Bootstrap
The True Gospel

Preached in Norwalk Calif. on Lord's Day Afternoon, September 7th, 2003

1 Timothy 1:11
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed GOD, which was committed to my trust.

"According to the glorious gospel of the blessed GOD," The title of my message is The True Gospel.
And many preach the gospel. Arminians preach gospel messages, Reformed Arminians preach gospel messages, and even people in the so-called Christ righteousness movement which I call them nowadays. They denounce Arminianism and will have nothing to do with those that have anything to do with them. But yet, I see in their doctrines Arminianism written all over it.

"According to the glorious gospel of the blessed GOD," and when it talks about "the blessed GOD," it is talking about the Trinity. Each person of the Trinity: GOD the Father, GOD the Son, GOD the Holy Spirit have their own work to do in this gospel to bring the children of GOD to eternal glory. Each one have their unique work to do.

Without preaching the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there is no gospel. Many today just preach Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, righteousness, righteousness, righteousness. But then they add works, works, works, works, and no Spirit and no Father. All three are important to the gospel of our salvation.

1 Thessalonians 2:9
9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail (toll): for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of GOD.

We will see the same thought in Romans 1 "the gospel of GOD,"

Romans 1:1
1 Paul, a servant (slave) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of GOD,

In other times it is called the gospel of Christ or concerning His Son Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:2-4 & 9
2 (Which He had promised afore (before) by His prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our LORD, which was made (born) of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of GOD with power, according to the Spirit (or Spirit) of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
9 For GOD is my witness, whom I serve with (in) my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

And there are many more scriptures on each one. Christ and the Father, in other words Christ and GOD. But here we see the gospel concerning His Son Jesus Christ.
v:4 and he says He was "declared to be the Son of GOD with power," "by the resurrection from the dead:" That is the finishing of the work. He resurrected and ascended into the heavenlies.

The gospel is not just imputation or righteousness by Christ. We will see it is one of the blessings of the gospel. But it is not the gospel itself. Many think that is the gospel. They miss all the other blessings of the gospel. It is the eternal covenant in Christ Jesus. He was set in covenant for His people to bring every one of these children as the Captain of their salvation to heaven.

So it is the gospel concerning His Son Jesus Christ, and in Christ Jesus, the union. That is the gospel.

It is constant all the way as you look through Ephesians and other places of the Bible. All of our blessings are in Christ Jesus.

We will look at one more of the gospel: The "gospel of the kingdom."

Matthew 24:14
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The "gospel of the kingdom shall be preached." We were in the kingdom of Satan. But we have been translated or taken from his kingdom to the kingdom of Christ, to the kingdom of being in Him. Not the nation of the flesh, but the nation of the elect. The highly favored ones. The chosen ones. They have been translated from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ, the "gospel of the kingdom."

All these things that we see here: The gospel of GOD, the gospel of Christ, and the gospel of the kingdom are all part of the gospel message.

Romans 10:14 & 15
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THEM THAT PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, AND BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!

V:15 "AND BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS! which that is the gospel, the gospel "of good things!"

Jeremiah 33:14
14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

"I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah." Or in other words, the good things which He has promised to the nation, to the elect, to the highly favored ones. He will perform it, and Christ has performed every good thing.

He was set under the covenant to come being born of a woman: To fulfill all righteousness, that is a good thing. To die, that is a good thing for His people because otherwise, they would have died and went to hell for eternity. Being buried, that is a good thing. Raised for our justification, that is a good thing. Ascending to heaven and presenting every one of His children to the Father as the Captain of their salvation, that is a good thing.

And there are many more blessings which we will cover a few. The feet of a minister or a preacher goes forth and what does he preach? First off, we have to see that he preaches the everlasting gospel. Without preaching the everlasting gospel, I can tell you for a fact, there is no gospel message.

Revelation 14:6
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred (tribe), and tongue, and people,

The angels are the picture of the gospel minister. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to all nations, which is the nations of the elect.

