Gabe Stonerger is going to be here tonight to preach for us. He's preaching in Danville this morning, and he'll be here tonight, and I'm really looking forward to that. I've entitled this message, The Beginning of the Gospel. And I'm going to attempt to preach as if no one has ever heard the gospel before. And I hope that you can listen to it in that light to hear what is being said.

The beginning of the gospel. Now there's a sense in which we can't speak of the beginning of the gospel because the gospel has no beginning. It's called the everlasting or the eternal gospel. Like God, it never began to be and it will never end. the beginning of the gospel. Now let's go back to Matthew chapter one, verse one. The book. What a way to open the New Testament. The book. First two words. of the New Testament, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is the religion of this book.

That is where we must begin. We begin with the book of God. We look to the scriptures alone as our only ground of faith and practice. We got to begin with the word of God. From the scriptures alone, We find out that salvation is by Christ alone. It's by the grace of God alone. It's through faith alone, of faith and faith alone, for the glory of God alone. Now I'd like you to turn to two scriptures. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter three. Verse 16. And this is what the Bible says about itself.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God. And that word inspired is literally God-breathed. Every single word in this book is God-breathed, the inspired word of God. All scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished, and do all good work.

So let's begin with this book. God breathed. Our doctrine must be the doctrine of this book. Not man's doctrine, not man's thoughts. Reproof. Reproof is proof, evidence. What's the evidence that something's true? Does God's word say it? Nothing else is true, only what God says.

It's profitable for them. Correction. Now in a flight, there's an arc that the plane is gonna take from one place to another. And when that plane gets up in the air, the wind beats on it, tries to drive it off that arc, And the man in the booth controlling the planes gets it back on track. We get beat off track, the Bible puts us back on track. Puts us back on the ark, Christ alone.

It's profitable for instruction and righteousness. Now this is not talking about right living. I'm all for right living, but this is talking about the one righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.

All scripture given by inspiration of God. Now turn to 2 Peter chapter one. Peter is talking about his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. We referred to that last week. Verse 16, we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty, for He received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory.

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and this voice which came from heaven we heard, When we were with Him in the Holy Mount, we also have a more sure word of prophecy. This is more sure than that experience. They heard the voice of God.

This is more sure than that. You've got something, we've got something this morning more sure than that experience that James, John, and Peter had on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the Lord's deity burst through his humanity and they saw his face shine as the sun. This is better. I wonder if anybody in here really believes that. I hope I do. This is better.

We have a more sure word of prophecy, wherein to you do well, that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, into the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this first." This is what comes first. We're wasting our time until we settle here. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Here's what it means to me. Who cares? What's it mean? What's it mean? It's only got one interpretation. Well, this is my truth. You don't have any truth if you say something like that. This is the truth.

No prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Oh, this book, inspired, God-breathed, moved by God. Everything said exactly as God would have it said. Every word, the order of every word in the original, just as God said it. knowing this first. I love the way the very opening lines of the New Testament is the book.

This is the religion of this book. All other so-called religious books are nothing but man-made productions. Untrue, this book is the book of God. Now back to Matthew 1. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David. The Genesis, the origin of Jesus Christ, the son of David. These are the opening words concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the son of David. As Paul said, made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, a direct descendant of King David. Now, what is the meaning behind him being the direct descendant of King David?

In Matthew chapter 22, the Pharisees sought to entangle Christ in his words. And they brought up three different issues, trying to trip him up. First, they brought up the issue of taxes. Should we as Jews have to pay taxes to the Romans, to Caesar? You remember the Lord's answer. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

And then the second issue was that of the resurrection, the Sadducees. didn't believe in the resurrection. They talked about the man who had a wife, he died and the wife was given to his brother to raise up seed. Seven brothers all had her for wife, whose husband should she be in the resurrection?

And I love the way the Lord answered him. He said, you do err not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. And he talked about the children of the resurrection, neither being given in marriage. There was the angels of God. And the third test was the law. What's the greatest command in the law? They were trying to trip him up in his words. And then he turned the tables. He said, I'm going to ask you a question.

