Let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Before
we begin, let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. I'm thankful for this place you've
given us to assemble. I'm thankful that you've brought
each one of us here this morning. Lord, we pray that you would
bless us with your presence. Lord, for a little while, would
you set aside the thoughts and cares of this world and let us
see Christ. Let us see more of our Savior. Calls us to rest in Him. Lord, we thank you for your many
blessings and pray your continued blessings upon us. Lord, for
those who are sick, in a time of trouble, Lord, that you would
comfort and encourage your people. Those who are away from us, Lord,
we pray you bless them safe travels and return them home safely to
us. Lord, we pray especially for Frank and Janet. Lord, that
you give them a safe return to us. Lord, we pray for our young
people. Lord, we pray your mercies upon
them. Lord, that you protect and keep
them in this world. Lord, that above all things you
would teach them. Lord, that you'd reveal unto
them the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, it's in his name we pray
and give thee thanks. 1 Corinthians 15. We'll begin reading
in verse 1. The title is the Gospel. Here we read of the Gospel. We
read, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel. It's the Gospel which I preached
unto you. It's the Gospel which also you've
received. The gospel wherein you stand. Now this is not another gospel. This is not a gospel after man. Paul says this, he said, woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Here in our text, Paul
says, I declare unto you the gospel. In the book of Mark,
we read it's the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In Acts, it's the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20 verse 24,
Paul said this, he said, that I may finish my course with joy
and the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus to testify
of the gospel of the grace of God. In Romans 1.16, Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of this gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation. In Ephesians, Paul said this,
in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. It's the gospel of peace. We
read how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace." Now back in our text, Paul says this, he said, it's
the gospel that you receive. You receive. Like you would receive,
you receive a gift. A gift's not something you earn. A gift's something that's given
and it's given in love. It's the gospel that you receive.
And this message, it's a message to be It's a message to be received. It's to be welcomed. It's to
be embraced. We love this. We love this message. We love this gospel. It's essential that we hear this
gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. He said it's the gospel wherein
you stand. This this gospel, you we rest
in it. He says it's the gospel and we
rest in it, but listen, it's a gospel worth standing for.
Remember what David said? David said, is there not a cause? This gospel, we stand for this
gospel. Now let's read on here. Look
at verse 2 of our text. He says, by which also you're
saved if you keep in memory, if you hold fast what I've preached
to you. unless you believe in faith.
This gospel that we must hear, this gospel in which we stand,
it's the gospel by which we're saved. Believers are saved. We read earlier from the scriptures.
He said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the
power of God unto salvation. Look at verse three of our text.
He says, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received." Paul is merely repeating what he had received
from another. Listen, this isn't something
new. It's new the first time we hear
it, but it's nothing new. This same gospel, it's the gospel
that's revealed throughout the Scriptures. I have no desire
to tell you anything new this morning. We want to hear the
same old story, don't we? We want to hear it. It's not
an attempt to be original. Paul said, it's a message I received. It's a message he received of
the Lord. And it concerns this. Look at
verse 3 in our text. How? How that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures. It concerns how Christ died. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
27. Matthew 27. How did Christ die? Look beginning
here in verse 26 of Matthew 27. Then released he Barabbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus,
he delivered him to be crucified. I think sometimes we read these
scriptures and we read through them kind of quickly. This word, scourged, it alone, they took a whip, what looked
like a whip, and on the end of that whip were some pieces of
bone and sometimes metal, maybe glass, and they would use that
like a from what I understand, like a whip. And they would rake
that over the back of these that were about to be crucified. And
it would tear out great, great chunks of flesh out of whoever
was being scourged. And they say, I read this, that
some of the writers say that there were men who didn't even
survive being scourged, that that alone was enough to kill
a man. And yet, our Lord endured that. How? How Christ died. What a brutal... for an innocent
man, right? So He was scourged. He scourged
Jesus and He delivered Him to be crucified. And then, if that
wasn't enough, look here in verse 27, then the soldiers of the
governor took Jesus into the common hall. and gathered unto
Him the whole band of soldiers, and they stripped Him. They humiliated
Him. They stripped Him and put on
Him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown
of thorns, they made up a crown of thorns, and they put it on
His head, and they put a reed in His hand, and they bowed the
knee before Him, not to worship Him, but to mock Him. They mocked
Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. and they spit upon him
and took the reed and smote him on the head. And after that they
had mocked him. They took the robe off from him
and put his own raiment on him and they led him away to crucify
him. And they came out and found a
man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his
cross and when they were come unto the place called Golgotha,
that is to say a place of the skull, They gave him vinegar
to drink mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof he
would not drink, and they crucified him. They parted his garments,
casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
the prophet. They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down
they watched him there. And they set up over His head
His accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And then were there two thieves
crucified with Him, one on the right hand and another on the
left. And they that passed by reviled
Him, wagging their heads, saying, Thou that hast destroyed the
temple and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be
the Son of God, come down from the cross. They questioned. They
questioned who He was. and likewise also the chief priest.
All that were present that day, they mocked Him with the scribes
and the elders and they said this, He saved others, Himself
He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him.
