Sermon
The Gospel
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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To the gospel that is on page 20.
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If you have your books and Jackson, why don't you grab a
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couple microphones for me and we'll start them in the back
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this time. I've got a lot of verses to read
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tonight, so I'm going to get some of you to read.
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Let's turn over. Everybody can turn over though,
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to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15,
1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention
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kind of what we've been talking about already is the gospel.
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Obviously it's all kind of wrapped up in both, but we've
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talked about repentance and faith so far.
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And just to give you a quick review about what biblical
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repentance is, it is admitting that I've sinned and being
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sorry, but it's not just admitting that I've sinned, it's
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admitting that I've sinned against God.
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He is the one that I've sinned against.
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He's the one who's perfect. He's the one that's just, and
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when I sin, it's sinning against God.
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And so that's why Paul says in Acts chapter 20, verse 21,
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repentance is toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So it's admitting that I've sinned against God and being
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sorry for that. It means to turn around and
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change directions. It means to surrender to God's
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rule. It's not just a change of life
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if it's a change of mind about God and about sin and that
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results in a change of life. And we gave some examples of
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that and talked about some more things underneath that.
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And then last week we talked about the saving faith and you
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mentioned the five things that are kind of the characteristics
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of faith. And I want to reiterate this
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again. We're not, you know, we're not
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trying to make it impossible for people to get saved.
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The Bible doesn't make it impossible for people to get
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saved. We're just trying to be very
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careful about making sure that we're not pushing someone into a
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false profession or a false sense of salvation when
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repentance and faith are not both elements of, of someone
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accepting Christ. There's a ditch on both sides of
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the road. You can make it so easy that all
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you have to do is go get baptized and you're saved, or
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you can make it so difficult that nobody could ever get saved
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because they didn't have a change in their life or
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something like that. So, but, but you know,
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repentance is not a work. Repentance is it leads to works,
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right? You're not saved because you
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stopped sinning. But when you get saved, you
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should want to stop sinning. And the Holy Spirit will help
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you do those things. And so that's that's kind of
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repentance and faith in a nutshell, which really is the
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gospel in a nutshell as well. But really, First Corinthians
1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention
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chapter 15 and verse 3 and 4 is, is the gospel in a nutshell.
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There's three elements there that we'll talk about.
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And I think it's going to take us a couple of weeks to get
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through this. I've added a few more things
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into this to, to give you, I think some things that'll be a
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little bit interesting and a couple, a couple discussion
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things that we'll go through. But here's what the Bible says
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in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse #3 For I delivered
1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention
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unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that
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Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and
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that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
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according to the Scriptures. Now, nowhere else in Scripture
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is the gospel summarized that briefly, but it is a very
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important passage. And there's a few things that go
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along with this. Now, I think this is, I think
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this is very interesting. The Bible says according to the
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Scriptures, right? When First Corinthians was
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written, what were the Scriptures?
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The Old Testament, right? I mean, the Old Testament was
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the Scriptures. And so the fact now, now you
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know, the Jews, especially today would say that Jesus Christ is
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not the Messiah. You know he's not.
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And so they don't, they don't read the New Testament Jesus.
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They don't want anything to do with Jesus.
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He's an imposter. You know, he was not the
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Messiah. We're still waiting for the
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Messiah and everything else. But very plainly here he is
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saying that the Scriptures gave us everything we needed to know
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about Jesus. He died, He was buried, He rose
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again the third day according to the Scriptures.
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I think it's very interesting. And we're going to look at a
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bunch of those verses that talk about that in the Old Testament.
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But a couple things here as we get into that, we need to know
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the right gospel because it's the only way of salvation,
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right? Let's go back to the verse right
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before that by which also ye are saved.
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Actually, let's go to verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare
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unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also
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you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also ye are
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saved, If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
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you have believed in vain. We're going to talk about that a
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little bit later as well. But we have to have the right
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gospel. There's a lot of people
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preaching a gospel, but not the right one.
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We need to know the right gospel because Paul warned that every
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false gospel is cursed of God. And let me get a few of you to
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read if we can. I think what we'll do is just
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pick one person from each row if you, if you want to raise your
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hand. All right, when I get there.
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All right, brother. Kevin, why don't you look up
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First Corinthians? I'm sorry, Galatians, 1/6
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through 9, Somebody on Brother Bill's row.
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Want to read anybody? All right, Miss Diana, Mark
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1615, all the First Corinthians verses will save because we're
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all kind of there. All right, let's see here.
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Somebody on Levi's row. Oh, Levi, you want to read?
