Open your Bibles with me to Titus,
Chapter 2. Titus, the second chapter. Lord willing, I'll be preaching
in Danville, Kentucky on Tuesday night. I covet your prayers for
that. And Jonathan is preaching in
Pikeville, Kentucky this morning. We want to remember him in prayer. And also, a couple of you mentioned
this, so I thought I'd tell everybody at least what's in my mind. I'd like for us to kind of save
up the money to be able to spruce up the auditorium. Since we have
been here, we haven't painted it or hardly done anything. I
would especially like to replace the flooring. And so as the Lord
lays it on your heart to give to that endeavor, I think that
would be a good thing for us to do. The latest financial statement
doesn't show the expenditure that we had for the heat pump
back here that we had to replace. So our balance is actually like
$6,500 less than that. So kind of keep that in mind
as you look at the financial statement. We save up to do something
to keep this comfortable and keep it up. All right, Titus
chapter 2. I'd like to begin reading in
verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that. Here's why he did
it, for this purpose, who gave himself for us that. He might
redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. All
right, let's stand together, shonleidges, and sing our call
to worship. Now may the Lord reveal His grace
and teach our stammering tongues to make His sovereign reigning
grace the subject of our No sweeter subject can invite a sinner's
heart to sing, nor display the glorious rite of our exalted
King. Grace reigns to pardon crimson
sins. We lose the hardest part. And from the work it once begins,
it never once departs. It was grace that bought our
souls at first. By grace thus far we've come. And grace will keep us through
the worst. And grace will take us home. OK, if you would, turn in your
hymnal to song number 340, 340, Nearer Still Nearer. Nearer, still nearer, close to
thy heart. Draw me, my Savior, close to thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Nothing I bring, naught as an
offering to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite
heart Grant me the cleansing Thy blood
doth impart Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart Nearer,
still nearer, Lord, to Thee In with its follies I gladly
resign. All of its pleasures come and
its pride. Give me but Jesus, my Lord, crucified. Give me but Jesus, my Lord, or
crucify. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last, My anchor is cast through endless
ages never to be nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee. Let's open our Bibles now to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. I intend to take a break this week from
looking at the questions we've been looking at in scripture.
As I was looking for the next one to deal with, I came upon
this passage and just felt impressed to preach on it this morning.
I trust the Lord will bless it to us. First Corinthians 15,
beginning in verse one. 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're saved. if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And he was
seen of Cephas, then of the 12. After that, he was seen of above
500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, But some are falling asleep. After that, he was seen
of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen
of me also, as one born out of due time. For I'm the least of
the apostles, and I'm not me, not worthy to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God,
I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I. but the grace of God, which was
with me. And we'll end our reading there.
Let's bow before our Lord together. Our Father, we're so thankful
that out of your goodness and your mercy to your people, you've
given us one more opportunity to meet together and to worship
your precious name. Father, I pray that you would
make this hour an hour of true worship. that you would enable
us to forget about all the cares and responsibilities of this
life, and that, Father, by your Spirit, you might enable us from
the heart to bow at your presence, to bow before your throne of
grace and to worship you. I beg of thee that the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ would be lifted up and exalted, and that
your people might find such joy happiness, peace, and looking
to him and trusting all of our salvation to him. Father, I pray this morning that
you'd show us your glory. Show us the redemptive glory
in the sacrifice of your darling son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that you'd give us faith to believe him. Father, what we pray for
ourselves, we pray for your people, wherever they may be meeting
together this morning. Father, it's our prayer that
you bless them as we pray that you'd bless us. Then in this dark, dark day in
which we live, you might continue to bless your people through
the preaching of your word. And father, I thank you for all
the blessings of this life, how richly and abundantly you blessed
us. Father, we're thankful. And for those that you brought
into the valley, Father of trouble and trial and heartache, Father,
we pray you'd be with them. We pray that you would deliver
them as soon as it could be thy will. And until then, that you
give them a fulfillment of your promise, that your grace is sufficient,
that you'll never leave nor forsake your people. Comfort their hearts
with your presence, we pray. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. I titled the message this morning,
How That Christ Died. I would like for us to be able
to see by God's grace this morning why Christ died and what did
he accomplish when he died. Paul begins in verse one, chapter
15. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you. This is the same gospel
I've been preaching to you over and over and over again, which
also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you're
saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
you believed in vain. Now Paul says, I've declared
unto you the gospel. I didn't declare unto you a gospel.
