Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Romans 1. The aim of the message is, how does one learn the gospel?
We'll read verses 1 to 21. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. which
He had promised to for by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, and declared to be the Son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness the resurrection
from the dead by whom we have received grace and apostleship
for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name among whom ye also the called
of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome beloved of God called
to be saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see in these first seven
verses, Paul's greeting to the saints in Rome. And notice in verse seven, they
are the divinely loved ones. They're beloved of God. Divinely loved ones. The love
of God has been set upon them from eternity. And this is true
of every single believer. And notice they're called to
be saints. They're not made saints by men. That means to be made
holy. They're not made saints by men,
beloved. No, they are called by the grace of God. Called to be saints. And then he says, peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that we only
have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. In the next six verses we see
that Paul had a longing to go to Rome. Why? To fellowship with
the dear saints. He enjoyed the fellowship of
brethren just like we do. He enjoyed gathering together
with them and rejoicing in the Gospel of
Christ. In verse 8 it says, First I thank
my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world. So the faith of the saints in
Rome was spoken well of and proclaimed. And their faith has one object,
remember that. And that's Christ. That's Christ and Him alone.
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of His Son, in the gospel of Christ, that without ceasing,
I make mention of You always in my prayers. How we should
pray for one another, right? It's right there in the Scriptures.
We should pray for one another, lift each other up. And when
the Lord lays that person on your heart, that brother or sister
of Christ, just pray for them all. Lift them up to Christ. And he says, making request if
by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by
the will of God to come unto you. Remember, it wasn't like
us. We can drive in the car and be
down in Kentucky in, what, six, eight hours, or be down in Tennessee
in eight hours, or be down in Florida in, well, we'd probably
have to stop. Now, at my age, I'd have to stop
and stay overnight somewhere. So it'd be a two-day trip. But
it wasn't like that for Paul and them. It took them weeks
sometimes to get to places, months sometimes to get to places. But he had a desiring to come
to them. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some
spiritual gift to the end, and you may be established." This
is Brother John Butterworth. Established in Christ. The gift
of God is salvation in Christ, in Christ alone. And that's the
one sure thing in this world, beloved. Isn't it? That is, that I may be comforted
together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. Same
faith. same spirit, same Lord, same Father. Now I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, but was let hither,
that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among
other Gentiles. He desired to go and be with
them, but the Lord led him somewhere else. Led him somewhere else. And now look at here in verse
14 to 17, we have a wonderful declaration of the gospel of
God's free grace, beloved. His free and sovereign grace
in Christ Jesus and through Christ Jesus our Lord. And we see that
the just one, or that the just, those who are made just in Christ
will live by faith. And remember, anytime you see
us called the just, it's only because we're just in Christ.
because in our natural state we're unjust. Look what he says here. I am
a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the
wise and to the unwise. So as much as is in me, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, wherever
he went. He was ready to preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I believe Paul was an extremely
intelligent man. He sat under one of the best
teachers of his age in man's religion. And I believe that
Paul could have went toe to toe with any philosopher and pretty
well anybody in his age. I really believe that. I think
that he had a lot of natural gifts. and he was a very wise
fella, but he even said all that stuff I counted down, compared
to Christ. But I really think that he could
have went toe to toe with a philosopher, he could have went toe to toe
with a Gnostics, which he did, we saw him do that in Colossians,
and bring forth the preeminence of Christ. But we know that Paul,
he was determined to preach no one but Christ and him crucified,
to exalt Christ. And sometimes in my mind, when
I read 1 Corinthians, and you know that there was people in
the streets debating things and all that. I see Paul is going
through the streets and saying, I'm determined to preach Christ
and nothing crucify. Here's something over here. He could go toe to
toe with that fellow. No, I'm determined to preach Christ and
Him crucify. He just keeps his eye on Christ,
beloved. His eyes on Him. And whenever
he had the opportunity, he proclaimed Christ. He proclaimed Christ. He proclaimed salvation in and
through Christ alone. Look at this. So as much as in
me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome
also, for I am not ashamed. He's not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Look at this, for it is the power
of God, the dynamite of God, beloved. It's the power of God
unto salvation. to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. Because we're one in Christ,
aren't we? In Christ there's no Jew and
Greek. There's no bond and free. We're one in Christ, beloved.
