Please be seated. I'd like you
to pay special attention today to our Scripture reading. Once
again, our Lord has laid a message on my heart that goes right along
with our Scripture reading. Brother Michael. Scripture reading
for today is taken from the book of Psalms, Psalms 98, verses
1-9. Psalm 98. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new
song, for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand and his
holy arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known
his salvation. His righteousness hath he openly
shooed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy
and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise
unto the Lord all the earth. Make a loud noise and rejoice
and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the heart,
with the heart and the voice of a song. With trumpets and
sound of cornet, make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar and the fullness
thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods
clap their hands, let the hills be joyful together before the
Lord. For he cometh to judge the earth
with righteousness, shall he judge the world and the people
with equity. May the Holy Spirit add understanding
and remembrance to this word, the scripture, and every scripture
that he gave John to preach to us today. Thank you, brother. Back to our song. Listen to these words. Oh, sing
unto the Lord a new song. That's what we do. There was a day when every one
of us walked in this earth in the darkness of our self-righteous
own self. Today, we sing a new song, a
song that praises Him as God Almighty, our Sovereign, our
Ruler. Sing unto the Lord a new song
For he hath done marvelous things." Oh, the fact that God would save
anybody is marvelous, don't you think? It says, Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated. I can understand why God hated
Esau. What I can't understand is how
he loved Jacob. And even more than that, I can't
understand how he would love John Reeves. I mean that. And if you're a
child of God, you're sitting there shaking your head up and
down. Yep, me too. Me too. Marvelous things! For He hath
done marvelous things. His right hand and His holy arm
hath gotten Him the victory. Listen to these words of Isaiah
53 verse 1. Who hath believed? who have believed our report. I don't know about you, but I've got a lot of people that
don't know the Lord that walk in my world. I've got family. I've got friends. I play golf. I don't play golf with anybody
that knows the Lord. I play golf with some religious
folks, and we have some conversations at times, but we don't We do
not believe in the same God. They know who my God is, but
they believe a completely different one. Who hath believed our report?
That's every one of us. That's our walk in this world.
Who believes our God? Very few. Look at the pews. Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? That's what it
says in Isaiah 53. Let me read this again from our
psalm that we just read. For he hath done marvelous things,
his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. Who is his right hand? It's the one who's gotten Him
to victory, that's who. Victory over what? Victory over
death. God's people shall not die. Because we died in our Savior,
the Lord Jesus. That's why. Not anything that
we have done, but because of Him. He's the victor over death for
us. Isn't that wonderful news? Listen
to these next words of our psalm. The Lord hath made known. Who
have believed our report? Those that God has made known.
Those who have heard the Word preached and He has come to them
in their hearts and cut their old stony heart out and said,
here, gives them a heart of flesh that loves Him because He first
loved them. He hath made known His salvation. Oh, folks, that's some good stuff
right there. That's the gospel, isn't it? Can I ask you folks a question? I think I know the answer. The
fact that you're sitting here today gives me a pretty good
answer, I think. Do I preach the gospel? Yes. Do I do it every Sunday? Do I
ever leave anything out of it? There are people who follow us
here at Rescue on Sermon Audio. Some I've never even met. Some
I know personally. So when I say a plan, And I'm
not ashamed to do this. You know, Pastor Gene, I remember
one time he was talking about his daughter Shelly, and she
had started attending services on a regular basis, and he looked
right at her. I forget where she was sitting.
He looked right at her and he says, I'm sorry, honey, but you're
the pastor's daughter. You're just going to have to
bear with it. Because the family of the pastor always gets the
blunt of what's happening. You know why? Because they're
in our lives. You know, I can't tell you what the guy down here
at the market behind the cash register is thinking. I don't
know him. I'm not around him. He may make
a comment or something as I go through the register, but I don't
sit around and have conversations with him. My family is the ones
I have conversation with. It was said, and I don't deny
this is kind of hurtful, But I understand why. Who have believed our report? Every time I've heard you preach,
I have never heard the Gospel. I had to bite my tongue. I had
to bite my tongue. I had to remember that those
who hate my Lord hated him first. They don't really hate me. I
had to be reminded who hath believed our report. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Who are the ones who hear your
word, God? I love that. That's funny. But still, I have to be reminded
of that. And this reminded me of that
very thing. I bit my tongue and let it go. I want you to turn your Bibles
to Galatians chapter 1. We're going to talk about this
today. In fact, I was invited to go ahead and talk about it
because I do talk about my family. You know I've talked about my
aunt. who poked me in the chest and said, you will not take my
free will away from me. Of which I will repeat, I don't
take anything away from anybody. God's word says it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. You want to believe something else? You go through
that doormarked death, that's between you and God when you
stand face to face with he who judges all things in righteousness.
