Jeff Miller

August 23, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

The Resurrection Means Everything

Jeff Miller

August 23, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

Introduction:

Why the Resurrection Means Everything (1 Corinthians 15:12-34):

The resurrection SHAPES my FAITH. (1 Cor 15:12-28)

IF There Is No Resurrection:
1. PREACHING the Gospel: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:12-14a)
2. FAITH in Christ: Meaningless. (1 Cor 15:14b)
3. Your BIBLE : Blasphemous. (1 Cor 15:15)
4. Your SIN : Not forgiven. (1 Cor 15:16-17)
5. Believers who have DIED : Gone forever. (1 Cor 15:18)
6. CHRISTIANS : The worst. (1 Cor 15:19)
The resurrection STOPS my FEAR. (1 Cor 15:29-32)
The resurrection SELECTS my FRIENDS. (1 Cor 15:33-34)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:05
Open up your Bibles with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. While we're turning there, just ask that you would please take a moment to pray for me, to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly, and I will pray for you that your heart would be open to receive what it is that God has said in His Word. Deal? All right. Thank you both.
00:34
Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We're asking now that You would eliminate any distractions in our minds and our hearts, that we would focus solely on what it is You've communicated to us. Father, lay on our hearts the importance of this Word because of who said it.
01:04
that we're not here to talk about my opinion or some old preacher's opinion. We're here to talk about what you have said in your word. So I pray that that would drive the attentiveness that we give to what it is you've said here, Father. We thank you in advance for what you're going to do. We pray in Jesus' name that all of God's people Amen. Amen. Alright. Who here is a golfer? Raise your hand if you're a golfer. Some of you are shy about it. I'm sorry, is it a secret? I see some of you. Yes, it's a secret. Come on, raise them high. Raise them proud. Who's a golfer? Even if you play golf. You don't have to be on the PGA.
02:06
Do you know? I've never played golf a day in my life. I'm not against golf. I've just never played it. When I was in high school, I was going over to my friend's house, and he was in his, it was actually his grandparents' house, and he was in the backyard hitting golf balls into the woods, just whoosh, whoosh. So I show up. He's like, hey, I'm almost done. I'll be with you in a minute.
02:34
So I don't golf. I'm just like do-do-do-do-do-do. And I look, and in the tree, like where the branches split, there was a wiffle ball in the tree. I'm like, I wonder how that got there. So I pulled this wiffle ball out, and I was shocked at how heavy it was for its size. Very intriguing. I can tell you're intrigued by it. I certainly was. So he's hitting the golf balls, and I said, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. And I tossed it to him. And he was like, ha-ha. And he took a swing. Let me tell you what I think he thought was going to happen. I think he thought he was going to hit that wiffle ball like into the woods, launch it in midair like baseball style, right? So I'm like, hey, check out how heavy this ball is. I threw it. And he's like, whew. And he swings and the ball hits the middle of the golf club, like the shaft.
03:34
and it explodes.
03:37
And he's standing there holding the handle.
03:39
And his eyes were like as big as silver dollars.
03:42
He's like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
03:45
I'm like, what's the matter?
03:47
He's like, this was my grandfather's brand new driver.
03:55
And I found out later it was very expensive.
03:58
I don't know.
03:58
I don't play golf.
03:59
I told you that.
04:00
But he's like, I'm like, what's the problem? He's like, this was his brand new driver. And I'm like, his driver? I said, is that important? And he's like, is that important? It's the most important club. And he got in all kind of trouble and we all laughed. Well, he didn't, but we all did. Like, why did I tell you this? That story.
04:31
Because here's the thing, in golf world, I was completely oblivious to the most important thing. I didn't know. I didn't know. The driver, it is important, right? It's important. Okay, all right. It is important. I was clueless. And you know, fast forward a few decades, let's get out of golf world, let's get in church world, the principle still stands, I think.
04:59
There are so many people in church world that are ignorant of the most important thing. And the most important thing, biblically, is this idea of resurrection. And we talk about it in church, and there are people that are like, is that important? Like, it is the most important thing. Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is all about resurrection.
05:29
And the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this is by no means any kind of exaggeration, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in the history of the world. It's the central teaching of the church. And because Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, the Bible says his followers too will resurrect from the dead.
05:59
just a few minutes ago. Dead to self. Alive. Raised in Christ. Understand that when we talk about resurrection, it's not just like this metaphor or this poetic concept. It's real. This is literally your eternal state of being. You will resurrect. So you have to know what the Bible says.
06:29
says about this, and you have to believe this.
06:34
So on your outline today, I encourage you to take some notes, but why the resurrection means everything.
06:41
It means everything.
06:45
Number one, we're going to do some theology today.
06:50
Number one is the resurrection shapes my faith.
06:54
It shapes my faith.
06:56
Everything that we believe in this church is tied into this idea of resurrection.
07:07
It shapes my faith. We started this last week. Paul talked about the evidences that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
07:13
He talked about the grace that we receive, the gift of God.
07:18
And now when we get to this section, Paul actually plays a what-if game concerning resurrection. Paul says hypothetically, hypothetically, what would result if there were no resurrection?
07:35
What would result if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?
07:41
What would that mean?
07:42
What would be the significance for us, church, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead?
07:47
I mean, imagine the scene.
07:49
Imagine the scene.
07:51
Jesus Christ, mocked, humiliated, crucified, dead, taken from the cross, put in the tomb. Three days later, the women show up and the stone is still there. The guards are still there. The guards are like, move along, move along ladies. And Jesus is in the tomb and He stayed in the tomb.
08:21
What if there was no resurrection of Jesus Christ? What if? That's what Paul gets into here. Look at verse 12, 1 Corinthians 15. He says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
08:51
has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Stop there. On your outline, if there is no resurrection, the first thing Paul says, if there is no resurrection, preaching the gospel is meaningless. Think about that. Preaching the gospel is meaningless. You are totally wasting your time here this morning. You got up and got your church clothes on and you drove here for what?
09:21
studying this. That was a complete waste of time. I wasted much of my week. You wasted your Sunday morning coming here today. You're wasting your time right now just listening to me blather on and on and on about what? Every sermon, every Bible study, every small group, every Christian book, every Christian podcast, every Christian conference is a complete waste of time and money if there's no resurrection.
09:52
Why are you here? So preaching the gospel is meaningless. Letter B, faith in Christ is meaningless. Look what he says. Rest of verse 14, he says, and your faith is in vain. If there's no resurrection, your faith is in vain. Who's your faith in? My faith is in Jesus. Oh, okay. Well, if Jesus died and stayed dead, what's so special about him? He's just in a a long list of religious leaders that showed up, said some profound things, died, and is in his tomb. Just like everybody else. There's no resurrection. Oh, by the way, Jesus throughout his ministry clearly proclaimed that he would die, and he said he would rise from the dead. So, if there's no resurrection, Jesus Christ is either crazy or he's a liar. And that's your faith? Your faith is in that one?
10:52
Let us see your bible is blasphemous your bible is blasphemous look at verse 15 he says we are even found to be misrepresenting god because we testified about god that he raised christ whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised your bible is blasphemous all of the apostolic teaching your new testament It's blasphemous. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead. Because all of these apostles preach a message and they wrote about a message and we're reading their message today that God raised Christ. It's the central thing in the entire New Testament. And we're sitting here dissecting it. For what? If Jesus didn't raise from the dead. I mean, if Jesus didn't raise from the dead, we have to ask, well, okay, if they were wrong about that, What else are they wrong about? Maybe we should just throw out the whole New Testament. So your Bible is blasphemous. Letter D. If there is no resurrection, if there is no resurrection, your sin is not forgiven. Your sin is not forgiven. Look at verses 16 and 17. He says, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, Christ has not been raised. Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Oh boy. You know, someday you're going to die and you're going to stand before the God who created everything and you're going to have to give an account of your life. You're going to have to give an account for all of the wrong things that you've done. Your wrong attitudes, your harsh, mean words, your actions, your thoughts. You're going to have to give an account to the creator of the universe.
12:52
And you don't have any excuse or any hope if there's no resurrection.
12:59
Because your sin is not forgiven.
13:02
Letter E.
13:06
This doesn't get more comfortable, by the way.
13:11
Believers who have died, I mean it will, but just not yet.
13:15
Believers who have died are gone forever.
13:18
Believers who have died are gone forever.
13:20
Look at verse 18. He says, Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
13:31
Fallen asleep, he's talking about they died, right?
13:35
So what about those who have believed in Jesus Christ and they died?
13:38
Guess what?
13:39
They're gone forever.
13:40
You're never going to see them again.
13:42
I have done a lot of funerals over the last almost 30 years.
13:46
Can you imagine?
13:47
No resurrection?
13:48
That's what I do.
13:48
I stand by the casket.
13:50
Hope you enjoyed your time with them because you're never going to see them again. It is over. If there's no resurrection, they're gone. And letter F, Christians are the worst. The worst. Look at verse 18. He said, I'm sorry, verse 19, excuse me. He says, If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are, of all people most, to be pitied.
14:38
Like, if Jesus just gives us some sense of contentment and fulfillment in this life, but does nothing for us after we die, He's like, we should be pitied.
14:47
We are miserable, pathetic people. We devoted our lives to what? We planted this church for what? We send missionaries all over the world for what? A dead prophet. You are lame. Oh, but look at verse 20.
15:19
He says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Verse 20 makes all the difference. Verse 20, it's the game-changing verse here. You see, He stops, enough of the hypothetical stuff at this point. He stops the what-if thing. He says, here's the reality. Jesus Christ, did rise from the dead. So, that means your outline here, since Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, you can state all of those points in the opposite and they would be true. This is reality. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, preaching the gospel is not meaningless. No, no, no, no. Opposite. Preaching the gospel means everything.
16:17
This is literally a message of life and death. If Jesus rose from the dead. And he did. So this is the message of eternal life. Oh, and because Jesus rose from the dead, take the second one. Turn it opposite. Faith in Christ means everything. It doesn't matter what you do, who you know, how much you've accumulated in this life. In the end, in the end, there's only one thing that matters. Do you know Jesus Christ? Because faith in him means everything.
16:49
Letters see your Bible. Letters see your Bible. Let's not blasphemous because Jesus did raise from the dead. The message of the gospel is true. Your Bible is God's communication to you. Everything you need to know for life and godliness. God has given us all things through His Spirit, through His Word. We got it. Stating letter D in the opposite, your sin is forgiven. Jesus Christ takes your sin.
17:17
sin away. You are pronounced not guilty. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Sin is no longer an issue because Jesus rose from the dead. Believers who have died believing in Christ, you're going to see them again someday. See, the opposite is true because Jesus rose. His people were alive. Think of that glorious reunion.
17:47
You know, there's a lot of people in heaven I can't wait to track down. Yes, I'm going to, Jesus first, right? Exaltation of the Son of God first, but I got to tell you, there's a lot of other people I'm so looking forward to seeing again someday. And then Christians, because Jesus rose, you're not the worst. And I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings when I said that earlier. But that's what He said. You're not to be pitied.
18:17
And I don't feel right saying, well, you're going to be envied, because that's not our posture either. But just objectively, we are people in good position because we have believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have eternal life. The resurrection is the foundation of all of our theology. It shapes everything we believe.
18:47
Look at verses 21 through 22.
18:50
Because he's going to get into...
18:51
This is like the most deep and succinct explanation of theology that I think might be in the whole Bible right here.
19:02
Look at verses 21 and 22.
19:05
He says, For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
19:17
For as in Adam, that's Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, that Adam, for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. This is just Theology 101. Man, Adam brought death. When Adam sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, brought sin and death into the world. That's why the world is in the shape that it's in. That's why we are in the shape that we are in. We live in a world of sin and death. Adam brought that. The man Adam brought death, but the man, the last Adam, Jesus, brought life. He came to restore the life that we forfeited in the first Adam.
