Oh, how I thank God. Grace shall
prevail over sin at last. Romans chapter one. Romans chapter
one. The title of my message this
morning is why I preach the gospel. Why I preach the gospel. That's my subject. Why am I in
the ministry? Why do I pastor this church?
Why have I spent my life studying and preaching the word of God? Why would a man leave his home
and go to other places to preach almost every week of the year?
What motivates me in this thing? What motivates any true preacher
of the gospel? to give his life to study and
prayer, preparing messages and preaching, who puts forth the
effort and makes whatever sacrifice of other things is necessary.
Why do I preach the gospel? In Romans chapter 1, verses 14
through 17, I'll give you five answers, five simple, plain,
Unmistakable reasons why I preach the gospel First though go back
to verse 1 and let me give you the first one from this opening
verse of Paul's epistle Why was Paul in the ministry? He said
God put me in the ministry in first Timothy 112. He said God
enabled me God counted me faithful and God put me in the ministry
and I don't compare myself in any way with the Apostle Paul.
I don't want to give that impression. But what I'm saying is the reasons
that Paul gave as to why he was a preacher are the same reasons
why I'm a preacher, and the same reasons why any man who preaches
the gospel of God's grace does it. These are the reasons. The
things that motivated Paul are the things that motivate all
true gospel preachers in every age, wherever you find them.
Romans 1, verse 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, called to be God's messenger, separated unto the
gospel of God. Now, the scriptures are abundantly
clear. The ascension gifts of our Lord
Jesus Christ to his church are prophets and apostles and evangelists,
missionaries, pastors, teachers, prophets, men who were given
by God the ability to proclaim that which God promised to accomplish
with precise detail and accurately in the Old Testament. The last
of those in the New Testament was John the Baptist. He's the
last of the prophets. Apostles, they too were in office
given for a specific time. The men who were chosen of our
Lord Jesus, who had seen the Lord in the flesh, and who received
the revelation of the gospel directly from the Son of God,
and wrote for us in the New Testament with inspired, infallible authority,
the message of Jesus Christ as he proclaimed it while he walked
on this earth. so that the apostles are all gone. There are no prophets
today, no apostles today. Those who claim to be prophets
and claim to be apostles, not so, just not so. The last apostle
died and we don't need apostolic gifts. We have the whole revelation
of God in his word. And then he gave pastors, teachers,
pastors who are teachers, pastors to teach his church. Pastors
to teach eternal bound men and women the things of God Revealed
in this book Paul says I'm called to this work by God. I'm often asked What is the call
to the ministry? And I can't really answer that
question Better than Paul did in the passage. I referred you
to earlier in first Timothy 112 He said there God Put me in the
ministry. That's the call. If God puts a man in the ministry,
he's called to the ministry. If he puts himself in it, he's
not. If God puts a man in the ministry, he's called to the
work. If somebody else puts him in
it, he's not. But Paul said, God put me in the ministry. God
enabled me. God counted me faithful. And
God put me in this work. Listen to what it says about
it in Ephesians chapter 3. Just listen. He said, unto me
who am less than the least of all saints. That is, to say there's
nothing about me that elevates me above any of you, giving me
qualities to preach. I'm just like you, a sinner saved
by God's free grace, less than the least of all saints. To me
is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, just as God put faith in you,
just as God put his grace in us. So he puts his servants into
the ministry and they consider it the gift of God's grace. I'm
a preacher. Because of God's call and God's
gift, God put me in the work. My wife will verify what I'm
telling you. She's been with me since almost
the day God saved me. We met about a month later than
that, started dating a few weeks later than that. Supernaturally,
mysteriously, with no thought of it on my own, God opened the
door. God gave me the message. God
gave me the gifts. God sent me on this mission.
God entrusted to my hands this stewardship. God gave me this
dispensation. I didn't seek it. I didn't volunteer
for it. I didn't covet it. As one old
preacher put it, I neither thought it nor sought it nor bought it.
