The title of the message is,
The One Gospel and Its Results. The One Gospel and Its Results. Now we read, first of all, of
the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the second chapter of the
book of Acts, and how that Peter and the apostles preached the
gospel. He preached the gospel and three
thousand souls were saved at one time. At one message, this
one message, 3,000 souls were saved. 3,000 men, sinners, were
raised from the dead. 3,000 men received life and faith
in Christ. What a day that was! What a glorious
day that was! 3,000 souls. And so the question comes to
my mind is, what did he preach? What was his message? What was
his message that 3,000 souls were converted? What message did God use? Surely it is our desires, preachers
of the gospel of Christ, that many come. It is my desire that
many come. But how shall they come? Scriptures are plainly clear
in Romans chapter 10. He said, Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be safe. But how shall they call
on Him in whom they have not what? Heard. And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. So how are men called? Through
the preaching of the gospel. This is the means. I know this
is foolishness to most people in the world. Preaching is the
worst means to convey a message. I was an educator, I was a teacher.
And they said that, you know, the lecture is the worst. So
just talking is worse. But God says, I'll take what
men call foolishness, and that's the wisdom I'm going to use.
And he said, by this means only, I will call my elect by this
means of preaching. I'll show it to you. You don't
have to take my word for it. Go to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. They were all talking about preachers
and who was the best preacher and what, you know, Paul said,
don't listen to none of that. Verse 17, Paul says, For Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ be made none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, it..." What? The preaching of
the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is
the power of God. Verse 21, 4, "...after that in
the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." So
how are men saved? Through the means of preaching. Preaching. So then, if this is how God calls
people, it would behoove us as preachers and witnesses of the
gospel to know what it is we're to preach. What are we to preach? What's our message? Is our message
different from the message of the apostles and the prophets?
Is it to be different? Can our preaching be better than that which they preached." Here we are 2,000 years removed
by time. Have we become wiser than them?
Paul says, "...not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made none effect." In other words, if you're saved
by my wisdom or by my ability, then the glory belongs to me
and not the cross. So I dare not distract from the
cross. I dare not put you onto my wisdom. I dare not put you onto my teaching.
Matter of fact, I feel sorry for you. I do. I consider myself
to be the lowest of God's men that's ever been called. I know
that. I may have the least abilities, and that's fine. It doesn't matter
because it is the gospel that matters. It is the gospel of
Christ. And so what we preach is not
any different than what they preached. And if it is, we should
stop preaching it. If a man's gospel differs from
this book, he should quit. He should quit. This same gospel that was preached
on the day of Pentecost is the gospel. And listen, there's only
one. I want you to understand that
there's not many gospels There's not many Gospels. There's only
one. Go to Galatians. Paul says this. Galatians 1 and verse 6. Now,
these people in Galatia, I'm just going to let you in on what
they were doing. They were trusting in Jesus plus circumcision. Circumcision was one aspect of
the law. They said, okay, well, we know
that Christ is the end of the law except for this one thing.
So we believe in Jesus, then you need to add to it this one
thing. And you know what Paul said?
Look at this. Verse 6. Oh, I'm in the wrong place. Well,
that wouldn't have read well. I was in the wrong place. Galatians
chapter 1. Verse 6, he says, I'm marveled
that you're so soon removed from Him that called you into His
grace of Christ unto another gospel. Listen, which is not
another. But there's some of that trouble
you that would pervert the gospel of Christ. But listen, though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, I say now
again, if any man preach another gospel unto you than what you
have received, let him be accursed. That word means go to hell. Let
him go to hell. That's strong language. But the apostle says, I don't
care who he is. And he uses... We know an angel
wouldn't come and preach another gospel. That would be a fallen
angel. That would be some demon. That would not be an angel of
God. But he said, even if an angel were to come down to you
and tell you something that is contrary to this gospel, you
should let that angel go to hell. That's strong. So what is he
saying? There's only one gospel. There's
not many. Now I'm going to make it simple
for you. I want you to be very, try to be very clear. There are
only two gospels in all the world. True and false. Okay? And now then under these categories
there are only what is the true and what is the false. Here's
the true. The true gospel is salvation by the free grace of
God alone through Christ Jesus. That is the true gospel and the
false gospel is works. Works. Salvation by works. That's what Galatians were teaching.
