Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/hpbc/sermons/94051/proofs-of-the-gospel/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Tonight, I want you to take your Bibles and open, first of all, to Hebrews chapter 11, and then we're going to go straight to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. [0:23] So, you can place a finger in both places. Not the same finger, two different fingers. But we're going to begin in Hebrews chapter 11 because I want to introduce the theme of my message or what I have gleaned from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. [0:43] I want to introduce it with a truth about faith. Faith, and the truth about faith is that faith is not some mystical, willy-nilly kind of thing. [1:02] Faith is not a blind thing. And according to, by the way, according to Paul, I think Paul wrote Hebrews. If you want to debate that with me, you can do that some other time. [1:14] Maybe that could be a Bible question. I don't know if it's answerable. You can just take your pick who wrote Hebrews, but I think Paul did. But anyway, Paul writes about faith in Hebrews chapter 11. [1:28] And he says that faith, verse 1, by the way, Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [1:46] For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand. I'll just stop right there. Because it's not my intention tonight to, you know, to present an exposition of Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1, 2, or 3, or however many. [2:04] But just to make a point about faith. And that point being that faith is something very substantive. It's based upon some rock foundation. [2:17] Something that is experienced. Something that you can sink your teeth into. It's not a blind thing. A willy-nilly thing. It's very substantive. [2:28] As a matter of fact, the word there that is translated assurance in the New American Standard is hupostasis. And it means substance. [2:41] It is something upon which, or excuse me, it is a foundation. A substantive thing. [2:52] That's why some translations use the word substance. So that faith is the substance of things hoped for. So it's not a blind thing. [3:05] Not a kind of mystical thing. It's substantive. And not only substantive. But it is the conviction of things not seen. [3:20] Now the word there is a word that really I think would be better translated. The proof. The proof of things not seen. [3:32] See, faith is based upon, in large part, upon things that are not seen. No one has seen God at any time. And yet I believe in God. The one true God, Yahweh God. [3:43] Yet I've not seen Him. And so there is a sense in which my faith in Him is a faith in something I cannot see. And cannot evaluate based upon all of the senses. [3:56] Not directly. And yet there are proofs. See. That God does exist. Many proofs. And so my faith in Him is founded upon undeniable proofs. [4:15] So let's kind of put this together. Faith is or has foundations. It's substantive. [4:27] It's the substance of things hoped for. And it is the proof or evidence. [4:39] Evidence of things not seen. All right. Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul is going to give us what. [4:55] Well, what is. The substance of the gospel. How do I know that the gospel is a true thing. [5:07] That the basic elements of the gospel. That he is going to detail here. How do I know that these things are true. I put my faith. In the truth of the gospel. Are there any proofs. [5:19] Proofs. I believe so. And faith. Is always backed up. With. [5:30] Observable. Proofs. Evidences. Like a little boy. He was out flying a kite one day. And he had quite a bit of string. [5:40] And so his kite went way up into the sky. And it was a cloudy day. And pretty soon the kite. The kite was just kind of obscured by the clouds. You could see the string going up. But no kite. [5:51] And some fellow was walking by. And he said. What you doing? He said. I'm flying a kite. And he looked up into the sky. The man did. And he said. I don't see the kite. How do you know it's there? [6:03] The little boy said. I know it's there. Because I can feel the tug on the string. See. I know. That there's a God. I know he loves me. [6:14] I know that my faith in him. And what he has done through his son Jesus. Is true. It's real. I put my faith in that. Because. It tugs on my heart. [6:26] And there are some undeniable proofs. That establish. The facts of the gospel. To be true. And so that's what. I think we can glean. [6:37] From 1st Corinthians chapter 15. And perhaps. You never approached this text. From this standpoint. That Paul is stating some. Major facts. [6:47] And he is putting. Those facts side by side. With undeniable proofs. Observable proofs. Verifiable. Proofs. [7:00] Of the facts. When you study scripture. You really ought to pay close attention. To verbs. Verbs are the powerhouse of. [7:11] Language. Any language. And certainly the English language. And. These. Passages here. In 1st Corinthians 15. Are just. Packed full. Of. [7:21] Significant verbs. And. I have identified. I'm going to identify. For us here tonight. That. They are given to us. In pairs. And. [7:34] Through the. Verbs. Paul is stating. The facts of the gospel. And the proofs. That support. Those facts. Let's look at the text. [7:47] Verse 1. Chapter 15. 