1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians
and he's speaking to them from his heart. We did an intro to
Thessalonians a couple of months ago when we started it. Seeing
everything they went through and everything Paul and Silas
and Timothy endured with them. and the hardship, the heartache
that they endured for receiving the truth, hearing it, and loving
it. And He is encouraging them for all the persecution they're
having to endure for the truth's sake. He told them in verse 8,
we are affectionately desirous of you. You have our heart. Our hearts are with you. Now,
verse 9 will be the text this morning. Verse 9, he said, For
you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night
and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you,
we preached unto you the gospel of God. He said, because we love you,
we labored for your rest. We wanted you to rest in the
gospel. And we labored for your rest
by preaching unto you the gospel of God. That's what we did for
your sake, for your soul. Now, that's what I want us to
look at for a minute, OK? What is the gospel of God? What is the gospel? Many people think they know what
the gospel is. A lot of people believe that
they have it in their mind what the gospel is. It really does
not matter what we think the gospel is. It does not matter
what any of us think the gospel is. All that matters is what
God says the gospel is. That's all that matters. Whatever
God says the gospel is, that's what the gospel is. That's what
I want us to see. What does God have to say in
his word about the gospel? What is the gospel of God? I have five descriptions that
I want us to see. And before we see him, I want
to acknowledge this about God's gospel. Turn with me to Galatians
chapter 1. And I'm going to prepare everybody
now. We're going to do a lot of turning. Get your turning
finger warmed up. 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, which is not another. There is only one. There is only one. The gospel of God is the gospel
of God. The gospel, there's only one
for different denominations. You have different denominations
out there and you have different denominations that are even close
to each other. They're just slightly different
from each other for different denominations to acknowledge
that their gospels are different. But to say, well, that's all
right. We can all still embrace each other and end up in the
same place and it'll be fine. That is not so. That is not so. There is only one gospel that
saves. Only one. The gospel of God. The gospel that God has declared
in His Word. Every other message is a damning
message. If it veers from the gospel of
God, it's a damning message. Alright, now turn with me to
Revelation 14. Revelation chapter 14. There's
only one gospel. In Revelation 14 verse 6 says,
I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every
nation and kindred and tongue and people. The one and only
gospel is the everlasting gospel. I adore that. I adore that. We will have this gospel forever. We'll have it forever. We will
gather around the preaching of this message. You know what we're
going to do in eternity? We are going to gather around
the preaching of this message and we are going to enjoy and
we're going to rejoice in the preaching of the message of the
gospel forever. forever. If a person, we've mentioned
this before, many people have, but it's so true, if a person
really does not enjoy gathering around the preaching of the gospel
here on this earth, that person really will not enjoy heaven
that much. Everybody wants to go to heaven,
but they don't understand what heaven is. Heaven's a person.
And if they don't enjoy heaven on earth, they're not going to
enjoy heaven in heaven. But we're gonna have it forever.
Those who God does give a heart to enjoy it, we're gonna have
it forever. And for all eternity, we're gonna completely revolve
around and worship and glory in the gospel of God. All right,
what is the gospel of God? Five things that our God has
declared in his word that will describe to us, that will define
what the gospel is. Number one, Turn with me to Mark
chapter 1. Mark chapter 1 verse 1 says, The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The word gospel means glad tidings. God's gospel is the glad tidings. It's the good news of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. That's what the gospel is. The
gospel is about Him. To me, that is a huge moment
when a sinner finally realizes the gospel's about Him. Until
God reveals that to a sinner, that sinner's trying to figure
out, how do I fit into the gospel? What do I do with the gospel?
But then God opens the eyes, opens the ears, opens the heart,
and all of a sudden he realizes the gospel It's all about Him. I mean, it's all about Him. Hold
your place right here and go with me to Romans 1. We're going
to come right back to Mark. Romans 1 verse 9 says, For God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son. That's the gospel, his son. The gospel is completely about
his son, not my involvement with his son. That's what's being
preached everywhere. What is your involvement with
the Son? Okay, we got the Son, right?
He died on the cross and all that kind of good stuff. Now,
what's your take on it? It has nothing to do with my
involvement with the Son. It is not my cooperation with
the Son. That's not what the Gospel is.
It is not my acceptance of His Son. The gospel is the declaration
of who He is and what He has done. That's all it is. It's all about Him. Right here
in Romans 1 verse 16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. The gospel is a person. The gospel is a person. The Lord
Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done. All right, what
has he done? Number two, this is our number
two. Go back to Mark chapter one. Verse 14 says, Now, after that John was put
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Our Lord came preaching the good
news of the fact that God has a kingdom. Is that not wonderful
news? God has a kingdom. God has chosen
a people to himself. That is the gospel. That's the
good news. God has chosen some sinners to himself. He's chosen to reconcile some
people to himself and receive them into his kingdom. We just
read in Revelation that it's out of every nation and kindred
and tongue. Out of the whole world. Spiritual
Israel, he calls them. Turn with me to Jeremiah 24. Jeremiah 24, the Lord gives an
illustration of two baskets of figs. One He calls good, one
He calls evil. What He's going to do with both
of these baskets. And then He says in verse 4,
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the
Lord, the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge
them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out
of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring
them again to this land, and I will build them and not pull
them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up, and I
will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall
return unto me with their whole heart." Did you notice how many
times he said, I, before he said they? I, I, I, I, I. I am going to do this. That's
the gospel. That's the gospel. I'm going
to take out their old heart. I'm going to put in a new heart.
