WEBVTT 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:07.519 Amen. Thank you, Mother and Daughter Hyatt. The 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.460 beautiful song, Jesus led me all the way. Would 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:13.699 you make your bible please and turn with me to 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:15.939 the Book of 1 Corinthians as we look together 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:20.679 today during this chapter. We turn now. We are 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.320 eventually going to come to the end of 1 Corinthians. 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:26.399 We've been studying this book since the month 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.339 of January. And as we get to chapter 15, we come 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:34.929 to the end. and one that's going to take several 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:37.850 weeks for us to process, and then we'll wrap 00:00:37.850 --> 00:00:42.210 it up by the holiday time. Let me begin reading 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:47.670 today in verse one of verse 15. Now I make known 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:50.109 to you, brethren, the gospel which I preach to 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:53.890 you, the gospel you receive, and the gospel you 00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:58.810 stand. My gospel you are saved, if you hold fast 00:00:58.810 --> 00:01:02.049 the word which I preach to you, unless you believe 00:01:02.049 --> 00:01:06.480 in me. By the liberty you have the first importance, 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.659 by all coerced deeds, that Christ died for our 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.859 sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he 00:01:13.859 --> 00:01:17.299 was buried, and that he was raised on the third 00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:20.620 day according to the Scriptures, and that he 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:23.540 appeared to see the Son of Man of the Twelve. 00:01:24.700 --> 00:01:27.200 After that he appeared to more than five hundred 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.739 men at one time, most of whom remained until 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:35.159 now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:37.859 to James, and then to all the apostles, and after 00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:42.219 all, as it were, to one untimely born. He appeared 00:01:42.219 --> 00:01:48.879 to me also, and to me, and to all of you. For 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.260 I am the least of the apostles, and am not yet 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:54.500 to be called an apostle, because I constitute 00:01:54.500 --> 00:01:59.019 the church of God. But by the grace of God, I 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:03.099 am what I am, and His grace for me did not covene. 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:06.890 But I think I've seen it more than all of them, 00:02:07.129 --> 00:02:10.909 yet my eyes are the grace of God with me, whether 00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:17.289 they're my or they, so we preach, and you believe. 00:02:19.349 --> 00:02:23.590 Some components are essential to the very nature 00:02:23.590 --> 00:02:26.449 of things. In the last couple of years, I've 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:29.069 tried to learn a little bit about the computer. 00:02:30.509 --> 00:02:33.310 But I have learned that you can't learn. programs 00:02:33.310 --> 00:02:36.430 on the computer and you can unload them. You 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:39.949 can take them off. I have learned that you can 00:02:39.949 --> 00:02:44.449 add hardware and you can remove hardware. But 00:02:44.449 --> 00:02:46.969 there's one piece of a computer that has to be 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:49.949 there for to be a computer, and that's the hard 00:02:49.949 --> 00:02:54.069 drive. And when you lose that hard drive, what 00:02:54.069 --> 00:02:57.849 you have is a piece of junk. You don't have a 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:01.189 computer any longer. A hard drive is a simple 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:07.250 to the nature of the given. Take away a football. 00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:10.789 And you no longer have a football game. You can 00:03:10.789 --> 00:03:14.270 play a game with other kinds of balls, drop them 00:03:14.270 --> 00:03:16.629 down the field. You can even try to check around 00:03:16.629 --> 00:03:19.310 balls once or twice. But it won't be a football 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:25.150 game because a football is essential to a football 00:03:25.150 --> 00:03:30.610 game. But they gather true atoms of hydrogen. 00:03:30.909 --> 00:03:33.469 and want to have some oxygen if you have what? 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:37.569 Take away one of those atoms with hydrogen and 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:44.629 you have what? Hydrogen. Oxide. Alright, I don't 00:03:44.629 --> 00:03:51.729 know if that was 80 or 802. Don't know what you're 00:03:51.729 --> 00:03:54.949 saying. Yeah, I can tell you that. You take away 00:03:54.949 --> 00:03:57.870 one of those atoms with hydrogen, you don't have 00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:00.680 water anymore because... You have to have that. 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:05.099 It's essential to the nature of water. Take away 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:08.699 the alphabet, and no longer have a language that's 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:12.879 written. Take away the staff, and you no longer 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:16.079 have, once it is needed, that is, and you no 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:18.720 longer have music. You can have notes on the 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.339 table, but it won't be much of an evidence that 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:25.959 they have a staff just by meaning to those notes. 