We're already up here. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. th th I hate the song, I hate the lyrics. If you have to make a consideration,
that would be 80 degrees. th th All right, weíll continue on
with our service, and Chris Cunningham is going to
sing a special for us, and when he gets through, Billy Argyropoulos
from St. Petersburg, Florida, you all
have not met him before, some of you have met him, but He's
got in touch with us, and I've been blessed by his preaching
and his fellowship, and I'm looking forward to hearing him tonight,
and I know you are too. But Chris, you come and sing,
and when he gets through, Billy, you do what you do. Like a sheep upon the mountain,
so lost, deserved to die. Surrounded by the darkness, for
his mercy I did cry. And the shepherd came a-seeking,
his lost sheep to find. Put me on his shoulders, whispered
this lamb is mine. Do you wonder why I'm happy? My grace could take the blame. Do you wonder why my heart sings? when I hear His blessed name. He became my Good Samaritan when
He poured in oil and wine from my rags to His riches when the
Lord became mine. As the prodigal sinner ♪ So steeped
in all my pride ♪ But grace became the conqueror ♪ And my sin I
could not hide ♪ But the Father had compassion ♪ And He ran to
my relief ♪ He brought me the best robe And the Lord became
mine Do you wonder why I'm happy By
grace could take the blame Do you wonder why my heart sings
When I hear his blessed name He became my good Samaritan From my rags to His riches, when
the Lord became mine. So good to be here. I've looked
forward to this for a long time. It's a great honor for me to
be able to be with you tonight. When I think of where I was when
he found me. And I think of where I am now. I don't really have the words. I can't thank him enough. I can't
praise him enough for what he's done for me. Brother Chris, this message was
a blessing. So many things I never even saw
that he brought out. I need your prayers tonight.
I'm nervous as a cat. This is the first conference
that I've ever been in. So I appreciate it. I thank God
for it. But I need your prayers. Romans
chapter 1. You have your Bible. Romans chapter
1. First chapter, Romans verse 14.
I want to read from verse 14 through verse
17 tonight. I'm going to preach to you for
a little bit if you'll pray for me. I'm sure this is a very familiar
scripture to all of you. I'm sure you've heard this preached
time and time again. But I want to use this for a
text tonight. Romans 1 and verse 14, Paul says,
I am. debtor both to the Greeks and
to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, in other words, since that's
true, so as much as in me is, with every fiber of my being,
as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is, that is the gospel,
the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein, that is in
the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. As it is written, the just shall
live by faith. I thought about coming to this
conference, and Chris, my thoughts were a lot like yours. Here we
are, we come to a Bible conference, and we want to exalt the Lord,
and talk about Him, talk about His grace. But tonight, if I
had a title for this, I would say, Why We Preach the Gospel. why we preach the gospel. Now there's a lot of gospels
out there. And you can surf the internet,
you can tune in on the radio, you can watch TV, and they'll
tell you 500 different ways to be saved. But Paul said there's only one
gospel. Just one. I want to preach to you for a
few minutes and give you three reasons why we preach the gospel. The first and the foremost reason
why we preach the gospel, I believe, is this. To declare and to proclaim
the chief glory of God. God thinks a lot about His gospel.
Now, when we think about the word gospel, don't think about
doctrine. Think about a person. John 17
3, Jesus said, this is life eternal. That men might know a doctrine? No. THAT MEN MIGHT KNOW THEE, THE
ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM THOU HAST SENT. WE PREACH
THE GOSPEL FIRST AND FOREMOST BECAUSE IT IS TO DECLARE AND
PROMOTE THE GLORY OF GOD. IT'S THE CHIEF GLORY OF GOD.
TURN WITH ME TO I TIMOTHY CHAPTER 1. I WANT TO READ THIS TO YOU,
SHOW THIS TO YOU. I TIMOTHY 1 AND VERSE 11. HEARD WHAT PAUL SAID. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 11, Paul
says this, according to the glorious gospel, you see that word, glorious? According to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God, which He has committed to my trust. I
don't know of a greater responsibility that we as God's preachers have.