Isn't that what scripture says? Galatians chapter 1. Set your
Bible down there in your laps and we'll get to it in just a
minute. The title for today's message is, What is the Gospel? And I hope this person is going
to listen to this whole message today. Not just part of it here
and then go do something else, come back to the Lord. I want
them to listen to the whole message. Because this is the message that
God used to call me out of darkness. This is the message that God
used to call James out of darkness. This is the message that He used
to call Kathy out of darkness. And I'm going to presume that
He did the same to you. I just wasn't there when He called you
out of darkness. Three times, the Apostle Paul
calls the Gospel message that he was preaching, and we're going
to get to what he was preaching in just a moment, but he calls
it, My Gospel. My King. My Lord. My Sovereign. That's the Gospel. That's my
Gospel. You want to know what's good
news to John Reeves, a sinner? I have a Lord who rules it all. That's my gospel. He's the one
who saved me by sending himself to be my sacrifice. That's my gospel. And that's
the same gospel that Paul preaches. We're going to get to that in
just a moment. Let me read some verses for you where he calls it my
gospel. His gospel. Every single one
of God's children will say, that's my gospel when we read it. Listen
to this, Romans 2 verse 16. In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Let me give you another one,
Romans 16 verse 25, Now to him that is of power to establish
you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret
since the world began. How about this one? 2 Timothy 2 verse 8, Remember
that Jesus Christ, in the seat of David, was raised from the
dead. Did you know that every time
the Lord Jesus, when He was preaching on this earth, every time He
spoke of going to Jerusalem to die, He spoke of, He said this
in closing, and being raised from the third day. You go look
it up. Do whatever search you want in
the Bible. You will not find him not saying that when he talks
about his death. Raised from the dead according
to my gospel. There's only one gospel, folks.
There's only one message that is good news to a sinner. If
you're not a, well, let's say you're a partial sinner. Let's
say you're a 4.5 Calvinist, and that other 5, you're just a sinner.
I'm only a half a point of a sinner. There's only one message of salvation. Christ the Lord declares He is
the way, any other way is as a thief in the night. The Apostle
Paul He says, for I'm determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's the gospel. That's my
gospel. That was Paul's gospel. That
was Peter's gospel. That was Matthew's gospel. There's
only one. Well, what about all that other
stuff about how we're supposed to live? That's not good news.
That's proof that I need a Savior. That's proof that I need the
gospel! I need Christ! Do you? Our Lord puts it very simply
in John 3.16. You know it. For God is to love
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever... To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Who shall believe our report? Those that do believe in Him,
the whosoever that believe in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. We're almost through this stuff,
Polly. We're almost to eternity. We're
getting close. I may get there before you. I'm not going to do it on a motorcycle
again, I can tell you that. That was too close. Listen to
Matthew. I told you a moment ago, Matthew's
gospel is the same as Peter's. Listen to this. He's the same
as Paul's. And Jesus went about, this is
Matthew chapter 4, verse 23. Jesus went about Galilee, teaching
in their synagogues and preaching the gospel. The gospel, and then
he put the title to the gospel, he says, of the kingdom. of the
kingdom and healing all manner of sicknesses and all manner
of disease among the people. Again, Matthew declares it in
chapter 9, verse 35. He says that Jesus went about
all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the gospel. The gospel of the kingdom and
healing every sickness and every disease among the people. The
gospel, the good news, is what God the Father uses to save His
people. Christ Himself came preaching
that very message. Listen to Matthew 11, verse 5.
The blind receiving their sight, and the lame walk. The lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and
the poor have the gospel preached to them. There's only one gospel. There's all kinds of different
doctrines. We have the doctrine of total depravity. We have the
doctrine of unconditional election. We have the doctrine of irresistible
grace. We have the doctrine of Every single one of those things
point to our need of Jesus Christ our Savior. That's the gospel. It's Christ
and Him crucified. Christ saving His people from
what they deserve. Sending His Son to take what
you and I deserve. That's mercy. Grace is giving
us His righteousness. Perfect. That's what it says
in Hebrews, isn't it? Hebrews 10, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Listen to Mark chapter 1 verse
14. Now after that, John was put
in prison and Jesus came into Galilee doing what? Preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the
gospel. There's another doctrine, repentance.
