I really don't understand how it all works, but yeah, it's just one app and I hit record, I hit live, And he goes out over Facebook, YouTube, Sermon Audio. And I mean, I kind of know how it works because I set it up, but I don't understand the inner workings of it all. And then on our website, whether you go to sgbc.org, Hortense.com or SGBCBrunswick.com, whichever one you go to doesn't matter. If we're live, there's a button up at the top, and it lights up red. And if we're not, it's gray. And so if you go onto the website and you see it red, just click that, and it'll take you over to Sermon Audio. And the technology is pretty neat. I just think it's neat. Very, very cool how that stuff all works together. Back when I was pastoring in Mansfield, we used to have two tripods, one for live on Facebook and one for recording it. And with this, we just got the one phone. And it does all, it even records it to my phone too. And so I've got a backup copy. And it's very neat. Amazing what technology can do. So I'm thankful. Thankful for technology. Of course, I'm old enough to remember when I first started preaching cassette tapes. And that terrible clicking sound when I went past the 30 minutes or whatever. The 30, but I loved the 45 minute tapes. Those I didn't click so often. But there was always that click. But oh well. But I'm thankful. Thankful for y'all that were able to be here. Thankful for those who are able to tune in. Of course, if you're in the area, definitely invite you to our regular services. We meet Sunday morning at 10 o'clock. and at 11 and then Tuesday evening at 630 and our service times and Location is on our website on Facebook and so so you're welcome to come and be with us 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 We're gonna read for our text, verses one through four. Verses one through four, the title on one message is, The Gospel Delivered First of All. Verse one, now I make known to you brothers the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing. For I delivered to you as of first importance which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Now last week when we finished up chapter 14, I told y'all I was excited about getting into this chapter. This is an exciting chapter. An orderly church is a gospel church. And this was foundational at Corinth, as it was in all of the churches of the New Testament. Every church that Paul knew, every church that the New Testament speaks of was a church that was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul begins what we know of as chapter 15, and he begins, now I make known to you brothers, and pay attention to these key words here, the gospel which I proclaim These action words here, the gospel, which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand. Proclaimed, received, stand. What he had proclaimed or preached to them, was the gospel, the gospel, which that is the glad announcement of the good news of the coming Messiah, his life, his sufferings, the death, and especially his resurrection. If you keep reading in chapter 15, the main thrust, the main thing that Paul is writing about is the resurrection of Jesus. But he includes in the word gospel here, the doctrine that he died for our sins. He was buried. And yes, he rose again, the resurrection. This was not something that was new to the church at Corinth. This was not something that was new for Paul's preaching to them. This was something that he had been preaching. He had proclaimed it. In fact, this was one of the main reasons they kept getting beat up as he went from town to town and place to place was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He had been proclaiming it. He had been preaching it. He brought it to Corinth, and they believed it. They received it. As he says, this is where they stood. There would be no church at Corinth were it not for the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how they were saved. It is through the preaching of the gospel that men and women, boys and girls, all people everywhere are saved. If you go with me to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one, I invite your attention there. And verse 16. Romans chapter one and verse 16. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. For I am not ashamed of the gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The power of God in the English. We read it power, but in the In the Greek, we get our word dynamite from that word. As it is with dynamite, so it is with the gospel. It doesn't matter who holds the dynamite. The power is there. It's going to do its work. You can hand that dynamite to the least among us. or the most mature. Give it to the weakest or the strongest. It doesn't matter. The dynamite is going to do its work. So it is with the gospel. It doesn't matter who holds it. And so with the gospel, and Paul says, I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of it. Back some years ago, I was involved in some debate Some fellas said, oh, well, the only way a person can be saved is if you hear the gospel from an ordained Baptist preacher. That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter if you heard the gospel from a Baptist preacher or from a sweet old lady or from a child. Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel It is the power of God for salvation To everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek Over in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 18 1st Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 18 For the word of the cross For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. That doesn't matter. You may or may not be a great theologian. You may or may not be an eloquent speaker. The Bible tells us that it is the word of the cross. It's foolishness to some. Those who are perishing, those who are on their way to hell, it's foolishness to them. But to those who are on their way to glory, oh, it's the power of God. What's the difference? It's a matter of life or death, isn't it? In fact, when writing to the church at Thessaloniki, or Thessalonica, depending on how you pronounce it, 1 Thessalonians chapter one, verse five, He says, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. And so he says to the church there, our gospel did not come to you just in words, but it came in power and in the Holy Spirit. You know, a stick of dynamite, you can carry it around with you, put it in your pocket. You can throw it in your trunk of your car, drive around with