When you think about the word
sin, what comes to mind? Sin. Theft, lying, deceit, adultery,
fornication, sodomy, pedophilia, rape, murder. unborn babies by
their mothers and doctors. When you think of sin, what comes
to mind? And when you think of that horrid,
horrid thing, sin, what do you consider the most evil of all
the acts of man? when God the Holy Ghost comes
to convince men and women of sin. This is how He does it. He shall convince you of sin,
because you believe not on me, our Savior said. The most horrid, most vile, most
wicked, most abominable thing in the world is unbelief, unbelief. To hear the Gospel
of God's free grace and believe it not, unless God stops you
and causes you by his grace to believe will land you in the
lowest hell forever. Unbelief. My text this morning
is the 16th verse of Romans chapter 10. Paul has just proclaimed that
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He has just said, if you believe,
you have a life. He has just declared that God
saves sinners by the preaching of the gospel. And oh, how good
God is that he sends messengers of grace to preach the gospel
to us. But who hath believed our report
was the question that the prophet Isaiah asked with astonishment. And this is what Paul says concerning
it. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Nothing so fully demonstrates,
nothing so glaringly shows, the utter depravity of fallen man
as the fact that men and women hearing the gospel refuse to
believe on the Son of God. That's one of the most astounding
things in the world. Who can understand it? Who can
explain how or why perishing sinners will hear the gospel
of the grace of God and stubbornly refuse to obey it. Astounding
as that fact is, it's one that I and every other preacher must
face every day as we labor for the souls of men in preaching
the gospel. We preach the gospel to men and
women. I'm about to lead to go again
on a trip preaching the gospel. We preach the gospel to men and
women who desperately need it, to sinners slipping over the
brink of hell. We preach the gospel to folks
who desperately need it, knowing full well that as it was in Isaiah's
day, as it was in our Lord's day, as it was in the apostles'
day, as it has been in every day, so it is today, and so it
shall be until the last day. The vast majority of those who
hear the Gospel we preach will not obey the Gospel. The vast majority who hear the
gospel will not believe on the Son of God. Both Isaiah and the
Apostle Paul were utterly astonished by this fact, by man's rejection
of the gospel. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? In the exercise of his marvelous
mercy, God stays the hand of his justice. He hasn't immediately sent you
to hell and yet you despise his mercy. In his infinite wisdom
and grace, the Lord God devised a means by which he can be just
and yet justify the ungodly. And yet the ungodly stubbornly
despise his grace. In his everlasting love, God
sent his spirit into the world, or sent his son into the world
to die for sinners. The just for the unjust, that
sinners might live before him. and yet astounding as it may
seem, sinners despise his son and despise his love and say,
I won't have him. Such things could never have
been imagined were it not for the fact that man's nature was
utterly ruined in the fall. And that all men and women, since
the fall of our father Adam, live in this world in utter,
total, absolute depravity of heart. Hearts at enmity against
God. Hearts that despise God. Hearts that hate God. Hearts that would, if they could,
kill God right now. Right now. And the only way that will change
for you is if God Almighty will send His Spirit into your heart
and reveal the arm of the Lord in you, reveal Christ in you,
causing you by the inward operation of His grace believe on his side. And that he does through the
preaching of the gospel. If we have believed that, I'm
talking about you and me. If we have believed that, we
would use every means in our power to cause the souls for
whom we care to hear the gospel all the time. If we have believed
that, we would use every means in our power to get perishing
men and women into this place or another like it, where they
might hear the gospel of God's free grace in Christ Jesus the
Lord. I want, as God will enable me,
to talk to you for a little while about disobedience to the gospel. That's my subject. In the name
of Christ, I want earnestly to plead with you who have not yet
obeyed the gospel, reasoning with you from the word of God.
Some of you, who though you've heard the gospel often, some
of you have heard the gospel for a long time, and you're very
familiar with the doctrine of the gospel. And you would never
dream of going somewhere and hearing anything contrary to
the gospel of God's grace. But Paul describes you when he
says, they have not obeyed the gospel. If you're one of these,
this message is for you. Unbelief is the most terrible
evil committed by man. And that person who's guilty
of unbelief is guilty of the greatest crime possible against
God. And this message is for you who
are God's. This message is for me. I was reading a biography earlier
this week. Preacher lived long time ago
and he made this statement. He said, First, preach to yourself,
or what you've got to say won't be of any benefit to anybody
else. And I've been preaching this message to myself. You see,
that horrid evil is more inexcusable and more ugly and more hideous
in me than in anybody. unbelief, not believing God,
not believing the Son of God is disobedience to the Gospel. Now let me make one statement,
I'll spend the bulk of my time here, and then I want to answer
three questions. Here's the statement, this is a revealed fact, already
said it a number of ways, but I want you to see it clearly.
