What the Resurrection means to the Christian

I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15.

If you do not have a worship guide, raise your hand.

Anyone that does not over here, here we go, Harry.

What?

We're all gone?

Well, we got a few.

We got a few.

Here we go.

All right.

Raise your keep your hands up and we'll get them to you.

We got some.

Because in fact, you can have mine if you need it.

I got aimed at it.

Yes.

Yeah.

She said, that's when you know you're full when there's no more worship guides.

Amen.

We're coming.

Well, give us a year, we'll have us a place.

It's coming.

It's coming.

But it'll be, hey, our goal is to be almost debt-free, too.

Can I give an amen?

Give God a yes.

That's why.

That's why we haven't moved.

We don't believe in going in a lot of debt around here.

We believe in having our money to be used to help people and minister to our community.

So we're very good stewards with God's money.

Very good stewards.

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Probably the most important, unbelievable chapter in the New Testament, or maybe even in the whole Bible, other than Isaiah 53, that validates the resurrection.

And the resurrection is definitely, if I can ever get this new Bible, I can't turn the pages.

Validates the foundation of all of Christianity.

Without the resurrection, there's no, hey, or let me put it this way: without the proof of the resurrection, then our faith is invalid.

And so, and because of that, Paul took ample time to write in this epistle the proof of the resurrection.

Ben Peterson shared the following story in April 13, the April 13th, 2004, in the edition of the Leadership Journal, which I get.

Great magazine.

It was entitled Resurrection and Pandemonium.

He records the events that took place in the jungles of East Asia.

Imagine the mystery and delight of not just hearing but seeing the story of Jesus for the first time.

Almost as an eyewitness.

That's what happened to a tribe in the jungles of East Asia when missionaries showed the Jesus film.

How many of you have ever seen the Jesus film?

Several.

But it's very similar to the Passion.

We've all seen the Passion of Christ.

It shows the life of Christ and it shows the crucifixion of Christ and it shows the burial of Christ and then the resurrection and then the ascension.

So in this film, not only had these people never heard of Jesus, they had never seen a motion picture whatsoever.

Deedra was on a situation mission trip that y'all showed this.

Was it the Jesus film y'all showed that time?

Was that the first time they had ever seen a film?

So she's experienced what I'm saying.

They had never seen a motion picture.

Then, one, on one unforgettable evening, they saw it all, the gospel in their own language.

Visible, real.

Imagine again how it felt to see this good man, Jesus Christ, who healed the sick, made the lame to walk, and helped children and fed people.

Literally, Jesus Christ.

He, hey, adored by children.

He was hell without a trial, beaten and scourged without mercy to a bloody pup by jeering soldiers and mobs.

As they watched this, the people came unglued.

They stood up and began to shout at the cruelty of the men on the screen, demanding that the outrage stop, stop.

In fact, perhaps it was in fact, as I was reading this, I said, I bet the missionary got a little scared when nothing happened.

They attacked the missionary running the projector.

Perhaps he was responsible for this injustice.

They didn't know.

The missionary was forced to stop the film and explain to the people.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, sit down.

The story's not over.

The story's not over.

So reasonably they sat back down.

They settled back onto the ground.

Holding the anger, hey, angry emotions in check.

Needless to say, they were very upset.

Then came the crucifixion.

And again, the people could not hold back.

They began to weep and wail and with such loud grief that once again the film had to be stopped.

Explaining.

Calm down.

Calm down.

The story's not over.

There was more to come.

The story's not over.

There's more to come.

So they composed themselves and sat down to see what happened next with the intense attention.

They were glued to the screen.

It was clear that they were very upset about what they were seeing.

Then came the resurrection, and pandemonium broke out this time, but for a different reason.

The gathering had spontaneously erupted into a party.

They were jumping, they were shouting, they were knocking each other on back, saying, Woo-hoo, woo, dancing, dancing.

And this time the missionary said, Now you see it, and he didn't stop them.

He said, Now you've got it.

Now you've got it.

The noise now was of jubilation, and it was absolutely deafening.

The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back, and they were hollering out, Christ is risen! Christ is risen! He's alive! He's alive! Again, the missionary had to shut off the projector, but this time he didn't tell them to calm down and wait for what was next.

All that was supposed to happen in this story and in their lives was happening.

They saw the gospel, they saw the crucifixion, Christ paying the debt for their sins.

But then they saw the burial.

But then they saw the resurrection.

Wow.

Jesus Christ is a living savior, and they trusted in him.

