And thank you, sir, and thank
you very, very much. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again, I say, rejoice. All right, let's turn back to
1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Now, everything we believe is based on this person. This One who came to this earth,
named Jesus of Nazareth, whom scriptures call Christ, whom
we believe like Peter. And He is the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And He is God manifest in the
flesh. Everything we believe concerns
Him. It's all based on Him. And all that we believe concerning
him is based upon the fact that he rose from the grave, that this man who walked this
planet was not just a man, that he actually died. They put his
body in a grave, and it lay there for three days, and after those
three days, he walked out of that grave, proving that he's
not just a man. Proving that everything he said
is true. Proving that all we believe about
him is absolute fact. It's true. Alright, you understand? It all
depends upon the fact that that one that lived years ago rose
from the grave. The Apostle Paul, every time
he preached, if you read the book of Acts, Every time he preached,
he brought this up. That was the theme of his preaching.
The person. And how do we know he is who
he is? Because he walked out of the grave. His person and his work. And
that's what Paul's dealing with here in 1 Corinthians 15. The
fact of the matter. But you know, you don't You don't
believe after the fact. Faith is not based on facts. You understand? We believe, and
then He proves Himself to them. If we don't believe a fact, well,
show me how to believe. But we believe Him, and He reveals
Himself in person. Now, this is not something that is
believed by the average person. You tell them, I know Christ
lives, because He's revealed Himself to me. Oh, come on, you've
seen a vision of Him? You've seen Jesus up there? No,
in the preaching of the gospel. I don't understand. What do you
mean he's revealed? He's spoken to me. See, you can't explain that.
In other words, I don't believe, Terry, because of these facts. I love these facts, but that's
not why I believe. I believe because Jesus Christ,
the person, revealed himself to me. That's what the apostles did.
That's what Paul is writing here. Paul didn't believe until Christ
came to him and said, You know who I am? I'm Jesus of Nazareth, and I'm
alive, reigning and ruling. You understand? Our faith is
not based on facts. Anybody would believe if they
were presented with facts, absolute facts. You understand? But Christ
Himself, and He tried to tell the world now, Christ has revealed
Himself to me, and He's spoken to me. You heard a voice, no,
but when the preaching of the gospels one day was being preached,
Christ spoke to me personally. Oh, boy. He just got to speak
to you. You understand? That's the way it is. Is that
the way you believe it? Huh? Can you concur with me? Huh? Is that the way it was?
That there was a day when you absolutely had no interest? That's
Paul's story, you see. Everywhere Paul went, that was
his story. He said, listen, I didn't love
you. I wasn't seeking the Lord. I
was absolutely opposite. I was trying to kill those that
did believe in Christ. But then Christ came and revealed
Himself. Everywhere you went, that's what
He said, see? He's revealed Himself to me. He's real. He spoke to
me. But I love these facts. You know,
I love the facts here. They're undeniable. Irreputable
when he says five hundred people at one time saw him. How are
you going to discount that? Five hundred people. And most
of them, you know, they're alive right now. They saw him. Peter and myself and James, we
all saw him. I love these facts, but faith
comes before facts. Understand, that's what I'm trying
to say. Faith comes before fact. Many of our young people here,
and others that believe the facts, pretty much, in their heads of
what's being preached here, but they don't know the Lord. Samuel believed the fact that
he didn't know the Lord. The Lord had spoken to him, speaking
to him personally. Samuel, who are you? Well, Paul says here in 1 Corinthians
15, Brethren, moreover, I declare unto you the gospel. I declare
unto you the gospel. Preaching of the gospel has fallen
to the wayside. It's the common phrase of one
of the largest denominations, share. Offer them Christ, is
how they say it. Offer them Christ. Another one
says, we want to share Jesus with you. Preaching the gospel is not offering.