The gospel I preach to you comes to you this day as God's command. It is a commandment given by
God with divine authority. God says to you, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's God's command. God commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. That makes faith in Christ your
responsibility. That makes faith in Christ your
responsibility. You and I are responsible before
God to trust his son. Oh, but preacher, we're sovereign
grace fellows. We're Calvinists. We just sang
about God's predestination. Faith in Christ is your responsibility. Now you can juggle that around
any way you want to. That's the plain declaration
of scripture. God requires men to do many things. They're totally incapable of
doing. God requires Mark Henson to be
holy. God requires Lindsay Campbell
to be perfect. God requires Mark Daniel to be
righteous, and you can't do it. You can't do it. But blessed
be his name, what God requires, God does for his people. But if God doesn't do it for
you, you're still responsible. You're still responsible. This
is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son,
Jesus Christ. That's his commandment. Believe
on the name of his son. What's that talking about? Unlike
the way we use the word name. We name our children, we have
our babies, we name them, either name them after daddy or somebody
in the family, or we name them because the name sounds pretty,
or it has a good rhythm, or it just sounds good to us. I've
always liked that name, so I'll name my baby this. I've always
liked that name, I'll name my boy this. But in the scriptures,
and in ages gone by, men and women named their children for
a purpose. They named them because of something
that the name expressed. The name identified the person. A fella got the name Taylor because
his family was a family of Taylors. There are a lot of Smiths in
this world. There must have been lots of black Smiths. Must have
been a bunch of them. That's how they got the name.
The name identified who they were. The name of Jesus Christ
is the revelation of all his being. The revelation of all
his works. God's commandment is that you
believe on his son, Jesus the Christ, as he is revealed in
the book of God, in all his holy character, that you believe him.
And believing him, we obey God's commands. We sometimes sing trust
and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but
to trust and obey. There's just one thing wrong
with that. The only way you can obey is to trust. And if you
trust, you obey. We trust the Son of God. And this is what God says, he
that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him. Hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given us. So God commands
you to repent, to turn to him in reconciliation, trusting the
Lord Jesus Christ. God was in Christ by his sacrifice,
by his obedience unto death, reconciling his people wherever
they're found, throughout the world, any place, any time. He was in Christ reconciling
his people unto himself. But now God's given us the word
of reconciliation. And we beseech you in Christ's
name, be ye reconciled to God. Now, you must cease your warfare
against God. You must repent or you must perish. God commands you to trust his
son. Paul says, they've not all obeyed
the gospel. You can't speak of obeying or
disobeying anything unless it's a command. Now, the scriptures
tell us plainly that the gospel is a message of substitution.
It is not an invitation. It is not an offer. It is a command
based upon a message. And the message is the message
of God's free grace, sending his darling son as the representative
of chosen sinners to live in obedience under God in perfect
righteousness. and having brought in everlasting
righteousness by his obedience unto death, God's darling Son
then took the sins of those people upon himself and died under the
wrath of God as the sinner's substitute. God made his son
who knew no sin to be sin for us that we by his obedience,
by his death might be made the very righteousness of God in
him. Made to be all that Jesus Christ
is, all that he did, all that he brought in by his obedience
unto death. The gospel of the grace of God
is a declaration showing sinners by the word of God how that God
can be righteous and yet forgive. How that God can be strict and
yet be merciful. How that God can be gracious
and yet be just. How that God can be absolutely
just and still be the justifier of such things as we are. How
can that be? Brother Lindsey dealt with it
this morning. Again, talking about the Passover. When the
judgment of God fell upon the land of Egypt, the firstborn
in every house in the land of Egypt died that night. Oh, but not the Israelites firstborn.
The firstborn in every house in the land of Egypt died that
night. Either the firstborn died or
the firstborn died in the firstborn. Christ Jesus the Lord represented
in that blood of a lamb on the doorpost and the lintel. How can God forgive my sin? How can a holy, just, and true
God, who says the soul that sinneth, it shall die, give me life and
still be just? How can God, who cannot lie,
who said I will by no means clear the guilty, make this guilty
sinner guiltless? There ain't but one way, and
that's by the sacrifice of his darling son. Now, I see how God
can pardon me and still be God. How God can forgive me and still
be true. How God can put away my sin and
make me to be without guilt and still be just. There he is, seated
on the throne of God, the crucified God-man, Jesus Christ the Lord. The gospel is a command. You're commanded to bow to Christ,
to trust Christ. If you disobey the command of
the most high God, you do so to your own indescribable eternal
peril. To disobey the gospel is to blaspheme
God. It is to blaspheme the Holy Ghost.
