my memory serves me right and
a lot of times it fails me. But I think this is the third
year that I've been here on a Thursday night, the last three years in
a row. If my mind serves me right, sometimes
it doesn't. As I get older, I find out that
I don't remember so well. But it's good to be with you.
Good to see you folks out on a Wednesday night. Always I think
of what David said when he said, I was glad when they said, let
us go, let us go into the house of the Lord. And it is an honor
to be with you. And I pray the Lord will be pleased
to bless us together with His Word. Turn back to the book of
Acts. I'm entitling the message, if you find Acts chapter 4 one
more time, Acts chapter 4. I'm entitling the message, The
Importance of True Preaching. And of course, I mean the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the early church
and these apostles, they were commanded not to teach or preach
anymore in the name of Jesus Christ. Pick up in Acts chapter
4 verse 18. They called them and commanded
them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of that blessed
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter and John answered and said
unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken
unto you more than unto God judge you. We cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further
threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified
God for that which was done. miracle of the cripple being
made whole. Well, they went about preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ even though they were
threatened and beaten. Turn over to Acts chapter 5 now. Acts chapter 5. Look at verse
40, Acts chapter 5 verse 40. And to him they agreed and when
they had called the apostles, Peter and John had beaten them,
they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus
and they let them go. Now they've been threatened,
but not only threatened, beaten and commanded by these religious
Jews, the Pharisees and this counseled this kangaroo court,
verse 41, and they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily
in the temple, they went out in public and declared the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Daily in the temple, every day
they went out publicly and in every house They ceased not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ. Now they considered the preaching
of the gospel a very essential, necessary, vital, and important
thing. Turn over to Acts chapter 8,
let me show you again. Verse 1, And Saul was consenting
unto his death, that is the death of Stephen, At that time there
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem,
and they were scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea,
Samaria, except the apostles, and the devout men carried Stephen
to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for
Saul, now you remember who this man after his conversion is known
as the apostle. Here is a man who hates God and
hates those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet you read over in Acts chapter 9 later on, we find this
same one doing what he said he would never do. He's preaching
the gospel of Christ. As for Saul, he made havoc of
the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women,
committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. They thought it very
necessary, very vital, very important to go everywhere publicly and
privately and declare the message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when the Apostle Paul Turn
over to Acts chapter 28, when the Apostle Paul was finally
imprisoned in Rome, not for crimes against the state, but simply
for declaring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he
was put in prison in Rome, sitting on death row, waiting for his
execution in Acts 28 verse 23, and when they had appointed him
a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he
expounded and testified the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is
the testimony of God, the gospel of God concerning Christ, persuading
them concerning Jesus, the Savior, both out of the law of Moses
and out of the prophets from morning till evening. He expounded,
he testified, he persuaded from the morning to the evening. Boy, I would have liked to sit
on one of those sessions, wouldn't you? And some believe the things
which are spoken, some believe not. Look at Acts 28, the last
two verses. And Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house, received all that came in unto him, preaching
the kingdom of God, teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. forbidding no man. He said, if you want to hear
about the Lord Jesus Christ, you come and I will gladly tell
you the gospel, the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now the point I'm trying to make
is you see how the early church made much of preaching the gospel. They thought it very vital, very
necessary to the life of the church. preaching the gospel,
feeding the sheep. You remember the Lord said to
Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Well, you feed my
sheep. Remember? Three times he asked
him. You feed my sheep. You feed my lambs. Now why do
we spend the majority of our time together. When we meet each
time, when we come together, we spend the majority of our
time doing what? Teaching the Word, preaching
the Word, reading the Word. You see, it's all about worship. And these things foster worship. We spend our time preaching the
Gospel. teaching the gospel, reading
from the word. Why do we do that? I'll give
you several reasons. Number one, because the Lord
has ordained and commanded that his church be about the business
of preaching. Now I'm not against feeding people. I'm not against helping people.
