One of the highlights for a believer visiting Israel is to go to a site known as the Garden Tomb. It's a very famous site. It's the place where many people believe was the actual tomb where Jesus was buried and from which He rose again. There's an alternate site in Jerusalem, but many believe this is the place. And what you see when you enter that tomb are two things that are absolutely thrilling to a believer in Christ. First, you see a slab of rock where a body had once been placed, but now there is no body lying there. It's just an empty tomb. And then, as you turn around, you are about to exit from the tomb. You see a plaque on the wall with these words from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verse 6. He has risen He is not here. Behold, here's the place where they laid him." Now, for those of us who know Christ, seeing that empty tomb, it's just a profound and very moving experience. And the effect it has on you when you see this is that it just gives you a deeper sense, a new renewed sense of the reality that Jesus really did rise Again, because it's a visual reminder of His resurrection. Now tonight, as we return to our study of 1 Corinthians 15, we began last week to look at this chapter. We see the Apostle Paul He's attempting to do essentially the very same thing with the Corinthians. He wants to give them a new and a renewed and a deeper sense of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Now, I remind you of what we discovered last week in our opening study of 1 Corinthians. 15, and that is that the Corinthians believed that Jesus rose from the dead. They had no problem believing that. In fact, they had to believe that because that's part of the gospel message. You can't become a Christian and reject the resurrection. It's one of the essential truths of the gospel. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he rose again. However, the problem with the Corinthians is that while they believe that Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form, they rejected the idea that when they died that their bodies would be raised from the dead. And as I told you last week, the reason for their rejection of the human body being resurrected was because they allowed erroneous pagan Greek philosophy to influence their theology. And the Greek philosophy of that day believed that everything that was physical, meaning the human body, was evil. They viewed their body as a corpse. to which they were bound and chained as long as they lived in this world. But at death, they believed that their soul was finally released, finally released from the body, so that their soul lived on throughout eternity, freed from this evil body it had been shackled to. And so for them, For them, the thought of their body being resurrected for all of eternity, it was not only wrong, it was repulsive to them, it was demoralizing. They absolutely rejected it. And this is why when the Apostle Paul was in the city of Athens, and he preached to the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill, they intently listened to him, because they loved to hear new things, up to a point. up to the point, when you read this in Acts 17, you see this, they listened intently to him until he mentioned that God had raised a man, meaning Jesus, from the dead. Once they heard him speak of the resurrection from the dead, they began to arrogantly sneer and snicker and mock him because to them the thought of a body being resurrected was just absurd. It went against everything that they had ever been taught. And so it's with this background of how the Corinthians, who being Greek by culture and thinking, embrace this pagan view of the body. It's this background that helps us then to understand why Paul devotes all of chapter 15 to correcting their error, their theological error about the resurrection. And the first thing that Paul does in correcting them is he shows them how totally inconsistent They actually are in their belief about the resurrection because having believed that the body of Jesus was raised from the dead, it made no sense. In fact, it was illogical and it was a flaw, a foolish flaw in their thinking to believe that their bodies would not be raised from the dead. Jesus had a real body. He's the God-Man. And so they're terribly inconsistent. As we discovered last Sunday, Paul uses the first 11 verses of this chapter to talk only about Christ being raised from the dead. That's all he's talking about. And what he does in these 11 verses is he gives a number of arguments to prove the resurrection of Christ. And he does this not to convince the Corinthians that Jesus was raised from the dead, because they already believed that. Instead, his purpose in giving them these various proofs was to make them think properly about the resurrection and to enable them to, as we would put it today, connect the dots in their theology. If this is true, then this must be true. If Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form, then they will too. You see, Paul's goal is to deepen the belief in Christ's resurrection. He wants them to have a new sense of the reality of the resurrection of Christ. He wants them to understand the implications of Christ's resurrection. He wants them to be so convinced that Jesus rose from the dead that this truth will become more than a doctrine to them, more than a doctrine that they hold to. He wants it to become a living reality that just grips their hearts so that it will be an