Romans chapter 10 and verse 16. The Scripture here says, "...but
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord,
who hath believed our report." So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God." The title of the message this
morning is, The Command of the Gospel. The Command of the Gospel. And I have three points for you
this morning. First of all, simply is, the
Gospel is a command. The Scripture here says that
they have not all obeyed the Gospel. Therefore, we know this,
that the gospel is a command. The second point is this, that
the gospel, being a command, has claims, demands, that must
be met, and consequences for not meeting those demands. And the third point is, What
is it to obey the gospel? If the gospel is a command that
must be obeyed, then what is it to obey the gospel? Now, the Apostle. The Apostle
has declared in these past few... these chapters, past two chapters. He has declared to us the salvations
of the sovereign grace of God. Salvation comes by divine election. That God, before the world began,
chose a people, gave those people to Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh and obtained all the salvation for all of
His elect. Therefore, in verse 4 of this
chapter, the Apostle declares this. For Christ is the end of
the law for Righteousness. Christ is the fulfillment of
the law. Christ is the end, the satisfaction of the law of God. For all of the elect, and they
are described in this same verse as everyone that believeth. See then that all the Father
loved chose Christ came to save. All who Christ came to save.
whose sins he bore in his own body on the tree, whose righteousness
he obtained by his own obedience, listen, all of them will be saved
by the same means. That is faith in Him. Faith in Christ. All will be saved. He tells us
this very plainly. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Shall come to me. And so then,
what is the evidence of one who is chosen, one who is redeemed,
and one who is called by the Holy Spirit? What is the evidence
of this? Listen. Faith. Faith is the evidence. The evidence of one's quickening.
The election. Therefore, the election of God
is no hindrance to salvation, but rather the root cause. That's
what Paul's getting at. Election being the root cause.
Faith is always the result of Christ's perfect work. You see, the ruin of man was
absolute, and that if God were to permit salvation be based
upon the volition of man's will, we know this, None of us would
have ever been saved. Isaiah said it plainly, if he
had not left us a seed, a remnant, we should have all been as Sodom
and like unto Gomorrah. So then, there is hope. This
is why we preach, because there is hope. There is hope for man
because God has chosen, because Christ has died, and because
the Spirit is called, He has chosen a very specific means
by which to call His elect. And that is through the preaching
of the Gospel. If you'll see, that's what Paul
is declaring here. Look at this. He says in verse
13, "...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved." How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings
of good things? It is always my intent to preach
this gospel of good things. Friends, the Gospel is, in itself,
good news. Good. It is a Gospel of glad tidings. God has made provision for sinners. God sending His Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemns sin in His flesh. That's good news. The fulfillment of the law is
in Christ. Look and see that He is the only
refuge. He is the only refuge for sinners.
Like the ark was a refuge for Noah, even so Christ is a refuge
for His people. That ark is what took the force
of the wrath of God in the flood. Even so, behold, Christ has taken
the force of God's wrath for our sins. And all who are in
the ark were safe, and all who are in Christ are safe. This
is the good tidings that God brings. Tidings of good things. And so then, I implore you all, to right now believe on the Son of God. Even you who
have believed, should you not still believe? Are we to be slack in our faith?
No! We must always believe and trust
in the Son of God. I implore you to come and obey
the Gospel. You remember that illustration
the Lord gave in Matthew chapter 22. That illustration of the
king who made the supper, the wedding feast for his son. And
he had sent a decree throughout all his land. Come! All things
are ready. All things are ready. And what proof of depravity is
this, when you hear this, they begin to make excuses, every
one of them, that they would not come? What proof of depravity
is this, that all who will reject the loving provisions of God
for their own souls? Is that not just proof of depravity?
When men will reject the very good tidings God brings, They reject the free provision
that requires no merit, no work, and no ability of your own. Now
that's just utter madness. To reject free salvation. You know man won't reject anything
free but this. You just put a coupon on something
and say free, and they'll pay through the nose to get whatever
it is free. It's free. No merit for you,
no work from you. Nothing required of you. Come,
enjoy, believe, trust, and receive all that Christ has provided,
all that Christ has made. And yet, look at your text. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. They have not all obeyed the
gospel. And so then I suppose and know some of you
have not obeyed the gospel. And you that have, you fully
will be able to identify with this message. The first thing
I want you to see is that the gospel is a gracious, though
gracious, kind and loving gospel. It is, isn't it? It's a message
of love. It is a message of kindness.
It is a message of grace. But it is no less a command.
