in our own souls, so that our
time together may be a time of profit and a time of blessing.
Lords, do grant that thy great name may be lifted up and honoured
and glorified. Lord, we depend upon thee for
everything, preacher and people alike. Hear us, O Lord, and do
us good. We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. We seek the Lord's favour and
presence in coming together this morning and we worship our first
hymn in worship, 683. 683 to the tune St. George 59. Hymn
683. Great God, thy kingdom come, with reverence Would we pray? May the eternal
three in one, his sovereign sceptre sway. May grace triumphant reign,
and Christ exalted be, sinners deserving endless pain, thy great
salvation see. Hymn 683. Way to a life in the ground,
in the cross that we found, ♪ May grace, triumph, and praise
♪ ♪ Ever present to all who hear ♪ ♪ Give thanks to the angels' song
♪ ♪ Heaven's sweet hymn of all the joys ♪ ♪ That rage across
the dry land ♪ ♪ Praise God and Father dear ♪ O come, Thou King of glory, O
come, Thou King of glory, ♪ I wonder, saving love ♪ Amen. May it please God to bless the
reading of his words to the prophet of our souls this morning. Let
us turn to the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians and
we'll read chapter 15. The first epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians and reading chapter 15. So chapter 15 in the first of
Corinthians. 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 12, After that he was seen of
about 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 one born out of due time. for I am the least of the apostles
that have 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 ye believed. Now, if Christ
be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be
no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain? And your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins, then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they
that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath
put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did
put all things under him. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all. What shall they do which are
baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all? Why are
they then baptized for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy
every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which
I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner
of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is
it me if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die. Be not deceived, evil communications
corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness and sin
not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your
shame. But some man will say, how are
the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance
of wheat or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh
is not the same flesh. But there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes and another
of birds. There are also celestial bodies
and bodies terrestrial. But the glory of the celestial
is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory
of the sun and another glory of the moon. and another glory
of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of
the dead. It is sown in corruption, it
is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is
raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is
raised in power. It is so in a natural body. It
is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. Howbeit that was not first which
is spiritual, but that which is natural. And afterward, that
which is spiritual, the first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they
also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now, this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
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. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord. May God instruct us from his
holy word and help us now to come to him in prayer. Let us
all pray. Most blessed, eternal, ever gracious,
merciful and holy Lord God, that one who is high and lifted up,
we are very thankful to believe. Although we have a God who is
so great, so powerful, yet that same almighty God condescends
to come and dwell with us, even we believers, we've gathered
together here to worship today. And we seek, Lord, that such
a conscious realisation may truly influence us as we have come
before thee on this Lord's Day morning in this place of worship. And so, Lord, we earnestly pray
that thou wilt come and bless us For Lord, without thee we
can do nothing. And Lord, we read together those
convincing arguments with regard to the resurrection. And Lord,
we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ did rise from the dead.
And we believe he did ascend on high. And we believe he is
now seated on the right hand of the Father in glory. and we
believe he does intercede for us as we approach unto our Father
in heaven. And so we seek, Lord, today that
our time together of worship may be a time of eternal good
for our never-dying souls. And Lord, we are conscious that
only Thou, the great God, knows what we need individually. Lord,
how often we think we know what we need. And often, Lord, perhaps
we make requests as to what we think we need. But Lord, we know
we have a God who knows what we need. And we pray therefore,
Lord, that that need may be supplied even today, so that we may be
able to rejoice and thank thee that we come to a God who has
heard and answered prayer. Lord, we're grateful then that
we are privileged to gather for worship on this, another Lord's
Day. We thank the Lord for the liberty
which we are still enjoying in our nation. And we pray, Lord,
that these things may be continue to us down to the end of time.
