Good Friday (2023)

Remember Christ Crucified

God calls on his people to remember a lot in scripture

Israelites crossing the Jordan set up a memorial

All the feasts in the OT were meant to cause them to remember

Jesus set up the feast of the Lord’s Table so we would remember

And here Paul is calling on the Corinthians and us to remember:

The first things

The Gospel

Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again

Just as faithful as God is to call on us to remember

We are often times just as faithful to forget

By forget I mean not calling it to mind when you should

Not having it transform your day to day living

And we are prone to forget the more we are called to remember

Easter yearly

Lord’s day weekly

Salvation daily, every second, every thought goes through the lens of Christ’s death and resurrection

All our problems as Christians can be traced back to our tenancy to forget what God has told us to remember often

To combat that this evening in light of the text we are in I want to see highlight three things

Don’t forget because remembering is needed to answer your problems

Don’t forget because remembering enables you to hold fast despite your problems

Remember because the gospel is the solution to your greatest problem

The happy result of remembering is

You will not only tolerate another reminder of Christ’s death but

(You will) Walk in a manner worthy of it

(You will) Present your bodies as a living sacrifice in light of it

(You will) “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” as the echos of the reminder reverberates within your inner man

I. Don’t forget because remembering Answers your Problems

For Corinthians:

Prior to this chapter we see the Corinthians are struggling with

Divisions

Denying the authority of the apostle Paul

Sexual immorality—toleration

Lawsuits against brothers

Pride in spiritual gifts

Looking forward we see that they are denying a vital doctrine: The Resurrection of the Dead

When problems arise the answer is to remember the gospel already preached…not move on to new things

For Us Today

Jesus allows his churches to face certain sins and low points

What will the church do when it faces such periods?

Heath church

As individuals we can grow stale in our relationship with Christ and convince ourselves that if the circumstances were just a little different

Without first reminding ourselves of the gospel

SO

I. Don’t forget because remembering Answers Your Problems

II.Don’t forget because remembering enables you to hold fast despite your problems

The reminder of the gospel today has eternal meaning

Imagine being tossed to and fro in the ocean

You are exhausted and each wave is now a reminder of your soon destruction

But then a life vest appears and you receive it and are secured in the waves

Now each wave is a reminder of your salvation

But then Paul states

If they hold fast (stand)

Assuming they didn’t believe in vain (received in vain)

I don’t think Paul is trying to get them to doubt their reception and standing in the gospel

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 ESV

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Instead, he is trying to spur them on in remembering their reception and stance in the gospel

So that they can enjoy their salvation that comes forth from it

When the waves are approaching, and we want to doubt our security, we are to remind ourselves that I received the life vest truly

And so it will cause me to be secure here

It is my salvation

Reminders do something extremely significant

It is a means God uses to enjoy the fruit of salvation today

It is not a coincidence that when someone is overcome with a particular circumstance, they have often failed to remind themselves of the gospel in light of that circumstance

And so they are scarcely enjoying salvation at current.

I. Don’t forget because remembering Answers Your Problems

II.Don’t forget because remembering enables you to hold fast despite your problems

III. Remember because the gospel is the solution to your greatest problem

Christ died for your sins, according to scripture

Romans 4:25 ESV

25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

1 Peter 2:24–25 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

In a world full of problems we can easily forget that our greatest problem is that our sin keeps us from enjoying our good God

And this greatest problem that is the source of all humanities woes has found its answer in the Savior of the world who took sins upon himself on the cross and destroyed the enmity between Creator and Creature

And I have found it to be abundantly true in my life that when I am overcome with a problem in my life

It is not the particular problem’s fault no matter how big it appears to be

It is because I have forgotten to remind myself of my greatest problem met in Jesus and then bring the current problem under its shadow

Since Jesus has taken care of our greatest problem, all lesser problems become manageable in him

That’s what makes constant reminder of the gospel needed

Jesus died for your sins

Return again to dying in the ocean

You were in the ocean with the waves

Jesus is the one who created those waves to make you aware of your greatest problem

Then he jumped in and became your life vest

With the largest of waves manageable the reminder of him being your life makes life sweet…even in light of your greatest trials

I. Don’t forget because remembering Answers Your Problems

II.Don’t forget because remembering enables you to hold fast despite your problems

III. Remember because the gospel is the solution to your greatest problem