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All right, Psalm 22. All right, the row in front of
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that. But Gary, somebody on that row,
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Sarah. All right, Psalm 13217.
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We'll switch to the other side here and and start from the
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back. Everybody in the back always
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gets left out. All right, Scott, you want to
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read? All right, Daniel 925 and 26.
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Ryan, Isaiah 9/6 and seven. All right, with John Romans 323.
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Those they're right. They're given to us.
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The next one will be first. John 3-4 somebody on brother
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Johnny's row want to read. All right.
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Well, Johnny, all right, first John 3-4 somebody on Matt's row
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want to read Matt. All right, Isaiah 53 six.
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We'll stop there for now. We'll see how far we get.
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I'll probably give you some more, but so when, when it when
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it comes your turn to read, use the microphone, if you will.
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That way it picks it up for everybody that's listening and
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it just makes it easier for everybody else to hear and then
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pass it to the person in in the row in front of you.
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All right, very good. All right.
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So we need to know the right gospel because Paul warned that
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every false gospel is cursed of God.
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Galatians 1/6 through 9. Hold you into the grace of
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Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there
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be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of
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Christ. But though we or an Angel from
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heaven preach any other gospel unto you, then that which we
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have preached unto you, let him be accursed, as we said before.
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So I say now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
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you, then that ye have received, let him be accursed.
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OK, now that just goes to show you that even even in Paul's day
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and Paul was, was first generation after Christ, right,
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that there was already people who are preaching the false
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gospel. And Paul said we've, we've
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already given you what the gospel is.
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If anybody comes, doesn't matter if it's us, it doesn't matter if
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it's an Angel coming and preaching another gospel to you,
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doesn't matter who it is. If it's a different gospel, let
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them be accursed. That's just that's a strong
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statement. So we need to know the right
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gospel because every false gospel is cursed of God.
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And we also need to know the right gospel because Jesus
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commanded us to preach the gospel to every creature.
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Mark chapter 16 and verse 15. And unto them go ye into all the
Mark 16 chapter mention
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world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
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OK, So if he's telling us to go and preach the gospel to every
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creature, we better know what the gospel is, right?
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It's important that we know what the gospel is if we're supposed
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to be preaching it to everybody. So Paul addressed this
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presentation of the gospel to the believers.
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Moreover, brethren, he says there in First Corinthians 15
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verse one, this is to the brethren.
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So the people who are saved. And basically what that's
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teaching us is that people who are new believers need to
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understand what the gospel is so that they can share that with
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others. And listen, I know if you're, if
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you're relatively new at this, if you're, if you're a new
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Christian and you, you get overwhelmed with the idea of how
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can I tell somebody else how to be saved?
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I don't even hardly know any of the Bible myself, right?
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But tell them what happened to you, right?
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Tell them how you got saved. Give them your testimony.
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That's all you got to do. They may not be able to answer
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every one of their questions, but you just do what Philip did
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and preach unto them Jesus, right?
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What did he do in your life? That's a good place to start.
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But at the same time, then it's important that you, that you be
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grounded in those truths so that you can share them with other
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people. And it also teaches us as older
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believers that we need to learn the gospel better and better.
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And, and I'll be honest with you, I've been saved for 35 plus
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years. I've been sharing the gospel a
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long time. And, and even really within the
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last couple years, I've, I've, I've found some better
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illustrations, some way to some ways to illustrate the gospel
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better, some ways to help get the message of the gospel across
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a little bit more clearly. And, you know, some different
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verses that we can go to that'll, that'll help back up
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some of the familiar verses that we go to.
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And, and, you know, we, we're constantly learning it at how to
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share it better. It's not something different.
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We're saying the same thing, just some, something that'll
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help somebody understand it a little bit better.
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That's the, that's the goal behind the whole thing.
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So we'll never stop learning about the gospel.
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So here's some important questions then that we're going
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to answer over the over this week and next.
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Every foundational truth about the gospel is covered in this
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passage in First Corinthians 15. So what are those things then?
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Well, first of all, the question is, what is the gospel?
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And there are three major parts to the gospel of Christ, and
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they're broken down for us here in First Corinthians 15 and
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verse 3 and 4. But the first one then is that
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Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
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And he says that For I delivered unto you, first of all, that
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which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
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according to the Scriptures. Few things to notice here.
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Then who was it that died? Well, it was Christ.
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Christ is the one that died. Jesus is the one that's promised
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in the Old Testament. And if the Jews were not
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willfully ignorant of this fact, they would easily be able to see
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it. Everything that was promised
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about the Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and the Bible
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very plainly is saying that too. Christ died for our sins
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according to the Scriptures. So here's the fulfillment of
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those Old Testament prophecies. Couple interesting things here.
