Christian Bible Church
Introductory Audio Message |
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Hello. This is Niall Walshe. Welcome to this introductory talk from the Christian Bible Church. I want to use this talk to share with you some of the basic truths of the Christian faith. I want to do this because I want to reassure you that the site that you're exploring is not made up of some kind of weird sect or a strange cult but, actually, is put together by people who agree with the basic truths of the Christian faith as revealed in the Bible and as revealed and agreed by Christians around the world. There is a passage in the Bible, in the New Testament, where the Apostle Paul outlines six basic truths that he says are "of first importance." And I'm going to read that passage, and then I'm going to pick out the truths that I see in it that Paul is saying, "These are the basics of our faith, these are the things that we must agree upon. These are the things that are "of first importance."
There are many things which Christians will debate, discuss and even disagree upon and it's not all that unusual to see an article in a newspaper about the latest disagreement in a church that's threatening to tear one particular denomination or another apart. It's not wrong to have disagreements about different issues but there are some things upon which all Christians must agree. And it is these things that the Apostle Paul outlines in this particular passage. If you have a Bible you may wish to turn to it now. I'm going to read from 1 Corinthians - this is Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth - so, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 and I'm going to read from verse 1 down to and including verse 11. "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed." Amen.
Well, that's what the passage says and in it I think it is possible to see, as I've said, six basic truths that Paul wants us to take a hold of. The first of those is the phrase, ".according to the Scriptures.." It is used in verse 3, where Paul writes that, "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures." and it's used again in verse 4 where he says that, "..Christ was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures." The first point that Paul is wanting us to take a hold of, and to recognize as an absolute basic, fundamental truth of Christianity is that our faith rests upon Biblical revelation. We do not believe simply in ideas that are made up by men or the imaginations of men or even the diktats of science. What we as Christians believe, and we who have put together this site totally agree with this, is that our faith rests upon what is revealed through the Bible, and that anything we teach, anything we write about or speak about on this site, we have to be able to support it from the Bible. And that doesn't mean just the odd verse here or there picked out to support a particular argument. It must agree with the broad brush of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. And one of the things that we see revealed through the Bible is the nature of God. So not only does our faith rest upon the words that are written in the Bible, but it also has to agree and rest upon the very nature of the loving, just God who we see revealed in the Bible. So there is a double check there: does it agree with the written word and does it agree with the character and nature of God. Every message that we put forward on the site will have that double check applied to it, because we agree with Paul that one of the first, fundamental truths of Christianity is that whatever we believe must be "..according to the Scriptures." The second point that Paul draws out and refers to as being "as of first importance" is in verse 3 where he writes that, "..Christ died for our sins." As Christians we believe that when Christ died on that cross at Calvary, on that very first Easter, He was being punished for the sins of each and every one of us. One thing that the Bible reveals is that God punishes sin. Now we all have things in our lives that we, perhaps, are not too pleased about, things we've said or things we've done - maybe in the past, maybe in the present - we have things that we wish weren't there, we may even have things we are ashamed of; God calls those things "sins." And He punishes sin; but God, in a sense, had a dilemma because God created us and God loves us. And the punishment for sin is separation from God - but God very much wants a relationship with us. God's answer to the problem was to send His Son Jesus from heaven to earth and to allow Jesus to accept into Himself the punishment that was due to us. And in doing so, clearing the way for us to come back into a relationship with God. So we believe that a fundamental truth of our faith is that our sins have been forgiven because, "..Christ died for our sins." And the sin issue is dealt with, and in John, the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 18, we'll see that the only issue now between man and God, the only possible barrier to a relationship with God is what we believe about His Son Jesus. It is no longer the way we live; it is what we believe about Jesus because "Christ died for our sins." The next truth that Paul brings out in verse 4 is that, ".Christ was raised on the third day" and, again, Christians believe, and we who put together this site believe, that on the third day Christ bodily rose from the dead and that when the disciples came to that tomb, where He'd been buried, they found that the tomb was empty for Christ has risen - and this is what we all celebrate on Easter Sunday. Christ is risen. And it is a really important point because the