This Ministry

Q: What does the Bible say about the ministry of the gospel?

The Bible emphasizes that the ministry of the gospel focuses on glorifying God through preaching Christ and Him crucified. The ministry Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:1 is fundamentally about the preaching of the gospel. He emphasizes that while various services exist within the church, the core objective of a ministry is to glorify God through the proclamation of the gospel. This ministry is not about social gatherings or community activities, but rather about exalting God and declaring the mysteries of Christ to those who have yet to understand. In this light, the true church is tasked solely with this high calling of preaching the gospel as its central mission.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

The doctrine of election is rooted in Scripture, illustrating God's sovereignty and grace throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The truth of election is supported across the entirety of Scripture, demonstrating that God, in His sovereignty, has chosen certain individuals for salvation according to His will and purpose. As stated in Ephesians 1:4, God's choice is made before the foundation of the world, highlighting His foreknowledge and love for His people. This is underscored further in Romans 8:29-30, where Paul articulates that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Thus, the doctrine of election is a significant part of the gospel ministry, showcasing God's grace and His intentional plan for salvation.

Q: Why is the concept of grace important for Christians?

Grace is vital for Christians as it is through God's unmerited favor that we find salvation and sustain our spiritual lives. Grace stands as the foundation of the Christian faith, operating as the means through which God grants salvation. Romans 6:23 reveals that while the wages of sin are death, the gift of God—through grace—is eternal life in Christ Jesus. This grace is not something we can earn, but rather a gift freely given to those who believe. Furthermore, grace empowers believers to live out their faith, providing the strength and motivation necessary to walk in obedience to God's commands. In understanding and embracing God’s grace, Christians cultivate a deeper relationship with Him, recognizing their complete dependence on His mercy and love in all aspects of life.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the nature of the New Covenant?

The New Covenant teaches that God provides a way for His people to be eternally reconciled through the sacrifice of Christ. The New Covenant, as described in Scripture, represents a transformative agreement established by God, enabling a relationship with His people based on grace rather than the law. As stated in 2 Corinthians 3:6, we are ministers of the New Testament, which is characterized by the Spirit giving life. This covenant was finalized through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who bore the punishment for our sins, fulfilling the requirements necessary for our salvation. Unlike the Old Covenant, which was based on adherence to the law and sacrifices, the New Covenant promises forgiveness and a new heart through faith in Christ, assuring believers that they are accepted and loved by God.

Q: How does understanding sovereign grace affect our view of salvation?

Understanding sovereign grace reveals that salvation is entirely the work of God, independent of human effort or merit. Sovereign grace underscores the belief that salvation is entirely dependent upon God's will and purpose, not on human actions or decisions. This doctrine emphasizes that God, in His sovereignty, has elected to save a specific people before the foundation of the world, as seen in Ephesians 1:4. This understanding profoundly shapes a believer's view of salvation, as it removes any notion of personal merit or achievement, emphasizing that grace is a gift. Additionally, this leads to an appreciation of God’s mercy, as He chooses to save those who are undeserving, highlighting His glory and faithfulness in the redemptive process. Consequently, salvation becomes a true celebration of God's grace, leading believers to a humble and thankful heart.