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:29.870 Take away the musical resurrection. of Jesus 00:04:29.870 --> 00:04:37.990 Christ and you no longer have the gospel. Further, 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:41.310 take away the resurrection of Jesus Christ and 00:04:41.310 --> 00:04:44.889 you no longer have hope of a future resurrection 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:51.230 for you and me. Both resurrections now of Christ 00:04:51.230 --> 00:04:57.769 and now of the human race are essential to the 00:04:57.769 --> 00:05:03.480 Christian message. Now, of course, there were 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:07.120 some who were denying the resurrection of believers. 00:05:08.939 --> 00:05:11.300 They had accepted the resurrection of Christ, 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:15.519 but apparently their Greek philosophy was still 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.439 influencing their thinking about the resurrection 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:24.639 of different beings. Plato thought that the body 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.480 is evil, that it's the soul that is immortal. 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:33.839 on the body as a temporary prison with the soul 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.199 as a sleeping mid of the body the better off 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:42.660 you are. That kind of thinking apparently hung 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:47.959 on through the prison. St. Paul the Freak here 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:52.399 asked him to figure out what to do. He did fine 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.860 until he came to the point of his judgment that 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.620 he mentioned the judgment that is coming, which 00:05:57.620 --> 00:06:01.720 God has guaranteed. by the resurrection of Jesus 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.420 Christ from the dead. And when he mentioned the 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:08.819 resurrection, immediately they began to fear 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:15.019 and to mock him, because they, the paradise intellectuals 00:06:15.019 --> 00:06:19.899 of the day, did not accept the idea of resurrection. 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:24.839 Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians has been called the 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:29.110 great resurrection chapter of the Bible. Chronologically, 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:33.029 it comes with reference to 55 A .D. or thereabouts. 00:06:33.689 --> 00:06:37.050 It really is the first written account of the 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:40.810 resurrection. Now it's not in American form like 00:06:40.810 --> 00:06:44.629 the Gospel, but it's the first written account 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:47.850 of the resurrection and it is a strong claim 00:06:47.850 --> 00:06:52.329 to the reality of Christ's victory over death. 00:06:52.509 --> 00:06:55.430 All of this is possibly a paragraph we've played 00:06:55.430 --> 00:07:00.980 around to or very frequently. The words are gospel 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:07.620 and grace. Of the 155 times you find the word 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:10.600 grace in the New Testament, the third of them 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:16.180 are in false letters. Paul used these two words, 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:20.319 gospel and grace, more frequently than all of 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:24.259 the other New Testament writers combined. He 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:29.319 loved these words. Michael Kershaw. Paul wants 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:33.379 to say to us in this text. It is that the gospel 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:38.600 is the means for God's grace to be realized in 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:43.279 your life. The gospel is the means for God's 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:47.000 grace to be realized in your life. We're going 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:49.939 to break this text up into two pieces. The first 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:53.560 part is the gospel of Christ, verses one through 00:07:53.560 --> 00:08:03.139 eight. He recounts, for example, the record of 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:08.199 the Gospel. Our salvation, folks, is rooted in 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:12.939 historical events. It is rooted in the biblical 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:17.980 record of the fall of man, the promise of the 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:21.500 Redeemer, the choice that they were had when 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:24.319 he received as the specific life through whom 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:28.459 the Redeemer would come, the birth of the Redeemer, 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:34.090 his life. climaxed by his death, burial, and 00:08:34.090 --> 00:08:38.990 resurrection. The gospel cannot be divorced from 00:08:38.990 --> 00:08:43.769 the historical aspects. The gospel of Jesus Christ 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:48.629 is not merely theoretical or philosophical. It 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:52.789 is not just a moral ethic or a set of ideas. 