We know, Lord, the great adversary of souls is doing and has done
all that he can to destroy freedom of worship. But Lord, we're thankful
we have a God who is so much greater than the evil one, so
much more powerful. And we know, Lord, that he can
only go so far And we pray, Lord, therefore, that his intrusion
may truly be limited and that he may not be able to come and
to bring about those times of spiritual desolation. And so,
Lord, we've come here this morning to worship Thee. Or perhaps,
Lord, we're listening to the broadcast or whatever it may
be. We do earnestly pray, Lord, for Thy Spirit to come and to
touch our hearts and enable us to hear, enable us to listen
and grant, Lord, then thy word may speak to our souls so that
we may be conscious that we do have a God who knows about us
and comes to us where we are and does us good. Lord, we cannot
do anything ourselves For, Lord, we are sinners of the earth,
and, Lord, we are black sinners, but we're thankful that there
is a great God, a compassionate God, a merciful God. And so, Lord, come, we pray,
and we seek that the Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, may be lifted
up and that we may see in him today a glorious attraction. Lord, that we may see in him
all that we need for our souls' eternal salvation, and we may
have the wonderful evidence that we are saved, saved through the
blood of the Lamb, the blood of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. that all our sins are forever
washed away, never to return. And so we pray, Lord, thou wilt
remember us each for good and bless us. Lord, we're thankful
for the many mercies that we continue to receive. Lord, we're
thankful for By goodness to us as a church and people, yesterday
those of us who were able to meet together, James and Debs,
and we're thankful for the fellowship we were enabled to enjoy and
we pray Lord that they will accept our thanks for such an occasion
and for the fineness of the weather which we were privileged to enjoy. And Lord we're thankful that
we have desires to gather together And Lord, to speak one to another
of those things touching the King. For Lord, Thou art worthy
of all things. And Thou art worthy, Lord, of
acknowledgement that Thou art that great God who has done great
things. And so, Lord, we're thankful
for such occasions. And we pray, Lord, that we go
on to be with us here as a church and people. We pray that we make
all Thy goodness to pass before us in the way. And Lord, that
we may dwell together in love and unity, and there may not
be any roots of bitterness which may arise to trouble us, but
we may know and enjoy that peace of God which passeth all understanding. And may we each, Lord, grow in
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We pray that we'll hear our prayers,
that others may be brought in amongst us, and those perhaps
who have worshipped with us and may have left, Lord, for one
reason or another, we pray that we'll bring them back, that they
may truly feast and feed upon the Word of God. Lord, we're
grateful that we are able as a little company to distribute
thy Word, And we're thankful for that which we have done over
the years, and especially in the last year with that Jubilee
Bible to many school leavers. And we seek, Lord, that many
young people may be eternally blessed. Lord, it's a wonderful
privilege which is ours, we know, to be able to do this great work. But Lord, we need Thy Holy Spirit
to come upon one and another. May they be moved to read Thy
Word, and that Thy Word may have an eternal blessing on their
souls. And Lord, let us never be weary
in well-doing. And never, Lord, let us be tired
of doing Thy will. And following the many precepts
in Thy Word, to do just this. Oh Lord, let us not be self-centred,
let us not be selfish, but let us always be concerned about
the souls of others. We again pray, Lord, let thy
work appear. Lord, we'd love to see thy work
appearing, and we're thankful when it's evident. And we pray,
Lord, there may be many opportunities to praise thy name when we do
see that work appear. Lord, we pray again for the whole
Church of God worldwide. Lord, we realise that there is
much opposition, as there always has been, to the Gospel, and
we pray, Lord, that thy Word may go forth in power and be
greatly blessed to many people as thy servants stand up to preach
the everlasting Gospel. May the Word be in power and
in much assurance, and in the Holy Ghost. We pray, Lord, for
Paul as he preaches at Waddisham today. We pray the word through
him, may he be made a true blessing to the people that worship in
that village. O Lord God, do then come. Our Lord, we are dependent upon
the power of thy Spirit. And we see it, Lord, it may be
evident again and again. We pray, Lord, for those of our
company who are not able to come to us, those who are infirm,
not well enough in body, not well enough in mind, or whatever
it may be. We pray for each one in their
perhaps old age, perhaps not so old. But whatever it may be,
we pray, Lord, that Thy Holy Spirit may go and be with them
even today, and that they may realise the Lord is with them,
the Lord is going before them, the Lord is making the rough
places plain, the crooked things straight, and the mountains to
flow down at Thy presence. And so, Lord, we commend each
one who's not able to be with us today. Lord, we're thankful
for thy goodness to that favour that we enjoyed as Truth in Science
yesterday, Lord, with that good gathering up in Yarnfield. And we're thankful, Lord, for
the blessing we believe it was to the many young people that
gathered together. And we pray, Lord, that the work
that was done there may indeed abide. with all those young people. And Lord, it may have a wonderful
influence upon them as they move forward in this world. Lord,
they may be strengthened with that might in their inner man
and never be ashamed of the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. And may they, Lord, stand firm
for the truth and be established in the truth and indeed may that
be true of us each here especially our young people we pray for
them in this difficult world Lord we know there are many temptations
to turn the young people away from the things of God and Lord
we know that there is opposition and persecution but we pray Lord
that each one may realize there's only one master and that is the
great and glorious Saviour. And we pray that each may be
found serving and following such a kind and gracious God. Lord, we think of the friends
that we endeavour to support abroad, our friends, Lord, in
Ghana. Again, we pray for them in the
South and in the North. Lord, look upon them and bless
them today as they gather for worship. Bless their Sunday school. Remember them and grant thy favour. And then those in Kenya, we pray
for. Be gracious to them, Lord, and
support and strengthen them in their missionary work there.
