The Gospel and How it Changes Us

When you walk into a worship service like this,

and you see that the Lord's Supper is going to be observed,

what do you think?

When I was a kid growing up in the church I went to,

when I walked in and saw the table set up,

we were going to have the Lord's Supper,

I thought, we're going to get out today a whole lot early.

Really.

We started at 11 o'clock,

and we had the Lord's Supper in the church I grew up in.

We were always out by 20 minutes till 11,

20 minutes till 12.

30 to 40 minutes tops.

That's not going to happen here.

Don't even think about that.

But on a more serious note,

when you walk in,

when you walked in today,

or when you walk in anytime,

and you see the elements on the table,

you know we're going to observe the Lord's Supper.

Maybe you saw it in the newsletter.

What do you think?

Do you think about what these elements represent?

The broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ

as He died on the cross

to pay the penalty for your sins

if you're a Christian.

Another way to think about that is

when you see the Lord's Supper set up like this,

do you think about the gospel?

That is a word that's used a lot in church.

You've probably heard it in Sunday school today.

You may have read something this past week,

that word gospel,

in relation to who we are as Christians.

Well, the word gospel simply means good news.

It is the good news of how God

has provided a way for sinners like you and me

to be forgiven,

made right with Him,

and even made His child

so that we can have a relationship with Him

now and forever.

I want you to turn with me

to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 this morning

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

and we're going to look at one of the

clearest,

one of the most

simple statements of the gospel

that you'll find in Scripture.

In fact,

it's really the most

clear, concise statement

of the gospel message

that you're going to find.

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Now, most of this chapter

is explaining the significance

of the resurrection of Jesus.

But Paul begins

in verses 1 through 8.

He begins

by reminding

the Corinthians,

these Christians,

what he has preached,

what they have believed.

He explains it in detail

and then he talks about

how there are

so many eyewitnesses

to the resurrection of Jesus.

Let's look at it together.

1 Corinthians chapter 15,

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 1.

Now, I would remind you, brothers,

of the gospel I preached to you,

which you received,

in which you stand,

and by which you are being saved,

if you hold fast

to the word I preached to you,

unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you

as of first importance

what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins

in accordance with the Scriptures.

Now, when he says that,

he's referring to

how the Old Testament

foretold this was going to take place.

Maybe he's thinking about

Isaiah chapter 53 and 54,

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

where Isaiah's talking about

the Lord's suffering servant,

talking about really

what Jesus experienced

on the cross.

That's the kind of thing

he's referring to

when he says,

according to the Scriptures,

according to the Old Testament prophecies.

For Christ died for our sins

in accordance with the Scriptures,

that he was buried,

that he was raised

on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas,

that's Peter,

then to the twelve,

then he appeared

to more than 500 brothers

at one time,

most of whom are still alive,

though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James,

then to all the apostles,

last of all,

as to one untimely born,

he appeared also to me.

I want us to answer

three questions

from this passage this morning

that I pray will help us

to prepare for the Lord's Supper.

Number one,

what is the gospel?

What is the gospel?

I would love to have

the opportunity

to pass out a sheet of paper

and let everyone in this room

write down

your response

to that question,

your answer.

What is the gospel?

Every survey

that is taken

of church members

indicates

that most church members

cannot give

a simple,

clear explanation

of the gospel message.

That is a shame.

That should not be.

And that's one of the reasons

why we're looking

at this passage

this morning

as we prepare

for the Lord's Supper.

we all need

to understand

to be able

to explain

the good news

of Jesus.

We ought to be able

to explain

what we believe

and be able

to communicate it

to someone

and encourage them

to believe as well.

What is the gospel?

Well, Paul provides

a concise summary

in verses 3 and 4.

I want you to look

at three phrases.

First,

Christ died

for our sins

in verse 3.

The death of Jesus

on the cross

is the heart

of the gospel.

The death of Jesus

on the cross,

that is the heart

of the gospel.

But note why he died.

He died

for our sins.

Sin is everyone's

biggest problem.

You know,

every one of us

in this room,

we've got problems.

We've got issues.

And it may be

that you have

some relational problems.

It may be

that you have

some addiction

type problems.

The root

of those problems

is that it's sin.

You're violating

God's law.

You're breaking

His commandments.

You're breaking

His rules,

boys and girls.

That's our problem.

And you know,

we come into this world

being able to do that

just automatically,

don't we?

We're sinners by nature.

No one ever had to teach you

to tell a lie.

