The First and the Last

Not the Alpha and Omega, relating to God

The primary importance of the Scripture

The lack of importance of the writer (from his own perspective)

BTW, we may be hearing some Easter music in these next couple weeks

It’s appropriate to the text

We were deprived of the celebration of the Resurrection at the time of its seasonal significance

The Setup

Paul has stated that they needed a reminder

He had a fear—based upon their behavior—of their faith not being real

…which you recieved,

in which you stand,

by which you are being saved

So, he went back to basics

The heart of the Gospel

The Main Idea: The Facts of the Gospel

Fact, Faith, Feeling

Locomotive, coal car and caboose; must be in proper order

Without the facts, faith is valueless

Without faith, feelings are irrelevant

Feeling that you’re “all good with God” is a dangerous thing

Reminder

Two significant issues—eternally significant

In addition to the fact that it was for our sins He died

...first importance...

Without this, nothing matters

Churches/preachers who preach without the Gospel are preaching feel-good messages

(We could make a message on losing our history…patriotic...”that’ll preach”

That’s politics, not the Gospel)

They may make you better people

They may cause you to lead better lives

It may rouse you to fight some form of injustice...

But that’s not the point of church

The Church exists to make disciples

Starts with a saving faith in Jesus Christ

That is of eternal significance

…according to the Scriptures...

He’s talking about the Old Testament

Maybe Matthew and Mark had been written by then

Not Luke or John

Not widely circulated yet…at least not when Paul founded church there

The plan of salvation was laid down in the OT

Resurrection predicted

Psalm 16:10 ESV

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

This, too, is of eternal significance

But there’s more to the “according to the Scripture...”

Fall of Man

Without this, no need for salvation

…all have sinned...

…wages of sin, death…gift of God...

Redemption

A covering

Provided by God; mans’ attempts insufficient

Blood was shed

Sacrificial System—looked forward to Christ

Costly, repetitive, burdensome

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

The linkage to the past is critically important to the time of Paul

critically important to our time

critically important to the future

Psalm 11:3 ESV

if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

If we remove the OT linkage, the Gospel account falls apart

Jesus was just another good man…a hero, a prophet…but not God incarnate

Reality

Simply put, the death and resurrection of Christ was a witnessed event

Police training…never call a witness you know is going to tell the wrong story

It convinced even skeptics

James, brother of Jesus, though He was out of His mind…until he saw Him post Resurrection

500 witnesses, most still alive at that writing—verifiable

Not just a few witnesses…FIVE HUNDRED

Runt

Poking a bit of fun at Paul—using his own concept

“untimely born” relates to a miscarriage or even an abortion

His becoming an apostle was not the process of the others

They’d been instructed/trained by Jesus for 3 years

His encounter had a been a bit different: Damascus Road event

Changed him from persecutor to preacher; from a threat to believers to a teacher of believers; from stomping out churches to starting churches

Not His Doing

It was God’s grace—undeserved favor

Didn’t deserve this new position

He became the hardest worker of all the apostles

Much of Acts relates to his work

Not for rewards or accolades; but to see the message shared

The effort expended was by God’s grace

Not worried about a pat on the back, only that the message be shared

Willingly shared successes with the others

Revelation

What is revealed to us from this text?

What questions does it force us to ask?

There are questions today Paul didn’t have to wrestle with

Are We Convinced of the Historicity of Jesus?

Did He really exist?

Is the whole thing a myth?

Was the Cross Necessary?

If we read the entirety of Scripture, YES!

Is Personal Faith Necessary?

Are we convinced of the accuracy of the Scripture—all of it?

If we succumb to the teachings of modern “science” we lose

If we buy the old earth theories, we sacrifice Biblical inerrancy

(admitted dispute on that)

If we buy into that, we lose

First, the accuracy of the Bible; then the fall of man, then the redemption…so why do we need Jesus?

These are the foundations of the faith

Psalm 11:3 ESV

if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

That’s why Paul took them back to Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:1–2 ESV

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

We don’t build our message on anything but the Word of God…all of it

What Are We Going to do about It?

Paul grasped the reality

…the urgency

…the necessity of sharing the message

We have the whole counsel of the Word in our Bibles...

We see what he did; what others did

What are we doing?