20:17
So we're talking about resurrection. You're like, okay, okay. So when does resurrection happen? Okay. Enough of the teaser here. When does it happen? Well, he tells us here. Look at verse 23. He says, but each in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming, Those who belong to Christ, then comes the end. Stop there for a second. Own order. He says each in his own order. He's like, there's a sequence here. We're talking about resurrection. And he says Christ is the first fruits of resurrection. Then, he says then, resurrection is going to happen to, he says it in the text here, those who belong to Christ.
21:17
to Christ. People who have received Christ will resurrect. You're like, okay, when will that happen? He tells us right here. Did you see it? Did you see it? At His coming. At His coming, He's talking about the rapture. And next week's message is all about the rapture. So you definitely don't want to miss that. But He's saying at the rapture of Christ, those who belong to Him will resurrect. And He says, Then comes the end. Like, the end. What is the end? Well, again, he gives us a great paraphrase here. Pick up in verse 24. He says, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
22:19
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
22:25
For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.
22:32
But when it says all things are put in subjection it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.
22:43
When all things are subjected to him then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all. See, this passage takes us into eternity. What's he talking about here? Just very simple, right? These are broad strokes. This is like an overview of the book of Revelation. Here's what he's saying. He says, after every enemy is defeated, the redeemed are gathered together, and the bride of Christ is complete. Then Jesus returns the bride and himself to the Father. So that God is all in all. And you're like, well, thank you for the theology lesson. But what does that have to do with me?
23:47
Everything. Everything. Everything. Yes, this explains the origin of sin and death. This explains the necessity of resurrection. This explains why believing in the resurrection is absolutely essential. This explains where everything is ultimately heading. But, It means something today. It means something today about who you are and how you act and what you think and what your attitude should be today. It means everything today. And you're like, well, can you be a little more specific about that? Absolutely. Follow the text. Resurrection means everything because, number two, the resurrection stops my fear.
24:47
The resurrection stops my fear. Look at verse 29. Paul says, otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? They're like, wait, what? You know, there's a lot of people They say this is the hardest verse in the New Testament. And you can do the homework. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of interpretations. Like what in the world is he talking about here? Well, I want to show you something in the language and then show you something in the context. And I believe that Maybe it's not as hard as we make it out to be. It says here, notice he says, baptized on behalf of the dead. Now your Bible, if you have a different translation, it might say baptized for the dead. Your Bible says something like that? Okay, well, the Greek word is identical to the English word for. Okay?
26:17
Now, let's talk about English for a second, because the Greeks used their "for" in the exact same way. And when we use, we use the word "for" for everything. But the meaning of it changes drastically. And it always depends on the context, always. Always depends on the context. That's a little word, but it changes everything.
26:47
If I said to you, I'm going to the store for bread, you know what I mean, right? I am going to the store in order to obtain bread, right? But if I said to you, I took an aspirin for my headache, see the word for no longer means in order to obtain. I did not take an aspirin in order to obtain a headache. That would be silly, right?
27:18
I took an aspirin as a result of having a headache. You see, for, it's the context. I didn't go to the store as a result of having bread. I went in order to obtain. I took the aspirin as a result of having, and the context always makes the difference. With that in mind, look at the next two verses to see what the context is. What's he talking about? How is he using the word for, baptized for?
27:47
the dead. Look at verses 30 and 32. He says, Why are we in danger every hour? Some translations have and at the beginning. And why are we in danger every hour?
28:01
I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die every day.
28:09
What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?
28:15
If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. You see the context? The context is persecution. Because in the first century, in the first century, when you were baptized, you were marked for death. By publicly identifying with Jesus Christ, marked for death. Paul here is talking about people who were getting baptized because they came to Christ from the influence of someone killed for their faith. Meaning the living person was baptized for because of the dead. You're like, how can the death of a faithful person inspire How can that be? Do you remember Charlie Kirk? We just saw this. We just saw as a result of his faithfulness and death, we saw a spiritual awakening. And it's not up to me to determine how many of those people truly came to Christ and how many just became interested in spiritual things. God sorts that out. That's not my job.
29:45
how somebody being faithful and giving his life for his faith in Christ can inspire others to step up.
29:55
Here's Paul's point.
29:58
If there is no resurrection, why would anybody get baptized?
30:04
Why would you stand for Christ?
30:06
Why would you die for Christ if there is no resurrection?
30:09
Why would you do that?
30:11
And then he just simply illustrates that with his own life.
30:13
He says, look, I die every day. Every single day of my life, I'm living out my death. Why would you do that, Paul? Because I believe that I'm going to resurrect someday. So if there is no resurrection coming to Christ, then standing for Christ is idiotic because it brings persecution. You might as well live it up, eat and drink for tomorrow we die.
30:45
But, when I really believe Christ resurrected, when I really believe that someday I'm going to resurrect, it changes how I live.
31:01
Sharing the gospel, serving Him and His church, serving others in the name of Jesus, it all matters for eternity, so it doesn't matter what it costs me, even my life.
31:16
No fear.
31:19
That's what he's saying. The resurrection stops my fear.
31:23
No fear. Remember back in the day, some of you are way too young to remember this. Remember back in the day when if you had a pickup, you had a no fear decal on the windshield? How many people remember the no fear?
31:35
Remember that? Okay, some of you do.
31:43
It's a real easy sentiment when there's nothing to fear. Right? Because we say that in the church, right? No fear! I'll stand for Jesus no matter what! Yeah, well, you know, before 2020, it was so much easier to claim you have no fear, because you could sit in the church and you had nothing to fear. I was thinking a lot about that. Remember, again, some of you might be too young to remember, and I might be showing my age here, but do you remember COVID? Do you remember COVID? Do you remember COVID? Those glory days when the store would hang big pieces of plastic?
32:37
Between you and the cashier. And then the cashier would proceed to touch all the things you just touched and then hand them back to you after she touched them. Remember that? Fun times. COVID did so much damage. We watched churches close. We watched Christians buy into fear. Do you know how much venom was spewed at me from people who left our church? Because how How dare we? How dare we? We should close the church. I was rebuked. But you know, with all the damage that happened as a result of COVID, there have been a lot of amazing things that God has done as a result. And here's one good thing that happened with COVID. You know, when we stand here and say, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. Well, it showed us who really meant it.
33:40
Do you really believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Do you really believe that? Then you'll serve God without fear. Without fear. What's the worst thing anybody can do to me? Kill me. You can't threaten me with heaven. Bring it. No fear. The resurrection stops my fear. Then finally, Number three, the resurrection selects my friends. He says, do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Do not be deceived. Paul's like, stop lying to yourself. Bad company ruins good morals. Understand this. Please hear me.
34:37
a whole nother big long word study. But when he talks about bad company, he's talking about people you are very, very closely associated with. Your BFFs. Okay? That's what he's talking about here. Bad company ruins good morals. Don't lie to yourself. Bad company ruins good morals. Alright? Alright? And you're like, wait, wait, wait. That seems like an awfully random proverb to just drop.
35:07
up in here, doesn't it? Paul's like, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, Proverb! Like, wait, wait, wait, what? What happened? Where did that come from?
35:17
That's a random thing, isn't it? No, it's not. Here's why. Listen, Paul says that theology is caught, not just taught.
35:34
You are influenced by.
35:39
And you become like the people that you're closest to.
35:44
That's just the way it is.
35:47
I want you to think about the people that you are closest to in your life.
35:52
You're just like them.
35:55
Look around at your friends.
35:57
If your friends are all knuckleheads, guess what you are?
36:05
If your closest friends are not believers, you're going to start embracing their values and their ways of thinking and their ways of talking, and you're going to start living just like them if you're not already.
36:19
And that's contrary to the way of living God has called us to.
36:25
Bad company ruins good morals.
36:27
I don't have to give much of a sales pitch here because you know it's true. You know it's true. When you hang out with your unsafe friends, don't you find it so much easier to complain right along with them? You're a Pastor Taylor servant about complaining, but you're with them and they're all complaining and you just kind of get swept up in it. Now, yeah, everything stinks to you too. You're complaining. When you hang out with your unsafe friends, do you gossip with them? I don't normally like to talk about rumors that I heard, but boy, they're just unloading. I've got to share the stuff that I think I heard. Crude remarks and jokes, you know, when you're with the guys and all the perverted nonsense. We just go right along with it. Let me tell you some jokes that I've heard. Bad company ruins good morals. You're like, wait, wait, wait, but Pastor Jeff, shouldn't we evangelize? Yeah. Listen, we're to reach the lost, not get our theology from them.
37:28
or learn habits from them.
37:32
Look at verse 34.
37:35
He says, Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right and do not go on sinning.
37:44
For some have no knowledge of God.
37:46
I say this to your shame.
37:51
He's like, Wake up.
37:52
Stop sinning.
37:54
You're acting like people who don't know God.
37:57
Shame on you.
37:59
Those we are most closely associated with are going to have the biggest impact on us. Today, did you notice the tables when you came in? Did you notice all these tables? You know what those are for? It's small group sign-up day. And I am begging you to get in a small group. Surround yourself with people who are going to push you to Jesus.
38:27
Instead of dragging you away from them. Do you believe in the resurrection? If you do, you can't live like those who don't know God. You can't live like you did before you came to Christ. And Paul says you can't even keep the same closest unsaved friends.
39:00
The resurrection selects my friends.
39:06
We can have our worship team join us back up here on the platform.
39:10
I'd like you to bow your heads.
39:16
You know, we, in this service, we saw, we witnessed three brave young ladies Make a public confession. Make a public declaration. Now it's your turn. To make a declaration. Just keep your heads bowed. And in light of this passage, the first declaration you need to make is this. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Can you say that? Say that in your heart to God. Say that in your heart to God. And if you're not there, like God, please manifest the truth.
39:54
of your word in my heart by your spirit. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and I believe everything that that means.
40:08
In light of the text, the second thing I want you to say to the Lord today, this week, the rest of your walk, I have nothing to fear.
40:21
This life, this body, is temporary. Heaven is eternal. My resurrected body that we're going to be talking about over the next couple of weeks, my resurrected body is going to be eternal. I have nothing to fear here whatsoever.
40:40
Can you say that in your heart before the Lord because of you, because of your promise? I have nothing to fear.
40:53
Then finally, Can you confess this in your heart? Before the Lord. God, you have called me to identify with the church, not the lost. And yes, we are to witness, we are to evangelize, we are to invite people to come and see. But when we identify, with people who don't know you.
41:29
It's going to have an effect on us.
41:32
God, you've given us a huge warning right here in your word.
41:35
Bad company ruins good morals.
41:41
So can you confess that in your heart before the Lord?
41:43
God, I want to identify with the church, not the lost.
41:54
Father, we thank you.
41:59
And it's, I guess, easy to have the positive peer pressure in this room to say these things.
42:06
But I pray, Father, that these truths from your word would resound in our hearts and minds.
42:13
That our lives, our very lives revolve around the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
42:23
that we don't live in fear of anything except for the fear of the Lord. Father, we would find our greatest friendships to be other people who have made the great confession of Jesus Christ. Glorify your name, Father, in your church. We pray in Jesus' name.
42:49
Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain 1 Cor 15:29. How do “the dead” influence people to be baptized?
How can you keep friendships with nonbelievers without being influenced by them?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 16, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