And in the original Greek word, looking it up you can see it in the Strong's Concordance, "everlasting" does not only mean "future." That is what most would like us to believe. But the original word says past, future. Everything past to future.

All of our blessings are from eternity all the way past, forever and ever in the past. And vice versa, in the future, forever and ever in the future. The everlasting gospel is, and it has always been there. Why? Christ has always been there. And all of our blessings are in Him. The word "gospel" and the word "promise" are almost the exact same word in the original Greek.

So the gospel is a promise. The everlasting gospel is actually an everlasting promise of a good thing in Jesus Christ. Because every single law was in His command and He is a surety to fulfill every one.

Acts 13:32
32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,

"And we declare unto you glad tidings," or the gospel "how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,"

Hebrews 11:12 & 13
12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded (assured) of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Hebrews 11:14
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country (homeland).

Yet how can the dispensationalist say, ' Well they just sought this land, Canaan.'

Hebrews 11:15 & 16
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore GOD is not ashamed to be called their GOD: for He hath prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 11:17
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried (tested), offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son,

Hebrews 11:13
13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

See these promises of GOD, they were not finished. They had not received all of them because they were not finished yet. That is what it means "not having received" them "the promises." But they knew what was coming in the future because as we will see in a moment, the gospel was preached to Abraham.

But they did not desire an earthly kingdom. They desired a heavenly kingdom. They knew the promises were all in Christ and it was a heavenly kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of the elect being in Christ Jesus.

So we saw in Acts 13:32 that is what it means "And we declare unto you glad tidings," the gospel "how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,"

It was made unto them. Each one was given a different part of the promise. But it was all heavenly. They were all blessings being revealed more and more through the Old Testament. But they all were in Christ Jesus. Every single one of them.

Galatians 3:8
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that GOD would justify the heathen (nations) through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Genesis 12:3
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

"In thee" and as we saw before months and months ago the Father does not say, ' And you Abraham.' all the nations shall be blessed. He says in Christ. He is talking about Christ. "In thee" in Christ "shall all nations be blessed." In Christ, in all of His works. That is all of His blessings. Each single one of His blessings.

You see, GOD promised before the foundation of the world to set His Son in covenant. And a covenant is a promise. He promised all of His people every one of the elect blessings in Christ. He promised them blessings. And if Christ would have never came, no blessings.

J. C. Philpot once said, "without the union with Christ of spiritual blessings, there is none. And so it, the covenant was set with Jesus Christ. That is a good thing because we have no hope without Him. The covenant was set with Him and all the blessings are in Him.

Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the GOD and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

"who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" He has "blessed us with all" not a few. Christ was set in covenant in a promise and in Him all the blessings flow. All of them are in Him from eternity to eternity.

I will take a few verses of "everlasting." All of our glad tidings are in Christ. The everlasting gospel. It has always been there. We were apart from it for a while doing our own thing. But the gospel was still there.

Jeremiah 31:3
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

This is the Father in everlasting love from all eternity.

Daniel 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophesy, and to anoint the most Holy.

"and to bring in everlasting righteousness," The righteousness is everlasting. It is a blessing. And a blessing is not just when we are born again. This righteousness is imputed unto us. This blessing has been from all eternity. Everlasting is past to the future.

How can we ever say that we were never righteous before we were born again when Christ has always been righteous. GOD has promised every blessing in Christ Jesus.

And I am going to read something to you from a person who says absolutely anyone who believes that an Arminian is saved is lost. (Bobby Bullington) But from what I can see, he knows no gospel. Listen to this.
'Before men and women are converted, the gospel addresses them as being without GOD serving and worshipping an idol. It addresses them as sinners in need of a righteousness they cannot produce.'

Listen to this. 'All without exception are responsible to believe GOD's promise and repent of all these things they highly esteem.'

Well, GOD's promise is only to the elect and we are in Him. Christ and all blessings are for the elect. So how is every one in the whole world responsible to believe GOD's promise and repent? Every single person ever born after the time of Adam, he is saying, is responsible to believe and repent.

