Neither the prophets, the apostles
or prophets, had anything good to say about
their generation. When the prophets stood up to
preach, they didn't have anything positive to say about their day. If you read the prophets, all
of them without exception, spend a great deal of time denouncing
false prophets and false religion. The apostles were the same way.
You read their messages. Stephen's whole message was nothing
but a denunciation of his day and religion. And these prophets
and apostles would be labeled today, their preaching would
be labeled negative, negative preaching. I hear this a lot,
we shouldn't be negative. Nehemiah said this, Nehemiah,
and this is a very good Easter message. Nehemiah said, we can't build
a wall, there's too much rubbish. Too much rubbish. Now Christ
crucified is the message. That's it. This is not a podium
forum for social issues, for philanthropic purposes. This is a place to preach the
gospel, and Christ crucified is the message. Paul said, Woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And the way that we do this,
what we do when we meet here, is one thing. It was several
things, but they are one thing. We come here to worship God. That's what our Lord said, the
Father seeketh such to worship him in spirit and in truth. And
what we do, the way that we do it, now Christ crucified the
message. And the method is a preacher
standing up. Now this is biblical. Ezra was
described stood up behind the pulpit of wood. As did the other. Priest and read from God's Word
and expounded it. Preach from the Word of God and
the people would sit quietly like you're doing now. They were
sitting and they were listening to the Word of God. That's the only God appointed
way. That's it. Nothing else. Anything else is rubbish. Anything, any message other than
Christ crucified is rubbish. It's good for nothing. Any method of religion, any method
of worship, any props, whatever it may be, crosses, candles,
and so forth, is wood, hay, and stubble. And what we're doing in preaching
is endeavoring to point people to Christ, to build men on this
most holy faith. And you can't build a wall if
there's too much rubbish. So this is what we do. Now look
at—and there's a great need The great need in our day, and my
pastor preached a message very similar to this years ago, one
of those landmark messages entitled, Recovering the Gospel. And that's,
for lack of a better title, that's the title of this message. There's
a great need for a recovery of the gospel. and simply the preaching
of the gospel. Nothing else. Nothing else. In Galatians 1, Paul, the first
thing he says is there's another gospel out there. All right? Another gospel. And
he warns them as a faithful shepherd would of wolves. He said that
to the Ephesians. Right before he left, he said,
I know as soon as I'm gone, grievous wolves are going to enter in.
And so he warned them, as did Peter and others. But he said
here in Galatians 1, now verse 6, he said, there's another gospel
out there. But verse 7, it's not another.
It's not the gospel. There's a gospel. There's a lot
being called the gospel, but it's not the gospel. And those
who preach it are troubled, troublers, and they pervert the gospel of
Christ. In another place, he said, there's
another Jesus, another Jesus. And now, this holds true now
more than ever, that the gospel, or what is called the gospel
today, is not the gospel. The songs I hear, whenever someone
says, would you like to hear a gospel song? I think, oh, no,
I don't. Because I know, I immediately
know it's going to be, oh, something about, you know, mama or them
praying or something ridiculous. It's not going to be Christ only. The songs being sung, the preaching,
the method You know, methods reveal what's being preached. If you have the power of God. If you've experienced the power
of God, which is the gospel, Romans 1 16. If you've experienced that power
yourself and you've seen it operate on the sons of men, you've seen
it bring forth dead sinners to life. If you've seen that. then
that's what you'll do. That's what you'll preach. That's
what you'll use. And so the methods that men use
tell me that the gospel is not being preached. Well, there's
a great need for a return to the gospel and simply the preaching
of the gospel. Nothing else. Today's preaching
emphasizes entertainment. That reveals the carnality of
it, or the fleshliness of it. Flesh needs to be entertained.