What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? The son of David. Well, if he's the son of David, why did David call him Lord? Saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand till I make thy foes thy footstool. If he's the son of David, how did David call him his Lord? You know, if you understand that, you understand the gospel. Who Jesus Christ is. He's the son of David. That means he's the Christ. He's God's Christ. He is the Messiah. Now, what is the Messiah? What is the Christ? What does that mean?

In the Old Testament, there were three anointed offices. The office of the prophet, the office of the priest, the office of the king. No man had all three of these offices. One man did, the man Christ Jesus. Now what's a prophet? He brings men the word of God. Christ is that prophet. He is the word of God. He is God's word to man. And he's like no other prophet. Every other prophet said, thus saith the Lord. He never said that. He said, I say unto you. The prophet like no other prophet.

He is the Word of God. A priest. A priest is one who brings men to God. Christ is that priest after the order of Melchizedek. He's a priest like no other priest. He doesn't bring the sacrificial blood of an animal. he brings his own blood into the very presence of God. Not only is he the priest, he's the altar. Not only is he the altar, he himself is the sacrifice. Oh, what a priest he is.

If he brings you to God, you must be saved. And oh, he's a king, the king of kings, the Lord of lords. Every other king or person in authority Has it temporarily given to them by God. He has inherent authority and power as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His authority is such as he can cause you to believe. He can cause you to repent. He can cause you to take up your cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ and deny yourself. That's the kind of king he is. Oh, I need him as my prophet. I need him as my priest. I need him as my king.

He is the son of David, the promised Messiah, God's prophet, God's priest, God's king. Now turn to Mark chapter one. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Yes, He's the Son of David. Yes, He's the Son of God. Not a created Son, but the eternal Son of God.

John chapter 5, verses 17 and 18, the Lord said, My Father, remember, He's the Son of God. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the Moor to kill him, because not only had he broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. The only one who's equal with God is God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the mighty creator of the universe. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter one.

God, who at sundry times and diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, sometimes he'd come as an angel. Sometimes he'd come in a vision. Sometimes he'd come in a dream. He had different ways of speaking to the prophets. Now we have the word of God.

And I want to remind you that this book is a closed revelation. There are no new revelations. There are no new inspirations. The Bible is the word of God. But he spake in times past, and the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days, we're in the last days right now. Isn't that exciting? You know, the Lord might come back today. I hope He does. He might come back tomorrow. Maybe a hundred years, I don't know, but all the days since Christ was resurrected have been the last days.

He hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things. That means He owns everything, me and you included. by whom also he made the worlds. He created the universe, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down, on the right hand of the majesty on high being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Now, let's think about this.

He's the son of David, and he's the son of God. He is 100% man, just as if he were not God at all. He's 100% God. just as if he were not man at all. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God. God is holy. Man is sinful. God cannot forgive sin at the expense of his character, his holiness, his justice, his righteousness. Man is sin. Man must die.

Man can't satisfy God. The reason hell is eternal is because the payment's never made. It's never enough. Man cannot satisfy God. Only God can satisfy God. Man can't, only God can. God can't die. God cannot die. God can't be satisfied with a man, only God can be satisfied with God. Man can't satisfy God. What do we do? The God-man satisfies God. The God-man's a man. Man can't die, or man can't satisfy, God can't die. The God-man did both. He died. He satisfied God. He was raised from the dead.

Now this is my need. The only one who can save me is one who is God and can satisfy God, who is man, can die and satisfy God's justice and be raised from the dead. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of David. Great is the mystery of godliness. was manifest in the flesh.

Now turn to Luke chapter 1 verse 1. For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order A declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. Who's the us? The same us that Paul spoke of in Romans 8 31, when he said, if God be for us, who shall be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not also with Him freely give us all things? The us is every believer. The us is all of God's elect.

