This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

Would you take out your Bible, please, and turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15. We'll begin reading in verse 1 here in just a moment. If you did not receive a handout for the lesson this morning and you would like one, if you'll raise your hand, there are some gentlemen who will be going around and will give you one of those.

So if you did not receive a handout and you'd like one, raise your hand and we'll get one of those to you. Some days you're just excited to preach. And today is one of those days. And I know what you're thinking. 50 minute sermon incoming. No, I promise that's not the case. And you didn't laugh very much, so maybe you don't believe me on that.

I'm excited, in part, because of how well you've worshipped this morning, and how well we've been led in worship. And the passage that was read, the songs that were sung, the prayers that were led on our behalf to our Father in Heaven, that we could heartily say Amen to. The thoughts in which we were led, and the things that we did, as remembering Christ's death and His sacrifice.

But also, I'm excited this morning because of the importance of what it is that I have to say. Amen. And hopefully the help that it can provide those of us who are striving to live as God has called us to live. It's probably not lost on you that this is the last Sunday of 2024. And as we end the year and begin a new one, it provides kind of a natural and good time to reflect and consider what is important.

What is important in life? What's really important in my life, personally? And what do I know to be true about life? And if you're there in 1 Corinthians 15:1, that's the kind of thinking that we find the Apostle Paul bringing his letter to the Corinthians to a close with. What is really important?

And what is it that we know to be true? If you read with me beginning in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 15, this is what the Apostle Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel. Which I preached to you, which also receive, which you received, and which, in which you stand. By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve, and that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

And after that He was seen by James, and then by all the apostles. Then, last of all, He was seen by me also. As by one born out of due time, for I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, but the grace of God. By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all.

yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or whether they, so we preach and so you believe. The Apostle Paul says this is what is really important and and this is the gospel. This is not all that the gospel is, but this is the very heart of the gospel. That Jesus Christ came and he died for our sins.

And he was buried in a tomb. And it's interesting that Paul emphasizes that. He says Christ really had a body. And that body was buried, and that body was raised on the third day. And that resurrection was witnessed by all of these people, and it is by that truth, by that reality, that we have our salvation and we live our lives.

The Apostle Paul says of those things in verse 3, For I delivered to you first of all. Now that word first there, or first of all, as it's translated in the New King James that's the way we normally say it. If my Greek teacher were in the audience, he would say, It's the Greek word, and it can mean first in terms of time. So, first in time. It can mean first in a list. First, second, third, fourth, fifth. It can mean first in a competition, you came in first. I like that one a lot myself.

But here it means, as many of the other translations translate it, first in importance. Of first importance is this concept of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection. The gospel that is preached to you. So, of first importance means that it is a priority. It is vital. It is most important. And it is that concept of of first importance that I would like to consider for a few moments this morning.

And what we're going to do is we're going to zoom out and we're going to consider that idea of what it means that something is of first importance. We're going to make some applications to our lives and the things that are first, of first importance in our lives. And then, at the end of the lesson, we're going to zoom back in to 1 Corinthians 15, and these verses, verses 1-11.

And what that means to us in our lives, what it means to you in your life, that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is of first importance. So let's consider for a few moments, biblically, what does it mean that something is of first importance? Well, let's make something clear. I think it's important if we're going to be clear, not just to say what something means, but if there's a misunderstanding that might be obvious to say what it doesn't mean.

So of first importance, first of all, doesn't mean that second importance things, things that aren't of first importance are unnecessary or unimportant or can be totally ignored and just say, well, I'm going to focus on those things of first importance. And I'm gonna neglect all the other things that might be of lesser importance.

And I think we see that in a number of ways. Maybe first of all, that Paul doesn't use this phrase of first importance in regard to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ until The 15th chapter of this letter to the the Corinthians. So for 14 chapters, he hasn't gotten to this thing of first importance.

And there are some very important things covered before this in the letter to the Corinthians, pertaining to life and salvation and Godly living. But not all of those things are of first importance, though they are important. And though we have things that we are supposed to do, and things that are right to do, and things that are required to do, that doesn't mean that they are of first importance.

