Turn with me if you would to
Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4, let's read
from verse 18 to the end of the chapter. And Jesus, walking by the Sea
of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway
left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence,
he saw other two brethren, James, the son of Zebedee and John,
his brother, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets. And he called them and they immediately
left the ship and their father and followed him. And Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went
throughout all Syria and they brought unto him all sick people
that were taken with divers diseases and torments and those which
were possessed with devils and those which were lunatic and
those that had the palsy and he healed them. And there followed
him great multitudes of people from Galilee and from Decapolis
and from Jerusalem and from Judea and from beyond Jordan. Now in studying these verses,
I've seen three things that I want to point out to us. And all three
of these things are so important. I have begged the Lord to allow
this to be clear. I want this to be clear, but
this is so, so important for us to understand. In this, we
can see a particular salvation. In this, we can see a mighty
call to salvation. And in this, we see a means of
salvation. And I want us to look at one
of them for this Bible study, which is the means. We're gonna
look at the means of salvation. And then the Lord willing, we're
gonna look at the other two in the message. We're gonna see
right now His means, And then we're going to see his work and
his power in his means. Now for this Bible study, I would
legitimately like for us to ask this question. Why do we preach
the gospel? That's the title of this Bible
study. Why do we preach the gospel? Why do we preach the gospel?
Now, if God is sovereign and he is, let's see if we can really get
ahold of this. If God is sovereign and he is, And if he is going to save his
people and he is, and if none of them are going
to be lost and they're not, why do we preach the gospel?
Why do we do this? Why do we do this? Why do we
put so much importance on preaching the gospel? Do you know that
God's people put all importance on preaching and hearing and
gathering around the gospel? I mean, life importance, the
centerpiece of life. Why do we do that? Why do we
do that? Why are we so dogmatic on the
truth of the gospel? Why don't we just blend with
anything that's close? Why are we so dogmatic? Why is it so critical to us that
we be under the absolute truth of the gospel and our children
be under the absolute truth of the gospel? Why is that? Why
is it so life and death to us if God is sovereign? And if He's
going to save His people without me, He doesn't need me. And if none of them are gonna
be lost, why is that? Why do we do that? Here's the
reason why. It's because we're gonna see
right here that it's our Lord's means. It's our Lord's means. It's His means in salvation. The means that He has chosen
to use to call His elect to Himself. Not only can we see his means
in what he said to the disciples, but we can also see it in what
he himself did throughout his ministry. Verse 23 says, Jesus
went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the kingdom of the gospel. That's what he did. Why did he
do that? Why did he do that? We're talking
about the God who spoke everything into existence. That centurion
said, my servant is home sick. And the Lord said, I'll come
to your house. He said, just speak the word only. You just
say the word, just think the thought and it's done. This is God manifest in the flesh. Why did God almighty go about
all Galilee? Why would he spend his precious
time here going about teaching in the synagogues and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom? Why would God almighty do that? It's because that's his chosen
means. That's his means. Look at what
he said to his disciples, verse 18. Jesus walking by the sea
of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers.
And he said unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers
of men. Isn't that an interesting statement?
Why would he use that terminology? I'll make you fishers of men.
Here's the reason why. It's His means. It's His chosen
means. Now, before we go any further,
let's make sure we know what the word means, means. All right, what does means mean? It's a word that's used all through
the scripture. It's used all the time. It means
the way. It means how something is going
to happen. I'll show you an example of it.
Turn over Luke chapter five. Luke 5, verse 18, our Lord is
preaching in a house and this house is jammed full of people. It's just packed with people.
Luke 5, verse 18, and behold, men brought in a bed a man which
was taken with a palsy and they sought means. They were trying
to figure out the way. They were looking at this thing,
trying to figure out how are we gonna get him inside this
house? They sought means to bring him
in and to lay him before the Lord. And when they could not
find by what way, by what means they might bring him in because
of the multitude, they went upon the housetop and let him down
through the tiling with his couch into the midst. before the Lord
Jesus Christ. That was the means that they
ended up using. That's how they got him in that
house. That was the way. So that's what
the word means. It means the way. It means how
something's gonna happen. We use means all the time. All the time. In many cases,
we can select the means that we want to use. After this service is over, this
Bible study, the message, if the Lord is willing, I'm gonna
go home. If the Lord is willing, I'm gonna
go home. I'm gonna use means to make that
happen. I could walk. I could walk. That's not the
way I choose. Probably ought to be the way
I choose, but it's 3.7 miles to my house. I could walk. Or there is a city bus stop,
the transit stop right here on the corner. It'll get me pretty
close. I could take the bus. Or I could
make preparations to have a bicycle here. I could ride a bike home. The fact of the matter is though,
I have not chosen to use those means. The means that I have
chosen to use is our car. That's how I'm going to make
that happen. That's the way that I'm going to make that happen.
