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1 Corinthians 15 - What Is The Gospel? · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Well, good morning. How's everybody?
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Do you have a good Thanksgiving? Your tryptophan in you and
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you're going to be falling asleep during my message today,
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I'm sure. Well, it's good to see
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everybody. I trust you had a good holiday,
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so let's pray. We're in the book of First
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Corinthians today, chapter 15 on the resurrection, death, burial,
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and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you worship team for
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praying about where the message is heading.
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They Gene always text me what are you teaching on this Sunday?
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And I give her the chapter and I know that you guys pray about
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what it is you're going to play and what you're going to use for
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the worship. And it's all about the cross
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this morning. Wasn't it all about the shed
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blood of our Savior and His love for us?
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Just so powerful to really prepare our hearts for the Word
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today. So let's pray and then we'll get
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started. Father, we thank You today for
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the privilege we have to worship You in spirit and truth.
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We're thankful, Lord, for the power of Your Word that You
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promised never returns void. It accomplishes the purposes for
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which You intended. So Lord, we pray for this Word
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today to go straight to all of our hearts that we might have a
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deeper appreciation and understanding of what you went
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through for us on that cross. And then we'll eventually have
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the Lord's Supper today because that gives us the ability to
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remember you. That's what You want us to do.
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Remember what it is You've done for us every day and yield and
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surrender to You that our lives might be more like you.
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Lord, every day You would change our hearts and our minds, renew
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us. So Lord, please bless this word
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today as it goes forth to your people, build them up and
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strengthen them. Thank you for those who are
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listening online on YouTube and also on the radio and Grace FM,
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bless them as well. Thank you for the privilege you
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give us to get this word out to the community and we pray and
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ask all these things in Jesus name, Amen.
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Well, it tells us, excuse me, in the book of Romans, the the 1st
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chapter, the 18th verse. I want to look at that real
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quick before I get started here this morning.
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Just so we're reminded of some things it tells us in the 16th
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verse of Romans, chapter one, This is the apostle Paul who
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also wrote the book of First Corinthians.
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He says For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
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the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for
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the Jew 1st and also for the Greek.
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For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
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faith. As it is written, the just shall
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live by faith. So what's so awesome about the
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gospel? If we understand it and if we've
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heard it and we believe on it, that changes our lives.
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It changes the way we live. It causes us to be completely
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different and transformed as people.
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Cindy and I were praying this morning about this process of
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sanctification, how God uses the Word to change us little by
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little, day by day, week by week, month by month, and year
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by year. And when you look back on your
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Christian life from the day that you first believed in the
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gospel, you see there's changes you you become different people,
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you're becoming more Christ like.
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And that is so awesome. And then Paul also spoke in the
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book of First Thessalonians about this impact of the gospel.
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In chapter 1 he says to the Church of the Thessalonians and
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God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace be to you
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and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you
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in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of
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faith, labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord
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Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father, knowing,
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beloved Brother, in your election by God.
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For our gospel did not come to you in Word only, but also in
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power and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you
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know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
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And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
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the word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, So
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that you became examples to all in Macedonia Archaea who
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believe. For from you the word of the
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Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Archaea, but
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also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that
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we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare
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concerning us what manner eventually we had to you and how
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you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God
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and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the
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dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
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So Paul's commending this church in Thessalonians, Thessalonica
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for the gospel's power and how it worked in their lives and how
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they were able to proclaim it to other people.
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So the purpose of the church is to train and educate us and how
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we can share the good, good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ
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with with other people. And they need to know that
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because what's happening in these days that we live is, is
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frightening in some ways, because there's so many people
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that have no clue about what it is that we believe, let alone
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the importance of the of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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And so today we want to focus on this truth of the gospel so that
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first of all, if you aren't a Christian today, you might
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become a believer because you're going to hear the gospel.
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But if you are a Christian and you have known the gospel for
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many years, it's going to go deeper in your heart today.
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I pray it did for me. As I studied and prepared for
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this message, I had to step back and think, God, you've been so
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good and so forgiving and so patient, so merciful.
