Making Your Life Count

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon 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.

1 Corinthians 15:14 KJV 1900

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

1 Corinthians 15:17 KJV 1900

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV 1900

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

How can we live our life with a surety that it counts?

Know the Gospel

Trust the Gospel

Live the Gospel

Share the Gospel

Know the Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 KJV 1900

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

How did Paul use the Gospel?

He declared the Gospel.

He Preached the Gospel.

Paul speaks profoundly about the gospel.

++ I declare it to you

++ I preach it to you

What did the Galatians do?

They recieved it.

They stood in it.

++ You recieved it

++ You stand in it

It is this word

What did the word do for them?

It saved them.

It will keep them.

++ That saved you

++ Will keep you

What was Paul's warning to them?

++ That must be remembered

What was the Gospel to Paul?

1 Corinthians 15:3–6 KJV 1900

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: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:8 KJV 1900

And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

1 Corinthians 15:10 KJV 1900

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon 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.

What is the message of the Gospel?

++It is good news.

++It is the message of Grace.

It was the message of Grace.

++God's unmerited favor.

Grace must be continually recognized to be appreciated.

How did Paul's experience show his appreciation of God's grace?

Paul remembered right

Acts 9:3–4 KJV 1900

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Acts 22:6–7 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Acts 26:13–14 KJV 1900

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

There is nothing more impacting on a life than an encounter with the living God.

A Good Memory

Grace was

++Acts 9: 4 a light from heaven

++Acts 22:6 a great light shown

++Acts 26:13 a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun

A Clearer Memory

++Acts 9:4 he fell off his horse

++Acts 22:6 the light was around him

++Acts 26:13 the light was also around them

Grace doesn't operate in isolation.

It is easy to forget

Deuteronomy 4:9–10 KJV 1900

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Always remember

++Take heed

++Keep thy soul

++What you have seen

If you forget

What happens if we forget what God has done in us?

++Your heart will depart from God

++Your life will loose its meaning

++You cannot pass it on

There are some things

++That deserve our attention

++That we must never forget

Never forget

++The day you found the Lord

++The time of your preparation

++The day you heard his call

++The presence of the Lord

Trust the Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:2 KJV 1900

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Romans 1:16 KJV 1900

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Acts 20:32 KJV 1900

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Don't second guess or doubt the work of God in our life.

How do I keep from second guessing God's work in my life?

Only Believe

Mark 5:36 KJV 1900

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Mark 9:23 KJV 1900

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

The Work of Grace

Galatians 3:3–6 KJV 1900

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Why did Paul call the Galatians foolish?

It was the faith of Abraham that made him righteous before God.

Just as he believed so must we.

Never underestimate what God has done in you.

The questions Paul asked them are rhetorical.

He wanted them to think

++ What was it that gave me my liberty?

++What freed me?

++Being bound to do by law

++Being freed to do by Grace

Galatians 5:1 KJV 1900

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The work of grace

An extension to the law

The Law was limited.

What made the law work was judgment.

++It not only judged what you did or didn't do

++It judged how you did it.

++It was a rule of measure

++A measuring line

But it only dealt with the past.

Grace speaks of

The present

The future favor

What comes from God

The Power of Grace

Cancellation

It cancels the debt of the past and lays a new foundation based on a standard greater than judgment.

1 Corinthians 15:10 KJV 1900

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon 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.

Ephesians 2:10 KJV 1900

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We must live in a way that honors the Gospel message.

Most believers live life as though

++God is indebted to them.

++God benefitted by their coming to Him

++They deserve better

Paul's response was to recognized Grace.

++Grace was to him

++Grace empowered him

++Grace worked through him

He was

++Not a self-made man

++A grace made man

His response was to give his life as one of service to God.

++He live his life reaching for more.

++Not more stuff

++Not more insight

He labored to know God more.

Philippians 3:10–11 KJV 1900

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:13–14 KJV 1900

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

The entirety of the Gospel message rest upon the resurrection of Christ.

His resurrection

++foundation of all preaching

++Freed Him from the confines of the law.

++Enacted his last will and testament

That we would share in his victory through faith in him.

Hebrews 9:16–17 KJV 1900

For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

A will cannot be enforce until after the death of the testator.

++Jesus Christ satisfied this standard through His death.

++But He Rose from the dead.

++God raised him up.

++Not even the grave could hold him.

1 Corinthians 15:20–21 KJV 1900

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Believe it or not.

But now, Christ is risen

1 Corinthians 15:55–58 KJV 1900

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.