All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians 15 verses 9 and 10. For I am the least of the apostles. And I'm not meet, I'm not fit
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 labored more abundantly
than they all. yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me." Paul has declared the gospel unto
the church there at Corinth. Now remember, the gospel is the declaration of God's eternal
will and purpose to save a people of His choosing and elect that
He before the foundation of the world placed in the Lord Jesus
Christ to be represented by Him. Sent Him into the world made
of a woman, made flesh, made under the law, answerable to
every demand of the law on behalf of the elect, that he might fulfill
every point of God's demand for righteousness, that that righteousness
earned by Christ would be imputed, charged to, accounted to those
that God gives a heart to believe on Him. And then, when it pleases
the Lord, He places them under the sound of this gospel and
the Spirit of God that blows like the wind. We don't know
where He's going, when He's going to cross the path, but when it
pleases God, He takes that vessel of God's
mercy and he comes to them in power, that unction, that anointing,
and Almighty God gives them a new heart. He creates life, creates
a new man, teaches them what Almighty God
has everlastingly purposed. gives them faith to believe.
And they believe God. And He keeps them. They're kept. Now that's the gospel. Man is
the recipient of the gospel. He's not the source of life. He's the recipient. We're saved. We're rescued by grace. Taught that through faith. Even
that faith is not of ourselves. It's the gift of God. Paul had
preached the gospel to those in Corinth. He said, woe is unto
me if I don't preach the gospel. What he said was this. If I don't
have a heart for the gospel, then God has not taught me the
gospel. And if God's not taught me the gospel and saved me by
grace, woe is unto me. I'm going to hell. That's what
he said. Woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel. And when he
preached the gospel, he said, I preached unto you how Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried
and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
Now, we're going through 1 Corinthians, and here's where we are, right
here. Then he says in verse 9, concerning himself being an apostle,
the gospel by the Lord personally, taught by Christ verbally, commissioned
to preach the gospel to Gentiles, Kings, the children of Israel.
But the thing about it was, Paul never saw himself as being anything
other than concerning being an apostle. He never saw himself
as being anything other than the low man on the totem pole.
That's how he saw himself. This man that God used to write,
to pin a major portion of the New Testament. This is what Paul
said of himself. For I am the least of the apostles. I'm not meet, I'm not fit to
be called an apostle And here's the reason. Because I persecuted
the church. Here's what he said. None of
the other apostles did what I did. I treated God's elect with hatred
and resentment. I treated those that Almighty
God eternally loved I treated those that Christ shed His blood
for. I treated them with disrespect. Paul said of himself in 1 Timothy
1.13, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious,
one who spoke blasphemously of the name of the Lord. who accused
him outwardly, and especially in his heart, because that's
where his mouth came from, of being an imposter, being a deceiver. He said in Acts 22, verse 20,
he said concerning himself, he said this words, when the blood
of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting
unto his death and kept the raiment of them that slew him. I held the coats of those that
stoned your servant, the one you'd called out of darkness,
the preacher of the glorious gospel. He said, that's what
I did. I was injurious, I was a blasphemer
against God. He said in Acts 26 verse 9 concerning
his actions before he was converted, I verily thought of myself that
I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
which thing? I also did in Jerusalem, and
many of the saints, the sanctified ones. Did I shut up in prison,
having received authority from the chief priest, and when they
were put to death, I gave my voice against them." He said,
I'm not fit to be an apostle. I'm not fit to be called one.
I'm the least of them. Obviously, Paul never forgave
himself, though the Lord had forgiven him. But though a believer
is assured of his forgiveness in Christ, he carries something
with him that weighs heavily on him. And I can tell you this
from experience. There's a remembrance of past
disrespect toward the Lord and toward his people, coupled with
the knowledge of the continual presence of the old man, that
sin that dwelleth in the flesh. And it causes that awareness
of our unworthiness. I am, is what he said. Now here's the wording. For I am, wasn't I was the least,
but now since I've been so mightily used of God, since I was transported
to the third heaven, I heard things that I can't even speak
of. I don't even know how to speak
of them. I don't know exactly what he meant. Whether he just
couldn't say it or it was impossible. I knew such a man. These things
that were unspeakable. No, it wasn't that I was the
least. He said, I am the least of the
apostles. Not meet that I should be called
because I persecuted the church. There was a present awareness.