I'm not against soup kitchens or clothing dryers. I'm not against
those things. But our main business is preaching
Christ. Preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord has commanded His church
to be about the business of preaching. Remember in Mark 16, go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Every creature. Preach the gospel. And then, when Paul closes his
life, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, when he closes out his last letter,
getting ready, he said, the time of my departure is at hand. Remember? He's about to have his head removed
for preaching the gospel. And he writes back to a young
preacher named Timothy. Remember what he said? I charge
you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, preach the Word. Preach
the Word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke
with all longsuffering and doctrine." What are we to be about? What's
preaching about? What's the church's business
about? Preaching Christ, setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has ordained that. to call out His people. Second
reason we spend our time on preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and it's the gospel of God concerning Christ. To promote
the glory and preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has
so fixed the gospel and so ordered everything that in all things
the Lord Jesus Christ must have the preeminence, the domination,
the first fruits, the first place, the chief glory in all things. You remember what Jonathan Edwards
wrote years ago? Years ago I read his book, The
History of Redemption, and he said, the grand design of redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we preach the
gospel now, I'm not just talking about preaching, As Brother Mahan
used to say, the woods are full of preachers. We don't need more
preachers. We've got plenty of preachers.
What we need is some gospel preachers. Gospel preachers that are sent
of God. The grand design of redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the gospel of
God is preached concerning Christ, who gets all the glory? Not the
creature, the Creator. God forbid I should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The third reason we spend
the majority of our time, I know we have fellowship, I know we
have singing, but we spend the majority of our time doing what?
Preaching the gospel. It's necessary. Third reason
is this, it is pleased God by and through the preaching of
the gospel to call out and to reveal the gospel to those who
are blessed to hear it. That's right, exactly right.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We read over
in 1 Corinthians 1 where it says, It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to call out His people. Of His own will begat
He us with the Word of Truth. God has ordained the preaching
of the Gospel to call out His sheep. And you know what He says
about His sheep? Remember what He said about them in John 10?
My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they do what? They
follow Me. They follow Me. They're interested
in Christ who is the Word. They hear and they're blessed,
not only to hear the Word, but they hear it in power. Power
of God the Holy Spirit. And they follow the Lord Jesus
Christ because they're in love with Him. Faith, the faith of
God's elect, is the product of true preaching, when blessed
with the Holy Spirit's power, the true gospel. You've heard
the old saying, you are what you eat. My daughter's a registered
dietitian. She spends her whole time working
with veterans at the VA hospital, telling them what to eat. You
are what you eat. If you have a constant diet of
Twinkies and Mountain Dew, your health is not going to be very
good because you are what you eat. True faith is born of true
preaching. You are what you hear. If you
hear nothing but lies, that's what you will believe. You won't
believe the truth. You can't believe what you've
never heard. If you spend your time hearing nothing but lies,
that's what you believe. But my friend, it's not a lie
that sets us free. The Lord said, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. It's the truth
of who God is, who we are, who the Lord Jesus Christ is and
what He's done that sets us free, that liberates us. He came to
set the captive free, didn't He? Our knowledge of God is the
product or the result of true preaching. If you hear that God
is not able to save unless you let Him, if you hear that God
is weak-handed and weary, that is what you'll be left to believe. They say God wants to but can't
unless you let Him. If you hear nothing but that,
that's what you're going to be shut up to believe. Now, I grew
up in works religion like many of you did, maybe. And all I
heard was constant lies and lies and lies. I didn't know the truth.