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The name Christ is a Greek word that means anointed one, Jesus
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Christ Jesus the anointed one. The Hebrew word Messiah means
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the same thing, the anointed. 1 And let's look at these couple
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passages here in Psalms. Psalm 2.
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Two, who is that? Levi.
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The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
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counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed
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saying. Against his anointed Psalm 13217
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there will I make the horn of David to bud.
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I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
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OK, so Jesus, and there's a lot of other verses that talk about
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this, and we're going to look into some more of these,
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especially when you get into Psalm 22 and when you start
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getting into some of these other different passages.
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There should be another microphone back there, Is there?
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Yeah, He's got it. Brother Ryan, you just leave it
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there on that seat. And if we need to keep passing
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it forward, then we will. No, it's my fault.
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I should have said that. But the prophets said that the
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Messiah would come to the earth the first time to be cut off or
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die for man's sins. Daniel.
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OK Daniel Chapter 9, verse 25 and 26.
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Or an understand that from the going forth of the commandment
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to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the
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Prince shall be 7 weeks and three score and two weeks the
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street shall be built again in the wall, even in troublous
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times. And after three score and two
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weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.
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And the people of the Prince that shall come, she'll destroy
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the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with
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the flood. And unto the end of the war
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desolations are determined. OK, You know, the, the
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interesting thing is and, and those who are missionaries, if
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you will, to the Jewish people, there's some who are
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missionaries in Israel. There are some, I mean, there's,
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there's pockets of Jews everywhere.
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There's a huge pocket of Jews in New York City.
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So I know that, I know several missionaries that are
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missionaries to the Jews there. You can't, you cannot go through
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John and Romans and 1st Corinthians.
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You can't go through those books with them.
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They don't believe it, right? And you can show them all the
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verses you want to about the Messiah and everything else.
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They're not going to accept it because they don't believe the
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New Testament. They don't believe that Jesus
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was the Messiah. But there are so many verses in
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the Old Testament that talk about that.
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And those who are missionaries to the Jewish people are much
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better at it in in sharing those verses and and pointing those
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verses out. But there are so many verses in
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the Old Testament that talk about the Messiah coming.
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And all of those things are all things that were prophesied
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about the Messiah and every one of them was fulfilled in Christ.
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Daniel would not necessarily be one that you would think of that
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would be prophesying about the Messiah, but he is and he did.
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And not only does Daniel say that the Messiah would be cut
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off, that he would die for man's sins, but that he would come
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against a rule on the throne of David and to establish the
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Kingdom of God on the earth. And we find that in Isaiah
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Chapter 9 verse 6 and 7. To us a child is born, unto us a
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son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and
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his name shall be called. Wonderful Counselor, the mighty
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God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase
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of His government and peace, there shall be no end upon the
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throne of David and upon his Kingdom, to order it and to
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establish it with judgment and with justice.
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From henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
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will perform this. OK, now we always read Isaiah 96
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around Christmas, don't we? Government wonderful counselor,
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mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of Peace.
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Oh, what a wonderful verse about the Messiah.
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But you continue on with that and basically says, hey, his
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Kingdom is never going to end. It's eternal.
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Well, he's not talking about David, right?
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David died just like he's like every other man who there's
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nobody else that he could be talking about other than the
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Messiah, than Jesus Christ. So we noticed who died.
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It was Christ, but then also why Christ died.
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And here we go all the way back to the idea of repentance.
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Again, this is absolutely necessary as a part of salvation
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because all men are sinners. Romans 323.
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For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
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OK, so when Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, that he
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became a Sinner and all of his children inherited that fallen
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nature. And we read that in Romans
Romans 5 chapter mention
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chapter 5 and verse 12. Wherefore as by one man sin
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entered into the world and death by sin.
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And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.
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Adam sinned in the garden that passed that sin nature that that
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that fallen nature unto us. And so we're sinners by nature's
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no, nobody has to teach us how to sin.
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And I know that we've, you know, we've said that many times.
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You know, you don't teach a kid how to lie, right?
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You don't have to teach them how to steal.
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You don't have to teach them how to disobey.
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They just naturally do that, right?
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No, nobody's ever sat their kids down and taught them.
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Now this is what lying is. Here's how you do it, right?
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It's like they come out of the womb knowing how to tell a lie,
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right? Even the baby's screaming and
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crying, Oh, I'm dying. You pick them up and they're
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like, oh, thank you, nothing was wrong with me.
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I just wanted you to pick me up, right?
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But you don't have to teach that to kids.
