The Gospel In Which We Stand

THE GOSPEL IN WHICH WE STAND

INTRODUCTION

A. Perhaps my experience was not common to other young preachers, but for the first few years of my ministry, I called myself a gospel preacher, believing that I was preaching the gospel when I upbraided the brethren for poor attendance, poor giving, poor involvement in the program—whatever it happened to be.

B. When I was preaching to alien sinners, which was seldom, even when preaching in a “gospel meeting,” I thought I was preaching the gospel when I exposed all the errors of the denominational world, who, I remind you, were not even in attendance, and convinced the faithful brethren in attendance that I could condemn “them there sectarians” with the best of the fire-breathing “gospel” preachers.

B. Thanks be to God that I discovered from the pen of the apostle Paul what the gospel really is. Let’s join him in 1 Corinthians 15:

I. THE GOSPEL DECLARED (VV. 1a)

A. We do not discover the gospel; it is delivered (Lk 1:2)

B. The gospel was once for all delivered (Jude 3

C. Preachers today deliver the gospel in the same way Paul and Barnabas delivered the decision of the Jerusalem conference (Acts 15:30; 16:4)

II. THE GOSPEL PAUL DELIVERED

A. Paul presented Christ as a historical figure:

1. That which has never lived cannot die.

2. He who lived died and was buried (v. 3)

3. He who lived and died rose and now lives (vv.4-8)

B. The gospel delivered is the gospel in which we stand (v.1; Col 1:21-23)

III. THE GOSPEL AT WORK (V.2)

A. The importance of the present tense: We are being saved

B. There are two other tenses of salvation:

1. We were saved (Eph 2:9-9)

2. We shall be saved (Rom 5:9-10)

C. In my earlier days, it was not that I was preaching error, but my preaching was out of focus:

1. We can preach faith, repentance, confession, and baptism without preaching Christ, but we cannot preach Christ without preaching faith (Col 2:11-12).

2. The inner reality must faithfully reflect the outer representation (Col 3:1-3; 1 John 3:1-3).

D. Someone might ask, “What is the difference, so long as people are baptized?

1. The preaching of the gospel delivered by Paul produces disciples.

2. An out-of-focus, sectarian gospel produces knock-off disciples:

a. Mechanical Mimics: In our attempts to refashion ourselves from the outside in, instead of allowing Christ to transform us from the inside out, we become little wind-up dummies that go around mimicking Christ with computer-chip voices and automated actions. We go through the motions of worship and Christian service, but the motions are herky-jerky, not the fluid, graceful motion of an ice skater for whom skating has become second nature.

b. Impassioned Impersonators: These are pretty good at impersonating the real thing. They are so good, in fact, that they are surprised themselves when Jesus rejects them (Matt 7:21-23).

c. Felonious Fakes: These are the true hypocrites and are as phony as a blue-eyed Indian in a back-lot western—you may remember those movies in which the Native Americans appear to have migrated to this land from Norway or Sweden.

3. There are some who hear the gospel delivered by Paul, but do not obey from the heart and become mechanical mimics, impassioned impersonators, and felonious fakes, but the problem is with the soil, not the seed.

CONCLUSION

A. The gospel has been delivered, received, and is, I am convinced, at work in us both individually and collectively.

B. If by chance you have not received it or you are not walking in it, please make that right today.