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Voddie Baucham - The Centrality of the Gospel in the Christian Life Session 1 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, good evening. Well, you can't do better than that.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We are wrestling with a 12-hour jet lag.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's tomorrow morning for us. We really, really
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: hit a spag yesterday, so that's why less than half
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: of us are actually here this evening. And I was thinking,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: you know, I drank a bunch of coffee, and.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: So if at any point during the sermon I run
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: out of here, it's not you. It's all the coffee.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: A little funny story.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: The way the Lord brought about our decision to move back,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: We were expecting to go back. This was supposed to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: be a time of furlough for us from December to February.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: We're going to go back in February. The school year
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: there starts in February. We're going to do one last year.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: We make 10 years there in August.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: And then we're going to come back. The Lord brought
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: about some circumstances that moved that timetable up. So our
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: departure for our program, our departure from Zambia for good,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: was unexpected. It was really bittersweet. We've been there for
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: almost a decade. Seven of our nine children were there
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: with us. Of the seven that were there with us,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: six of them have spent most of their lives there.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: And so it is, it's very strange to be coming
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: back here.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: And we haven't announced yet where we're going to end up.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: There are two likely possibilities, but... We're just not able
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: to say it right now.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Some things are in motion. And so, interestingly enough, we
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: started a little game on social media, right? Like, okay,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: where are the problems going to end up? And we
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: were having a talk with them. We put 10 states
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: on this. You know, game people are trying to guess,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: you know, where are these guys from?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Now, we don't. There's one almost definite.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Place, the Delaware Bay, there's not too many to look at,
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: but we just thought we'd have fun with it. And
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: so anyway, we were already planning to come here. This
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: was where we were going to start our furlough. I
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: hadn't been to Hawaii and Hawaii. a long time, because
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: this is.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: A long way from Zambia. But we used to come here,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, pretty, pretty, pretty great. And so we.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Land here and, you know, announce the conference here and everything.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: So there are a lot.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Of people who think that we've actually moved too big. But, um,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: I know it's a wonderful place. Bridget and I came
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: here for the first time. I don't know when it
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: was the first time we came. And of course we
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: came to Oahu for.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: The first time.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: We came a few times to Oahu and some people
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: taught us about it.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And so it was in my mind. And then we
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: went a few times to Oahu and we said, oh,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you've got to go to Kauai.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: And so we went to Kauai. And we said, we'll
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: never And then somebody said, you gotta do the Big Island.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: And then we went to the Big Island. And that
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: was great, but then we went back to Kauai. And
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: so on this trip, we're here, we leave here on Monday,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: we'll be on Kauai for about five days, and then
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: we'll go to the Big Island and finish.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Up the last eight days there, two Sundays, two different
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: places there. So for us, this is just It's.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: A great buffer for us because it's really shocking to
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: move back to America after having lived inside.
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  Speaker 1: Here for almost a decade.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: So this is a really nice sort of transitional time
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: for us.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: So, all right.
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  Speaker 2: With that in mind, open your Bibles with me to.
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  Speaker 1: We're looking at the centrality of the gospel. And we're
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: looking at different areas and aspects of Christian life.
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  Speaker 2: Tonight, what I want us to focus on is just
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  Speaker 2: the centrality of the gospel for the Christian life, period.
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  Speaker 2: Not specifically in your family, not specifically in church, not
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  Speaker 2: specifically in.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Christian life. And that, it sounds simple enough, right? Sounds
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  Speaker 1: like something, of course, you know, we all know, we
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: all understand, we all get that, but we don't. So
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  Speaker 1: many Christians.
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  Speaker 2: Believe that the gospel is pivotal for the Christian life,
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  Speaker 2: but not simple. Many Christians believe that the gospel is
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  Speaker 2: the entrance into the Christian.
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  Speaker 1: Life, right? The gospel is how you become a Christian.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: And then you graduate from your gospel onto more important things.
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  Speaker 1: There are no more important things. The gospel is not
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  Speaker 1: the front door to a Christian house. It is the house. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: It is the house. It is not just the gateway
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  Speaker 1: It is everything. And so here in 1 Corinthians chapter
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  Speaker 1: 15 Paul is making an argument for that centrality.
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  Speaker 2: He's really making a particular argument about the resurrection of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord Jesus. But in it he gives us this
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  Speaker 2: framework for understanding the centrality of the gospel He's making
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  Speaker 2: three different.