1st Corinthians. Now. I make known to you. Or literally. I remind you. Brethren. The gospel. [7:57] Not that they didn't know. These truths. He just needed to remind them. I remind you. Brethren. The gospel. Which I preach to you. Which also you received. [8:09] In which also you stand. By which also you are saved. You can already pick up on. The string of verbs here. So crucial. By which also you are saved. [8:23] If you hold fast. The word which I preach to you. Unless you believed in vain. Or your faith was flawed. Literally. For I delivered to you. [8:34] As of first importance. What I also received. That Christ died. For our sins. According to the scriptures. And that he was buried. [8:45] And that he was raised. On the third day. According to the scriptures. And that he appeared. To Cephas. That's Peter. Then to the twelve. After that he appeared. [8:56] To more than five hundred brethren. At one time. Most of whom remain until now. But some have fallen asleep. Some have died. Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles. [9:07] And last of all. As to one untimely born. He appeared. To me also. For I am the least of the apostles. Not fit to be called an apostle. Because I persecuted the church of God. [9:20] But by the grace of God. I am. What I am. And his grace toward. Me. Did not prove vain. But I labored. Even more than all of them. [9:32] Yet not I. But the grace of God. With me. Whether then it was I. Or they. So we preach. And so. You believe. And I'm going to stop right there. [9:42] And we know. If you studied. First Corinthians chapter 15. That Paul is. Going to lay. Before his readers. An argument. For the resurrection. [9:54] And the importance. Significance of the resurrection. And how crucial. The resurrection is. But in the opening. Parts of the chapter. He is. He is laying. [10:05] Before his readers. The basic elements. Of the gospel. Now I mentioned. That there are. Some important. Verbs. Here. And. I think. [10:16] We can identify. Couplets. Or. Or. Pairs. Of verbs. And so. That's how. I want to approach. The text. And the first one. [10:27] That I want to identify. Is where. In verse. One. Paul says. The gospel. Which. I. Preached. I. Preached. [10:39] To you. Now that's a verb. Isn't it? Or verb. Clause. I. Preached. To you. Something he did. It's an activity. [10:49] It's an action. He. He said. I. Preached. And the result. [11:02] They were saved. So there's the first couplet. I want you to see. The first pair of verbs. He said. I preach to you. Which also you receive. In fact. Matter of fact. [11:13] We could. Add several verbs here. But the one I want us. To finally get down to. Is in verse two. Where it says. And also. Which by which also. You are saved. Are saved. I. [11:24] Preached. You are saved. He preached. They were saved. Now. Not because Paul preached. The emphasis is not on Paul. The emphasis is not necessarily. [11:36] On the act of preaching itself. Although that's crucial. There must be preaching. The emphasis is on the gospel. And the power of the gospel. But the verbs. [11:47] That go together. I preached. You were saved. In fact. He adds a few others. He says. I preached to you. Which also you received. In which also you stand. [11:59] And. By which also. You are saved. And so. That's the natural progression. Isn't it? As God's grace. Works through. [12:11] The preaching of the gospel. Which is. According to the Bible. The power of God. Unto salvation. To all that believe. So God works through. The gospel preached. It's proclaimed. There are those. [12:23] Who will receive it. It means they'll. They'll give it a hearing. And receive it. As. Valid. As truth. And then. They will believe in it. [12:33] Stand on it. And. By that. They will be saved. All those are verbs. Aren't they? Now. What's the proof. That preaching. Is. [12:44] A valid. Activity. I mean. What. What's the proof. That what I'm doing here tonight. What I did here this morning. Sunday morning. And what other preachers have