Thank you, Billy. Again, tonight,
Brother Jim Byrd is going to come and preach to us. I was
telling someone before the service that one of the joys of worshiping
and being where the gospel is preached, you can sit down and
not worry about what will be said. You know it will be the
truth. And these men, I'm sure, like
myself, would not only allow you to follow them and check
up on them in the Scriptures, but they want you to. They want
you to. Brother Jim is pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Almonte, Michigan. And Jim, you come and
preach for us. I can't see out of my bifocals,
is it? Maybe that's right there. Well, it's good to be back with
you this evening. You know, whenever you go to
a Bible conference like this and you have two speakers each
night, You don't know what the other guy is going to speak on.
If you're the first guy, you don't have any problem. You just
go ahead and say what it is you want to say, and then, hey, if
I've said something that the next guy is going to say, that's
just too bad. But when you're the second speaker, you know, you listen when a man
announces his text. And both of them got up and he
said, turn to the book of 1 Corinthians. That got my attention. Because
I want you to turn to the book of 1 Corinthians. And the next
thing he said was, chapter 15. Guess what? I want you to turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But I'm going to go to a different
verse. I'm going to go to the beginning
of the chapter. So we're looking tonight in 1
Corinthians chapter 15. Look at verse 1. He's speaking to fellow believers. We're brethren, saved by the
same grace, redeemed by the same blood, quickened
by the same Spirit, who always uses the same gospel. We're brethren. We're born again
of incorruptible seed by the Word of God which liveth and
abideth forever. I'm thankful to God for my earthly
family. That's a relationship that's
going to end. The relationship that I have
with you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, is one which will
last forever. Forever. Moreover, brethren,
brethren, He says, I declare unto you, I, saved by the same
gospel that you are saved by, I have seen the glories of the
Savior as you have by faith. I have been washed in His blood,
as have you, I have been robed in His righteousness, as have
you. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel." The gospel. Not a gospel. Not any gospel. The gospel. There is only one
record of what God in Christ Jesus has done for poor sinners. It's the good news, it is the
glad tidings of what the Lord has done for us in His beloved
Son. I declare unto you the gospel,
the gospel, definite article, which I preached unto you, which also you have received. And you stand in this gospel. And by this gospel, the second
verse, you are saved. If you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless you believed in vain.
You haven't believed in vain, have you? For I delivered unto you, first
of all, This is a matter of priority
to Him. The first thing I deliver to
you. For I deliver unto you, first of
all, that which I also received. I received this message. I heard this message. God sent
this message to me. I receive this message by faith. By God-given faith, I've received
this message, this record of what God in Christ Jesus has
done for sinners. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I've also received. I love this gospel,
therefore I declare this gospel unto you. I rest in this gospel,
that's why I preach this gospel. This gospel does me good, that's
why I preach it to you, to do you good. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, that which I also received." Well, what
is it? How the cross died for our sins. How did He die? He died as the
substitute. He died as the sacrifice. He
died as the sin offering. This is how He died. He died
by God's appointment. He died by God's decree. He says,
how that Christ died? For our sins. For our sins. He didn't have any sins except
by imputation. He died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, according to the Word of God, according
to the Old Testament. That's all the Scriptures they
had. was the Old Testament, and that he was buried, and that
he arose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Now go back to verse 1, and let me speak on declaring the gospel. The words, I declare unto you
the gospel. Now these can be interpreted
one of two ways. First of all, here's what it
means. It means, I make known to you the gospel as though you
never heard the gospel before. I make known to you the gospel
as though you never heard the gospel before. This is the business
of every gospel preacher, to set forth the gospel to everybody
as though they had never heard it before. I don't know your background. Some of you I know love this
gospel. Some of you, and would to God
that all of you, know how God can be just and justify the ungodly
through the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus. But I'm going
to set forth this gospel unto you this evening as though you
have never heard this gospel before, and this is the way we
must always set forth the gospel. We must never take for granted
that folks know what we're talking about. We must never assume everyone
has a knowledge of God, of Christ Jesus, of our sinfulness, and
of this gospel. Whenever we preach, we must be
very clear, very understandable, very specific in our declaration
of this message as though those who listen to us have never heard
the gospel before. I know it's the old, old story
of the good news, the glad tidings of salvation in, through and
by the Lord Jesus. But I'm going to set it before
you tonight as though you'd never heard it before. This is the story of God's everlasting
love for His covenant people. My friends, the gospel begins
with a covenant. It begins in a covenant. A legal
binding agreement. between the members of the Trinity. And in this legal binding agreement
that was drawn up before the world was made, so we're talking
about eternity past, if we can express it that way. Back then, God determined salvation. And He chose, first of all, a
suitable Savior who would save a people from their sins, their
sinful condition would be as a result of a representative
man, even Adam, who would represent the whole human race, and out
of that whole human race, God would save a remnant that are
referred to as the remnant according to the election of grace. God
chose the Savior. And the only one fit and worthy
and suitable to be the Savior of sinners, the Son of God. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus. You see, there is no gospel apart
from this covenant. There is no gospel. Isn't that
right? There is no gospel without this covenant. And this is something
you rarely hear in today's preaching because men can't tell what they
don't know. But it began in a covenant, and
God the Father chose His Son. The first elect one was the Son
of God. Mine elect, God said, that one
in whom my soul delighteth." God chose the Savior. And in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, you with me so far? Remember, I'm preaching to you
as though you never heard this before. God then chose a people. Now, at any given time in history,
they're a little flock, but it's a vast number, known to God,
loved by God, determined by God. chosen in grace." God chose a
people, a new salvation in Jesus Christ before the world began,
and He gave this people to His Son as a gift. The Savior said,
"...all that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me." All that
the Father giveth Me, so you understand that part, don't you?