I thought the lie was the truth. And I grew up believing a lie. You cannot learn the truth by
hearing a lie. It's impossible. It's impossible. But if the truth be declared
that God is almighty to save, that the Lord Jesus Christ is
not weak and infinite, that he's almighty, all-power, powerful,
if you hear that truth declared that God is almighty, and if
it's blessed to your heart with the power of God the Holy Spirit,
and revealed to your heart, that is what you believe. That God
is God. That he's almighty, sovereign,
holy, and eternal. You see, you cannot believe what
you have not heard any more than you can come back from where
you haven't been. I borrowed that. Most of what
I have is borrowed. But it's the truth worth repeating. Now here's the question I want
us to consider. We have tried to set the table and establish
the fact of the necessity of true preaching. the necessity
of true preaching, setting forth the gospel of God concerning
Christ. Now here's a question I want
us to consider. What is it then to preach the
gospel? We know it's necessary, right? God says it's so. What
is it then to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Okay,
let's see if we can find out. Turn over here to 1 Corinthians
chapter 9, look at verse 16. 1 Corinthians 9, 16. 1 Corinthians 9, 16, verse 4, Though
I preach the gospel, the testimony of God, I have nothing to glory
of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. Now Paul didn't say, woe is unto
me if I don't preach. He didn't say that. Woe is unto
me if I don't preach. The gospel. The gospel. Paul declares unto us that he
was a gospel preacher. But he also declares a great
judgment upon those who preach, but do not preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying, woe unto them. Now,
I don't want to be in that camp. So then, what is it to preach
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, I
don't know how it is up here in this county, but where I live
down there in Pike County, I mean there's preachers everywhere.
Everywhere I go I run into preachers all the time. And when they find
out I'm a preacher, they single me out and they make sure that
I know that they're a preacher. There's preaching and preachers
all over. Is everybody that calls himself
a preacher a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everybody that says he's a preacher, well, I'm a preacher. Okay. Okay. What's your message? Whom do
you preach? You see, not everybody who calls
himself a preacher or a pastor is a preacher of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Regrettably, there's many that
are false preachers, that are not declaring the gospel of God.
So what is it to preach the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'll give you four things. Four
things. And here's my outline. Number
one, to tell the truth about God. Number one. Number two,
to tell the truth about man. Number three, to tell the truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Number four, to tell the truth
about salvation. How does God actually save sinners? You know He does a part and I
do a part and we put two parts together and we have a whole.
That's what we hear in this religious world. God has done the best
or all He can do now that really it's left up to you. That's what
we hear in religious circles today. Nobody for the most part, is declaring
the truth of God. So number one is this, to tell
the truth about the Lord our God. The Lord our God, as he's
made known in scripture, is not who we think he is. That is, all of our thoughts
about the true and living God left to ourselves are totally
wrong. Totally wrong. I remember another
story about Brother Walter. He gave a test to those preachers
one day and he said, he handed out the paper and he said, now
we've not gone over this material. This is kind of a surprise test,
a surprise quiz. When you read the question, write
just the opposite of what you think and you'll probably be
about right. You see, we have the total wrong notion about
who God is when left to our own stupid, carnal, ignorant thoughts. God is not who we think He is.
He's who He is, as He's revealed in the Word of God. You see,
the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. God is not who we think
that He is. He is who He is. as he's revealed
in this book. In this book. Listen to this
psalm, Psalm 50. The Lord said, Thou thoughtest
I was altogether such a one as thyself. In Exodus 15 we read
this, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is
like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders,
doing wonders? The Lord said, I am God, there
is none else, there is no God beside me. Wherefore thou art
great, for there is none like thee, neither is there any beside
my God. He's the only just God and Savior. I had a young free will preacher
that came to my study several months ago, and he had several
questions for me. Well, I had a question for him.
After he asked me a few questions, I asked him this, what one word
would you use to describe the God of Scripture? What one word? If you had just one word to use
that would describe the God of Holy Scripture, what one word
would you use? And he stumbled and he stumbled
and he stumbled, never did come up with a word and I told him
the one word is God is holy. God is holy, holy, holy. Do you remember Isaiah 6? The cherubims cried, Holy, holy,
holy Lord God Almighty. In Revelation 15 we read, Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou
only art holy. Holy. God is holy in all of His
ways. Every other attribute of God
must radiate from this central character of God. God is holy. He's holy. He dwells in His holy
temple. His spirit is called the Holy
Spirit. His word is called the Holy Word. How about His love? We talked
about the attribute of God's love. We read in Scripture, God
is love, but God is not love at the expense of His justice.
His love and His justice must be in harmony. It can't violate
His holy character. We talk about His goodness. The
Scripture said that God is good. The Lord is good, Naaman 1 7.
