This morning, I want you to turn
in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15. And I've been thinking about
this. First of all, I've been forewarned
several times this week to be careful what I preach because
you all may have heard the message already. And I think somebody
told me the last time I was here in our Bible study in the back
at the 10 o'clock hour, I preached something you already heard.
But that's okay, I mean, you know, if a good cook has a special
meal that she cooks, you all don't mind having it again, do
you? Today, I've just been thinking
about some things, and I've entitled this message, The Gospel We Believe. And it's just really a simple,
back-to-basics message that I want to bring to you this morning.
And let's look at 1 Corinthians 15. These first few verses here,
the Apostle Paul is showing once again, reminding the church at
Corinth of the truth, the glorious truth and the grace of God under
which God had brought them. And he brings forth the term
gospel. You know the term means good
news. And it's only good news, as we know, to those who see
their need of it. A person who, you know, if you're
not sick, you know, it's not good news to hear about a cure
for the disease. But if you're sick and you hear
about the cure, it's good news to you then, and that's the way
it is. But Paul really doesn't define the gospel in these verses. Now, he has defined it in 1 Corinthians
and other passages, but he just brings forth this way. Look at verse 1. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel. There's only one gospel. There
are many false gospels. There are counterfeits. But he
says the gospel, which I preached unto you. Paul had been there
before. This church was established under Paul's ministry as an apostle
of Christ. He says, Which also you have
received, you believed it by the power of God, in the hands
of the Holy Spirit, who brought you to a saving knowledge of
Christ and Him crucified, and wherein you stand, you continue
in that gospel by the grace of God. He says in verse 2, By which
also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless you believed in vain. And what he's saying there is
that the evidence of salvation is perseverance in the faith.
Perseverance in the truth. Now, perseverance, continuation,
is not a condition we meet in order to be saved. But perseverance
and continuing is an evidence that we are saved. If a person
leaves it, they reveal they never did believe it. And we'll see
that in just a moment. But he says in verse 3, he says, For
I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received.
Paul saying, I'm not telling you anything that God hasn't
convinced me of. This is the message of my heart.
This is the message that's part of me. This is the message of
life and death. You remember Paul said back in
chapter 9, Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. This is the message
of life unto life and death unto death. This is serious business
in other words. So I preached unto you that which I received,
and listen to how he describes it here. He says how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. Now that according
to the scriptures is key. In other words, it's not just
the fact that Christ died for our sins that brings out the
issues of the gospel. But it's that he died for our
sins according to the scriptures. Now, the scriptures is the written
word of God. And that's the verbally inspired
word of God. Back then, they had part of the
Old Testament. They had the first five books
of Moses, which was called the Law. And of course, that was
a schoolmaster to lead them unto Christ. They had Psalms, some
of the Psalms. They had some of the prophets,
some of the wisdom books. But they had the scriptures.
And he says that there's enough in those scriptures to show you
who Christ is and what he did for salvation, to bring about
the salvation of his people. And then he goes on, verse 4,
and he says that he was buried. The reason he stresses the burial
of Christ is because the scriptures teach that Christ would actually
die. It wasn't just a Some kind of
a trance that he got in. It wasn't a swooning. It wasn't
a hoax. He actually died. Now why did
he actually die? Because sin demands death. And
he died for our sins, he says up here. And so he was buried,
but he didn't stay buried. He accomplished something at
the cross. Christ did. He finished a work. And in his
death, he became the victor. And so that he rose again the
third day, according to the scripture. So all of it. Now people will
tell you today, they say, well the gospel is the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ. Period. Just believe it. No,
that is not the case. Now listen to me. Now the gospel
includes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But just
believing those historical facts and understanding that we must
believe those historical facts to believe the gospel. But just
believing those bare historical facts alone does not mean you
believe the gospel. I believed in the historical
facts of the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ long
before I even heard the gospel. Let alone believe it. And I'll
show you why. Now, look over at Luke chapter
24. Now he mentioned the scriptures here. Yeah, Luke 24. Now, you know,
this relates the last days of our Lord here on earth before
he ascended unto the Father. And he preached to his disciples.