But God put me in the ministry. I'm a preacher of the gospel
because I've been called of God to be a preacher. And I pray
God will do that for some of you. I've informed my grandson
and I inform him as often as I can. It's my prayer that God
will save him and God might be pleased, put him in the ministry.
I couldn't think of a, I can't imagine anything more honoring
to a man, but only God can do it. God put me in the ministry. I can't find any man in this
book, Are you listening? I can't find
any man in this book who volunteered to be a prophet or a preacher
except the false prophet. Find me one. Find me one. Can't find anywhere in this book
where any man said, Lord, let me be a preacher. None except
the false prophet. I can't find a man anywhere in
the word of God who went to school to prepare to be a preacher or
prepare for the ministry. Not in this book, just not found.
You will not find any man in this book who was called to be
a prophet or a preacher who was not a prophet or preacher. You're
not going to find it. Now, if God called a man to do
it, he did it. And if he did it, God called
him to do it. It is the call of God that makes a man a preacher,
not his education, Not his abilities, not his choice, not his decision,
not what somebody else does for him. It is the call of God that
makes a man a preacher. And the making of the preacher
is God's call. All right. Now move on to verse
14. I preach the gospel because God
called me to this work. Now here's my second reason.
I'm a debtor. And let me spend a little time
here. I'm a debtor. both to the Greeks
and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. I
take Paul's words to be my own. I take Paul's words to be my
own. And in doing so, I'm either being
absolutely honest or I'm a liar, one of the two. I'm a debtor. I preach the gospel because I'm
a debtor. A debtor is a person who owes
something. He owes someone something. If
you owe money, you're a debtor. If you have an obligation, you're
a debtor. You may owe obedience. A child
owes his parents obedience. You owe that to your mom and
dad. You owe them obedience. We have been observing this Observing
a little bit just because on the news had to observe this
idiotic lawsuit some gal Suing her parents because she wants
her parents to support her because she don't want while she refuses
to obey him She's 18 years old and she needs
to be bent over somebody's knee and paddled good a Child is a
debtor to obey his parents Seven is a debtor to obey his master. I We owe many people gratitude. You remember how the Apostle
Paul spoke to Philemon? He wrote to Philemon with regard
to Onesimus. And he urged Philemon to receive
Onesimus as he would his own self. And he said, now, anything
that costs you, put it on my account, and I'll take care of
it. And then he said something to him in Philemon, verse 19,
as he started to close out the book. But I remind you of something.
You owe me your life. You owe me your life. Paul had
been sent of God to preach the gospel to him. Paul was made
of God an instrument of everlasting salvation to that man's soul.
And so he writes to Philemon and says, Philemon, don't forget
you owe me your life. We owe a debt of gratitude. A person may owe honor to another. Give honor to those to whom honor
is due, tribute to whom tribute is due, respect to whom respect
is due. And God tells us to owe no man
anything except to love one another. So we have a debt, a debt. Particularly,
I'm a debtor to God. A debtor to God who chose me. He didn't have to. He loved me. I didn't love him. He loved me.
He chose me. I didn't choose him. He chose
me. He called me. I didn't call him. He called
me. I'm a debtor to God because I belong to him by his mercy
and his grace. I'm a debtor to God, the son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me. I pray incessantly. God, don't let me for a moment
forget I belong to Christ, lock, stock and barrel. I'm not my
own. I've been bought with a price.