No one ever had to teach you

to talk back to your parent,

to disobey your parent.

We just come with this

built-in bent

on being selfish,

being self-centered,

certainly not God-centered.

We're sinners by nature.

We're sinners by choice.

Our sin separates us

from our relationship

with God.

And if we die

in that condition,

we'll be eternally separated

from Him

in hell.

And that's the bad news

of the Bible.

Everyone needs to understand

this bad news,

how serious it is,

so that we will understand

just how great

this good news is.

And the good news is that

even though we are sinners,

sinners,

and we're happy in it

if we just go along in life

and God leaves us alone,

we'll be happy

just doing what we want to do.

But the good news of the Bible

is God loves us,

and God devised a way

for us to be forgiven

and made right with Him.

He did this by sending

His Son, Jesus Christ,

into this world

to die for our sins,

to pay the penalty

that our sins deserve.

When Jesus hung on the cross,

and understand,

this is something supernatural.

When Jesus hung on the cross,

it's like God placed

our sins upon Him.

And there,

He incurred God's wrath,

His righteous wrath

against sin.

He suffered the punishment.

I tell boys and girls

when I explain the gospel to them,

when Jesus died on the cross,

He did not go to the place

called hell,

but He experienced

the pain and punishment

of hell.

He experienced

being separated from God,

which is why He cried out,

My God, My God,

why have you forsaken me?

As Jesus hung on the cross,

our sin bearer,

our substitute,

God turned away.

That's why He cried out,

My God, My God,

why have you forsaken me?

He was paying the penalty,

suffering the punishment

that our sins deserve.

Jesus died for our sins.

The first statement in verse 3.

Verse 4,

He was buried.

Now this is stated this way,

but to emphasize,

Jesus really did die.

He didn't just pass out.

Jesus died

and was buried.

He was buried.

He was buried.

He was wrapped in grave clothes.

He was left.

Now,

that also points out

that when Jesus rose from the grave,

it was a true resurrection,

a bodily resurrection

from the dead.

And that's the third statement,

verse 4.

He was raised on the third day.

Jesus was raised from the dead

by the Heavenly Father.

And when Jesus arose from the grave,

it was not something done in secret.

As you read through verses 5 through 8 there,

Jesus appeared to a lot of people

over a period of 40 days,

we read in Acts chapter 1 in verse 3.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Jesus died on the cross.

He arose from the grave.

And He was seen by people

who saw Him die.

He was seen by people

who knew that He was dead.

But He came back to life.

And His resurrection appearances,

it just transformed those disciples

who had run away from Him

at first when He was arrested.

But now,

after they've seen the resurrected Lord

and after the Holy Spirit

came to live within them,

that you read about in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

they were never the same again.

God did what He did

in sending Jesus

to die for our sins

because He loves us

and He wanted to save us

even though we didn't deserve it

and we could never earn it.

Paul said it like this

in Romans chapter 5.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

He says,

But God demonstrates

His own love for us in this.

While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

By doing what He did,

God has done everything necessary

for us to be forgiven

and made His child.

God's done everything necessary

for us to be saved,

made right with Him.

But I want you to understand.

Jesus' death on the cross,

just the fact that it happened,

it's a historical fact.

But that doesn't,

in and of itself,

save anyone.

No, the Bible says,

we must respond to this good news.

We must respond to this gospel.

And that leads to the second question.

How do we respond to the gospel?

You know, it makes sense.

Everything that,

just about everything in life

that good news that comes to you,

you've got to do something with it

if it's going to help you in any way.

For an example,

if you were to go to the doctor tomorrow,

he does some tests.

By the end of the week,

you are told,

you've got a blockage in an artery.

And it's a serious blockage.

You've got to have something done.

The good news is,

he tells you that

we've caught it at such a point

where there's just medication.

You don't have to have anything else.

We can give you some medication.

You can change your lifestyle.

And this blockage

won't ever give you a problem.

That's good news.

But you've got to act on that good news.

You've got to respond to that good news

for it to do you any good.

You've got to take the medication.

You've got to change that diet.

Do some exercise.

If you don't respond,

the good news will do you

absolutely no good.

Well, the Bible teaches

that we've got to respond

to what God has done for us in Christ

in order for us to get any good out of it,

in order for us to be forgiven.

The Bible says that we've got to respond

to the gospel like this.

We must repent of our sin

and put our faith in Jesus Christ

as our Savior and Lord.