I hate the word "responsible" spiritually speaking. Those that preach it are following Charles Spurgeon's camp. Christ is responsible. Period! We are not responsible for anything. 'All without exception are responsible to believe GOD's promise and repent' - that is Arminianism.
'Responsible to believe GOD's promise' - But it is only for a certain people. The Holy Spirit opens a heart to believe that. So how is someone responsible for something that they will never see.

'All without exception are responsible to believe GOD's promise and repent of all these things they highly esteem. If they will not believe and repent, it is because of self- righteousness and religious pride which GOD hates and which do not remove their responsibility.'

That is no promise. That is an Arminian doctrine. He also says, 'Christ, which entitles the believer to all of salvation to all spiritual blessings. Apart from Christ's righteousness there is no grace no spiritual blessings.' - Sorry, but it not Christ's righteousness first, then spiritual blessings. Christ's righteousness is part of the blessings. And I have several more. He believes that before salvation, before your heart is opened, you are completely under the wrath of GOD and on your way to hell.

Where is the union with Christ? That is actually saying that Christ is not righteous even though he says that is all of our righteousness.

Isaiah 45:17
17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

These are just some blessings and we have to see that these blessings are everlasting. Some of the good things. It is glad tidings. These are all glad tidings that we receive and we learn more and more as time goes by. "But Israel shall be saved in the LORD" but the elect shall be saved in the LORD "with an everlasting salvation:"

It is everlasting. Past. Present. We have always been saved in the LORD. Take away the LORD Jesus then we can say we are under the wrath of GOD and on our way to hell. But you cannot take Him away. He is the head and we are the body. He is all righteousness, went to heaven, and we are connected to Him as the head.

So we were never under the wrath of GOD. We were children of disobedience, wrathful children, but not children of wrath. The gospel is a promise of eternal life.

Psalm 119:42
42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

Everlasting righteousness. Same theme, it is everlasting. Past to present because of Christ every blessing is in Him.

2 Samuel 23:5
5 Although my house be not so with GOD; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow (will he not make it increase).

"for this is all my salvation," all of our salvation. Here we have it again "everlasting" salvation in the covenant. It is everlasting, that is all of our salvation. It has nothing to do with anything that we have done.
That is glad tidings. That is good news.

Haggai 2:7
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

We saw all the nations be blessed. Who are these nations? I want to take you to a couple scriptures so you will understand the nations means the elect. Not everyone in the world is going to be blessed. Only the nations, the nations of the elect. "and the desire of all nations," does every one in all nations desire Christ? "shall come:"?

"And I will fill this house with glory," the glory of Christ. Does every single nation, every one desire Him? No, of course not! It is the elect. The desire of the elect shall come after their hearts are opened.

Zechariah 8:22
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

Once again, it is not every one "come to seek the LORD." Only the elect can seek the LORD. So that is the nations. All the nations. All the elect will be blessed in Christ.
Now we will take a look at that word promise.

Hebrews 10:23
23 Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

"He is faithful that promised:" You add any work and the promises which we saw with this man (earlier quotation), you take away the faithfulness of Him that promised and we have no hope.

Because His promises are faithful. Everything that He has promised in eternity for everlasting is in Christ. He is faithful. If He would have promised us, what would have happened? But with Christ there is no faltering. He is faithful. The covenant was set with Him. It is ordered in all things and sure. It is sure in Christ the surety. He is faithful.

We are joined to Him. He is faithful. Nothing can ever happen to separate us, nothing from that love of Christ. We are joined to Him. He is faithful.
That is the glad tidings.

1 John 2:25
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

And if all the promises are from everlasting, then He has promised us eternal life. But even Adam could not keep what He was given to do, and we are born dead in trespasses and sins. But it says, "And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life."
We will finish this thought in 1 John 5

1 John 5:11
11 And this is the record (testimony), that GOD hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He has promised it. But not by ourselves because "And this life is in His Son." In Christ union with Him. The head, the body. Can you see it? That is all the glad tidings. Righteousness by itself is not the glad tidings. It is part of it. But the whole plan of salvation is from eternity to eternity.
That is the gospel. The everlasting gospel.