Second Corinthians chapter four. Second Corinthians four, let's
read the first verse together. Second Corinthians four one,
he says, the Apostle Paul says, seeing, therefore seeing we have
this ministry. This. Ministry. Now I want to talk to you a little
bit a little while this morning. About. This ministry or. The ministry Paul is talking
about here. The ministry of this church,
the ministry of this pastor, this preacher, this ministry. There are many in our day who
claim to be ministers, claim to be ministers, and they claim
to have this ministry and that ministry. They put titles upon
different services, areas of service in the church, bus ministry,
nursery ministry. Now, while there are different
ways to minister to people, Different Paul called them administrations. This, Paul said, there really
only one ministry that the church is taken up with. There's really
only one area of service that a true preacher of the gospel
and that the church is taken up with. This ministry. One ministry. There's really
only one objective in having a church is only one subject
that a preacher should take. In the preaching and that is
the preaching of the gospel. The ministry, the ministering
of the gospel. That's the subject. I want you
to look with me now over to Ephesians chapter three. The object In
this thing of preaching the object in this thing of meeting together
on a Sunday morning like this Sunday morning go to meet in
church. We've all gone to church. We said the object of this thing
of going to church assembling together like this is not to
have fellowship. Is not to have fun. Is not to
see and be seen. Is not to go through some motions
of religion and make one another feel good. But the object is
to glorify God. To glorify, to exalt, to worship,
to thank, to praise the God who brought us through this week.
That's why we've got here, met here together. That's the object. And the way that God is principally
glorified. is in the preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of the gospel. And that's the ministry that
Paul is talking about here. The ministry, he calls himself
a minister of the gospel. Look at Ephesians 3, look at
verse 3. He says, Now God made known unto
me the mystery. Now the gospel is called a mystery
because it is hidden from the natural man. the natural understanding,
it's been called a mystery that God kept hid. And it was a mystery
to Paul before God revealed it to him, too. He thought he knew
it, but he didn't. He thought he was worshiping
God, but it was the wrong one. Right? But God, he says, revealed
unto me this mystery. And so I wrote about it before,
the first couple of chapters. And whereby when you read, verse
four, You can understand my knowledge in this mystery of Christ, the
mystery of God with us. That in the other ages it was
not made known unto the sons of men, but it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by God's Holy Spirit that the
Gentiles, that us, that we should be fellow heirs of the same body,
the same group of believers, partakers of his promise in Christ,
the promises of God in Christ, by the gospel whereof I was made
a minister. Paul said, I'm a minister and
my ministry and this ministry and the one thing that I'm taken
up with and determined not to know anything among you or to
be sidetracked concerning is the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one thing needful. And Paul says, Every time I stand
up, I'm going to declare it. It's this ministry. This is the
ministry that God has given me. This is the ministry that God
has placed us in. This is the reason. This is the
purpose for the church to preach the gospel. The gospel we'll
see in a minute is seen in the glory of God in the face of Christ.
This ministry. Now look with me back at chapter
three. We've got to go into A little
background here, you see the word in verse one, therefore. Barnard used to say, whenever
you see a therefore, go see what it's there for, why it's there. It's a conjunction. That means
it's going to explain what you've been talking about before or
sum it up. Now, back in chapter three, Paul talks about this
ministry. He describes what the gospel
ministry, I summed it all up. by saying the gospel ministry.
But everybody says gospel, don't they? Doesn't everybody say they're
preaching the gospel? Every man that stands behind
a pulpit today claims to be a gospel preacher. He claims to be a minister
of the gospel. Gospel this, gospel that, gospel
the other. Paul said there's another gospel
going on in Galatians 1. He said there's another gospel
being preached, which is not another. It's a perversion of
the gospel. It's not anywhere near the gospel. Well, right
here. Paul describes, Paul explains,
Paul proclaims what the gospel ministry is really all about.
And he does it by comparison. Look at verse 6 with me, of chapter
3. Now he says, God has made us
able, and it is God that makes a man able to preach the gospel. My soul, nobody knows that any
better than I do. When God opens no man can shut
I don't care if he's unlearned ignorant with no head doesn't
know letters. That's what they said about the
apostles from which come these men such as these men such wisdom
or they've never had learning over letters that said that about
Christ. But when God opens the mouth he can proclaim The mysteries
of the universe through a unlearned man is God. He said Paul said
God made us able ministers of the New Testament. You see that we're ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter. New Testament. Not of the letter or the law
or the old covenant talking about a new covenant as opposed to
