,160 Scriptures. Look with me in Romans 59 to 10. 429 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,120 He recognizes Paul does that. Forgiveness of sins comes 430 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,720 through both the death and the resurrection of Jesus, he says 431 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,320 in Romans Romans 5. He says, how much more than 432 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:58,200 since we have now been justified by his blood, we will be saved 433 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,440 through him from wrath. For if while we were enemies, we 434 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,520 were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how 435 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,840 much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by 436 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,120 his life? You're reconciled by the death 437 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:20,360 of your, of, of, of Jesus. We're saved by his life, the 438 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:23,240 resurrection, the power of salvation comes through the 439 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,240 resurrection. He's expressing here the the 440 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,120 importance of these components of the gospel. 441 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,880 He's tying them to scriptures, but he also speaks to the truth 442 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,120 of the evidence by reminding the Christians that like these these 443 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:38,240 Corinthians that there there were eyewitnesses that were 444 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,680 still alive. He says this, he says he 445 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,840 appeared to Cephas, also known as Peter, then to the 12. 446 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,720 Then he appeared to over 500 brothers and sisters at one 447 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,080 time. Most of them are still alive. 448 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,200 Some have fallen asleep. Remember we talked about that 449 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,120 and falling asleep to to that in that day. 450 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,840 It was some have died, then he appeared to James, then all the 451 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:00,520 apostles. Paul says, hey, hey, hey, you 452 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:01,840 don't have to take my word for it. 453 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,720 Don't take my word for it. Go ask one of the 500 people 454 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,480 that are still alive. Go ask them what they saw when 455 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,880 Jesus appeared to them. Jesus died. 456 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,040 He was buried, he was raised, and then he appeared to all 457 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,040 these folks. Go ask them. 458 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,080 They'll tell you it's true. One of my professors, Tom 459 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:22,920 Shrinery writes in his commentary, says this. 460 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:27,680 He says the resurrection appears to so many, have a cumulative 461 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,920 effect. So many different people at so 462 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,600 many different times were not deceived. 463 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:34,680 It appeared to all these different people at all these 464 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,320 different times. He's underscoring Paul is 465 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,360 underscoring the fact that it's really unlikely that this many 466 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:43,720 people could have hallucinated the same thing at the same time. 467 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,280 So there it is, the three components of the gospel. 468 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,760 Jesus died, He was buried and he was raised on the third day. 469 00:25:54,800 --> 00:26:01,400 There it is in all its simplistic glory that Christ 470 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,840 died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was 471 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,840 buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the 472 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,320 Scriptures. Brothers and sisters, do you 473 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,800 believe it? Do you believe this to be true? 474 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,200 Do you recognize the meaning of the gospel, the good news that 475 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,600 Jesus Christ is God and He alone has the power to forgive your 476 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,240 sins? I ask you that do you believe it 477 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:32,480 knowing that the seed goes out over all types of soils and just 478 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,040 by the number of people in the room that that we have with us 479 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,600 on Sunday after Sunday, it's likely that some of some of you 480 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,960 here it hasn't taken root. So I ask you to to really 481 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:48,080 consider, do you believe the gospel, the good news that Jesus 482 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,280 died for your sins, that he was buried and that he was raised on 483 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,960 the third day according to the Scriptures. 484 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:58,920 So let's move on. So far we've seen that we must 485 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:00,720 prioritize the message of the gospel. 486 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,440 We must recognize the meaning of the gospel. 487 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,920 Now we're going to see that we must emphasize the might of the 488 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,880 gospel. There may be nothing more 489 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,560 impactful. There's some evangelist in here 490 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,640 that go out. There's there's in my mind. 491 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,720 There's nothing more impactful than sharing your personal 492 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:22,360 testimony of how God has saved you from your sin when you talk 493 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:23,640 to someone else about the gospel. 494 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:28,400 Here in the section we see a biblical example of that we see 495 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,080 here in eight through 11. Paul says last of all as to one 496 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,320 born at the wrong time. He also appeared to me, for I am 497 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,040 the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle 498 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,000 because I persecuted the Church of God. 499 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:42,960 But by the grace of God, I am what I am. 500 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,160 And his grace toward me was not in vain. 501 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,240 On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but 502 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,600 the grace of God that was in me, whether then it is I or they. 503 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,880 So we proclaim and so you have believed. 504 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,000 So in Paul's list of all the people that Jesus appeared to 505 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,400 after the resurrection, he mentions himself. 506 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,840 He says last of all as someone born at the wrong time. 507 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,880 He says this to highlight the reality of what we sang earlier 508 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,640 today, that without a true act of God, there would be no way 509 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,640 that you would believe. There would be no way that Paul 510 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,360 would have ever believed that Jesus was Christ. 511 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,200 But God did act. God invaded Paul's life. 512 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,760 God took a murdering zealot and made him a loving apostle. 513 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:34,400 He took a murderer who was killing Christians, and he 514 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,040 turned him into the guy who wrote First Corinthians 13. 515 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,960 Think about that. It's incredible to think about. 