WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.160 Uh good morning, church. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:06.879 My name's Hal. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:15.679 I'm one of the elders here, and it's a joy to preach God's word to you this morning. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:22.800 And being an elder, I do want to greet you on behalf of our entire elder team. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:32.640 Thank you for your faithfulness in being here and giving and engaging in ministry for our congregation. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.039 I want you to know that we pray for you. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:37.759 And we take that seriously. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:45.600 And we spend good amounts of time together as a group praying for needs that exist in the congregation. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.520 And having said that, I have no problem in saying this. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.600 Would you please pray for us? 00:00:52.399 --> 00:01:04.480 Because we need God's help to be the servants that He desires for us to be as He's asked us to lead this ministry. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:19.359 I'm gonna ask you to bow with me in prayer, and I too am very conscious that this is family Sunday, and it's not the Sunday to go long, and all the parents with little ones said amen. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.959 All right, let's pray together. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:29.760 Lord, we just sang I depend upon, I depend on you. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:45.680 And so all of us this morning voice our dependence upon you to take this word, your word, and challenge us, convict us, confront us, encourage us. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:02:00.560 Thank you for the amazing power of the Spirit of God that can take one text and make it meaningful to thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.319 And so we trust you to do that here this morning. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:11.120 May we worship you through our careful attention to the Word of God. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.879 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:13.840 Amen. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:29.680 So I I grew up in the house of a World War II veteran, and from a very early age I um learned about the Holocaust and exactly how horrible that was. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:44.080 And in learning about that, my parents also told me that the Jewish people and in Israel in particular would say this phrase, never again. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:03:06.080 And in light of what had happened at the Holocaust, and I guess what we would say is a generational horrific event, that there is this mindset that exists in Jewish people, and particularly even today in Israel. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:12.159 In fact, part of becoming an IDF soldier is to make this vow, never again. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:20.080 It is this all-consuming heart attitude, mindset, worldview. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:36.879 We could say this it is a life principle that they have given themselves to the fact that never again are they just gonna sit back and be passive. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:44.960 They can't stop others that might want to come against them, but never again are they just gonna lay down. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:52.240 And that's the consuming mindset that drives their whole worldview. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:04:05.439 And I can't tell you exactly when, but at some point when I was going to school, I was really shocked to find out that there is a group of people who are known as Holocaust deniers. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:16.240 In light of the history, in light of people with tattoos, numbers on their arms, who can say I was an eyewitness. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:28.959 In light of all of that, there are people either who, in part or in whole, actually deny the reality of the Holocaust. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:31.279 Think about that. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:43.680 And I say that to you this morning because that's the tension that exists in this text that we're going to look at. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.560 Now, if you're not a 1 Corinthians 15, please get there. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.000 Phone, tablet, Bible, whatever you have. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:53.839 I'd invite you to get there. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:05:01.600 We've been in 1 Corinthians long enough to understand that this church was a mess. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:04.240 It was absolutely a mess. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.160 There was hero worship. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:11.199 And because of the hero worship, they were challenging apostolic authority. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.480 There were physical perversions of numerous types. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:46.240 There was idolatry, there was temple worship, divorce, lawsuits, choosing personal rights and liberty over a godly concern for others, a failure to understand the beauty of gender and roles, desiring spiritual gifts, purely for position and recognition rather than functioning out of a motivation of love for God, love for Christ, and love for one another. 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.199 But my question to you this morning is why? 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.120 Why was that the ethos of this church? 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:01.759 Well, we might say they were trying to slug it out in a hard culture. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:03.279 Certainly they were. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:22.240 And the Greek culture, the Hellenistic culture that they were living in said that the material doesn't matter, and all that really matters is the spiritual and this sense of, they called it the pneumaticos, this life of spirituality. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:27.680 And so this really doesn't have any importance. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.319 And so we can just literally live like hell and still go to heaven. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.000 That might have been it. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:41.920 Part of it was certainly that false teachers were starting to creep in, and Paul had his opponents in the congregation. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.680 Yeah, I think that was a reality as well. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:53.920 But I think this text gives us the central reason why Corinth was a mess. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.319 And it's this. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:19.040 If you and I were to turn back to chapter one, we'd see it three times in verse 17, verse 18, and verse 23. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:31.040 We'd see it in chapter 2, verse 2, Paul says, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.040 That's gospel. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:44.879 And now in chapter 15, and this is the culmination of Paul's correction through this letter. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.639 Next week, next couple of weeks, Will's going to take us through chapter 16. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:08:00.720 And that chapter is encouragement and admonition and gratitude for people who have been partnering with him in ministry. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:09.199 But from chapter 1 through chapter 15, the entire book is a message of strong correction. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:14.000 And so he begins the book by saying, we're about the gospel. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:18.240 This is how this church was established. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.240 And then all of this junk's been going on for the rest of the book. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.600 Now look at 15 and look at verse 1. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:47.519 Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received, and which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:55.759 Why is the centrality of the gospel so important for the local church? 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:01.600 Listen, because the same gospel that saves is the gospel that sanctifies. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:12.799 The same gospel that saves us is the gospel that sanctifies us and molds us into the image of Jesus Christ. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.480 Now, I'd like you to look at the text again. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:30.480 I think there's four reasons as we move through here, four arguments that Paul makes about the centrality of the gospel and why it's so important. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:36.559 The first one is this, and we find it in verses 2 through 5. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.200 The gospel is consequential. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.159 The gospel has consequences. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:46.080 What did he say? 00:09:46.320 --> 00:10:04.399 I preach, I make known to you the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received, and which you also stand, by which you also are saved if you hold firmly to the word, which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:14.639 There is no salvation apart from the finished work of Jesus Christ. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:25.600 His death, his burial, and his resurrection, and are believing in that by faith. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:48.159 If you are here this morning and you are trusting in anything or anyone or any program or any philosophy other than the finished work of Jesus Christ in order to be right before God and to be saved. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:52.639 Listen to me, you're as lost as a three-year-old in Walmart. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.320 You may not even know you're lost. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:05.519 I see kids in Walmart just wandering and looking and looking and looking, and then the reality hits them. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.720 They're separated from who they're supposed to be with. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:14.799 There's no salvation apart from Christ. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:20.000 And you may be thinking to yourself, well, that's not really a consequence now. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:31.519 I believe that it is because I don't believe you're experiencing and enjoying the life that God wants for you and being rightly united to Him. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.399 The gospel has consequences. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:43.519 And we're saved to a persevering faith and what's called a new standing. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:12:04.080 The scripture says that when we are reconciled to God, that the work of the gospel is to take us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of his beloved Son. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:13.840 It's a change of address, it's a change of identity, it is a change of standing. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.519 There are consequences to the gospel. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.639 What do verses three and four say? 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:50.799 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.080 Why is the gospel essential? 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.840 Well, there's a number of things that we can pick up right from here. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:04.960 First of all, it tells us about our need that he died for our sins. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:20.480 The gospel is not an invitation to feel better, it's not an invitation to maximize your profits, it's not an invitation to try to clean up your life and get over your woundedness or your brokenness. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:29.919 The gospel addresses the issue of sin in our life because all of those other things flow out of that issue. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.679 Christ died for our sins. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:40.799 Secondly, it tells us about Christ's purpose. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:46.799 He died for, on behalf of our sin. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.840 He didn't die for himself. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.919 He lived a perfect life. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:54.720 He died for us. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.519 He died as a substitute. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:02.080 He died in the place that I should have taken. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:14.480 Can I just prompt your heart this morning to think about the mercy of God? 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:19.679 And that he gave his son. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:29.360 Willingly gave his son to pay the penalty for my sin, and the penalty was death. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.759 The wages of sin is death. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:36.960 But that's what our God was willing to do. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:41.120 Jesus died in my place. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:49.840 Your sin, my sin, in order to stand before a holy God, has to be dealt with. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:55.279 It has to be forgiven, it has to be cleansed, it has to be taken away. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.799 That was the mission of Jesus when he came. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.759 Thirdly, the gospel is essential because it tells us about God the Father. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.000 It says that he raised Jesus from the dead. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:20.720 Now, if you and I look at the totality of Scripture, we will find out that the triune God is involved in the resurrection. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:26.559 Romans chapter 8 says, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in us. