Father, we just pray what we sang.
Just thank you for Jesus.
Thank you that you sent Jesus to call sinners home. Thank you by grace. Jesus, Lord, you have worked in us salvation.
Jesus, we ask that you would teach us and all the more be our Lord and Savior.
Not just in the beginnings of a Christian life, but be our Lord and Savior more and more. Forever. So we’re in eternity with you. We can see you face to face. Lord, that’s our desire.
We just pray that in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon. So grateful to be with you.
I’m alone today. My family’s visiting. Other family up in Kentucky.
But I want to say that, you know, I really appreciate Andre sharing his testimony.
It’s funny, my sermon is, I guess my sermon is just an exposition on that, on just the gospel.
That’s kind of where we, have come here in chapter 15 in the book of Corinthians. And it’s amazing. We’re at the end of it. Only have the rest of 15 and 16 left. I wanted to mention to you as well, before I begin, myself and the elders, we, you know, have just been thinking and praying about how can we pastor and shepherd you better? So one thing that we’re doing and have done is we, I don’t know if you want to call it casting lots, but we, we cut up everyone’s name, everyone’s family name, and we put it in a hat and we all picked out names evenly. So know that either Chris or Chase or myself, we are laboring in prayer for you amongst us. We each have four or five families. And so, you know, we’ll also be just checking in on you and letting you know that we’re here for any spiritual support you need. Just another way to really love and shepherd you. So I want to share that with you. Let’s read in verse one in chapter 15.
Paul says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you receive, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved. If you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain.
And, you know, Paul has, has been talking about, and I know you, you know, can think about it with me. We’re talking about communion. We’re talking about tongues. We’re talking about how to show up together. We’re talking about right relations with people. And Paul has to go like in all these different directions and all this stuff. But he ends the letter with the best thing that he wants to remind them about and clarify and straighten out. And that’s the gospel. He says, I want to remind you. I want to remind you.
Dawson, Dawson sold a bunch of his, hot wheel sets. You know, he had these monstrous worlds of tracks and never played with them. And why don’t you play with them? You know, they get a toy and it’s like, it just sits there. So he sold a bunch of his hot wheel sets, enough to buy a guitar. He’s been begging for a guitar for the last like two years. And so he had enough money and he sold, you know, all his stuff. So we went to the guitar store and he bought this beautiful little tobacco sunburst, three quarter size guitar. And man, he just lit up like a, you know, Christmas tree. and so he loves to whip it out. And so we’ve just started learning some basic chords and I’m trying to teach him a basic chord. I know, I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. And he wants to go on to the next thing. And I said, no, buddy, you don’t, you don’t have that one down. And the guitar is not even sitting on his leg, right? It’s falling backwards and he’s holding it. I said, no, you got to hold it up on your knee. No, no, I can, I can, he wants to go on to the next thing. And we can’t go on to the next thing until we have the basics. We can’t talk about anything else until we have the most importance of doubt. And that’s the issue here. Paul’s not saying, okay, let me fill this letter up with a million, you know, amazing spiritual truths. He’s really just reminding them of things that matter. And that’s often the Christian life. The Christian life is not, I think, most of the time assimilating new truths as much as it is learning to cherish love, value, obey things that you’ve been told a bunch before. So he says, you need to be reminded. You need to be reminded. And the first thing that Paul reminds them about the gospel is that it’s an enduring gospel. Paul says, he wants to remind them about this gospel and it’s an enduring gospel. He said, I would remind you, I’m making known to you something you already know and it’s the gospel. But it’s past tense. He says, I preached it, to you. And it’s not a new thing. It’s not a new thing. And I think that’s the trouble a lot of times with people and it’s not a 21st century thing. It’s just a people thing. We’re on the hunt to be wowed by some new truth, some new, you know, mystical religion or perhaps we can be misled by false teachers. Certainly, satanic perversion is always a risk. Sometimes we’re just flat, plain forgetful about things we know are good and true and sometimes, we give in to pure and worldly pressure. And if we don’t think, if we don’t think we need to be reminded of the things we already know, here, chiefly, we’re talking about the gospel, we are extremely arrogant because we assume we are impenetrable, we’re immune to any sort of self-malfunction or self-destruction. I’m incredibly given to self-destruct.