unwavering conviction in their thinking. And that's exactly how these opening verses of chapter 15, how it should affect us. Most, if not all of us here, believe that Jesus rose from the dead. but more than just believe this is a part of our doctrinal theology, the Lord wants this truth to grip our hearts, all of us, so that it deepens the reality that we too will be resurrected, raised after death. And so understanding why Paul is so focused on the resurrection of Christ in the opening verses of this chapter, what we see him doing then, as I said, is he gives a number of proofs for the resurrection of Jesus. Last week we looked at three of these proofs that Paul gave. In verses 1 and 2, he told them that their own salvation, their own salvation once they heard the gospel, that was proof that Jesus was raised because only the risen Christ could transform them like he did. They were once lost, pagan, wicked sinners. The Lord turned them into saints. That's the proof that there's a risen Christ to do that. Then at the beginning of verse 3, he told them that the truth of the resurrection of Christ was a fact divinely revealed to him, revealed to Paul by the Lord Himself. In other words, Paul didn't make this up. The Lord revealed this truth to him, thus proving that it is true. He didn't go to a council meeting to figure this out. He didn't have to consult with any of the other apostles. It was Jesus who told them about this. And the third proof Paul gave for Christ's resurrection, mentioned in verses 3 and 4, is that the Old Testament Scriptures declared, they predicted that the Messiah would be raised from the dead. And that His resurrection, along with the truths of His death and burial, was an essential part of the Gospel message. And so tonight, as we continue our study, we have come to the fourth proof that Paul gave for Christ's resurrection, and that is the Lord appeared to various people groups and people after his resurrection. In other words, it's the appearances of Jesus, the post-resurrection appearances of him. So we break in at verse 5. and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles." Now with these verses, Paul tells us that after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared. He physically appeared to a number of people who could testify of his resurrection because they saw him. Now, it would appear that the reason Paul appealed to the testimony of these eyewitnesses as proof of Christ's resurrection is because, as one Bible teacher put it, and I quote, throughout history, the testimony of responsible and honest eyewitnesses has been considered one of the most reliable forms of evidence in a court of law. And so understanding that even human law assumes that the testimony of two credible witnesses affirms the truthfulness of their testimony, Paul now presents not two, but he presents many witnesses who could testify that Jesus rose from the dead because He appeared to them. They saw Him. Now we know from the Gospel accounts that Jesus appeared to a number. of his followers after he was raised from the dead, such as, for example, Mary Magdalene. She was the first one he appeared to. Then there are some other women. Then there are the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Luke chapter 24. And then he appeared to a few of his apostles who went fishing on the Sea of Galilee. In fact, according to Acts chapter 1 verse 3, Jesus appeared to his apostles many times over a period of 40 days after the resurrection, and then he departed from this world to return to glory. But Paul doesn't mention all these appearances. Instead, he chooses to focus on six post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. Three to individuals and three to groups of people. And he does this, as I said, in order to make the point that these eyewitnesses, they prove that Jesus rose from the dead. They saw him. So the first eyewitness to the resurrection of Christ that Paul mentions is the apostle Peter. He speaks of him at the beginning of verse 5, and that he appeared to Cephas. Cephas is simply the Aramaic name for Peter. He's talking about Peter, the apostle. Now, Paul doesn't tell us all the information here. He doesn't tell us when. He doesn't tell us where Jesus appeared to Peter. What we do know, though, is that according to Luke 24, verse 34, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had heard that Jesus had appeared, and they're telling Jesus this, so they didn't know it was Jesus, had appeared to some women and they said, and to Peter. So we know that Peter was the very first of all the apostles that Jesus appeared to. And that it was an appearance to him alone without any other apostle being around. Now why Jesus appeared first to Peter ahead of the others? We're just not told. Paul doesn't tell us anything about this meeting other than the fact that Jesus appeared to Peter. That's all. However, a reasonable explanation, in fact, a very reasonable explanation, and one that certainly makes sense, though we can't prove it from Scripture, as to why Jesus would first single out Peter before making an appearance to any of the other apostles is this, knowing what emotional turmoil Peter was in after having denied him three times, it would appear that Jesus would do something like this to bring peace, to bring assurance, to bring calmness to Peter of his unconditional love. Can you imagine what Peter's going through? He's just denied the Lord three times. He's cursed. He's