Well, have you ever had one of those moments where you're in a conversation with someone
and they start to tell you something and it's something that you already know?
Maybe they don't know that you know it.
Maybe you read the same news article that they did or you saw the same thing on TV,
but it's something that you've already heard before and you're kind of wondering in that moment,
do I interrupt and kind of tell them that I heard that too?
Or maybe they even forgot that they had already told you this in the past and they're telling it to you again.
Or do I just kind of listen respectfully and kind of, this is the first time I'm hearing this.
It's kind of a weird moment in conversation.
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, you kind of wonder, well, what do I do here?
Well, there's another kind of similar conversation where you might hear something that you already know,
but it's not because the person that's telling you doesn't think you don't know it or haven't heard it,
but it's because they think that you need to know it, even though you might not think that you do.
Maybe your mind goes back to one of those moments as a teenager where your parents were saying something to you
and you're kind of thinking in your own arrogant teenage mind,
why are they telling me this again?
You guys have told me this countless times.
Why are you saying the same thing again?
And yet from the parents' perspective, it's like I'm telling you this because even though you think you know it,
you think you've got this figured out, I see that you don't.
The quarter hasn't dropped yet.
There's something.
It's not because it's because I love you.
I want to help you see something in your life that I see that you don't see.
And meanwhile, you're kind of like, I know, Mom.
I know, Dad.
You know, like, just leave me alone already.
Well, that kind of moment is not just something that happens between teenagers and their parents.
It's something that happened between a church and the apostle that helped to start that church.
The apostle that I'm referring to is the apostle Paul, and the church is the church of Corinth.
If you have your Bible, please open it up to 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians.
Paul has had a very dynamic relationship with this church.
He starts off his letter with some wonderful descriptions of who they are.
He says that he writes to the church of God in Corinth,
to those specially set apart in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people,
together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, immediately after this,
Paul, acknowledges that God has enriched them in every way with all kinds of spiritual gifts.
In verse 9, he says that they are those who have been called into fellowship with Jesus.
Wonderful descriptions of who they are.
But then from there, he goes on to describe this church as a church wrestling with division.
Major conflict going on here.
They're fighting over who they follow.
They're chasing after worldly wisdom, he says.
He describes them as a church having some in it who are arrogant,
having problems with sexual immorality going on in the church,
and the church is not even doing anything about it.
Disputes are happening in the church,
to the point where members of the church are taking other members to court.
There's confusion in the church about marriage and divorce,
and whether Paul is even an apostle,
legitimately an apostle,
whether they should eat food sacrificed to idols.
He goes so far as to warn them in chapter 10
that they need to watch.
They need to look at their lives.
They need to be careful that they're not testing Christ with the way that they live.
He goes on from there to describe how they have been turning the Lord's table into a pig-out session,
an opportunity to get drunk.
And then on from there to describe how they have these spiritual gifts,
they haven't been using them in a loving and considerate and orderly manner.
And then finally, we come to where we're looking at this morning,
chapter 15.
He kind of goes right into it,
and he reminds them of the gospel itself.
He says this,
Now, brothers and sisters,
I want to make known to you the gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
By this gospel you are saved,
if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
These are kind of striking words.
I mean, this is a church,
and he said these good things about this church,
but now it's come to the point where he feels
he needs to remind them of the gospel again.
The word remind is actually,
it's kind of an interpretive decision,
but the literal is,
I want to make known to you.
This is serious.
There's a problem here.
At one point in this letter,
he refers to himself as their father through the gospel.
He talks about them as his children,
and he goes so far as to say,
you guys are immature.
You guys are like babies.
You're not ready for the meat and potatoes yet.
You got to go back to the milk.
And Paul said that under the inspiration of the Spirit,
so I'm not suggesting that you go home
and tell your kids that they're immature,
that that may not be the most effective way
to get their attention.
But what has happened here
that Paul feels the need
to take them right back
and say,
I need to tell you guys
the gospel again.
The gospel,
I asked my daughter that this week,
what's the gospel?
And she didn't really seem to get it.
I said,
what's the good news about Jesus
that he died on the cross for our sins?
Suddenly it just clicked.
What is the gospel?
It's kind of a weird word.
The way I remember it is,
in the old English,
it's kind of God or good spell,
you know,
good news.
That's what the gospel is.
It's good news.
It literally means good news.
And Paul feels that he needs
to remind them
of the good news,
the same good news
that he preached to them
back in the day,
the same good news
that they received
back in the day.
Why?
I think there's
at least two reasons.
The first is kind of
an implicit reason
as we just looked at
how he's described this church
for the last 14 chapters
as having all of these issues.
