When you walk into a worship service like this,
and you see that the Lord's Supper is going to be observed,
what do you think?
When I was a kid growing up in the church I went to,
when I walked in and saw the table set up,
we were going to have the Lord's Supper,
I thought, we're going to get out today a whole lot early.
Really.
We started at 11 o'clock,
and we had the Lord's Supper in the church I grew up in.
We were always out by 20 minutes till 11,
20 minutes till 12.
30 to 40 minutes tops.
That's not going to happen here.
Don't even think about that.
But on a more serious note,
when you walk in,
when you walked in today,
or when you walk in anytime,
and you see the elements on the table,
you know we're going to observe the Lord's Supper.
Maybe you saw it in the newsletter.
What do you think?
Do you think about what these elements represent?
The broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ
as He died on the cross
to pay the penalty for your sins
if you're a Christian.
Another way to think about that is
when you see the Lord's Supper set up like this,
do you think about the gospel?
That is a word that's used a lot in church.
You've probably heard it in Sunday school today.
You may have read something this past week,
that word gospel,
in relation to who we are as Christians.
Well, the word gospel simply means good news.
It is the good news of how God
has provided a way for sinners like you and me
to be forgiven,
made right with Him,
and even made His child
so that we can have a relationship with Him
now and forever.
I want you to turn with me
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 this morning
and we're going to look at one of the
clearest,
one of the most
simple statements of the gospel
that you'll find in Scripture.
In fact,
it's really the most
clear, concise statement
of the gospel message
that you're going to find.
1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Now, most of this chapter
is explaining the significance
of the resurrection of Jesus.
But Paul begins
in verses 1 through 8.
He begins
by reminding
the Corinthians,
these Christians,
what he has preached,
what they have believed.
He explains it in detail
and then he talks about
how there are
so many eyewitnesses
to the resurrection of Jesus.
Let's look at it together.
1 Corinthians chapter 15,
beginning in verse 1.
Now, I would remind you, brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you,
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 delivered to you
as of first importance
what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures.
Now, when he says that,
he's referring to
how the Old Testament
foretold this was going to take place.
Maybe he's thinking about
Isaiah chapter 53 and 54,
where Isaiah's talking about
the Lord's suffering servant,
talking about really
what Jesus experienced
on the cross.
That's the kind of thing
he's referring to
when he says,
according to the Scriptures,
according to the Old Testament prophecies.
For 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,
and that he appeared to Cephas,
that's Peter,
then to the twelve,
then he appeared
to more than 500 brothers
at one time,
most of whom are still alive,
though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles,
last of all,
as to one untimely born,
he appeared also to me.
I want us to answer
three questions
from this passage this morning
that I pray will help us
to prepare for the Lord's Supper.
Number one,
what is the gospel?
What is the gospel?
I would love to have
the opportunity
to pass out a sheet of paper
and let everyone in this room
write down
your response
to that question,
your answer.
What is the gospel?
Every survey
that is taken
of church members
indicates
that most church members
cannot give
a simple,
clear explanation
of the gospel message.
That is a shame.
That should not be.
And that's one of the reasons
why we're looking
at this passage
this morning
as we prepare
for the Lord's Supper.
we all need
to understand
to be able
to explain
the good news
of Jesus.
We ought to be able
to explain
what we believe
and be able
to communicate it
to someone
and encourage them
to believe as well.
What is the gospel?
Well, Paul provides
a concise summary
in verses 3 and 4.
I want you to look
at three phrases.
First,
Christ died
for our sins
in verse 3.
The death of Jesus
on the cross
is the heart
of the gospel.
The death of Jesus
on the cross,
that is the heart
of the gospel.
But note why he died.
He died
for our sins.
Sin is everyone's
biggest problem.
You know,
every one of us
in this room,
we've got problems.
We've got issues.
And it may be
that you have
some relational problems.
It may be
that you have
some addiction
type problems.
The root
of those problems
is that it's sin.
You're violating
God's law.
You're breaking
His commandments.
You're breaking
His rules,
boys and girls.
That's our problem.
And you know,
we come into this world
being able to do that
just automatically,
don't we?
We're sinners by nature.
No one ever had to teach you
to tell a lie.
No one ever had to teach you
to talk back to your parent,
to disobey your parent.
We just come with this
built-in bent
on being selfish,
being self-centered,
certainly not God-centered.
