Our text tonight is found in
First Corinthians Chapter 15. First Corinthians Chapter 15.
I titled this message, What is
the gospel? What is the gospel? And my intentions
this evening is to be as clear and as plain as I can be on answering
that question. What is the gospel? A few Wednesdays
ago, we looked at is our gospel the gospel? And we know based
upon what the Lord has said in his word, we believe that we
have the true gospel. There's only one. And tonight
I want to see what is the gospel. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
chapter one, I'm sorry, chapter 15 and verse one. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which
also you have received in wherein you stand, by which also ye are
saved. if you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless you have 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. We have seven seven different
things that we can learn by these four verses. I'm not gonna look
at those seven things, but I'm gonna tell you what they are.
The first one is, is the gospel must be preached by a man, a
man that the Lord has called, a man that the Lord has put his
hand upon to do so. It's a calling. How shall they
hear without a preacher and how shall he preach unless he be
sent? It's a calling that the Lord gives. So number one, the
gospel must be preached. The second thing we see is that
you received it, he tells them. It must be received. And the
only way we can receive the gospel of God, by the gospel of God's
free grace, is if we've been given faith to do so. That's
how we receive, is by his faith. The third thing is, he says,
wherein ye stand. See, it's our only confidence,
isn't it? It's the only place that we have in standing before
God. Our only hope is the justification and righteousness of Christ.
It's not by works of righteousness we have done. So it's wherein
we stand. It's our only confidence. And
then he tells them, by which also you are saved. It's the
only means of salvation that the Lord's given, the only means
of salvation. Then he tells them to put it
in remembrance, put it in remembrance. If we can leave or if we can
forget, we will, but we are kept by the power of God. And we are
reminded over and over again that this is the only hope that
we have. The sixth thing we see is a man
can only deliver or preach what he has been given. He said, I'm
delivering unto you what I have received of the Lord. He's not
saying I'm telling you something I figured out on my own, or it's
not something that I've come to the conclusion of. It's something
that he was fully persuaded in because of the source. It was
the Lord that had given it to him. So a man can only preach
or deliver what he has been given. And number seven is what we're
going to look at tonight. It's how Christ died for our sins,
how he was buried and how he rose again the third day, according
to the scriptures. That's very important because
we live in a world that are preaching that Christ was born, that Christ
lived, that Christ died and was resurrected, but they don't preach
how he was born, how he lived, how he died and was resurrected
according to the scriptures. And that's where we'll find our
answer as to what the gospel is. It is the only gospel. There's only one gospel. There's
not many gospels. Paul was so confident in the
gospel that the Lord had given him. He said, if an angel from
heaven come down and declare unto you something other than
what I've declared, do not hear him. The Lord had fully persuaded
Paul that he was bearing the burden of the gospel, that he
knew the truth. The gospel is not that Jesus
saves. It's that Jesus saved his people
from their sins. The gospel is not that Jesus
made a way. He is the way. Christ Jesus is
the way. The gospel is not that he did
his part and it's up to us to do our part. Christ Jesus did
it all. He did everything in salvation.
This is the gospel. The gospel is not that God wants
to save us or he's trying to save us. Christ hath saved his
people from their sins. That's the gospel. The gospel
is not let Jesus into your heart. It's that the Lord gives us a
new heart, isn't it? Takes out the heart of stone,
as we've seen in recent weeks, and gives us a heart of flesh,
one that looks unto him through the eyes of faith. This hour,
I want to answer this question. What is the gospel? Is it just
that it's the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Is it that Christ died for the sins of everybody? Well, you
know the answer. The answer is no, that's not
the gospel. That's not good news because if he died for everybody
and some people go to hell, then what does his death have to do
with salvation? If he shed his blood for everyone
and yet some people go to hell, what did his blood accomplish? Now, I wanna answer what the
gospel is, what our gospel is tonight. how Christ was born,
how he lived, how he died for the sin of his people, how he
was buried, and how he was risen again according to the scriptures. Now, we mentioned earlier, whenever
we were looking at Galatians, that it's important to know who
the individual is speaking to. And in this particular passage,
he's speaking to the church of Corinth. He's speaking to the
elect according to God is what he tells them. We see that the
gospel is not for everyone. The gospel is for the Lord's
people. Men will not receive God's gospel because it strips
them of everything that they are. It leaves them naked before
God. Men don't want that to happen.
