The Essential Gospel Verified

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Goodmorning faith Bible Church. It's so so exciting to see you all. And I saw grandmothers and grandfathers and uncles and aunts seeing the little ones sing today. It is so fun to have you here too. We just I just love to see the kids singing. And we're already making good use of the bigger stage. Walt mentioned it. You could see what's getting ready for the couple of weeks of our Easter celebration, where the choir and the orchestra is all preparing and ready to go. Bring your friends, bring family, it's going to be a really encouraging time for all of you. Just a couple of quick personal updates. Next week, Nathan Thiry is going to be in the pulpit here. And we always have a rotating pulpit where I do three and one of the guys takes one. I've been invited to go out to Post Falls next week to preach at his place. lucre is the senior pastor out there. And then we have some master seminary students that come in from that. So a good opportunity to go out and connect. So I would appreciate praying, you praying for me out there. The other one was, about a year ago, the elders came to me and asked if I wanted a sabbatical, I had been thinking about some further theological studies, a PhD potentially which I said no to, it'll take me too long. It'll cost too much money. And I'll be too old when I'm done. This is well, how about a sabbatical? Yes, I'll take a sabbatical. So I did a bunch of research, and we got prepared for it. I'm gonna go, Linda and I are going to go to London this summer. And I'll study at the British Library, study end times and study the church. It's preparing the teacher theology class for the seminary and to teach End Times for you. I want to be so ready to teach the times when I come back. But we're going to be right at Grace life, London, and we're going to be with our missionaries there for the month of June and July. And we're really excited about a corporate Rachel and my son and daughter, Remi, they're going to be able to join us for that time because he can work remote. So it's going to be a really exciting time for us. So my sabbatical runs may 15, to August 15. And we're just really thankful that we have been here it's been 20 years of ministry, April 15. Tax Day is my start in the team lead. It's a great day to remember. It's a good anniversary day tax day. It was a hard start. So text is very appropriate for that initial, initial bit of time. But anyway, we're we're so thankful for you as a church and your love and care for us. And we're also thankful for time have extended, get away and study and respite from some labors and ministry. Why don't you stand with me for the reading of God's word we are in First Corinthians 15. As Paul has been resolving all kinds of issues that were disputes and divisive in Corinth, this is really the remedy. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ refocusing, re centering everything that we're about everything that we believe on these core truths. And I'm going to read verses three through 11. This week, For I delivered to you as a 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 surface then to the 12. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive. Some though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared is to James, then to the all the apostles 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 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, whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. This is the word of the Lord. God and Father, thank You for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father, for sending Christ for pouring the the wrath that we deserved on him. Lord Jesus, take thank you for taking the wrath that we deserved. Thank you for He can our justice. Father, thank you for raising Him from the dead, to prove forgiveness, to give him the rightful reign that he has over heaven and earth. And we want to be submitted to that this, this passage, help help us understand what's right in front of us. Christ was raised and many saw it, it is historical truth that we can anchor our faith in. And I would pray that it would do that. And it would make us people even even though we may stay here and live here in Spokane to be like the people like like Claire and Jared who are going out or other missionaries who have gone out, knowing that there is a resurrection, both to preach, but also to, to look forward to. And we pray that our lives would be always directed by the Greater purposes of the gospel, and that we would use our money that we would use our resources that we would handle difficulties in despair, depression, host of problems with affirm hope, in what the resurrection brings for us. And may ultimately we be worshipers of Christ because of it. Father, I pray that you would be working in the preaching of churches across our city. And I pray that there would be a faithful exposition and proclamation and faithful hearing by congregations, so that we would be your people in the world and that we would truly love and care for each other. We ask this in your name, amen. You may be seated. Well, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a truth that makes massive demands on your life all encompassing demands. The famed Harvard church historian Yaroslav Pelican said this once, if Christ is risen, then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, then nothing else matters. That's what you find in chapter 15. Christ is risen from the dead is the coming King who is going to subject the world to himself and usher in a kingdom, he is going to be all in all verse 28, says, if it's not true, what the Apostle says in verse 32, is true. If he's dead or not raised, let us eat and drink. for tomorrow we die quoting the Epicurean philosophers who said you shouldn't live excessively in any direction, you know, you're gonna live this life, then you're gonna die. That's it. With no resurrection, there's really not much point in what you do in this life. So live it up a little bit. Nothing else matters. With that kind of statement the Paul makes, then there are some important realities to the resurrection that we've got to take hold of, if if it's that kind of demand, then there should be something that verifies its reality. If this is the claim of Christianity, that Jesus Christ has absolute claim over your life. And he has it because he's been raised from the dead, then you should be convinced that he's been raised from the dead. He is the transcendent King, over all the universe, He is the rightful ruler of every square inch. And you and I answer to him for every thought, and every word and every deed. If you if you repent from self worship, or running your own life, and you trust Christ as your King, your identity has changed, because you're forgiven, you're restored, you're reconciled, and your entire outlook has changed because your eternity has changed. There's a perfected bodily existence in a perfected physical universe waiting. To there is a full view and full fellowship with the glorious God and Creator of all things. If we reject Him, and we reject the office, the offer of reconciliation, a judgment of unimaginable punishment awaits. Those are demanding and yet hopeful realities. So this kind of truth about Jesus Christ being raised from the dead demands to be verified. So we're going through a series on the resurrection from First Corinthians 15. And we're finding claims that can't be ignored, specially as Nathan starts to unpack it, and we get to it in the coming weeks. You might be here today and you might be weighing the claims of Christianity, you are interested, you're open.