I declared unto you the gospel. And he says it that way because
there's just one gospel. There's only one gospel that
saves sinners. There's only one gospel that
declares salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the gospel
of God. It's not something that, uh,
that we have thought up. And it's what Paul says in verse
three, what we have received, what we've received of God. That's,
that's the gospel. And if you look over a few pages,
Galatians chapter one, You know, I know that many men preach many
different messages that do not match the gospel that we preach
here. But those messages are not the gospel. They're perversions
of the gospel. That's what Paul says, Galatians
1 verse 6. He says, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel. See, there's the gospel and there
are other gospels. which is not another, it's not
another set of good news. It's not another set of preaching
of how God saves sinners. It's not another, but they use
that gospel. There'd be some that would trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. See, Paul says they're
perversions of the gospel of Christ. I want you to see how
serious it is that we only preach and we only believe the gospel.
Paul goes on in verse eight, he says, but though we are an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we preached, let him be accursed, let him be damned.
As we've said before, so say I now again, if any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that which you have received,
let him be accursed. Now this matter of the gospel
is a serious business, isn't it? A serious business. Our eternal
souls hang upon it. You know, God will never use
another gospel, a perversion of the gospel, a perversion of
who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what he's accomplished for
his people. He'll never use a perversion of that to save anybody, never. False gospels are a curse. They're not a blessing. They're
not a blessing. People who are religious and
they act very nice and you might like them, but I'm telling you,
They don't know God unless they believe the gospel. God hasn't
saved them unless they believe the gospel. Everyone God saves,
everyone without exception, believes this gospel and they stand in
it. They've received it because God
gave it to them and they stand in it. They're not gonna leave
it for a message that's contrary to this gospel. Now Paul says
in verse three, and this is where I wanted to get to this morning,
for I delivered unto you, Paul says, this is why I preached
unto you. First of all, that which I also received, I received
this straight from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. Now the gospel
is the gospel of Christ and him crucified. Salvation can only
come to sinners through the sacrifice, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when Paul says how that he
died, Paul doesn't mean he died on a cross and not the manner
in which the Lord died, but he means why did the Lord die? Why
did he die? And what did he accomplish in
his death as a sacrifice for the sin of his people? Well,
Paul says it's according to the scriptures, the gospel, always
matches the message of the Old Testament scriptures. If somebody
preaches something to you that contradicts the Old Testament
scriptures, it's not the gospel. It must be according to the scriptures.
And Paul has to mean the Old Testament scriptures here, because
that's the only scriptures that were in existence at the time.
The apostles were still in the process of writing the New Testament
scriptures. So this must be how that Christ
died according to the Old Testament scriptures. And I'm gonna give
you this morning four deaths or sacrifices found in the Old
Testament scriptures that tell us why did Christ die and what
did he accomplish for his people in his death. First, look back
at Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Christ died to make his people
righteous. Genesis three, verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, yea, hath God said you should not eat of
every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said you should not eat of it, neither shall you touch it
lest you die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you
should be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both
were opened. But they weren't open to see
anything holy, righteous, and good, were they? They were open,
and they knew that they were naked. And they sowed fig leaves
together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called
unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said,
I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was
naked and I hid myself. Now in the garden, Adam was not
righteous. Adam was innocent, and righteousness
is what you are. If you are righteous, you cannot
sin. Innocent is what you are until
you break the law, until you sin. Adam was innocent, and he
lost that innocence. And when Adam ate of the tree,
Eve lost her innocence. We did too. We all became sinners. Now they're guilty. And they
knew for the first time that they were naked, and they were
shamed. And that physical nakedness is
a picture of being guilty. Guilty of sin, without a covering,
being unrighteous. And it made them so ashamed,
even it was just the two of them, that they sewed fig leaf aprons
together and tried to cover their nakedness. And you know full
well what that's a picture of. It's a picture of man's work.
Man's work's trying to cover his spiritual nakedness, trying
to cover his spiritual unrighteousness. But their works didn't get the
job done, did it? Even though they're wearing their
fig leaf aprons, when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden of cool of the day, they still hid in the bushes.
