As you can see this morning,
the title of the message is The Necessity of Hearing the Gospel. You can go ahead and turn. It's
taken from Romans chapter 10. If you want to go ahead and turn
there. The Necessity of Hearing the
Gospel. How necessary it is to hear the
gospel. Not just any gospel, we're talking
about the true, true gospel. Not a false gospel. And we're
also talking about, as far as a hearing of the gospel, we're talking about not only
the hearing the gospel with the physical ear as you sit down
and hear a preacher up in the pulpit preaching the gospel,
but we're going to be talking about As far as hearing the gospel,
hearing the gospel with a spiritual ear. A spiritual ear that's where
a sinner has been made alive by God through regeneration and
conversion, been given the Spirit of God to reveal this gospel
to them, cause them to believe it, to have no other hope but
this gospel that reveals Christ and His righteousness alone.
Most all of religion today that come in the name of Christ and
they call themselves Christian will agree with this statement
here about the necessity of hearing the gospel. But not all of religions
that profess to be Christian today will agree on exactly what
this gospel is, the definition of this gospel. Most will differ
as they define it and tell you what they believe this gospel
is. Well, let's look at what God's word says concerning the
gospel here and what we mean by the gospel of God's grace.
In order to do this, we're going to go and look at a few scriptures
here in the Bible to see what God says the gospel is. So if
you would, the first verse we'll look at is Romans 1, we'll begin
at verse 15. Here, the Apostle Paul is speaking
here to the church at Rome and he says, so as much as in me
is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
And then Paul says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it, this gospel, this this gospel that is the power of God
unto salvation, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek. For therein, within this gospel
message, Paul says, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith, which
is that objective faith, that faith that reveals all the particulars
of Christ and what he did. in his person, in his work. And
the two faiths here, that subjective faith, that faith wherein the
believer, one that God has regenerated and converted and brought to
faith, that he's experienced, came to experience these things. As it is written, the just, those
that are justified before God shall live by faith. We see here
that the true gospel concerns Christ. It's the gospel of Christ,
and this gospel message reveals all the particulars, not just
a historical event of Christ and his death on the cross. This
gospel reveals all of what Christ accomplished in his person, in
his work, that provided all things necessary for God to reveal himself
as a just God when he justifies an ungodly sinner. Then here
in verse 17, it tells us that within this gospel message is
the righteousness of God revealed. What is this righteousness of
God that's revealed here that Paul's talking about? Well, it's
the all things performed by Christ, our Lord and Savior, as he obeyed
God's law perfectly, even his shedding of blood on Calvary's
cross. In other words, it's Christ's
satisfaction. to God's holy law and justice,
the very righteousness of God. God is just when he justifies
based on the blood and on the righteousness of Christ alone.
Now, this righteousness that we're talking about that is contained
within the gospel message that we're to preach must be had by
any sinner who hopes to stand justified and be found not guilty
before holy God. Let's look at a couple of examples
in scriptures of two men in the Old Testament who believed this
gospel, same as believers do today, and who stood righteous
and justified before God. Look at Romans 4 beginning at
verse 1. Paul here says, What shall we
say then that Abraham my father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found? What did Abraham find out? What did he believe about these
things? For if Abraham were justified,
made righteous by his works, he hath whereof the glory, but
not before God. And Abraham knew this, that he
wasn't justified by his works, he was justified by Christ alone. based on his work alone. For
what saith the scripture, it says here, Abraham believed God,
and it, that work of Christ, work he performed, was counted
unto Abraham for righteousness. It was imputed. It was charged
to Abraham for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, we're not talking about
the faith itself, wherein God regenerates, converts by his
Holy Spirit, and gives his grace of faith to the believer. That's
not counted for righteousness, but it's what that faith, the
objective faith here that we look to Christ, Christ's work,
is counted for righteousness. And then it says, even as David,
and we're speaking of King David here, also described the blessedness
of the man to whom God imputed righteousness without works,
saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute or charge with sin. As you can see here
in this last verse that we just looked at, there are some sinners
for whom God will not impute or charge them with their sin.
