Go with me, if you would, back
to 1 Corinthians 15. The apostle Paul said right here
to the Corinthians, he said, brethren, I wanna preach the gospel to
you. And I say the same thing right now to the Kingsportians.
Brethren, I want to preach the gospel to you." He said in verse 1, "'Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, and also you have received and wherein
you stand.'" He said, "'I want to declare to you again Again,
and again, and again, and again, and again. Didn't he say this
is the only thing that's safe? We can get off on all kinds of
things. We can get so easily sidetracked on all kinds of things. We can become passionate on all
kinds of things. But Paul said, this is the only
thing that's safe. I'm going to preach to you again, the gospel. The gospel, he said
that same gospel that I preached to you in the beginning, the
one that you, by the spirit of God, gladly received. He said, I preached it to you.
You received it. And he said, you stand in it
and you stand on it and you stand with it and you do, don't you? We do. He said, I want to declare
the gospel one more time. The gospel one more time. Our Lord commanded us to go unto
all the world and preach the gospel. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9
16, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto me. He said to the Galatians, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Boy, this flesh could so easily,
if the Lord let the flesh run with itself just a little while,
how quickly we would run into something, some other gospel.
But Paul went on to tell them, there's not another one. There
is not another one. There's only one. So Paul said,
brethren, I'm not here to declare a gospel to you. I'm here to
declare the gospel to you. The one and only gospel that
there is. This is what the scripture calls
it. I was going to turn to all these, but it was a lot of them.
I'll quote it to you. The scripture calls it the gospel
of God. Man has his own gospel. God's
people prefer gods. It's the gospel of God. It's
the gospel of Christ. Paul told him at Rome, he said,
I'm ready to preach it to you again. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. It's called the gospel of the
kingdom. I think about the entire kingdom. We have some brethren in the
kingdom of God physically right now gathered around the gospel. This is the gospel of the kingdom. It's called the gospel of grace. It's called the gospel of peace. Would you like some peace? It's
out there in the world. All you got to do is turn on
the news. No. Would you like some peace? It's
right here. Here it is. First Timothy one calls it the
glorious gospel. Revelation 14 calls it the everlasting
gospel. And Ephesians 1 says it is the
gospel of your salvation. Here it is, all right? Verse
1, Paul said, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also you 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 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. Paul said, I want to declare
to you again, the gospel that I first preached to you, the
only gospel that there is concerning how Christ died for our sins
was buried and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. Now I'd like for us to begin
our declaration here, understanding this first. Many people, and this is the
absolute truth. Many people declare that Christ
died for our sins was buried and rose again, but
in the process of declaring that they do not declare the gospel. And I'm gonna repeat that. You
go sit and listen to a man preach. Well, he preached Jesus. He preached, he died on the cross
for our sins. Okay, a lot of people preach
that he died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. And in the process, They leave
out the gospel. This right here is the first
thing that we have to get ahold of. If we're going to declare
the gospel, we need to understand this right here. That declaration
is not just concerning the fact that Christ died, was buried
and rose again. Paul did not just say, I'm going
to declare to you that Christ died. This is what he said. He
said, I'm going to declare to you how Christ died. That's what he said. How Christ died. The gospel declaration
is concerning how Christ died for our sins. was buried and
rose again. Verse three, Paul said, for I
delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how
that Christ died, how Christ died. That's the gospel. That
is the gospel of our salvation. That is the glorious gospel. That is the everlasting gospel,
the gospel of peace, the gospel of God, how Christ died for the
sins of his people. Now, understanding that, let's
ask this question. How did Christ die? How did he die? If we can answer that question,
we will have declared the gospel. How did he die? How did Christ
die? Verse three says, 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. Number one, Christ died according
to the Scriptures. He died as the Scriptures said
He would. He died in the way the Scriptures
said He would. They said He would and they told
exactly how He would. He died because that's what the
Scriptures said the wages of sin was. That's what the scripture said
God demanded against the penalty and judgment of sin. That's what
the scripture said. We're going to see this as we
go all the way through the declaration, but turn with me over to Isaiah
42. Christ died according to the
scriptures. He died as the scriptures said
he would. This is God the Father speaking
to Christ right here, speaking of Christ, concerning Christ.
Isaiah 42, verse one, it says, behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect. God, the father said, I choose
my son, my elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit
upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench? He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. Now this is one of my favorite
lines in the scripture. He shall not fail. I love that. He shall not fail. And here's
my second favorite line. Nor be discouraged. Do you ever
get discouraged? Boy, it seems like all of my
efforts are just psst. Now he won't even get discouraged.
"'Til he have set judgment in the earth, and the islands shall
wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth bread
unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein,
I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness and will hold
thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light of the Gentiles." I'll give you
for a covenant to the people. What does he mean, a covenant
of the people, a covenant for the people? Look at chapter 43,
Isaiah 43, verse 14, it says, Thus saith the Lord your Redeemer. He means, I promise my son to
them to give his life for them, to redeem them from all their
sin. I promise that to them. I make
a covenant to them concerning that. Christ died as the scriptures
promised he would. The Scriptures promised He would.
And He died as the Scriptures said He would. He also died in
the way that the Scriptures said He would. Look with me at Isaiah
53. Verse 7 says, He was oppressed
and He was afflicted Yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken, and he made his grave with the
wicked, And with the rich in his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Christ died according to the
scriptures. All the Old Testament stories, all the pictures, all
the types, all of it declared how Christ would die for the
sin of his people. This is what he himself said.
