Turning please to Matthew, the
22nd chapter. And you might put your bulletin
here, if you close your Bible, you may not, whatever, I don't
know what your, system is, whether you close
it or you wait and open it when you want a scripture to be looked
at or something. But we'll be using Matthew on
several occasions just to illustrate some things
that we think this well serves our
purpose to do so. Our title this morning is The
Gospel of the Grace of God. The gospel is associated with
several peculiar expressions in our Bibles. We'll take a look
at those in just a bit. But to begin with, we want to
come to our reading in Matthew chapter 22. So you're on board. And we'll begin to read at verse
15. Now before we do so, let us bow in prayer together. Lord, if in the depths of our
souls we truly know you as our Shepherd,
thereby making us your sheep. Lord, if this is true of me or
of any one of us, oh, we pray that you might visit our souls
this day and give us confirmation that such is the case. But alas,
if this be not the case, We are not your sheep, or at
least not that we know of yet. Lord, have mercy upon us. We
are just backward and ignorant when it comes to divine things. We don't truly know how to read
our Bibles. We find studying the Bible a
chore. But Lord, you can remedy all
of this. if it pleases you to do so. We are not worthy, we confess
that readily, but you are worthy. You are the great shepherd of
the sheep. You are the incarnate Son of
God, God in human flesh. Lord, open our hearts, our souls,
our inner selves to find out who you are, what you've done
for poor, helpless, hell-deserving sinners. And now as we come to
your word, both in the reading and in our feeble attempts to
preach, Lord, we need help from above. Bless the reading of your word.
Make it living. to our souls, and bless the preaching
of this gospel that is all of grace. We beg these things in
our Savior's name, in His merit and blood, and for His honor
and glory. Amen. Starting at verse 15 in
Matthew chapter 22. Now, we've been to this passage
many times in the past, so I'll not concentrate so much on the
details as to what this leads up to and what it shows about
mankind when it comes to God. So our Lord has a number of questioners
coming to him representing the various parties within the Jewish
religion. The Herodians, starting at verse
15, the Sadducees beginning at 23, the Pharisees at verse 34,
and finally it closes at verse 41 and following where the Lord
Jesus does the questioning. And it says that they dared not
ever ask Him another question. Alright, verse 15. Then went
the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle the Lord
Jesus in His talk. You know, ask Him a question
that He can't answer, or make Him slip of the tongue, you know,
and say something He doesn't want to say. They think they're
dealing with a man, and they're dealing with the God-man. And
God does not make mistakes. So they send out unto him, the
Pharisees now do this, disciples who were in the party called
the Herodians. Now Herod was a king, and there
was a certain party within the Jewish religion that took orders
from Herod. And they said, This is what they
came to the Lord Jesus to say, to try to trip him up. Master,
we know that you are true, and you teach the way of God in truth. Now that is just utter, utter
insincere flattery. They don't mean a word of this.
So they're trying to have him drop his guard, we would say. We know that you are true and
teach the way of God in truth. And you don't care for any man. You're not afraid of anybody.
For you regard not the persons of men. Tell us, therefore, what
you think. What think you? Is it lawful
to give tribute? Is it lawful to pay taxes to
Caesar or not? Now that's a loaded question.
If he says no, he's in hot water with the Romans. And if he says
yes, then these people are going to pursue him all the more harder
than they have been. But our Lord in verse 18 perceives
their wickedness and said, Why tempt you me, you hypocrites? Did he really say that? The Lord
Jesus called a man a hypocrite to his face? Yes, that's the
Christ of the Bible. It ain't the Christ of modern
religion, by the way, but it is the Christ of the Bible. People would read their Bibles,
they'd want a different Christ, and that's what they've done.
They've just carved one out for themselves. And He wouldn't offend
you for anything in the world. Show me the tribute money, He
said. And they brought unto him a penny.