I never talk about repentance, is what I'm told. Folks, every
time I tell you to turn to Christ and turn away from yourself and
the world, that's what repentance is. Not just turning away from
the world, but turning to Christ in truth. Worshipping the Lord
in spirit and in truth. Because I point out, like the
Lord does, that there are men who creep into the church, men
who are predetermined, before the world ever began, to sneak
into the church and turn the Word of God into lasciviousness,
I'm charging them as not being saved. And that's just not true.
I'm just telling you that God's Word tells us they were predetermined
to come into the church and do what they did. Steve Brown. Most of us who have been here
for years know what happened with Steve Brown and Rescue Baptists
Church. I condemn what he did. Is he saved? I don't know. God could do all kinds of things
at the last moment. Look what He did with the man
on the cross. The thief on the cross. Did He
not save him? Did He show any signs of being
saved? No. He was railing on Jesus just
moments before. I condemn them railing on Jesus. I condemn a false religion that
teaches falsehoods. It teaches lies. God does not
save with lies. We're going to get to Galatians
here, but I've got to add something real quick. John 17. Listen to this out of
John 17. Sanctify them through thy truth. Does it say sanctify them through
lies? No. My mom thought that she could
help people be saved if she went and had lunch with all these
other religious people at their religious gatherings. Well, you
just never know, son. God could save them. Yeah, I
know that. But that religion is a lie. And I will not back
down from calling it what it is. It's a flat-out lie. And our God says right here in
John 17, sanctify, set them apart, Thy word is truth. What is the
gospel? In Mark 13.10, and the gospel
must first be published among all nations. Mark 16.15, and
he said unto them, go ye into all the world, preach the gospel
to every creature. So often the families of pastors
become the objects of our message. I've given offense to my aunt,
reference to my mom, references to my sister Ann, regarding their beliefs. I don't
know. I know this, if you go through
that doormark death, in unbelief of the truth, And if that scares you, I'm just
sorry, but that's the way the Lord says it. You're going to stand before
God and face your judgment. Considering the verses that I
just quoted, and you know what, there's what,
ten, fifteen different verses there I think was. Would it seem to you that the
gospel message, the true gospel is a matter of great importance? If Christ preached it, I would
think it would be of great, great, great importance. So much so
that a warning is given. Look with me here at verse 6
of Galatians chapter 1. I marvel, says Paul, speaking to the saints at Galatia,
to those who are worshiping in Galatia. He says, I marvel that
ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel. Wait a minute, John, you just
told me that there's only one. Well, look at verse 7, which
is not which is not another. I want to pause for a moment.
I want you to grasp a hold of this. There's no other gospel. I don't care what religious family
and friends say. There's not different gospels
out there that we can say all lead to one point. That's just
a lie. There is one gospel. There are
no others. That's what that Scripture just
warned us of. Oh, but what about this? It's
such a good saying. That's not the Gospel. But aren't
we supposed to act a certain way? Aren't we supposed to do
something a certain way? That's not the Gospel! The Gospel is my so Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. It's not a what, it's a who!
Christ is the Gospel. Do you realize the grace of God
in becoming flesh? Can you wrap your mind around
that? I try. I sit down and study. Not very
much. Not as much as I should. Not
as much as I want to. But I still study. I think about
it all the time. I'm walking around mowing the
lawn. I don't get to drive a truck anymore. So I go out sometimes
and I just sit there and look off into the sky. I'm looking
under the windshield and studying, thinking about the Lord's Word. Oh, folks. Our Lord is warning
us here. There is no other gospel. Which
is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would
pervert the gospel of Christ. They would change it. Hold your
place here. We're going to come back to Galatians.
Turn over to Jude. We've read this several times
lately, but I want you to look at it again because I want you
to know this is God's Word. This is not some interpretation
of John. This is not something made up
by John Reeves, an opinion or whatever. Look at verse 4. Jude,
verse 4. There's only one chapter. For
there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old
ordained, predestinated to this condemnation, ungodly men turning
the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know that's what Israel
did? In fact, they did it so much that it eventually became
where Israel was all religious and there was no gospel in it! Except for the few. God has always had His remnant.