Let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew in order to consider that for a few moments. Turn first to Matthew 23. In Matthew 23:23, as Jesus is pronouncing woes on the scribes and Pharisees, He says, And he's pronouncing woes for lots of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is they've got their priorities all out of whack.

They aren't looking at the things of first importance as if they are of first importance. And I think he hits at that in verse 23 when he says this. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint, anise, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith.

At our point, notice what he says at the last, These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. As Jesus puts it here, some things are weightier. Now, they're weightier not because they're more necessary, but because they have a broad application to many aspects of both our life and the law according to God.

And these weightier matters hit, at our very heart, issues like justice and mercy and faith. Issues like, as we'll read about in chapter 22 in just a second, the greatest commands. They are weightier because they deal with our hearts and our motivation and inform and impact everything else that we do.

Think for a moment, how many of the, the law of Moses that we read about in the Old Testament, how many of those laws included the concepts of justice, mercy, and love? I would suggest every single law contained at least one of those concepts and many, most of those laws contained all three. And tithing meant dull and cummin.

Was one very specific application of one law, could you tithe, and, and how were you supposed to tithe? And, and so there was, there was a certain degree of of conflict and disagreement under the old law. How exactly do you tithe? Do you tithe, do you give 10 percent of your income? Or do you tithe 10 percent of your, your whole net worth, we might say.

And there were some people among the scribes and Pharisees especially who said, well you've got to tithe your whole net worth. And so that means you need to go up there into your spice cabinet and you need to go through every one. Now, now don't think that they were putting it in a little baggie and taking it to the temple.

No, they were saying, how much is, are each of these spices worth? And I need to give 10 percent of each of these spices and include that in how much I'm going to give to the Lord. Now, that is one controversy about one very small application of one law. But to the Pharisees, man, that was a big deal, and you need to be careful about it.

Well, let me ask you, was it important to tithe correctly? It's not a trick question. Was it important in the old law to tithe correctly? Absolutely. Could you tithe with a wrong heart? Yeah, you give 10%, maybe even 10 percent of your net worth, but you're doing it with the wrong heart, of course. But on the other hand, if you, as a Jew living, let's say in the first century when Jesus gave these words, if you exercised in your life Justice, mercy, and faith.

Would you tithe correctly? Absolutely you would. And you would do, as you understood the law, exactly what the law required of you. But notice that Jesus doesn't say abandon these lesser things in order to fulfill the weightier things. Instead he says these you ought to have done Without leaving the others undone.

It, it takes them all. And that was about things that were good to do. It's good to be as precise as you can be with your tithing. That's a good thing. How much more does Jesus point apply if we neglect the weightier matters? for things that God doesn't care about. If we neglect things of first importance for things that are really of last importance that don't matter at all.

And yet we see in this passage and others that there are things that are of secondary importance like tithing but they are still necessary and important and they cannot be ignored. Go a chapter earlier to Matthew 22 and I think we see this same idea. In Matthew 22 beginning in verse 34.

Notice this interaction that Jesus has with a scribe.

An expert in the law likely ascribe, ask him a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. Now, in Mark's account, there's a slightly different word that is used in Mark 12:28. What commandment is protos? Foremost of all he's saying, what's the first importance when it comes to the law?

Jesus said to him, verse 37, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first, protost, foremost, and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So, we can neglect everything else in the law as long as we love God and love our neighbor?

No. We will fulfill everything else in the law if we love God and love our neighbor. As he says in verse 40, all the law and the prophets. This is a summation of the law and the prophets to love God and love your neighbor. And it is the motivation to perform everything that's in the law and the prophets, because the law and the prophets tell you how practically to love God and love your neighbor under the system of Judaism.

And so it is not that the law and the prophets are unimportant or should be neglected. It's that they're not. But it should come from a place of love love for God and love for your neighbor Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 We see that Jesus says do not worry about the things of your life what you're gonna wear What you're gonna eat or where you're gonna live those sorts of things And yes Those are things that we should be concerned about in the sense that we need all of those things and our Heavenly Father knows we need All those things but in Matthew 6:33 He tells us What is of foremost importance, but seek first, protos, foremost, the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

What we eat and drink and wear, they're important, but they aren't very important compared to being part of the kingdom of God and seeking his kingdom first. So with that important caveat in place, of first importance does mean some things. So what makes something of first importance? Well, First importance things are foundational to everything else.