Because even though they're wearing their fig leaf aprons, they knew
it didn't cover their guilt, didn't cover their sins. and
I don't have time to preach on the whole picture here, but skip
down to verse 21. This is where I wanted to get
to to show us how that Christ died. Unto Adam also and to his
wife, the Lord God made coats of skin and clothed them. God clothed them. Now the Lord
came to them and he took off their fig leaf aprons, threw
them away, and he killed an animal. Many people think it was a lamb,
Stains to reason, it could be a lamb, but whatever animal it
was, the Lord killed it. And the Lord took its skin to
cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. Their fig leaf aprons, made
by their own works, by their own hands, it didn't cover their
nakedness, did it? But what God made did. God took
that skin and he covered their nakedness. Now here's the picture
of how that Christ died. The whole human race was in Adam. And when Adam sinned, we sinned
too. When Adam sinned, we became guilty the very same way Eve
did. You'll know when Eve ate the fruit, nothing happened,
did it? Because Adam was her federal head, same way as our
federal head. And when Adam ate that fruit, all of us died in
Adam. We all became sinners, guilty
in Adam. That's why when we're finally
born into this world, we're born dead in trespasses and sins.
We're born unrighteous because we became sinners in Adam. And
no amount of religious works, no amount of law keeping, no
amount of us trying to do something good will ever make us righteous. Because all of our works are
filled with sin. So the father sent his son into this world
as a man. And when his hour finally came,
the father slaughtered his son. The same way that the Lord killed
this animal to clothe Adam and Eve physically, When his hour
came, the father's the one who slaughtered his son. And Christ
died, not just to cover the nakedness, not just to cover the unrighteousness
of his people. Christ died to make his people
righteous through and through. When we talk about being clothed
in the righteousness of Christ, it's not putting a shirt on or
a coat on that's over top of the dirt and filth and corruption
that's in us. It's still there, but it's just
hidden. When we talk about being clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, we're made righteous through and through. That's what
2 Corinthians 5.21 is all about. He made him sin for us. Him who
knew no sin, that we might be made what? The very righteousness
of God in Christ. Not just covered, but made righteous. Made righteous. And this is such
good news. It's good news if you're a sinner.
If Christ died for you, he's made you righteous, and you can
never be unrighteous again. That's what Christ accomplished
for his people. That's what he accomplished in his death. All
right, number two, look across the page, Genesis chapter four.
Christ died to open the way to God for sinners. Verse one, Genesis
four. And Adam knew Eve, his wife,
and she conceived and bear Cain. And said, I've gotten a man from
the Lord. And she again bear his brother Abel. And Abel was
a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. In
the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought the
fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also
brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof.
And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. But unto
Cain and to his offering, He had not respect. And Cain was
very wroth and his countenance fell. Now both of these brothers
brought a sacrifice to the Lord. They've been taught, God's to
be worshiped through a sacrifice, but only one of the sacrifices
was accepted. Cain brought the crops, crops
that he had planted and watered and weeded and harvested. And I'm sure of this, Cain brought
the first fruits. I mean the very best ones. He
didn't bring any bruised tomatoes or any half-ripe fruit or anything
like that. He brought the very best that
he produced, I'm sure of it. But those fruits and vegetables
are the works of Cain's hands. It's the fruit that he grew,
planted with his cursed sinful hands that grew from the cursed
grounds. And that's the same thing all of our works are. They're
works that are produced with our sinful hands from our dead
sinful hearts. It ought to be obvious to us,
God's not gonna accept that. He did not accept Cain's sacrifice,
because he'll accept the sacrifice of the works of no man's hands,
none. He didn't with Cain, and he won't
us today. But God will accept the sacrifice that he provided.
Abel brought a lamb, just like God commanded him to do, and
the Lord accepted Abel's sacrifice. He accepted it. Because Abel's
sacrifice was a picture of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God. Now those two sacrifices show
us there's just one way to come to God and be accepted, just
one way. It's through the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's just one way. I mean,
that is so narrow, there's just one way. But everyone, every
sinner, that comes through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
is accepted. Every last one of them. When
Christ died, he opened the way to God for sinners. That's why he's called the way. He is the way to God. He's the
way to God. He's the way of righteousness.
He's the way of life. He's the way of forgiveness.
He's the way of grace. He is the way. And the death,
now he opened the way. How effectual was it? How open
is this way to God? The death of Christ was so effectual
in opening the way to God that the writer of the Hebrews said
in chapter four, verse 16, that we can come boldly, confidently,
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. How can a sinful man like me,
how can a sinful man or woman like you be so confident in coming
before the throne of God Almighty? Because Christ opened the way.
