Would you turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15? Yesterday I was watching Fox
News and they said throughout today's
broadcast or this weekend's broadcast that they would be bringing throughout
the inspirational sounds and sights of Easter. And they did. My, so people wearing crosses,
people carrying crosses. And if I remember right, today
is going to be a really big show. The Pope himself will carry a
cross around St. Peter's Square or somewhere,
I think. And in many places, not in Rome,
But right here in the good old US of A, right in America, crosses
will be seen on the lawns of churches all over America. And
even in some places, there will be idiots hanging on the crosses. And I was inspired, alright,
to change the channel. But not before they also said
that Easter, they refer to Easter as being the holiest day in the
year for Christians. Really? Remember, worldly religion
is a big umbrella. It's a big umbrella. And it calls
anybody and everybody that ever professed about anything, they
refer to as being a Christian. those who go to church today
and one other time in the year. Christmas and Easter are called
Christian. We read a moment ago, and they
that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written
in the book of life from the foundation of the world when
they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. They marvel
at all the glitter, all the trappings, all the show of religion that
goes on always, but especially today. Let's read the first four
verses here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel Thank God for that. Folks from time to
time ask me when I invite them to church, well, what do you
do there? Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. Is that all? What are you doing today? Today's
a special day. What are you going to do on Easter?
Preach the gospel. Is that all? I declare unto you
the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received,
and wherein you stand By which also ye are saved. You see how
important the gospel is. By which also you are saved if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed
in vain. Just made a profession. For I
delivered unto you first of all that which also I received. Christ
committed this treasure into my hands. Paul says, I received
from him 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. Our text should be primarily
from verse 3 in these words, how that Christ died for our
sins. And the operative word there
is how. How Christ died for our sins. The title of my message is taken
from where we read in Revelation. The elder, the angels, questioned
to John, why do you marvel? And I asked myself, Larry, why
do you marvel? What makes you marvel? What do
you consider wondrous? And I ask you, child of God,
everyone here, what makes you marvel? Why do you marvel? Simply
to confess that Christ had lived and died and rose again is not
faith. I declare you would be hard-pressed
to find anybody, John, that wouldn't confess that, would you? But that will not save me or
you. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, for
by grace are you saved through faith. Absolutely. Absolutely. Every time. No exceptions. No failure. The sinner that believes on Christ
is saved. That moment from Jesus a partner
receives. There's no question about that.
It's absolutely so. But simply acknowledging that
Christ died and that he rose again as a mere fact in history
is not faith. That's not faith. James said,
you believe there's one God? The devils believe that. And
as I'm sure you've heard preachers say, the devils do more than
most people do. They tremble. They tremble at
the thought of God Almighty. Notice again verse 2 here in
1 Corinthians 15. Paul says you're saved if you
keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed
in vain. In vain. That is, unless your
professed faith is something that's just useless. It means
nothing. It's just a profession. Let me
read something to you. written by a man. After I read
it, I'll tell you who he was. He wrote, of all the poison which
is at this day diffused in the minds of men, corrupting them
from the mystery of the gospel, there is no part that is more
pernicious than this one perverse imagination that to believe in
Christ is nothing at all but to believe the doctrine of the
gospel. Now, he didn't say a false gospel. He said to believe the truth,
the doctrine of the gospel, just to give mental assent to it. That could have been written
this morning. That was written in the 1600s by a man named John
Owen. True faith, true faith is a gift
of God. Lester, you weren't born with
it. You were born with the nature
of your daddy. You were born in darkness. We
all were. God must give us that precious
gift of faith. And he does. True faith does
more than just acknowledge some facts. Anybody can do that. That's pretty much what Most preachers today are exhorting
sinners to do. Just come up here and acknowledge
these three facts. Agree with me. Jesus died, Jesus
arose, was buried and arose. You believe that? You acknowledge
that? Yeah. Well, you're saying, excuse me? No, that's not faith. True faith
is a gift of God. It's the operation of God. Paul
said that it's the same power that produces faith in the heart
of a sinner, the same power of God that was exercised in raising
Jesus Christ from the dead. That doesn't sound so simple.
