All right, again, it's our Lord
and the woman of Samaria at the well, and He begins by asking
her for a drink of water, then speaks the water of life, leads
her along in the things, exposes her sinfulness and her sin, five
husbands, not married. But we come to a particular part
when there is, as it were, a turning point in the life of this woman,
I believe. So in verse 19, the woman then
saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. And with that in her mind, and
being elevated to the fact she had met a prophet, she then brings
up a question. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain. And ye say, that is, you Jews
say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe
me, the hour is coming. when you shall neither in this
mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship
you know not what. We know what we worship for salvation
is of the Jew. But watch. The hour comes and
now is. when the true worshipers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father
seeks us to worship Him. God is spirit, or a spirit, and
they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said unto him, I know
that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come,
he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak
unto thee am he. Now, look again at verse 23.
The hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship
the Father in a particular way. Now, today we want to look at
the gospel. And the word gospel is one of
the most spiritual and important in all of our New Testament. But on the other hand, The word
gospel is used rather loosely and rather carelessly by many
in our day, with the result that it actually detracts from the
true meaning and the glory and the value that is attributed
under the gospel in the scripture. As a result of that, much that
is passed off as gospel is not gospel at all. Some call the
gospel the three facts that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians chapter
15. the death, the burial, and the
resurrection of our Lord. Now, this is indeed the very
heart and the very soul of the gospel, that our Lord died, was
buried, and that he rose again. But they often do not make the
proper theological connection unto the gospel that is included
in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Son of
God. I was thinking this week, I had
a good preacher friend for years and years. And to him, preaching
the gospel was preaching against long hair on men and short dresses
on women. And to that, to him, was the
gospel. But when we speak of the gospel
in its fullness and in glory, we mean of that part of the Holy
Bible and the scripture that speak of the sovereign election
of men to salvation in Jesus Christ. By grace or election
is a part of the news of the gospel that God from the beginning
did choose a people unto salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and the belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel, says Paul. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse
13 and 14. He has called us unto that great
salvation. How then say some that election
is no part or parcel of the gospel when we were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world, Ephesians chapter one
and verse four, and were given grace in him before the world
ever began, 2 Timothy chapter one And furthermore, the gospel
declares unto us the great redemption that was made in and by our Lord
Jesus Christ, that he bought some with a price. And the price of our redemption
was not silver and gold, which was the ransoming medium throughout
most of the Old Testament. But we are bought with the precious
blood of the Lamb of God as with spot and without blemish. 1 Peter 1, verse 18 through verse
20. For to redeem, you see, is to
buy with a price, a specified price. And Christ gave his life
a ransom for many, Matthew 20 and verse 28. so that ransom
or redemption is the paying of a price as the means of loosing
or of setting free from their bondage. And then, of course,
there are some who foolishly imagine that the ransom was paid
into the hands of the devil. But the gospel is glorious in
nature, being the power of God unto salvation. And the reason
is because in it there is revealed the righteousness of God, the
saving righteousness of God, Romans 1, 16, and 17. Nowhere else can this be known
or found out but as it is revealed and declared and proclaimed in
the gospel. And Paul means not only Is it
revealed for our apprehension? But it is revealed with saving
efficacy. The gospel reveals a righteousness
that actually saves. But a gospel is further glorious
in declaring the extended spiritual blessing which comes to the elect
in connection with the death of Christ. Things like regeneration,
and calling, and conversion, justification, sanctification,
and in the final end, glorification. That reconciliation under God
is announced in the glorious and wonderful gospel. Now, all
of these are worthy of the name gospel and of being included
in the gospel. For they're a part of that good
news that is connected to the glorious gospel of Christ. Not only has he died, and laying