How about you? With the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. He bought me. I'm his. It is
not my option to do with myself what I will. I'm a debtor to
God, the Holy Spirit. who called me, regenerated me,
gave me life and faith in Christ, who raised me up from the dead
by the power of his grace. That's what it takes to live
before God. You must be born again. I'm a
debtor to God, the Holy Spirit, and I'm a debtor to the prophets,
the prophets, Moses and David, Jeremiah, Elijah, Isaiah, the
prophets of God, those men who suffered and gave their lives
to write the scripture for us and give us God's word down through
the ages. Ever think about what those men
endured, what they suffered? I'm a debtor to the prophets
and to the apostles. You know, every one of those
apostles, every one of them were put to death except one. John was exiled to the Isle of
Patmos. All the others were murdered, martyred. because of the testimony
of Jesus Christ. They gave their lives to give
us God's word. They gave their lives to give
us God's word. And through the ages, multiplied,
multiplied, multiplied, multiplied, hundreds and thousands of others
have done the same thing. They gave their lives to give
us God's word. I'm a debtor to the faithful
pastor who preached the gospel of God's grace to me. I remember reading in the scripture
how God sent Philip to the eunuch. He sent Paul to Lydia and God
sent a preacher to me. And I promise you this, I promise
you this, if God Almighty has chosen you, Christ has redeemed
you if God the Holy Spirit calls you to life and faith in Christ
Jesus he will do it by a preacher and One way or another he will
cause your path to cross that preachers path He'll do it in
remarkable ways, but he'll do it He'll tear nations down and
build nations up But he will cause the chosen sinner to meet
up with a faithful preacher who preaches the gospel to him When
I was 16 years old, not quite 17, I started attending services
in a local church. The man there, his name was Tamley
Davis, and I'm a debtor to him. He preached the gospel of God's
grace to me. I sat in Bible class. Mark and
Frank take care of the teenagers downstairs. You listen to me,
Matthew. That's where I learned the gospel
first. Leroy Pack and Lloyd Moore, both of them preachers now in
different parts of the country. They taught me the gospel of
God's grace. I'm a debtor to them. I'm a debtor to them. And
I'll tell you this, since God has given me all that he's given
me, I'm a debtor to you. I'm a debtor to this generation.
If we lived in a dry desert land, And the land was suffering drought
and famine as a result. And one day I found water on
my land. And someone gave me a well. A well on my property pumping
all the water I could use. Just pumping all the water I
could use. You would think it my debt to
share the water with you, wouldn't you? I would think myself less
than a man if I didn't have a sense of responsibility to share the
water with others who were dying of thirst. Will you hear me? Bill Raleigh, God Almighty, has
planted in my soul a living well of living water. That's what
our Master said, John chapter 7, didn't it? I'll give you living
water in you, bubbling up unto everlasting life. And that living
water of His free grace by His Spirit in Christ Jesus, I have
a debt to give to all who'll hear me, all who'll hear my voice. A debt to declare it to all the
generation in which I live as God gives me opportunity. Not
just to a few folks here and there to everybody to the Greeks
and the barbarians the wise and the one unwise now look at verse
15 So as much as in the years, I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at role Preachers our fellows who say
they are Look for a suitable place to preach. That's the most ridiculous thing
I've ever heard in my life. Preachers wonder if this would
be a suitable place to preach. Is there a lost sinner there?
That's a suitable place to preach. Paul said, I'm ready to go to
Rome. Rome. Rome was a heathen, pagan, cruel,
hard, idolatrous city, a city filled with Caesars and soldiers,
a city filled with licentious infidels, libertines,
idolaters, sodomites, a city filled with ungodliness. And
Paul said, I'm ready. I'm ready. with as much as there
is in me, with every fiber of my being, with every breath of
my body, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you there at Rome
also. I'm ready to preach the gospel
because God's called me to this. I'm a debtor. A debtor to preach
the gospel and ready. God helping me to preach the
gospel wherever he opens the door. It doesn't matter how many
or how few. Doesn't matter at what cost or
what sacrifice. Doesn't matter where it is. And
Fred asked me this morning, he said, aren't you going to Alaska
this week or this month? Next Tuesday, a week from Tuesday,
we'll go back up to Alaska, bring some folks up there. And I'll
be honest with you, once was enough. You want to go back anytime
soon? It's not a real easy trip. Once
was enough if I was just going to see Alaska. Oh, but there's
some folks there. who want to hear the gospel,
need to hear the gospel. And I've got it. I've got it. I can't possibly say no. Go to
Battle of Money, North Island. It takes a lot of effort to get
to Battle of Money, North Island. And when you get there, you've
got nowhere. And they'll hear this. When you get there, you've
got nowhere. It's just a little old hole in
the wall on the top side of the coast of Ireland. But there's
some folks there who need to hear the gospel. And I'm not
just want to go, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor. I have a responsibility
to go. I'm talking about the gospel,
preaching of the gospel. God's free, sovereign, saving
grace in Christ. Go proclaim to men, salvation
is by grace alone. Your works have nothing to do
with it. Salvation is God's work. Salvation is God's gift Salvation
is in Christ alone. It's not in the waters of baptism.