Christ is not up to us to offer. He's not, like one of these signs
says, God's never on vacation. Take God with you wherever you
go. As if he's a little in our pockets or something. Be sure
to take God. Don't forgive him. Preaching of the gospel is a
declaration of who God is. We're standing up and not asking
anybody for anything. Not sharing, not offering. He's not ours to offer. He's
not ours to give. We're declaring. That's what Peter did when he
was at Pentecost. He wasn't standing up begging
people to do anything for Jesus. He was just standing powerfully,
dogmatically declaring that this One that you crucified is sitting
on a throne right now. And when he got through preaching,
he sat down. He didn't offer an altar call
or anything like that. He just declared. Boy, I'd like
to stay right here. We've declared unto you the gospel. And mark this word, not my word,
but this word, any man who stands up and says, I want to share
something with you, or I want to offer Christ to you. The largest
place in Roanoke, Virginia, Baptist place, has a huge sign in the
airport, huge sign that they pay thousands and thousands of
dollars to put as advertisement in the airport, and it says,
The city of lights that you have to go. Roanoke is a city of light,
and we offer you the light of the world. Jesus Christ is not ours to offer. That's blasphemy. He is not man's to offer to man. He made one offering of himself
to God and sat on the throne, and now men that stand up to
preach the gospel and the true churches simply stand up and
declare that he's the Lord on a throne and did what he came
to do. And all his people are going
to hear it and bow to it, not asking, begging, or pleading
with men to do anything. And I better go on. I've got
several verses. I declare unto you, he says,
the gospel, which I preach to you. Preaching
is not... Preaching is dogmatic. That's
the reason people, they don't want to hear it anymore. Don't
preach to me. When Christ spoke, it's that He spoke as one having
authority. He does. He has it all. And His preachers do too. If
they don't, they're not His preachers. We declare unto you THE GOSPEL. Now remember, Stan, he said there's
another gospel out there. It's not the gospel. But we're
declaring unto you THE GOSPEL. And Paul said in Galatians 1,
if anybody preaches any other gospel than that which we have
declared for you, they didn't be in that temple. They didn't
go to hell. We declare unto you the gospel.
which we preached unto you, verse 1, which also you've received.
You've heard it and you've believed it. You people in here, many
if not most, you... Oh, bless the Lord. All is within
you. Bless the Lord. Forget not all
his benefits, the cheap of which you've heard the gospel. Or you
just have to go someplace and hear some pinhead, don't you? One time to appreciate this gospel
is a shame. You have to go out and read the gospel, which is a declaration
of the person of Christ. There's nothing like it, is there?
You've received it. You've believed it too. And that's
none of yourselves. If it wasn't for the grace of
God, just like Paul, you'd hate me. You'd hate me. You'd hate this gospel. But now you've received it. Bless
God. This gospel. Wherein you stand. You stand. Damn, you say like
Martin Luther. Now, this is the gospel. Here
I stand. I'm not going anywhere. That's what Martin Luther said. The whole world was against Martin
Luther. The whole world was against him. Everybody was in by all his neighbors
and friends. They said, you're a heretic,
Martin Luther. He said, well, here I stand. Alone, if necessary. I can do
no other. This is it! Boy, the Lord revealed
himself to Martin Luther. Where do you stand? Verse 2,
By which also you stand. You stand. Those who have truly heard and believed
and received and loved the gospel and stand, the Lord knows it's
all. They're saved. Yeah. Saved. This gospel, oh, it's
the power of God and salvation. And it goes on to say, if you
keep in memory, by which also you're saved if you keep in memory.
That means the margin says holds fast if you retain it. Hold fast. Lay hold on this gospel. Steadfast to the end. Have you
laid hold on the gospel? Unless He said you believe in
vain, or that is unless it's just in your head. You know,
you can say what you will, and you can sound good, and you can
go many years and look like and sound like a believer. But in
the end, in the end, you can say, I understand
it on the rock. Then it's real, isn't it? It's
real. It is, unless you believe in
faith. That's what that means. It doesn't
mean that the gospel ever goes out in vain. It doesn't mean
that that God tried and you failed, and so therefore it was... No,
no, that's not... You understand? See, Paul doesn't
know who believes. Paul doesn't know who believes.
And he's just saying, now this, by which you're saved, unless
some of you believe, or say you believe, but it's all in vain,
because you're not one of them. And that will be so with the
Son. Lord, don't pray with me. Lord,
let it not be me. And verse 3, he says, verse 3,
he says, now I delivered unto you. I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received. This is the gospel I heard growing
up. And this is the gospel that absolutely This is the gospel that absolutely
gave life to a dead gutter snake. This is the gospel that brought
home a prodigal. I mean a husk-eaten, swine-wallowing
prodigal. Paul said, I'm the chief assembly
of this gospel. That's what I heard. This is
what saved me. Freedom. I delivered unto you
what I first received. How? That Christ died for our sins according to the
scripture. I want you to turn quickly to
Exodus chapter 12 with me. Exodus chapter 12. Now, Paul
is not simply declaring facts, that is, if you believe the death,
burial, resurrection of Jesus, you're saved. No. See, the key, John, we know the
key there, don't we? How Christ died for our sins
according to Scripture. He's declaring in a succinct
or a very to-the-point verse that There's a gospel, how Christ
died. You remember when Christ said
to his disciples, oh, fools are slow to believe all that the
prophets said. Ought not Christ to have suffered? Ought not Christ to have suffered?