As we saw on Sunday school this morning, they ate at three different
tables. That won't happen in glory. No. We're one in Him. And He loves every one of His
people, His saints, the same in Christ. Every one of them. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth. There's the clause, eh? To everyone
that believeth. Do you believe on Christ? Oh,
I pray if you don't, that God will give you faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. To trust Him. Because He's the
only Savior. There's salvation in no other
but Christ. And look at that, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now that's a key right there.
No one nowadays talks about the righteousness of God. Not very
much. Not very much at all. But the only way that a sinner
can stand in the presence of God is to be clothed in the perfect
righteousness of Christ, beloved. And it says here that in the
gospel, in the preaching of the gospel, the righteousness of
Christ is revealed. Is revealed. From faith to faith. As it is
written, the just, those who are made just by Christ, the
just shall live by faith. And we walk, we who are His people,
we walk and we live by faith, don't we? looking to Christ,
trusting in Christ, hoping in Him every single day,
every single second, really, even when we're not thinking
of it, He's watching over us and guiding us and directing
us, beloved. I know you think about Christ
more than once a day. I know you do, beloved. We all
do, don't we? We all do. We are as people. There's not
a day that goes by we don't think about him. Not a day that goes
by. I ask you this. Before the Lord
saved you, did you think about him? Did you wake up in the morning
thinking, thank you, Lord, for another day? Did you pillow your
head at night thinking, Lord, thank you, I know you're in full
control? We didn't, did we? But we do now, don't we? Isn't
it amazing? Isn't God's grace amazing, beloved? For therein is the righteousness
of God. The only way we can stand in the presence of God is to
be perfect. We know what we are still even
as saved. We're saved sinners, aren't we? We're saved sinners. We'll look at that a little later
on. The just, though, the ones who are made just shall live
by faith. And there's one object of our faith, that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the next four verses, we see all, actually,
we only read the next four verses, but if you read to the end of
the chapter two, you'll see God's wrath on unrighteousness and
on the unjust. And the unjust are those who
are left in their sins. We are called the just ones.
We haven't been left in our sins, beloved. Think of that, too.
Rejoice in that. We've not been left, we who are
the people of God, we've not been left where we were. The
Lord didn't leave us where He found us. Dead in trespasses and sins,
did He? No, we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And now what a hope we have.
Oh, what a hope we have. We know our Redeemer lives, and
we know when we breathe our last breath, we'll be in his presence
forever. And how that makes our heart
rejoice, doesn't it? It makes our heart rejoice. But
there's a little time we have to wait, don't we? Until God's
appointed time. Oh my. Remember, our life's like
a vapor in God's eyes. One day the Lord is like a thousand
years, so 60 to 80 years in his eyes is nothing. It's like a vapor, but it's long
for us. Right. And we're here in time.
But, oh, one day, one day we'll be in his presence. But look
at this. Look at this. Those who are left in their sins.
Look at this. Romans 18 to 21. One Romans one for the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath
showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Men get exactly what they deserve
outside of Christ, men and women. We who are the people of God
don't get what we deserve. Because that when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts was darkened. They do whatever they think is
right in their eyes. Without a care for God. But one
day they're going to meet Him. And if God leaves them in their
sins, leaves a man or a woman in their sins, to die in their
sins, they will have no hope and they will go into eternity
as the unjust ones. With no hope. But again, we don't get what
we deserve. We receive mercy from Christ.
