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[Music] well good evening welcome back to the house of Lord for the evening service I would ask you to turn your Bibles please to Psalm 128 Psalm 128 to has a call to worship Psalm 128 blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in his ways when you eat the labor of your hands you shall be happy and it shall be well with you your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house your children like all the plants all around your table behold thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord the Lord bless you out of Zion and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life yes may you see may you see your children's children peace be upon Israel amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the first hymn which is him number 22 him 22 and I'll ask you to please stand [Music] you [Music] let's be seated well let's go to God in prayer and commit our time into into his hands this evening ask his blessing to be upon our evening worship let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father it's with gratitude that we come into your holy presence this night how we praise you father that you are our God that you are our Savior that you are the Lord of lords and the king of kings over all this all that moves on this earth and under this earth and over this earth how we praise you father there is none greater than you and as to you that we are worship here this day we praise you father for the wisdom contained in your Holy Word we praise you that everything necessary for salvation is contained in these 66 books we praise you Father that you have given to us your mind in the Word of God and we praise you father everything necessary for salvation is here everything necessary for our sanctification for being made and molded and shaped into the image of your son the Lord Jesus Christ is here containing your word so IRA praise you we adore you we thank you that you will Tabernacle with those that meet in your name hear this this night Lord we we we just recognize that you are also a God who sent your son the Lord Jesus Christ into this earth ultimately to to live as a perfect man and to dies a perfect sacrifice so that we might be regenerated we might know that justification that we might know what it means to to to to to be made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ how grateful we are father for such a savior as the Lord Jesus we Lord we praise you for him we praise you that you have given him to to us as individuals you've called us as individuals you've called families and the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of this church as he is a head of all churches all around this earth and so Lord we pray that you would be glorified in it by the voices of your people here this evening that we would reflect upon our salvation we reflect upon your goodness and your kindness in our lives and saving us from from our sins we were born at enmity with you we we came into this world enemies of yours having no interest no saving interest in the things of God and the things of eternity yet father you you you you reach down and you touch individuals we know that salvation truly is of the Lord it is a grace and how we just praise you this evening for the grace that that has come upon we your people and that you've assembled together a group of people here free grace Baptist to to worship you to to bring our praises and adoration before you Lord we pray that you we would hear from on high this evening the Lord you would bless your word here in this place bless the preacher bless thee here or give us your spirit father that we might leave this place having worship you having having met with you and we pray Lord that in the coming days in the coming week ahead that father you'd be pleased to bless the things we hear this evening for our encouragement for our admonition for our rebuking and ultimately just for our walk with you that we would walk as obedient children of the light that we would be truly your disciples in this in this lore world prepare us father for that for that heavenly kingdom cause us to walk in this on in this earth with one eye fixed firmly upon upon that that race that is set before us and upon the goal that is held out to all those who who finish that race and and Lord we pray that you would cause us to live holy lives each and every day Lord we do ask your blessing to be upon Mike and Jessica Kirkpatrick as they've had their graduation yesterday and as Mike and Jessica begin to to pack up their belongings and move back here to Canada Lord we praise you for having kept them there over these last number of years and for the good the good study that Mike has had the good theology and the good training that he has had and we trust Lord that in the in the months and years ahead that you'd be well pleased to to to just bless these things to us as a congregation bless them to his own to his own soul as well and we pray Lord that she would just endow him with all that he stands in need of give to him that aid and help of the Holy Spirit as he seeks to to come alongside hear and offer help an aid in the in the church Lord we pray your blessing to be upon them as they travel this week safety along the road we do pray as well as for the butler's as they travel this week and make their way up to to the troops home and and enjoy some visitation there we pray load that your blessing move upon them and cause cause there to be a true unity and an enjoyment of one another as they are reunited with Rebecca's family there in Northern California so Lord bless them as well and ultimately we do pray that you'd return them home safely to us and that this rest will be it will have been a good time for pastor Butler that he would have his have his batteries recharged as it were and the Lord you would strengthen him for the for the tasks that lie ahead we do pray Lord we thank you that we are not just a small church here placed in Chilliwack when we are part of that church worldwide and Lord you have given to us an interest in the church the church worldwide and so Lord we pray that your bless may be upon those churches that are in the Lower Mainland here even in Chilliwack where the true gospel of Christ is preached and taught and where disciples are being made we pray Lord that your blessing might be upon them that you would keep them in unstained that you would keep them in this in this day and age we we do pray Lord that your blessing might be upon all those who proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior bless those churches that are known to us in the Seattle area as well the SeaTac area Lord we pray they might know your strength in your aid and the Lord add to the church and SeaTac that you would be pleased to to give to them a and under Shephard one who would come along and and pastor and and and Shepherd their souls we do pray Lord be kind to them be gracious to them we pray that in due time they might they might have a pastor to be able to call their own and so Lord we just commit ourselves your hands this evening we pray that you would be pleased to meet with us here in this place and bless us with with worship now and with the word of God later on we just ask these things and pray in Jesus precious name Amen please turn with me in your hymn books to the second hymn which is him number 35 hymn number 35 and I'll ask you to stand please [Music] Oh amen you may be seated and please turn with me in your Bibles to Daniel Daniel chapter 2 we began Daniel last week we read the entirety of the first chapter chapter 2 is referring lengthy chapter so we won't read the entire chapter we'll kind of split it in half it's a nearly 50 verses so we'll read up till the end of verse 23 and it's a natural break it's Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the seeking of someone to to interpret that dream and of course Daniel is the man for the interpretation of the dream and then next week we will look at the explanation of the of the dream the Lord William so Daniel chapter 2 beginning of