And then we think of those in Pakistan, especially with all
the floods that have occurred there. Realising, Lord, how many
people are suffering greatly in this present time. But we
pray, Lord, above all things, that thy gospel may have free
course and be glorified. Likewise, we pray for our friends
in India. Bless and strengthen them. We
thank the Lord to be able to have held another Sunday school
again this morning as we recommence Sunday schools after the summer
holiday. And we pray, Lord, that the word
spoken may continue to be blessed to the children and those that
labour in this gospel field. Teaching the young may be strengthened
and given wisdom and understanding. And the young may truly profit
from the word of God. Lord, we come once again and
pray for our own nation, especially, Lord, in these critical times
when a new Prime Minister is being elected. May I know, Lord,
who will be elected? And we pray, Lord, whoever it
is may be influenced by thy Holy Spirit. Lord, perhaps walking
in opposite direction to what they thought they would. But,
Lord, we earnestly pray that we may know undeserving as we
are as a nation, and the Lord God is on the throne. Bless us then, bless our Queen
in her old age, encourage her and bless her soul. And so Lord
God, we come looking to Thee now, that one who we know is
able to do far more exceedingly abundantly than we can ask or
even think. Lord come down we pray, Bless
our souls, do us good, we ask it all, with the forgiveness
of every sin, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Just in giving the notices, Give
a warm welcome to all those who've come together this morning and
those who have joined us for worship online. All if the Lord will, our pastor's
preaching for us here this evening at six o'clock. After the service
this evening, the ordinance of the Lord's Supper will be administered. On Tuesday evening, we hold our
prayer meeting here at 7.30 p.m. On Friday evening this week we
hold an online Zoom meeting for the Mombasa mission when James
Gudgeon and Sam Kingham are expected to give an update on the mission
and give us an address. Please note the meeting commences
at 7 o'clock. This is an online meeting only,
there is no service here at the chapel. This week, also, we take a collection
for the Mombasa mission. Next Lord's Day, there will be
a Sunday school at 9.30, and our pastors, again, expected
to preach for us at 11 and 6 o'clock. We give thanks for the collection
monies received last week, last month, for the chapel expenses,
including gift aid, which amounted to £1,968.75, for which we give
the Lord thanks. Let us now continue in worship
in singing 938, hymn 938, to the tune Pearly 721. Hymn 938.
