The Gospel Is

Q: What does the Bible say about the gospel?

The gospel is God's announcement of good news concerning Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection. The gospel, as outlined in Luke 2:8-11, is a personal and glorious announcement brought by angels to shepherds, proclaiming the birth of Christ the Lord. It conveys God's sovereign grace and the means by which salvation is offered to all people. The angel's proclamation indicates that the gospel is not a general call but a particular invitation to individuals chosen by God. This announcement reflects God's plan for redemption through Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of prophecy.

Q: How do we know the gospel is true?

The gospel is true as it fulfills over 300 prophecies concerning the birth and life of Jesus Christ as the Savior. The truth of the gospel is anchored in its fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, such as the virgin birth foretold by Isaiah and the birthplace in Bethlehem prophesied by Micah. These precise predictions were realized in the person of Jesus Christ, affirming the reliability and divine origin of the gospel message. Furthermore, the personal nature of the gospel—as it reaches individual sinners with a call to repentance and faith—underscores its truthfulness as it manifests itself in changed lives through the sovereign work of God.

Q: Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

God's sovereignty assures believers that their salvation is secure and solely based on His grace. The concept of God's sovereignty is paramount in understanding the gospel. It emphasizes that God is in complete control of all events, including the salvation of sinners. The sovereignty of God assures Christians that their faith is not a result of their own choosing, but a consequence of God's grace and mercy. This perspective is reflected in the message of the gospel itself, which is a sovereign call to sinners, allowing them to recognize that their acceptance is based entirely on God's will and purpose, rather than human effort or merit.

Q: What does 'gospel is personal' mean?

The gospel is personal because it is a direct call from God to individual sinners, not a generic announcement. The gospel's personal nature signifies that it is not merely a general proclamation, but rather an individual call from God to each chosen sinner. As demonstrated in Luke 2:10-11, the angel's announcement to the shepherds was specifically addressed to them, indicating that the gospel engages each heart personally and invites them to respond to God's sovereign grace. This personal aspect reveals that God actively seeks out members of His elect to draw them into a relationship with Him, emphasizing that salvation is intimately connected to one's recognition of their need for Christ.

Q: Why is the gospel described as good news?

The gospel is good news because it offers forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ to all who believe. The gospel is celebrated as good news because it conveys the message of God's gracious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. This good news reveals that sinners are not left to their own devices, but rather are provided with a path to redemption through Christ's atoning work. It reassures us that despite our unworthiness, Christ bore our sins and paid the penalty owed to God's justice. This ensuring truth means that anyone, regardless of their past, can embrace hope and eternal life through faith in Christ, making it a message of profound joy and comfort.

Q: What does it mean that the gospel is for 'whosoever'?

The gospel is for 'whosoever' means it is available to all who believe, regardless of their background or past. When we say the gospel is for 'whosoever,' we affirm that it extends beyond any particular ethnic or social group, reaching anyone who believes in Christ. The offer of salvation is as inclusive as it is exclusive, targeting those whom God has chosen to believe, and it asserts that no one is beyond the grace of God. As the gospel is proclaimed, it invites all sinners—no matter how wretched or lost they perceive themselves to be—to come and find redemption in Christ. This message is foundational for evangelism, as it presses the necessity of sharing the gospel with everyone, assuring them that God's grace is available to them too.

Go with me again to Luke chapter two. Luke two. Years ago, Brother Henry Mahan said, every time we preach, we must have the meat and potatoes of the gospel. But he said, a little ice cream sure is nice too. And that's what I believe I have for us tonight. I believe I have just a little dessert while still savoring the meat and potatoes of the gospel. Just a little something nice and easy and sweet to enjoy.

In Luke chapter 1, an angel came to Mary to announce that she would conceive of the Holy Ghost. That she would be with child, the child that was promised to be the savior of sinners. And in Luke chapter 2, this is nine months later when Mary delivers Christ the Lord. As the scripture said, she would deliver him just in the same way that the scripture prophesied he would come into this world.

Isaiah wrote, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. That's exactly what happened. The prophet Micah said that he would be born in Bethlehem. That's exactly what happened. Exactly as the scripture said, our Lord entered this world according to the scriptures.

Now Luke 2 verse 1 says, and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. That's amazing, isn't it? No room for them. No room for them.

Isaiah prophesied that he would be rejected One of no reputation, a root out of dry ground. But thank God, some were caused to believe the report. That's what Isaiah said. Who will believe the report of this one who's going to be despised and rejected? Some were caused to believe the report concerning him. And that's what this message is about. tonight. In Luke chapter 1, the angel announced to Mary that she was going to conceive. And here in Luke 2, the angel is going to announce to the world that he has been born.