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I review my life at times and I say, well, I did this and I'm
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ashamed of that or I did that and I shouldn't have done this
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or acted this. You know, we all have that past
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memory of our lives before Christ and even after Christ
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when we made mistakes and do make mistakes.
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And it humbles us to reflect on that.
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Because when you focus on what Jesus went through for you and,
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and the, and the blood that he shed and the punishment he took
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upon him saith in behalf of you and me, it can't do anything but
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cause you to love him more and to want to follow him more and
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to surrender and yield to him more.
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You have this relationship that's living because he's a
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living Savior. And Paul was so concerned about
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this gospel that we're going to study today in First Corinthians
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15 that he told the church in Galatia that he was concerned
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about many people turning away so soon from him.
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Who called you in the grace of Christ?
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This is Galatians chapter 1 to a different gospel which is not
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another. But there are some who trouble
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you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
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But even if we or an Angel from heaven preach any other gospel
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to you, then what we have preached to you, let him be
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accursed as we have said before. And so we say again, if anyone
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preaches any other gospel to you, then what you've received,
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let him be accursed. So this is a big deal.
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What we're studying about today in First Corinthians chapter 15,
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you might not be aware of it, but most churches don't teach
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this anymore. You can go to probably 90% of
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the churches in Greensburg today and you will not hear anything
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about this gospel of Jesus Christ.
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It's, it's concerning back in the 50s, just about every
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spiritual building in the community and the church would
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teach the things that we're teaching.
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But we're living in the days where there is a famine for the
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word of God. And many are denying the gospel.
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Many are denying the fact that Jesus was a real person.
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And if they did believe he was a real person, many deny the fact
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that he rose again from the dead.
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I mean, it's, it's incredible. What's what's being taught out
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there today? So I'm going to read some of the
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verses here. We're not going to go through
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the whole chapter today, but we'll go through some of it and
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then we'll continue in the in the days ahead.
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Moreover, brethren, this is First Corinthians chapter 15,
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verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare to
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you the gospel which I preached you, which also you received,
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and in which you stand, by which you are also saved, if you hold
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fast that word which I preached to you, unless you've believed
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in vain. For I delivered to you first of
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all that which I also received. That Christ died for our sins
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according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
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rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and
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that He was seen by Cephas. Then by the 12 after that He was
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seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part
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remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
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After that he was seen by James and by all the apostles.
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Then last of all, he was seen by me also by one born out of due
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time. And so Paul is describing here
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what happened and what they believe in regard to the truth
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of the gospel. And what's, what's concerning
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here is that as he was thinking about these things and, and the
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church in Corinth, you know, the church in Corinth, as we've been
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studying was full of all kind of crazy teaching and sexual
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immorality. And this sin believers were
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sinning. And Paul had to go back to that
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church and, and deal with them and teach them about the
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importance of, of what it is that they say they believed and
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how their lives should be completely different than the
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way they're living. He, he wrote this particular
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chapter to really drill down on the fact of what this gospel
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declares and what it means to people that believe it.
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Now the first 2 verses he says, I declare to you this gospel
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which I preached to you and which also you received and
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which you stand by, which also you are saved if you if and
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underline that if you hold fast that word which I preached to
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you, unless you believed in vain.
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So this gospel has power to change lives.
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Many of you here have had your lives changed by the gospel.
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That's why you worship the Lord, that's why you love Him, that's
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why you're here today. There's some people that hear
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the gospel and they say they believe it, but it hasn't
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changed their lives for various reasons.
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And we'll talk about that a little bit.
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But this gospel was defined back in the day that it was first
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preached as good news. That's the definition of gospel,
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good news. And it wasn't just the gospel of
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Jesus Christ. It was any kind of message that
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would bring to people a sense of positive thinking or good news
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or something that would make them joyful.
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But there's only one gospel in regard to salvation that saves
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us from the punishment we deserve from God because of what
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Jesus did for us. This church in Corinth received
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this gospel, and Paul said it has to believe.