sworn. He has backslid. So I said, well, we can't say for certain why the Lord appeared first to Peter. It would certainly be in keeping, I think we can say that, it would be in keeping with our Lord's character of love and compassion and sensitivity and thoughtfulness to appear to Peter before the others in order to assure Peter of his forgiveness. It certainly makes sense that Jesus knew that Peter needed to see him. Now Peter needed to be assured that in spite of his sin, in spite of his failure to be faithful, the Lord had not forsaken him. In spite of Peter's failure to be faithful, the Lord would still be faithful to him. Well, regardless of why Jesus appeared to Peter before the other apostles, we know this. We know that Peter, having seen and spoken to Jesus, He was a convinced man. He was convinced that he rose from the dead, and Peter became one of the boldest witnesses in the early church, if not the boldest witness, initially, as he proclaimed the resurrection of Christ. To 3,000 Jewish people on the day of Pentecost, Peter tells them, you crucified the Messiah, but he rose again. He rose again. Continuing on with who Jesus appeared to, Paul proceeds to tell us at the end of verse 5 that Jesus appeared then to the 12. Now the words, the twelve, it's an official term used in the New Testament to refer to the twelve apostles, even though at this time there were only eleven apostles due to the disqualification and then the death of Judas. So the twelve is just a designation, it's the apostles. And while we know, as I said from Acts chapter 1 verse 3, that Jesus appeared to these men many times, how many we don't know, but many times over over 40 days. Most likely this appearance that Paul has in mind is when Jesus first appeared to the apostles on the evening of the day that he rose again, that first Easter Sunday, as we read these words in John 20 verse 19. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, this would be Sunday, And when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, meaning the Jewish religious leaders, the authorities, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you. In other words, Shalom. Peace be with you. And just like Peter, having seen the risen Lord, all of these men, All the apostles went on to become bold proclaimers of not only the gospel, but the resurrection of Christ. And it cost all of them, except John, their lives. That's how convinced they were. And so having told us that Peter and the other apostles all saw Jesus, Paul proceeds to tell us about a rather large gathering of Christ's disciples who also saw him following his resurrection. Verse 6. After that, he appeared to more than, note this, 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. And with this verse, Paul mentions that following the resurrection, Jesus appeared to over 500 brethren. By brethren, he means disciples, followers of Christ, believers in Him. Now, when or where this appearance took place, again, we are just not told. Most likely, though, Jesus appeared to all of these believers in Galilee He had said to the women, or Mary Magdalene, go tell them that I will meet them in Galilee. And the angel conveyed that. I'll meet them again in Galilee. It probably took place in the region of Galilee, probably on some mountaintop that could accommodate such a large number. If you've ever been to Israel, you know that there are places in the mountains that could have hundreds of people. However, what is important is the fact that there were 500 individuals, in fact Paul says more than 500, who saw the Lord. And Paul is writing this about 20 years later, and he says that many of them were still alive. Some of them remain, it means that they're still alive. Some have died, but some remain. In other words, those who were still alive, they were available if any of the Corinthians or anyone else wanted to speak to them. If anyone wanted to travel to Israel, which wasn't that far from Corinth, and you could speak to any of these people who were alive, and they would verify that Jesus rose from the dead. Now the fact that more than 500 people saw Christ alive after His resurrection. Folks, that's a big truth. That's an important truth. And one that can be used even today as we share the Gospel with people to show the validity of our faith. that our faith is authentic. You see, and I say this because one argument that's used by unbelievers who reject the resurrection of Christ is that they say that these people who saw Jesus after the resurrection were really just hallucinating. They were imagining this. And the reason they were hallucinating, they say, is because, well, wanting so badly to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, they imagined that they actually saw Him, when it was all really just a mirage. Folks, it's nonsense. Nonsense. While it is true that someone Someone, an individual, can hallucinate and deceive themselves into thinking they saw something that wasn't real because they just wanted so badly to believe in its reality. However, for 500 people? To all have the same exact hallucination at the same exact time is simply untenable. It couldn't possibly happen. That's not how hallucinations work. Next person that Paul mentions who Jesus appeared to was James, notice the beginning of verse 7. Then he appeared to James. Now while there were two of the Lord's apostles who had the name James, one of them one of the sons of Zebedee, that would have been John's brother. There