We Live in Grace

Jeff Miller

August 16, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified, Because Jesus Was Raised

Introduction:

Daniel 12:2 - And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

John 5:29 - ...those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Romans 10:9 - because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

3 Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8):

The CHURCH . (1 Cor 15:1-2)
SCRIPTURE . (1 Cor 15:3-4)

Isaiah 53:10 - Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Psalm 16:10 (Acts 2) - For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
EYEWITNESSES . (1 Cor 15:5-8)

3 Evidences You Have Received God's Grace (1 Corinthians 15:9-11):

You don't think you're WORTHY . (1 Cor 15:9)
You DEFINE yourself by grace. (1 Cor 15:10a)
You are motivated to WORK by grace. (1 Cor 15:10b-11)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:04
1 Corinthians chapter 15. My wife Erin was talking to a good friend of hers, Sharon. And Sharon told her this story that I've been thinking about all week. She said she took a bunch of youth to this youth conference. And they asked everybody to stand up. We're not going to do this here today. But she asked everybody to stand up.
00:34
I asked everybody to stand up and asked who had been saved for a year. And did they know at least one Bible verse? And if not, sit down. Right? And then who'd been saved for two years? You know two Bible verses. If not, you can sit down. And it went up. Who's been saved five years? Do you know five Bible verses? If not, sit down. And by the time the exercise was done, nobody was standing.
01:04
And I keep thinking about that. It's not a matter of learning Bible verses to be like ready for Bible bowl or just in case you're on Jeopardy and New Testament is one of the categories. That's not the purpose of learning the Word of God. What is the purpose of learning the Word of God?
01:35
What you really believe shapes how you live. That's just a reality. You live according to what you really believe is true. We just finished a section of 1 Corinthians with Q&A. And I think it's where this Bible knowledge intersects with the biggest question.
02:04
we really discover the biblical ignorance of a lot of people in church. And the biggest question is, what happens after we die? You know, thinking about all of those matters, you know, our death and rapture and return of Jesus and resurrection and heaven and hell, and what about all of that? Look, I've been doing this a long time, and I've been part, of so many funerals.
02:40
And it's always astounding to me, at a funeral, even people that say they've been following Christ for many, many years, it's astounding to me some of the crazy unbiblical things people say.
02:56
For example, I've heard this many times at a funeral.
03:00
They're like, well, you know what? God just needed another angel. And I'm like, there is so much wrong with that statement. First of all, God needs nothing, right? Second of all, we don't turn into angels when we die. Where did you get that concept? It's biblical ignorance. That's not really the place. That's not really the place to correct people, right? You don't want a shot block there. I guess that would help to have Miles there with me, I guess, at a funeral.
03:30
next time that happens.
03:32
Like, God needs another angel.
03:33
Miles would just be like, you don't turn into an angel when you die.
03:38
If you know, you know.
03:43
Another crazy thing I've heard people say is, well, you know, grandma's just watching over me.
03:52
You know, little Joey was supposed to have a t-ball game and they were calling for tornadoes and thunderstorms and hail and blizzards and all that.
03:59
And it didn't.
04:00
We had perfect weather. Thank you, Grandma. Grandma was watching over me. Well, your Grandma might have been wonderful, but she's not God. Okay? But that's one of the crazy things people believe is our departed loved ones are orchestrating things. You know, another crazy thing, and this might be the craziest, is regarding what happens when we die afterwards, all of these matters. Some people say, well, nobody really knows.
04:30
That could be the craziest thing because God wrote it all down for us. And when I talk about our Bible ignorance, I hope you don't take that as a guilt trip as much as over the next few weeks we are looking at a chapter in the Bible that answers so many of the questions that so many Christians get wrong.
05:00
I encourage you to tune in and take notes and look very closely at what God has said. So with that said, let's just bow our heads for a second. I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful, to clearly and accurately communicate the word of God. And I will pray for you to have your heart open to receive what it is that God said. All right. Let's just take a moment and pray.
05:30
before you today with Thanksgiving. I thank you for your word that clears up all of these questions that we wouldn't have answers to otherwise. I thank you for the noise of the children in this room right now. It's a sign of life. And I thank you for parents that want to come and worship you and hear your word and will bring their kids. I thank you for that. Father, I just pray that you eliminate any distractions in our hearts and minds so that we can laser focus on what it is you've said in your word today.
06:00
This is the most important message there is. And what a tragedy it would be to leave here and have missed it. What it is you've said here in this absolutely awe-inspiring portion of your word. God, we thank you. And we pray in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, okay, some of God's people said it. The rest weren't ready.
06:30
We'll try again next week. Come back to Second Service. You can try then too. Okay, so what happens when we die? Well, among many other things the Bible teaches, the Bible is crystal clear on this. You will resurrect from the dead. You will. Everybody, not just believers actually, Everybody rises from the dead. The Bible says unbelievers get an eternal body that's suited for hell and judgment. And believers in Jesus Christ get an eternal body that they will use in glory in heaven forever. Right? Daniel chapter 12 verse 2. Old Testament talks about this. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life. And some to shame and everlasting contempt. Jesus taught this, John chapter 5. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. There are two resurrections, one for believers, one for non-believers, an eternal body that will live forever somewhere. And 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is all about resurrection.
08:00
The first stretch is, appropriately, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then the back nine of 1 Corinthians 15 is about our resurrection. Look at chapter 15, verse 1. Paul says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.
08:31
You see, we just spent a lot of time, 1 Corinthians 11, 12, 13, 14, they had all these corporate worship problems. And Paul's like, okay guys, we cleared up some of the details, but the most important thing is getting back to the basics of the gospel itself. And he's talking about resurrection in this chapter. As we said, it is not resurrection.
09:00
Resurrection is not a part of what we believe. Resurrection is the heart of the gospel. It is the core. It is the very, it's essential to being a Christian. It is absolutely a necessary doctrine that we got to embrace. Look at what Romans chapter 10 says. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that what? God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Do you see how a belief in resurrection is directly tied to your salvation? It's non-negotiable. But of course, there's always skeptics, right? You can study the ancient Greeks. Many of the Greeks who lived in Corinth, they didn't believe in a bodily resurrection at all.
10:04
And even Christians today, they're just not entirely sure what happens.
10:14
You know, I know there's, okay, so we die, but we're with Jesus, but there is a, okay, so resurrection happens somewhere, but somewhere there's a rapture, and then like Armageddon, and...
10:29
Well, all of this is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 15. So he starts with a foundation, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That's the most important thing we have to embrace, right? So on your outline, three evidences of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first evidence is the church. The first evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, And just in case you're skeptical, you're like, I'm not really sure I believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Okay. Well, here's the first evidence of church. Look at chapter 15 again. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
11:28
The church, he's talking to brothers and sisters here, believers. Notice he says, this message, you received it, you hold fast to it, and you stand in it. Notice here that a real Christian, a real follower of Christ is someone who not only receives the gospel, but also stands in the gospel. Meaning this, a real Christian, a real Born Again, Disciple of Jesus is someone who builds their very life on the gospel. They stand in it. That's so important, church. I think it's a plague in the American church that when we say, what is faith? Faith is just agreeing to a doctrinal statement, right? Faith is just, yeah, yeah, okay, all right, I'm on board with that. Yep, yep, sure, yeah. I don't disagree with any of that. I don't argue with any of that. And they think that's where faith ends.
12:26
But faith isn't just some intellectual agreement. Faith is, I build my life on this. I lead my family according to what God said. I serve in the church because of what God said. I raise my kids because of what God said. I handle money and stuff because of what God said. Every aspect of my life is built on the truth of God's word. That's what biblical faith is.
12:56
So Paul says the first proof that we have of the resurrection is that Jesus Christ is alive and he's transforming people in the church. So I am going to ask you to raise your hand if you're sitting here today and you can honestly say the resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Jesus Christ transformed me and changed the way that I live. Raise your hand if that's true of you. Okay, so skeptics in the room, look around. You want evidence of the resurrection? Here it is. Here are people that say Jesus Christ is alive and he's changing me. There's your first proof. Right? Oh, there's more. Number two. Scripture. This is the second proof he lists, but it's actually biblically the Most Important. Look at verses 3 and 4. He says, For I delivered to you as of first importance, which I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
14:26
Okay, stop there. Do you see that phrase? In accordance with the Scriptures. Paul says, here's our second proof that Jesus rose. Because the Scriptures say that He would. You're like, what Scriptures? Well, keep in mind, when He wrote this, the New Testament was being written. This is one of the earliest books, actually. So when He was referring to the Scriptures, He was talking about what we call the Old Testament. The Jewish Scriptures. The Law and the Proverbs.
14:54
So what is it in the Old Testament that specifically talks about resurrection? Well, there's a few, but here's a couple of them for sure. Isaiah 53, talking about the Messiah. It says, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt. Stop there. That's the crucifixion, right? On the cross, God the Father was crushing Jesus.
15:24
pouring his wrath on Jesus because Jesus was an offering for guilt. That's the crucifixion. Next is the resurrection, right? He shall see his offspring. The only way that's going to happen is if he raises from the dead, right? He shall prolong his days. How's that happen? Resurrection, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Another big scripture in the Old Testament talking about resurrection is Psalm 1610. This is big because chapter 2, when Peter was preaching at Pentecost, this was the scripture that he was preaching from. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, that's the grave, or let your Holy One see corruption. The promises the Messiah, literally here, will not rot. God, you're not going to leave your Messiah to rot in the grave. That's resurrection, right? So God, in His Word, promised the Messiah would die.
16:24
and resurrect long before it actually happened. That's why Paul here says in verse 3, this is first importance. This is first importance. And look, we can quibble about doctrine. I really don't want to, but people do. But here's some things that there's no arguing this. These are non-negotiable truths. The most important things you must believe, he lists them right here, that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised. You're like, wait, wait, wait. Why do I have to believe that Jesus was buried? Like, that seems like a weird thing that I have to believe. Well, the point is, he was actually dead. Because there's some people that think that he looked dead. He was beat with an inch of his life, but he didn't actually die. No, believing he's buried is saying, I believe that Jesus literally in the flesh was dead. And that he rose.
17:24
from the dead.
17:27
But look at the phrase again, verse 3, right there in the middle.
17:32
Christ died, look at this phrase.
17:36
For our sins.
17:41
Excuse me.
17:42
For our sins.
17:44
Why did Christ die?
17:46
For our sins.
17:50
Jesus did not die to make you healthy and wealthy like some prosperity preachers teach.
17:54
Jesus did not die as a victim of circumstances. As I've heard people say, oh, they got poor Jesus. Jesus didn't even just simply die as a martyr that stood up for a cause. And no, no, no, no, no. It's so much deeper than that. Jesus died for our sins. What does that mean? That means we are by birth and by nature rebellious towards God and His ways. Every one of us. We stand guilty and condemned before a holy God and we have no excuse. We have no means to make it up to God by good works. So Jesus, on the cross, gave His life. Why? For your sins. He experienced the wrath of God for your sins so you wouldn't have to.
18:53
So the guilt of your sin would be taken away. And Jesus was raised. To defeat death. How do we know? How do we know Jesus died? How do we know he was buried? How do we know he was raised? How do we know what all of that means? And what Paul says here, it's in accordance with the scriptures. This is the promise of God. All right, so the first witness, we got people right here that say Jesus Christ transformed you.