00:08:54.429 --> 00:09:02.159 The gospel is a truth that is willing to The 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.480 gospel is the record of God's selfless intervention 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:10.059 on behalf of His fallen creatures. It is God 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:16.379 acting in time and space to carry out His eternal 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:22.500 purpose of glorifying Himself by rescuing unworthy 00:09:22.500 --> 00:09:30.059 sinners from our deserved destiny. His death 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:35.720 is given by Paul as or our sins. His language 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:40.559 is taken to mean as a substitute for our sins. 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.899 He died in our place as a substitutionary death 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:50.100 according to the scriptures. That is a fulfilled, 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:55.019 God -established plan of promises throughout 00:09:55.019 --> 00:10:26.070 the Old Testament scriptures. In his burial here, 00:10:26.669 --> 00:10:31.850 but that was the point of the question and the 00:10:31.850 --> 00:10:36.909 controversy that was in court. Paul says that 00:10:36.909 --> 00:10:42.490 Jesus appeared four times, he emphasized this, 00:10:42.690 --> 00:10:48.190 after he loathed, he appeared, he appeared, and 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:55.019 he said that he would live some 25 years. were 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:59.940 still living, who could attest to having seen 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:04.980 the risen Christ. He does note that some of them 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:08.100 have fallen asleep, which is a metaphor for death. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.220 And that really introduces what he wants to talk 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:14.360 about, because he's going to talk about the fact 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:18.080 that those who have fallen asleep are not lost. 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:23.759 Under these verses that we've read, he emphasizes 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:28.419 the the fact that Jesus lives. And hundreds could 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:32.720 testify to having seen again the living record. 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:37.139 The evidence of the resurrection was demonstrable. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:42.080 It was undeniable. His enemies weren't able to 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:48.960 contain the truth. An agnostic professor was 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.860 once talking to a little girl who believed in 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:56.860 Jesus Christ. They said there have been many 00:11:56.860 --> 00:12:01.139 who have claimed to be Christ. How can you be 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:08.080 so sure that you believe in the true one? Without 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:12.940 hesitation the little girl said, I believe in 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:18.299 the one who rose from the dead. There have been 00:12:18.299 --> 00:12:22.259 many who have claimed to be Christ in history, 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:28.950 but only one. and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:33.009 The record of the gospel. Paul then tells us 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:35.250 a little bit about the responsibility of the 00:12:35.250 --> 00:12:38.909 gospel because he says, this is what I preached 00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:43.929 to you. The word preached here used twice in 00:12:43.929 --> 00:12:47.610 verses one and two. It literally means, this 00:12:47.610 --> 00:12:52.669 is what I gospeled to you. It's the word form 00:12:52.669 --> 00:13:03.139 of the noun gospel. It's the good news. I delivered 00:13:03.139 --> 00:13:07.940 to you. Paul uses the word here that means I 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:13.279 passed it on with a sense of authority. I was 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.580 authorized to give this to you. But Paul is saying 00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:22.919 here is that the possession of the gospel brings 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:45.960 responsibility. not that we worship the Lord 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:49.980 Jesus Christ or that we gather to prepare ourselves 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:53.740 to do certain things. The point of the whole 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:59.259 mission is in the last few words that says to 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:05.200 be a visualization of the world. That is why 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:09.220 we gather together that we might worship and 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:12.740 prepare ourselves for the being that God has 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:16.399 created. to do, and that is to share the gospel 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.899 with the world. I don't know how many of you 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:21.580 saw any of the Thomas Keepers assembly yesterday, 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.840 but you left your hand. Let me ask any of you 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:28.240 who were there, go back in. We had some more 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.659 traveling this morning, and others flew in earlier 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:35.259 this morning on that 747. But I'll tell you, 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:38.620 my heart was blown yesterday, because I heard 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:41.899 Greg Loring first, and then others after him. 