And I know we were talking earlier this morning, why me? Because
it pleased God to do so. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? It's amazing. Because it pleased
him. Here have mercy on whom you have
mercy. And here have compassion on whom you have compassion. And I know now, I know there's
much that I don't know, and I know there's much that you don't know,
but there's something that everyone should make it an absolute necessity
to know, and that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, men in their natural
state, men and women, have no desire to hear the gospel, and
they have no interest in the gospel. I was there. No interest. I don't know, you
know, I've talked about that. We had no interest. No care for
the things of the Lord, nothing. Nothing. No desire for him. I'm tell you this. If you have
an interest in the gospel. If you have a desire to hear
the gospel. It's because God's given you that desire. How do we learn the gospel? It's
by divine revelation, beloved. Christ reveals himself to us. And if you have an interest in
the gospel, again, it's God who's given you that desire because
the gospel is the power of God. unto salvation. It's the dynamite
of God. What happens when you put dynamite
in something and you light it up and you walk away? Kaboom,
right? You know what God does to our
refuge of lies? When we're trusting in ourselves? Kaboom. Doesn't he? He does that. And He hems us
up so that we have no hope but Him. No hope but Him. No hope but Him. And in the Gospel, the power
of God unto salvation. It's the power of God unto salvation
for His people. And in the Gospel, the righteousness
of God is revealed. It's revealed. Let's read verses
14 to 17 again. I am a debtor. both to the Greeks and to the
barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much
as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at
Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now note in verse 16 that this
is the gospel of God. It's the gospel of Christ, who
is God. God incarnate in the flesh, beloved. So this tells us that He is the
author of this gospel. He is the author of it. And note, it's also the gospel
of God's Son. It concerns Him. It tells us what He's done. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. It's about Him. It's
the gospel concerning his son. So Christ is the subject of the
gospel. He's the author of the gospel,
and he's the subject of the gospel. And also note that it's the gospel
of grace. Note the freeness of it. Note
the freeness. It is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believe it,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So God's the author
of it, Christ is the subject of it, and it speaks of the grace
of God, the freeness of the grace of God bestowed upon his people. And also note it's the gospel
of God's glory. Because who gets all the glory
when the gospel's proclaimed? Well, God gets all the glory,
doesn't He? He gets all the glory and all the honor and all the
praise. Because therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
Look at verse 17. It's the gospel of God's glory
because therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Faith
in who? Faith in He who is the subject
of the gospel. Faith in He who is the author
of the gospel. Faith in He who gets all the glory from the gospel.
And His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's God incarnate
in the flesh. He gets all the glory, beloved. And we who are the children of
God, the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, we have learned
by experience that not everyone who professes to be a believer
or a preacher knows the gospel of God's grace in Christ. We
know that from experience, don't we? Just from talking to people. Paul, turn if you would to Galatians
chapter 1. Paul pens this warning over in
Galatians. Galatians chapter 1, look at
the warning that he pens here. To the Galatians. Galatians chapter
1 verses 6 to 9. Now, Judaizers had come in and
said you must be circumcised to be saved along with Christ,
which is another gospel. But it's not another gospel.
It's a false gospel. There's only one true gospel.
And that's salvation in and through Christ and Him alone. Look at
this. I marvel, verse 6, I marvel,
he's amazed, that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you unto the grace of Christ. Who called us into the grace
of Christ? God the Father did, didn't he? Unto another gospel. Another supposed good news, but
it's not good news, no. It leads to the destruction of
those who follow. It leads to their damnation. Which is not another, she says,
it's not another gospel. There's only one good news, and
that's salvation for sinners in and through Christ and Him
alone. which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
But though we, that's Paul speaking of him and other preachers, 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,
let him be anathema, As we have said before, so say
I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that which he hath received, let him be accursed." So not everyone out there who
says they preach the gospel, preaches the gospel, do they?