was another one called James, the son of Alphaeus. It's more likely though that the James that Paul has in mind is the Lord's half-brother. This is the James who was one of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem, who presided over the Jerusalem Council of Acts chapter 15, and he was the author of the New Testament letter named after him. I quoted him a lot this morning from James. So assuming that Paul did mean James, the half-brother of Jesus, the question is why, out of all these people, why would he mention him as someone the Corinthians should know about when it comes to Christ being raised from the dead? Well the answer is that James along with the Lord's other half brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah during his public ministry. We know that because of what we read in John chapter 7 verse 5 stating not even his brothers were believing in him. But In Acts chapter 1, where we read about the 120 believers who were gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem after the Lord's ascension to heaven, the Lord's half-brothers are mentioned as part of that believing group, and that would include James. So it's very likely that James became a believer in Jesus as Messiah after the Lord appeared to him. In other words, seeing him after he rose from the dead, it convinced James. I mean, how could it not convince you? It convinced James that Jesus was indeed who he claimed to be. So what Paul is saying to the Corinthians is that even Christ's own family member, someone from his own family, someone who did not believe in him, once he saw him after his death, he became convinced of the resurrection. In other words, James is a very credible witness of the Lord's resurrection, having come from unbelief now to belief. Now the fifth eyewitness to Christ's resurrection is mentioned by Paul at the end of verse 7. Paul simply says, then, to all the apostles, which most likely is a reference of the Lord appearing to all of them on the day that he ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives. Now, so far Paul has listed five witnesses, some individuals, some groups of witnesses who can testify that they all saw Jesus alive after he was dead. Peter, the apostles, over 500 brethren, James, the apostles again. But as Paul continues, he mentions himself Now he mentions himself as someone who Jesus appeared to. And while he is the sixth witness, he's actually in another category because he has a different purpose in mentioning himself. In fact, he expands on this. Remember, I remind you what Paul is doing in these verses. He is driving home the point to the Corinthians of the reality of Christ's resurrection, trying to convince them of its significance as well as its certainty. And so in making this argument, Paul presents himself as proof that Jesus rose from the dead. His point being that the resurrection of Christ transformed him. It radically transformed him. Notice verse 8. And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. Paul says that he was the last person that Jesus appeared to. And that's because Paul was not an apostle during the public ministry of Jesus. In fact, Paul wasn't even a believer at that point. He was a zealous, unbelieving Pharisee. But while he was traveling on the road to Damascus, the risen Christ did appear to Paul, then known as Saul of Tarsus. And it was at that time that Paul was not only converted, he was commissioned to be an apostle, all at that same time. Now notice once again verse 8. And notice how Paul refers to himself. He calls himself one untimely Born. So what does he mean by this? That's an odd phrase. Well, the Greek word means someone born by a miscarriage or a premature birth. In other words, an ill-timed birth is the thought. What the Apostle Paul means by this is that he came to faith later than the other apostles. They all believed on Jesus while he was with them. during his public ministry, but Paul came to believe later after Jesus ascended to glory. Here's how one Bible teacher described, and I think he did an excellent job, described what Paul meant by his untimely birth. He writes, To Paul's thinking, the other apostles were born again in a normal way. They heard the word of the Lord Jesus. The message took root in their hearts. They believed and were converted. Their spiritual birth followed a normal spiritual pregnancy. Paul's spiritual birth was sudden and abnormal. Jesus had to blind him, throw him to the ground, and speak to him from the sky in order to get his attention. And it was because Paul's conversion was so unusual and made such a dramatic turnaround in his life that he includes his testimony of Christ appearing to him in order, note this, in order to demonstrate to the Corinthians that the resurrection of Jesus had revolutionized him. It had radically transformed his life. That is to say that he wants the Corinthians to understand that the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, it's a truth that transforms lives. It's not merely a doctrine to believe. It's a reality that profoundly affects people. It changes people and it certainly changed Paul. And so having said that, Paul now proceeds to tell the Corinthians how Jesus changed him. How he transformed his life. He reveals four ways that his life was changed after seeing the risen Christ. And in principle you'll see this is true of us as well. Should be true of us. First of all, it humbled Paul. It humbled Paul. It stripped him