And truly He is. but not at the expense of His
holiness. God is a just God, must be a
just God and Savior. God's holiness is manifested
in His works, isn't it? The Lord is righteous, Psalm
145, in all His ways and holy in all of His works, everything
He does. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Everything he does is right.
He's holy in all of his works. God's holiness is manifested
in his law. Romans 7 tells us, wherefore
the law is holy and the commandment holy, just and good. The holiness
of God is manifested at the cross, isn't it? We see the love of
God manifested there too. God so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. But we also see the holiness
of God manifested there at the cross, don't we? You remember
the lamentation? where it says, Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger? How could a holy God be angry
with his beloved Son, whom he says, In him I am well pleased? because His holy Son was made
sin for us, and the holy wrath of God had to execute judgment
upon the one who was guilty for our sin. Why did He punish the
Lord Jesus Christ? Because He's holy. Why did He
punish the Lord Jesus Christ? Because He's guilty, charged
with my sin. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. The holiness of God is manifested
at the cross. Because God is absolutely holy,
acceptance with Him on the ground of human merit, creature, righteousness,
and works is impossible. One of my favorite scriptures
in all the Word of God is found in Galatians 2.21. If righteousness come by the
law, no need for Christ to die. Right? If I can get it done by
myself, by the deeds of the law, by my morality, by my good works
and deeds, if I can get it done myself, I don't need a substitute. I don't need a savior. But my
friend, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in
God's sight. You see, God is absolutely holy. The second thing is this, what
we know about the Lord our God, the Lord our God is God. I love
the way Arthur Pink, when he writes his attributes of God,
he simply said, and he defines God, God is God. That's it. He's God in all ways. That is, the Lord our God is
absolutely Sovereign. He's not only holy, but it's
His holy sovereignty. He's sovereign in all things.
He does all things according to His own will. Whatsoever the
Lord please, that did He in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places.
Didn't the Lord our God teach a pagan king named Nebuchadnezzar? Read it in Daniel chapter 4.
where it said all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing
and God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven among
the inhabitants of this earth and none can stay his hand or
none can say unto him Lord God Almighty what are you doing?
You see God taught that pagan king that God is God. the only
place a sinner will truly worship is at the throne of a sovereign.
The Lord our God is the absolute sovereign God. He's subject to
no one. Influenced by none, absolutely
independent of all, none can hinder his purpose or change
his will. He does as he pleases, when he
pleases, with whom he pleases, according to his good pleasure.
God is sovereign. And we talk about the sovereignty
of God, we talk about the sovereignty of God in creation. And most
folks don't have any problem with that, unless they believe
in evolution. But God is sovereign in creation.
He created all things by the Word of His power. And by Him,
all things consist. All things are held together.
God is not only sovereign in creation, but He's sovereign
in providence as well, right? I love that scripture in Romans
11, 36. Of Him, and through Him, and
to Him are all things, to whom be glory, both now and forever. And then the last word of that
verse says, Amen. Most folks would say, uh-uh,
no sir, it's the devil. I love what Brother Scott said
years ago, the devil's God's devil. He doesn't do anything
without God's decree, without God's permission. God's sovereign
in creation, God's sovereign in providence, and God certainly
is sovereign in salvation. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He will have mercy. Oh yeah,
he will. But He will have mercy on whom
He will have mercy. It's not of Him that willeth
nor of Him that runneth, but it's God that showeth mercy. Something else we know about
the truth of our God. He's not only holy, not only
sovereign, but He doesn't change. He doesn't change. Our God is
unchanging. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. He's unchanging in His character,
unchanging in His person, unchanging in His purpose, unchanging in
His decree. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. and forever. It doesn't change. He's eternally the same. There
never will be, never will come a time when He ceases to be God
over all, blessed forever. From everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God, Psalm 90. God has
never grown or improved. All that He is today has ever
been and He will ever be the eternal I Am. God is unchanging
in His character, His attributes, and his eternal purpose, which