Flesh needs to be pumped up. Flesh needs to be cajoled. Flesh
needs to be constrained. Flesh needs to feel good. Flesh
needs good feelings. The mind, the spirit, the soul
needs to be fed with the Word of God. The soul is content with
but one thing, while the flesh needs these things. Preaching
today is entertainment, and right now, this very day, the world over, is the greatest
religious pageantry of the year, and drama going on. Honestly,
there are literal dramas going on right now. Men standing up
pretending to be Jesus Christ. Sad, really. I want to say these
things with consider my own self, you know, but by the grace of
God we'd be doing the same thing. You know, yesterday evening I
was taking the radio tapes over to the radio station and I passed
by that Catholic building. And here they were, there was
a big long procession of people walking into there and they were
all carrying candles, holding candles. Two or three people
out front with robes on, holding big crosses and candles, and
it's just a candlelight something. I don't know what the significance
of all that was supposed to be, but I thought, can you imagine us doing that?
Can you imagine for a moment me passing out candles this morning? But by the grace of God, we will. God is not worshiped that way.
God is worshipped this way, right here. I'm not hesitant to say
that this is the way God prescribed the worship. As someone said,
one of our wise women said, we need to order our worship services
in such a way that the Apostle Paul or Peter could walk into
them and say, no, this is the way it's supposed to be. A man standing up preaching,
singing hymns of praise, prayer, worship. That's it. Around the truth. Well, Paul said this. Now, Paul
said, now, today's gospel is mostly facts. If you believe
this, Jesus died, buried, and rose again, and repeat after
me. Well, Paul said this. Paul said
this thing of salvation is a vital reunion, a revelation of the
person, a revelation of a person in the heart. Look at verse 15. Now, when is a person saved?
Verse 15, when it pleases God. See, that does away with all
decisions and all calls for decisions and all of that. When is a person
saved? Not when they're pleased. Not when they make—when it pleases
God. And how does he do it? Well,
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
his grace. All of God's people hear the
gospel call. That's what Paul said. You were
called by the gospel to the Thessalonians. He called you by the gospel.
What gospel? Peter said, the gospel of God's
grace, the true grace of God, wherein you stand. Sovereign
grace. There's only one kind. And it
pleased God to reveal, see here, reveal His Son in me. He revealed His Son in me, in
my heart. This thing is not just an assent
to the truth, but a love for the truth. A love, an embracing
of a person of the truth. And today's gospel, you see,
makes heaven the reward. I'll never forget when I first
heard Brother Joe Terrell made this statement. He said, today's
religion is like someone trying to get you to marry an ugly bride
by offering a large dowry. That's so true. So true. Men see no beauty in Christ,
no desire for mercy, for grace, for the gospel and all that,
so they have to offer all these rewards and a carnal utopia. Today's gospel makes heaven the
primary concern or reward. When David said, the man after
God's own heart, as do all of God's people. In Psalm 73, 25,
David said, Who have I in heaven but thee? And there's none on earth I really
desire but you. Christ is there. Christ is the
desire and the reward of God's people. Today's gospel calls
for a decision. It talks about a relationship
based on God's decision. Today's gospel calls on man to
do something for God. The gospel tells us what God
has done for us. Today's gospel calls on men and
women to stand up and be counted. tells us to bow down and be a
nothing. Today's gospel says shout, stand
up, make some noise, run around. The gospel says be still and
know that I'm God. The gospel says God is in heaven,
we're upon the earth, therefore let your words be few. Be not
hasty to utter anything before God. Today's gospel is an offer by
God, an effort, an attempt by God to do something. The gospel
is based on an eternal purpose ordered by God before the world
began, which is actually accomplished when he made that purpose. The gospel talks about a covenant.
The gospel talks about a successful sacrifice. Today's religion is
devoid of the gospel. I'm making these comparisons
so that you'll see, all right? I'm laying down a straight stick
beside this quick one so that you can clearly see what's the
truth. There's a great need for a return
to the gospel and simply the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is
a need to return to the message preached by the apostles of old,
a message of a holy and sovereign and just God, a message which glorifies God and
God alone. How do we know that our gospel
is the gospel? We say it is. We make that boast
with Paul, don't we? You say, if any man preach any
other gospel than what I'm preaching right now, I say that without
hesitation. And it's the gospel you have
received. It's the gospel you believe. Paul said, it's my gospel,
and he said, it's our gospel. This is the gospel you believe.
