And we are seeing a fluffy weak, anemic Christianity that is happening today, and it is going to be easily consumed into this globalism. I can already see it happening. Barriers are down, and everybody is saying that that is good. It isn’t good.
When you break that separation—you see, it’s about the Book—it’s either the Book or it’s not the Book. If you don’t have the inspired, preserved, perfect Word of God that you believe—that you have—then you’re going to fall for anything out there. Anything that sounds good. Oh, this is archaic, it’s a little obscure. Well, I like this better—but while you’re liking all these thoughts—you are destroying, DESTROYING doctrine. Destroying the chain of references that God has put in this Book. Some things you just got to dig in and fight for.
And the Apostle Paul is telling these folks, ‘Hey, they are coming in, they got some Bible. Oh, they got some thoughts.’ He was fearful because he wasn’t staying there, he is writing these letters to them. He wasn’t there yet. And so they were at the mercy of these people that knew the Bible. They were older—more religious—you know. After all, we are taught to obey our elders.
And so there is a mess going on here, and it boils down to the simplicity of Christ. It comes down to the Gospel which Paul preached. Once again . . .
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4).
Thank God that it says ‘according to the Scriptures.’ Because that makes you go to Scriptures to see how He dies. ‘Well, the Blood ain’t emphasized.’ Have you read the Scriptures about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you read how He suffered—how He bled, how He died? All of that, believe it or not, is involved in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For as you see the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—which is the very Gospel.
You go, and you research about the death—you read about the rich guy that gave up his tomb—you know, the burial. Next thing you know, lo and behold, that was prophesied in the Old Testament. Wait a minute, this is getting good. See, all the Scriptures! You get into Isaiah 53 and you start saying, “My goodness! 700 years before it happened! No wonder the Jews don’t like talking about Isaiah 53.” Isaiah is their favorite prophet, but chapter 53? They’ll say, “Well, I’m unlearned.” It’s just amazing. We, that are saved, if you read that—if you really read it solemnly—you could even shed a tear. Isaiah 53.
So, you think about the Gospel—it is the death, burial and resurrection—but each one of them can be defined. And that’s where you get to see the suffering of Christ, and what really took place on Calvary. And how God provided the tomb, and how God worked on Nicodemus and the rich man that was there, Joseph to give up his tomb, and how they took the Body there. And you really start to get a fuller picture.
And then you come to the Pauline epistles and you begin to learn about that Blood of Jesus Christ. Wow. Then you understand the Old Testament, how that the blood of goats and bulls could not take away sin—they just covered it up—and that there was one sacrifice for ever, and then He sat down.
All that stuff, you see, that they messed up by adding works to it. By polluting it.
That’s why Scripture, when you get into this King James Bible—when it tells you something—like, ‘according to the Scriptures,’ you may go to some other translation and they don’t have that there.
MacLaren says about this,
“Mark how ‘that Christ died,’ not Jesus. It is a great truth, that the man, our Brother, Jesus, passed through the common lot, but that is not what Paul says here, though he often says it. What he says is that ‘Christ died.’ Christ is the name of an office, into which is condensed a whole system of truth, declaring that it is He who is the Apex, the Seal, and ultimate Word of all divine revelation. It was the Christ who died; unless it was so, the death of Jesus is no gospel.
“passed through the common lot . . .” What do you mean? He was born in a manger, I guess that’s as poor as you can get. A carpenter’s son. According to Hebrews “He learned obedience.” Yea, the flesh part of Christ—100% —the common part of Jesus Christ.
“the death of Jesus is no gospel . . .” This author points out, ‘Christ, not Jesus!,’ and that is so true. Christ is the anointed One. Christ is the Messiah. If he had said Jesus, he would have got the man part. So, the Word of God is expressive, man. Definite! And we see here that Christ died. Big difference!
MacLaren continues . . .
‘He died for our sins.’ Now, if the Apostle had only said ‘He died for us,’ that might conceivably have meant that, in a multitude of different ways of example, appeal to our pity and compassion and the like, His death was of use to mankind. But when he says ‘He died for our sins,’ I take leave to think that that expression has no meaning, unless it means that He died as the expiation and sacrifice for men’s sins. I ask you, in what intelligible sense could Christ ‘die for our sins’ unless He died as bearing their punishment and as bearing it for us? And then, finally, ‘He died and rose . . . according to the Scriptures,’ and so fulfilled the divine purposes revealed from of old.
