to follow along, turn to Romans
chapter 15. I will try to take up where we left off four weeks
ago, almost a month ago. I was gone, I guess the first
Sunday of the year I was preaching down at Grace Baptist Church,
and then we had a couple Sundays we missed. One we were here,
we shut down early. And right now, it is not snowing
or sleeting or anything outside. And Joe said, I'm not gonna keep
you long. That's what Joe said. Romans 15, verse 17, we'll take
up kinda at the end of where I left off. Now, I'm gonna read
all the way to the end of this chapter, so you bear with me.
I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in
those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak
of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me
to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. When I read
that, I automatically think that seems to be a little proud. But
let's remember, this was the apostle and the only apostle
that God had sent to the Gentiles, specifically for the Gentiles. And then we read these words.
Though mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of
God, so that from Jerusalem and round about unto Iliacum, I have
fully preached the gospel of Christ, yea? So I have strived
to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should
build upon another man's foundation. Paul was sent to take the gospel
to the Gentiles in places where the gospel had never been preached
before. Now that doesn't mean he never preached in other places
that are already heard, but that was his specific task as the
apostle to the Gentiles. And I don't like this word, but
to establish churches. to establish churches. But, as
it is written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see.
And they that have not heard shall understand. For which cause
also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now,
having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire
these many years to come unto you, he wanted to see these people
intensely. I mean, I can just feel that
You know, and I don't think Paul had ever been there before. Forgive
me if I'm wrong on that. He was longing to see these saints
at Rome. He said, whensoever I take my
journey into Spain, I will come to you. And I trust to see you
in my journey and to be brought on my way thitherward by you
"'If first I be somewhat filled with your company, "'but now
I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.'" He had an
errand to run before he could even go to Spain. "'For it hath
pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia "'to make a certain contribution
"'to the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased
them truly, or verily, and their debtors they are. That is, these
Gentiles from Macedonia and Achaia, at large they were Gentiles.
There were no believing Jews, of course. For if the Gentiles
have been made partakers of their, that is, these Jewish believers
in Jerusalem, for the most part, if they've been made partakers
of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto
them in carnal things. Help them out. Remember, salvation's
of the Jews. And another thing that I will
go even further, and the scripture backs this up, salvation is by
a Jew. Salvation is a Jew. And with all that's going on
in the world today, over there in Palestine and Israel, all
the hate and the vitriol, and you see it even in this country.
Let me say this. I'm gonna start saying this more.
I've said it before. You will either bow to and worship
a circumcised Jew or you will perish. I don't care who you
are. You will bow to a circumcised
Jew or you will perish. Now let me go on, when therefore
I have performed this, that is this errand he had with these
funds or these gifts going to Jerusalem, when I therefore have
performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come
by you into Spain, and I am sure that when I come unto you, I
shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of
Christ. Now I beseech you, brethren,
for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit,
that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for
me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea,
and there were a lot of them. There were a lot of them. Remember,
he didn't just have to go to Jerusalem, he had to pass through
that country called Judea to get there and then go back to
meet them at Rome. That I may be delivered from
them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have
for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints, that I may come
unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with
you all, amen. Now Paul, here in these words,
expresses his deep desire to see the believers at Rome, that's
clear. You can see that when you read that. He expresses a
responsibility that he has in an errand of benefaction to the
saints at Jerusalem. And exactly what it was, it doesn't
matter. Whether it was actual funds,
whether it was, we don't know, it doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter, but he had this responsibility, and he had been picked out or
chosen to carry these funds to the saints at Jerusalem. After
the witch, he will visit Spain and Rome, and Paul expresses
his desire for prayers that the unbelieving in Judea will not
get the upper hand. That's what he's talking about,
that they won't get the upper hand. It's not because Paul was
afraid of dying, Because remember, one time he was told, when one
of the prophets bound himself with Paul's garment, and said,
the man that owns these garments here, when he goes to Jerusalem,
he will be bound. And people tried to tell him,
well, don't go, Paul. And Paul said, my life doesn't
matter to me. I'm sent of God to do this, and I'm going to
do this, even if I'm bound or I die. Or I die. So he expresses his desire for
the prayers that the unbelieving in Judea will not get the upper
hand. Paul is not doubting the absolute
sovereignty of God. He's expressing the reality on
the ground. You understand? Earl used to
tell us, he meant a whole lot more than this, when he said
this phrase, don't become so heavenly minded that you're of
no earthly value. Because all of us have to admit,
we know God is sovereign. But we don't always conduct ourselves
in that knowledge. And sometimes we just don't know
what's going on. That's why we must cry out to
God for aid and for help. But, Paul even mentions, in this
part of this letter here, the part that we read this morning,
Paul even mentions mighty signs and wonders. And we may look
at some of these things. The weather's still good so far.