It is a command of God. It is clear by the words in our
text the Apostle says they have not obeyed. Obeyed. This fact is found in many scriptures. I'll give you this one because
we're going to have to move quickly. Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter
17 and verse 30. says, "...and the times of this
ignorance God winked at." But now, listen, "...commandeth all
men everywhere to repent." To repent. This gospel is a command
of God. Now you will say, well, the gospel,
well, it's an invitation, isn't it? Listen, a king may be gracious
when he extends his hand to you, but make no mistake, it is not
a request. When God extends the gospel to
you, it may seem gracious, and it is. It's good, and it is. But it is no request. It is a demand of God toward
sinners. It is a demand, a command of
God. And we know this, we know that
it's not just an invitation. Because in rejecting it, there
is a great consequence. Death. Death. If I invite you to supper and
you don't come, what's the consequence? You don't get to eat. Not my
food anyway. Which would probably be better.
It may not be as good as what you've got. But listen, we know this is no
invitation because of the consequence. Because eternal death is the
result of disobedience. Therefore, this command is not
optional. An invitation, you may take it
or leave it. This is no invitation. This is
a demand of God upon every one of you. Every one of you. This
is a command of God. The gospel does not come knocked
gently upon your heart, pleading for your approval. But it comes
with force and authority of God through the means of His Word
that is preached to you. So if you reject my Gospel, which
is the Gospel of God, if you reject it, you are in fact defying God In truth, you are declaring that
the person and work of Christ is not sufficient for you. But I tell you, God is long-suffering.
God was long-suffering to Israel for many hundreds of years in
His call, in His command. He said, "...all the day long
have I stretched forth my hand to a disobedient..." Listen,
"...a disobedient and gainsaying people." So what is this stretching
forth? Is it a request? No, it's a command. Do you know what the greatest
and most damning sin is? Unbelief. unbelief is the crowning sin
of death. Jesus said of the Holy Ghost,
He said He will convince men of sin, of sin because they believe
not on Me. crowning sin is unbelief and
the end of that disobedience is death and damnation. Mark
16 and verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized. What is that? Obedience to the
gospel. to believe on Christ and to be
baptized are acts of obedience under God's gospel. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Damned. Very serious thing. The gospel
is not optional. It's very serious. Very serious. The gospel is a command of God.
For we who now know know this, that obedience is
really the work of God upon the heart of man. It is only by the
quickening of the soul can a man obey this gospel. And to do so
in love for God is God's grace, is by God's grace that calls
us to obedience. Now let me see, let us see some
things about this command. Why does a gospel, is it presented
as a command in Scripture? Well, I want you to see that
the purpose of God in making the Gospel a command is this,
that the command of God encourages poor and wretched, unworthy sinners
to come to Christ. A command encourages poor and
wretched and unworthy sinners to come to Christ. Now, you may
be a poor sinner, bankrupt, You may feel the guilt and shame
of your sin. You may see that you are a rebel
and vile abuser of God's Word, His people. Your soul may be
so black and riddled with guilt that you say, surely the gospel
cannot be for me. This is why the gospel takes
the form of a command so that you should not look in yourself
for merit to be received." You should not reason or think
within yourself to be rejected based on your character. Why? Because God commands you to come
as you are. This command is very plain. It's very simple and requires
nothing from you. It simply says, come, believe
on the Son of God. His command is for sinners to
come. And they should come without
delay. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. Not a request, command. Come
ye, command, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Wherefore do you spend your money, for that which satisfieth not? Incline your ear unto me, and
live. And so, you ask, may I come? Well, weren't you commanded to
come? That should encourage you to come. You were not asked to
come. You were told to come. These gifts of grace are all
provided for you. Simply come. Obey the gospel. And so if you are made to see
your need and hear of the command of God, then why should you stay?
Why would you not come? The only answer is this. You
will not obey. Wherein then lies the guilt. On God or you? You. You will not come because you
will not obey the gospel. Spurgeon put it like this, he
said, if the Queen were to extend a command to a subject of a low
class, she says in her letter, come here before me at Windsor
at such a time in such a place and stay away at your own peril.
She were to sign it and seal it with her ring The man looks
at the letter and he says, surely she could not mean me, but there
it says, come, I command you to come. He looks at the seal. He looks at the signature. It
is the Queen's seal. It is the Queen's signature.
And by force of law, I must come. And so he begins on his way.
And then he encounters those of higher class and higher statute.
And they say, Oh, surely you're mistaken. The Queen would not
want to see you. And you show them, here's the
letter. Here it is. I have a command to come. And
you go to the gate and the guard forbids you. And what do you
do? You show the letter that has the seal and has the command.