And he said unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
Our Lord said, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which
are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's. And when
they heard these things, they marveled and left him and went
their way. Now come the Sadducees. They
don't believe in miracles. They don't believe in heaven. There are a lot of things these
folks were mixed up about. And by the way, all the whole
parties of the Jewish religion at this point in time were as
rotten as rotten can be. Verse 23, the same day came to
him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection. And
they asked him, saying, Master, Moses says if a man die having
no children, His brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed
unto his brother." So they come up with this hypothetical question
which they evidently practiced and used many times and probably
successful upon just any average person that they come across. So they say in verse 24, Master,
I've already read you that, haven't I? Now there were with us seven
brothers, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased
or died. And having no children, no issue,
he left his wife unto his brother. Likewise, the second also, and
the third down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died
also. Therefore, in the resurrection,
Whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they were all married
to her. And our Lord answered and said
unto them, I listen carefully, you do err not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God. And that's where most professing
Christians are this very hour. not knowing the scriptures nor
the power of God. Verse 30, For in the resurrection
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you
by God, saying, Now listen carefully to this one now. He's trying
to tell you that Old Testament saints who have died are in glory. As touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you
by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham? I am the God of Isaac,
and I am the God of Jacob." Now, these fellows have been dead
a long time, and yet God is still their God. They are still actual
creatures, actual beings, human beings, though not having received
a glorified body, but at least in their spirits. God is not
the God of the dead, but of the living. When the multitude heard
this, they were astonished at his doctrine. So the Pharisees
now have to come and get their hands dirty because all these
other people that they had doing this for them. Now, you understand
that on a regular basis, these guys would not speak to each
other. They'd stab each other in the back, you know, not literally
speaking, but with words and deeds and so forth. But when
it comes to Christ, they hate him so much that they bury the
hatchet among themselves and are all on board doing the same
thing, trying to make this guy just flub up really bad so that
people would not follow him. Verse 34, but when the Pharisees
had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
gathered together. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, that is actually a scribe. There's only one time in our
Bibles that the word lawyer means what it does today. Of course,
I wouldn't say how much distance there is between one kind of
lawyer here than another, because they stink today too. But the
scribe is a person who is supposed to know the Old Testament Scriptures
inside and out. So one of the scribes asked him
a question, tempting him and saying, Master, which is the
great commandment in the law? What's the greatest command of
the Ten Commandments? And our Lord said unto him, You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great
commandment, and the second is like unto it. You shall love
your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets." While the Pharisees were gathered
together, The Lord Jesus now puts a question to them, and
he shows them to be the dummies, the unbelieving. The answer to
this question is plainly in view in our Bibles. You can't read
Psalm 110 without running smack dab into it. So the Lord frames
this question for them. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think you of Christ? not
specifically pointing to himself at this point. He's talking about
the Messiah that all these Jews believed was coming. So what
do you think of the Christ, the Messiah? They said unto Him, oh, I meant
to add the phrase, what think you of Christ? Whose son is he? Whose son is this Christ or this
Messiah? They say unto him without hesitation,
the son of David, the son of David. Well now, if that's all
Christ is, he's just a man. And that ain't all who Christ
is. He's the God-man. These guys just Just one little
question, and they're knocked out of the race. He said unto
them, How then does David in spirit call the Messiah Lord,
saying the Lord said, Unto my Lord, sit you on my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool. If David then call
him Lord, how can he be David's son?" They know nothing about the Immaculate
Conception. They know nothing that Christ
is born from the seed of a woman and therefore is born a human
being without sin. If Adam were his father, if he
was descended from a fallen Adam, he would be born with a sinful
nature just like ours. But he is born of a woman without
the aid of a man. And by the way, anybody that
doesn't believe in the virgin birth of Christ is as lost as
a goose. And you're supposed to add in
a snowstorm. If David then called him Lord,
how is he David's son? And no one was able to answer
him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask him