We are arrogant when we don’t think we need to be reminded because we think we don’t have an enemy who, as Paul says, he’s constantly shooting flaming darts at us. You are not impenetrable. You are not. How often do the Scriptures plea with us to be watchful, to be careful, to be prayerful, to be steadfast because of our many foes and our many enemies? And internal vices. If it weren’t true that you and I need to be careful, the Hebrew writer wouldn’t say this in chapter 2. He says, therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest what? We drift away from it.
So, it’s not true that you just become a Christian and your brain goes in in cruise control. Why does Paul tell us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God? Why does Jesus say in the garden you must be watchful and prayerful lest you give in to temptation? So, the Bible is replete with such warnings. So, it’s not only arrogant to think that you don’t need to live to be reminded of good truths. It’s dangerous to assume that you’re beyond, you know, perverting what you believe or defecting altogether. Because in assuming such, you’re not going to be careful about your own faith. And in not being careful, you’re vulnerable. You’re vulnerable. You’re not careful, you know, when you think you’re not in danger. It’s interesting, you know, fish tank.
The certain of my fish, they’re fish that school together, but they don’t school. And the reason they don’t school is because they feel safe. They realize a predator’s not around. When they know that, when they’re living like that, they’re protected schooling.
So, the issue is not, you know, to be clear, the validity of the gospel. That’s not what Paul’s talking about. He’s saying, hey, the gospel’s good. I already gave it to you and it was done and finished. Everything it needs to be when I preached it to you. What Paul’s talking to them about is the validity of their faith. Is your faith real in it? It’s an enduring gospel that’s timeless and powerful. But is your faith enduring? Are you willing to hold on to it as it was and as it is? Your whole Christian life?
Paul says, it’s not my gospel. He says, I’m giving to you that which I received. And it’s really quite a string of words. He says, I preached to you which you received and which you stand
and by which you were being saved. So, Paul says, look, you believed it and it was good enough to save you then and it was valid then. And you stand in it now as truth for your life now. But at the same time, Paul says, the gospel that you receive, it’s doing a work to save you and prepare you for glory. So, past, present, future, Paul says the gospel is enduring. It’s not partial. He didn’t tell them some of the truth. He didn’t breadcrumb them. It’s not a gospel that needs revision. It’s not a gospel that has an alternative.
It doesn’t need an alternative. It’s past, it’s present, and it’s future. It’s enduring. It’s the gospel of Jesus. It’s in enough. So, I want to ask you, Christian, is your gospel and all the doctrines that go with the gospel, are they up for revision?
Do you have an open ear to hear maybe how other voices are reinterpreting it? Are you willing to consider maybe something different?
And you say, oh, that could never happen to me. That would never happen to me. Paul writes to the church in Galatia, chapter 1, verse 6. He says to this church that the Apostle Paul planted. He says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. You are under the Apostle Paul’s tutelage and you are turning to a different gospel. And here the Galatian church did what? They start to turn from the gospel.
The issue for the Corinthians that Paul is addressing is the resurrection. And it’s believing that you and I will be bodily resurrected when Jesus comes back. And that was a really big issue for Paul to write to them about. And we read in other places in Scripture that that’s an issue. People are being bothered by people saying the resurrection has already happened. But there’s a problem. There’s a plethora of deviations throughout church history and today. Whether we’re talking about the divinity of Christ, the existence of hell, universal salvation, so hey, everybody gets saved in the end, God just forgives everybody, or all roads lead to heaven, whatever religion you choose, it’s okay, it’s open spiritualism. Certainly when we talk about
homosexuality, when we talk about gender dysphoria, there are so many fronts in which culture and people have said throughout church history and they’re saying today, no to God and His truth and His word. And you have to have the humility to say, I am vulnerable, God, if I do not hold fast. I must hold fast,
is Paul’s admonition. And I think when we read all that, you know, at first look, perhaps you want to throw your hands up. And it’s like, well, gosh, I mean, how can I know if I’m going to hold on to the end? I mean, maybe I’m going to be one of these people that I get into it and I read this book this one time and it’s interesting and it completely turns on its head everything I believe or one day I just wake up and I’m not interested in it anymore. What if that happens to me?