verse 1 now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was so troubled at his sleep left him then the king gave the command to call the magician's the astrologers the Sorcerer's and the Chaldeans to tell the King his dreams so they came and stood before the king and the King said to them I've had a dream and my spirit is anxious to know the dream then the Chaldeans spoke to the King the Aramaic Oh King live forever tell your servants the dream and we will give the interpretation the King answered and said to the Chaldeans my decision is firm if you do not make known the dream to me and it's interpretation you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made and ash-heap however if you tell the dream and its interpretation you shall receive from me gifts rewards and great honor therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation they answered again and said let the king tell his servants the dream and we will give its interpretation the King answered and said I know for certain that you would gain time because you see that my decision is firm if you do not make known the dream to me there is only one decree for you for you have agreed to sped to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed therefore tell me the dream and I know that you can give me its interpretation the Chaldeans answered the king and said there's not a man on earth who can tell the Kings matter therefore no King Lord or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician astrologer or Chaldean his difficult thing that the King requests and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh for this reason the king was angry and very furious and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon so the decree went out and they began killing the wise men and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch the captain of the Kings guard who had gone - who gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon he answered and said - Arioch the Kings captain why is the decree from the King so urgent then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel so Daniel went in and asked the Cain to give in time that he might tell the king the interpretation then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah Mishael and Azariah his companions that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision so Daniel blessed the God of heaven Daniel answered and said blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his and he changes the times and the seasons he removes kings and raises up kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding he reveals deep and secret things he knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him I thank you and praise you O God of my father's you have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you for you have made known to us the King's demand Amen well just a couple things have three things that I kind of want to speak to speak about in regards to this relatively small section of scripture and that certainly is it's a chapter on Providence isn't it as we read that it's it truly it's a chapter in Providence yet who does God place in the middle of this providential happening but Daniel himself and it reminds me of a passage in Esther Esther 4:14 which I think we're all familiar with and it says and who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this right God brought Esther along at just the right time as he as he has done here with Daniel brings Daniel long at just the right time and how true it is that the the secret things of God truly belonged to God we can always be able to interpret what happens in life maybe may not always be able to interpret what's happening in the government's and in amongst King kings and kingdoms but it is good to know that God is placing his people at particular places in particular circumstances God is moving the the chess pieces as it were on the chess board and they aren't just happening random God is a God of Providence that we see that just loud and clear in this in these 23 verses of Daniel second thing is certainly that dreams I think we all know that dreams are natural to humanity but but we see here however that the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in this chapter it was not from natural causes we know that Nebuchadnezzar certainly was a trouble or of Israel of gods of God's Israel and so God troubles troubles Nebuchadnezzar here in this chapter and that's very clear again we see the Providence of God if you're going to trouble my people I will trouble you certainly we remind I thought of two verses one in Proverbs one in Psalms they really are juxtaposition to each other proverbs 1350 and says the way of the wicked is hard and certainly King Nebuchadnezzar he was troubled by this dream it was hard hard on him he thought about it and it just rolled over his mind you could see there's no peace with it for him certainly in his night sleep in his dreams there was no peace for him yet what is a Psalm 127 verse to say for the believer Psalm 127 verse 2 says God grants sleep to those he loves so what what two positions you know there's a troubled Nebuchadnezzar why well he deserves it in a sense he's troubling God's people and what does God give to his people he grants sleep to his people we can sleep well at night as we know there's a God in heaven who is doing what he determines what he what he has Brett has planned out in this lore world so there's comfort and not I believe and finally thirdly Nebuchadnezzar is a true tyrant here I mean what what a tyrannical leader that he is he's peevish and the things that he that he is suggesting that he would kill people simply because they can't give him his dream that ultimately only he knows he and God knows but he's certainly very peevish in his in his tyrannical ruler you're ruling here he's very capricious and the way in which he deals with with these wise men of Babylon but God has raised up his his God has raised up nebuchadnezzar again for his providential purposes daniel even tells us right here in verse 21 what is he seeing say in verse 21 and God in Daniels prayer back to God it says he removes kings and raises up kings Nebuchadnezzar was there as God's Nebuchadnezzar it's always good for us to realize that in the world in which we live in it's God's true dough it's God's Trump it's God's whoever whatever name you might want to put in there it's not just some man or woman who somehow stumbled into power God has placed that man into power God has raised up Kings God removes kings and queens and leaders that God has put them there and and what a what a capricious man has been put there yet again he's there to serve God's purposes not his own purposes but rather God's purposes I was thinking this morning in mark chapter 6 a very a very different version of the same outcome very different than what we have here in Daniel in inherit in mark 6 this morning we were reminded that God raised up a Herod he was God's Herod and what did that Herod do he took the he took the head of John the Baptist and in the problems of God that's what God decreed that's what God determined would happen yet not in this case God raised up Nebuchadnezzar but God equally raised up Daniel and and what what a different outcome was for this man but yet again in the in the in the Providence of God God chose to see Daniel for a greater purpose that we will read in subsequent chapters and remind me again the last thing would be we are commanded in first Timothy - Paul commands us to pray for our leaders pray for those who govern over us how are we to pray for work for what reason pray for kings and all in authority that we may lead that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life again thank God we don't live under a peevish capricious tyrannical leader like Nebuchadnezzar who may think we've got terrible leaders that lead our country but they aren't like this Nebuchadnezzar so we are to pray for them pray for our leaders that they that they allow the church to exist that we allow that we are allowed to enjoy the the environment that we