My prayer is the same, that the
Spirit of our God will overrule this weak voice. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
9. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 16 says, For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. I couldn't help but think about
the fact this past week that there will come a point when
I preach my last message. I won't know it in that moment, but it'll soon be realized by
everybody that that was my last message. And it really hits home to me
that this message and my last message and every message in
between must be the gospel. It must be the gospel. Verse
16 says, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And I'll tell
you this, woe is unto you if I preach not the gospel. And woe is unto all of us if
we hear not the gospel and believe not the gospel. Paul said in the last verse of
this chapter, verse 27, he said, I keep under my body. and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when
I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." That's the woe is unto me that
he's talking about. If any preacher does not preach
the gospel, that preacher is going to be a castaway. People naturally think that just
because a man is a preacher, he's a shoe into heaven. That
is not so. As a matter of fact, it's the
most dangerous profession a man could be in. It's the most dangerous profession
a man could be in. There are going to be more preachers
cast into hell than any other profession on this earth. That's
so. There are going to be more of
all the professions. You have appraisers, you have
people in the medical field, you've got computer programmers,
you have accountants, you got carpenters, okay? Of all the
professions that are on this earth, there are going to be
more preachers cast into hell than any other profession. And
I tell you why we know that to be so. It's because almost every preacher
out there preaches a different gospel. Do we realize that? Do we honestly realize that? Everybody out there is preaching
something different. Does that really register with
us? Everybody's preaching something
different. One says the gospel is this. Another says the gospel
is that. With man, there are hundreds,
even thousands of different gospels out there, but not with God.
With God, there's only one. With God, there's only one. Turn
with me to Galatians chapter one. Galatians 1 verse 6 says, I marvel
that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Verse seven, he said,
which is not another. There is not another, but there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an
angel of heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be cursed. He said, if one
of us apostles or even an angel from heaven came down here and
preached something different to you than what has been given
in the pages of this book, let him be cursed. cursed. Verse 9, as we said before, so
say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade
men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men,
I should not be the servant of Christ. There is only one gospel,
and that's why it is called the gospel. and not a gospel. And what I'd like to do is, from
the word this morning, I would like for us to see what the one
true gospel actually is. Not what people have imagined
it to be in their minds, but what God says it actually is. And my prayer is that God will
reveal to us what it actually is. I pray God will open our eyes
today. I do, I pray he'll open our eyes
today. I pray this will not just come
in word only. I pray the power of the spirit
of God will open our hearts and will reveal this to us today.
Right here in Galatians 1 verse 11, Paul said, I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after
man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught
it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He revealed it
to me. Verse 15, he said, but when it
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called
me by his grace to reveal his son in me. When it pleased God,
he revealed Christ in me when he revealed the gospel to me. Lord, if you would be willing,
reveal this to us, please reveal this to us. Now, what is the
gospel? That's the title of this message. What is the gospel? I googled
it. And I don't recommend anybody
Google it, but I did. I Googled it. I typed it in.
What is the gospel? Question mark. Some said the
gospel was God's plan for your salvation. Some said the gospel was God's
offer of salvation if you chose to accept it. Some said the gospel was the
instruction on how to live a better life, a more holy, acceptable
life before God. None of those things are true. What is the gospel? We're gonna
answer that by the truth of God Almighty's own word. Whatever
this says right here, let God be true and every man a liar.
If this contradicts me, I'm a liar. and I deserve whatever judgment
he sends to me. This is the gospel. This right
here is the gospel. Turn with me to Mark chapter
one. Mark chapter one. Verse 1 says, the beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is the
gospel of Jesus Christ. That means the gospel is concerning
Jesus Christ. My father has said for many years
that that is the statement that was made from a pulpit that reached
his heart, and I pray it'll reach somebody else's heart whenever.