any more All right, we've got two verses
as our text this morning. The first one is in verse 29,
Matthew 22, 29, same chapter we've just been reading from. Jesus answered and said unto
them, to the Sadducees, you do err not knowing the scriptures,
nor the power of God." And the other part of our text comes
from the book of Acts, chapter 20 and verse 24. 24. Paul is meeting with and visiting with
the elders from the church at Ephesus, which he and others
founded in their missionary journeys as recorded earlier in the book
of Acts. And he is the author, Paul is the author of the letter
to the Ephesians, which is one of the wonderful letters in the
New Testament written by himself. So he's come to visit these men
who are How many, I don't know. They're just called elders in
the plural. And this is the last time that Paul will ever see
these people. He's on his way to Rome. And
he's not going to ever come back from Rome. He's going to be put
to death by the emperor. So he says in verse 24, but none
of these things move me. Referring to the earlier statements
in the verses just preceding this one, that the Holy Spirit
has warned Paul on several occasions that if he goes to Jerusalem,
they're waiting for him. And he doesn't care. 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. Now, what's this statement? To testify the gospel of the
grace of God. That's what the gospel is first
and foremost. The gospel of the grace of God. And grace can be found no place
else except in the precious gospel of Christ. So let's take these things then
that we have read about, talked about just a little bit, and
see if we can learn some things that will be helpful to us in
regard to our pilgrimage in this world. First of all, salvation
by grace is salvation by God. It is salvation by God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each of the members of the Trinity
are in essence just one But they are each performing certain things
in regard to this matter of the precious gospel of Christ. Now,
in that reading, when we were in Matthew 22, and I marked mine
so I can flip back, this 29th verse that I read to you a couple of times, if not three
already, You do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power
of God. That means that the Lord Jesus
is charging them and thereby charging us with being ignorant
of the word of God, not knowing the scriptures. And the second
ignorance is ignorance of who God is because they're ignorant
of the power of God. If we think there's anything
that God cannot do, we do not know what we're talking about.
We've missed something somewhere. And the third ignorance, which
is seen in both of these others, is an ignorance of what salvation
really is. Let me give you just one case
in point out of the book of Romans, chapter 1 and verse 16. You need not turn unless you
want to. Let me go ahead and read it. For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. These are Paul's words as well.
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. To the Jew first,
and also to the Greek. The gospel is the power of God. Now, you understand that a man
can preach the gospel to an audience of a thousand,
and nothing happens. Or to an audience of whatever
there is here this morning, and nothing happens. If God doesn't
visit that place, and that word that is preached, and the hearts
of the souls that are there, then nothing happens. But if
God intervenes in the person of his blessed Holy Spirit and
anoints that preacher and sends that arrow straight to where
it has to go, to the human soul, then it is altogether different. Here are five different ways
that this gospel of the grace of God is described in our Bibles. One of them is simply the gospel
of God. The second one is the gospel
of God's glory. The third one is the gospel concerning
God's Son. And the fourth one is the gospel
of Christ. And the fifth one is the gospel
of the grace of God that we read in Acts 20 and verse 24. Now, do you still have the book of
Acts open or not? Chapter 20? Let me read that
verse to us one more time. Book of Acts chapter 20 verse
24, 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. And Paul did not mind before
whom it was that he was to testify of that gospel, whether it was
the Roman army officer or one of the kings that the Romans
had appointed in the land of Palestine during the time that
our Lord was here and shortly thereafter. So let's get down
to some business now on what we're looking at this morning.
What is the meaning of this statement, the gospel of the grace of God?
It means, first of all, that the gospel is the plan and purpose
of God. It's God's purpose and it's God's
plan. And His plans are not like ours. You know, the best laid plans
of mice and men still go awry. That ain't true of Him. It's
true of us. If you want to turn with me,
I'm going to read you a statement out of Revelation, chapter 13 and verse 8, and then
another one in chapter 14. Revelation 13 and verse 8. Now, I'll just have to sum up
and tell you what has taken place in the first eight verses this
13th chapter of the Revelation, this beast which is the devil,
and you will see it as I read this verse, you will see it very
clearly I hope. But the preceding statements
about this beast, and in verse 8 it reads, and all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. Him as who? The devil. False religion. Who are these people that worship
the devil? Here's one of the plainest answers
you'll ever find. Whose names? You mean our actual
names. I do mean your actual name. Whose
names are? Now don't leave out this word.