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You might have some questions and concerns and the apostle is going to give you some reasons why you should take it seriously. Like reasons why actually, you shouldn't just take it seriously, the reason why you can't ignore it, you ignore it to your peril.

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You may have doubts. Matter of fact, you see this and you might actually say, you know, it's just too good to be true. It's just too good to be true. I can't believe that. But you also may, it might be like another person that culturally we're about to hit Easter season and resurrection. And we're going to talk about that. And culturally, so many people, your friends, my friends, your family, my family will Yeah, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But you you believe it in a way that makes no demands on your life? I think most everybody would agree. After footage and video and pictures from the Webb telescope or the Hubble telescope, we have trillions of stars and galaxies. I mean, the universe is so much bigger and contains so much more than we ever imagined. And you'd be like, Yeah, that's true. But that truth makes zero demand on your life. You'd be like, well, that's really interesting. And for some of you, you're like, Well, yeah, I agree with the resurrection. That's really interesting, then you don't really understand the resurrection. Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is such a massive truth that makes an all encompassing demand on your life. Here's what the Apostle wants to do for us, then. He wants to help us verify those realities. If this is the claim, how would we know it's true? He's gonna give us three ways to do that. But the big idea I would say here is that the gospel has been verified, making the most demanding and promising call on your life worth it. It's worth it. Jesus calls you to repent of your sin and idolatry and turn and follow him. He calls you to lay down your life. And if need be, leave behind many important things to you leave behind family, leave behind your your possessions leave behind, don't, don't hold fast or hope or worship those things anymore, only worship Him. And what the Apostle Paul wants you to know is that doing that is worth it. Look at verse 58. It's the end that he's pointing to, it's the so what to my everyday life like? So how does this affect my everyday life? Verse 58, is the sowhat. Therefore, my beloved brothers, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. It's not empty. It's not meaningless. It's meaningful. Nothing demands more nothing delivers more. And that demand to stop worshipping created things or yourself and worship Jesus Christ comes with promises. It comes with glorious promises, restoration to God and real perfect bodies in a new heavens and a new earth. And there's so many applications to life. The life you're going to walk through this week when anything threatens to get worse in your life, is Christ your confident hope. Health when it threatens to get worse politics when it threatens to get worse social injustice when it threatens to get worse. Is Christ your confident hope? When things seem ominous, or difficult, where do you cry out? Monday Do you? Do you go to social media to vent? Is that where you cry out? Do you gather with your friends and have one of those delightful the world's getting so bad conversations? And it is it's not untrue. There's a lot of bad things some things are getting much worse to cry out to your friends Oh, it's just getting so bad. So bad, so bad or do you cry out to Christ? I drive right by Catholic Charities on the way here on the way home and my heart grieves by the drug issue and the addiction issue. But I know the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What an opportunity, is that how you look at it