Here’s the amazing thing about the gospel and what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus never asks of us things that He’s not already supplied us with. The cross doesn’t ask anything of you that it doesn’t supply in grace so that you can be obedient and hold on.
Jesus says that He never loses His own. Jesus says He’s with us to the very end. So when we read a verse like this, what the writer’s not saying is, oh, this one time you sinned or this one time you had this question about doctrine, this one time you believed something that was kind of off doctrinally. Oh! You let go. It was all in vain. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s talking about the general tone and tenor of your life. Do you find in yourself a heart and a desire past all your seasons of sin, which we all have them, past going through seasons of being less wise and smart and knowledge and doctrine than you were five, ten years ago, past all of your misgivings, do you still have in yourself a God-given desire to hold on? You’ll let go. That’s why we sing that song all the time. He will hold me fast. So it’s a wonderful truth that the reason why we can hold on is because God in His grace gives us the power to hold on. So you don’t have to wonder, am I one of those people who’s going to just let go? Have I believed in vain? Do you desire God? Yes. Are you a horrible sinner? Yes. Well, do you believe Jesus will forgive you of your sins? Yes. Do you desire to go on in the truth? Yes. So let me say this. Failure is not a proof you aren’t a Christian. Refusing to turn to God is.
Okay? You can sin up one side and down the other and be no more less saved. The question is, in your sin, in your doctrinal error, will you turn to Christ? And that’s a huge issue. It’s a huge issue that all believers deal with. How can I know my faith is genuine? And what you try to do is decide in yourself if you’re a Christian based off of how naughty you’ve been in your life. And you end up going, oh my gosh, I’m so sinful.
Yes, you are. Well, can you turn to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness? Because He said He will.
And that’s the beauty of it. So Paul’s not saying, are you elite? Are you an elite Christian that can hold on? He’s saying, are you humble enough to say, Jesus, I need you. That’s where it falls in. That’s the beauty of it.
So the enduring gospel, it’s enduring in time, but it’s enduring in its power to keep you. It’s enduring.
Imagine if someone, I guess you’d have to do it illegally, but if you broke in an art museum in New York, it’s where Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night is. You’ve probably seen that. It’s the swirly stars and all that. And imagine someone thought, well, it’s fine, but I really think it needs a few more stars. I’m going to get a pair of stars. I’m going to get a paintbrush and some paint. I’m going to add some stars. And maybe when you’re done with it, you think it looks better. And maybe you can even talk a few of your friends into thinking it looks better.
But it’s not what it was. It’s not what it was. It’s not what it is.
Because the gospel is the gospel. And you need to know it, and you need to love it, and you need to be reminded of it. That’s why I like to float those two words together, word saturation. I like us living with that on the forefront of our minds. We’re nothing if we’re not gospel people, and we’re nothing if we’re not word people rooted in good doctrine and truth.
I would say to you as well, if I can’t say to you, hey, what’s the gospel? And you can’t, well, let me tell you, you need to grow in that. I think everyone needs to be able to give a, like Andre did, a three to five minute, you know, hey, let me tell you who I was. Let me tell you what Christ did for me. Let me tell you how I’m different. It’s the power of the gospel. So you need to love it for yourself, but you need to love it so you can share it.
There’s nothing wrong with someone who’s not in ministry. I think it’s everyone, you know, elders or ministry with me, buying theology books and growing in the knowledge of truth. Order yourself a systematic theology book. You won’t die if you open it and start reading it. You know, it’ll be enlightening. So love the gospel, grow in the truth of it, but grow in the knowledge of it. That’s why, you know, we do scripture memorization on Wednesday night because it’s a spiritual discipline we need to grow up more in the truth. Sermons are good and sermons are necessary, but it’s not all. That’s why, you know, we encourage discipling relationships. I know, you know, Sarah and Reagan and Jessica are doing a thing right now and I’ve been meeting at Shaggy’s for a while with Chris and some of the guys and, you know, we’re meeting to walk through the book of Peter. You just need to have the word in you all the time so that you can be reminded of it. Okay? Everyone’s like this.
