1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We'll
begin our reading in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preach unto you, which you also have
received and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved. if you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain." Now,
the apostle here is preaching the gospel again to the church
at Corinth, and there is nothing more that a pastor or any preacher
of the gospel desires to do than to preach again the gospel, the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which was delivered unto us. That's the message that we are
to preach to you. And this reminding you, I'm not
going to tell you anything that you have not heard, believer.
I'm not going to tell you anything new. I'm going to tell you the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which is as old as eternity. And I
tell you the gospel for your encouragement. And these things
are not grievous to me, but are profitable for you. to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now then, as Paul was preaching
the gospel of Christ to these, he was preaching it because there
was an error that crept into the church. And it was that the
resurrection was already passed. There were some at the church
of Corinth who were teaching this, who were gossiping this
among believers and causing them great distress, they were distressed.
They were teaching that either the resurrection had already
passed or that there was no such thing as the resurrection. These were teaching the lie that
this life is all there is and that after that a believer dies,
that's it. And Paul says this in verse 19,
he says, We have hope in Christ in this
life only. We are of all people, all men,
most miserable. I'll tell you, if this life is
all there is, is that not miserable? Just miserable. Just to even
say that, it brings my soul down to the ground. It's miserable.
There's no joy in that if all I have is faith in Christ in
this life, hope in Christ during this miserable existence. And
I tell you, I'm a miserable man, if that's it. People who denied the resurrection,
they may have believed even that the soul returns to God. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians
5. He said to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord. So these people may even believe
in the soul resurrection, but they were denying the bodily
resurrection of believers. They were like that sect of the
Jews, the Sadducees. Now, I always like this. This
is how I remember which one believed in the resurrection and which
one didn't. You see, the Sadducees didn't because they were sad,
you see. They were miserable. That's how
I remembered it as a kid. I remember that. It stuck with
me for many years. They were always miserable because
they didn't have any hope after this life. They didn't believe
in the resurrection. But see what easily disproves
this lie is what Paul does here. He simply preaches the gospel. That's what he does. This will
dispel any lie or heresy to simply declare the gospel. That dispels
all lies. Don't get caught up in trying
to debate with people. We're not here to debate this
message. I don't debate this with anybody. I declare the gospel. I declare what I have received
according to the scriptures. And I leave the debates to others. I don't do that. There's no reason
for it. We don't debate the gospel, we
simply declare it. This gospel Paul said that we
preached is the gospel that you received by faith, the gospel
by which you are saved. That's what he says. He says,
I preach what you received and what you stand in by which you
are also saved. The gospel message, friends,
this is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. The gospel preaching. Preaching
of the gospel in this age is, to foolish men, it's worthless. They don't want to hear preaching.
Now they want to hear self-help. They want to hear how to help
themselves to glory. We don't tell you how to help
yourselves to glory. We point you to the only one
who can save your soul. We point you to the person and
the work of Jesus Christ alone. This is preaching. To preach
the gospel is to point you to what the Scripture has said.
Thus saith the Lord, there's my authority. I like some of the things Calvin
said, but I don't say, thus saith Calvin, thus saith Luther. If I ever quote them, it's because
the Lord said it, and they're just reiterating it better than
I could. Their authority is my authority, the Word of God. And
so we preach the gospel, and Paul said, listen, in verse 3,
he said, 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." There's the gospel
in two sentences. Very two verses right there.
The whole of the gospel is wrapped up in the death, burial, and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gospel, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
Now this gospel we preach is no fable. It is no myth. It has not been made of man.
This is a message that can only come from God. It is a message
contrary to the natural thoughts of man. The natural thoughts
of man are this. that man must earn his salvation. Now that's just a natural thought.
You can see this in every man-made religion. Every man-made religion
is wrapped up in works. I don't care if they're worshiping
Zeus, or Buddha, or Mohammed, or they say they worship Christ.
If they are a false religion, they are dependent, their salvation
is dependent on something they must do. Now that's a false religion. You see, the true religion is
no fable of man, it is the truth In that the word of God is the
source and authority of it. That salvation comes by the grace
of God alone. This is the gospel. That salvation is by the work
of another, not the work of man, but the work of God. Jesus Christ
is the promised, this one that we worship, the one that we serve. He is the anointed one, the Savior
of all of the elect of God according to the Scriptures. That's what
the Apostle said. He said, this is the message
I received and I delivered to you, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures. In the beginning, when our father
Adam sinned, God came to him. Now, isn't that the gospel? Adam
ran from God. That's our nature, is to run
from God. This morning, if you don't want
anything to do with this, what you're doing is what's natural. You run from God. You don't want
any part of it. The only hope for you is that
God seek you and find you. and save you. And so Adam ran
from God, and God came to Adam. And what did God declare? He
gave him the gospel. He said, the seed of the woman
shall crush the head of the serpent, and he shall bruise his heel.