he purposed in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
The only place a sinner will truly worship is at the throne
of the almighty, sovereign, holy God. This is the one with whom
we have to do. Remember that scripture in Hebrews
chapter 4? Let me quote it to you. Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but
all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom
we have to do. I was telling Brother Marvin
earlier about that conference in Ashland in 1954, when Brother
Mahan invited some of the old grace preachers to come and preach
the Gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And Brother
Barnard, Rock Barnard, came preaching the Lordship of Christ, the sovereignty
of God in salvation. And some of those religious folks
in that church at that time who didn't know the Gospel, didn't
know the true and living God, they complained to Brother Barnard
and said, God, you preach as a monster. Get ready to meet a monster then,
because God is God. He's the absolute sovereign in
all things. Brother Barnard, when he first
came to Ashland there in 1950, 1950. Brother Mahan was a very young,
young man at the time, 1950. And the song leader got up and
sang a song. And it was something along the
line, Jesus saved, Jesus saved, Jesus saves. And Brother Barnard
got up behind the song leader and said, not a word of truth
in it. Well, the folks were shocked. What? He said, it's the Lord
Jesus Christ that saves. And then he would say, don't
tell me who your Savior is, tell me who your Lord is. If he's
not your Lord, God, Sovereign, he's not your Savior. And that's
so. That's so. What is it to preach
the gospel? We see the necessity of it. Set
forth the character of God as he's revealed in this book. Secondly,
what is it to preach the gospel? It's to tell the truth about
us. Tell the truth about man. As he's revealed in the Word
of God. You see, we're the exact opposite
to everything that God is. We're the exact opposite. The
carnal man doesn't like to hear the truth about God, nor does
he like to hear the truth about himself. What one word describes
you? In our local paper, there's a
series of articles being done called, Introduce Us to Your
Pastor. And they send out the questionnaire
to the pastor, and they ask the questions like, where's your
favorite place to eat? What's your favorite book? What
one word describes you? Well, you can imagine what they
say. One word I've never read. No preacher has ever filled out
that survey that said that one word describes me, S-I-N. Sin. That's it. They always put,
well, I'm friendly. You know, I'm a good helper.
I'm faithful. They say all these nice things,
but they never tell the truth. We're sinners. We're sinners,
through and through. Everything I do is full of sin
because there's me in it. Am I preaching? Am I praying?
I'd like to pray one time without sin. I can't do it. Because it's
part of me. It's who I am. Yeah, I have a new nature given
of God in regeneration, but I have that old Adam nature still. While He does not reign, He's
still there. And I'm aware of it every day.
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner, thank God, saved
by His grace, but I'm still a sinner. Never graduate above being a
sinner saved by grace. This is what we are by nature,
born in sin, birth, practice and choice. Sin is what we are,
not necessarily what we do. What we do is a result of what
we are. We have that sinful, carnal,
Adam, fallen nature and all that we can do is sin. You say, well
that doesn't describe me. Well then maybe you descended
from a monkey. But if you came from Adam, you'd have the same
problem I do. Sin, sin, sin. If we deny this,
you know what? We call God a liar. Because God
says we're sinners. If we say we have no sin, singular,
the truth's not in us and we've called God a liar. How did we
get that way? Did we come in here on the mountaintop
out where I grew up, out in the Rocky Mountains? We had the Wasatch
Front there, and there was one particular peak that I lived
right below. It was called Francis Peak. When
we are born into this life, we don't come in here on the mountaintop
and then roll down in here to the valley. We come down in here
when we're born, we're born in the valley of depravity, death,
and total corruption. God must lift us and put us in
Christ and make us new creatures in Him. We have the guilt, the
filth, and defilement of Adam's sinful nature resides in all
of us. That's why the scripture said
there was none righteous, no, not one. And Adam all died. And Adam all sinned. We must
tell the truth, not only who God is, but who we are. We're
sinners. You know, if you know you're
a sinner, I tell you, you're a blessed person. Because the
Lord Jesus Christ died for sinners. If you're an ungodly man, an
ungodly woman, you know what? You're blessed. The Lord Jesus
Christ died for the ungodly. That's right. He came to save
sinners. Here's the third thing. What
is it to preach the gospel? It's to tell the truth about
the Lord Jesus Christ. is to tell the truth about him.
