THE GOOD NEWS (2): POSSESSED

(I Cor 15:3-4)
March 13, 2016
Read I Cor 1:1-4 The gospel. Literally good news. But it has been so
abused -- reimagined and redefined that the real thing has been lost to millions
of people. The same thing was happening in 1st century Corinth where people
were denying the physical resurrection of Jesus. So our text is saying, Its
back to basics time. Lets review. Heres the gospel in its most succinct, yet
powerful, form. Paul shows us the gospel Provided (3-4), Possessed (1-2)
and Proven (5-9). It is one of the great passages in all the Bible.
The gospel Provided is by God alone. How? Christ died was buried and rose
again. Thats good news, because He paid a price for my sin I could never pay.
Gods standard of perfection is way beyond my reach. But good news! God
met His own demands on my behalf. The price is paid; the provision made;
the gift promised. Thats the gospel Provided.
But that doesnt make it mine. The gift under the Christmas tree is provided,
but its not mine until I unwrap and accept it. Salvations the same. The gift is
provided, but now it must be unwrapped and accepted. Thats vv. 1-2.
Now understand, my self is so broken, Id never accept this gift on my own.
Id blow it off. Jesus knew. Jn 6: 44 No one can come to me unless the Father
who sent me draws him. Even the faith to believe is not your own doing, it
is the gift of God. Yet somehow, under the umbrella of Gods sovereignty,
there is my responsibility. I must reach out and receive. John 1:12: But to all
who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become
children of God. Paul uses the same word here: the gospel I preached to
you, which you received. What God provides I must accept to possess.
Jimmy Kimmel once said, You should never be late in London? They have a
huge clock right in the middle of town! Big Ben! But to benefit from that
clock, you have to look at it. Salvations just the same. Isa 45:22, Look unto
me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. That verse brought Charles
Spurgeon to faith the realization he could do nothing to save himself. He
could only look to Christ. So, for salvation provided to become salvation
possessed requires saving faith. It is possessed by faith. And I Cor 15:1-2
shows the human path to saving faith, making the gospel mine personally.
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I.
It is Preached
Good news isnt good if you havent heard it. Uncle Joe dies, unexpectedly
leaving you $10,000,000. Thats good news but not if you dont know about
it. Its meaningless to you until you know. Good news has to be shared with
you. Exactly Pauls point: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I
preached (gospeled) to you. The gospel of JC became good news the
moment He arose from the grave. But it wasnt good news to the Corinthians
until someone told them someone Paul. He told them the news. Remember
how I gospeled you? Have you gospeled anyone lately?
People cant possess if they dont hear. So we must preach it, share it
gospel people: What do you think of Christ? Whatever their opinion, theyll
soon ask, What do you think? I think He died for our sins, was buried
and rose again -- all for us. Thats good news. Thats the gospel. You say,
Isnt there more? Sure, there is fantastic supporting detail. But our job is to
get the heart of it in front of people so they can accept, reject or question.
Share the good news. Its up to them what they do with it; our job is, share it.
Certainly preachers must preach it. Well-intentioned people tell us preaching
is out. People wont listen. They have short attention spans now crippled by
our sound-byte culture. Ten or 15 minutes is all they can take (altho I notice
they still watch 1 hour TV shows, 2 hour movies and 3 hour football games
with no problem!) But the experts have decided people must be entertained,
the sermon reduced to dialogue and the gospel transformed to a debate or a
bargaining session. Fix my problems, Lord, and Ill follow you as long as
you dont ask too much. Thats not good news; thats a negotiation.
Good news isnt a negotiation; its a statement of truth that I accept or reject.
It is preached, not debated. Paul said in Rom 1:15, So I am eager to preach
the gospel to you also who are in Rome. He had good news to proclaim, not a
philosophy to debate or a religion to impose. You dont debate the news. You
either believe it or you dont. Like hearing of Uncle Joes inheritance. Once
youre told, you can reject it as untrue (absurdly foolish if it is indeed true).
You can accept it as true, but refuse it, or you can accept it as true and receive
it. But you dont negotiate news. You accept it as true or reject it as a lie.
Paul emphasizes this in Rom 10: 14 How then will they call on him in whom
they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they
have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
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The logic is irrefutable, isnt it? So he concludes: 17 So faith comes
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from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Preaching. Paul says in
I Cor 1:21b, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save
those who believe. You say, But shouldnt we know why we accept this
good news as true? Yes! We are to always being prepared to make a
defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (I Pet
3:15b). But it starts with sharing the good news that unleashes the HS to go to
work.
On an episode of ER, a retired police officer is dying of cancer. Hes ridden
with guilt for allowing an innocent man to be framed and executed. How can
I even hope for forgiveness? The chaplain replies, I think often its easier
to feel guilty than forgiven. He asks, Which means what? Im dying here.
What does God want of me? The chaplain replies, I think its up to each
one of us to interpret for ourselves what God wants. Amazed the man says,
"So people can do anything? They can rape, they can murder, they can steal
all in the name of God and it's okay?" Not what I'm saying," the chaplain
responds. "Then what are you saying? Bc all I'm hearing is some New Age,
God-is-Love, have-it-your-way crap! . . . I don't have time for this now."
"You don't understand," the chaplain counters. "No, you don't understand! . .
. I want a real chaplain who believes in a real God and a real hell!" He
replies, "I hear that you're frustrated, but you need to ask yourself " "No,"
the man interrupts, "I don't need to ask myself anything. I need answers and
all your questions and all your uncertainty are only making things worse."
He tries once more, I know you're upset," but he interrupts, "God, I need
someone who will look me in the eye and tell me how to find forgiveness,
because I am running out of time!" An opinion, a dialogue, a philosophy
wont cut it when youre dying. That guy needed good news he wasnt getting.
All of us can share the good news. Jesus died for your sins, He was buried and
He rose again. Thats what people need to hear. If youve been in our church
any time at all youll never be able to say, I never heard it. And if youve
accepted it, you have the same commission Paul did. I Cor 9:16b, For
necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! Our job
isnt to argue people into the kingdom; it is to share the good news that Jesus
died and lives for them. Preach it; share it; proclaim it.
II.

