Isn't it great to have Rich back?
I saw him walk by and I was, my mind was transferred about
24, 25 years ago. I can remember the first time
he came to Grace Chapel over on Limestone Street. I remember
he had a trench coat on, wrapped up in that trench coat and came
in and I remember after the service, first thing he said to me, he
sat there and listened. And after the service, he said, did I understand
you to say the cross didn't die for everybody? And I said, yes,
you did. And I thought, that's the end. And he's been with us ever since.
What a blessing he is to this congregation. Glad you're here,
Rich. First Corinthians 15. I've entitled this message, What
is the Gospel? Now, that's a question we're
continually asking. We answer it and we have to have
it confirmed to us over and over again. It's not something where
we say, well, I've got that down pat, let's go on to other things.
No, this is something that we have to have confirmed to us
over and over again. What is the gospel? Now, this question is answered
in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, verses one through twenty
five. Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. And his thought is not over to
the twenty fifth verse. You'll notice that in all of
these first twenty five verses, they begin with a conjunction.
And that lets us know that his thought is not over concerning
what the gospel is when he says, I declare unto you the gospel
until he ends with in verse 25, for he must reign till he has
put all enemies under his feet. Now, this is perhaps the most
formal. And comprehensive definition
of the gospel found in the word of God, Now, God uses the whole
Bible to tell us what the gospel is. Every word of this book is
essential in understanding and believing the gospel. But in
this passage of scripture, we have a summary given to us as
to what the gospel actually is. What is the gospel? The definite article V tells
us that this is an objective message. It is not subject to
what we think it is. It is what it is. It is what
it is. It's the gospel. Not a gospel,
but the gospel. It has a definite content, and
if that content is not preached, The gospel is not preached. It's an objective message. What is the gospel? The word
means good news, so it's an objective message that becomes subjective
to those who find it to be good news. I tell you what, this message
is good news to me. So, in my experience, it becomes
subjective. It's the objective gospel. But
in my experience, it's a very subjective, personal thing. What is the gospel? Now, what we're going to look
at tonight is the first four verses. That's enough for us
to consider, because if I tried to go through those first 25
verses, I just don't believe we'd be able to do them justice. Paul says in verse three, well,
let's read these first four verses together. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel. Which I preached unto you. It's
the same message I had already preached, which also you have
received. And wherein you stand. By which
also you are 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 notice in verse 3, Paul says,
For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which is of primary
importance. I delivered unto you, first of
all, that which I also received. I delivered it to you. As a mailman
delivers a piece of mail, what does the mailman have to do with
the content of the letter? Not a thing. He simply delivers
it. And that's what the preaching
of the Gospel is. It's saying what God has already
said. I delivered to you, like a mailman
delivers a letter, that which I also received. I'm delivering to you that which
I received. I'm simply stating to you the
Gospel exactly as the Lord stated it to me. Galatians chapter 1,
turn over there for a moment. Galatians chapter 1, verse 11. But I certify you, brethren,
I assure you that the gospel, the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. It's not derived from any human
source. It's not man's concoction. It's
not man's invention. The gospel which was preached
of me was not after man, for I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, the gospel I preach, Paul
says, is the one that God gave to me, and I'm delivering it
to you exactly as he gave it to me. And here the gospel is,
verse three, it's 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. If I say Christ died for our
sins. That's a good statement. But
if that's all I say. I have failed to preach. the gospel. And that's a strong statement.
I want you to hear me. If all I say is that Christ died
for our sins, I have failed to preach the gospel. The gospel
is how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
according to the Old Testament scriptures. Now, how many times
do we read in the New Testament regarding the death of Christ
and the things that surrounded his death, that certain things
took place that the scriptures might be fulfilled? As a matter
of fact, we read that 12 times just with regard to the death
of Christ, these things took place that the scriptures might
be fulfilled. I love what Paul said in Acts
chapter 13, verse 29, he says, and when that And when they had
fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from
the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. What did they do? They fulfilled
all that was written of him. Now, what is this thing of how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures?
And he's talking about the Old Testament scriptures. The Old Testament
scriptures, first of all, give us the details of his death.
You know, it's almost like when he was being crucified, it's
almost like they were reading a script and just, well, it said, OK,
pierce his hands and feet. Catholics for his garments, all
the things that they did. Give him vinegar now. It was
all foretold in the Old Testament. All the events of his death were
given in the Old Testament scriptures. But not only do they give us
the details of his death, they tell us why he died. Why did
the Lord die? He died as a sin-bearing substitute
according to Isaiah chapter 53. It tells us why he died. He died
for our sins according to the scriptures. To preach that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures is to say he died
for our sins according to the manner the scriptures presented.
For instance, the Passover. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Was the blood over everybody's
door or just the Israelites? Just the Israelites, wasn't it?