There has always been a few that have believed the truths of God,
even in Israel. I can imagine what they were
thinking, because we think the same thing, don't we? How can
those people down the street believe that stuff? How can they
believe what they're believing? That's not even in the Word of
God! Look at verse 8. Back in Galatians
chapter 1. But 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, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
ye have received, let him be an accursed. If I don't preach the Gospel,
if I don't stand before you and preach about my Savior, if I
don't stand before you and preach Christ, then let me be accursed. It's not something you preach
once a month. It's not something you preach
once a year. It's what we're to preach every
message we're allowed to stand up and preach. If God taught me nothing else,
He taught me through the preaching of Gene Harmon that Christ and
Him crucified is the key to every single message. I don't skip
over scriptures. When we're doing a Bible study
and the Lord has us go through a section of Scripture where
all it really talks about is what man is supposed to be doing,
I don't skip over it, but I don't skip out on the Gospel with it. To preach what you're supposed
to do is not something we want to skip out on. But if I don't
bring up the Gospel, then you're sitting there thinking to yourself,
well, that's what I've got to do to be good. That's what I've
got to do to be saved. And then you get in the mirror
the next morning, you look in the mirror and you say, I didn't
do it! I'm in trouble again! That's why I preach about Christ.
Because you're going to wake up tomorrow, and you're going
to say that very thing, I didn't do it. But God! Isn't that good? Isn't that good
stuff? But God! I know you can't do
it. But God, there's the gospel. There's the good news. I can't
do it, but God. He's done it. He's purged us
of our sins by laying down of His life. He's made us perfect. He's perfected forever His people
by the sacrifice of His Son. Cursed is anyone who brings another
gospel, which is not another. There's only one. And that gospel
is Jesus Christ the Lord. Who is He? Oh, I know, John. I've heard
it. I can get up and go do something else for a few minutes. He's
going to say, who is He? Where is He at? What's He done?
I've heard all that. It's time to go do something
else. when you get back to the real stuff. God's people don't
say that. I love to hear about who my God
is. I love to sing the old story. I love to sing aloud the new
song that God has given me. This is who He is. Philippians
2 verse 6, "...who being the form of God, thought it not robbery,
to be equal with God. He rules it all. Do you realize what that means?
That means when He went to the cross and shed His blood, His
perfect righteous blood, it accomplished exactly what it was purposed
to do. Nothing can get in the way of
what God has purposed. If it can, that means your God
is trying, that means your pastor is lying, but I'm not preaching
that here. Listen to 1 Timothy 3.16, and
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, and believed on in the world, and
received up into glory. See what I told you? Every time
he talks about his death. Where's he at now? He's not in
that grave. He's God. God accepted what his
son did and raised him from the dead. He's the victor over death.
Listen to Colossians 2 verse 8 through 10. Beware lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and feigned deceit after the
tradition of men. after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him, which is
the head of all principality and power." Folks, the good news,
the Gospel message is for a bankrupt, needy sinner. The message is
Christ Jesus, the Lord in Him crucified, who is all power in
heaven and earth, and under the earth. It says, whosoever believeth
on me. That means, believeth on Him
according to the Scripture. Not according to what you think
is right. I guarantee you, if you're adding
in what you think is right, instead of taking His Word for what it
means and for what it is, you're tainting it. You're mixing lemon
in with the bread. You're mixing yeast in with the
bread. It's going to puff up. Guess
what is going to puff up? You! Yeah. I know. It does me. I've got to be careful
of that. We've all got to watch out for that. Our Lord tells us in John 5.39,
Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of Me." Excuse me, I'm
losing my voice again. Sometimes I just get excited.
It's that new song I have. It's that new song that's in
me and I love to talk about it. We must believe on Him, but it
must be according to His Word. all of his word. Some people
don't like the word predestination at all. In fact, this is probably
the part where I will get cut off and they won't listen to
the rest of my message because I just mentioned predestination. Predestination does not save
you. I hope they heard that. But you're not saved without
believing in predestination. Now I'm cut off. Folks, either God chose you from
before the world was and predetermined that you are exactly where you
are now, or He's not God. We must believe on Him according
to all of His Word, not just part of it. Not just the little
pieces that we like here and there. You know what they do
with John 3.16? For God so loved the world, they
stop right there. See? Whosoever believeth." Well, that's
the invitation. No, it's not! It's a declaration! Those who believe, those who
receive the gift of God, they know when we read in Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 8, we are saved by grace through faith. Not of
worse, let's mention both, the gift of God, not of worse, let's
mention both. Many have come over the years and added their
own vain philosophy to the Word of God. That's what we read in
the Book of Jude. They say you must believe and do this. They say you must believe and
that's not what the Lord says at all. The Lord says, whosoever
believeth. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 12, For our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace
of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly
to you were. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3, But
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus. The simple message is this. You realize a child, a child
who barely understands anything can understand this. If I'm a sinner, how am I saved? That's how. You say, well, a child two years
old may not be able to understand that. Folks, I don't understand
it. We're saved by grace through
faith. Believe. Whosoever believeth. I believe. I believe in the We have absolutely nothing to
offer up to God. We need to substitute a scapegoat,
one that is without blemish, without spot, a perfect righteousness. He shall be called Jesus, for
He shall save His people. He perfectly laid down His life.