That's what the Apostle Paul

told everyone

when he preached the gospel.

He summarizes this in Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Look at what he says.

He says,

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks

and that's his way of saying everyone.

Everywhere I go,

everywhere I preach,

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks

that they must turn to God in repentance

and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

Let's think about those two words,

repentance and faith.

Repentance is a change of mind about sin,

but it's more than that.

If we're truly repentant,

we're not only going to change our mind about our sin,

but we're going to be truly grieved by it.

It's going to bother us to think

that I have disobeyed God.

I have offended Almighty God.

We're going to want to change our mind about it.

We're going to want to turn away from it.

We're going to grieve over it.

It's just going to bother us.

If God is truly convicting us of our sin,

He's shown us that we're separated from Him

and there's no hope unless we come to Christ,

if God's working in us,

He's going to give us this desire

to turn from our sin,

change our mind about it.

We'll grieve over it.

We'll be sorry that we have committed this,

we've lived this kind of way.

We'll want to be different.

We'll want to change.

And what we'll do is we'll turn from our sin

and we'll turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

We will trust Him,

put our confidence in Him,

count on Him that when He died on the cross,

He died to save me.

He paid the penalty for my sin.

Faith involves trusting in Jesus,

who He is.

He's the Son of God.

And what He has done,

dying on the cross,

to pay the penalty for your sins.

If you will respond to the good news of Jesus like this,

God will save you.

He will forgive you.

He'll make you His child now and forever.

And if you truly respond this way,

God will so change you,

you'll never be the same again.

And that leads us to the third question.

What difference has the gospel made in your life?

What difference has this good news made in your life?

The New Testament consistently points out that saving faith is continuing faith.

It's really life-changing faith.

I want you to just note how Paul points it out in verses 1 and 2.

Look at it again.

Writing to Christians,

Now I would remind you,

brothers,

brothers and sisters,

of the gospel I preached to you,

look at it,

which you received,

you accepted,

you believed in.

verse 2,

in which you stand.

You've taken a stand.

You not only believe it,

you're living it.

Verse 2,

by which you are being saved.

Salvation is both a past experience

and a present experience

and a future experience.

It's like this.

When you put your faith in Jesus

as your Savior and Lord,

at that moment in time,

God declares you to be righteous.

He declares you to be right with Him

through faith in Jesus.

The penalty for your sin has been paid.

It was paid by Jesus.

The righteous, perfect life that Jesus lived,

that's credited to you.

It's all at one time.

God justifies you,

declares you to be right with Him

at the moment you believe.

But from that moment on,

God works in you,

if you're a Christian.

If you're truly saved,

God will work in you.

You will continue to believe

and trust in Jesus.

You'll continue to hate sin

and turn from it,

repent of it.

You'll continue to believe

and you will grow

and you'll make progress

in developing Christ-like character.

That's what the Bible calls

sanctification,

becoming like Jesus.

And then,

whenever we die,

true Christians,

when we die,

all the baggage of our sin

and selfishness and worldliness,

we leave it behind.

We're glorified.

we're going to be like Jesus,

finally.

But it's at the end of our life

in this world.

Right here,

Paul is talking about

the gospel,

it continues

to work in a person's life.

But look at verse 2.

There's a qualification here.

I want to remind you,

brothers,

of the gospel I preached to you,

which you received,

in which you stand,

and by which you're being saved,

if you hold fast

to the word I preached to you.

If you continue to believe,

the person who makes

a profession of faith

and then just goes on

about their life

as if nothing ever happened,

nothing ever happened.

I tell,

whether it be a child,

eight or nine years old,

we saw some baptized this morning,

or whether it be someone

80 years old.

Making a profession of faith

is important,

but if that's all

that ever happens to you,

you cannot have assurance.

I tell everybody I baptized.

We went over it this morning

before we did this.

Baptism does not save you.

It does not make you,

make God love you more

or accept you more.

It is an act of obedience

that a Christian does,

somebody who's trusting in Jesus does,

to make their faith known.

Genuine faith,

if it's real,

if a person's truly born again

by the Spirit of God,

that person will continue in faith.

But,

don't make,

don't jump to any kind

of conclusions here.

I am not teaching,

Paul is not teaching,

that we're saved

by our own efforts.

He's not trying to say

that you become a Christian

through faith in Jesus

and then you do your best

to hang on yourself.

No.

Saving faith is a gift from God.

Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

and verse 8 tells us,

when God so works in us

to enable us to believe

and we believe,

God's going to continue

to work in us

to enable us to continue

to believe

and we will continue

to believe.

That's because what God starts,

God finishes.

As Paul says it like this

in Philippians 1,

being confident of this,

that he who began

a good work in you

will carry it on

to completion

until the day

of Christ Jesus.

That's the day

when Jesus comes back.

What God starts,

he finishes.

He never gives up.

He never quits.

True Christians

will continue

in their faith

because God continues

with us.

We become his

and he won't let us alone.

The way God does this,

he gives us desires

if we're really his.

If his spirit lives within us,

he gives us the desire

to be faithful to him.

As Paul points out

again in Philippians,

this time chapter 2,

verse 13,

for it is God

who works in you

to will and to act

according to his good purpose.

There's a major problem

in churches

across all denominational lines

today.

Many people who claim

to be Christians

show absolutely no sign

of having spiritual life.

many Christians

just don't seem

to give a rip

about God

and the things of God.

Church,

prayer,

Bible study,

it's just boring.

Just a waste of time

in their mind.

That cannot happen

if the spirit of God

lives within you

because the spirit of God

is going to cause you

to want to know

your heavenly father better.

It's going to cause you

to want to pray,

to want to study the word,

to want to grow

in your knowledge

and fellowship

and relationship

with God

and with other Christians.

The problem is

that some people

do what Paul said

in verse 2

that we've already looked at.

Some people have

believed in vain.

John MacArthur

explains that

this is a real problem

with this statement.

He says,

by this qualifying statement,

Paul recognizes

and called to their attention

that some may have had

a shallow,

non-saving faith.

There's church members

who've made professions

of faith.

They've had some kind

of emotional experience maybe.

They've been baptized.

Their name's on the church roll.

But,

they believed in vain.

It was shallow.

There was never

any real life changing,

there was no transformation

by the Spirit of God.

It was just believing facts.

Not trusting

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since the beginning

of the Christian church,

since New Testament days,

there have been people

who claim to be Christians,

but they showed

no real signs

of a relationship

with Jesus.

And Jesus made it

very clear

that such people

are not saved.

Look at it

from Matthew 7.

Jesus said,

Not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord,

will enter the kingdom

of heaven,

but only he who does

the will of my Father

who is in heaven.

Many will say to me

on that day,

Lord, Lord,

did we not prophesy

in your name

and in your name

drive out demons

and perform many miracles?

Then I will tell them plainly,

I never knew you.

Away from me,

you evildoers.

Now,

I want to make it

real clear.

There is no Christian

who just perfectly

follows the Lord

and never falls

into temptation,

never gives

into temptation,

never falls

into sin.

That doesn't happen.

We all,

as Christians,

Paul talked about it

in Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

He talks about it

in Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

We all have struggles.

We all struggle

with the desires

of our sinful nature.

We all have temptations.

And the truth is,

we all fail

more than we like

to admit.

We do sin.

But to think about

a true Christian,

sooner or later

when we sin,

the Spirit of God

within us

is grieved.

And He will convict us.

He will inflict guilt

on us

for the purpose

of causing us

to confess our sin,

to turn from it,

to seek God's forgiveness,

to not live out

of fellowship with Him,

but to come back

to Him

if we're true Christians.

If you're not

a Christian this morning,

I want you to know

that you can come

to God

right now,

no matter who you are,

what you've done.

If you will come

and as Paul said,

repent of your sins,

put your faith

in Jesus Christ

and Him alone

for your salvation,

God will save you.

Scripture says,

whoever calls

on the name of the Lord

will be saved.

And I encourage you

to do that this moment

if you're not a believer,

if you are a Christian.

But right now,

you would say,

I've drifted away

from the Lord.

I'm not close to Him

like I once was.

Or,

it's not that you

drifted away,

you've rebelled.

And the truth is,

you've been living

in willful disobedience.

But if God,

through this message,

has gotten your attention,

softened your heart,

and you truly want

to come back

and be close to Him,

then confess your sin.

He will forgive you

and cleanse you.

He will renew

your commitment to Him

right now.

I encourage you

to do that.

I want us to take

the next few minutes

to prepare to observe

the Lord's Supper

by thinking seriously

about what Jesus

has done for us,

how we have responded,

and how we are living

in relationship with Him

right now.

Listen to the Lord

and you respond to Him

as we have it

just in time of prayer

and preparation

for the Lord's Supper.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.