done. [12:55] Sunday morning. Sunday night. What is the proof. That that is a valid thing. To be involved in. Proof is that when you preach. People get saved. The proof of the validity. [13:07] And the important significance. Of. Preaching the gospel. Is that when you preach the gospel. People get saved. Not everyone. Because salvation is of the Lord. [13:18] Salvation is. God's business. But. There is that. Promise. And I say. The proof. Attached to it. That preaching. Is a valid thing. And we ought to be engaged. [13:29] In preaching. And preaching. Is never going to go out of style. Preaching. Is never going to be. Something of the past. There's not going to be. Some into this. Dispensation. Of preaching. [13:40] And then we're not going to do that anymore. The culture. Doesn't change. Or with the change. Of the culture. Preaching is not. Removed. Now you would think. That would be the case. [13:50] With. In a lot of. Venues. Within the so-called church. In America. That preaching is. Passé. That preaching is no longer valid. [14:01] And so we. Get rid of the pulpit. And pull up a little bar stool. And let the guy sit up there. And have a little conversation. With the congregation. And so he says something. [14:12] You say something. And we just kind of. Have a conversation. Open conversation. And we come. Ultimately. To some conclusion. About the truth. Very postmodern approach. [14:23] To. To. Doing church. In our day. And it excludes. The validity. Of preaching. And the proof. [14:36] That preaching. Is valid. Today. And always will be. Until Jesus comes. Is that when you preach. People get saved. God. God is gracious. [14:47] God is gracious. To save. In. Romans. Chapter 10. And verse 13. Turn to that. If you would. Romans 10. [14:58] 13. A. One of my favorite passages. Romans. 10. 13. 13. 13. Begins. [15:09] This way. For. Whosoever. Or whoever. Will call. On the name. Of the Lord. Will be saved. How then. Is the question. [15:19] The natural question. How then. Will they call. On him. In whom. They have not believed. I'm going to call. On the name. Of the Lord. Jesus. If you don't believe. In him. How. [15:30] How. Then. It's a natural question. How then. Will they call. On him. In whom. They have not believed. How will they believe. There's the next natural question. Believe in him. Whom they have not heard. [15:43] Well. The answer is. They won't. Not going to. Believe. On. Or. Not going to. Call. On someone. They don't believe in. [15:53] And they can't believe. In someone. They've not heard about. And then. The natural. Progression is. How. Will they hear. Without. A preacher. See. [16:07] That validates. What I'm doing. Here. Tonight. How. Will they hear. Without. A preacher. How. Will they preach. Unless. They are sent. So. It goes on. Even down. [16:17] To the. Actual. Calling. Of the preacher. To bring. The good news. Just as it is written. How beautiful. Are the feet. Of those. Who bring. Good tidings. Or good news. [16:28] That means. The gospel. Bring the gospel. Of good things. However. They did not. All. Heed. The good news. So the promise. Here. [16:38] Is not. That everyone. Who hears. The preacher. Is going. To believe. It's not. Some. Kind. Of magic. Formula. That if you. Will proclaim. The gospel. All those. [16:49] Who hear it. Will believe. We know. That's not. The case. Regardless. Of what your. Theology. Is. On salvation. Not all. Are going. To believe. But. [16:59] Some. Will. And the proof. That preaching. Is a valid. Thing. Is that. When it's done. [17:11] People believe. By the way. I would be. Wrong. If. I did not. Mention. That. This. Thing. Of preaching. And many times. [17:23] In scripture. When. The. Term. Preaching. The. The. Caruso. Is. Mentioned. In scripture. Is not always. Talking about. [17:33] The. Pastor. Or preacher. In a vocational. Sense. In the early. Days. Of the church. When persecution. Was falling. Upon the church. Heavily. [17:44] In Jerusalem. And. And. To that point. The church. Existed. Primarily. In Jerusalem. In fact. Exclusively. In Jerusalem. And persecution. Was heavy. And. [17:54] God's people. Were scattered. And the Bible. Says. That they went. Everywhere. Do you know. What it says. Went everywhere. Preaching. [18:06] Proclaiming. The good news. Of Jesus Christ. And. And the. The. Growth. Of the church. Exploded. Because. Of persecution. [18:18] But God. Blessed. The preaching. Of the gospel. And the proof. Is. Many believed. And the same. Will happen. Today. And. Whether it's. From the preacher. [18:28] Who stands. Behind this pulpit. Or beside this pulpit. However the case may be. Or whether it's. You. Who go out. And share. [18:39] The