19:23
His resurrection changes the way you live. And then we have the proof of God's word, but there's other proof too, right? Look at verses 5 through 8. These are eyewitnesses. He says, and that He appeared to Cephas, that's Peter, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
19:55
He's like, you can fact check me on that if you want.
19:59
Because a bunch of these people are still alive.
20:02
He says, then He appeared to James.
20:05
That's Jesus' half-brother.
20:09
Mary and Joseph had children after Jesus.
20:12
Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, but the Bible says Mary and Joseph had other kids.
20:16
They're listed by name.
20:19
James was one of them, early leader in the church.
20:21
All right?
20:22
Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. So this isn't an exhaustive list, okay? There's more people we see even in Scripture that saw the resurrected Christ, but Paul gives us, this is more than enough, right? We've got Peter, the disciples, more than 500. We've got James, Jesus' half-brother, all the apostles.
20:51
Paul says, then to me.
20:57
And that's pretty significant. Why?
20:59
Because some would say, well, you know all these people that say Jesus rose from the dead, they were all big fans of Jesus, and they all loved Jesus, and they all wanted to follow Jesus, and they were all so sad when he died, so they made it up.
21:12
They so badly wanted Jesus to be the Messiah that they just made it up.
21:17
They made up the resurrection.
21:19
Well, there's a big problem with that theory. And the big problem with that theory is Paul. Paul wasn't a believer. He didn't even want to believe to the point that he was persecuting the church. He had zero motivation to make it up. So did Jesus resurrect? Well, Paul says, we have way too many people affirming it.
21:49
to ever deny it. You know, almost as amazing as the resurrection is the means by which eternal life is granted. Look at verse 9. Paul says, Christ appeared to him in verse 8. He says, For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Paul's like, I'm so unworthy of anything from God because I persecuted the church.
22:49
Insert your favorite sin or the sin that defined you into this and say something like, you know, I'm unworthy of God because I've lived my life by lust. Or I'm unworthy of God because I've lived my life just full of bitterness and hatred and unforgiveness. That's just the person I was.
23:19
of God. Anything from God. You could say, I'm unworthy because I've just been a liar. I just lie.
23:34
My whole life has been about deceiving people.
23:38
Maybe somebody else would say, I'm unworthy of God because you know my whole life, it's just all been about me.
23:46
I just live a self-centered life. Whatever makes me happy, that's all I I care about. And I never cared about anyone else or anything else. And that's who I was. And God should have given me his wrath. But instead, he gave me his grace. Look at verse 10.
24:18
Verse 10, he says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Let's talk about grace. You could go to a theology book and what is grace? Grace is unmerited favor. You don't deserve it. God has chosen to give you His blessing, but we've done not a thing to deserve anything from God. That's grace. The best definition I've ever heard of grace is this. Grace is God giving to you what He requires from you. You know what God requires from you? Perfection, holiness, righteousness. That's what God requires from you. You don't got it. I don't got it.
25:18
Grace is God giving to us the very thing that he requires from us. That's my favorite definition. And some of you know my favorite illustration of grace. When I try to think of what's the difference between like some of these biblical terms, this little story, I think of this often. It helps me. But just imagine you have a teenage son. Some of you do. Some of you did. Some of you will.
25:48
Teenage son. He's 16 and he goes to this party. But there's another teenage boy there. He just hates your son. No reason. Just hates him. And this other boy was waiting for your son to show up and he just kills him. Cold-blooded. Just kills your son. You see, if you track that boy down that killed your son, you track him down You kill him. That's called vengeance. But if you cooperate with the police and help find this kid who murdered your son and you get him arrested and through the legal system, that's called justice. But if this kid is in the legal system, you show up to court and somehow, somehow you convince the court.
26:48
to not punish the boy who murdered your son. Just let him go free. Don't punish him. That's called mercy. But if you go to the court and you convince them, not only don't punish the boy who murdered my son, not only let him free, but I want to raise him as my own son and love him and care for him.
27:18
I want to adopt him. That is grace. And I love that story because it's so accurate. We murdered God's son so that God could adopt us. He allowed, he ordained all of that to happen with Jesus Christ so that he could.
27:50
Adopt us. That's grace. But you know, we have a hard time with grace, don't we? We have a hard time because there's something in us that says, look, I have to do something to be right with God. I mean, I'm not buying for a second that I can be saved.
28:18
Just based on what God has done, and that I don't contribute some kind of work to it. But the Bible's clear, you can't earn it. You can't work for it. And you can't be good enough to get it. Because if you could, if there was some way that you could earn God's favor, then you have to explain why Jesus died on that cross.
28:53
It's grace. Like, well, is there something I have to do? Yeah, actually, there is one thing you have to do. It's the same thing you have to do with any gift that is being offered to you. You have to receive it.
29:18
The Bible says grace is a gift. So the question is, did you receive that gift? Did you receive that gift? Well, rest of your outline. Here's three evidences you've received God's grace. See, that's the real question. We can look.
29:48
at the word of God. And we can look at the testimony of others. But the question is, what about me? Have I actually received the grace of God? Or have I just been a church attender, a seat warmer, a pew sitter? Is that me? Or have I actually received God's grace? Well, the evidences to the resurrection that we just looked at, those were all, external, subjective, subjective, subjective, things, right? But when we're asking, have you received the grace of God? Have you received this gift? This is an internal thing. This is very subjective. Only you really can answer these questions. Have you received God's grace? Have you? Well, here's three evidences. The first one.
30:50
Letter A, you don't think you're worthy. Look at verse 9 again with me, please. He says, for I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Unworthy. Listen, you have to recognize that you're unworthy.
31:20
We've talked about this before. We have people get upset with us here at the church. We have people leave the church because we just want the sermons to be a little more uplifting. We just want... Can't you make us feel good? Listen, you have to recognize that you're unworthy because if you think that you're worthy, if you think you're worthy of something from God, then it's not grace.
31:48
If you think you're worthy of something from God, you get this idea in your head that God owes you something. And he doesn't. You see, Paul, Paul, of all people, Paul could have said, I see why God picked me. I mean, come on. Do you know how much scripture I know? Do you know the connections I have? I got a triple A membership.
32:17
I can see why God picked me. I have so much to offer the Almighty. Is that what he said? No. He goes, I am so unworthy. And that's the point that people miss. I say, well, you know, I'm a good person and I do good things.
32:47
God should let me into heaven. The problem with that is, yeah, you might be a good person and you might do good things, but you're still guilty of sin. And you're like a criminal in court saying, yes, your honor, I know I'm guilty, but from now on, I'm going to try to do better. And no judge is going to let the guy walk out. Because despite this criminal's best intentions, or despite this criminal maybe having a track record, of doing some good things with his life in the past. The reality is, he's still guilty. And you have to take an honest assessment and humble yourself before God. Like, look, I'm not worthy of God's grace. I'm not. Here's a beautiful thing, though. God's grace, though it says nothing about me, it says everything about him.
33:47
But this is true of everyone who has actually received God's grace. They're like, I know I'm not worthy. I'm not. God has been so good to me. And he has done everything for me. And he has saved me. And he has provided for me. And I don't deserve a thing. That's true of people who have received God's grace. Letter B, you define yourself by grace.
34:17
Evidence that you receive God's grace because you define yourself by that grace. Verse 10 again. He says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. When you truly receive God's grace, you're defined by it. But you're like Paul, by God's grace, I am what I am.
34:48
I'm a child of God. How so? By His grace. I'm forgiven of all my sin. How can that be? God's grace. I am promised eternal life and glory. Like, how do you know? It's just God's grace. It's not me, it's Him. See, somebody could come along when you're like, you know, I'm, look, I'm, I'm a child of God. I am forgiven. And I am heaven bound. Somebody could come along and say, how can that be? You're trash. Like, yeah, I am trash. That's who I was. But you see, God's grace says, that's not what I am anymore. This is who I am now. Many years ago, we did a weekly Bible study.
35:47
in Butler County Prison. And occasionally there would be one little problem with that in that I grew up in Shakura. So occasionally at Butler County Prison, I would run into people that I went to high school with. Either working as a guard or wearing straight pajamas or whatever. But I would go in and they'd be like, hey, Jeff, what are you up to? And I'm like, well, you know, I came in here for Bible study. They're like, you're, They knew me from high school. I was not a good person. Okay? And they're like, so what are you doing now? And I'm like, I'm a pastor. And they're like, what? Like, you're a pastor. And they laugh. I have people like laughing in my face. Like, you're a pastor. Like, how can that be? They knew. They knew who I was. They knew some of the things that I did. They're like, how can that be that you're a pastor?
36:47
You know what my response is? It's by God's grace that I am what I am. How about you? Have you been known for doing things that you aren't very proud of? And somebody could rightly come along and get in your face and say, how could someone like you think you're going to serve God? How could someone like you think you're going to end up in heaven someday?
37:19
And you're like, it's God's grace.
37:23
It's not me.
37:25
It's God's grace.
37:30
See, this is a beautiful thing.
37:33
Church, grace redefines you.
37:39
Grace redefines you.
37:40
You're not living in the past.
37:43
You're not living in shame.
37:48
You're not oblivious. Okay, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's who I was. But that's not who God says I am now. God is constantly growing me and changing me and conforming me into the image of His Son. God says I am a child of His. That's who I am. Like, what gives you the right to say that? It's grace.
38:16
It's grace. My friend, something is going to define you. And it's either going to be your mistakes, or it's going to be God's grace. That though you didn't earn anything, you can humbly accept everything that He gives you.
38:46
It's grace. How do you know you got it? Well, you don't think you're worthy. You let grace define you. And the third thing we see in the text, letter C, you are motivated to work by grace. You are motivated to work by grace. Paul says his grace toward me was not in vain. Pick up from there. He says, On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. I love that. Paul says, look, okay, God gave me this gift, and God didn't waste His gift on me because I put it to use.
39:44
I put God's gift to use, but it wasn't really me that put the gift to use. It was sort of his grace working in me and through me. And you're like, how does that all work? Even Paul didn't know, right? If Paul didn't figure it out, what makes you think I'm going to figure it out? He's like, I work, but it's God that's working. But like all the above?
40:16
And see, here's the point. You don't need to figure out how all that works. Just get to work. Serve God out of love and appreciation in His power, meaning just do what He's called and equipped you to do. Just do it with everything you got. The bottom line here is this. The evidence that you receive God's grace is when you're motivated and empowered to serve Him.
40:43
We don't serve God out of obligation. I was saved in 1995. I didn't get into ministry to be like, okay, God, you did me a solid. Now I'm going to do you a solid. That's not it at all. We don't serve out of obligation. We don't serve begrudgingly. Okay, fine. No one else will do it. I'll do it. And we certainly don't do it, right, Pastor Taylor?
41:13
We don't do a complaining. What you mean? God's recruited you for his team and you're going to bellyache about that? The one that received grace will not do that. I'm just thankful to be called on the team. Let's get to work. That's what grace says. Motivated and empowered to serve him. The person who received grace says God gave me his grace and that.
41:43
That is what puts the fire in my belly to do everything he's called me to do with everything that I've got. And then I discover that it's the same grace that motivated me to serve. That's the same grace that empowers me to serve. How do I know I've received God's grace? Because I'm motivated to work by grace.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Define “grace”. How would you explain grace to a child? To a non-believing coworker?
What did Paul say was of “first importance” (1 Cor 15:3-4)? Why is this the primary thing?
How does grace redefine you (1 Cor 15:10a)? Why do you think many Christians still struggle with their past?
How exactly does grace motivate you to serve God (1 Cor 15:10)?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 9, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