That's electing grace. God the Father gave a people
to His Son. And the Son of God accepted full
responsibility to save those people, redeem those people,
reconcile those people. All of their salvation rests
fully upon the shoulders of the Son of God and that from all
eternity. He is accountable for bringing
all of the elect safely home to God. Isn't that right? I want you to look at Ephesians
chapter 1 again. We went there last night. But
look at it again. Let me show you something. And here's what I'm saying. This
gospel, This gospel is the declaration that all of the accountability
for our sinfulness, our indebtedness to the justice of God, for all
of our trespasses, iniquities, sins, all of the accountability
rests upon the Savior now. In other words, God the Father
has always looked to His Son to settle the debt. In fact,
it's His debt. It's His, right? It's His debt.
Though ours, we ran up the tab, so to speak. We ran up the indebtedness. It's our indebtedness. And we're
at fault. But it's all been charged to
Jesus Christ. And it was charged to Him when
God chose us in Christ before the world began. Here's a word
for you, surety. The one who stands good for another. That is, He stood good for all
of His elect. We read last night a little bit
of this. Look at verse 3. This is what God did in old eternity. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself
according to God's good pleasure, His good pleasure, the good pleasure
of His will." Watch this. It's to the praise of the glory
of His grace. wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." Now watch this, "...in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace." Now I have a question for you. Which came first, acceptance
or redemption? Well, in verse 6 you have acceptance. And this is, you know, from verse
3 to 6, we're looking back to eternal issues now. We're looking
back at what God did. We marvel at His work of salvation,
His work of election, His work of predestination, His work of
acceptance. He accepted us in Jesus Christ. Now listen, we were accepted
before redemption based upon redemption. Isn't that it? And
this is called eternal justification. We have always been accepted
in Jesus Christ based upon the fact that in due time He would
come into this world. be made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. That is,
to fully and finally pay the debt that was owed. We say, how could God accept
us and justify us, that is, all those chosen in Christ, how could
He do that before the world began when the debt had not actually
been paid yet? Could I give you a biblical illustration?
Turn to the book of Philemon. Turn to the book of Philemon.
I'll give you a quick story. There's a man by the name of
Onesimus. He was a slave, he was a servant
for Philemon. He stole from his owner and he
ran. He got out of town quickly and
he ran to Rome. And in Rome he heard a preacher
who was in prison, a man by the name of the Apostle Paul. And
he heard the gospel of God's redeeming grace and love. And
God the Spirit revealed the Lord Jesus in him. And now he carries a letter with
him, this Onesimus carries a letter with him back to Philemon. And the letter says, listen brother,
you receive this one who holds this letter, who hands this letter,
you receive him as you would receive me. Now for the sake
of time, go down to verse 18. And here's what he says, If he
hath wrong thee," he's talking to Philemon now. If he hath wrong
thee, or oweth thee aught, you put that on my account. Look at verse 19. I, Paul, have
written it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Beautiful illustration here.
Let's go back to the covenant of grace now. All of our indebtedness
that we would run up against God's law and God's justice,
charged to Jesus Christ, who said, put it on my account. I'll repay it. And God the Father and God the
Son entered into an agreement, shook hands as it were, entered
into this covenant, this covenant of grace, and our surety became
responsible for our indebtedness, and because He Himself became
accountable and responsible because of who He is, because He's the
Son of God with glory and power, It's as good as paid. And God
the Father says, everybody you represent, I accept them. I accept
them. The Spirit of God, at some point
in our lives, crosses our paths with this gospel. Wakes us up from the sleep of
death. reveals to us what God in Christ Jesus has done for
poor, undeserving sinners. And we're made to rejoice in
this blessed Savior. And we see in Him how God can
be a just God, and a holy God, and a righteous God, and deal
with our sins in the manner it ought to have been dealt with
through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and based upon
His obedience, God freely, fully, pardons us, forgives us, cleanses
us, washes us, receives us. All in Christ Jesus the Lord.