Titus 1:2
2 In hope of eternal life, which GOD, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

"which GOD, that cannot lie, promised" When? When was this promised? "before the world began;" He promised before the world began. Everlasting. We saw - past, forever and forever. There was never a time when this was not in being. The covenant was always. The promise is in Christ. And He "cannot lie."

He has promised. We have hope in Christ. Eternal life. We have hope and He cannot lie. If He has opened your heart to believe this, you have hope of eternal life because Christ is there. Nothing can shake that rock in heaven.

A wonderful scripture in 2 Corinthians 1 then we will go to John.

2 Corinthians 1:18
18 But as GOD is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

"our word toward you was not yea and nay." It is not yea in Christ but take it away. Yea in Christ but take it away.

2 Corinthians 1:19
19 For the Son of GOD, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

"was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea." You cannot say well, it is all in Christ but here is a few works with it. Pull Him down and put some 'buts' and some 'nays' in there .

2 Corinthians 1:20
20 For all the promises of GOD in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of GOD by us.

"For all the promises of GOD" not for the whole world. They are not responsible to believe this, "For all the promises of GOD are in Him. "Yea, and in Him amen," for all of them from everlasting. The covenant. The promise. Everlasting covenant. Covenant is promise. All the promises were in Him. He has fulfilled. He is faithful. He did not fail any part of it. We fail promises all the time. We promise something. We do not keep always.

GOD was faithful in His promise because it is in Christ.

John 14:19
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.

"Because I live," Christ "ye shall live also." "Because I live," He did not go to the grave and die and stay there and corrupt. He saw no corruption. (Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.) "Because I live" He rose again, ascended into the heavenlies.

"Because I live, ye shall live also." Faithful promises. He is the head, we are the body. We are joined to Him. He is faithful.
That is the glad tidings. That is the good news.

1 Kings 8:56
56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

This is a picture and it is talking about the nation Israel in the physical. Not one thing that He promised of all that He had promised, not one of His promises failed of that good promise. Not one of them. Every one that GOD wanted to make into the promised land made it. They all made it. Not one failed word of "his good promise."

And just as with His people, not one will ever be missing because of Christ. Because He lives, His people live also.

Joshua 21:43
43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

"all the land" all of it.

Joshua 21:44 & 45
44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before against) them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
45 There failed not ought of (Not a word failed of) any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

"There failed not ought" the promises. "Not ought of any good thing." We saw that in Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THEM THAT PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, AND BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!
That is what the minister takes out. The promises, the good thing which the LORD had spoken. "Not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken" "all came to pass."

Romans 4:16
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by (according to) grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.

That "the promise might be sure to all the seed;" To the elect that is the seed. That was the gospel given to Abraham. He believed it. He knew it was sure in Christ.

John 8:56
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

"Abraham rejoiced to see my day:" Christ's day and was glad of it. He knew Christ. The gospel was preached to him. He understood all the promises were in Christ Jesus and it is sure.

And this free will gospel that says we come by our own strength by faith to believe the gospel and then two weeks later we falter and fall back in the world and die. We were saved but yet we turned around and went back into the world. They say you are actually saved but you go back to the world. What kind of promise is that? Is that a sure promise?

It says "to all the seed;" But yet in their doctrine thousands through the history have turned back. It says "all the seed;" from everlasting. Take any part of this out there is no gospel. Period.
Few more of the blessings that it reveals.

Romans 1:16 & 17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of GOD unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of GOD revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.

It does not say that this righteousness is the gospel. It says is "the gospel of Christ." It is a wonderful blessing, without we have no hope. All of His righteous- ness. But you do not put righteousness before the blessings and the promise because that is part of the promise and the blessings. And all the work of the Trinity are involved. Not just Christ.