516 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,520 The conversion of Paul is one of the most incredible stories 517 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:49,600 you'll ever read. Paul was on a mission to destroy 518 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,880 the to destroy the church in its infancy. 519 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,640 We see that in Acts chapter 8 we get a glimpse into the reality 520 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,280 says this Paul, also known as Saul, said Saul agreed with 521 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:00,880 putting him to death, meaning Stephen. 522 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,520 On that day, a severe persecution broke out against 523 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,120 the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were 524 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,160 scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria, and devout 525 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,480 men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. 526 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,360 Saul, however, was ravaging the church. 527 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,080 He would enter house after house, drag men and women off 528 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,520 and put them into prison. So Paul's trajectory in life was 529 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,720 pointed straight to hell. But he didn't think so, right? 530 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,280 He thought he was. What he was doing was honoring 531 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,240 God. He felt that he was acting on 532 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,120 God's behalf. He was zealous for the Lord. 533 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:35,760 But he had missed what God was doing. 534 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,880 He had missed it as if he'd been born at the wrong time. 535 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,320 In verse 10, we get the conjunction. 536 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:43,800 In verse 10 in First Corinthians, we get the 537 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,040 conjunction. But anytime you read but you 538 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,880 need to start looking at what's happening, He says this. 539 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,760 He says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. 540 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,160 And his grace toward me was not in vain. 541 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,080 On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but 542 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,440 the grace of God that was with me. 543 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,400 Paul's trajectory in life was bent on destroying God's church, 544 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:09,080 but God had other plans. Paul calls the intervention into 545 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,000 his life the grace of God. Paul didn't deserve what Jesus 546 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,240 did for him. In fact, he deserved the exact 547 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,000 opposite. But Acts 9 describes the events 548 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,280 of Paul's conversion. It says in Acts 9, it says while 549 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,480 Paul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples 550 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,680 of the Lord, God intervened. He blind Saul on the road to 551 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,760 Damascus, and Jesus himself speaks to him. 552 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,000 He announces himself to Paul saying I am Jesus, the one 553 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,920 you're persecuting. And he then goes into town where 554 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,800 he's visited by a disciple named Ananias who didn't want to go 555 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,640 because he knew who Saul was. He was terrified of making that 556 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,400 visit. And this is what Paul told us. 557 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,480 Paul is told as his sight is restored after three days of 558 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,240 blindness, says it says Ananias went and entered the house. 559 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,160 He placed his hands on him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord 560 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,160 Jesus who appeared to you on the road you were travelling, has 561 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,040 sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with 562 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,480 the Holy Spirit. And at once something like 563 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,960 scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight and then he 564 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,600 got up. He was baptized. 565 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,600 Did you catch that? That was a, that was a transfer 566 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,040 of this. This is a physical picture for 567 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,320 us. This is a transfer from darkness 568 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,120 to light. Scales fell off his eyes and he 569 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,520 was able to see again in an instant. 570 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:33,880 Jesus did that. The gospel is the only message 571 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,600 that has the power to take anyone from sin to salvation, 572 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,120 from hell to heaven, from death to life, and from darkness to 573 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,080 light. If you think you're too far gone 574 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,920 for Jesus to save you, think about Paul. 575 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,040 Remember what it said. It says while Paul was still 576 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,720 breathing threats and murder against God's people, God saved 577 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:57,760 him. If you think you're too far 578 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:02,560 gone, you're wrong. Paul's response was not to sit 579 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,280 by the sideline ashamed of what he had done. 580 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,440 On the contrary, he allowed the Spirit of God to work in him. 581 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,440 He says that that of those whom Jesus appeared, he had worked 582 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,640 the hardest, giving, giving the message of the gospel to as many 583 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,560 as he could. He took his calling very 584 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,760 seriously. If Paul had merely stopped 585 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,480 persecuting the church, if he had just stopped doing what he 586 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,360 was doing, that would have been a huge win for the good guys, 587 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:27,800 right? If he had just stopped 588 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,240 persecuting, stop breathing murder. 589 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,760 Stop breathing violence. It would have been a huge win. 590 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:33,760 But God doesn't work in small ways. 591 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,200 God wants to show the world just how good he is. 592 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:43,200 He demonstrated the might of the gospel in the conversion of 593 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,800 Paul. He took someone who wanted to 594 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:53,480 make the good news bad and made him a herald for the only one 595 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:58,200 who can save. Paul's testimony is the best 596 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,920 argument for the truth of the gospel. 597 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,040 I want to say that last line one more time. 598 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:10,360 He took someone who wanted to make the good news bad and made 599 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,080 him a herald for the only one who can save. 600 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,800 I just have to sit sit there and think about that. 601 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:24,120 He has the power to save even those who hate him so much. 602 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,160 If you think you've that you that you're not, you're not 603 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:30,880 there yet. If you think you're too far gone 604 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:32,480 for God to save you, you're wrong. 605 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:35,440 So I have a few final thoughts today. 