You see, the world, Patrick, the world believes the facts.
Most believe that this man named Jesus walked the planet and he
died, he was crucified. It crosses everywhere, nobody
denies that. But believing that fact won't
save you. The gospel is how Christ died for our sins, according to Scripture, you see. And even preachers today reveal
their ignorance of why Christ came and what he did and why
he came and what he did. There was a fellow years ago
named Rex Humbart. I remember he was back before
there were too many of those fellas on TV. He was him and
Oral Roberts and just another one or two. Rex Humbart was one
of the wise, most widely known of all the preachers. And he
said this, now this is one of the leading preachers of the
day, conservative man, preacher. And he got all carried away preaching
about Jesus being crucified. And he started crying and all
that. He said, if I'd have been there, I'd have stopped it. But then we wouldn't be saved.
Why did he die, Rex? Ought not Christ to have suffered?
Yes, he has to, according to the Scripture. That's why he
came, according to the Scripture. And how did he die for our sins?
What are you talking about, Paul? Look at verse 13 of Exodus 12.
Now, the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
you are. The blood, like the flesh is
in the blood, Leviticus 17, 11 says. It's the blood that makes
the atonement for the soul. God told Adam and Eve in the
garden. He said, day you sin, you'll die. Well, they didn't
die physically. They died spiritually. They began to die spiritually. And he said the soul that sinneth
must surely die. The soul. The soul must die. Not only the body
will die because of sin, the soul too. God is holy and will
by no means clear the guilty. And the soul that sinneth must
die for the blood. Look at verse 13. God says, now
the blood's a token. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. In other words, this is the token.
This is a symbol. This is a title of a substitute,
something dying for you, for your sin. This holy God taking
this innocent substitute and declaring that it's you, your
sin, laid on the head of that lamb. And God killing that lamb
in your state. How Christ died for our sin. I'm glad no one stopped it. Because
Christ was made sin for me. Who knew no sin? But I might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. How that Christ died
for our sin. According to the scripture, according
to Exodus 12, 13, Leviticus 17, 11. Turn to Isaiah 53 with us. Isaiah
53. Isn't this your favorite? Isaiah 53. How Christ died for
our sins according to the Scripture. Now, who has to lay this report,
Isaiah 53? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Jesus. He grows up, verse 2,
as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. We make a lot of these pictures,
don't we? We, we all the time talking about these pictures,
aren't we? Because it's an idol. It's an idol. It's an idol. Besides,
Christ had no beauty about him. Here's the only real description
of him in the scripture, you know? Verse 2. A root out of dry ground,
he hath no form nor colors. When we see him, there's no beauty
that we should desire. He doesn't have blue eyes, and
fair skin, and a clear complexion, and perfect teeth. No. He's just an ordinary looking
man. Thin, gaunt looking, dark skin. Nothing, you know, you couldn't
distinguish him from an average Jew that day. And so he was despised. Verse 3, he was despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. We
did too, hid it as it were, our faces from him. He was despised,
we esteemed him not. But you know what he was doing.
You know why he came? Why was he made after the fashion
of sinful flesh? Because he'd borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Verse 5, he was wounded for our
transgression, he was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him. With his stripes we were healed,
he took our weapon. Now all we like sheep have gone astray.
The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. How did Christ die
for our sin? But he didn't stay dead. Christ
was buried. Verse 9, he made his grave with
the wicked. This is what Paul preached from.
This is what he preached from. This is what Philip preached
from. This is what the eunuch heard.
Verse 9, he made his grave. That is, he was put in the grave.
Yet, verse 10, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He put him
to grief. He made his soul an offering.
You see that? The soul that sinneth must surely
die. Christ's soul. Not just his body
whose blood was sheathed. His soul was an offering. But
now wait a minute. He shall see his seed. God shall prolong his
day. That means he's not going to
stay there. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Verse 11, he shall see the travail of his soul. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many. Justification in Christ.
He bore their iniquity. Verse 12, therefore he's seated.
He's sitting on a throne right now, risen from the grave. God
has given him all things. And now he bears, he makes intercession
for the transgressors. That's what Paul's preaching
from. So back to the text. Back to the text. So he says,
I've delivered unto you first of all that which I also receive.