the old covenant or letter. He says of the spirit. Because
the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Now what's he talking
about here? What's he talking about? The
New Testament, this new covenant, the word covenant is all through
the We need to understand something about it. Our salvation is based
upon a covenant. Do you know that? Do you know
that our eternal, the state of our souls depend upon a covenant?
A covenant means an agreement, right? An agreement. And it's
not an agreement we make with God either. It's not a covenant,
an agreement. It's not us accepting God. It's
not us deciding to let God do something. It's not God wanting
to, and we're not letting Him. And finally, we give in and say,
OK, I agree. I express my free will. I accept
Jesus as my personal Savior. That's not the covenant He's
talking about here. He says a covenant, a testament, and in another place
he called it an eternal covenant, an everlasting covenant, an agreement
that was drawn up before the world ever began. And we weren't
around when that covenant was made. Christ and the Father were
the only ones there, and the Holy Spirit. There are three
people in on that covenant, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. And it's very simple. I don't
want to make it any more difficult than what it is. The Father agreed. The Father set his love upon
a people. God determined to save some people. All men by nature are ungodly. I don't care how moral, how religious,
how upright that somebody has lived their lives. God says all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God Almighty. That
is, all men and women, none of them, have lived for God perfectly
in thought, in word and deed. And God said it must be perfect
to be accepted. In another place, Christ said
he magnified the law. It says that Christ said, you've
heard it said of them of old time, you shall love your brother
and hate your enemy. He says, I say unto you, love
those. Pray for them that despitefully
use you. He said, if you've ever grown
angry at somebody, you're guilty of murder, and you stand under
the judgment of God Almighty. That's how exacting, how particular
this law is. Well, who then can be saved? Everybody God decides to save.
Everybody God decides to give the gift. You see, the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. So God said it, he knew in his
foreknowledge, in his wisdom, that all men are fallen, depraved,
condemned by nature. By the disobedience of one, many
were made sinners, right? Death passed upon all men for
all have sinned, dead, condemned to die. who's rich in mercy,
in an everlasting counsel and covenant, he said, I'm not going
to let them all die. I'm not going to condemn them
all. I'm going to choose some of them. Yeah, I'm going to.
You hear this word? Erect. It's only one vote every cast.
That's not that God cast a vote and the devil cast a vote against
us, and now we cast a deciding vote. That'd make our vote the
most powerful, wouldn't it? God's the only one that has voting
rights, and if God before us Who could be against this? God
cast a vote in favor of some people. I elect them according
to my foreknowledge, according to my forelove, according to
my foreordaining purpose. God said his love, his affection,
and he said they're going to be saved. Then he said to the
son, OK, son, you've got to go down there and live like a man
perfectly. Thought and word and deed, because
that's what men have to do in order for me to accept them.
If I'm going to have these men and these women into my presence,
if I'm going to dwell, if I'm going to have them in fellowship
with me, if they're going to dwell in heaven with me, these
men and women are centered. I can't have them like they are.
They've got to be perfect. I want them ship-shaped. I want
them holy like I am. I don't want anything in my presence
to defile my heaven like it did my earth. So you go down there
and you live like a man, and that life you live as a man in
perfection, I'll supernaturally, this is the mystery, I'll take
it and I'll put it on them. I'll make them. I'll make it
look like. I'll actually make them. I think
this is what Jim preached on Sunday morning. Make them to
be righteous because of what you did. But I'm going to have
to take their sin, their iniquity, their punishment that is due
them, death, judgment, condemnation, their sin, and I'm going to have
to make you that. You're going to have to go to
the cross and suffer a bloody, terrible, substitutionary death
in the place of these ungodly. Will you do it? covenant agreement. Now, if Christ said, no, I won't.
There'd been no covenant, right? He was willing. He was obedient
to the covenant, even under death. Death was a cross, even. He said,
I will. I'll do it. Gladly, I'll do it.
The Father said, good. Now, Holy Spirit, you've got
a job to do. Every one of them, they're not
going to hear this gospel. They're not going to receive
Christ. They're not going to believe the Christ I sent. As
a matter of fact, they're going to kill him. They don't want
anything to do with him. It's up to you, Holy Spirit,
to make them understand, to open their eyes, open their ears,
open their hearts. Give them faith in me, in Christ. Will you do it? It's going to
take a lifelong work. Oh boy, it's going to have to
shape them from the minute they're born to the day they die. It's
up to you. Will you do it? If the Holy Spirit
hadn't agreed to do it, there'd be no covenant, right? Holy Spirit,
I will. I will. I'll do it. That's the
covenant. And it's not of the letter. God
gave a law. There are many different forms