It is to blaspheme the Son of God. It is to spit in the face
of God Almighty. It is to trample under your foot
the very blood of the Son of God. Now let me give you three
reasons why clearly God gives the gospel as a command. I know there's lots of debate
and fuss going on in the theological world and among preachers, and
they like to kick their footballs around and prove themselves right
about the free offer of the gospel and the invitation of the gospel
and all that nonsense. The gospel is not an invitation.
How many of you have gotten an invitation to a graduation this
year? About everybody. How many have
ever gotten an invitation to a wedding? About everybody. How
many have ever gone to all of them? You can come or don't come, it
won't matter. Won't cost you a thing. Somebody might get a
little upset with you, but it won't cost you a thing. You can
accept an invitation or reject the invitation. There's nothing
binding you to do it. Somebody offers me a plate of
asparagus. Unless you're just a complete
stranger and I just don't want to offend you, I'll say no thank
you. And most of you wouldn't offer
it to start with because you know, I'm gonna say no. Thank
you I just soon not even smell it let alone see it or eat it
but You don't get upset Yeah, no bother you didn't like
asparagus You can accept an offer or reject an offer. It doesn't
matter but a command that's something else. That's something else The
gospel is put to you in the form of a command to encourage sinners
to seek Christ and come to Him. You see, if the gospel weren't
a command, you might look at yourself and, well, I can come
if I meet this condition or that condition, or if the gospel's
offered, if you'll just meet the condition of the offer, you're
welcome to come. You'll look at yourself, and
looking at yourself, you'll never come. Because you can never meet
the conditions. You can never meet the conditions.
But the gospel is God's command given to sinners as sinners. I wonder if there's one here.
The gospel is God's command given to sinners as sinners. As sinners. No conditions be
met. But I don't feel. That's not
the issue. But I don't, that's not the issue.
But I have, that's not the issue. The gospel is a command given
to sinners as sinners. And God says, believe on my side.
Believe on my side. If I have a command to do something,
then, come here, I'll tell you something. I have permission
to do it. If I have a command to do something,
I had permission to do it. I don't know how things are now,
but I suspect, and time's gone by, you could walk into the White
House off the street. But I suspect today, I suspect,
I know they've got a gallery in the Senate for folks to come
and visit. I suspect that in order to get
in that place, you gotta go through some stuff. But if I were to
get wanted federal marshals to walk up to my front door and
hand me a paper, and I am summonsed to be in the Senate in Washington,
D.C. Monday morning, January 17th,
2017. I just got a hunch I'd be permitted
to get in. What right have you to come here?
This is my right. If I'm summoned to go to court,
that's not an offer. That's not an invitation. I'll
either go to court or I'll suffer the consequences. The gospel
is a command. You're commanded to come to God. You're commanded to believe on
his side. I reckon then it's all right
for me to believe him. No matter what I feel or don't feel. No
matter what I think or don't think. No matter what's inside
me or not inside me. No matter what I've experienced
or haven't experienced. God commands me to believe His
Son. I believe His Son. And I am given
this promise. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. The gospel is given as a command to give God's servants boldness
in proclaiming it. I preached to you last Sunday
morning, I tried to, from Ezekiel 37. When I read that passage and
others like it, I try to put myself in the position of the
prophet. Ezekiel prophesy to these bones. What is your fix to do, Ezekiel?
I've been studying and I've been praying and God's given me a
message and I'm gonna preach to these bones. Ezekiel, have
you popped a cork? What's wrong with you? Don't
you know bones can't live? I've been told that. but I've
seen them live before. And God commanded me to prophesy
to these bones. And he prophesied to the bones,
and the bones lived. God sends his servant to command
the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the
dead to live. Arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee life. That's what the book says. That's
what the book says. Well, you can't, you can't do
that. Yes, I can too, because God sent me with a command. A command with the authority
of God, so that with the authority of God, I call on you to believe
on the Son of God. With the authority of God, I
command you to be reconciled to God, as God speaks by me,
the dead live. As God speaks by me, the dead
live. What a word. What a blessed encouragement
to preach the gospel with boldness. We are God's ambassadors. As
though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's name,
be you reconciled to God. And when men and women are called
of God, hearing his voice, the dead leave. The dead leave. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,
and he said, our gospel, when we came to you, came not by word
only, but in power, and in demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance. And that's the proof that you're
God's elect. That's the proof that Christ is leading you. That's
the proof that you've been called by God's Spirit. The gospel is
given in the form of a command, to secure God's honor. Turn back
to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. Listen to our Lord's parable. Verse 15. When one of them that
sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, blessed
is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said
he unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many. That is he called. You could
even use the word invited. He sent out wedding invitations.
And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were
bidden, to them that were called, come. For all things are now
ready. Come to the marriage, come on,
everything ready. You don't have to bring a thing,
just come on. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. Do you have any idea how many
excuses I hear in a week's time for folks not believing God?