What must they do but allow you entrance? You have a command
of the Queen to come. And you dare not stay away at
your own peril. You dare not heed those high
class. You dare not heed the soldiers.
You should heed the Queen, is what he said. How much more should
we heed God? Look. I've got his signature. I've got his seal right here
in my hands. It says what? Come and stay away
at your own peril. Come to Christ. Stay away and
die. This is the seal. This is the
command of God for you, for all of us. You would be a fool to stay away. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. So the gospel being a command should encourage you to come.
It moves all obstacles out of the way. Second of all, not only does
this command of God encourage sinners to come, but encourage
men to preach it. If I didn't have the command
of God to tell you to believe on Christ, why should I preach
it? All preachers desire to sincerely,
plainly, with plain speech and boldness, declare this command
of God, this gospel. But we can never preach with
boldness unless we preach with the authority of God. I want you all to pay attention
to this. I am an ambassador of God I have a message of God for you
all and it is this be ye reconciled to God On what grounds, preacher? God hath made Christ to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that you might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Believe on Him. That's a command, it's not a
request. I preach it not by my own opinion
or thoughts, but by the very Word of God. I tell you, believe. You shall be saved. You shall
be saved. This is the force of the Word
of God. Now, this preaching the world
considers foolishness, but to us, but to us who have obeyed
the gospel, we understand it is the power of God. It is the
power of God. You see, why else would I preach
to the dead except I believe God can give life? Why else would
I preach to the blind, except I believe God can give them sight?
Why would I preach to the deaf, except I believe God can open
their ears and cause them to hear this message? Now, I'm not
going to change that. False religion, they think preaching
is foolishness, so they try to change it. They say, well, man's
not really dead. We're not really preaching to
dead people. We're not really preaching to blind and deaf people. No, we really are. We really
are. And it would be foolish if I
did not have this word which says, and you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Had I not myself been quickened
I never could understand or tell you this gospel. I tell you repent
and God without a doubt shall save you. He will save you. This is the message. This is
the command of God that we preach. And we preach this message as
a command because it honors God. Because it honors God. It shows
forth that God is King. God is King. And as King, He
has right over all His creatures to demand of you what He will. And this is His demand of all
of you. Believe on My Son. believe on my Son." It honors
God. Now then, Jesus said, "...all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me." What's the evidence
of election? It is coming to Christ. It is
believing on Him. And what's His promise? "...him
that cometh to me, he that obeys the command that I give him,
I will in no wise cast out." Do you not see then the honor
of Christ at stake here? If one were to come and Christ
were to cast him out, then Christ himself would be a liar. And
that's not going to happen. He is no liar. He is the truth
itself. And so believing him, you should
come to him, believing he will in no wise cast you out. Because he said so. The very
honor of God is at stake concerning this. You know, I do hear men
say this, well preacher, I want to come, but I can't. No, you don't. No, you don't. This one woman,
I don't know if I can remember the whole story, but Spurgeon,
she came to him and she said, you know, Mr. Spurgeon, I want
to believe, but I just, but I can't. I want you to pray for me. And
he said, I will not pray for you. He said, well, why not? Have
I not already presented you the gospel? Do you want another?
There is no other gospel than I preached to you. Believe, and
you shall be saved. You don't believe, it's your
own fault. You realize this, I know that God hinders men,
hardens their hearts and turns them, but you know what? He hardens
a heart that's already hard. He blinds eyes that are already
blind. And so if you have a desire to
come, come. It is true that no man is able
by nature to come, but once a man is exposed in his sin and sees
his need, know this, that is of the Holy Ghost. That's not
natural. Come! Believe now! And so then, if you will not
believe, it's not God stopping you, but only God giving you
what you really love and desire, not to come. You love darkness
rather than light, that's why you won't come. You love your
sin, you love this world, and you love yourself. You will not
come because you love them above you, above God. You love them
and despise the commandment of God. You will not forsake them
and embrace Christ. But all who have a desire to
come, along with the command, will always come power. Well,
how would you come? Remember that publican, the one
who prayed Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Be propitious. He came asking
God to accept him based on the sacrifice of another. And Jesus said that man went
down to his house that day, that moment, justified. saved forever
and man is in glory right now praising God. Why? He obeyed the gospel. He believed that himself to be
a sinner and the only hope a sacrifice. I believe that. I confess the
same. Now then, if you come, if you
will not come, I want you to know this, you are 100% to blame. You will not obey the gospel,
you are to blame. All but if you do, if you ever
obey this gospel, it is 100% the work of God. And God receives
all the glory for it. All the glory for it. So then
the command of this gospel gives all the honor and glory to God.