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  Speaker 1: Arguments for the resurrection. He makes them in succession. First
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  Speaker 1: he makes an argument from authority.
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  Speaker 2: Then he makes an argument from experience. And then he
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  Speaker 2: makes an argument from logic. And all three of these
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  Speaker 2: arguments are winning. verses 1 and 2. Paul says, Now
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  Speaker 2: I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached
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  Speaker 2: to you, which you received, in which you stand, and
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  Speaker 2: by which you are being saved, if you hold fast
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  Speaker 2: to the word I preached to you, unless you believed
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  Speaker 2: in them. There's this argument from authority. It's an argument
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  Speaker 2: from apostolic authority. He introduces himself in the first chapter
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  Speaker 2: of 1 Corinthians, as an apostle, as one who is sent,
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  Speaker 2: as one who has authority directly from Christ. And as
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  Speaker 2: an apostle, he is ruling his argument for the resurrection particularly,
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  Speaker 2: but for the gospel itself more broadly, in that authority
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  Speaker 2: that he's received from Christ. And so he says, remind
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  Speaker 2: you of the gospel I preached to you. First of all,
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  Speaker 2: this is the gospel that I preached to you. I,
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  Speaker 2: as an apostle.
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  Speaker 1: And that's incredibly important.
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  Speaker 2: The gospel that we believe, the gospel to which we hold,
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  Speaker 2: is an apostolic gospel. It's not my gospel. It's not
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  Speaker 2: your gospel. It's the gospel that we have received from
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  Speaker 2: the apostles. The apostles and the prophets are the foundation
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  Speaker 2: upon which the church is built, we find in Ephesians.
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  Speaker 1: We don't have any more apostles.
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  Speaker 2: I know there are a lot of people on the
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  Speaker 2: TV who call themselves apostles, but they're liars.
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  Speaker 1: They're not apostles. There are no more apostles.
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  Speaker 2: If we still have apostles, we would still have the same.
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  Speaker 1: Scripture giving up for it.
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  Speaker 2: These people would still be able to give us, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: our Bibles would have to be, you know, in three
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  Speaker 2: ring binders, not lettered out, right? So that we could
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  Speaker 2: be adding pages that we get from these new apostles.
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  Speaker 1: Turn with me to the Hebrews real quick. Good evening. 1.
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  Speaker 1: Beginning in verse 1.
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  Speaker 2: Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God
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  Speaker 2: spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these
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  Speaker 2: last days, he has spoken to us by His Son,
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  Speaker 2: has spoken, done perfect things, has spoken to us by
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  Speaker 2: His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things,
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  Speaker 2: through whom also He.
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  Speaker 1: Created the world.
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  Speaker 2: He is the radiance of the glory of God and
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  Speaker 2: the exact imprint of His nature. And He holds the
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  Speaker 2: universe by the word of His power. Now go with
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  Speaker 2: me to chapter 2. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention.
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  Speaker 1: To what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
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  Speaker 1: Persist the message.
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  Speaker 2: Declared by angels heard to be reliable, and every transgression
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  Speaker 2: or disobedience received a just retribution. How shall we escape
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  Speaker 2: if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared
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  Speaker 2: at first by the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: It goes back to what we were talking about in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1. And it was attested to us by those
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  Speaker 1: who heard, there are the apostles. while God also bore
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  Speaker 1: witness by.
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  Speaker 2: Signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit distributed.
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  Speaker 1: According to his will. So in Paul makes this statement.
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  Speaker 1: I remind you.
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  Speaker 2: Brothers, the gospel I preached to you. That's what he's
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  Speaker 2: referring to.
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  Speaker 1: He's referring to apostolic authority. This is the message here.
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  Speaker 2: That hasn't been handed down by the apostles. We don't
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  Speaker 2: get to change it. We don't get to mess with it.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what's happening here in Corinth. We'll see later
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  Speaker 2: that there are people here who are saying on the
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  Speaker 2: one hand.
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  Speaker 1: That they are Christians, that they believe the gospel, but
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, they're saying they don't believe in
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  Speaker 1: the resurrection. Right? They want Jesus, but not the resurrection.
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  Speaker 1: People today are doing the same thing, right?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I believe in Jesus, but I don't believe all
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  Speaker 2: that stuff. I don't believe in resurrection. I don't believe
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  Speaker 2: in virgin birth. I don't believe in hell. They want Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: but not the Jesus of Scripture. And Paul is.