of the law in the Old Testament, OK? Don't get hung up on this
word law, the letter. That's what he's talking about,
the letter, the law. You have the judicial law, you have the
mosaic or the ceremonial laws, the Levitical laws of the priesthood,
sacrifices, ordinances, this and that and the other. You have
the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Now, when we talk about the letter,
the law, we're not just talking about all of it. Paul says the letter, the law,
these ceremonial laws kill. These commandments, these ordinances,
these things that God demand of us, and the moral law kills. In other words, when the commandment
comes, it says, love the Lord your God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength, or be damned. That's what the law
says. It makes no allowance for any
imperfections. Have you done that? Say no. God says guilty. Whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them that under the law let every
mouth be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Guilty as
charged, send him to hell. Oh, wait a minute. Wait, now,
wait a minute. That's what Paul said. When the
commandment came, when I saw what the law was really saying,
it killed me. You see, before Paul thought
he lived up to it, like the rich young ruler. What good thing
must I do to inherit eternal life? Christ said, you've heard it
all. Don't kill, don't steal, love God, don't commit adultery. I've done it all. All these things
I've done for my youth, what lack I yet? Christ said, you're
not in heaven. You're not in the kingdom of
heaven. You're not in the kingdom of
heaven. You're not far, but you're not in it. The kingdom of heaven
is standing in front of you. The way to get to heaven is standing
in front of you. Not by the law. And Paul thought
he fulfilled it. He's the most moral, upright,
religious man on earth. He looked the part. He acted
the part. He spoke the part. He did it
all according to the law. And he thought, God will surely
accept me. But one day, the law in its spirituality,
he said, the law is spiritual. The law just doesn't require
outward duties, inward perfection. He said, when it came, when God
magnified it before me, when God showed me the law, that just
to look on a woman is to commit adultery and be in danger of
the judgment. To get angry without a cause
is to be in danger of the judgment. Not to do it all, even those
things I don't understand, is to be guilty of the whole law.
To offend in one point, to break it all. Paul said, it just flew
at him. He said, what am I going to do? I'm sold on the sin, he said.
The law is spiritual. I'm carnal. I can't keep any
of it. I thought I did before. The letter,
the law kills slaves. What am I going to do? Who's
going to deliver me? Now, Paul, now you're getting
close to the kingdom. You need a deliverer. Based upon
that new covenant, he said, you need to look to Christ. You need
to come to Christ by faith and say, will you do all this for
me? Will you do all this for me?
I can't do it. See, Moses came down from that
mountain. You needn't notice. Moses came down from the mountain
one day. It says that the law came through
Moses. Okay, Moses came down from the
mountain from God one day and he said, here it is, boy. Thou
shalt not. Oh boy, they'd been doing it.
Every one of them. They'd dance around naked. Dance
around naked. Before an idol, before. Like
many of us have done. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. They were guilty.
They lost. And if they'd have been honest
with themselves, they'd have thrown up their arms and said, what are we going
to do? The law came through Moses. But grace came through Christ. Christ came down from a mountain
one day. It's called Mount Calvary. Not Mount Sinai, smoking fire. Judgment, wrath, condemnation. To anybody that touched it, anybody
that touched it or came near it, God kill them dead. Christ came down from the mountain
one day and said, Grace and truth. Christ came down one day and
he didn't have a book in his hand. He had scars in his hands. He said, You've heard what the
law says, haven't you? Huh? Some of you have. You had
it revealed unto you, hadn't you? I've got good news for you. Come
unto me. Oh, you've been laboring under
this law and you can't fulfill it, heavy laden under a sense
of guilt and judgment. Come unto me, he says. I'll give
you rest. You won't have to do another
blessed thing, but sit down and let me handle it. Come unto me,
grace and truth. The law is tough, isn't it? Tough,
isn't it? Yeah, it sure is. Christ said,
I'll do it for you. I'll do it for you. It's the
ministry of the new covenant. That's what we're preaching here.
New covenant theology. Am I right? That's not a big
word. It's a bit biblical. Grace as opposed to work. Works, you can't get there from
here. Little church I just preached at, it's hard to find. You go
somewhere, you can't get there from here. Works, you can't get there from
here. You can't get there by doing, by your deeds. You can't
get there by your morality. You can't be good enough. You
can't look the part enough. You can't do it. You can only
get there from here. Grace, the gift of God. gift
of God, through the sacrifice, through the blood, that bloody
sacrifice that should have been your blood. Christ taking the
place of guilty sinners and bearing the judgment and wrath of God
against their sins for themselves. It's the only way you can get
there. It's God switching places with you and Christ. Only way. Not by your morality. Not by
your goodness. Not by the deeds of the law.