And in Luke chapter 24, when he revealed himself to his disciples,
this is the resurrected Savior. I'll get there in a minute, I'm
in Acts. Here it is, Luke 24, look at verse 44. Now remember
what Paul said, he said that he died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again
the third day according to the scriptures. Well look at verse
44. Now he sat down here with his disciples, and he said unto
them, verse 44, Luke 24, These are the words which I spoke unto
you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses," that's the first five
books of the Old Testament, and in the prophets, the prophets
like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, go on, and in the Psalms, and
then he said, concerning me. So these scriptures were, they
concerned a person, and the finished work of Christ. And it says,
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus
it behooved, or it was necessary, it was appropriate, it was that
which had to be done, Christ. It behooved him. He was obligated
to this, because he had made a covenant with his Father before
the world began. And incidentally, that's the
only way we can describe that. You know what I'm saying? When we say that, we kind of
relate. It's almost like the Father sat
down and had some kind of a talk. That's not the way it happens.
But we don't know how to describe that, do we? I mean, I don't. Anyway, this is how it's related
to little old minds like what we have here in creation. But
this was settled in the mind of God before time. So he says
Christ had to come and suffer and to rise from the dead. So
the suffering had to be unto death. It wasn't just a martyrdom.
And he had to rise from the dead the third day. And now that's
the ground of salvation there that's related in the gospel.
The death of Christ, the suffering unto death, The finishing of
the work, and his resurrection from the dead, which indicated
that the work was accomplished. He did the work. Remember what
I said, sin demands death. Righteousness demands life. So
in his death for sin, what did he do? He established righteousness,
and therefore he was raised from the dead. Now he didn't do that
as a private person, he did it as a substitute, as a representative
for his people. He called them his sheep. He
said, the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Now,
who are his sheep? Well, look at verse 47. He said,
"...and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
his name." Now, first of all, he speaks of repentance and remission
of sins. The remission of sins and the
repentance is all the fruit of his death. It's the fruit of
his righteousness, you see. Christ is the cause. Christ in
Him crucified is the cause, the ground of our salvation, of our
justification before God. And we're forgiven. That's the
remission of sin. Now that didn't come by the blood
of bulls and goats. That comes by the blood of the
Lamb of God. And this repentance is the goal
which God brings His sheep to, His elect, His people to, by
way of faith. They come to Christ. They come
to see their sinfulness. and the glory of Christ, and
they come to change their minds and their hearts concerning how
God saves sinners, and what's the ground of salvation. They
didn't have that hymn that we just sang, but it was in their
heart. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness,
and I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name, on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is
sinking sand. You know, if you sing that and
you mean it, that's repentance. As repentance of dead works.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
Not built on my works or my efforts or my enablements. Not anything. But Him alone. And so it says
that these are preached in His name. Now His name is not just
a title or a label. His name is that which identifies
Him and distinguishes Him. As the Savior of His people.
In other words, that's what sets him apart so that we know from
the Scriptures that we're trusting in the true Christ and not a
counterfeit. There are many counterfeits. A lot of counterfeits. And so
when people say Jesus, or when they say Jesus Christ, or the
Lord Jesus Christ, or proclaim the name of the Lord, or praise
the Lord, then we need to know from the Scriptures that they're
talking about the same one upon whom we've set our trust. and
our hope, because if it's not, well how do we know that? Okay,
well hold on, he says, and he says this is to all nations beginning
at Jerusalem and you're witnesses of these things. Now, the only
true gospel is the message that declares that salvation for sinners
is of the Lord completely, not conditioned on the sinner, but
it's conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ who met and fulfilled
all those conditions at Calvary. And it's by the free and unconditional
grace of God in Christ Jesus alone. It declares man as he
is in sin. It declares God as he is in all
his glorious attributes as both a just God and a Savior. It declares
the Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of his person, God and
man in one person. who is both able and willing
to save his people from their sins. And that's what we need
to know. I just finished preaching from the book of Isaiah, chapter
40. And the last part of that chapter basically has two points,
you know. God speaks of comfort for God's people. Start, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. For the Lord, her warfare is
over. The Lord hath given her double for all her sins. And
that's a comfortable message. God has done it all. And that's
what he's talking about. You know, God is our Savior. The name Jesus, what does the
name Jesus mean? It's a derivative of an Old Testament
word named Joshua or Yeshua as they say. It means Jehovah our
Savior. It's not, Jesus is, I tell my
people all the time, Jesus is not a name that derides him or
lessens him. It's Jehovah our Savior. So what we have to know if we're
going to have that kind of comfort is two things. We have to know
number one, is he able? And number two, is he willing?
You see, it's no good if he's just able but not willing. And
it's no good if he's just willing but not able. He's got to be
both able and willing. Well, he's able because of who
he is. He's God and man in one person.