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  Speaker 1: Saying that's outside the house. You don't get to do that.
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  Speaker 2: I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached
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  Speaker 2: to you. Now, watch this. Which you received and in
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  Speaker 2: which you stand. There's that front door.
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  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: It is true that that's the front door. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what we see there. Paul preached the gospel. You received
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  Speaker 2: the gospel. And you now stand on that gospel. in
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  Speaker 2: that gospel that has been proclaimed by the apostles.
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  Speaker 1: You all right? Oh, okay, all right. I mean, nobody moves, so.
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  Speaker 1: I'm the biggest target in this place. Okay, all right.
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  Speaker 1: And so there it is.
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  Speaker 2: It's the gospel that brings us into the fold.
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  Speaker 1: Right? So we preached it. We received it. And we
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  Speaker 1: stand on that gospel. Everyone who calls him or herself
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  Speaker 1: a Christian calls him or herself a Christian.
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  Speaker 2: Legitimately and authentically because of the gospel. not because of
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  Speaker 2: where you grew up, how you grew up, not because of,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the church.
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  Speaker 1: That you've been a part of or may be a
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  Speaker 1: part of, but it's because of the gospel. You can
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  Speaker 1: have all those other things, but if you don't have
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  Speaker 1: the apostolic gospel, you are outside the canon. And in
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  Speaker 1: verse 2, by which you are being saved. It's interesting.
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  Speaker 1: You have been saved and you are being saved. In
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  Speaker 1: classical theological terms, we refer to this as justification and sanctification.
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  Speaker 2: Amen? We refer to that first part as justification. The
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  Speaker 2: gospel justifies us. We believe the gospel and we are saved.
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  Speaker 1: Past tense. You have been saved. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: When you came to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith
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  Speaker 2: in his finished work.
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  Speaker 1: You were saved. You are saved. You are justified. However,
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  Speaker 1: you are also being saved. You're being sanctified. You're being
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  Speaker 1: conformed to the very image of Christ. You're being made
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  Speaker 1: like him. More today than yesterday. More tomorrow than today.
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  Speaker 1: You are being sent. The gospel does that. We don't
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  Speaker 1: just have a gospel that did that. We have a
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  Speaker 1: gospel that does that. We have a gospel that is
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  Speaker 1: doing that. And we have a gospel that will do that.
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  Speaker 1: Past tense, justification. We have been saved from the penalty
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  Speaker 1: of sin. The price has been paid. We are being
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  Speaker 1: saved from the power of sin. And in future tense, glorification.
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  Speaker 2: We will one day be saved from the very presence
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  Speaker 2: of sin. The gospel does all of that. then there's
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  Speaker 2: this kind of scary phrase. If you hold fast to
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  Speaker 2: the word I preached to you, unless you believe in vain.
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  Speaker 2: The reason that it's kind of scary is because it
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  Speaker 2: almost sounds like we can come into.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The house illegitimately, or that we can come into the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: house and then be put out of the house. That
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  Speaker 1: we can receive the gospel and and have justification and sanctification,
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  Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, at some point, no
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: longer have that justification and no longer have that sanctification.
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  Speaker 1: In order for that to be what Paul is saying here,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: you have to undo what he said everywhere else. Also,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: the context doesn't bode well for that kind of interpretation.
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  Speaker 2: Paul is not saying that you'll remain saved if you
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: hold on to God. John MacArthur said, I've quoted him
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: so many times on this that I heard somebody say,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: which I mean, Tony Bauckham said, Tony Bauckham quoted John
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: MacArthur and said, John MacArthur said, if you could lose
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  Speaker 2: your salvation, you would.
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  Speaker 1: Amen, somebody.
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  Speaker 2: But here's my spittle. How arrogant do you have to
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  Speaker 2: be to believe that it's possible for you to lose
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  Speaker 2: your salvation?
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: What do you want? How arrogant do you have to
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  Speaker 1: be to think that? Listen, if you could lose your salvation,
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  Speaker 1: you absolutely would. You would. You would have today. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: You'd have to get saved every day. Not every day.
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  Speaker 1: Every day. Right?
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  Speaker 2: There are several passages in Scripture that we can turn
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  Speaker 2: to to make this point. But there's one that I
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  Speaker 2: really love to point out.