Now it doesn't have to be those means. I just stated other options. I'm not limited to those means.
but that's the means I've chosen to use. It has pleased me to
use the means of our car. That's what I want to do. Now that's how it is with God.
That's how it is with God. God can do anything he wants
to do. Whenever these means go out,
some people really, reject this and you know, and you're saying
God can't, no, no, no, no. God can do anything God wants
to do. We're talking about God. God
can do anything. He's not limited to anything,
but he said, I'll make the declaration. I want to use that car. That's
my means. And he said, that it pleased
him to use a particular means in bringing his people to this
salvation that he secured for them in his own blood, calling
them and notifying them of that. And the means that he's chosen
is the preaching of the truth of his word. And I want to emphasize
the word truth. I want to really emphasize the
word truth. It has pleased him to use the
means of preaching the truth of his word. Turn with me over
to first Corinthians chapter one. First Corinthians one, verse
17. The apostle Paul said, for Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. People always
wanna know, how many people have you baptized? They asked Paul
that, he said, I don't know. He said, I did baptize a couple,
but after that, I don't know. He said, 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. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved, it's the power of God. For it's
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to
nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks, foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. It has pleased the Lord to use
the means of preaching the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. telling
people what Christ accomplished on the cross. The gospel of this
word, it has pleased Him to use that to save. That means to quicken,
to call His people to Himself. You know, somebody will say,
well, I thought this was just a notification. I thought it
was all done. You say, please the Lord by the foolishness of
preaching to save his people. I thought it was all done. It
is. It is just a notification and
it has been done. God's people were saved in the
mind and the will and the purpose of God before the foundation
of the world. In his will and purpose, it was done. And God's
people were saved in time. The moment that Christ cried,
it is finished and bowed his head and gave up the ghost on
the cross 2000 years ago, it was finished. And God's people are saved from
their darkness. We start out in utter darkness.
We start out in the deadness of sin. We're saved from that
darkness and that deadness. When God's spirit notifies us
of everything that was in the will and purpose of the father
and everything that was accomplished on the cross. We're saved from
all that through the preaching of the gospel and God's people
will one day very soon be saved. from this sinful world, everything
that we saved, saved, saved, saved. And with each of those
components of our salvation, the Lord has used, He is using,
and He will use His chosen means. And in the conversion of His
people, that's what we're talking about this morning, He's chosen
to use the means of preaching the truth. Turn with me over
to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 13, it says, for whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. That will be the evidence
that Christ has saved them. Men and women won't call. Men
and women by nature don't call. If a person calls on the name
of the Lord, that means if a person believes on Christ and casts
their all on Christ and rejects all their works, then that's
the evidence that they have been saved. Christ has saved them.
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 of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? How is a man gonna preach except
he be sent? Will just any old preacher do?
No. No. He's gonna be a man sent
on purpose by God's Holy Spirit with the truth of the Word. I
would never send, if I wanted to get a message to somebody
that I loved, I would never send a liar with a message of lies. If I wanted to tell somebody
something that I loved, I would never send somebody to say the
exact opposite of what I wanted them to know. I wouldn't do that,
and God does not do that either. He doesn't do that either. He
puts His message of truth in a messenger of truth, and He
sends that message on purpose to the one it's meant for. And
with that message, He sends faith to believe the message. He sends
the message and faith to believe the message. That's the means
that God's chosen in quickening His people life. 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 of 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. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. That's the reason why we preach
the message of the gospel. It's the means God has chosen
to use to call his people to the light and the life and the
knowledge of their salvation, what he's done for them. And
we don't get any credit for it. We just don't, we don't take
any glory in the means, just like my car. You know, I've chosen
to use the means of my car to get home, but I'm going to be
the one driving that car. I am, I'm going to be the one
who steers that car and directs that car. I'm going to be the
one who starts the car. I'm going to be the one who stops
the car. If the car actually makes it to my house, it's only
going to be because I made the car go to my house. Yes, I'm
going to use that means. I'm going to use that vessel,
but I'm controlling that. I'm doing that. It's something
I will do. The car is not just going to go there on its own.
I'm going to do it. And that's how it is with the means of preaching
the gospel. That's how it is with the means.