it. It's not gonna do any good. Not gonna cause any damage or anything unless there's a match, a light to it. Somebody brings a fire to it, lights the wick. If that happens, you better get as far away from it as you can because at that point, there's going to be something happen and it's going to be big. There's going to be a change to that environment, a major change. Well, So it is with the gospel. The preaching of the gospel, the presentation of the gospel, it's words. Telling folks about Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, telling folks of their need of a savior, all of those, it's words, it's communication. And it's base level. and you know as well as I do, there's some people, that's all they hear is just words and they go on living their life and there's no change. It's like that stick of dynamite that you've got and you, maybe you've got it and you take it and you throw it and there's just nothing that happens because the wick is not lit. There's no, nothing happens. But oh beloved, Here in this text, here in 1 Thessalonians, he said, our gospel did not come to you in word only, but it came in power and in the Holy Spirit. Something had happened in Thessalonica. Something happened to those Thessalonians. And if you're safe today, you know as well as I do, that when you heard the gospel, maybe you had heard it time and time again, but there came a time in your life when there was a great change that happened in your life. And that is, it came to you not in word only, but it came in power and in the Holy Spirit. It wasn't just mere words anymore. It was the power that the Holy Spirit brought life. The Spirit brought something, did a work that only the Spirit can do. Just like with that stick of dynamite, it's an illustration, maybe a poor illustration, but it is an illustration nonetheless. You've got to have some source of flame to that wick. before there's anything that happens with that dynamite. You don't have to turn there, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 6, Paul says, I planted a pollish water, but God was causing the growth. You see, God does a work. We have work to do, but he causes the growth. We've been commissioned to take the gospel. We've been told to carry it. And there's all sorts of means in which we have in our modern day. We, as people, we've always had our mouths. We've got tongues, we've got voices. We carry the gospel that way, at least we should. But then we also have the printed word. I thank God for the printing press. And we have all sorts of tracts and means in which we can carry the gospel and we can hand them off to people as we talk to them or whatever, and we give them tracts. Some of our more hyper-Calvinistic brothers, the hard shells, they don't like tracts and whatever, but I think that they're wrong in that. I think it's a great way to share the gospel. A great means to share the truth of God's word, the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ. Your words can only go so far with people, but you can hand somebody a tract. and they might take it, and they might say thank you, and they'll stick it in their pocket, and it might be later that night, maybe a week later, a month later, a year later. What's in my pocket here? I haven't had this coat since last winter. What's this? Oh, I forgot about this. and they begin to read it. You never know how God may use it. Or even if they take it and they say, oh, thank you, and they grab it, and after you're gone, they throw it on the ground. So that's a terrible waste of a track, yeah, but what if someone else picks it up? We not only have the printed page, we have the internet. And oh, there's so much that we have on the internet. We have web pages and blogs. I don't know much about the internet, but I know probably more than Most people I know how to make webpages. I learned that. It's one of the few things that I learned that I retained from college. And so I kind of toy around with it. And so I blog a little bit and I make a webpage and that sort of thing. That's one way. We got YouTube. We got Facebook. We got TwitterX. We got Instagram. We got TikTok. All sorts of ways to reach people. Not only locally, but beyond with the gospel. The gospel Every church, whether big or small, if it's a true church made up of true born-again believers, is like the church of Corinth. The gospel is of first importance, foundational. And let me tell you, if you've been born again, you don't mind hearing that gospel again. You're like the songwriter who said, tell me the old, old story. Tell it to me again. You don't like the person, and you're walking up to them, and you begin to tell them about Jesus, and they say, oh, no, no, I don't need that. I've already been saved. And they shut you down. Why do they do that? Why do they do that? Because there's something pricking at their heart. They don't want to hear it. They don't want nothing to do with it because they're trusting in a baptism. They're trusting in a church membership. They're trusting on a date on their calendar, but they're not trusting in Jesus. Tell me about Jesus. Tell it to me again. Tell me that old, old story. No doubt there were people at Corinth as they got this letter, their eyes kind of glazed over as they got to this part. They didn't want to hear about Jesus. In fact, look at what he wrote here. He said, now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received and which also you stand by, which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless, unless you believed for nothing. Now, if we're honest with ourselves in 2026, as good, sovereign grace, independent Baptists, most churches like us, we wouldn't recognize the Church of Corinth. We'd say, man, they've gone too far. We don't want nothing to do with them. In fact, we might pray for them, but let's stay out of their, Out of their circle, they got too much going on. In fact, some preachers in our circles would probably be preaching that they done goofed up so much, there's no way they're true church. That's just the truth of it. That's kind of the preaching that would be going on if they were church in our day. But the church at Corinth was indeed a true church, founded upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. But as Paul writes this in verse two, he makes that qualifying statement for a reason. By which you are saved if you hold fast, if you hold fast the word which I proclaim to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing. Now