You know,
this is how you guys are living.
And,
I mean,
the way that you're
treating one another,
it's,
have you really understood
the love of Christ for you?
There's a problem here.
Your lives,
the way that you're living,
it doesn't match up
to the gospel.
So I want to make it
known to you again.
I want to bring you
back to that.
And,
the gospel is,
it certainly doesn't,
the expectation is not
that you're perfect
or that you don't sin.
This church has got
all kinds of issues.
It doesn't stop Paul
from calling them
the church of God
and saying that those,
they've been chosen,
that they've been set apart
as God's holy people.
But,
there's a sense
in which you may think
that you,
you know the gospel.
But,
do you really know it?
That's why I'm,
I'm saying it to you again.
You,
you,
you may think you know it,
but do you know it?
I'm looking at your,
your life,
your,
your church,
the situations
that are coming out of
your relationships
and it doesn't match up.
And so I think
that's one reason
why,
why Paul
goes so far
as to take them
right back to the gospel,
to the,
to the beginning.
The second reason
is what,
what follows.
All of chapter 15,
it kind of points
to this,
this problem
that's starting to emerge.
There are some
in the church
in Corinth
who are having an issue
with the idea
of resurrection.
That there is
a resurrection.
And,
that's a big problem
because that undermines
the gospel.
people.
And so,
we're going to be
talking about that
in the next weeks ahead.
We're going to be
working through
1 Corinthians 15
as we lead up to Easter
and talking about
the resurrection
and just what,
what is the significance
of that
for our faith?
What's the importance
of that?
Why is this so critical?
verse 2.
This is the beginning
of Paul's teaching
on this issue.
And right at the beginning,
the first thing
he wants them to know
in verse 2
is that this is critical.
It's absolutely critical
that you get the gospel.
Why?
Verse 2.
By this gospel,
you are saved.
By this good news
about Jesus,
you are saved
if you hold firmly
to the word
I preach to you
unless you have believed
in vain.
The picture that comes
to my mind
is the picture
of a rope.
The gospel is like
a rope
that has been thrown
down to us
from heaven.
It's the way of escape.
It's the way
that we escape
the wrath of God,
the just punishment
that we deserve
for our sins.
And it's like he's saying,
you need to hold
on to that rope.
If you just kind of
let go of it
and move on
to something else,
embrace something different,
you're in spiritual danger.
Because this is the only way.
This is the only way
of escape.
The way to be saved.
The good news
about Jesus.
Holding on to that.
Believing it.
Unless,
he says,
you have believed
in vain.
Unless,
back in the day
when I first
communicated
all these things
to you,
you accepted it
and now you're moving
on to something different
and that's just kind of,
the gospel's just kind of,
that's old news.
Then,
then,
then what happened
back there?
Was that,
was that all for nothing?
You grabbed onto the rope,
you believed back then
that,
that was the way
to be saved,
but now you're letting
go of it.
I mean,
that,
what happened there?
Was that,
was that just fruitless?
Was that just,
was that nothing?
Paul goes on
in verse three
to describe,
to answer the question,
well,
what is the gospel?
Because this is really
what's at issue here.
Well,
what is it
that you are
to hold onto?
What is that rope?
He says this,
for what I received,
I passed on to you
as of first importance
that Christ died
for our sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised
on the third day
according to the scriptures,
and that he appeared
to Cephas
and then to the twelve.
After that,
he appeared to more
than 500 of the brothers
and sisters
at the same time,
most of whom
are still living,
though some have
fallen asleep.
Then he appeared
to James,
then to all the apostles,
and last of all,
he appeared to me
also,
as to one abnormally born.
So here Paul does
exactly what he says
he's going to do.
I want to make known
to you the gospel,
and this is it.
He lays it out for them.
But before he does,
look at the little thing
that he says there
in verse three.
He says,
what I received,
I passed on to you
as of first importance.
There it is again,
just this statement.
This is absolutely critical.
It's absolutely crucial
that you get this,
that you understand this,
that you hold to this,
that I'm about to say.
What is the gospel?
Three statements.
There's different ways
to divide it up,
but three.
That Christ died
for your sins,
for our sins,
according to the scriptures,
and was buried.
that he was raised
on the third day,
and that he appeared
to a whole bunch of people.
This is Paul's description
of what the gospel is.
And as I got thinking
about this,
you know,
this is a really bare-bones
version of the gospel.
It's kind of a stripped-down version.
There's not a lot of detail here.
And I kind of,
why is that?
If they need to know the gospel,
why isn't he
just taking them
into the depths
of the glory
of the love of God here?
And I think part of the reason
is because he's already
shared all of this with him.