And what did he say? He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Was there anybody that was so
bad that God went ahead and destroyed them? He saw blood over the door. No, he said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Think about the great David Tolman,
Leviticus chapter 16. There's so many examples in the
Old Testament, how did Christ die for our sins according to
the scriptures? Now, I repeat, to say that Christ
died for our sins and to say nothing else is to fail to preach
the gospel. It's to tell a half a truth.
And if I tell a half a truth, I'm telling a whole lie. That's
so. We're to preach how Christ died
for our sins according to the scripture. Now I got six words
I want to give you that tell us how that he died for our sins
according to the scriptures. Now here's the first word. Sovereign. Sovereign. Christ being nailed to the cross
was neither more nor less than the sovereign will of God being
done. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken Him with
wicked hands and crucified and slain. The death of Christ on
the cross, how that He died for our sins according to the scriptures,
the first word for us to understand regarding this is this was God's
will being done. This was God's purpose being
done. Turn to Acts chapter 4. I love
this verse of scripture. Acts chapter 4. I think this
is so powerful. And the early church knew this.
This is right after Pentecost. You think in this high, deep
doctrine what you're talking about? Well, yeah, it is high
and it is deep and it is glorious. But it's what the early church
believed. Look here in Acts chapter 4, verse 26. The kings of the
earth. This is the Church speaking in
unison. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his cross for the truth against thy holy child Jesus
whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Everything that happened to our
Lord was determined before to be done. Who determined it before?
God himself, the sovereign God. So the first thing I must understand
about the cross of Christ is it is the will of God being done. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. So the first word is sovereign. Here's the second word. Sin. He died for our sins according
to the scripture. And we don't really know much
about what sin is until we see it in light of the cross. And
do you want to understand what sin really is? Do you want to
understand what you really are? Now I want to understand something
about myself in a limited way. I don't want to know everything
about myself. Ignorance is bliss. I'd rather most of the information
be not known. But I want to know enough about
myself that it's going to drive me to the Lord Jesus Christ and
cause me to believe on Him. I want to know that much. Now
here's what the cross tells me. The cross tells me that I am
so evil that when left to myself, when men were left to do what
they wanted to do, they nailed God to a tree. Now, that's the
truth regarding you. That's the truth regarding me.
The only way you'll understand anything about your own sinfulness
is not by looking within and seeing how bad you are and seeing
the wicked thoughts or the wicked deeds. That's not really going
to tell you the truth about yourself. What tells you the truth about
yourself is a look at the cross. You want to find out what you're
really like, look at the cross. Christ died. Why? For our sins. Men put Christ to death. This shows how evil men really
are. But it doesn't only show that. It shows God's hatred of
sin. Do you know that God would part
with his son before he would let one sin go unpunished? That's what God thinks about
sin. Christ's death on the cross has
something to do with sin. Why do people die? There's only
one reason, isn't there? And that reason is sin. That's
the only reason for death. It's sin. Sin was laid upon Christ. The sins of his people became
his, and God killed him. He died because of sin. We find
out something about what sin is only through the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the third word, substitution. First word, sovereign. Second
word, sin. The third word is substitution.
He died for our sins, according to the Scripture. The Bible teaches
a real substitution. He died for our sins. My sin
became His. What I am, He became, that I
might be who He is. He died for our sins. He was
made sin. He's a real substitute. A real
substitution took place. And you know, I talk about this
all the time, and I hope I die talking about this. I hope it's
the last thing that comes out of my mouth. I love what Charles
Spurgeon said. He said, if a man confined himself to preaching
on nothing but the cross and never mentioned anything else,
it would be a widening rather than a narrowing of his ministry.
I believe that. A real substitution took place. We don't understand it. We can't
get a hold of it, but we believe it. He had made him to be seen
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Substitution. Here's the fourth
word that describes how the Christ died for our sins, according
to the scripture. Satisfaction. Satisfaction, and you know who
satisfaction I'm talking about? I'm talking about God's satisfaction.
I'm not talking about my satisfaction. Now, I'm satisfied with the blood
of Christ. Believe me, I am. But that's not really what I'm
talking about. I'm talking about God's satisfaction with the blood
of Christ. God was completely satisfied with what Christ did.
He said, I'm not looking for anything else. When I see the
blood, I will pass over you. God is satisfied. And I find
my satisfaction in God's satisfaction. You know, if God's satisfied
with what his son did, I am too. I really am. I'm not looking
for anything else. Satisfaction. He satisfied the
claims of divine justice. He satisfied the offended law. Now, when God looks at me because
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of what he did on the cross,
God looks at me and he says, I'm satisfied with it. I'm not
looking for anything else. It can't get any better. That's
gospel, isn't it? Satisfaction. And the fifth word
would be substitution. I'm sorry, not substitution.