When thou, my righteous judge, shalt come to take thy ransomed
people home, shall I among them stand? Shall such a worthless
worm as I sometimes I'm afraid to die,
be found at thy right hand. But I love to meet among them
now, before thy gracious feet to bow, though vilest of them
all. But can I bear the piercing thought,
what if my name should be left out, when thou for them shalt
call? Hymn 938. ♪ To take the ransom in the world
♪ ♪ For I am the Son of God ♪ ♪ For I am the Son of God ♪ ♪ For I
am the Son of God ♪ ♪ Should I be heard at my death
♪ ♪ My heart will wait around and round ♪ ♪ With all thy gracious
gifts before me ♪ ♪ Great to be around ♪ ♪ When the
whole world shall know ♪ ♪ Make haste, make haste ♪ ♪ Take my
hand, take my hand ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? ♪ And shall sing, and sing thy
song in praise ♪ ♪ When Thou giv'st our prayer, Thou dost
hear ♪ ♪ Thou giv'st our tears, Thou giv'st our tears ♪ May it please almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the first chapter in the first, sorry, the 15th
chapter in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians and
verses one and two. So the first epistle of Paul
to the Corinthians and chapter 15 and reading verses 1 and 2. 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. the Apostle Paul is coming towards
the conclusion of this letter he was writing to the Corinthians
and he commences with these words, moreover brethren, leaving behind
that which he'd been speaking about before, the true use of
prophecy, and now he comes on to really the great issue of
the resurrection and there were in the day in age in which he
lived those who did not believe in the resurrection and of course
there are many people today who do not believe in the resurrection
and yet the apostle tells us here the vitalness believing
in the resurrection because if there is no resurrection then
our faith or our belief is totally in vain and there's no truth
really in our religion so the resurrection does form a vital
part of believers belief that they are blessed to have and
as we This whole chapter is a very wonderful chapter, and obviously
we haven't got time to go through the whole chapter. And the first
two verses really give a very useful introduction to these
things. And it's very telling, really,
how the Apostle begins. And he tells them, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you. He's speaking here
to the Corinthians. which also ye have received and
wherein ye stand. Now, it was a good point that
the apostle was able to make to tell the Corinthians that
they had received that which he had spoken. Well, we can ask
ourselves, can't we? Surely this morning, if we have
indeed received the gospel which has been preached, I mean, all
of you here, for the most part, you hear the Gospel preached
every week, every Lord's Day, morning, perhaps, and evening,
and in the week. And the great thing is, you've
heard the Gospel preached, the necessary truth is, has it been
received? Or have you turned away from
it? And have you said, well, I don't really need to believe
that. I remember when I was a boy,
we had a preacher come and preach, and somebody said, oh, I don't
believe all that comes over that pulpit cushion. Well, it's a
sad thing. If the truth of gospel is preached,
then it's not received, but that it's put away. People don't want
to receive it. The Apostle was able to declare
here, I declare unto you the Gospel. And of course that is
the great point and the necessity of hearing the Gospel preached. The Gospel is good news. Well I wonder if the Gospel has
been to you and to me. Good news. Again, I don't know. You see people come and people
go and people sit and people listen and perhaps pretend to
listen and yet they may not receive it. They may reject it. They don't want to receive the
gospel. And yet how necessary and how
vital it is that we are blessed with a God-given heart, indeed
a new heart, to receive the truth of the Gospel and not to reject
it and not turn away from it. And so the Apostle is declaring
to these people the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also
you have received and wherein you stand. You see, the Gospel
declares unto us the way of salvation. And that way of salvation declares
to us that we are undone. By ourselves we are lost. We
are ruined sinners. There's no hope for us in and
of ourselves. There's no hope in our own works,
however good they may appear to be. There are really no value. Well, and then you see to realize
that we're lost and undone. And what shall we do to be saved? What shall we do to be saved? I wonder if we've asked that
question to God. Perhaps it's been more positive. What must I do to be saved? Remember that occasion recorded
in Acts of the Apostles of that jailer in Philippi? He came and
he asked the Apostle, what must I do to be saved? Well, it's
a question really all of us will ask in our spiritual life. If we have a spiritual life,
will be concerned to know what we must do. Well, the Apostle
spoke to that jailer and told him very clearly, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Very simple. And my friends, very simple for
us today. So if we have come to that Great question, what
must I do to be saved? And you'll only come to that
position if the Holy Spirit has shown to you your need. That
means he's shown to you that you are a sinner, and that you
are a great sinner, and that you're a lost sinner, and that
you need a savior, and the only one who can possibly save you.
The only one is the great and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so says the Apostle in these
opening words of this account to the Corinthians, when he says,
I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand, to be standing on the truth of the gospel, and the
truth of the gospel is, to know that we are a sinner and that
we need to be saved from our sins. And the only way to be
saved from our sins is to have all our hope in what the Lord
Jesus Christ has done in order to redeem our souls. There's no other way, no other
way. The great question is surely,
what think ye of Christ? We hear a lot, don't we? You
all heard a lot about Jesus Christ. Week by week, you hear about
Jesus Christ. But the great question is, not
what we hear, what do we think? Has it had an effect upon us? Are we a true believer, or are
we not? Well, the apostle was concerned,
he says, 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. Well, again, how is our memory? How much have you remembered?