They had a living Savior living now within them.

Beloved, rejoice.

He lives in you and he lives in me too.

We can rejoice.

Can we just give Jesus a clap offering this morning?

Rejoice! He's alive, he is risen.

And because he is alive and conquered death, he has proved that he has the power to change lives.

And that's why in this chapter, the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, these 58 verses are extremely valuable to the tenets of Christianity.

I mean, it's our core.

Because the resurrection is so vital, it is attacked every day, even as it was starting to be not believed in the church at Corinth, even after Paul had preached the gospel and they had believed.

And so, because of that, we see Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15.

The resurrection is mentioned.

Are you ready for this 104 times in the New Testament?

It is our Constitution, it is our Bill of Rights.

It is our declaration of independence for Christianity.

It is our rock of Gibraltar.

It is our Waterloo of infidelity, liberalism, and atheism.

Men that have tried to disprove this resurrection and that have done tremendous end-depth study.

A man named Josh McDowell went and spent five years, four and a half years in Israel and the Hebrew University and did everything he could, geologically speaking, historically speaking, and spiritually speaking, to disprove the resurrection.

But at the end, at his conclusion, there was more evidence to prove the resurrection, to discount the resurrection.

And he got saved and has written the greatest book I think ever written on evidence demands a verdict about the proof of the resurrection of Christ.

Other men.

Dr.

Phillips, great theologian, mentioned that years ago two men, Lloyd Littleton and Gilbert West, both confirmed skeptics, met in England to lay plans to discredit Christianity.

They had two tenets.

They said, there's two things that if we can disprove, will wipe away Christianity forever from the face of the earth.

And one of those, Gilbert West, said, I will take the resurrection of Christ.

I will disprove the resurrection of Christ.

While Lloyd, Lloyd Lytton said, I, the first one was the resurrection.

The second tenant was the conversion of Paul, the Saul of Tarsus.

So Lyttleton said, I will disprove the conversion of Paul of Sarsus.

Tarsus.

And so with that said, they both went out and they said, we will meet again after a year of in-depth research.

And they both met again in England.

But this time they both met, and each of them had a testimony that through all their evidence that they had researched, that they both had become Christians because they could not deny the evidence that proved the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ.

And they could not deny the conversion of the Apostle Paul.

And both wrote books that became bestsellers.

One on the conversion of Paul, and the other one on the resurrection of Christ.

The resurrection is the foundation.

I wrote this to me.

The resurrection, I asked myself this week, what does the resurrection mean to me?

And here's what I said: it's the foundation of Danny, Pastor Danny's faith.

It's the focal point of my fervency and my fire.

It is the focus of my faithfulness and my flourishing growth.

As I grow in my faith, I rely on the fundamental fact of the resurrection.

It's the fundamental fact of our fellowship with God and our future with God.

Amen.

Well, if there was no resurrection, the facts of the gospel were false.

Our faith would be flimsy and foolish.

Our future would be foggy and floundering.

Our faithfulness would falter and pass away.

We would quit God.

If there was no resurrection.

If there was no tenet of belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Foolishness and futility would characterize the death of martyrs and missionaries.

I so excited about having our missionaries home from Costa Rica.

The Wilkinsons, right here.

And and our ladies, how many ladies are going?

Nine?

Oh, they're fixing to do a trip there.

Amen.

I wanted to go.

They said, nope, no men allowed.

So, Gary, I'll pray for you that week.

Bless your heart.

Amen.

But but there would be no reason for us to be sending missionaries.

There would be no reason for us to 25 to 30% of our budget goes to reaching the unreached people locally and abroad.

Can I get an amen?

That's why we do what we do.

Everything we do here is to present the gospel, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Every meeting we meet as a council, I make this profound statement right at the very beginning.

Every decision we make in this council for this church will either bring people to Jesus or hinder people from coming to Jesus.

That's a pretty awesome responsibility.

Amen.

So with that said, but because of the resurrection, Paul was able to say tenaciously and triumphantly the truth that, hey, the grace of God gives us stability, serenity, and satisfaction.

And because of that, I love verse 10, he says, by the grace of God I am what I am.

Paul had a passion to know more of this resurrection power in his own personal life.

Jason's been waiting on me.

That's just an introduction, Jason.

Now we're ready.

And now, Philippians chapter 3, verse 10 says, Paul said that I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his image to be made like Christ.

Philippians 3:10

It's the gospel, it's the grace of God that transforms us into likeness of Christ.