N-O-T. Not. whose names are not written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, what if they are written
there? You can't be deceived. You can't ever be lost again. You see right through the devil
and his angels and all the falseness that goes with it, all the outward all kinds, you know, make everything
look like it's wonderful and it ain't a thing in the world,
but put on. All that dwell upon the earth
shall worship Him whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now
look at chapter 14 and verse 6. And I saw another angel. fly
in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel. Now that's a gospel that lasts
a long time, the everlasting gospel. To preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. Preach it to everybody. Preach
it to anybody. Preach it everywhere. Preach
it all the time. This is the everlasting gospel. It's just as much the gospel
of the grace of God today as when Paul penned those words
in Acts 20. Not only is it the gospel of
the grace of God in its planning and in its purpose, but it is
also that same gospel in its execution. In Genesis 3, verse
15, the scripture says that the seed of the woman shall bruise
the head of the serpent. So that Christ is anointed of
God to put the devil out of business, to conquer him, to rule over
him, to make him no less than God's devil. He only does what
God lets him do. Now that ain't much devil, is
it, if he has to take his orders from above? That's what it says. That's as plain as plain can
be. Boy, the first time I heard somebody
say that, that the devil is Christ's devil, man, I just did a double
take. But I found out it was true.
I was the one that was blind. This seed of the woman is seen
in all the Old Testament types and pictures and shadows of Christ. He's seen in the New Testament
in the incarnation. He's seen at his birth in this
virgin birth. He's seen in his life, in his
death, in his resurrection, and in his ascension. Thirdly, this
gospel that is of the grace of God, has to be applied in order
for it to be effective. So I want you to turn to a scripture
or two. Let's see, let's start in Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1 verse 6, verse
6. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. God promises, if He has begun
a work in our souls, that He will not abandon it, and He will
keep on if necessary until Christ comes back in His second coming. I think that means that if God
starts something, He always finishes it. He's not like ourselves. We find the job too difficult.
We find we don't have what we need to accomplish it or whatever.
You can ride through the countryside and see houses that people have
the walls up in. Nothing else was ever done. Still
sitting there, falling down, rotting down. He who has begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Alright, my second scripture
is in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter 1.5. The people that he's been describing
in the previous verses, and in verse 4 he says that they have
an incorruptible inheritance, an undefiled and that fades not
away Reserved in heaven for you. And here it is, verse 5. Who
are kept by the power of God. Now don't leave this out. Through faith. And that faith
is all in Christ. It's not in Him and in us. It's
all in Him. who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed when in
the last time. You can go look at a lot of things
at one stage and see them later in another, and they are far
different from what you saw in the first place. You can see
a garden just beginning, and you can hardly see the plants
coming up out of the ground. You come back a couple of months
later, and my, it has totally changed. Changed. So this gospel that is of the
grace of God gives us a reservation in eternal glory. And it cannot
be broken. Every believer will be there.
If that is not the case, then Christ will have to go back into
our Bibles and change some statements that he made. Like he said in
John 6, I think about verse 37, all that the Father gives me
shall come to me. And in John chapter 10, he said,
all of my sheep, you know, I won't lose a single one. Now those
words are not just Not true. They're totally misleading if
they aren't true. But glory to His name, they are
true. One more. Now Jude's not very
big. It's just one chapter long. But
it is immediately in front of the book we call the Revelation. Jude verse 24. Now, if these other statements aren't
enough, you just put this one down right beside the others. Now, unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling, and who might that be? God in Christ. 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. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both
now and ever. Amen." God is not in a bind. Everything he wishes to do, he
does. He never backs up. He never changes
his mind. We are the ones that are fickle,
not him. Goodness! Not only is it this gospel of
the grace of God, sustaining power to keep that gospel alive,
but as we've just read, and in many places in our Bible, it
talks about ultimate perfection. Unto Him that is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory with exceeding joy. Exceeding joy. Now I've got,
oh goodness, time is running out. I'm going to turn back to
1 Corinthians. We've not been there this morning.
I'm going to turn to 1 Corinthians just to read you three verses
of Scripture because I think it's pertinent to what we're
looking at this morning. Many people have written about
this question and have tried to answer it, and I don't know
where I got these things from. I would think a good deal of
it came from Henry Mahan, and I don't know who all else. So
maybe Spurgeon or somebody, I don't know, but you read behind these
people all the time. How do we know that our gospel
is truly the gospel of the grace of God? How do we know this? There are certain identifying
marks that if my gospel doesn't meet these criteria, then I have
the wrong one. The reading is 1 Corinthians
1, verses 29, 30, and 31. I don't have time to go back and
tell you what was right before this statement, but this will
do. Verse 29, 1 Corinthians 1, that no flesh should glory in
God's presence. No flesh, not mine, not yours,
not anybody else's. But of him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption? That according as it is written,
he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. Give him all the
glory. This gospel surely does that.
