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Originally Posted by les fel****
Jesus never promoted the fact that He had died, and shed His blood. He couldn't do that because it hadn't happened yet. The Twelve certainly didn't understand it because they had no idea that He was going to die and be risen from the dead. We haven't looked at that in a while so let's go back to the Book of Luke, Chapter 18. Sometimes we need to look at some of these older references that we haven't used in a long time to refresh our memories, and it also helps those who have just tuned in recently. And if you think Jesus and the Twelve preached our Gospel, the Gospel that Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:1-4 saves us, "if we believe that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again," then you had better think again. How could they? In the first place He hadn't died, and in the second place He certainly hadn't been raised from the dead, and in the third place his earthly teaching was confined to Israel (Ref Matthew 10:5-6). Now look what Jesus says in this passage.
Luke 18:31-34
"Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, `Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he (speaking of Himself) shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.' (Christ knew it would happen) And they (the Twelve) understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken."
Now isn't it obvious, because at His crucifixion did they just stand there and say, "Hey, don't worry, He's going to be raised from the dead?" But what did they do? They scattered like a bunch of quail, and as far as the eleven were concerned it was all over. He didn't bring in the earthly Kingdom for them, He was dead. And I remind you now, "Where were those disciples on resurrection morning?" Well they certainly weren't at the tomb waiting for Him to come out. Were they? No. But the disciples didn't know, so how could they preach a Gospel based on death, burial, and resurrection? They couldn't because it hadn't happened yet.
Now this Apostle Paul as he defends himself over and over, this is all that he knows, "How that Christ died for the sins of the world, and that He arose from the dead victorious. And by His life and death we're justified from all things." That's the foundation of the Christian faith, it's the foundation for anyone who is going to go to an eternity in the presence of God. To trust anything short of the finished work of the Cross, I'm afraid that those people are doomed to a lost eternity. I've told people over and over that I don't point the finger at anybody. I'll never look at someone and say, "Hey, you're lost." That not my prerogative, because I can't look on anyone's heart, but I can say, "That if Jesus Christ and His finished work of the Cross isn't the foundation of your faith, then you're on pretty shaky ground."
Now let's look at verse 12. Here Paul has involved us in a building process, he's the masterbuilder, he's started the foundation. Now a general run-of-the-mill believer has been building on that foundation for almost 2000 years, and all these believers down through the centuries have been building on this foundation. We are building on this foundation, and we are adding to that building. Now usually when I teach this I liken us to building a wall, laying the mortar, laying the brick, and being meticulous on how we are building, because, after all, our section of the wall is going to be examined by those fiery eyes of the Lord Jesus some day. Now as we embark on our Christian walk, God gives us six materials to build with. Isn't that amazing that He tells us what we can build with. We can use gold, silver and precious stones or we can use hay, wood, and stubble, or a combination of all six, and that is what we as believers are all doing. Now one of the first things I have to remind folks of is this: do you find gold or silver, or precious stones laying just right outside the front door? No! To get them, usually you have to go up into the rough country, and it takes hard work. None of these first three come easy, but hay, wood, and stubble are everywhere, and that's what most Christians are building with because they are too lazy to get up and go out and work for those hard to get materials. Now let's look at it.
I Corinthians 3:12
"Now if any man build upon this foundation (Remember, Christ has to be the foundation, we have to have faith in His finished work of the Cross before we're even given opportunity to add to His building. So the materials we are going to use to build with are) gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; "
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