You're going to see what grace really is before we finish.

Powerful.

Paul put it this way in Ephesians 1, 19 and 20.

Listen to what he said.

And what is this exceeding greatness of his power toward us?

Watch this.

Who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him on his right hand in the heavenly places.

Man.

This power of God and his wonderful grace conforms the believer into the image of Christ.

Thank God for his grace and the resurrection of Christ.

Beloved, the sign of Christianity, listen to me.

The sign of Christianity is not the cross.

Even though we wear the crosses and I love the cross.

But the sign of real Christianity is the empty tomb.

He's not here, for he is risen.

Come see the place where the Lord lay.

Psalms 28.

Amen.

Psalms 28, verse 6.

Psalms 28:6

Do you realize Christians, as Christians, we are the only ones that, hey, own, hey, we have the only living, I wrote this down, put a big star by it, originator of faith.

We are the only ones that have a living originator of faith.

I thought about this.

Are you ready?

Buddha is dead.

Hey, Brahma, Brahma of the Hindu religion is dead.

Muhammad of the Muslim faith is dead.

In fact, are you ready for this?

He died at medium on June the 8th, 1632, at the age of 61, and his tomb there is visited yearly by tens of thousands of Muslims.

But they come to mourn his death.

But when we Christians go to the tomb of Jesus Christ, it is empty.

He's not there.

He is risen.

He's not there.

We serve a living Savior.

The whole fabric of Christianity rests upon the resurrection.

And so with that, and they hate it.

That said, let's get ready.

Get your pen ready now.

Was that a good introduction?

Wasn't that a pretty good?

I just I could just stay on the res, I mean on the introduction.

I just got so fired up, I couldn't get off the introduction.

But now let's take it and exergetically look at these verses.

Number one, they're so powerful.

In verses one and two, we see the declaration of the gospel.

Listen to what Paul said.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preach unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.

Without standing upon the gospel, receiving the gospel, believing the gospel, we have nothing.

By which also ye are saved.

If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have a believed in pain.

Ooh, that word phrase believed in pain is powerful.

People were not a beginning in the church of Corinth not to believe the gospel.

They were not believing the resurrection, some, the non-believers.

So he made the declaration again.

He reminds these Christians of the truth of the gospel.

Now I like that last phrase.

Paul addresses a very important issue in the second verse.

It is the issue of vain or useless faith.

In Paul's day, as right now, even as in our day, and especially in our day, there were people who were making, now listen to me, don't miss this.

They were making a profession of faith.

But they were not possessing that faith.

I'm going to say that again.

They were making a profession of faith.

But they were not possessing that faith.

What does that mean, Pastor Danny?

They had a head knowledge and not a heart knowledge.

They believed in their mind what they were hearing, but they didn't allow their heart to receive the truth and radically change their lives.

You can know the Bible and still be lost.

You can even believe the Bible and still be lost.

Oh, wait a minute.

I know.

You say, I don't know if I agree with that.

Well, let me tell you something.

Remember, the, hey, the demons and the devil believed, but they were lost.

Let me prove this.

Look at James chapter 2, verse 19.

James 2:19

And what he says.

This is powerful.

Here's what it says: Thou believest that there is one God.

There believest that there is one God.

Thou dost well.

The devils also believed and trembled.

They believed and trembled.

People with head knowledge may talk about their faith in the Lord without ever really trusting in their hearts the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, we have churches filled with them.

James, can you find it back there, Jason?

James chapter 2, verse 19.

James 2:19

I want you to see this.

This is powerful.

I mean, there it is.

The people with head knowledge.

They were talking about it, but they didn't know it.

This is why.

Now, watch this.

People that profess faith in Christ, that don't possess faith in Christ.

Are you listening to me?

That's why they struggle with being obedient to the things of Christ.

That's why they have a hard time with the Word of God and being faithful to their quiet time, being faithful, hey, to church, being faithful to witnessing, being committed, hey, faithful to commitment to what Christ asked them to do.

It's not real.

They know what they have you ever been there?

Have you seen people that They know what to do, they just don't do it.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

There's a reason for that.

They profess it, but don't possess it.

Church is fill with them.

Billy Graham literally said he believed 75% of the people in church are lost.

They possess Christianity, but they don't possess it.

The devils believed.

You believed in that there is one God, you do well, even the demons believed.

People with head knowledge, but yet not a heart transformation.

Never been born again.

They do not possess or keep in memory what Paul preached.