Men have a righteousness by nature. But yet the ones that have been
made to be sinners, the ones that have been shown that they
are naked, need this gospel. We must have it because it is
the power of God unto salvation. I was reading Hawker yesterday,
I believe it was, and I spoke with Steve on the phone about
this a little bit. I don't know who all has that book from the
poor man's morning and evening portions, but it talks about
the will of God. Not in that his purpose or in
him choosing, but he likens it into an individual who's going
to die and he leaves a will, his last will and testament.
Did you know that's exactly what we have in God's precious word,
his last will and testament? Now, usually in a will, it is
only carried out if the trustee of that will sees to it. If the
one that's been entrusted to bring to pass your will or my
will, it's up to the trustee to do it. Sometimes the will's
lost and it's not done. It's not done according to what
the individual did and they're dead. So they're not going to
be able to say anything to the contrary. But did you know when it comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the one that wrote the will,
and he is alive. Because of death, the will is
going to come to pass, and he is the trustee of that will.
He will see it through. He has the power to do so, both
in heaven and in earth. This is the gospel. This is what
we believe in. This is our hope, is that the
Lord will bring every single person for whom he was born,
for whom he lived, for whom he died, was buried, and was resurrected,
according to the scriptures. I love the thought that his will
cannot be thwarted. No matter what men try to do,
they cannot change God's will. See, it's written. It was written
before time ever began, wasn't it? Before man was even created,
his will was written. Now, this is exactly where God's
will, where God's gospel begins, is before time. God answers these
questions in his gospel, who, when, where, why, and how. If
we can answer those questions according to the scriptures and
see them come to pass in the New Testament, we will have the
gospel of God. We will have his gospel. So what
is the gospel? Well, in order for us to have
the gospel, God had to become a man first and foremost. Jesus
Christ struck hands with his father in the covenant of grace
before time and said, I will become a man. born under the
law for my people. Turn with me if you go to Isaiah
chapter nine. And I'm gonna forewarn you, we're gonna be turning several
places tonight, so bear with me. Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah chapter nine. In verse six, for unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no
end. Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order
it and to establish it with judgment, with justice from henceforth,
even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The Lord gave his son to be born
of a woman. And Isaiah says unto us, a child
is born. Who's the us he's speaking of?
To everybody? Was Christ Jesus born for the
purpose of being a gift to everybody? Certainly not. We see throughout
the scripture that it was a particular birth for a particular people,
wasn't it? In the fullness of time, Christ Jesus became a man.
And in Luke chapter 2, it tells us His birth was on this wise
because Caesar Augustus issued a decree that everyone should
be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Serenius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to be
taxed, everyone to his own city. Joseph went up from Galilee out
of Judea into the city of David, Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David. And it says he was espoused to
marry his wife, but it came her time in order to have the baby.
It came to pass that the child was born during this time. And
the scripture goes on to tell us, there were in that same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore
afraid. The angel said unto them, Fear not, fear not, for behold,
turn over to Luke chapter two, if you will, please. Verse 10, And the angel said
unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you, Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God and saying, glory to God on the highest and on earth,
peace, goodwill towards men. So this is the beginning of the
gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ being born. Now we see the Lord
being born in a miraculous way, certainly by a virgin, and we
just saw hear that when the Lord was born, he did not come in
the manner that they thought he would come in, that he would
come as a king, a conquering king. That's what they wanted.
They wanted someone to sit on an earthly throne. But we hear
him say later on in his life that I came not for a physical
kingdom, but for the spiritual kingdom, my father's kingdom.
And so we see this humility of becoming a man even farther,
showing us his servitude of being born in a feeding trough and
being wrapped in swaddling clothes and no one, no one having a place
for him. There was no room for him in
the end. This is a picture of all men, isn't it? Men, we don't
have room for Christ in our heart. The Lord has to take out that
heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. And this is the hope
for wretched sinners such as us. He was born according to
the scriptures. He was not born by chance or
circumstance. It was at the appointed time
in the exact place that it was told that it would happen. He
tells us in Micah chapter 5, But thou, Bethlehem, though thou
be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee Shahi
shall come. He shall come forth unto me that
is a ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from
everlasting." Well, if it's from everlasting, it has to be God,
doesn't it? So it was foretold where he would be born, how he
would be born, and even when he would be born. It was all
according to the scriptures. It was all according to the purpose
of God, and nothing could change that. Bethlehem, on top of the
no room in the inn and him being born in a manger in a stable,
Bethlehem's tiny. Bethlehem's a lowly place. Bethlehem's
a insignificant, insignificant place in men's eyes. Men would
have said, well, why wasn't he born in Jerusalem? That's where
he should have been born as king. That's where we think he should
have been born. No, no, the Lord said, you're going to be born
in Bethlehem. And that's where he was born. It was all purposed. Even his conception was according
to the scriptures in Isaiah 7, 14. He tells us, therefore, the
Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive.