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You have to believe this gospel, and you have to embrace it and
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make it personal to yourself that this isn't the fact that
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Jesus died for the sins of the world, as John 316 tells us.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
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that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
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everlasting life. But this gospel has to be lived
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out. And so Paul again, as he said in
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the book of Thessalonians, they were.
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He was thanking God all the time because the people that he
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preached to received the Word of God, which they heard from him,
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and they didn't receive it as a word of men, but as it is in
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truth the word of God, which also effectively works in you
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who believe. So when you're here today and
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you're listening to this message, think about this
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subject, this question, is this gospel effectively working in my
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life? Is it continually convicting me
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of things that I need to have changed in my life?
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Is this gospel something that causes me to want to let other
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people know what it's done for me and what it's done for you?
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That is the effective work of the gospel in the heart of
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someone who believes. So the Corinthians, the these
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believers in Corinth, they, they stood on the truth of this
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gospel, but for whatever reason, it wasn't deeply embedded in
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their hearts. I'm not saying they weren't
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saved, but when the gospels deeply embedded in your heart,
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it's going to change your life. It's going to change the way you
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think and the way you act. It's going to cause you to be
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convicted about certain things that are in your life presently
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that have to go. It's going to cause you to be
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more humble and more yielded and more obedient to the Lord
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because of the power of this word in this gospel.
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If this isn't something, well, yeah, I believed I'm saved.
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I remember I prayed A sinner's prayer 10 years ago, 20 years
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ago, whatever. And I know because of what Jesus
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did, I'm going to heaven. Well, that's just the beginning
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of the of the gospel. That's not the end point.
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There's so much that God wants to do by us studying this gospel
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and reflecting on this gospel. And he talks about the
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importance of this gospel and holding fast to it.
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And the word hold fast implies that the enemy wants to snatch
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the true gospel away from your heart as he did wanting to
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snatch it away from the Corinthian Christians.
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And that's why they have to hold on and in in studies of of the
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Bible and commentators, there's this word called the
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perseverance of the Saints. And if you're really saved, no
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matter what kind of temptation comes your way or what's going
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to try to move you away from having the Gospels, being
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sensual in your life isn't going to twist your mind or or pull
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you away. In the book of Hebrews, it tells
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us regarding this truth of, of perseverance and, and the
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importance of perseverance is critical because if you don't
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persevere, you will fall away. And the, the one that gives you
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the power to persevere is the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
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He's not going to let you go beyond the point of, of denying
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Jesus or just saying you don't want to do this stuff anymore.
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It tells us in the book of Hebrews verse 38.
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Now the just shall live by faith.
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But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
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So there is this capacity or potential for people to fall
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away. It tells us in the last days
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there'll be a great falling away.
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And when you read that or you hear that, you think, boy, I
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pray that isn't me. I don't want to fall away.
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What would you fall away to? What would you depend on?
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What would you believe on if you fell away from this truth of the
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gospel? But we are not of those who draw
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back to perdition or hell, but of those who believe to the
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saving of the soul. And that's called persevering,
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not giving up, not turning back, not turning away, not getting
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depressed and discouraged and stopping to trust Jesus.
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You just keep on keeping on. God bless you.
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So the content of the gospel is seen in verses 3 and four.
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And sometimes you might have asked yourself this question or
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someone's asked you, what exactly is the gospel?
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If I give the gospel to someone, what is it that I'm telling
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them? And this is the fullness of the
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gospel. And this when you share your
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your testimony, your faith, the gospel of people you want to
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follow this direction that Paul gives in these couple verses
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here for I delivered to you First of all, that which I also
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received that Christ died for our sins according to the
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scriptures. Most of us know that you tell
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someone about what happened to you.
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Jesus died for my sins according to what the Bible teaches the
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Scriptures, Historical documentation, historical facts.
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This isn't made-up, this isn't folklore, this isn't fairy
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tales. These are historical events that
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happened in a point of time in human history.