And some think if you do not preach Christ righteousness every minute, facetiously speaking, you are not preaching the gospel. But those who are in Christ and know the gospel preach all of the gospel.

Ephesians 1:13
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

"the gospel of your salvation:" that is the blessing we saw, everlasting salvation several times. From all eternity "the gospel of your salvation:" We have always been saved in the LORD. Not when we are born again. Always. He reveals it to us the moment we are born again. But it does not bring it as far as though we never had it. Because we saw that the gospel is an everlasting gospel and salvation is an everlasting salvation.

Ephesians 6:15
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel peace;

"the gospel of peace;" We will see how our peace comes about in Malachi 2. Not by anything that we have done but by His everlasting covenant in Christ.

Malachi 2:5
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

"My covenant was with him" My covenant was with Christ "of life and peace;" "and I gave them" the elect "to him."
We just saw "the gospel of peace" in Ephesians 6. And the covenant is from everlasting. "And I gave them to him" to Christ. The head and the body.

Do you see it? "I gave them," the elect "to Him." "for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name." As a human being when He came.

Malachi 2:6
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

"The law of truth was in his mouth," He fulfilled all of the law. "And did" "And did turn many away from iniquity." The many is the elect. You can find that also in Isaiah 53:11

Isaiah 53:11
11 He shall see of the travail (distress) of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

He turned many away from iniquity. That is our peace. Our peace is in Him. The union being joined to Him. That is peace. That is our only peace. We have been given to Him before the foundation of the world. That is our peace. That is the gospel of peace. The gospel of our salvation. And the righteousness is revealed in it.

The whole world cannot see this. They are not responsible. They will never ever even see this glorious truth.

Colossians 1:24 & 25
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of GOD which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of GOD;

Colossians 1:26
26 Even the mystery (hidden truth or secret) which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

"Even the mystery" it is a secret. It has been revealed this gospel. "but now is made manifest to "the whole world? No "to His saints:"

Colossians 1:27
27 To whom GOD would (willed to) make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

To whom GOD would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is the whole body of Christ the elect.

And this mystery is what? This gospel mystery is what? "Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" "Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

Colossians 1:5
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gopsel;

For this hope the hope of glory. "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven," in Christ Jesus, It is laid up already. This hope is already there, Christ and we are in Him. That is our hope.

Colossians 1:6
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of GOD in truth:

"since the day ye heard of it," Christ in you. "And knew" fully acquainted with "the grace of GOD in truth:" Do you understand Christ is all your hope? That is the gospel. That is our peace. That is all of our righteous- ness. That all the blessings are in Him. He has promised them. And He does not fail of one of them.

This is the grace of GOD in truth.

2 Corinthians 4:3
3 But if our gospel be hid (veiled), it is hid to them that are lost.

It is hid to them.

2 Corinthians 4:4& 5
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of (gospel of the glory of) Christ, who is the image of GOD, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

2 Corinthians 4:6
6 For GOD, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ.

"to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ." What a glory! Christ is in heaven! It is shining.

It is a knowledge of the glory of GOD in that face. Because He has taken us from darkness to light. He has shined that in our hearts. That is the opening up to see that. It is revealed to us. It is hid to the rest of the world. It is not hid to the elect. He opens up the heart to see "the glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ."

Matthew 11:26
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

The reason it was hid? to the reprobate? And revealed unto the babes, the elect? Because it seemed good in His sight. ' Well that's not! ' "It seemed good." ' Well? '
"It seemed good in" His "thy sight."

Matthew 13:11
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries (hidden truths) of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

"mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," we saw it is the gospel of the kingdom. This mystery of this kingdom, this gospel kingdom. "But to them it is not given." it is not given to everyone. We do not know who they (the elect) are, but it is not given to everyone.

The job of the minister is just to preach the gospel truths. He is not to offer them to everyone. An offer is something that you expect someone to receive. They cannot unless it is the grace of the Father to open their hearts.