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it could change everything. Can you be sacrificial or selfless with pleasure with money without being bitter? I mean, if if you can be sacrificial with pleasure and money without being bitter it's it's because you know, you have a reward that is far surpassing any reward here. Can you be courageous to do and say what honors Jesus Christ when your classmates or your family wants you to indulge in sinful behavior? See, verse 58, says that all of those things that take hope, courage, sacrifice, they'll all be worth it in the end. So what we have today is Paul's verification of the gospel, and then he's going to talk about implications. When people say there is no resurrection from the dead. Nathan is going to start touching on those next week. But what he does in three through 11 has given us three verifications. We're gonna look at those verifications this morning, he's going to verify through scripture, he's going to verify through the appearances of Christ that I witnessed a saw, and he's going to verify it through a massively transformed life. In the Apostle Paul. He is going to verify that these are realities that you have to take seriously. You ignore them to your peril, you believe them to your delight, and eternal hope. So let's dive in. Let's dive in. Number one, the Scripture, his first verification of Scripture, the foremost verification of the gospel is scripture itself. God is the one who spoke through the prophets and speakers of the Old Testament, God's telling us the story. It is the true message contained from Genesis to Malikai, when he's going to talk about scriptures in verses three and four, that's what he's talking about Genesis to Malikai, will be called the Old Testament, and about God's plan for Messiah through it. It is the means the Spirit of God uses to break down the spiritual barriers to unbelief. The Scripture is first testimony, we need to listen to his God's testimony. And it wasn't a surprise message. Although the hearts of every person were dull, to see the realities, it doesn't mean that they weren't true. Once your heart is open to seeing the realities. The scriptures just are thick with this. Look at verse three. He says, For I delivered to you as a first importance, what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. There's our scriptures, number one, that He was buried that he was raised on the third day when in accordance with the Scriptures. So for the whole of human history, up to the life of Christ, there has been a declared and written plan for the death and resurrection of the Messiah. These are the two essential elements of the Gospel, the death of Christ for our sins, the resurrection of Christ for our justification and his exaltation. Just as a reminder of what's granted, what's Paul, bringing to us what's at stake here, Romans 324, through 25, says that Christians are, quote, justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith here is that first anchor. Our sin, put us in rebellion against God. It was as if we, as humans have taken a little plot of ground that we live on, and we say, This is my realm. God, you can't have it. That's what Adam and Eve did. That's what every human has been doing. This is my realm. You can't have it. And what is God saying to us? I'm sorry, it's mine. I made it, I own it. What would you do if somebody just stepped onto the property that you owned? And they just put a little fence in the middle of your backyard or in right in your apartment? And they said, This is mine. Be like, I don't think so. You're out. Of course, you have children and they do that but eventually you shoo them out. Nothing. So when we do that it's rebellion. And naturally, you would call the police. Somebody just showed up in the middle of your house. Somebody showed up in your backyard instead, it's my what God is his own police and he has been demanding justice ever since. And what he did in Jesus Christ was to provide a sacrifice for our sins. And when Jesus Christ came as king, he was rejected as King crucified for the claim to be king and there God poured His wrath on Jesus. That's this idea of propitiation by His blood satisfying the righteous and just wrath of God, which if we trust Jesus, we are cleansed. What is the proof of this? It is the resurrection. payment accepted Galatians one three through four says he gave himself This is Jesus God's promise, King gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. Not only from our sins, but from the overwhelming nature of sin that wants to devour us. Atonement wasn't invented by Paul, it wasn't invented by the the New Testament writers. It's all throughout Scripture. One of the important ways you think about it is that Christianity is actually the true Judaism. You might not have thought of it that way. But the Old Testament Judaism finds its natural fulfillment, its natural progression in Jesus Christ and the New Covenant. It's what the Old Testament was always pointing to, and the New Testament is the completion. I can give you two references for your future. Reese research. Psalm 22, for instance, opens with this, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? That was David's word who said those words Jesus did on the cross. On the cross, Jesus said this, but in the same psalm after the suffering of this Messiah that David predicted verse 22, also says that the same person I will tell of your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you. So the one who suffered and died must be exalted to tell his fellow brothers, there must be resurrection. Isaiah 53, the other place to go, we looked at some of it last week, but listen to this, as as it's foreshadowing or predicting what Jesus is going to go through on the cross. It says this out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge. So the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. So Jesus on the cross for saw his resurrection and he was raised, and he saw and he now has provided justification righteousness for His people. This essential this, this is the core of the Gospel, the death of Christ for our sins, the resurrection of our Christ to prove atonement and his rightful exultation, as King of over all things. This was so important, the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John make constant reference to an aspect of Christ's life, Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, as being fulfillments to Old Testament scriptures. So scripture is the first verification. The second one is this the resurrection appearances first the Scripture, the second are the appearances. The parents of Christ, after his resurrection are are part of the gospel. Jesus is heavens crowned king because he rose from the dead and ascended is and is on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. Remember the point of Christ's resurrection is a reign over heaven and earth, a physical Heaven and Earth, ultimately a new heaven on earth. So his resurrection is first sign first downpayment. First fruit as the apostle will say, of the end of God's aim in Christ. Appearances are essential to the story, they are the story. They are the story. They don't just prove they are. First Corinthians 15, five through eight. Notice he uses the word appear four times. Verse five, it says that he appeared to CIF as Peter to the 12. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, and most, most of whom are still alive. Those some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James than to all the apostles last of all, is to one untimely born. He appeared also to me. This word appear means to show up in physical presence. It's not a not an apparition. It's not a ghost.