It's not in religious rituals It's not in your good deeds.
It's it's not in the church Salvation is in Christ alone This is life
eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom thou has sent Salvation this salvation is obtained by
faith alone By faith alone, you believe God and it's yours. You
believe God and it's... Faith doesn't cause it. Faith
doesn't produce it. Faith doesn't earn it. Faith
simply receives it. Receives it. To as many as received
him, to them gave he the power, the right, the authority, the
liberty to be called the sons of God. I can't think of a better
way to suggest what that faith is than this. You see that? I'm fixing to receive
some water. I didn't create the water. I
didn't even put the water in the glass. All I did is took
it. Will you, where you are now,
can you, where you are now, without saying a prayer, without moving
a muscle, without doing anything, believe on the Son of God. If you do, it's because God Almighty
has given you faith. It's because God Almighty has
given you life and grace and peace in His Son. Now, here's
the third thing. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
When Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, his clear implication
is there are many who are. There are many who are. Many
who profess to preach it. who are ashamed of it. They talk
about it in the office or in the coffee shop or in the living
room. They'll discuss it with other preachers and they'll fuss
and fight about it in the schools, but they don't preach it. Or
they preach it in such a way as to slip it in without you knowing
it. They preach it in such a way as to poke it in words that can
give any kind of understanding you want. Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed to boldly, plainly
declare the truth of God. Let me see if I can illustrate
what I'm talking about. This book tells us that God created
the heavens and the earth. And you know, I preach that.
I talk more about it now, I guess, than I ever have because this
generation laughs at it more now than they ever have. I could
come with some foolish notion and tell you how the planets
collided together thousands of years ago, or millions of years
ago, or billions of years ago, just stretch as far as you want
to. The farther you stretch it, the better folks like it. Planets
just, and here we are. Or an atom, I just heard somebody
the other day, brilliant fellow, he said this whole thing started
with something smaller than an atom exploding. exploded into
this. And folks say, oh, isn't that
amazing? And you tell them God created
heaven and earth, and they say, what planet did you fall off
of? Because it's offensive. And I'll tell you why it's offensive.
It's not because that science has so greatly demonstrated and
proven that creation can't be so. Science hasn't demonstrated
any such thing. It never has and it never will. Science arguing for evolution
changes every few years and every few days within those years.
It changes constantly because science hasn't proved anything,
nothing, nothing. But why is it then that folks
are offended when you talk about God creating the heavens and
the earth by his mere will? God said let there be light and
there was light. God sent the sun and the moon
and the stars and God made it as he would. Why is that so offensive
to men? Because it makes man the property
of God and he can't stand it. It makes man the property of
God and he can't stand it. You belong to God and he can
do with you and will do with you what he will. The scriptures
tell us about the fall of our father Adam and the fall of our
race in Adam and men Don't like it, offended by it, offended
by it. Because the scripture says, wherefore as by one man,
sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned. And folks say, you don't
believe, you don't believe that myth of Adam and Eve, do you?
Myth? Who informed you it was a myth?
Where did you find, where did you find that? Well, that just
can't be. Man, man's evolving. I've been around long enough
now, I should have seen something evolving taking place. Have you seen anything about
humanity evolve in your lifetime? Now let's back up. Have you ever
read about it in anybody's lifetime? Where did man evolve? Where did
he evolve? Man's not evolving, he's falling. And men are offended by that.
