If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Revelations chapter 14. Revelations chapter 14. Might as well begin reading in verse
one. I'm gonna go to verse seven. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the Mount Zion. And with him 144,000 having his
father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice
from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a
great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung, as it were, a
new song before the throne. and before the four beasts and
the elders, and no man could learn that song but the 144,000
which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were
not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. and
in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. And I saw another angel fly in
the midst of heaven, having the eternal, excuse me, the everlasting
gospel, to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud
voice, fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment
has come, and worship him that made heaven and earth and the
sea and the fountains of waters. And I'm gonna stop right there. Okay. I know from that reading,
some people may be thinking I'm going to talk about future events.
I'm not, I'm not. There's a couple of things I
can tell you here, but I'm not going into future events. I can
tell you about this 144,000 that are written here, they are not
the Jehovah Witnesses, okay? Just forget about that stupidity,
okay? That's one thing, okay? Am I
sure? Yes, you know? The other thing I can tell you
about these people is they are sinners saved by grace. Now, how can I tell you that?
Am I sure? Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't
have said it if I wasn't sure. In verse three, they sung a new
song before the throne, right? No one could learn that song
but the 144,000, what's it say? Which were redeemed from the
earth. And then in verse four, these
were redeemed from among men. I'm gonna tell you something,
nobody but sinners needs to be redeemed. And no one but sinners
is going to be redeemed. And that redemption is by the
blood of the Lamb. Okay, that's my future events
talk for the day. These belong to the Lamb of God.
These belong to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world and took away their sin. And they follow him wherever
he goes. I like that, I do. I'll call them by name, and what
are they gonna do? They're gonna follow me. They're
gonna follow me. That's it. Anyhow, what I wanna
speak of is actually in verse six, and it's just three words. And I saw another angel fly in
the midst of heaven, having, and here's the three words, the
everlasting gospel. I like this, I like this. I'm
gonna start with the first word, the first little word, the word
the. Now here's your English lesson
for today. The is what they call a definite article, all right? It's a definite article. And
this particular definite article, the word the, all right, it is
used in language to make known or to emphasize a singularity. The, okay? It means there's one
of whatever it's referencing. The Christ of God. There's only
one, there's only one. Wait a minute, the God of Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. There's only one, there's only
one. And here it is, the gospel, the gospel. Now, in the New Testament,
Because the word gospel I don't think is actually in the Old
Testament at all, as far as in the English word. In the New
Testament, 104 times is the word gospel used. And it's used in
98 verses, because there's some verses it uses it twice. Now,
86 times in front of the word gospel is the word thee. The gospel is at 86 times in
80 verses in the New Testament. You understand what I'm saying
here? The vast majority of scripture referring to the gospel is referring
to it singular. Singular. Walter said it this
morning on TV. There's only one gospel. There's
only one gospel. Now here's the thing. What he's
saying here in Revelations And what I wanna point out, there's
always only been one gospel. Because we are told to preach
the gospel. We are told to believe the gospel. And we are told to obey the gospel. There's only one, there's only
one gospel. Paul wrote one time that he was
set for the defense of the gospel. Now, Jesus Christ sent his disciples
out in pairs. Why? To preach the gospel, the
gospel. And look at the Apostle Paul.
When they went out to preach the gospel, you saw Paul and
Barnabas, Paul and Silas, Paul and Luke, Paul and Timothy, and
Paul and Titus. And then you had other divisions
along the way. Why? To preach the gospel. To preach the gospel. They went
into one place and they said, these are those that have turned
the world upside down. Now, I do believe that was a
slight exaggeration. They're trying to say that Paul
and, I don't know if it was Paul and Silas or Paul and Barnabas
at that time, they're trying to say they were troublemakers.
Well, I'm gonna tell you something, wherever the gospel is preached,
trouble follows. Actually, maybe in fact, trouble
may come looking for you. Because there's one thing I want
you to know about the gospel and I want you to know about
the everlasting gospel. We'll get into that in a minute.
Here it is. The gospel is the gospel of salvation by grace
in Christ Jesus alone. Alone. Understand? I said it a few weeks ago, Christ
is all. He's all my righteousness, he's
all my sanctification, he's all my wisdom, he's all of my redemption. And if he's not all of yours,
you don't know him. Sorry. Jesus doesn't half save
you and then you gotta get yourself the rest of the way. He don't
nine-tenths save you and you gotta provide that one little
thing. The preacher where he used to
go, that's what he told me. You know, Jesus paid it all except
for unbelief. And I looked at him, I told him,
actually I didn't look at him, I was on the phone, I said, I
told him, unbelief's a sin. If Jesus Christ didn't pay for
it, I'm dead. You're dead. We're all dead. Because one sin will condemn
you. But bless God, salvation is by
grace. Through faith and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. And the gospel is the gospel
of sovereign grace. A ruling grace, a powerful grace
in Christ Jesus and nowhere else. You understand, these men went
out Christ told him, go into all the world and do what? Preach the gospel. Preach the
gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. That's what it says. Walter went
into it just a little while ago. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. to the Jew, to the Greek, to
anyone, but only to them that believe. Understand? Only to them that believe. The gospel is important, it's
vital, it's necessary, but here's the thing. The gospel doesn't
save, Christ saves. and that's the gospel. The gospel
is that Jesus Christ saves from sin completely. Now, my point here is this is called
here the everlasting gospel. I'm gonna tell you something.