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This was a real bodily appearance of Jesus Christ. Now, there's many more appearances there are six mentioned here, there are many more you read the Gospel accounts, and you'll notice, Mary Magdalene was probably the first to see the resurrected Jesus, then you'll find the other women who saw the resurrected Jesus, you'll see Peter and John, and then you will see various groups. He highlights just a few here for an important reason. These all tell the same story. They all tell the same story. Christ is really risen from the dead.

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You'll notice a couple of ways to look at this. The first is this. There's not just one person who saw the risen Christ, one person could be easily duped, one person could have a fantasy, one person could lie. But what we have are multiple eyewitnesses at multiple times, to such a significant number. If it was false, it would be easy to prove it was false. So notice how this unfolds. The he appeared to safest to Peter. If we go back to each of the Gospel accounts. Peter is the first apostle who sees the risen Christ. Peter was caught off guard he was surprised like one of the great testimonies to the truthfulness of the resurrection of Christ is how bewildered everybody was in the most likely original Gospel of Mark. Everybody goes away from the empty tomb stunned. They just couldn't imagine it. Although Jesus had been telling them he goes to the 12. So first to Peter than to the 12. Maybe Matthias is there it's, it's really just the name of the 12 closest followers of Jesus. And these are really significant just by themselves. Because no one knew what Jesus looked like. Sounded like, talk like, or eight like, nobody else knew better than the 12. They had spent three years with him. The interim intimately saw touched, were around. One person said it this way, ghosts and apparitions, and various psychological hallucinations may do a lot of things. But they don't fire up the charcoal grill and cook fish for breakfast, which Jesus did. And he ate. And the food dish didn't fall on the ground. I don't know what perfect digestion is like, but Jesus really ate. Then there was a gathering of 500 likely that the apostles were there again. But 500 together are not going to have a mass hallucination. And at the time of writing, only a few had died. Yes, some have fallen asleep. But the point of him saying there's 500, most of whom are alive is you could go check it out yourself. If you want to know I have 480 names for you. Do you want to find people who saw Jesus risen from the dead I have 480 names 490 names I have so many names. So many people saw him. Here go check out the stories. Since then, he appeared to James. And this James is the brother of Jesus. Remember, James is a surprise convert. In Mark, for instance, Jesus has had an extraordinarily busy ministry weak and he keeps healing and he keeps feeding and he keeps doing all these works. And he's exhausted. His family thinks he's going crazy and he is going to work himself to death and his brothers and his sisters and a mother come to him and say we need to take him away. He's going to run himself into the ground and die. Jesus of course says you know who my mother and brothers are those who do My will. So James was not a believer during Jesus lifetime, but Jesus appears to his brother and James becomes the anchor or the leader in the Jerusalem church. Peter becomes the apostle to the Jews. James stays in Jerusalem. As the leader of the most influential church, he appears to James and says to all the apostles, we have two groups, Peter or safest to the 12. Then later, we don't know how many years later James than to all