According to the Scriptures
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Ben Shapiro John Macarthur
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
The passage that we will be reading first is not the passage that we will spend the majority of our time on
Paul in 1 Corinthians is writing to a church that has had some problems to say the least. In the first 14 chapters of this book, Paul has dealt with some issues that have faced the church.
1. The main issue facing and plaguing this church was a lack of unity within the body.
Selfishness plagued this church. Cliques plagued this church. and the church suffered because of it.
And this is not unique to Corinthian church.
If disunity creeps in to the church, it is often if not always because of selfishness.
Paul dealt with this issues in the initial chapters of the book.
2. The Church had adopted the worlds view of ethics regarding sex and liberty.
Paul in chapter 7, lays out God’s plan for them in marriage.
Over and above the culture norms of our day stands the Word of God, and when the church gives in to sinful practices of the world, we have forfeited our right to tell the world who suffers as a result where their hope can be found.
3. The third issue that they were having was they were questioning the resurrection, questioning its veracity.
This is a problem.
Apart from the resurrection, there is no Gospel.
Apart from the resurrection, we should pack up and go home today.
but Here in , Paul begins to deal with that specific problem.
Look here in verse 1
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
First Paul reminds them of the Gospel.
This is the Gospel that he preached to them, and it was the gospel that included resurrection. In fact it is the Gospel BECAUSE it included the resurrection.
Essentially, what he is saying here is “Remember what I taught you.” Remember the Gospel I preached to you.
But also said, “Remember what you received.”
i can feel the pain of Paul here as he pleads with a group of people he loves to remember the things they were taught and at least, while he was there received with joy.
Now he is getting reports of all the evil within the church, and he writes a letter to them to encourage them in the faith.
Illustration: the pain of seeing one whom you once ministered to and saw fruit, abandon what you know they were taught.
For a pastor, there is nothing more painful than this.
I hope you all know this: I love you all, and my desire for you is that you would be fruitful in Christ.
My desire for you is that you grow in the grace of our Lord.
and when there is a departure from that, whether it be from sin, a lack of concern for the things of God made evident by a lack of gathering together with the body, it breaks my heart.
If their is unfaithfulness, then there is present some unbelief
Here we see this same thing here in Paul.
He has preached the Gospel faithfully to these people. He has ministered alongside of these people.
They had once received in with joy, and he even says here that they currently stand in it.
The reason they are standing now, the reason any church stands despite failure is because of that which never fails.
Even further though look in verse 2
by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
This message was preached.
The message was believed or at least it seemed to be the case that they believed.
Paul is limited in his knowledge of their actual spiritual condition.
But he does know this:
They are saved, if they hold fast to the word that he preached to them.
Paul is confident that if they believe the message that he preached to them and stay in it, that they are saved, but he does leave the alternative possibility.
“Unless you believed in vain”
In other words, unless your belief was empty.
There is a possibility of empty belief. Merely lip service.
But if they believe Paul’s message, that which he preached to them, they are safe. They are saved.
but why?
What is so special about Paul’s message?
Look in verse 3-4
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
There are a few things that characterize this message that I believe serve to give Paul this confidence.
The Supremacy of this message
Of first importance.
This phrase tells us where Paul ordered this message in light of His life and ministry.
Over and above anything Paul said to them while he was with them, he delivered to them the Gospel.
In fact, we see Paul not only said that the message was superior, but also, in His practice, he proved that this message was superior.
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
No superiority of speech or speaker can replace the superiority of the Gospel message.
Someone can get up, have you on the edge of your seat for the entire hour of a sermon, but if they do not preach Christ, there message has no power.
On the other hand, someone can get up and stumble through the entire sermon, but if they preach Christ, they preach the message that has proven over the course of millenium to change lives.
But this message is not original with Paul. Paul can have confidence in this message because it came from outside of him.
The Origin of the Message
Paul received this message.
What is interesting about Paul , is the Gospel preacher when Paul was saved was Jesus Christ Himself.
Paul, on His way to persecute more Christians in Damascus, is confronted by Jesus Himself and at the moment, the Gospel came alive in Paul. He is converted because He saw the resurrected Christ fro who He was, and He changed forever because of it.
Paul realizes this message is superior because of the superiority of the one he met on the road to Damascus
The content of the message
The most important thing for Paul it seems in ministry is guarding the Gospel from any form of perversion.