Signs of what? But I want us to note, note in
all of these things, there's this deep desire to see these
people. This error, this responsibility he has to deliver this contribution
to the saints at Jerusalem. His concern for the unbelieving
in Judea. And of course, no doubt in that
day, the trip to Spain and Rome. That was no easy thing in Paul's
day. He didn't hop in the Cadillac
filler full of gas and just take off. He spoke often of being
in perils of robbers. There's people who could care
less about religion or anything. This was no simple thing. But note, in all of these things,
Preaching the gospel of Christ is the preeminent thing. Do you see that? And while he
only mentions that twice, And we'll look at it, verse 18 again.
For I will not dare speak of any of those things which Christ
hath not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word
and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about and
to Eliakim, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Joe's already
said it. Paul's alluded to it, mentioned
it. The preeminence of gospel preaching
is that. It is preeminent. All of these other things matter
intensely. It matters intensely. But apart
from the preaching of the gospel, they're nothing. They're nothing. Look at verse 29. And I am sure
that when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing
of the gospel of Christ. Paul said, woe is me, in one
place. Woe is me if I preach not the
gospel. Now keep that in mind. And that's, my title is this,
The Preeminence of Gospel Preaching. Now, let me just give you four
things about the gospel. And there's a lot more than these
four. There's a lot more than these four, but turn to Romans
chapter one. You turn there first, then I'll give you my statement.
If you're following along, Romans chapter one. Let us consider
concerning the gospel of God, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's think about the vitality, the might, the power
of the gospel. Now, I fully understand that
in our day and age, most people are not even preaching the gospel.
And what most men are preaching, while they call it the gospel,
it is nothing more than a perversion of the gospel of Christ. I understand
that fully. And most, even for them though,
And their gospel, even their gospel's been kind of relegated
to just that little extra special thing you have when you have
a church service. Most of it's about everything else but what? Preaching the word of God. Preaching
the word of God. But think about the vitality,
the might, the power of God's gospel. Just a message. I'm gonna put it this, I'm not
being irreverent. It's just a message. It's just
a message. But look at what Paul says about
that message, Romans one, verse 15. So as much as in me is, I
am ready, what, to come visit you? Yes, of course. Of course,
to fellowship with you and get to see you face to face and shake
a hand, get a hug, huh? Sure, but look, so as much as
in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at
Rome also. Why? For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. I forget this, Joe. Paul, I forget
this sometimes. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God. Now it's not in my power
in preaching, but it's the power of God. For
it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek, for. Therein, here's why
the gospel has such vitality, such might, and such power. Not because it takes the eloquence
of the speaker. And some of us talk to, there
are some preachers I really like to listen to, more than others. But if they're both preaching
the gospel, it doesn't matter. The problem is not with those
men, Now here's the problem. It's like Henry Mahan used to
say, the problem is there's too many holes in the bucket to hold
a blessing. That's the problem. It ain't
about the water that's being poured out. There's too many
holes in the bucket. For therein, here's why there's
such vitality and power, might. For therein is the righteousness
of God. revealed, not human righteousness,
not societal righteousness, not even what we might call moral
righteousness, but the very righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. But it's revealed only from faith
to faith. I'm not going into all that,
we've looked at that earlier. In other words, this takes an
act of God. Because faith, remember, resides, exists only in God intrinsically. The faith that any man or woman
has now as a gift of God, even though it's just that portion
that God gives us, it must come from Him. We don't muster up
faith. We don't work it up. God Almighty
just gives it. From faith to faith. As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Now here's a second
thought about the gospel. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
one. 1 Corinthians chapter one. Now
this here, I know this. I mean, Joe's message for me
was just so poignant, so needed at the time. And for other reasons
as well. I know this, but it's like the
authority of it, the wonder of it, the glory of it slips my
mind. I mean, let me digress a moment. I pretty
much, when it comes to Sunday mornings here, I pretty much,
I know where I'm gonna preach from, because we've been preaching
through Romans. But when you miss three, four Sundays, and
you look down at your notes, and you think, man, man, that
breeds worms. So then Penny sees me do what?