God will not charge them with their sin. Imputation means to
charge the merit or the demerit of a work from one person to
another. It is like someone taking responsibility
of another person's debt. saying, put that on my account,
charge it to me. And this is what Christ said
to the father in that everlasting covenant of grace made before
time, as Christ was made sure of the debt owed by all of God's
elect, all that the father gave him from eternity. And not only
did Christ say, charge their debt to my account, I'll pay
it. But in the fullness of time, in the fullness of time, he came
to this earth as their representative, their surety, to pay that debt,
and he paid it off. He paid it in full when he went
to the cross and shed his blood. He paid that debt, that sin debt
that we all owe, but none of us could pay. Look at 2 Corinthians
5.21 and we'll see a picture of this imputation. It says,
for he, God the Father, hath made him God the Son, to be sin
for us. He charged Him with sin. Who's
sin? All those that God the Father
chose from eternity and give to Him. And then it says, who
knew no sin, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Here we have the debt of all
the sins of God's people laid to the charge of Christ, God
the Son. who knew no sin. And we also
have the virtue of the value of Christ's righteousness laid
to the charge of God's people. This is the righteousness of
God in Christ. That's the imputation, the imputation
of righteousness to God's people. This is the ground and the basis
of all salvation. This is the gospel. What a blessing. Now, after going over some of
the things concerning the gospel, and we don't have time to, it
takes many, many sermons when you're talking about the gospel,
defining the gospel, and those sort of things. But after going
over these things that we've talked about here about the gospel
and what we must believe, let's look at the last two verses that
we dealt with in our last study. of Romans 10, before we begin
in verse 12 here, to kind of give you an idea of where we're
heading. In Romans 10, beginning at verse 10, it says, for with
the heart, the heart here always means the mind, your affections,
and your will. It's not mystical. man believeth
under righteousness with the heart man believeth under righteousness
and with the mouth confession is made in the salvation for
the scripture says whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed now as paul begins here in verse 12 here he identifies
the whosoever believeth spoken of in verse 11 here in verse
12 paul says for there is no difference between the jew and
the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that
call upon him. God has no respect for persons
when it comes to who he saves. He saves out of every kindred,
tongue, and nation. Also, when it comes to the judgment
of God's law against sin, There's no difference between the Jew
and the Greek. Now, I'll be using the term the
Jew and the Greek or the Jew and the Gentile, and the reason
Paul is concentrating so much on this, showing you that there
is no difference, he's talking about whosoever believeth. There's
no difference. as far as who believes. It's not restricted just to the
Jews. And he concentrated on this because they had been brought
up, as far as the Israelites and the Jews, to believe that
they were God's chosen people and really nobody else was going
to be saved. So he concentrated on this when
he talked about whosoever. He says, no, it's not restricted
just to the Jews. It's whosoever will believe this
gospel that we're talking about. Let's look at Romans 3, 23. It
says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
There's no difference. All of us have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Both Jew and Gentile deserve
God's wrath and condemnation because of sin. That's what we
deserve. The religious Jew who had the
law was in no way better off than the Gentile when it comes
to deserving God's favor. or his blessings based on their
works of law. On the other hand, Paul makes
it clear that when it comes to the salvation of sinners, there's
also no difference between the Jew and the Greek. Because if
any are saved, if any are saved, it is by God's free, sovereign
mercy and grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. When it comes
to salvation, God does not save based on nationality. He doesn't
save based on race of any kind. He's the same Lord over all,
equally, and is rich unto all that call upon him. The Jew who
is saved by grace is no more saved, no more righteous, and
no more closer to God than the Gentile or any other race who
is saved by grace. Christ's blood and righteousness
alone secures and entitles all of God's elect, both Jew and
Gentile, equally to the blessings of eternal life and glory. If
you're saved this morning, know this, that you're being saved
was not and is not based on your deeds of law. All of God's elect
are saved in one way, in one way only. And that is by the
doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, his righteousness
alone, as it is freely charged to your account, not based on
your deeds of law. Salvation is of the Lord. Whosoever
believeth the true gospel, no matter what your nationality
shall be saved and shall not be ashamed or confounded at the
judgment. Also know this. that if you find
that you are one of those whose eyes and ears have been opened
to see that salvation is not by your works but by grace alone,
know this, that your faith, your believing is only the fruit and
effect of what Christ has already accomplished. Your faith does
not save you. God-given faith doesn't look
to itself for salvation. or is having anything to do with
your salvation. True faith looks outside of itself
and only looks to Christ, which is the object of your faith.
