If you would open up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
1 Corinthians 15 is in your New Testament.
! It's on page 1142 of your Black Pew Bible.
!
Which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.
If you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received.
That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.
That He was buried. That He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
May God bless the hearing of His Word.
This weekend is a Gospel weekend.
And what I mean by Gospel is the Christian good news.
That Jesus Christ died and was raised to rescue sinners from God's wrath.
And to reconcile them to Himself in peace.
There are a lot of Gospels out there.
Various people making various claims of good news of various sorts.
There are political Gospels.
The Gospel according to the right and the Gospel according to the left.
There are the Hedonistic Gospels.
That promise good news in pleasure.
There is the Gospel of greed that says you will be happy with as much as you can get.
There is the Gospel of ease and entertainment.
Which is to deliver you from boredom.
None of these so-called Gospels
can actually save you from God's wrath to come.
And this weekend is the weekend that we as Christians uniquely set on our calendar.
The Friday and the Sunday to remember the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
His death and His resurrection.
In 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4.
Did you notice that the Apostle kind of draws out highlights to items of the Gospel.
Two essential facts.
Two vital claims to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In 15, 3 he says it this way.
The first claim is Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.
And then the second claim is in 15, 4.
Where we read that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
Both the cross of Christ, His death,
and the resurrection of Christ, the empty tomb,
are vital to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You pull one of them out, you cease to have a Gospel.
And tonight, what I'm going to focus on is what happened on Friday.
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.
And so I'm going to move through it in three steps.
Our sins.
Christ died in accordance with the Scriptures.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only good news by which sinners can be saved from God's wrath.
So let's talk about our sins.
15, 3.
Christ died for our sins.
Sin is any thought, any feeling, any word, any deed
that opposes God's holy character in moral will.
His perfect moral will revealed in His Word.
Any thought, any feeling, any word, any action that opposes God in His Word.
That's sin.
Sin.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
And the Bible pictures sin in a variety of different ways.
It describes sin as a rebellion, as idolatry, as even a disease.
We tend to sin in one of two ways.
We sin by way of commission, which goes like this.
God tells us something not to do, and we do it.
We commit a sin.
And then we also sin by omission.
God tells us to do something, and we don't do it.
Either way, it's grievous in God's sight.
Jesus said it this way.
When it comes to being the standard by which we are to aim for,
be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In all of your thoughts, in all of your feelings,
in every word you speak, in every action that you do,
be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And all of a sudden, we are all very aware
that none of us is perfect in the room.
No one's perfect in this room.
And what that can do is this.
We can say, well, okay, none of us are perfect.
And we lose sight of what God is actually calling us to.
Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
We all fall short of God's glorious perfection.
Has anybody played the board game operation?
Hasbro?
It's this little dude laid out on his back.
His name is Cavity Sam.
And the goal is to take tweezers,
and you bring those tweezers,
and you're reaching the different cavities of Cavity Sam,
and you're to pull out different ailments,
and your metal tweezers are to go in there,
and the goal is to get it out without touching the sides.
Because if you touch the sides,
the red nose glows,
and there's this buzzer that goes,
So when you're playing the game,
everybody playing is lighting up the light
and buzzing the buzzer.
Maybe one person can at one time pull out an ailment
without touching the side.
When it comes to our speech,
when it comes to our thoughts and our feelings and our actions,
every time we think something or speak something,
it's like we're reaching in for perfection,
and we inevitably hit the side,
hit the buzzer,
light goes off,
you've sinned again.
One day in my life
is a bunch of lights and buzzers.
I'm guessing it's similar with you.
We sin, we sin often.
We sin so much,
we get used to sin.
We minimize sin.
We diminish it.
And one can ask this question.
It's like,
what is the big deal about sin?
Well, sin,
the big deal about sin,
is the one you sin against.
A perfect, holy God.
Do you know what happens
when a perfect, holy, and just God is sinned against?
There is like a theological reaction.
It produces the wrath of God in response to sin.
God's wrath is His just, measured, precise response
to sin, to our sin.
And it's to punish sin.
God's wrath
is not to be trifled with.
It's not to be diminished.
We tend not to like to think about God's wrath,
but we must think about God's wrath
because God's wrath is an outworking
of God's justice.