By the deeds of the law, no flesh justified. Right? Justified? Know what that means? Justified? Very simply put, just as if I
had never sinned. But we have. We're guilty from
the beginning. How are we going to do that?
Are we going to clean up our lives? And God's going to accept
us? What about the past? What are
you going to do about that? Something's got to be, something's
got to atone for that, doesn't it? Don't we have to pay for
our sins that we've already committed? We can't just up and one day
say, well, I've cleaned it up. You can just get about the rest,
can't you? No, God will by no means clear the guilty, the scripture
says. What are we going to do about
our past? Christ says, come to me. I'll take care of that too. Past, present, what are we going
to do about the future? We're going to see in. We're
standing right now. We're not we're standing right
now we're not being as thankful as we ought to be not being as
attentive to the words of life. We're standing right now by thinking
about who knows what we're thinking about. Could be thinking the
most ungodly cause what we're going to do about right now.
What we're going to do about tomorrow. We've got to have the
same sacrifice, don't we? That's the reason Paul said in
one place, he said, God hath delivered us, God doth deliver
us even now, being saved, and he will yet deliver us. The blood
of Christ, Christ ever lives to make intercession for us. Life, and life more abundant. Now he says, look at verse 12,
in verse chapter 3, he says, seeing then that we have such
hope The only hope, one hope, Paul said in Ephesians 4, one
hope of your calling. It's not that you called on God.
Oh, no. He said in another place, he
said, I am sought of a people who didn't call for me. How do
you explain that? Well, I'll explain it by you
looking at one. I wasn't looking for God. But bless God, Henry,
he was looking for me. I wasn't calling on God. I was calling on the bartender,
serving another round. I wasn't calling on God. But
bless God, he called one day on me. Right? Who has saved us and called us,
Paul said in 2 Timothy 1, with a holy calling. With a holy calling. And seeing then that we have
only one hope, that is one hope of our calling, that God... That's
the reason we don't beg men to come down an aisle. We don't
beg men to accept Jesus. We're not doing all sorts of
things to get people in, get them to join up, you know, join
up the church. We're begging, we're pleading,
we're beseeching God to do something here. God, you call me in. And how do we do it? Right here.
The only way. One hope. We use great plainness
of speech. Now let's get into the text here,
chapter 4. It says, seeing we have this ministry, this ministry
of the gospel, one object, one subject, One purpose, one goal,
one reason for being here, and one thing to preach, Christ and
Him crucified. We're not going to quit because
everybody out there has got a big church. You know, right up the
street here, you'll see a big church. They're just flooding
the place to get in. Just flooding. You don't have enough seats.
Up on the top of this, in the big-wig church, they've got two
services on Sunday morning for convenience sake. I'm not going
to that, but that reminds me of, I forget the man's name,
where he set up worship in one place where he was instead of
Jerusalem for convenience sakes. He said, you don't have to go
down to Jerusalem to worship, come up here on Sunday and we'll have
two services to accommodate you. Doesn't matter what we're doing
or saying, but we'll have two services. But Paul says, we're
not going to quit because they're having a bigger hearing. Because
more is going on there. Now, here's a real temptation
for me, for a preacher. Look at verse two with me. You
got a Bible in front of you? Look at it. We've renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. You see, you see these fellows.
I'm getting on them again, but I can't help it. You see these
fellows looking to part. TV, other preachers, look in
the parts. They look so holy, so pious,
you know, every hair in place. They look the part and say the
right words. Amen, brother, hallelujah, praise the Lord, you know. They look the part, don't they?
But they're hidden men. They're dishonest. They're deceitful. Paul said that they're corrupt
men of corrupt minds, they're deceivers, deceiving the hearts
of the sinful. Simple. Didn't he? He said evil
men, seducers, which wax worse and worse. He said they make
merchandisers of souls. They're wolves in sheep's clothing.
Go on and on and on. Satan in the garden. Evidently,
he was one of the most beautiful creatures in all the garden.
Right? Else, if he was, you know, had
horns and a tail and a pitchfork, What he would have gone, would
he have gone up to talk to him, carry on a conversation? She'd
been afraid of him. No, he had on a three-piece suit and nice
speckled gray hair, you know. And he talked so sweetly. And she was drawn to him, right?
Drawn to him. Why, he's not such a bad, he's
saying some good things, right? But they're hidden. Paul said,
we have made ourselves manifest. He said under Timothy one place,
you fully know my doctrine, my manner of life, didn't he? He
said, you know what kind of man I am outside of the pulpit as
well as in. I'm the same man outside of this pulpit as I am.
Ask my wife, I'm the same man at home as I am in the pulpit.
No different. I got nothing to hide here, Paul
said. And every true minister of the gospel got nothing to
hide. They tell me in the Catholic Church years ago, as probably
now, Homosexuality is rampant now, but years ago there were
so many illegitimate children they had to bury them under the