We can be confident as long as we come in Christ, pleading only
the merits of his blood and his death. He opened the way so wide
that the writer of the Hebrews said again, chapter seven, verse
25, that he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him. If we come unto God by Christ,
by His sacrifice, we'll be saved to the uttermost. That's what
Christ accomplished in His death. The only difference, there is
one difference between heaven and hell. There's one difference
in being accepted of the Father and the Father would say, come,
you blessed, enter into the kingdom that God prepared for you. And
the father saying, depart from me, I never knew you. There's
one difference. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, his sacrifice. And I tell you, come to Christ. If you come to Christ, the father
will accept you. As sinful and as rotten as you
are, the father will accept you in the beloved. It's always for
Christ's sake, because of what Christ accomplished for his people.
If we come to the Father by Christ, by the merits of his death, we'll
be accepted. That's what Christ accomplished
in his death. All right, third, look over Genesis chapter 22.
Christ died as a substitute for his people. This is how that
Christ died. He died as a substitute for his
people so that his people would live. You know the story here. God told Abraham, go to a place
that I'll show you And you offer up your only son, Isaac, as a
burnt offering unto the Lord. And Abraham obeyed God. He'd
get up early in the morning, he got the fire and the wood,
and got his son, he got some servants ready, and he took off
for the mountain, walked three days to get there. You know why
Abraham did that? Because he believed God. He believed
God. God had made a promise to Abraham
that the Messiah is gonna come through your son, Isaac, and
Abraham believed God. He was a head-scratcher when
God told him to take that son and offer him his burnt offering,
wasn't he? Abraham didn't understand what
God was doing, but he obeyed God and he fully intended to
slaughter his son, to slit his throat, to drain the blood out
of his body, to quarter his body and to burn that body to ash,
because Abraham believed God. He believed that the Messiah
was still gonna come through Isaac, even if God had to raise
him from the dead to do it. He believed God. And right when
Abraham had raised that knife, ready to plunge into his son,
the Lord stopped him. Verse 10, Genesis 22. And Abraham
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he
said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram.
caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took
the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead
of his son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. Now that ram
that God provided, he died in the place of Isaac. He died as
a substitute for Isaac so that Isaac would live. That is exactly
how that Christ died. Christ died as a substitute for
his people so that they would never die. God the Father had
to provide the lame for the sacrifice, didn't he? Look at verse seven
earlier in the chapter. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, my father, and he said, here am I, my son.
And he said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where's the
lame for the burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. You know, all of man's religious
activity cannot save us from eternal death. Our works are
the cause of eternal death. So our works certainly aren't
gonna save us from eternal death. The wages of sin is death. All
of our religious activity cannot provide a lamb. for the sacrifice. Our religious works cannot provide
a sacrifice that will satisfy God. So God the Father provided
the sacrifice. The Father provided himself a
lamb for the sacrifice, just like Abraham prophesied. God
provided the lamb for himself. He provided the perfect lamb
that would satisfy the holy character of God and the holy justice of
God. And God provided himself as the lamb. The only lamb you're
gonna find that's gonna be perfect is God in human flesh. God provided
himself as the lamb for the sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb
of God. God provided the one and only
lamb who could put away the sin of his people. So when Christ
died, he died as a substitute for his people. He bore all of
the wrath that the sin of his people deserves. And if Christ
died as a substitute for you, the very justice of God demands
that you not be condemned. If Christ died as your substitute,
bearing your sin, the very justice of God demands that you have
eternal life. You cannot die because your substitute
already died the death that you deserve. You know, all of our sin is against
God. I mean, I know I can do wrong
things and hurt you, and that way I sin against you, but now
our sin's against God. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned. And God provided himself, he
provided his son as the lamb for the sacrifice that would
put away our sin. Now brother, if that's not grace,
then I don't know what grace is. That's grace, isn't it? And
I tell you the same thing that John the Baptist said. When he
saw the Lord Jesus coming, he said, behold, the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. And I tell you the
same thing John the Baptist said, you look to Christ. Behold, here
he is. Here's how that he died in the
Old Testament scriptures. You look to him and believe on
him and you'll have eternal life. All right, here's the fourth
thing. Look over to Exodus chapter 12. Christ died to satisfy justice
for the sin of his people. Exodus chapter 12, verse 12. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast, against all the gods of Egypt.
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague
shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt. The Lord told Moses, you know
the story, the Passover. He's coming through the land
of Egypt and he's gonna execute judgment this night. The Lord's
gonna kill the firstborn in every home in the land of Egypt, unless
there's blood on the door. Now why did the Lord do that?