This is the road. This is you.
Always. Okay? And until you’re in heaven, okay, your alignment issue’s not going to be able to be fixed. You’re going to do this. So you’ve got to constantly inundate yourself.
So Paul says, it’s an enduring gospel, but secondly, I want to say to you, Paul says, it’s a simple gospel. It’s a simple gospel. Verse three. He says, for I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. Most of, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. So I’m going to sound like I’m arguing with my last point. I’m not. I’m going to sound like it for a second. You and I should learn and grow in the truth of the knowledge of the gospel and the scriptures. At the same time, that’s dangerous if it replaces the simplicity of the gospel. I can remember, you know, when I was earlier in ministry, and, you know, I just got my undergrad degree in biblical, and I was like, biblical studies, you know, and like it was, you know, a badge of honor if I, you know, read a thick book with big words in it, and you want to read like journals and like different theological controversies going on, like, you know, be all like up in this stuff.
But it’s distracting.
It can be distracting. It can be dangerous if it gets in the way of the simplicity of who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and what it means to be, gospel people. He says, look, I deliver to you what’s of first importance. And what does he say, plainly? Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus was raised from the dead, and he appeared to others.
It’s not what Paul made up. You know, you’ve heard about other world religions, and you’ve read about the Pharisees. When men make up religion, it’s extremely complex, and it’s messy. The gospel is otherworldly in its simplicity. And I want to say it’s simple in these two ways. The gospel is simple in its transmission, and the gospel is simple in its message. It’s simple in its transmission, and it’s simple in its message. Paul says twice here, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. What has God been doing? What has God been doing? All throughout human history.
Plainly saying to the world, my son Jesus is going to come. All throughout the Old Testament and so many prophets, Jesus talks about the suffering servant. He talks about the coming Messiah. All the way back in the garden, what did God simply say about Jesus when Adam and Eve sinned? He said, hey, I’m going to send a seed from the woman, and the seed’s going to crush the serpent. So, God has been anything but confusing, anything but hidden. God has been playing to bring the gospel to the forefront of his people’s minds. You know, and I think, you know, probably most famously and most useful is Isaiah 53.
And you’ve heard this one. Surely he has borne our griefs, he’s carried our sorrows, yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God, afflicted. But, Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds were healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
That’s plain. It’s the gospel according to Isaiah. What did Jesus say when Jesus showed up? Jesus said, hey, I’m fulfilling all those scriptures y’all know about. I’m the guy. Here I am. Jesus said to his disciples right before he died, see, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished, for he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon, and after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise. And guess what? He did it. He did it. And then guess what he did when he was raised up? He went to all his disciples and said, hey, I did it. And they’re like, nuh-uh. It’s like he’s there in the flesh, and they still lack the belief. Like he’s there, and then what did they do? Well, they went and shared that simple gospel message. It’s what they did. Paul gives an account. He says, I’ve gone and I’ve preached the gospel to great and small. I’ve preached the gospel to everyone. I’ve taken it to the ends of the earth. And I want you to think about two things that I think is amazing about when the gospel was decided. One is the fact that the world’s pretty unified at this point. I mean, you have the Roman Empire. It’s like Koine Greek. It’s pretty ubiquitous. Everyone can speak the same language. So think about that when you’re trying to get a message across to like a known world. You’ve got really one language. There’s various languages, but it’s pretty efficient for spreading a message. At the same time, you know, we’ve talked about oral transmission. How do people really learn back then? They learn through storytelling. So when you have a group of people who hear the truth, and they can protect that truth together. But you go all the way up to, I think about the Protestant Reformation. Think about when Martin Luther was saying, hold on, Catholic Church, you’re not doing things according to the Word of God. This is not the gospel. It’s amazing that the printing press was invented right then. And what did the printing press do? It began to disseminate the truth. And so you have the Bible becoming readily accessible to the people. So when you look at that, and then we come all the way to the 21st century, and we look at all the way to the 21st century, and we look at all the manuscripts we’ve ever had our hands on, and we find nothing but the same simple Word of God that He’s been giving out. And I think about missionaries who utilize technology. And how is God using technology to turn the gospel, or put the gospel of the Bible into their language? Sometimes it’s those little radios that they can listen to. Or because of technology, you have teams of translators who are able to go and live in a place, learn a language fast. But the whole point is this, and me saying that, God wants everyone to hear His gospel message.