Do you have any idea? I wish sometimes I kept some
records. I don't keep many records of
any kind, but I wish I'd kept, I wish I'd written down every
time somebody gave me a reason why they don't believe. Every
time somebody gave me a reason why they don't come to church.
Every time somebody gave me a reason why they're not interested. They
all with one consent began to make excuse. And every excuse
was as lame as if a fella didn't have legs. Every excuse, it was
as dumb as a box of rocks, Brother Bill would say. Look at it. They
began with one excuse, one consent to make excuse. The first said
unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and
see it. What fool would do that? What fool would do that? I pray
thee, have me excused. Another said, I bought five yoke
of oxen, And I go to prove them. Who would do that? I prayed they
had me excused. And my former pastor, when God
called me by his grace, by the time the Davis, he said there
was one of them just to him take Tusman, he told the truth. He
said, I married a wife, I cannot come. I just can't do it. All of them, lame excuses. So
that the servant came and showed his Lord these things. Then the
master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, said to
his servant, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city and bid them come. Say what the Bible says? Bring in, bring in. You see, God by his spirit speaks
through the gospel. calling sinners to life. And
then God, by His Spirit, speaks to the gospel, by the gospel,
and calls sinners to life, causing them to hear. He said, now go
out and bring in. Bring in the poor and the maimed
and the haunt and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it's
done as thou has said, as thou has commanded, yet there's room.
And the Lord said to the servant, go out into the highways and
hedges, I love this word, and compel them to come in, that
my house may be filled. For I say unto you that none
of those men which were bitten shall taste of my supper. Oh my God, thank you. Thank you. When I would not hear,
and I would not believe, and I would not come to Christ, you
graciously, sweetly forced me to come. compelled me to come
to the marriage feast. Well, what is disobedience to
the gospel? I repeat to you what I said to
you in the beginning. It is the most horrid, evil, committed by any human being
or altogether upon the face of the earth. Unbelief. We won't read this again this
morning, but I urge you to read Matthew chapter 11. Our Lord Jesus upbraided the
cities where He was preaching and He said, if I had gone to
Sodom, the Sodomites to see what you've seen and hear what you've
heard, they would have repented. He said, Sodom and Gomorrah shall
arise in the Day of Judgment and speak against you. What a statement. What a statement. And then he said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. To disobey the gospel is to spit in God's face and
say to God, I won't have you. I won't have you. To disobey
the gospel is to say God is a liar. He's not fit to be believed.
To disobey the gospel is to trample underfoot the blood of the Son
of God and say that was a waste. That was a waste. Well, what is it then, pastor,
to obey the gospel? to obey the Gospel is to believe
it, to believe the message of God concerning His Son, redemption
by His blood, salvation by His grace. It is to believe, to obey
the Gospel isn't to walk down front and say the sinner's prayer,
or sign a decision card, or join the church, or change your life.
To obey the gospel is to believe on the Son of God. And this is God's promise to
all who believe. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. you couldn't believe if you didn't
have life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Faith in Christ is a lifelong
act by which your soul is saved. There again, we good folks who
believe Sovereign Christ, we sometimes read some scriptures,
we can't say that. Listen to what the Savior said.
This is what the Lord Jesus said to that woman who came to him
with an issue of blood. He said, daughter, be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
She said, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Lord, you got that
wrong. You did it! if ever your faith
made you whole. For as soon as you touched the
hymn of my God, you were made whole. Our Lord Jesus said to
blind Bartimaeus, who sat by the wayside begging, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole. Bartimaeus went away telling
everybody how the Lord saved him. Our Lord Jesus said to Mary
Magdalene, that woman of ill repute who came, having been
washed in his blood before ever his blood was shed. Knowing that he was about to
die in her stead, she washed his feet with the hairs of her
head, with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head
and kissed him. The Lord Jesus said to that woman,
Thy faith hath saved thee. You live the rest of your life
in peace. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. You see, the
Lord Jesus requires faith. And I remind you one more time, what He requires, He gives. Faith is His gift. Yes, it's your responsibility.
It's His gift. So that I call on you now to
believe on the Son of God. What's the result if you don't
believe? If you harden your heart, say, I won't have him. I won't
have him. No! I'll not believe. Then God Almighty will cause
you to eat the fruit of your own way forever in hell. And nobody will pity you. Nobody
will pity you. Believe on the Son of God. the Savior. And go down to your
house today like that publican our Lord spoke of in the temple
who prayed, God, be merciful. Be propitious to me, the sinner. And the Lord Jesus was merciful. and washed away his sin. Cleansed him from every spot. So he'd go out the door singing,
now my heart condemns me not. I'm justified. Amen.