But then he said this, but... And here's where a believer can
truthfully say, I've got some hope. I think back on me and
I've told you before, there's only one person sitting in this
congregation this morning knew me before the Lord was pleased
to save me. And I promise you, you know, she could tell you
some stuff. But, but, Paul said, by the grace of God, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. Now, we know what Paul was before. Because he said, he said, who
was before a blasphemer, persecutor, and injurious. But now he's said
to be something other than that. And whatever he is now, it's
by the grace of God. Whatever Paul was said to be,
by the grace of God after being converted, and whatever it is,
that would be an accurate description of every believer. I want you
to listen to what he said, but by the grace of God, I am what
I am. I read that, and then I got to
thinking, well, okay, by the grace of God, what are we? By
the grace of God, I am what I am. What are you, Paul? First of all, Paul, by the grace
of God, admitted himself to be a sinner. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners of whom I am chief." Paul, by the grace of God, realized,
this is what I am. Now, all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now, we know that all men are
sinners, but all men don't perceive themselves. Paul said, I am what
I am. by the grace of God. Two men
went into the temple to pray. One of them was a Pharisee and
one of them was a publican. And that publican, a Pharisee
stood up and says, God I thank Thee that I'm not as other men
are. I'm glad I'm not. I know I'm
not like that guy right over there. And that guy over there
said, Be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, again, what is a sinner? A sinner is one that can do nothing
but sin. That's all he does. That's all
I can do. Now, there's a new man that's
imparted. And the scripture says concerning
that new man, that which is born of God, sinneth not. But Paul the Apostle said, I
see in me, that is in my flesh, in my old man, my old nature
that I'm bound to, there dwelleth no good thing. There is nothing
in me but sin. And this was his conclusion.
concerning himself being a sinner. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Paul recognized
himself to be worthy. I'm not worthy to be called an
apostle. I bet you if you asked Peter, I bet he'd say the same
thing. They'd all say the same thing. The Apostle Paul knew himself
worthy of eternal separation from God. I'm worthy of that.
He knew that God was just, would in no wise clear the guilty.
But he said, by the grace of God, I'm a sinner. And it's for sinners that Christ
came into this world to save. If that's the only ones that
the Lord is going to save is sinners, Self-confessed sinners,
those made to cast themselves upon the mercy of God. If that's
the only ones that God's going to save, Paul says, by the grace
of God, that's what I am. I'm one of those. Secondly, by
the grace of God, the Apostle Paul confessed himself not only
to be a sinner, but one who was the object of God's compassion
and love. Now look back. 1 Corinthians
15 verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain. All men are sinners. All have
come short of the glory of God. All have sinned, come short,
but I obtained mercy. By the grace of God, I am a vessel
of God's mercy. God chose to show mercy to me. Every believer would say that.
Why? Would the Lord be pleased to
show mercy to me? Why me? And out of the vastness
of people, I mean the few that I see, Which is a lot, and you
too. So many that have no interest.
No interest. You try to tell them. Why would God be pleased to stop
me? Why would He stop me like He
stopped Saul of Tarsus? Why? Why? Because it pleased
Him. That's what Ephesians 1 says.
He did it according to the good pleasure of His will. I'll have
mercy and compassion, he told Moses, on whomsoever I will. Lord, if you had not stopped
me and gave me a new heart, shown mercy and compassion to me, I'd
be doing the same thing that so many in this world are doing.
And I wouldn't care. I would not care. Wouldn't bother
me a bit. He said in 1 Timothy 1.14, And
the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love,
which is in Christ Jesus. The grace of God, because of
which I received mercy, superabounded to me, Paul said. With love,
it flowed from its source. Almighty God Himself. Oh, the
sweet preciousness of the revelations of God's mercy and compassion. on sinners. God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, but
Noah found grace. Was Noah looking for it? No man seeketh after God. That's
what Scripture says. Noah found grace. What does the
word found mean then? It means obtained, acquired. Noah obtained, acquired grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Not because any man is looking
for it. What would you look for? Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And whenever the Lord was here,
the scripture says in John 1.43, the day following Jesus would
go into Galilee and findeth Philip and saith unto him, follow me. He found Philip. In Luke 1.30,
speaking of Mary, the angel said unto her, fear not Mary, for
thou hast found favor. You've gotten, you've obtained
grace. in the sight of the Lord. Paul
said, I am what I am by the grace of God. I'm a sinner, but a sinner
that has obtained mercy. That's by grace. Thirdly, by
the grace of God, Paul, a sinner who had obtained mercy, and the
Spirit of God gave him a new heart, imparted life within him. And that life was exhibited. I got to thinking about that.