In fact, his whole reasoning for writing the letter to the church of Galatia is because they have veered from the truth of His word.
Listen to his harsh words in .
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
The proof
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
But what is the content of the message?
Look what he says here.
The message is Christ.
Who is Christ?
In Chapter 8 of the London Baptist Confession adopted in 1689, , it says, Jesus is:The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal with Him, who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made, AN HE did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her: and the power of the Most High overshadowing her; and so was made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according to the Scriptures; so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion; which person is fully God and fully man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.
The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal with Him, who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made, AN HE did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her: and the power of the Most High overshadowing her; and so was made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according to the Scriptures; so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion; which person is fully God and fully man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.
The message is sacrificial substitutionary atonement.
Christ died for our sins.
Sacrificial substitutionary atonement.
Sacrifice-
Christ came willingly.
Substitutionary-
Christ came in my place
Atonement
Christ paid the debt of sin for all who believe in him.
The content of the message is why Paul canbe confident that if we remain in the message, we are saved.
Lastly, his confidence rests in the foundation of the message.
The Foundation of the message. “According to the Scriptures.”
The Foundation of the message. “According to the Scriptures.”
The proof
The Foundation of the message. “According to the Scriptures.”
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
What does he mean when He says according to the Scriptures? and why does he say that?
He means the Old Testament
Paul preached to the church in Corinth the Scriptures that were available to him at the time.
And the content of His message we just said was that:
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
Christ was raised from the dead
Christ was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
But how?
How does Paul preach that message from the Old Testament?
The Old Testament is about Israel right?
The Old Testament is about the sacrifices, right?
Where in the Old Testament do we see Christ dying for our sins? (I’m glad you asked.)
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
In this statement, just three chapters in the Bible we see a reference to the death and the resurrection of Christ.
Christ dying ‘
In Genesis, Jesus is foreshadowed as the one who will crush the head of the serpent.
In Exodus, Jesus is foreshadowed as our great deliver who will over throw our enemies and set us free from sin.
In Leviticus, Jesus is our day of atonement.
In Numbers, Jesus is the bread of presence.
In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the covenant keeping God.
In Joshua, He is Israel’s great salvation.
In Judges. He is anticipated as the one who will finally succeed.
In Ruth, he is the kinsmen redeemer.
In 1 Samuel, He is the Great Prophet to come.
In 2 Samuel, He is the everlasting King.
1 and 2 Kings, He is the Son of David and Greater King than Solomon.
1 and 2nd Chronicles- We anticipate a perfect king who doesn’t sin, who doesn’t fall into idolatry and doesn’t die.
Ezra- He is the Scribe and Faithful Teacher of the Law
Nehemiah- He is the rebuilder of all things broken down.
Esther- He is the faithful God who protects His children.
In Job- He is the great redeemer who lives.
In the Psalms- He is our comfort, our King, our song, and our strength
In Proverbs, He is our wise King.
In Ecclesiastes, He is the true and fulfilling purpose to all of life.
In Song of Solomon, He is the loving husband to His cherished bride
In Isaiah, he is the healer by His stripes and the silent slaughtered lamb
Jeremiah- He is our prophet and our priest who pleads for repentance
Lamentations- He is the gracious judge.
In Ezekiel, He is the Son of Man
In Daniel, He is the 4th man in the fire.
In Hosea, He is the faithful husband to to the unfaithful spouse
In Joel, He is the Giver of the Spirit of Life
Amos, He is God’s wrath on the evil doer
Obadiah, He is the judge of Evil nations and the restoration to Israel
In Jonah, he is the message of hope to a lost world
In Micah he is remover of sin.
Nahum he is our promise of peace
Habakuk, he is the preservation of his people no matter the cost
Zephaniah- He is our Warrior
Haggai- The perfect leader of worship
Zechariah- He is the silencer of the accuser
In Malachi- He is the sun of righteousness rising with healing in his wings
Every book in the Old Testament testifies to the work of Christ. This is what Paul means when He says according to the Scriptures.
The question is: do you recognize this?
Do you recognize that Jesus is the promised one?
Do you recognize him as the the only way that we can come to the Father?
Believer: are you being faithful to proclaim this Christ, knowing that he and only he can save you and your friends and neighbors.
May we have the confidence of Paul to preach the Gospel to this world knowing that this message and this message alone will save.