We're sinners by nature.
We're sinners by choice.
Our sin separates us
from our relationship
with God.
And if we die
in that condition,
we'll be eternally separated
from Him
in hell.
And that's the bad news
of the Bible.
Everyone needs to understand
this bad news,
how serious it is,
so that we will understand
just how great
this good news is.
And the good news is that
even though we are sinners,
sinners,
and we're happy in it
if we just go along in life
and God leaves us alone,
we'll be happy
just doing what we want to do.
But the good news of the Bible
is God loves us,
and God devised a way
for us to be forgiven
and made right with Him.
He did this by sending
His Son, Jesus Christ,
into this world
to die for our sins,
to pay the penalty
that our sins deserve.
When Jesus hung on the cross,
and understand,
this is something supernatural.
When Jesus hung on the cross,
it's like God placed
our sins upon Him.
And there,
He incurred God's wrath,
His righteous wrath
against sin.
He suffered the punishment.
I tell boys and girls
when I explain the gospel to them,
when Jesus died on the cross,
He did not go to the place
called hell,
but He experienced
the pain and punishment
of hell.
He experienced
being separated from God,
which is why He cried out,
My God, My God,
why have you forsaken me?
As Jesus hung on the cross,
our sin bearer,
our substitute,
God turned away.
That's why He cried out,
My God, My God,
why have you forsaken me?
He was paying the penalty,
suffering the punishment
that our sins deserve.
Jesus died for our sins.
The first statement in verse 3.
Verse 4,
He was buried.
Now this is stated this way,
but to emphasize,
Jesus really did die.
He didn't just pass out.
Jesus died
and was buried.
He was buried.
He was wrapped in grave clothes.
He was left.
Now,
that also points out
that when Jesus rose from the grave,
it was a true resurrection,
a bodily resurrection
from the dead.
And that's the third statement,
verse 4.
He was raised on the third day.
Jesus was raised from the dead
by the Heavenly Father.
And when Jesus arose from the grave,
it was not something done in secret.
As you read through verses 5 through 8 there,
Jesus appeared to a lot of people
over a period of 40 days,
we read in Acts chapter 1 in verse 3.
Jesus died on the cross.
He arose from the grave.
And He was seen by people
who saw Him die.
He was seen by people
who knew that He was dead.
But He came back to life.
And His resurrection appearances,
it just transformed those disciples
who had run away from Him
at first when He was arrested.
But now,
after they've seen the resurrected Lord
and after the Holy Spirit
came to live within them,
that you read about in Acts chapter 2,
they were never the same again.
God did what He did
in sending Jesus
to die for our sins
because He loves us
and He wanted to save us
even though we didn't deserve it
and we could never earn it.
Paul said it like this
in Romans chapter 5.
He says,
But God demonstrates
His own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
By doing what He did,
God has done everything necessary
for us to be forgiven
and made His child.
God's done everything necessary
for us to be saved,
made right with Him.
But I want you to understand.
Jesus' death on the cross,
just the fact that it happened,
it's a historical fact.
But that doesn't,
in and of itself,
save anyone.
No, the Bible says,
we must respond to this good news.
We must respond to this gospel.
And that leads to the second question.
How do we respond to the gospel?
You know, it makes sense.
Everything that,
just about everything in life
that good news that comes to you,
you've got to do something with it
if it's going to help you in any way.
For an example,
if you were to go to the doctor tomorrow,
he does some tests.
By the end of the week,
you are told,
you've got a blockage in an artery.
And it's a serious blockage.
You've got to have something done.
The good news is,
he tells you that
we've caught it at such a point
where there's just medication.
You don't have to have anything else.
We can give you some medication.
You can change your lifestyle.
And this blockage
won't ever give you a problem.
That's good news.
But you've got to act on that good news.
You've got to respond to that good news
for it to do you any good.
You've got to take the medication.
You've got to change that diet.
Do some exercise.
If you don't respond,
the good news will do you
absolutely no good.
Well, the Bible teaches
that we've got to respond
to what God has done for us in Christ
in order for us to get any good out of it,
in order for us to be forgiven.
The Bible says that we've got to respond
to the gospel like this.
We must repent of our sin
and put our faith in Jesus Christ
as our Savior and Lord.
That's what the Apostle Paul
told everyone
when he preached the gospel.
He summarizes this in Acts chapter 20.
Look at what he says.