This is the gospel you receive. This is the gospel I heard. It's
the gospel my pastor preaches. This is the gospel all my friends
preach. This is the gospel. There is no other. And if anybody
preach any other, any variance from it at all, I say with Paul,
they're going to go to hell. Now, how can we say that? How do we know our gospel is
the gospel? How do we know? How can we be
so sure? What makes this gospel? How can
you say that? I'll give you a couple of reasons.
Number one, our gospel, the gospel, gives God Almighty all the glory. I mean A-double-L, all the glory,
not part of it. He said, I will not share my
glory with another. creature is not going to have
part of the glory for his creation. He had nothing to do with it.
Neither is the regenerated by the regenerator. The Savior alone
gets all the glory, the one who purposed it, the one who planned
it. Our gospel gives God all the
glory, I mean all the glory in its purpose, in its application,
final revelation. It gives to God all the glory,
none whatsoever to anything or anyone other than God. Secondly,
I know this gospel is the gospel because it says that all of salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of it, A-double-L all of
it, I mean all of it, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His righteousness,
His blood, His prayers, His intercession, everything, it's all in Him.
Salvation is of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we know our gospel? And this is how you test every
other message that's called gospel. Try these preachers. Try the
message. Who's getting the glory? The
things the man says, the things that come out of his mouth, is he speaking of himself? He that
speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, Christ said. But he
that speaketh of his glory that sent him is saying the truth.
And that's how you know the doctrine, whether it be of God. John 7,
verse 7. And does it point you to Christ,
or does it point you to self? Does it have you looking within?
Does it point you to faith, your firm faith? Does it point you
to consecration, dedication, and living the good life? Does
it point you to that, or does it point you to the good life
that was lived? Our gospel glorifies God. Our
gospel lifts up God high. You can't... This is one thing
gospel preachers never worry about, giving God too much glory,
making God too soft. I had a man actually tell me
that one time after hearing a message. It was down in Texas. He came
up and he said, you just read too much of Christ into that. I thought, wow. I said, thank
you. Thank you. Our gospel lifts up
high, God. You that make mention of the
Lord, make mention His name is exalted. And it breaks down proud
man. You see, this is the characteristic
of our day. That's the first thing, isn't
it, the first thing that Paul said in 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy
3, when he said, In the last days, perilous times shall come,
men shall be what? First things. Proud. Proud. Boasters. As if to emphasize
it. Boasters. And nowhere does that pride seem
more than in a religion. You know what the results of
the gospel, the gospel, and we'll preach it just a minute, and
we'll preach the gospel. And like I said, I want to tell
you what it's not, and what it is, and then declare it to you. The results of the gospel, every
time, in the power of God's Holy Spirit, the results of the gospel
now, always, everywhere, brings about this end. It brings about
a sense in the person who hears it, in the person whom God operates
on, it brings about in them a sense of the awful, dreadful, terrible
person of God, the fear of the Lord. This is always the first thing
that God creates in the hearts of the sons of men by the gospel. Now, today's gospel won't do
that. There's no fear in love. Right? But now of a holy and a just
and a sovereign God who will by no means clear the guilty,
who's angry with the wicked every day, who hates all workers of
iniquity. The soul that's sinner must surely die, and the sinner
climbs out by that God that he is a sinner in the hands of an
angry God, John Edwards preached. It creates fear of the Lord and
brings them down. Gone will be proud, patronizing
sinners, making bargains and boasts with God. Well, if you'll
do this, I'll do that. I said to the Lord, you know,
the Lord said to me, and I said to the Lord, and I said to the
Lord, well, if you'll do it, and the Lord said to me. Gone
will be bargaining with God. It will be like the Apostle Paul
when he said, When he was knocked down into the dust on his face,
it will be, what will you have me to do? There's a great need for preachers
to declare that high and holy God, and sinners as they are,
to tell men to hit the dust and cry out for mercy. Not tell men
how much God needs them, but tell them they're a danger. And instead of begging men and
women to join the church, men and women were begging them. Like they did at Pentecost. Men
and brethren. They were the ones, Brother Dan,
who cried out. Right? They were the ones who
did the begging. Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Preach the gospel and people will start calling on
God. And today's gospel is not the
gospel. All right, what is it? What is the gospel? Paul said,
Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. All right, I told
you enough what it is in my mind. And I did tell you what it is. What is the gospel? Well, the
gospel is something God does for the sinner. The gospel starts
right there in Jonah chapter 2, verse 9. Jonah chapter 2 verse
9 is the watchword of all gospel preachers, all believers for
that matter. Salvation is of the Lord. The gospel starts with
God and His purpose. That's what
Paul said in Romans 1. He said, I declare unto you the
gospel, the gospel of God. He said, I'm separated unto the
gospel of God. It's God's gospel. God's the one who purposed this.