that we live in pray that that we we can enjoy future years ahead for our nation for the nation of Canada that we don't have to live under these kinds of leaders but rather under leaders that allow the church to to lead quiet and peaceful life so I think when we think we've got things bad read read the Book of Daniel read about Nebuchadnezzar and we will thank God for the peaceable lives that he has allowed us to enjoy as the Church of Christ here in Canada and in the West for many many years and let's continue to pray to that end well let's go to God in prayer and just ask His blessing upon what we've read here this evening and and for the the sermon about to come let's pray our gracious that our loving Heavenly Father again Lord we we praise you that you are God a Providence we see that clearly in this in this chapter of Scripture but father you are the one who is all in all authority you are the one who is wise you are the one who raises Kings up you are the God who who lures kings and removes Kings from their positions of power Lord how we praise you that you are working things according to your purposes that things are not working in a haphazard way in a in a way without purpose without end but father you are moving all of all history that in the direction of your purpose is and how we praise you for that cause us Lord each and every day to to pray for those who rule over us for those who lead us that we would recognize that Lord you have placed some in positions of power and how we pray that they would rule in such a manner in our nation here in Canada locally provincially federally in such a manner that that would allow us the Church of Christ to to to to be able to worship you and enjoy life of peace and quietness we're where we are not molested where we're not hindered from meeting together in this way or thank you for the privilege desires to to be here this day to to come in to open doors into the house of God to worship you do not have to keep our voices quiet and low to not have to do all this in secret how we praise you Lord that we have the gift of freedom here in this nation how we pray that you would continue to allow us as the Church of Christ to continue in this manner in the years to count Gorby we plead your mercy that you would look mercifully upon us as a nation in the years to come we do pray Lord we pray your blessing upon pastor Porter this night again we do ask that you would be pleased to give to him strength and tenacity of spirit and give him give him your Holy Spirit father to to to bring and exegete your word here this evening we pray that we might come with with expectant hearts and desirous hearts to to hear from you and to take these things that to heart and and into the week ahead we do pray we ask your blessing in Jesus precious name Amen please turn with me for the lost him before the before the preaching to him number 56 56 I'll ask you to stand please [Music] thank you good evening everyone just one announcement that I neglected to reiterate this morning was at the the Hutchings just a reminder that the Hutchings have applied for for church membership so we can continue to be in prayer for the the Hutchings family and we look forward in a number of weeks to welcome them into membership you can turn in your Bibles to the book of 1st Corinthians first Corinthians this morning we began a two-week investigation into the stuff of acts 17 and Paul's Proclamation there at Athens one of the comments that is made or one of the the statements that Luke observes there and then interprets or expands upon in acts 17 verse 18 is that the Epicureans and the Stoics in calling a calling Paul and an idol babbler a seed picker they insult him and and then there's something of a note there with respect to the proclamation of foreign gods and the fact that Luke interprets that as their response to Paul preaching Jesus and the resurrection and so we we probably don't need to ask what does that mean Jesus and their resurrection hopefully we know what that means but to investigate something of what we have there in that language Jesus and the resurrection what did that mean what did that contain what does that shorthand if you will for the Gospels Proclamation and the content of it mean we can turn to 1st Corinthians 15 and we do find that what was the content of Paul's Proclamation when he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection to the Athenians well it's the the same stuff that one chapter later in acts 18 he would have proclaimed to the corinthians and here he reminds that same audience the corinthian churches of what jesus in the resurrection is and why it is so absolutely vital for the life of the heartbeat of Christianity the 1st Corinthians 15 I'll read from verse 1 to verse 20 a this is first Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 1 moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received 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 and that he was seen by Cephas then by the twelve after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remain to the present but some have fallen asleep after that he was seen by James than by all the Apostles then last of all he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time for I am the least of the Apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not i but the grace of God which was with me therefore whether it was I or they so we preach and so you believed now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the Dead but if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen and if Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty yes and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise for if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen and if Christ is not risen your faith is futile you are still in your sins then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men the most pitiable but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep amen well let's go again to God in prayer Heavenly Father we rejoice now again that a second time we gather in this place for the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray again that you would bless us that you would help us now as we seek to be informed to be encouraged to be roused in the things of the Scriptures we would pray for that measure of the Spirit to help us in these things that we might be all the more informed and built up in our faith with respect to a knowledge of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and Lord that you would cause us to leave this plea this place living for his glory say we thank you again for the many blessings over the past week for strengthening those who were unwell for good news with regards to doctors we thank you for the news regarding John Crowell and this good news regarding his kidney we do just pray that you'd watch over him that you would guard him and that you would just keep good things coming to light with respect to his health and each and every one that has been troubled and afflicted that you would strengthen that you would bless that you would heal and Lord in the midst of the the failing of physical bodies we pray that you would uplift your saints and cause them to rejoice in the high things of gospel truth we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen well in 1st Corinthians 15 hopefully we have obviously a passage that is very familiar to you here we have the Apostle Paul defending the Blessed content of the gospel of Jesus Christ now what's going on in the his first level the the first letter to the Corinthians is that there are a number of issues you know the Corinthians are a growing church they're a church that is in need of the sanctifying and guiding power of the Holy Spirit there's a sectarian spirit there's sexual immorality there's horrible conduct at the Lord's Supper there's an abuse of the revelatory gifts there's so much going on and at every point the Apostle Paul is answering these issues answering these problems with the gospel of Jesus Christ with his cross with his resurrection with the glory of an incarnate