We are going to backtrack just
a little bit for our message this morning. Look with me at verse 8, 2 Timothy
1 verse 8. It says, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Be not thou therefore shamed
of the testimony of our Lord. The testimony of our Lord. Bear with me a little in my folly
and indeed bear with me. I am jealous over you. I'm very jealous over you. I have one desire and that is
to present you to Christ. And I need for you to bear with
me. There is a man who no one in
here knows. As I start telling you this,
if your brain starts trying to figure out who I'm talking about,
you don't know him. If you've ever had any connection
with somebody, that's not who I'm talking about. I've not met this man. I do not
personally know him. And I have a good reason for
not telling you his name. He claims to be a preacher of
the gospel. He claims sovereign grace. He is not. He most definitely is not. Last
Tuesday, I listened to a speech by him. It was not a message.
It most definitely was not a message from God. It was posted on the internet
from a particular portion of Scripture, and it was the worst
speech I have ever heard spoken on this particular portion of
Scripture. Not only was the substitution
work The justifying, redeeming work
of the cross of Christ not declared. Not only was it not declared,
and let me just interject, every time we preach, we must preach
the substitution, justifying work of Jesus Christ. And not
only was that not preached, But I don't believe the name of Christ
was ever even mentioned or referenced in any way. I would have to go
back and listen to it again and I am just not willing to do that. He was talking about the subject
of forgiveness. And the scripture he used was
one of the greatest examples of the forgiveness of the cross
that I have ever seen in the Bible. This is one of the greatest
pictures of the forgiveness of the cross of Calvary that I believe
I've ever seen in the Bible. But not once was forgiveness
by the work of Christ Forgiveness in the blood of Jesus
Christ ever even mentioned. Instead, he had multiple points
on the reasons why we ought to forgive. That's what the whole
message was about. He had many of them. But he said
things like, we are commanded to forgive. He said, we are encouragements
to others when we forgive. He said, we have to answer to
church leaders and the church leaders will discipline us to
forgive. Not one time. was the forgiving,
atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness that He made,
the forgiveness that He earned, the forgiveness that He provided
to His people, earned for His people and gave to His people. Not one time was it ever even
mentioned. And it's one of the worst things
I've ever heard in my life. And it was the biggest waste
of my time. And here's the thing about it. Here's the thing about
it. That was loaded onto the internet in the name of being
the gospel. And this man has fooled a lot
of people. Some of whom I love very much. Not just random people out there
in the world. Some of who I love very, very
much. This man has fooled a lot of
people into believing that he preaches the gospel when he doesn't. He does not. Now, I just told
you all of that to say this, this is what I want to get across
this morning, OK? The law is not the gospel. The law is not the gospel. Let's really listen to what we're
listening to. I know the man's name very, very
well. I was scrolling through sermon
audio, saw him on sermon audio for a particular passage, and
I thought, well, let's just check and see if anything's changed.
It hadn't. I don't have a Facebook page.
I'm not on Facebook. But I just want to say be careful
because things get loaded and passed and shared and somebody
will like it and oh yeah this and that because I know that
person and I trust that person and if they think it's good I'm
sure it's good. Be careful. Listen to it before you promote
it. Listen to it and let's really
listen to what we're listening to. Well he said election and
he said hold on now. Let's really listen to what we're
listening to as we're listening to what is supposed to be the
gospel. Let's be aware of the fact that the law is not the
gospel. The law is not the evidence of
the gospel. The law is not the effect of
the gospel. Is what I'm saying right there,
does that make sense? Because I'm going to say it again. And
what I mean by this is the gospel does not lead us to law. Does that make sense? The gospel
does not lead us to law. The law is not the evidence of
the gospel. Meaning, how do you know if he's
saved? It's because he obeys God's law.
He's a good person. He's a good, you know, citizen. He doesn't smoke, drink, cuss,
chew, or run with women that do. The gospel does not lead us to
the law. The law is not the evidence of
the gospel. The law is not the effect. You know, you have a cause and
effect. You throw a stone into a lake. That's the cause. What's
going to happen? Ripples. Cause and effect, okay? The law is not the effect of
the gospel. I know what I'm saying is shocking,
and I also know that it is not heard. Never heard this before. Boy, I sure have never heard
this before. The law is not the gospel. People think, well, we're going
to preach the gospel by preaching the law. The law, in case I haven't made
it clear, the law is not the gospel. Christ is the gospel. Christ is the gospel. It's like men say, oh yeah, oh,
okay, yeah, Christ is the, that's right, amen, brother, Christ
is the gospel. And then they resort right back
to the law. The law is not the gospel. Christ is the gospel. Christ is the gospel. The law
was given to show us what we could not do for ourselves and
what Christ had to do for us. Then, alright, why was the book
written? The book was written to show
us what we can't do and what Christ had to do for us. Turn over to Romans 8 with me. Romans 8 verse 3, it says, For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin, and those two words mean by a sacrifice for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit. What does that mean? What is
that saying? Here's what it's saying. The
law is not the gospel. Christ is. Christ alone, scriptures alone,
grace alone, faith alone, the glory of God alone. Turn with me to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 verse 16, and I'm
gonna just go ahead and tell you this is difficult to understand. Let's try to see if we can understand
it as we read through this. Verse 16, now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. He saith not and to seeds as
of many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant,
that promise of Abraham's seed being God's
chosen people, the ones He would redeem and keep for Himself,
the remnant, the called. Verse 17, This I say, that the
covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, the law which
was 430 years after, cannot disannul that promise,
that it should make the promise of none effect. Well, the law
came, so, you know, he made a promise, but now we're under the law.