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  Speaker 1: And it's in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Beginning
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  Speaker 1: at verse 11. Really it's verse 13 and 14. But
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: you've got to go back to verse 11. Because Paul
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: is using a lot of financial language here. Financial transaction
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: language here. And it's really helpful. Ephesians 1, 11. In
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: him we have obtained an inheritance.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: So there's legal financial transfer language, right? An inheritance, you
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: receive an inheritance when.
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  Speaker 1: Somebody dies.
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  Speaker 2: Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who
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  Speaker 2: works all things according to the counsel of his will,
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  Speaker 2: so that we who were the first to hope in
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  Speaker 2: Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
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  Speaker 1: So there's us believing. And him also, when you heard
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  Speaker 1: the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, there
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  Speaker 1: it is, and believed in him. It's exactly what we're
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  Speaker 1: talking about in 1 Corinthians, right?
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  Speaker 2: We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee.
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  Speaker 1: Of our inheritance until we are in possession of it
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  Speaker 1: to the.
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  Speaker 2: Praise of his glory. Literally, the Holy Spirit is the
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  Speaker 2: earnest of our salvation, some translations put it.
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  Speaker 1: Earnest.
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  Speaker 2: Now if anybody's ever bought a house, you probably wrote
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: an earnest money contract.
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  Speaker 1: What is an earnest money contract? I'm glad you asked.
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  Speaker 2: So you intend to buy a house and you put
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  Speaker 2: in an offer. You write your offer, fill out the paperwork,
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  Speaker 2: and then you write a check. And the check says
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  Speaker 2: I'm not playing. Why does the check say I'm not playing?
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Because if you redeemed on the hill, they.
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  Speaker 1: Get to keep your earnest money. Right? So anybody can
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: make you an offer.
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  Speaker 2: But when you get an earnest money offer, you get
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  Speaker 2: an offer with a check.
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  Speaker 1: And the check says, if I do not.
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  Speaker 2: Come to redeem this property that I'm promising to buy,
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  Speaker 2: you get to keep my earnest money.
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  Speaker 1: God put earnest money down on your salvation. What earnest money?
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  Speaker 1: third person of the Trinity. Which means that if he
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  Speaker 1: doesn't finish redeeming you, he gives up his deity.
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  Speaker 2: Which means the only way that a Christian can lose
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  Speaker 2: their salvation is if God stops being God. And that
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  Speaker 2: ain't happening. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: And that ain't happening.
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  Speaker 2: We have that two-fisted promise that Jesus talks about in
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: the Bible today.
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  Speaker 1: Right? That we're in his hand and the Father's hand
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: and no one can remove us from the Father's hand. So,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: all that to say that in 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: verse 2, when he says, this if clause, if you
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: you believe in faith, he's not saying If you are
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: strong enough to hold on to God, you're not.
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  Speaker 2: You're not strong enough to hold on to God.
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  Speaker 1: Amen? You've never been strong enough to hold on to God.
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  Speaker 1: God is holding you. Right? And I know, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we're doing the best we can to hold on to God.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a toddler. walking with a parent, you know?
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  Speaker 1: The toddler, you're getting ready to cross the street, and
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: the toddler reaches up, right, and grabs your hand, and
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: they're holding on so tight, they're holding on for dear life,
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  Speaker 1: and in their mind, in their mind, they're like, I'm
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: holding on to daddy while we're walking across the street,
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  Speaker 1: but daddy knows. It's like, actually smart. I'm holding you.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not just going to give you my pinky and
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: let you just hold on to my pinky, right?
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  Speaker 2: I'll let you grab me, and then I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: grab you while you grab me.
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  Speaker 1: Because I know that ultimately I'm the one who's holding
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  Speaker 1: on to you, regardless of what it feels like from
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: your perspective.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: So, his point here is, unless you believe in faith,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: how do you believe in faith? What's the context of
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: 1 Corinthians 15? People who are saying on the one
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: hand that they're Christian and on the other hand that
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: there's no such thing as resurrection. Well then, you're believing
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: a gospel that's not the gospel. And if you're believing
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: a gospel that's not the one that I preached to you.