A person's attitude toward the word of God and church reveals volumes of what is going on in their heart.

Your obedience reveals volumes of what's going on in your heart and my heart.

What we love, what we do.

1 John 2.19.

Listen to what John said.

They went out from us, but they were not of us.

For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.

But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

Wow.

Wow.

Powerful.

Powerful.

2 John 1:9.

2 John 1:9

Whosoever transgress and abides not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.

He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

It's pretty plain, guys.

It's pretty plain.

There will be many that would stand in judgment before Christ one day who possess right now a false faith.

I'll tell you a verse that really got me.

Jason, Matthew 7, 22 and 23.

Listen to what Jesus said.

Man, this just racks me and challenges me.

Oh my soul.

And here's what he said.

Unbelievable.

Many will say to me in that day, what day?

The judgment day.

Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The question is, do we have a head knowledge?

Or do we have a heart transformation?

Wow.

Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 13, 5.

Examine yourself whether you be in the faith.

Prove your own self.

He said, prove your own selves.

Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Wow.

Beloved, what is this?

What is it?

He said.

You're going through life?

He's talking to the church of Corinth.

You're going through life.

He says, You can't fool God.

Can I tell you something?

You can fool me.

You can even show up here and be faithful.

But only you know in your heart if you've been saved.

Because the Spirit of God bears witness with your spirit that you are the child of God.

Amen.

Romans very plainly says that.

Spirit bears witness with the Spirit.

And you have that urge, you have that desire, and you're going to see this in a minute.

Don't let me get bogged down.

There's so much here.

Oh, it's so good.

Let me tell you what's concerning me today.

Do you know what transology is?

Probably not.

T-H A-N-A-T-O-L-O-G-Y.

You know what transology is?

It is the study of death.

When I was growing up, nobody wanted to talk about death.

Do you know there is a growing phenomenon right now with young people?

They are totally being consumed with the hereafter.

The space trap.

Have you noticed how many movies is about the out in space, the hereafter after life after death?

All this going on.

The first course was going to be taught at the University of Harvard.

They were expecting 20 students.

They ended up having over 200.

On the college campuses today, it is a growing phenomenon of studying life after death.

And we see this growing unbelievably.

And I get excited because the Bible, I just finished the whole book of Revelation.

The Bible is, hey, the greatest book for hey, determining and defining what trionology really is.

Life after death.

No doubt about it.

The Bible makes it clear that death will come to you and me if Jesus tarries.

From Genesis to Revelation, the death bell rings.

You and I have an appointment with death if the rapture doesn't take place.

Now I tell you what, I'm voting for the rapture.

Amen.

But we have an appointment.

Listen to what Psalms 989, verse 48 says.

I found this yesterday morning.

It was awesome.

What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?

Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?

In other words, who are you?

Do you think you can deliver your soul from the grave?

Absolutely not.

Now this verse is up there, Psalms 90.

I want you to see this.

The days of your years are three scored years.

What does that mean?

You and I go, you know, the Bible says we're going to probably live as average about in the 70s.

Or maybe he goes on and says, Are you ready?

Three score years and ten.

And then if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength, labor, hey, their strength, labor, and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Hello.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty close to 70.

Some of you are already there.

Some of you in the 80s.

Woo, you ought to be shouting.

Amen?

I'm just, don't look at me like that.

That's what he says.

And then Romans 5, 12 says, Whereas by one man sinnered, I mean, excuse me, sin entered into the world, death by sin, so death passed upon what?

All men.

There's no such thing as reincarnation.

Nothing.

Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about reincarnation.

It is appointed unto men once to die.

Hebrews 9 27.

Then the judgment.

Everyone has eternal life.

You realize that?

Everyone has eternal life because every person has a soul.

Now think about this.

See, you don't, we we think too quick sometimes.

You're thinking to myself, eternal life.

When we see eternal life, we think we're saved and we got eternal life.

We all have eternal life because we all have a soul.

The question is, where are you going to spend that eternal life?

Heaven or hell?

Heaven or hell?

If you are without Christ, your most exciting days, if you want to define them as exciting, are while you're living on earth.

But if you are saved, you haven't seen anything yet.

We just talked about, hey, hey, the millennium.

We just preached about the new heavens and the new Jerusalem.

Woo! In that presence is a fullness of joy.

At his right hand, there's pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16, 11.

Powerful.

Powerful.

Powerful.

So not only do we see the declaration of the gospel, verses 3 and 4, we see the definition of the gospel.

For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day.