mediator and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and here in chapter 15 what the problem is is that there are some and in fact if we wanted to see what the problem is in first Corinthians 15 verse 12 gives us the problem verse 12 is now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead there is there's a measure of marvel here the same sort of marvel that we might have in in Galatians where Paul marvels that the Galatians are so quickly turning from the gospel of grace to another gospel which is no gospel at all well it's a similar marveling here how does some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead why are you entertaining any sort of madness and so that is why we have 1st Corinthians 15 in our Bibles because some were teaching some were being taught and some were being being carried off to entertain that there is no resurrection from the dead and so we want to see here that when when we see the gospel being referred to here keep in mind the Jesus and the resurrection language that we talked about this morning from acts 17 what is when we read that Luke narrating commenting on this this either misunderstanding or false accusation that Paul was preaching foreign gods plural what does it mean when he says because Paul was preaching Jesus and the resurrection well we can draw an equal sign between the gospel and Jesus and the resurrection we want to look at four things from this passage this evening and the first it Allah will give them to you as we move along but the first thing we want to observe here is the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all of Christian life in verses 1 to 2 of 1st Corinthians 15 that's exactly what we have that the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all of Christian life notice first of all we see that in that the gospel is that which is preached or proclaimed moreover brethren verse 1 I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you as we move through these things you'll see that at every single point the gospel is in view with all of these very things that touch upon it it is the fact that the gospel is front and center with respect to all things in Christian life Christianity is no Christianity at all unless the gospel is at every part and parcel therein moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you it is that which is preached the gospel is the proclamation which comes to the ears of those in the context of that Proclamation we're just moving quickly but through some of these things because we want to get to some of the the heart of the matter in the following verses but secondly it is that which is believed in so the gospel is that which is preached that's the language that we have here I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you and then secondly it is that which is believed in which also you received you see as he builds these phrases of these clauses upon clauses these phrases upon phrases hopefully it brings to view this reality the comprehensive nature of the gospel first its proclaimed and then it's received now before we look at the next three basically this is what Paul is doing Paul is drawing them back to reflect upon their conversion and their abiding in the truth in order to to bring out the absolute folly of departing from this gospel that was proclaimed that was received etc so that when he gets to verse 12 and he says how do you he writes how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead how how could you do that how could you reject that truth how could you do that in light of all of these things that constitute the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all of Christian life so it is preached it is that which is believed in and it is that in which we endure notice the gospel which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand our endurance in the Christian life hinges upon the gospel of Jesus Christ you see it isn't the case that the gospel is just that which is proclaimed and received and then done we we move on to other things in the Christian life no it is proclaimed it is preached it is received that is it is believed in and it is that in which we endure it's that by which we stand as as Christians each and every breath we draw as Christians we breathe gospel truth gospel efficacy gospel perfection and when I say breathe I mean that the spiritual breath if you will breath as as it is a metaphor for our our Christian life every step we take every breath we breathe we are breathing so by virtue of the gospel it isn't just delivered and then rested upon and then set aside but rather we endure in it fourthly under the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all Christian life it is that by which we are saved notice again the language progressing which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain so the gospel from it is from first to last in in the Christian life it's at first proclaimed at some point in our lives the gospel was delivered to us now our conversion story may not be a this this amazing a day where we can remember where the you know the the you know the the veil was open and the light shone through and angels were playing and all those sorts of things we can remember the day the hour the minute know but at some point in the history of our lives on God's good earth we heard the gospel it was delivered to us it was proclaimed to us it was preached to us at some point by the grace of God we received that proclaimed gospel we received the truth as it has it had been preached or delivered to us and it didn't stop there but we have up until this very night in Chilliwack we have stood by it we have endured in it and it is at the last and finally by that gospel that we will be saved now this language here by which also you are saved salvation can have a sort of the three tenses applied to it we are saved that is past tense we have been saved and we don't suffer the loss by God's grace we don't suffer the loss of departing or being cast away from that salvation we have been saved and the sovereign Christ just like the sovereign father holds us in the grip of his palm until that great day so we have been saved past tense we are being saved as the language that the Scriptures use as well not that you know we constantly are being saved we fall away from that salvation we need to be plopped back in but we have the reality of progressive sanctification that we are being saved we're being by God's grace where we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord unto that day of our final salvation if you will the the future reality that we will be saved the day of our future redemption is the language in Ephesians chapter one and so there is past present and future tense with respect to salvation and so we sort of have that in view here by the gospel you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain now that language at the end of verse two is not what we might call prescriptive for salvation in other words it isn't by our holding fast that we are saved but rather the the proof the testa fication of the veracity of our salvation is seen in that we hold fast and we are not believing in vain but rather we are believing in in faithfulness and in truth so the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all of Christianity what does this bring in view but the importance of the continual prop nation of the gospel of Jesus Christ that's why in churches we you know we we continue to preach from 1st Corinthians 15 and John 3:16 first Timothy 1:15 where we preach from those places in the scripture where the gospel is simple where the gospel is clear where the gospel is set forth it's because we live and breathe by the gospel we don't believe it and then move on to a you know in-depth eschatology chart about what the trumpets of Revelation mean and we cast off the stuff of of Christ's life death resurrection and ascension know we live and we breathe and we take our Christian steps by virtue of the gospel which is comprehensive for the entirety of our Christian life it's why we should never you