How? That Christ died by sin. He must. According to the scripture. All
right? After that, he was buried, and
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. We love that
passage, and I believe it's Hosea that says, after the third day,
you'll rise and take us to glory. Well, he did, according to the
scriptures. He arose. In verse 5 and following, Paul
says, Now he was seen of Peter of the twelve, 500 brethren,
many of whom are still alive today, and James, and all the
apostles, and me, verse 8, I saw him. I saw him as one born out
of due time. I saw him. This is a fact, I'll
say. Those facts don't save you. The
fact what saves you is seeing Christ What saves you is hearing the
gospel of Christ crucified, not facts. What saves is you seeing
yourself as one of these hell-deserving sinners. Sinner. In the hands
of this holy God. And Christ taking your place.
That's the report. Christ crucified. Buried and risen again. And now
seated. Paul said, I saw him, though
I'm unfit. But verse 10, he said, this is
by the grace of God. By the grace of God, I saw it.
I am what I am. His grace bestowed on me was
not in vain. I'm preaching it. Not in vain. I labored more abundantly than
they all. To do what, Paul? Just to declare who Christ is. Yet not I, it's not me, but it's
the grace of God which was with me. And therefore, he said, therefore,
verse 11, whether it's them or I or whoever, so we pray. What do you pray? Christ crucified,
buried risen again, seated in triumph, reigning and ruling. And you believe? You believe? You believe? If you received it and you stand
there and you hold fast, you're saved. This is the gospel. If it's not in vain, if it's
not all just a facade, do you believe that the heart man believed
it? Do you? Well, so you believe. You believe. And I do. You do. Don't you? Don't you believe now more than
ever? It's a miracle when you first
heard the gospel. It's an absolute life-giving
miracle when you first heard the gospel. Just to get you to
sit down and hear that was a miracle. Some of you, just to get you,
I'm not talking to those who are born religious, but some, You know, like Mary Magdalene,
the publicans and sinners, they were brought into this place
and made to sit down. That was a miracle itself. Just
to get you to sit still for a while and hear it. But then... I believe. I believe. I need this gospel. That's a
miracle. I love this gospel. Steve get me to sit down at one
point and hear it. That's a miracle. Get me to receive
it. Stand me up and preach it. Maybe my seventh grade teacher
was a prophetess after all. She said, you're going to be
a lawyer or a preacher. Well, I'm glad it wasn't the former. Well, I'd be hated either way. I don't know why she said that,
but that's how she did it. I laughed at her, you know. So
I ain't going to be no preacher. Well, that's a miracle. Now,
if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how is it
that some say that he didn't? I'm reading verse 12. How is
it that some say there's no resurrection of the dead? And this is, you
know, skeptics. Peter said in the last days,
scoffers will come. More and more as time goes by. So depart. You know, as they
speak calamities and disasters and things, men keep saying,
God loves you, God loves you, God loves you. Let God, let God.
And all these things happen and everybody, where is God? What's
God doing here? God loves men. All this is happening.
Well, I don't believe. And they're slowly saying, well,
who needs God? Except those out and out deceived,
you know. Until men say, wait, this religion,
God, love, God, this and that and the other. So they're all,
so skeptics and agnostic are on the rise today. America, they're
becoming, the newspapers and all, becoming increasingly blasphemous
and bold in their assertions. Not so subtle anymore. They're
becoming, the movies, you see the movies, Son of Jesus is on
that. There's a movie that's called
The Son of Jesus. People flock to see it. The Last Temptation. That's the last thing. Come on now, this is the 21st
century. The second millennium has come
and gone and he hasn't come back. Where's the promise of his coming?
Everything's going to go on just like, unless a meteor hits us. It's his comments, truth, that
say he's coming, but it's everything. What's all this talk about Jesus
and God? And this is what Paul's addressing
here. If there be, verse 13, if there's no resurrection of
the dead, then Christ is not risen. That man that lived back,
if you could find the actual grave, you could find some DNA.
You could find some DNA and say,
yeah, this is Jesus, born of Joseph's son. And verse 14, if Christ be not
risen, what am I doing right now? It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Steve works
midnight, all kinds of shifts and all. He's off last night. Why are you sitting there, man?
Let's head to the lake. If this is not so, if it's all an elaborate hoax,
Let's go to Smith Mountain, folks. I'll buy the supplies. Let's
go. Sam, let's get our boats and
let's go, buddy. What are we doing here? This
is stupid. And that's the fact of the matter.