That's all taken care of in the covenant of grace. You see, I declare unto you the
gospel. The gospel, in declaring unto
you the gospel, go back to 1 Corinthians 15, I declare unto you what God's
already done. This was all in a covenant. Oh, I hope you understand that.
It's all in a covenant. God always looked to His Son
for satisfaction to His justice. He never looked to us. If God in His justice had ever
looked to you and me, His justice would find no satisfaction. Hell
is forever. Because justice will never receive
any satisfaction. The fire will never say, it is
enough. It cannot. Justice cannot ever
be satisfied in the death of the sinner. It was only fully
satisfied in the death of the substitute of God's elect. And our Lord Jesus fully paid
our indebtedness. He retired it. It is gone. It is finished. It is over. It is settled. It's a done deal. We find out about it at regeneration. And we're made to rejoice in
Him who did all the work. So when the apostle says, I declare
unto you the gospel, he means, first of all, I make known unto
you the gospel as if you'd never heard it before. As if you'd never heard it before.
You see, God's preachers just keep on preaching the same gospel
over and over and over again, because this is the message that
glorifies all of God's attributes. This is a message that magnifies
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the message that the
Spirit of God uses in the salvation of sinners, in effectually gathering
us to the Savior. Salvation is not by works, not
by duty keeping, not by rituals, not by ceremony, not by baptism,
not by joining up, not by taking the Lord's Supper, Salvation is by grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ." Now, you understand that, don't you? We're
not talking about you making some contribution. We're not
talking about you exercising your will. We're not talking
about you making a decision. We're not talking about you walking
the aisle. In fact, we're not talking about
you at all as far as you being active in it. We're talking about
what God's done. The gospel you said, Erwalda,
it's a record. It's what God has already done. Surely you understand that. That's
simple, isn't it? I hope that's understandable.
He said, I declare unto you the gospel. It means, I have made
known to you the gospel as though you never heard it before. That's
the first thing it means. Second, now watch this. The words,
I declare unto you the gospel, mean, I remind you of the gospel. I remind you of the gospel."
You know, one translation, let's talk about different translations
when preachers, we were sitting around talking today. One translation
says this, now let me remind you, since it seems to have escaped
you, brethren, of the gospel. That is, the glad hidings of
salvation. which I proclaimed unto you,
which you welcomed and accepted, and upon which your faith stands."
This means, you see, not only I make you to know the gospel,
I want you to know the gospel, I preach the gospel to you as
if you'd never heard it before, but I remind you of the gospel
which you've heard many, many times before. You know why Tim and I have come
down here? To remind you of the gospel. To remind you of the
gospel. We bring forth no new message.
I don't come forth from Michigan with a new message. We're like
the Apostle Paul, he wrote to the Philippians. He said, to
write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous,
it's not troublesome, it doesn't weary me, I don't get tired of
it, but for you it's safe. It's necessary. It's beneficial. I have no desire to try to say
something that nobody else has ever said before. God's servants are not looking
to say something that is different. In fact, if you hear something
different from a pulpit, you ought to be suspicious. Because
God's truth is not new. It is not new. We want it to
be new in the sense of fresh and delightful. Like bread that is baked fresh
every day. Hey, bread every day. I like it. Tastes good. I had bread
yesterday. By George, I had bread again
today. You know what? I heard the gospel last night.
When I come back tonight, that's what I want to hear again tonight.
We come back in the morning. I want that same bread from heaven. I don't want anything new. I
don't want anything different. This is not some new story. It's
an old story. It's an old story. Now, it may
be new to you. It may be new to you. This message of reconciliation. of substitution, of Christ's
satisfaction. But the message is as old as
God, because it's God's message. Christ died for the ungodly. Well, what is it to declare the
gospel? Well, let me give you three or
four things here, and I'll be brief. Concerning this gospel, to declare
the gospel is to declare what this book says about man. Men and women have got to hear
the truth. We've got to hear the truth about ourselves. Let's
hear it from the lips of God Himself. Look at Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3. It's my responsibility
to tell you as though you had never heard it before, and if
you have heard it before, to remind you. To remind you. that you have no possibility
of recovery in and of yourself. There is no hope of salvation.