I'm going to draw them to myself. A remnant shall be saved. They will come. They'll hear
the call. The call will say, come. They
will come. A remnant shall be saved. That
is good news to me. Man, that's such good news to
me. Me trying to save myself. Or me trying to convince myself
to choose Him over the world. You know how enticing the world
is to this flesh? Me trying to conjure up enough
to convince myself to choose Him over the world, that's the
most terrible news I could ever hear in my life. Thank God that's not the gospel.
The gospel is, He accomplished that work. Oh happy day that
fixed my choice on thee my Savior and my God. Best day of my life. He did the choosing. He did the
drawing. He established his kingdom. Of
his kingdom there shall be no end. Number three. Go with me
to Acts 20. Acts 20 verse 22, the Apostle
Paul says, And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions
abide me. But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of God is the declaration
of God's grace. God's grace. Grace means unmerited
favor. It means free gift. Freely bestowed. Freely bestowed. None of you work for companies
that freely bestow paychecks. None of you. You receive them. through merited favor. What you get from them, you earn
it. You earn your reward. That is
not how it works in the gospel of God. If you try to earn it,
you can't have it. If you try to earn it, you cannot
have it. The glad tidings of God is Everything
he has given to sinners is absolutely free. Somebody will hear that and they'll
say, that worries me because I don't deserve it. I don't deserve
it. I know he chose a people. I know
he's going to pass some by. And what worries me is I don't
deserve it. And if I don't do anything to earn it, I don't
see any good reason why he would freely give it to me. That's
our comfort. If we deserved it, it would no
longer be grace. He only gives it to those who
don't deserve it. You deserve your paycheck come
the end of the week. They owe it to you. It would
be against the law for them to not pay it to you. They'd be
stealing from you. He only gives it to those who do not deserve
it. The gospel of God is the gospel
of the grace of God. It's a free unmerited gift. The same thing applies to mercy.
I told you that story of the man who his son, a true story. His son was standing before the
judge about to go to jail for a crime he committed. And the
father asked if he could say something to the judge, and the
judge permitted him to. And he said, your honor, is there
any room for mercy? And the judge said, because of
what your son did, he doesn't deserve mercy. And he said, you're
right, your honor. But if he deserved it, it wouldn't
be mercy. Everything that God does for
sinners is unmerited favor. Every bit of it. Number four.
Go with me to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 13 says, For 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. The gospel of God is the gospel
of peace. Peace with God. Peace with God. How can a sinner have peace with
God? Where can a sinner find favor with God? The answer is
in the Gospel of His Son. In the Gospel of Christ. In the
Gospel of the Kingdom. In the Gospel of Grace. For God
so loved the world, He gave freely to His Kingdom His only begotten
Son. He gave His only begotten Son. Christ Jesus listen to these
verses right here in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ for he is our peace who
hath made both one and and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." The
gospel is not. Now, you've angered God. You
know, a lot of times when we stand up, The first thing we
declare is man's sin. Man's sin against God. And God
will not tolerate it. And God must deal with it. And
the Gospel is not, now you've angered God, now you better make
it right or else. That's not the Gospel. This is
the Gospel. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to Himself. That's the Gospel. Peace on earth
and mercy mild. In the death of His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, God and sinners are reconciled. Peace be unto
you. That's the gospel. Last one,
number five. Go with me to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 12 says, that we should be to the praise
of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted,
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation." Your salvation. The gospel of God is not a generic
gospel. It is not a general gospel. People throw the seed out there
as though we're just going to throw it all over the place.
It's just an offer to anybody, you know. It is not a universal
gospel. It is a particular gospel. And
we are going to throw the seed out there to everybody. He said,
you go preach it unto all the world. But the gospel is a particular
gospel to a particular people, and it's a personal gospel. It's
personal. God's message really does become
the gospel. It really does, and I can say
this from experience. God's message becomes the gospel. I had the privilege of only growing
up under the truth, and I knew it was the truth. And I called it the gospel, but
it wasn't the gospel to me until it became my gospel. There was
a difference. That's when the gospel truly
becomes the gospel, when it becomes my gospel. It's not enough for
me to know that Christ came to save sinners. I need to know
He came to save me, the chief of sinners. Well, that's what the gospel
cries. Ephesians 2 verse 1, and you hath he quickened. That's
the gospel cry, you. The apostle Paul said many times
in his letters, this is my gospel. Why do you say that, Paul? It's
because Christ came to save the ungodly and that's what I am. That's why I say that. There
is one and only one gospel of God. It's the gospel of Christ. It's the gospel of the kingdom.
It's the gospel of His grace, it's the gospel of peace, and
it's the gospel of our salvation. And it thrills me, really, it
thrills me to know in a world that's so full of sad religion,
they're missing the gospel. They sing their gospel songs,
and they have their gospel this, and their gospel that, and they're
missing Christ. They're missing THE gospel. And it just thrills me to know
that God has been so kind to make THE gospel our gospel. It's wonderful. Alright, you're
dismissed.