And we do not want to be living in a universe
in which God is not just.
We can't have it both ways.
Jesus speaks about God's wrath.
Listen to what He has to say.
This is John 3, 36.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
Whoever does not obey the Son
shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him.
Remains on him.
In Romans chapter 2,
we read this about God's wrath.
2 verse 5.
God's wrath is real.
He's not indifferent towards sin.
It provokes His just wrath.
There's a phenomena happening in our country.
Anybody know the name Elon Musk?
There has been a string of Tesla vandalism.
Video after video of people keying Teslas
because they hate Elon Musk.
Well, regardless of what you think about Elon Musk,
this is just vandalism.
It's an attack on his character,
on his being.
It might be owned by somebody else,
but it's at him.
And so whether you realize it or not,
your sin is a keying
of God's holy character and perfect will.
It's moral vandalism against God.
And I'm taking so much time to talk about sin
because I want you to feel the weight of it.
The Bible is very clear that each one of us
is responsible for every one of our own sins
against God.
Everyone will be held accountable to God.
In Matthew 25 and Revelation 20,
we have these two great white throne judgment scenes.
all are held to account.
The consequence of sinning against a holy, perfect,
eternal, just God
is a holy, eternal, just punishment.
The punishment fits the crime.
So here's what I'm trying to help you think about
on this Good Friday 2025.
Our greatest problem
is a wrath of God problem.
A wrath of God problem that has been provoked by our sin,
and we are under his wrath,
and we must one day give an account to him.
And I'm going to just be straight with you.
There's no other gospel.
There's no other gospel in the world
that is going to bring good news
to the ears of those who know they're condemned
by their own sin.
There's only one message.
There's only one gospel.
There's only one good news.
It's of first importance
because it deals with God's wrath.
And so we move from talking about our sins
to now let's talk about some really good news.
Christ died.
Christ died for our sins.
As you know, the word Christ is a title.
It means Messiah.
And the Old Testament is full of prophecies
of the coming Messiah, the coming Christ,
God's anointed one who would come
and establish a forever kingdom.
In fact, we spend a lot of time
talking about the coming of Jesus
during Christmas time.
And one of my favorite passages,
I would preach on this every December if I could,
it's Isaiah 9, 6 and 7.
Listen, of this Christ.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given.
It's a human being.
And the government shall be upon his shoulder.
He's a king.
And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace,
there will be no end on the throne of David
and over his kingdom.
To establish it and uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time forth
and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
You see, the Christ is totally God,
mighty God, and totally man.
Child given to us, a son given.
And what you need to know about this Christ
as totally God, second person of the Trinity,
he's eternal.
And what you also need to know about this Christ
is that when he took on human flesh,
he was the perfection of humanity.
He never sinned once.
He was a sinless human.
And so what that does in one person,
totally God, totally man,
you have the perfect go-between,
a holy God and a sinful man.
Yet he never sinned.
His name is Jesus.
The good news of the Christian gospel
is that this Christ,
this totally God, totally man,
eternal and sinless, died.
Where did he die?
He died on a hill outside of Jerusalem
called Golgotha or Calvary.
When did he die?
He died nearly 2,000 years ago.
We're second coming up on two millennia
and his death is as effective
as it has ever been.
How did he die?
He died by crucifixion,
which is one of the most horrific ways to die.
It's designed to bring about the most pain
physically, psychologically, socially.
It's humiliating.
But the real question
is why?
Why did the Christ die?
Why?
Why did this Jesus,
totally God, totally man,
eternal and sinless,
why did he die?
He was sinless.
Christ died for our sins.
I want to introduce you
three words right now
that talk about his sacrificial death.
Penal, substitutionary, atonement.
Penal means penalty,
to be penalized.
The death that Jesus died,
he bore as a penalty.
He bore the wrath of God
meant for us.
He was penalized
with our penalty.
Substitutionary.
Means in our place.
Christ died for our sins
on our behalf.
The wrath meant for me
fell upon him in full.
The penalty that was for me,
Jesus took on himself
as my substitute,
as your substitute.
And it was an atoning death.
It was a removal of the penalty of sin
by a satisfying of God's wrath.
You remember that God's wrath,
because God is eternal,
it is eternal in its scope.