I went through my computer program, my sword or whatever it is, I
forget. The one actually on my computer, not on my phone. And
I went and I looked at every time the word gospel is used
in the New Testament. I could find two instances where
there's an adjective in front of it. That's all, two. And one of them, the adjective
is not good. Because the only other place,
the adjective in front of it, an adjective is just, there's
another English lesson, okay. An adjective is a word that modifies
a noun. The everlasting, eternal gospel. Everlasting is an adjective and
the gospel is a noun, okay. There's another place where an
adjective is used but it's not good because where Paul says,
I marvel that you are so soon removed from the gospel to another
gospel. That word another is an adjective.
But it's not another. Understand, that's the only other
adjective I could find. But this word everlasting is
an adjective. Now it comes from a verb, it
comes from a noun, there's all kinds of different versions of
it, okay? But here's the thing. The word everlasting means eternal. And even better, I like, from
my personal understanding of English, perpetual. I like that word, it's perpetual.
Now, the actual definition of it in the Greek, you wanna look
it up, it says without beginning, going on now, and without end. That's what this word means,
everlasting. Understand, this is the gospel
before the world began. This is the gospel after the
world ends. Oh my. This gospel is going absolutely
nowhere. It's a fact. Oh, I like that,
I do. Without beginning and without
end. Matter of fact, this is the same word used in John 3.15
and John 3.16. The same exact word is used,
talking about eternal life and everlasting life. This is the
everlasting gospel. The everlasting gospel. The gospel
is without beginning, the gospel is without end. Understand, there
was not a different gospel in the Old Testament. It's not. You understand? If anyone was
saved, the ones that were saved in the Old Testament were saved
by Christ. And if they weren't saved by
Christ, they aren't saved. And that's just all I can say
about it. What is it? The reason The gospel is without
beginning and without end is because the gospel is Jesus Christ. He is the good news. And you understand, Jesus Christ
is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Here's what I'm
saying. This gospel is the same yesterday,
and today, and forever. Because Christ is the same. The gospel is described in the
scriptures in many ways. Now it's just a description.
I looked them up and I counted them. It's called the gospel
of Christ 10 separate times. It's called the gospel of God
seven different times, seven different places. Paul actually
calls it my gospel in three places. Paul also wrote in three places
our gospel. Our gospel, I like that. Two
times it's called the gospel of peace. Once it's called the
gospel of his dear son. It's called the gospel of the
grace of God. I like that too. And in one place,
Paul uses it as a reference saying he preached the gospel of the
uncircumcision while Peter preached the gospel of the circumcision. It's called also, it's also called
the gospel of your salvation. I like that one too, I do. I
like that one. Now, and two times it's called
the glorious gospel. Now you might think that's an
adjective, but it's not. It's a noun. If you literally
translate it, it would be The glory gospel. Or the gospel of God's glory. I like that. Because the gospel
is of the glory of God. The gospel gives glory to God.
Why? Because Christ gives glory to
God. And the salvation of his people
gives glory to God. Aha. And none of the glory goes to
you. None of it goes to me. Now, said all that to say this,
Mason, I was getting to it. There's only one gospel. The
gospel of Christ, the gospel of God, the gospel of the circumcision,
the gospel of the uncircumcision. There's only one gospel. It's described in many ways.
It has a description there, the gospel
of peace. There's only peace through the
gospel in Jesus Christ. And in Jesus Christ is all peace.
But there's only one gospel, the everlasting gospel. No matter how it is named, no
matter how it's described, the gospel of Christ is singular. And it is an eternal, everlasting,
perpetual gospel. One gospel. John 1 once put it
this way, in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God and
the word was God, the same was in the beginning with God. That's
good news. That's good news. Now as the
word made flesh and he walked among us, he walked with us. That's the everlasting gospel.
Now if you wanna see it recorded in Genesis, you can look at Genesis
1-1 if you want, and I'll tell you this, the first words recorded
as spoken in Genesis 1-1 are this. It's in Genesis 1 and verse
three, excuse me. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. I'm gonna
tell you folks, that's the gospel. This book right here starts with
God saying, let there be light. And there was light, now, and
there was light before the sun or the moon are created. And
Jesus Christ, what? Is the light. Now, you wanna
know how this book ends in Revelations? Jesus Christ is the light. By God, that's good news. That's
good news. That's the everlasting gospel.