know thumb our nose or I don't even really know what that looks like with I've heard I know it's an idiom thumb our nose with the gospel maybe someone can show me afterwards we never roll our eyes at the preaching of the gospel why because it is the Christian breath that we breathe that Savior bruised battered beaten bloodied upon Calvary's cross but risen victoriously the third day ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high the Blessed content of the gospel is the air that we breathe as Christians and so whenever it is proclaimed whenever it is preached and it always ought to be it you know I think it's Spurgeon who said something like you know at any sermon or any preacher that does not preach Christ and every sermon is is not worth his weight or whatever he whatever Spurgeon said something like that now there are sermons that that a preacher might preacher a sections of the Bible that a preacher might preach that directly in view or that the on the face of it explicitly may not be the gospel of Jesus Christ I'm going to qualify this statement in a moment but if you look at the book of Esther you know just by a reading of the book of Esther one might say well where is Christ there and so you know in a preaching of Esther how do you work in the gospel of Christ well you would you would exegete the book of Esther and as you move along you would always bring to bear upon the audience that Esther really is pointing us to Christ and it has a Christ word trajectory because God in his providential care even through the the motions and the movements of a of a pagan Empire is protecting that national body from which the Savior would spring so that in the fullness of the times he might be brought forth to redeem guilty sinners so you see the gospel is to be preached we are to have Christ set forth at every proclamation of the Word of God secondly then the certainty of the events of the gospel I want you to observe that so if on in the first place we had the comprehensive reality of the gospel for all of Christian life and verses 1 & 2 well then in verses 3 to 8 we have the certainty of the events of the gospel now here Paul is is continuing to stress the importance or to pack in the weight of evidence to inform this statement this marveling in verse 12 where he says how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead that is marvelous that not in a good way but in a bad way I marvel that you are entertaining such a thing why because verses three to eight the certainty of the events of the gospel now notice first under this head notice the primacy of the gospel for Christianity the primacy of the gospel for Christianity it's given in this introductory statement if you will in verse three for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received now you may have heard this before but Paul isn't saying that that's the first thing that he delivered to them chronologically he's not speaking in chronological terms when he says for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received the languages for I delivered to you of first importance that which I also received that is the language here he's highlighting he's bolding he is underlining the reality of the primacy of the gospel in the Christian life I delivered to you of the utmost and the first importance that which I also received and you know this is brought into view and other letters we reference the the Galatians you can turn to the book of Galatians for a moment just to see this reality that we have the primacy of the gospel for Christianity that it is the matter of first importance noticed in notice in Galatians first in chapter one and this is what I was just referring to with the language of marveling Galatians one at verse six now this comes after he has rehearsed the gospel of Jesus Christ as that which delivers us from our sins and from this present evil age according to the will of God the Father now notice verse six I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you who want to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you let him be accursed as we have said before so now I say again if anyone preaches to you any other gospel or preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received let him be accursed you see the importance of the gospel comes right out of the gates as the Apostle Paul is penning this letter to the Galatians he marvels that there so soon turning away from the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is no gospel at all and then he pronounces Anathem 'as you know curses devoting to destruction anyone who would preach another gospel that is not the true and saving gospel of Christ the importance is clear there this is the stuff of first things this is the stuff of delivering of first importance matters of the Christian religion notices well in Galatians 3 verse 1 o foolish Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified hopefully you see the importance and the weight of the gospel there o foolish Galatians first of all for departing from the true and saving gospel or entertaining a departure from it who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth and notice this interesting language before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified it's interesting language because obviously Jesus Christ was not portrayed before the Galatians as crucified that is they didn't witness the crucifixion with the eyes of sight Paul is using this language of the proclamation of the gospel that the proclamation of the gospel is so powerful it is so effectual it is so important to our point right now that it is as if Jesus Christ is crucified before our very eyes when the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed so this is why this is why Calvin could see in the Lord's Supper an argument from you know for a Galatians three type of reality that we shouldn't thumb our nose and roll our eyes and neglect or slight the Lord's Supper why because it is as if Jesus Christ is clearly portrayed among us as crucified we have a living symbol of the death of Christ set before us at the table of the Lord and it is of the utmost importance not because of the bread and the wine but because of what they are emblematic of because of what they symbolize the gospel of Jesus Christ so Paul writes I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that is that which is of first importance notice secondly then the certainty of the events of the gospel secondly under this head notice the biblical testimony to the events of the gospel where does Paul go first where does Paul go first in order to argue for the veracity that simply means the certain truth of a thing where does he go to argue for the veracity of the events of the gospel notice he goes to the scriptures not only do we have that where he goes to argue for the certain truthfulness of the events but we see those events as the content of the gospel brought out notice the language in verse three 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 so you see the certainty of the events of the gospel are brought out by the Apostle Paul here by virtue of were with respect to the biblical testimony the scriptural witness to those events and you know what he's doing here now it's easy for us to say of course of course Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures because you know we have Matthew through revelation and it clearly says that well you know what's what's Paul of course Paul why are you being so obvious remember Paul didn't hat Paul didn't have they didn't have the Corinthians did not have a completed New Testament Canon he is going back to and he's pointing them to he's calling a calling to the the docket or he's calling into evidence the Old Testament Scriptures the Old Testament in the Old Testament we have Christ proclaimed as the one who would give his life for guilty sinners the one who would be buried and the one who would rise again Paul is going to the word of God in order to show forth the veracity the certain historical truth with regards to the gospel of Jesus Christ now you know