Listen, for any preacher to tell you or me that God has done all
He can do and now the rest is up to us, we must take the first
step, we must meet God halfway, that is just to mock our misery. Because we are helpless. We are hopeless. Romans chapter 3, you know this. Look at verse 9. What then? Are we better than
they? Knowing no wise, for we before proved both Jew and Gentiles
are all under sin, under the dominion of sin, the power of
sin, the control of sin, the authority of sin. That doesn't
sound like freedom to me. That sounds like bondage. Don't even hardly need to go
any further. But verse 9 says, "...there is none righteous,
no, not one." But that's what God demands. That's what God demands. Righteousness. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. We seek after self-glory.
We seek after the things that satisfy us, but we don't seek
God. They're all gone out of the way.
They've all together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. And we say, well, he did a good
deed. Well, for God to say it's good,
it's got to be perfect. It's got to be done for His glory
only. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. That's what God declares about us. Let's get
down to verse 18. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. No fear of God? Fear of God is
the beginning of wisdom. We don't even have the beginning
of wisdom. Much less have wisdom, don't have the beginning of it.
Verse 19, "...now we know that what things soever the law sayeth,
sayeth to them that are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped." You know what the law of God
will do? It will shut your mouth. You'll stop talking about how
good you are, all the wonderful things you've done for God, how
God sure must be happy that you please Him in all these ways,
and just shut your mouth. and all the world may become,
what do you say, guilty. Guilty. Or that God would enable us to
admit our guilt. That's a big thing for a man
to admit his guilt. In fact, he can't do it apart
from the grace and the Spirit of God. I'm guilty. Guilt is
charged. No extenuating circumstances,
no excuses. But Lord, you know I wouldn't
have done it except for this woman you gave me. That's what
Adam said. Tell you what, you get a view of God's
law, what the law demands, be perfect or die, the law will shut your mouth. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the
righteousness of God," watch it, "...without the law's manifest
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe. For there is no difference for
all if sin comes short of the glory of God being justified
freely." by His grace. Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, God justifies us freely. That means without
a cause. Without a cause in us. Without a cause in us. What is
it to declare this gospel? Well, it's to declare what the
book says about man. Fall, if sin comes, show the
glory of God. You understand that. You've got
to understand that. That's what you talked about
last night. We understand. Will we be submissive to God's
Word though? You know the way it is to declare
the Gospel? To declare the Gospel is to declare the truth about
God. If we declare the truth about ourselves, we've got to
find out who God is. Who is God? What's God like? Job said, "...acquaint thou thyself
with God." You didn't get acquainted with God. Who is God? Well, He is the Eternal One.
He is the all-glorious, eternal God who is the Creator of all
things. He is the God of providence.
He rules and disposes of all things as He will. Who is God? He's the Sovereign God. He does
what He wants to do. He made all things, He's got
the right, and He owns all things. He's the Great Proprietor. You
said that last night. He's got the right, and He exercises
the right to do all things He wants to do with all of His creatures. Nancy's daddy has been dead several
years now. He died in 1982. He had a big farm, and he said,
he said, Jim, explain sovereignty to me. I said, well, I'll give
it a shot. I said, this is your farm, isn't
it? Been in your family, you bought out your brothers and
sisters. He said, yeah, it's my farm. I said, how come you
plant corn over there and alfalfa over there? Well, he said, I
want to. I said, how come you fence it?
Put no trespassing signs up, no hunting, had bunches of turkeys. You drive, people drive along
the highway, stop and see 40, 50 turkeys at a time. People
come up the hill, knock on doors, say, I want to go turkey hunting.
No hunting on my property. I said, why do you tell people
that? He said, because I don't want them to hunt. He said, well,
yeah, but you can let them hunt. He said, but I don't want them
to hunt. It's my property. I can do with it what I want
to do. I said, that's sovereignty. You fenced in your property and
you put signs up, no trespassing, no fishing. We built a little
fishing pond and stocked it and only we fished it. We're the
only ones that fished it. We don't allow anybody else. It belongs to Him to do what
He wants to with His property. Well, God don't have to fence
His property in. He owns it all. And he does exactly
what he wants to with all his property and we are his property. That's sovereignty, isn't it?
