Neither the prophets nor the
apostles had anything good or positive to say about their generation. A great portion of their prophecies
and epistles was spent denouncing the false prophets and false
religion of their day. These men, if they were preaching
today, would be labeled negative preachers. But they were God's
preachers, and what they preached and prophesied was the truth. Now, Nehemiah one time said,
We can't build a wall. There's too much rubbish here. We've got to remove the rubbish
before we can lay the foundation and build a wall. The foundation is Jesus Christ
and him crucified, and faith built on Christ is what the preacher
endeavors to build. Christ crucified is the message,
and the method is a preacher with a Bible and people sitting
quietly listening to the word being preached. That is the method,
that is God's appointed means of worship and His method of
saving sinners. All else is rubbish. Anything
added to the simplicity of Christ crucified, the simplicity of
that message, or anything added to the simplicity of the means,
of the method of preaching, is wood, hay, and stubble. There is a great need for a recovery
of the gospel and simply the preaching of that gospel. Let
me read from Galatians chapter 1 to you in which the Apostle
Paul was warning the people at the church of Galatia. He was
warning them of another gospel which he said in verse 7 is not
another. I read Galatians 1 verse 7. He said, There is another gospel
out there, but it is not another, and there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. He goes on to say,
Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received or heard, let him be accursed. And Paul goes
on to write, do I now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." It is
not after man. Now, the gospel today is not
the gospel, and the methods being used today are not gospel or
biblical methods. There is a great need for a return
to the gospel. the gospel which Paul and the
apostles preached, which, yes, the prophets preached, the gospel
of the sovereign God and his sovereign mercy and grace and
glory in Christ. Today's preaching and modern
worship services emphasize entertainment, emotionalism, singing, drama,
They seem to be nothing more than a religious pep rally. But
the gospel and the true means and method of preaching and worship
is praying, preaching, and reading God's Word, nothing more, nothing
less, and the singing of hymns. Today's preaching and modern
worship services seem to emphasize or dwell on agreement to facts,
a mental agreement to the facts, while the gospel speaks of a
revelation of a person, a sovereign revelation of the person of Christ
to the heart of individuals, a vital union, a confrontation
with a person. Paul said, he was saved when
God revealed his Son in him. That's Galatians 1 verse 16. Today's gospel seems to only
change men's ways, a reformation. But the true gospel brings regeneration,
a new heart, a new life. Not a change of the life, but
a new life. You see, the gospel says man
is dead and Christ gives life. I once heard a survey taken after
a modern popular evangelist held a meeting. There were thousands
of people there, and hundreds upon hundreds went down front
and made their decision, so-called, for Jesus. And afterward, they
did a survey of all of those hundreds and hundreds of people,
and less than three percent of them were still attending a church
just some thirty days afterward. Now, is this the gospel? Is that
salvation? Is that the power of God? No,
that's man's gospel and man's methods. Soul winning method. You see, today's preaching and
another gospel makes heaven the primary concern, enticing people
with rewards in heaven. But the gospel creates in the
heart a desire and a love for the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. David said in Psalm 73, 25, ìWhom
have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth I desire
beside thee.î When God Almighty works in the heart of a human
being, he creates a love for God, a love for Christ, and a
desire to be with him. Today's gospel calls for a decision
by man. The gospel calls on mercy from
God. Today's gospel calls on man to
do something for God. The prophets of old and the apostles
cried out to God to do something for man. Today's gospel calls
on men to stand up and be counted. The gospel commands men to bow
down and worship, be a nothing. Today's gospel tells us to jump,
shout, cry out aloud, be heard. The gospel, and I quote scripture,
calls on us to be still and know that I am God. Be truth, God's
word, the gospel tells us the Lord is in His holy temple, that
all the earth keeps silence. The gospel, the truth, God's
word tells us, Be not hasty to utter anything before God, for
God is in heaven, and thou art on the earth. Therefore let thy
words be few. The gospel, or another gospel
today, talks about an offer by God and an effort on the part
of God to save man. The gospel, the truth, talks
about an absolute purpose, a covenant, and a completely successful sacrifice
and salvation made by a sovereign Savior. Today's religion is devoid
of the gospel. There is a great need for a return
to the gospel, a recovery of that gospel. There is a need
for preachers to preach it. preachers to preach and glorify
and exalt God in His holy and sovereign character, to glorify
God whether anyone believes or not, to lift up high a lofty
Lord, a successful, sovereign Christ seated on a throne, reigning
and ruling among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of
the earth." The message of the gospel breaks down the pride
of man and brings him down into the dust. The results of the
gospel are always the same. There is in the heart and mind
of those who hear the gospel a sense of the awful, yes awful,
and these are scriptural terms, awful, dreadful, terrible person
of God. Have you ever heard such language?
This is Bible language. The fear of the Lord is what
the gospel brings about, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, yes, saving wisdom. When the gospel is preached,
gone is the proud, God-patronizing sinner. Gone is the sinner who
makes deals with and tries to bargain with God, but rather
a sinner who hits the dust. There is a great need for preachers
who declare a high and lofty God, a dead sinner, and a Christ
who saves, who tells men to hit the dust and cry out for mercy. When the gospel is declared,
like in Scripture, instead of begging men and women and trying
to find someone to join our church, someone to be members of our
organization, No, men will be begging the preacher like they
did in Acts chapter 2. What shall we do? Preachers of
old were not beggars, but declarers of the truth, and the people
became begging for answers. Today's gospel is phony. There
is no God in it, and there is no fear. What is the gospel? Let me briefly
tell you. is something God does for the
sinner. It's not what man must do for
God or with something God offers. No, the gospel is what God does
for the sinner. Jonah 2, verse 9. Go and read this and learn what
it means. This is the essence of salvation,
the essence of the message of the gospel, which Jonah cried
from the pit, from the belly of the whale when he said, in
his absolutely lost, helpless, hopeless condition. No decision
was required on his part. He could do nothing but call
on God for mercy, for salvation, and he declared in Jonah 2, verse
9, salvation is of the Lord. God had to save Jonah, and God
has to do the same for all of us. dead sinners in the depth
of sin. Salvation is of the Lord, of
the Lord in its purpose, in its planning. God purposed and planned
salvation. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. When it pleases God is when someone
will be saved, not when they are pleased to get saved, so
to speak. Salvations of the Lord in its
sustaining power. We do not keep ourselves, but
we are kept, Peter said, by the power of God. God's people are
made willing in the day of His power, not in their day of their
decision or their will. Salvations of the Lord in its
ultimate perfection. When Christ said, I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And whoever God
saves, they are saved forever. Salvation is something God does
on purpose. It's not an accident. It's on
purpose. God saves whom He will, whom
He chooses, on purpose. Salvation is in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in law, not in baptism, not
in works, not in will. but it is in the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in his righteousness imputed
to the sinner by God. It is in his sacrifice and blood
which was shed for the remission of their sin. It is Christ's
prayers, not my prayers, not Mama's prayers. It is Christ's
life now. It is not my good life that I
live. Salvation is the sovereign, invincible
work of God the Holy Spirit. granting repentance, faith, a
new heart, and life. Salvation is not a pastime either. It is a lifetime work, following
of a person. It is making a disciple out of
a human being, a follower of Christ. Anyone who quits later
on, who does not follow Christ the remainder of their days,
God did not save that person. For he that hath begun a good
work will perform it. Salvation is of the Lord. This
is the gospel. Any other, any addition, any
subtraction from this is not the gospel. And the means of
this gospel is what I'm doing right this moment, preaching. May God reveal this to you is
my prayer. Amen. Thank you.