2016-03-13 Easter 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 The Good News (2): Possessed

THE GOOD NEWS (2): POSSESSED (I Cor 15:3-4) March 13, 2016 Read I Cor 1:1-4 – The gospel. Literally “good news.” But it has been so abused -- reimagined and redefined that the real thing has been lost to millions of people. The same thing was happening in 1st century Corinth where people were denying the physical resurrection of Jesus. So our text is saying, “It’s back to basics time. Let’s review. Here’s the gospel in its most succinct, yet powerful, form.” Paul shows us the gospel Provided (3-4), Possessed (1-2) and Proven (5-9). It is one of the great passages in all the Bible. The gospel Provided is by God alone. How? Christ died was buried and rose again. That’s good news, because He paid a price for my sin I could never pay. God’s standard of perfection is way beyond my reach. But good news! “God met His own demands on my behalf.” The price is paid; the provision made; the gift promised. That’s the gospel Provided. But that doesn’t make it mine. The gift under the Christmas tree is provided, but it’s not mine until I unwrap and accept it. Salvation’s the same. The gift is provided, but now it must be unwrapped and accepted. That’s vv. 1-2. Now understand my self is so depraved, I’d never accept this gift on my own. I’d blow it off. Jesus knew. Jn 6: 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Even the faith to believe is “not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” Yet somehow, under the umbrella of God’s sovereignty, there is my responsibility. I must reach out and receive. John 1:12: “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Paul uses the same word here: “the gospel I preached to you, which you received.” What God provides I must accept to possess. Jimmy Kimmel once said, “You should never be late in London? They have a huge clock right in the middle of town!” True! But to benefit from that clock, you have to look at it, right? Salvation’s just the same. Isa 45:22, “Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” That verse brought Charles Spurgeon to faith – the realization he could do nothing to save himself. He could only look to Christ. So, for salvation provided to become salvation possessed requires saving faith. It is possessed by faith. And I Cor 15:1-2 shows the human path to saving faith, making the gospel mine personally. I. It is Preached 1 Good news isn’t good if you haven’t heard it, right? Uncle Joe dies in NY, unexpectedly leaving you $10,000,000. That’s good news – but not if you don’t know about it. It’s meaningless to you until you hear about it. Good news has to be shared with you. Exactly Paul’s point: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you.” The gospel of JC became good news the moment He arose from the grave. But it wasn’t good news to the Corinthians until someone told them – someone Paul. He told them the news. “Remember how I gospeled you?” Have you gospeled anyone lately? People can’t possess what they don’t know is theirs. So we must “preach” it, share it – gospel people: “What do you think of Christ?” Whatever their opinion, they’ll soon ask, “What do you think?” “I think He died, was buried and rose again -- all for you.” That’s good news. That’s the gospel. You say, “Isn’t there more?” Sure, there is fantastic supporting detail. But our job is to get the heart of it in front of people so they can accept, reject or question. Preach the good news. It’s up to them what they do with it; our job is, share it. Certainly preachers must preach it. Well-intentioned people tell us preaching is out. People won’t listen. They have short attention spans now – crippled by our sound-byte culture. Ten or 15 minutes is all they can take (altho I notice they still watch 1 hour TV shows, 2 hour movies and 3 hour football games with no problem!) But the experts have decided people must be entertained, the sermon reduced to dialogue and the gospel transformed to a debate or a bargaining session. “Fix my problems, Lord, and I’ll follow you – as long as you don’t ask too much.” That’s not good news; that’s a negotiation. Good news isn’t a negotiation; it’s a statement of truth that I either accept or reject. It is preached, not debated. Paul said in Rom 1:15, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” He had good news to proclaim, not a philosophy to debate or a religion to negotiate. You don’t debate the news. You either believe it or you don’t. Like hearing of Uncle Joe’s inheritance. Once you’re told, you can reject it as untrue (absurdly foolish if it is indeed true). You can accept it as true, but refuse it, or you can accept it as true and receive it. But you don’t negotiate news. You accept it as true or reject it as a lie. Paul emphasizes this in Rom 10: 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 The logic is irrefutable, isn’t it? So he concludes: 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Preaching. Paul 2 says in I Cor 1:21b, “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” You say, “But