He's able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him,
Paul said. He's able to save us. Paul said, I know whom I
have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. He's not only able
to save me, he's able to keep me. That's what I need. I need
to be saved and I need to be kept. Don't you? Some people say, well, you can
be saved and then lost again. If you could be lost, you would
be. You are. It's impossible. So he left,
but is he willing? Well, the scripture says in John
13 and verse 1 that he loved his own until the end. That word
end is the finishing of the word. It's the same word they used
in Romans 10 for when he said Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe it. And he loved
his people, and he said, The good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep. Isaiah 53, when it's prophesying of his coming
and the foundation upon which God justifies sinners in the
blessed work of the promised suffering servant, the Lamb of
God, he says this, he says that he opened not his mouth. He was
led as a lamb to the slaughter. He went willingly. He told his
disciples, he said, No man takes my life from me. I give it. See? So if he's willing to suffer
on the cross to save us from our sins, you can bet he's willing. He's able and he's willing. So
it not only, but it relates him, declares him in his person, who
he is, and his finished work on Calvary. As the whole foundation
upon which time and eternity is suspended. And that's true,
isn't it? Now the cross of Christ is the
crux of time and eternity. The foundation of what he died.
God forbid Paul wrote that I should glory, that I should boast or
have confidence except in one thing, the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. His finished work on Calvary. Well let me give you these things
just briefly. The gospel we believe. Listen to this. Turn to Romans
chapter 3 to start off with. The gospel we believe declares
the truth about man and about sin. It doesn't tell sinners
that they're just a little sick and need a little help and that
God helps those who help themselves. It doesn't say that. That's not
the gospel. That's not even in the Bible. That's just an old
saying. The gospel declares that salvation
must be totally of the Lord because all who are born into this world
are fallen, depraved, helpless, spiritually dead sinners whose
best efforts to keep the law cannot save them, cannot justify
them, or make them righteous before God. That's what the gospel
declares. Look at Romans 3.10. As it is
written, there is none righteous, no, not one. The gospel declares
that in order to be saved, you must be made righteous. And so
it doesn't hold back. Well, can we find any righteous
men? No, there's none righteous, no,
not one. Now we know that's a general
statement here about the condition of a fallen sinner. And it says here in verse 11,
there's none that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after
God. Understand what? Understand God's way of declaring
sinners righteous. God's way of salvation. Verse
12, they are all gone out of the way, they're together become
unprofitable, there's none that doeth good, no not one. Now that's
in God's sight. We can talk about people who
do good in the world and how they look to us and how they
compare with other men, but that's not the issue of the gospel.
Anybody who's preaching that is not preaching the gospel because
that's not the issue of the gospel. The issue of the gospel is how
we stand before a holy God. How he looks at us. And so because
this being the case, look at verse 19, it says, Now we know
that what things soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them who
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God were sinners. And verse 20
caps it off by saying, Therefore by deeds of law there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight. Now that's where we're concerned
in the gospel, in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. And then he goes on down there. He says in verse 23, For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've missed
the mark. You know, the Bible uses two words to describe the
condition of man as far as his actions go. It uses the word
trespass and the word sin. The word trespass means that
we've crossed the line. If you put up a sign on your
property that says no trespassing, you don't want anybody to cross
that line. And what it's saying is that when Adam fell, when
he sinned against God, he crossed the line. He wanted to be as
God. He wanted to be the captain of
his own fate and destiny. He wanted to be the judge of
good and evil. He wanted to declare his independence
before God. Well, that's what we are by nature.
We cross that line all the time. And then sin, the word sin there
means to miss the mark. We're aiming for righteousness,
but we always miss the mark. We always fall short. We cannot
be made righteous by our deeds. Now that's the truth about man. We're sinners and we cannot take
care of the problem of sin. We cannot be cured of that problem
by our best efforts to keep the law. Man in his best state is
altogether vanity. And here's the second thing,
the gospel declares the truth about God. It speaks of a God
who is sovereign. It also speaks of a God who is
holy and must punish sin. If God did not punish sin, He
wouldn't be God. God cannot just look over sin.
He cannot just pass over sin as if to ignore it. He can't
do it. And yet the Bible teaches about
God who is gracious and merciful. A God who loves. I don't have
any problem preaching a loving God. But I want to tell you something. What men at large, in the majority
of religion here today, about the love of God is no love at
all. It's really a love that's not even as good as their own
love. Because they're always preaching a God who loves, but
he won't or cannot. God loves you, they say, but
he will not cross the line and step on your free will or your
dignity. Things like, that's not the God
of this Bible. That's not what the gospel declares.