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  Speaker 1: You're believing in vain. Because the gospel that I preached
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: to you is the one you received It's the one
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: in which you stand. And it's the one about which
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: you're being said. That's it.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: If you believe in something else. If you believe in
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: something else, you're in trouble. I have been, you know,
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: riding around.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: And I'm pretty good with directions. Right now there's the
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: whole jet lag middle part thing. But, you know, I'm
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: kind of feeling my way around. We've been several places.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: We went up to Pearl Harbor today.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: We wanted to go tomorrow, since tomorrow's the 7th, but
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: with the conference and everything, we were able to do
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: whatever we wanted, because today was great until we started
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: raining on us in so many places.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: But, you know, we got the whole GPS thing. We
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: were riding around with GPS. GPS is great.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: But I'll never forget, we were in North Carolina. We
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: were in Charlotte.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: And there's this one particular room that has the same name.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Two different sides of town. And we put the wrong
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: one in for the GP. So we're riding to meet
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: our friends in Charlotte. And we're calling them. And they're like,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: do you see this? Nah, we don't see that. Do
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: you see this? Nah, we don't.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: We don't see anything like that. Well, what do you see?
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: And we told them, you're like, well, we see this.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: And they're like, you're in the wrong place.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: I'm like, no. No, we put the street in the GPS.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: We put the address in the GPS. And the GPS
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: brought us here. And they're like, did you put... Or
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: did you put salad? We put the street in there.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: We were like an hour away from it. That's what
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Paul's talking about. you're believing firmly in a gospel. But
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: if your gospel is anything other than that which was
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: proclaimed by the apostles, you'll.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: Find yourself at a destination that.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: You think is glory. It won't be. And it doesn't
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: matter how sincere you are. I mean, we were sincere.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: We were so sincere that we were telling these people, look,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Know what's wrong with you, but we're by your house.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: You just need to come outside and figure out how.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I was lost. Secondly, there's the argument from experience. Verse 3.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: For I delivered to you as a first importance what
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: I also received. And here's the message of the gospel.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: He was buried. He was raised on the third day
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: in accordance with the scriptures. There it is. Christ's life, death, burial,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: resurrection in the essence of the message. Then he appeared
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: to Cedrus, or Peter. Then to the twelve. Then he
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: appeared to more than.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive,
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: though some have fallen asleep.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Last of all, as to what untimely bore, he appeared
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: also to me. Primarily to the apostles, unworthy to be
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: But by the grace of God, I am what I am,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: and his grace toward me was not in vain. On
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: it was not I, but the grace of God that
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: is with me. Whether then, it was I or they
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: so he preached.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: And so he believed there is the argument.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: From experience.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: And I love this argument first of all because it
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: comes after.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: The argument from authority.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: And this day and age in which we live, we
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: believe that experience trumps all. In fact, for most of us,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: experience is the only argument that we have.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Right? I was lost in that. I'm fine. And that's fine.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: That's great that you have an experience. It's wonderful that
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: you have an experience. But there are a lot of people.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Who have experiences. And that's just not, that's not enough.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I am always reminded of one of the most powerful
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: experiences that I've ever read about.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: This young man was born in, I believe it was
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: in Boston.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Grew up in a.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: Home there that was not the greatest home life. Ended
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: up having to leave his home and live with his
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: sister in Harlem. Got into a bunch of trouble when
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: he was younger. So much trouble that he ended up
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: in prison. And it was while he was in prison
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: that someone preached.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: About the Messiah. And he didn't want any part of it.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: He didn't want to have anything to do with it.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: He had experienced a life of drugs and violence and
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: death and everything else and he was still even in
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: prison finding ways to do drugs until one day in
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: his cell he writes about in his autobiography he's.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: There in his cell Trying to get out. And that Messiah.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: That these men had been preaching to him about appeared
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: to him in his self. And that appearance was so
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: real and so powerful that it transformed his life instantly.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: He became a model prisoner. began to establish houses of worship.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Around the country. There are streets named after him. His name?
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Malcolm X. The Messiah he was talking about?
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: The Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: See? He had a powerful experience and it changed his life.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: But even he, at the end of his life, recognized
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: that Elijah Muhammad was a complete fraud. He left the
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: nation of Islam and was eventually assassinated by them.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: Be careful. Be careful with the argument from experience. It
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: can't be your all in all.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: So that's why Paul starts with the argument from authority.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: And then even when he makes the argument from experience,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: he roots it in Scripture. Verse 3, I deliver to
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: you as a first importance what I also receive, that
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, not
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: according to my experience. He was buried. He was raised
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: on the third day according to the Scriptures, not just
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: my experience. Then he appeared to Cephas, or Peter, and
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: then to the twelve. Notice he doesn't even start with himself.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: So there's over 300 eyewitnesses to the resurrection still alive
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: when Paul writes 1 Corinthians.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Then he appeared to all the apostles. Last of all,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: That's the one time he appeared to me. So he
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: puts his own personal experience at the end of the line.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: What we do is we say, my personal experience is
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: not only the most important thing, but it's the only thing.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: It's the only argument that I'm going to make. In fact,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: the way we share the gospel, most of us, right?