The announcement of Christ. It's called the gospel. The announcement of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. And the words of this announcement, and they continue, we're stopping tonight at verse 11, they continue, but what we're gonna look at, we looked at the first seven verses already, we're gonna look at verses eight to 11, but the words of this announcement will tell us some things about the gospel. I want us to enter into some truths concerning the gospel tonight. The gospel is an announcement and we can learn some things about it by what's written here. So I've titled this message, The Gospel Is. The gospel is. All right, now let's read verses eight to 11.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Now let me give you seven things from these verses that tell us some truths concerning the gospel. Some truths concerning what the gospel is. What the gospel is.

Verse eight says, And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them." Came upon them. All right, number one, the gospel is personal. This is what I want us to know about the gospel. The gospel is personal. Messenger from God came directly to them. You think they were the only shepherds in the field that night? The gospel is personal. The gospel is individual. It is selective. It is particular. When it comes, It comes directly to selective, particular individuals personally. And here's what I'm trying to get at.

The gospel is not a general call. It is not a general announcement. It's not put out there for anybody to hear, anybody to take, anybody, do with it what you want to. The gospel is an individual, personal call. The gospel's personal. If the gospel comes, it's coming to you on purpose. It's not a generic announcement to the world. Verse 10, he said, the angel said unto them, fear not for behold, I bring you good tidings. This is coming to you. Verse 11, he said unto you is born this day. in the city of David unto you.

These shepherds were not expecting an announcement. Think about their evening. They were not expecting announce an announcement. They were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock like they did every night. Verse nine says and low. Those are two great words. Lo and behold, that's what happens. People go about their business, they live in this world, they're just minding their business. And lo. Verse nine says, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. They did not come upon the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord came upon them. Our Lord is so good. He is so good. He is so good to us. He is so faithful to us. He is so kind to us.

Like the old song says, "'Tis not that I did choose thee for a Lord that could not be." This heart would still refuse thee. What that means is I didn't choose you in the beginning. I wouldn't choose you right now. You were not faithful to me. Tis not that I did choose thee, for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse thee, hadst thou not chosen me. It was sovereign mercy that called me and taught my opening mind. The world had else enthralled me to heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before thee, for thy rich grace I thirst. This knowing, if I love thee, thou must have loved me first.

The gospel came to them. If I come to you, we talk about coming to Christ, talking about coming to Christ this morning. If we come to Christ, it means he must have come to us first. The gospel came to them individually, came to them personally, and that's how it comes to every one of God's people. The gospel's personal. It's personal. I love how Paul wrote, my gospel, your gospel, our gospel. It's personal.

All right, verse nine says, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. All right, number two, the gospel is glorious. You know, I see, you know, we just read that, the glory shone round about him. And you think about Paul on the road to Damascus and this glory, you know, the brightness blinded him. And you think, wouldn't that be amazing to see?

We do see it. We do see it. It blinds us to the flesh. It blinds us to the world. It blinds us to everything but Christ. The gospel is glorious. It is full of glory. It is filled with glory. What does that mean? Filled with Christ. The glory of the Lord. Shown round about them. That's what they saw. God's glory. And that's what we see in the gospel. God's glory. Not our glory. Not man's glory. God's glory. Moses said, Lord, show me your glory.

The Lord said, here it is. I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. I'll show mercy to whom I'll show mercy. Where do we see that? At the cross. At the cross. We see the glory of God Almighty at the cross of Calvary. That is God's glory. We see how God could be, let me tell you something, I'm gonna say something that people say all the time. Let's really think about it for one second. At the cross, we see how God could be just and still at the same moment in time, justify a sinner. You hear that and say, I'm not sure I know what that means. Ask the Lord. Ask the Lord.

How God who is holy and cannot, excuse sin. How could he be just in punishing sin and justify sinners at the same moment in time? We see how God could condemn sin and forgive sin in the same fatal blow. One blow, sin condemned, sin forgiven. How? In Christ.

That's his glory, that's the glory of the gospel. By the gospel, we see God's holiness, but we see his graciousness. We see his faithfulness and it's glorious. So the gospel is personal and the gospel is glorious. All right, verse nine, it says, And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them.

And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. Number three, the gospel is arresting. The gospel is arresting. It is fearful. It is powerful because it's sovereign. That's the reason why I love the sovereignty of God. I love the power of the Almighty. I truly do. The false message lie of man's religion is not arresting.