good news. Of Jesus Christ. You are in a sense. Proclaiming. You are a herald. Of God. Heralding. The good news. Of Jesus Christ. Who came. [18:49] And was. Crucified. And was raised. From the dead. And who's coming again. And all the basic elements. Of the gospel. When you proclaim that. There will be those. Who believe it. They will believe. [19:04] The second. Pair. Is found. When Paul really. Gets into. Describing. Or detailing. The basic elements. [19:15] Of the gospel. Verse three. For I deliver to you. As of. First importance. What I also received. That. [19:27] Christ. Died. That's the verb. Died. Christ. Died. [19:39] Christ. Died. For our sins. According to the scriptures. How do we know. That he died. Is there any proof. In the text here. That he did. Indeed die. What's in the very next verse. [19:51] Verse four. And that he was buried. See those two things. Go together. Christ. Died. And since you bury. [20:03] Dead people. They buried Jesus. They buried him. Is that significant. To the gospel. That Christ. Actually did die. That he didn't just. [20:15] Simply pass out. There on the cross. And they threw him in a tomb. And later he revived. And came back. To visit with his disciples. And then the whole story. [20:25] Of a resurrection. Was birthed. You know. No. Jesus really did die. Jesus. Was graveyard dead. [20:36] On that cross. Proof is. They buried him. I mean. They just buried him. That's what you do with dead people. You know. Keep them lying around somewhere. And. You know. [20:47] Prop them up in the corner. Of. Your bedroom. And. So that you can remember them. I mean. There are some crazy people. Who have done things like that. Over the years. I've. Heard about some. [20:58] Who have. Encased their. Dead loved one. In. Some kind of airtight. Compartment. And. Kept it there in the house. You know. Pretty silly. [21:09] No. What do you do with dead people? You bury them. You bury them. And so you have those two things together. It validates that Christ really did die. And I would be. [21:24] Remiss. As a preacher. If it did not. Give you that whole thing. And consider that whole thing. That Christ died. For. Our sins. [21:35] Our sins. Isn't it interesting. How. Even a three. Letter. Word. Can be so significant. [21:46] In scripture. A little preposition. F. O. R. For. Christ died for. Our sins. That means. [21:56] Does not mean. Rather. That Christ just died. Because of our sins. That. He just had to die. Because we sinned. And he died. Because of that sin. I mean. [22:07] It's. Included in the thought. There. But it's. Much more than that. A little preposition. In the way. That it's used. For. Our. Sins. [22:17] We put that all together. The idea is. That he died. In behalf. Of us. That he took our place. In fact. [22:30] If you would look. A couple of places. In scripture. Some place. [22:40] Some place. Let's try Romans chapter five. [22:55] In verse five. Romans 5 verse 5 He begins or at least will start there in verse 5 And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us For while we were still helpless Totally helpless At the right time Christ died for In behalf of the ungodly For one will hardly die for a righteous man though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die But God demonstrates his love, his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died For For us In our place [23:56] He took our place He died as a substitute for us We're the sinner He is perfect And he took our sin And paid the penalty, the full penalty for our sin He died in our behalf We deserve the cross And Jesus died in our behalf He died for our sins And folks, he really did die And the proof is They buried him They buried him Let's go back then And see the third pair Of verbs Verse 4 And that he was buried And that he was raised Raised on the third day According to the scriptures Now that's a verb He was raised Crucial verb In the The presentation Or the Details of the [24:58] Of the gospel message He died for our sins According to the scriptures He was raised from the dead And what's the proof That he was raised from the dead And that he appeared That he appeared Actually the verb is passive He was seen He was seen He was raised from the dead He was seen What's the proof of his resurrection It's the most attested to Event in all of history The resurrection of Jesus Christ And yet Many do not believe it Many who call themselves Christians Though they couldn't be Christians And deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ And yet the proof Is that he was seen He was seen [25:58] Seen by a number of people Wasn't he? First of all by Peter Now we don't have any