of pride. Verse 9, For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. It never ceased to amaze Paul that God had chosen him, not only for salvation, but he had chosen him to have such an important position as an apostle. a representative of Christ, of the highest order. Although he considered himself equal with all the apostles, he knew he had the same authority as all the apostles, he did feel that he was the least of them and not even worthy of being an apostle. Why? Because before his conversion he hated the name of Jesus, he hated Christians, and he persecuted the church. But after seeing the risen Christ, Paul was humbled. As I said, his pride was stripped from him. He went from being a zealous, highly esteemed Jewish scholar and Pharisee to a despised apostle of a despised Messiah. Having seen Jesus, Paul was simply a changed man. No longer did Paul have an inflated view of himself. Now he was a humble apostle who felt that he wasn't even worthy to be called an apostle. What a difference the resurrection made in Paul's life. And that's the point that he wants the Corinthians and us to get. The second way Paul's life was changed after seeing Jesus is that he now attributed everything he was to God's grace. Notice the beginning in verse 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am. Now some of you may have thought that the words I am what I am came from Popeye, the old cartoon character. Those of you who are young probably don't even know what I'm talking about. But it actually came from Paul. It actually came from Paul. And the meaning of these words is that having seen Jesus, And having been converted, Paul realized that everything he was now, what was he now? Forgiven of his sins, a saved man, redeemed man, a preacher of the Gospel, a church planter, a man who loved Christ and loved other Christians, all of this was because of God's grace. What's God's grace? It's His undeserved favor being bestowed upon him. Listen, had God not directed His grace towards Paul, then he would have still been an unbelieving blasphemer and persecutor of the church. But Paul was absolutely transformed by seeing and believing in Jesus. Instead of being a self-righteous Pharisee who thought he was good enough to go to heaven because he kept the law, Paul was a man thankful for the grace of God. And he attributed his salvation and his entire life to God's grace. He gave God, in other words, credit for everything in his life. Everything in his life. Third way Paul's life was changed after seeing Jesus was that he worked hard at serving the Lord. The rest of verse 10 says, And his grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Paul says that God's grace towards him did not prove vain. Meaning what? Meaning it accomplished its purpose. its purpose in his life. One of the purposes was to turn him into a hard-working servant of Christ. And that's what Paul means by saying, but I labored even more than all of them, meaning all the other apostles, yet not I, but the grace of God. Now, Paul's not boasting here. He's not bragging. He's simply acknowledging the truth that God used him He used him in a greater way than all the other apostles. That's absolutely true. And notice, he gives credit to God for this. He says he didn't do this on his own, but God's grace enabled him to work so hard. Listen, with the same kind of energy that had driven him to persecute the church, relentless energy, Once he saw Jesus and became a believer, God's grace then empowered him to turn all that energy into working hard to serve the Lord. It is remarkable when one thinks about all that Paul did as a servant of Christ. Based on what we read in the New Testament, Paul evangelized more places than any other apostle. He certainly covered more territory in the Roman Empire than any other apostle. He planted more churches. He introduced more people to Christ than any of the other apostles. And he certainly wrote more inspired, God-breathed New Testament letters than the other apostles. And remember, folks, he did this all the while he worked as a tentmaker to financially support himself. I don't know when the man slept. Paul was accurate when he said this. He labored more than the other apostles, but he did it with the power and energy supplied now by the grace of God. Finally, the fourth way that Paul's life was changed after seeing Jesus is that what mattered to him most now was that the gospel was proclaimed. And he didn't care who received credit for leading people to Christ. Notice verse 11. Whether then it was I or they, by they he means the other apostles, so we preach and so you believed. Having just said that he labored more than the other apostles, he now says that what matters most to him now isn't that he worked harder than the other apostles. That's not what is most important. But rather that all of the apostles, all of them, were unified in preaching the same gospel message. And that the Corinthians believed the gospel when it was first preached to them. See, Paul wasn't in competition with anybody. Certainly not with the other apostles. He wasn't concerned with which apostle preached to which group of people. The only thing that mattered now to Paul was that the gospel went forth, it was preached, the people believed it, and were saved. That's exactly what he says happened to the Corinthians. They heard the gospel, which included the message of Christ's resurrection, and they believed it. So folks, this is Paul's testimony