It is the wimpiest message I've ever heard in my life. That's what you're going to notice. After you hear the gospel for a while, you hear the truth for a while, you hear the truth of God's sovereignty in Christ and his sovereignty and salvation and his sovereignty in everything, his sovereignty and his will and his sovereign sovereignty. After you hear that and then go back into a house of false religion, it's the wimpiest message you'll ever hear in your life. It's just a bunch of, it's a sissy little G God. That God is a sissy. That's not the gospel. That's not the gospel. If it's not arresting, it's false religion. It's not the gospel.

The song, there's another song that says, Hail sovereign love that first began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Don't you love that thought of God almighty and all of his wisdom and all of his knowledge and all of his purpose, knowing exactly what would happen to this entire world of man. designing the scheme to rescue fallen man. The song says, thus the eternal counsel ran, almighty love arrest that man.

And that's what happens. That's what happens to each and every one of us. All of a sudden we're arrested. by the gospel, we're arrested by the word of God. For the first time, the words in these pages start to stand up and it's not just noise, it's God. And it's arresting. And it's wonderful. It is wonderful. I love God's word. I do, and I'm so glad I was arrested to that love. So glad. So the gospel is arresting because it's personal. It's arresting because it's personal. We say, wait a minute, I think he's talking to me. I think that's talking about me.

You know, at first you spend all your time in religion hearing about sinners and you're just so glad you're not one. You feel so sorry for them. And then all of a sudden you say, wait a minute, I think that could be me. How do you know? Because he said, that's what sin is. And that's what I am.

The gospel is arresting because it's personal and the gospel is arresting because it's so full of glory and majesty and power. When the gospel came to Peter. Do you by chance remember the story of when the Lord first came to Peter? He hit the dirt. He fell at the Lord's feet. He fell at his knees saying, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. That's what Peter said. When the gospel came to Paul, Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus knocked him off his horse. He hit the dirt. When the gospel came to John, now the gospel had already come to John, but the gospel came again to the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. And he was writing the revelation. The Lord said, right. What did John do?

He fell at his feet as a dead man. He hit the dirt. He hit the dirt. He hit the dirt. And that's what we do. That's what God's people do. We hit the dirt. It's no longer what I'm going to do with him. It's what is he going to do with me? It's arresting. It's arresting.

All right. Verse nine, it says, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not. Those are two wonderful words. There's a couple of wonderful words. But God, this is another set, fear not. Fear not. The gospel is comforting. The gospel is comforting. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is so comforting.

From almighty love, arrest that man. From that point, the song goes on to say, ere long, before long, a heavenly voice I heard And mercy's angel form appeared. That means a messenger came. I was all convicted by my sin and convicted before this holy God and convicted by his law. Convicted. And ere long a heavenly voice I heard and mercy's angel form appeared.

A messenger came to me who led me on with gentle pace to Jesus Christ my hiding place. Fear not. Fear not. If I have come to you, fear not. If I have personally arrested you in your sins and revealed to you the glory of how a sovereign, holy God could forgive your sin, Fear not.

I just love that story. I guess we'll get, if the Lord is pleased and we keep doing these stories, we'll get to the story of Manoah and his wife. And they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty. He revealed himself in a fire to them. And Manoah was scared and he said, God is gonna kill us. And his wife said, no. If God was going to kill us, he would never have revealed to us all of these glorious things.

Fear not. Fear not. The gospel is comforting. It is so comforting. So the gospel is personal. The gospel is glorious. The gospel is arresting. The gospel is comforting. Verse 10. And the angel said unto them, fear not for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. The gospel is good news.

Now let's always remember that when we tell it to people. You know that this flesh naturally does not love the gospel. So every time it comes up, it's almost like everything tenses up and it's like, here we go. We're about to, The gospel is good news. The gospel is happy news. The gospel is joyful news. It is such happy, happy news.

Again, that same song goes on to say, on him almighty vengeance fell that must have sunk a world to hell. He bore it for a chosen race and thus became their hiding place. On Him, the judgment of God fell in my place. He became my substitute. That's why Christ came into the world, personally, for me. To be my substitute. To be the substitute, not just for His people, but for me. To live as a substitute for me.

Let me just tell you, I've lived a horrible life. Irene doesn't believe that. But I have. I tell her that. She said, Nope, not you. I have. Thank God my life is not the one that is standing before the judgment of God Almighty. My life is the one that hung there on the cross in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came here to live as a substitute for me. He came to die as a substitute for us, for his people. He suffered God's wrath for us. He arose for us, the substitute for us. He secured eternal life for us.