That's the gospel from the beginning. God gave the gospel of how Christ
should die for our sins. how he should crush the head
of the serpent by his death. You remember in Exodus how that
the people of Israel were delivered by blood, by blood they were
redeemed by the Passover lamb. That night God says that I shall
come in and you shall take the blood of the lamb and put it
on the doorpost and the lentil and he said when I see the blood
I will pass over you And that night the Lord passed over every
house in Egypt, and every house that had the blood, the death,
passed by. God passed over them. But if
you didn't have the blood, the firstborn in every house died. This is a picture of the gospel.
Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb. He is the one that redeems
Israel, God's people. And all who have the blood applied
by the Holy Spirit in regeneration in the new birth are given faith
and have the promise of God. When I see the blood. I like
that. Not when I see how good you become.
Not when I see how holy you are. Not when I see how good you are.
When I see the blood, I will pass over you. See, it's redemption. Believer, keep this close to
your heart. I tell you, everywhere you go,
you should cling close to this and hang on to it with every
ounce of fiber in you, the blood, the blood. Keep this close to
your heart and set all your hope and faith on the blood. This was always God's way of
saving sinners. by blood, the blood of His dear
Son. Never, never, never did God entertain
the thought that our salvation should come by works or the law
or the will of man, nor did He ever entertain that our salvation
should be a mixture of the two, works and grace. God didn't say,
well, I'm gonna let you do some of it and I'll do the rest of
it. That's not the gospel. That's not the message of the
gospel, not the message of this book. The message of this book
is grace, free, sovereign mercy of God. Go to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 1. I'm sorry, 2 Timothy 1. And verse 9, speaking of God. God, who hath
saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Here is the source of our salvation. This is the root. The purpose
and grace of God. There's the root of all salvation.
In the bosom of the Father, from the heart of God. This is the
root of our salvation. God's purpose and grace. It was
given us. You are believers in Christ.
This was given you. You did not merit this. You did
not earn this. And listen to me, you can't keep
it. It's God that gives it. He gives
it according to His grace. He gives it freely. He gives
it without merit. He gives it without price and
without cost to you. For we had nothing with which
to purchase it. This grace and mercy, what do
you suppose you could have given God to earn this? What do you
and I have to bargain with? All we are and all we've done
is sin. Listen to me. The only thing
you can demand of God is hell. That's it. If you want to demand
something of God, you want God to give you exactly what you
deserve. Hell is the only thing He'll
give you. That's what you deserve. And
I tell you, He's been merciful in such a way to all of us this
morning. Why? You're sitting here, aren't
you? You still have life. You still have breath. And I'm
thankful, because I'll tell you this, in life, there's hope. There's hope. Maybe God will come to you this
morning. Maybe God will save you this
morning. But I know this, if he has saved you, it is by his
free mercy. All we by nature do is sin. All we've done is sin. At no
time did we ever seek after God. At no time did we ever do any
good. At no time were we ever righteous. Paul says, there is none righteous. No, not one. Listen to me, there's none that
understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Now those are pretty plain and
simple words. Everyone here, could you not
understand that? That no one in the history of
mankind has ever sought God. I'll tell you this, when God
found me, I was not seeking Him. And when God gave me life, I
did not deserve it. The only way I knew it is that
He gave me faith to believe it. That's it. He gave me faith. The faith didn't even come from
me. Faith is a gift of God. For by grace you are saved. How? Through faith. And that faith
is not of yourself. It, faith, is a gift of God,
not of works. Why? We would be running around
like all the other people. We would be boasting in our decision. That's what we'd be doing. Faith
is not works. Faith is a grace. It's a gift. Behold the grace and purpose
of God to save us. And He called us with an holy,
an irresistible calling. And it was not according to our
works, but listen, this was given us not only in time, but eternity. This was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Before the world began. Remember that Jesus said to his
disciples, oh fools and slow of heart to believe. all that
the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Christ was always purposed of
God to suffer for our sins. Most people seem to think Christ
was like a plan B, that God somehow messed up, that Adam's sin took
God by surprise. That's not so! I tell you, God
is not guilty of Adam's sin, but I tell you, He purposed it.