Oh my goodness, it does that. Secondly, it fits the biblical
description. I was going to walk you through,
I still will, I'll walk you through, I'll summarize the others, but
this one I've got to show you. I promise to take you on a little
walk through Matthew. So if you'll, let's say we're
going to start in, I can't read my own writing, chapter 1. We're
not going to cover all the chapters in there, but I want you to see
this. Matthew chapter 1. Now, when Joseph was engaged
to Mary, And he began to get some information
that Mary was going to have a child that was not going to be his.
He's trying to figure out a way how to break off their engagement
without making it public so everybody
would know about it, try to protect Mary. Well, the angel appears
to Joseph before he's ever conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb
of Mary. And here in verse 21 is what
that angel said to Joseph. To allay his fears and to let
him know there's more here than just the conception of a child
or the birth of a son. Oh, this is far more than that. What a son indeed. Verse 21. And she shall bring
forth a son, and talking to Joseph now, and you shall call his name
Jesus. Why? Because he'll save his people
from their sins. Now this was before the Lord
Jesus was ever conceived. God purposed and planned this. before the beginning of time.
It is ingenious that if we fall in a representative in the Garden
of Eden by the name of Adam, we can be raised from the dead
by another representative if his human nature does not come
from Adam, but rather from the Holy Spirit. So we are found
guilty in a substitute And we're raised from death to life in
another substitute. You can't operate on two different
systems. If God finds us guilty by substitution,
He must save us on the basis of substitution. It's that simple
as it can be, and yet it is terribly profound. The second scripture
in Matthew is chapter 8, verses 2 and 3. And behold, there came a leper,
and worshipped the Lord Jesus, saying, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean." Now some people think that was out of
place, to even think that Christ is not willing. But the Lord
Jesus didn't seem to be upset. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him and said, I will be clean. And that's what happens in our
soul in conversion, in the new birth. The next reference is chapter
9 and verse 9. I'm trying to show you that the
Lord Jesus is never in a bind. He's never perplexed. He's never
at a loss to know what to do next. These things just are not
there for Him. He's God. Verse 9, the Lord Jesus is just
going down the road As Jesus passed forth from there, he saw
a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. That makes
him a Jewish tax collector, and the Jews really loved these guys.
They'd like to kill every one of them. And our Lord said to Matthew,
follow me, and he arose. and followed him. Now the man
was getting filthy rich, and he just lays it all down. And there's no debate, there's
no begging, there's no cajoling. It's just, Matthew, follow me. And as it is said many times,
with the command comes the enabling power to carry out the command.
And though Matthew won't tell you this, the very next statements
about this feast in somebody's house, that's his house. But
he's too modest to tell you. But if you'll read Mark and Luke,
you'll find it plainly revealed. All right, one or two more here,
let's see. Chapter 9, verse 13. We're right down the page there. Let's do 12 and 13. When the
Jews heard that the Lord Jesus had gone to eat with publicans
and sinners, oh, they get incensed. They say, what on earth is wrong
with Him? You can't do this. Because they think they're not
sinners. And there's a whole lot of people that are just like
them today. They're very religious. They're Baptist and everything
else under the sun. And they think they're not sinners. They're good people. Well, good
people don't go to heaven, ladies and gentlemen, only bad people,
only sinners. But when Jesus heard what the
Pharisees were saying to his disciples, he said to them, they
that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go
and learn what that means, that those that behold don't need
a doctor, but those that are sick. I will have mercy and not
sacrifice. I am not come to call the righteous."
What? I'm not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. That's who he's come to call.
And if sinner ain't my name, he ain't never called me yet. Well, that's enough. We've gone
over time. Now, you need your bulletin for
the last song.