That's what you look to. You see, this is why these doctrines
of universal atonement and free willism is such a God dishonoring
doctrine. The reason it is so dishonoring
is that it makes faith the savior. rather than Christ alone. Let
me explain that. Anytime you say that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to this earth and he shed his precious blood
on the cross of Calvary for every single individual without exception. He shed his precious blood for
every single individual without exception. then you can see that
his blood and his righteousness is not really the thing that
makes the difference between heaven and hell. You have to
conclude that. You have to see that it's something
else other than the blood and righteousness of Christ, if you
say that. And in most cases here, people say, yeah, but you've
got to believe. And it's their faith. They say, well, you've
got to believe. those that would believe these
doctrines of universal atonement, that Christ died for every single
person without exception. Well, you've got to believe.
Yeah, you've got to believe, but you've got to believe that
your believing don't have anything to do with your salvation. It's
Christ's righteousness alone. But that's the reason it's so
dishonoring, this doctrine of free willism. Our next verse
deals with the whosoever here in verse 13. where Paul says,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. God's way of saving sinner, both
Jew and Gentile, is a narrow way. It's not that wide way.
Look at what Christ says of himself in John 14 6. Jesus said unto
him, and here when Christ is speaking here, he's speaking
to his disciples concerning his departure, and specifically he's
answering Thomas here, and he said, Jesus said unto him, I
am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Also look at Acts 4.12. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name unto heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. Once again, I don't care
what men might tell you, that there's so many different ways
to come to God. No, there's one way, and that's
Christ and Him alone. God excludes no sinner who calls
upon the name of the Lord, as stated here in verse 13. Look
back at Romans 10, 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. All who call upon the
name of the Lord according to God's word shall be saved. The question is, what does it
mean to call upon the name of the Lord? Well, to call upon
the name of the Lord is to call upon him as we are enlightened
by God, the Holy Spirit, through the word of truth, the gospel
that identifies who God is and who Christ is and how he saves
the sinner. The Holy Spirit shows us our utter depravity and sinfulness
so as to leave us with no hope of salvation. in ourselves are
by best works which according to Isaiah 64 6 it says but we
are as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy
rags when standing before a holy God our works our deeds of law
are as filthy rags we must have a righteousness a perfect righteousness
to stand before this holy God, and the only way you can get
it is through Christ. Through His righteousness alone,
this charge to your account legally, God the Father imputes it to
your account. He also shows us that God would
be just to condemn us based on our best efforts to keep the
law. He also shows us that we have
but one hope of eternal salvation, and that hope is Christ, and
Him crucified and risen again. Therefore, to call upon the name
of the Lord is to call upon Christ as he's identified and distinguished
in this gospel that you must believe. His name is his glory. It's who he is, and it's the
glory of his person and his finished work on the cross of Calvary.
He is God in human flesh. He is the God-man who was obedient
unto death for the sins of his sheep. He worked out a perfect righteousness
that identifies God to be a just God when he saves sinners based
on Christ's work alone. All who come to Christ seeking
mercy shall be saved. God is never and will never turn
away a sinner who truly calls upon the name of the Lord, but
always remember that God has to make the sinner willing in
the day of his power. And He does this in the day of
His power or in His own time. God the Father brings that lost
sheep into the fold by His Holy Spirit. As the gospel is preached
out there to them and they hear it and they believe it, look
at what God's Word says about the will of man here. It gives
us an idea. Look at Romans 9.16. says, so then it is not of him,
of not a man that willeth. That is, it's not according to
man's will, nor of him that runneth. That is, it's not according to
man's works, but of God that showeth mercy. It's of God that
shows mercy to the sinner. It's only by God's mercy and
grace that any sinner is saved and made righteous before God.