Salvation's of the Lord in its purpose. In its purpose. God purposed this whole thing
before the world began. Why? To the praise of the glory
of His grace. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. To the praise of the glory of His grace, His sovereign
grace. God purposed this whole thing
before the world began. He purposed it. He thought it.
All right? Salvations of the Lord. Psalm 65, verse 4, Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest. Election is not salvation, but
nobody's saved if it's not elected. It's unto salvation. Yes, God
chose a people before the world began. The point is, He had chosen
us in Christ before the world began. That's when salvation
started. In the mind, in the heart, in
the purpose of God Almighty, He purposed to save a people
to His glory, to the glory of His Son. And they're as good
as saved when He said that. But now man is a creature of
time. Man is made under the law, made
of woman, made under the law. So God Himself had to do the
same. take upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh, to redeem them
that were under this curse of the law. Christ had to be made
manifest. Salvations of the Lord Jesus
Christ, salvations of the Lord God in His purpose, in His electing
or predestinating purpose, salvations of the Lord Jesus Christ in His
application. Christ came down to this earth
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem these law-bound,
sin-bound, Satan-bound creatures of time, who had sinned and come
far short of the glory of God. And Christ, who knew no sin,
was made sin for them, that they might be made in the righteousness
of God in Him. To redeem them from the curse
of the law, how? By being made a curse for them.
To redeem them from the penalty of the law, how? by suffering
the penalty of the law, by bearing the law's punishment, shedding
of blood, dying, sin must surely die. Christ made his soul an
offering for sin. In the application of it, salvations
of the Lord, in the application of it, and the Holy Spirit in
time comes to every one of these persons whom Christ died for,
whom God elected, whom Christ died for, the Holy Spirit, salvations
of the triune God. The Holy Spirit comes and applies
this gospel and convicts them of sin, righteousness, their
need for one, and judgment, and gives them repentance toward
God in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And a love, a heart to
love the gospel. Not just a mind to receive it,
but a heart to love it. Salvations of the Lord in its
purpose, in its application. Salvations of the Lord in its
sustaining power. If anybody goes to heaven, if
anybody is finally saved someday, it will be of the Lord. Peter
said, we're kept by the power of God, kept by the power of
God, made willing. Salvation is of the Lord in its
ultimate perfection. He said, I give unto them eternal
life, and they'll never have it, never. Salvation is something
God does on purpose. You hear this all the time. not the essence of the gospel,
what they call the gospel, which is not the gospel. It's another
gospel. You hear this all the time. God loves you. Christ died
for you. Now there's that. Now it's up
to you. Now you've got to will. Now you've
got to decide. Now you've got to Let go and
let God. Now you've got to let him in.
He doesn't have a handle out there on the door. Now you've
got to open your heart's door. Now you've got to make him Lord.
He's not Lord yet over your life. You've got to make him Lord.
You put the crown on his head. Now you, by your faith, make
his blood effectual. He shed his blood. It's out there.
Don't run on it. Make it effectual by your faith.