You know the scripture says you'll know them by their fruit. I got
to thinking about that. And I thought, where would I
go to set forth the manifestation of a believer? Hold your place
there, but turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. The Lord's preaching on the Sermon
on the Mount. And He says in Matthew chapter
5, Starting in verse 3, he said, blessed, blessed, blessed of
God, blessed by God's grace, by God's grace, blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are those who are made to know something of their spiritual
poverty. great on you when you hear people
talking about bragging about how much they've done for the
Lord and how much, you know, I'm thinking, shut up. You just make, you know, ugh. No, no way. He said without me
you can do nothing. You can't do anything. are the poor in spirit, made
to know something, taught something of their ruin in Adam's fall.
You're blessed, you're blessed to know, Lord, I need you. Because they know that Christ
must save them. Blessed are those. Blessed are
the poor in spirit. For those lowly-minded ones belong
the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Theirs is the kingdom of God. They're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. How do you know them? They're
poor in spirit. They know something of what they
are. Blessed, verse 4, are those, they that mourn. for they shall
be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn over
the indwelling sin that they see in themselves. They grieve daily over their
shortcomings. They're going to be comforted
because they're taught of the forgiveness of God by the blood
of Christ. Blessed, blessed are they that
mourn. Blessed are the meek They shall
inherit, now listen to this, the earth. They'll inherit the
earth. Blessed are those that bow to
the good providence of God, the meek, patiently, waiting in adversity,
submitting to the will of God. It's the Lord, that's what Eli
said. How's it going with the battle?
Well, not going well for us. And your two sons are dead. And he said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
It's the Lord. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Now, turn with me to Revelation
5.10. I'm going to read two passages
of Scripture, and I'll just go ahead and just tell you right
now that I can read it, But being able to explain the fullness
of it, I'll go ahead and just tell you right now, I can't do
it. Revelation chapter 5, verse 10. Let's just read 9 and 10. They sung a new song, here they
are, saying thou art worthy to take the book, open the seals
thereof. For thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. and has made us unto our God
kings and priests, now here's the part, and we shall reign
on the earth. These are glorified saints. These
are in heaven. And Almighty God's going to make
a new heaven and a new earth. And they said, we're going to
reign, He's going to reign, and we'll reign in Him. And also
look at Revelation 22.5. Revelation 22.5. And there shall be no night there. They need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. And they
shall reign forever and ever. I cannot tell you the fullness
of what shall be the circumstance of God's people when the Lord
makes a new heaven and a new earth. But I can tell you this,
according to Matthew chapter 5 and these verses in Revelation,
blessed are the meek, those that submit, those that have been
made to submit, bowed to the good pleasure of God, They shall
inherit the earth. You know, if that would have
said, they shall inherit the kingdom, the heaven, it did say
that first. You say, okay, I can, they shall
inherit the earth. What will that be? I don't know.
But I can tell you this, there's a promise to God's people. There's a promise to those that
Almighty God has been pleased. Blessed, verse 6, are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are those who recognize that their own righteousness is nothing
but filthy rags, and they hunger spiritually to be robed in the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For the Scripture
says they're going to be filled and satisfied according to the
sweet Word of the judge, well done. Enter in. Enter in. You're going to be satisfied. Paul says, I am what I am by
the grace of God. A sinner. A sinner to whom God's
shown mercy. And a sinner that God Almighty
has imparted life. And that life is exhibited by
the Spirit of God. Verse 7, back in Matthew 5, Blessed
are the merciful They shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the compassionate,
those that have received a new heart of compassion from the
One who has been pleased to show compassion to them, and therefore
they desire for others to hear of Him who shows mercy. The compassionate. The compassionate. One of the sweet verses of Revelation here. The
compassionate. The merciful. I thought about
that woman at the well in Samaria. She came to the well and the
Lord asked her for a drink of water and she said, I'm a Samaritan,
you're a Jew. Jews and Samaritans don't have
any dealings with each other. He said, if you knew who you
were talking to, you would ask of me. And I'd give you living
water. And you'd never thirst again.
And he began to talk to her, and in the good providence of
God, the Lord did something for that woman. And she left her
water pot right there, and here's the merciful, here's the compassionate,
the exhibition of her compassion. She went back into the city,
talked to some men, very possibly men that she'd been with, I don't
know, just men. And here's what she said, come
and see a man. which told me all things that ever I did is
not this the Christ. You talk about compassionate.
Compassionate. I want people to come hear the
gospel. I want them to hear the truth.