He purposed it. Therefore, we preach unto you,
not Christ the victim. When my Savior hung on that cross,
He was no victim. I preach to you a conquering
Savior, not a victim. Christ is a conquering Savior,
a conqueror of death, not a victim of death. He knew from the beginning when
He came into this world. He said, this is the purpose
why I came into this world. Ought not Christ to have suffered? Isn't this what the Scriptures
before determined to be done? Isn't this what God has told
you from the beginning? That Christ should come and suffer
for the sins of His people? Christ came to conquer death,
not to be a victim of it. Jesus did not come to make salvation
possible. He came to accomplish it. This
is the glory of the gospel, is that salvation is finished. Not
that salvation is made possible, but salvation is done. It's finished. The work is complete. This is
the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. that he came to accomplish
the redemption of the elect. I know people hate to hear that.
They hate to hear that Christ only died for the elect. But
listen to me, Scriptures tell us that. Scriptures tell us that. I'll read one to you, Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 32, He
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him freely give us all things? What things? Life, eternal life, forgiveness
of sins, justification, sanctification, redemption. All things are given
to us. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of who? God's elect. Who did God not spare His own
Son for? The elect. Who then shall lay
anything charge to the charge of who? The elect. The elect of God. It's God that
justifies. Justifies who? The elect. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Died for who? The elect. He died
for the elect. Therefore, we preach unto you
the gospel that Jesus Christ came to give his life's blood
as a redemption price, as a payment for sin for the elect. The psalmist, speaking in prophecy,
said the reproach of them that reproached thee fell on me. That's Christ speaking. That's
the message of Christ. Christ said the reproach, the
sin of them that sinned against thee fell on me. And as a substitute,
He hung on the cross and was forsaken of men and forsaken
of God for our sins. Our sins were imputed to Him
so much so that the Scripture says in prophecy, my iniquity. Is that not something? The Son
of God was made sin for us who knew no sin. That we should be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Now how do I know He's
successful? How do I know? I want to know,
don't you? I want to know if my sins are
gone. I want to know if I have an interest, if I have anything
in this. I want to know if my sins have
been satisfied, if God's justice has been satisfied for my sins.
I want to know. How do I know He's finished it? How do I know He's successful? Well, the apostle says we not
only preach, that Jesus died for our sins according to the
scriptures, but we also preach that he was buried and that he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. How do I know?
He rose again from the dead. That's how we know he's successful.
Why do men die? Sin. Why did Christ die? It is appointed
unto men once to die, and after that, the judgment. Even so,
Christ died once to sin. He died once for our sins. But now that our sins have been
forever removed, death could not hold Him. could not hold him. To prove
his success so that none would ever be deceived, to prove that
his death forever satisfied the justice of God, God raised him
from the dead, even as the Scriptures declare. In Psalm 2, verse 7,
he said, I will declare the decree. The Lord hath said to me, Thou
art my son. This day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession. You see, the Son of God, in order
to obtain the possession, He must have been made man. He must have been made man. It was by man that sin came. Therefore, it must be by a man
that righteousness come. Therefore, the Son, He hath decreed,
Thou art my Son this day of my... What day is that? It's an eternal
day. He is the eternal Son of God. And yet, the Son of God
must have been made a man. He must have come in flesh. And He took union with humanity
and was made one new man, even the God-man, Jesus Christ. And
by His death, He has redeemed all of His elect people, and
by His resurrection from the dead, He has inherited all that
God has promised Him. After His death, the Son of God
went before God And his body lay in that tomb three days and
three nights. And listen, this was according
to the scriptures. Jesus told them, he says, as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the well, even so must the Son of
Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He
already told them, this was according to scripture. I must be buried,
I must die, and I must be buried. Even so, Jesus Christ did fulfill
that scripture. It was three days and three nights,
and he rose from the dead. And now, Jesus Christ, the God-man,
has risen from the dead because it could not hold him. Go over
to Acts. Go over to Acts chapter 2. I'll tell you what, if you read
the preaching sermons of these apostles, and you won't find
one message in there without it mentioning the resurrection. The resurrection. But read this