after 15 chapters, well 14 we've completed, of reading about this church, we know something about them, don't we? They were, just to kind of zoom out for a minute, you get a bird's eye view of the church at Corinth, what we know about them so far, They were a church that was divided. They were divided over preachers. Some followed Paul, some Apollos, some Cephas. They were reliant on worldly wisdom. They refused, absolutely refused to practice church discipline, even when there was open sexual sin going on in their midst. They had members of the church taking other members to court in lawsuits. They were selfish, so selfish and self-centered that when they met for the Lord's Supper, some of them were hungry and others of them were drunk. They were misusing the gifts of the spirit, particularly the gifts of tongues. The women and the men were out of order such that there was no orderly worship going on. And that's just a brief overview. That church was messed up. They may have thought that that was a normal church, but it's not. It's not a healthy form of Christianity. It's not a healthy church. And so in our text, he says what he says there. Now, I'm known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed is good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you're saved, if you hold fast, if you hold fast, the word which I proclaimed to you is good news, unless you believe for nothing. There's salvation. The only way a person can be saved is by the preaching of the gospel. Don't believe the stories that you hear coming out of Africa and other places. There are no Muslims being saved by dreams and that sort of thing without hearing the gospel. That's just not the truth. You've got to hear the gospel in order to be saved. And the reality is, And this is the reality. Some people don't like to hear this either, but it's the reality. But those who believe, not only will they be preserved all the way through life, but they'll persevere. There's perseverance. He says, you're saved if you hold fast the word which I proclaim to you as good news. God's people will hold fast the word. We're to run the race. And a lot of times, people only talk about the starting line. Let's talk about the finish line too. God's people will persevere to the end. It's good to start well, but God's people are gonna end well too. God gets the glory for it all, but this is just a fact. And he says, all this is true unless you believed for nothing. As Paul wrote this letter, and he considered what was going on there, and he took a bird's eye view of everything that was going on. He knew what was going on. He looked over the landscape of this church. He saw the carnal behavior of those individuals. He knew, he recognized, he called to their attention that some of them may very well have had a very shallow, non-saving faith. Some of them may have had some head knowledge about Jesus Christ. Some of them may have had a head knowledge about some of the things about the church, but that was all it was. And that's why it's worded the way it is. Over in Matthew chapter seven, Matthew chapter seven. Verses 13 and 14. Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. There are many who enter through it, for the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life. There are few who find it. The call is to enter into the narrow gate and go in the constricted path. The narrow path, the narrow gate, the path is also narrow. But some have this strange idea that the gate is narrow, and then once you're in, the path is as wide as you wanna make it. And so in the name of Christ, terrible things have happened. Just go back and look at church history. Some of the most terrible persecutions against churches have happened in the name of Christ. How in the world does somebody think they can kill another Christian in the name of Christ? How in the world does someone think they can lie against another brother in Christ, against the church, to steal, to slander, to do whatever, and someday think that they'll make it on up into glory and be welcomed with open arms into the presence of our Lord? But that's not at all what is taught in the Bible. He said, well, but preacher, I've been on this, I came in through the narrow gate, and my name was on a roll in the church, and I don't smoke, I don't chew, and I don't hang out with those who do. Well, wait a minute. What you got going on here, you see? Judgment day is coming. Judgment day is coming. No matter how well they dress it up, the path is narrow. The Church of Corinth, they said, well, you know, maybe they were justifying things. Oh, we're a very welcoming church. We're not going to, we're not going to put out this, this family. How can we, how can we not, how can we, how can we get involved with the bedroom and all those things? The arguments that we hear now, Maybe that was what was going on in Corinth, and this one who was fornicating, and the discipline issue, and all these things that were going on to justify what was happening. And as Paul wrote this, I don't believe he was bigoted or anything like that as he wrote. I almost wonder if there was mixed emotions here as he was partially aggravated with them and perhaps even somewhat disappointed and wept over their spiritual condition. As he penned these words, By which also you are saved if you hold fast the word which I proclaim to you as good news, unless you believe for nothing. All of the time and the years he had spent at Corinth and to see what they had gone with it. Verse three, for I delivered to you. Chapter 15 in verse three, for I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Verse four, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. This was not only first preached by Paul by order, So when he arrived at Corinth, this was the first thing he preached. But this also was first among the chief and principal things. The gospel message, the gospel message is the leading and primary doctrine of Christianity. When Paul arrived at Corinth, he didn't start out with a lecture about why people ought to join the church. He didn't start out with lectures on TULIP. He didn't start out with lectures about the things that sometimes preachers do when they arrive in a town. the elements of the Lord's Supper, you know, those sorts of things. He got down where the people needed it, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And indeed, that's what the world needs to hear. That's what a lost world, a world that is dead in trespasses and