the apostles. And finally we have one untimely born. He appeared also to me untimely born. Paul's talking about his conversion that's recorded in Acts chapter nine, you should, you should go read it. He has. He's got arrest warrants in his hands. He's on his way to Damascus, from Jerusalem with papers to arrest Jews, and bring them back to Jerusalem to try them and kill as many as necessary to squelch the rebellion. For the heresy as they were calling it, then, on his way, Jesus appears in a blazing scene of glory, a bodily appearance that blinds everybody, including Paul Paul for a time and he was on his way to murder more Christians. Paul uses a really uncomfortable phrase as one untimely born and it's only used for stillborn miscarriages, abortions, or late births and deaths. It's always to a an essentially miscarried. infant. It was such a provocative word that it was often used as an insult to somebody. If you wanted to call somebody really ugly, or really hideous, you would call them this is not merely saying as one who is late to show he's referring to his very character.

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See what he says about himself. As to one untimely born, he appeared to me. Now what are these have in common? There's a second significant reality about us. Another way to see this workout is you have different leadership sets what was going on in Coron, for those of you have been tracking with us the first third of the book, we're about these divisions between who's the best apostle to follow and who's got the best teaching and who's the who's the most impressive in philosophy. They were divided. I'm a Paul, I'm of apologists I'm of service. And what he's saying is here you have the three leadership pillars of the early church, the three apostolic leaders, Peter, and the 12. James and the Apostles in Jerusalem. And Paul, so you have the leader to the Jews, the leader to the Gentiles, and the anchor leader in Jerusalem, and they all have one single message. It's only one Christ died according to the scriptures and Christ was raised according to the Scriptures, he appeared to many this is a unified This is a singular message.

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There's another significant reality that we should tie to this a little sidebar. All the apostles, but John, were martyred for their faith. John was tortured, certainly. And Paul went underwent more suffering and persecution than any Why would so many in the first century, and the second century willingly die for a lie. Why would you why would you go through this for a lie? For something you knew wasn't true if you didn't see him? Why would you say you cya and then be crucified upside down like Peter was? People don't willingly die for a lie. Somebody tipped me on to the story about Chuck Colson. Chuck Colson was a former Special Counsel to President Nixon in the early 70s. And he ended up being the founder of Prison Fellowship, but he was part of the inner circle of Nixon during the Watergate scandal. He had 11 other men, as all the news was coming in on them got together. And they met secretly. And they came up with a story they had talking points and they all swore to maintain the story. But one by one, and quickly they all broke. Coulson said this, I know that resurrection is a fact. And Watergate proved it to me how because 12 Men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaim that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison. They would not have endured it if it wasn't true Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world, and they couldn't keep alive for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles can keep alive for 40 years absolutely impossible.