They were teaching salvation by Jesus plus circumcision. So you add anything to Jesus
Christ, and you've defiled the gospel. You've made it another
gospel. So then if you say, okay, well,
believe on Christ, and then you need to do this, you need to
do this, you need to do this, and then you shall be saved.
That is another gospel. Let them go to hell. And so when we preach the gospel,
we must be clear there's only one. There's only one. So then,
what is the gospel? Go back to your text. Go back
to your text and let's read the gospel together. What is this
gospel that Peter preached? It was Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
Jesus Christ and Him risen from the dead. That's the message.
He said this in verse 22, you men of Israel, you hear this. Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by Him in the midst of you as you yourselves know.
This was without question. This was without debate. Lord
Jesus Christ came in the flesh and He did miracles among them
to prove His deity, to prove His power to save. One time the
Lord Jesus Christ, this man was lowered down, he was paralyzed,
laid him down before him. And Jesus said this, Son, be
of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And they gasped. They said,
who can forgive sins but God? He said, I'll show you who I
am. I'll show you I can forgive this man his sins. He said to
the sick of the palsy, get up and walk. And that guy stood
up and took his bed and went home. What did Jesus prove by
His miracles? He proved His deity. So when
I preach Jesus of Nazareth, I am preaching Jesus who is God. God, very God, who became man,
very man. He is God-man. The God-man. So he preached Jesus Christ. Well then, who needs such a Savior
as that? Who needs a Savior? Only sinners. Only sinners need a Savior. And so what the apostle does
here is he first of all points out to them their sin. He points
out to their sin. He said, this Jesus that God
raised up, that God sent to be Savior, you crucified Him. You crucified Him. So what is
he preaching? He is preaching the depravity
and blindness of men. God approved of him, God sent
him, who is His own very Son, and you were so blind and deaf
that you did not see Him. You did not know Him. Yet, even after His displays
of power and deity, you rejected Him before Pilate with your rulers,
and you crucified Him. In other words, He was declaring
their responsibility for the death of the Son of God. He said, you crucified Him. Yet, He gives this before He
even tells them that, He said, Whom God hath delivered, Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have by weakened hands crucified the Lord of glory.
Now, this crucifixion was not outside the will of God. Matter
of fact, it was the determined will of God from the beginning.
This was always God's plan of salvation. You know that there's
no other plan but this one? God has always purposed salvation
by grace through faith in Christ. He's always purposed it by His
Son. You remember when Adam and Eve
sinned. God gave them this promise. He
said, the seed of the woman. shall crush the head of the serpent,
and he shall bruise his heel." You not see all of the gospel
in that? He was born of the seed of not
the man, the woman. He was born of the Virgin Mary.
That's a fulfillment of prophecy. And He shall crush the head of
the serpent. He shall crush sin and death
and hell. How shall He destroy the works
of the devil? By the serpent bruising His heel,
which is His crucifixion. So, you see, from the beginning,
God's always purposed this. The salvation come by Christ.
In Scripture, there's clear prophecies of this, that He would come and
die. I'll just show you one. Go to
Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Now, you've got to
understand that this was well over 800 years before, or five, six hundred
years before anybody was ever crucified. Okay, so crucifixion
wasn't even a way of, a means of death during this time. But
listen to the Scriptures in verse 16. For dogs have compassed me about. And
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me." This speaks of
the Jews, the Gentiles, the dogs, and the assembly, the Jews. And
what did they do? They pierced my hands and my
feet. Do you not see that God had purposed
the crucifixion of Christ long before these men took Him and
crucified Him? In Zechariah 12, verse 10, it
says, I will pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace. Isn't that what He's doing in
our text? He poured out His Spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon Me,
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn. Peter says the same
one that God approved and was delivered of God. He said, you
have by wicked hands crucified and slain. God determined Christ
to be crucified, but that did not excuse their sin of crucifying
Him. See, and no matter who you are,
I want you to see this to be true. You are without excuse
before God. Concerning your sin, you're without
excuse. God has written His law in your
hearts. Now, I'll tell you this, I know
that you can go to any, the darkest tribe in the darkest jungle somewhere,
and I guarantee you they got some kind of law. They got some
kind of law. How did they come up with that?