It’s not, hey, I know a guy, he’s got the truth. If you have enough money, he’ll take you in a back room. And if he likes you, he’ll let you hear about it.
It’s not Illuminati secret knowledge that only a few people get to hear about. God has been lavishly, generously preaching the gospel to the nations. And that comes back on us. What does God want us to do? To partner with Him in doing what? Preaching that simple, wonderful gospel.
But I want to say it’s simple to you in its message. Not just because God wants it to go to everyone. The gospel is simple because God wants it to be received by everyone.
You know, you’ve probably seen pictures or documentaries on people in the Far East. I remember seeing one of these in school when I was younger. And, you know, the guy, I guess he was trying to achieve enlightenment, but, you know, he had nothing but, you know, a loincloth on and he ate practically nothing. He sat, you know, with his legs crossed like high up in a tree and didn’t come down. And that’s just how he lived his life. You know, so many people have tried so hard to achieve enlightenment. It’s secret knowledge and you have to understand it. And that’s the amazing thing is that God preaches His gospel to the simplest of people. He doesn’t require a high IQ. He doesn’t require, He doesn’t require anything other than open ears. God has given us minds for us to hear the Word of God. And yes, we need the Spirit to receive that. But what does Paul say in Romans? Faith comes through hearing. Faith comes through hearing. So, praise God, the gospel message is simple. And you can share it in passing with your co-worker. Now, hey, it’s great if they want to come over and hopefully you’ll want it to go that way where you’re growing deeper in discipleship. But the gospel, the means of salvation, it’s this beautiful, simple thing that actually foils us. The gospel’s so simple, we don’t like it that simple. Remember when we were further back in Corinthians, what does Paul say? He says, I foil the wisdom of the wise. That’s what the gospel does. It’s too simple sometimes. And we get our smarty pants on and we’re so prideful and we know so much. We think we know so much. But God, God asks us to, hey, it’s this simple. Step outside yourself. You can’t do it for yourself.
Jesus, God in the flesh, has lived perfect before the Father on your behalf. Jesus in the flesh spilled His blood on the cross for you. Jesus was resurrected in the flesh. And if you trust in Him, you will be saved.
It’s not a simple message too for lost people. I want to say to you, the gospel is a simple message. It’s a simple message for saved people. When I’m driving down the road and I don’t feel spiritually lifted and I feel frail and I’m in a sin struggle or just life’s hard, I don’t have time to revisit 10,000 words. I need a lifesaver in that moment. And you know, it’s amazing, just one glimpse of the cross in my mind. Just crying out, you know what, whatever I’m going through, if it’s a sin thing, Jesus, your cross defeated my sin and I’ve got power in it. Lifeline.
Man, I’m suffering. I’ve got anguish. I’ve got grief. Let me read all the chapters on how I deal. Jesus, you have borne my grief and you bring true and everlasting life. The gospel is wonderfully simple for us to hold on to in all of life. God did not say, you intellectually come up here.
You and your righteousness and merit, you come up here. God in His grace said, I’ll come down there. I’ll come down to your level. I’ll condescend. And isn’t that what Jesus did for us? He condescended and came down here and met us where we are.
It said that Charles Spurgeon on his deathbed
said, as time has passed on, my theology has grown more and more simple and it is simply this,
Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me.
And that’s really wonderful. That’s really wonderful.