A preacher is the most worthless thing on the planet. If that
one back then didn't walk out of that grave, And what your
faith, he said, is vain. The fact that you believe this,
Patrick, makes you an ignorant person from the mountains of
western Virginia. Ignorant, unlearned. Smart people don't believe such
foolishness. That's what Paul said. Now, mind you, Darnell Paul was
the smartest man in his day. I mean, he's the most learned
man in his day. I mean, the most noted, highest
scholar. You see, aren't you glad God
sent this through a man who was wise, and was worldly wise? I'm thankful for the likes of
Professor Edgar Andrews over at the Professor of Material
Science, who lectures at Harvard, and Oxford, and Princeton, and
Yale. And he's one of the best gospel
preachers you've ever heard. I'm not, not this gospel. Labored
with Bill Clark, sat under Bill Clark, who was just an old Irishman. And sat at his seat and learned
the gospel from a little Irishman. And now boldly proclaims that
in spite of all that learning he had. See, this is why Paul over in
chapter 1 said, where is the wise of this world? Where is
the scribe? Where is the disputer? Bring them on. That's what Paul
said, bring them on. And he did. Man, he did. He stood
in the court of the Areopagites with the philosophers, the Aristotelites,
and all of them. And they couldn't. God sent a
fellow like Stephen. Well, before him, Peter, Fisherman,
and those Pharisees were reeling. Where'd they get this learning? Well, Paul says, but if it's
all just a lie, he says, been Christ, the dead rise not, Christ
is not risen, then that Jesus that walked this planet, boy,
he's the biggest imposter. Man, he was something wasn't
he? He led more people astray than Adolf Hitler, Genghis Deng,
or whatever his name was, Genghis Khan, all of them put together. They're still following. People
by the billions are still following that one. What an imposter. What an elaborate
hoax. More people been taken in than
anything else. And he says, read on, he says,
verse 18, those that are fallen asleep, those that died, is all
for nothing. They died like a dog. Like a dead cat or a dog. That's it. Verse 19, he says, if this is
it, if this is it. We say, for me to live is Christ. The whole life is devoted to
following Christ, Christ, Christ. When he was an imposter, we're
miserable people. But now, verse 20, write this,
shout this from the bottom of your heart. I'd love to scream
this to the top of my lungs to you right now. But now, is Christ
risen from the dead? He's not an imposter. He's the only one who isn't. He now is risen from the dead. He did rise. He walked out of
that grave. Would you believe if somebody
we know walked out of the grave right now? Somebody in the dead?
Would you believe? No. No. Isn't that what our Lord
said? If you don't believe Moses and
the prophets, if God doesn't give you faith from his word,
you won't believe the Lord when those come to pass. But one did. And they didn't
believe him. And some of them tried to keep
quiet. And to this day, there's an elaborate scheme, you know,
saying that Germans or Romans took his body away and hid it
so that his disciples could try to create this hoax. Boy, it
was a good one. Sherlock never even figured it
out. No, no, no, no. He did rise. There's no bond. No DNA. There's no trace of it.
Don't go back there. That's what the angels said.
What are you looking here for? He's not here. He's risen. Just
like he said. And everything else he said is
true. You see? If he walked out of
that planet, because one time he said, no man takes my life
like that. I can't say that. You could
get a gun right now and shoot me. I'd be dead, Henry. I'd be
dead dead. Graveyard dead. I could not get
up. Christ said, nobody takes my
life from me. I lay it down, and he said this,
and I take it up. I have this power. Fine, I'm
God. Yes, you'll see. My people will
see before the facts. And then he rose from the grave. And now He is risen from the
dead, verse 20, and become the firstfruits of them that slept,
and all those that died in Christ. Verse 22 says, In Christ all
made alive. They're all right now with Him.
They're all right now with Him. Now, those poor blind earthlings
say, I don't believe, I don't believe. Now it's not faith, it's absolute
fact. They're living in, not in hope,
not in faith, but in reality. By sight, they're seeing Him.
And Scripture said, we're going to see Him too. He's going to
come and all eyes will see Him. And behold Him, whom they've
pierced. And every knee shall bow and
every tongue confess that He's Lord, He's the living Lord. But
salvation is to do it now. Salvation is to see it now. And
believe, and receive, and love, and bow, and stand, lay hold
on, and believe steadfast to the end, and die believing. That's
how you know. That's how you know. All right,
what's that closing hymn, John? 226. 226? All right, let's stand and sing
hymn number 226.