These things of first importance are foundational to everything else that we might do or consider. If we turn back to 1 Corinthians 15, I think we can illustrate it there from this very context. He says the first importance is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because there were some in the church in Corinth who were denying the resurrection.

And here's what the Apostle Paul has to say about that beginning in verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty.

Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God. Because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

This is foundational, Paul says. If this isn't true, Then we're lying to you. Your faith doesn't mean anything and those who have fallen asleep are just dead and there's no hope beyond this life. That's foundational. And we know, of course that everything else would fall apart in terms of Christianity without Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

This is of first importance. But it's not just doctrine in that sense that can be of first importance matter. The church in Corinth over emphasized the second importance of spiritual gifts for the first importance concept of love. If you go back two chapters to 1 Corinthians 13, 1 Corinthians 13, they were all about these spiritual gifts.

They loved showing off those spiritual gifts that they had been given by God. And Paul says, that's just pride on your part. And what you need to want even more than those gifts is love for one another. And so he emphasizes that in verse 1 of chapter 13. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but Have not love it profits me.

We might say it would be difficult to do those things and God to grant you those things without love. But Paul's point is, as important as those things are, they don't mean anything if it doesn't come from a place of love, which means love is a first importance. It is foundational to everything else that we might be or do as Christians as Aaron Neville famously saying.

I don't know much, but I know I love you, right? That love can be foundational. Our love for God, our love for our neighbor, our love for our spouse. You know, I feel that way, I think, sometimes in my marriage. I don't know much, but I know I love you, right? I get off track, I don't know the right way to respond or the right thing to say.

I don't know the right thing to do in a situation with my spouse, but I know I love her. And based on that love, we can figure out the rest. And these first important things impact everything else. And therefore, these are the things that the devil prefers to attack. These are the things where he wants to distract us from what's really important.

Because he knows if he can get us to move our focus away from first important things, Then he can get us on the, on the path away from God. If he can get us off on justice and mercy and faith, who cares if we tithe, mint, dill, and cummin? If he can get us to forfeit our love, who cares if we can speak in tongues?

If he can get us to deny the resurrection, Who cares if we risk our lives for Jesus, as Paul talks about later in chapter 15. Therefore, first important things should be reaffirmed again and again. Reaffirming first important things Or how we reorient ourselves against the devil's distraction. We need to come back to these things and say, This, this is what's important.

This is what matters. This is what's true. And I drive a stake in the ground and say, I am tied to this and everything else. Can we do that? Because that's what God requires of us. There are lots of marriages. Lots of weddings that are coming up. Hopefully weddings that lead to marriages, right? Lots of them are coming up in the next week and in the next year, and I've been blessed to spend some time with some wonderful couples that I expect to do great things in the world, and more importantly, in God's kingdom.

But it's interesting these sessions premarital counseling that we do before, that's actually helpful to me in my marriage too, because I reaffirm to myself as I reaffirm to them in teaching these couples, What's really important, according to God and the scriptures, in regard to marriage, what God says marriage is all about, what I should be doing and not doing as a husband.

And God knows that we need this kind of reminder of first important things. Yeah, we gotta get down in the weeds about all of the applications of these things, but we need a reminder. things that are of first importance. If you turn to 2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1, that's exactly what Peter was trying to do.

In 2 Peter 1, beginning in verse 12.

For this reason he's talking about growing in these first importance matters. Faith, and virtue, and knowledge, and self control, and perseverance, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and love. These things that allow us to flourish and serve God as Christians. And so he says, for this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things.

Though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my death.

This is the reason that we have the scriptures to remind us of what's really important, to remind us of first importance things. And we have a written reminder of what the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles to write down, to And so I would say this. If God saw it as that important, if the Apostle Peter and Paul saw it as that important, first important things have both eternal and practical applications.