Doesn't sound like just a mere acknowledgement of facts. Sounds
like a miracle. Sounds like a work only God can
do, and that's exactly what it is. True faith, the gift of God
saves. It lays hold of Christ, bows
to Him, embraces Him, believes on Him to the everlasting salvation
of the soul. Turn, if you will, to 1 John
chapter 5, and we'll come back here to our text in 1 Corinthians
15. 1st John chapter 5. Familiar
verses, but it'll be refreshing to read them together again.
1st John chapter 5, verse 1. Oh, I like this. I don't see no elbow room for
doubt here, no supposition here. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. No question
about that. Look down at verse 10. In the
same chapter, verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. You mean I don't need a soul
winner to tell me? I don't need a preacher to try
to pump into me and convince me that I'm saved? He that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. What safe keeping, what security. He that hath the Son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I'm going
to read that one again. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life. These things have
I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that ye may know Oh, rejoiced child of God, you believe on
the Son of God? Then know this, you have eternal
life, and that you might just keep on believing. Then that
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. One more, verse
20 in the same chapter. And we know that the Son of God
is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know
Him that is true. And we are in Him, that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is true God and eternal
life. O gift of gifts, O grace of faith,
my God, how can it be that Thou who has discerning love should
give that gift to me? What a marvel! Consider this blessed word that
Paul speaks of in verse 3, how that Christ died for our sins.
Not as a mere dry fact, but John, an amazing reality, an amazing
truth. Christ died for our sins. Why do we marvel? Not because
we're beholding the glitter. Sadly, sadly, and I hope you
believe me, I take no pleasure in this, but I can't be like
the ostrich and bury my head in the sand and pretend it doesn't
exist. I would do no one any good by
doing that. And more than that, I would be
unfaithful to my God. Why do we marvel? Not because
we're beholding the glitter, and glamour and show and flutter
and noise of man-made religion that's going on all around us,
but rather because we have beheld. We have beheld. My soul, this
is why we marvel. Because God, by his grace, has
opened our blinded eyes, dropped the precious gift of faith into
our hearts, whereby we behold the Son of God. Wow. Wow. That man who is God,
and that God who is also man, Jesus Christ himself, is that
not a marvel? Is that not a wonder? You've
not gotten over that. No, you've not gotten over that,
not if you've ever beheld Him. Mr. Pink wrote this, that the
eternal Son of God should lay aside the robes of His glory
and take upon Him the form of a servant, that the ruler of
heaven and earth should be made under the law, that the creator
of the universe should tabernacle in this world and have nowhere
to lay his head is something which no finite mind can comprehend. But where carnal reason fails
us, God-given faith believes and worships. Just bows down
and says, hallelujah, what a savior. May we again behold him and wonder
with great admiration Because he that is Christ deserves it
That whore worldly religion Babylon doesn't deserve it As the psalmist
said, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be
glory for thy mercy and thy truth's sake. And Paul echoed the same
thing. God forbid, and God does forbid,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the first marvel is this.
The first marvel is this. When we read this text, how that
Christ died for our sins. The first marvel that greets
our eyes is this. Jesus Christ himself. How that Christ died for our
sins. How that Christ rose again. And how that Christ, as Paul
says on down in the chapter, how that Christ guarantees our
preaching is not in vain. It can't be. Because our high
priest ever liveth, Christ arose. Therefore, in verse
14, your faith can't be in vain. And those that believe, verse
18, those who have fallen asleep, have already died, they haven't
perished. They haven't perished. There
with the Lord in glory, Wednesday evening. Brother Lloyd wasn't
taken down to surgery till like five o'clock or so or after.
The last thing I said to him, bent over and said, Brother Lloyd,
when you wake up, we'll see you or you'll wake up and Jesus Christ
will see you. You'll be either looking at us
or you'll be looking at him, which is so much better. Those
who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. Why? Why? Verse 20, because but now. What a marvel. Joe, what a wonder. Think about it. Think about it.