What Should a Worship Service Look Like?

Jeff Miller

August 9, 2026

Get Unified, Unified and Purified

Introduction:

How to Have a Church Service, God's Way (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)

BUILD UP believers. (1 Cor 14:26b)
ELIMINATE the chaos. (1 Cor 14:27-33a)
WOMEN don't preach. (1 Cor 14:33b-35)

1 Timothy 2:12-14 - I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
None of this is up for DEBATE . (1 Cor 14:36-40)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:36
You know, just a few days ago, in this very room, it was complete chaos. It was so good. I mean, VBS, it was complete chaos, right? You're going to hear more about it later. We're going to show you a video. But just kids on top of kids, people screaming and throwing. There was slime dripping from the ceiling. Wasn't supposed to, but there was.
01:06
And it was just, it was chaos and it was beautiful. Which is fine for vacation Bible school, but chaos is not something that should describe Sunday morning. And that takes us to the passage we're looking at today. So I'm going to ask you to please pray for me.
01:36
Faithfully represent God's Word. That's all we try to do here at Harvest Bible Chapel. We're not preaching our opinion or scratching itchy ears. We just want to represent the Word of God. And I'm asking you to please pray for me to do that faithfully, and I will pray for you to receive what it is that the Lord has said in His Word. All right? Let's just take a moment and pray.
02:09
Father, when we open the Bible, the question is, is this from God?
02:21
Father, we have solidly come to that conclusion.
02:25
We believe that this is your word.
02:28
When it says things that we like, and when it says things that we maybe struggle to believe, It's your word. And I pray today, Father, for all of us. You eliminate any distractions or preconceived notions and allow us to receive what it is that your word actually says. We pray in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, Amen. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Chapters 11 through 14.
03:04
in 1 Corinthians is all about corporate worship. Right? And we've been talking through this series. We had a little break from Pastor Taylor's excellent message taking us back to the Old Testament. But in this section in particular where we find ourselves, we're talking about speaking in tongues. And you can go back and review those. But tongues, there was a legit miracle gift. And if you study your Bibles, Speaking in tongues was speaking a known language. All right. It was an existing language, but the speaker, they didn't know that language. They didn't study, but they would. It'd be like if I got up and started speaking Mandarin. I don't know Mandarin, but I started speaking Mandarin because there were Mandarin speaking people in the congregation. That's what the gift of tongues was about. We saw. Previously, the tongues was a sign of judgment.
04:04
Israel had rejected the Messiah. And tongues was God's way of saying, okay, you're going to hear a language you don't understand because you've rejected me. I'm moving on to other people. And it was for the season of transition from the old covenant to the new covenant. We saw in chapter 13, verse eight, he said, tongues will cease. It's going to come to an end. It was only for a season.
04:34
The Pagan Practice of Tongues. In many pagan religions, there would be this ecstatic screaming of sounds. They weren't real languages. It's just screaming this gibberish. And the Corinthians brought that into church. It's chaos. There's chaos. Look at verse 26, where we left off last time. Verse 26. Paul says, What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Stop right there. That's not a command, by the way. He's describing the chaos. He's like, here's what your church service is. Everybody shows up, and everybody is like, ooh, ooh, me, I want to teach. I want to speak in tongues. I'm going to sing. And everybody was doing it.
05:33
And it was just this circus. He says your worship services are just chaos. You have the gibberish. You have misusing the real gift of speaking in tongues. You have the debacle that you've made the Lord's Supper. You have women preaching. You have people showing off. Your services are a complete mess. And it'd be real easy for us to look.
06:03
and say, wow, yeah, glad we've matured from that. But sadly, many things that are called church services are still a real mess. What have we turned worshiping our Savior God, what have we turned that into? For some churches, it's putting on a concert and giving a pep talk.
06:33
heresy, screaming gibberish, holy laughter, holy barking, craziness, chaos. So much being done in the name of worshiping the Lord that is anything but actually worshiping the Lord. And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second, hang on.
07:01
Who says what should happen in a church service anyways? Well, I would suggest to you God. The God that we worship has told us how we should worship. So very simply, in this passage we're looking at today, Paul is outlining here's what a worship service should be. That's what this passage is. What should happen in a church service? Paul's like, this is what should happen right here.
07:31
So, on your outline, how to have a church service God's way. Number one, first thing has to happen, absolutely has to happen. He says it first because this has to be the primary drive. Number one is build up believers. Build up believers. Look at the end of verse 26. He says, let all things be done.
08:01
For building up.
08:07
Here's a philosophical slash theological question for you.
08:11
Who is church service for?
08:13
Is it for believers or for unbelievers?
08:19
Biblically, church service is for believers.
08:23
Now listen, if you're here today and you're not a believer and somebody invited you, we're so glad that you're here.
08:29
But we're going to tell you to receive Christ. We're going to tell you to believe what the believers here believe. That we are, by nature and by birth, we are alienated sinners from God. And God reconciled us to himself through the death of his son, Jesus Christ. And he commands us. He commands us to turn from our sin and to believe in Jesus Christ. And when you do, you are saved. You are a child of God. That's the gospel.
08:59
The goal biblically in our worship service should be building up believers. Like, what parts of the service? Well, your Bible says the same thing that mine does. Let all things, all things be done for building up. It's teaching God's truth and teaching believers how to apply God's truth. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because we have talked so much about this through 1 Corinthians chapter 14.
09:29
Church is where you go to give, not go to get. Over and over and over and over and over. Paul says edify, build up, edify, build up. It's just been the theme of this whole chapter. Paul says when you go to church, you should go to church ready to serve other people. That should be your mindset. I'm not here to get, I'm here to give. You're like, well, what about evangelism?
10:01
I'll study the book of Acts. When believers are built up, they are prepared to reach the lost in their lives. There's lost people in your life, in your sphere of friends, influence. You need to be built up here so you can go to them and share the gospel of Christ. The church is not what's in it for me, but.
10:29
Everything we do here has to have the mindset of what can we do to build up believers. That's what he says. So number one, how to have a church service God's way, build up believers. Number two, he says, eliminate the chaos. You've got to eliminate the chaos. Here he talks about two gifts. Just for that day that were not used appropriately in Corinth. Tongues, even the legit, They weren't doing that right. And prophesying. And understand again, the New Testament was being written during this day. So prophets were getting new revelation from God. We don't get that now that the Bible is complete. Right? Those blank pages in the back of your Bible aren't for you adding to Scripture. That's not what that's for.
11:32
But there were two gifts in that day that were being wildly misused, and it was contributing to the chaos. Tongues and prophecy. First, he addresses tongues. Okay? Legit gift of speaking in tongues. How do we do it? How do we do it? Look at verse 27. He says, and let someone interpret.
12:02
But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.
12:10
First of all, speaking in tongues.
12:12
They're assuming here, Paul's assuming, that someone is present in church who speaks a foreign language.
12:19
And you see his guidelines.
12:20
He goes, okay, two or three of you, not everyone, and take turns and you have to have an interpreter for the sake of the people there that don't speak that language. Right? If somebody's here that speaks Mandarin and I got up and spoke Mandarin, like the rest of you are like, what's going on? You need an interpreter to say, here is what is being said. That's how the gift works. Again, we studied all that several weeks ago. But then he says, if you don't have an interpreter, just sit there and pray silently.
12:59
So let me ask you.
13:01
If you've been to or seen a Pentecostal or Charismatic church service, is that how it's done?
13:07
Is that typically how speaking in tongues happens?
13:12
You're afraid to say, aren't you?
13:15
All right.
13:16
No, that's not how people do it.
13:20
It's chaos.
13:22
And that's what Paul's saying.
13:23
Are you going to knock that chaos off?
13:25
Right? Then he talks about prophesying. Look at verses 29 through 31. Prophesying. He goes, let two or three prophets speak. Let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one so that all may learn and all be encouraged.
13:55
Stop there. Again, prophesying. Prophesying. He's like, just again, two or three. Right? And let the others discern if what is being said is actually from God. Weigh it. Right? And again, some people were preaching already revealed information. Maybe preaching something from the Old Testament. And in this day, as the New Testament was being written and God was giving revelation, There'd be somebody sitting there in church that God would give a revelation to. And Paul says, if that guy has a revelation, the guy that's speaking the old information, have him sit down. Let new revelation guys speak. Right? Then look at verse 32. He says, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
14:55
What in the world does that mean? It means this. The church was chaos, right? So you pull a guy aside that is a... He just can't help it. He comes to church and he's belting it out. I'm going to prophesy. And he's contributing to the chaos. And it's like, you're not supposed to do that. Remember, two or three...
15:25
What's he gonna say? Here's what he's gonna say. He's gonna say, I can't help it. I can't help it. Oh, and the spirit comes on me. I just can't help it. I just it just comes out. I can't control myself. And and that's why, you know, you want me to be quiet, but I can't be quiet. Because when the spirit's on me, I just can't be quiet. And verse 32, Paul's like wrong. The spirit of prophets are subject to the prophets, meaning this.
15:55
He's saying, every spiritual gift is used under the complete control of the one who has the gift.
16:03
The Holy Spirit does not come upon a person and make that person lose control of themselves.
16:10
That does not happen.
16:12
Okay?
16:13
That does not happen.
16:15
Paul says, your gifts are under your control.
16:20
Right?
16:21
So the exact ways these two gifts were used were Corinth specific, but there's a principle that certainly holds for us today. And it's look at verse 33. The first part, he says, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. Paul says a service to worship God should represent God's care.
16:52
God is a God of peace. He's not a God of confusion. He said, listen, church cannot be a free for all. So you have to eliminate any chaos. Worship has to be orderly because otherwise people will not get built up. And that is why we're here is to build each other up. So that's what he's saying here. Eliminate the chaos. You've got to eliminate the chaos.
17:20
So how to have a church service God's way, build up believers, eliminate the chaos. Number three, he says, women don't preach. Women don't preach. Look at what he says. Now, the second half of verse 33, it actually goes with this section, not the previous section, right? In my Bible, it's actually indented as a new paragraph, and that's appropriate.
17:51
He says, As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says.
18:08
All the churches.
18:10
All the churches.
18:11
Do you notice that?
18:13
All the churches.
18:14
Was it just a problem in Corinth?
18:17
Apparently not.
18:19
All the churches.
18:21
Was it just a problem in the first century?
18:25
All the churches.
18:26
Today.
18:27
Today.
18:29
Look, I never.
18:31
I can't remember a period of my life.
18:39
Where we as a culture have been so messed up about gender issues.
18:43
I just don't understand that.
18:46
One of the first things little kids learn.
18:50
We're so confused about gender stuff, right? Look at our culture. Gender is fluid. I was born one way, but now I can be another way, right? We have people in prominent positions that can't define what a woman is. And some of the same people saying that men can get pregnant. We have trans men or trans women. I can't ever remember.
19:18
The man who's dressed like a woman playing woman's sports, whatever that is. We're just so mixed up over gender things. And we in the church are like, well, we're not mixed up over gender issues. We have a big one. Let's talk about it. You know, the big gender issue in the church, can women be pastors?
19:49
It's a hot button issue. But I want you to hear me. The Bible is clear and it has not changed. Women are not to preach in church. And listen, I want you to hear me out, okay? You put your church clothes on and you showed up. So can you just stay and hear me out? I am not anti-woman. I'm married to one.