They're offended by what they call the story of Adam and Eve
because it declares man to be what he knows he is, a fallen
sinner. But I'm not ashamed to declare
that. I'm not ashamed to declare it because you've got to hear
it. You will never seek the Savior till you know you're a sinner.
You'll never come to Christ till you know you need Christ. You
will never drink the water of life until you know you have
no life. We come and proclaim the scriptures, the blood sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those sacrifices were ordained
by God, ordained by God to typify the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Many, many years ago, many years
ago, there was a fellow sitting in his living room one Sunday
morning, flipping through the channels, just clicking from
one preacher to the next. He's just sitting there drinking
his coffee and he'd been reading the Bible and he kept telling
his wife. He said he's a Kathy This book
says we got to have a lamb Everywhere in the Old Testament talks about
a lamb and sacrificing the lamb and he happened to flip on by
the mayhem He's I'm gonna talk to you this morning about the
Lamb of God. He said Kathy This man won't tell us about that
lamb and God gave him faith in the Redeemer. God's Son came
into this world, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, and by
His blood put away the sins of His people that were made His.
By the sacrifice of Himself, He put away our sins, numbered
with the transgressors, and put away our sins. This one is the
Lamb of God, who by the sacrifice of himself takes away the sins
of his people wherever they're found throughout all the world.
He's the Lamb of God. And the whole book speaks about
him and his sacrifice. But that offends me. You had it in the very first
of the book. The first two sons, shortly after the fall, some
few years after the fall, came to Nabal and now grown men. They
went out to worship God the way their daddy taught them. Abel
brought a lamb. Abel brought a lamb, and God
saw the sacrifice and accepted Abel's sacrifice, not because
of anything in that lamb. Oh, no, that lamb was meaningless. That lamb didn't mean any more
than if you had sacrificed a cat. It didn't mean any more than
that, except for one thing. Abel saw that lamb. as what God
told him it was. A picture of the Lamb of God. of Christ, the sacrifice, who
would be brought into this world as the seed of the woman through
the womb of a virgin. Abel believed what God said. There's one coming, a woman's
seed, who will crush the serpent's head. And here he's represented
in this lamb as God himself portrayed it when he slaughtered the innocent
victim and clothed Adam and Eve, Mama and Daddy in the garden.
And Cain said, I ain't going to worship God like that. No,
that's messy, that's bloody, that's offensive. Nobody likes
to see blood running everywhere. It's just, who can stand that? No, I'll bring the finest thing
I can raise. I'll bring the best produce of
my hands. And Abel went out, Hakeem went
out in the garden, and he got shocks of corn, full to the tip. And he went out and he got ears
of corn full to the tip, and he got beans, just beautiful
beans, didn't have a speck on them. And he got all the very
best that he could bring. And he brought it and laid it
on the altar, and it laid there and rotted. God wouldn't have it. And Cain
murdered Abel. You know why? Just one reason.
Just one reason. God accepted the lamb. He wouldn't
accept Cain's works. That's all. That's the only reason.
He was enraged because God wouldn't accept his works. So it is with
men to this day. Enraged at God because he won't
accept their works. And enraged at anyone who dares
to tell it. But I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ because of a very good reason. This gospel is the power
of God unto salvation. Men will do about anything. They'll do about anything. The
first time I went to Mexico, the first time I went to Mexico,
it was 1976 or 77, 76 I think it was. And we went out to one of their
holy days, down there where papacy takes its mask off and you see
it for what it is. folks that they had a 14-foot
high gold-covered statue of the Virgin Mary. Now they had to
protect her. Their God had to be in a cage. So when folks weren't
in services, they had her in a cage and rolled her out to
the front so people could come and throw some pesos in there
and burn candles and do this mumbo-jumbo stuff and get close
to God. And then when they had no services,
they turned that God around and Rolled her in on a railroad track,
right into the cathedral there. And folks said, oh, now we can
come up here, and there's not a cage between us and our God.