I start writing it again. And writing it again, because
I'm thinking, man, I don't even remember thinking some of this
stuff. Where'd that come from? You understand
what I'm saying? But look at what he says. You're
in 1 Corinthians 1. Let me give you the statement
now. 1 Corinthians 1. This is amazing. Think of this.
God's satisfaction, his pleasure is in gospel preaching. And here's the wonder of it.
It's not angels that he sent to do it. Isn't that a wonder? It's fallen men. That's the one,
it's fallen men. Now I dare not say I understand
the mind of the infinite God, but I can kind of reckon this
one reason. If the angels had been preached,
had been the ones sent to preach it, it would have been to them
just a message. Of their glorious God and his
acts, yes, but they had no relationship to it. God sends out fallen men
to preach this gospel. They can relate to those they're
preaching to. Now, if a man cannot, he is not
truly sin of God. If he's up here to tell you how
things really are, here's where we are, and here's where you
need to get to, that's not gospel preaching. Look at what he says.
First Corinthians chapter one, for the sake of time, let's just
do verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize. He is not throwing off on baptism.
But sometimes it has to be thrown off on the way some people use
it. So I'll say it, for Christ sent
me not to baptize, what? But to preach the gospel. If they don't believe the gospel
first, it don't matter how many times they're baptized, it is
nothing more than a false hope instilled in the soul and minds
of men. I was dunked twice before God
ever let me hear the gospel. And then I was actually baptized.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And
not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross,
now that's, you'll talk about the gospel. If you don't preach
the cross of Christ, that is his person and his work at Calvary,
especially, especially, you're not preaching the gospel. If
you preach all about his glorious deity, his virgin birth, his
mighty works and wonder, raising the dead, giving the blind sight,
healing numerous, all kinds of diseases, and you leave out the
cross, you got nothing. You got no gospel. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. but unto us which are saved is
the power of God. We get a little inkling of that.
I, in person, seen dynamite set off one time. Now, I've seen
it on TV, and of course, I like the old Western, I like the Clint
Eastwood, and he's got his cigar and his dynamite, and he holds
it to the right time. Don't let the bad guys have time
to escape. But I seen, experienced dynamite
going off one time, and we must have been 75 yards away, and
I was a little fella. And I don't know how much they
used, but I'm sure it wasn't much. But we were, all right,
everybody get behind the truck. We're behind the truck, there
were still rocks falling on the truck. Just like, split second,
you hear this thump and a boom. That's what this is. See, when
God Almighty actually gives you eyes to see and ears to hear
and heart to perceive, the gospel will go boom in your soul. It'll so blast it, you'll never
forget that, listen, even if you never heard it again. But aren't you glad God didn't
let us hear the gospel just one time and then say, all right,
now go out and live like you ought to live. Then just give us all the rules
and regulations of what we ought to do and ought not to do. Wouldn't
that be such a misery? Because think of how many times
we don't do what we should, and we do do what we shouldn't do,
and even though we're told what we shouldn't do, what we should
do. What's the only thing that gives you some comfort? When
you hear the gospel. What's the only thing that encourages
you to go on in spite of yourself? Not give up. Not just give back
into the flesh. I'm done with this. That's what
I did in religion all the time. Saved when I was little. Fall
in sin, rededicate. Fall in sin, rededicate. Go back
forward. It was just over. Let me tell
you. I know you can chew this phrase
up. I'm worse now than I ever was. Once God opened my eyes,
I'm worse now than I ever was. Now, I was always bad, it comes
from in here, but when God opened my eyes, I'm worse now than ever,
and it seemed like the older I get, the worse I get. I mean,
I couldn't even come to church this morning without a brouhaha
for my fault. The only thing that gives me
comfort, gives me hope, is to hear about the work of Christ
on the cross for ungodly sinners. because I still am one. It is the power of God. Now here's the thing, for it
is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and man has
some wisdom. I mean, I see things they're
doing now with quantum physics, and it just blows my mind. Things they could do for the
human body. Isn't that astounding? But God says, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise. I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the arguer, the disputer
of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? To believers, to those that are
saved he has. Look. for after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, this is why God was
pleased to do it, just to confound everything else. Look at it,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, and that's preaching
what? The gospel, not just any kind
of preaching, but by preaching the gospel to save them that
believe. Now I can't tell you exactly
when I was converted, saved. That original saving act of God,
can't tell you that. But I remember that man right
there giving me a message by a man that preached years ago. He'd been dead for a long time. And I opened that Manila folder,
Joe. Had those pages in it, several
pages. The title of it was Free Will a Slave. And God put some dynamite in
that message. And it, pow. And I've never got
over it since. I've never got over it since.