sins, this is what people need. They need to hear about Jesus who came, who died on the cross. for sinners who was buried and rose again. Later, later they can hear about the other stuff. And listen, this is and remains the primary doctrine of Christianity. Don't forget that. Don't forget that. Sometimes we forget what's primary, what it is that makes somebody a Christian. And we get into our echo chambers and our tribes and our cliques and our churches and we look around us and we think, well, this is what makes someone a Christian. And before we know it, we think, well, as long as they have the same title as us, they got the same sign over the door, as long as they have the same Bible as we do, as long as they have the same structure as we do, as long as they've been baptized the same way as we are, then that's what makes them a Christian. And then we begin to look out around us and we think that no one else is a Christian except for the few of us that gather together on Sunday morning. But understand something, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, you may have some Christian friends, some folks who have some beliefs differently than you do about the age of the earth. about the future of the nation of Israel. They may believe differently about the nature of the church. They may believe differently about you than as far as what we do about the amount of water that is necessary for baptism. They may have some different ideas about whether a woman needs to wear a head covering or not. They may believe differently about the timing of the second coming, or what Bible translation you should use, or whether celebrating holidays is acceptable or not. And all of these things, and maybe some other things as well, and yet all of those differences, none of those None of those is what makes a Christian. You can come together in your backyard and rejoice with your neighbor over the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on that very fundamental issue, that very core that makes people brothers and sisters in Christ. For all our disagreements in churches or in the family of God, we can all agree on this. And well, when that person shows up at the door, who doesn't? What then? Well, the Bible has an answer for that, doesn't it? Over in Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one, verses six through nine. He says, I marvel 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 proclaim to you a gospel contrary to the gospel we have proclaimed to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so say I now again. If any man is proclaiming to you a gospel contrary to that you received, let him be accursed. Someone's putting their trust in a church or baptism or a date on a calendar or some other something besides Jesus Christ, then there's no salvation to be found there. That's a fact. But if you've got a friend, a relative, or a coworker, And they go to a different church than we do. They're trusting in Jesus as their savior. They've at least believed in Jesus, died for the sins of his people there on the cross. He was buried, rose again. There's no reason. and we can't rejoice with them over that fact. My grandfather used to call this the gospel in a nutshell, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Sure, there's a time and a place where we can have good Bible discussions and debates about some of these other things, but we ought not, As soon as we meet somebody, they say, oh, well, I'm a believer too. And we start, right away, we get out the sword and start wanting to fight with them over things. As Paul brought this up to the church at Corinth, he says, all this, he said, was according to the scriptures. What scriptures? What scriptures? Well, Matthew, Martin, Luke, and John? Absolutely, but guess what? Not when Paul wrote. Those weren't completed yet. They didn't have the four gospels. He's talking about the Old Testament. The early church, well, Go with me to Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, verses 25 through 27. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women who said, Him they did not see. And He said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses, with all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures. And so Jesus took the Old Testament preach to them the gospel. Over in Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2 and begin in verse 25. Well, let's start with verse 22. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, this man delivered over by the predetermined predetermined plan for knowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put him to death. But God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. For David says of him, I saw the Lord continually before me, because he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will live in hope, because you will not forsake my soul to Hades, nor give your Holy One over to sea corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on the throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ. that he was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you both see and hear. For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord. Yahweh said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord in Christ this Jesus whom you crucified And again Acts 26 and verses 22 through 23. Therefore, having obtained help from God this day, I stand here bearing witness both to small and great, stating that nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place, that the Christ was to suffer. that as first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. And so we've seen that these men were preaching the gospel. They were doing it out of the Old Testament. They were doing it out of Psalm 22, Psalm 16, Isaiah 53, and other passages. when Paul said, according to the scriptures, that's what he's talking about. He's taking the Old Testament and he's referring them back. I fear many times too many of us would be lost if all we had was the Old Testament. And get in there, get in there as you read through your Bibles, and find Christ. Oh, how great it is to know what he meant when he said that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And so as we bring this to a close, it is my joy to preach Jesus. It was Paul's great joy. And I ask you, do you know him? Have you put your faith and trust in him? Don't go to sleep tonight until you're sure of your relationship with our Lord May God and the blessing to the preaching of his word