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You have to, you have to teach them not to do those things
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because we all have that fallen nature.
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The Bible says this and you have them right there.
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So we're not going to turn to them.
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But Psalm 58, three, the wicked are estranged from the womb.
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They go astray as soon as they be born.
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Speaking lies, the fallen human heart is full of sin and deceit.
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We have Jeremiah 17 and verse 9. The heart is deceitful above all
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things and desperately wicked. Who can know it, which is why
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you know, it's such a lie of the devil.
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What you hear today, just follow your heart, right?
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No, don't follow your heart. Your heart's deceitful.
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It's desperately wicked. You follow your heart, you're
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going to find yourself in a place you don't want to be,
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right? Don't follow your heart.
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Follow God, follow the Lord, follow God's word.
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So to sin is to break God's law. And we find that in first John
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3/4. Is that you?
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OK, He's got the microphone for you there First.
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John 3/4. First, John 3/4 Whosoever
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transgressed the law. Also, I'm sorry, who commit?
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Whosoever commits to sin transgressed to the law, for sin
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is a transgression of the law. OK, so whosoever transgresseth
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the law, transgresseth means to break, right?
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You break the law, you've committed a sin.
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For sin is the breaking or the transgression of the law.
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That's what a sin is, right? What are the laws?
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Well, we've got a lot of commands in God's Word.
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I think there's something like 1090 commands in the Bible,
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right? The most well known of them are
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the 10 commandments. And the easiest one of them is
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thou shalt not bear false witness.
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Thou shalt not lie, right? Everybody's total lie in their
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life. So there you go.
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You've broken the 10 commandments.
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Well, what about, well, I've never murdered anybody.
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Well, what did Jesus say in the New Testament when he, when he
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got into the Sermon on the Mount?
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You have hate in your heart toward a brother, You might as
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well murdered him, right? You're guilty of murder.
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What about? Well, I've never, at least I've
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never committed adultery, Right? Well, what did he say about
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that? Whosoever looketh on a woman to
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lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
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heart. So most everybody has broken all
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of the 10 commandments, not just one or two of them, right?
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We've all, we're all guilty of it.
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James, chapter 2 and verse 10. What does it say?
James 2 chapter mention
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Fear thou shalt keep the whole law, but offended.
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Close. Yeah.
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Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offended one point
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is guilty of all right. It's like it's like somebody
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that that robs a bank and you stand before the judge and he
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tells the judge, well, I haven't done anything else.
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I mean, I just robbed one person, right?
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And was the judge going to say, sorry, that's all it takes for
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you to go to jail? It's not like you have to have
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10 charges for you to go to jail.
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One, that's all it takes. And that's exactly what he's
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saying. You can keep the entire law.
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You can keep everything. Break one law and you're guilty
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of all of it. You can't enter heaven because
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of that, right? So to sin is to break God's law.
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Sin is to turn away from God to our own way.
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Isaiah 53, six. Yep. 36 All we, like sheep, have
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gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
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own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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Yep, all we like sheep, have gone astray.
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We've turned everyone to his own way.
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And what does the Bible say? The Lord hath laid on him the
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iniquity of us all, because we are sinners, right?
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If we never sinned, Jesus Christ never would have had to die.
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But because we're sinners, He had to so in God's eyes, because
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their holy eyes. All men are terrible sinners.
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That's what made Christ have to die in the cross.
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God never would have had to send his only begotten son to die if
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it wasn't for my sin. And there's a lot of sins that
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are described there in Romans chapter 3, verse 9 through 18.
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Fact. Keep, keep your finger there in
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first Corinthians 15. Let's, let's just it's pretty
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close. Let's go back and look at it.
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Romans chapter 3, verse 9. What then?
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Are we better than they? No, and no wise.
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For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are
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all under sin. As it is written.
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There is none righteous, No, not one.
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There is none. That's that.
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Understand that there's none that seeketh after God.
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They're all gone out of the way. They are together, become
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unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
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No, not one. Their throat is an open
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sepulchre. With their tongues they have
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used deceit. The poison of ASPs is under
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their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
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Their feet are swift to shed blood.
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Destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace.
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Have they not known? There is No Fear of God before
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their eyes. And the list just keeps going of
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things that he that he lists of things in ways that we've broken
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the law, right? We've all broken God's law.
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No person can be saved unless he acknowledges that he's a Sinner
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the exact way that the Bible says that he is.
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Man's sinful condition is an essential teaching of the
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gospel, and that's where repentance is necessary.
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And I'll say this too, humility is essential to come into
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Christ, right? Somebody, somebody who's trying
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to convince themselves that they're good enough or has done
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enough is not saved, cannot be saved, right?