20:19
Without a doubt, my absolute most favorite human on the planet is a woman. And there's not even a close second. Okay, I'm not anti-woman. I'm not anti-woman. My mother, rest her soul, my mother was a woman. My sister, also a woman. We have so many faithful servants of Christ here in this church.
20:48
at this church.
20:49
I am not anti-woman.
20:51
I am not anti-woman.
20:55
But I'm also very much pro-Bible.
21:00
And the Bible straightforwardly says that the role of pastor, elder, preacher, shepherd, all the same thing.
21:10
The Bible clearly says that role is for men.
21:17
It's not my opinion.
21:19
That wasn't the consensus of the elder think tank. That's what the Bible says. Now you said you'd hear me out. There are so many arguments for pro-women pastors. So many arguments. I'm just going to share a few of them. Some people argue pro-woman pastor. Some people say, hey, hey, hey, look, Women are equal.
21:49
All right.
21:50
That's awfully sexist of you.
21:52
Women are equal.
21:53
Yes.
21:54
Yes.
21:56
Women aren't equal, but equal does not mean the same.
22:02
Equal does not mean we all have the same roles.
22:04
Where you work, I'm sure that you're equal with your boss.
22:09
But you have different roles.
22:11
Okay.
22:13
So yes, equal.
22:15
Not same.
22:18
Here's another pro-woman-pastor argument I've heard several times. Like, I know this woman pastor and she's fantastic. I went to this church and they had this woman pastor. She's fantastic. It just doesn't matter how good of a speaker you thought she was. A woman pastor is not a thing. Study your Bibles. There is no teaching in the Old Testament.
22:45
for installing a woman as a priest. And there's no teaching in the New Testament on how to install a woman as a pastor. In fact, all of the instructions for priests in the Old Testament, for pastors, shepherds, elders in the New Testament, it's directed towards men. Titus 1.6 says that elders, pastors should be the husband of one wife. Assuming, Paul was assuming that this was a, role for men.
23:18
But as soon as you say that, as soon as you say, well, there's no example of women pastors in the Bible.
23:25
As soon as you say that, some of you might already be thinking it.
23:31
Somebody thinks they got the trump card on that.
23:33
They're like, ah, what about Deborah?
23:39
You heard that one?
23:39
What about Deborah?
23:43
Deborah?
23:43
If you're unfamiliar with the story, I'll paraphrase it for you. Judges chapters 4 and 5. God called a man named Barak to serve him in leading Israel, and he wussed out. And Deborah had to step up and lead, because the man that God called was a chicken.
24:16
Oh, by the way, this is in the book of Judges. Deborah wasn't a pastor. All right. She wasn't even a priest. She was a military leader. That's what a judge was. Oh, and by the way, if you're looking in your Bible for examples on how to faithfully love and serve and obey and follow the Lord, I would not suggest going to the book of Judges for examples of that. Have you read the book of Judges? It is the craziest book of the Bible. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. The stuff that happens is just crazy. But somebody comes along and says, well, Deborah. Deborah wasn't a pastor. Deborah wasn't a pastor. But then our more New Testament minded people, say, oh, I know who, you say no woman pastors, but what about, what about, what about Tequila and Priscilla? And I'm like, well, it's Akila and Priscilla, but I know who you're talking about. Acts chapter 18. These two together taught Apollos the way of the Lord more excellently, but it doesn't say anything in that passage about Priscilla being a pastor. It just doesn't say that. It'd be like if a newer believer came to church today, all fired up, all fired up, and their theology is a little off. And I'm like, hey, why don't you go to lunch with the calls? And Matt and Lexi take this person to lunch and teach them the Word of God. That doesn't make Lexi a pastor, all right?
26:13
A disciple maker, yes, but not a pastor. Neither was Priscilla. But here by far is the biggest objection that you hear. You know it's coming. When you say, well, you shouldn't have women pastors. The Bible says you shouldn't have women pastors. You know what the number one objection is to that. Well, that was just cultural. You hear that one? That was just cultural.
26:43
back then. What you have to understand in the first century Corinth culture, the first century Ephesian culture, what you've got to understand about the first century culture is they really hated women back then. Look at what Paul told Timothy, 1 Timothy 2. We're not going to unpack all this, but I just want you to see one thing here. Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Exactly what he says here. 1 Corinthians 14. Look, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Now, we're not going to unpack all that, but just one thing I want you to note. Paul's reasoning. Paul's reasoning that the woman is not to teach, or preach in church? His reasoning, is it cultural or is it theological? What's his reason? It's theological. And I've had people come at me hard wanting to argue this, and I show them this passage, and their answer is, well, it looks theological, but, but, no, no, no, Corinthian culture. Like, no, no, no, but, look, his reasoning is theological. You can study that yourself. Look at verse 34 again.
28:11
Back in 1 Corinthians 14. Look at the last phrase here. He says, they are not permitted to speak, but look at this, but should be in submission as the law also says. As the law also says. Again, is his reasoning culture or theological? Like, well, what law? Authority was established at creation. Genesis 3, verse 16.
28:43
Women are not to be in authority over men, but in submission. And as soon as you say submission, people ready to throw down. Cash me outside, right? You're ready to fight. Because people think that when we say submission, what we mean is weakness. And we've preached this, we've taught this so many times, submission is not weakness.
29:11
Jesus Christ was in perfect submission to his father for every single thing that he did. You would not dare call him weak. Submission is strength. It takes strength to trust God by submitting to God's established authority. That takes strength. So we talk about women pastors, women not being pastors. We're not talking about issues of equality or talent or ability. We're just we're talking about roles. It's just roles.
29:41
God says, here's things that I want men to do, and here's things I want women to do. It's just that. And I got to tell you, church, I agree with the late, great John MacArthur, who many times I've heard him teach. The most obvious evidence that a church has abandoned the Word of God is when they have a woman pastor. He goes on. Look at verse 35.
30:13
He says, if there's anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.
30:19
For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
30:26
It's shameful for a woman to speak in church.
30:28
The word shameful means it's a blemish on the church.
30:32
Not what it says.
30:33
Speak in church.
30:34
Speak.
30:36
Look at the context of the passage.
30:37
That's why we study the Bible in its context.
30:40
When it says speak, It's not like a woman walks in the door here. Hi, hi, where's your bathroom? It's like, keep your mouth shut, woman! Take your pagan ways out of here! You are not to speak. Look at the context. What's he talking about? He's talking about teaching and preaching in the church service, right? That's the obvious context. Yes, women can teach women. The Bible says, Titus chapter 2. Children.
31:11
He's talking here that a woman should not be up here preaching to the whole congregation. You have questions? He says, don't just shout them out in church. Men, don't do that either, all right? If you have questions, ask them in small group, ask them in Bible study, ask them in precepts, ask them whatever. Just not during church service, right? He says, ask your husbands. So husbands, You may be ready to answer some questions, especially after this sermon. If you don't have a husband, if you don't have a husband, a brother, a parent, a small group leader, an elder, yeah, if you're not married, I'm sure any of our elders would be glad to take a phone call from you and answer a question. See, God has a plan for order.
32:10
roles in the church. Faith means I trust God by doing things His way. And I know, look, I know. I know I'm going to get some texts and I'm going to get some emails because people are going to want to argue this. Right? And in Paul's day, as he wrote this letter and sent it off, He knew that people were going to want to argue this. Which is why I can honestly say I'm so thankful for this last section. Number four, Paul says none of this is up for debate. He knows as soon as you say, look, women should not be pastors. Women should not be preaching in church. People want to fight. And Paul says it's not up for debate.
33:09
liberal, church-minded, charismatic, feminist objections. And he goes pretty hard in the paint in the end of this. All right? So brace yourself. Look at verse 36. He says, or was it from you that the Word of God came? Or are you the only ones that has reached? See, Paul knew there were people going to read this, and they're like, I really think we should all speak in tongues. And I really think women should be pastors. And Paul's like, oh, oh, are you the authority? Oh, I'm sorry. Did somebody die and make you the expert? That's what Paul's saying. No. Look at verse 37. He says, if anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a commandment.
34:09
of the Lord. Listen, if you're spiritual, if you're really mature in your faith, you're going to acknowledge that this is from God. It's not cultural. It's not man's opinion. It's not something to be argued. Paul says God is commanding all of this. Verse 38. Pretty straightforward verse. Look at verse 38. He says, if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
34:41
Paul says, if you refuse to accept this, we refuse to accept you.
34:50
That's pretty straightforward.
34:53
Paul's saying, listen, a woman pastor is not a pastor.
34:58
And you're like, well, I think she is.
34:59
Paul's like, well, we don't recognize you.
35:05
Paul says, a church without order is not a church.
35:08
You can call yourself what you want.
35:10
But if you're calling yourself a church, but you're not having a worship service that follows an order and follows these biblical guidelines for teaching and for roles, because you're just not a church.
35:27
If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
35:30
So, verse 39, so my brothers, Earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. That's the call back to everything that we've talked about in this section. Prophecy, tongues, they were legit gifts in those days. The way that God used them. And that's what Paul's saying here. He goes, yeah, there's legit gifts here. Do them appropriately. Do it right. Do it right. And verse 40.
36:04
All of this was the introduction. Here's the sermon. Verse 40 is really the thesis of the whole passage. Paul says, but all things should be done decently and in order. Decently. The word decently means beautifully. It means in order. You're like, well, how are, What does that mean? You know, it would be like a man looking at his wife. Say, you know, you're put together perfectly. Everything is just in the right place. And you, everything is just, you're beautiful because there's just such an order and structure to you. Man, don't say that.
37:05
Everything just fits together on you. Maybe not, but you see the point. Everything fits together. Like, it's all working. It's all in harmony. It's so beautiful. That's what he's saying your worship service needs to be. Everything should fit together. Everything should be harmonious, beautiful. Your Bible might translate it decent.
37:34
It says, in order, in order, sequence, not chaos. Sequence, not chaos. God is beautiful. God has perfect harmony. And God rules the universe with clear order. So a worship service absolutely must reflect the God that we worship.
38:04
So our worship team makes their way up. I'd like you to bow your heads with me please. Father in heaven, sometimes your ways are hard to explain. But you haven't commanded us to explain you. You've commanded us to obey you. And your word is very clear.
38:35
that when we come together to worship, there are things that must happen, there are some things that must not happen.
38:46
And I'm sure as we go through this, I'm sure some point of this message, for every single one of us, probably each of us have experienced some point of tension.
39:01
Father help us to be like the Bereans look closely at your word are these things true and resolve that we're all called to submission ultimately Father we're called to submission to you and your word so I pray Father for Harvest Bible Chapel that as we gather for worship I pray Father that there is building up I pray that people are encouraged and edified.
39:35
And I pray, Father, that you look at all of this and you would regard it as beautiful.
39:45
You deserve everything we can give you.
39:50
You deserve so much more than that.
39:53
But let our hearts, Father, worship you in spirit and in truth.
39:59
We pray in Jesus' name.
40:01
Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
All things must “be done for building up” (1 Cor 14:26). List some ways “building up” happens in church.
What arguments have you heard for having a woman pastor? What does 1 Cor 14:33-35 say about women preaching in church?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 2, 2026

Gratitude - Part 2

Jeff Miller

August 2, 2026

Introduction:

  
    Why Are We Doing This? (Psalm 90): 
Because TIME IS SHORT . (Ps 90:1-12)
    
Because GOD IS GOOD . (Ps 90:13-15)
       
Because THERE IS WORK TO DO . (Ps 90:16-17)

Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Paster Jeff
00:00
Open up your Bibles with me please to the book of Psalms. And we will be looking at the 90th Psalm. I can think of a couple reasons now why we need a building on that property. Both of them pretty evident today, right? Alright, let's get into God's Word together. Pray for me please.
Paster Jeff
00:30
A sermon in three acts. So you pray for Pastor Rich and Pastor Taylor. All right? And we all will pray for you. All right? Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we turn to your word now, I just pray for all of us that our hearts are open to receive what it is that you've taught us through your eternal word. Thank you, Father. Thank you for All that you have so richly blessed us with, but most of all, Father, for the salvation that we find in Christ, because otherwise we would be so lost and hopeless. Father, I thank you that you have left us a guarantee of your love for us, the provision of salvation, the means by which eternal life can be restored, Father. And I pray that you would help us all to just Zero in now in your word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I love the kid sounds, by the way. Not a distraction up here. Don't let it distract you. It's a sign of life. I love it. Alright? I told you before when I hear kids making noise, in my mind I just hear, Amen! Amen! Amen! That's how I hear that. So it just encourages me, alright? Psalm 90. Let's take a look.
Paster Jeff
02:00
This is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. Verse 1, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Again, this was written by Moses. And I thought, what an appropriate place for us to land today after this last series that Pastor Taylor took us through.
Paster Jeff
02:29
The Psalm that was actually written by Moses. And look at what he says again in verse 1. Look close. Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. That's really a funny statement when you consider what was going on when Moses wrote this. You could say that Israel was between homes.
Paster Jeff
02:59
Right? What is home? Anyways, I was thinking about that a lot as I was preparing for this. All the places I lived. I grew up in Shakura. Moved to Ohio for school where I lived probably a half a dozen different places during my years in Ohio. Then moved back to Butler where I lived on Locust Street and then on North Street and then on Pearl Street.
Paster Jeff
03:29
And then we moved to Renfrew, Prospect, Chicago, back to Prospect, then to Economy, and now in beautiful Zillian Opal. Every time I moved, I swore it was the last time I was ever going to move. So I stopped doing that. But what is home? What is it? I think about the church, right?
Paster Jeff
03:59
met at the meeting room in Pantera Bread. Lo these many years ago. Then we were in a man's basement. He knew. He was there. Then we met in the chiropractor's office. Marshall Middle School. Then 12330 Perry Highway Suite 100. And then almost 414 Klein Road, but right back to 12330.
Paster Jeff
04:29
Perry Highway Suite 100. What is home? Well, if you're a believer, there's no place on earth that's ever really going to feel like home. Because earth is not our home. Wherever we are, wherever we are, that's what Moses is talking about here. Lord, You have been our dwelling place.
Paster Jeff
04:59
Church, our dwelling place isn't this office building or even Klein Road or wherever the Lord has. Our dwelling place, Church, is the Lord. Wherever geographically that is, He is our dwelling place. Well, if this isn't our home, and if the new church building isn't something any of us are going to enjoy forever, then why are we...
Paster Jeff
05:29
Why are we going to joyfully and gratefully go after the work of this church building? Why?
Paster Jeff
05:40
So what's the point? Well, there's three points actually. Here's the first one that Moses reminds us this. Time is short.
Paster Jeff
05:52
Time is short.
Paster Jeff
05:55
Look at verses 2 through 6. He says, For the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
Paster Jeff
06:08
You return man to dust and say, Return, O children of man.
Paster Jeff
06:14
For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday, when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
Paster Jeff
06:23
You sweep them away as with a flood.
Paster Jeff
06:26
They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning, it flourishes and is renewed. In the evening, it fades and withers. Time is short. Oh, not for God, right? He made that clear. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. When God revealed to Moses what His name is, He said, his name is I Am. And that tells us everything we need to know about God. God's not I was, like you should have seen me in high school. I was in shape and good looking. No, no, God's not the I was. And God is not the I will be. Right? Like, you know what, Moses, I might not look like much now, but I'm exercising and I'm on this paleo diet.
Paster Jeff
07:26
and I just did a juice cleanse and I'm seeing a good chiropractor and I'm going to be something great. No, no, no. He's not the I will be. He is the I am. He is the I am in Moses' day and he is the I am today. And Moses points out here, God is from everlasting to everlasting, but I think it's pretty obvious he says we are not. He says we're not.
Paster Jeff
07:56
around you, you and I are here and gone. Right? Gone like what he tells us in verse 5. He uses three pictures here. First of all, he sweeped them away as with a flood. Could you imagine? Some of you can. Then he says, they're like a dream. I love that image. Have you ever, this happens to me all the the time. Have you ever had one of those dreams that seem like they take place over the course of like days or weeks and then you wake up and it's only been like, you've only been in bed like an hour? Has that ever happened to you? He's like, that's what man's like. We think this is like such a long thing, but it's over quick. He uses another image here that shouldn't be lost on us. He says, we're like grass. We're renewed in the morning. We flourish. We grow.
Paster Jeff
08:56
in the evening we fade.
Paster Jeff
09:00
We wither.
Paster Jeff
09:02
Why is life so short?
Paster Jeff
09:05
He tells us, look at verse 7.
Paster Jeff
09:07
He says, For we are brought to an end by your anger.
Paster Jeff
09:13
By your wrath, we are dismayed.
Paster Jeff
09:17
You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins, in the light of your presence.
Paster Jeff
09:23
For all our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength 80, yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone, and we fly away.
Paster Jeff
09:53
the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you. Why is life so short? He just basically very poetically sums it up just as one concept. It's the curse of sin. It's because of sin that life is short. God promised Adam, the first man, if you sin against me, God literally says, dying you will die. You're going to get old and wear out and die. Dying you will die.
Paster Jeff
10:22
It's an act of judgment from God on a world that's rejected Him.
Paster Jeff
10:30
You're like, so what's the point?
Paster Jeff
10:33
Why would Moses bring this up?
Paster Jeff
10:36
Verse 12 is Moses' point.
Paster Jeff
10:39
He says, so, this is his prayer to the Lord, should be ours.
Paster Jeff
10:43
So, teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Paster Jeff
10:55
Teach us to number our days. Okay, so the Bible says that we should number our days. So let's obey, shall we? How many days do you have left on this earth? How many days? Well, we'll take Moses' average here, right? Did you notice he says, in verse 10, 70 or 80. So we'll take the average, which is 75. All right, thank you, accountants. So if we take Moses' average, 75. Now that's just the average. This is an exercise, right? I did the math for you. Okay, so if you're 50, I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand with your age or anything like that, right? Okay, so So if you're 15 years old, you're sitting here today and you're 15 years old, do you know how many days you have left on this earth? 21,900. All right? If you're 25, you have 18,250. If you're 35, you have 14,600 days left on this earth. If you're 45, you have 10,950 days left on the earth.
Paster Jeff
12:21
If you're 55, you have 7,300 days left on the earth. And if you're 65, you have 3,650 days left on the earth. And if you are 75, you're done. Anything over that is borrowed time.
Paster Jeff
12:54
That's really not the point, is it? I don't think Moses was calling us to some numeric exercise, was he? Here's the point. Moses is not asking that God helps us consider when we may die, but that God helps us consider how we live our short lives. You see, We don't know the number of days that each of us have, but it's knowing that our days on the earth have a number. We just don't know what it is. I mean, what if you don't make the average? I mean, our family's high score is 73. Both of my parents died at 73. What if you don't make the average?
Paster Jeff
13:52
What if your number of days left is 30? Would that change the way you live August? What if the number of days left is 7? Would that change your week? What if the number of days you have left is 1? How would you live today? Because wisdom says, make the most out of however many days I have left. And I will remind you that time is like money. If you're not deliberate in how you spend it, it's going to be gone, and you're not going to know where it went. So this church building that we've been talking about, building, church, this is one way that you can make the most of your short days.
Paster Jeff
14:52
by praying, by giving, by serving. Because we live in a day when more and more people... No, it's always been that way with people. The thing that concerns me is we live in a day when more and more churches, churches are rejecting the Word of God, rejecting the love of God, rejecting the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this church building, Is our flag in the ground where we say not here? Not here.
Paster Jeff
15:32
If we learned anything when we studied Jesus' parable of the talents, He's given every one of us resources and opportunity to use in this short time that we have on this earth.
Paster Jeff
15:43
And the Bible says He's coming back.
Paster Jeff
15:46
And He wants to see what we did with what He's entrusted to us.
Paster Jeff
15:53
And that's one of the things that gets me excited about this church building. When the Lord returns, I want to be able to point to that building and say, here, this was for you. This was for you. This is what we did with the opportunity and resources that you gave us. Jesus, this is what we did. We established a place where your word was not going to be denied, where your word was not going to be compromised, but it was going to be preached, It was going to be lifted up. We were going to train other people how to preach your word. This is a place where missionaries were sent out. Because though the last, excuse me, though the first Adam, the first Adam brought sin and death, the Bible says the last Adam. Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, brought forgiveness and life.
Paster Jeff
16:51
to share this good news.
Paster Jeff
16:55
Teach us to number our days.
Paster Jeff
16:58
That we may get a heart of wisdom.
Paster Jeff
17:03
Our time is short.
Paster Jeff
17:05
So let's wise up.
Paster Jeff
17:07
Let's make the most of them.
Paster Jeff
17:09
Pastor Rich.
Pastor Rich
17:11
So as Jeff said, why are we doing this?
Pastor Rich
17:15
Why are we seeking to build this new place of worship?
Pastor Rich
17:18
Because God is good.
Pastor Rich
17:21
God is good. Look at verses 13 through 15 with me. Return, O Lord, how long? Have pity on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us and for as many years as we have seen evil. Verses 1 through 12 impressed on us that life is brief.
Pastor Rich
17:50
So the question is, what should we do with this short, momentary, vapor of a life that has been granted to us? Jeff's statistics hit home. I'm not 35. Yeah, how should we spend it? Should we spend it worshiping ourselves, seeking comfort, material gain, wealth, fame, and a name for ourselves?
Pastor Rich
18:20
Eat, drink, and be merry since tomorrow we die. Now Psalm 90 reminds us that satisfaction is not found in any of those things. Rather, satisfaction is found only in the Lord himself. Verse 14 says, Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. See, to be satisfied is to be filled up. The image is a full stomach, right? After a good meal, When you're satisfied, nothing else is needed. You're completely content. We all know that that satisfaction is temporary. It doesn't last. That's why Moses cries out to God that you, Lord, you be our satisfaction. Satisfaction in the Lord is permanent because he is eternal.
Pastor Rich
19:19
He is the I Am. This image is similar to that of Psalm 23.1 where David writes, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord, Yahweh, the I Am is my shepherd. Nothing I lack. Well, how about you? Are you satisfied in God and God alone? Or do you need other things to be satisfied? And when you don't have those things, what do you do?
Pastor Rich
19:49
Do you become resentful toward God and grumble and complain? What do you think you deserve? What causes you to complain against our good God? You know, I've thought a great deal about Pastor Taylor's sermon from last Sunday and the infectious disease of complaining. Complaining stems from ingratitude, and the sermon really challenged me to be thankful about everything. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be thankful to God for everything, every event, every circumstance in life. Because if I'm spending my time being thankful for everything, I'll have very little time to complain about anything. I'm thankful for how things turned out this morning. This rain was an opportunity to complain and grumble and like, man, nothing ever goes right. Nothing ever works.
Pastor Rich
20:49
And I'm thankful. I'm thankful. Everybody is here. I'm thankful for the folks who showed up here, set the auditorium, got ready to worship. And here we are lifting our voices in praise to God. Amen. I want to be thankful to God in ways that show that I am really thankful with my whole heart, thankful in ways that honor him and glorify him because he is good.
Pastor Rich
21:19
I ought to do that. Why? Because as we begin to be thankful for everything, we will see how incredibly generous God is toward us. And as we see how generous God is, we will indeed rejoice and be glad all of our days. He will indeed make us glad for as many days as he afflicted us. And why were we afflicted?
Pastor Rich
21:49
Why are we afflicted?
Pastor Rich
21:51
Because we complain instead of praise.
Pastor Rich
21:56
Remember, this was a song of Moses, so he could have written it in response to any one of the many times the people grumbled and complained against God and felt his stern discipline.
Pastor Rich
22:09
So we should instead praise and give thanks.
Pastor Rich
22:14
Well, what exactly has God so generously given each one of us? There are gifts that every one of us here has in equal, overflowing, abounding measure. I don't have more of these gifts than you do. You have these same gifts in equal measure as Peter, James, and John, as much as George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, and Barnabas over in Thailand. The real question is, how much do you lay hold of these good gifts with a grateful heart? The psalm tells us the first and most important gift that God has generously bestowed on us is himself. When you have him, you have all you need to be satisfied. We are assured of his presence with us. It's why Moses says, satisfy us with your steadfast love. That is, Lord, your fill us with who you are lord a god merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin how intently do you seek to know him you are in christ if you have confessed him as your Lord and Savior. He abides in you. Are you gratefully abiding in him? Second, he is generously giving you life and breath. He sustains you. You have the privilege of this brief life to enjoy him, to enjoy his creation and all the things he has created. You have the privilege in participating in rest and work, enjoying food and drink, days and seasons.
Pastor Rich
24:09
Rain and sun and sea is handiwork in everything around you. And in Christ, we're going to enjoy all these things forever. Third, you have the joy of loving and being loved generously. In your salvation, you are placed into perfect relationship with the triune God who overflows with steadfast love.
Pastor Rich
24:38
And you're in a new relationship to every person. And in such relationships, you can extend grace and mercy and love to others. You can seek forgiveness and grant forgiveness. We are made new for the purpose of generously living out the gospel in real time with real people. That time is brief. So be thankful for it and generous with it.
Pastor Rich
25:07
Fourth, he has granted you citizenship in his glorious kingdom. He has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of his beloved son. Moreover, he has given you authority to rule with him here in this world in the midst of his enemies. And how do we rule? We rule by sharing the gospel of Christ, seeing enemies converted into children of God and seeing them become.
Pastor Rich
25:37
are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Pastor Rich
25:41
And yes, because he is a good father, he has given you all you need.
Pastor Rich
25:47
Is there anyone here who truly lacks anything?
Pastor Rich
25:52
There may be plenty of worldly and material things that you want, and you know, you may have even convinced yourself that you need these things.
Pastor Rich
26:02
But the reality is that we individually and collectively are among the wealthiest people who have ever lived on the face of the earth. God has indeed shown us his steadfast love and dealt with us all, every one of us here, generously. So what kind of people then ought we to be? We ought to be grateful, thanking God profusely for all he has put into our hands We ought to strive to lay hold of the full and abundant life we have in God our Savior. We ought to be generous toward God and toward others with the same level of generosity that he has bestowed on us. We should be generous towards God and others with our time. Generous towards God and others with love. Generous towards God and others with the resources that God has generously bestowed on us.
Pastor Rich
27:02
We should be gracious in showing mercy, generous in extending grace, and generous in showing hospitality. Our Father has been so, so good to harvest for nearly 15 years. He has been exceedingly generous to us for all that time. Just look around you. And if we had been at the property this morning, there would be so much to see and thankful for.
Pastor Rich
27:32
But look at his generosity and the evidence of his desire to use harvest for his glory. To use you and your generosity for his glory. We are doing this because he is good. And he wants you to join him in this endeavor. There is more to do. And Pastor Taylor is going to tell us about that. Parents and children, don't worry. As the third preacher this morning, I know it's my job to be short.
Pastor Taylor
28:02
I'm going to try my best. So why are we doing this? First, because time is short. Second, because God is good. And thirdly, and finally, because there is work to do. Moses has a final request of the Lord in verse 16. He says, let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. In other words, God, do what only you can do. Be at work in our lives. Be at work in the lives of others. You know, growing up, dads can seem very mysterious to their children. Especially when they are gone for eight or more hours of the day going to a place called work. You don't know what they do at work, but you know it's very important. You know that it's a very big deal. Very often, my kids will get sad when I have to go to work. They'll say, oh, why are you going to work, dad? I'll ask them questions. Do you like eating? Do you like wearing clothes?
Pastor Taylor
29:02
Do you like not living outside? Yes. Then I have to go to work. For 40 years, my dad was in the orthopedic sales business. He would sell replacement hips, knees, shoulders, and other equipment. He would be a consultant in the operating room, and the doctors could ask him questions as they did the surgery. And as a child, none of those things really made sense to me. My dad's job was a big mystery.
Pastor Taylor
29:32
changed in third grade when my dad came in for career day to explain what his job was. And my dad did more than just that. He brought a small pair of scrubs, a mask, and a beeper for me to wear. Kids, if you don't know what a beeper is, find someone older and ask them about it. After I suited up, my dad had me hold and hand out replacement joints to my classmates. My dad was so happy to include me, and I felt so cool to be included. As long as I live, I'll never forget that day because I got to be a part of my dad's work. For a very short time, I was in the orthopedic sales business. I got to see my dad at work and join him in his work. Do you know that we get to see our heavenly father at work? We get to join him in his Our dad is at work all the time and his work isn't a mystery. We're told in scripture what this work is. Our dad is in the salvation business. He is in the business of changing lives both now and forever. We have been recipients of our dad's work. We have been saved. We have been forgiven. We have been transformed. We have been changed. We've been given a church family to belong to.
Pastor Taylor
31:01
We have been recipients of our dad's work. But even more than that, we get to join our father in his work. We get to be co-laborers with our dad. Did my dad need me all those years ago? I think he could have explained his job perfectly well without me. My dad didn't need to use me, but he wanted to use me.
Pastor Taylor
31:31
need to use us. No. He doesn't need me. He doesn't need you. He doesn't need Pastor Jeff, Pastor Rich, Brian Behe, Justin Katie. He doesn't need anybody or anything. He is 100% self-sufficient every single way. He doesn't need to use us, but he wants to use us. It's a good feeling to be needed. It's an infinitely greater feeling.
Pastor Taylor
32:01
to be wanted.
Pastor Taylor
32:03
Do you truly believe that God wants to use you?
Pastor Taylor
32:07
That He desires to use you?
Pastor Taylor
32:11
God wants to include you in His work of saving the lost.
Pastor Taylor
32:15
Of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Taylor
32:17
Of building this church.
Pastor Taylor
32:19
Of sanctifying His people.
Pastor Taylor
32:21
We have been called into the family business.
Pastor Taylor
32:25
We are in the business of seeing our Heavenly Father save sinners and change lives.
Pastor Taylor
32:31
There is no greater calling. There is no more meaningful work. There is no better job in the entire world. But we cannot do our dad's work in our own power. We desperately need his help. We need to pray the words of Moses in verse 17. He says, Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes! Establish the work of our hands. What we build will crumble unless God sustains it. What we achieve will fade away unless God blesses it. It's easy to look at a massive project like building this building and be overwhelmed. It's easy to think, well, how's this going to happen? There's so much money to raise. There's so much How is this going to happen? You know, I know exactly how it's going to happen. God will make it happen. He will be at work in and through us like he always has been. God is at work behind the scenes and through you as well. Instead of falling back into fear, let's lean forward in hope. Let's boldly and passionately pray for the Lord's gracious favor.
Pastor Taylor
33:52
And that word for favor in verse 17 can also be translated as approval, delight, or beauty. A proud dad delights when his children try their best. A proud dad approves when his kids make an effort and do not phone it in. A proud dad smiles when his kids work hard and do not give up. It's like Moses praying, Lord, smile upon the work of your people.
Pastor Taylor
34:22
Let's pray the same exact thing this morning. Lord, smile upon the work of Harvest Bible Chapel. Smile upon this building project. Smile upon our effort to build a bigger space where more people can worship you, encounter you, and learn about the good news of Jesus Christ. So let's pray right now that we would get to work and that God would establish the work of our hands. Father, we thank you so much for who you are. We thank you so much for all that you do for us.
Pastor Taylor
34:57
As Pastor Rich already said, we so often complain when things don't go according to plan.
Pastor Taylor
35:02
Instead, let us always give thanks because you are always at work.
Pastor Taylor
35:06
You're always doing something that we can't see.
Pastor Taylor
35:10
You are always changing lives.
Pastor Taylor
35:11
You are always doing amazing things behind the scenes.
Pastor Taylor
35:17
Lord, from a human standpoint, I don't know how this building project is going to work.
Pastor Taylor
35:21
I don't know how all the details are going to come together. But the great thing is I don't have to worry about that because you have it all figured out. You will make it happen, Father. You will bring about what you want in this building project. We trust you because you are the I Am. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. We thank you that you don't need us, but you choose to use us anyway. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor Taylor
35:51
So before we close, I want to read verse 17 again. Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. We seek to put up this new building for the sake of our children. For the sake of the next generation encountering the glorious power and life-giving work of our great God. We want a safe place for our kids to be kids. To have fun. To have joy in the Lord. And to be trained for the work of God themselves. So we're actually going to put the kids to work right now. So kids, come forward. You're actually going to be singing for the entire church. So if you're able to sing, come forward kids and get ready to sing our song. Hey, that was fantastic, guys.
Paster Jeff
36:53
Don't you think they should do that song with you? And by the way, if you're like, that's kid stuff. Remember Levi's sermon on Wednesday night? Unless you have the faith of a child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We are all called to have this kind of excited faith that is so joyful at what the Lord is doing.
Paster Jeff
37:21
So let's stand. Let's all be VBS kids right now, alright?