Turn back to 1 Corinthians 15. As you do, grateful for those who are visiting with us, though you might not know this about me, but those who are members here and have heard my preaching for any amount of time know One of my favorite questions to ask about any matter in regard to our life and decision making.

Does this have, what, any eternal significance? Does this have any eternal significance? That's a of first importance question, right? Does this really matter? Will this matter at all a year from now? Even more importantly, will this matter at all ten thousand years from now when we're all dead and gone and forgotten?

And it's a matter of eternity. Well, this thing that I'm concerned about this decision that I have to make, will this still matter? But that's not some intellectual exercise. If something has eternal significance, it must also have practical significance. There is something that I must think or do or say or respond to.

There is action to be taken for everything of first importance. And I believe that's borne out in the scriptures in a lot of places. But I think we can see it very clearly right here in 1 Corinthians 15. We left off reading in verse 18, read verse 19 with me. He says, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.

This has eternal, lasting significance beyond this life, is what he's saying. And if it doesn't, then what are we doing? Why, does he say later on, Why have I fought with beasts and Ephesus if the dead do not rise? Verse 32, If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. This has eternal significance.

And if we go down to verse 54, notice what he says from that perspective. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is eternal. It's about our soul. But it doesn't stop there. Verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.

It has a practical application to what my life is supposed to look like, the way I'm supposed to live, and who I am supposed to be. And I would finally say this, of first importance does mean that first important things are a category, not a single thing. In our example verses that we've just looked at this morning, What things are of first importance?

Well, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, justice, and mercy, and faith, loving God, and loving your neighbor, loving the brethren, seeking the kingdom of God. All of those things are described in the scriptures as being of first importance. And there are other things of first importance as well.

So this is a fairly broad category. of the things that really, really, I mean really matter. So with that in mind, I want us to zoom out maybe a little bit more, and not just think about these specific things, although they would be included, that we've mentioned from the scriptures this morning, but ask this question.

What is of first importance in your life? And I'm not saying other things are unimportant or unnecessary or should be totally ignored. I'm asking what is foundational to everything else in your life? What has both eternal and practical applications to your life? What needs to be reaffirmed again and again that this is important to you, that this is what my life's about?

And what does that category of things look like in your life, if you were to make a list? Now this isn't somebody else's, this is yours. What is of first importance in your life? This here is Texas. So I've seen many tea towels and cutesy knick knacks and bumper stickers that have some version of this.

Faith, family, football. Now that's a statement. of first importance things. But one of these things is not like the other, right? I love football. And if you say family is not like the other, you're missing the point, right? I love football. From October 2nd to November 27th of this year, there were 55 consecutive days of either college or pro televised football games.

55 consecutive days. Our country loves football. But anyone with any perspective whatsoever knows, whether they live this way or not, that football is not a first importance thing. But sometimes we need to be reminded of that. Because the devil seeks to distract us with second important things. I thought it was funny.

I just googled it and all these items came up. It was funny to me how many of them have faith and family here and then football in a different color. I don't think that's to emphasize that these two are most important. It seems to me that this one is the one being emphasized. That's exactly what the devil wants us to do.

Not with football, specifically, but with all these other things. Yeah, I know, faith and family, but football, man, that's what life's about. And so I ask you, what really is of first importance in your life? And on your handout, I have a place where you can list five things of first importance in your life.

You don't have time to do that right now, but I want you to consider that. And I'm going to give you five things that are of first importance in my life. Preston is going to talk tonight about our commitment to the Lord as we begin a new year. But commitment starts with identifying the things we need to be committing to and for.

And so here are five things in the presence of many witnesses, I declare of first importance in my life. Of first importance to me is to glorify God with my life. We're studying Jeremiah in the back, and we made that point this morning, that Jeremiah lived his life in such a way that he glorified God, despite his, from a side, physical perspective, his failures as a preacher.

I want God to receive praise from me and by the way I live. I want to, of first importance, imitate Christ in everything I do. I want people to see Jesus when they see the way I live my life. And however blurry that picture might be, I want Him to be the picture that they get when they see my life. Of first importance to me is to be the husband and father God has called me to be.