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:47.820 to pray the gospel uncompromisingly, unhesitatingly 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:51.419 with those million and that million men crowd 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:53.700 gathered there because of the millions beyond 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:58.019 that who have watched it over several million. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:02.559 That is what it's about, sharing the gospel as 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:07.139 the responsibility we have in us. The Lord has 00:15:07.139 --> 00:15:11.799 authorized us, as in both cases, to deliver it. 00:15:12.850 --> 00:15:16.049 The response of the Gospel is also meant to give 00:15:16.049 --> 00:15:19.970 the response to the Gospel, all as which you 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:25.129 receive. And he equates in verse 2, notice, with 00:15:25.129 --> 00:15:29.629 the fact that they believe. At a point in time, 00:15:30.129 --> 00:15:34.610 they heard, and having heard, they receive, they 00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:38.009 believe that they are basically the same thing. 00:15:38.850 --> 00:15:43.600 It doesn't say that they work. that they received 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.360 it as a gift. This is the gift of God, which 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:51.480 we put alive in Jesus Christ, our Lord. As many 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:55.120 as we've seen, yet for them they gave the card, 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:58.600 become the sons of God, into those who believe 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:02.100 of his name. John wraps both two words together 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:06.980 also. The response to the gospel is to receive 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:20.009 it, to believe on it. He talks to us about the 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:24.230 fact that there's a result for the Gospel. And 00:16:24.230 --> 00:16:28.450 it is that these Christians having received and 00:16:28.450 --> 00:16:32.950 believed were saved. He says, by which you are 00:16:32.950 --> 00:16:36.090 saved. It's in the present tense. It means by 00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:43.429 which you are being saved. It is passive. They're 00:16:43.429 --> 00:16:46.750 not saving themselves. Someone else is doing 00:16:46.750 --> 00:16:51.039 the act of saving. but it's an ongoing process. 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:54.679 Only before the fact that additional people were 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:57.059 getting saved in Corinth, that may be what he 00:16:57.059 --> 00:17:00.100 has in mind. I rather think he's talking about 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:05.099 the truth, that while we have been saved at the 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:08.940 moment of our belief in Christ, we're also in 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:12.859 the process of being saved from the power of 00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:17.220 sin. We are being kept. which is really the second 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.200 thing that he says here regarding the result 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.380 of the gospel. Notice he says, by which you are 00:17:22.380 --> 00:17:28.579 being saved if you hold fast the word. The fall 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:31.799 constructs this in such a way that it's presumed 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:50.740 that... unwarningly holding fast to what had 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:54.940 been delivered and preached to them. What we 00:17:54.940 --> 00:17:59.319 have here is the canthroly perseverance of the 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:01.700 saints, one of the great doctrines of the Word 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:07.099 of God. Willis Berkoff defines the perseverance 00:18:07.099 --> 00:18:10.920 of the saints by these words. He says it's that 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:14.599 continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:19.109 believer. by which the work of divine grace that 00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:25.029 is begun in the heart is continued and brought 00:18:25.029 --> 00:18:31.549 to completion. And so the perseverance of the 00:18:31.549 --> 00:18:36.549 saints that is continuing to hold to the word 00:18:36.549 --> 00:18:42.589 is really the work of God's Spirit in us, keeping 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:49.259 us, securing us. And so he explains to us wonderful 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:55.079 things about the gospel and its power. Billy 00:18:55.079 --> 00:19:00.920 Graham tells the story of talking to a gentleman 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:04.140 in Russia many years ago and learning this story. 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:09.500 That's after the Bolshevik revolution, a local 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:14.160 communist leader gathered a certain village together 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:19.309 to preach to them the virtues. communism, and 00:19:19.309 --> 00:19:23.789 it supplanted their minds from religion, which 00:19:23.789 --> 00:19:27.609 Marx called the gopheate of the people, the drug 00:19:27.609 --> 00:19:32.049 of the people, to keep them in bondage. This 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.569 communist leader hurrayed into the people of 00:19:34.569 --> 00:19:38.730 the village for a long time, and then, potentially 00:19:38.730 --> 00:19:42.910 pointed to the pastor of the church in the village 00:19:42.910 --> 00:19:46.660 and said, I will give you five minutes. to reply 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:51.559 to what I said. The pastor immediately said, 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:55.079 I do not need five minutes, only five seconds. 