My father was a false religion, false preacher, false everything. But when it pleased God, he revealed
this to him. He heard a man speak and he revealed
this to him. The gospel is concerning Jesus
Christ. He said as soon as he heard that
man say that, he thought, that's it. The gospel is concerning Jesus
Christ. The gospel is all about Jesus
Christ. Lord, reveal this to us. The gospel starts with Jesus
Christ and the gospel ends with Jesus Christ. And we do not have
an active role in it at all. We do not have an active role
in it at all. We are just guilty bystanders. That's it. What do you mean we don't have
any active role in it at all? Here's what I mean by it. And
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. You know what dead means? It
means no active role. That's what it means, dead. Turn with me to Romans 1. Romans 1. Verse 1 says, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God. The gospel is of God. The gospel is from God. It is God's declaration. The gospel is God's declaration. Concerning what? Verse 3. Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord. You see that verse 2 is in parentheses.
That was inserted into the middle of a complete thought. The end
of verse one says, separated unto the gospel of God concerning
his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh and declared to be the son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. It's the declaration of how God
was manifest in the flesh. I just wish men and women could
get a hold of that. Just that. God was manifest in the flesh
to accomplish a work that was in his hands. given to him by his father. Wait
a minute. You said God was manifesting.
That's right. The father of God placed to work
in the hands of the son of God. That work was the eternal salvation
of his people, and Christ was so victorious in accomplishing
that work. God the Father raised him from
the dead with power and honor and glory. Don't you love thinking
about heaven rejoicing? Can you imagine when our Lord
bowed his head and gave up the ghost and all of heaven, the
angels and the seraphims and all of these things that desire
to look in to what our Lord was given to do. You know, they cry,
the cherubims cry, holy, holy, holy, never ending. And then
as soon as he, there was silence in heaven. Oh, can you imagine? And then
can you just hear the eruption the moment he walked out of that
grave? Oh, he came out with power and
honor and glory. That's the gospel. That's the
declaration of Christ and the work that he successfully accomplished. Go with me to 1 Corinthians 1.
1 Corinthians 1 verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. To put it
plainly, the gospel is concerning the cross of Jesus Christ. who it was that hung that cross,
why he hung on that cross, what he accomplished in hanging on
that cross. Everybody knows, and I will tell
you, when I Googled it, everybody said the gospel, you know, is
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everybody said
that, and then they added their two cents at the end of it. Everybody
knows that He died. Everybody knows that He was buried.
Everybody knows that He rose again. But in not declaring the
truth of who, what, and why. Men and women are denying the
gospel of the cross. The good news of the cross. What
is the truth of the cross? Here it is. It was God Almighty
who hung on that cross. It was God Almighty who hung
on that cross. It was not God's son. I know it's shocking even for
us to hear that. I understand that. Every time
I say that, I shock myself. It was not God's son who hung
on that cross. Any person who believes that
is wrong and living in error and looking to the wrong God. It was not God's Son who hung
on that cross. It was the Son of God. And what
that means is God Almighty in a body. When it says He is the
only begotten of the Father, that means He is the only made
image of God. The only thing you can look at
to know what God looks like. The only begotten. Doesn't mean
that the Son came from the Father. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. Everything
was made by him. He was made flesh and dwelt among
us. God Almighty hung on that cross. And he hung there willingly.
He hung there so willingly. Oh, if I would have been alive
back then, I would have stopped it. Because he didn't want to
do that. He didn't want to go there. Oh,
yes, he did. For this cause came out into
the world. I love it when he says he set
his face like a flint. That means he could not be talked
out of it. Peter tried. Get behind me. I'm on a mission. That mission
is your gospel. No man took his life from him.
He gave his own life willingly to be the sacrifice that was
required for the sin of his people. Here is the truth of the cross.
God Almighty was not trying to save anybody on that cross. Who
was God trying to save on the cross? Nobody. He wasn't trying
to save anybody. He saved. God Almighty did not die to make
salvation possible. That's what I read on the internet.
Bless the internet's heart. The internet is wrong. God Almighty
did not die to make salvation possible for anybody. He didn't
die to make salvation possible for one soul. He died to make
salvation permanent for a particular people. God Almighty did not die for
every soul on this earth. If He had died for every soul
on this earth, He'd be a failure because not every soul is saved.