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Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
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Number one, that he was buried. It's important you tell people
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that he was buried because that means he died.
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If he wasn't buried and he just had a swoon like some people
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say, or he was a phantom or someone stole the body away or
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whatever, it brings heresies in. But no, he was buried.
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And the Third Point is that he rose again the third day,
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according to the Scriptures. It's very, very important to
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discuss those things when you're sharing the gospel.
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Paul received this gospel supernaturally by the Holy
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Spirit. This isn't something he made-up
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or thought would be cool to talk about.
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He was impacted personally by the death, burial, and
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resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just like all of us here today
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who were born again and are saved.
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We were impacted by this gospel when it was proclaimed to us,
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maybe not the first time and the second time, but eventually it
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made sense by the Spirit of God to our conscience and our minds
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and our hearts, and we believed and trusted in Jesus Christ.
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And so it's important to understand that this death of
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Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, is the center of the
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gospel. This is important, this chapter
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15, one of the most powerful chapters in the whole Bible.
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If we didn't have this chapter in here, none of us would really
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comprehend the basics of the points of Paul's making here in
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regard to what makes the gospel the gospel.
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So we all know and we, we take the Lord's Supper every Sunday
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to remember what he's done for us, OK.
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And he loves that, that we remember him in the Lord's
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Supper. That's the main sacrament he
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gave the church to keep their eyes on him and to never forget
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what he's done for us, for you and me personally.
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The Roman government, excuse me, executed him by one of the most
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cruel and excruciating forms of capital punishment ever devised.
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What I'm going to read to you right now is quite graphic and
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but it it's what we need to understand in regard to what he
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went through for us. Although the Romans did not
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invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of
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torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce a
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slow death with maximum pain and suffering.
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What exactly was it like to be crucified in days?
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A New Testament was first written?
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The practice needed no explanation, but we do well to
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appreciate what happened in that crucifixion.
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The victim's back was torn open by scourging, and the clotting
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blood was ripped open again when the clothes were torn off the
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victim. When he was thrown on the ground
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to nail his hands to the cross beam.
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The wounds were again torn open and contaminated with dirt.
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Then as he hung on the cross, with each breath, the painful
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wounds on the back scraped against the rough wood of the
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upright beam and were further aggravated.
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When the nail was driven through the wrist, it severed the large
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medium nerve. This simulated stimulated nerve
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produced excruciating bolts of fiery pain in both arms and
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resulted in a claw like grip in the victim's hands.
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Beyond the excruciating pain, the major effect of crucifixion
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was inhibit inhibiting normal breathing.
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The weight of the body pulling down on the arms and shoulders
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tended to fix the respiratory muscles in an inhalation state
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and hindered exhaled exhaling the breath.
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The lack of adequate respiration resulted in severe muscle
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cramps, which hindered breathing even further.
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To get a good breath, one had to push against the feet and flex
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the elbows, pulling from the shoulders, putting the weight of
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the body on the feet, producing searing pain and flexing the
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elbows twisted the hands hanging on the nails.
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Lifting the body for a breath also painfully scraped the back
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against the rough wooden post. Each effort to get a proper
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breath was agonizing, exhausting and LED to sooner death.
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Not uncommonly, insects would light upon or Burrow into the
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open wounds or the eyes, ears and nose of the dying and
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helpless victim, and birds of prey would tear at these sights.
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Moreover, it was customary to leave the corpse on the cross to
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be devoured by predatory animals.
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Death from crucifixion could not could come from many sources.
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Acute shock from blood loss, being too exhausted to breathe
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any longer, dehydration, stress induced heart attack or
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congestive heart failure leading to cardiac rupture.
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If the victim did not die quickly enough, the legs were
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broken and the victim was soon unable to breathe.
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The English word word crucifixion comes from this word
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meaning excruciating out of the cross.
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Consider this, How horrible did our sins have to be in the sight
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of God when he required such a great sacrifice for us?