Now, did God say to convert me right? I don't know. But it don't
matter. It don't matter. Bless God, it
still affects that same message. Still affects me today. Still
blesses me today. Why? Because that's what pleases
God. And I forget that so quick. Digress again. Internet, YouTube,
Facebook, two TV broadcasts a week. And I'm not gonna say nothing,
because we've seen a few positive results from it. But they are
so small and minuscule in my eyes. And I'd get discouraged. And I'd get discouraged. And
then a man stands up this morning and says that there's rejoicing
in heaven over O-N-E. One sinner that repents. But
let me tell you this, even if none ever do, we preach the gospel
nonetheless. Nonetheless. Here's a third thought
about this, turn to Galatians 1. Galatians 1. And if you don't know where Galatians
is at, it's about five books back from 1 Timothy. Okay, that's
all right. All right, Galatians chapter
1, here's the statement. God's gospel must not be toyed
with. I wanted to put that in a little
modern day, you know what I mean, toyed with. You folks, most everybody
here has worked in some capacity or another, and you know, you've
heard the old phrase, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I like that
phrase, but I'm old school. But we live in a day and age
where they say, we don't care if it's broke or not, we wanna
fix something. You know, they're always fixing something. Well,
let me tell you, don't try to fix God's gospel. It needs no
fixing. Don't toy with it. Well, but
it's so hard. Maybe there was a day when men
and women could more stomach it. They've never been able to
stomach it. It takes an act of God for any human being, a fallen
son or daughter of Adam, to stomach the gospel, if you will. So don't
dumb down the message to try to help out poor sinners. Look at what Paul said. Galatians
chapter one, second time again. Verse six, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ into another gospel, which is not another, but there be
some that would trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Now here it is. But though we, including himself,
or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, Him be accursed. That lets me know, Jack, don't
toy with God's gospel. If it offends, it's meant to. When I started reading that,
Free Will a Slave, I was steeped in free willism. And it was a
part of me that started to boil up. I'd never heard preaching, I
wasn't hearing that, I was reading it. I'd never read something
like that in all my life that I could remember. But when it
said, bang, I couldn't put it down. When I did put it down,
and I'd walk through the house, try to shake it off, you know,
and I'd go back over to that recliner, and I'd sit down, I'd
reach for that manila folder, open it back up. You know why? Because God Almighty laid hold
of me. And once he lays hold of you with sovereign saving
grace, he will not let you go. He may let you fall, but you
will fall in the palm of his hand. You will not fall out here. You will fall right there. Right
there. As we said before, and he just
said it, As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that which ye have received,
let him be accursed. That's serious business, isn't
it? All right, moving on. Here's a fourth thought. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. Let me find my spot first. Think
about this, 1 Corinthians 9. There's a lot, a lot of other
things in this world that are essential. A man that doesn't
take care of his own household, doesn't provide for his own household,
Paul said he's worse than the infidel. You talk about believers,
right? That's vital, isn't it? That's
important, isn't it? But look at what he wrote to
the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 9 verse 16, and it's for us too. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. You see it? Yea, woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. Personal fellowship with others,
and that's what Paul was seeking from these saints. He wanted
to actually physically fellowship with them. Personal fellowship
with others is crucial. Some of us talked about this
today. Having this, or a TV, or even a radio. I mean,
you get the gospel. but it's not intended to be a
substitute for that one-on-one fellowship in person with God's
people. This man was willing to endanger
his life to travel hundreds of miles just to meet this group
of people and preach the gospel to them. And I said, well, I
don't have to go today. I've got it here. God help us. God help us. And I'm not gonna
say if we think that way, You've thought that way, and I don't
have to go today. I don't have to go today. No, you don't have
to, unless God makes you. And I pray God he just keeps
making me, Ellen, and making me. Because you know why? I'd
eventually turn to this only. And then after a while, I'd get
tired of that. And then I'd have nothing. Nothing. You know why? Because you people
encourage me. Miss Small Group, you encourage me. The fact that
you show up, you encourage, and you've been listening to me preach
for 38 years now. God help you. God help you. But why is that? Because it's