No. Because the gospel is the good
news of salvation in and through Christ alone, period. and redemption
by His shed blood, period. And only He can make an atonement
for our sins, period. And He was risen from the grave
for our justification. Nothing added to it at all. It
is all about and concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And what He's
done for His people. Our Lord's commission to his
church was, go ye into the world and preach the gospel, singular,
the gospel. And that's the gospel that Paul's
writing about in Romans chapter one. And that's the very same
gospel that Paul's writing to Galatians and saying, I marvel
that you're so soon removed from this. That you're following someone
else who's not even preaching the gospel. They're adding to
the finished work of Christ. The gospel, beloved, is a message
of peace and reconciliation for sinners. The question is, are
you a sinner? Hard to find sinners nowadays.
It's hard to find sinners nowadays. But God's people, we know we're
sinners, aren't we? We know we're sinners saved by grace. The Gospel is a message of peace
and reconciliation for sinners in and through the perfect sin-atoning
work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the place of His people. It
speaks of a full and free pardon. Full. Nothing left. Not one sin that's not covered
by the blood of Christ. It's a full pardon. It's an absolutely
full pardon for the believing sinner in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. All because of His sin-atoning work on the cross.
His death upon the cross. His atoning sacrifice in our
place. And it also speaks of the doctrine
of justification before God, right? Because therein is the
righteousness of God revealed. Justification before God for
the saved sinner, all because of Christ's righteousness and
all because of what He's done. And the gospel speaks of a complete,
perfect salvation. Complete, perfect salvation. Complete. Complete means complete. And He did it all. He did it
all. Anyone who adds just a pinprick
of what you may do by your works and your actions or even your
thoughts, it's another gospel. It's another gospel. God will only accept sinners
in Christ. That's the only way. In Christ. And this wonderful gospel proclaims
salvation for sinners through the God-man, the one mediator
between God and man, the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of his
office as prophet, priest, and king, doesn't it? Because he's
the priest, he's the offering, and beloved, he is King of kings
and Lord of lords. And in the doctrines of Christ,
we have all glory going to our great God, beloved. All glory
goes to our great God. Think of this, in Christ's incarnation,
when he came to this world, God is glorified, isn't he? God is
greatly glorified. Greatly glorified. And the God-man
himself became a man. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. And in that, even in that, the word becoming flesh
and dwelling among us, God is greatly glorified. Greatly glorified. In his life, in his perfect life,
as our substitute, because remember, he's fulfilling the law of God
in our place while he's living on this earth. And so in his life, and in the
miracles that he performed, our God is greatly glorified. Greatly
glorified. And he quickly gives all the
glory to the father too. He gives the glory, who sent
him? The father sent him, didn't he? Yeah. And in his suffering
on the cross for us, God is greatly glorified. Because he saves his people from
their sins. Oh my. And the law and the justice
of God is satisfying. Therefore it has no claim on
you and I who are believers. None. No claim on us at all.
And in that, in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, our God
is greatly glorified, beloved. He's greatly glorified. He is
magnified. And in his resurrection, when
he rose from the grave, again, our God is greatly glorified.
Do you know why? Because God's satisfied with
the work which Christ does. And he's raised for our justification.
And we know, oh, God's glorified in that, isn't he? In that resurrection. Yes. Because we who are his people,
we rejoice because we know that if he lives, we live too. Where he is, we will be too. You know why? Because where the
head is, the body soon follows, eh? Yeah. That's right. And we glorify our great God
that we are accepted in the Beloved and accepted in Christ, don't
we? And God is glorified through His people. And God's glorified in Christ's
ascension to the Father. He's right now seated at the
right hand of the Father. And oh, God's greatly glorified because
Christ finished the work. And now He's seated at the right
hand of the Father. What's He doing? Interceding for us. Our
great Mediator. Our great mediator. Work's done. He's sat down. And he is the
one mediator between God and man. There's no one else. No fellow man on this earth can
be a mediator between God and man. And if they say they are,
they're lying. There's only one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for
his people, beloved. That's the one mediator. That's
the one mediator. And we know that our great God,
we know our God's glorified in Christ being our mediator. And
we know also that our great God will be glorified when the Lord
comes back. Oh, he'll be greatly glorified, won't he? The second
coming of Christ when he comes in judgment. Oh, Christ is seated on the throne
of glory. God will be greatly glorified
even then. Through Christ Jesus, our Lord. So every doctrine relating
to the grace of God, the father, the electing grace of God, the
everlasting covenant of God, the redemption of God's people
through the death of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The work
of the Holy Spirit of God in regenerating us. Sanctification
being set apart in Christ. All this brings glory to our
great God. Brings glory to our great God.