with me in verse 23. Him, Christ, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loose the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on
my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Look down in verse 31. He, seeing
this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are witnesses. Believer, therefore, I preach
to you boldly. And I tell you, this same Jesus
who was delivered by the determinate counsel of God for His elect,
who was delivered by God into the hands of wicked men and crucified
for our sins, God being satisfied. Isn't that what it says in Isaiah
chapter 53? He shall see the travail of His
soul and be what? Satisfied. Christ died, he was satisfied
with it. And Christ truly did die. And he was buried. And he stayed
there three days to manifest that fact, that he was dead. When he comes to John, doesn't
he say that? He said, I am he who was dead, and now am alive
forevermore. He was dead. In this gospel we
preach, we preach boldly because the tomb is empty. Listen, the resurrection of Christ
is just as essential as the blood of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is
just as essential as the blood of Christ. And so when Paul is
dealing with these people who brought in the lie that there
is no resurrection, he's saying if there's no resurrection, and
you're telling me, Christ is not raised! And there's an essential problem
with that, because if Christ is not raised, you and I are
dead in our sins, and there's no hope for us. You see, the
resurrection is proof of His acceptance. Proof of my salvation. Proof of my security in Christ. Proof that my sins have been
satisfied by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
My sins are gone. Paul reminds them. He says, this
gospel is essential. This gospel we preach. We preach
that Jesus Christ is risen and now he has sent his spirit
into all the world for what? To save his people,
to call them. This is why he sends preachers. I am sent to preach this gospel,
and listen, by this gospel that the world despises, that I myself
hated at one time, you who believe at one time you hated this gospel,
but now that you have been called by the Spirit of God through
the preaching of this gospel, Is it not our desire then to
hear it again, and again, and again? I tell you, I can't do without
it. I need to be constantly reminded
of the great sacrifice and offering of my Savior, and I need to be
constantly reminded that He was successful. that all my salvation
does not depend in any part on me, but only on Him. Only on Him. And so what is a
preacher then? We're nothing. We're nothing. That's what Paul says to these
people. He says, no, it doesn't matter me or Paul. It doesn't
matter who preaches this gospel to you. The important thing is
the gospel. is the message. We preach to you Christ. We preach
the scriptures how he died and rose again for our justification. Believer in Christ. Believer
in Christ. I know this. We know nothing
of the modern Christ who died and redeemed every man and saved
no one. I don't know that Christ. And
so when men speak of that Christ, I have no interest in that Christ
because that's not Christ. We don't know of a Christ who
loves all men and wants all men to be saved, but so weak that
he can't even get men to make decisions for him. I don't know
any Christ like that. I don't know any Christ who yields
his sovereignty to the free will of man. I don't know any Christ
like that. That's a failure. My Christ is no failure. How
do I know? The tomb is empty. That's how I know. Listen to
me. If the tomb is full, your faith
and my preaching are false and empty. If the tomb is full, we're
empty. We have no hope. But because
the tomb is empty, we are full. We are full. We have full assurance. You have everything because the
tomb is empty. We don't know any Christ that
was not successful. We believe and have received
the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. How that salvation
was purposed of God and given to men by free and sovereign
grace in Christ before the foundation of the world. That Christ came
by His blood and righteousness and obtained our salvation and
by His resurrection has fulfilled all the scriptures. in saving
our souls. All our salvation is manifest
by the resurrection of Christ. And now that he is ascended into
glory at the right hand of God, all flesh is given to him. He has rule over all things. I'm not speaking of a weak effeminate
Christ. I'm speaking of a Christ who
has all authority and power. This is very comforting for you
who are in Christ. He who loved you and gave himself
for you rules over everything in all the world. There is not
one leaf that falls without his direct permission. Not one hair
shall be touched on your head without his direct permission. I like that. When the psalmist said, I believe
in Psalm 121, he said, he is the shade on my right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. Not without his permission. He
rules over all things. And so whatever is happening
to you, is by direct and divine decree. That's what's happening
to you. What's not pleasant? It's His will. And we who believe
know this. He has our best interest at heart. He has our best interest at heart.
He is ruling over all things. Behold the necessity of the resurrection,
that if Christ be not raised, then are we dead in our sins.