And I mean by that his person. Who is this one Jesus of Nazareth? Some say, well, he was a good
man. Some say he was a prophet. Even those Muslims will acknowledge
that Jesus was like Muhammad, a prophet. A lot of people say,
well, he was a good guy. He was a prophet. He did a lot
of good things. If that's all you know about Him, you don't
know the whole story. Here's the rest of the story.
This One named Jesus of Nazareth is God. God Almighty. You read the book of John. You've
been studying the book of John. It's all through it, through
it, through it. His deity, His Godhead. He said, I and my Father
are One. Philip, have I been so long time
with you that you don't know me? I and my Father, we are One. You've seen me, you've seen the
Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. But not only that, the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the God-Man
Mediator. He's the very one I need to represent
me before God. Reconciliation. You ever think
about it? What caused separation? Our sins
separated us from God. How are we going to be God holy?
I'm sinful. How can we be reconciled? God was in Christ, reconciling
us unto Him. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. He is the God and
man mediator that I need. Without controversy, graveyards,
and mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. And
think about this. The God-Man Mediator. I love
the way it says in 1st and 2nd Timothy and in Titus, He's called
God our Savior. God our Savior. God our Savior. I like that. Think about this.
The God-Man Mediator, who died for our sin and entered in as
our forerunner, is right now sitting on the throne of glory,
interceding for us with His blood. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth, He ever
liveth, He ever liveth, to make intercession for us. So when
we preach the gospel, we must divine and must declare the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ as God, as man, and one blessed person. We also must declare the priestly
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His redemptive work. Why did
He come? Why did He come? The Lord Jesus
Christ came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Our
great high priest entered in once in the holy place. You remember
Romans or Hebrews 9? He entered in once in the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, but not with
the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood. You see,
it's just not that a man, a Jewish man from Nazareth died. It's
who this man is that gives power and merit and infinite glory
to what he did. God bought the church with His
own blood. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. We preach
in atonement a complete atonement, an effectual, definite atonement
for the sin of a particular people, given, those people given to
the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, we don't preach an attemptment. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His sacrifice was not an attempt to put away sin. We don't
preach an attemptment, we preach atonement. He made complete satisfaction
to God's law and justice on behalf of God's people. How do we know
He got the job done? When He by Himself purged our
sin, what then? He died. He died because of our
sin. He was buried because of our
sin, delivered for our offenses, raised again because He justified
us. We justified through His blood. How do we know His work was accepted
of the Father, satisfying to the Father? His atonement was
unto the Lord, not unto men. When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. A place of love, power and acceptance. And we're seated right now. Think
about this. This is not far-fetched, this
is true. This is what the Word of God teaches. The forerunner
entered in for us and sat down, and we entered in with Him, being
in union with Him. What's true of the head? True
of the body. Where the head is, that's where the body is. We're
already seated in the heavenly in Christ. Read Ephesians 2.
That's success, isn't it? The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
is not defeat, it's victory. Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, all for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ died there eternally, justified by His blood. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Come on. It is God who justifies,
who is he that condemns it, Christ who died, yea rather, is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. Oh, I tell you, we have a blessed,
blessed atonement. We have a Savior who really saves,
a Redeemer who really redeems His people. There's none. I told
this young preacher, it was in my office several months ago,
And I told him this, I said, there's nobody in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ died. And he said, Now, I might think
about that a while. I said, there's nobody in hell
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died. If he paid their sin debt,
God's justice can't twice demand. First at my bleeding charity's
hand and then again at mine. If he paid my sin debt, and he
did, God said, deliver them from going down the pit. I have found
a ransom. If he paid the ransom, then I'm
set free. Never think of his death as a
failure. It's victory. They spoke, Moses
and Elijah, they spoke of the death that he should accomplish,
remember? And he accomplished all that
the Father gave him to do. He said, it's well done. It's
complete. It's finished. He finished the
work the Father gave him to do. That's what it said in John 17,
isn't it? He finished the work. Here's the last thing. What is
it then to preach the gospel? Tell the truth about God? Tell
the truth about man? Tell the truth about the Lord
Jesus Christ? And lastly, is to tell the truth
and preach salvation by Him, through Him, in Him, and by His
grace alone. Did you get all that? Salvation
of the Lord. We say that all the time, don't
we? Salvation is of the Lord. He planned it. He executed it. He applies it. He sustains it. He glorifies it. Salvation is
always determined by Him, decreed by Him, applied by Him, and accomplished
by Him. Salvation is of the Lord. What's
my part? You don't have a part. You don't
have a part other than the fact that you receive it as a gift
of His love, a gift of His grace. Salvation is by Him. You see, He is the way. Brother
Marvin read that in Acts 4, 12. Neither is there salvation in
any other, nor the name of the heaven given among men, whereby
we must. We must be saved in Him. You
see, He's the Savior who really saves. Salvation is by Christ. He is the way, the truth, the
life. Salvation is through Him. Through Him. By Him. Through Him. God was in Christ
reconciling us unto Himself. Christ suffered once for our
sins, the just for the unjust. being put to death in the flesh,
that He might bring us unto God. He's not coming any other way.
