Alright. I want to show you something
tonight that is vital to every believer. It's vital. Open up with me to Romans 1. Romans 1, verse 1 says this,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the Gospel of God. The Gospel. Alright, now look
at Romans 2, verse 16. in the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Alright, now turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Look at verse 12. Furthermore,
when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel. Now go to 2 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 3. But if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Verse 4 right there calls
it the glorious gospel. Don't turn, but back in Matthew
26, our Lord called it this gospel. And in Revelation 14, He called
it the everlasting gospel. Now many years ago, two precious,
precious preachers of the gospel, Henry Mahan, and a man named
Scott Richardson. You know who that is? He died
a few years back. He was from Fairmont, West Virginia,
just a faithful preacher of the gospel. They were driving down
the road together in a car, and they were talking with each other
about how can we know that we're preaching the truth. You know, kind of talking back
and forth, thinking about some things. How can we be sure that
we're preaching the truth, the true gospel? Every single preacher
thinks he's preaching the truth. There is not a preacher on planet
earth that doesn't think he's preaching the truth or else he
wouldn't be preaching. Right? How can we know? And the two of them together,
they were thinking of Scriptures and this and that, and they came
up with an outline that consists of nine questions. Alright? Nine questions for us to hang
the truth on. And we're going to look at those
nine questions tonight. Here's the title of this message.
How do I know if my Gospel is the Gospel? How do I know if
my gospel is the gospel? That's important, isn't it? That's
vital. Question number one, alright?
Here's the first question. Does my gospel totally agree
with, does it totally line up with the Old Testament? You know, everything now is new.
It's all new. Does it totally agree with the
Old Testament? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15. Verse 1 says this. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you have
received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved,
if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Alright, now just listen to this
one. This is Mark chapter 9. This is verses 11 through 13.
And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must
first come? And he answered and told them,
Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things. And how
it is written of the Son of Man, that he must suffer many things,
and be set at nought! But I say unto you, that Elias
is indeed come. and they have done unto him whatsoever
they listed, as it is written of him." Every single thing that
happened to John, it was all recorded. Everything that happened
to the Lord, it was all recorded. Alright, now listen to this one.
Acts chapter 3, this is verses 17 and 18. And now brethren,
I know that through ignorance you did
it, as did also your rulers." Peter is talking to those who
brought our Lord to Pilate and said, crucify Him. Alright? And he says, Now brethren, I
know that through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before
had showed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should
suffer, He hath so fulfilled. That's our gospel. That's what
we preach. All of the Old Testament prophets
said, one man is coming to remedy this. He is coming to suffer. He is coming to die. And that's
our gospel. Verse 18 again it says, Those
things which God before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets,
that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled. The true gospel
is not what you can do. It's not what you should do.
And it's not what you're going to do. It's what He has done. according to the Scriptures.
That's our gospel. Alright, now here's the second
question. Does my gospel give God all the
glory in salvation? Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
4. Does my gospel give God all the
glory in salvation? 1 Corinthians 4, look at verse
7. For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Why are
you so proud of being saved? Let's just be thankful, right?
Why do you glory as if you did something for Him? That's what
He's saying. Salvation is of the Lord. It's to whoever He
wills to give it to. That's it. If He willed for everybody
to be saved, God wants everybody to be saved. Right? Well, if He willed for everybody
to be saved, What would the will of God have to do with salvation?
If He wills that everybody is saved, but everybody is not saved. Now, if God wants you to be saved,
don't go to hell. Please don't. He wills for you
to be saved. Well, apparently His will has
absolutely nothing to do with salvation. He willed it. I went
anyway. It has nothing to do with salvation.
Why would we glory in His will? It's irrelevant. Alright now,
if Christ died for everybody, if Christ died for everybody,
what does the blood of Christ have to do with salvation? It's
insufficient. Right? But if Christ only died for His
elect, And if He doesn't lose one of
His elect, if none of His elect end up in hell, if every single
person that He shed His blood for on purpose is saved, then
we glory in His blood, don't we? We glory in it. If God loves all men, God loves
everybody. Alright? Well, if God loves all
men and women in the world, exactly the same. What does the love
of God have to do with salvation? If the Holy Spirit calls all
men the same, what that means is, if it's a general call, if
it's a universal call, whosoever will, come unto Me, what does
the Holy Spirit have to do with salvation? Our Gospel says, of
His own will begat He us. We're begotten. It says, He laid down His life
for His sheep, specifically. It says, Herein is love, not
that we loved Him, but He loved us. Whom He calls, He justifies. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
If He calls, they're justified. Period. All right, now here's
our third question. Does my gospel give the preeminence
to Jesus Christ in all things? That word preeminence means is
He the first? Is He the chief in all things? Let's start with election. Did
I choose God or did God choose me? Which is it? John 15-16, you have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. Is He the first and the chief
in justification? Do I earn it? Or is He just and
my justifier? Is He first and chief in faith? Am I the author of it? Or is
He the author of it? You know, what does Hebrews 12,
2 say? He's the author. He's the finisher. In love. Now listen to this one. Do I
have to give my heart to Jesus first? Or do I love Him because He first
loved me? Does my Gospel give all the preeminence
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes. Without Him, I can do nothing. He must be first. All right,
here's our fourth question. Does my gospel totally agree
with the character and attributes of God? The world today has no idea what
the character and attributes of God are. No idea. A long time ago, I probably told
you this before, but a long time ago I was watching TV, flipping
the channels, I might have been trying to find something for
the kids, and I stopped on a cartoon, and I had no idea it was the
religious station. And there was a guy with a turban on, riding
a donkey, and all of a sudden, you know, the sun comes out like
this, and the guy falls off, and this voice goes, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me, Saul? That ain't my God. My God punched
Saul in the face, knocked him off his horse and screamed, Who
do you think you are? Do I believe God is truly holy? Does my gospel agree with His
holiness? Does my gospel agree with His
justice? Shall not the judge of this earth
do right? Now here's what David said, Against
thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. You're justified. I deserve it. Does it agree with His immutability? And what that means is God doesn't
change. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change His mind. Everything was purposed from
the foundation of the world. Do I believe Malachi 3.6? I am the Lord. I change not. That's why you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Does it agree with His sovereignty? Do I agree with that or is that
just on my side? If I believe that man has a free
will, then I cannot believe that God is sovereign. I just can't. If His will is free and it's
kind of dependent on that, then man is sovereign. That's all
there is to it. Does my gospel agree with the
character and attributes of God? Here's our fifth question. Will
my gospel meet me where I am and save me? Go to Ephesians
2. All right, verse one says, and
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. You were dead. wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." We churchgoers read
that, we think, no, I wasn't like that. I didn't paint my
fingernails black and cut a mohawk and get a tattoo and run around
doing who knows what. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about us being all proud of ourselves
for not painting our fingernails black and growing a mohawk. Pride. Pride of all kinds. Verse 4 says,
But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, He quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are you saved. Is that what my Gospel says?