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So as I was studying that, reflecting on that, I mean, I've
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been a pastor for 30 years and it just like hit me at a level
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that it's never hit me like this before.
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Personally, I believed. I know what he's done, but I
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think sometimes my belief was superficial because I, like
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Cindy said, we just can't grasp the depth of the gospel.
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There's so many layers to all this, isn't there?
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And it hits US at different times, at different levels, all
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of us, and God knows what we can handle and what we can't handle.
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But for me personally, this representation of what he
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suffered for me couldn't help me to to review my life and think
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about all the times I committed sin or I was disobedient or not
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caring and thinking like I was OK.
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You know, I was good, good to go, so to speak.
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And then thinking about this and what he went through for me, it
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broke me down. I mean, it just caused me to,
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when I weep not in feeling bad for what Jesus did, He knew He
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needed to do that for us. But thinking about why He had to
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do it for us and that He loved us as much, that He would
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actually go through this for us, He asked the Father in
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Gethsemane if it's possible let this cup pass from me.
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It wasn't the the pain and the suffering and the anguish of
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what He had to go through. It was a fact that for a
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momentary time He would be separated.
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And this is hard to comprehend from the oneness that He had
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with His Father and the Spirit. He was in all points tempted as
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we are, yet without sin, and He never in His eternal existence
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ever knew what it was like to be separated from God the Father.
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And when He went through that, He realized, you and me, what
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life is like for the human race to be totally disconnected from
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the One who made them. This moment that he died on that
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cross, they didn't have to break his legs.
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He gave up his life willingly and he said it's finished.
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Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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God laid upon Jesus all the guilt and wrath of the sin that
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you and I have committed. I deserve to be on that cross.
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You deserve to be on that cross. Every one of us did.
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But He went for us. He took the punishment that we
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all deserve and He bore it in Himself perfectly, totally
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satisfying the wrath of God in our place.
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Isn't that glorious? If that doesn't make you want to
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shout Hallelujah, I don't know what will.
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I mean when you grasp the fact that that should have been me,
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and because of Him, it wasn't me, it was him.
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Wow, that is good news, isn't it?
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Why would anybody want to reject this message and have to endure
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a punishment and suffering that Jesus went and took for them so
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that they wouldn't have to? Jesus took that act of being
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judged for sin in our place and this cup of God's wrath that he
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drank willingly. Jesus became, as it were, an
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enemy of God, which we all are before we come to Christ, who
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was judged and forced to drink the cup of the Father's fury, so
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we would not have to drink that cup.
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Isaiah 53 puts it powerfully. He is despised and rejected by
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men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we
28:50
had, as it were, our faces from Him.
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He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
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Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we
29:00
esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
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But He was wounded for our transgressions.
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He was bruised for our iniquities.
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The chastisement for our peace is upon Him, and by His stripes
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we are healed. I think about the worship song
29:20
that the team was singing. One drop of this cup would bear
29:25
down the soul to endless ruin, and his agonies would annihilate
29:31
the universe. He suffered alone for the
29:34
people. There was none with him because
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his sufferings were to make atonement for the sins of the
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world and then the work of redemption.
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He had no helper. He did this for our sins.
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Our sins were responsible for the death of Jesus.
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Do you guys get that our sins were responsible for the death
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of Jesus? And then it tells us in this
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chapter, the second part, he was buried.
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We don't think much at times about the burial and it's
30:13
important for several reason. It's positive proof that he
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really died. You don't bury someone unless
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they're really dead. And it also fulfilled the
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Scriptures which declared, and this is from Matthew chapter 27,
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they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich of his
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death. Jesus was buried in the tomb of
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a rich man. And then the Third Point he rose
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again. Although Jesus bore the full
30:45
wrath on the cross, as if He were a guilty Sinner, guilty of
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all our sin, even being made sin for us, as it tells us in 2nd
30:54
Corinthians 521, He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin,
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that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.