He said, Moses wrote of me. It was all about me. That Ark
was Christ. I'm about to repeat something
to you. I've told you so many times and it breaks my heart
to think of how many people don't know this. That Ark we talk about Noah's
Ark. That Ark was Christ. We call it Noah's Ark, but I
heard it this way one time. This is a much better way of
saying it. That was God's ark that he put Noah in. And that ark was Christ. While
the judgment beat down, the ark raised up, and every soul in
it. That rock was Christ. While the
law, rock of God, and life flowed out. Rock was Christ. That lamb,
oh, the innocence and the beauty. You pick the best one, you pick
the spotless one of the first year. That lamb was Christ. That manna at first, before their
sin overtook them, don't you think they ran out there saying,
oh, thank God for the bread that came down. That brazen serpent on the pole,
that was Christ. He was made to be the very thing
that was killing us, killing us, killing us. There it is,
exactly what was killing me. Lift it up. Christ died according to the
Scriptures. Alright, turn with me now to
Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews 9 verse 27 says, And as it is appointed, and there's
a reason for that, as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment, and there's a reason for that, So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins, and that's the reason.
That's the reason it's appointed to man to die. And that's the
reason there's a judgment. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. It is appointed unto men once
to die, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. How
did Christ die? He died according to the law
against sin. Romans 6 verse 25 says, The wages
of sin is death. That's what the law demands. And God the Father laid all of
the sin of all of His people on Christ His Son. Therefore,
according to the law, Christ had to die. He had to die. People make this It's a sad statement,
it's a ridiculous statement, but they say this all the time,
and I'm sure you've heard this. People say, if I had been alive
back then, I would have stopped it. Well, as though God couldn't
have stopped it. But if a person could have, if
a person could have attempted to go back and stop it, this
is what they would have attempted to do. They would have attempted
to facilitate Christ breaking the law. I would have tried everything
I could do to help him break the law. That's what they're
saying. According to the law, God's law
that God gave, Christ had to die. This is what he himself
said. And I love this line. He said,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things? That's what he
said to those two on the road to Emmaus, and they were so just
heartbroken and sad, and he died, and he said, ought not Christ
to have suffered these things? As the one who bore the sin,
when God looked at him and saw the sin of his people on his
own son, didn't the law that God had given say he had to die? Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things? Did He not bear the sin? He most certainly did. Therefore, He was just. People think, well, why did God's
elect get a free pass? They don't. Well, how come He
can turn a blind eye to their sin? He didn't. He was just. in justifying his people. So
Christ died according to the scriptures and Christ died according
to the law. Now turn with me to John chapter
six. John 6 verse 38, it says, for
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me. that everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Christ died
according to the will of God his Father. He said, this is
my Father's will. Why did Christ die? It's what
the Father wanted. Isaiah 53 says, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. From the cross, he cried, my
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You. Here's the reason why. It's because
God the Father loved some sinful, wicked people in this world. And He chose to redeem them by giving the life of His own
Son as a payment for their sin. How did Christ die? He died according
to the will of His Father. Amazing. We just sang amazing
grace. Along with his father's will,
Christ died according to his own will. Look with me at John
10. John 10 verse 11 says, I am the
good shepherd The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Verse 14 says, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the father
knoweth me, even so know I the father and I lay down my life
for the sheep. and other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear
my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore
doth my father love me because I lay down my life. that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father." Verse 30, he said, I and my father are one. Christ's will was not separate
from his father's will. He was not forced to give up
His life. He willingly gave it up. He bowed
His head. He bowed His own head and gave
up the ghost. He died as the willing Savior. The cross was no surprise to
Him. None whatsoever. He said, for
this cause came I into the world. He willingly bore the shame and
endured the cross for the joy set before him. So the good news
of the gospel is not just in the fact that he died, but it's
in how he died. He died according to the scriptures,
according to the law, according to his father's will, according
to his own will. And look with me at John 11. Verse 47, then gathered the chief priest
and the Pharisees, a council and said, what do we for this
man do with many miracles? If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him. And the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and nation. And one of them named
Caiaphas being the high priest that same year said unto them,
you know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient
for us that one man should die for the people and that the whole
nation perish not. In this spake he not of himself,
but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should
die for that nation and not for that nation only, but that also
he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. He was saying, let's just go
ahead and kill him because it's more expedient that one man die
instead of the rest of us. having no idea that he prophesied
the glorious gospel of substitution. Christ died as the substitute
for his people. This is why he died. This is
how he died. He died in the stead of, totally in the stead of. He died so that his people wouldn't
have to. He died to accomplish their death
for Him, and I hope we can all get a hold of this. When He died,
He was not accomplishing His own death, although He was. He
was accomplishing our death, being joined to us. It's appointed
unto us once to die, and after that, the judgment. And He accomplished
it in Himself, joined together with us. When He said it was
finished, it was all finished. Never will His people have to
endure what He has already endured for them as their substitute. That's how He died, as the substitute
of His people. He died according to mercy. That
means He did not give to His people what they deserved because
He gave it to Himself instead. He died according to grace, taking
no price from them for what He did. Free gift. Here's the last
one we'll mention this morning. John 15. This is a glorious verse. John
15, verse 13 says, Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. How did he die? He died as the
friend of sinners. That's how he died. He died bearing
our sin, suffering the judgment for that sin, He was buried bringing
those very sins that He paid for to a place that they could
never return from. And He was raised again to prove
that those sins were put away forever. Had they not been put
away, the Father would have never raised Him back up. In His resurrection,
He proved that all of the sins of His people were gone forever. He died as the satisfactory,
victorious, accomplishing Savior. That's the gospel. That is the
glorious news of redemption. Not in just the fact that He
died. but how Christ died for our sins. Once more to tell it, would I
embrace? Once more to hear it, would I
embrace? I'm only a sinner saved by the grace of God. All right,
let's all stand together.