He says,
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks
and that's his way of saying everyone.
Everywhere I go,
everywhere I preach,
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks
that they must turn to God in repentance
and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Let's think about those two words,
repentance and faith.
Repentance is a change of mind about sin,
but it's more than that.
If we're truly repentant,
we're not only going to change our mind about our sin,
but we're going to be truly grieved by it.
It's going to bother us to think
that I have disobeyed God.
I have offended Almighty God.
We're going to want to change our mind about it.
We're going to want to turn away from it.
We're going to grieve over it.
It's just going to bother us.
If God is truly convicting us of our sin,
He's shown us that we're separated from Him
and there's no hope unless we come to Christ,
if God's working in us,
He's going to give us this desire
to turn from our sin,
change our mind about it.
We'll grieve over it.
We'll be sorry that we have committed this,
we've lived this kind of way.
We'll want to be different.
We'll want to change.
And what we'll do is we'll turn from our sin
and we'll turn to Jesus Christ in faith.
We will trust Him,
put our confidence in Him,
count on Him that when He died on the cross,
He died to save me.
He paid the penalty for my sin.
Faith involves trusting in Jesus,
who He is.
He's the Son of God.
And what He has done,
dying on the cross,
to pay the penalty for your sins.
If you will respond to the good news of Jesus like this,
God will save you.
He will forgive you.
He'll make you His child now and forever.
And if you truly respond this way,
God will so change you,
you'll never be the same again.
And that leads us to the third question.
What difference has the gospel made in your life?
What difference has this good news made in your life?
The New Testament consistently points out that saving faith is continuing faith.
It's really life-changing faith.
I want you to just note how Paul points it out in verses 1 and 2.
Look at it again.
Writing to Christians,
Now I would remind you,
brothers,
brothers and sisters,
of the gospel I preached to you,
look at it,
which you received,
you accepted,
you believed in.
verse 2,
in which you stand.
You've taken a stand.
You not only believe it,
you're living it.
Verse 2,
by which you are being saved.
Salvation is both a past experience
and a present experience
and a future experience.
It's like this.
When you put your faith in Jesus
as your Savior and Lord,
at that moment in time,
God declares you to be righteous.
He declares you to be right with Him
through faith in Jesus.
The penalty for your sin has been paid.
It was paid by Jesus.
The righteous, perfect life that Jesus lived,
that's credited to you.
It's all at one time.
God justifies you,
declares you to be right with Him
at the moment you believe.
But from that moment on,
God works in you,
if you're a Christian.
If you're truly saved,
God will work in you.
You will continue to believe
and trust in Jesus.
You'll continue to hate sin
and turn from it,
repent of it.
You'll continue to believe
and you will grow
and you'll make progress
in developing Christ-like character.
That's what the Bible calls
sanctification,
becoming like Jesus.
And then,
whenever we die,
true Christians,
when we die,
all the baggage of our sin
and selfishness and worldliness,
we leave it behind.
We're glorified.
we're going to be like Jesus,
finally.
But it's at the end of our life
in this world.
Right here,
Paul is talking about
the gospel,
it continues
to work in a person's life.
But look at verse 2.
There's a qualification here.
I want to remind you,
brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received,
in which you stand,
and by which you're being saved,
if you hold fast
to the word I preached to you.
If you continue to believe,
the person who makes
a profession of faith
and then just goes on
about their life
as if nothing ever happened,
nothing ever happened.
I tell,
whether it be a child,
eight or nine years old,
we saw some baptized this morning,
or whether it be someone
80 years old.
Making a profession of faith
is important,
but if that's all
that ever happens to you,
you cannot have assurance.
I tell everybody I baptized.
We went over it this morning
before we did this.
Baptism does not save you.
It does not make you,
make God love you more
or accept you more.
It is an act of obedience
that a Christian does,
somebody who's trusting in Jesus does,
to make their faith known.
Genuine faith,
if it's real,
if a person's truly born again
by the Spirit of God,
that person will continue in faith.
But,
don't make,
don't jump to any kind
of conclusions here.
I am not teaching,
Paul is not teaching,
that we're saved
by our own efforts.
He's not trying to say
that you become a Christian
through faith in Jesus
and then you do your best
to hang on yourself.
No.
Saving faith is a gift from God.
Ephesians chapter 2
and verse 8 tells us,
when God so works in us
to enable us to believe
and we believe,
God's going to continue
to work in us
to enable us to continue
to believe
and we will continue
to believe.