According to the scriptures, Paul delivered or passed on to these Christians what the most important issue that had been passed on to him.

And it was the fact that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.

If that's the most important thing for Paul, how could we do less?

The most important thing we can do, ladies and gentlemen, is pass the good news on to our loved ones and to our friends and to our community.

That Jesus Christ died, he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, and because he lives you and I can live.

Amen.

Amen.

That's it.

That's the gospel.

And that's what Paul said.

In fact, we see his death was foretold in the Old Testament.

It was foretold in the Psalms, and it was foretold by the prophets.

The law demanded it.

Psalms 22 depicted it, and the prophets declared it.

What truth.

What truth?

What power.

Matthew chapter 16, Jason, under number two.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Jesus said it this way.

He told the disciples, from that time forth, he was telling them, get ready.

Jesus, he uh that forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day.

Jesus said that.

That's what he said.

Belief in the risen Christ gives one hope of the resurrection to come.

Woohoo! How many of you have seen the movie Winston Churchill?

Nobody?

Do y'all even know who Winston Churchill is?

Hello.

Man, I'm doing all this research, and y'all looking at me like I'm crazy.

Winston Churchill was probably the most important figure in World War II.

He was the Chancellor and the president of England at the time.

In fact, they nobody, everybody hated him.

I meant the politicians hated him.

But guess what?

When they got in trouble, guess who they called for?

Winston Churchill.

Now, after he got him out of trouble, they fired him again.

But you know what?

Winston Churchill was a believer.

And I looked up and read about his funeral.

Are you ready for this?

Man, this is good.

Winston Churchill chose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in the resurrection.

In fact, Churchill arranged his own funeral.

I'm gonna do that, honey.

There were stately hymns in St.

Paul's cathedral.

I want to preach my own funeral.

I do.

I'm gonna record it.

When you come to my funeral, I'm gonna pre you gonna hear me preach one more time.

What a day this is! You can only imagine I'm in heaven and I want all of you to come.

Then I'm gonna preach the gospel.

Live video.

Straight from heaven.

But now what's this?

What's this?

What's this?

There were a lot of stately hymns in St.

Paul Cathedral and an impressive liturgical delivery, delivered message.

But at the end of the service, Churchill had a very unusual event planned.

When they said the benediction, a bugular, a bugular, high in the dome of St.

Paul's Cathedral on one side, played taps.

The universal signal that the day is over, played very often at military funerals.

There was a long pause.

Then a bugular on the other side played revelly.

The military wake-up call.

It was Churchill's way of communicating that while we say good night here, we say good morning up there.

Wow.

Amen.

Amen.

Yes, give him a hand.

Hallelujah.

What?

To be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord.

He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who said in John 11, 25 and 26, I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Believeth thou this?

Wow! What truth! I love what the beloved John said in 1 John 3, 2.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.

For we shall see him as he is.

Wow.

It's coming, folks.

Hey, it's not over yet.

The movie's not over yet.

Number three, the disciples.

Not only we see the declaration, the definition of the gospel, but now we see the disciples are witnesses of his resurrection.

Look at verse 5 through 8.

And that he was seen of Cephas, Peter, then of the twelve.

After that he was seen of over above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remains unto this present, but some have fallen asleep.

After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and the last of all he was seen of me, also one of them born out of due time.

Woo! What powerful, unbelievable, factual truth.

After Christ arose, he was first seen by Peter.

We do not know the exact time and when it happened.

I think it's possible that the reason the Lord appeared to Peter first is because if you remember, Peter had denied him three times.

Peter was under major conviction for letting the Lord down.

And I think the Lord just wanted Peter to know, Peter, just because you left me, I never left you.

Woo! That's good.

Hey, folks, sometimes we may leave him, but he never leaves us.

Can I get an amen?

Can we give him a clap offering for that?

He needed the Lord to reinforce reinforce just, you know, that he loved him.

Jesus was also seen by the other disciples, all of them, and then by 500 witnesses.

Hello, can I ask you something?

I was a police officer in court a lot, never lost the case because you know why?

I always had eyewitnesses, but I never had 500.

I only had one or two.

500 people saw him after his resurrection.

At least.

The 12 disciples, Peter himself, James his half-brother, ladies and gentlemen, they let me say something.

Jesus is really alive.

I was kind of looking at those verses.

And I thought to myself, this is adequate witnesses.

I meant.

A lot of these people lived almost 20 years after the resurrection.

Did you hear me?

Now some died, they were asleep.