The gospel, we believe, declares a God who is sovereign, who is
gracious, who is just, who is holy, as well as merciful and
gracious and loving. He cannot show mercy at the expense
of his justice. That's what was pictured back
in the mercy seat of the tabernacle. But it was pictured even farther
back when Adam fell and God slew an animal and made coats of skin. What was he teaching Adam and
Eve there? He says, without the shedding of blood there is no
remission, no forgiveness of sin. And then he made them coats
of skin and he put them on them. What does that picture? It pictures
the only way that a sinner can be made righteous through the
death of an innocent substitute who is able and willing to save
us. God must be just when he justifies. Yes, God is love,
but his love must be consistent with his justice, and his justice
must be satisfied. That's what the scripture teaches. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ alone because he is the only one who can satisfy law
and justice. He is the embodiment of the love
of God, for it's the love of God that sent him into the world
to satisfy justice. Herein is love, 1 John 4, 10.
Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son
to be what? The propitiation, the sin-bearing,
bloody sacrifice that would satisfy justice in our behalf. God is justified in justifying
sinners based on the shed blood and imputed righteousness of
Christ. We're there at Romans 3, look at verse 22. Now he's
made a plain. Sinners cannot be made righteous
by their best works. But how can we be made righteous?
Well, he says, but now the righteousness of God. Now, he mentioned that
back in Romans 1, 16 and 17. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation
to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and the Greek
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. What
is that righteousness of God? Well, here he's defining it.
He says, but now the righteousness of God without the law, that
is, without our deeds of the law, that's what he's talking
about here, and the righteousness of God without our works is manifested,
it's declared, it's made known, you see. Being witnessed by the
law and the prophets, it's the same righteousness that the law
and the prophets preached. Moses in the law and the prophets.
Even the righteousness of God by faith or faithfulness of Jesus
Christ. This righteousness by which God
is just to justify the ungodly, is not by our faithfulness to
Him, it's by Christ's faithfulness to do what He agreed to do, to
come and to obey the law perfectly and die on the cross of Calvary
in satisfied justice. You see, it's not our hold of
Him that keeps us saved, saves us and keeps us saved, it's His
hold of us. And he says it's unto all, that is, it's to be
preached unto Jew and Gentile, to the Jew first and the Greek
also. And it's upon all them that believe. Those who believe
this give evidence that they have this righteousness of God
charged to them, accounted to them, laid to their account.
They've been justified in the sight of God. And there's no
difference between Jew and Gentile here. For all sin and comes short
of the glory of God, we all equally need it. Verse 24, being justified
freely by His grace. Being declared righteous, not
guilty, unconditionally, without a cause. We didn't earn it, we
didn't deserve it. It's by His grace, it's through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that's what He accomplished
at Calvary, you see. In establishing the righteousness
by which God justifies the ungodly. And that pertained to all of
God's elect, from the beginning. Even in the Old Testament, He
says, Whom God hath set forth, that means foreordained, And
there's that word propitiation again. To be a propitiation,
a sin-bearing sacrifice who would die to satisfy justice through
faith in his blood. That is, we look to his finished
work, his death, as our only righteousness before God. To
declare his righteousness, to declare God's righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Now that word forbearance is
a time word. And what it's talking about is
during the time of the Old Covenant. Whenever God's people were exposed
as being sinners, we might ask this question, why, if God's
a just God, why didn't He just put it to them right then? Well,
it's because God appointed a time when He would send His Son to
be their Savior. And God always saw it so. That's
how he looked at them. That's how he could justify Abraham,
based upon the work that Christ would come and finish at the
cross. And that's called the forbearance of God, because it's
a time word. It's not like God was saying,
well, I want to get them, but I'm going to forbear with them.
Or I ought to get them, but I'm going to forbear with them. It
wasn't like God was reluctantly holding back his judgment upon
them. It was reserved for the time
of Christ that in time He would come and He would take the judgment
that I deserved. I wasn't even born yet. You weren't
either. But He took the judgment that I deserved. He took the
wrath that I deserved. Somebody asked me one time, said,
were we ever under the wrath of God? Yes, we were in Christ
on the cross. Because the wrath that I earned
and deserved fell down upon Him at Calvary. Now God always saw
it so, and that's why he could forbear. And it wasn't based
on the blood of animals now, because if that were the case,
he would have had to have forbore even with the non-elect in Israel,
because they benefited from the blood of animals. And that's
what he says in the book of Hebrews, chapter 9. He says, what the
blood of bulls and goats could not do, what they could not do,
the blood of Christ did accomplish. Now he says in verse 26, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness. that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Now, that word might
be there as a present tense verb. What he's saying is this. This
is the God who has always been, always is, and always will be.