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." You know
what that word Immanuel means? That's the Old Testament word
for Christ. That's the literal Old Testament
word for Christ. Christ is going to be born into
you by a virgin. So everything that happened at
his birth, was foretold. And we have record. We have the
last will of the Lord. We have the purpose of the Lord
right in front of us, telling us that everything that he said
was going to happen, happened. We have the four witnesses here
in the Gospels, but it carries over into Paul and his writings
and then into Peter and his writings in the entire New Testament.
This is what's been witnessed to us, that Christ was born exactly
according to the scriptures. His birth is exactly what everyone
was a believer in the Old Testament. They were looking for him to
be born. When Noah built the ark, he was
looking for a refuge from the wrath, wasn't he? He was looking
for a place of safety, and that's a picture of Christ protecting
his people from the wrath of God, isn't it? This was what
Noah was looking towards, though, as Christ. We see it even in
Adam from the very beginning. He saw the lamb that had to be
slain for him to have a covering before the Lord. This was his
hope is that Christ would become a man, that the Lord would become
a man. This was Jacob's hope. Jacob, whenever he stole the
birthright from Esau, that birthright represented the promise of the
Savior coming. It was the representation of
the promise of this Messiah, this Emmanuel. That's why Jacob
wanted the birthright so badly. This was the only hope for redemption.
The only hope for redemption for the Lord's people is that
he would be born first. He had to be born in order to
die. He had to become a man. And it
was by his will. by his choice, by his power that
it was done. False religion has this in common,
no matter what the religion is, is it takes the power away from
God and it makes God insignificant. It makes God powerless or not
all powerful, if I can put it that way. It makes God weak.
That's what religion does. It gives men power. But only
the gospel revealed to the sinner shows that we have no power whatsoever,
do we? But he has all power, doesn't
he? In heaven and in earth and with the inhabitants of the earth. I'm reminded that most people
leave Jesus in the manger and they're preaching that he's just
a baby. he's just meek and mild. He was God in a manger. He was completely God in that
manger. His blood was perfect blood,
his father's blood. At that very moment, he was God
laying in a manger. I often wonder about his crying
or his behavior. We know one thing, it was perfect.
It was perfect. My children, every one of them
that were born, your children too, we're all the same, aren't
we? They'll lie to you from birth. They'll cry and act like they're
dying. There's nothing wrong with that child. They just want to
be held. It's all about them, not the Lord. He was perfect.
He was perfect. He never lied in any way, including
from birth. I think that's glorious, don't
you? We see Christ was born according
to the scriptures, by the purpose and the will of God. So what
is the gospel? Well, first, God became a man. Christ Jesus was born a man.
The second thing is that Christ lived according to the scriptures.
He lived a perfect, sinless life, fulfilling the will of God. Turn
with me to Matthew chapter five. Verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law. This is Christ speaking. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth shall pass, till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all
be fulfilled. Christ Jesus was the embodiment
of all of the prophecies. He was the holiness of God in
the form of a man. The Lord Jesus Christ kept the
law perfectly for you and I. He honored the Father in everything
that he did, every thought, in every word, in every deed, everything. He never took his eyes off of
his Father. We were praying just a few minutes
ago, and I'm was asking the Lord, Lord, stop our minds for a moment
because we're so distracted so easily with troubles and cares
and concerns of this world and our bodies hurt and we get distracted
so easy, don't we? Not the Lord, not the Lord Jesus
Christ. He never stopped focusing on
the Father's will. He was Lord of the Sabbath. He
fulfilled all the law's demands. He was the lamb without spot.
He was the lamb without blemish. He was perfect in every way.