Magnifies Him. And what does it prove to us?
It proves to us that salvation is of the Lord. salvations of
the Lord in Christ alone. And we must proclaim the free
grace of God in Christ in a plain and open manner. In a plain and
with boldness and faithfulness, we must do it constantly. Must
do it constantly. But you can't tell what you don't
know, right? You can't tell what you don't
know. So one must learn the gospel. before they can publish it or
preach it. And one will only do this and believe by the grace
of God. You can't tell anybody about
Christ unless you're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Unless
you've learned of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
again, this is by divine revelation. It's not something we can come
to learn in our own minds. We can learn a lot of things
as humans, can't we? We learn a lot of things. A lot more smarter
people than I am out there in that world know things about
things that I won't even have a clue about. These astrophysics guys and all
this stuff and all these things they do, it's just, phew. God's given them a knowledge
of that, hasn't he? Well, praise be to God, he's given me a knowledge
of the gospel. And that's what I proclaim. And that's what every
believer proclaims. We've been given, we've learned
the gospel by divine revelation, haven't we? By divine revelation. All mine. By divine revelation. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
six. John chapter six. How do we know that's the truth?
Look at this in John chapter six. Look at this. Oh, the scripture
proclaims this. John chapter six. I want us to read all the way
down to, we're gonna read verses 43 to 48. Jesus answered and said unto
them, murmur not among yourselves. In other words, he's saying,
stop grumbling. They're grumbling. Look at this. No man, no man, that means no
one, right? No man can come to me. Except the Father which hath
sent me, draw him. Now look at that. If you've come
to Christ, it's because the Father has drawn you. Except the Father which hath
sent me, draw him. And I will raise him up at the last day.
It raises people up. Look at this, verse 45. Now,
this is how we can tell that. How do we learn the Gospels?
By divine revelation, beloved, as it is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Look at that. It's God
who teaches us the gospel. God, the Holy Spirit, reveals
the gospel to us. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and have learned of me, learned of the father cometh
unto me. Now look at that, there's not, do you notice what's missing
there? You know what's missing there.
God's done everything he can do, now the rest is up to you.
That's not in there, is it? No. God's at the door of your
heart, he's knocking, waiting for you to open the door. It's
not in there, is it? Not at all, beloved. Not at all. The Father drew us to Christ. In the Greek, that's He dragged
us. Because we weren't willing until we were made willing. Isn't
that wonderful? That's wonderful. That's absolutely
wonderful. As it is written in the Prophets,
that's the Old Testament, beloved. And they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the
Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Christ
is the only one who has seen the Father. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. It doesn't say, well, he that
believes on me, if they make a decision, he that makes a decision
for me, it doesn't say that at all, beloved. Do you see? Do
you see how subtle? These things are? No, it says,
he that believeth on me, on Christ, hath everlasting life. There's
one of those little hinge words, hath. And how marvelous they
are. You've heard me say, big doors
swing on little hinges, don't they? You can have a great big
door and swing on this little hinge. Hath. Hath what? Everlasting life. Praise be to
God. Praise be to God. Hath everlasting
life. I am that bread of life. That's
who he is. He's manna for his people, beloved.
He's manna for his people. So, learning and knowing the
gospel, as we've seen in verse 45 there, is by divine revelation. We must be taught of God. And
there are five words by which the gospel is learned if it's
divinely revealed to us. Sovereignty, sin, substitution,
satisfaction, and submission. Let's look at these real quick.