the gospel that makes the difference. You see, apart from gospel preaching
as preeminent, it's just socialization. And it's sad to say, now turn
with me. Well, look at verse 29. For I
am sure that when I come unto you, his desire was to come and
see them. Look, I shall come in the fullness
of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. They already knew
the gospel. Ain't that under the rug? Let's
put that behind and go on to greater things. Greater? Something
that pleased God? We want to go on to something
greater. You know why? Because the gospel is the message
about God's dear son. The thing most, the person most
dear to God in all that is. Even his elect, God's elect were
chosen in him. If it wasn't for him, God could
not have elected us. We weren't worth electing. But the Son was worth electing. God chose us in Him. In Him. Now turn to Acts 2. I will try
to move on. Acts 2. Now I want us to note the wording
here. Acts chapter 2 verse 41. We're
not going into a lot of the context. Then, They that gladly received
his word were baptized. You see, gladly. He didn't talk
them into anything. He preached it, they gladly received
it. All right, now do what? Go into
the water. Isn't that pretty simple? And yet, what do religionists
do today? They try to browbeat men, use
philosophy and psychology on them, get them into the pool,
get them to make a profession. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized. But won't we get more converts
if we just do these other things? No. You may get more responses,
but you will not get more converts to the gospel if you don't preach
the gospel. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized. The same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls. Now look at it. And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship. Do you see that? There was, there's
this word. We're not against socialization.
We've already done some socialization today, being here together, right?
There's nothing wrong with talking about hunting and fishing and
whatever, but that's not fellowship. That's socialization. Fellowship
scripture, now though people use that word fellowship to mean
everything under the sun now, but fellowship scripturally speaking
has to do with at least two individuals having something in common that
binds them together that they cannot get over. They just love
to talk about, and that's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because look at how, excuse me, Luke puts it, And they continued
steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and in fellowship. Is that what it says? No, because
the doctrine cannot be associated from the fellowship. And the
fellowship can't be disassociated from the doctrine. Our fellowship
is in the truth of God. Because remember, it's they that
gladly received the word. And look at what word was preached,
Jesus Christ. See? Somebody said, y'all just
caught up too much on Jesus Christ. I wish to God that were true.
I mean, I really wish to God it was true. It's not, but that,
well, you just, I told you about the one, I didn't see it, but
I heard it from a horse's mouth who listened to the horse say
it. We got to get over this thing about Jesus Christ and him crucified.
No. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship. Then notice, and
in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Do you see it? How the
last two are separated, but the first two are joined together.
You see it? You see, if we don't agree in
the doctrine of Christ, now there's a lot of things we may not see
exactly eye to eye on in this book. There's a lot of stuff
in this book But John said, if any man come to your house and
don't bring the doctrine of Christ, don't even let him in your house,
don't bid him Godspeed. Is that not what John said? That's
what he told us. Now, let's move on. Caring for and
supplying the needs of others. I mean, it don't matter who.
but especially fellow believers. Especially. They're first. And the truth is, if somebody
has a need here, and we can supply it, we're wrong if we go out
and start supplying needs somewhere else. And let a fellow member
of this local body suffer. Now do you understand what I'm
saying? but caring for and supplying for the needs of others, especially
fellow believers, is a," I said a, not the, but it is a hallmark
of a God-given faith. Christ said to a group of people,
they're on the right hand, they're called the sheep. I'm paraphrasing
now. See, you fed me when I was hungry. You gave me to drink
when I was thirsty. You visited me when I was sick.
I said, well, Lord, when did we do that? When you did it to
one of these, my brother. That's a hallmark of a God-given
faith. You remember what James says? You see a guy laying there
in need, he's in that bed, he's sick, he's hurt, and you've got
some sustenance in your pocket. You've got a means of helping.
And you say to him, be thou warmed and filled. and you walk off. James says
that is not a faith that is accompanied by genuine works. If you got
the means, you help out. That's how true faith is manifested.