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: It's basically some version of, I had a really bad
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: life and that'll make Jesus.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: And now my life is so much better. And if
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: you want your life to be better, my life is better,
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: then you need Jesus to be better. That's not Paul's
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: argument from experience. His argument from experience is, sent the
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: Savior into the world to die for Satan.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: He foretold it in the scriptures. And he fulfilled it
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: witnesses who saw it. Witnesses who you can go and
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: talk to right now. And over the way, I'm one
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: of them.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: That's his argument from experience. Finally, there's the argument from logic.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: Watch this one carefully, beginning.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Of verse 12.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: how can some of you say that there is no
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: resurrection of the dead? There's the crux of the matter.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: Remember I told you, This whole thing that he's dealing
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: with here in 1 Corinthians 15 is there are people
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: in Corinth who are trying to argue on the.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: One hand that they believe the gospel, but arguing on
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: the other hand that they do not believe in the
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: concept of resurrection. They don't believe that people will rise
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: from the dead. They believe that Jesus is a good man,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: a good teacher, a good prophet. They believe all of
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: that stuff. They just don't believe in the resurrection. And again,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: there are those people out there today.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: I'll never forget, as a new believer, I never heard
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: the Gospels in my first year of college. I was
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: raised by a single teenage Buddhist mother. And I came
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: to faith in university.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: And then about a year later, I started preaching it.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: And I was preaching, you know, through FCA and stuff
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: like that.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: And then I started preaching among the church.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: I was playing football at Rice University in Houston. And
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: so I felt like I needed to start taking some theology.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: So I took some classes. I took a class on
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: the gospel of the mind. from a professor there.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: At Rice University. He was, at the time, one of.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: The leading scholars on Rice Gospel. And what amazed me
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: about this man is that he was an unbelievable man.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: You can't believe it. Didn't believe in resurrection. At all.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Didn't believe in a virgin birth. At all.
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: Just love the text as literature. And that was all.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: There are entire denominations today. The Church of England, for example.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: It's rare to find a minister in the Church of England.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Who's a Christian? Who believes the essentials of the historic
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: Christian faith? Who doesn't deny the bodily resurrection?
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Who doesn't deny the virgin birth?
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: Who doesn't deny penal substitutionary atonement? These things are offensive
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: to me.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: So right now today, there are individuals out there who
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: are making this very same argument.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: They would identify themselves as Christians, but they would not
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: hold to these far-fetched supernatural aspects of the message.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: So, again, Paul says, if Christ is proclaimed as raised
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: from the dead, how can some of you say that
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: there is no resurrection of the dead?
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: not even Christ has been raised.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: By the way, he just said.
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: Won the argument before he made it. He's about to
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: make the argument from logic. He just won the argument
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: before he made it. I'll show you that in a minute.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: Then he points out these seven things that have to
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: be true if there is no such thing as resurrection.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: These seven things have to be true. You have to
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: be making.
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: These seven arguments. Logically, it has to follow. And to
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: this day, This same argument from logic holds. Verse 14.
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: And if Christ has not been raised, number one, then
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: our preaching is vain.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: Preaching is useless. What's interesting is the people who argue
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: that there's no such thing as.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: Resurrection, the people who are denying the essence of the gospel,
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: these same people are not arguing that preaching is useless.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: In fact, some of them are preachers. They think that
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: preaching is healthy in some way, some psychological way.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: But Paul's saying, if there's no resurrection, and we're preaching
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: Christ and him crucified and resurrected, then our preaching is useless.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: It makes no sense for us to preach if there's
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: no such thing as resurrection.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: Secondly, we're even found to be misrepresenting God because we
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: testify about God that he raised Christ, whom he did
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: not raise. It is true that the dead are not raised.
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: Not only is our preaching vain, but I'm a liar.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: Not just a liar.
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: I'm a blaspheming liar because I'm lying on God.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: If there's no such thing as resurrection, if there's no
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: such thing as virgin.