church house. Deceitful, corrupt, playing games
at religion for the almighty dollar to make a name for themselves,
for the glory in your flesh. Paul said, we're renouncing that.
We're going to openly, plainly, boldly renounce it all. And he
said, look at this. He says, not walking in craftiness,
craftiness. What's that? Doing anything,
whatever it takes to get a hearing. We got this ministry. Henry Sword,
you're a deacon in this church. We've got one way, one way to
minister to people. Preach the gospel, buddy. We
ain't gonna have no bake sale here, are we? We're not going
to have a rummage sale. We're not going to have our children
have a car wash. We're not going to hide $10 bills
under the seats to get people to come into Sunday school. Why? It's dishonest. It's crafty.
It's wicked. It's trying to get people in
by carnal methods to hear and then to make a proselyte out
of them. It don't tell them anything anyway once they get them in
there. You want them to join up. Notch on the belt. Name on
the roll. Right? He said, we're renouncing
this stuff. Besides, he said, what's the
harm in having a bake safe? I got a friend who started out preaching the
gospel. And now he's getting into all
sorts of stuff. I just fear for him and that church to no end. Had a little rummage sale out
on their church lot one day. What's the harm in it? Bringing
a little money in because... David one day... He came to the
threshing floor. He came to offer a sacrifice
to the Lord in the last chapter in 2 Samuel. He came to offer
a sacrifice unto God. You know what the word sacrifice
means? It means it costs you something, doesn't it? I mean,
it hurts. It takes a payment, a sacrifice,
usually a big payment. David said, and a man was going
to give him the threshing floor to offer his sacrifice. Do you
remember the story? David said, I'm not going to
give unto the Lord something that costs me nothing. I'm not going to give unto the
Lord something that costs me nothing. Christ one day was standing
there watching them give the offering, standing there by the
offering plate. The equivalent of a nickel or
something like that. Two months. Now there's a giver,
you see. That's the only one God accepts
to give that. God took notice of that gift.
Why? She gave. That's all she had. It hurt. It cost her something,
you see. It deprived her of something
in order to give that. And for us to do these little
gimmicks and games and trickery and have sales. The Lord's Acre.
The Lord's not in that, the Lord's Acre. Give one of your acres. You got a hundred acres of farm?
Give one of those acres to the Lord. That's the Lord's Acre.
No, I'm going to bake me a little cake and give it to the Lord.
Isn't that blessed for me? Huh? God takes notice of all
we do in the work of the Lord. You see what blasphemy, you see
what craftiness, you see what hidden dishonesty there is and
all that stuff? We're renouncing that. This ministry
and this ministry right here, we're renouncing that stuff.
Ain't going to take any part in that. But here it is, and we don't
handle the Word of God deceitfully. We don't handle the Word of God
deceitfully. We're not paring the corners. We're not going
to make it acceptable. We're going to say election where
it says election. We're going to say predestination where it
says predestination. We're going to say God reigns
and rules where it says God reigns and rules. We're going to say
man's dead where it says man's dead, right? And we're not going
to make it palatable. Well, man is just, we've all
got mistakes that need to be rectified. Man's a dead dog sinner
in need of mercy, and he's going to hell. We say hell where it
says hell. We say judgment where it says judgment. We call fire
where it says fire. What if some man was burning
in a house? I wish a Calvinist would come
up to my house when it's burning, not an Arminian. What about my
house was burning down, here comes something. He didn't want
to disturb me, I was sleeping, you know. I was comfortable in
my house. Oh, excuse me, sir. Sorry, I don't want to bother
you here. I know it inconvenienced you terribly, but would you like
to make a decision to jump from your window? You don't have to, but we'd be
much obliged and we'll all make so much of you jumping out of
that window to be saved. Would you receive this net? Oh, my soul, a man is going to
tell me the truth is going to come running up, hollering, fire! Get out or burn! Right? Not handling the Word of God
deceitfully. Paul talked about the offense of the cross. What's
the offense of the cross? Blood. Blood. We've taken the blood out of
religion today. No blood in religion. My blood
offends people. All this talk about judgment
and hell and death and God's anger. No, we've replaced that
with everything. OK, peace, peace. There's no
peace. There's no peace with God. God's
angry with the wicked every day, right? God hates all workers
of iniquity. Cross over there, God loves you
and has a wonderful plan for your life. You may be under the
judgment and wrath of God Almighty and you better repent and ask
God for mercy and trust Christ or you may be going to hell,
man. That's this ministry, the ministry
of the gospel, right? Not handling the Word of God
deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth. the truth, commending ourselves
to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Paul said,
take this home, take what I say home, and take the scripture.
I don't want to preach mean, and our gospel is not a gospel
of judgment. Christ said I didn't come to
condemn the world, but to save it. But you've got to hear the