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 90

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

Breakout
Pray prayers of specific things you are thankful for.

Taylor Brown

July 26, 2026

For Our Example

Do Not Be Complainers

Taylor Brown

July 26, 2026

For Our Example

Introduction:

Why is Complaining So Serious? (Numbers 21:1-9)

Because It INSULTS GOD . (Num 21:1-5)
Because It INFECTS OTHERS . (Num 21:4-5)
Because It INFLICTS A PENALTY THAT MUST BE PAID . (Num 21:6-9)

John 3:14-15 - “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

God, I give you thanks for... ____________________________________________________

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:48
Numbers chapter 21.
00:53
Do you ever suffer from decision paralysis?
00:57
Trying to figure out what to watch on a Friday night, and you end up spending the whole night scrolling through all your various streaming services because you can't figure out a movie to watch?
01:08
You and your family have decision paralysis about where you're going to go on vacation next year, the lake, the beach, a road trip across America.
01:17
You and your spouse have no idea where to go for your next date night. Do you know where I experience the greatest sense of decision paralysis? The Cheesecake Factory. Has anyone else ever been there? Does anyone want to guess how long their menu is? 21 pages. 21 pages.
01:47
on those 21 pages. Over 250. That's insanity. There are so many good options to choose from. Whenever I'm in that booth, I have decision paralysis. I don't know what to pick. I don't know what to eat. I felt that same exact way that I always feel in the Cheesecake Factory booth as I decided what to preach on this morning.
02:16
This is the final week of our latest series for our example, Ancient Warnings for the Church. Today, we have been digging into the books of Exodus and Numbers and learning from the negative example of the Israelites and receiving warnings from God Himself. Warnings like, do not be idolaters. Do not be doubters. Do not be fake repenters. This morning, we will receive our fourth and final warning.
02:45
Do not be complainers. So why did I experience decision paralysis as I was planning out this series and this sermon in particular? Because there are so many stories of the Israelites complaining in Exodus and Numbers. Their complaint menu is long and extensive. There are so many options to choose from.
03:15
their work harder in Egypt. In Exodus chapter 5 verse 21. They complained at the Red Sea. In Exodus 14. 11 through 12 that they would die. And they finally shut up whenever God rescued them. They complained about food and water in Exodus 15. Exodus 16. Exodus 17. Numbers 11. Numbers 20. The people complained about how hard their lives were in Numbers 11 verses 1 through 3. And as a result, some of them were consumed by fire from heaven. And number 16, a group is not happy with God's choice of leadership and they rebel against Moses and Aaron. They grumble, they complain. And as a response, God opens up a sinkhole and swallows the rebels. A much more serious sinkhole than the one outside Passman Hospital a few weeks ago.
04:14
People are very upset. They think Moses is the one who killed these rebels. They complain. And then God kills those complainers with a plague from heaven. Do you see why I suffered decision paralysis? There are so many options to choose from on the Israelite complaint menu. What about your complaint menu? Is it short and almost non-existent? Or is it long?
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and extensive.
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If I asked you to list all the things you complain about, would that be difficult for you?
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Would it be difficult to filter out all the options, to list out every single thing you complain about because you complain about most things in your life?
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Or maybe you even complain about everything in your life.
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Complaining may seem like small potatoes compared to idolatry, doubting, and fake repentance, but it isn't. Complaining may seem like a small issue, but it isn't. It is a big deal. It is a serious issue that you need to take seriously right now. It is a serious issue that I need to take seriously right now. Thankfully, I eventually overcame my decision paralysis.
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And I forced myself to make a decision. I settled on the last recorded example of the Israelites complaining in the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 21 verses 1 through 9. This passage shows us why complaining is so serious and how we can take it seriously moving forward. So let's go to the Lord and ask for his help. Let's ask the Lord that we would take our complaining seriously and we would take his word very seriously as well.
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Go to the Lord in prayer. Father, there is not a single person in this room or watching online who can say that they did not complain this past week. And the same for me. Lord, we are so sorry that we complain so often. We are so sorry that we often do not recognize Your goodness in our lives.
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We walk out of this service with a renewed desire to worship you and give you the thanks that you deserve. We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So why is complaining so serious? Why is complaining so serious? Reason number one, because it insults God. Because it insults God.
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I know that many of you have been in and out of service over the past month so let me give you an idea of where we are in Israel's history they have been rescued from slavery in Egypt and many of them survived worshipping the golden calf at Mount Sinai two weeks ago we studied a sad story of doubt the Israelites refused to go into the promised land they chose to trust themselves more than God and as a result God gave them a consequence The Grumbling and Complaining Older Israelites will never ever see the Promised Land. They will die during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The younger generation will see the Promised Land. It will take 40 years to see that come true. Last week we focused on the Israelites' response to this bad news. They tried to take the Promised Land by force against God's wishes.
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for them? Not at all. They were quickly defeated and they were sent away. Now we are fast forwarding in time and we're picking up their story near the end of the wilderness wandering. The older generation is fading away and the new generation is replacing them. Let's see if the new kids on the block do any better than the older generation when it comes to complaining. Look at verses 1 through 3 of chapter 21.
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When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Otharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction. And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.
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The Canaanites pick a fight with the Israelites, which leads to the defeat of the Canaanites. God is giving His people a preview of what their conquest of the promised land will look like. It looks like a new day is dawning. It looks like the Israelites have turned over a new leaf. It looks like they are closing the book on their disobedience. And they are starting a new chapter of obedience.
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Maybe not so much. Check out their response to God's victory. The victory that God gave them in verses 4 through 5. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses. Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is no food and water and we loathe this worthless And we're back.
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It looks like the apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree.
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New generation, same old sins.
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The Israelites are impatient again.
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They are accusing their leaders again.
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They are complaining again.
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At its core, complaining is dissatisfaction with God and His good gifts to you.
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Complaining is an unspoken thought or a spoken word of dissatisfaction with God and His good gifts to you. And that's what the Israelites are doing here. They are complaining. They are acting like God hasn't done anything for them lately. They are completely ignoring His provision in the past and in the present. The Lord just showed up for them in a huge way in their battle against the Canaanites. God could have chosen to sit this one out, but He didn't.
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He could have sat on the sidelines and did nothing, but He didn't. He gave them victory. And all along their journey in the wilderness, food and water has miraculously been provided for them. More on that in a minute. These are the facts. But the Israelites have forgotten the facts. They have lost sight of their many blessings. Very often, spiritual defeat comes right on the heels of spiritual Spiritual Victory. One minute the Israelites are riding high after the defeat of the Canaanites, and the next minute they are down in the dumps. They are feeling sorry for themselves. They are moaning and groaning about what they do have and what they do not have. You realize the same trend happens to you and me as well. Spiritual defeat often follows Spiritual Victory. You're on the mountaintop, and then you're down in the dumps. You tend to sabotage yourself after God helps you, after God blesses you greatly. You forget the facts. You lose sight of his many blessings. You moan and you groan about what you do have and what you do not have. You and I complain. Yes, this complaining in the wilderness is an ignoring of God's past and present provision, but it's even worse than that. It is an utter insult to God. It is a slap in his face. It is an attack on his character and reputation. Look again at what they say in verse 5. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, why have you brought us up out of the land of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.
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This first reminds me a lot of my son, Sam. Whenever he finds out that he's about to be served his least favorite meal, which is my favorite meal that my wife makes. Chicken with ranch potatoes and green beans. I love that meal. Sam does not feel that way at all. When he asks his mom, what are you making for dinner? And she breaks the news to him. He complains before he eats it, as he eats it, and after he eats it.
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It's the same for the Israelites in this passage. God's best is not good enough for the Israelites. Let's go through their list of grievances to see what is not good enough for them. God brought us up out of the land of Egypt to die in the wilderness. Really? That is your view of what happened. God rescued you from back-breaking labor, slavery in Egypt.
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He was your personal GPS who led you with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He annihilated the Egyptians whenever they chased after you. He led you through dry ground on the Red Sea. Really? That's your view of what God was doing? He brought them to the edge of the promised land where they blew it. They chose not to go in. They chose to doubt Him. That was their fault, not God's.
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I'm sure none of us in this room or watching online can relate to complaining about circumstances that we have brought upon ourselves. Next grievance. For there is no food and water. Seriously, over and over again, God has miraculously taken care of them. Water from a rock. A literal quail storm that rains down quail from the sky. Manna. Miraculous manna.
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every single day. All they have to do is bend over and pick it up. But again, that is not good enough for the Israelites. That's their last grievance. We loathe this worthless food. The Israelites view this miraculous manna as monotonous manna. They walk out and are like, manna again? God, can't you do something better for us? Can't you give us something that tastes better? Can't you at least give us, like, nachos?
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or Flamin' Hot Manna, can't you do something different for us? Come on, I'm sick of this. The gift that used to look good seems pretty bad right now. The blessings that they used to give thanks for seem like curses to them. God's best is no longer good enough for them. You know, at times, God's best doesn't seem good enough for you and me.
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The gifts that used to look good seem pretty bad right now. The gifts that you used to give thanks for seem like curses right now. You and I can look like those miserable people in those memes that say something like, me at the job I prayed to God for. Or me parenting the kids I asked God for. We're just so unthankful for what God has given to us. The things that we begged Him for and asked for now we can't stand them maybe god has blessed you with friends and fellow christians who love you and care about you but you make it clear to everyone who will listen that they don't do enough for you they don't reach out to you enough they don't make enough of an effort you say that you're just telling it like it is but you know what you're doing you are complaining and insulting god Maybe God's blessed you with a means of providing for your family, but you constantly think negative thoughts about every single aspect of your job and you constantly say negative things about your boss and your coworkers. You say that you're just venting, but you know what you're doing. You're complaining and insulting the Lord.
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Maybe you are very quick to point out how your family does not meet your high expectations.
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You are very quick to critique and to lash out.
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You say that you're just being honest, but you know what you're doing.
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You are complaining and insulting the Lord.
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Here's a big one for me.
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Maybe the Lord has blessed you with a house that you constantly rattle off things you hate about.
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You constantly talk about other people's houses and how they're way better than your house. Again, you say you're just venting, but you know what you're doing. You're complaining and insulting the Lord. Here's the thing. You cannot insult a gift without insulting the giver of the gift. You cannot grumble about the blessings of God without grumbling against the God of the blessing.
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Your complaining is serious because it insults your God. Why is complaining so serious? Second reason, because it infects others. Because it infects others. As I studied this past week, I couldn't stop thinking about the origin of this complaining. How did it start? Who did it start with? We're told this in verses 4-5. The people became impatient along the way, and the people spoke against God and Moses. This is a communal sin that must have started at an individual level. While they are wandering in the wilderness, the germ of complaining, the germ of grumbling, begins in the mind. It begins in the mind of individuals, and then it exits the mouth. It starts in the mind something like this.
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I can't believe we're doing this again we're wandering in circles again this is so stupid and so senseless it's so hot out my throat is so dry my stomach is eating itself the germ of grumbling starts in the mind and then it quickly exits the mouth individuals begin to vocalize their thoughts as they walk sit around the campfire at night and lay in their tents personal protesting turns into corporate complaining It snowballs very quickly and gets out of control. That's how complaining works. It doesn't just stay with you. During the school year, my kids bring home a variety of viruses and illnesses. When one of my kids is stricken, it's just a matter of time before all of us are stricken. One sore throat turns into four sore throats. A solo cough turns into a family.
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In my house, viruses are easily caught. Sickness effortlessly spreads. The same goes for complaining in your house, your workplace, and even this church. Grumbling is a sinful virus that is easily caught. Complaining is a sickness that effortlessly spreads. One grievance turns into an unending list.
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of grievances. One complaint invites another complaint. One person complaining leads to many people complaining. It only takes one complainer to infect your small group and this church. Are you patient zero? Are you a contagious complainer who corrupts your home.
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Are you a contagious complainer who corrupts this church?
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You have to understand that more than just your health is at stake.
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The health of your family is at stake.
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The health of harvest is at stake.
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Would you purposefully sneeze in someone's face after service and intentionally spread your sickness to them?
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Would you do that? You answered that way too slowly. I'm going to stay away from all of you after service. Would you purposefully sneeze on someone and intentionally spread your sickness? Okay, I guess I'll shake your hand after service. Then why would you purposefully grumble and intentionally infect someone else with your spiritual sickness? That should be as unthinkable. That should seem as rude.
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as literally sneezing in someone's face.
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It's infinitely more destructive than physically passing on a cold or a fever.
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Deal with the germ of grumbling when it first pops up in your heart.
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Do not give it room to breathe.
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Your complaining is serious because it sickens your soul and infects the people you care about the most.
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Why is complaining so serious?
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third and final reason. Because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid. Because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid. The Israelites don't want God's best, which results in a serious penalty in verse 6.
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Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died. The Lord has responded to Israel's complaining with a lot of creative penalties in the past. A plague, a fireball from heaven, a literal sinkhole, but He reserves His hardest and most challenging penalty for this act of complaining.
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fiery serpents. And no, this doesn't mean that the snakes are on fire like flamethrowers. It means that they have bites that inflict severe inflammatory pain. These bites don't just hurt you. These bites kill you. These snakes slither into the camp, bite many of the Israelites, and many of them die. The new generation of Israelites quickly change their tune. They go from complaining to crying, Look at verse 7.
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And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned and we have spoken against the Lord and against you.
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Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.
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So Moses prayed for the people.
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Once again, Israel messes up big time.
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And once again, Moses stands in the gap and intervenes to them.
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He prays for the Lord's mercy.
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And once again, the Lord responds to his request. And he gives his mercy to his people who do not deserve it. What is the method of the Lord's mercy? You see it in verses 8 through 9.
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and live. Does this method of mercy seem odd to you? It's kind of a strange way to be healed, right? You know, the guys in my small group went to an all-we-can-eat wing night this past Wednesday. It was a lot of fun, but I gotta tell you, the last thing I wanted to see after eating 24 wings was another plate of wings in front of me. My stomach wasn't feeling very great. Doug can tell you he was there.
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But imagine if the waitress came up to me and said, oh, your stomach hurts. I have just the thing for you. Here, eat some more wings. That'll make you feel better. What? No, get those things away from me. I don't want that. That method of healing my stomach wouldn't make sense to me. Again, the last thing I want to see after eating all those wings is more wings. On a human level, the bronze serpent solution seems as crazy as the just eat more wings solution. It doesn't seem to make much sense. The way to be healed of your snake bite is to look at a fake snake on a pole. I'm guessing the last thing the Israelites wanted to see after being bitten by snakes is another snake. Why does God choose this method of mercy and healing? Why does God go this route? Because it requires faith.
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of human wisdom and acceptance of divine wisdom. It requires a rejection of self and a deep trust in the Lord. To be clear, the bronze serpent is not a magic trick. The fake snake has no healing properties of its own. The healing comes through looking. The healing comes through trusting. Faith is the method of salvation and forgiveness. Faith is the method.
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of healing.
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The Israelites have a choice in this moment.
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They have two options.
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They can pay the penalty of their complaining on their own.
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They can refuse to look at the serpent and die.
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Or they can in faith look to the serpent and live.
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They can obey God's command even though it doesn't make sense.
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Those are the only two options available to them.
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And you may be thinking, this is all super interesting. But what does this random snake story from over 3,000 years ago have to do with me and my complaining today? Well, you and I must understand that every single sin is a complaint against our Creator. Every single sin we commit is an act of discontentment. And this goes back to the very beginning.
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with Adam and Eve. They were tricked into believing that God's best was not good enough for them. They were tricked into believing that something more satisfying must be on the other side of disobedience. Eating that fruit was an act of discontentment and complaining. Adam and Eve communicated a loud and clear message to God that we've been talking about this entire sermon. God, your best is not good enough for us and we want better.
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All the sins we have studied over this past month find their root in discontentment. The Israelites are expressing their discontentment to God by committing idolatry, by doubting His promises, by refusing to genuinely repent, by complaining about His provision. They are shouting, Lord, Your best is not good enough for us.
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same message to God every single time that we sin. Your sins are acts of discontentment and complaining. The penalty for insulting a good and perfect God is eternal death. The penalty must be paid by someone. The penalty must be taken care of by someone.
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Do you know that this bronze serpent story isn't a random and isolated incident in the Old Testament? Do you know that the bronze serpent pops up in the New Testament as well? Jesus makes it crystal clear that this bronze serpent points forward to himself. It points forward to the most important person, the most important event in human history. The bronze serpent points forward to Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross.
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Look at what Jesus says in John 3, 14-15.
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And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
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Like the Israelites, you have two options.
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You can pay the penalty for your complaining on your own, or the penalty for your complaining can be taken care of by looking to Jesus Christ in faith. By believing that His death is enough for your forgiveness and cleansing. By believing that God's best is all that you need. There is no option C. There is no third way. There is only trusting in yourself which leads to eternal death in hell. Or there is trusting in Christ which leads to eternal life.
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in heaven.
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Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers of the 1800s.
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I'm sure you've heard him quoted and misquoted many times in church.
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Every single time a pastor shares a quote in church, it's either Spurgeon or C.S. Lewis.
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But Spurgeon came to Christ as a teenager when he stumbled into a random church during a snowstorm.
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And the preacher that morning wasn't particularly gifted or eloquent, But the Lord used that sermon to grab ahold of Spurgeon's heart and save him. At one point, the preacher looked directly at him and spoke to him in the sermon. And Spurgeon describes it this way. Just fixing his eyes on me as if he knew all my heart, the preacher said, Young man, you look very miserable. Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow.
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struck right home. He continued, and you will always be miserable. Miserable in life and miserable in death if you don't obey my text. But if you obey now this moment, you will be saved. Then lifting up his hands, he shouted, young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look, look, look. You have nothing to do but to look and live. I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said. I'd not take much notice of it. I was so possessed with that one thought. Like when the bronze serpent was The people only looked and were healed. So it was with me.
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I had been waiting to do 50 things.
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But when I heard that word, look, what a charming word it seemed to me.
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Oh, I looked until I could have almost looked my eyes away.
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There and then the cloud was gone.
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The darkness had rolled away.
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And that moment I saw the sun.
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And I could have risen that instant and sung with the most enthusiastic of them of the precious blood of Christ and the simple faith which looks to Him alone.
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Oh, that somebody had told me this before. Trust Christ and you will be saved. Friends, look to Christ and live. Trust in Christ and be saved. Have you looked yet? Have you trusted yet? If you haven't, there is no time like the present. Next year may be too late. Next month, may be too late. Tomorrow may be too late. Now is not too late. Now is the perfect time. Look to Christ. Trust in Christ. You will be forgiven. Maybe you've already looked to Christ. Maybe you've already trusted in Christ. If you have, continue to look to Him. Continue to trust in Him. There is no other way to grow.
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There is no other way to fight against the germ of grumbling when it pops up in your heart. Whenever you are tempted to complain, look to Christ who suffered, bled, died, and bore the wrath of God for your discontentment. Look to Jesus and never forget that God gave you His best. He gave you His own Son so that you could be His son or daughter.
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forever.
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When you are tempted to complain about anything, remember the words of Romans 8.32, He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
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You have been given everything in Christ.
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What more is there to strive for?
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What more is there to gain?
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What could this world possibly give you that compares to what God, has given to you? Nothing.
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What is there to complain about when God has given you everything that He has? Nothing.
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Your complaining is serious because it inflicts a penalty that must be paid.
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I hope and pray the penalty for your complaining has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.
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The worship team can now make their way forward. It's so easy to walk away from a sermon series like this and say, you know what? I'm going to buckle down and I'm going to stop committing idolatry. I'm going to stop doubting. I'm going to stop fake repenting. I'm going to stop complaining. Well, that's great to hear. But what will take the place of those unproductive sins? Sin loves evacuations.
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If you do not replace an unproductive sin with a productive discipline another sin will just rush in and take its place For right now let's focus on complaining What will you replace complaining with?
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What will you replace grumbling with?
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Thankfully the Bible gives us the clear answer You are to replace complaining with thanksgiving You are to replace grumbling with gratitude But as Pastor Jeff often says It's not enough just to feel thankful You need to actually give thanks And I'm going to give you the opportunity right now On the bottom of your outline There is a fill in the blank prompt that says God I give you thanks for Fill in the blank I want you to fill in the blank for what you are most thankful for right now. Be very specific because specific praise honors God's specific blessings. Write down what you are thankful for. The Thanksgiving party doesn't end here. Now we are going to give you an opportunity to share what you are thankful for with the rest of the congregation. I'm going to have a microphone. One of our elders, Brian B., he's also going to have a microphone. And we ask you to come down one of the aisles.
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and to share one sentence with us. Fill in the blank. God, I give you thanks for fill in the blank. I guarantee that you will not regret giving thanks to God and sharing that blessing with the entire congregation. So come forward if you would like to share. Let's stand and continue to thank the Lord together.

Small Group Discussion
Read Numbers 21:1-9

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is complaining such a big deal?
What do you tend to complain about the most and why?
What are you thankful for right now?

Breakout

Pray for one another.

The Resurrection Means Everything

Introduction:

Why the Resurrection Means Everything (1 Corinthians 15:12-34):

IF There Is No Resurrection:

We Live in Grace

Introduction:

3 Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8):

3 Evidences You Have Received God's Grace (1 Corinthians 15:9-11):

What Should a Worship Service Look Like?

Introduction:

How to Have a Church Service, God's Way (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)

Gratitude - Part 2

Introduction:

Why Are We Doing This? (Psalm 90):

Do Not Be Complainers

Introduction:

Why is Complaining So Serious? (Numbers 21:1-9)

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

Why the Resurrection Means Everything (1 Corinthians 15:12-34):

IF There Is No Resurrection:

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

3 Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-8):

3 Evidences You Have Received God's Grace (1 Corinthians 15:9-11):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How to Have a Church Service, God's Way (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Why Are We Doing This? (Psalm 90):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Why is Complaining So Serious? (Numbers 21:1-9)

Audio Transcript