The gospel has been committed to our trust. Oh, what weight. Oh, what seriousness. Oh, what heaviness. That brings to my heart to know
that I have been and you all have been entrusted with the
glorious the glorious gospel of the Son
of God. There is no higher thing in this
universe than to declare the glory of the Sovereign Redeemer. Oh, if we could ever get a hold
of the fact that what we're preaching is the chief glory of God, what's
near and dear to the heart of God, is His Son and His gospel. Did you know
you can't separate Him from His gospel? You can't. The gospel is the chief glory
of God. Paul said, it's been committed
to my trust. Please turn with me to Exodus 33. Exodus chapter
33 and verse 18. The gospel is the chief glory
of God. We preach the gospel because
it's the chief glory of God. Exodus chapter 33. I'm old school. I have to thumb
through this Bible. Don't have no thumb index, so
bear with me. Exodus chapter 33 and verse 18. You know, Moses
was a man that had seen so many things in his lifetime. He saw
a bush on fire that was not consumed. Drew near to that site. The voice
from that bush said, Moses, Moses, Don't come no closer, take your
shoes off, for the ground wherein you stand is holy ground. That alone would be something
that a man would remember for a lifetime. Then he saw the death
angel pass through the camp of the Egyptians, and every firstborn
from the firstborn of Pharaoh down to the servant, down to
the cow, where the blood wasn't applied, died. Moses was a man who stood there
at the Red Sea and held up his hands and held up his staff and
said stand still and see the salvation of the Lord and he
actually and literally saw the Red Sea part and not only that
but a strong east wind blow all night long and then walk across
that seabed on dry ground. That'd be enough to talk about
and shout about for some people for two lifetimes. He saw manna
fall from heaven. He saw water come from a rock. But here, but here, he says, Lord, show
me your glory. Show me your glory." God said, all right, I will. But let me tell you this, Moses,
you can't see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. Tell you what I'm gonna do, boss,
is I'm gonna, there's a rock over here by me, and I want you
to get in that rock, and I'm gonna put you in the cleft of
this rock, and when my glory passes by, I'm gonna remove my
hand from your face. And you'll see my hind parts,
that's all you can stand. Donnie, I'm fumbling for words.
I mean, this is the greatest thing that there is in the universe,
is to be able to get a glimpse of that glory. And then the next chapter, God
did exactly what he said he'd do. Moses had them two tablets
in his hand. And it came to pass, I love those
words when I read them, and it came to pass that God showed him his glory and Moses was never the same. In Exodus 33, 19, just to go
back a little bit, he said, I will make all my goodness pass before
you. That's the glory of God, is the
goodness of God. I'll make all my glory pass before
you. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before you. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. And I'll have mercy on whom I
will show mercy. And he, Moses, actually got a
little glimpse of that glory. And you know what the scripture
says about Moses? that his face shone. Donnie, we're products of what
we look at. You ever see the glory of God? You'll never be the same. We
preach the gospel because it declares the glory of God Almighty. It's his glory. It's his glory. Oh, I have to say this before
I go on. This rock that Moses was in,
scriptures call this the cliff to the rock. Can you see the Lord Jesus Christ
there? Oh, what a beautiful type it
is. God was manifest in the flesh. John 1.14, the word was made
flesh and dwelt among men and we beheld, here's that word again,
glory. We beheld His glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. There was no hope that any of
us would ever see the glory of God unless it was manifested
in a man. And that man was God's Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. God, who at sundry times in divers
manners spake unto us by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us. by His dear Son, who being the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,
when He had by Himself purged our sins and sat down, sat down, the right hand of God. You know
why there was no chair in the tabernacle in the Old Testament?
The work was never done. But we have a high priest who's
seated. Amen? Who's seated at the right
hand of God. We preach the gospel First and
foremost, because it declares God's glory. And you know, the scriptures
tell us that we're saved because of God's glory. It pleases God. Did you know that? Turn with
me to Ephesians chapter 1. I'm going to go ahead. I don't want to be so long-winded.
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4. Here's what Paul told the church at Ephesus. In verse 11, Ephesians 1 verse
11, In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise
of, there's that word again, his glory. who first trusted
in Christ, 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 the Holy Spirit of promise. He saved me because he wanted
to. I can't wrapped by hands around that.
I wish I could sink my teeth into that. Why? Why me? There was nothing good
about me. Nothing desirable. I was lost,
no good, no count. Wicked, wretched, lost in religion. Preaching works for salvation. Being an awful legalist, dotting
every I and crossing every T, eyes meaner than a striped snake.
I'd have made a good devil, don't I? But oh, in wondrous mercy, in wondrous mercy, he came looking
for me, and he found me. OH GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD GLORY
SAVE IN THE CROSS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM THE WORLD
IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME AND I UNTO THE WORLD. And then secondly,
why do we preach the gospel? Not only because it's the chief
glory of God and it needs to be declared and it needs to be
proclaimed, but this is how God saves sinners. This is the means
that God has chosen. to save them that believe. Turn
with me to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10, I want to
read, begin reading at verse 14. The very familiar scripture in
verse 13, for whosoever shall, or whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But the next few verses
REALLY need to be looked at. And it is true. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's a
blessed truth. But the fundamentalists and the
good works people stopped there and they hadn't bothered to read
the REST of it. Look in verse 14. Four questions. are asked here. Look in Romans
10, verse 14. How shall they call on Him in
whom they have not believed? How are they going to do that?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they've not heard? Man's a fool to trust a hole
in the wall. You say, preacher, I think that
people must decide for Christ. Listen to me for a revealed Christ. How can they believe in somebody
they know nothing about? How can they lay hold on something
they have no idea of what it means? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? This is how God saves sinners.
This is how God saves sinners. How can they preach except they
be sent? Do you realize in your conversion
when God brought you to himself. The timing that God used to bring
you to himself. You see, everything God does
has a purpose. Nothing happens by accident with
God. The Apostle Paul, when I think
about the conversion of Lydia, And I think of where Paul was
at the time. He wanted to go to this one place.