about how seeing Jesus alive transformed his life. And he wants the Corinthians again, I say this, to know this so that their belief in Christ's resurrection will be deeper, more meaningful, more greatly appreciated, and will in turn then lead them to believe that after death they'll be resurrected. Connect the dots. But listen, even though you and I have never seen Jesus in the flesh, the fact that you have believed on the risen Christ, it means that your life has been changed too. And those changes should be, in principle, very similar to the changes in Paul's life. Having believed on Christ, you should be humble. We're not talking about perfection, but we're talking about a general characterization. You should be humble. Realizing how undeserving you are of salvation. No true Christian boasts that he's saved because of anything that had to do with himself. He's humbled by this undeserving of salvation. While you may not have persecuted the church, you once hated Christ. You once hated other people. That's what the Bible says about us. We should all feel like Paul that we are the least of all Christians and not worthy to even be called a Christian. And like Paul, we should attribute everything in our lives now to the grace of God. Everything you are in terms of being a new creation, a new creature in Christ, you owe to the grace of God. Think of what you would be if Jesus had not saved you. Think of where you would be, what your life would be like if He allowed you to continue on in your unsaved, lost condition. So thank him for his grace and continue to appreciate his grace in your life. And like Paul, all of us should work hard in serving the Lord. We may not be able to accomplish all that the Apostle Paul accomplished, but we can still work hard for the Lord. Harder certainly than we do. What should our service for Christ look like? Well, I call your attention to the very last verse. of this chapter, because Paul describes how serving the Lord, how we should all be serving Him. Verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Why isn't it in vain? Because someday you will appear before Him. There is an afterlife. There is the resurrection. So your toil, your work is not in vain. Finally, we should all be like Paul in that we shouldn't care who gets the credit for leading anyone to Christ, or for doing anything for the Lord for that matter. Helping somebody to grow in Christ, ministering to them. We shouldn't care if we get the credit or not. Our only concern should be that the gospel is proclaimed, people are saved, people are growing, people are built up, people are encouraged in Christ. It was former president Harry Truman who once said, it is amazing how much work someone can accomplish when they don't care who gets the credit. Wise words. So don't be concerned in your ministry, in your life, who gets the credit. Others say thank you to somebody who didn't do as much as you. Just proclaim Christ, seek to win people to him, and serve him faithfully. So folks, these are Paul's proofs for the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. The Corinthians' own salvation proved it. They were changed. The fact that Jesus revealed the truth of his resurrection to Paul, that proved it. The prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures proved it. And the various eyewitnesses proved it. No one, after listening to Paul's arguments, no one should be a skeptic concerning the Lord being raised from the dead. And for those of us who already do believe that he rose from the dead. These proofs should not only drive this truth deep into your soul, but they should affect the way that you live, the way that you think. I close with this quote from Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll, who said, like Paul, all of us who believe in Christ have been plucked from our crippled pasts. We may not have persecuted Christ's cause like Paul did, but we all denied his resurrection in our own subtle ways, and just as he did with Paul, so Jesus has brought salvation to us. He has heaped grace upon grace in our lives. He writes, I urge you to embrace the full resurrection message. He has promised not only to give us eternal life, but also to give us abundant life daily as we soften our hearts Surrender our wills and obey Him. I trust you will do exactly that. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this passage of Scripture. It affirms to us that we have not believed in vain. What we have believed are facts, accurate, truthful. You are alive today, Lord Jesus. You are here by your Spirit in this room tonight. We pray for anyone here has never trusted you, Lord, or maybe perhaps someone watching my live stream has never trusted you. May they not only be convinced that Jesus rose from the dead, may they be convinced that on the cross you died for them, and may they place their trust in you alone for salvation. We ask you to do that work of grace, and Lord, we pray that our lives might be transformed like Paul, that we would be ever so mindful of your grace, work as hard as we can for you, recognize your energizing power in our lives, and praise you for saving us. Lord, we indeed feel like, Paul, we are the chief of sinners and shouldn't even be, we're not worthy to even be called Christians, but by your grace you have called us, equipped us, and you have energized us. So we pray that you'll Use your word to work in our lives tonight. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.