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Because until you see yourself as a, as a horrible Sinner in
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God's eyes, you cannot, you cannot be saved.
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That humility is absolutely necessary as part of that.
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And there's so many people who have this mindset that, well,
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I'm not that bad, right? That's, that's a lack of
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humility. It's the pride that's coming up
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in US. No, you may not be that bad
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compared to somebody else, but compare yourself to the holiness
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of God and see where you line up right?
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Compared to the holiness of God, we are that bad, right?
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The Bible says we are together, become unprofitable.
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There is none that do with good. No, not one even in Isaiah says
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that even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
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Even the good things that we do compared to the goodness and the
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holiness of God is just, it falls so short.
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So it's absolutely necessary for us to understand that Christ
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died for our sins because all men are sinners.
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But then also the Bible says that every sin will be punished.
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And let's, let's have a few more people read here.
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Somebody on Doc's row. Doc, you want to read James 29
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and 10. Somebody in the front row want
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to read Alex. Let's do Ecclesiastes 12/14.
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I think that's good for those Romans 623.
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Andrew, looks like you're on a row by yourself.
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Romans 623. And then we'll read Revelation
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2011 through 15 together. Somebody want to read on the on
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the 2nd row. All right.
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Oh, you can fight it out with Hannah.
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All right, Hannah, 2nd Corinthians 521.
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And then we'll see where that puts us.
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There you go. All right.
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OK, so the Bible says that every sin will be punished.
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James 29 and 10. James 29 and 10.
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But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are
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convinced of the law as transgressors.
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For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offended one
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point, he is guilty of all. OK, so the Bible says that every
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sin will be punished, every secret thing will be judged.
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Let's try Ecclesiastes 12/14 For God shall bring every work into
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judgment. With every secret thing, whether
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it be good or whether it be evil, every secret thing is
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going to be found out. First Corinthians 4-5 Therefore
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judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both
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will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will
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make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then every man.
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Then shall every man have praise of God.
-
Everything that's hidden, everything that we think is
-
hidden, I should say, is going to be made, is going to be
-
brought to light. So the punishment then is death.
-
Romans 623. But the gift of God is eternal
-
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
-
OK, wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
-
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's all turn to Revelation 20
-
now. Again, most of you in here are
-
are saved. I'm not I'm not giving you the
-
gospel tonight. I'm giving you verses and some
-
things. And this is what that's the
-
whole point of what we're doing for you to help lead somebody
-
else to Christ. And it's absolutely necessary
-
that you understand that you've got to make people understand
-
that they are a Sinner, right? It's, it's not, it's, it's not
-
the comfortable part of it. You don't want to tell people
-
that they're wrong. You don't want to tell people
-
that they're a Sinner and that they're on their way to hell.
-
But it's exactly like what I said at the at Brother Todd's
-
funeral the other day. I would rather hurt you with the
-
truth than comfort you with a lie, right?
-
To know that you're a Sinner is absolutely essential to coming
-
to the realization that you need to repent and turn to Christ.
-
But if I just tell you, well, yeah, I mean, you're not that
-
bad. I know compared to a lot of
-
other people, you're not that bad.
-
But you know, Jesus died on the cross because he loved you so
-
much and he wants to take you to heaven when you die.
-
You don't mention anything about about sin.
-
And that person just continues on in that same direction after
-
they get saved. They didn't get saved.
-
Sin absolutely has to be brought into the equation.
-
So this is this is part of the gospel, right?
-
That he, Christ died for our sins according to the
-
Scriptures. It's, it's the reason he died.
-
So Revelation 20, verse 11. And I saw a great white throne
-
in him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
-
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
-
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
-
And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which
-
is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of
-
those things which were written in the books according to their
-
works. And the sea gave up the dead
-
which were in it. And death and hell delivered up
-
the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
-
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
-
into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
-
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
-
cast into the lake of fire. And that's, that's the
-
punishment. I mean, it's, it's, it's not
-
the, the fun part of it. You know, obviously it's
-
wonderful to talk about heaven and everything that heaven has
-
not as not as wonderful to talk about hell.
-
But we absolutely have to if we're going to bring somebody to
-
that realization that their sin is going to be punished unless
-
they get it covered under the blood of Christ.
-
So the Bible says that every sin will be punished.
-
The good news of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins.
-
He is the sinless Son of God, and he didn't deserve to die.
-
He died in our place. He took our punishment.
-
Salvation is an exchange. Christ is the Sinner substitute.
-
When we believe on Christ, he takes our sin, we take his
-
righteousness. That's such an amazing thing,
-
the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.
