Turn again this morning to 1
Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We read this from verse 1. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which
also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve,
After that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom
the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen
asleep. After that, he was seen of James,
then of all the apostles, and last of all, he was seen of me
also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the
apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle, because
I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether
it were I or they, so we preach, and so he believed. Verse ten, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. Considered before this declaration
of Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And how he had come to know that salvation was not through
his works, not through the law, not through a decision he made,
not by the will of man or the might of man, but entirely from
start to finish by the grace of God. Paul was a man, Saul, who was
raised up in religion, He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees
of the tribe of Benjamin. He knew the Scriptures. He was
zealous in the Scriptures and zealous in what he saw to be
the service of God. He writes elsewhere that according
to the law in its outward sense he was blameless. He followed
the rituals and the practices of the Jewish religion. He sacrificed
according to the commands of God. He felt like he was serving
God. And yet, that got him nowhere. That got him to the place where
when Christ, the Son of God, the promised Messiah according
to the scriptures, came into this world, Saul rejected him. He saw Christ as an imposter,
a threat, as one who was opposed to the religion he knew, as one
who set it to naught. And he went about everywhere
persecuting the church, persecuting those that followed Christ, persecuting
Christ. Until that day when Christ met
him, as he travelled on the Damascus road seeking to put to death
believers, seeking to head to Damascus to cause havoc in the
church, Christ met him on the way and cried out to him out
of a light from heaven that shone all around Saul, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? I am Jesus. whom thou persecutest. And for the first day in his
life Saul heard inwardly from Christ on high the word of God
in power. The word of Christ came unto
him in the gospel and transformed him and the grace of God was
set upon him And through the Gospel that he heard, he came
to know that salvation had nothing to do with his works or his will,
but came freely by the grace of God. God came unto Saul in
the darkness of his religion, in the blindness of his religion. In that religion that had led
him to persecute Christ, God came unto him, Christ stood before
him and said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. And Saul stood before the one
whom he hated. and found out that that Jesus,
whom he persecuted, loved him with an everlasting love, had
set his love upon him from before the dawn of time. had loved him
when he was born, had loved him when he went astray, had loved
him when Saul persecuted the church, had loved him when Christ
hung upon the cross in the place of Saul, and took his sins upon
him, and was judged of God for what Saul was and what Saul did. Saul discovered on that day one
who loved him with an everlasting love. And he discovered the reality
of the grace of God. that though he hated God, God
loved him everlastingly and set his grace upon him. God took
his sins, God judged his sins in Christ the Saviour, God washed
Saul clean in his blood, and God made Saul to be Paul, to
rise again in Christ alive in him with everlasting life and
with the righteousness of God in Christ. And Saul, who became
Paul, cries out thereafter, by the grace of God, I am what I
am. By grace. Do you know this grace? But notice how he writes this. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Once Saul was but a man in the
flesh, a sinner, a child of Adam fallen in sin and depravity. All that he was was sin. But when Christ delivered him
and quickened him unto life, and lifted him up from the dead. When Saul was crucified with
Christ and yet he lives, rising again in Christ, Saul ceases
to be and Christ becomes his life. Christ dwelt in him by
the Spirit of God. He was no longer what he was. Divine life entered into his
soul. He was given a new heart. He
was made a new creature. I am what I am. The divine I
am, Christ, dwelt in Saul. And he lived in him. He was one
with him. The old Saul was crucified with
Christ. As he wrote in Galatians, I through
the law am dead to the Lord that I might live unto God. I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. I am what I am. Christ is his
life, the I am, the everlasting, the eternal God, the self-existing
God. The I am. The I am. that Moses met in the wilderness at the burning bush. Notice Paul's
word in here, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Very similar to that that we
read of in Exodus and chapter three that we read earlier. When
the Lord met with Moses in the wilderness, and Moses asked,
what shall I say unto the children of Israel that thy name is? God
said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am, have sent me unto you. I am. When God met Moses, he
declared himself as the self-existing, the everlasting, the divine God. I am that I am. I am. I've sent me unto you. This is the same I am that Saul
met with on the Damascus road. We read in Acts 26 of the encounter that Saul had
there just as he had in Acts chapter 9 where he recounts this