Successful. Successful. Notice all these words start
with an S. That makes it easy to remember. Successful. That
means when he said it is finished, all of the elect were saved.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Everybody he died for must be
saved. He succeeded in what he did.
And the last word is sanctification. And here's my scripture for this.
Hebrews 10, 10 says, By the which will we are sanctified, we are
declared to be holy through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. His death made everybody he died
for holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now that's the gospel. Those
words tell us how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures. Now look in verse four. It says
that he, in verse three, that he died for our sins according
to the scriptures and that he was buried. He actually died
and they put him in a tomb and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures. Now, this is the proof of the
success of Christ. This is the theme of gospel preaching.
God raised him from the dead. He died. They brought him into
that tomb dead and he went into that tomb with all my sins. And
he laid in that tomb three days, and what happened during those
three days, I don't know, and nor does anybody else. But I
know that after three days, he opened his eyes. In that dark
tomb, he had been dead, and he opened his eyes, he got up, and
God said by that, when he raised him from the dead, I'm satisfied. I do not need anything else that
proves the success of what he did. You see, this is the object
of our faith. the fact that he was raised from
the dead. That means he did what he came to do. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Paul said, O that I might know
him and the power of his resurrection. I want to know the power of his
resurrection, don't you? I'm not just talking about the fact
of it. I'm talking about the justifying power. When he was
raised from the dead, all the elect were justified. The life-giving
power. He said, because I live, you
shall live also. When He was raised from the dead,
all of God's people were raised in Him. I want to know the soul-cheering
and comforting power of the resurrection. Isn't it wonderful that right
now there's a man in glory representing me who was dead, and now he lives,
he liveth, and he'll never be dead again. Oh, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's such a glorious thing. Now, look how Paul says in 1
Corinthians chapter 15. He says in verse 1, Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you. I'm declaring the same message
I preached previously. It is the eternal gospel. It
knows no changes. It knows no revisions. It doesn't
adapt itself to the times, the culture, or circumstances. It
makes no attempt at relevance. You know, it kills me to hear
a preacher say, do you want to hear relevant preaching? You know, let's get
real. You know, the Bible doesn't intend to be relevant. It is
what it is. It's the truth. It doesn't try
to adapt to human need and human culture. But we need to make
this relevant knowing it is what it is. We make no attempt at
that. It's the eternal gospel. It's a call, the eternal gospel. It doesn't change or adapt or
modify itself in any way. It is what it is. He said it's
the same message I preached previously. And notice what he says in verse
1, "'Lord, O brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received.'" You welcomed it. You received this as good news
to your souls. You embraced this. This is the
gospel that must be received. And I tell you what, what I'm
preaching, I do receive it. It's good news to me. It's good
news to me that Christ Jesus actually accomplished my salvation.
It makes me so happy. It fills me with such joy. I
need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. It's good news. It's
not just some kind of theory. It's the best thing I've ever
heard. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
I received this. It's good news. I rejoice in
it. It's the gospel that must be
received. Look what he says next. In verse
one, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you received and wherein you stand. It's the
gospel for which you've taken your stand. You stand in the
gospel. That's your standing. But what
this means more than anything else, this is the gospel for
which you've taken your stand. This is a non-negotiable. This
is this is not up for debate. This is the only gospel. And
you're willing. When you take your stand for
it, that means you're willing to die for it. You're willing
to die for the gospel. Now, is the gospel you believe
a gospel worth dying for? Is it? It is to everybody who
believes it. Your life would be well spent
in dying for the gospel, wouldn't it? I love what that one martyr
said. He said to die for Christ is
an honor I don't deserve. And that's the way every believer
feels about the gospel. It's a gospel worth dying for.
You've taken your stand. It's a non-negotiable. You won't
back up here. And then he says in verse two,
it's the gospel by which also you are saved. This is the gospel
that saves. It's the only gospel that saves.
Now shall I call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. You see, this is the gospel that
saved me. This is the gospel I receive. This is the gospel
I take my stand in. This is the only gospel that
saves. And no one is saved apart from
hearing and believing the content of this message. how the Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. That is the gospel. And this is the message according
to this passage of scripture that we must persevere in and
hold on fast, hold on to it, hold fast to it all the way to
the end. Look what it says in verse two, by which also you're
saved if, if, if you keep in memory If you hold fast to what
I've preached to you, you hold it like it's the only thing that
will keep you alive and you're not going to let go. You persevere
in the gospel. You won't give it up for anything.
It's the only hope you've got. That's why you get upset if somebody
preaches something that's contrary to you because it's taken away
your hope. It's the only hope you've got and you hold it fast.