Now, you're like me. In a lot of ways, you're smarter
than me, Joe. You know some things I don't.
And I might know a few things you don't. But here we're on
the same level, Joe. Our puny little minds, if you
could combine them both together. When you come to something like
this, that right now, as we sit here, Our great God and Savior
sits on the throne of His everlasting sovereign dominion in glory at
the right hand of God. And you know what He's doing
there? He's representing you and me. My soul, can your little
brain get a hold of that? Mine can't either. Mine can't
either. What a marvel. What a marvel. But now is Christ Jesus risen
from the dead right now. and he's alive forevermore. His resurrection assures every
believer of his own resurrection because without him, there can
be no us. Without him, our glorious head,
there can be no body, the church. There never would be. Christ,
our bridegroom, as John taught this morning, has his bride. And he will never lose her. He
will never lose her. Look here in 1 Corinthians 15
at verse 22. Breads and Adam all die, and
they did. Even so in Christ shall they
all be made alive. But every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. Then cometh the end. Oh, that we could get our loved
ones to believe this. This life is not all. Who's the
youngest one in here? Carly Ann? You're going to be
amazed. You aren't now. You haven't experienced
it. You can't know now. The Lord willing, if God allows
it, you're going to look back over your life and the thing
that's going to amaze you most is how fast it flew by. Is that
right? Is that right? I can remember
when I thought 40 was old. Haven't thought like that for
a long time. No, but look. Then cometh the
end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the
Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power, for he must reign. I like that. Speaking of Jesus
Christ, he must reign till he hath put down all enemies under
his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. No wonder the psalmist said,
considering that chief cornerstone that was set at naught of the
builders, looking by faith through time and seeing, David said,
That stone that was set at naught has become the head of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing and it's wondrous, it's marvelous
in our eyes. Turn, if you will, back to John's
Gospel, chapter 1. John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 3, all
things were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. Verse 14, what a marvel is this, and the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God Almighty that said let there
be light and light was, was made flesh and dwelt among us. God
who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth became
likened to his brethren, flesh and bone, and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. When the fullness of the time
was come, Paul wrote, God sent forth his son, Jesus Christ himself. What a marvel. I come to do thy will, O my God. Weep not, John. Weep not. The lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. He must reign. Glory to his name. Let me read
you two statements. One by Mr. Spurgeon. One by another
man that's still with us, Brother Maurice Montgomery. Spurgeon
wrote Christ is more than a Savior. He is salvation itself. David
said, the Lord is my light and my salvation. It is well to see
salvation in the work, the life, the death of Christ, but we must
never forget that the essence of salvation lies in his person. He himself is salvation. It is
who he is which gives virtue to what he does. We are bidden
to come to him, not to his work, but to himself. The gospel loses
much of its sweetness when the person of Christ is put in the
background and honor given only to his work. And Maurice wrote
in one of his bulletins, it seems to me that this religious world
generally speaking is looking for miracles while the miracle
of miracles is before them. Oh hear ye death and look ye
blind that ye may see. Behold your God. The Lord Jesus
Christ, he is not only the author of all miracles, but is himself
the greatest of all miracles. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What a mystery. What a miracle. What a wonder. Is that not so? What a marvel. Thank God. That's the first marvel. The second one is this, and it's
all about him. First, Christ himself, who he
is, and what he did. What he did. How that Christ
died for our sins. Note, it doesn't say how he died
as a martyr or how he died as an example. No. Or how he died
in an attempt or in an effort to put away our sins. That's
not what it says here and it doesn't say that anywhere Old
Testament or New throughout the Word of God. That's not how he
died for our sins. How did he die for our sins?
Hebrews 9 says he appeared once in the end of the world to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now that's plain, isn't
it? That's not ambiguous. That's
not hard to understand. That's why he came into the world.