It is Possessed

So, weve heard the gospel; now what? Now I would remind you, brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you, which you received. I preached it; you
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received it; so youre saved. But whats it mean to receive the gospel?
is a general word meaning take, receive, emphasizing a
transfer, as Mt 17:1 when Jesus took Peter, Jas and Jn up to the mountain.
But receiving the gospel implies a commitment to its message and the Christ
who brings it. Look, Jn 1:11: He came to his own, and his own people did
not receive him. Wops! What happened? Lacking for facts? Hardly!
Theyd seen and heard the good news. So, how did they not receive
Him? Next verse: 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God. To receive = to believe
into His name to accept who He is (God-man) and to believe in why He
came (die for our sins). Those become children of God. Those who accept His
message and His person by faith possess the gospel as their own. Its not just
knowing the facts; it is committing to them. Paul preached; they received and
are now being saved.
Its like getting married. The word is even used that way in Mt 1:20c where an
angel tells Joseph: do not fear to take (our word) Mary as your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Its all good, Joseph. Take
her; marry her. And so believers become the bride of Christ, possessing Him
and possessed by Him. It is to know Him: Jn 17:3, And this is eternal life,
that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Receivers have said I do to Christ and are now part of His bride. To receive
the gospel is to transfer allegiance from me to Him.
Ray Pritchard is a pastor who tells of a tough cop who lived across the street
jaded from Vietnam and the underside of life hed seen as a policeman. They
began to talk and the guy became an honest seeker. They went to lunch one
day and the guy told Pritchard, Let me tell you what happened to me. He
told how he had investigated the facts about Jesus, and then he said, As I was
reading the Bible one day, suddenly it hit me, This stuff is true! I received
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It felt like 1000 pounds had been lifted off
my shoulders. The guy didnt know it, but hed said, I do to Jesus and
become a receiver of the gospel and possessor of salvation of Jesus.
III.