in Acts 26 And says, At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light
from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about
me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen
to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in
the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is
hard for thee to kick against the bricks. And I said, Who art
thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus. whom thou persecutest. I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest. Moses cries out to the one in
the flaming fire, in the burning bush, who art thou? And the Lord
said unto him, I am that I am. Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I am have sent me unto you. Saul met with
a light from heaven, and the voice of Christ from above, saying
unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he cries out, Who
art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. They met with the same God, the
same almighty Saviour, The same eternal God without beginning
and without end. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, Christ says in Revelation. This is who they met, a divine
saviour, an eternal saviour. And this is who called and sent
both Moses and Saul with the gospel. We read there in Exodus 3. It tells us, Moses kept the flock
of Jephro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he
led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the
mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he
looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. And he
said, draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover,
he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face,
for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have
surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that
land, unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites,
and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now therefore, behold the cry of the children of Israel is
come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith
the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will
send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God,
Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring
forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And He said, Certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they
shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am, have sent me unto you. What a meeting with the Lord
God this was. What a meeting. I am the divine,
the self-existent God. What was Paul made to be when
he met with Christ on the Damascus Road? I am. I am Jesus whom thou persecutest
by the grace of God, Paul wrote. I am what I am. That Jesus whom he put to death
whom he persecuted, whom he slew in his heart, delivered Saul
from his sins, delivered his people, and brought life unto Saul and
all his people, and rising with Christ from the dead. Christ
dwelt with Saul, dwelt in Paul's heart. I am what I am. Notice however the difference
between what Paul writes of himself, by the grace of God I am what
I am, and what Christ What God said unto Moses, I am that I
am. God himself is self-sufficient. He's self-existing. He's eternal. He's everlastingly God. He exists
without dependence on anyone else or on any other power. He is all powerful. He is all
present. He lives. Life is found in God
and only in God. I am that I am. I am God. I'm eternal. I'm everlasting. All life comes from me. All creation is of me. All salvation is from me. I am that I am. He depends on no man. none other
none can change him none can alter him none can sway him none
can oppose him I am that I am he's sovereign eternal all-powerful
or as when Paul writes he says I am what I am God made Saul
to be Paul God delivered him from his sins. God gave him life. God dwelt in Saul, in Paul by
grace. Christ dwelt in his heart. He
was made to be a new creature. He was saved. I am what I am. God dwelt in him but God worked
upon him by the grace of God. I am what I am. God came unto him and preached
unto him and delivered him. God saved him. God renewed him. God regenerated him. God justified
him, he sanctified him, he set him apart, he came to dwell in
his heart. This is all about what God does
in saving a sinner from his sin. I am what I am. Has God come unto you in the
gospel, in Christ, and made himself known unto you? Can you say like,
Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am. We see in these two encounters
of Moses at the bush, where there was
a flame of fire, where he met with God. And Saul, as he travelled on
the Damascus road, and saw a light from heaven shine all around
him, and heard a voice from heaven, the voice of Jesus Christ calling
unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? We see in both encounters. Now they both met with God. They met with God. They were
face to face with Him, as it were. Though God is so holy,
so glorious, that Moses hid his face, he could not look upon
God. And God said unto him, Draw not
nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground. Yet they both were brought
by God to meet with Him. He revealed Himself to them. They did not just hear of God. They did not just read about
Him. They heard His voice. They met
with Him. And this is true of all whom
God saves. He must meet with us. We must encounter Him. There
must be a reality to our salvation. If all we have is head knowledge,
if all we have is reading of Christ in the Gospels, in the
Scriptures, if all we have is a confession based upon reading
of Him, and assenting to the truth of what we've read. If
that's all we've got, then all we have is in the letter. It's