Call his name Jesus. Why are you giving him that name,
Gabriel? Why does God send you to tell
us to give him that name? Because it means the salvation
of the Lord. And that babe in the womb of
the virgin shall save his people from their sins. Glory to his
name. Isn't he marvelous? Doesn't say
that he'll attempt to do it. He did it. Again, our text says,
how that Christ died for our sins. Either He did or He didn't. Terry, there's no two ways about
it. Either He succeeded or He didn't. He didn't try to do something.
Either He did it or He didn't. And glory to His name, He put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And notice, it says,
he died for our sins. Now this is the jawbreaker. He
died for our sins. Does that mean everybody? No,
no it doesn't. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures, Paul said. And according to the scriptures,
Christ didn't die for everybody. I'll tell you what, if he did,
everybody will be saved. If Christ bore the sins of every
man, every woman on earth, I expect to see every one of them in heaven,
or God Almighty's not just. He's not a just God. No. If God sends anyone to help for
whom Christ died, Then he's demanding payment twice for the same offense. God will never ever do that. Oh, what an ugly, ugly caricature
of our great God and Savior. No, according to the Scriptures,
he saves his people from their sins. According to the Scriptures,
as our text says, Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it. Christ said, according to the
scriptures, I laid down my life for the sheep. You're not my
sheep. That's why you don't believe.
But my sheep know me. They hear my voice. I love my
sheep, and I laid down my life for the sheep. And nobody's going
to get my sheep out of my hand. My father gave them to me, and
he's greater than all. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. What about John 3.16? Well, what about John 3.16? Look
at it in its context. I know you've had people ask
you that. Our Lord was speaking to a self-righteous Jew, Nicodemus,
who thought they had a lock on God. Thought that the only people
ever going to be saved is a Jew like Nicodemus. And Christ said,
that's not so, Nicodemus. Nicodemus was dumb as a rock
when it came to spiritual things. He didn't even understand the
necessity of the new birth. So we can't trust him to teach
us anything else. And Christ said, Nicodemus, yes,
God so loved the world, not just the Jew, but Jews and Gentiles. John said, I saw before the throne
of God a multitude of all kindreds and peoples and tongues and nations,
all nationalities of people. That's what the world means as
it's used there and in most places in scripture. Not all men, but
Gentiles as well as Jews. And I've had folks tell me, people
I love, when they get an inkling that I believe that, thinking
that I've gone off to the deep end. After that, they think,
and they've told me, well, I just can't stand that. Oh, I can't
stand that. You mean God Christ rather didn't
die for everybody? You mean everybody doesn't have
a chance? First of all, salvation is not
by chance. It's by the purpose and grace
of God Almighty. But you know what really upsets
them? It destroys this. It takes away from them this,
that you take the first step and God will take the rest. That's
not true. I declare I did that as I've
told you before. Took the first step more than
once to an altar, to a soul winner. I took steps and steps and more
steps, but Louie, They didn't bring me to Jesus Christ. All
my own steps did not bring me to Christ. I jumped through all
the religious hoops they told me to do and it still didn't
bring me to Jesus Christ. It still didn't give me peace
with God. It just made me more confused. It wasn't my steps. It was His. It was the steps of the great
shepherd of the sheep that came to where this worthless, helpless
sinner was. His steps came to the pit where
I was at, and he reached down his hand for me. That's the marvel. That's the marvel. You ask those
who cry out universal redemption and that hate the truth of particular
affects your redemption and shout when they hear it, oh, that's
not fair. Ask them this question. I have. Do you want grace? Do you want God's salvation?