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.140 And the Baptist stood up and went to the platform 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:02.220 and said to the village government there, the 00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:07.039 lawyer is risen. And there's one, the village 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:13.579 answered back, he is risen indeed. The kindness 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:17.400 officials took it up and let's sit down. and 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:25.319 failure. Yet you hold fast the word that was 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:29.759 preached to me, the result of the gospel. And 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:31.839 now let's move ahead into the second part of 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:35.579 the paragraph which deals with the grace of God, 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:46.890 God's saving grace, esteem, and mercy. born, 00:20:47.150 --> 00:20:50.750 he appeared to me. Paul was thinking of his conversion 00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:55.190 of the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to 00:20:55.190 --> 00:21:00.569 Paul. He describes himself as one untimely born. 00:21:00.569 --> 00:21:06.130 He is one who has suffered miscarriage. One who 00:21:06.130 --> 00:21:12.630 has been aborted is the idea. Paul is thinking 00:21:12.630 --> 00:21:14.920 here perhaps of a couple of directions. First 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:17.759 of all, he was not a normal member of the apostolic 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:24.359 band. They had seen Jesus earlier. A down year 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:29.400 later, he had seen Jesus. But he says a miscarriage 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:33.500 that implies something earlier than what would 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:36.680 be expected. So Paul may have been thinking too 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:41.799 of the fact that he, as a Jew, had believed on 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:48.130 Christ. I had. of national Israel. The Jews of 00:21:48.130 --> 00:21:50.890 the nation have rejected Christ. The key, by 00:21:50.890 --> 00:21:54.609 God's grace, has been saved. They have believed 00:21:54.609 --> 00:21:58.849 on Christ. And so Paul's salvation here may be 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:03.309 thought of as a picture of the future restoration 00:22:03.309 --> 00:22:07.630 of Israel. For Christ will appear to national 00:22:07.630 --> 00:22:11.609 Israel and the nation will be converted in a 00:22:11.609 --> 00:22:16.440 day. And yet for this reason writes Paul, I found 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:20.539 mercy in order that in me as the foremost Jesus 00:22:20.539 --> 00:22:23.619 Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:27.259 as an example for those who would believe in 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:32.160 him for eternal life. Paul was talking here about 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.519 the saving grace of God that he had experienced. 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:39.339 I hope that you've experienced that saving grace. 00:22:40.779 --> 00:22:44.619 Would John Linton of old can truly Admire that 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:50.339 grace as you sing, amazing grace. How sweet the 00:22:50.339 --> 00:22:56.420 sound saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:02.920 but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:08.759 the saving grace of God. Then Paul goes on to 00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:12.160 talk about the serving grace of God for a verse 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:17.940 5, he says, I'm the least of the Apostles who 00:23:17.940 --> 00:23:20.519 have not fit to be called an Apostle because 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:22.980 I've persecuted the Church of God and by the 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:27.940 grace of God I am what I am. Paul says not only 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:31.400 did God's grace save me, God's grace called me 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:36.000 to serve. He said the one who had persecuted 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:41.319 the Church of God, here I am now, unworthy as 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:46.900 an Apostle of that The very church both did not 00:23:46.900 --> 00:23:50.559 boast to himself, but he boasted in what Christ 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:55.839 had made of him. Certainly this sense of unworthiness 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.759 on Paul's part is one that all of us can likely 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:02.279 identify with. As he said earlier in this very 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:05.900 book, what do you have that you did not receive? 