It is a promise. A promise is absolute. There is no accepting or rejecting the gospel. With a promise you do it and it was done in Christ. GOD the Father promised from all eternity to a certain people to rest in its head Jesus Christ.

Luke 8:10
10 And He said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries (veiled or hidden teachings) of the kingdom of GOD: but to others in parables; THAT SEEING THEY MIGHT NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND.

Isaiah 29:11
11 And the vision (whole vision) of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

"AND HEARING THEY MIGHT NOT UNDERSTAND."
It is a closed book to them. They cannot understand this mystery, this gospel of the kingdom of GOD. As Christ is the king of His people, and it is His kingdom. He is in heaven, and they are with Him.

Isaiah 52:7
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings (good news), that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy GOD reigneth!

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet" we saw this in Romans 10. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings," he brings the gospel. This gospel I was just telling you about. How beautiful is thy everlasting gospel. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet that do this.

That proclaims or "that publisheth peace;" "that bringeth good tidings." Once again, the gospel "of good." Of the good things which it means in the original. All the blessings. Not just one of them. He teaches all the blessings. "That publisheth" or proclaims "salvation."
The everlasting salvation.

Isaiah 52:8
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again (back) Zion.

"Thy watchmen" that is the pastors. The ones that see eye to eye on these gospel truths are my brothers in Christ.

Isaiah 52:9
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

Isaiah 52:10
10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm (Revealed his power) in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our GOD.

"The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes" of who? "all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our GOD." They are all in Him. All of the elect. All the nations, the elect shall see that salvation. Because He is faithful, and Christ is in heaven, and His people are in Him.

This gospel goes forth. And it is hid actually to most. And a few receive it by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not an offer. The gospel just is preached. You do not have to play GOD. You just preach the good tidings.

1 Thessalonians 1:5
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only," the people to whom it is a closed book, it is a word. It is "in word only."

1 Thessalonians 1:4
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of (by) GOD.

"Your election of GOD." To them, the elect, the gospel did not come "in word only." To the rest of the world, yes. But to the elect, no. It came "also in power."

1 Thessalonians 1:5
"But also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance;" It came in power. It is not a closed book. It came in power. They understand.

1 Corinthians 4:15
15 For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

"for in Christ Jesus" for in Him. For in Christ. Being in union with Him. For in Him. All His works. Everything that He has done. All the good things. All the blessings.
The promises are in Him.

"through the gospel." And it is not just the gospel because it is hid to most. The Holy Spirit reveals "in Christ Jesus" to their hearts. We will see this in Ephesians 3:6 and this is very, very clear. There was an old covenant system which the Jews were the people of GOD and the Gentiles outside of it. But we have seen before even from the early part of Genesis that there was a time when the Gentiles will be grafted into one body and that is the elect.

Ephesians 3:3
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (hidden truth); (as I wrote afore in few words.

Ephesians 3:4
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

"ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ") It is by that revelation being known, and you may understand by the revelation by the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:5
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel:

"and partakers of" what? "of His promise in Christ." Do you see it? "partakers of His promise." That is the first part. The second part is "in Christ." The third part is "by the gospel." They are partakers of His promise.

It is a participation, it means. To have a part. To share something in. It means to co-participate, that word "partakers." Co-participate. And Christ is the head, we are the body. The covenant was given to Him. All the promises and the blessings in Him. We are co-participants with Him. Why? We are joined to Him. We are partakers of this promise. It is not just Christ or just us. We are partakers. What a blessing. What a gospel. We share in it. We are "partakers of His promise in Christ."

"In Christ" Union. People cannot see it because they are spiritually dead. "By the gospel" this is revealed by what? "The gospel." We are "partakers of His promise in Christ." The gospel comes. It is preached. The good tidings, this is preached. Not just all of it every time, but parts of it. It can even be the righteousness and parts of it.