external, it's not affected us, it's not changed the heart, it's
not transformed us. Paul does not write, by the grace
of God, I believe what I believe. He writes, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. God changed him. Christ came
to dwell in him. The Spirit of God caused him
to be born again, he lives. He was crucified with Christ,
nevertheless he lives, yet Christ lives in him. If we're to be saved, we must
meet with this God. We may not meet in the wilderness
at a burning bush, where there was a flame of fire. And we may
not meet on a road to Damascus with a light shining around from
heaven, but we will meet with him. We will do this in reality,
in coming to hear Christ speak unto us in our hearts. through his gospel. God meets
with his people just as powerfully, just as much in reality as he
did with Moses and with Saul, when he comes unto them through
his gospel. When by the Spirit of God he
preaches Christ unto them, and Christ from heaven speaks unto
them in their souls. and His Word transforms them
and the Spirit of God pours life into their hearts and they're
born again. When Christ preaches His Gospel
unto us and we come before Him and come to see as it were a
burning bush before us and a flame of fire. And we come to see the
truth of God in the gospel as a light that shines all around
us from heaven and shines in our heart. And we come to hear
the voice of God crying unto us, Moses, Moses, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? Then we come to meet with God,
with the same Christ, The same I am that I am that both Saul
and Moses met with. It must be. Anything less is
but words. Any other profession of salvation
is but presumption. We must know that God has met
with us and called us by name. Notice how Moses met with God. At this burning bush and the
angel of the Lord appeared under him in a flame of fire out of
the midst of a bush and he looked and behold the bush burned with
fire and the bush was not consumed. Paul met with Christ where there
was a light that shone all around from heaven. Out of which Christ
spake unto him, revealing himself unto Saul as the one that Saul
persecuted. I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. I am. There was a light from heaven,
a flame of fire in a bush that was not consumed. Both pictures
of meeting with Christ at the cross. Where the flames of God's
fire came down upon his own son, as he bore the sins of his people
upon the cross, as he was made to be sin in their place, that
they might be made the righteousness of God. This flame of fire came
down upon the Saviour when He was enveloped with the fires
of God's wrath. When light shone down from heaven
in justice in the righteousness of God which met with the Saviour
upon the tree as He was made sin. as he bore the sins of his
people and that justice, that righteousness met those sins
and judged those sins and consumed those sins. And yet Christ, the
I am, himself was not consumed. The angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and Moses
looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. We must meet Christ at the cross. Why does Paul in 1 Corinthians,
from which we've been reading, make plain at the beginning of
that letter and throughout that he preaches Christ and him crucified,
the power of God. Because it's preaching Christ
and him crucified that saves the sinner. We must come to see
Christ upon that cross, in a flame of fire, with light shining all
around. We must see Him as the bush that
was not consumed. We must see ourselves in Him
upon that cross. And see the flames of fire coming
down upon Him because of our sins. Because we persecuted Him. Because we rejected Him. Because
we despised Him. Because we, when we heard the
Gospel said, no I will not believe. I will not follow this Jesus
because we turned aside and went our own way because we said I
will make the decision whether I'm saved I will work my way
to heaven I will go according to my own wisdom and we rejected
and we persecuted him and because we did God's wrath came down
upon our opposition, our hatred, our persecution, if we're His. We've all put Christ to death. There are those like Moses and
Saul, for whom Christ bore their opposition, bore their persecution,
bore their unbelief, bore their sins and took it away. There
are others who put him to death, for whom he did not suffer. And
who will have to bear a flame of fire eternally, one day, when
they pass from this world into eternal destination, when their
life is brought to an end and they come to stand before Christ
and He says unto them, who art thou? And they say, Lord, Lord,
I've done this and I've done that in thy name. I've tried
to live right and I've tried to do this. And he says, depart
from me ye workers of iniquity. There are those who will bear
a flame of fire eternally outside of the presence of God. Where are we? By nature we all
persecute this savior. By nature we've all rejected
him and put him to death. But by the grace of God, though
Saul did that to him, Christ took his sins and bore it. He took Moses' sins and bore
it. And he took them all away. Did
he take yours? Did he take yours? Christ was
slain because of the sins of His people, those very people
that hated Him and rejected Him, that persecuted Him like Saul
did, those who hated Him, those whose sins pierced Him, those
whose sins nailed Him to that cross, those for whom He suffered,
those whom He loved with an everlasting love, those for whom He died. Yes,
the flames of God's fire came down upon Christ at the cross. But the bush, Christ himself,
was not consumed. It was not consumed. Christ died
as a man. He bore the sins of his people.