But He didn't die for every soul on this earth. He died for His
own. He came, He lived, and He died
for His own. That's the truth of the cross. His blood was not a general payment
for men and women to just take it or leave it if they want to.
He shed his blood to put away sins. That wasn't a general payment
just laid out there for anybody to take and leave as they please. It was applied. That blood was
applied on purpose. His death was not in vain for
a soul that He wanted to save, but the soul wouldn't comply
with Him and ended up being lost anyway. Absolutely not. Here's the truth of the cross.
God Almighty shed His blood and He died to redeem the souls of
every one of His specific people. And when He cried, it is finished,
they were saved. Not one of his wretched sinners
wanted it. I'm not looking at one soul in
here who in his or her flesh wanted it or would have been
willing to accept it. But thank God we didn't have
a choice in the matter. You want to know the truth of
the cross? We didn't have a choice in the matter. It was irresistible. God's grace just plowed over
every single one of his people. Conquered every single one of
them. The gospel is the declaration
of God concerning Jesus Christ and what he victoriously and
freely, freely accomplished for his people. Acts 20 calls it
the gospel of the grace of God. That means the gift, the free
gift, the free gift. The gospel is not an offer. It
is not an offer. It's the declaration of a free
gift. It's not a plan for what could be. It's the announcement
of what already is. Already is finished and freely
given. And here's the question that
I always want to know. How do we know this is so? You know, I just said it and
it's so true. Everybody else is saying everything under the
sun that's contrary to what I'm saying right now. How do you
know? I've had people literally ask
me that question. When everybody's saying something
different, how do you know? How do we know that this is the
announcement of truth? This is what God recorded in
his word. We're reading it right out of
God's own word. This is from the mouth of God
Almighty. That's why we can know that we
can bank our souls on this. We read it in God's word. If
God said it, amen. If God said it, amen, we can
bank our souls on it. Go with me to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. Verse 13 says, 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? How shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And that's what
breaks my heart for people. It breaks my heart so badly.
They have not heard. They're being lied to. Men are
standing in pulpits and they're like, oh, we go to this church
and oh, I love my preacher. Oh yeah, right out of the word.
Really? Is it really? But he says it
is. He didn't show me, but he says
it is. Men and women have not heard
the truth of the true and living God. Verse 14 says, how shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent of God? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. The gospel of peace, the gospel
is an announcement of peace. The gospel cries, the work is
finished, rest. You know how you know you're
not hearing the gospel? A man's up in a pulpit saying, now the
work ain't finished now, you better get to work now. That's
not the gospel. The gospel is an announcement
of peace. The gospel is not a call to action. The gospel is not a call for
a decision. All right, now we're going to
end this service by looking for decisions. Anybody going to make
a decision? The gospel is not a call for a decision. The gospel
is not a prod to the obedience of the law. It's an announcement
of peace. Peace by one man, peace by the
accomplishment of one man, Jesus Christ. Christ took the action. Christ made the decision. Christ
obeyed the law. And in Him doing that for us,
He made peace. Peace with God through Him. That's the gospel. And every soul that Christ accomplished
the gospel for, he will give that soul faith to believe it.
The spirit of God will reveal the truth of the gospel in the
word. And a sinner will say, I see
that. I see what you're saying. It's right there. I believe it. Faith sees Christ in the word. Faith looks to him alone. The
gospel does not point us to us. The gospel points us to Christ.
I told you a while back, it was years ago now, a man who was
emailing me back and forth. He just reprimanded me, reprimanded
a few other grace preachers. And the reason is because he
said, I did not end my message with turning everything to you.
And his wording to me was, surely you're not going to tell them
what Christ did and just leave it at that. My reply was, amen. That's exactly
what I'm going to do. That's exactly what I'm going
to do. The gospel does not point us to us. The gospel points us
to Christ. The gospel does not tell us to
take a good look at us. The gospel tells us to take a
good look at Christ. And when we do, when we truly
see Christ, we see the gospel of our salvation. When we see
Jesus Christ, we see salvation. Salvation. The gospel is all
about Him. Christ is the gospel. I pray the Lord will reveal that.