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:27.759 What did Jesus say? 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:34.480 Destroy this temple, speaking of Himself, and in three days I will raise it up. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.759 But in this text, it's a passive verb. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:42.240 God raised Jesus from the dead. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:42.879 Why? 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:44.799 It was a public test. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.440 Okay, what was the question, Will? 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:49.519 Why does the resurrection matter? 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:50.799 Here it is. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:16:04.559 The resurrection matters because it is a public testimony that Jesus accomplished everything he needed to do to satisfy the wrath of God against sinners. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:10.399 Secondly, it was a testimony to his perfect life. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:17.039 Because if Jesus had ever sinned, he could not be qualified to be our substitute. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:23.279 But because he lived a perfect, sinless life, he was able to be our substitute. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.200 He did bear our sins. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.759 He did satisfy the wrath of God. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.639 And on the third day, God said, get up. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.639 And Jesus rose from the dead. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.679 A testimony to his perfect life. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:40.799 It was a vindication. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.440 God saying, My son has done it. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:54.799 And thirdly, or whatever we are, fourthly, fifthly, I don't know. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:01.519 Listen, I'm trying to keep the horses in the barn this morning. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.720 We gotta understand this. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:10.880 The resurrection also shows Jesus' power over sin. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:14.720 Death could not hold him. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:15.920 We just sang that. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.319 Or we're gonna sing it at the end. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:25.359 He overcame sin, death, hell, and the grave when he came out of that tomb. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:30.960 So the gospel, listen to me. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.079 The gospel is not just Jesus died for my sin. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:49.839 The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:59.839 Now, the third thing that this text tells us is that the gospel is historical. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.720 So look again at verse five. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:13.440 Paul has just written that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to scriptures. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.880 Now, here we go. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.960 And after that he appeared to Cephas, Peter. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:25.599 Don't name your boys Cephas. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:28.319 Peter. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:31.839 And then to the twelve. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:40.559 And after that he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.759 But some have fallen asleep. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:45.920 500. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:47.759 Go talk to them. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.200 They'll tell you he's alive. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:57.519 And then he appeared to James, his brother, and then to all the apostles. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:05.119 And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:14.559 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:19.519 But by the grace of God I am what I am. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:31.440 And his grace to me did not prove in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me, whether then it was I or they. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:35.200 So we preach, and you believe. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:36.960 And so here's the list. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:43.039 Peter appeared to the twelve, which is the common identifier for the apostolic band. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:51.599 He appeared to 500 at one time, and a lot of folks believe that that may have been at the um at the ascension. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.920 He appeared to James, his brother. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:11.599 And in John chapter 7, in verses 1 through 4, you'll find out that even Jesus' brothers did not believe in him as Messiah, or who he says that he was. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:22.799 And that's after the healing of the cripple at the pool, and after the feeding of the 5,000, and after walking on water, and still his brothers, like, nah. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:29.359 But the resurrection changed James's heart. 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.680 The resurrection changed Jude's heart. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.480 And they became believers. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:42.000 And then lastly, Paul says that he was an eyewitness to the resurrection. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.359 And on the Damascus Road, you and I know about it. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.519 The Lord appeared to Paul. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.039 He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:53.920 And he said, Who are you, Lord? 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:56.880 And he said, I'm Jesus. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.759 He appeared to Paul. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:04.480 It's consequential, it's essential. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.440 And it's historical. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:14.880 In light of all of that, look now with me at verse 12. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:23.839 Now, if Christ has preached that he's been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.640 How can you go to Yad Hashem in Jerusalem? 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:33.599 How can you go up to the Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C.? 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:35.759 How can you talk to people? 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:43.200 There's still hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors that still are alive. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:47.359 The vast majority of them are between 80 and 100 years old. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:49.359 But you can see the tattoo. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:52.640 How can you deny that the Holocaust took place? 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:54.880 That's Paul's mindset. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:58.880 How can you deny? 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:08.160 That he has been raised from the dead and that there is no resurrection. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:17.839 And again, I would take you back to the fact that the culture is pushing in on the church. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:22.000 And that's a given. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.079 We exist in a culture. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:34.480 God calls us to speak to the culture, but we're in the midst of a culture and it wants to press us and conform us. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.599 And some of that was happening. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:43.440 Second thing, and we need to keep this in mind. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:44.559 This is important. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:49.920 1 Corinthians is a very, very early book. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:59.680 Paul wrote this eight to ten years before the earliest of the four Gospels start to appear. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:12.000 And there wasn't any, I guess a good way to put it is this there wasn't any recognized formal theology written down yet about the resurrection. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:18.079 But the gospel and the resurrection was being preached. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:31.440 In fact, when you go back to verse 3, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:39.599 Most scholars will tell you that that is the early credal confession of the gospel. 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:59.119 So, culture may have created doubt about the resurrection, no recorded gospel yet, and so much of this teaching about resurrection and the afterlife is still very new to them. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:03.680 And if you will remember, what did Paul say in 1 Thessalonians 4? 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.519 Written from here. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:13.039 He says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:25.680 This understanding of the resurrection and its implications for the afterlife and even today was still in it in understanding it. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.720 We could say it was in its early stages. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:47.680 But this is where it hits home, you can um you can play out this sense that I think existed. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:56.400 And I was really glad to see that other guys with a lot more letters after their names than mine. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:09.440 Since this is some of what was going on at Corinth, Christ came and paid the penalty for my sin. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:11.680 Hallelujah. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:42.799 But because I'm in this body, because the material doesn't matter, well, because he's forgiven me of my sin, I can just go ahead and sin willy-nilly, without any sense of consequence or answering, because Christ has forgiven me of my sin, and then there's nothing left after that. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:52.960 Boy, have I met a lot of believing people that share that same exact theology. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:06.799 You're in the hospital room, and somebody's in the bed, they're getting ready to pass away. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:15.440 And you're looking at their family and saying, Well, tell me about their faith. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.000 Oh, he's a saved man. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:23.599 She's a saved woman. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:26.319 Really, tell me that story. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:41.519 Yeah, well, when she was nine years old, she went forward at the first holy Baptist Pentecostal Methodist Church and got saved. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.680 Oh, I'm really glad to hear that. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.880 And how did faith drive her life? 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:50.559 And then you hear this. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:59.039 Well, brothers and sisters, hear me this morning. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.400 The gospel is not a one and done issue. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:13.519 And that's what Paul is getting at in this text: that it is the death of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:14.720 Absolutely. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:18.000 And we know that he died because he was buried. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:22.480 But what happened on the third day? 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.680 He rose from the dead. 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:32.160 Paul gives a list of implications here. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:39.039 If the resurrection isn't real, he says, then Christ isn't raised, our faith is in vain, it's worthless. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:43.359 The apostles are false witnesses, we're still in our sins. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:48.960 Deceased Christians have perished. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:53.279 And living Christians are pure pitiable. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.079 We've just given ourselves to a joke. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:59.279 Please look at verse 20. 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:06.960 But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:14.079 And we read that, but in Paul's mind, I think it was this: Christ has been risen from the dead. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:17.759 He's alive. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.640 The first fruits of those who are asleep. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:31.920 For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:37.599 In Adam, you and I are all identified with Adam. 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:45.039 Adam looked at God and said, Not your will, but mine be done. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:48.799 And the whole created order was lurched into sin. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:53.200 Every single one of us is born a sinner. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:54.480 Look at this. 00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:02.880 But by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.359 For as in Adam all die. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:15.440 So also in Christ, those who are in Christ all will be made alive. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.000 Alive. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:21.839 Why is the resurrection important? 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:23.519 Here's another one. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:29.759 You and I were not saved simply so our sins could be forgiven. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:37.759 You and I were saved so we could be made alive in Christ to God. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:40.799 Short theological lesson. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.599 In the scripture, death means separation. 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:53.920 When you and I die physically, our spirit, our soul, is separated from this bag of bones. 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.000 Death is separation. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:06.960 It doesn't mean we cease to exist because our spirit will either go to be with the Lord or separated from him in hell. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.039 Death means separation. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:21.920 Our sins were forgiven so that the issue of separation between us and God could be wiped out. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:29.519 But God doesn't leave us there because that is wiped out now because he's just and the justifier. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:31.359 He didn't just let sin off the hook. 00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:35.119 He paid the penalty so we can be made alive. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.880 Join to him. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:38.799 Live with him. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:40.720 Live for him. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:46.240 In gratitude and in obedience. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.559 And it's not just here. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.079 We all know, most of us know Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:31:02.480 For by grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one should boast. 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.880 What does 10 say? 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:20.880 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to accomplish good works that God has foreordained for us to walk in. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:27.440 Remember that easy chair that Will was sitting in a few weeks ago? 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.720 God didn't save us to put us in one of those. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:44.799 He saved us so we could be united to him and find the joy of living with him and him being in us through his spirit. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:49.039 And being his ambassadors. 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:54.240 And that leads me to this last point. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:01.359 And it's this that the gospel is effectual. 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:06.319 The gospel is effectual. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:09.200 It effects change. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:20.559 If you knew somebody was dead and they were and they came back to life, it would change us. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:25.839 And we were dead in our sins, and now we've been made alive. 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:28.559 The gospel is effectual. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:34.160 And first of all, there's Paul's life and his testimony. 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:38.559 He says, I'm the least of the apostles. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:45.759 Not fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:50.799 He talks about himself as being one who was untimely born. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:54.240 That's a really interesting word in the original. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:07.599 Some people think that it means, you know, because he wasn't part of the original group of apostles, but he he was kind of born out of order, out of sequence. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:15.920 But there's another very interesting way that this word is used in the Greek language. 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:25.839 And brothers and sisters, I can't help but wonder if this is really what Paul was getting at. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.759 Because this word is also used to describe a monster. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:43.599 And if you know anything about Paul's life before he came to Christ, he was nothing short of a monster towards the church. 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:50.079 And he shares that in his own testimony at the end of the book of Acts. 00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:52.319 It's two different times. 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:13.039 It took a persecutor and it made him a preacher. 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:14.159 How? 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:19.920 Just because he was sitting back in the easy chair of grace and saying, Jesus died for my sins? 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:29.760 No, it was a resurrection power that invaded his life that affected that change. 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:40.800 Again, Romans 8 says that the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and at work in those of us who believe. 00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:44.719 Here's another thing. 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:50.000 I hate this. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.400 The gospel is effectual and it calls us to live beyond normal. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:05.760 I want you to go down to verse 32. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:09.360 The second half of it, look what it says. 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:14.159 If the dead are not raised, let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:21.280 One of the reasons I like Piper is he's bold. 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:26.320 And Piper says, this is the invitation to have this mindset. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:31.519 If the resurrection isn't real, then just live the American dream. 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:36.239 Get the bigger house up in the suburbs. 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:40.079 Always go for the next promotion at work. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:45.760 What if that's going to hinder some of the ways that I can serve the Lord? 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.760 Well, you gotta get what you can. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:52.400 Get your kids to Yale. 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:56.159 Harvard's a great school if you can't go to Yale. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.719 Make sure that they are the top athlete. 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:18.079 And just this normality of life disciples us to just always be on the go for the bigger, better deal, the BBD. 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:23.599 And it's infectious. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:31.440 This is why I say I hate it because of all the things that grabbed me in this text, getting ready to preach. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:32.559 This is it. 