in the grave and being raised again, but by and through him
comes regeneration and redemption and conversion and reconciliation
and eventually glorification. So at least twice in the scripture
that I know of, the Apostle Paul refers to the gospel as, quote,
the glorious gospel, unquote. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse
4, the glorious gospel of Christ, and then he calls Christ the
image of God. It's again to Timothy, 1 Timothy
1 and verse 11. The glorious gospel of the blessed
God is how he describes it in that place. Now, it is not a
stretch for us to say that Paul had a stewardship of the gospel
committed unto him in a special way, committed unto him to minister
the gospel to both the Jew and the Gentile, but especially and
particularly unto the latter, that is, the Gentile. And by
the grace of God, Paul was a very faithful steward of the gospel,
offered, hazarding even his life for the sake of the gospel. And he speaks at length of the
mystery of the gospel in Ephesians chapter three. He even at time
refers to it as my gospel, his very own gospel. And the apostle would have at
any time laid down his life for the gospel and forbid any perversion
of it, even withstanding a fellow apostle to his face or an error
concerning the gospel. But now, let's focus our thoughts
on two aspects of the gospel that we want to get in today
and that we have time for in this study. First of all, we
will look again and look further at the glory of the gospel. And then we will look secondly
at the nature of gospel worship. For gospel worship is a particular
and a spiritual worship. But first, the glory of the gospel. Now, perhaps it is that some
have never thought of the gospel in terms of it being glorious. Oh yeah, they've heard the gospel
and they've heard the word. Sometimes they take it just as
words, just as a religious dogma or a teaching of Christianity. But Paul said it is glorious. So, Its glory is first and foremost
by and through its connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ that gives glory
unto the gospel. Christ. in his person and in
his work is the essence of the gospel. And the gospel is the
story, the good news, of the saving work of the Lord. It is the gospel, it is the glad
tiding, it is the good and hopeful message of Christ. And the gospel
declares the riches of His grace, the infinitude of His love, the perfection of his person
and sacrifice, of his birth, of his life, of his death and
resurrection. The gospel tells us of his intercession
at the right hand of God. It is the gospel that proclaims
the power of his blood to cleanse and declares his propitiation
for sin. declares his eternality and his
Godhead. All of these are attached under
the gospel. In short, it is therefore the
gospel of Christ. It is called the gospel of God
in Romans 1-1 and Romans 15 and 16. It is called the gospel of the
grace of God in Acts chapter 20 and verse 24. That is, it
is the good news that God has sent his son and that God will
be gracious unto sinners. He commends the gospel as being
or declaring that salvation is all of grace, that the gospel
and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ will extend grace
and mercy to the saving of sinners. For all would be lost and hopeless
that unless God is gracious and merciful unto sinners who have
fallen away from God and the right way. Now, what blessed
words are they? The gospel of the grace of God,
the good news, the good tiding, the message of grace. Now, this
good news of the grace of God consists in this, basically,
that grace, that is, the divine favor, is freely but sovereignly
bestowed upon guilty sinners by virtue of the person and the
work and the purpose of God. not just to forego punishment
and let it be and let it go, but to actually save and put
some in the family of God and among the children of God and
saved by grace. Now the gospel reveals a saving
way of salvation for sinners, a way that the law could not
do and could not provide. Never in a thousand years would
the law be able to justify a sinner. But, as one wrote, some call
what we speak and hear the gospel when it does not meet with Paul's
definition of gospel. As, for example, in Galatians
chapter 1, verse 6 and 7, there Paul spoke of another gospel,
which is not another. In 2 Corinthians, 11 and verse
4, he does so again, another gospel. And he pronounces a curse
upon any, whether himself or another apostle, or even an angel
from heaven that proclaimed, quote, any other gospel, unquote. Galatians chapter 1 and verse
8. Now, so beware of the so-called
gospel that is so highly esteemed by many in our time and day. Beware of another gospel and
another Jesus. and another spirit. But now let us consider some
things that all together combine to make up the glory of the gospel. And that is that the gospel is
of divine origin and revelation. It is not a man It is not of
the seminary, it is of God, and it is of Christ. Now, the first thing that I'd
like to mention in connection with the glory of the gospel