of the gospel. How much have you been blessed
to remember of the truth of God in your hearts? Yes, the blessed
truth that you're a sinner, and the blessed truth you need a
saviour, and the blessed ability God gives to come to him in a
time when he may be found. Well, what's our memory like
today? Can we look in our memory and
find there these great and wonderful works of the Spirit of God and
to realise, well, it's not of myself. Now the Apostle comes
on in this chapter and he tells us, for I am the least of the
Apostles that have not meet to be called an Apostle. because
I persecuted the Church of God. Well, you may think, well I don't
really come up to that mark, or at least I'm not as bad as
the Apostle Paul. Well it's good when the Holy
Spirit shows to us, like he did the Apostle Paul, as he tells
us further on, he was less than the least of all saints. He didn't
have a high opinion of himself. And it's good when you and I
have a low opinion of ourselves. We don't judge. We look at ourselves
and realize how bad we are. And so he says, and that he wasn't
me, he wasn't worthy to be called an apostle. And you see, by our
life, we're not worthy to be called a child of God. And he goes on to say, because
I persecuted the Church of God, well, you and I may have persecuted
the Church of God. But then he says, and these are
wonderful words, but... I sometimes mention there are
some wonderful buts in the Word of God, and here's one. But,
by the grace of God, that means by the free, unmerited favour
of God, I am what I am. If God has caused us to hear
his voice, if God has caused us to consider where we are,
consider what we are, and show to us our need, it is because
of his grace toward us. And that makes this word grace
very attractive, and very wonderful, and very precious, so that you
and I will come and say, by the grace of God, I am what I am. I've only believed, I've only
heard and remembered, I've only trusted in the Lord because of
his grace, If it wasn't for His grace, I would not. Right again,
there's another question for us today. Do we know the grace
of God? Do we know His favour toward
us? Do we know that His grace was
not bestowed upon us in vain? But it did do us good. It did
have a good effect upon us. It did turn us so that we sought
the Lord in a time when he was to be found. God's grace, wonderful
it is. And what a mercy, therefore,
if you and I know this, to be a personal evidence of the life
of God in our souls. And we must know these things.
These are not trivial things. They're not things of no value. Many things we might think are
important in this world, most of them are of little value. When we compare it, or compare
them with eternal realities, when we compare them with the
life of God in our soul, And so he's able to come and tell
these Corinthians, therefore, whether it were I or they, so
we preach. And so he believed. Well, this
is surely the great important thing. Whether we believe or
not, the great truths of God, whether we believe and have the
evidence that God has had mercy upon us. that God has remembered
us in our lowest state, for His mercy endureth forever. That's a wonderful blessing.
That's a glorious privilege. And you will rejoice, you must
rejoice, if the Holy Spirit has revealed such a glorious truth
to you. and you are able, therefore,
to thank God for it. Well, says then the Apostle,
moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand. Well, you and I must answer that
question ourselves today, whether we have received the gospel and
whether we stand in it or perhaps I should say stand on it, because
it means that we stand on Christ. The solid rock I stand all over
the ground is sinking sand. Nothing else, everything else
is of no value. We must have Christ. We must
know Christ. We must believe in Christ. What
a blessing if it is so. and if we can trace out in our
hearts the grace of God which has led us to be able to come
to that blessed conclusion and let us not thrust it away you
see the devil wants you and me to disbelieve the truth of God
that's what he wants and he wants to pretend to us that that which
God has given us is of no value. It doesn't count. Well, let's
remember this. What God does for us, the devil
can't do. And if God has shown you yourself,
and then shown you himself, the devil will never do that. He
won't want to. because he doesn't want you to
be shown these things so if you can find out in your heart the
blessed work of the Spirit and don't despise it and don't turn
away from it and we're told not to despise the day of small things
so don't despise the least evidence of God's work in your soul but
rejoice in the fact that Almighty God has looked upon you and not
cast you away, not cast you off, but has come to you. And as the
apostle himself was able to declare, he had the evidence that God
had called him by this grace, this grace that the apostle is
spelling out to us. He knew that he'd been called
by it. God had called him. What a mercy. And so let us examine
ourselves. We're encouraged to do that.
Examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith or not. And it's good to do just that. Look into your lives. Trace out. the work of God. Rejoice, if
you can see it there, and to have the evidence that God has
done that for you and for me, which we could not do for ourselves. The evidence of God's grace. Well, says the apostle, therefore,
whether it were I or they, so we preach, And so, ye believed. Well, it's a great blessing.