First word, sovereignty. The word is defined in our English
dictionary as supreme power or authority. Sovereignty. Supreme
power or authority. Beloved of God, our great God
has supreme power over all of creation, providence, over life
and over death and over salvation. He is absolutely supreme and
absolutely sovereign. The scripture says this, for
he sayeth to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy.
He will. He'll have mercy on whom he ever,
and so we read that and we go, he's had mercy on me, we who
are the people of God. This is wondrous. He says, I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's not by your will, nor of him that runneth, it's
not by your works. but of God that showeth mercy. If you're
a believer, God has sovereignly shown you mercy. Sovereignly
done that. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, remember Pharaoh? Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore he hath
mercy on whom he hath mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? Now here
comes the question, say. For who resisteth his will? No
one. No one. See, we say, natural
man right away springs up and says, well that's not fair for
God to have compassion on whom he has compassion. Really? Because
the scripture says again, and I'm reading here in Romans 9,
it says, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against
God? Who are we to say, well, that's not fair, God? He's God. He's the supreme authority. He
can do whatever he pleases, can't he? Who are we to say, well,
why'd you do that, God? Why doth he yet find fault? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Had not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
of honor, one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. When
you watch a pottery guy, when he's working pottery, if he's
making a pot, the pot doesn't say, well, you know what, I want
to be a teacup. No, it doesn't say that, right?
That potter has the power to make that lump of clay which
at first he takes it, I've worked a wheel before, he just takes
that, it's just a lump of clay. And he forms that with his hands
and with water into whatever he wants it to be. And then it's
taken and put into a kiln and heated up and then he paints
it whatever way he wants to, he puts whatever he wants on
it, does whatever he pleases, because he's the potter. What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, his sovereign power, endured
with much long and suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction? And that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath
afore prepared unto glory. When did we become vessels of
mercy? In eternity. God's people became vessels of
mercy in eternity. Oh my. And that he might know
in the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he
had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. And he has said in Osi, I will
call them my people. I'll call them my people. which
were not my people. We had no interest in God in
our natural state. And her beloved, which was not
beloved. So the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace proclaims
God, the God of the Bible, who is sovereign, full control, and
he loves his people with an everlasting love. God the Father has chosen
us in Christ, and his love has ever been set upon us, beloved. Think of this. There's two kinds of gospels
in this world, which is being proclaimed. One is the gospel
of the world, which is the gospel of man, which means salvation
is based upon what you do. What you do. See, there'd be
nothing new under the sun. It all started with Cain and
Abel. One is the gospel of what you
do, added to the works of Christ. And that's just a refuge of lies
which will lead to the damnation of all those who fall, those
who proclaim that. Then you have the gospel of God's
free grace in Christ, sovereign grace, which leads to everlasting
life, in and through the substitutionary work and life of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the gospel of salvation through
man's works, what does it do? It makes man the sovereign. You ever think of that? Works-based
religion makes man the sovereign because it's up to them, which
is a lie. We saw that no man can come to
Christ unless the Father draw him. So the false gospel proclaims God at the mercy of
man, while the true gospel proclaims man at the mercy of God. We're at His mercy. That's why
the publican cried out, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He
knew who God was and God had taught him who He was. He's sovereign. And He's the Alpha and the Omega
of our salvation, beloved. Never forget that. He's the author
and the finisher of it. And He's everything in between.
And he receives all the glory, honor, and praise for the wonderful
work he's done. The next word is sin. We're taught the word
sin, aren't we? The scriptures proclaim that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save his people from their sins.