account In scripture Of his visitation to Peter But he The Bible says That he appeared to Peter first It was a private meeting Apparently And so he appeared to Peter And then Not only to Peter But then to the twelve And the twelve In kind of a generic sense Identifying Those that were Those apostles that were chosen Because we know When he appeared to the twelve Judas wasn't there He was dead He was dead And also apparently Thomas was not there Because he didn't see him In the first visitation First appearance And when it was reported to him He didn't believe it And then Of course he appeared To Thomas as well So he appeared to the apostles After that He appeared to more than Five hundred brethren At one time Five hundred [26:59] At one time And he adds This little detail here Paul does And it's very crucial Most of whom Remain until now That means Paul is saying When I wrote this Many of those five hundred Who saw Jesus alive Are still alive And the implication is Or the The significance of that is That any one of them Could have come forward And said Hey Paul I read that letter And I just want you to know We didn't see Jesus alive They could have come forward And refuted The claim That Jesus Was raised from the dead Here's Paul As an apostle Born out of due season Untimely Birthed And he's writing About the resurrection And he's giving witness Or testimony To all those Who saw Jesus alive After his resurrection He said There's five hundred Somebody counted them Apparently I don't know If this is just A rounded off number But five hundred All at one time [28:00] And many of those He's saying to The Corinthian church By the way If you want to verify it If you want to Check me out on this Many of these folks Are still alive today It's proof Of the resurrection He was raised And he was seen By five hundred And also by James And then all the apostles At one time And last of all Paul saw him Where did he see him? [28:32] On the Damascus road Saw Jesus And so It's clear Isn't it? You know It's interesting How Liberals And Moderates And Just rank Unbelievers And skeptics Have come up With all sorts Of Of Explanations For the resurrection The so called Resurrection In fact I listed Ten of them And I think There are more Let me just Give them to you Real quickly Just Just for your Information And interest And amusement By the way One of the Number one Explanations For the Resurrection Or the Empty Tomb We might Say Is that Jesus' Body was Stolen In fact That was One that Was started By the Jewish Leadership Initially Remember When those Roman guards That were Assigned To guard The tomb [29:33] When they Had a Visitation Of their Own That angel Came And And the Earthquake And they Fell over Like dead Men And they Went to Report To the Jewish Leadership And what Did they Say In fact They Bribed Them Didn't They Say If anybody Asked Just tell Them That the Disciples Stole His Disciples Stole Jesus' Body And so That That lie Has been Perpetrated All Throughout History The Second One Just A Missing Body The First One Stolen Body Speaks To the Possibility Or the Claim That the Disciples Stole The Body The Second One Is Some Unknown Person Broke In And Stole The Body Maybe To Play A Joke Or Or Throw The Disciples For A Loop Or Something I Don't Know What The Motivation Would Be And By The Way On That First One If The Disciples [30:33] Stole The Body In The First Place Why Would They You Say Well That's Simple They Would Steal The Body So That They Could Claim A Resurrection Start Their Own Religion Do You Think You'd Be Willing To Die For A Religion That You Created Yourself Now You Might Die For A Lie Many Have Died For A False Religion Because You Really Believed It To Be True But You Don't Make Up The Lie Yourself And Then Willingly Die So They Didn't Steal The Body And The Missing Body If Someone Else Has Stolen The Body Then You Know When The Disciples Started To Claim That Jesus Was Raised From The Dead Then All That Unknown Person Would Have To Do Is Just Produce The Body! [31:20] That's Not True Here's The Body Doesn't Look As Good As He Did That Day But Here It Is And The Third One Came And If They Had Gone To The Wrong Tomb And Started This This New Religion Or This Lie This Claim That Jesus Was Raised From The Dead Then The Jewish Leadership Would Just Go To The Right Tomb Roll That Stone Back [32:20] And Exume The Body And Present The Body No No That One Won't Work And Then There Is This One The Swoon Theory You He Heard About This One That That One With Many Has Gained A Lot Of Merit That Jesus Didn't Actually Die He Swooned I Know That's Kind Of An Archaic Word We Don't Use That Much It Means He