He perfectly gave His perfect blood. He took our sins upon
Himself, though there was no sin in Him, and carried them
away into the grave to be seen no more. And as God in the flesh
He arose from the dead, victor over death, victor over sin. Our Lord says, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in the heart,
and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light. Those who preach, you've got
to come down here to the front and say a prayer. If that's what I've got to do
to be saved, I would be here praying on my knees, praying
whatever prayer they want me to be, every single day of every
single moment. Because it would never be enough
to relieve me, my conscience of sin. If you said I had to
get into the waters of baptism to be saved, you'd have to be I would need it every day to
wash the sin. Every time I opened my eyes,
I would see the sin in the flesh, and I'd need to be washed again.
Guess what? The Lord has done it for me.
Here's the good news. Here's the gospel. Christ came
to save His people, and He did it. Once. Once. After He offered up His
body once, as it says in Hebrews chapter 10, He sat down at the
right hand of the Father. The people of God have good news
indeed. We rest in Christ. We have repentance
in Christ. We have righteousness in Christ. We have sanctification in Christ. We have justification in Christ.
We have redemption in Christ. We have intercession in Christ. What is the good news to a poor
lost sinner? Look over Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Very simple. The simplicity of
Christ. Look at verse 1. Romans 8 verse
1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't say those who chose
to follow Christ. It doesn't say those who got
baptized. It doesn't say those who go to
church on a certain day of the month. It says those that are
in Christ. In Christ before the world began
as we read in Ephesians chapter 1. before the foundations of
the world is what it says. According to His purpose is what
it says. Now look over at verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for the good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. Am I wrong? If I'm wrong, please
stand up and tell me. But did that not say, according
to those that were predestinated? Oh, look at the next verse, it
does say that, doesn't it? For whom he foreknew, he also
did predestinate. If I didn't lose the person before,
I bet I lost them then. To be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, whom he
called, them he also justified, whom he justified, them he also
glorified." What is the gospel? What is good news to this poor
sinner? It is a person. It is Christ
Jesus and Him crucified and raised the third day according to Scriptures. Turn over to 1 Corinthians and
I'll bring this to a close. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Just
a couple of pages to the right. Look at verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach what? The Gospels. When I first came to this church
and put myself before you as an interim pastor, we had lost
the man that was supposed to be a pastor here. He resigned
before Mike Loveless and myself as witnesses. He said, I can't
do this job. Isn't that right? Just want to
make sure everybody knows it's not something I made up. And I stood before you that next
Sunday, and I said, all right, the elders of the church would
like me to be the pastor. I don't know if that's right
for me. I don't know if I said exactly those same words, but
that was what was going through my mind. I don't know if that's
right for me. I never wanted to be a pastor. And then as things
went along a little bit, I came to you again and I said, OK,
I'm not here to tell you how to live. I'm not a counselor. I don't know anything about counseling. God's Word does a great job on
telling us how to live. You don't need me. I'm not here to baptize. I'm not here to counsel. I'm here
to tell you about the gospel. If you're a sinner, I've got
good news for you. Christ died for sinners. Christ
died for the ungodly. There's John. I can't tell you
if that's you or not, but I can tell you that was me. And this is how I know. Let's
go on, shall we? For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom." There's John! "...not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. But for
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it
is the power." You realize the Lord says, how
are you going to call? He says, whosoever calls upon
me shall have everlasting life. How are you going to call? I
think it's Romans chapter 10, or John chapter 10. One of those. I'll find it if you have to have
it. He says, how are you going to call if you don't know who
it is you're calling on? Now I'm paraphrasing. How are you
going to know who you're calling on if you don't believe him?
How are you going to believe in him if you've never heard
of him? If all you've ever heard of is this other gospel, which
is not another, how are you going to call on the true and living
God? How are you going to worship in spirit and in truth? If I've ever, if I have ever
stood in this pulpit and not preached the gospel, run me off. Be as the noble Bereans. Look
into the Word of God and make sure what I say is what God's
Word says. And if I don't, run me on. The Gospel is the message that
saves. The Gospel is the message that
feeds. the message that keeps us. Amen? I don't have anything more than
that. I pray that that's enough for
you. Stand with me if you would.