bad news before you hear the good news. You've got to understand
something of judgment and wrath and sin before you understand
what mercy is. There's nobody going to be asking
for mercy that doesn't understand that they're a sinner, are they?
We don't have any sinners today. We've got to first find some
sinners before anybody calls for mercy. And he said, take this home like
the noble Bereans and search the Scriptures, whether these
things be so. Search the Scripture. Don't take
my word for it. That's the reason we go verse
by verse through the Scriptures here. But he says here in verse
three, look at this. If our gospel is hid, it's hid
to them that are lost. It's not because we're hiding
it. We do talk about the love of God here. Oh, my soul. But we glorify the love of God
here. We don't cast it out there as
a general offer of amnesty to anybody. We glorify the love
of God. We talk about effectual love. We talk about a love that people
can use, not abuse, not a love that people cast underfoot and
trod down so I might take it or might not. After we get through
preaching, a man sees his desperate need of the love and the mercy
and the grace of God and the blood of Christ, he'll be crying
out, love, oh I need that love. If our gospel is hid as hinted
to them that are lost, not because we're hiding it. We've got nothing
to hide here. God so loved the world. John 3, 16. I love that
passage. Don't you love that passage?
John 3, 16. God so loved the world. That's not every single individual
because he plainly said that he hated some people. He said
he saw, he hated. Doesn't mean every single individual
ever lived, does it? And God hates all workers of
the name. That's it hey hey today so they love Jacob but he says
all you sons of Jacob I love you. That's election and. Jacob and I love you so have
I. Chose Jacob passed by the. I don't cry unfair unfair God
had never acted he said cannot not I do with my own as I will.
You know what I cry out when I hear that? Mercy. Grace. Glory to God in the highest. He chose some people. He shouldn't
have chosen anybody. Shouldn't have elected anybody.
They're all short of the glory of God. He shouldn't have elected
anybody. But by mercy and grace, he said, I'm going to love some
people. Ain't none of them worth loving. I'm not worth loving
still, Henry. I'm still not worth loving. But
bless God, he loves me in Christ, Romans eight thirty nine. The love of God, we talk about
the grace of God, we talk about the blood of Christ, we talk
about the crucifixion of Christ, but we talk about it in effectual
terms. What we mean by that is it gets
the job done. There's nothing left to be done.
It's not that God loves you and Christ died for you and he'll
he'll save you if you believe on it. That's not what we preach here.
That's not this ministry. This ministry is God loves the
people. Christ died for those people
to pay for their sins. And you will believe on him.
All those will come unto God. All those will come unto God
by Christ, whom the Father has given to Christ. You will. Here's the difference in these
two covenants. Listen, if you don't hear another thing I say.
Man's covenant of works, this theology, all this preaching
that's going on today says this. If you will do this, God shall
do this. Right? Isn't that it? If you
will accept Jesus, God shall accept you. If you will love
God, God shall love you. If you will make your decision,
God will vote for you. You will, God shall. Here's New
Testament. Here's grace, here's Bible theology. God says, I will and you shall. There's the difference. We ain't
even in the picture. I will do all that's necessary
for you. I will save them. I will love
them freely. I will give my son for them.
I will butcher him, bloody him as a sacrifice that's due unto
them. I will make him to be sin for them. that they might be
the righteousness of God in him. I will, and they shall come unto
me. They shall believe. You say,
oh no, I won't. I'll never believe that election.
Yes, you shall. If God says you shall, you shall.
Right? That's the way you were, Henry
Sword, weren't you? Going to church one day, had all fixed
up, religious, but lost. Right? You said like the rest
of them, I'll never believe that. You do now, don't you, buddy?
Now you say, I'll never believe like that again. By God's grace,
there's a New Testament theology. God says, I will and you shall.
Salvation is of the Lord, not of us. We're passive. We're sitting
back. He's doing it all. But if our
gospel's hid, God doesn't get the blame. God doesn't get the blame, because
man is not saved. That man gets the blame. God
gets all the credit in salvation. Men get all the blame in their
damnation. Is that right? Yeah, it is. Men
are responsible. God commandeth men everywhere
to repent, but they won't. He said, you will not. You won't. They did not like to retain God
in their knowledge. They will not believe. The problem
is not with men Not seeing what's in the Bible, it's problem is
they just won't have it. I will not. I don't want to have
that. Well, I hope God crosses that
man's path, whoever says that. And say, yes, you will. That's
salvation. And when God said, when we say
no to God. Salvation is God saying, yes,
you will. Thy people. shall be made willing
in the day of whose power? Their decision? In the day of
thy power. Thy power. Now let's hurry. He said the God of this world
has something to do with it. A blinded demise of them which
believe not Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Satan isn't
at work in the honky-tonk. Satan's not down at Joe Bill's
Bar and Grill. I always abuse you, don't I,