The Holy Spirit said, no, I want you to go here. Okay. They went to another city and
they determined to go to another city. The Holy Spirit said, no, not here, not here. You say preacher,
what's all that about? Because there was a woman. named
Lydia that was going to hear the gospel. That's right. And all of what Paul went through,
this city, that city, and all of a sudden he comes to this
place and he usually preaches in the synagogue on Sunday, but
he doesn't do it this time. The reason why is there wasn't
no synagogue there. So where does he go? He's directed
by the Holy Spirit to a riverside. And oh, I love this. And there
was a woman named Lydia from Thyatira. How she got from Thyatira
to the place where Paul was, the scriptures don't say. But
let me tell you something, a seeking Savior sent a preacher to preach
to Lydia. And the Bible says God opened. Oh, praise the Lord. Oh, glorious
day that God sends preachers to preach. Philip in the Ethiopian unit,
Chris mentioned it. The Lord Jesus Christ in Zacchaeus.
Hi, I love this. What a crowd there was following
the Lord that day. And Zacchaeus, the little short
guy, he wanted to see who the Lord was, so he climbs up in
the sycamore tree, and he wants to see who the Lord is. Now the
Lord is passing by this way, and there's a whole crowd around
him, but he's only looking for one man! Just for one man. And he came to a dead stop and
looked up in that tree and said, come down. For today I must,
I must abide at thy house. And the scripture said, Ozacias
skedaddled down out of that tree and received him joyfully. Yeah. It's how God saves sinners
through the preaching of the gospel. First Corinthians 1 verse
21. by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Let me get to the last point
here. Don't worry. We preach the gospel because
it's the chief glory of God that it needs to be declared, needs
to be proclaimed. We preach the gospel because
it's God's means of saving sinners. And then we preach the gospel
to bring men to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we do it. The first
verse I read to you in the text in Romans 1.14, Paul said, I
am debtor. Reckon a man ought to pay his
debts? Certainly. Paul said, I'm a debtor. I'm
a debtor to the Greeks and the barbarians. I'm a debtor to the
wise and the unwise. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory up. But necessity, necessity is laid
upon me. And woe is unto me if I preach
not THE gospel. Paul felt such a debt that in
Acts chapter 20 when he was at the very last time he was ever
going to see the Ephesian elders again. You know the story. He
taught him publicly Acts 20, 21, taught him publicly and from
house to house, repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. But in verse 26, he says, I have
kept back nothing that is profitable unto you and have warned you with tears. And I am pure from the blood
of all. He thought he had a responsibility. He felt in debt. He says, I've
got to preach the gospel. This is how God saves sinners. God entrusted the gospel to me
and I'm in debt to the Greeks and the barbarians, the wise
and the unwise, to the Jews or whoever the case may be. I've
got to preach the gospel. Amen. Paul said, I'm free, told them
I'm free from the blood of all men. Yes, the gospel's been committed
to our trust. And so let me say this in closing. The parable was mentioned by
the Lord Jesus to Simon, the religious Pharisee. And he said, Simon, he said there
was a certain man that had two creditors. One owed him 500 pence
and the other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, He frankly forgave them both. Which of these two will love
him most? Simon said, I reckon the fellow
to whom he forgave most. He said, you've rightly judged. And he mentions the woman that
was there. who had not ceased to fall at
his feet with tears and take the hair
of her head and dry his feet. He said, Simon, her sins, which
are many, are forgiven. For the love of Christ, that's
it, isn't it? For the love of Christ constraineth
us. If you do it for any other reason,
you're doing it for the wrong reason. For the love of Christ
constraineth us, and we thus judge. If one died for all, then
we are all dead. Let's pray, shall we? Our Father. We thank you for blessed truth.
Thank you for your word. Thank you for who you are. Lord, I pray tonight that thy
will be done. Lord, give eyes to see, ears
to hear, only as you can. Thy will be done tonight, Lord,
in your blessed name. for your sake. Amen. Donnie. Thank you, Billy. Thank you. 67, you say? Yeah. O Savior, as my eyes behold the
wonders of Thy might untold, glorious light arrayed, the vast
creation Thou hast made. My heart cries out, how can it
be? How can it be? How can it be? God should save a soul like me
How can it be? How can it be? As at the cross I humbly bow
And gaze upon thy thorn-crowned brow And view the precious bleeding
form By cruel nails so bruised and torn ♪ Knowing thy sufferings
was for me ♪ ♪ In grief I cry how can it be ♪ ♪ How can it
be ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ That God should love a soul like me
♪ Oh how can it be You fellas go back there by the door, okay?
You fellas go back by the door. ♪ Can it be, how can it be ♪
Was ever grace so full and free ♪ ♪ From heights of bliss to
depths of woe ♪ ♪ In loving kindness Thou didst go ♪ ♪ From sin and
shame to grace ♪ How can it be? How can it be? How can it be? of a soul like me. Oh, how can it be? Oh, what a wonderful night. What
a wonderful evening. The men are going to meet out
at Shoney's in the morning, about 8.30, quarter to nine. And the
ladies are going to go to the Grindr house. The Lord bless
you. 6 o'clock tomorrow night. We'll be right back here. 6 o'clock
tomorrow night. Good night and God bless. you