Well, the law of God was written in their hearts. They know it
is wrong to steal. They know it is wrong to lie.
How do you know that? Because the law is written in
your heart. So you're without excuse, aren't
you? If you never heard this book or anything else, you're
without excuse. You knew what was right and you
didn't do it. You're guilty. You're without excuse because
you know there's a God. You look at creation, only a
fool would say that this would just happen without a Creator. It's impossible. So you're without
excuse. You know the power of God. You
know the judgment of God because you yourself judge. You judge
all the time. I hate when people say, well,
judge not. Well, you know what? When you
cross the street, you have to make a judgment, don't you? Well,
that fool driving, swerving all over the place is going to hit
you. If you don't make a judgment, you'll you'll probably get hit.
So you make judgments all the time. Why do you make judgments
who are sinner? Because, you know, there is a
God who will judge. You yourself make judgments,
should not God make me the judge of all the earth do right? You
bet he will. So you're without excuse. Everyone
here. But now our message is this,
that God has sent His Son and wicked men out of their own wicked
heart crucified Him. And make no mistake, listen,
you despise this gospel that I preached to you this morning.
If you reject this gospel, you yourself, it is though you have
crucified the Son of God. Now, did all these people participate
in the crucifixion? Did they all have their turn
with the hammer? No. But they were willing that
He be crucified. They were willing to say, I will
not have this man to rule over me. And you reject the gospel
of Jesus Christ, that's exactly what you're saying. I will not
have this man to rule over me. I will not have this man tell
me what to do. It is as though you yourself
took the hammer and nails and crucified Him. Matter of fact, the Apostle Paul
says such. He says, you that count the blood
of the covenant as an unholy thing. If you count the blood of the
Son of God as ineffectual and of no value to you, you have
trodden underfoot the Son of God. You have kicked your heels
at the Son of God. But listen, what you meant for
evil, God means for good. What these men meant for evil,
God meant for good. As you thought to destroy the
Son of God and cast Him from you, God purposed that He should
be the one to put away the sins of His people. This is what Christ
was purposed to do. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. I don't
think there's a chapter in all the Old Testament that is more
clear concerning what Christ came to do than Isaiah chapter
53. Not only came to do, but what
He accomplished. Isaiah chapter 53, and you can look at the end
of this and see what he accomplished. He says that, "...he will divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled
with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death.
He was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many."
So what did he come to do? What did Christ come in the world
to do? He came to bear the sin of many. Many. And how would He do that? Well,
you go back up and you can see this. It says, He was despised, verse
3, and rejected of men. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. And we hid as our faces from Him. He was despised,
we esteemed Him not. What was he despised for? What
was he rejected for? Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. What was His purpose? His purpose was to heal. His
purpose was to save. But how? By His stripes. By His death. That's how He should
save. Alright then, who are healed?
Who are the ones healed? He said this, we like sheep,
all we like sheep. All who are healed, we like sheep
have gone astray and turned everyone to his own way. Isn't that the
way of man? You have your way, I have my
way. Well, that's your opinion, this is my opinion. You know
what your opinion is good for? It's as good as my opinion. It's
worthless. Our opinions together mean nothing.
Okay? So let's take our opinions and
throw them out the window. Because it is only what God says. And God says, you went your own
way. Our own way. We like sheep went away. We who
are sinners with no hope of self-recovery. This is what the Lord says. He
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Who are the all? Verse 8. He was taken from prison,
from judgment. Who shall declare His generation?