is the wisdom of God in the gospel. And even here, I think we ought
to make a distinction between two. Number one, the wisdom which
is evident in the preaching of the gospel. Paul writes in 1
Corinthians chapter 2, verse 6 through 8, that there is a
wisdom in the gospel that is seen and that is heard but only
unto them which are being saved." Only unto them which are called
and have their understanding and their ears open. Secondly,
the wisdom of God. in designing and managing the
gospel under the salvation of many sinners. The wisdom of God
in designing and managing the declaration of the gospel in
the way of salvation. Which, by the way, for the most
part, this lay hidden as a mystery Paul said in former days. In
fact, his words are hid in God. Ephesians 3 verse 5 and verse
9. Hid in God until the time of
its unveiling in connection with the incarnation and the appearance
of Christ and it's preaching through the apostle and particularly
and especially the apostle Paul. Now, I just used a phrase, designing
and managing the gospel under salvation so that he, that is
God, might be just righteous though he justify the ungodly
now that takes wisdom that he might remain just and righteous
while justifying the unjust righteous though he justify the ungodly
Romans 4 and verse 5 that his righteousness stand while he
saved the unrighteous counting them righteous who are personally,
individually unrighteous, saving sinners while requiring nothing
at all from them and requiring no condition for them to fulfill
in order that they might be saved. To save them out from under the
curse of the law without their fulfilling the law, to save by
free grace while yet God's justice and righteousness are in no way
violated in doing that. Now, how is it that God will
not clear the guilty? We read of that in the scripture,
Exodus 34 and 7, Numbers 14 and 18, and yet he saved them. He will not clear the guilty,
and yet He saves them. That He is of two pure eyes than
to look or behold iniquity. And yet, what does God do? He forgives the iniquity of many. Now, how is it? that God spared
not his own son. He sent him to the agony and
the death of the cross. And he spares many. They're just desserts in hell,
saving them from everlasting ruin. But let us go a bit further. as Jesus went a bit further in
the garden, to consider and to admire the wisdom of God in gospel
salvation. By the way, Spurgeon put it this
way, quote, the attributes of God unite in the salvation of
guilty men." Unquote. Think about that. The attributes
of God unite in the salvation of guilty men. Again, writing
on a verse in the psalm, he says, seize the attributes of God confederating
to bless, joining together, confederating in order that they might bless
and bless in a great way unto salvation. Here's a verse found
in Psalm 85 and verse 10 regarding the attributes of God. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed. Psalm 85 and verse 10. Now the primary application of
that passage and of that chapter is the mercies of God unto the
afflicted nation of Israel at that and in coming time. But It also has a picture of
Christ, that it is through him that the various attributes of
God operate in conjunction with gospel salvation. They which
are concerned therein have their part and their voices heard? And are each one the attributes
of God righteously upheld? I'll give you an example. Righteousness
is not slighted in the giving of mercy. When God is righteous,
that is not slighted and is not compromised in the extending
of mercy, nor is justice slighted in the giving of grace. Truth is not set aside by the
justification of guilty sinners, for wrath is satisfied that peace
might be established nor is there injustice in sending the innocent
Christ under the cross and freeing the guilty for whom he died in
that death upon the cross. Grace, therefore, is not bestowed
at the expense of justice, and furthermore, the law is not slighted
in the free pardon of sin. All of them confederate to have
their part and remain as they are. George Horn, a man, wrote
long, long years ago, and I ran across it this week. Attributes,
he said, which parted at the fall or reconcile in Christ. Boy, that's a statement when
we think about it. What the fall did and these attributes
of wrath and justice and righteousness must stand. But they all have
their due, such as justice, righteousness, wrath, truth, holiness, and so
forth, all have their due, in order that other might be active
in the saving of sinners, such as grace and mercy and love. and the kindness of God in Jesus
Christ, and particularly grace and mercy, which he seems to
speak the highest of, which scriptures seem the more to exalt in salvation,
grace, and mercy. In Ephesians, the glory of his
grace, chapter 1 and verse 8, the riches His grace chapter
1 and verse 7 and the exceeding riches of His grace in chapter
2 and verse 7. Then think of His mercy. God
rich in mercy, Ephesians 2 and verse 4. According to mercy hath
he saved us, Titus 3 and 5. His abundant mercy, 1 Peter 1
and verse 3. And hear this in James 2 and
13. Mercy rejoices or exalts or boasts