Romans 10 13 says whosoever shall call then in verse 14 here it
says this how then shall they call on him of whom they have
not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they've
not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher calling
upon the Lord is the fruit and the effect of believing you can't
call on on the name of the Lord if you don't know anything about
Him. God has to reveal these things to you of what Christ
has accomplished in His work. And this is the gift of faith
that God gives to His people. God-given faith is a result of
what Christ accomplished at the cross. Christ's death on the
cross, what He did on the behalf of all those that the Father
gave Him, what He did It made sure that all those that he represented
were going to come to faith and repentance. Look at Ephesians
2 and begin at verse 8. Paul says, For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. This call
of a sinner unto the Lord for salvation is the call of faith. This calling is believing and
trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true Savior. Believing
is the fruit of hearing. You must hear something in order
to believe it. Believing is the fruit of hearing. God sends the gospel to his elect.
They hear it. God, the Holy Spirit convinces
them of the truth of it. And by faith, they receive it. They believe it. This also is
by the grace of God, is the gift of God to his people. Let's look
at some verses here that speak of hearing and believing the
gospel. Christ had just finished telling his disciples the parable
of the seed and the sower. Once he completed the parable,
his disciples asked him why he spoke to the people in parables.
Christ then answered them in Matthew 13 beginning at verse
11. And he says this, he answered and said unto them, because it
is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
By the kingdom of heaven is meant the gospel itself. But to them,
it's not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore,
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, in other
words, they're able to look at Christ, and as it says here further,
and they're hearing, and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand. They're able to hear what Christ
says with the physical ear, but God has not done a work. in their
heart, and so they're not able to hear it with a spiritual ear
and understand and believe what he's saying. Now, then look at
Matthew 13, 16. Then Christ told them, But blessed
are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men
have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen
them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not
heard them. Men by nature, that means as
we're born into this world by nature, all sinners, deserving
of God's eternal wrath. Men by nature are spiritually
dead and deaf. That's what happened in the Garden
of Eden when Adam disobeyed God. He died. He died spiritually
immediately, but he died physically later in time. The heart and
the ears must be circumcised spiritually by the Holy Spirit. God must regenerate, that's what
this circumcision means. It means, it stands for regeneration
and conversion. God must regenerate the sinner,
else man will not only refuse to hear, but they'll hate the
gospel of Christ. Let's look at what Stephen told
the religious Jewish leaders just before they stoned him.
Look at Acts 7.51. Stephen said, ye stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart, that means that they're unregenerate,
and ears. You do always resist the Holy
Ghost, as your fathers did, so do you. This circumcision takes
place in the new birth. You must be born again. This
is regeneration and conversion by God the Holy Spirit. Hearing
comes by means of preaching, the preaching of the gospel,
and in the power of the Holy Spirit. The phrase, you do always
resist the Holy Ghost here, the resistance made by these persons
was not the resisting of the Holy Spirit in them. In other
words, they didn't have the Holy Spirit in them to be able to
resist Him. These individuals that Stephen
was talking to, they didn't have God's Spirit in them. The resisting
here is the resisting of the Spirit of God as they rejected
and resisted God's ministers, His apostles, and particularly
here with Stephen as they resisted what Stephen was trying to tell
them concerning Christ. They resisted and rejected the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace that was preached to them. The resisting here has not meant
that sinners can resist the internal operation of God's grace or God's
irresistible call For they cannot resist that. When God comes to
you in the power of the Holy Spirit, it does its work. It regenerates. It converts. The resisting here is the external
ministry of the Word, which is the resisting of all that objective
light that was presented to them, and that knowledge which pointed
sinners to Christ, being the Messiah. the one God, the one
sin of God as a savior of his people. And if you resist this
gospel of salvation by Christ alone, then it can be said that