It's an eternal blessing. It's far beyond the things of
time, if God has given us grace to believe the Gospel. What we see there, that's really
the apostles introduction to this servant that he's giving
them about the resurrection because having introduced this position
he now goes on to prove about the resurrection and of course
the resurrection is a very glorious doctrine without it the Apostle
says our hope is vain our religion depends upon the
resurrection you may ask me why that is well it's very simple
because the Lord Jesus died upon the cross at Calvary to take
away our sins but you see if he'd remained that condition
then you see the gospel will be dead we need therefore a risen
Savior and we need to know about a risen Savior and we ought to
be able to bless God for a risen Savior and so therefore the Apostle
comes and says, Now, if Christ be preached, that he rose from
the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? But if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain? It means I may as well sit down
and not preach. And your faith is also vain. Faith which perhaps you might
have thought you had. There's no resurrection. There's
no faith. It's dead. There's no life. Well, then what a mercy it is
today if, again, you and I have the evidence of the resurrection
And the evidence of the resurrection is really the life of God in
our soul. Because that shows to us we have
a risen Saviour. Because it's through His grace
that we believe the Gospel. And what a mercy it is therefore
to know that we do indeed worship the risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I sometimes think, and I'm sure
hopefully most of you think, you know, when the Lord Jesus
rose from the dead, the early church, when they used to meet
together, on the Lord's Day. Of course, it superseded the
Old Testament Sabbath, which was on the Saturday, and the
New Testament Lord's Day, which we read of in that first chapter
of Revelation, the Lord's Day. To think that in the Lord's Day,
that New Testament church, they used to greet one another with
a very simple statement, the Lord is risen. Well, that should be that which
enlivens our soul. As we come together to worship
on the Lord's Day, to be able to greet one another, the Lord
is risen. What does that mean? It means
that we are looking to the risen Saviour. We're believing the great truth
of the resurrection. And it really means something
to us. Because not only does it set
forth the Lord Jesus Christ, who was a conqueror over sin,
death, hell and the grave, he rose from the dead a conqueror.
And what a wonderful, wonderful blessing that is. May you and
I truly rejoice in it and thank God for it and go on our way
rejoicing to believe therefore that one day as the Apostle carries
on in this chapter to encourage us to know that there is then
that great day of the resurrection. when everyone will rise from
the dead. Well, the apostle goes on to
tell us, and if Christ be not risen, then is your preaching
vain and your faith also is vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ
whom ye raise not up, if so beeth the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. Well, do we believe this morning
in a risen Christ? And do we believe in a risen
Christ because of the wonderful evidence that we have in our
own soul Because what has occurred is
the light of the gospel has shone. Because if Christ is not risen,
he doesn't sit at the Father's right hand. If he doesn't sit
at the Father's right hand, there is no intercessor, there is no
high priest to intercede for us in our prayers. And we must realise that we come
to God, the Father, in our prayer through the intercession of the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we, by ourselves, are sinners
on the earth. And our Father in heaven cannot
look upon sin. So the only way we can approach
is through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen
Saviour, Now surely that shows to us the relevance and the importance
of a risen Christ. So as we think and read about
the resurrection, to realize how essential it is. It's not
something which is irrelevant. It's vital for our salvation. And what a great blessing it
is that we can read in the scriptures the great truth of the resurrection
and to rejoice in it. And the apostle goes on, later
in the chapter says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable. Miserable. It's only for this
life we are most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead. And it's become the firstfruits
of them that slept. You see, there we see the firstfruits,
the risen Saviour. The first one who rose from the
dead. And the Apostle goes on really
to just spell out the Gospel and spell out the truth of it.