He was holy. He was harmless. He was undefiled. He was separate from sinners
and made higher than the heavens. He lived the perfect life. The
perfect life. Why? In the stead of his elect. in the stead of his people, because
it took perfection for you and I to be redeemed. He lived the
life that we could not live. And I don't want to get ahead
of myself on the substitution of our Lord on the cross of Calvary,
but we have the substitution of his life as well. See, our
life is hidden Christ. So when he sees us, he sees the
perfect life of Christ. Every thought is perfect of yours. Every deed is perfect of yours.
Everything that we do in every way is perfect. Why? He has given
us his life. We are seen perfect as the Lord
Jesus Christ. He did that which we could not
do. We can't keep God's law. We know that, don't we? We can't
keep one of God's laws, but he did every single one. So what
is the gospel? Christ was born God. He lived
a perfect life, pleasing his father. And he did it all according
to the scriptures. Number three is how he died according
to the scriptures. How he died according to the
scriptures. Turn with me to Isaiah 53. I'm going to read the entire
chapter, it's 12 verses. Isaiah 53, who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant. Now understand the question that
he's asking here, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
What he's saying is rhetorical. He knows that it's by the Lord's
grace alone that the arm of the Lord is revealed. He's saying
that the only ones that are going to believe the report are those
who who are made to believe it because he's going to grow up
as a tender plant. Nothing about him is going to be pleasing to
the flesh. He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as
a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid our faces. We hid as it were our faces from
him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. So we see to begin with that
there's nothing in the Lord that man would desire him, not by
sight, not even by watching what he's doing. Think about all the
people that saw the Lord do the miracles that he did. And yet
they didn't believe. So it's not by physical sight,
is it? It's by the spiritual sight that he gives to his people.
And then he tells us the good news in verse four. Surely he
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Now your Bible
reads the same as mine and it says, surely he hath. This is
past tense, but Isaiah was years before the Lord Jesus Christ
was upon the face of the earth, wasn't it? What did he mean by
that? As far as God saw it before time ever began, it was finished
and it just had to transpire in time. God saw him as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And he goes on to
tell us in verse five, but he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth." The wording, the wording
of that, I want to read that bottom part again. Because he
had no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. See,
he was the only one. He was the only one found worthy.
the only one found worthy. You remember whenever John was
weeping because none was found worthy and the elder touched
him and said, weep not John for behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah. This is who it's talking about here. He was the only one
that had no deceit. He had no violence. He was perfect
before the Lord. And yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He hath put him to grief and
now shall make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed.
He shall prolong his days. and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto
death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bear
the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. He's the only one who was able. He's the only one that was worthy
to live. Now think about what I mean by
that. According to the scripture, the
wages of sin is death. So if there is one sin that you
and I have committed, and every one of us are sin, it's not what
we do, it's what we are. The Lord Jesus Christ had not
committed any sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was worthy
of life. worthy of life, the only one ever to be worthy to
live until he drank the cup, until he drank our sin into himself. And then he became guilty before
God's law. Now, we can't enter into, I don't, I can't enter
into that. I don't know what all that means. I just declare
it because that's what the Lord said. And this is our gospel.
This is our gospel, how he died according to the scripture by
becoming sin for his people, bearing the sin of his people.
He said he was cut off from the land of the living, complete
separation from his father. And the father was pleased to
bruise his son. Today, I witnessed my daughter
being afraid. And this is a very weak analogy,
so forgive me for this. But I saw my daughter in fear
and I could not help her. I could not prevent what was
going to take place and I could not take her fear away. She had
to do it. But if I could have, I would
have gladly taken her place. In any moment, any second, I
would have. But it says, it pleased the Lord to bruise his son. I do not understand the love
that the Lord has for his people, but if you want to see a glimpse
of it, that would be it. It pleased the Lord to bruise
his son, to redeem his children, to redeem his people back to
God. not a gruesome death. You're
in Isaiah 53, look back to Isaiah 52, verse 13. Behold, my servant
shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. As many were astonished at thee,
his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more
than the sons of men. His visage was marred more than
any man." So you have the physical side of it, where men are mocking
him, spitting upon him, plucking his beer. And we see the love
that he has for us. We see the constraint that he
held that you and I would not have, you and I could not have,
would have done any good even if we would have. He constrained
himself. He restrained himself to honor
his father. And that was just the physical
side of it. He was beaten beyond recognition. That was just the
physical side. We can't enter into the thought
of his soul being made an offering for sin. We can't enter into
the thought of the fire of God's wrath being poured out upon him
and him absorbing every bit of it as he's being pressed, just
like the wine's being pressed, giving his life's blood for his
people. This is how he died according to the scriptures for his people. We see according to the scriptures,
he died as the Passover lamb. You remember whenever the children
of Israel, the last plague that was given, he said, I'm going
to pass through tonight. Death is going to come and claim
your firstborn. And that's a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he said, if you have blood of the lamb, kill
a lamb and put the blood upon the linen in the doorpost. And
when I see the blood, I will pass by you. Well, this is the
gospel that we preach is that the Lord Jesus Christ in his
blood, his blood alone is the only reason death passes by us.