And let me tell you what I found out about that.

The word asleep there.

Use of this word asleep is the metaphor for death.

And it refers to the body, not the soul.

It pictures for us a condition of rest and implies that the Christian goes on living even after the body dies.

And is laid in the cemetery.

Jesus was also seen then by James.

You remember his brother started out being a skeptic.

Then he realized that he was really the risen Savior and he became one of the greatest leaders, hey, in the New Testament church, and one of the great leaders in the Jerusalem church.

And if you are not reminded, he wrote the book of James.

And then notice what Paul said.

Paul was one of the last of the apostles.

You know what an apostle is?

Apostle is one that had to see Christ visibly.

Eyewitness of Christ to be an apostle.

Now, Paul saw Christ years later, after his resurrection and ascension.

But Paul was one of them.

We know that Christ appeared to believers in that 40-day period after his resurrection.

But when he appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, I mean, yes, Damascus, who became Paul, the Saul who became Paul, he appeared to a hard-hearted unbeliever bird.

You know what Paul was doing when in Acts 9 when Christ confronted him?

He was headed to kill Christians.

He was trying to wipe out Christianity by killing all the Christians, or at least the leadership of the Christians.

That was his job.

He had papers.

Now notice what Paul refers to this appearance of Christ in verse 8.

One born out of due time.

That just, then I said, what does that really mean?

This phrase is derived from the Greek word.

Here's the Greek word.

Which usually referred to an abortion, a miscarriage, a premature or an ill-time birth.

Paul's salvation, here's what Paul was saying.

Paul was saying, my salvation experience was an ill-time birth in the sense that, hey, I was saved too late to have been one of the original disciples.

But because of my confrontation I witnessed with Christ on the road to Damascus, I have validated that I know my Christ, my Savior, lives.

And he went on to be, I think, other than John the Baptist, who was the greatest.

Jesus said that.

There was none greater than the Apostle Paul, who wrote, if you believe he wrote Hebrews, I do, wrote 13 books of the New Testament.

27.

Wow.

He had a life-changing experience.

Number four, the disposition of Paul when he got, hey, about his destructive path.

Notice what Paul said in verse 9: for I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

Now watch this.

This is so powerful.

This is liberating for me, and it'll be liberating for you.

Paul was always confronted with the horror of his past.

He could not get away from what he had done.

Now listen to me.

I'm going to lead you and show you what he did.

So what he did through the grace of God, and we're fixing to get to the grace right now in a minute.

Through the grace of God, he was able to take his pass and use his pass as a means to promote his future.

Of all the harm he had done because of the grace of God and how God had forgiven him and saving him, motivated him in verse 10, if you'll see in a minute, that he labored more above.

Abundantly than they all.

I've learned something in all these years of Christianity.

You give me the old hellraiser diamond, the bottom of the barrel killer, just I'm in as bad as they can get.

When they get saved, Katie Bar to the door.

They're gonna charge hell with a water pistol.

Why?

Because they know how bad they were and they realize how grace, how much grace and how great the grace was for saving them.

They don't want to do anything but do, hey, but honor God in whether they eat or drink, or woo-woo, whatsoever they do, they want to preach the good news.

Big difference.

Big difference.

Paul was a murderer.

Murderer.

God saved him.

I was reading of an example.

Paul said this one thing.

Hey, here's what I wrote down.

Listen, this phrase is in the present tense indicating that Paul kept on forgetting.

He had to keep on forgetting.

He had to keep on forgetting the things behind.

Does not mean erasing the sins of the past.

What it means, watch this.

This helps me.

You'll love this narrative.

It means to break the power and influence of the past by living for the future and not letting our weights of victory and failures keep us down.

Hebrews 12, what does it remember what it said?

Let us lay aside every weight.

The victories and the hey, the failures.

Don't let anything keep us from laboring for Christ.

Is that not good?

Is that not good, church?

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

When we dwell on the success and failures of the past, we end up focusing our focus on the wrong thing.

I think about Luke 9.62.

Any man putting his hands to a plow looking back, it's not fit for the kingdom of God.

I think about Paul when he's talking about the runner running the race.

You take your eyes off the finish line, you begin to stumble, you begin to look at the opponent, you begin to look at the wrong things, and you don't keep your focus, you can't win the race.

Well done.

Are you?

Amen.

Honor comes from obeying God's word and doing your best for Christ.

Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy 4, 6 and 8.

If you can throw that up there, Jason, for I am now ready to be offered.

In other words, you know what he meant?