Bible teaches that it is through this resurrection that Christians are justified. If you're not familiar with that word in a spiritual sense it basically means "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned. So we are justified because Christ rose from the dead on the third day and, because I'm justified then God sees the Christian just as if I'd never sinned. That is how crucial is the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and that is why it is a fundamental of our faith. It is not up for debate or discussion, but it is that statement of a fact: Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. In verse 5 to 8 Paul then speaks of the many appearances that Jesus made after His resurrection. And the point that Paul is making here is very simply that Christianity is not a matter of blindly believing something for which there is no evidence. It is not a matter of going through life merely hoping that when we do leave this planet God will allow us into heaven. We believe, and Paul is pointing out in the Scriptures here, that we can have a firm and certain assurance of our faith and our eternal destiny. When Christ was still here, before He ascended into heaven, He appeared to many, many people and the Bible says that He used that time to give, "many convincing proofs" that He was alive again. And Jesus Christ is giving the same proofs today to people who will receive Him. And it is a fundamental fact, and truth of our faith, that we can expect demonstrations of these convincing proofs, so that we can have that same certain assurance. Jesus Christ is still today giving healing around the world to many; divine healing that defies medical science. There are countless stories, again from around the world, of prayers being answered, and lives being changed through an encounter with Jesus Christ. The people who saw Him just after His resurrection saw Him in a bodily form before He ascended back into heaven from whence he'd come; today we don't see Him in a bodily form but we most certainly see and experience His presence and the outworking of that presence. So we believe, with Paul, in this certain assurance of our faith. It is not wrong to have doubts, but let's take those doubts to Jesus and gain that certain assurance. In verse 9 Paul brings out the fifth of the six basic truths that we're looking at in this talk, when he says, "I do not deserve to be called an apostle." And he's making the point that God's grace is given to the undeserving because he goes on to write, "I do not deserve to be called an apostle, BUT by the grace of God I am what I am." Now if you're not too familiar with the word "grace" and all that it means, there is a talk on this site on 2 December - and if you're listening to this after 2 December you'll be able to go to the Archive section and read the transcript - and in that talk there is an explanation about grace: what it is and the importance of receiving it. But for the moment, keeping it to the basics, the message is simply that this grace - which in one sentence means, all the blessings that God has for us - this grace is given to the undeserving. None of us can possibly deserve to be given all the blessings that God has available. All of us are totally dependent upon that grace and it becomes a great leveller because in Christianity no person is better than any other person, and no person is any worse than any other person. We are all utterly equal, utterly dependent upon the grace that is given to the undeserving. And then the last point that Paul brings out is in verse 10 when he says that, that having received this grace, he says, "This grace was not without effect, no I worked harder than any of them - yet not I but the grace of God that was with me." We believe, those of us who put together this site, in fact we have actually experienced - which is one of the reasons we've put together this site - this life-changing, empowering grace that Paul says is one of the fundamental truths of Christianity. You see, Christianity is not something that you simply believe and then go on with your life unchanged. Christianity is actually about coming into a relationship with a living God who will then radically and dynamically and wonderfully change our lives. Christianity is not something to believe in, it is something to experience through the empowering grace that God is so willing to pour out into our lives. So these are the basics of our faith and these are what we who have put together this site believe in. All of it supported by Scriptures, all of it glorifying a Christ who died for our sins, but who was raised on the third day and who gives us, even today, convincing proofs that He is alive and that He is reigning over all. And we believe and we'll share with you messages that show how Jesus gives grace to the undeserving and how that grace, once we receive it, will wonderfully transform our lives and give us a new energy. It will give us a new set of priorities, a new reason for getting up in the morning. And that's what we believe in and that's what we'll be sharing with you. For these truths are the Gospel of Christ. These truths are the Good News and I sincerely hope that we will have the pleasure and the joy of sharing with you, week after week, as we put forward these different messages and the Bible studies and so on and all the different aspects of this site. I hope that we will have the joy of sharing the good news with you and growing with you, together, ever closer to this wonderful God who is revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Amen. Ready to Join Now? Joining is quick and easy, and gives you:
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