The things most surely believed among us. Now, we're gonna begin where we already began. First, the thing that's most surely believed among us is that the Bible's the Word of God. Number one. Now, I've been taught since I was a little boy, since I could understand the English language when I was raised up in the 13th Street Baptist Church with Henry Mahan as the pastor, I've been taught since I was a little boy that the Bible was the Word of God. And I believed it because I was told it. Well, it must be. but always thought, how do you know for sure?

Is it really the Word of God? I believe it is, but do I know for sure? Is there proof that it's the Word of God? How can you prove to me that this book is the Word of God? Let me tell you when I knew that the Bible was the Word of God, when I came to know the message of the Bible, the gospel, and I, knew the message because the author of the Bible made himself known to me. You know what? I knew. When you know, you know. I know the Bible.

This is the thing that's most surely believed among us. Somebody says, well, I don't believe that. Then you're not in the us. The us all believe this way. We believe the Holy Bible is the revelation of God Himself. And you believe God is as the Bible declares Him to be. I love Genesis 1-1.

In the beginning, God. Elohim is the Hebrew word, the singular God in the plural. The Trinity is spoken in the very first verse of the Bible. In the beginning, God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That word God is in the plural. We believe God is as the Bible declares him to be. One God in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And I love his name, his self-designated name, Jehovah. Every time you look in the Old Testament, you see that word LORD in all caps, that's Jehovah. And I love the way the translators felt like it was too holy to say the word, so they put LORD there. Now whether that's the thing to do or not, I suppose, I don't know. I mean, I like the idea of it, but Jehovah.

His name comes from I am that I am, the self-existent one. When Moses said, who am I going to say sent me? I am that I am. That's where Jehovah comes from, the self-existent one. He has no needs, and every attribute of God comes out of his self-existence.

Because he's self-existent, he's eternal. Nobody made him, he wasn't dependent upon somebody to make him. Because he's self-existent, he's sovereign, his will must be done. Nothing can prevent his will from being done. Because he's self-existent, he's independent, he's immutable, whatever attribute of God there is comes out of his independence, his self-existence. He has no needs. He doesn't have to have something to take place before he can do something. He's the self-existent one. He's the creator.

Let us make man in our own image. We believe God is as he's declared to be in his word. And we most surely believe man is as the Bible declares him to be. Now, first of all, Man was created in the image of God. The reason you have a moral consciousness is because you've been created in the image of God.

And there's many things good we can say about men because they've been created in the image of God. As far as man, man's done some noble things, some good things, many things we admire. In that sense, yeah, we're all four men. We're men. And man was created in the image of God, but the Bible also declares man to be a fallen creature.

He's a creature created by God, and he's fallen. He's dead in trespasses and sins. What about that good stuff? Well, that's stuff he did when he was dead in trespasses and sins, so it's really not good. We may see it as good, but we know what God sees, too, in everything man does. Man is fallen. In the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. You and I were born into this world dead in sins. And that means two things. That means number one, we were born into this world totally depraved.

Now, that doesn't mean everybody's out with an axe, splitting people's head open and robbing banks, and you would, apart from the grace of God. It means that every one of our faculties are under the control and dominion of sin. My mind, my understanding, my will, my affections, every part of me is sinful.

And God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil. continually. That's what God sees when he looks in your heart. And what God sees is the truth. The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked.

Who can know it? That means no man can save himself. He's totally depraved. He's totally unable. You are unable to believe. You are unable to repent. You are unable to love. Unable. Total inability. The Lord said, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him. Now, what's that mean? Lord saved me. I don't know what else to say about it. Well, since I'm unable, I'll just sit here and wait till No, Lord have mercy on me. If you don't do something for me, I'm going to hell. I don't have any hope if you don't do something for me.

We believe that man is, as the Bible declares him to be, unable to save himself. And we most surely believe what the Bible declares with regard to salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not of you. It's not of your works. It's not of your intentions. Salvation, God's salvation, is of the Lord. Now let me tell you exactly what that means.