I'm ready to die.

You know why?

Then he tells us, I fought a good fight, I finished the course, I kept the face.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord Himself shall give to me at that day, and not only to me, but to all those others that love me.

Wow.

2 Timothy 4, 6 through 8.

Powerful.

Powerful.

Then number five, here it is.

The resurrection produces the grace of God.

The difference that God's grace makes.

1 Corinthians 15 10.

In spite of Paul's past, he focused on the grace of God that made him the man that God wanted him to be.

Let me say this, beloved, we are what we are by God's grace working in us.

If you don't, most of us don't understand grace.

I'm going to give you a little miniature semester teaching of the grace of God.

Are you ready?

Don't you love the book?

Don't you love it?

This church is founded.

Let me tell you what it's founded on.

The word of God.

Believing.

This church will always be known as a preaching the word of God church.

Can I get an amen?

You should know the truth and what?

Amen.

Now watch this.

We are what we are by God's grace working in our lives.

Listen to what he said.

Paul said, this resurrection power changes a person from a sinner.

I wrote this.

Hey, from a sinner to a saint.

Hey, from being gripped by the vices of victorious, I meant just being gripped by vices of ungodliness and sin to victorious belief and victorious, hey, gain.

And then he can take a man.

Are you ready?

That hits rock bottom and lift him up to the top of the mountain just that quick.

He can pull him from the gutter, hey, the guttermost to the uppermost.

He can.

He can pull him from the gutter of despair to the glory of God's delight.

Oh, you don't have this one, but I'll quote it to you.

Psalms 40, verses 1 through 3.

Psalms 40:1–3

The Lord heard my cry.

Can you identify?

I remember when I, oh, I cried out for God to save me.

He heard my cry.

He brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a rock, established my steps, put a new song in my mouth, and praise to God that all could see him and fear and trust in him.

Folks, I'm not the same man I used to be.

Amen.

Can you imagine?

I was in the pit.

Pit to the palace.

Overnight.

So let's look at it.

Three things about this grace, and we'll wind it up.

I'm starting to think about that coconut cake.

What does grace do?

When we look at the Bible, we find that God provided grace for every area of our lives.

Can I get an amen?

Every area of our lives.

And you can divide the areas of life into three things: Grace for salvation, grace for service, and grace for suffering.

That's it.

That's our complete life.

Salvation, service, suffering.

So let's begin with grace for salvation.

Ephesians 1 7.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

Now watch, according to the riches of his grace.

Ha ha.

Woo! Romans 3.24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ.

Grace for exonerating.

Hey, hey, salvation includes exonerating grace.

Look what else it does.

Grace for salvation includes liberating grace.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

You can't work your way to heaven.

You cannot work your way to heaven.

Now, after you get saved, verse 10, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

You don't get better to get saved, you get saved to get better.

Amen.

You can't get better till you get saved.

Liberating grace.

In fact, I thought about something.

If you went out to your neighbor's house and cut his grass, what would you think?

And by the way, I had somebody do that for me one time.

A couple of times, I will did.

I had not even met him.

And he wondered who that lazy bum was that moved into the house across the street that hadn't cut his grass.

But if I cut my grass, which he did, and then the next day he saw me out there cutting the grass again, what do you think he would think?

When Jesus cried, it is finished.

It is foolish for someone to try to work their way to heaven or earn their way because the work of salvation is already done.

In other words, I would already cut my grass.

I didn't need to cut it again.

Jesus Christ paid the price for your salvation.

You can't work your way to heaven.

It is finished to telestine.

He's completed it.

You just have to believe.

By God's grace.

Oh.

Oh.

And then grace for salvation also includes entering grace.

Hebrews 4, 16.

Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace.

Isn't it exciting to know that you can enter into the grace of God?

You don't have to go through the priest.

You don't have to go through the preacher.

You don't have to go through some catechism.

You can go straight to the throne.

I got a hot line to the president.

The real president.

That's it.

B.

Grace for service.

Grace for service includes enabling grace.

2 Corinthians 9:8, I love this verse.

2 Corinthians 9:8

Oh, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always have in watch, all sufficiency in all things, that you may abound to every good work.

His grace is adequate, acceptable, and ample for all our needs.

Grace gave Paul great confidence and commitment.

Paul wrote the words, My life first, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.

Philippians 4 13.

Whew! For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his pleasure.

Empowering grace for service, edifying grace for service.

D.L.

Moody made this statement.

Don't miss this.