you resist the Holy Spirit. Sinners are not saved without
the gospel message being communicated, being preached to them in some
way through the preaching of the gospel. Now, this shows,
this shows not only the necessity of the gospel ministry, but also
points out the subject matter of it, which is Christ and Him
crucified. They that preach ought to preach
concerning the person of Christ, His offices, His grace, His righteousness,
His blood sacrifice, and His satisfaction to God's holy law
and justice. Otherwise, men may hear a preacher
but not hear the true Christ of the Bible. Christ is the true
object of the preaching of all God ministers. A good example
of this is John the Baptist here in John 1 beginning verse 36,
which says, again, the next day after John stood and two of his
disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold,
the Lamb of God. Now, John, when he said, Behold
the Lamb of God, he knew something about Christ and his work as
that Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. That
Lamb of God speaking of Christ, which all those sacrifices in
the Old Testament, as they brought those sacrifices to the high
priest, and as the high priest shed his blood, And all of that,
pictures and symbols, pictures and types of Christ, that true
Lamb of God. It said, behold, the Lamb of
God, speaking of Christ. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed him. The Apostle Paul says in Romans
10, 17, so then, faith cometh by hearing. This is that subjective
faith. This is that faith given to each
one of God's elect. And hearing by the word of God. This word of God is the gospel
of God's grace, which reveals Christ as the Lord, our righteousness. Romans 10, 15 here says this,
and how shall they preach? How can they preach something
except they be sent. As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Christ sends forth his preachers
as his ambassadors, preaching his message of salvation by God's
grace in and by Christ alone. And it's also under his authority. Look at 2 Corinthians 5 beginning
verse 20. Paul says, Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him,
for the Father hath made the Son, Lord Jesus Christ, to be
sin for us. Who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. The preacher is only
an instrument God uses to communicate the gospel to his people. The
preacher cannot save any sinner and he's not to be followed as
if he could save anyone. The preacher is to point sinners
to Christ for all salvation and the forgiveness of all sins by
Christ's blood and the justification before God by Christ's righteousness
imputed. Our former pastor made this statement
many times, you follow me as I follow Christ. You check this
out in scripture. You see what God's word says
according to what I'm telling you. Don't just believe me. And
he made that statement many times. And it's a mighty good statement
to make. You check it out in God's word.
See if it ain't so. True preachers, there's too many
preachers up there today preaching what I think, I believe. We need to know what God's word
says and what God says about these things. True preachers
of God's grace in Christ are sent forth by God. Their commission
and their message is not their own, but of God, according to
Galatians 1, beginning at verse 10, where Paul says, For do I
now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be a servant of Christ. But
I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
to me is not a man, not after man, for I neither received it
a man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Now, we who teach and preach
the gospel today, we by God's grace are able to communicate
this gospel message to lost sinners in our day. Those who are sin
of God preach Christ and Him crucified and risen again. We
don't preach ourselves. We don't preach man's works for
salvation. We preach Christ. We preach His
righteousness alone, His blood shed on the cross of Calvary,
and we preach that that blood was effectual. It accomplished
something. Everything that Christ did on
the cross, it accomplished something. It wasn't just made available
for people, whether you take it or leave it, you know. It
got the job done. They preach Christ's righteousness,
not their own. They preach salvation totally
by the sovereign regrace of God in and by Christ alone. Those
who preach a salvation by the works of men, well, they're false
preachers. Therefore, they are not sin of
God. Let's look at a few scriptures where God warns us of false preachers
that come preaching a false gospel, another gospel. Look at 2 Corinthians
11.4. Paul says, For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye
receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another
gospel which you have not accepted, you might bear with him." Now,
you'll notice that in your concordance that the hymn is in italics.
It should read, you might bear with me. You know that Paul wouldn't
be telling these believers here at the church at Corinth to bear
with these false preachers who were preaching a false gospel.