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He never became a Sinner, but the act of taking on our sin was
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an act of holy giving love for us, so that Jesus himself did
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not become a Sinner even though He bore the full guilt of our
31:19
sin. This is the gospel message that
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Jesus took our punishment for the sin of you and me on the
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cross, and yet remained a perfect Savior throughout the
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whole ordeal proved by His resurrection.
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If the cross is a payment for our sins, the empty tomb is the
31:46
receipt showing that the perfect Son of God made perfect payment
31:50
for our sins. The cross was a time of
31:54
Victoria's death. Sin was defeated, but nothing
31:58
positive was put in His place until the resurrection.
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The resurrection showed that Jesus did not succumb to the
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inevitable result of sin. The resurrection is proof of
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this victory. And He rose again the third day,
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as the Scripture said, and were prophesized throughout the Old
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Testament. And Jesus himself said he would
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go into Jerusalem and be crucified, but raised again on
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the third day. This demonstrates the
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credibility of God's Word because Jesus himself proclaimed
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he would rise three days after his death.
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Some people get confused about 3 days because he died on the
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cross on Friday and rose Sunday. This was an interesting truth I
32:47
uncovered. According to Jewish reckonings,
32:50
3 days would include parts of Friday afternoon, all of
32:54
Saturday and Sunday morning. So he's right on target.
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There was the three days according to the scriptures.
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That's important in your Bible. Everything you believe is
33:06
according to the Scriptures. The Word of God is given by
33:14
inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for
33:19
reproof, for correction, instruction of righteousness,
33:23
that the man of God, the person who God may be thoroughly
33:25
furnished unto all good works according to the Scriptures.
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It was planned from all eternity and described prophetically in
33:35
the Scriptures that this would occur.
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The plan for his resurrection is described in places in the Old
33:43
Testament, the book of Hosea, Jonah, Psalms, and it it just
33:50
continued on. It continued on 1st Corinthians
33:54
15. Five through 8 is concrete
33:59
evidence of Jesus resurrection. He was seen by Cephas.
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That's Peter, the one who denied him.
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Why did Jesus want to show up personally, this alone with
34:12
Peter? Peter had denied him just a few
34:18
days before that turned his back on his Savior.
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He probably felt like the biggest loser that was ever
34:27
born. He had such shame, such guilt,
34:31
such despair, such depression, probably saying, I can't believe
34:35
I did that. How could I do that?
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Be where you stand, lest you fall.
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How many times have we unintentionally denied our
34:46
Savior by the way we live are the things we've said.
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But the Lord Jesus is not a condemning Savior.
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He's a loving Savior. He understands our weaknesses.
34:57
And he hung out with Peter, I'm sure to say, Hey, my brother, my
35:03
son, I love you. I got plans for you.
35:07
Peter didn't quite understand and I'm sure at the time, but
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Jesus made it a point to show up and reveal his resurrected life
35:16
to Peter. No one actually saw this event
35:21
of Jesus coming from death to life.
35:25
Someone described it as like this old Star Trek thing where
35:29
the people could, like, dissipate their human energy and
35:32
turn into molecules and then go into another dimension, then
35:35
come alive again. It's much deeper than that.
35:39
What happened with Jesus? All we know is that he was
35:43
physically dead and then he appeared first to the
35:47
eyewitnesses, the women who saw him there at the resurrection,
35:53
and then his appearance to Peter.
35:57
And then it says he appeared to the 12, the 12, referring to the
36:04
apostles initial meeting. Thomas wasn't there.
36:09
He showed up later donning Thomas.
36:12
He couldn't believe. He couldn't believe it when he
36:14
heard these guys, his brothers saying, yeah, we, we saw the
36:17
resurrected Christ. There's no way I'm going to
36:19
believe this unless I can put my hand into the side and feel, you
36:23
know, all that. You guys know the story and
36:25
Jesus shows up and he knows everything.
36:28
Our thoughts from afar. Hey, Thomas, I I heard you say
36:33
you wouldn't believe. We'll go ahead and touch and
36:34
feel. And all of a sudden, Thomas does
36:37
that, and what's he say, my Lord and my God?