For He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression
of My people. That's who. My people. For God's people Christ suffered
and died. And God was forever pleased. Verse 11, He shall see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. Be satisfied. You see, God sent
Christ and you by nature have rejected Him. Men by nature have
crucified the Lord of glory. You by nature are sinners. But here is the hope. Go back
to your text now. Here's the hope. You crucified
and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of
it. The apostle Peter in his gospel
declares that death could not hold Christ. Why? Because he
had bare our sins in his own body, God punished him. God punished him in strict justice. And he died. And God said, I'm satisfied with
His death. Therefore God raised Him from
the dead, seeing that He had put away all our sins. All the
sins of who? My people. My people. He said, I put away the sin of
My people. I bear the transgression of My
people. And God was satisfied with My
death, so that He raised Christ from the dead. You see, the resurrection is
proof of Jesus' victory. The resurrection is proof that
God was satisfied with Him. He shall see His seed, He shall
prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
His hands. What does that mean? He said, well, I'm going to raise
Him from the dead. I'm going to sit Him on the throne of God.
And He is going to perform My will. That's what He's going
to do. You see, Jesus Christ is not
dead. Men like a Christ in the manger, and they like Christ
on the cross, they cannot stand a Christ on the throne. But I tell you, my Savior who
once died is now risen. He's risen, and He's doing the
will of God. This speaks clearly of Christ's
glorious resurrection and exaltation and His sovereign rule. And I tell you, this is our gospel. This is our gospel message that
God in grace has chosen a people, God in grace has given them to
Christ, and He testified by the mouth of His prophets But now
God has, by His Son, put away the sins of His people, and by
His Spirit, He is now calling them through this same gospel. God raised him from the dead.
And this is the evidence. Now, if you go through verse
25, down through verse 28 of our text, he's quoting an Old
Testament passage. David wrote it, but it's not
speaking of David. It's speaking of Christ. He said,
Thy holy one shall not see corruption. And in verse 31, he said, This
speaks of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, Peter's message is
our message. It is the message that the prophets
preached. Behold, God hath raised up Christ
and exalted Him to His own right hand, and now the Holy Ghost
is poured out to all types of men. This is the gospel message. That the gospel is no longer
just preached to one race. It is preached to every man without
distinction. Without distinction. God witnessed this word by these
wonders and signs that they now saw and heard. I just told you
earlier that they were speaking in tongues. Now we know that
that's not gibberish. Scripture says every man heard
in his own language. But why do we not speak in tongues
now? Why are there no gospel, there
are no miracles happening here? as there were in the early church.
If this is your gospel, then why are there no miracles? There
were miracles with their gospel. Why? Now many false gospels,
they preach a lot about gifts and miracles. But the reason
that they need gifts and miracles is because their gospel is false. You see, we don't need gifts
and miracles anymore because the miracles that they performed,
since it's the same gospel, why do I need them? Why do I need
gifts and miracles when I'm preaching the same gospel that these apostles
who had miracles and gifts preached? Now, if I was preaching another
gospel, then I would need miracles, right? To prove it. I don't need
to prove it. They've already proved it. They've
already been given those gifts and signs, and we don't need
those anymore. Therefore, I preach now to you, know assuredly. That's what he says, know assuredly.
Verse 36, that God hath made this same Jesus whom you have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. This Christ whom you've rejected
is your Lord. And I tell you, He is Christ.