To give us this picture. Sin demands death. Wherever there's sin, there must
be death. And there was death in every
single home in Egypt. That night, without exception,
there was death in every home in Egypt that night. You know
why? Because there was sin in every
home in Egypt. Sin demands death. Either the
firstborn in that home died, or a lamb died. Or a lamb died,
and his blood was put on the doorpost of that home where the
father killed the lamb. And when the Lord passed through
that night, he saw the blood on the doorpost, he passed over
that house. His judgment did not come into
that house to go after that firstborn. That is how that Christ died.
Christ died like the Passover lamb died. He died because of
the sin of his people. See, sin demands death. The sin
of God's elect was transferred from them to Christ. And then he died to satisfy justice
for those sins. Christ died just like the Passover
lamb died. He died for a specific people. Just the picture of the Passover
should tell us Christ didn't die for everybody, did he? That
lamb, the father of that home, he went out and picked out a
lamb, just like Moses told them all to do. Had a special pen
for that lamb. That lamb was in a pen all by
itself. And he watched it every day for 14 days, make sure that
lamb didn't have any spot or blemish That father was very,
very serious about that lamb, wasn't he? Very serious. They
couldn't have any spot or blemish. And at the exact right time,
the father took that lamb and he slid its throat, caught its
blood in the basin. He roasted that lamb with fire,
put the blood on the doorpost and went in and they ate that
Passover lamb. You know why that lamb was so
important to that father? That lamb was a substitute for
his firstborn, that firstborn that he loved. That lamb didn't
die for every firstborn. He died for the firstborn in
that house. See what I'm saying? When Christ died, he didn't die
for everybody in the whole wide world. He died for his people. He died for the elect that the
father gave him to save. And when the father sent his
son into this world, he is very, very serious about that lamb.
That lamb must be perfect. He was watched, and he's perfect. He's perfect because he's God.
He's perfect. And at just the right time, when
his hour has finally come, the father slaughtered him. At Calvary,
the father slaughtered him. And when Christ cried, it is
finished, you know what? It was finished. The payment
for sin was finished. The sin of God's people was finished.
The justice of God's wrath was finished. There was no more justice
and no more wrath left in the father to pour out upon his son
because justice was satisfied and sin's gone. Now, how effectual was that?
This is how that Christ died. He died like this Passover. How
effectual was that? Well, if Christ died for your
sin, the holy judge will never condemn you for the same sin.
because that would be unjust, never. Justice has already been
satisfied for your sin by the death of Christ. There's no reason
for you to fear judgment. There's no reason for you to
ever fear God's justice. It's been satisfied in the death
of your substitute. But you know, the story of the
Passover doesn't end with the death of the Passover lamb, does
it? No, the story of the Passover tells us the importance of the
blood being applied. Oh, the blood must be shed. The
lamb must die. Its body must be roasted with
fire. The people must eat that lamb
in faith, believe in God. But don't miss this. The blood
must be applied. The blood applied to that doorpost
is what guaranteed the firstborn will not die. God said, when
I see the blood on that doorpost, I'll pass over you because the
blood on the doorpost tells me there's been death in this home
already tonight. Justice has already been satisfied in this
home tonight. No more wrath is required. I'll
pass over you. Well, the blood being applied
is a picture of the new birth. God, the Holy Spirit applies
the blood to our hearts. We're born again and we believe
Christ. If you would be saved, you must
believe Christ. You must. Now please listen to
me carefully. I'm not giving you a work to
do. I'm not telling you it's your responsibility to conjure
up faith in Christ in your heart. You don't have to manufacture
it, and it's a good thing, because we can't do it. The only way
we can believe Christ is if God the Holy Spirit gives us faith
in Him. Faith is the gift of God, as Paul said, isn't it?
And you know how God is pleased to give faith in Christ? by the
preaching of the word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. The Holy Spirit applies the blood
of Christ when the gospel is being preached. Then my advice
to you and me is be where the gospel's preached. Be where the
gospel's preached and pray that the Lord give you faith in Christ
because that's where he's gonna do it, where the gospel's being
preached. Christ died to satisfy God's holy character. and enable
God to be both just and to justify the ungodly. Because of the sacrifice
of Christ, God is right and he's just, not to condemn his people. That's how that Christ died.
But now look back in our text quickly. 1 Corinthians 15. I wanna give you this in conclusion. You know, Christ is always better. Christ is better than anything.
And I love the Old Testament types and pictures of Christ.