And they threw their mumbo jumbo. This is one of their holy days,
and the place was packed. I mean, this was a little Pueblo,
a little village out in the middle of nowhere. It was just absolutely
packed. I'm talking about hundreds and
hundreds of people. And I'm just standing on the
outside looking in, and I'm watching them, those poor, deluded people. Those poor, deluded people would
get down on their knees, murl and crawl up to a man dressed
in drag and had him to lay a little bread on their tongue and pour
a little wine in their mouths and had him to cross them and
bless them. And thought to getting close
to God. Thought, God's now going to accept me. People do anything. People do anything. You see dignitaries
on television these days go over to Roy and kneel down and kiss
that old man's ring on his finger. These are folks who have good
sense about nuclear physics. These are folks who have good
sense about law and politics and world affairs. Brilliant
folks. Bow down and kiss a fellow's
finger. and think by this I'm going to get close to God? What
foolishness! What foolishness! Hold on, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel, and this I do. Here's my fourth reason
for preaching it. This gospel of God's free grace
is the power of God to salvation. This is the message God uses
to save sinners, the preaching of the gospel. Philip comes up
with that unit The eunuch is returning from the feast at Jerusalem.
He was as religious as I'll get out He had been to Jerusalem
on the holy day and he he came away as empty as he went up and
he's reading the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and must have been
reading out loud because you Philip heard it. He's walking
alongside the chariot and heard that fellow reading Isaiah chapter
53. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities
and Philip said you understand what you're reading and The eunuch
looked at him How can I? Except some man showed me. He
said, scoot over, I'll show you. And he preached, beginning at
the same place, Jesus and him crucified. And God gave the eunuch
faith in his son. This is the power of God to salvation. You see, the gospel proclaims
a Savior who meets God's law, God's holiness, and God's justice
head on. The law is strong, it's powerful,
it's condemning. The law says, the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. The law says, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. That means you're cursed. You haven't obeyed God's
law, not even close to good, let alone perfect. No, you know
it may God's love, but rather every day with every breath you
draw, you break the commandments of God all the time in your heart
and with your mouth and with your hands and with your deeds.
How then can you get around that? You can't get around it. I can't
get around it. But Frank, I can meet it head
on with the gospel. I can meet it head on. God says, be holy. God says,
obey. God says, walk before me and
be perfect. God says, I demand righteousness. God says, I demand
satisfaction. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. In steps God's sword. In steps the son of God in human
flesh. And he obeyed God perfectly. brought in everlasting righteousness
by his obedience to God as the sinner's substitute. Not for
himself, but for his people. So that Bill, we obeyed God in
him. Just like we sinned in Adam,
we obeyed in Christ. Just like we fell in Adam, we're
raised up by Christ. And then the Lord Jesus went
to the cursed tree. Did you see what I put in the
bulletin, the head of it this morning? Satan put it into the
heart of Judas to betray the Son of God. He betrayed him. And the Lord Jesus was nailed
to the cursed tree. And when that happened, the fiend
of hell was outwitted with his own invention, and outshot with
his own weapon, because by this means Christ Jesus crushed the
serpent's head and entered into his glory. This was the purpose
of God. The Lord Jesus went to Calvary
according to divine design, and he who knew no sin was made sin
for us. And God drew out the sword of
his justice and sacrificed his own son in his furious wrath
because he was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And so the Lord Jesus makes it
possible for God to be just and justifier of the ungodly. The gospel, the gospel announces
grace for sinners through a crucified substitute accepted of God. Now let me ask you a question. What will it take to keep a person
out of heaven? If somebody were to ask you,
what's the one thing, what's the one thing that'll keep a
person out of heaven? What would your answer be? Blasphemy. Blasphemy. Paul was a blasphemer, but he
obtained mercy, didn't he? That's what he said. I was a blasphemer, but I obtained
mercy. Adultery, that'd do it. Adultery, oh, that'd do it. Blasphemy's
horrible. Adultery's horrible. But Rahab
was a harlot. She practiced prostitution. She
ran a house for prostitutes. That's what her end was. Rahab
was a harlot, and God took her to glory. Oh, well, murder. Murder. That's it. Murder. David
murdered Uriah after he took his wife. And David's a man after
God's own heart who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Divorce. That's the crime of the age. Divorce. Everybody getting divorced. There was a woman at Jacob's
well who had five husbands. And the
master saved her by his grace. A preacher? What is it that will
keep a person out of heaven? What's the one thing that'll
keep a person out of heaven? Let me tell you. Unbelief. unbelief He that believeth on
the Son of God hath everlasting life He that believeth not shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him Believe on
the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Now, let me tell you
one thing more Why do I preach the gospel? Because God's called
me to it Because I'm a debtor Because I'm not ashamed of it.