What wonderful news the gospel is. He did this freely. He did this fully. I've always compared the gospel to going around announcing to people, your mortgage is paid. Your house is paid. Good news. The debt is clear. Free and clear. And you think, why in the world would people get upset at that? Don't you? I wanted to pay that mortgage off. No, thank you. Thank you. It's such good news. It's comforting, glorious, wonderful news. Verse 10. I'm done. I'm almost done. Verse 10.

The angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. I have Number six, the gospel is for whosoever. It is for whosoever. I have personally fallen in love with the fact that our Lord has extended this gospel unto all the world. For God so loved the whole world.

You know, you get a hold of election and you get a hold of particular redemption and you think, well, you better stay away from it. You better be careful, qualify. We do. We do, but the fact of the matter is the love of God Almighty is not confined to one tiny little group of people. It's not just us four and no more. Our Lord's goodness, His grace, His mercy has been extended to this entire world. I love the fact that I can say with confidence and with boldness, any sinner from anywhere in any condition who says, Do you mean even me, even me, the blessing of this gospel could fall on me? I can say yes, even you. Even you.

There is no one. There is no one. It would be pretty self-righteous and it would be, I'd need to hold a mirror up if I said to somebody, no, you're too sinful. There's no one too sinful. No one too, well, but now he did some bads, he did the worst of the worst sins.

It can be said to them too. And you who were dead in trespasses and sins, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, and you, and you, yes, God Almighty's door is wide open. He'll draw his people on his own terms, won't he? But it's wide open. The comforting good news of this gospel is that our Lord said he was gonna send it to all the world. All the world. You don't have to just be a Jew, you can also be a Gentile. You don't have to just be male, you can also be female. You can be barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free.

Our Lord said he'd send this gospel to every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue on this earth. And that's why we preach it to every tribe, nation, and kindred, and tongue on this earth. And the response to this message of the gospel is gonna be one of two things. We're either gonna believe it, or we're gonna deny it. We're either gonna love it, or we're gonna hate it. It's either gonna be a savor of life to us, or it will be a savor of death to us. And the Lord said that difference is gonna be seen throughout this entire world.

Throughout this entire world. Almost two years ago now, we went to Africa. And we had the opportunity to go with Brother Willie to the radio station. He's on a local radio station there. to preach the gospel. You know, I've preached and Willie translated, and it goes to central Malawi.

It covers the whole center of the country of Malawi. Malawi has 22 million people in it. And you know not every person there. I mean, it covers half of the country. Let me say it that way. But you know not every person's listening to the radio. They estimate they have a listening audience of 486,000 people listening to Willie every Saturday at 5 p.m. on the radio.

Why did we do that? It's because God has a select elect, a particular elect. That's the reason why we did that. It's because he said he would call his elect out of every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue from all over this entire world. If God is pleased to call some of his elect out of central Malawi, it's going to be made known by this right here.

They will believe the preached gospel. They will believe the preached gospel. That's how it will be made known there. That's how it will be made known here, right here. The sovereign God will give his people faith and they will believe his word and they'll be made known to us as their God given faith causes them to say, I believe this.

I believe this. This gospel is for whosoever. I thought it was only the elect. It is. Whosoever, whosoever, whoever God gives faith to believe it. All right, I'm done. The gospel's personal, it's glorious, it's arresting, it's comforting, it's good news, it's to whosoever, whoever God gives faith to and causes that soul not to reject it, but to believe it. Last one, okay? Last one, verse eight.

They were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Verse 11, For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Number seven, the gospel is concerning Christ. Number seven can be number one, it can be number two, it can be number three, four, five, six. The gospel is concerning Christ. Everything concerning the gospel is concerning Christ. That was their message. Christ. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, the Savior. The gospel is the declaration of a finished work by the successful man. The Savior, Christ, the Lord, the gospel is not a call to action. It's a call to Christ. It's a call to the Lord Jesus Christ unto you.

He is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord, sovereign, the sovereign Lord God of heaven and earth. He is our savior. He is our gospel. Thank God. Like William always says, I thank God for that. I do. All right. Amen.

The Gospel Is

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the gospel?

How do we know the gospel is true?

Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What does 'gospel is personal' mean?

Why is the gospel described as good news?

What does it mean that the gospel is for 'whosoever'?

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