You preach it, you teach it, you proclaim it. And you teach it week after week. The gospel is proclaimed and you see "in Christ Jesus." You see the promises. It is "by the gospel." The good tidings. That is the True gospel. You have none without it. I do not care what any one says.

2 Peter 3:8
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

It is not that He is not saving His people. To Him time is in eternity. A thousand years as a day, and a day is a thousand years.

2 Peter 3:9
9 The LORD is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

No matter how long it seems, "The LORD is not slack:" "concerning His promise," The good tidings, the gospel. The everlasting covenant. "but is longsuffering to us-ward," the elect. He is not slack. He is going to fulfill every part of His promise. From generation to generation His gospel minister preachers go forth. They preach and some hear and most do not. He is not slack for His people. He is longsuffering as we saw through Manasseh and several others last week. (including Nebuchadnezzar, the thief on the cross, Paul the apostle)

He is longsuffering to the elect.

Isaiah 59:21
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

"This is my covenant with them, saith the LORD;" and the covenant is with Christ and them in Him. So that is the covenant - these words, this gospel. The everlasting gospel. He puts these words in the mouth of a faithful minister from generation to generation from the seed, to the seed, to the seed, to the seed, to the seed, to the seed. And will not depart out of the mouth. "From henceforth and for ever."

He is not slack from generation to generation. He saves His elect. He brings them from the north, the south, the east, the west into the kingdom of GOD.
The gospel of the kingdom.

Isaiah 60:9
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy GOD, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

"Because he hath glorified thee." And we are glorified in Christ. That is clear in John chapter 17. We are glorified in Christ.

John 17:10
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

And He brings His sons from far from generation to generation. It is like a ship that brings the son from afar. The gospel brings the elect from afar from generation to generation.

That is why it says in Hebrews 2:10
10 For it became Him (was fitting for Him), for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Jesus is the captain of our salvation. He has presented and brought the many sons to glory. And they have been glorified in Christ. He has brought them. He has brought them from afar.

Isaiah 49:22
22 Thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand (make an oath) to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

The many sons Christ Jesus has brought to glory in Hebrews 20:10. He is the standard. As I have said many times over, Mt. Everest, the first person up there sets the banner. Christ was raised in the heaven- lies. He is the standard and He is the head. And the Holy Spirit reveals Christ Jesus to their soul.

This is the revealing of the gospel to the elect soul. He brings the many sons from afar. They see the standard by the Holy Spirit revealing it to them.

John 15:26
26 But when the Comforter (Helper) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me:

John 16:14
14 He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine (what is mine), and shall shew it unto you.

John 16:15
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

"All things" that is all the good things "that the Father hath are mine:" The Spirit, the Comforter, He is sent from the Father. The Spirit of truth and He testifies and reveals Christ. He opens up a heart like He did in Acts 16:14 with Lydia.

Acts 16:14
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped GOD, heard us: whose heart the LORD opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

He reveals Christ to a heart. The elect sees not all things. It is from faith to faith (Romans 1:17 on page 17) and He teaches His people. He is the Spirit of truth. They understand they are safe in Christ, and they have no other safety but by being in Him from eternity to eternity. That has to be taught. That has to be preached.

Psalm 126:3
3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

"The LORD hath" from all eternity, past, everlasting. "The LORD hath done great things" that is every blessing in that promise. Every single one of these to get us safely to eternity. All the good things. The LORD hath done good things for us the elect, the nations. Not the whole world.

"Whereof we are glad." He brings the glad tidings by the gospel minister. He reveals this to us. We see we are safe in Him. That is glad tidings. There are blessings in there scattered all the way through.

But the gospel is in Christ Jesus.

Everyone of His people are safe in Him for all eternity. They have always been safe in Him. They have always been saved in Him. They have always been righteous in Him.

And if you teach that when we are born in this world, that we are children of wrath on our way to destruction, and that we are so dead that we are going to hell, we have never been saved, you know not the gospel.

Because the gospel is an everlasting gospel with an everlasting love for His people in Christ Jesus.

Topics: Gospel Distinctives
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