Now the word sin in the Greek is defined as an offense. And
our sin, our sin is an offense against God, beloved. Just like
everyone else's sin is, even if they don't agree with that. It means to miss the mark, to
wander from the law of God, to violate God's law. A violation
of divine law, listen to this, in thought or in act. So it's
not just in act, it's in thought as well. So we see that sin is a violation
of divine law, in thought or in act. And the scriptures proclaim
this in Isaiah, from the sole of our feet even to the head,
to the top of our head, is no soundness in it. That's our natural
state. No soundness in it. But wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. Sin's not a misfortune, which
men do. Man's not a victim of their circumstances. Sin's not a disease. Some people
try to pawn it off as a disease. Man doesn't need to shove in
the right direction and then they'll be fine. Because the scriptures declare,
from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there's no soundness
in us. So every faculty of man is ruined
by the fall. We're sinners. In the mind, the
heart, the hands, the feet, we're born sinners, beloved. Dead in
trespasses and sins. And we fell in Adam. And we're
taught this by God, aren't we? When we learn the gospel. We're
taught wherefore is by one man sinned into the world and death
by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Romans 5, 12. I ask you, I ask
you this. Do children need to be taught
to do that which is wrong? Do children need to be taught
to sin? You ever notice, they don't have to be taught to sin,
do they? Nope. No. When we were children, because
each of us were a child at one time, when we were children,
did we have to be taught to disobey? No, we had to be taught not to
disobey, didn't we? Because it came naturally for
us to sin. Wayne, don't eat a cookie in
that cookie jar, just put them there, they're for Christmas. Right? We all did that, didn't
we? All of us did that. All of us. Oh my. So sin is universal, beloved. And we're taught that when we
learn the gospel. We're taught that it's universal. We're taught
that we're all infected by sin. And sin has so darkened the understanding
in the mind of man that we think we can be holy by our works,
but this can never be so. Never be so. The next word I'd
like us to consider is substitution. Substitution. The word is defined
in our English dictionary as this. The action of replacing
someone or something with another person or thing. The action of
replacing someone or something with another person or thing.
Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We'll
read verses 17 to 21. Christ was our substitute, beloved,
in His life and in His death. He was born to die. And He fulfilled
everything that God demanded for us. Everything. There's nothing
left for us to do. It's all been done. It's finished. It's perfect. His work is perfect.
We could never make atonement for our sins, could we? For one
of them? No. Not for one of them. When
Christ comes and dies in the place of His people, He dies
as our substitute, making atonement for all our sins, beloved. All
of them. All of them. Could we ever approach God in
our own sinfulness? No. Never. Christ on His death,
He's made us righteous before God, before God with His death
on the cross. And the righteousness of God
is revealed, we saw in the Gospel. Look at this in 2 Corinthians
5, we'll start in verse 17, we'll read to the end of the chapter.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, now there's the clause, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. New creature, born
again. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. Look who's doing
the reconciliating. It's God. He's reconciled us,
we who are sinners, we who have broken his law. He's reconciled
us to himself through Christ, the very one he sent. by Jesus Christ and has given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. We preach the reconciliation.
Be ye reconciled to God, how? In and through Christ. To wit
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, every believer, now
then we are ambassadors for Christ. We tell, we seek another country. We speak of our Savior. We speak
of our King, don't we? That's what an ambassador does,
speaks of the country and the leader that they're going to.
Oh, we speak of our leader. As though God did besiege you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who know no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Our sins were
imputed to Christ, we see clearly, and his righteousness is imputed
to us. He's the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, offering Himself
up in our place as our substitute, beloved. He's taken our place,
just as the definition said. He's taken our place, and this
is truly amazing grace, because this is all according to God's
plan and purpose. And it was executed by God. This is an amazing grace. And
we're to spend eternity in heaven with Christ, all because of His
substitutionary life in our place, fulfilling the law of God, and
all because of His substitutionary death on Calvary's cross in our
place. And we are saved. We have everlasting life in Christ.
We have an inheritance reserved for us, beloved, in heaven. And because He lives, He's risen,
we will live. Glory be to our great God. Next
word is satisfaction. Satisfaction. The English word,
in the English dictionary, the word satisfaction is defined
as fulfillment of expectations or needs. Turn if you would to
Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53, we'll look at verse
11. Isaiah chapter 53, we'll look
at verse 11. The scriptures declare this.