Do you want the forgiveness of sins? Have you come to Christ? No, I haven't. Why not? Why not? Particular redemption's not kept
you away. That's absolutely right. That
doesn't stop you from coming to Christ. The reason you don't
come to Christ is because ye will not. You love darkness rather
than light. Particular redemption doesn't
hold you back. It doesn't hold any sinner back. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Not to attempt that which you
can never know until after you've come to Christ. That is, Christ
died for our sins. Last Sunday we sang the hymn,
Just As I Am. One verse says, Just as I am
without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. I'm not
entirely comfortable with that. Now, as a believer, as someone
who's already believed, yes. But that's not the grounds, the
reason for an unbeliever to come to Christ. They can't know Christ's
blood was shed for them, and they need not know. They need
to come as a sinner to the Savior, seeking mercy. And when they
do, they'll find this. Oh, my soul. Louis, he did all
this on purpose. and they'll marvel. They'll marvel. He loved me and he gave himself
for me. Maybe they'll be like Bunyan's
pilgrim, like Christian, who was carrying that burden on his
back that he felt like any moment was going to sink him down to
an everlasting hell. until that day, John. Oh, happy day, oh, happy day. He came up to the cross and that
load of sin and guilt fell off his shoulders and just rolled
down the hill and just kept rolling and fell in the sepulcher. And
Christian said, I saw it again no more forever. and he just
leaped for joy and sang, blessed cross, blessed sepulcher, oh
no, blessed rather be the man who there was put to shame for
me. What a marvel, last of all. Marvel,
the marvel of our wondrous Redeemer. Look at verse 4. He was buried
and he rose again. The marvel of that he rose again
he rose again and I know I'm not telling you
nothing you don't know that you haven't heard and I I'm pretty
confident you won't mind hearing it again what does that mean
according to the scriptures he rose again child of God that means he was
successful in putting your sin away. If he hadn't been, he'd
still be in the tomb. The fact that God Almighty rose
his son from the dead is proof, positive, that he's satisfied
with the sacrifice Christ made on the behalf of his people.
when he had by himself purged our sins. Oh, look at our marvelous
Redeemer. He sits down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. Look at him again. He enters
in one time into the holy place, obtaining eternal redemption
for us. Marvelous is our Lord. He bore
our sins, Peter wrote, in his own body on the tree. He bore them so completely, so
finally away, John, they'll never be found. They'll never be found. That's what the scriptures teach.
They're gone. They're gone. He arose again. That means, that
means, that means When I sin, not if I sin, but when I sin, when I fall into sin, when I
take my eyes off Christ and like Peter deny Him, what does that
mean? Does that mean I'm not a child
of God anymore? Does that mean that he'll do
what I think he should do and give me what I deserve? What
I would do if I was me? Oh, no. It means that when I
sin, I still have an advocate with
the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And nothing's changed. Blessed is the man. to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. Blessed is the man whose sins
are forgiven. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. We'll wrap this up. I want you
to look at this one verse with me. 1 John chapter 4. Christ rising from the dead after
putting our sins away also means this to the child of God. 1 John
4 verse 17. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because
as He is, so are we in this world. That we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. That day when God Almighty ushers
all men before Him. That day when multitudes shall
hear, depart from me, I never knew you. Is John saying that
we believers will be bowed in that day before the throne of
a thrice holy God? How can that be? Because as He, that is Christ,
is, so are we in this world. That's the answer. As Christ
is. Not when he was on earth, but
as he is right now before God Almighty. So are we in this world. Is Christ chosen? So are we. Is Christ loved by the Father? So are we. Is Christ accepted
by God? So are we. Is Christ triumphant? So are we. more than conquerors
through him that loved us. Let me read you another verse
or two of an old hymn and we'll be done. God's free love from
everlasting made me one with his dear son. Blessed union,
strong and changing, I am with my Savior one. off thy fall,
but God unchanging, faithful to his covenant stands, he will
never charge with sinning those for whom his son was slain. One
with Jesus, one with Jesus, by eternal union one. One with Jesus,
one with Jesus, oh the wonders grace has done. One with Christ
from everlasting, one with him upon the tree, one with him on
high ascending, one with him eternally. Why do you marvel? If I'm only a sinner saved by
grace, it's not a wonder that I should marvel. The wonder would
be if I didn't. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. And God bless each of you. Thank
you for your attention.