-
That's what, that's a long word, but that's what that means, the
-
substitutionary atonement. He was my substitute.
-
He took my place, I gave him my sin, he gave me his
-
righteousness. What a what a bad deal for him,
-
but what a great deal for us, right?
-
I gave him my sin and he gave me his righteousness.
-
That's the illustration that I use often of, of, of the list of
-
all the sins that we have. And then the blood of Jesus
-
Christ is covering those sins, right?
-
That's that's the only way that we're going to be able to stand
-
before God. Somebody dying.
-
Oh, there you go. So, all right, so Second
2 Corinthians 5 chapter mention
-
Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21.
-
Did I give that to somebody? OK.
-
For he who, for he made him, He knew no sin to be sin for us,
-
that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
-
OK, for he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we
-
might be made the righteousness of God in him.
-
That is, that's a, that's a powerful, powerful position.
-
And it's only possible because of this substitutionary
-
atonement of Jesus Christ. The atonement was the blood that
-
was shed for us. All right?
-
And that's the other thing that, that the people, a lot of
-
people, oh, it's just, it's gory blood and all this stuff.
-
It is, it was a gory death, right?
-
But he did that for me. He did it for you because I am a
-
Sinner and you're a Sinner. And we needed somebody to, to do
-
that for us. And Jesus was the one that was
-
willing to do it. So to be saved, the individual
-
must see himself as a wicked Sinner before God who is
-
deserving of eternal condemnation.
-
Nobody can be saved apart from that, if the person still thinks
-
of himself as basically a good person, he cannot be saved,
-
right? You might do some good things,
-
but we're not good people. Even our righteousness is the
-
Bible said our filthy ranks. A pastor friend was on soul
-
winning visitation in California with a veteran missionary one
-
Saturday when a Roman Catholic man answered the door on it.
-
In a few minutes, the missionary showed the man.
-
The Romans Rd. led the man in the sinner's prayer and while he
-
was filling out the church report and getting the man's
-
information so he can report him as saved, my pastor friend asked
-
the man whether he believed he was a good person and whether
-
believe he believed that it's possible for a person to go to
-
heaven by being a good person. The man answered yes.
-
It's obvious that that man was not ready to get saved, and it's
-
criminal to lead people in a sinner's prayer when they don't
-
understand or don't agree with the basic truth of the Gospel.
-
And again, where this is not a salesman technique, right?
-
We're not trying to get somebody to buy life insurance.
-
We're we're trying to help them understand that they need to
-
accept Christ as their Savior before it's too late.
-
But I'm not trying to trick them into buying salvation or even
-
getting salvation for free, right?
-
I'm trying to help them understand why they need that
-
salvation, why they need Christ, and for me to just get somebody
-
from point A to point B shake their hand and and sign their
-
name so that we can say that we let another person to Christ.
-
It's exactly what he said. It's criminal.
-
You're sending people to hell because they're walking away
-
with an assurance of salvation when they didn't even get saved
-
because they did not address their sin.
-
They didn't address the sin nature.
-
They didn't address the fact that they needed a Savior
-
because they are a Sinner. Just believing in Christ and
-
just believing that he died and rose again is not.
-
That's the faith side of it. There has to be the repentance
-
side of it as well. So a major goal of so winning is
-
to help people see that they are lost sinners.
-
And many times, and I've told my wife this often when I've, when
-
I've talked to somebody, you've got to get somebody lost before
-
you can get them saved, right? Many times that's the case.
-
People have got to understand that they're lost before they
-
can be saved if they think of themselves as well.
-
I'm a pretty good person and I think I've got a pretty good
-
chance of getting to heaven. They don't because they don't
-
see themselves as lost. They don't see themselves as a
-
Sinner that's deserving the punishment for their sin.
-
So many times you have to get somebody lost before you can get
-
them saved. But when they see themselves in
-
that condition, they'll realize very, very easily that they need
-
Christ. So we have to take the time to
-
explain what sin is according to God's definition, because most
-
people think of sin as either something small.
-
And here's a few examples that he gives.
-
I've talked to people in, in all of these situations, A Buddhist
-
who thinks that sin is stepping on an Ant or some is, you know,
-
big things like murder. As long as I haven't murdered
-
somebody, I mean, certainly I'm not as bad as that guy and
-
certainly God's going to let me into heaven.
-
I haven't killed anybody, right? And it's, it's this idea of good
-
works on one side, bad works on the other side.
-
And as long as your good works outweigh your bad works is going
-
to let you in. And as long as you don't have
-
anything heavy like murder or adultery or those kind of
-
things, then then God's going to let you into heaven, right?