This is the same thing
he proclaimed in the past.
This is,
it's kind of a quick way,
mental hooks,
to point them back
to what he already said,
you know,
that Christ died
for our sins,
that he was raised
from the dead.
This isn't the full story
of the gospel.
I mean,
those of us who were here
on Thursday night,
we saw closer
to the full story
of the gospel portrayed.
It's a big story.
There's a lot to it.
This is kind of
the absolute essentials,
highlights version,
kind of the headlines version
given here.
And without these parts,
then the news
is not much good.
If Christ hasn't died
for us,
then we're lost.
We're in big trouble.
If Jesus hasn't been
raised from the dead,
then we're going to find out
in the weeks ahead
that that has serious
implications.
But notice what's missing
from Paul's version
or description
of the gospel.
Paul doesn't say anything
about what we must do,
about the good
that we must do
to be saved.
Why?
Because the good news
is not about
what we must do
to be saved.
It's all about
what Christ has done
for us.
Period.
The rope
that they need
to grab onto
is simply
the news
that Jesus
has already done
it all
for you.
You don't need
to become
good enough.
You don't need
to do something
well enough
to be saved.
Jesus has already
done it all.
That's all
that we have here.
This news
that they must believe
is just
that Jesus
did.
That Jesus
did.
That Jesus
appeared.
By this,
by believing
this story
of Jesus
and holding
to it,
you are saved.
Isn't that
amazing?
But I want
to dig
for a moment
into that
first phrase.
We're going
to talk
more about
resurrection
in the weeks
ahead,
but that
first phrase
that Christ
died for
our sins
according
to the
scriptures.
When I
asked my
daughter,
what's the
good news
about Jesus?
That's the
first thing
she said,
that Jesus
died for
our sins.
We hear
it so often
that's kind
of the
easiest way
to say it
that sometimes
we just
lose the
beauty of
that.
The meaning
of it
just kind
of goes
over our
heads.
What does
that mean?
That
Christ,
the Messiah,
died,
was executed
as a
sacrifice
for our
sins
to be
forgiven.
That's it.
That's the
heart.
That's
what Paul
says is
what I
passed on
to you
as a
first
importance.
out of
all the
things I
could have
taught,
I could
have said
when I
came to
you,
I made
it the
top of
my list
to let
you know
this good
news that
Jesus was
executed on
that cross.
Not because
he was just
a good
teacher whose
culture wasn't
ready for
him.
He died
there so
that you
could be
forgiven.
of your
sins,
of the
things that
you have
done
against
God.
The other
details that
Paul includes,
I'm only
going to
mention two
of them
here.
He says
that
Christ was
buried.
Why does
he throw
that little
detail in
there?
Christ was
buried.
That doesn't
sound like
part of
the good
news to
us.
He was
buried.
The question
that we're
going to be
wrestling with
is these
guys are
wrestling with
the truth
of whether
there really
is a
resurrection,
whether that
actually
happened.
Paul kind
of sneaks
that in
there.
Yes,
he died.
All of
these men,
they saw
him die.
They saw
him buried.
Real people,
they took
the body
of Jesus
and they
went through
the process
of preparing
the body
for burial
and they
laid the
body of
Jesus in
a tomb
and shut
the door.
Yes,
he was
dead.
The next
thing that
we notice
is,
I kind
of thought
this was
strange at
first.
This is a
really weird,
disproportionate
statement of
the gospel.
I mean,
that Christ
died for
our sins
is half a
verse.
The crucifixion
is half a
verse in
verse 3.
And then
for four
verses,
5 to
8,
it's all
talking about
all these
people that
he appeared
to.
This big
list of
people that
saw him
after he
was raised
from the
dead.
And I
think Paul
is intentionally,
he's reminding
them of the
part that they
need to hear
the most.
Because they're
wrestling with
the truth of
whether,
resurrection is
even possible.
And so
Paul's emphasis
here,
absolutely,
this is true.
We all saw
him dead.
He was
buried.
And after
the third day
when he was
raised,
this is,
look at all
the people
that saw
him alive.
Peter,
he appeared
to Peter.
Then he
appeared to
the twelve
apostles.
After that,
he appeared
to more
than 500
of the
brothers and
sisters at
the same
time.
Then he
appeared to
James,
the brother
of Jesus.
And then to
all the
apostles,
and then
Paul says,
and last
of all,
he appeared
to me.
Think about
that statement.
I myself,
says Paul,
saw Jesus
dead.
and I
saw him
after he
died,
alive.
I
saw the
risen
Christ,
says Paul.
It wasn't
in the
ordinary
frame of
time that
the rest
of them
saw him.