Verse 18, for if the inheritance be of the law, it's no more of
promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Verse 19, wherefore
then serveth the law? Then what's the point of the
law? It was added because of transgressions. It was given
to reveal and show sin. It was given to me to show me
I'm a sinner. Verse 19 goes on to say, Till
the seed should come to whom the promise was made. That's
Christ. It was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now
a mediator, we all know what a mediator is. A go-between. A mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Meaning, God gave the law and
God gave the mediator between sinful man and the holy law. God is the one who gave them
both, the demands and the advocate against the demands. Verse 21,
is the law then against the promises of God? Did God give two things
that are at war with each other? God forbid. Watch this, verse
21, for if there had been a law given, which could have given
life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. The law,
there was never a law given that could give sinners life. Verse
22, but the scripture hath concluded all under sin, including me,
including you, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe, look to Him, cast their all on
Him, hope in Him. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Before this declaration of freedom,
if you know the truth, the truth will make you free from this. Saying, I can't do this, I'm
not good enough, I don't live up. Before faith came, we were kept
under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, verse 24, the law
was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. That law appointed
us, revealed, said, you need to go to Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. Look into Him and what He did
for us. Verse 25, but after that faith has come, we're no longer
under a schoolmaster. For you're all the children of
God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ, and that means immersed by the Holy Spirit
of God into Jesus Christ, you have put on Christ. You know
why? Because Christ was put on you.
Verse 28, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond
nor free, there's neither male nor female, you're all one in
Christ Jesus. And if you'd be Christ's, then
are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. What's that saying? That's saying the law is not
our salvation. You want to go to heaven, don't
you? Buddy, you better obey that book right there. Listen, there's
nothing wrong with God's beautiful, holy, wonderful law. Oh, David
said, I love your law. The problem is with me. The problem
is with me. If you want to go to heaven,
you better obey that Bible. Here's the problem. I can't. I can't. Somebody will say, well I've
never committed adultery. Have you ever lusted in your
heart? Because God said that's adultery. I've never murdered
anybody. You ever gotten mad at somebody?
God Almighty says that's murder. Law broken, law broken. The Apostle
James, I believe it is, said, if you break the law in one point,
you've broken the whole law. You get a ticket for doing 61
miles an hour in a 60 mile an hour zone, you've broken the
whole law. You don't get one sixtieth of
a ticket. You get the whole ticket. But
I only broke one mile per hour. Yeah, you broke the whole law. You that desire to be under the
law, do you not hear the law? The law is not our good news. Christ is our good news. The
law is not the gospel. I'm telling you, the law is not
the gospel. Christ is the gospel. Turn over
to Romans three with me. Romans three, verse 28 says, After everything it declared
man did, how sinful and wrong man was, and everything it declared
that Christ did, how glorious his redemption was, verse 28
says, therefore we conclude that a man is justified, justified
before God by faith, by looking to Christ, by looking to the
deeds of Christ. It goes on to say without. the
deeds of the law. Well, does preaching the deeds
of Christ without the deeds of the law, does that produce lawlessness? If you preach that, will that
produce lawlessness? No, man's already lawless. Man's
already not in agreement with the law. The love of Christ is the only
thing that will constrain a man. Truly, after seeing all of the
law of God that He obeyed for us. You know, our Lord said,
I didn't come to destroy the law. Okay, God gave the law and
then He sent a mediator. Who is the mediator? Jesus Christ.
That's what Galatians was asking. Are they at war with each other?
Christ said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill
it. for you because you couldn't.