shouldn’t we why we accept this good news as true?” Absolutely. We are to “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (I Pet 3:15b). But it starts with sharing the good news that unleashes the HS to go to work. On an episode of ER, a retired police officer is dying of cancer. He’s ridden with guilt for allowing an innocent man to be framed and executed. “How can I even hope for forgiveness?” The chaplain replies, “I think often it’s easier to feel guilty than forgiven.” He asks, “Which means what? I’m dying here. What does God want of me?” The chaplain replies, “I think it’s up to each one of us to interpret for ourselves what God wants.” Amazed the man says, "So people can do anything? They can rape, they can murder, they can steal – all in the name of God and it's okay?" “Not what I'm saying," the chaplain responds. "Then what are you saying? Bc all I'm hearing is some New Age, God-is-Love, have-it-your-way crap! . . . I don't have time for this now." "You don't understand," the chaplain counters. "No, you don't understand! . . . I want a real chaplain who believes in a real God and a real hell!" He replies, "I hear that you're frustrated, but you need to ask yourself –" "No," the man interrupts, "I don't need to ask myself anything. I need answers and all your questions and all your uncertainty are only making things worse." He tries once more, “I know you're upset," but he interrupts, "God, I need someone who will look me in the eye and tell me how to find forgiveness, because I am running out of time!" An opinion, a dialogue, a philosophy wouldn’t cut it. He needed the good news that no one was sharing with him. All of us can preach the good news. Jesus died for your sins, He was buried and He rose again. That’s what people need to hear. If you’ve been in our church any time at all you’ll never be able to say, “I never heard it.” And if you’ve accepted it, you have the same commission Paul did. I Cor 9:16b, “For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Our job isn’t to argue people into the kingdom; it is to share the good news that Jesus died and lives for them. Preach it; share it; proclaim it. II. It is Possessed So, we’ve heard the gospel; now what? “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received.” I preached it; you received it; so you’re saved. But what’s it mean to receive the gospel? 3 Παραλαμβανω is a general word meaning take, receive. emphasizing a transfer, as Mt 17:1 when Jesus “took” Peter, Jas and Jn up to the mountain. But receiving the gospel implies a commitment to its message and the Christ who brings it. Look, Jn 1:11: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Wops! What happened? Lacking for facts? Hardly! They’d seen and heard the good news. So, how did they not receive Him? Next verse: 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” To receive = to believe into His name – to accept who He is (God-man) and to believe in why He came (die for our sins). Those become children of God. Those who accept His message and His person by faith possess the gospel as their own. It’s not just knowing the facts; it is committing to them. Paul preached; they received and are now being saved. It’s like getting married. The word is even used that way in Mt 1:20c where an angel tells Joseph: “do not fear to take (our word) Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” It’s all good, Joseph. Take her; marry her. And so believers become the bride of Christ, possessing Him and possessed by Him. It is to know Him: Jn 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Receivers have said “I do” to Christ and are now part of His bride. To receive the gospel is to transfer allegiance from me to Him. Ray Pritchard is a pastor who tells of a tough cop who lived across the street – jaded from Vietnam and the underside of life he’d seen as a policeman. They began to talk and the guys became an honest seeker. They went to lunch one day and the guy told Pritchard, “Let me tell you what happened to me.” He told how he had investigated the facts about Jesus, and then he said, “As I was reading the Bible one day, suddenly it hit me, ‘This stuff is true!’ I received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It felt like 1000 pounds had been lifted off my shoulders.” The guy didn’t know it, but he’d said, “I do” to Jesus and become a received of the gospel and possessor of salvation – of Jesus. III. It is Persevered in “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you.” If you are tracking with me, a couple of questions ought to surface. First, Paul seems to imply we are saved if we hold fast to the gospel. Sounds like salvation by works! Second, he says we 4 “are being saved” ongoing action. I thought when I trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior I was saved (past tense) once and for all at that moment. So what is this continuous reference? Great questions. Let’s regroup for a moment. First, salvation does happen the moment our heart bows in submission to Christ. Eph 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” “Have