Just Passed Out You Know After All Prior To His Crucifixion Jesus Was Whipped To The Edge Of Death It And Tortured Beaten And All The Loss Of Blood That Resulted From That And Then Of Course Them Being Crucified Nailed To That Cross And Then Ultimately That Spear Jabbed Up His Side And You Know You Be Pretty Weak After That And And After All He Did Kind Of Die Earlier Than Expected [33:21] In Fact All Those Who Were Observing Noticed That He Was Dead Already And They Were Kind Of Amazed That He Was Dead Already What They Didn't Understand Is That Jesus Chose To Die He Was The One Who Gave Permission That His Spirit Be Released From Him He He Was The Only One Who So They Looked At He He Is Already Dead I Just Can't Believe This I Mean This Guy Must Really Be A Wimp He Is Already Dead And So Some Have Believed That He Just Passed Out And So When They Took Him Down From The Cross Put Him In Wrapped Him Up And Put Him In That Tomb That Later On Sometime You Know Over The Next Day Or Two He Revived And In His Weakened Condition Rolled That Heavy Stone Back From The Tomb And Walked Out Alive Appeared To All Those People Ridiculous [34:21] Isn't It? How About This One Drugged Body Theory I Don't Even Need To Go Into That Theory Is That They Actually Drug Jesus On The Cross They Really Didn't Die He Was Just Drugged With Some Special Kind Of Drug That Made All Of His Vital Signs Go So Low That Could Not Be Detected And Forget That How About The Twin Theory This Is Almost As Bad As The Other One That Either Jesus Did Die On The Cross And Was Buried But He Had A Look Alike A Doppel Ganger I Guess Something Like That And It Wouldn't Take Very Much Because They Wanted To Believe That He Was Alive And So All He Had To Do Just Look Similar You Know Or If It Wasn't Jesus Who Died On The Cross It Was His Double Who Died On The Cross And Jesus Actually Was Hiding Out Somewhere And [35:21] Then After The Third Day He Appeared And Started His Own Religion And So For And Then I Guess After That He Just Kind Of Went Off Somewhere Maybe To South America Down There Where Hitler Is Living And So All The Others And Maybe He's Still Living There Today It's Absurd Isn't It How About The Vision Theory I Don't Need To Go Into Detail All Of These That That The Disciples Did Not See Jesus Alive They Just Had A Dream Because They Really Wanted To See Him Alive And It Was Almost Kind Of A Mass Hallucination Because What They Wanted They You Know They Just Wanted To Believe It And So It Was Kind Of A Dream It Was A Vision Or If Not Something That Was Created Within Them Because Of Their Intense Desire To See Jesus Alive That God Allowed Them To Have A Vision Of Jesus Not The Real Jesus Because The [36:21] Real Jesus Is Dead But Because God Wanted To Start This New Religion Of Christianity He Allowed Them All To See A Vision Of Jesus Again And Hence Start Their Religion Well How About The Hypnosis Theory Are You Getting These Down You'll Really Want To Spend Some Time Considering All Of These Maybe Tonight Before You Go To Bed Or Maybe During! [36:48] Your Devotional Time Tomorrow Morning The Hypnosis That The Disciples Whether It Was Perpetrated By The Disciples Or Someone Else They Had The Power Of Hypnosis And And They Just You Know How About A Spiritual Resurrection That's Close To The Vision Resurrection But This Is A Spiritual Resurrection Theory That Jesus Spirit Was Raised And So What They Saw Was Not Really Jesus In The Flesh But Just His Ghost His Ghost Of Of Then You Have To Try To Explain How Jesus Ate In Their Presence Ate Real Food Material Food How They Could Touch Him And He Allowed Them To Touch Him To Touch His He Allowed Thomas To Touch His Side And To See The Nails Scarred Hands Him [37:50] And Mary Hugged Him And He Was Flesh And Blood So Spirits Don't Have Flesh And Blood So We Have To Throw That One Out Too And Then I'll Give You One More Just For Good Measure The Disciples Were Part Of A Drug Ring Jesus Was The Kind Of The Leader Of It And They Were All Hooked On Some Hallucinogenic Mushroom Now You Think I'm Making That Up But Someone Has Come Up With That Idea They Have Done Some Kind Of Research Back In Those Days And There Were Cults In That Day That That Ate These Mushrooms! [38:31] Well See Listen Jesus Really Was Raised From The Dead I Mean He Really Did Die And The Proof Is They Buried Him And Three Days Later He Really Was Raised From The Dead And The Proof Is Many Saw Him Alive Some Of Them Were Privileged To Touch Him They Made No Mistake This Was Jesus And He Was Raised From The Dead Just Like The Scriptures Said He Would Be And The Proof Is They Saw Him You Know If And This Leads Us To Maybe Later