That's not the gospel. That's blasphemy. I say this, now everybody, everybody
deserves a chance. Don't you make Him Lord. Now, salvation, everybody's got
a chance. Now, you've got a chance. Accept
or reject, it's up to you. Here's Jesus on the auction block. Will you have Him or not? Salvation is not by chance. Salvation
is not an offer. Those are not Bible words. Salvation
is not an offer. Salvation is a bestowal of God's
grace. Salvation is on purpose. You've
heard me tell that story of Barnard coming into that town in Kentucky
50 years ago and making that young Armenian preacher stand
up and quote Romans 8, 28. He didn't quote it all. We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
and so it ends. Barnard said, You didn't quote
it all. Stand up and quote it all. That young Armenian preacher
stood up and said that, For we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, who are called according to his
purpose. And as soon as he said that, Barnard screamed at the
top of his lungs, God does all things on purpose. If you learn something about
that, you'll learn something about the God of the Bible. If
you learn something about purpose, you'll learn something about
the gospel, about salvation. It ain't by accident. It ain't
by chance. Nobody deserves a chance. We
lost that merit in Adam. They deserve hell. The wages
of sin is death. That's what we've all got. But
the gift, the sovereign grace and purpose of God is that some
of them might be saved. Purpose. God does all things
on purpose. Salvation is not a chance. Salvation
is not by accident. It's on purpose. Somebody's out there in the lake
drowning. And you swim out and get them
and lay hold on them. And they're fighting you. That's
what drowning people do, don't they? They fight you. If they
don't quit fighting, they'll go down. But you lay hold on
them, literally have to choke them and drag them to shore. And if they've taken on enough
water, you have to give them resuscitation and bring them
back to life. Now, was that an accident? Did
that person make their choice? Did that person swim, take the
first stroke, and you met them halfway? Come on now. Salvation
is on purpose. And you, he said in Ephesians
2, who were dead and trespasses in, have he quickened on purpose
to the praise of the glory of his grace. Salvation, the gospel,
is this. The gospel is this. God says,
I will and you shall. This phony gospel says, if you
will, God shall. The gospel says, God says, I
will and you shall. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. All that the Father giveth me
shall come unto me. My sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me." Our Lord exhibited that everywhere he went. When
he had a sheep, he said to his son, You're not my sheep. I'm
not talking to you. But he said, My sheep hear my
voice. I know them. I'm looking for them. That's
why I'm here. And he walked along, and there'd be one up a tree.
And he said, Come down. What would happen? Are you ready? The Lord purposed it long before
he got there in Samaria. He said, have that woman who's
sitting there waiting on me, have that woman come to the well
at night, that particular woman that I chose as sheep of mine.
Here's a man riding in a chariot out in the middle of the desert,
just in a chariot by himself, out in the middle of the desert,
coming back from Jerusalem. Out in the middle of nowhere,
and all of a sudden here comes a preacher in the middle of the desert now.
I mean, a thousand square miles in the middle of the desert,
here comes this eunuch, and here comes this preacher. Not any
old preacher, not an Arminian preacher. Not a false prophet,
but a true prophet in their heart of few and far between. And here
they meet head on. Do you understand what you read?
How can I except a man show me? There's only one man around here. Salvation is on purpose. Yes,
the Lord is cast into the light. Well, I ain't going to go to
church today. It's Easter. I think I'll go to church today. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. You frail and frawlines. There's
two of them. Bob Coffey stole our other one
away. I still haven't forgiven him yet. And I had something
to do with it. I can't believe that. There were
three of them. Ellen Fralin came here for years. Oh, faithful, faithful, faithful,
faithful, faithful Ellen. That just describes her to a
T, like Joe and Virgin. Faithful Ellen, just loved the
gospel, loved the priest Ellen. She loved the gospel. It never
failed. You know, her comment nearly
every time, and I hear the same comments all the time. And sometimes,
but Ellen would make the same comment to me after nearly every
message, and I never grew tired of hearing it. Because she'd
say with a smile on her face, with a feeling in her heart,
and she really meant it. She'd say this. She'd come, she'd
say, now, that's the gospel. And I'd say, thank you. She was my
barometer. her and Joe and some of my barometers
to know if I'd preach right. Anyway, she had three frauleins,
three girls. And they'd come every Easter,
you know, and that was Easter. And Christmas. Yeah, they'd come
on Christmas, because Ellen wanted them there. They grew up here,
you know, and like many like me, they left. And like me, they'd
come on Easter to please Mama. Wearing their Easter bonnets.