Because this gospel is the power of God under salvation. And fifthly,
the gospel of Christ is the revelation of the righteousness of God.
Look at verse 17. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now Frank, that's not talking
about God's righteous character. You don't ever have to hear the
gospel to know that God's righteous. That's stamped on your heart
by nature. Read the first and second chapters
of Romans, this book of Romans, chapters one and two. Every man
by creation knows that God is and knows that God's righteous
and knows that God requires righteousness. Every man knows that. That's
the reason men are willing to do anything possible, anything
in their power to appease their consciences, to soothe their
consciences, and make them think that they've done something good
with God, even if it involves sacrificing their own sons and
daughters. Read history. Men will do anything. I'm not talking about barbarians
in Africa and New Guinea. I'm talking about wise, smart
men throughout history. They'll do anything to soothe
their consciences. hoping to find peace with God.
But the revelation of God's righteousness is not the revelation of his
righteous character. The revelation of God's righteousness
is the revelation of righteousness finished. Righteousness finished. God demands from Don Fortner
that which Don Fortner has absolutely no ability to produce righteousness. Rex, you can't even think righteousness. I'm not telling you anything
you don't know. If there's anybody here, young or old, please, if
there's anybody here, young or old, who dares imagine, well,
Brother Don, I can think righteousness. Raise your hand. I promise you,
I'll shoot it down in a hurry. Raise your hand. You've never
had a righteous thought. You've never had a good thought,
let alone deed. Let alone act. Mary Lou, I love you to death,
but you've never done a good thing in your life. Not before God. Not before God. I'm married to
the finest human being I've ever met. You've never done anything
good in your life. Not before God. Oh no, not before
God. Look good to me, but my soul,
look at me. Looks good to you, but who are
you? Good, righteous. God demands righteousness. And what God demands, God alone
provides. And what God provides, God accepts. The righteousness of God is Jesus
Christ, his son. His name is Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord, our righteousness. The gospel is the revelation
of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God. You mean, Brother Don,
Christ, obedience, his death, His finished work, that's the
only thing God will accept. Oh, if you got that, I did some
pretty good preaching this morning. That's the only thing God will
accept. Oh, God give you grace now to
trust His Son, to believe on the Son of God. And maybe you'll
go home different than you came in. We read in Luke chapter 18
about a fellow who came into the temple. There was a Pharisee. He said, God, I thank you. I'm
not like other men. I fast twice a week. I give tithes
of all I possess. And I'm not like this publican.
No, I'm not like that fellow. And that publican sitting back
in the back corner, he wouldn't even lift up his eyes toward
heaven. But he beat on his heart and cried, God be merciful to
me, the sinner. God be propitious. That's his
word. God be propitious to me, the
sinner, except the sacrifice on the mercy seat. Christ the
Lord for me, the sinner. And our Lord said that man went
down to his house, justified, justified in his conscience.
Oh, what would you give to go home with peace in your heart
and mind? because God declares you just
and righteous in your own soul. Believe on Christ and go home
justified. Amen.