Christ suffered once for our sin, the just for the unjust,
being put to death in the flesh, that He might bring us unto God. And He's going to bring us. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of His power. Salvation is
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is through Him. And
most importantly, salvation is in Him. Salvation is not in a
position, or a profession, or a pool, or a place. Salvation
is in a person. A person. He that hath the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." And salvation
is certainly by His grace alone, isn't it? One of my favorite
verses, Romans 3, 24, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not
what we do for God, it's what the Lord Jesus Christ has done
for us. Now, woe unto those who deny
the gospel of Christ, but especially woe unto those who have a public
ministry who deny the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't
think of a greater crime against God than to preach a false gospel
that cannot save a flea, yet alone a sinner. When the Apostle
Paul defines the gospel in Galatians chapter 1, how he gave himself
for our sins according to the will of God, that in all things
he might be glorified, and then he comes down and says, if any
man preach any other gospel, let him be. That's okay. No, he said, let him be damned.
That's pretty strong, isn't it? You see, this is serious. This
is serious. If we preach, we have to preach
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Find me a gospel preacher that's
telling the truth about God. telling the truth about man,
telling the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'll show you
a gospel preacher that's sin of God. I'll show you a man that
is sin of God, taught of God, and is blessed of God, and the
Lord will use his ministry to the furtherance of the gospel
of God, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, to his glory. Now, you
find me a man that's preaching the gospel, and I'll camp right
there and listen to him. I'll give him a hearing as Cornelius
said, was it Peter? Remember what he said? We're
all here to hear all things commanded thee of God. That's why you're
here, isn't it? Okay. God will bless that gospel
ministry. Tell you the truth about God.
Now, I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to tell you a story.
It's a true story to the best of my knowledge. To show you
how the Lord uses gospel preaching to the fervent of the gospel.
In 1954, there was a young preacher 28 years old, who lived in Ashland,
Kentucky. And he was reading some sermons
by Charles Spurgeon. And he read in some of those
sermons about a Bible conference that Charles Spurgeon had. And
this young preacher, some of you have met him, 28 years old
at the time, got to thinking, you know, we ought to have a
Bible conference emphasizing the doctrine of God's grace,
sovereign mercy, sovereign in salvation, God's glorious atoning
work, the effectual call, perseverance of a saint, unconditional election,
total depravity, and those things that we're familiar with. Well,
he got busy and he invited preachers to come. Invited Roth Barnard. Invited Clarence Walker from
Lexington. Invited A.D. Muse from Louisville,
Kentucky. B.B. Caldwell from Greenville,
South Carolina. I looked up some information
on B.B. Caldwell. He was born in 1899. These are
old timers. Brother, this 28-year-old preacher,
his name was Henry Mayhem. From that conference in 1954,
a year later in 1955, Brother Henry and about a hundred of
the men left that church. They divided the church, split
over the gospel. And they left that congregation
and they went out and they met in a public school building for
several months until they bought that piece of property. Carl,
you've been there many times on 13th Street. And they built
that building in 1955 and started that ministry there. And Brother
Henry preached the gospel that I'm just telling you about. Those
four points, that was his outline. I borrowed that from him. You
won't mind, will you? He won't mind. From that ministry in 1955, Brother
Henry preached there for over 50 years. And God blessed his
ministry. And still is. Still is through
the Sermon Audio. Brother Henry now is preaching
to more people than he ever has. Over 2 million people have been
to that Sermon Audio website. Way over a million downloads
of sermons going out all over the world. All over the world.