what that gospel is Paul gives us what the gospel a definition of the gospel here that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures if anyone asks you what is the gospel that is the gospel right there that blessed historical truth that in the fullness of the times God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law and the content of that redemption is seen in the historical events of his death his burial and resurrection and it is efficacious and perfect and glorious for all who believe in his name Paul goes to the scriptures to the Word of God you know that is among many other applications that brings forth the importance the absolute importance of the Word of God yes the light of nature shows that there is a God who is to be trusted worshiped fallen down before and glory din but you see without the Holy Scriptures we don't know we don't have the information on the God that we are to worship how we are to worship Him and how we are to approach him we only have that in the scriptures we have that in the scriptures as it sets out for us that special revelatory content where in the gospel of Jesus Christ is promised in the Old Covenant executed in the New Covenant and exegete it and opened up and theologically commented on in the New Testament so that we can as Christians avail of the glorious simplicity and the majesty of God's plan of redemption in Jesus Christ the Lord the Scriptures are absolutely vital we I noted this morning for anyone who is here and if you remember I made a note that the the Epicureans were like deists the deists of the 17th century and that our Baptist forefathers added a chapter in our confession that the Presbyterians didn't have and that the Congregationalists didn't have and what it argues for is the absolute necessity of the Scriptures to bring a man a woman a boy or a girl to salvation in Jesus Christ you see because the deists said that one can be saved simply by our knowledge of God revealing himself in creation we do not need the aid of special revelation and so our Baptist forefathers said of course no I am the way the truth and the life Jesus Christ proclaimed before a listening audience the Peter in the contending with the Jews in his day in Jerusalem said that their salvation is in no other then that name given in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no other name under heaven given by which we might be saved save for Jesus Christ the Lord the Scriptures come to us with the sweetness of the gospel and they disclose the glory of Christ in giving himself in his death and in his burial and in power and in great victory rising again the third day that all who believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life have you ever thought and hopefully you have a okay so in the Old Testament where do we go to see to see Christ Christ would probably say to the law to the prophets and to the son so the entirety of the Old Testament but there are some verses aren't there that specifically speak with a with a clarity with respect to a direct and explicit promise of one who would come to to give his life for guilty sinners and to rise again the third day you can investigate many of those on your own time but they begin right at the outset of Revelation in Genesis 3 the Skull Crushing a seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent and revelation builds upon that Psalm 22 Isaiah 53 with regards to the death of Christ that's just a quick handful of verses that and you know Isaiah 53 no doubt you've heard this before Isaiah 53 you may have that in the marginal notes as a verse that's in view when Paul was saying Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures if you ever consider Isaiah 53 and let's just say you're you know if you think about someone just transplanted in front of Isaiah 53 perhaps it's a persecuted brother and sister in Christ they they were once at like every Christian was they were once an unbeliever living in the the you know the jungles of Indonesia and a Christian missionary comes to them preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ they don't quite have a full Bible let's say yet they just have a maybe they have the gospel accounts and then someone brings to them Isaiah 53 but just on a you know a piece of paper that perhaps they wrote out because they couldn't bring a full Bible or whatever happened and they just happened to read Isaiah 53 without knowing that Isaiah was written 750 years prior to the coming of Christ Jesus dying upon Calvary's cross for our sins they would think that it is a New Testament theological reflection upon what is going on at Golgotha scroll because Isaiah speaks speaks when rights and promises which with such a glorious character of him being bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace is upon him all of those things that the Prophet brings out Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures beautiful and he rose again era he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures the Psalm 16 I think your marginal reading if you have the biblical references might even reference Genesis 1 9 to 13 where we have the firstfruits coming out of dry earth on the third day and later on in the the passage we have a surely a more theologically developed approach to firstfruits but that third day language is at the outset of creation Christ being the new creation he is as it were those things that spring out of dry earth the first fruits of our second creation of our regeneration beginning back to the text then we have second that second aspect of the certainty of the events of the gospel the biblical testimony to the events of the gospel and then we have noticed the eyewitness testimony to the events of the gospel you see Paul is building an argument here to to drive these Corinthians to reflect upon the folly that it is to deny the resurrection of the dead notice the language here after the biblical witness to the death burial and resurrection of Christ the gospel we have verse 5 and that he was seen by Cephas then by the twelve after that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part remain to the present but some have fallen asleep after that he was seen by James then by all the Apostles then last of all he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time you see the the argument is airtight the argument is inescapable there is no wiggle room to say you know yeah but you know there could be some doubt I don't know these false teachers might be right no the Scriptures first of all proclaim and prom and those scriptures are god-breathed they are inspired they are inerrant they are infallible so their witness is good on their own but if that isn't good enough for you we have the eyewitness accounts many of which feed the biblical testimony in the first place Christ was seen Christ was made known by many infallible proofs in fact that's the language of the book of Acts in Acts chapter 1 we have the language of the infallibility of the demonstration of Jesus Christ himself to his own resurrected glory notice in acts 1 the former account verse 1 the former account I made both the awfulest of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up after he through the Holy Spirit had given Commandments to the apostles whom he had Joe whom he had chosen to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God you see Christianity isn't an agnostic religion it doesn't call upon potential adherence to seek after the secret things that are hidden in a conundrum and wrapped up in an enigma and listen to the Guru's and all that sort of stuff no it is the stuff of simple disclosure by the sovereign Christ following his sufferings whereby many infallible proofs too many witnesses over the course of 40 days he made himself known Christians don't lurk in the darkness to propagate the you know the the machinations of a false religion we operate upon the revelation of God Most High that revelation which is fed and built up by Christ showing himself by many infallible proofs this is why this is - it is to cut to the heart of these Corinthians