He uses
this
abnormally
born
analogy,
you know,
kind of the
sense of
that is,
my new
birth was
a little
overdue.
It was
different.
But look
at this
list.
Look at
all these
people.
This wasn't
something that
just happened
in some
secret corner
of some
guy's house
that Jesus
appeared to
some people.
Look at
this group,
500 people
all at
once.
500
people.
This wasn't
a hallucination.
This wasn't
just a
vision.
This was
the real
deal.
They saw
him alive.
And I love
how he throws
in that
little detail.
Most of
them, he
says, are
still living.
You want
to look
into this?
You want
to, you
want to,
you can find
them, you
can talk to
them, they
can tell you
what they
saw, they
can tell you
that they
knew.
Yeah, it
was him.
This wasn't
something that
happened in
an obscure
place.
And it
wasn't
something that
just the
followers of
Jesus believed.
And I
think that's
the powerful
part of
Saul's own
testimony.
I was on
the road to
Damascus so
that I could
get some of
these guys
thrown into
jail when
the risen
Christ appeared
to me.
This wasn't
just bias,
this wasn't
just weird
hallucinations
because of
grief for
those who
had known
him.
I was
going after
the people
of Christ
and then
I saw
him.
After this,
Paul goes
on to reflect
a little bit
on that.
You almost
get the
sense that
even as
he's thinking
about his
own story
and how
he saw
the risen
Christ,
I could
just picture
him there
writing this
letter and
weeping.
He says,
for I am
the least
of the
apostles.
I do not
even deserve
to be called
an apostle
because I
persecuted the
church of
God.
I went
after the
very people
of God.
I tried to
get them
thrown in
jail.
I tried to
get them
killed.
I'm not
even worthy
to be one
of the
ones who
was sent
to make
Christ known.
But what
does he say
in verse
10?
He says,
but by the
grace of
God,
I am
what I
am.
I'm an
apostle.
I'm a
follower of
Jesus because
God just
gave me a
gift that
I don't
deserve.
He says,
I worked
harder.
He says,
his grace to
me was not
without effect.
I worked
harder than
all of them,
yet not I,
but the
grace of
God that
was with
me.
Verse 11,
whether then
it is I
or they,
this is what
we preach
and this
is what you
believed.
It doesn't
matter whether
you're talking
to Peter or
whether you're
talking to me
or any of
these people
who saw
him alive.
It's the
same news.
It's the
same gospel.
And this
gospel that
Christ died
for your sins,
that he rose
from the dead,
that he appeared
to all these
people,
believing this
is critical.
Why?
Back to
verse 2.
By this
gospel,
you are
saved.
if you
hold firmly
to the
word of
truth I
preach to
you.
Do you
hear the
warning in
that?
There's a
danger,
church at
Corinth,
that you
guys can
move on
from this
and you
can just
embrace
something
different.
If you
do,
your salvation
is on the
line.
this is
the only
way to
be saved.
Holding
firmly to
this.
And it's
a very
kind of
specific
thing for
their
church,
dealing
with,
do we
believe in
resurrection?
That's
possible.
I don't
think that
we're there
as a
church.
I hope
not.
But it
got me
thinking this
week.
What ways
are we
tempted to
move on
from the
gospel?
What's
your
attitude
towards
the
gospel?
How do
you feel
about the
gospel?
Is it
old news?
Is it
that thing
that I
think all
too easily
we get
into this
mindset
sometimes of
the gospel
is the
foundation,
it's the
elementary
stuff,
the basics,
it's the
door that
you go
through at
the beginning
and then
leave behind
and you
go on to
the more
advanced
stuff of
being a
Christian
and following
Jesus.
Sometimes
we, I
think, we
think that
way.
But as
we saw
last week,
where are
we going?
What's our
future?
What's the
snapshot of
our future?
It's us
standing
before the
throne of
God and
what are
we singing
about when
we get
there?
Worthy
is the
Lamb who
was slain
for us,
whose blood
was spilled
to wash
our robes
white.
Salvation
is of
our God.
That's what
we're going
to be singing
about for
the rest
of eternity.
the gospel.
And that's
why I
asked the
question,
how do
you feel
about the
gospel?
And I
want to be
careful here
because feelings
are not
always the
best indicators.
Feelings go
all over the
place.
Feelings are
affected by
stress,
they're affected
by depression,
they're affected
by trauma,
you name it,
hormones,
there's all
kinds of
factors that
disorder our
feelings,
that mess it
up and so
keep that in
mind.
But when you
hear the word
gospel,
does your
heart go
immediately
to the
reality of
God's love
for you?
is your
heart
stirred?