36:48
That meeting, that first meeting was probably in that room.
36:52
The doors and the windows were all shut when He breathed on the
36:55
disciples and gave to them the Holy Spirit.
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And then over 500 brethren at once, it says He revealed
37:06
Himself to. And that was suggested in
37:11
Matthew 28 when He was on the hill before His ascension and
37:16
many people showed up and saw him and heard what He had to
37:18
say. The last thing He told him was
37:22
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
37:24
living creature, teaching them all things whatsoever I've
37:28
commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
37:31
Holy Spirit. And lo, I'm with you always,
37:34
even to the end of the age that gospel presentation is
37:41
continuing to this day, that us as His witnesses, we go forth
37:46
and share this gospel with other people.
37:50
That the old hymn, the Old Rugged Cross is powerful this
37:54
morning. I haven't sang that in a long
37:55
time. And it really had special
37:58
meaning to me because we're in this chapter today singing that.
38:03
Then when there was that other song, I server as a Savior, He's
38:07
in the world today. I know that he is living.
38:10
Whatever men may say. I feel his hand of mercy.
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I know that's the time I need him.
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He's always near. He lives, He lives.
38:19
Christ Jesus lives in me. He walks with me and talks with
38:22
me a long life's narrow way. He lives.
38:25
He lives salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives,
38:33
and I want to say he lives within my heart.
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And we have a great witness because Christ has given us His
38:44
grace to believe His mercy. What a awesome, awesome truth.
38:50
Not any what we read in the Scriptures is true, but we are
38:54
living witnesses. The Bible says we're epistles
38:58
known and read of men. When you're out and about in
39:00
your life and people see you in your workplace, your
39:03
neighborhood, your community, your, your family on, they see
39:07
Jesus in you. You might not think they can see
39:10
anything in you, but you're messed up, whatever.
39:13
But they see something different in you and they marvel and they
39:16
wonder why do they act this way? Why do they talk this way?
39:20
Why do they have such love for Jesus?
39:26
Beautiful. And then it says he was seen by
39:32
James. This is the last verses the
39:35
worship team can come forward. James is interesting.
39:39
He's the brother of Jesus. Can you imagine growing up in a
39:45
house with Jesus being your brother?
39:49
You're getting in trouble all the time.
39:51
He never gets in trouble. They call him Goody 2 sandals.
39:56
He never doing anything wrong. And they were probably jealous
40:01
of his, his example, his life, all that.
40:05
But it's interesting. They didn't believe there was
40:07
anything special about him at the time.
40:13
A matter of fact, in the gospels it showed that Jesus brothers
40:16
were hostile toward him at times in his mission.
40:20
Yet in the 1st chapter of Acts, Jesus brothers are among the
40:24
followers of Jesus. Certainly when they saw heroes
40:29
again from the dead, they finally got it that truly this
40:35
is the Son of God. So we think about these verses
40:42
the day that we've read and we've studied and I I wanted to
40:50
put a we'll get into it next time I teach when Paul says he
40:55
was least last of all seen in me and Paul will tell his own
41:00
story. But I have this like little
41:04
Gideon's Bible here that Fred gave me.
41:08
And by the way, if any of you guys want to get involved in
41:11
Gideon's, see Fred because they always have outreaches and you
41:16
can get involved just giving Bibles out to people and it
41:18
doesn't take a lot of time and you don't have to do it every
41:21
day. It's just like they have these
41:22
events and they need more younger guys to be involved in
41:25
the Gideons. So Fred Waver, stand up Ecker
41:28
for a second. Say know who you are.
41:30
See Fred if you want to get involved in Gideon's.
41:32
I was involved in it as a young believer, and I was very
41:35
impacted by these older guys that loved Jesus so much.
41:40
But it says in this little book, this little Bible, New
41:43
Testament, the Bible contains the mind of God, the state of
41:47
man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the
41:50
happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its
41:54
precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its
41:57
decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it
42:02
to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
42:05
It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort
42:09
to cheer you. It's a traveller's map.