He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if you'll have Him,
for He said, I am the Son of God. And the thieves also, which
were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. And from
the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth
hour. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachni, that is to say, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood there,
when they heard that said, he called it for Elias. And straightway
one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and
put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. The rest said,
let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. And Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain from top to bottom, and the earth did quake,
and the rocks were in. How? How did Christ die? How did Christ die? Could there
be a more brutal death? Could a man suffer any more punishment,
pain and suffering, humility? But to truly know, to truly know
how the Lord Jesus Christ died, we must be taught the truth about
who God is, about who Almighty God is, all things. All things
begin with God. Back there in Genesis, what's
the first thing we read? In the beginning, God. And this
gospel, this gospel, it's His gospel. Paul said that, he said
that, right in the Romans, he said, I'm called to be an apostle,
to speak the gospel of God, gospel of Almighty God. And listen,
not the God, Not the God of man's imagination. Not this weak, impotent
God that men speak of in our time and have for all time. Listen, not the God that wants
to do something, but he's unable to without man's consent. Not the God that men make up
cheesy little bumper stickers and put on the back of cars. The God of the Bible. God who
is absolutely holy. Remember when God spoke to Moses
there at the burning bush? He said, Moses, take your shoes
off. Put your shoes off your feet
for the ground that you stand on is holy ground. Standing in
the presence Almighty God who is holy. Absolutely holy. Turn to Isaiah. Turn back to
Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah 6, look beginning with
verse 1. Here we read, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And above
it stood the seraphims, which one had six wings. With twain
he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole world
was full of His Lord, a thrice holy God. The Scriptures declare
that the God of the Bible is sovereign. He's holy and He is
sovereign. Sovereign in all things. In Psalm
135, verse 6, we read, "...whatsoever the Lord pleased to do." That
did He. He doesn't have to ask man for
anything. Why would He that created all
things be subject to those? He's not. He's Almighty God. What He pleased to do in heaven,
in earth, in the sea, in deep places, in all things, that did
He. That did He. He's sovereign.
He's sovereign in creation. In creation, he said, we've been
looking at that. He said, let there be, and there was. Whatever he determined
to do, that's what took place. In providence, he's sovereign
in providence. Nebuchadnezzar said at the end
of the days, Nebuchadnezzar said this, he said, I lifted up mine
eyes into heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed
the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever
and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. Nothing. And he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can say his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? He's sovereign. And listen, He's
sovereign in creation. He declared unto Moses, He said,
I'll be merciful unto whom I will be merciful. Our Lord said this,
He said, All that the Father hath given me shall come to me,
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. We must
know, it must be revealed unto us who Almighty God is. We must know something about
who and what man is, in the light of the truth of God's Word. Listen,
in the eyes of man, among each other, listen, I'm sure we look
alright to each other, though we tend to find fault with one
another, for the most part. You know, we get along. We're
okay by our own standards. I was thinking about this. I
suppose maggots probably feel the same way when they look upon
each other, right? I mean, when we look at them,
they all look alike, right? But they're still just maggots.
In the eyes of a holy God, the Scriptures say man is desperately
wicked. Look at Romans. Turn to Romans
3. These are familiar passages of
Scripture, but let's look at them in God's Word. Romans 3,
look beginning with verse 9. Here we read, What thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law as manifest and being witnessed by the law
and prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe, for there is
no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Job said this of himself. He
said, I'm vile. I'll lay my hand upon my mouth. In the sight of God, we are guilty
sinners, without excuse. All the way back there in the
garden, God commanded Adam, he said, of every tree of the garden,
thou mayest freely eat, but listen, of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, don't eat of it. And the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. We know what happened, right?
Adam disobeyed God. Adam took of that fruit, and
sinned against Almighty God. We've all, in the same manner,
we've all sinned. We're all guilty of the same
sin. The Gospel, it declares the truth
about God who's holy and sovereign. The truth about man, dead and
trespasses and sin. It declares the truth about the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, who identified with His people, He experienced hunger,
thirst. He grew tired. There on that
ship on the Red Sea, he fell asleep on that pillow. He wept. In the garden, he prayed to his
father. He said, if you will, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. He was tempted at all points,
just like his people. He's sinless, sinless. He's the
Son of Man. The people said this, they said,
isn't this Jesus, the Son of Joseph and Mary, whose mother
and father we know? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And listen, He is God. The Scriptures
declare that Jesus Christ is God. He's Almighty God in human
flesh. A virgin shall be with child
and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. It's being interpreted God with
us. Almighty God in human flesh. He's the Christ. He's the Redeemer. He's our righteousness. He's
the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He's
Jehovah. He's my Savior. That's what the
Scriptures reveal Him as. Who is Jesus Christ? He's our
sin offering. Back in our text we read in verse
3, Paul says, I delivered unto you that which I received. How? That Christ died for our sins. He died in the room instead of
His people. The Gospel declares that Jesus
Christ died for our sins. The wages of sin. Sin requires
death. The wages of sin is death. Thank God the gospel is for sinners. Do you have any problem being
identified as a sinner? I hope not because that's who
Christ came to save. Turn with me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 21. For even hereunto were you called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that we should follow in His steps, who did no sin, neither
was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, we read
that, didn't we? They reviled him, but when he
was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bear our sins. in his own body
on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes? By his stripes you were healed. He's despised and rejected. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, Isaiah said, we hid as it were our faces from him.