Friends, though we are sinful, though we are far from God, Jesus preaches this wonderful, simple, yet powerful gospel. And it’s the story of Jesus living, dying, and being resurrected and the promise He’s going to come again.
Leverage the simplicity of the gospel.
In, again, loving it for yourself, but also in sharing it. I think that’s one of those things that shouldn’t scare new believers. I think it does. Like, I’m a believer now. And really, one of the worst ways you can really cripple a new believer is by them thinking, I’ve got to go through a seminary experience before I could ever be used of God or I could open my mouth. Now, again, I’ll be the first one to die on that hill. No. We should be growing in the truths of the Scripture. Growing in knowledge of God so that the gospel is more and more wonderful to us. That’s not the point. The point is, even if you’re a new believer, you should be able to say, let me tell you who Jesus is and give a full, effective gospel presentation that God can use. Think about the woman at the well. She has this conversation, but she’s spiritually elated and she’s not really in the middle of it. She runs and she says, come meet a man who told me everything I ever did. She just says, look, I don’t know, but come meet him. And it’s amazing how God uses just, I think the joy and excitement a new believer has that a lot of times we lose when we get kind of stuffy when we’ve been in the faith for a while. So, share it. And again, I want to say to you, improve your reflex of grabbing at it when life is hard. I think we let the enemy beat the fire out of us or whatever, and then it’s like, oh yeah, Jesus. No, I’m just going to go straight to Jesus. I’m going to go straight to the cross.
The last thing I want us to see here, it’s an enduring gospel. It’s a simple gospel. Thirdly, though, it’s a personal gospel. It’s a personal gospel. Verse 8, Paul says, Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the way, the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them. Though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. And I think these verses are precious because you get a lot of Paul in the New Testament. But you get Paul’s heart on the table.
Jesus, the gospel, the Christian life, it’s not assumed for Paul. It’s not commonplace for Paul. The gospel for Paul is this everyday, 24-hour, like, ongoing miracle that he could be called a Christian, much more an apostle.
He says, I’m an untimely born. That means a preemie, a premature baby.
Darcy was premature. She had to be in the NICU for a few days. Her lungs weren’t developing. She had lung issues the first couple years of life. She wasn’t ready to come into the world. And Paul says, that was me. All the other apostles, they got to walk and talk with Jesus for three years. I was just on a donkey to Damascus to, you know, kill a bunch of Christians. I was untimely in my spiritual birth, Paul says. So it’s amazing to him that he, one of the great nemeses of the ancient church,
he would be a Christian. He says, I’m the least. He says, I’m unworthy. And he says, but Christ appeared to me.
And Paul’s got no good reason. All he can say is, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And, you know, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. You and I can’t say anything different if we’re honest about our standing in Christ Jesus. That’s it. The only thing any of us can say is, by the grace of God, I am what I am.
And that’s when the gospel really is what it should be and can only be in your life. And that’s personal. It’s not, as Andre was talking about, it’s not just general religion. It’s not what I grew up in. It’s not my parents’ faith. It’s not a cultural affiliation. It’s not, well, yeah, I’m a Christian, but I’m sure not as bad as other people. I mean, I needed Jesus, but he needed Jesus. I didn’t need… No, no, I see Jesus when I see myself as the greatest offender of God’s holiness, yet I’m at the foot of the cross being accepted on the merit of Jesus.
Is the gospel that real? Is it that personal? Because let me tell you something. If the gospel’s not that real and not that personal, it’s not going to be an enduring gospel for you. It’ll be fine until something fancier comes along and your ear will be bent if it’s not your treasure.
Is it personal?
Is it personal? Do you love the gospel as your own? Paul elsewhere in the New Testament, he’ll just put the M.Y. right in front of it. He says, it’s my gospel. It’s my gospel. It’s Paul’s treasure. It’s Paul’s everything.
And he says, gospel wasn’t in vain on me. It wasn’t preached to me in vain. He says, I worked harder than everybody else. I worked harder. Now that sounds arrogant, doesn’t it, for a second. Like, what do you mean you worked harder? Paul, what do you mean you worked harder? And I think we can wrongly pick, get grace against hard work for God.