42:12
The pilgrim's staff, the pilots compass, the soldiers sword, and
42:16
the Christians charter. Here Paradise is restored,
42:20
heavens open, and the gates of hell disclose.
42:24
Christ is its grand subject, our good, the design and the glory
42:32
of God. It's end.
42:33
It should fill the memory, roll the heart, guide the feet, Read
42:37
it slowly, frequently and prayerfully.
42:40
It's a mind of wealth, a paradise of glory, a river of
42:43
pleasure. It's given you it.
42:45
Life will be opened at the judgement and be remembered
42:49
forever. It involves the highest
42:51
responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn
42:56
all who trifle with its sacred contents.
42:59
It's really well, well said, isn't it?
43:02
That's why we're here today. That's why we worship the Lord.
43:06
That's why we read the Scriptures.
43:07
That's why we have our personal times of prayer.
43:11
So on Tuesday at 7:00 at the Fellowship Hall, we're training
43:16
people how to share the Gospel. Turning Points US one point of
43:20
why we're involved with Turning Point.
43:22
We're concerned about where our country's going, obviously, but
43:26
the hearts of people need to be changed before the country goes
43:29
in the right direction. You can't legislate morality.
43:32
It comes by the Spirit of God. So a lot of people feel
43:36
inadequate in regard to sharing their faith.
43:38
Tuesday night, 7:00, There'll be more training on how to give the
43:42
gospel, how to get people involved in conversations, how
43:46
to use our Connect card to invite people to Calvary to hear
43:49
the gospel. Maybe you're, you don't feel
43:52
equipped yet. Bring them here.
43:54
Louis and me or whoever's preaching.
43:56
We're always going to give the gospel and that's that's
43:59
important. And then there's a Connect card
44:01
for the Gideon's Bible app that we give out with the connect
44:04
card where people can download it with the QR code in their
44:08
Bible to get the Bible on, on their phone.
44:11
And when they're going through tough times, they can pull up a
44:14
subject and they'll have verses how to address those issues in
44:17
their lives. So Tuesday night, learning to be
44:22
a witness. So as we prepare now for the
44:27
Lord's Supper, probably the first time in a long time we're
44:36
taking this, remembering his death and what he went through,
44:42
right? We all heard the pain, the
44:44
suffering, the anguish he went through for us today.
44:47
So maybe the supper will take on even a little deeper meaning for
44:51
us today because Jesus said as often as we eat this bread and
44:55
drink this cup, we show forth his death, what he did for us
44:59
until he comes again, Amen. So let's pray, Father, we're
45:04
thankful, Lord, for your word. You give us light, You give us
45:09
understanding. You help us to see.
45:14
We pray today. Lord, if there's anyone blind
45:16
here today and they can't see, open their hearts to believe the
45:22
gospel today that they would say, Jesus, I understand today
45:26
what you did for me. I'm a Sinner and I need your
45:31
forgiveness. I'm so sorry for rejecting you
45:35
and not believing in you. But I heard the gospel and the
45:41
power of the historical fact that Christ died for our sins
45:46
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried.
45:49
He rose again the third day. This is why you came, Lord, and
45:55
that night before you were crucified, you told the apostles
46:04
why you were doing what you were going to do.
46:09
And you said these words. On the night that Jesus is
46:12
betrayed, He took the bread in his hands and he gave thanks,
46:18
and he said, take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.
46:23
Eat this in remembrance to me in the same manner.
46:34
And that evening he took the cup.
46:37
He said This cup is a new covenant.
46:40
My blood, which is shed for the forgiveness of sins of many,
46:46
drink this in remembrance of me. For as often as we eat this
46:55
spread and we drink this cup, we show forth the Lord's death till
47:00
he comes again. Amen.
47:02
It took a little different meaning today, a little bit
47:05
deeper than maybe the past. So may that word today that
47:11
we've heard go deep in our heart and stay there so that we might
47:14
love Jesus more than ever. Amen.
47:17
God bless you guys.