Well, the eternal Son of God
bore all of God's wrath
for eternity,
six hours one Friday afternoon.
Which means,
he bore all of God's wrath
for our sins.
all of it.
And by it,
he rescues sinners.
Christ, totally God,
totally man,
eternal and sinless,
died in our place,
bearing the penalty for our sins,
God's wrath,
satisfying God's wrath,
once and for all,
removing the penalty of sin,
we've been atoned.
Penal, substitutionary,
atonement,
he died for our sins.
There's another reason.
There's another reason why he died.
Because he loves you.
He wanted to reconcile you to himself.
But God demonstrates his own love towards us
and that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Out of love for us,
he died for our sins.
To rescue us from God's wrath
and to reconcile us to himself in peace.
Jesus.
This,
this is the best news
any sinner
knowingly condemned
by their sin.
This is the best news they'll ever hear.
Because God's wrath
was poured out on full
on another
in your place.
Jesus.
There's no other gospel.
because no other gospel
can rescue you
from God's wrath.
And it is such
a loving message.
The last phrase
we move from.
Our sins.
Christ died
in accordance
with the scriptures.
Christ's penal,
substitutionary atonement,
that sacrificial death.
it turns out
that it
is central
to God's
plan of salvation
for the fullness
of time
as evidenced
by the testimony
of scripture.
There are many
Old Testament
scriptures
that prophesy
of the coming
of the Christ.
But one
stands out
as a
clear
prophecy
of the
substitutionary
death
of Jesus Christ,
of the Christ.
And we've been reading it
tonight.
Isaiah 53.
This was written
700,
750 years
before Jesus
walked the earth
as a man.
and it's
about
the substitutionary
work
of the Christ.
I'm going to read
a portion of it,
a portion Cindy
just read,
but I'm going to read it
in a way
I want you to listen
for the substitutionary
work of the Christ.
Surely
he has
borne
our griefs.
Substitute.
And carried
our sorrows.
Substitute.
Yet we
esteemed him
stricken,
smitten by God
and afflicted.
But he was
pierced for
our transgressions.
Substitute.
He was
crushed for
our iniquities.
Substitute.
Upon him
was the
chastisement
that brought
us peace.
substitute.
And with
his wounds
we are
healed.
Substitute.
All we
like sheep
have gone
astray.
We have
turned
everyone
to his
own way
and the
Lord
has laid
on him
the
iniquity
of us
all.
Substitute.
Would you
look down
at verse
10?
yet it
was the
will of
the Lord
to crush
him.
The loving
will of
God.
The
holy will
of God.
The just
will.
Because in the
death of
Jesus,
God is
able to
remain
just
and the
justifier
of sinners.
It's
glorious.
In
accordance
with the
scriptures,
the penal
substitutionary
atonement of
the Christ
is the
fulfillment
of Isaiah
53.
Which means
God has
a plan,
has had a
plan all
along
to rescue
sinners from
his wrath
and to
reconcile
them to
himself in
peace
through
Christ's
death.
You see,
the Bible
from Genesis
to Revelation
is one
long
good
news
about
Jesus
Christ.
Do you
know what
it does?
If you're
getting this,
it makes you
realize what's
written in
Romans 8.1,
there is
therefore now
no condemnation
for those who
are in
Christ Jesus.
There is
no more
wrath hanging
over our
heads because
of what Christ
has done.
And that
should make
your soul
sing.
That's the
good news.
That's the
amazing grace.
Good Friday
is a
reminder of
the
Christian
good news
that Christ
died for
our sins
in accordance
with the
scriptures.
And that's
what this
table is
about.
The bread
and the
cup,
they represent
the body
and blood
of Jesus
given for
us,
sacrifice,
his death,
to be
able to
rescue us
from God's
wrath.
If you
trust in
Christ alone
to rescue
you from
the wrath
of God,
you are
welcome to
the table.
But if
you're not
a Christian,
just pass
the elements,
just pass
them by.
at this
point,
I'd like
to ask
those
serving to
come
forward.
And what
we'll do
is we
will
distribute
the
elements,
all of
us will
receive
them,
we'll
take
them
together
after I
read some
scripture,
and then I
have some
words before
we move
on.
Let's
Thank you.