606 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,000 As we wrap up, I want to quickly review what we've talked about. 607 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,680 We must prioritize the message of the gospel. 608 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,800 Christian brother, sister, examine your lives. 609 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,040 Is the gospel the priority of your heart? 610 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,920 Ministry leaders, those of you who have leadership in this 611 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:58,080 church, pastors down to people who serve in any, in any area, 612 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,640 is the gospel the center of your ministry? 613 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,160 I can promise you that, that all of us pastors have committed to 614 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,080 making the gospel the center of everything we do here at LAMC. 615 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,239 So I want, I want you to think about this, ask yourselves as 616 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,080 you're planning things for the church, you're planning events 617 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,239 for the church. How is this making the gospel 618 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,120 the central focus? How are we, how are we teaching 619 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,400 people who come to our to our event, who come to whatever 620 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,400 we're doing? How do we, how do we show them 621 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,760 that the gospel is central to what we do and say? 622 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,400 Everything we have to do has to be continually evaluated to 623 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:34,920 ensure that the good news is proclaimed. 624 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:39,280 Because we are so prone to drift outside of that, we have to be 625 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:44,000 so laser focused on making sure that what we do here is centered 626 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:48,360 on God's good news. Next, we must recognize the 627 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,320 meaning of the gospel. In order to be convictional in 628 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:51,920 anything, we have to understand it. 629 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:55,520 So we need to understand the gospel front and backwards. 630 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,080 Paul says this. He says he's not ashamed of the 631 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,760 gospel because it has the power. It is the power of God for 632 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,360 salvation to everyone who believes. 633 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:07,040 We believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation 634 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:11,400 for all who believe. Remember, we are being saved, 635 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,840 which means we need the gospel every day. 636 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,760 We need it today just as much as the day we were converted. 637 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,960 I just I just beg you as you go home today to dwell on the truth 638 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,560 that you need the gospel just as much today as you did the day 639 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:29,440 you were converted. You need it. 640 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,040 First Corinthians, it's in in verse three to four, it says 641 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,120 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 642 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,880 He was buried. He was raised on the third day 643 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,680 according to the Scriptures. And that, friends, is good news. 644 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,840 So we must emphasize the might of the gospel as well. 645 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,240 So when telling others the good news, there's nothing more 646 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:52,200 impactful to remember than sharing your own story. 647 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:54,600 Share how God has changed your life. 648 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,240 And remember that if God can save Paul, he can save anyone. 649 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:00,120 I just want you to remember this. 650 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,440 It's not necessarily how much sin you've committed in your 651 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:05,640 life that's going to send you to hell. 652 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,320 It's not about how much sin that sends you to hell. 653 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:14,320 Your sin you were born with it is what separates you from God, 654 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,080 and if you do nothing about that, you will go to hell. 655 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,800 Living in the dark in many ways is hell already. 656 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:29,160 I just want you to know that what will keep you in hell is 657 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,280 the rejection of the light of the gospel. 658 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,760 If Paul had kept going on persecuting Christians, had he 659 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,280 not had an experience with the living God? 660 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:45,960 If God had not invaded his life and he had just refused to 661 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:50,120 believe, he would have remained a blind man who never regained 662 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:51,600 his sight, and he would have quickly died. 663 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:00,160 What will keep you separated from God is rejecting the light 664 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,720 of the gospel. If you're here today and you 665 00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:07,760 feel God tugging on your heart, urging you to follow him. 666 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,160 If you've been a member of this church or in church since you 667 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:17,080 were eight days old and you've heard the gospel over and over 668 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,960 and over again and you've just resisted it over and over and 669 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,200 over again, friend, I just don't waste another second. 670 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,680 Surrender to God and recognize Him for who He is. 671 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,440 Jesus died for your sins in fulfillment of the Scriptures. 672 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,760 He was buried and raised on the third day. 673 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:40,760 And this is such good news. Who has the power to forgive 674 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:45,880 sins but God alone, friend, Jesus Christ is God, His death 675 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,000 atone for the sins of all those who believe. 676 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,880 And I urge you to put your faith in him today. 677 00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,240 Embrace the free gift of grace in your life. 678 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:56,760 Step out of the darkness and into the light. 679 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:01,800 Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for 680 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:03,040 the good news. That is the gospel. 681 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,960 Thank you that you that you did not want to leave us in our sin, 682 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:13,840 but that you sent Jesus to live that perfect life and to die on 683 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:15,480 the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. 684 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:20,040 He died concerning our sins to fulfill the scriptures to 685 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,720 fulfill your plan, your plan A from the beginning. 686 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,920 So Lord, I pray that that that someone here today that that 687 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:28,400 needs to put their faith and trust in you. 688 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:31,560 Lord, I pray that you would that you would you would move in 689 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:33,240 their heart in such a way that they cannot resist. 690 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,240 Thank you so much for for our worship. 691 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,080 Help us to stay centered on you and everything we do here at 692 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,400 LMC. Pray these things in Jesus name, 693 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:45,480 Amen.