He revealed himself in the Old Testament as a just God and a
Savior. He's always been just and justifier. He can never be
anything less. Could you say God was not just and justifier
until this time, and then he picked it up and started being
one? No. He's God. But the point that he's making
here is this. Look at verse 27. He says, Now,
where is boasting then? Where does the sinner have any
room to boast? He says it's excluded. He doesn't.
The sinner doesn't have any room to boast or brag. By what law
of works? No. By the law of faith. What
is the law of faith? Huh? The law of faith is salvation
by the grace of God in Christ. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God in Christ. What I have in salvation, I didn't
earn it and I didn't deserve it. I don't have anything to
brag about. I'll tell you what, I'll take it back. I do have
something to brag about. I can brag about Christ and Him
crucified. That's what the gospel we believe
declares. The gospel we believe declares
the truth about Jesus Christ and salvation. That He came to
this earth, the Son of God, eternal, co-equal with the Father and
the Holy Spirit. He was made flesh as a man. He's the Savior
of His people, the God-man who was given of the Father. All that the Father gave Him,
He died for. and he's God's appointed prophet,
anointed prophet and priest and king. He's the one way of salvation.
There's none other name under heaven given among men. whereby
we must be saved. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. There is no other righteousness
that we can have before a holy God except his Son, Christ, and
him crucified. There is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. It is by his righteousness
imputed and his shed blood that sinners are justified before
a holy and merciful God. And now his righteousness was
established. at Calvary. And he had to be
because God purposed in eternity to save his people from their
sins. And it always has been the ground upon which God justifies
the ungodly. The gospel we declare declares
the truth about the new birth. You must be born again. Sinful
men cannot and will not come to God of their own free will.
They don't have a free will. It's in bondage to sin. We must
be born again because we're spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. We
must be born again by the sovereign, invincible power of God, the
Holy Spirit, or we will not seek salvation God's way. We'll seek
it our own way. Men are religious by nature,
but they will not come to God. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have eternal life. And the Holy Spirit sovereignly
and invincibly brings his people under the preaching of the gospel.
and gives them spiritual life and knowledge, imparts to them
the spirit of life, gives them ears to hear, eyes to see. Remember
the Lord said to the disciples, blessed are your eyes for they
see, blessed are your ears for they hear. He brings them to
Christ for salvation. The Bible says He convinces us
of sin because they believe not on Christ. He convinces us of
righteousness because Christ finished the work and went unto
the Father. And He convinces us of judgment because the prince
of this world is judged. That means Satan's accusations.
Even though he brings them, always has and always will, until he's
gone, that they will not reach their mark. Because who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
He's risen again, is seated at the right hand of the Father,
ever living to make intercession for us. He's our advocate. And
He's Jesus Christ the righteous. Sinners are commanded to seek
the Lord, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation,
and repent of their sins. But all who do have been born
again by the Spirit of God. The gospel we declare declares
the truth about the obedience of faith. Turn to Ephesians chapter
2. I want you to see this. People
talk about, well, what about obedience? What about good works? Let's see what the scripture
says. What does the gospel declare about Obedience and good work. Are God's people to be obedient?
Yes. Anybody who would argue that
doesn't know the Scriptures. Or argue against it, rather.
Yes, God's people are to be diligent, obedient people, to be zealous
of good works. Well, what does the Gospel declare
about that? Well, look at Ephesians 2, look at verse 8. For by grace
are you saved. Literally, have you been saved?
And it's through faith. Now, again, some say, well, that's
talking about the faith of Christ. Some say it's talking about the
body of doctrine. Some say it's talking about our
believing. I'm comfortable saying it's all three, myself. Because
here's what he's saying. You've been saved by grace. And
that's by means of faith. You lay hold of it. But the object
of that faith is Christ and Him crucified. In other words, you
don't have faith in your faith, you have faith in Christ. And
he says, and that's not of yourself, it's the gift of God. It's given
of God. It's not of works, verse 9, lest
any man should boast. Now look at verse 10. For we
are his workmanship. A sinner saved by grace is not
his own workmanship. It's God's workmanship. You're
the work of God. Salvation's of the Lord. Created
in Christ Jesus. That's on the basis of Christ
and him crucified, what he accomplished at Calvary. And it's unto good
works, not because of good works, but unto good works. In other
words, good works are the fruit and the result and the effect
of the grace of God. You see that? And he says, which
God hath before ordained or prepared that we should walk in them.