This is the gospel. I came to fulfill it for you
after seeing everything that he did and obeyed for us. That doesn't produce lawlessness
in God's people. That produces love. Love. That produces a desire to be
like him, a desire to be with him. Not because of law or because
of church leader discipline. No church leader has the right
to discipline anybody. He's just as much a sinner as
anybody else. If anything, he's a bigger sinner, because he's
got the pride and the self-righteous. I'm your church leader. You better
listen to me. No, we all better listen to God. Love for Christ. Verse 31 right
here, Romans 3, verse 31. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. We establish the
law. Listen to this right here. In
Christ. We establish the law in Christ. We establish that the law has
been fulfilled. We establish that the law is
holy and good and right and necessary. If God is going to accept us
into glory, every jot and tittle of the law must be fulfilled
on our behalf. And we establish that it has
been in Christ. Bear with me back to 2 Timothy
1. Verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Amen. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and
a teacher of the Gentiles. You want a heart of forgiveness?
Get a hold of the cross of Christ. Just get a hold of the cross
of Jesus Christ by His suffering and dying under the wrath of
God Almighty in our place. He saved us and called us and
abolished death for us and fulfilled the law for us and brought life
and immortality to us. And Paul said, that's what I've
been appointed to preach. He said, we have not been called
to preach man's responsibility in this matter. The only thing man is responsible
for is sin. The only thing man is responsible
for is sin. Just bear with me here, okay? Think about this. If man repents,
okay? The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
You better repent. Okay, if man repents, man didn't
do that according to God's word. The goodness of God led man to
do that. Isn't that what it says? Man
didn't do that. It's the goodness of God that
leads you to repentance. All right? If man believes, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Okay? If he believes man didn't
do that, The goodness of God gave man that faith to believe. Ephesians 2 verse 8 and hundreds
of other places. If man works a good work, man
is not doing that. It is God working in man both
to will and do of his good pleasure. Paul said, I'm not preaching
man. I'm not preaching the works of
man. I'm preaching Christ. Everything I'm preaching is concerning
Christ. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
1. Let me just prove this and I'll be done. Give me just a
few more minutes here. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 17, Paul said, for Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. What is the
gospel, Paul? Is it our obedience to the law?
No, he says it's the cross of Christ. It's the one who became
obedient, even unto death. The death of the cross. Verse
17, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. What does he mean, the preaching
of the cross? He means the finished accomplishment of it. that He
saved His people and they're saved and they don't have to
do anything because He did it. Well, that's foolish. I've never
heard anything like that before. What do you mean Christ has already
done it? He's already done it. Verse 22, for the Jews require
a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified. That's our message. That's what
we preach. That's all that we preach. Well, now, wait a minute. That's
not all we preach. That's not all that Paul preached.
Really? Look at chapter 2, verse 1. He
said, I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency
of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's it. Well, Paul, come on. I mean, it's that plus all the
other things you preached too. Paul says, what other things?
I'm not preaching other things. Look at 2 Corinthians 9. Verse 16. He said, For though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid
upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. Anything but the gospel. That's
it. What is the gospel? Christ. The gospel is concerning Jesus
Christ. There's nothing else to preach.
That's it. That's the gospel. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel. I'm going to declare the gospel
to you. which I preached unto you, which also you have received,
and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless you believed in vain,
unless you leave this and go back to man's works. Verse three,
for I delivered unto you, first of all, here it is, he said,
three points. Number one, first of all, that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scripture. Number two, and that he was buried. Number three, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures. He said that's
the gospel, the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ. Look at Galatians 1. Verse six, I marvel that you
are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another. There's
only one. It's not mine. It's not yours. It's not anybody else's. It's
God's. It's the one he declared in this
word. There's not another. but there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ. Well, what is the gospel of Christ,
Paul? Verse four, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver
us from this present evil world according to the will of God
and our father, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. That's
the gospel. The gospel is concerning Christ,
who He is, what He did, who He did it for, why He did it, that's
the gospel. And Paul said, that's what I'm
preaching every time that I preach. In everything that I am saying,
everything that is coming out of my mouth is talking about
Him. It's all pointing to Him. It's
all referencing Him. Let me show you this and I'll
be done. Go to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5 verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it. Do we need to hear this? Yes,
we do. We husbands do. Love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish, so ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh. Now watch verse 32. This is a
great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. He said, I just gave you instructions
on how husbands ought to love their wives, but I wasn't talking
about husbands and wives. I was talking about Christ. I was speaking of Christ. Verse
32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. If we don't see Christ in this,
we haven't seen the gospel. You know, we get up here and
open this up and let me tell you what this says. You want
to go to heaven, straighten up and apply right. Should we do
that? Yes. Yes. We all ought to be
better citizens. We all ought to be better husbands.
We all ought to be better believers. Sure we should. But if we do
not see Christ in this, the work of Christ in this, we have not
seen the gospel. If we do not preach Christ in
this, We have not preached the gospel. Paul told Timothy, that
is the whole reason God appointed me to be an apostle, to preach
and teach the finished work of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. I pray that
God will cause us to clearly see that. Amen.