His blood alone is the only reason the law has nothing to say against
you and I because of his death. This is our hope. According to
the scriptures, we see him in the Hebrews. We looked at that
on Sunday. The Hebrews in the fire, in the
fiery furnace. The fire couldn't touch them.
Why? Christ was in the fire with them. We see the picture there,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ took the
fire of God's wrath for his people, and the fire could not touch
them. We see the picture in Daniel and the lion's den that we looked
at on Sunday also. Daniel was cast into the lion's den, being
found guilty of the law that the king had given. that the
lions could not touch him because of the Lord's work. We see that,
don't we? We see that in the scriptures
that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so shall the
son of man be lifted up. Everything that was written in the Old Testament,
the scriptures of God was talking about how the Lord Jesus Christ
was going to take away the sins of his people, how he was gonna
be born, how he was gonna live, how he was gonna die for his
people, how he was gonna be resurrected after he was buried. The Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Turn
with me to Psalm 22. We see the separation from the
father in his death on the cross of Calvary, just as we saw in
Isaiah 53. Psalm 22. Verse 11. Now this is David prophetically
speaking of Christ on the cross. And we know that because it starts
out in verse one saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? But look in verse 11. Be not far from me for trouble
is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have come past
me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon
me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured
out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is
like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength
is dried up like a pot shirt. My tongue cleaveth to my jaws
and thou has brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have
come past me and assembled of the wicked have enclosed me.
They pierced my hands and my feet. We know that that has to
be the Lord on the cross. It wasn't David that had his
hands and feet pierced, was it? I may tell all my bones, they
look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them.
They cast lots upon my vesture. That came to pass, didn't it?
They parted the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ and cast lots
upon it. But be not thou far from me,
O Lord, O my strength. Haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling, from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's
mouth, for thou has heard me from the horns. of the unicorns. Save me from the lion's mouth. I meant to go to this passage
on Sunday and I completely forgot to do it. So I'm thankful I was
able to circle back to it tonight. But that's Daniel in the lion's
den, isn't it? That's what the picture is here again. It's what
the Lord did for his people as everything, all the terrors of
the Lord can pass him about and the lion himself roaring against
him. We see that he laid down his life for his sheep gladly. God died. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man died for his people. The eternal God became a man
and gave his life for his sheep. He did this to accomplish something.
His death really accomplished something in our gospel. It accomplished
justification. It accomplished sanctification.
It accomplished eternal redemption. No other gospel accomplishes
this, but our gospel does. When he cried, it is finished.
I find it, I stand in awe when I think about the power of our
Lord on the cross of Calvary. He had to yield up the ghost.
He had to allow death to take him. He's the only one because
he had power to do so. He yielded up the ghost. He chose
to die. He chose to die. Why? Because it had to become, he
had to die for you and I to live. His death, meant our life. Without his death, we would have
no life. He had to die. That was the consequence. For
our sin, death was. He chose to die according to
the scriptures. So what is the gospel? Well,
it's Christ was born king, sovereign king. He lived perfectly. He died for his people and put
away their sin successfully by his death. and he was buried
according to the scriptures. We were just in Isaiah 53, but
the verse tells us in verse nine, it says that he made his grave
with the wicked. The Lord died and was buried. He was buried according to the
scriptures. As Jonah was in the belly of
the well three days and three nights, so shall the son of man
be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. Why three
days? Have you ever asked yourself
that? Why three days? The Jews believed that after
the third day, the soul would go to God. But before that, it
would hover between God and the earth. And it was confused on
what to do or something to that effect. At least that's what
I got out of the couple of articles I read on Judaism. We know that
it's not true, but the point is, is if it would have been
resurrected the next day, there would be no need for faith. They
would have said, oh, he just, he didn't, he didn't really die.