And he brings us right back to Adam And it's good to just know
the foundation of our belief. He brings us right back to Adam
and he tells us, for as in Adam all die, you may say, why is
that? Because we know that in the beginning,
we know that the truth was that the Lord spoke to Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden and told them that in the day they partook
of that forbidden fruit, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, they would die. And so they did die on two counts. One, on that occasion they died
spiritually. They were dead spiritually and
they needed the great resurrection power of the Saviour to implant
His Holy Spirit in them as we do today. And then secondly,
they would die. Their body would die. And they would need that to be
raised again from the dead. So we have those two situations. For as in Adam, all die. Even
so, in Christ should all be made alive. You and I will only be
made alive through what Christ has done for the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without it, we are indeed of
all men most miserable. Well, it's good, isn't it, if
you and I have a right understanding of this condition. of the miserableness
of our life without the Saviour. when he says, moreover, brethren. And remember, we had this introduction
just to prove that Christ had died and that Christ had risen
again from the dead. And so we should indeed be thankful
for it. And the apostle encourages us
not to be deceived. He says, and why stand we in
jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing,
which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily. Then he
goes on to say, if after the manner of men I fought with beasts
at Ephesus, what advantage is it me? If the dead rise not,
let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. There's no benefit in
that at all. And then he says, be not deceived. Let us indeed be not deceived. He says, some men will say, how
are the dead raised up? And what body do they come? They
are full. That which thou sowest is not
quickened except it die. Well, we know that's very true.
We see that in the seed, which he tells us about now. That which
thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but
have bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of
some other grain has to die first before it springs up. Well, the
apostle goes on, and we won't go on through, or this chapter,
but it's good to recognize that we have such wonderful and glorious
truths. And as the Apostle then comes
on to really the day of the resurrection, which of course all of us will
be found at. It's a very solemn thought sometimes
to think of. Everyone will not escape the
resurrection, will not escape that time of judgment. We must
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Everyone. There'll
be those who are lost, will cry to the rocks to cover them. but they won't be able to it'll
be a time of when all the earth will be burnt up and yet you
see man will not be burnt up you may say well I don't quite
understand that well you only have to go back to the book of
Daniel and to read there about those three people Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego who were cast into the exceedingly hot
furnace and the fire had no effect upon them and so you and I can
believe that we won't be able to escape the judgment of God
we won't be able to escape but what a mercy it is if we're amongst
those who have the evidence of the grace of God the new life
in our souls because If that is so, what we should know is
the truth that the Apostle tells us of here. He says, for this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
I put on incorruption, and this mortal shall I put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death
is swallowed up in victory yes you see you and I will die naturally
but if we are blessed with that spiritual life then you see when
the resurrection comes we will rise to be with Christ forever
in that glorious abode oh my friends what a blessing What
a wonderful prospect it is for the Church of God. And so the
apostle goes on and says, oh, death, where is thy sting? Naturally, it's a terrible thing. But you see, to the Church of
God, death, you see, is the end of our natural life. But there'll
be the glorious resurrection. Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Yes, there's not a victory there
to the Church of God. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the Lord, but thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. And it'll be
a wonderful blessing for us today if we can stand and say, thanks
be to God. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable
gift, and thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ by His grace it's all of His grace and
therefore it comes and concludes with this wonderful last verse
therefore therefore we've only just touched on a few things
in this chapter you can go home and read it over carefully and
remember We come to this last verse. Therefore, because of
all that he said, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as
much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. We have a God who does not change. We have a God who has recorded
for us the glorious truth of the gospel. May we rejoice in
it. May we realize it cannot disappear. It is the word of God on which
you and I can stand because we have that great foundation that
foundation which will never be moved, that foundation which
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And just repeat again,
and may we all be able to say, on Christ, the solid rock, I
stand by the grace of God. All other ground is sinking sand. and rejoice therefore in what
the Apostle says. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, the good news, which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received. And again, the question is, have
we received it by the grace of God? And wherein we stand, are
we standing on that rock by which also ye are saved? Are we saved? If you keep in
memory, are we remembering what God has done? What was preached? Answer you, unless you have believed
in vain. Amen. Closing hymn in worship this
morning, hymn 968. 968 to the true Elijah, 881. Hymn 968. Hark how, hark my soul. It is the Lord, it is thy savior,
hear his word. Jesus speaks and speaks to thee. Say, poor sinner, lovest thou
me? I delivered thee when bound,
and when wounded healed thy wound, sought thee wandering, set thee
right, turned thy darkness into light. Hymn 968. ♪ And sovereign kings above ♪ ♪
Jesus, King of Israel ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, King still there ♪ And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ♪ Yet thy will be done, my King
♪ ♪ Thy will be done, my King ♪ ♪ Where can we find solace there? ♪ ♪ How shall we say our love
is true? ♪ ♪ Where did the love go? ♪ ♪ And keep the faith ♪ ♪ That my
soul is bold and brave ♪ ♪ Yet I love thee and adore thee ♪
♪ Earth to praise thee ♪ Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now and for ever. Amen.