That's because what God starts,
God finishes.
As Paul says it like this
in Philippians 1,
being confident of this,
that he who began
a good work in you
will carry it on
to completion
until the day
of Christ Jesus.
That's the day
when Jesus comes back.
What God starts,
he finishes.
He never gives up.
He never quits.
True Christians
will continue
in their faith
because God continues
with us.
We become his
and he won't let us alone.
The way God does this,
he gives us desires
if we're really his.
If his spirit lives within us,
he gives us the desire
to be faithful to him.
As Paul points out
again in Philippians,
this time chapter 2,
verse 13,
for it is God
who works in you
to will and to act
according to his good purpose.
There's a major problem
in churches
across all denominational lines
today.
Many people who claim
to be Christians
show absolutely no sign
of having spiritual life.
many Christians
just don't seem
to give a rip
about God
and the things of God.
Church,
prayer,
Bible study,
it's just boring.
Just a waste of time
in their mind.
That cannot happen
if the spirit of God
lives within you
because the spirit of God
is going to cause you
to want to know
your heavenly father better.
It's going to cause you
to want to pray,
to want to study the word,
to want to grow
in your knowledge
and fellowship
and relationship
with God
and with other Christians.
The problem is
that some people
do what Paul said
in verse 2
that we've already looked at.
Some people have
believed in vain.
John MacArthur
explains that
this is a real problem
with this statement.
He says,
by this qualifying statement,
Paul recognizes
and called to their attention
that some may have had
a shallow,
non-saving faith.
There's church members
who've made professions
of faith.
They've had some kind
of emotional experience maybe.
They've been baptized.
Their name's on the church roll.
But,
they believed in vain.
It was shallow.
There was never
any real life changing,
there was no transformation
by the Spirit of God.
It was just believing facts.
Not trusting
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since the beginning
of the Christian church,
since New Testament days,
there have been people
who claim to be Christians,
but they showed
no real signs
of a relationship
with Jesus.
And Jesus made it
very clear
that such people
are not saved.
Look at it
from Matthew 7.
Jesus said,
Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord,
will enter the kingdom
of heaven,
but only he who does
the will of my Father
who is in heaven.
Many will say to me
on that day,
Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy
in your name
and in your name
drive out demons
and perform many miracles?
Then I will tell them plainly,
I never knew you.
Away from me,
you evildoers.
Now,
I want to make it
real clear.
There is no Christian
who just perfectly
follows the Lord
and never falls
into temptation,
never gives
into temptation,
never falls
into sin.
That doesn't happen.
We all,
as Christians,
Paul talked about it
in Romans chapter 7.
He talks about it
in Galatians chapter 5.
We all have struggles.
We all struggle
with the desires
of our sinful nature.
We all have temptations.
And the truth is,
we all fail
more than we like
to admit.
We do sin.
But to think about
a true Christian,
sooner or later
when we sin,
the Spirit of God
within us
is grieved.
And He will convict us.
He will inflict guilt
on us
for the purpose
of causing us
to confess our sin,
to turn from it,
to seek God's forgiveness,
to not live out
of fellowship with Him,
but to come back
to Him
if we're true Christians.
If you're not
a Christian this morning,
I want you to know
that you can come
to God
right now,
no matter who you are,
what you've done.
If you will come
and as Paul said,
repent of your sins,
put your faith
in Jesus Christ
and Him alone
for your salvation,
God will save you.
Scripture says,
whoever calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
And I encourage you
to do that this moment
if you're not a believer,
if you are a Christian.
But right now,
you would say,
I've drifted away
from the Lord.
I'm not close to Him
like I once was.
Or,
it's not that you
drifted away,
you've rebelled.
And the truth is,
you've been living
in willful disobedience.
But if God,
through this message,
has gotten your attention,
softened your heart,
and you truly want
to come back
and be close to Him,
then confess your sin.
He will forgive you
and cleanse you.
He will renew
your commitment to Him
right now.
I encourage you
to do that.
I want us to take
the next few minutes
to prepare to observe
the Lord's Supper
by thinking seriously
about what Jesus
has done for us,
how we have responded,
and how we are living
in relationship with Him
right now.
Listen to the Lord
and you respond to Him
as we have it
just in time of prayer
and preparation
for the Lord's Supper.
Thank you.