He is the father. shall see the travail of his
soul being Christ, verse 11, Isaiah 53, 11, he, the father,
shall see the travail of his, of Christ's soul, and shall be
what? Satisfied. Look at that word. Satisfied. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. We just read over there in In
2 Corinthians 5.21, For he hath made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. He bore our sins on Calvary's cross. Our sins. He's sinless. He's perfect. He's spotless. He bore my sins. And if you're
a believer, he bore yours. The Hebrew word here for satisfied
is a verb meaning to be satisfied, to be filled. to be satisfied
and to be filled, to be full. Nothing can be added. God is
absolutely satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. We're taught this, aren't we?
We're taught this when we learn the gospel. Man cannot satisfy
God. And God cannot die. God cannot be satisfied with
nothing less than perfection, nothing less than His Son. So
the Word of God becomes flesh and dwells among us. He's born
to die. Look at verses 3 to 6. In Isaiah 53, God sends His Son,
the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, who becomes a
man. And look at this, He is despised and rejected of man,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it
were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs. and carried our sorrows, yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he
was wounded for our transgressions, for my sin. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. That which was due us, the wrath
of God that was due us, fell upon him, beloved, in our place. And with his stripes we are healed,
all by his atoning precious blood, beloved. We are redeemed by the
blood of the lamb. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. That means our sin was imputed
to him. He bore it. He bore it. And man, he's a perfect, sinless,
spotless Lamb of God. And nothing can give God greater
satisfaction than the Lord Jesus Christ. God Himself, ponder this,
God Himself satisfies His own holy law. Satisfies His own holy
law. Satisfies His own justice in
the place of His people. And His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And neither is there salvation in any other. No other.
No other. Last word I'd like us to consider
is submission. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 8. Submission. And when we learn the gospel,
we learn to submit to our great God, don't we? We call Him Lord
now. We didn't call Him Lord before.
We didn't submit to Him before, did we? Beloved, we call Him Lord and
we submit to our great God and King. We don't make Him Lord,
God's already made Him Lord. But we submit to His Lordship,
we submit to Him, and we say, Lord, my life is in Your hands.
It's in Your hands. Your hands. Look at this leper
here. Look at this leper in Matthew
8, verses 1-3. When He was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed Him. When our Lord's come down
from the mountains, great multitude, great number of people followed
Him. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord,
call Him Lord, call Him Lord, Lord, if Thou will, Thou can
make me clean, if You will, Lord. Is that not what we cry out to
our Lord? Lord, if You will, You make me clean. You can save
me, save me from all my sins. And He has, He saves His people
from their sins, doesn't He? And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed, gone. Turn quick to Matthew 15, close
with this. We read of a woman from the land
of Canaan, one of our dear elect sisters in Christ, beloved. There
was one of our brothers in Christ. That leper, we're going to see
him in glory. And here's a dear sister in Christ,
lady from the land of Canaan, one of our elect sisters in Christ.
Look at this, Matthew 15, verses 22 to 28. And behold, a woman
of Canaan came out of the same coast, cried unto him, saying,
Have mercy, O Lord! Calls him Lord. Have mercy, O
Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. They were getting annoyed. But
our Lord, he doesn't get annoyed with his people, does he? No.
But he answered and said, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Then came she, and what? She
worshiped. She's submitting herself before
him, isn't she? Oh my, she worshiped him. Saying,
Lord, help me. Help me. There's a cry of a believer. And we don't ever stop crying,
Lord, help me, do we? All through our lives. All through
our lives. But he answered and said, it
is not me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.
And she said, truth, Lord. She's just calling him Lord. She knows who he is. Yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered her and said, O woman, great is thy faith.
And her faith is in him. Her faith is in he who is the
Lord. Be it even unto thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was
made whole from that very, very hour. Oh my, wondrous. The grace of God is wondrous. May God give you faith if you
don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.