against judgment. Mercy rejoices against judgment. Now I think of that and I wouldn't
know how to begin to explain what all is involved in that. What in the world can this mean? It is too high for me and has
been given several meanings by different commentators of the
scripture. but concerning the great saving
attributes of God. These, as Thomas Goodwin the
Puritan observed, rose to their greatest heights under the gospel,
with the appearing of Christ, who came full of grace and of
truth, John 1 and 14. And we don't need to misconstrue
this. These glorious saving attributes
hardly saw the light of day, as the Puritan said, until the
incarnation of Christ and the full publishing of the gospel
of our Lord. which, to put it very simply,
brought a new set of attributes into focus when the gospel went
abroad. Now, not new in the sense of
beginning, for there were beams of grace and mercy and gospel
during the old economy. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord, Genesis 6 and verse 8, and the gospel was preached
under Abraham, Galatians chapter 3 and verse 8. Now of old, however,
before Christ, The greater emphasis was generally upon the law, and
now it is more generally upon the gospel, so that these saving
attributes so strongly emphasized under the gospel were not then
non-existent, but were in a sense veiled somewhat until the appearance
of Christ, and that by the will of God. Now, something else was
much more fully revealed under Christ and the gospel, and that
is the existence and the mystery of the Holy Trinity. More fully revealed under the
gospel than under the law. The Holy Three and that that
God exists in three person, and those three persons are the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You find this, it is true in
the Old Testament, but we must admit, not even there to the
degree that it is revealed and developed for us in the New Testament. And that is that the Father proposed,
the Son execute, and the Spirit applies the purpose of God. All three, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, are viewed as being God, and each of them having a definite
and distinct part in salvation under the gospel. And it is here
that the great mystery of the Trinity is unfolded and was revealed. I think even we might say, for
the first time, clearly revealed, or consider this point, if you
will. There does not seem to be in
the scriptures in the Old Testament, a sense in the worship of the
people of God, a deep knowledge of God as being triune, as being
Trinity, as being Trinitarian. This too was hid or was veiled
under the old economy in order that it might be greater reveal
with the appearing of Messiah and the preaching of the gospel
of salvation. And to give the gospel even more
glory as the son reveals the father in a way not done before
the incarnation. For He is the express image of
the Father, Hebrews 1, 2, and 3, by whom God has spoken unto
us in these last days. And it pleased God that in Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Colossians chapter
2. and Christ, declares the gospel,
gave himself by death a sacrifice for sin. And that sacrifice and
death was accepted by God as a just recompense of reward for
sin and as a ransom for many. To justify them, whereby a saving
righteousness is imputed under them that are called and that
believe. Now let's acknowledge Christianity
is the only religion upon the face of the earth, which can
give all of these claimants, that is, the attributes of God,
their just due, and reconcile and unite them under the great
purpose of God in saving sinners. Wrath, justice, righteousness. do not hinder the outflow of
grace and mercy and justification, since by or from Christ they
receive their just reward and fulfillment. The law was fulfilled
by their surety when wrath fell upon Christ. Righteousness was
fulfilled in Christ, and Christ is made of us from God, 1 Corinthians
1. 29, 30, and 31, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Christ is made unto us all of
those things. And Paul said, this excludes
boasting. It is those in Christ whose union
is of God. God. It is his purpose. It is done in such a way as leaves
no room for boasting and cheats none of the attributes of God
out of their due and their righteousness. Compare Jeremiah chapter 9 verse
23 and 24. Now the gospel is therefore glorious
for in it is revealed a saving righteousness. The law is fulfilled
by Christ and is satisfied. His death and his sacrifice made
satisfaction to God's law for sin, and each attribute that
is concerned has its due. And God is just to save sinners
by free grace and by divine mercy. Now, we read a verse, verses
starting in John chapter 4, if you want to go there. For the
final part of our study, we consider what rightly might be called
evangelical or gospel worship. And it differs from and is a
great improvement over legal worship. In legal worship, as
we remember, three things were prevalent and were highly prized
by the Jew who worshipped under that system. Those three things
are, number one, their temple. Number two, their priesthood,