He said, the law of God tells me, and I love this, the law of God tells me how crooked I am.

But the grace comes along and straightens me out.

Is that not true?

Is that not good?

Oh, that's good.

The year was 1910, and the place was the Longstar State, the state of Texas.

Mordecai Ham, I studied him when I was in seminary, one of the greatest evangelists ever lived, was leading a revival meeting when during the service a man stood up and began to shout with great enthusiasm: saved! Saved! Saved! Wonderfully saved! He was a murderer.

And he served his time and gotten saved in prison and come out, and he had attended the first revival meeting.

And he was so faithful and appreciable.

For the grace of God, he just got up and started shouting.

What a thing.

That might be terrible, well, God bless you.

The people were moving the movement with the powerful.

Wonderfully.

And then as I close the grace for suffering.

Second Corinthians 12 9.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient, my strength is made perfect, and weakness most gladly will I glory in my infirmities, because when I am weak, he is strong.

2 Corinthians 3.5 says, We're not sufficient in ourselves, but our sufficiency is in God.

Many of you know my testimony.

I had my first wife to die in my arms at age 28.

Susan I had her little book, Baby Boy Born Dead.

I've buried my mother, I've buried my dad, I buried my grandparents, I've buried everyone in my family except my sister.

It's just me and her now, and my nephews.

I've buried them all.

I buried some of my closest friends.

And there's only one way I could have done that.

I preached my wife's funeral and we saw over 500 people come to know Christ.

Rick preached his grandmother's funeral Friday and saw seven come to Christ.

You know how he did it?

Only by the grace of God.

Because it's the grace of God that keeps you keeping on.

Because we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

We know that.

We know it.

And we can come boldly to the throne of grace.

And I love Romans 5.20.

Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

And the word abound there means to overflow.

No matter how great a human sin becomes or tragedy becomes or trials becomes, God's grace overflows beyond it all and abundantly exceeds it all.

The grace of God eclipses, excels, and exceeds our evil, our errors.

It is phantomless, it flourishes beyond our faults, our flaws, our frailty, our failures.

It thrives and transcends our transgressions and trespasses.

The grace of God is inexcusable, interminable, and imperishable.

Woo! So that leads us to the last point: a decision.

The decision of the people.

Verse 11.

Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach.

And so you believed.

The Corinthians responded to the preaching of the gospel by believing in the Lord.

Have you made that same decision today?

You little listening online?

Well, we have a lot of people follow us online.

Have you made that decision, you that are sitting here?

Have you made that decision?

I want to close with this illustration.

According to the Chicago Tribune, on February 21st, 1995, 1995, Jean Clement of Eris, France, celebrated her 120th birthday.

She was verified then the oldest person in the world and had become somewhat a celebrity in France.

France's Minister of Health came to her birthday party.

Three books had been written about her.

Medical scientists have researched her life to try to discover the secret of her longevity.

Are you ready for this?

This is what they found.

They found that for years, well, you're gonna like this, she ate two pounds of chocolate a week.

Woo! Two pounds.

I shouldn't have told my wife that.

She took vigorous walks and even rode her bike through the streets of Eris, France until she was a hundred.

At age 110, she said with good humor, I had to wait 110 years to become famous.

I intend to enjoy it as long as possible.

But by the age of 120, she was confined to a wheelchair.

She said, I see badly, I hear badly, I feel, I can't feel anything, but everything's fine.

Someone asked Jean what kind of future she expected.

Still displaying her good humor, she replied, a very short one.

She lived a few more years and died on August the 4th, 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days.

Jean spoke for all of us, didn't she?

Even if we're young, middle aged, or old, the body has limits.

I wake up now and ache all over sometimes.

Especially if I play pickleball.

Jane said, Where's your no no one shall be anymore?

What is she like?

But like a vapor.

It appears for a little time and it vanishes away.

Let me ask you this morning.

You're gonna spend eternity in one place or the other.

I don't want you to go to hell.

I have preached my heart out today so that you that are listening to the word of God can receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And go to heaven.

You don't have to go to heaven.

One day you're gonna breathe that last voice.

If the Lord cares, it's all the point on the man wants to die.

That's what this is to judge.

Hebrews 5 26.

Can I ask you?

Where will you spend eternity?

If you're to die right now, are you sure you'd go to heaven?

He said, Well, nobody can that's not if you believe the Bible.

The Bible says in 1 John 5.13, these things have a written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know Oda.

Absolutely sure that she has eternal life.

By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.