He is the only hope for sinners. Peter declares, Peter declares
in another place that there is no other Savior. If you go over
to Acts 4 and verse 12, he declares this. Neither is there salvation
in any other. For there is none other name
given under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. You see, there is only one cornerstone
and a foundation of God's church. And God laid it. Even though
men reject it, Christ is the only cornerstone and only Savior
for sinners. This is our message. Do you need a Savior? Do you need to be saved? Must you be saved? Now, salvation
is no more than a decision to be made as though you would choose
a hamburger or french fries. Now, that you don't need Christ
then. If it's nothing more than a decision,
you don't need Christ. I'm talking about somebody who
has no hope in themselves. I'm talking to sinners who are
so black and full of filth and lewdness in their own hearts
that they cannot even look up to heaven. I'm talking about
people who have no hope of saving themselves. These people who
need an absolute Savior, I point you to the only absolute Savior,
Jesus Christ. Go to Him. Only Christ alone
can save you. Are you in desperate need? Is
your sin so great that you cannot bear it before the holy justice
of God? Isn't that what happened to these
people in our text? They were pricked in their hearts. You know this, God only saves
those that He pricks in their hearts. They were pricked in their hearts
and they said in desperation, what shall we do? What shall
we do? Are you such a sinner? Alright, then look at verse 38,
hear our gospel. To you who are pricked in your
hearts, to you who have no hope in self, no hope in religion,
no hope of any works pleasing to God, here it is, repent. Repent. What is it to repent? We used
to call this in the military, about face. You would be facing
one direction, and then they would say, about face, and you
would turn, and you would be facing in the completely opposite
direction. You had to turn from one direction
to another. That's repentance. Repentance
is turning from yourself, your sin, your religion, your works,
and turning to Christ. That's what it is. Repentance. You must repent of self and turn
to Christ. For the Scriptures conclude that
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. Now you,
who would be justified before God by works? If you would go
to God with anything you have, what would it be? What do you
got? What do you got that you think
God will accept? What is it? God said, by the deeds of the
law, Romans 3 verse 21, I believe it is 20. He said, by the deeds
of the law shall no flesh, you get that? No flesh, that's all
inclusive. No flesh shall be justified in
the sight of God. For by the law is only the knowledge
of sin. How do you know what sin is except
the law tell you? And the law tells you, all it
can do is tell you, it can't help you. I like the illustration
of combing your hair. Your hair is a mess in the morning.
You look in the mirror. Can the mirror help you? No,
the mirror just exposes the mess. That's what the law does. The
law only exposes sin. It cannot help you. So why would
you try to go to God by law? Repent and turn to Christ. That's what it is. Flee from
your own works and turn to Christ. Believe on Him. Bow to Him. Go to Him. Plead for mercy at
His feet. Now, it's not written here, but
I know this to be true. No one will ever repent except
they have faith. Isn't that right? I mean, you're
never going to repent from yourself except God give you faith in
Christ to repent. And so faith and repentance are
one in the same. You must have one to have the
other. They never are apart from each
other. You'll never repent except you
believe. You'll never believe except you
repent. They're the same. So repent and believe. That's
what Christ said. Repent and believe the Gospel.
And so faith, faith in Christ. Do you believe on Christ? Then
you've repented. Isn't that simple? That's plain. To believe on Christ is to embrace
Him completely and fully as all your salvation, and reject everything
else. Reject every work of the flesh,
every deed of religion you've ever done, every decision you've
ever made, and to cleave to Christ. That's what it is to repent.
So you that are pricked in your hearts, listen to my gospel.
Repent and believe on Christ. I've told you this before, and
I want you to understand this. If you reject Christ, that's
your fault. If you die in your sins, having
heard this gospel, that will be your own fault. You'll perish
forever. Now, if you do believe on Christ, that's God's fault. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works. Faith is not a decision. It is
something God gives a man. And if you don't have faith in
Christ, you should plead for it until God give it to you. You should beg for it. And when
He gives it to us, He gives us a new heart, a new life. And
I tell you, we begin to see things totally different. When I was
saved, either the world changed or I changed, but something changed.
And listen, if you have no change and you say you believe, don't
believe it. There's a change. We see things
differently. You know what I see myself? I
see myself as nothing. And I see Christ as everything.
I once saw myself as everything and saw Christ as nothing. Opposite. Repent. Christ is everything. I'm nothing. That's the way I
see things. I see this world as a barren
wasteland. Once I saw it as a palace of
treasure and riches. I thought pleasures and all of
the things of the world, that would satisfy me. Now I see it
nothing but a wasteland and only hope for glory. That's it. I
only hope for heaven. I only hope to be in His presence
forever. Everything's changed. That's
what it is to repent and believe the gospel. Now notice this. Not only repent, but be baptized. Now, this part, baptism, has
absolutely nothing to do with salvation. Baptism is the only
confession of faith, the only public profession. Now, I don't
know if you've been in the churches, they say, well, if you've been
saved, raise your hand. Well, that's not a public profession
according to this book. The only public profession of
faith is baptism. Why? Because baptism is a gospel
message in itself. When I stand in the water, I
am testifying to you that Jesus Christ is my representative.