Salvation's of the Lord when God chose a people before time began to be saved. This is how much of salvation is of the Lord. He chooses who he's going to save. And that choice was made before time began. Salvations of the Son in redemption. When He redeemed a people by His own blood, those people the Father gave to Him, He represented them, He saved them by His grace.

Salvations of the Lord in the redeeming work of the Lord on Calvary's tree. Salvations of the Lord in the new birth when He gives you a new heart to believe. He gives you a new nature. You're born again, born from above. This is the work of the Spirit of God.

Salvation is of the Lord. Christ is salvation. I love what Simeon said when he had the Lord as an eight-day-old baby in the temple when they brought him in to be circumcised. He said, Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Jesus Christ is God's salvation, salvation is as Peter described it, we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. And that is spoken in a tense that you can truly say, we believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've been saved, we're being saved, and we will yet be saved. All of His grace. No works. By grace are you saved. We most surely believe that Jesus Christ is all in salvation, all God requires. He's everything. Somebody says, well, I'm not sure I could go along with that. Then you're not part of the us. The us who the things most surely believed among Now turn to John 1. In the beginning was the Word. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the Word. In the beginning was the Word.

He was already there. In the beginning, when God created, the Word was already there. And the Word was with God. And the implication of that statement, he was face to face with God. Before creation, in the beginning, was the Word. The Word was with God as a distinct person, the Son of God. And the Word was God. The same was, eternally was, in the beginning with God.

This is the Word that the writer to the Hebrews said is quick, living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, the Word of God. Timothy preached the Word, the Word of God, the message of God, the person of God. Timothy preached The Word, that Word that was manifest and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is God. He is the Son of David. He's the Son of God. He is God.

And finally, turn to Acts chapter 1. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus. This is Luke speaking, talking about the gospel of Luke. The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Now here's a summary of all preaching. all that Jesus began both to do and teach.

And don't miss this word, all. If you leave any of it out, you no longer have the truth. But in misrepresentation, a caricature stripped of its saving power, you've omitted if I don't give all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. He said, all things whatsoever I have commanded you, teaching them all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Somebody says, well, what is the bare bones minimum you have to believe? Everything he said. everything. Well, do you have to? Yeah, you've got to believe that too. Whatever he said must be believed. All things that Jesus began both to do and to teach. What did he do? Well, he was lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We've got to begin there, and really the whole Bible is interpreted in light of that. He is the lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world.

Hebrews 4.3 says, all the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

He stood as a surety for God's elect and took full responsibility for their salvation when he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He created the universe. Remember, we're talking about all that he began to do. He created the universe. He was made man. In the flesh, he kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned. Oh, there's no life like His life. Yet, He died. Why did He die? The Scripture says His Father made Him to be sinned. The sins of God's elect became His sins. He became guilty of them. He was forsaken by His Father. He died under the wrath of God, but He did something no other man could do. He satisfied God. God said, I'm pleased with what He did. I'm not looking for anything else.

That was seen when He was raised from the dead. He ascended back to the Father. He's there right now. We're talking about all He began to do. He ascended back to the Father. He's seated at the right hand of the Father right now, ruling, reigning, and making intercession for His people. He's able to save them to the uttermost, all them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. And He is going to return, yet He still says, coming to me. Come to me. Don't miss that. Not come to church. Come to religion. Come to me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What did he teach? Well, everything that came out of his mouth is his teaching. I am the way. that excludes all other ways. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now that's a summary of the message in the entire Bible, isn't it? All that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Now here's the last statement I want to make. He's the Son of David, He's the Son of God. He's the summary of all those things that are most surely believed among us. He's the Word, He's God.

All that Jesus began both to do and to teach are you relying on who He is and what He did as everything in your salvation. Well, if you're not, you're commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray. Lord, I ask, we ask in Christ's name, that you would do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves, that you would reveal to us who your son is, cause us to delight in glory in all he did and all he taught, and give us the grace to believe on him. Bless this message for his sake. In his name we pray.