He says, shall not I do what I will with my own? It doesn't matter whether you
like it or lump it. As far as changing it, don't
change anything. That's just the way it is. And the God of this book, the
true and living God, He has mercy on whom He will. And that's just the way it is. We preach the God of sovereign
mercy because that's who He is. He said, I love Jacob and I hated
Esau. I don't have a problem with that,
do you? That's God's business. Bow to Him, proud sinner. He
holds your life in His hands. Sue for mercy. Lord, You don't
have to show me any favors at all. And if You damn me, like
David said in Psalm 51, I'll be getting what I deserve. Oh
God, show me mercy for Christ's sake. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. The Lord our God is the righteous
Lord who loves righteousness. He says, it shall be perfect
to be accepted. That never has changed. And the
only way He is going to accept you is if you are perfect. And
you are not going to be perfect except in the perfect One, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He's the immutable God. I
declare unto you, the immutable God. He's unchanging in His purpose,
in His will, in His pleasure, in His desires, in His decree,
in His mercy, in His love, and in His grace. He's unchangeable. You ain't gonna change. Your
prayers ain't gonna change you. Aren't you glad? Our pitiful
little prayers. We don't know what to pray for
as we ought. What is it to declare the gospel?
Well, it's to declare the truth about Jesus Christ. He wasn't
a weak, frustrated Reformer who came down here to do something
or other for everybody or try to do something. No, He's the
Savior. He didn't come to start a new religion. He didn't come
to die as a martyr for a cause. He didn't come to die as a moral
example of how we ought not fear death. He came down here and
died on the cross as the victorious, conquering, sovereign Savior
who saved His people from their sins, which is what He came to
do anyhow. He died as the covenant Redeemer
for a covenant people. And He finished the work the
Father gave Him to do. That's what the empty tomb declares.
And He went back to glory and sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high. And He rules and reigns over
everything. And He's your Lord. He's not
waiting on you to make Him Lord. He's already the Lord. The Lord
of glory. Oh God, help us to recognize
His Lordship, to bow to His Lordship, to love His Lordship. But He's
the Lord. And I'll tell you this, this
gospel to declare the gospel is to declare the truth about
salvation. Which is this. It's of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Let me give
you an illustration. It's a Bible story. Hang with me just a couple
more minutes. Thank you. Oh, that fried chicken, I'm thinking
about it. Or the book of Genesis. You remember
when Lot's servants and Abraham's servants, they kind of got in
a quarrel. They couldn't get along. And Abraham, he's the
wise old sage, you know. Abraham didn't care for the things
of this. He said, I'm looking for a city which has foundations
whose builder and maker is God. He said to Lot, he said, where
do you want to go, Lot? Hey, you want to go this direction,
I'll go over yonder. You want to go over there, I'll
go over here. And Lot looked out over the cities, the plains,
and he said, man, I tell you, I believe man can make some money
down there, be mighty happy down there in the cities. That's where
he went. Abraham said, that's fine, I'll
go this other direction. And some wars broke out. There were some kings and they
jumped on some other kings, the king of Sodom and the king of
Gomorrah and some other places. This one king, his name was Chedorlaomer. And he kind of headed up some
other kings, and they just pounced on the king of Sodom and Gomorrah.
And they had a war for like a dozen years. Abraham didn't get involved.
It didn't mean anything to him. But then they invaded. Chattel-le-Omer
invaded Sodom and Gomorrah. He took a bunch of people captive. That's okay. Whatever. Took all
their property. Whatever. And then a messenger
came to Abraham and said, they've got a lot. And Abraham said,
what? He's interested now. And you know what Abraham said?
I'm going after my brother. That's what he said. Here's his
nephew, naturally. Here's his brother by grace.
Because in 2 Peter it says, Lot was a righteous man. His righteous
soul was vexed by what was going on around him. He is a justified
man through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham,
you know what he did? He went and got 318 of his best
servants. He said, come on boys, follow
me. They pulled a sneak attack at
night. They caught him off guard. Boy,
Chatter-Le-Omer and those other kings, they let out, and they
let go of their captives and all the possessions they had
taken out of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they were just whip dogs. And Abraham rescued Lot, and
everything they had taken from Lot, and brought him back. Now let me tell you what our
God has done in Christ Jesus. He rescued all his lots. You
see, like a lot, we've done a lot of foolish junk. We got ourselves in a mess of
trouble. When Abraham heard that Lot had
been captured, he didn't say, well, he made his bed and I let
him lie in it. Hey, he's the one that chose
foolishly. No, he said, I love that boy.
I'm going after Him. I'm going to rescue Him." That's
what God did for us. God set out to rescue all of
His lots by Christ Jesus, who came into this world and by His
cross death redeemed His people. And He sends His Spirit to rescue
us. To rescue us. And we don't deserve
it. Kind of like a lot. And you know what our Lord Jesus
has done in rescuing all of His lots? He also got back everything
that we lost in Adam and infinitely more. Hey, I'm declaring to you the
gospel. Like it's a new message. And I'm just reminding you. of
who this Gospel is, the Lord Jesus Christ.