When I am immersed in the water, I testify that Jesus Christ was
immersed in the justice of God for my sins. When I come up out
of the water, I testify to you that Christ is risen from the
dead, and I am seated in heaven in my substitute, in my representative. He's all my righteousness. So
being baptized, Being baptized, it doesn't have anything to do
with my salvation. It is the confession of my salvation. It's
a picture. It's a picture of what God has
done for me. And listen, it says for the remission
of sins. Now, your faith and your baptism
do not remit sins. Hebrews 9.22. Without the shedding of blood
is no remission of sins. Therefore, our faith in Christ
is in His blood, and we are baptized and follow Him, confess Him,
whose blood was shed for the remission of our sins. And so by faith we see His blood
and righteousness as all our hope. And notice this, He shall, you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He doesn't say gifts,
plural. He says gift of the Holy Ghost. Now everyone who believes, listen,
you believe because the Spirit of God gave you faith. He quickened
you from the dead. He gave you faith in Christ to
believe our gospel. Now, when the Spirit, where He
goes, I don't know. Who He quickens, I don't know. But I know this, everyone He
quickens, He comes and lives in them. The Apostle says, Know
you not that you are the temple of God, that the Holy Spirit
dwelleth in you? Now the Spirit of God is not
optional. It's not optional. He that hath not the Spirit of
Christ is none of his, the Scripture says. So therefore, we who believe,
we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. We have the Spirit of God dwelling
in us. And what is the purpose of the Spirit of God dwelling
in us? To keep us. The Spirit of God keeps us in
the faith. The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith.
Believer, how are you to live in this world? By faith. Faith in Christ. Not faith in
your faith. Faith in Christ. Well, who keeps
you with a with an abundant stock of faith. Who keeps you supplied
with faith? It is the Spirit of God that
dwells in you. The Scripture says that we are
kept by the power of God. Why are you here, believer? Why
do you still continue to hear this Gospel? Why do you still
need this Gospel? You who heard it, believe it. I'm not preaching anything to
you that I haven't preached before. I've been here eight years. Brother
Daniel Parks was here 15 years before that. We're preaching
the same gospel. Why is it you still come back? The reason you haven't left is
because you still have a need of this gospel. You've got to
be fed. You've got to be fed by it. You've
got to be reminded of it. You've got to be refreshed by
it. Why is that? Because the Spirit of God dwells
in you, that's why. Because He keeps you. And notice
this, all who were saved, look at verse 41, they gladly received
the Word and were baptized. You who believe, do you not gladly
receive this? We do because we got nothing
else to offer. I got nothing to give God. Christ has everything I need.
I gladly receive Him. You don't have to make me. You
know, you don't have to make me study this book. You don't
have to make me hear this gospel. I need it. I need it. Gladly receive it and look at
this and the same they were added 3,000 souls and they continued
They continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine They had
to hear the gospel and fellowship They needed each other And in
breaking of bread, that's the ordinances. The ordinance of
the Lord's Supper, they did that to remind them of Christ's death.
And in prayers. Oh, how we need prayer. We need
prayer. Prayer's a mystery, isn't it?
God already knows what He's going to do, and you can't change it,
and yet God says you should still pray. Still pray. Ask me. And I'll give you the desire
of your heart. You know what the desire of my heart is? To
be found in Christ. If I have one great overwhelming
desire, it is to be found of God in Him. Not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of
God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. That's my gospel. And I tell
you, it is the same gospel that the apostles preached. And you
know who's going to hear it? As many as the Lord our God shall
call. That day was 3,000. Numbers don't
matter. They just don't. You know what matters? Has He called you? Has He saved you? How do you know that? Have you
repented of self and turned to Christ? If you have, you should
be baptized because that's the Lord's command. And you know
what? You'll continue in this gospel.
You won't quit. You won't quit. Why? You need
it. And you know what? You need each
other. We need each other. You'll never know how much I
need you, but I do. And God's put that in my heart.
He puts it in the heart of every believer. I pray that God would
even today reveal this one gospel to you. And the result is He
calls His people and saves them. May God bless this word to your
heart. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.