I'll see somebody and I'll ask them, where did you go to church?
Why don't you come over? Come sit. You don't have to do
anything. Just sit. I'm not going to give
you a job. No demands. Faith comes by hearing. Come see a man. Come hear what this man's got
to say. Look at verse 8. Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who
stand not in themselves, stand in Christ, not satisfied with
a mere charade of religion, outward correctness, you know, but they
desire to adorn the gospel they preach. They make no boast, no
claim from their own works, but only from His. or the pure in
heart, for they shall see God. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and He'll stand at the latter day upon the earth, though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh. I've read
that scripture so many times, and I think, you know what, that's
so, I know it's so. Lord, teach me. In my flesh,
I shall see God. whom I shall see for myself.
Mine eyes shall behold not another, though my reins be consumed within
me." That means, for this my soul pants. Blessed, blessed
are the pure in heart. They're going to see God. They're
going to see. Verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers.
They shall be called the children of God. Blessed are those peace
lovers who desire peace. desire peace before God and with
others for the sake of the gospel, striving to follow after the
things which make for peace among the brethren. And then the last
three, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when
men shall revile you, persecute you, say all manner of evil against
you falsely. For my sake rejoice, and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you. Blessed is the man
who is persecuted for believing God, for trusting Christ, for
proclaiming the gospel, who renounces the hidden things of dishonesty,
who said, I don't believe that which is false. I don't believe
that. Blessed. that doesn't walk in craftiness,
handling the Word of God with deceitfulness, blessed are those
that confess Him." He said, I'm going to confess you before my
Father, which is in Heaven. If you're reviled and persecuted
for the sake of the Gospel, if men say all manner of evil against
you falsely, they falsely accuse you. Oh, that mess you believe,
that's a cult. That's a cult. You know, blessed
are you, rejoice. Be exceeding glad, for great
is your reward in heaven. I've had people tell me, you
know, that stuff you believe about election and predestination,
that mess that you come, I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Mess? It's what it says. I'm just reading it. I'm just
proclaiming what this book says. No, no, no. Blessed are you when
you are reviled falsely. Paul said, I am what I am. A
sinner. A sinner that Almighty God has
been pleased to show mercy. A sinner that the Spirit of God
has imparted life and the manifestation that I would adorn the gospel,
the doctrine that I believe. And then lastly, by the grace
of God, Paul says, I'm a kept. object of God's mercy. By the
grace of God, I'm still here. Matthew 10, 22, You shall be
hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to
the end in the gospel shall be saved. I am what I am, and His
grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. I labored
more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me." Paul confessed, I'm still here by the grace of
God. He said that in 2 Timothy 4 verse
6 to 8. Listen to what he said. He said,
I'm now ready to be offered the time of my departures at hand. And every believer that sees
himself now going coming to the end of their life. I mean, I'm
thinking, I read what the scripture says, 3 score and 10. That's
about the average. Well, I'm just right there at
it. I'm just, here I am. I'm right
here at what the scripture says. It says if it goes a little bit
longer, it's just pain and suffering. And as we get older, you know,
we start believing that, don't we? We start saying, you know
what, I believe that's right. Oh, really? Yeah. But listen
to what it says. I fought a good fight. He ain't
bragging. He'd given us all. He said it
was not I. That's what he said. He said,
you know, it's not me but the grace of God that was given me.
You know, I've stayed here by the grace of God. God has endured
me. I fought a good fight. I finished
my course. Kept the faith. All by the grace
of God. None of that was Paul's bragging.
Listen to what he said. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly. I
fought a good fight. I stayed the course. I've kept
the faith. He said, I labored more abundantly
than they all. But the grace of God which was
with me. I don't have anything to brag on. I'm still here by
the grace of God. Well, it's only by the grace
of God because there's times that I just, just to be honest
with you, you get so tired physically, mentally, emotionally. You get
so tired and you're just thinking, day in, day out, day in, day
out. Paul says, I fought a good fight
by the grace of God. Kept the faith, finished my course
by the grace, And hence there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that
love His appearing." If a man or a woman can leave,
as I said in the last message, they will. If they don't, it's
only by the grace of God, because they're kept. I am what I am
by the grace of God. Paul, what are you? Well, I'm
a chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and kept sinner. And God's been pleased to show
mercy. And by God's grace, He's kept me until this time. I'm
ready to be offered. I'm ready to leave. By the grace
of God, We are what we are. May the Lord be pleased to keep
us for Christ's sake and for our eternal good. Amen.