Joe? There's other fellas running bars out there. Satan's not at
work at the Bar and Grill necessarily. Oh, he has a part in that, but
that's not his chief work, according to 2 Corinthians 4. You can remember
that, can't you? 2 Corinthians 4.4. It says, "...the
God of this world blinds the minds of them which believe not..."
Believe what? Believe not what? What's he in
the business of doing? Keeping men from hearing the
gospel. Now, you can keep them hearing the gospel in the average
church. Right? Oh, yeah. Because it just
right up the street here they're going through a lot of motion
well they look good I mean there's a man standing got a silk robe
on got crosses on he's got cups in his hands got his hands just
nicely folded and he's walking here walking there walking there
and doing this and doing that and everybody's just going wow
and he's talking a language nobody's ever heard or learned Is God in that? Is God in that? No, Satan's in that. Why? They ain't hearing the gospel.
They're seeing religion. They're seeing and doing all
sorts of things, ceremonies. They ain't hearing the gospel.
The gospel. They got to hear the gospel.
We don't have any of that stuff to hear, do we? But you're hearing
a gospel, all right? You're hearing a gospel. The God of this world blinds
the minds to the understanding of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel, and here it is, here it describes,
explains, proclaims the gospel. It's the glorious gospel of Christ,
or the gospel of God's glory in Christ. But he says in verse
six, God's commanded that light to shine out of darkness, just
like the creation, just like God did in creation. One day
there was darkness over all the face of the deep. It was darkness
in some people's minds. They were dark in religion, you
know, religious, but lost. Seeking a God, but the wrong
one and superstition and tradition and pagan idolatry, worshiping
another God. That's idolatry. Walking around
in darkness, being taken up with the things of this world, taken
up with that religion and all that. The same God who shined
in creation past said, let there be light. One day has shined
in our hearts, he said, to give us the light. Turn on the lights.
Turn on the light in a dark room. The light of what? The light
of the glory of God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The glory of
God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Like, turn on the light
in the tarry. Like, turn on the light. See God's glory. Whereas before, you weren't impressed
with God. God was all sweet and syrupy and this and that and
the other. But now you see the glory of God. An awesome, sovereign,
holy, all-powerful Creator. in whose hands your very breath
is in all your ways. Turn on the light in it. The
difference between this gospel of sovereign grace and the other
one is like light and dark in it. And then see a Christ, not
a helpless martyr hanging on a cross. Oh, I wish they hadn't
killed Jesus. Oh, he tried and failed. No,
you see a reigning king. You see a Lord. And nobody takes
his life from him, and he laid it down willingly, paying a sacrifice,
doing a job for some people. Got a crown on his head, but
you don't see thorns. You see glory on his head. And
you see him one day just lower his head. He said, it's time
to die. And he dies. And then one day, coming out
of the grave, he says, it's time to live. And another day, he
sits on the throne. He says, it's time to reign.
And another day, he says, it's time to call. And he sends his
Holy Spirit. He says, come. Now, you, yeah,
you, you, you, I will not. Yes, you will. Come. Like light
and day in it. The difference between this ministry
and that is corrupt things, hidden things of dishonesty, craftiness,
deceitfulness. Light and day. Turn on the lights. Now we dwell in the glorious
lights of the gospel of God's glory
in the face, in the person, the work. of the Lord Jesus Christ. This ministry, knowing, brethren
and beloved of the Lord, your election where our gospel came.
Terry Kinsley, you're sitting in the most blessed seat in the
United States right now, buddy. Yeah, you are. That's the highest
calling on the face of the earth, privilege. Sit where the gospel
is, isn't it? It could be somewhere else, couldn't
it? You could be out there all googly-eyed over some fella in
a silk robe, couldn't you? And now you only have eyes for
Christ and his gospel. Who made you to differ? We're
not saying, hey, we've got it and everybody else doesn't. We're
smarter than everybody else. No. Who made us to differ? Well,
that's the heart of our message. God made the difference. And
now we're loudly proclaiming who it is that makes a difference.
Every time we stand up, that's what we're going to say. God's
the difference. Sovereign grace. This ministry,
there's only one. There's only one. All right,
stand with me and I'll dismiss it.

This Ministry

What does the Bible say about the ministry of the gospel?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is the concept of grace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the nature of the New Covenant?

How does understanding sovereign grace affect our view of salvation?

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This Ministry

What does the Bible say about the ministry of the gospel?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

Why is the concept of grace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the nature of the New Covenant?

How does understanding sovereign grace affect our view of salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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