What are you saying? ‘Christ died for our sins.’ A lot of verbiage, they were thinking about it. We know—in simplicity—that man, I was once lost, but now I am found. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, I once was blind, but now I see! How’d that happen? God! That’s all that happened. Simplicity of the Gospel should drive us to know more about our new life.
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14).
You look at these verses and what you got is an equation. You got an outline of what took place.
It says, ‘that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.’ Now look what it says, ‘In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed.’
See how that worked? It’s really pretty simple. What happened? We are mouthpieces. We are witnesses. We give out the Gospel. They hear it. God says, ‘Okay, let us now reason together.’ They got a brain. They can reason. What do we reason about? The truth. The truth smites them. It cuts them. It pricks them in the heart. They hear that Gospel. The next thing you know they believe it. I don’t know about you, but when I got saved I always go back to that cross where the thief was hanging—because that was my experience—I know there is a lot of Catholicism involved in ‘The Passion of Christ,’ but, wow . . . something about that . . . and I can know that I can be negative about all of it scripturally, but he captured that thief, man. When I connected on that thief’s eyeballs on that cross in that movie—now I am not promoting Hollywood—but I’m just saying, man! Remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom. Man!
Now how can somebody 2,000 years later be able to see Christ on the cross? Somebody that’s got God’s Spirit wooing them to Him. Somebody that finally heard the Gospel that they needed.
THEY HEARD . . . THEY BELIEVED . . . AND THEN THEY WERE SEALED.
They didn’t seal themselves, God did. Why? Because God saved them. That’s why you can’t lose it. And you can search every square inch of your body to see where God put Him in, you ain’t gonna find it. When God sealed you, He sealed you. The same way He mysteriously circumcised your flesh off your soul. Same way!
So, this Gospel drives us to know more about our new life, and to deliver us from the fears and doubts of this life.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).
And then also to deliver others . . .
“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 1:13).
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (II Timothy 4:3).
“Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9).
Today, people are saying that they are against doctrine—doctrine divides—my Bible is constantly telling me to know doctrine. Christ is telling you to know doctrine. You have to learn doctrine. We are to dispute with others that have no doctrine but are religious.
The Apostle Paul is looking at that church in Corinth and hoping that they got some of the things that he taught, trying to keep in communication with them, even telling them that the same Spirit that is in me is in you.
They were growing, and they were getting victory over their flesh, but yet the religionists were messing with their head. It is the simplicity of Christ that you don’t want to lose sight of. If you are born again, you can see spiritually—what—evil days are upon us and the world. I mean, you can even talk to an unsaved person, they see that there is something going on. They don’t know what, they are just grasping. They are wanting to know. They are getting increasingly superstitious. People are getting into all kinds of things now, because they sense something is happening. That spirit of Antichrist is global—it’s getting out of control—that’s what’s going on. It’s accepted.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:1-3).
You got doctrine. You got this Bible. You know what makes you dirty, and you know what doesn’t make you dirty. It’s up to you to stop doing things that makes you dirty. How is that for simple? He tells you it’s us. We are the ones that have to do it. Why? Because He is coming back. We need to purify ourselves. We’ve got a reprieve a little, but my goodness, that may be for us all to get right with God so that we have less to face at the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ. And maybe you are going to pray more because you know that the day is approaching. You are not going to miss church—you are going to want to be IN church. Why? You are going to occupy. People got to know where you are if you are occupying, and if you’re occupying—people know! If you don’t occupy, you are all mixed up, and messed up and blending with everybody. You fit right in with the world.
You don’t have to be stupid, just be biblical. The simple things. No, I’m not drinking. Why? Then tell them! You know, we’re kind of weak. ‘I don’t want to be an alcoholic.’ ‘My mother was an . . .’ I guess you can play the whole thing. But I’m telling you—it’s a whole lot better to just cut the stuff, man, just get right to the point. ‘I want to serve God, and I can’t serve Him if I don’t have a sober mind.’ ‘I want to please my Lord, I want to stay clean, so I don’t do this or that.’