So the second thing is this, what are the claims of this command,
this gospel command? One illustrated like this, a
king decrees a law but the subject, a subject rebels against it.
And the king summons the subject, he says, why have you rebelled
against my law? And the subject boldly declares, because I hate
you, I despise your law and I do not accept your authority over
me. But the king being gracious and
long-suffering with this subject, says, you now owe a debt to the
crown. You've rebelled and you owe a
debt you cannot pay. I will this day extend to you
forgiveness if you will but bow. The man stands still in defiance
and said, I would rather rot in jail and burn at the stake
than to obey you. Make no mistake, that is exactly
what men do when they will not come. They defy the very goodness
and grace of God at their own peril. What is the claim of this
gospel if you will not obey? Death is the claim. He that believeth
not shall be damned. That is the claim of this gospel. Today I've lifted up before you
the Son of God, and I tell you to look to Him. Stop looking
at yourself. Cast down your arms and obey
the gospel. Listen, if you will continue
in this course, you will die in your sins and God will be
just in your damnation forever. You remember that parable in
Luke? where the husbandman laced out
his vineyard to those men, and he sent his prophets, his servants,
telling them to pay their tribute, and they would not, and beat
the prophets, and he said, at last I have sent my son. They will hear him, and they killed the heir, and
they killed the son, What do you suppose God would do to those
men? The husbandmen, what do you suppose
He would do? He will utterly destroy them. Now this is the
claim of God. Now you mock it, you put it aside,
you cast it out and say, ah, that's just talk. Cast it out
if you will. You will not obey this gospel.
God will have claim on your soul and you will die in your sins.
This is serious! This is very serious! The claim
of this gospel is, you that will not believe will die! That's
the claim of this gospel. Why? Why should you die for not
believing? Because you have trodden under
your foot the very thing God holds most dear, His Son. You have spit in the face of
His Son. To reject His gospel is to spit
in the face of the Son of God and defy His grace, defy His
mercy, and say, I would rather have hell than you! Okay? You'll have it. That's the claim
of this gospel. But there is another claim. All who obey shall be forever
saved. All your sins will be washed
away. You will be robed in the very
righteousness of God and enjoy His presence forever. That is
the claim of the gospel to all who obey, to all who believe
on Him. And so what then is it to obey?
Our text said this, they have not all obeyed the gospel. I'm
preaching to everyone here, aren't I? Everyone here, I'm not making
my language complicated or hard to understand. I'm sure that
everyone here could understand my speech. And yet I know this, not all
of you have obeyed the gospel. And listen, not all will. But there is hope in this next
verse. Faith. So then faith, obedience to the
gospel, cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. No one was ever saved under a
false gospel. The gospel we preach, is not
of men, but of God. The gospel we preach abases men,
exalts Christ as the only hope for sinners. So then, if you would see yourself as
you really are, helpless, hopeless, defiled,
And you should see Christ as He really is, the most gracious
and kind Savior, whose blood is more than sufficient to wash
away all your sins. By hearing this comes faith. By hearing this comes faith. And faith, friends, is obedience
to the Gospel. It is to believe that Jesus Christ
is the God-Man, that He is the only Mediator between God and
men, that His blood alone was sufficient to satisfy God's justice
against all the elect, and that the Holy Spirit has come in power
to save His people. And we confess, We confess our
sins and bow down. So what is it to obey the gospel?
Absolute surrender. Unconditional surrender. Complete
surrender. Paul says, I count all things
but dung that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but of the righteousness
which is of the faith of Christ. That's the righteousness I want.
I want His righteousness. I want His blood. I want to be
found in Him. I want to obey. I come and bow
myself down before God. Submitting myself to Christ as
my Lord and Master. That is what it is to obey. What
is the result of obedience? He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. That's the gospel. That's a command,
isn't it? You know what? God commands the law to let me
pass. You got that? Matter of fact,
the law demands that I pass. Why? Because I have his blood
and righteousness. Because I have no more sin. He
put it away. I'll close with this that Peter
said. He said, elect, according to
the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit,
listen, unto obedience. And the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ, what is it? Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. be multiplied. To who? You who
have obeyed. Have you obeyed the gospel? Do
you obey the gospel? If you haven't, God commands
you to do so. If you don't, it's at your own
peril. If you do, to God be the glory. And God bless this to your heart.
Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.