That's what Paul tells us in this chapter here. He says down
in verse 16, he says, 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, And 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. Listen, but now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the firstfruits 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. Now, this coming is the coming
of grace when he comes to his people in grace. Christ the firstfruits. But we are the fruit of his labor,
the fruit of his work. And he comes to us in grace,
and he saves us by his mercy. And when the last one comes in, when Christ comes to the last
soul that he died for and saves them, listen, then cometh the
end. I like this. There's people who
are running about trying to predict this. It's going to be as it
was in the days of Noah. They were eating and drinking
when Noah entered in the ark and it was over. That's how it's
going to be when the Son of Man comes. One day the sun may be
shining, I don't know, maybe a nice day outside. Everybody's
just having a good time. Maybe there's world peace, I
don't know. Maybe they all signed a document and had world peace
and everybody thinks that it's all right and it's okay. It's
okay for the elect. It's okay for those who believe
in Christ. But when he comes, he will come in the twinkling
of an eye at the last trump shall sound and the dead in Christ
shall rise first. And we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together to be with him in the clouds. So
shall we ever be with the Lord. Listen, believer, our Lord Jesus
Christ, he has taught us this. Most all of the believers, most
all of us will go through with him through the veil of death. But this, this should be our
comfort. That that's not the end. That's
not the end. Not for us. Our spirit will go to be with
God when we die. But know this, there is coming
a day when God will raise this body from the dead. I'll tell you what, you can comfort
yourself with that. You should. You should comfort
your own flesh with that. Now look, body. I know you're
getting old. I know we've got to go to the
ground, but don't worry. Christ was raised from the dead,
even so will you be raised from the dead. And you won't be like
you were. No. See, flesh and blood can't enter
into the kingdom of God. This corruptible thing must fall
off and die. It must die. But when it's raised,
it will be raised incorruptible. It will be made like His body. friend and I were talking about
that, and I'll tell you what, I don't have a clue what that
means. I just don't. There are various
things that I can talk about. You know, I know this, Christ
ate, didn't he? I like to eat, but it ain't gonna
be the same thing. I don't need it for life. It'll
be for enjoyment. We'll have the same body he has,
an incorruptible body, one that doesn't get sick. one that doesn't weep. Isn't that something? I think the tear ducts will be
gone. We won't have need for them anymore. God says, I will
wipe away all tears from their eyes. Believer in Christ, we know this. This world is not our home. I know we're easily attracted
to the things of this world, family, friends, possessions,
the flesh is constantly attracted to this. I tell you, because
Christ has died, because He was buried and rose again according
to the Scripture, because He has ascended into the very throne
room of God and makes intercession for you, because one day you
will be raised incorruptible, set your affection on things
above and not on things of the earth. I'll tell you what, we
are most miserable if we set our affections on the things
of this world, aren't we? Isn't that when we're most miserable? Let them go. Cling to Christ. Find all your hope in Christ. and forsake everything else.
Is that not just reasonable? Isn't that what the brother Scott
said this morning? Romans chapter 12. I beseech you, brethren,
because of the mercies of God, present your bodies a living
sacrifice. I don't know how many people
say, well, I'm worshiping God in spirit, and then they don't
worship with the body. What good is that? It's just
reasonable for us to give up everything for Christ. It's reasonable
for us to worship Christ. It's reasonable for us to set
our affection on things above because that's where we're going.
And all this world is perishing. I tell you, if you have hope
in Christ only in this world, you are miserable. You're not content with anything. I tell you, the only way we're
ever going to be content is to set our affection on Christ. I love my family. But truly, they'll disappoint
me. And I disappoint them. Christ
will never leave me nor forsake me. He will come and receive me unto
himself. And even as he rose again from
the dead, so will I. I like that when Job says, I
shall see him with my own eyes and not another. The worms eat
my flesh. I know this. I'll see him with
my own eyes. my own eyes. This is our hope. This is our confidence. And I
tell you, this should be where our affection is. Is this where
your affection is? Is it on Christ? Are you still
hanging on to the things here? Oh, it's miserable. That's just
miserable. Let go of the garbage. Hold the
treasure. our Savior's risen. We serve
a risen Savior. We serve a risen Savior. May God help us in all we do
to give glory to God. And one day, death will be done
away with. He says he's given all things
into his hand, but the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Oh,
I'll be glad when that enemy is gone. You remember in Revelation when
John said there was no more sea? You know what he's talking about?
No more separation. Today, I know this, we'll be separated for
a time. I pray God give us grace to come back together Except
he come, that'd be better. But if he gives us grace to come
back together and worship, that's good. But we'll be separated
for a time. I know this, I'm separated from
loved ones that have gone on already. But one day, there'll
be no more seed. There'll be no more separation.
Why? Because Christ is raised from the dead. Is that not a message of hope?
It is if you're in Christ. It is if you're in Christ. And
I pray if you do not believe in Christ, that God would give
you such mercies to believe. So that I hope to see everyone in glory. I remember what Newton said.
He said, when I get to glory, there'll be three surprises.
He said, I'll see people that I thought wouldn't be there.
And he said, the second was that I'd miss people that I thought
would be there and they weren't. And he said, the greatest surprise
is that I'm there. I'll be there. That's the wonder
of all wonders, that he would save a wretch like me. Praise
God for his glorious grace. Praise God for the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is all our salvation. That stand will be dismissed
in prayer.