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:35.920 And I'll tell you why. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:42.079 I turned 65 last January. 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:53.360 And I know that hundreds of you are sitting here this morning saying, No, you look like Brian. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.800 You're always at the gym. 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:08.000 And I had the chance to retire in February, so I don't have to work full-time anymore. 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:16.159 And so I get Social Security, I get my VA disability, so I need you all to keep working so I can keep getting that. 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:26.320 I've got a pension that comes to me from the denomination that I pastored in. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:35.119 And we have money from investments that come in and Karen's disability. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:38.880 I'm not rich. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:45.039 I'm not flying to Tahiti every Tuesday for lunch. 00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:54.079 I'm very comfortable. 00:37:55.599 --> 00:38:05.760 And I have structured this life for myself where I can live comfortably. 00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:10.079 I still do some work at the hospital. 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:20.159 I um still am on the elder board and I come here on Tuesdays to be part of the preaching cohort. 00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:26.159 I preach here once in a while and I take care of my wife who has Parkinson's. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:32.480 And so a lot of days are fairly busy. 00:38:34.159 --> 00:38:39.679 When my son leaves the house every morning, he says, So Dad, what are you gonna do today? 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:55.840 About a week and a half ago, I just kind of said with this jolly, contented, I think I'm just gonna enjoy being retired today. 00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:09.360 And as soon as he headed out the door, Lord, I need to repent from that. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:19.280 You did not rise from the dead so that I can just enjoy retirement. 00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:21.760 I want to live beyond normal. 00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:26.159 And that's one of the messages of the resurrection. 00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:27.039 Please hear me. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:38.719 I understand we have routines, and living beyond normal doesn't mean that every single one of us runs out of here this morning, sells everything we have, and heads to the mission field. 00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:41.119 Sorry, Bo. 00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:45.280 The scripture's clear. 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:49.119 God has drawn our lines, He's established our lines. 00:39:51.039 --> 00:40:19.840 But in my caring for my wife, in my fathering to my son, in my service here as an elder, in my service here playing music with Hal and the grandkids, in all of those things, the power of the resurrection comes and infuses us so that we don't just do it as normal. 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:26.239 We do it with a heart that says, God, in everything I do, I want to please you. 00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:30.960 And I want this faith to be infectious. 00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:40.159 There's another thing that is affected by the gospel, and it's the power over sin. 00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:41.280 Look at verse 34. 00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:44.239 Sober up morally and stop sinning. 00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:47.199 Don't give yourself to sin. 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:50.559 The tense is stop doing what you're doing. 00:40:52.320 --> 00:40:53.440 Holiness. 00:40:54.800 --> 00:41:06.320 If we are united to Christ and his Spirit lives within us, our desire is not to be sin, it's to be holiness. 00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:10.800 Now, please, please understand this. 00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:14.639 I do not believe in the eradication of the sin nature. 00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:17.679 I believe in the crucifixion of the sin nature. 00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:24.079 Because Romans says I've been crucified with, excuse me, Galatians says I've been crucified with Christ. 00:41:25.199 --> 00:41:26.719 We still sin. 00:41:26.960 --> 00:41:28.239 1 John 1.9. 00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:34.079 Written to John's little children, the church, written to Christian people. 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:38.400 If we say we have no sin, we're making him out to be a liar. 00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:46.880 But if we do sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, who tells us if we confess our sin. 00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:55.920 He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:41:57.519 --> 00:41:58.719 Holiness. 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:05.920 No unbelieving person has a desire for holiness. 00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:12.960 It might be moral, but it'll always come back to them doing it for the sake of themselves. 00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:16.239 Holiness. 00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:18.639 Stop sinning. 00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:22.000 And the third thing is this. 00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.280 The very last verse, turn over there, chapter 15. 00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:40.320 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm and movable, always excelling or always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:51.360 So this is the fourth thing that he talks about here, that the resurrection being an effectual presence in our lives. 00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:53.599 Convictional perseverance. 00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:58.000 Convictional perseverance. 00:42:59.280 --> 00:43:07.920 Staying the course, being immovable, being steadfast, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:11.039 Keeping at it. 00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:13.199 And that's what he said earlier. 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:17.119 When you're talking about his own testimony, he says, I labored more than all of them. 00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:19.519 But not me, but what? 00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:22.480 But the grace of God in me. 00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:26.320 Perseverance. 00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:38.239 So why is the gospel to be the centrality of the local church? 00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:43.360 Because the same gospel that saves us is the gospel that sanctifies us. 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:46.800 I want to reiterate this again. 00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:50.320