From that ministry started in 1955. 30 years later, 1985, from that TV ministry that Brother
Henry had for over 20 years, there was a construction worker
in Pike County, Kentucky, who heard Brother Mahan declare the
gospel of God concerning Christ. His name was Paul Doug Thacker.
He contacted Brother Mahan and said, I'd like to have a gospel
ministry and a gospel church here in Pike County. He said,
I'm going to build a building, buy some property, and build
a building. Will you send somebody up here to preach the gospel?
And Henry said, yeah. Yeah, I will. And on his word,
he bought that piece of property, where I'm at right now in Pikeville,
Kentucky, Zebulon Baptist Church, 1985, built a building there,
and it's been occupied ever since, preaching the gospel of God. You see how from that 1954 meeting, 13th Street, 55, through those
years that Brother Henry preached there to 2003, when he retired. And then in 1985, the ministry
there at Zebulon has been there now 25 years or so, coming up
on 30 years. But from that ministry there
in Zebulon, you know what happened? In 2006, I'm trying to show you,
give you an illustration of what I've just been preaching, how
the Lord blesses the ministry and why it's important to declare
the gospel of God. In 2006, there was a young man
in Kingsport, Tennessee. I didn't know the man. I'd never
heard of him. I'd never talked to him. He called
me one night at home and said, I've been getting some sermons
from Chapel Library in Pensacola, Florida about Roth Barnard and
Henry Mahan. And he said, I found a website
that Henry Mahan has and somehow you're connected with it. I said,
yeah. And he said, well, we'd like
to take some of those sermons that Brother Mahan has and put
them up on Sermon Audio. I didn't even know what Sermon
Audio was. Had never heard of it. This is how the whole thing
started. I didn't know this man. And I'm thinking in my mind,
here's what I'm thinking. He's after some money somehow.
Somehow he's going to get my wallet. He wants some money somehow. But he just wanted to declare
this message of God's gospel concerning Christ. And at the
time, Brother Henry had given me all of his cassette tapes,
almost 4,000 sermons. And at the time, I started converting
them into the digital format. I didn't really know why I was
doing it. I was just compelled to do it. I know why now. And
I worked on that project for three years. And as I worked
on those projects and converted those tapes, Linda, you know
what I'm talking about. It's real time. It's not high
speed stuff. It's real time. And as I did
those sermons and put them in the digital, we put them up on
Sermon Audio. Tony put them up. I converted
them, edited them, sent them to Tony, and we did it every
week. He asked me, he said, well, how many of those sermons do
you have? We'd like to put them all up. I said, you sure you
want to put them all up there? He said, yeah, we want them all.
I said, well, there's 4,000 of them. How many do you want? Oh, I want all of them. And we
started putting them up on Sermon Audio. About a year later, this
was in 2005 that happened, 2006, a year later, Brother Moody said
to me one day, he said, you know, we'd love to have a gospel ministry
up here in Kingsport. Do you reckon you'd come preach
to us? I said, well, you find a place and we'll come and preach.
And Brother Tony gathered in his family and we drove up there
Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening for six years preaching the gospel
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? The Lord established a gospel
ministry there. And you know who the pastor is
now? Gabe Soniker. How about that? You see how the
Lord blesses the preaching of the gospel? I tell folks this
all the time, Rothbarner's ministry is still being used of God. Think
of it. It's amazing. Brother Mahan's
ministry is still being used of God. I hear it from people
all the time, all over this world. God's sheep are where they're
at. And somehow, someway, He's going
to cross their path with the gospel. He's going to cross their
path with the gospel. And they'll hear it. They'll
believe it. Because it's blessed from God.
It's ordained to that end, to that purpose. Lord bless you. Thank you.