He died as a man, truly. And yet he rose again. Because
this man, was God made man. I am that I am. I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest. Death could not hold him. He
swallowed up death in victory. He destroyed death. He took away
its power. He rose again victorious. As Paul writes at the end of
chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you met with this Saviour? Have you met Him at the cross? where he swallowed up death.
Did he swallow it up on your behalf and deliver you? And has
he come unto you in the gospel and made himself known unto you
as he made himself known unto Moses and to Saul, both of whom
he calls, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. Twice over he calls their name,
Saul, Saul. Moses, Moses, we're so slow to
listen. We're so slow to hear. But God
will have us here. And he won't stop calling until
we hear. Moses, Moses. Saul, Saul. Has he called your
name? over and over, hear my gospel,
hear my son, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. Listen and live, look and live. Moses, Moses and he said, here
am I. God calls his children effectively
in the gospel and each and every one of them hears and responds
because God gives them faith and faith hears. Faith comes
through the hearing of the gospel. We must believe. We must hear this message preached. We must know Christ. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall I call
on him in whom they have not believed and how shall I believe
in him of whom they have not heard and how shall I hear without
a preacher and how shall I preach except they be sent as it is
written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. they
have not all obeyed the gospel. For as I have saith, Lord, who
have believed our report? So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Has God come unto you in his
gospel, and given you faith to hear? From whence did God call
unto Moses? From the flame of fire, in the
midst of a burning bush. From whence did he call unto
Saul from the light that shone all around from heaven? From whence will he call unto
us? From the glory of God in Christ as made known through
the preaching of his gospel. From whence will we hear God
call? from the preaching of Christ
and him crucified, as God sends his gospel unto us by those whom
he sends to preach, who preach by the Spirit of God, Christ,
and him crucified, who make known that light from heaven, who make
known that flame of fire in the bush, who make known I am that
I am. Yes, God saves. He saves the
people He calls. He saves the people He comes
to. And He sends them forth with that gospel that they hear to
tell others. God delivered Moses and through
him the people of Israel. He promised Moses that he would
deliver that people and he led them forth out of Egypt and brought
them into the promised land. He sent Moses to preach, to go
speak the truth unto Pharaoh, to declare the truth before the
children of Israel, to lead them forth through the wilderness.
And he did the same with Saul. Moses said, when I come to the
people, who shall I say has sent me? Say, I am have sent me unto
you. And the same I am called Saul
on the road to Damascus and sent him forth and said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest. Go preach this gospel. Go preach of the burning bush,
go preach of the light from heaven, go preach of my son upon the
cross, giving himself for those whom he loved. In Acts 26 15,
Paul declares what Christ said under him when he met with him
that day. But rise and stand upon thy feet,
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee
a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles,
unto whom now I send thee. to open their eyes and to turn
them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. This is the God that Saul met. on the road to Damascus. This
is the God that Paul preaches and declares when he says, by
the grace of God, I am what I am. Christ is what I am. God is what
I am and I declare his message unto you. I preach him at the
cross, the one who died for me, the one who lives for me, the
one who gave me life. Look unto him, believe him, turn
from darkness to light, hear his voice in the gospel. He sent
me to you. to open your eyes, to turn from
darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that you may
receive the forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in Christ. Oh, has God come
unto you in his gospel? And set your eyes upon Christ,
upon that tree, in the flame of fire that poured down from
heaven upon him. Oh may God open your eyes to
turn you from the darkness to the light that you may see that
light that shone all around from heaven unto Saul and to deliver
you from the power of Satan unto God. There's only one way that
we will be saved by the grace of God and there's only one Savior
who can save. That I am who is Christ, who
makes himself known by grace unto sinners like you and I. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Amen.