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And people who do honest history, there are a lot of dishonest historians a lot of historians with their own agenda, and they have selective facts. But honest historians always find a tripping point here. Because the massive record of people in the first and second century willing to die, for their belief in Christ had to they had to believe it for a reason. We would simply say, since God is the God of history, and he promised the death of Christ promised the resurrection of Christ, and He raised Christ from the dead, it would be historically visible and it was all of these appearances, proved it and anchored the hope as God's gathering the rest of his people until the day Christ comes back. I mean, listen to Mark 1029, through 30. Jesus, talking to the disciples of the necessity of leaving everything behind, to follow Him and in other words, to have singular hope in Him not hoping your money not hoping your family not hope and your possessions, not open anything else, you're gonna have to leave all of that behind for hope. He says, I say to you, There is none who is left house or brothers, sisters, or mother, father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers and children and lands, with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the down payment on that promise and the appearances show us the resurrection was true. So we lead to the third So first, we see scripture second, we see the appearances. Third, the transformation, the transformation, John Stott, famed theologian, and commentator says, perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection. The greatest evidence of all, there's no more unlikely convert than Paul. Per Se says last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me as a miscarriage as a stillborn as an aborted fetus. That grotesque that dead, that hopeless, he appeared to me.

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And he's pointing to this remarkable, miraculous transformation by seeing the risen Christ and believing. He says, verse nine, for the least of the apostles, I'm unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. If there was ever a monster in the universe, it would be me. I went and killed Christians, true followers of the living God and His Christ Paul, you could see his profound humility as the A New Testament unfolds in Ephesians, three, eight, he saw himself as the least of all the saints. In First Timothy 115, he saw himself as the foremost of all sinners. Here, he says, I'm the least of the apostles, yeah, I lead the Gentile mission. But that is the grace of God alone. Verse 10, this is but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. This word grace chorus has two senses, and you just figure it out by the context, which is saying, the first sense is talking about God's attributes how he is, but it's very character. He is gracious. We describe graciousness as a disposition of kindness or goodness or mercy to somebody who's undeserving. Oh, is the idea of God's graciousness is undeserving people receive some kind of blessing because God has a disposition this way. And it is this as the first one by the grace of God, I am what I am, because God is gracious to me, who is someone who is so undeserving, this is why I am what I am. The second way this word is used is in the sense of enablement or power or real help real blessing. And that's what he's saying, by the grace of God I am what I am based on who he is, is gracious, and by His work, His gracious work by His grace toward me was not in vain. It really provided enablement really provided power to complete my task, it really changed me. I have a totally different person now. I went from absolute monster to leading the gospel ministry to the idolatrous Gentile world. The idea of vanity is empty, meaningless comes to nothing.

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Then he says this is interesting statement. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them. Who's the any of them? The apostles, all the ones that I just met? I've just mentioned. I actually worked harder than Peter. I worked harder than James I worked harder than any of them. I mean, almost sounds like he's boasting, doesn't it? You know, in, in the Pentateuch. It's written about Moses, and Moses was the most humble man on earth. And we're pretty sure Moses wrote that. Maybe Joshua got to sneak in a statement. But he's not he's not boasting, accepting Christ. I went from the worst monster persecuting the church, to suffering the most, serving the most, and having some of the most fruitful ministry in the world. It's not an understatement to say the apostle Paul, God used the Apostle Paul to change the world.