-
That's not the way it works. You put one sin on there.
-
It's enough to tip the whole balance, the opposite direction,
-
and all of your good works cannot do anything against one
-
sin. That's what people have to
-
understand. And we've all, most of you have
-
come to that conclusion yourselves.
-
But Hindus typically think of sin only in those terms, big
-
things. They'll admit that they're
-
sinners in a vague way, but typically they don't mean by
-
this that they're completely unrighteous before God, that
-
they're not good, and if they're deserving of God's judgment.
-
Of course, Brother Cloud is the one who put this together.
-
He deals with the, the Hindus all the time.
-
And that's exactly what it is. It's, it's this idea that I'm
-
not that bad. Well, you are that bad in God's
-
eyes. You are.
-
So I must look to the Holy Spirit to accomplish the
-
supernatural work of bringing conviction to the heart of the
-
Sinner and making him guilty before God.
-
John chapter 16 and verse 8. I don't think I had anybody look
John 16 chapter mention
-
at that one, did I? All right, somebody want to look
-
it up? We'll just, we only have a
-
couple left. So somebody just want to all
-
right, Charlie, you can look it up.
-
Look up John 16 and verse 8, and then I'll get a couple more
-
people to read. Just raise your hand if you'd
-
like to, if you haven't done it yet.
-
Anybody all right, Trey? Psalm 2214 through 16.
-
Jackson, John 1916 through 18. We'll finish.
-
We'll finish this, this point out.
-
Psalm 2218. Somebody all right?
-
Riley Matthew 2735 But Gary, Miss Cindy.
-
All right, whoever's who did I just give Psalm 2218 to?
-
To who? OK, I'm going to give you a
-
different 1. Matthew 2746.
-
John 1928 Anybody. Miss Cindy, did I give you that
-
one? What did I give you, Brother?
-
Gary. OK, who's got Matthew 2735?
-
That's the one you had. OK.
-
So Miss Cindy. Matthew 2746.
-
John 1928. All right, Rebecca.
-
Matthew 2739 and 41 through 43, Lydia and then Matthew 2736.
-
I know it's putting a lot of you in the same passage, but all
-
right, Daniel, Matthew 2736. All right.
-
And then let me have everybody turn over to Psalm 22.
-
Psalm 22. Basically what we're going to
-
look at here is the prophecy and the fulfillment of that prophecy
-
all in Jesus Christ. So to, to, to just take a quick
-
step back, we're talking about what is the gospel in the first
-
part of that is that Christ died for our sins according to the
-
Scriptures. Not only did he die for our
-
sins, but according to the scriptures.
-
So it was Christ that died. He died for our sins and he died
-
according to the scriptures. And that refers to the amazing
-
prophecies that the Bible describes about his death and in
-
great detail it describes it. And really, Psalm 22 is, is by
-
far the most prophetic chapter in the Old Testament.
-
But there's many, many places that mention these things.
-
But #1 the Scripture prophesied that Jesus would die by
-
crucifixion. And let's all look at Psalm 22
-
verse #14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out
-
of joint. My heart is like wax.
-
It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
-
My strength is dried up like a pot shirt, and my tongue
-
cleaveth to my jaws. And Thou has brought me into the
-
dust of death, for dogs have compassed me, the assembly of
-
the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
-
feet. Let's have somebody read John
-
1916 through 18 Jesus, and let him away.
-
And he bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the
-
place of His skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha,
-
where they crucified him and two other with him on either side,
-
one and Jesus in the midst. OK, now here's the interesting
-
thing. What did, what's being described
-
there in 1415 and 16 in Psalm 22 is a crucifixion.
-
But this was before crucifixion had even been invented, when
-
David wrote this. Don't even know if David knew
-
what he was writing about when he wrote it, but he was writing
-
under the inspiration of God, right?
-
God gave him the words to write and he wrote these things and
-
then it was brought to pass in, in John chapter 19.
John 19 chapter mention
-
It was only practiced in the Roman Empire.
-
It was written 1000 years before Christ came.
-
And that's what they would do. They would nail their hands and
-
their feet to the cross. And that's exactly what happened
-
with Jesus. And we know that he said put
-
your fingers in my hands, Put your fingers, you know, put your
-
thrust your hand into my side. See He told Thomas that that he
-
had hands in his in his feet and in his and I mean nail, nail
-
prints in his hands and in his feet because of that.
-
And there was it was all prophesied in Psalm 22.
-
The scripture also prophesied. This is going on to the next
-
page page 22 that the soldiers would gamble for Jesus robe at
-
the foot of the cross. Verse 18 of Psalm 22.