and number three, their many sacrifices which were offered
by the high priest before the temple. In gospel worship, the
people having the spirit are the temple of God. The son of
God is our great high priest, and his one great sacrifice is
sufficient for all and forever, never to be repeated again. All sufficient. It is a spiritual
sacrifice. It is a spiritual worship in
spirit and in truth. Spiritual sacrifices are now
made which are acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. The beauty and the glory of the
gospel worship does not consist in the magnificent and the beauty
and the ornateness of our building, nor in the vestment of the clergy
or of the choir, or the million-dollar argan, the stained-glass windows,
and some church campuses, as they are called, that cost more
to build than the Astrodome. Modern worship, as it is called,
runs a very wide gamut or range, from rude and irreverent wild
music, to silly levity and entertainment, to dead and dry formalism. The legalism to philosophy and
psychology, to political rallies, and even blatant secularism in
our day is called worship. Many gave up on the gospel long,
long ago, growing weary of it. as the Jew grew weary of the
manna day after day after day. So let's consider the passage
in John chapter 4, 19 through 24 that we read, a part of the
discussion between the Lord and the woman of Samaria. after she took him to be a prophet. First she calls him sir, a Jew,
and then a prophet. And after she took him to be
a prophet because he revealed to her all that she had done
in verse 19, and after that she brings up the long-standing issue
that divided the Jew and the Samaritan, and that was the contention
about the proper place of worship. The Jew worshipped in Jerusalem
in the temple. The Samaritan worshipped at the
foot of Mount Gerizim. You remember that the Enoch Ethiopia
had gone all the way to Jerusalem for to worship all the way to
Jerusalem No doubt before the temple now in chapter 4 verse
21 and verse 22 Jesus said unto her, woman, believe
me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship not, you
know not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jew. Notice, the hour is coming. Then
he said, the hour is coming and now is. Gil wrote, all distinction
of place would entirely cease. In fact, Jerusalem and the temple
would soon be laid waste and be no more. And true worship
would not regard the place but the heart and the attitude in
spirit and in truth. Not in temples, not in synagogues,
not in mosques, but in and from the heart. God dwells not in
temple made with hand. Acts 17, 24, 25. Acts 7 and 48
and 1 Kings 8 and verse 27 as Solomon built the temple. God is spirit. not bodily. God is spirit and
therefore is to be spiritually worshipped. Paul did that. Romans
1 9 God Whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his son Philippians
3 3 he said we are the true circumcision which worship God in the spirit
now the Christian Church under gospel worship has neither temples
nor priest would sacrifice it. It has no material altars. It has no gorgeous vestments
or robe. It has no holy days. And this passage in John 4 is
a clear statement that the Jewish legal system of worship had passed
away with Christ. and in his place came a spiritual
gospel worship. You may notice that the Lord
uses the description true worship. when the true worshippers shall
worship, as opposed to false worshippers, or hypocritical
worshippers, or ceremonial worshippers, or legal or formal worshippers,
or those that we might mention. The words of the Lord, the hour
comes and now is. The reformation of worship waited
until the coming of Christ and the revealing of the gospel,
when it would consist in heart worship, not in externals and
rituals and not in outward pomp and ceremony. And while the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation, yet not everyone who hears the
gospel believe. Not even when it's preached by
a prophet, or by Messiah, or by an apostle, or by the Paul
himself. The gospel is an offense unto
many, particularly to the legalist and the self-righteous. It was
foolishness to the Greek. It was a stumbling block under
the Jew, as you remember in 1 Corinthians 1. But praise God, the gospel
goes on an errand of mercy to the elect, and in that they hear
the voice of Christ. Now the law came by Moses, so
the gospel came by Jesus Christ, and a new and a living way. And the gospel, I'll close with
this, the gospel by some commentators has been likened unto the year
of Jubilee, when an announcement came, a trumpet blew, and in
that day Jubilee. I think every 50 years, right?
All debts were forgiven. Inheritances were restored and
people were put back in their land and their inheritance. When the trumpet sounded, the
good news came, the year of Jubilee. And the gospel is that message. There is salvation. It is in
Jesus Christ. It is by grace through faith. So thank God for the gospel,
for opening our ears unto it, and for helping us understand
it. May God be praised. May God bless,
is our prayer.