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Liquid he says, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me that divine enablement that that blessing. He's the one that empowered me from spiritually grotesque. A malformed miscarried infant to a hard working Grace dependent apostle God's grace was powerful. There's a really important aside here, there are always movements that touch on Christianity that say that Christians don't need to obey Christ. It's called into Noemi anism. against the law, we have grace, we don't need law. And this verse is a powerful corrective at least by example of, of this, you know, often now in parenting world, it's called Grace based parenting or Grace based living. And essentially they want to say that to be a Christian, I don't do anything to live As a Christian, I don't do anything, I just rest on what Christ has done. And it's really good to protect the doctrine of justification by faith alone, we are justified made right by our trust in Christ alone. But Christ justifies us, and gives us new birth. Remember, the picture is really powerful. He was a miscarried infant, and now he's born again to a new powerful life, and he has changed. So really changed, people have new desires, new empowerment. And imagine the kind of situation where you would say, I don't need to obey a king. You know, all I need to do is hang out with the King, I just need to show up the king's throne room. We hang for a while I look at him, and he's pretty amazing. I look at him, he's amazing. I just go do what I want. Then, don't use the word Christ to talk about it. Because you're talking about somebody else. Christ means king. So what naturally happens to a person who believes the gospel is that the entire desire, all their inner life is captured reborn, given new direction. And they do want to obey Christ. Not everybody is called to Papa New Guinea, like we're going to hear from Frank in a few minutes. Not everybody's called to. Not everybody's called the Czech Republic, not everybody's called to London, or someplace where they have to sacrifice but everybody is called to give all where they are for the progress of the gospel, and for the good of the church, with their whole life. Paul's truly transformed and one of the greatest testimonies today of the power of the resurrection, is your changed life? Do you have a changed life? Do you have such a hope in what Christ promises? That you can lay aside all your selfish desires and all your direction and say, I'm following yours? You're smarter than I am. You're more powerful than I am, you're better than I am. Can you lay it all down for him? Paul could gladly.

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Pursuit of Christ Christ's likeness and loving service are always the fruit of someone who has been captivated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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The apostle sums it all up in verse 11. Because he's taking these people who are trying to follow different key teachers and have their reflections in the church. And he's saying, brothers, you're missing the whole point, whether than it was I or they, so we preach. And so you believe there's one faith, and it's in a Christ, who died for our sins, was buried, was raised, and appeared. All according to the scripture. These saw it, you could talk to some of them now. You can look at me and look at how my life has changed. You could believe it. Now. This is the only one. It's the only truth that matters. To preview, this resurrection power, Jesus in John chapter 11. Let's one of his really dear friends die. Lazarus was sick news came to me and Lazarus was sick. And he says, We're going to wait till he dies. And then Jesus makes the trip to see his friend so that he could raise him to life and show his kind of power. Comes to Lazarus, his sister. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though he die yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? It's what he said to her. When he said the Lazarus the sister. Yes, I believe this. So that's the question. Do you believe this? Do you Do you believe this Tim Keller said this If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that. He said. If he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about what any of he said? Anybody said, the issue on which everything hangs is not whether you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead. That's the issue. What are you going to do? If Jesus rose from the dead? The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a truth that makes an all encompassing demand an eternally exhilarating promise. I mean, it goes everything from kids, you're going to be at home parents may be looking at your kids candy. You shouldn't steal your kids candy. You shouldn't siblings, you shouldn't steal your siblings candy bar. Why? Because Jesus, the judge has risen from the dead and He sees everything. He sees it all. We should fight human trafficking because the resurrected Jesus Christ demands loving service, not cruel enslavement. Kids, your brother's sister stole your candy bar. They come to you and ask you for forgiveness. You should forgive them. You should forgive them. Because Jesus death and resurrection proved your forgiveness, bought your forgiveness. I can hope for the resurrection of beloved believer, because Jesus himself rose from the dead and all believers will one day receive resurrected bodies at the rapture. He's the absolute King and Victor for all things including death, it makes all the demands on your life gives you all promise and reward in the future. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would continue to grip us with the truth of this gospel. And as you grip us with the truths of this gospel, may it continue to center our lives in the proper direction giving us hope over ominous news. Over the inevitable realities of age and death gives us hope over every ruler political party, governmental situation seems to raise it. work against you, gives us hope. Help us now to be faithful in our church and our family and in our mission to bring the gospel to the world. To Christ's name we pray, amen.

52:36
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