I mean, I love them. When I'm invited to go somewhere
else and preach and I think about what I might preach, my heart
just almost always first goes to those Old Testament scriptures.
I love the Old Testament pictures of Christ. But Christ is always
better than the picture. Always. Christ died, just like
those four deaths that we looked at in the Old Testament scripture.
But Christ is better than the picture. and here's why he's
better. Christ rose again. Those animals
that were killed, they stayed dead. When Christ was sacrificed,
he rose again from the dead. Look at verse four. 1 Corinthians
15, and he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures. See, the resurrection is the
one thing that's different from all those other sacrifices offered
under the law. Christ died. He died as a sacrifice
for the sin of his people, but he was raised from the dead the
third day. And his resurrection tells us that his sacrifice was
successful. His sacrifice did what God intended
for it to do, to put away all the sin of all of God's elect.
The Lord Jesus Christ actually died. He actually died. That is such a mystery to me.
How did life himself die? But he did. Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus, they took a dead body off that tree, wrapped it
in the linen and the spices, and they laid a dead body in
that tomb. And our Lord laid there dead for three days. I
mean, I just couldn't even start to begin to explain that. But
I know his body was dead for three days. And the third day,
he arose from the dead. His eyes were closed in death,
and the third day, his eyes opened by his own power, and he was
raised from the dead. And just like Paul said there,
many of the disciples saw him. You don't have to tell me many
of the disciples saw him in order for me to believe that Christ
rose from the dead. God's word said it, and that's
all it takes for me. He rose from the dead, I know he did.
But those people that saw him rise from the dead, you know
they'd never recant it. Even though many of them were
killed for it, they would not recant the fact that the Lord
Jesus Christ arose from the dead. Now why is that so important?
Why is that so important that people gave their lives for it?
Because the resurrection of Christ is the proof that his sacrifice
put away the sin of his people. Sin was laid on him. That's why
he had to die. Well, there's sin, there must
be death. But his blood put all that sin away and sin was gone. Well, then he couldn't stay dead,
could he? If sin's gone, he could not stay dead. He must rise again
from the dead. And that's what the Apostle Paul
told us, Romans 4, verse 25, that he was delivered for our
offenses, but he was raised again for our justification. He was
raised again as proof positive his death justified all of his
people. And just like Christ died according
to the scriptures, he rose again from the dead according to the
scriptures. Our Lord said in Matthew 12 verse
40, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's
belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth. The Old Testament scriptures
told us Christ is going to rise again from the dead, gave us
pictures of that. Now that's the gospel. That is
the gospel of our salvation. How that Christ died according
to the scriptures, just like God promised he would. And that
he was raised again the third day according to the scriptures,
just like God promised he would. This is God's salvation, or God's
gospel. And everybody that believes God's
gospel is saved. God has, you know, the reason
you believe the gospel is because God saved you. You're not saved
when you believe the gospel. You believe the gospel, you trust
Christ because God saved you. He gave you life and faith to
look to Christ. And all those that God saves,
all those that he reveals himself to his people through the preaching
of the gospel, they'll never leave it. They will never leave
it for something else. They never will. You know why? Because to everyone who's seen
Christ by faith, there's nothing better than Him. There's nothing
better than the story of salvation through the obedience and through
the suffering and the death and the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ. There's nothing better than that.
Nothing better. I pray God would make those believers,
you and me, you and me. All right, let's bow together. Our father, we're so thankful
that Christ, our savior died and he rose again according to
the scriptures. It shows us your eternal purpose
of the salvation of your people through your son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. And father, I beg of you that
you bless your word as it's been preached. that you bless it to
the hearts of each one here and enable us to see the glory of
Christ and cause us to run to him, to cling to him, and to
rest in him, in him alone. Father, it's for Christ's sake,
for his glory, that we pray, amen. All right, Sean. If you would, turn in your hymnal
to song number 258 and stand as we sing, He Hideth My Soul. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of a rock where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of a rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. in the depths of His love, and
covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His
hand. Giveth my burden away. He holdeth me up, and I shall
not be moved. He holdeth strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my heart in the depths
of His love, and comforts me there And colors me then with His hand. With numberless blessings each
moment He crowns, And filled with His fullness divine, I sing in my rapture, O glory
to God, for such a Redeemer as I. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. in the depths of His love, and
covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His
hand. When clothed in His brightness
transported I rise To meet Him in clouds of the sky His perfect
salvation is wonderful I'll shout with the millions He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my heart
in the depths of His love. there with his hand.