God said, let there be light, and there was light. Oh, I like
that, I do, I do. Then in Genesis three, God himself,
Christ himself, tells Adam and Eve of the coming Messiah. He
says, the seed of the woman shall come. And that seed of woman
is gonna bruise the head of the serpent. Even though the serpent's
gonna bruise his heel, he's gonna bruise the head of that serpent. He made coats of skin and clothed
them both. I'm gonna tell you something.
God has promised us both the garments of salvation and the
robe, singular, of righteousness. His righteousness. That's the
gospel. That's the gospel. The Messiah
was coming. Oh, I like that. Abraham told
Isaac, he said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for the
burnt offering. And I love that statement, and
you can take that statement any way you want. God gave a ram
caught by its horns in a thicket as a substitute for Isaac that
day. That day. But God also promised
that day the Lamb of God that would come and take away the
sin of the world. And God provided him. God promised
him. Then God provided him. He came. He came. And he purged, took
away all of the sins of his people. That's the everlasting gospel.
A virgin gave birth to Immanuel, God with us. A child was born,
oh, but a son, a son was given. It's given, I like that. And
I'm gonna tell you, the government was on his shoulders. And the
government is on his shoulders. And the government always will
be on his shoulders. I have to remember that when
I complain about our government. I don't sometimes, but I need
to. Because I know who's running
this place. I know him. He's revealed himself to me. The Lord has committed all judgment
unto the Son. Unto the Son. And the Lord has
given Jesus Christ power over all flesh, all flesh, why? To give eternal life to as many
as the Father gave him. That's good news. That's good
news. Because you understand, the world
won't understand, but hopefully you understand. I wanna understand. If he doesn't give eternal life,
we're dead. We're dead. If he does not give
eternal life, you're dead. Oh my. The everlasting gospel
is this. Jesus Christ gives life. He has power over all flesh and
he gives life to as many as the Father gave to him. The everlasting gospel. Understand. Paul tells, I think
it's in Galatians. Let me see. Galatians three,
yeah. Let's see, verse seven. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. preached before
the gospel unto Abraham. What did I say? There's no different
gospel in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. Now the
method of delivery has changed. God has sent forth his preachers
now. God sends preachers to people
he wants to hear the gospel. And God gives to those people
who hear the gospel ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to understand
or that gospel will not profit them. What'd it say? The gospel was preached unto
them as well as unto us, but it didn't profit them, why? Not
being mixed with faith in them, not that preached it, that heard
it, that heard it. But God preached before the gospel
unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
So then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Abraham had the gospel preached
to him. What gospel was it? The everlasting gospel that salvation
is in God's hands and not yours. And Abraham, Now, Abraham did
get up and get out, and Abraham did many things, but you understand
why Abraham did that? Abraham believed God. Abraham
believed his gospel. Now, believing the gospel may
lead you to do a lot of things. But we believe according to the
working of his mighty power. Not according to the working
up of me and my heart. Not according to the working
of some preacher trying to fan a faint spark in my soul or some
place. You understand? We believe through
the power of God. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. Verse seven says this, saying
with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him. For the hour
of his judgment has come and worship him that made heaven
and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. Fear God,
give glory to him, and worship him. Worship him. The creator
of all. He's the creator and the finisher
of our faith. Of faith period, but the one
he gives us. The creator and giver of life. Here's the other thing. He's
the creator and the giver of the everlasting gospel. It's his gospel, and he is the
only one worthy of worship. Here's the thing. There always
has been good news. I like that. You understand,
the gospel has been with God before we needed the gospel. The gospel existed before there
was a need of the gospel. And the gospel is eternal. You understand? There's no expiration
date on the gospel. I've heard that before. I'm not
going into it, There's times they say, well, that gospel thing's
over and now we gotta go back to work or we gotta go back to
law. The gospel hasn't gone anywhere. The law never saved anybody in
the past or it will never save anybody in the future. If you
think that, you're wrong. I mean, that's just all there
is to it, you're wrong. Salvation is by grace, has always been
by grace, and always shall be by grace. by grace in Christ
Jesus. And we have his everlasting gospel. Oh, I like that. You understand,
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and he did. He did. That's good news. That's good news. Ah, call his name Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sins. And he did. He did. You understand? The gospel is the good news. The everlasting gospel is the
good news. Now we can say that Christ has
performed the redemption of his people. Redemption's over. There is no more offering for
sin. There is no more sacrifice for
sin. He has purchased his people with his own blood. And that's good news. That's
good news. And he's calling them in right
now by name. By name. Other sheep I have. And if he has them, what's he
gotta, them I must bring. And if he must bring them, what's
he gonna do? He's gonna bring them. I mean, jeez, come on. He's calling them right now by
name, and they hear him, and they follow him. They follow
the lamb. And they believe him. And they
also hear and believe the everlasting gospel. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. Be with Paul and Walter as they
come to preach. Excuse me. Help us, Lord, to
stay following you wherever you'd lead us. For we know Your way is the only
way. And thank you, Lord, for your
Son, our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray,
amen.