Faith without works is what? Dead. I thought you people don't
believe in works. We don't believe in works, but
we sure do want to do them. Our belief is in Christ the Lord. Our hope's in him, but bless
God, we all need help. Think about it. But great, even
great humanitarian efforts. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. Those
of you who know something of the scripture, you probably know
where I'm going. 1 Corinthians 13. Even great humanitarian efforts
apart from truth. And before I go any further,
even great humanitarian efforts apart from truth, two plus two
is not truth, it's fact. The preaching of the facts of
the person and work of Jesus Christ is the truth. Remember
what John wrote? The law came by Moses. That's
God's law. The one he wrote with his finger
in Stone. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth. The law is true, but it's not
the truth. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. Have all the law you want. If
you miss Christ, you got no truth. But even great humanitarian efforts
apart from the truth is no true love and has zero profit. This is astounding because my
mind still thinks, but if you do something really good, God's
got to look on that with some kind of smile. No, no. And my flesh still refuses to
lay hold of that. And love it and believe it. But
look at what Paul writes. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity, that's love, I am
become as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And though
I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge, and though I have all faith that I could remove
mountains and have not this charity, this love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor. That's a pretty, I don't know
anybody that's done that. All their goods? A lot of very
rich men have given a lot of money to help out folk, but they
didn't give it all. Though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned, I'm a martyr,
and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. That's an astounding
thing. What does that mean? Well, I
just don't help people out. No, but these things provide
no merit before God. Because look at one of the hallmarks
of this true love. Look at it, I should say two.
Look at verse six. This is what love does. Well,
one it doesn't do, the other it doesn't. Rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in what? The truth, not just facts. There's
a lot of people that know the facts of the Bible, but they
don't know Him who is the truth. And somebody says, preacher,
it can't be that simple. It is that simple, and yet it
is that impossible for us as natural men and women to grasp
a hold of this thing. God has made it so simple, or
as the KJV translates it in one place, singular, single. He's placed all of His glory
and all of His will, and all of His purpose, and all of His
salvation in one person. Just one person. I don't have
to figure out 12 persons. I don't have to come to know
and get to relate to 12 persons. It's just one person. And by nature, we hate that one
person. We may love everybody else, but
we're gonna hate that one person. until the gospel comes in what?
Power. And all of a sudden, that one person becomes the most preeminent
person that ever was, is, or shall be. You see, even when
we get to glory and we're done with this, we're done with this. We're still gonna be what? Rejoicing
in the Lamb that was slain. Go back and read it, Revelation
21, 22. Rejoicing in the Lamb. You see, deliverance, think about
it, deliverance from the unbelieving cannot be honorably obtained
by denying the gospel. Things could be easier for you,
it could be, it may not be, but things could be easier if you
just, just couch everything, just let it go. Don't speak up,
don't say anything. Now, folks, listen to me. When
you're at work and your employer's paying you to do a job, you do
that job for that employer. You do that, God tells us to
do that in this book. The employer's not paying you
to witness to people about Jesus Christ, but if God raises up
that opportunity while you're there under that employer, then
you'd be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within
you. You don't have to preach it, just tell them what God did
for you. Just tell them what God did for you. You see, deliverance
from the unbelieving cannot be honorably obtained by denial
of the gospel. Turn to Matthew 10. We're almost
done. Matthew 10. Matthew 10 and verse, start at
verse 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven. but whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Amen. Yes, the whole point of this
is this. I'm not gonna read it. Romans 1, one through four. Paul
defines the gospel force. It is a person. Amen. The gospel
of God, then he talks about which was promised by the holy prophets
before. The gospel of God, after the
parentheses, concerning his son. So when somebody comes and tells
you, well, you make bread this way, and you put these ingredients
in it, and you put this much of that ingredient, this is how
you make a really great bread, and they say, that's the gospel
truth. You got the right to look at them and say, your bread might
be great, but you have no idea what gospel truth is. Now I'm
just being silly to make a point. People talk about, that's the
gospel truth, that's the gospel truth. You know, two plus two
is four, that's the gospel. No, that's fact. But it's not
the gospel truth. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank
you for this food that we have here, Lord. May we enjoy our
fellowship and our time to socialize together. May we benefit one
another, help one another. Lord, forgive us of our sins,
in Christ's name, amen.