been saved” Not will be – already have been. Jesus told Nicodemus in Jn 3:3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (aorist) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Perfect analogy. Just as we are born once physically in a moment, so we are re-born spiritually in a moment of time by an act of the Holy Spirit when we repent our sins and give ourselves unreservedly to Him. But Paul gives another nuance of salvation in I Cor 15. Beautiful! “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached [aorist – point in time past action] I preached to you, which you received [aorist – point in time past action. I preached it; you received it as true and as yours. But Paul doesn’t leave it there], in which you stand [perf – past action with continuing result. You received it, and you continue to stand in it] 2 and by which you are being saved [pres – continuous action in present], if (Greek has four ways to say “if” – this one first class, assumed to be true, translate “since”) since you hold fast (pres continuous) to the word I preached to you ” So, put it all together. It’s profound. “You were born spiritually once, but you continually experience that new spiritual life every day, and your behavior shows it. God is preserving you day by day through your failures because your heart is His.” The perseverance of the saints – meaning genuine believers will continue to exhibit new life characteristics in their attitudes and behavior. Can’t help it! We’ve repented of our sin. Repentance means turning from one thing to another – from self to God. At that moment we become according to II Cor 5:17 a “new creation” in Christ. We’re born again. That new me will always want what God wants. The old me still exists, and sometimes I give in to his old desires, but if my repentance was genuine and my faith real, then the new me will keep battling the old. My life will be one of continuing progress away from self, and toward God. In other words, there will be genuine change in me, starting from the inside out. How do we know we are truly saved? How can one be sure? Paul gives one great way in Rom 8:16: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” The HS affirms to your spirit, “Yes – you are real. You belong to Christ.” Satan will bring doubts, but the Spirit will persist. Lacking that witness, it’s time to go back to the basics of the gospel. 5 But another way you know is, you’re not the same person you were before. There will be a change in the life of a true believer. It cannot be otherwise for you are now a new creation. That new life will exhibit itself in increasingly Christ-like attitudes and actions. If you don’t see that change, you should rightly question whether you have eternal life or not – whether you have been born again spiritually or not. If you have been, you will have a strong desire to “hold fast” to the word of the gospel – to “stand” in the teaching of the gospel – to obey the commands of your new owner. That’s what Paul is teaching here. Perfectly. No. Phil 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (perfection) at the day of Jesus Christ.” Perfect when? At the day of Christ – when we see Him – at our death or His return. So do we hold perfectly? No. But there is change. We are moving upward. The signs of spiritual life are there, or we are not real. In Lloyd C. Douglas’ book, The Robe, Marcellus is a centurion who helps crucify Jesus and wins Jesus’ robe with a throw of the dice. But, believing that Jesus is innocent, and prompted by what he saw on the cross, Marcellus follows the path of Jesus’ life, meets some of the disciples and eventually becomes a follower of Christ himself. When he informs his finance, Diana, in Rome of his new faith, she writes, “I feared [your faith] might somehow affect your life—and mine, too. It is a beautiful story, Marcellus, a beautiful mystery. Let it remain so. We don’t have to understand it. And we don’t have to do anything about it; do we?” But, of course, if the faith is real, we must do something. If His resurrection is real, and the life He gives is real, we must do something. Change must come. In the end, both Marcellus, and his new wife Diana are executed for their faith in Christ. Their faith is shown real bc they persevere – to the end. Jesus promises in Rev 3:5: “5 The one who conquers (perseveres) will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Conc – The gospel Provided is all by God. Jesus died, was buried and rose again to provide salvation. That’s good news. The good news Possessed comes when it is preached (shared), possessed (receive by faith) and persevered in. Have you heard, received and are you living that new life in Christ? One man who had gotten a new pacemaker was all excited when his daughter visited. He said, “Look at this information sheet. Look! It has a lifetime guarantee!” Well the gospel is a lot better than that. It’s more than a rework 6 of the old you. It provides a whole new life if you will possess it. And the guarantee isn’t just lifetime. It’s eternal. Let’s pray. 7