It is Persevered in

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which
you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you
hold fast to the word I preached to you. If you are tracking with me, a couple
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of questions ought to surface. First, Paul seems to imply we are saved if we

hold fast to the gospel. Sounds like salvation by works! Second, he says we
are being saved ongoing action. I thought when I trusted Jesus as Lord and
Savior I was saved (past tense) once and for all at that moment. So what is this
continuous reference? Great questions. Lets regroup for a moment.
First, salvation does happen the moment our heart bows in submission to
Christ. Eph 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith. Have
been saved Not will be already have been. Jesus told Nicodemus in Jn 3:3:
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (aorist) he cannot see the
kingdom of God. Perfect analogy. Just as we are born once physically in a
moment, so we are re-born spiritually in a moment of time by an act of the
Holy Spirit when we repent our sins and give ourselves unreservedly to Him.
But Paul gives another nuance of salvation in I Cor 15. Beautiful! Now I
would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached [aorist point in time
past action] I preached to you, which you received [aorist point in time past
action. I preached it; you received it as true and as yours. But Paul doesnt
leave it there], in which you stand [perf past action with continuing result.
You received it, and you continue to stand in it] 2 and by which you are being
saved [pres continuous action in present], if (Greek has four ways to say if
this one first class, assumed to be true, translate since) since you hold fast
(pres continuous) to the word I preached to you So, put it all together. Its
profound. You were born spiritually once, but you continually experience
that new spiritual life every day, and your behavior shows it. God is
preserving you day by day through your failures because your heart is His.
The perseverance of the saints meaning genuine believers will continue to
exhibit new life characteristics in their attitudes and behavior. Cant help it!
Weve repented of our sin. Repentance means turning from one thing to
another from self to God. At that moment we become according to II Cor
5:17 a new creation in Christ. Were born again. That new me will always
want what God wants. The old me still exists, and sometimes I give in to his
old desires, but if my repentance was genuine and my faith real, then the new
me will keep battling the old. My life will be one of continuing progress away
from self, and toward God. In other words, there will be genuine change in
me, starting from the inside out.
How do we know we are truly saved? How can one be sure? Paul gives one
great way in Rom 8:16: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that
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we are children of God. The HS affirms to your spirit, Yes you are real.
You belong to Christ. Satan will bring doubts, but the Spirit will persist.
Lacking that witness, its time to go back to the basics of the gospel.
But another way you know is, youre not the same person you were before.
There will be a change in the life of a true believer. It cannot be otherwise for
you are now a new creation. That new life will exhibit itself in increasingly
Christ-like attitudes and actions. If you dont see that change, you should
rightly question whether you have eternal life or not whether you have been
born again spiritually or not. If you have been, you will have a strong desire
to hold fast to the word of the gospel to stand in the teaching of the
gospel to obey the commands of your new owner. Thats what Paul is
teaching here. Perfectly. No. Phil 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who
began a good work in you will bring it to completion (perfection) at the day of
Jesus Christ. Perfect when? At the day of Christ when we see Him at our
death or His return. So do we hold perfectly? No. But there is change. We are
moving upward. The signs of spiritual life are there, or we are not real.
In Lloyd C. Douglas book, The Robe, Marcellus is a centurion who helps
crucify Jesus and wins Jesus robe with a throw of the dice. But, believing that
Jesus is innocent, and prompted by what he saw on the cross, Marcellus
follows the path of Jesus life, meets some of the disciples and eventually
becomes a follower of Christ himself. When he informs his finance, Diana, in
Rome of his new faith, she writes, I feared [your faith] might somehow
affect your lifeand mine, too. It is a beautiful story, Marcellus, a beautiful
mystery. Let it remain so. We dont have to understand it. And we dont have
to do anything about it; do we? But, of course, if the faith is real, we must
do something. If His resurrection is real, and the life He gives is real, we will
do something. Change must come. In the end, both Marcellus, and his new
wife Diana are executed for their faith in Christ. Their faith is shown real bc
they persevere to the end. Jesus promises in Rev 3:5: 5 The one who
conquers (perseveres) will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never
blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father
and before his angels.
Conc The gospel Provided is all by God. Jesus died, was buried and rose
again to provide salvation. Thats good news. The good news Possessed
comes when it is preached (shared), possessed (received by faith) and
persevered in. Have you heard, received and are you living that new life in
Christ?
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One man who had gotten a new pacemaker was all excited when his daughter
visited. He said, Look at this information sheet. Look! It has a lifetime
guarantee! Well the gospel is a lot better than that. Its more than a rework
of the old you. It provides a whole new life if you will possess it. And the
guarantee isnt just lifetime. Its eternal. Lets pray.