Consider And You Ought To Consider Again The The Significance Of The Resurrection As Paul Argues The Point Throughout The Rest Of This Chapter Or Good Portion Of The Chapter You Know Paul Says Not The [40:01] Faith You Espouse The Faith You Proclaim The Faith That You Stand Firm Upon It's Worthless By The Way If There Be No Resurrection And You're Still Accountable For Your Sin By The Way All That Sin That You've Committed You Still Have To Pay For It All Your Dead Loved Ones Who Died In Christ You're Never Going To See Them Again That's What Paul Says! [40:30] Here As He Spells It Out Throughout The Chapter There's No Hope Paul Says! No You Ought Not To Endure It No Just Give It Up There Is No Resurrection There There Is No Salvation No Salvation No Eternal Life If Jesus Did Not Die For Our Sins If He Was Not Raised From The Dead Just Like The Scriptures Said And So There [41:30] Is The Pair So We Have Three So Far Pre What's The Proof Of It Many Will Believe Christ Died For Our Sins The Proof Is They Buried Him Pretty Simple Isn't It He Was Raised From The Dead On The Third Day Just Like The Scripture Said And The Proof Of That Is He He Was Was Seen And By The Proof Goes Much Further Than That Because Though We've Not Seen Him With Our Naked Eyes One Day We Will Yet We Do See Him And We Know Him Intimately The Living Lord Jesus Christ Then There's One More Pair Verse Ten But By The Grace Of God Paul Says! [42:22] Now That's A Verb I Am He Says I Am What I Am What Is Paul Or Was Paul Born Again Believer In Jesus Christ Follower Of Christ Disciple Of Christ Committed To Jesus Christ As His Lord And As Savior I Am What I Am Paul Said That's A Verb What's The Proof Well There Be Many Proofs And I'm Not Suggesting That What Paul Mentions Here In This Verse Is The Only Proof But It Is A Proof That Is Conspicuously Absent In A Lot Of Those Who Claim To Be Christian Paul Said I Labored See This Is Near The End Of The Sermon And This Is Where The Tire Hits The Road And [43:22] This Is Where The Preacher Brings The Sermon Home To You To Me To All Of Us Tell You The Proof That You Are A Born Again Christian Is That You Are Actively Serving The Lord Jesus Christ Actively Serving Him Committed To Him Serving Him Working For Him Paul Said I Labored He Said I Labored Even More Than All Of Them Yet Not I But The Grace Of God With Me See This Are Just Some Pairs Pairs Of Verbs Verb Phrases Verb Clauses That On The One Hand Prove The Or Establish The Facts Of The Gospel And On The Other [44:22] Hand Stand As Proofs Of Those Facts So That's All There Is To Say That Last One Well I Guess Really We Ought To Examine I Would Encourage You To Examine Your Hearts On All Of Those If You've Heard The Gospel Preached And You Have Multiple Times Question Is Have You Received It Is That Where You're Standing Is That Your Salvation Through Which You Were Saved Unless Of Course Your Faith Was Faulty As One Preacher Said The Faith That Fizzles Before The Finish [45:22] Had A Flaw From The First Have You Received It And Then Let's Go To The Other End Of It Here's The Challenge For The Rest Of Us The First Challenge Is For Those Who May Be Present Here Tonight Who Have Heard The Gospel Preach From This Pulpit Other Pulpits By Family Member Where Whatever The Source You've Heard The Gospel But You've Not Yet Received It Believed It Stood Upon It Stand Upon It Saved By It And On The Other End Those Of Us Who Claim To Be Christians Is There Any Proof In Your Life Of It One Of Those Proofs Be Your Commitment To Serve Him To Serve Him Many Ways To Serve Him By The Way! [46:16] Many of Them Are Not Optional Like Tithing That's Our Service To Him Our Worship Not Optional In In fact It's One Of The Things That God Has Commanded Us To Do That We Can Obey 100% If Thought About That Attending Church And Gathering For Worship Is Part Of Our Service In Fact The Very Root Of The Word Worship Is Service Why We Sometimes Call This A Worship Service Other Ways To Serve Him To Labor For Him Through His Church Many Ways That Exist Right Now With Children And Youth And Adult Ministries And Many Other Facets Of The Ministries Of This Church And Some Ways That We [47:16] Have Yet To Discover Or May I Say Other Ways That We Will Very Soon Reacquaint Ourselves With To Serve Him Paul Said I Am What I Am And The Proof Is I Labor I Labor So There The Two Pronged Invitation To You As We Close This Service Tonight For Those Who Are Not Saved Who Have Not Received The Gospel That Jesus Died For Your Sins Was Raised From The Dead And Then To Serve Him Recommit Your Whole Heart And Life To Act Out To Express The Reality Of Your Salvation Half Half Half Half Half