See, death is not accomplished in their tradition until the
third day. That's why he waited three days. so that when he came
forth, there could be no doubt that it was God that resurrected
him, as we read in Galatians just a little bit ago. Christ
proved that he was Lord over the grave with his resurrection.
When the father resurrected him, he proved that he was Lord over
death, hell, and the grave. So what is the gospel? God became
a man, lived a sinless life. He died for his elect. He was
buried. And number five, he was resurrected
according to the gospel. I'm sorry, according to the scriptures.
Turn with me to Psalm 16, just a few pages back. He was born, he lived, he died,
he was buried, and he was resurrected according to the scriptures. Psalm 16 in verse 10. For thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, Neither wilt thou suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life and thy presence is fullness
of joy. At thy right hand, there are
pleasures forevermore." The Lord would not let his son
see corruption. He kept his promise by resurrecting
his son for his people. I smile at the thought that the
father said, come forth to his son, come forth. And his son
came forth. And all those who were in him
whenever he died, whenever he was buried, came forth with him.
And hell and death and the grave can say nothing against them
anymore. It tells us that. I'll show you in Revelation chapter
one. We have one more place to turn to after this. Revelation
chapter one. I could quote it, but sometimes
I feel the luster is lost in just quoting. Revelation chapter one, and look
at verse 18. I am he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us
that he's alive forevermore. Do you know that if you were
in the Lord Jesus Christ when he died, when he was resurrected,
because he liveth forevermore, we live forevermore. See, our
life is hid with Christ in God. If we're in Him right now, we've
always been in Him. We're seated at the right hand
of the Father right now. As far as the Lord's concerned,
we're glorified. Now we can't see that, but one
day, because of this resurrection that took place on resurrection
morning, The glory will be revealed in us that Christ has given to
his people. The same glory will come bursting
forth from these old dead corpses that we're carrying around and
the Lord will be revealed. All of his glory will be revealed
in us. That's our hope. This is God's gospel. This is
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that God saved, Christ
Jesus saved his elected sinners from their sin. Take comfort
in knowing that it's not your steadfastness that determines
this. It's not your longevity that determines if, it's Christ
that keeps us. We can't see, we can't even remember
this most of the time. We must be reminded, as I mentioned
earlier, so often. It's not up to us in any way.
Otherwise it would not be the gospel. It would not be the gospel. The gospel is not about us. It's about what he did for us.
It's not about what we do. It's about what he has done.
It's about everything that God purposed in his son and what
Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplished for his people. What is the gospel? God became
a man. He lived a perfect life. He died for the sins of his people,
becoming the substitute lamb, shedding his precious blood for
them and successfully redeeming them. He was buried in a tomb
and they took a stone and rolled it over it for three days. And
on the third and glorious morning, he came forth being resurrected
of his father. And it was all done according
to the scriptures, according to the scriptures. If a man preaches
the birth the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of Christ, without preaching it according to the scriptures,
he is not preaching the gospel. It must be preached according
to the scripture. What he accomplished, not that
he tried to do something, but that he successfully redeemed
his people. He hath ransomed his people back
to God. He successfully saved us, his
people, from their sin. And thank God, it's all by grace.
It is all by grace. It was grace in Genesis. It was
grace in Exodus. It was grace in Leviticus. And
I'm not going to do all 66 books, but you understand what I'm saying.
Every single book, every single book, it's all of grace. And
it's how he died, according to the scriptures, by his amazing
grace. This is the gospel that he uses
to call his elected sinners. Now in closing, I want to read
our text one more time in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In the light of all
of that that I have said thus far. 1 Corinthians 15, 1. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, the gospel, which
I preach unto you, 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 have 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 then he rose again the third
day, according to the scriptures. This is the gospel. This is the
gospel, how Christ was born, how he lived, how he died, how
he was buried and how he was resurrected according to the
scriptures. This is the gospel. And Paul
said in Romans chapter one, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel
for it is the, the only, the, that's singular, the power of
God unto salvation for everyone that believeth. Take heart in
knowing God will keep his will. His last will and testament will
be fulfilled. It was on the cross of Calvary
for his people. Now it's just coming to pass,
isn't it? He's the one that will see to it. See to every jot and
tittle, as he said in Revelation. This is the gospel according
to the scriptures.