Saved, born-again sinners, are commanded to obey the Word of
God, to follow Christ, to seek to be conformed to His image,
to seek to do the will of God, not to be saved, not to earn
your rewards in heaven, but because you already are saved and because
Christ is your reward and eternal life in Him. It's all by His
grace. We're to seek to grow in grace
and in knowledge of Christ. Seek to follow Him and be His
obedient children. Not motivated by law or fear
of punishment or loss of reward, but motivated by grace and by
love and by gratitude. That's the difference. And then
the gospel we declare declares the truth about perseverance.
All who are saved by the grace of God, based on the blood and
righteousness of Christ, all who have been born again by the
Spirit of God, will, without fail, persevere in the faith.
Why? Because God preserves them. God,
Jude 24 and 25, God who is able to keep us from falling. Any
who profess to believe in Christ and who fall away from the faith
reveal that they were never, never saved. That's what 1 John
2, 18 and 19 said. Had they been of us, they would
have no doubt remained with us. Christ preserves his people under
final glory, and they will, by his grace and as a result, persevere
under final glory. One last thing. Turn back to
1 Corinthians 15, and let me close with this. The gospel we
believe Declares the truth about final glory Now Christ is coming again He's
coming again Now there are people who are so involved with that
truth Trying to figure out the times in the seasons that they
don't even preach the gospel. They don't even believe it What
we are to be doing as the church is during the time in between
the his his ascending unto the father two thousand years ago
and his second coming is were to be about the father's business
in preaching the gospel to the law and edifying the people of
God we're not to we're not to be writing books about when he's
coming back I'm sure that the second coming of Christ is neglected
by some people and I know we are to study it We're to live
in anticipation of it. But he's coming again. That's
the gospel message now. And anybody who preaches that
he's not coming again is not preaching the gospel. He's coming
again, and he's going to bring his people unto glory. Look at
verse 47 of 1 Corinthians 15. He says, The first man is of
the earth, earthy. That's Adam, the representative
of his people. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. That's Christ. As is the earth, as is the earthy,
such they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. In other words, those who are
in Adam are like Adam, those who are in Christ are like Christ.
Simple. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. You
know, you have a human body. And once you get a little age
on you, you come to realize that it's not getting any better.
Why is that? You bear the image of the earth.
This human body. What a living testimony of sin.
That's why I never could understand these people who talk about they
can come to a point in life where they're not sinful anymore. They're
living above sin. I said, well, then, you know,
all that youth is going to come back. You'll never get sick.
You know, I mean, this is the result of sin. Sin cannot condemn
us now. Sin cannot bring us under the
wrath of God, but we still feel the effects of it. This body
is dead because of sin. The Bible says the body is dead
because of sin. The spirit is alive because of
righteousness, because of Christ. So we bear the image of the earthly.
But he says we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Verse
50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, this earthly body. Neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. He says, Behold, I show you a
mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
And that's what he's talking about. 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 all
be changed. Incorruptible. For this corruptible
must put on what? Incorruption. And this mortal
must put on immortality. So then when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." That's the final
victory that Christ won by his death on the cross and his burial
and his resurrection. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The reason I'm dying is because
of sin. The strength of sin is the law. The strength, the power
of sin to condemn a person is the law of God. But look here,
verse 57. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory, how? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's risen. He's our advocate. He's our mediator. He's our intercessor. He's coming again. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord. And you know, that includes even
our trials. Whatever suffering we go through in this life, we
know that he's coming again, and it's not in vain. You think
about people who don't believe the gospel and who will eventually,
sadly, come to die in unbelief. For them, the worst is yet to
come. For us, this is the worst we'll ever have to face, because
he's coming again to take us to be with him, and we'll be
made like him. John said, It does not yet appear what we shall
be, but we know we'll be made like him. We'll see him as he
is. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for the blessings of your grace in Christ and what you've
accomplished for us in Calvary to save us from our sins. We
thank you, dear Lord, for all that Christ did in establishing
righteousness on our behalf to enable you to be both a just
God and a Savior. Thank you for the gospel message
empowered by the Spirit to our minds and our affections and
our will. And we pray that you will keep us in your grace, causing
us to persevere. Keep us in love and unity and
peace around this gospel. For it's in Christ's name we
pray. Amen.