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: Birth, And I am proclaiming a gospel that is rooted
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: and grounded in the person and work of.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Christ, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: so that he could be our substitute, so that he
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: could impute his righteousness to us, and our sinfulness could
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: be imputed to him. And that on the cross, he
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: could reconcile us to God. If I'm preaching that, And
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: there's no such thing as resurrection. I'm not just a liar,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: I'm a blaspheming liar. But it's interesting, the people who say,
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: no resurrection, no supernatural, they're not willing to call me
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: a blaspheming liar. But logically, they have to. Thirdly, verse 16.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: For if dead are not raised... Even.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: Christ has not been raised. There's the third implication. Even
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: Christ hasn't been raised. By the way, Paul already demonstrated.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: That he was. Four, and if Christ has not been raised,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: your faith is fueled and you are still in your sins.
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: There's no such thing as resurrection. your sins have not
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: been forgiven. He was raised for our justification. If there's
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: no such thing as resurrection, then Christ's death was not
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: a substitutionary atoning death. If he did not raise from
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: the dead, then he died a death that he owed
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: as a sinner and he had nothing to give to you.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: You're stealing your sins.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Your sins are not forgiven. If there's no such thing
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: as resurrection. Verse 18. Those who have fallen asleep in
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: Christ have perished. They're dead, they're gone. And there is
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: no future hope.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: None whatsoever.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: Because if there's no resurrection of the dead, then there
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: is no hope of heaven. If there is no resurrection
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: of the dead, our loved ones who have gone on
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: before us are just gone and will never be reunited. Finally,
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: if in Christ we have hope in this life only,
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: we are of all people most blessed.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: And there's no such thing as resurrection. My preaching is vain.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Your faith is vain. I'm a blaspheming liar. Not even
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: Christ has been raised. Those who have gone before us
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: are just gone and will never be reunited with them.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: And we are the most pitiful lot that the world
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: has ever known. We are wasting our time. However, remember
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: what I said. He won the argument before he even
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: made the argument.
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: Because he says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: The dead, that's his gospel. Christ died. I said it
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: before I did the scripture. Christ rose again before I
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: did the scripture. Christ was seen. In his resurrected body.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: After he rose again. According to the scriptures. Which means
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: that Christ. Is risen. So if Christ is risen. We
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: can flip the script. What that means is my preaching
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: is not in vain. But it is the power of God.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: Unto salvation. Your faith is not in vain. By grace
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: you say. Through faith. I'm not a liar.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: I'm not a liar.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: In fact, I'm telling the greatest truth that the world
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: has ever known.
• 46:03
  Speaker 2: Christ is not still in the grave.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: He's risen. I've been to his grave. He ain't there, y'all.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: I'm not still in my sins. My sins have been
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: washed away. They have been removed from.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Me as far as the east is from the west.
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Those who have gone on before us and died in
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: Christ are not lost.
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: We will be reunited with them in glory. And finally,
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: don't you dare pity me. One day somebody's going to
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: come to you and they're going to tell you, Cody
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: Barker is no more.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: He's dead. He's gone. You look at him and you
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: tell him, the devil is alive. He might be dead,
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: but he ain't gone. He's reunited with Christ. We'll be
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: bracing him on the last day. And we're united with
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: all of those who are in Christ. See, the gospel
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: is not just the front door. It's everything. It is
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: our life, our breath, and it is our hope. It's
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: not something we graduate from. It's something we hold, not
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: just dearly, but more dearly as we see the day approaching.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: Since as we age and as we stoop toward the grave,
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: the gospel becomes more precious, not less precious. As we
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: experience heartache and tragedy.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: And loss, The gospel becomes more precious, not less precious.
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: More significant, not less significant.
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: It is the very essence of who we are in Christ.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Not just the front door. If you are here tonight.
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: And you have held on to the gospel as anything
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: less than this, then my prayer for you is that
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: you would cling to Christ. That you would find your
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: hope and your rest in Him. That you would trust
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: in Him and His finished work alone to save you
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: from your sin and to save you from the wrath
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: of God that is to come.
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Gracious God, our.
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: Heavenly Father, God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, we
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: bow before you in humility and adoration, offering thanks to
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: you for your goodness and kindness and mercy toward us
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: through the person who are in Christ. Thank you for
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: the good news of the gospel. Thank you that while
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you that you demonstrated your love for us. And
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: Christ died for us. Thank you that Christ did not
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: just die for us. He rose again for us. And
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: is our hope. Thank you for the gospel that saved us.
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: Is saving us. Will save us. pray, spend it for
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: your glory. We pray these things, ask these things, believe
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: these things.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: In Christ's name, for his sake. Amen.