God will use the means according to his will. and His desire to
accomplish His purpose. He will steer, He will direct,
He will start, He will stop. God is doing this. God is doing
this. We preachers don't get any credit.
The only thing that I can do in my flesh is ruin it. It's
all I can do. The only thing that I can do
is hinder you and be a stumbling block to you. God has to overrule. He has to overrule and he will. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who does it all. He said to those disciples, I
will make you to be fishers of men. I'll make you to be that. So that's why we preach the gospel.
Now as fishers, all right, I'm almost finished here, but as
fishers, let me just say a word on how to preach the gospel. All right, we just said, why
do we preach the gospel? Because that's God's chosen means. It's his command to us. How do
we preach the gospel? How do we preach it? Turn back
over to 1 Corinthians 1. I'll be very quick. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23. says, but we preach Christ. How do we preach the gospel?
How do we, as our Lord put it, as he said it, fish for men. What is the gospel net? Those men were washing their
nets. They did not fish with a rod
and reel. They did not fish with a hook
and a lure. They fished with a net. That means they engulfed. They captured, that's how they
fished. They just captured. What is the message that engulfs
and captures God's people? Verse 23 says, we preach Christ
crucified. I was talking to somebody the
other day about the difference. In a preacher of religion, false
religion and a preacher of truth. And he had just heard a false
message. And he said, what struck me is
everything about a false message is iffy. It's just all iffy,
you know, it's just, well, I mean, it may, it just depends like
if he, if you, if the cooperate, if everything's just, and with
the gospel, everything is certain. It's certain. It's not really fishing. When
that gospel net goes out, every appointed fish is going into
that net. You remember whenever, when the
Lord, after he arose and, and they, the disciples said, I'm
going back to fishing. And he said, you caught anything?
No, hadn't caught anything on the right side of the boat. And
they almost sank the boat. There was an exact number of
fishes in that net. It's recorded. The gospel is certain. The gospel
is powerful. And we, simple fish, are just
minding our own business, swimming along. And then all of a sudden,
what has happened to me? God has. God has. He has engulfed. He has taken
what is His. And the message of the gospel
that is that net and accomplishes that is Jesus Christ crucified,
who he is and what he has done and how absolute it is and how
certain it is and what that means for us. It's the person and the
work and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 10, this is gonna
be a verse that will bridge this Bible study to the message. In
John chapter 10, our Lord said, my sheep, hear my voice. And I'm gonna emphasize this
right now for the next message. He said, my sheep, my sheep,
hear my voice. And he said, I know them and
they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. They hear my voice and they follow me. The gospel message
is Christ himself. And I'm not going to have you
turn, but first Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul said, I declare
unto you the gospel. Here it is. How that Christ died
according to the scripture. Exactly like all the scriptures
said he would to put away the sin of his people and how Christ
was buried according to the scriptures and how he rose again according
to the scriptures. Paul said, that's the gospel.
He is the gospel. We preach him. We don't preach us. Let's notice that. Let's notice
that we don't preach us. When you hear a man preaching
us, you know, I, someone was here one time and just blessed
my heart so much. Uh, somebody else was asking
him, what do you preach down there? Y'all preach this and
y'all preach that. And this person said, well, no,
it's pretty much just Christ. It's what I've seen. It's pretty
much just Christ. Whenever a man stands up and
preaches us, and you'll hear it, you, us, we, that's not the
gospel. The gospel's him and him alone. We preach him, who he is and
what he's done for his people. And the apostle Paul said in
Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. The
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. And I'll just tell you this too.
We won't turn to this either. I was gonna have you turn to
Acts chapter eight. This is the example. The Ethiopian eunuch
was returning from Jerusalem and the Lord sent Philip to go
preach to him. And Philip found this man sitting
in his chariot reading Isaiah 53. And Philip said, do you understand
what you're reading? And the man said, how can I accept some
man should guide me? How can I understand what this
is saying unless a man preaches to me? And beginning at the same
scripture, Philip preached the Lord Jesus Christ to him. As
a lamb before his shearers, he opened not his mouth. wounded
for our transgressions. And as soon as that eunuch heard
that, he said, there's some water.
Does anything hinder me from confessing this? Philip said,
do you believe this with all your heart? He said, I believe
Jesus Christ is the son of God. Philip said, let's go. Went down
and baptized him. That is the means being accompanied
with the work and the power of God. And if the Lord is willing,
we'll take a look at that in just a minute. All right, you're
dismissed.