later when Paul will say things like if Christ is not risen your faith is futile you're still in your sins those who have fallen a seat as I sleep your loved ones they've perished and we're of all men the most pitiable to cut to the heart there to reflect back on this and say wait a minute yes the scriptures foretold in and disclose and this is the and and the reality is that all of these saw the risen Christ the disciples the Apostles the five hundred brethren at once you know I think there might even be something to the fact that Paul is saying go talk to these people all of the 500 haven't perished all of the apostles had not perished they had not yet died that is some yes have fallen asleep but he says the greater part remain to the present go talk to them if you don't believe the biblical witness which you should you should not be a sinfully obstinate Thomas who would not obey the scriptures the words of Christ the miracles of Christ what he cast his eyes upon be diligent if you will not follow after those things and go and talk to one of these one of these brethren that still remain and say what did you see they'll say I saw the Christ don't be unbelieving but believing it's glorious the eyewitness testimony to the events of the gospel I love the language of Peter in 2nd Peter 1 2nd Peter 1 we have that language in verse 16 a Peter setting before the audience that he's writing to that they did not follow after cunningly devised fables when they made known to them the power and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of his majesty I love that language we didn't follow after cunningly devised fables if you're here tonight and you're a Christian take great hope in that you your salvation and your comfort as a Christian does not rest upon cunningly devised fables it rests upon the revelation of God eyewitnesses prior to the New Testament completion or the completion of the New Testament Canon these eyewitnesses could have been summoned and and in spoken to but our religion does not rest upon cunningly devised fables when the Apostles made known to the recipients of their letters to the recipients of their Proclamation the glory the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ they were eyewitnesses to his majesty weren't the the gnostic ascertain errs of the the ethereal whatever out there in the universe they saw they touched they handled Christ read first John one that Word of God which are our hands touched jar I saw we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth the eyewitness testimony testifies to the certainty of the events of the gospel thirdly I want you to notice from the passage the grace this is back in 1st Corinthians 15 now the grace that is foundational in both the delivery and reception of the gospel notice that this is delivered to us in dia language in the language of the Apostle Paul with respect to his own apostolate but as well to the recipient other the receiving of the gospel by the the FIR by the Corinthians notice in verse 9 for I am the least of the Apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not i but the grace of God which was with me therefore whether it was I or they so we preach and so you believed you see Paul is Paul is connecting the proclamation and the reception of the gospel to the grace of God and so this continues to argue for and to feed or to feed the argumentation and to to hopefully dispel the the folly of rejecting the resurrection of the dead because by the grace of God I proclaim this message we proclaim this message and you received it it is to shun the grace of God it is to - to stick your hand in the face of God's grace or to turn your back to the amazing and the free grace of God to entertain anything that rubs against the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that he most certainly was raised the third day in power and in great victory the gospel or the grace that is foundational to the gospel is there in both the delivery and in the reception of it isn't this just you know wonderful language by the Apostle Paul I am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God you see the Apostle Paul realized that it was by grace alone that he was saved and that he was called into the apostolate he says that he doesn't even deserve it you know Paul didn't somehow gain his apostolate by being a good guy by being a good you know a good Jew or a good what do you call someone from Tarsus a Tarjan but he didn't he didn't gain his apostolate by being good by being the best by being a fabulous orator by being X Y & Z but rather by God's grace he was plucked out from the the horror and the despair and the wickedness and the darkness of sin saved by grace alone and planted into his Apostleship so that he might proclaim the riches of Christ died buried and risen and so he realizes that it's the grace of God by which he had his Apostleship by which he preached and by which you also Corinthians have believed and lastly we have the unconquerable hope of the gospel notice the the unconquerable hope of the gospel in verses 12 to 20 first off we see here what is the crux of the matter what is going on in corinth now if Christ verse 12 is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead so Paul poses the question that addresses the problem and it is delivered in that flavour of marveling I marvel that you've so quickly turned to use the language of Galatians from an apprehension and a glorying in the doctrine of the resurrection of the Dead to a doctrine that completely rejects that blessed reality notice in the following verses here Paul builds logical argument upon logical argument he's using these if this then that's that statements these logical statements in order to see what the absolute absence of hope would be we we would notice first that all hope is lost if there is no gospel if this Jesus and their resurrection the truth of Christianity is false then there is no hope all hope is lost if there is no gospel listen to the language here but if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen he starts with the very simple logical argument here if you reject the resurrection of the dead but you uphold somehow that Christ is still risen you can't you can't hold one and and not the other if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen he goes on and if Christ is not risen you see the building of logical argument if then and then from that then there becomes another if and if Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty you see a preaching of the word so-called that removes from the preaching of the word the reality of the resurrection or we may say this the liberal Christianity that treats the resurrection as just some sort of subjective spiritual ethereal reality it didn't really happen but if you believe it that's great because it you know it helps you to walk old ladies across the street and mow your neighbor's lawn so it carries some ethical value it's madness if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen and if Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty if there is no resurrection of the dead then we might as well close down this church because our preaching is empty and you might as well cast off your faith because your faith is empty you see how your faith hinges upon your faith relies upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the resurrection of the Dead because Christ is risen therefore there is the resurrection of the Dead he continues to build upon this argument and to elaborate and to expand yes and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise you see Christian preachers are liars if we are proclaiming the resurrection of the dead when there really is no resurrection of the Dead we know of course that there is and to let the cat out of the bag there is the resurrection of the dead so our preaching is not empty and our faith is not empty and neither are we found liars those Christian preachers who proclaim the resurrection of the Dead and the risen Christ why because He is risen and so are all those who believe in him yes