You won't let go of it. It's indeed gospel to your soul. It's the message that we must
persevere in. It's only he who endures to the
end that shall be saved. Now, I have just given you the
gospel of God. It's how that Christ died for
our sins, according to the scriptures. Now, I want to tell you how I
know that this is the gospel of God. Well, first of all, because
I've just given you the Bibles. So the Bible says, it's how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. I don't need
any other reason. If this is what God's word says, I believe
it. It's what the Bible says. But
do you know, this is the only gospel that I'm preaching to
you. It's the only gospel that's true to the Old Testament scriptures.
You ever notice how a lot of preaching, it's almost like the
Old Testament is irrelevant. They almost present a God that's
different. The New Testament God's different than the Old
Testament God. That Old Testament stuff's over. No, no, the Gospel
answers everything in the Old Testament. And you can't possibly
understand the Old Testament apart from an understanding of
the Gospel. You see God's holy law magnified
in the Gospel. You see all the tithes and the
sacrifices. You see all the feast days. You
see all the historical narratives that teach us the Gospel. This
Gospel that I preach to you is the only one that lines up with
the Old Testament Scriptures. Therefore, I know that this is
the Gospel of God. And secondly, this message I'm
preaching, this message that Paul preaches, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, This is the only
message that gives God 100% of the glory. How much glory does God give
in my salvation? Every bit of it. All goes to Him and none
goes to me. And I'm so satisfied with that.
I love it that way. I feel such good. If any of it
went to me, I'd be, it'd be suspect. It'd be suspect because I know
nothing's coming to me as far as glory goes. But thank God
this gospel gives God all the glory. And this is the only message
that enables God to be both just and justify the ungodly. This
is the glory of this gospel. I know what I am to some extent
in myself. I'm ungodly. I'm ungodly. I'm a sinner. And I don't even
know what all that means when I say it, but I know I'm a sinner.
And yet, through this gospel, God can remain just and yet say,
Todd Divert is absolutely just. He's without sin. And he does
it in a way that magnifies his justice. Only God could... Is it right to say, come up with
something like this? No man can come up with anything like this.
Only God can have this message. Only God can execute it. God
can execute this message to where he actually makes me just. I'm
just before Him through the gospel. This is a glorious gospel. I
have such confidence I can come into God's presence knowing I'm
without sin. I'm united to the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm perfect in His sight. I'm
beautiful to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
is the only gospel that can enable God to be both just and justify
the ungodly. And this is the only message,
fourthly, that actually honors the law. I read Exodus chapters 19 through
24 this week. God's holy law and it was so
beautiful. It was so glorious. Everything
he says is just perfect. It would be a blessing to you
to read Exodus chapter 19 through 24, reading concerning God's
holy law as a reflection of his holy character and the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ honors this law. The Lord said, don't
think I've come to destroy the law of the prophets. I've not
come to destroy but to fulfill. Every bit of God's holy law is
honored in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
the only message that gives the Lord Jesus Christ all the preeminence. I love that verse of scripture
in Hebrews 1 3 when it says he by himself purged our sins. Don't you love that? Doesn't
just say he purged our sins. He said he by himself. You know
what that means? Without any help from me and
without any help from you. He did it all by Himself, and
He bears all the glory of it. This is the only message that
gives the Lord Jesus Christ the preeminence in all things. And
this is the only gospel that can save the chief of sinners. Now, this might be why I like
it the best. This is the only gospel that can save a man who
is dead in sins. This is the only gospel that
can save a man who can make no contribution. This is the gospel
that saves me. I love that passage of Scripture
in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, where Paul said this is a faithful
saying, and it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought
to rejoice in this, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Boy, it's such a blessing when
you really believe you are the chief of sinners. That's a blessing. You know, it's so easy to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your righteousness when you truly
have none. What a blessing. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost hath made him so. If you really believe you're
a sinner, God's done something for you. Oh, this is the only
gospel that will say the chief of sinners And this is the only
gospel that will actually keep a man saved. This gospel. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. He successfully paid the debt,
honored God's holy law, fulfilled all the scriptures, saved everybody
he died for. That is the gospel. Nothing else is. This is the
one and only gospel. Now, here's a question I want
to leave you with. How do you respond to this? How do you respond to this? One night at sea, there was a
captain of a ship, and he saw a light from another ship out
in front of him. And he had his signal man blink
to the other ship, change your course. Change your course. The reply came back, change your
course. The ship's captain replied, I'm
a captain, change your course. To which the reply was, I'm a
seaman, first class, change your course. This infuriated the ship's captain,
so he signaled, you fool, change your course, this is a battleship.
The seaman replied, You change your course. This is a lighthouse. Human will, rank and pride have
no alternative except to change your course when confronted with
the unyielding, unchanging Word of God, even if it comes through
a lowly servant. This is the gospel. Is it good news to you? If it's not, change your course. Let's pray.