Look also over at 2 Corinthians 13, 13-15. For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of righteousness. whose end, though, shall be according
to their works. These ministers of righteousness
that we see here in verse 15, they're the same spoken of in
Romans 10, verse 5, that says the righteousness which is of
the law, that these individuals were going about to establish
a righteousness of their own, trying to keep the law for salvation. These are preachers that would
promote their so-called holy living and progressive sanctification,
they would say, I know that you're not saved by your works, but
if you are saved, you'll do these things, and you can fill in the
blank according to what the different denominations that are out there
today might have you do. These ministers here would also
be preachers that would add to Christ's righteousness in some
way by teaching doctrine that would impart or infuse are placed
within the center of righteousness that would guarantee a sinner's
salvation. They do this rather than relying
and depending solely on the imputed righteousness of Christ, a righteousness
that you have no part in producing, one that's been charged to your
account, Christ's righteousness alone. These ministers of righteousness
would call the imputed righteousness of Christ a pasted-on righteousness. In the end, it's still according
to their works. We're still talking about those
that would preach a false gospel when we look at Galatians 1 beginning
at verse 6. Paul also says here, I marvel
that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say now again. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than you have received, let him be accursed. This being
accursed here carries with it an awful declaration. It means
to let him be rejected from the ministry of the word. If he was
in an office, he should be taken out of office and cast out of
the church if he preaches another gospel. He should no longer be
a minister, nor should he be a member of the congregation
if he preaches and teaches another gospel. He would be accursed
of Christ. Accursed of Christ. All preachers
must be tested by the Word of God. Look at 1 John 4, 1 through
3. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. This trying the spirits
here is not telling believers to participate. in every spirit
of teaching that's out there today. But it's saying that every
believer should do, it's telling them what they should do. And
that is, it's our responsibility to read and search the scriptures,
and to prove all things, and to judge for ourselves the truth
of a particular doctrine that's being taught. I know you hear
about so many people, oh, you can't judge that person. Well,
I tell you what, this is the most important thing that you're
ever going to deal with in this life, this eternal life, and
we better judge what's being preached out there. We better
look at it carefully and judge it, or whether or not it's true
or false. Now, such a searching and a judging
of a doctrine should be done prayerfully. we ask God for divine
guidance in these areas. And then we pick up with verse
2 here. It says, Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist
whereof You have heard that it should come and even now already
is in the world. When it says here that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh as of God, it is speaking of
much more than just believing in that historical person of
Jesus Christ and that he was God historically. This speaks
of believing that he was true deity. He is God. He is the true Son of God, and
He is also true and real humanity. He is God in human flesh, yet
without sin. Christ is the Messiah, the one
that God promised that He would send in the fullness of time.
Christ is the true Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of
the world in the mind and the purpose of God. To confess that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is to believe the doctrine
of Christ. who he is, and how he saves a
sinner, based on his satisfaction to law and justice, his righteousness
alone, for all of our peace, all of our pardon, all of our
justification before God, all life and salvation, which are
in him, in Christ, and by him, alone, and not of works, not
of any deeds of law done by the sinner. Now, in verse 15 here
also, Paul quotes from Isaiah 52 and verse 7 that says, how
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publish peace and bringeth good tidings of
good. that publish salvation, and that saith unto Zion, Thy
God reigneth. This is the prophecy of Christ
and the good tidings his ministers will bring of salvation and liberty. The beauty of which he spoke
of here is not the beauty of the minister himself, but the
beauty in the message of the minister, that message that points
people to Christ and not to self, not to any works that we do.
for all salvation. Now in closing here this morning,
as you can see by what we've gone over, there is a necessity
of hearing the gospel, the true gospel. As we'll see in our next
study, that even though one hears the truth of God's gospel, it
doesn't mean that they will believe it. The fact that all who hear
the preaching of the gospel with the physical ear and do not receive
it by faith, that is here with the spiritual ear, is a clear
testimony of the natural depravity and spiritual deadness of all
men born of Adam. God must do a work. You must
be born again by the Spirit of God to accept these things. If you don't, you're going to
look to self in what you do. You're going to look there. Unless
God convinces you, there's no hope in what you do. Our only
hope is Christ's righteousness alone. By nature, if left to
ourself, none of us would believe the gospel of God's grace in
Christ. Our heart, our minds, affections, and will of the natural
man is so hardened by ignorance, self-righteousness, and pride,
he will not come to the true Christ of the Bible for salvation. We know that God must do a work
of grace in the heart of a sinner. before he'll believe this true
gospel here we're talking about. But how can he believe something
of which he has not heard? And how can he hear without a
preacher telling him what God's word says about Christ and salvation
by him alone? Someone must tell him the truth
of the gospel. Look to Christ alone for salvation,
for it cannot be found in anything that you do, anything that we
do, or that you've been able to do. God demands righteousness,
and you cannot work one out by your deeds of law. God demands
perfection, and I know men don't like to hear that, but God demands
perfection, which can only be found in Christ, in him alone. His righteousness the righteousness
of God by Christ. This righteousness is the one
that God requires, the one that Christ worked out, and it's the
righteousness that is imputed and charged to all who come to
the true God of Scripture, a just God and a Savior. Amen.