and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise for if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen you see how he turns or he reiterates rather that first logical objection if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen now notice and if Christ is not raising your risen your faith is futile you are still in your sins you see he there there's an exclamation mark in your Bible there isn't an exclamation mark in Greek but there's one in your Bible to bring forth the Greek language that is emphatically bringing this forth to the reader to emphasize this reality that if you reject the doctrine of the resurrection of the Dead which by virtue of doing that then Christ is not risen then you are still in your sins you are still under the wrath of God and divine condemnation justly rests upon you you're still in your sins not only does the condemnation of God still rest upon you but you have not been liberated from the power of sin but you are marked by marked by a perpetual iniquity dead in your trespasses and in your sins you see the implications here as we move to a close the language continues then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished you know if all of this hasn't yet worked for the Corinthians up until this point hopefully they'll reflect upon this at they're their family members they're their friends those who they love who have died in Christ they've perished and there is no hope for them you know sometimes there's different things that will pull the the heartstrings that will rouse the spirits of Christians back to a proper way back to a proper reflection upon the old paths and upon those things which are good and true and here Paul is pulling on many the vanity of preaching then if there is no resurrection your faith is empty then if there is no resurrection your loved ones then have perished and there is no future for them in the eternal state if there is no resurrection then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ that is died in Christ have perished and then we have this last argument before the Blessed hope 19 if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men the most pity 'el pitiable because we've wasted our lives then in believing a lie we've wasted our lives than in believing in the vanity of this faith that doesn't have that which marks it as a full faith we have been wasting our time taking in Christian preaching if there is no resurrection of the Dead which means then there is no Christ who has raised again we are of all men the most pitiable we could have spent our pursuits after we could have been Epicureans we could have sought after pleasures we could have sought after those things which you know put to death the troubles and the injuries of the body and the soul and and sought after a physical pleasure in this in this lower plane but you see now there is since the events of the gospel are true we have an unfailing hope and Paul in verse 20 that brings this section not necessarily to a close but our consideration closes well at verse 20 notice there is this wonderful but you know usually when you see it there oftentimes when you see a but in your bible abbé UT but in your Bible we have something glorious that follows yet one of the probably the most you know beautiful examples of feet is ephesians 1 2 3 which follows is followed by Ephesians 4 where we're dead in our trespasses and sins we walk according to the Prince of the power of the of the air that the the were the sons of disobedience the children of Wrath following after the lusts of our flesh then there's that were yes but but God who is rich in mercy because of the love with which he loved us made us alive in Christ Jesus by grace you have been saved we have a wonderful but here but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep you see what Paul is doing here with one fell swoop he is reversing all of the the hypothetical hopelessness 'as of the previous verses our preaching is not empty then our faith is not futile then Christ then is risen because we will be risen we are not of most man of all men the most pitiable we are not still in our sins why because Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep our hope brethren is built upon this Jesus and the resurrection the hope of hopes in fact there is no true and lasting hope save for that which rests upon and is in this Jesus Christ and the resurrection Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures hope of hopes is in that you know what hope is I think we can we can water down hope I'm going to close in a minute and 13 seconds we can water down hope when we apply to it a fleshly in a human and a weaker understanding you know I've used this imagery before and I'll probably use it until I die but being a vancouver canucks fan for a number of years I hope that they'll win the Stanley Cup but let's be honest they never will you know that's not the hope that we have in Christ we don't just hope with this hope that you know we want we we strongly wish something to happen but you know there's the possibility that it never will but we really hope that it will happen that's not our that's not a Christian hope our Christian hope is characterized by the certain and insuperable expectation that what God promises will most surely come to pass God has promised that all those who believe in this Christ who is risen from the dead will be will be those after having fallen asleep after having died in Christ will be raised with that one who is our forerunner the certain expectation that the promises of God will come true because they will because God is truth and cannot lie and in Jesus in the resurrection we have that hope that cannot be stolen away that we rest upon that we glory in and that we will take to our dying breath and in due time we will be brought forth from deadness to life in that resurrection reality where we'll cast our eyes of no longer faith but sight upon the risen Christ and the glory of his person well brethren hopefully we gain a an appreciation of what Jesus and the resurrection means and if you're here tonight and you're a Christian you glory in this hope of hopes you glory in this Christ the only one who brings us into the presence of the Father the only one in whom we have hope the forgiveness of sins and in everlasting life if you're here tonight and you don't know this Christ you need to understand that outside of him there is no hope so stop stop dilly-dallying stop dangling upon a proposition stroking your metaphorical beard or your real one wondering if maybe in some day in the future I could consider this Christ of Hope believe on him today is the hour of salvation now is the time to rest solely and alone upon this risen Christ for your salvation and you will know the hope of hopes that certain expectation that the promises of God are true they are yay and amen in this risen Christ let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your truth we thank you for what we read here in first Corinthians 15 we rejoice in the hope that we have in Christ Jesus knowing that it is certain and knowing that it is beautiful that it is glorious that in him we have certainty of salvation we pray because it is possible only with you that by your grace each and every one would leave these two doors singing the praises of Christ rejoicing in their hearts rejoicing in the inner man and even in the outer self that he is our Savior that he is our Lord that in him and in him alone we have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life we do pray that you'd help us in this upcoming week to rejoice in you to rejoice in our Christ and to live in such a manner that we bring glory to you we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen well if you'll stand with me for our doxology we'll sing the last stanza of hymn number 87 that's holy holy holy so stanza 4 as our doxology of hymn number 87 let's stand and sing together [Music] now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen please be seated and we'll have a brief time of prayer when the piano is finished you're free to go you