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:12.099 Whatever we have, folks, we've received it from 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:24.950 God. And if you and you do have some capacity 00:24:24.950 --> 00:24:30.250 to serve Jesus Christ, then that is the serving 00:24:30.250 --> 00:24:34.490 grace of God in your life calling you out, sanctifying 00:24:34.490 --> 00:24:38.250 you, setting you apart to a role, to a purpose, 00:24:38.569 --> 00:24:46.420 to function within his body. of God's grace that 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:51.839 is God's strengthening grace. For he says, his 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:54.599 grace toward me did not prove vain, but I have 00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:58.119 labored even more than all of them, yet now I 00:24:58.119 --> 00:25:02.380 have the grace of God with me, with God's calling 00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:07.579 from God's enablement. Has God called you to 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:15.539 be a leader in your shell -grewed dogma? a Sunday 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:19.900 school class of boys and girls. With God's calling 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:21.960 will come God's enablement. That's what Paul 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:28.019 is saying here. God's strengthening grace, the 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:32.019 resurrection, provides us with this power to 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:35.240 live our lives and to make our mark for Christ. 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:39.200 It is a wonderful thing to know that God has 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.339 only saved us from hell that he has given us 00:25:42.339 --> 00:25:46.680 a wonderful destiny. And that destiny involves 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:50.680 being involved in serving God in this world, 00:25:51.000 --> 00:26:01.180 and then in the world to come. Great Glory. This 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:03.380 book asked me a promise to keep the door open 00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:06.619 a couple of years ago in private life. Any questions? 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:11.339 And in the book, he talks about a gentleman by 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.579 the name of George Little, who was a British 00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:19.079 agnostic in the last century. Mr. Little set 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:22.539 out to prove to himself and to the world that 00:26:22.539 --> 00:26:27.640 the New Testament lacked credibility. To do that, 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.079 he determined that he would undermine the foundation 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:35.539 of the Christian faith by getting to the truth 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:41.079 about Paul. And so he delved into Paul's life. 00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:44.000 He read everything that he could read about it. 00:26:44.009 --> 00:26:48.829 He absorbed what had happened to this man. And 00:26:48.829 --> 00:26:52.369 his conclusion was remarkably different than 00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:56.269 the thesis he began with. To sum it up in one 00:26:56.269 --> 00:27:00.390 sentence, here's what he discovered. All of conversion 00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:05.670 and apostleship alone, duly considered, are a 00:27:05.670 --> 00:27:08.710 demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity 00:27:08.710 --> 00:27:15.779 to be a divine revelation. He says when I look 00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:20.259 at what happened to Paul, there's only one explanation 00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:23.980 and that is what he believed and what he will 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:29.460 claim was the truth. But you're thankful for 00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:34.519 God's grace and for the gospel that releases 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:38.240 God's grace in your life and you believe in that 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:45.109 gospel. Because God's grace Changing you and 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:47.769 transforming you for the power of the resurrection. 00:27:48.849 --> 00:27:51.529 Are you serving God in the power of Christ's 00:27:51.529 --> 00:27:56.430 life? And God wants you to realize and to experience 00:27:56.430 --> 00:28:01.250 the power of His grace today. And that grace 00:28:01.250 --> 00:28:16.019 comes to us. This is the depth that we remember 00:28:16.019 --> 00:28:22.480 as we come to the table at this point. As we 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:28.180 partake of these elements. As partake of them 00:28:28.180 --> 00:28:33.819 realizing they represent the gospel, the gospel 00:28:33.819 --> 00:28:45.460 of Christ. As partake of them giving. that saves 00:28:45.460 --> 00:28:52.240 us, calls us to purpose, and strengthens us for 00:28:52.240 --> 00:34:18.800 whatever God's purpose is in our lives. As your 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:24.219 word says, forgive one another. Just as God, 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:28.480 for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. As we partake 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:31.159 of this cup, there's the gratitude for it that 00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:34.760 we are being issued. Not only for us, but for 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:40.260 others, who have yet to believe. We have shed 00:34:40.260 --> 00:40:52.369 it that we might be forgiven. Thank you. your 00:40:52.369 --> 00:40:55.110 desire to give to the elders and the poor benevolents. 00:40:55.269 --> 00:40:58.429 You may do so by dropping your gift in the box 00:40:58.429 --> 00:41:01.750 at the back exit as you leave this morning. That 00:41:01.750 --> 00:41:04.409 will be our way of collecting that. Secondly, 00:41:04.469 --> 00:41:07.170 if you are a guest here this morning, we again 00:41:07.170 --> 00:41:09.789 welcome you and I and some others that we hear 00:41:09.789 --> 00:41:11.829 at the back in our reception area. I hope that 00:41:11.829 --> 00:41:14.670 you'll come by and see us. And let's look at 00:41:14.670 --> 00:41:18.429 it personally. Would you do that? Let's stand 00:41:18.429 --> 00:41:22.849 together, please, and sing the first verse. of 00:41:22.849 --> 00:42:07.300 day. great one another.