He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne
our griefs. carried our sorrows, yet we did
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He bore
our griefs. He carried our sorrows. The grief
and the sorrow he bore, it was not his own. It was that of his
people. It was ours. He's the spotless
Lamb of God. He did no sin. He had no sin.
He knew no sin. Yet God's wrath was poured out
upon Him. That which He suffered of man,
gosh, that would have been... I can't even imagine that. But the Father, the Father slew
Him on the cross for the sins of how wicked and how horrible
sin must be. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
sin for us. He that knew no sin. made sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God. Isaiah 53, he was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. Listen to this, with his stripes
we are healed. We read of substitution. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. Again, not for any of his own,
but for the transgression of his people. Our sin, our rebellion
against God, there on the cross he stood as our substitute before
the law and justice of Almighty God, bearing our iniquities,
bearing our sin, and he He took upon Himself that cup of suffering. He alone, He alone, and listen,
full satisfaction is made. We read this, by His stripes
we're healed. The sin debt paid in full. God's justice satisfied. How? Christ died for our sins. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's my life. Listen, He is life, life eternal. In Adam we die, in Christ we're
made alive. He's our righteousness, He's
our holiness. We read this, He's my wisdom,
my righteousness, my sanctification and redemption. Paul sums it
up best when he said this, Christ is all. Lord Jesus Christ is
all. Now back to our text. Back to
our text, verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 15. He was buried and he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures. He was taken
down from the cross, placed in a tomb, a borrowed tomb from
which no man had laid. God rolled away that stone and
he arose victorious. Listen to a few scriptures. Romans
4.25, He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. In Romans chapter 8, turn with
me quickly. Romans 8. Verse 33. Romans 8.33, who shall lay anything,
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. His resurrection points to the
accomplishment of his death. His acceptance, In 1 Corinthians
15, Paul declares, if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain. Our preaching is vain. We've
become false witnesses and you're yet in your sins. But listen, he goes on to say
this, but Christ is risen. He is victorious. He died for
our sins. He's buried and risen and that
sin dead paid it for. And He presents us holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight. In the sight of a holy God who
sees and knows all things. Jesus Christ who being the brightness
of God's glory and the express image of His person upholding
all things by the word of His power when He had by Himself,
when He had alone purged our sins, sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high, seated at the right hand of Almighty
God. Seated. The work finished. Nothing left. My friends, when
our Savior, when the Lord Jesus Christ finished the work, a work
that we We could not do. The best we can offer is filthy
rags. He came down from heaven, robed
in human flesh. He suffered and died in the place
of his sheep, in the place of his people. And as the sinner's
substitute, he made full satisfaction. God's wrath and judgment. He died, was buried, and is now
risen. We read in the book of Hebrews,
He's entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Paul says, I declare unto you
the gospel. It's the gospel you received. It's the gospel wherein
you stand. It's the gospel which you're
saved. It's the gospel concerning how Jesus Christ died for our
sins, was buried and rose again according to the Scriptures.
When he suffered the wrath of God, when he finished the work,
he declared, it's finished. He said that. I've said that
before. I've said things are finished
before and there was a lot left to be done. When the Lord Jesus
Christ declares it's finished, rest assured, that work is complete. Salvation complete. The redemption
price paid in full. And listen, he's not waiting
for a down payment. He's not waiting for man to provide
a partial anything. The debt is paid in full. Last week, we were in Rocky Mountain
preaching for Brother Paul. And we got down there Saturday
night. And Paul had told me ahead of
time, he said, come down Saturday. He said, we'll have a hotel room
waiting on you. Told us where to go and all that. So we got there early and went
to check in and went up. And Paul said, he said, just
give them your name. That's all you got to do is just
give them your name. It'll be under your name. So I went up
and I said, And I've got a reservation for Eric Floyd. And the guy said,
OK. He said, let me see here. And
he looked through some stuff. And he's like, oh, yeah, we've
got a room for you. He gave me the room number. And he said, here's some cards.
But then he stopped. And he said, I need one thing. He said, I need the last four
digits of your credit card. Well, that was a problem. because last week our credit
card got hacked. And not only could I not give
him the last four of my digits of my credit card, I couldn't
even give him my credit card because they'd already said tear
it up. And I don't know if he saw a look on my face or what,
but he said, he looked back down in his file and he pulled out
a paper. And he looked at it and he said, oh, he said mayhem,
mayhem. He said, it's painful. You know, we went up, we went
up and checked in our room and not one time during the night
did I think, will they come up here and throw, will they throw
us out, the dead, completely by another. Does that sound familiar? Salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord from beginning to end, by the free and sovereign grace
of Almighty God. It's in, by, and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel that must be received. That's the gospel that we believe.
It's the gospel in which we stand. That's the only gospel that saves.
It's all of it. God be pleased to bless you.