-
They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture.
-
The soldiers did that while Jesus was still on the cross,
-
while he was still suffering. Matthew 2735.
-
OK, So what we're saying here, what what the Bible is saying
-
there is it's referring back to this passage.
-
So you know that this passage is not talking about just David or
-
it's not just David talking about himself.
-
He said as was prophesied, right, which is very, very
-
interesting. Matthew 27 is mostly where we're
-
at with these fulfillment of the prophecies.
-
But we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all talk about
-
those things just centers there in Matthew because obviously you
-
could jump around. You can put you can do it on
-
just about every book. Not every book mentions
-
everything, but we're just looking at Matthew here.
-
But all of them would would mention these things as well.
-
But also then the Scripture prophesied the words that Jesus
-
spoke from the cross, Psalm 22 and verse number one.
-
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
-
Why aren't there all so far from helping me and from the words of
-
my roaring Matthew 2746? Right, the Scriptures also
-
prophesied that Jesus would thirst.
-
Verse 15 we read this, my strength is dried up like a pot
-
shirt, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought
-
me into the dust of death. John chapter 19 and verse 28.
John 19 chapter mention
-
After this Jesus, knowing that all things were now
-
accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, sayeth I
-
thirst. OK, The Scripture prophesied
-
that people would mock him. Verse 6 But I am a worm and no
-
man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people all day
-
that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
-
shake the head, saying He trusted on the Lord that he
-
would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing he delighted
-
in him. All right, let's look at this
-
one. Matthew 2739 and then 41 through
-
43. OK, they mocked him and almost,
-
almost the exact phrases and the exact quotes that are being used
-
there. It's a definite fulfillment of
-
the prophecy there. And then also the Scripture
-
prophesied that people would sit and stare at him.
-
Verse 17, I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon
-
me. Matthew 2736.
-
Who has that one? OK, yeah, that's one.
-
John talks about the exact same thing.
-
They just they they sat there and stared at him.
-
All of these things are prophecies that were fulfilled.
-
I think I forgot Charlie, didn't I?
-
You have John 16-8. We need a microphone.
-
Let's get these passed around. Who's got them?
-
All right. Yeah, give him that one.
-
There we go, John, 16/8. And he is come He will reprove
-
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
-
OK, so that goes back to what we talked about before.
-
All of this has to be a work that the Holy Spirit does,
-
right? The Holy Spirit convicts us and
-
and by the way, that's the only thing that the Holy Spirit does
-
for somebody that's not saved. There is no comfort of the Holy
-
Spirit. There is no leading you in
-
guiding you in your life if you're not saved.
-
The Holy Spirit does one thing in the life of somebody that's
-
not saved and that's to convict them of their need for Christ.
-
That's it, that's it. He does a lot of things for
-
those who are saved. But when he comes, the Bible
-
says he'll reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of
-
judgment. And that's exactly what the Holy
-
Spirit does for somebody who is not saved.
-
So we're going to stop there for tonight.
-
But the three major parts to the gospel of Christ, he died for
-
our sins according to the Scriptures.
-
And of course, that's a huge part of, of why of the gospel
-
that he died because I'm a Sinner.
-
If I had never sinned, Jesus never would have had to die.
-
He died. It was Christ.
-
Why did he die for my sins? And he died according to the
-
Scriptures, everything that happened in the story of the
-
crucifixion. And by the way, all the, all the
-
accounts in the Gospel all line up and match each other.
-
They're complementary to each other, but not only that, they
-
were all fulfillment of prophecy.
-
So we'll talk about his burial and his resurrection and then a
-
few other things next week. I've got some things to add to
-
it that I think will be an interesting study, but I don't
-
want to get into it tonight. Otherwise we'll be here for a
-
while longer. So we'll stop there and have a
-
word of prayer and then we'll be done.
-
Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so
-
much for your goodness to us. Thank you for the opportunity we
-
have to be here tonight. And God, I do pray that you
-
would give us the opportunity to put this into practice and and
-
lead folks to Christ. And I pray that you to give us
-
the boldness to do that. The time is short.
-
We don't know when you're coming back, but it sure seems like
-
it'll be soon. And I pray that will be God as
-
as John said at the very end of Revelation.
-
Even so, come Lord Jesus, I pray that you would and God, I pray
-
that it would be be soon. But what's the time that we have
-
left? I pray that you'd help us to be
-
bold witnesses for you and that we'd share the gospel with every
-
opportunity that we have. Thank you again for all you do
-
for us in Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand.
-
We'll close in our.