Grace against hard work. Like, I don’t want to work too hard because, you know, Jesus saved me. And if I start working hard for God, people think or I’ll start to think that I’ve got to merit my salvation. That’s not remotely grace. It’s not remotely grace.
When we come to that full realization, as Paul did, that there’s nothing I can do to make God love me anymore, and there’s nothing I can do to make God love me any less. Friends, the only proper response to that is to say, I just want to serve this God. It’s not about me being saved. I’m not trying to earn my salvation. But because I have been saved and there’s nothing that can change that, I just want to give my life to it. So working hard for God is a response of supernatural love that goes back to God because God first, by grace, loved me and Jesus. And the way that my supernatural love goes back out to God is by working hard for God in radical obedience that would have never been possible if God hadn’t saved me and filled me with Christ.
You see, you see how much wisdom there is in God saving this guy, Saul.
Saul, who was a smarty pants, right? He said, I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. I was from the best tribe. I was under Gamaliel. I had my ducks in a row. Everybody thought I was a man. Everybody thought I was a man. I was killing the church. I was awesome. You know, I thought God totally approved of me. And yet, He’s brought to pieces on the floor. He’s brought to pieces on the floor. And He says, oh, I was the worst. But look at God’s grace displayed in me and my salvation and now in my life serving His kingdom.
So, again, I want to reemphasize what Andre shared. I hope you don’t have a… I raised my hand when I was a kid kind of faith. And there’s nothing wrong with raising your hand if it was true in your heart. So don’t get me wrong on that. But if your salvation is some ceremonial thing you did to check that box and it’s not the core of your heart and life, friend, I say to you, Jesus wants to be so much more real to you, personal to you. Do you desire to know Jesus as such? Do you desire that? Do you desire that? Do you desire that? Passionless Christianity is no Christianity.
Passionless Christianity is no Christianity. Sometimes you have to see people love things for you. You love them. I probably have shared this story years and years ago, but I like it. So I’m going to tell you. There’s a story about a merchant, wealthy merchant, who came in a jewelry shop and the jeweler’s assistant showed him this beautiful diamond. And he talked to him for a minute and the merchant said, oh, no thanks, it’s not for me. But the jeweler’s assistant showed him this beautiful diamond and he talked to him for a minute and the merchant said, oh, no thanks, it’s not for me. got that diamond real quick and said, sir, let me just for a moment show you this again. And he just talked about its beauty. He talked about its brilliance. He talked about how unique of a diamond it was. And that man who formerly said no exclaimed, I’ll take it. I’ll take it.
Friends, people don’t want a Jesus that’s as crusty and dry as the desert. Because that’s not Jesus. They want a Jesus that, man, He’s beautiful and He’s wonderful and I don’t deserve Him, but He has spilled His blood and He has called me His own. That is a Jesus that changes hearts and changes lives.
And so that’s why Paul says here, in closing with verse 11, whether then it was them, you know,
other apostles, whoever, whether it was whoever, however you heard it, you heard it. He says, so we preach and so you believed. So Paul says, be reminded of the gospel. Because it’s that gospel in which you believed that’s enduring, simple, that’s so personal. It’s a gospel that keeps you. It’s a gospel that will keep you until we’re perfected with Christ in glory. Be reminded all the time of the gospel. Be reminded of the gospel. Let’s pray.
Lord, forgive us for our pride
when we live for self. When we perhaps are mindful of You to some degree, but we don’t deeply love You and deeply desire to obey You and deeply desire to worship You and deeply desire
to make You known.
Lord, as simple as it sounds, we pray
that the gospel would just be our very life.
And know, Lord, You know that we in our own strength cannot hold on. But by Your grace and Your power working in us, Lord, we know that we can labor hard and we can hold on by Your grace and power. And we know You hold on to us, Lord. So we just look to Jesus, Father, and trust Him to be the Savior that He is. And we pray all that in Jesus’ name. Amen.