I want to fulfill these important roles with a grave understanding that I am impacting the eternal lives of those entrusted to my leadership. And with a light hope that I get all of the blessings that come with these special relationships when I act as God has called me to. Of first importance to me is to seek and save the lost.

This was of first importance to Jesus. This is why He came to earth. And while I can only save others by pointing them to Him, I want to do that pointing with all of my And of first importance to me is to love and serve my brethren. God gave us one another and placed us in body. Not this body, but this body.

For this purpose, to love and serve one another. To love one another as Christ loved us. And I want to do that to the best of my ability.

I could have made this same list ten years ago. But I need to reaffirm these things and things like them again and again and again. This is of first importance. So I, I challenge you. I can't make you do anything, but I challenge you. Make your own list this week. And whatever ends up being on that list as it's directed by the things God says are of first importance, Ask yourself, are you acting as though these things are of first importance in your life, by the way that you are living?

Stephen Covey wrote in his famous, highly influential book, The Heaven, The Seven, not The Heaven, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. In his chapter on putting first things first, the essence of the best thinking in the area of time management can be captured in a single phrase, he says. Wow.

What earth shattering thing do you think he's going to say? Organize and execute around priorities. Well, duh. The things that are of foremost importance should be the things that we're organizing our life around, obviously. That's where we should be spending the majority of our time, talent, and resources.

But how often do we allow the devil to distract us where that is not so? That our expressed priorities, the things we say and believe are of first importance, And our actions do not align. So my next challenge for you, and you've got blanks for this on your handout as well, what can you do to, in the words of Stephen Covey, organize and execute around those five things that you said are of foremost importance?

Again, I give you a list of things that I'm doing in my life, perhaps as a springboard for you to think about things to do in your life. I want to actively participate in all aspects of our worship services. I want to be here for them and I want to participate in them. I'm going to be here for them, but am I participating actively in those things?

Number two, I want to personally practice the spiritual disciplines taught and practiced by Jesus. We'll talk about that more next week, but I want to imitate him in all the ways that he taught and all the ways that he lived. Number three, I want to lead in daily prayer and Bible reading in my family. I believe that the scriptures teach this is of utmost importance.

For faith to be found in our families and in our children, and I want to do that. Number four, I want to pray daily for opportunities to reach the lost. Preston challenged us to do that, and I've been doing it. I want to continue to do that. And these opportunities will arise. And then number five, a small but practical thing.

I want to write notes of encouragement and thanks to my brethren. So if you don't get a note this year, you know, I'm sorry, but I'm going to try. I'm going to try to write notes of encouragement and thanks to my brethren. What does this look like to you? These are just examples from my life, of course, but what does it look like in yours?

Do you know what's of first importance? Are you living your life in true reflection of those priorities? Knowing and doing the objectively first important things is only possible. If you are in a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, He, Jesus, is of first importance. And He informs us on what should be.

of first importance in our lives. So turn back to 1 Corinthians 15 one last time. And I want you to notice how foundational the reality of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection specifically is. That, that he calls it of first importance. In verse 1 he says, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, the good news which I preach to you, which you also receive.

And in which you stand, by which you are saved. How foundational is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? We are saved by it, and we stand in it. This is where we find eternal life, and this is where we live our physical lives. If you hold fast that word which I preach to you, Unless you believed in vain.

We hold on to it. We drive that stake in the ground and say, I don't know much, but I know this, that Jesus died for my sins. He was buried and He was raised. And based on that, I'm going to live my life, as God has called me to. For I deliver to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.

And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. How foundational is this? It was received from God by the apostles and it was all according to the scriptures. And I can objectively know That this is of first importance, because God told me that it is. And this reality, that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, has practical application.

To you, maybe even this morning. If you are not yet a Christian, will you accept this as truth? And respond accordingly with your own death of the old man of sin in repentance. Your own burial in a watery grave of baptism. And your own resurrection to a new life, putting first things first. And seeing what is of first importance to God, so that it might be of first importance to you.

And if we can help you with that, even this morning, it is of first importance that you make your life right. May we help you? If we can, come now, while together we stand and while we sing. Amen.