Or is
it something
that,
yeah,
I believe
that,
but I
like all
these other
things,
they're more
interesting to
me.
These other
teachings in
the Bible,
these other
ideas,
this other
theology,
this other
social issue,
listen to the
words of
Paul,
it's critical,
that we get
this,
of first
importance,
that Christ
died for our
sins.
This is our
main message,
this is the
core belief,
the gospel is
the center,
it's not
something that
we are meant
to just get
at the beginning,
grab onto,
it's something
we're meant to
hold onto
right to the
end.
I've used
this kind
of analogy
before here,
but I want
to say it
again,
the gospel is
like a
bottomless
well,
and you
can just
keep letting
that bucket
down deeper
and deeper
and deeper,
and yet
there's deeper
and sweeter
waters yet
to be drawn
up.
David and
I,
we had
supper
together
last night,
we had
pizza,
that's our
favorite food,
we have that
in common,
and this
is a dim
analogy,
but pizza
is my
favorite food,
I mean,
I could eat
pizza every
single day,
I love it
that much,
and every
time I have
it,
it just
increases my
enjoyment of
it,
it just
reinforces how
much,
yes,
this is so
good,
and the
next time
my anticipation
is just even
that much
bigger,
and I get
to eat it
again,
like wow,
this is
amazing,
and I think
that's a
picture of
how the
gospel should
be to
us as
followers of
Jesus,
it's just,
it's something
that's not
meant to
get old,
or,
you know,
well,
I've heard
lots about
that,
let's have
something else,
and so I
want to ask
you,
how do you
feel about
the gospel?
We're coming
into Good
Friday and
Easter in
three weeks
here,
and I don't
want to end
this message
by giving you
something to
do,
because the
gospel is
that Christ
has done
it all
for you,
but how
can we
increase
our
enjoyment
of the
gospel?
What
prevents
us from
feeling the
love of
God in
the gospel?
It's a good
question to
ask.
If you feel
like your
heart is not
connected to
that love,
that the
gospel has
kind of
grown old
or stale
to you,
what's
preventing
you from
feeling that?
It's a
question you
need to
ask yourself.
Is it
pride?
Is it
that teenage
attitude?
I know
that.
I don't
need to
hear any
more about
that.
Is it
that you
haven't read
the gospel
or meditated
on it in
a while?
You haven't
been in
the word.
You haven't
been thinking
about what
it's all
about.
I don't
know what
that answer
is for you,
but one
simple thing
that we can
do in the
weeks ahead
is as we
draw near to
Easter to
increase our
enjoyment of
the gospel
and to see
you fresh
is just
simply to
take the
time where
we read
the word,
hopefully that's
daily,
to read
through the
story of
Jesus again.
Paul gave
us kind of
the two of
the highlights
that he died,
that he rose
again, but the
gospel is bigger
than that.
We watched
the movie the
other night,
but I encourage
you in this
season leading
up to Easter,
maybe it's not
even in the
right order in
your Bible
reading plan,
but you can
shift the
order around
a little bit.
Pick one of
the gospels,
read through
it again,
ask the
Lord to
show you
just again
afresh his
love for
you.
Maybe you
want to
read the
book of
Romans instead,
that's kind
of like a
commentary on
the gospel,
it explains the
details,
maybe you
want to
read the
book of
Hebrews,
all good
places to
go in
the season
ahead,
and so I
would encourage
you to do
that, not
as something
to do so
that you
are in a
better standing
with God,
but faith,
deeper faith
comes by
hearing,
and hearing by
the word of
God.
So if you
want to
grow in
your faith
and hold
more firmly
onto it,
get into the
word of God
this Easter
season.
And my
hope and my
prayer, I'm
going to do
this too, I'm
going to read
the gospel of
Matthew, it's
out of my
plan, but I'm
going to do it
anyway, and
my hope and
prayer is that
that will just
grow sweeter
to us, the
love of God.
may we never
move on from
that.
This is
critical that we
get this.
By this
gospel, we
are saved, if
we hold firmly
to the word
that's been
preached to us.
Let's pray.
Father in
heaven, thank
you so much
for what you
have done for
us through
Christ.
Lord, we
confess that it
has got old to
us at times.
We confess that
we oftentimes
haven't felt
about it as
we should, but
we ask that you
would make new
and sweeter
and deeper
your love to
us, our
understanding of
your love to
us.
May we not
just know it
in our heads,
Lord, but may
you take it
right to the
depths of our
heart.
Lord,
may you
bring forth
praise from
us and a
passion to
share that
news, that
gospel with
others who
also need to
be saved.
We ask this in
Christ's name.
Amen.