No, it wasn't their bonnets. But anyway, you know, I'm just
being honest with you. And we go out to eat after we
go to the Franklin Restaurant. You know, it's either the Franklin
Restaurant ten years ago or, well, that's it. We go to the
Franklin Restaurant and here come Jill and Amy and Rebecca. I don't see you again. If the truth be known, Jill,
you don't want to see me. You're both real uncomfortable
around each other. Hey, I think we'll go to church. It's Easter.
Mama wants us to. The light is cast into the lamp,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. So I'm going to have to quit
despising Easter, aren't I? Now, salvation is on purpose. There's nothing by chance or
accident. Yeah, man plans, man purposes, but the whole disposal
is of the Lord. Salvation is the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ came to this earth
and lived 33 years, he did it for his people. And more than
a doctrine, only the Holy Spirit can make it more than doctrine.
But what Christ did, he did for me, for all of God's people. When he lived in this cesspool
for 33 years, he didn't have to. He didn't have to come here. But he did. And he did it for
his people to work out a life by a man that God demands of
me, that God demands of all of his people. But we can't do it. Christ did, can, and he did.
And he lived that perfect life. And then when he went to Calvary's
tree, there was a transferral. There was a transferral there.
All my sin, all the sins of all of God's people were then laid
on him and his righteousness, his holiness that God is so pleased
with. God accepts him. He's transferred
to his people right there on Calvary's tree. And God sees
all of his people holy, righteous, well pleased. And God saw Christ
as the no good rotten son of Adam. That's me. That's you. And God said, You deserve to
die, boy. And God slid his throat. And that's salvation, completely,
what Christ did. Anything adding to that is blasphemy. Anything adding to that brings
down the glory of God, the purpose of God, the glory of Christ,
the effectual work of Christ. And Christ right now lives to
make intercession for all those he died for, and sends the Holy
Spirit to round them up, sanctify them. Round them up now? How?
By the gospel. What gospel? Not that other one.
The gospel, everything you've heard this morning. Yes, no less,
no more. Everyone is going to hear this
gospel. The Holy Spirit sees them. want somebody to say, If you
just believe the elect per se, why don't you just preach to
them? He said, Well, if they had an E on their heads, I would.
Well, let me tell you something. The Holy Spirit sees an E. The Holy Spirit sees an E. The
Holy Spirit sees red. The Holy Spirit sees blood. The Holy Spirit is the one who
sees the blood on the doorpost and on the lintel. The Holy Spirit's
the one, and he rounds them up by the gospel. There's one for
whom Christ died. Now here's the gospel center,
and draws them. Come. And they come. Every one of them. His rope never
misses. Gotcha. He's the header and the
healer. No cutting horse people in here?
No. He rounds them up by the gospel. Salvation is of the Lord. And this is salvation, not a
pastime. It's not a one-time thing. You know, there was a,
they did a follow-up on one of Billy Graham's, one of that famous
preacher in North Carolina. One of his crusades, they did
a follow-up after it, and it was something like a thousand
people make a confession of faith. They did a follow-up afterward,
and three percent were attending a so-called church. Is that of the Lord? Eh, I don't
know. Whoever God causes to lay hold
on eternal life, they will lay hold steadfast unto the end.
They will be found, they will be yet praising God. That's where they're found. when
they hear the gospel, and that's where you'll find them thirty
years later. And that's how they'll die. It's not a pastime, you
see. Christ becomes their life. Not
a pastime, not a one-time thing. I did this, I made this decision,
and now it'll go on with my life. Oh, no, no, I'm dead. Paul said,
I'm crucified with Christ. I'm dead. Yet I live. Yet not I. to be with the Lord, but stay
here is according to God's purpose. So it's an all-time, eternal
work. All right, let's sing in closing.
Hymn number 10. Hymn number 10. written by Isaac Watts, based
on Psalm 90, a good, solid, God-honoring hymn. Let's stand as we sing
hymn number 10. Stand with me. you