Is that what I believe? That's the true Gospel. That
is THE Gospel. All right, here's our sixth question.
Will my gospel save the chief of sinners? Or is there anybody
who's just too bad to be saved? Will my gospel save the chief
of sinners? Or does a sinner have to reform
first? All right, now let's go to Acts
chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, and look at verse
54. Stephen is speaking, and verse 54 says,
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and
they gnashed on him with their teeth. Alright, now look at verse
58. and cast him out of the city
and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." Chapter
8 verse 1 says, And Saul was consenting unto his death. And
at that time there was a great persecution against the church,
which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout
the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Chapter
9, verse 1 says, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and
slaughter against the disciples of the LORD, went unto the high
priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do. Now go to verse 10.
And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And
to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold,
I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire
in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold,
he prayeth. Verse 13 says, Then Ananias answered,
Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath
done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the
Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my namesake. And Ananias went his
way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands on him,
said, Brother Saul, The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto
thee in the way, as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately
there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales. And he received
sight forthwith, and arose, and he was baptized." What a story! What a story! Saul went from
murdering people to scales fell from his eyes. Saul, his name
was changed to Paul, and he said, I'm telling you, this is a faithful
saying, and it's worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came
into this world to save sinners. I'm the chief. I know. All right, here's our seventh
question. Will my gospel keep a man saved? Will this gospel keep a man saved? Somebody asked a preacher one
time, do you believe once saved, always saved? And the preacher
said, that depends on who saves you. If you saved yourself, you've
heard people say, I got saved. Yes, I did. I was sick and tired
of my ways. I just needed to clean up my
life and I got saved. If your mama saved you, that
woman, that godly woman, she just prayed me into heaven. If your preacher saved you, he
gave the altar call. With tears in his eyes, I was
drawn down to the front. We all sat there and just cried. If that's your salvation, then
you don't have a hope in this world of staying saved. Because
as quickly as you got it, you could throw it away. As soon
as mama stops praying, or as soon as the crying is over, and
the hoopla is over, everything goes right back to the way it
was. But if God saves you, If God comes to you of His own will
and calls you and quickens you and puts life into you, what
God does is forever. It is forever. He said, I give
unto them eternal life. and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand." Here's what he's saying. They
are in my hand, and I'm able. And I am in my Father's hand,
and they are going nowhere. Nowhere. Jude 24 and 25, you
don't have to turn, it says, "...now unto Him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Can you imagine
what this exceeding joy is going to be like? He's joyful, we're
joyful, the angels are joyful. Exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both
now and forever. And the whole congregation is
going to say, Amen. Here's our eighth question. Can
I face death with my gospel? Can I face death with my gospel? A woman said one time, preacher,
I'm afraid that I don't have dying grace. I'm scared. I'm afraid. And the preacher
said, well, are you dying? She said, no. He said, then you
don't need dying grace, do you? But here's the question. When
that time comes, When that time comes, I have known some people very close
to me who had some scares before they died. They thought they
were going to die. It didn't happen. Finally, they did. Very religious. Very religious. Glued to the
700 Club. And every time that happened,
I mean, fear, just chaos. Just fear. Now, I have never
been close to death. Here's the question. When that
time comes, based on the Gospel, based on this Word which I have
received and I believe, can I say with the Apostle Paul,
for me to live is Christ and to die is gain? Do I believe that? Alright, here's the ninth question.
Here's the last one. Is my gospel able to make me
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ? Let's turn over
to Romans 8. Romans 8. Verse 28 says, And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren, Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He
also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. One of these days, we're going
to have a glorified body. This ain't it. A glorified body. As He is. Okay? It doth not yet appear. what
we shall be. But we know, based on this gospel,
that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. For we shall
see Him as He is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I want to
be just as sinless as Him. I do. I want to be just as holy
and just as right as He is, just as good as He is. I'm not, but
I hope to be. Based on that, I believe with
all of my soul. I know. I know. Our gospel, which
is different from about every other gospel here, Our gospel,
Christ's gospel is the gospel, the one and only. All right,
let's stand together.