When people find out that I'm
going to Alaska and Wasilla this past week, I fly up to preach
to two families. Travel all that way just to preach
to two families? Why would they want you to come
up here? Isn't there some place where
they can go to church? They're shocked by that. Most
religious people are surprised by that. Why? Why would you do
that? Get ready to go to England, fly
over to Ballymunny, North Island, been going for years, preached
to three families over there, 15, 20 people at the most. People are shocked. Anyplace
folks can go, church around there, they could go to church anywhere,
anywhere. Lots of churches everywhere.
You used to live there, lots of churches everywhere. But nowhere,
nowhere where they can go worship God. Nowhere where they can go hear
the gospel of God's free grace. Nowhere where they will learn
who God is, who Christ is, how God saves sinners by the blood
and righteousness and grace of his darling son. Nowhere. And so it is in this apostate
age in which we live. Like Israel of old, we live in
a generation of people, people who claim to be God's people,
people who claim to worship the Lord Jehovah, people who claim
to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who worship only the works of
their own hands. who adore themselves and their
righteousness and their goodness. And preachers love it so, for
they then can use those people to enrich themselves in whatever
way they desire, whether by fame or fortune, whether by little
influence here or there, but they keep themselves in business
by praising the works of men, the will of men, and the worth
of men. but to hear men declare who God
is, who Christ is, and how God saves sinners by His grace. You'll
search, search, and search in vain through this religious age
to find men who preach the gospel of God's free grace in every
part of the nation, in every part of the world, except for
a few here and there. Thus it is today. and thus it
has been for a long, long time. Therefore, I want to pick up
this morning right where I left off last Sunday. My subject is
recovering the gospel. Our text will be Romans chapter
1 and verse 16. You'll recall last Sunday I read
something to you that Brother Rock Barnard wrote in the front
of his sermon notebook. I want to remind you what Barnard
wrote in his day. Ralph Barnard died in 1969. Before he died, he was mightily
used of God, and this was the burden of his heart. He said,
the most humbling and challenging thing that I face, the great
concern of my heart is that my generation experiences a recovery
of the gospel. My heart's desire is that my
generation experiences a return to the gospel of God's free grace. My generation is plagued with
the gospel of works. My generation does not know what
the gospel of redemption is. I want to return to that message,
that great old message of God's word, which was used of God in
other days to awaken men to the guilt of sin and to reveal to
them the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Barnard
went on to say, if we would serve our generation, if we would serve
our generation, if we would honor our Lord, if we would be true
to the souls of our hearers, we must, I repeat, we must return
to the preaching of God's free grace. If we would serve our
generation, I say to all who speak for God, we must. If we would serve our generation. I say to you, men and women of
Grace Baptist Church, we must, as a congregation, return to
the preaching of the gospel of God's free grace and give ourselves
wholeheartedly, ardently to the work of preaching the gospel
of God's free grace throughout the world as God gives us means
and opportunity to do so. Romans chapter 1, verse 16. Paul
says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. The gospel is the gospel of Christ. And this gospel, this singular,
solitary gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the power of
God unto salvation. It is the instrument by which
God saves sinners in every age. Now, what's the difference? Wherein do we differ with the
religious world around us? I've told you Many times, shortly
after I came here, a local pastor came knocking on my door one
day, wanted to sell me some insurance. And I wasn't interested in buying
any more insurance. And before he left, he said,
let me ask you a question. Now, this is a conservative,
fundamentalist, Southern Baptist preacher, trained right up here
at Louisville Seminary. He was in school when he came
to talk to me. And he's a man a little older
than I am. He said, what's the difference
between your church and my church? What's the difference between
what you preach and I preach? And I said, if you've got a little
time, I'll be glad to tell you. And he said, well, I've got all
afternoon. And so he sat there all afternoon, and I spent four,
four and a half hours preaching to him. And when I got done,
I asked him these questions. I said, now, you correct me if
I am wrong. Please correct me if I misunderstand
something. If I understand correctly what
you believe and preach, you believe that God wants to save all men,
that Christ died to save all men, that the Holy Spirit strives
to save all men, but the man cannot be saved by those things
except man himself give consent and choose to be saved. If I
understand correctly. You believe that when Christ
died, he did not actually redeem anyone, but only made redemption
possible for all men. That he did not actually justify
anyone, but only made it possible for all men to be justified.
That He did not actually forgive anyone's sins, but only made
it possible for men's sins to be forgiven. That He did not
actually save anyone or secure anyone's salvation, but only
made it possible for men to be saved. Is that correct? He said,
yes. And man, by his faith, gives
merit and efficacy to the blood of Christ for his salvation.
Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. I said that
is absolutely damning heresy. It is damning for these reasons.
It makes Jesus Christ and the triune God revealed in Christ
a pathetic failure. He tried to do what he failed
to do. It robs God of all glory in his great work of salvation
and it makes man his own savior I said to him that is base idolatry
and it's damning to everybody who believes it We believe according
to scripture That God chose to save the people and they shall
be saved God sends his son sent his son to redeem the people
and they were redeemed and that the Holy Spirit comes to call
a people and they are called effectually and given life and
faith in Christ, not by their will, but by God's will, not
by their choice, but by God's choice, not by their work, but
by God's work. That's the difference. That's
the difference. What's the difference between
us and others? Between what's preached in this pulpit, and
what's preached all over this county, and all over this state,
and all over this country, and throughout this world and this
generation. Let me show you four things. If there's to be a recovery
of the gospel in this, our generation, somebody's got to tell this generation
these four things. First, what took place in eternity? What took place in eternity?
The preaching of the gospel involves declaring something that was
done before the world began. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3, the
Holy Spirit tells us the works were finished from the foundation
of the world. The works were finished, concluded,
completed, brought to an end, finished before the foundation
of the world. What works were finished? What
were they? Read the book of God and you
won't have any difficulty finding out. We're told in 2 Thessalonians
2 that God Almighty chose a people. There was an election made by
God from eternity. God chose a people whom he was
determined to save. They shall be saved. All of them
shall be saved. Not one of them lost and they
only shall be saved. God chose somebody and chose
them in his Son because he loved them with an everlasting love.
God predestinated, predestinated, predestinated. One of the young
men at Wasilla, Brother Stephan, was driving us to the airport
the other night and was talking to a preacher. One of his buddies is a Preacher's
son is talking to him tried to get him come to me preaching
and ask him. So what does this fella preaching? Somehow the
subject predestination came up. He said oh, we don't talk about
that We know we don't talk about that. It's hard to read the Bible
and not talk about predestination God predestinated all things
that ever come to pass before the world began He predestinated
all things that come to pass in time in order that these chosen
ones should be saved by His grace at the appointed time of His
love. In order to accomplish this, God made a covenant. A
covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
called a covenant of grace, a covenant of peace, a covenant of life,
a covenant by which God ordered and accomplished the salvation
of his people in Christ our surety. So that when Christ stood forth
as our Redeemer, as our mediator, as our surety, before the world
began, and he struck hands with the Father, assuming total responsibility
for our souls, God declares him accepted. Accepted. Father, he's a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and because God accepted his
sacrifice as our surety before the world began, he accepted
you and his son from eternity. Done from eternity. Done from
eternity. Well, Brother Don, the way you
talk, we were saved before the world began. That's not the way
I talk, that's the way God talks. Read the book of God. Read the
book of God. Well, what's the point in preaching
then? Because it's done. Because it's
done. And there are some people saved
from eternity in Jesus Christ who must be called in time to
experience that grace and conversion and regeneration. And they shall
be by the preaching of the word of God. God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. This salvation was finished from
the beginning. God hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Salvation is an eternal work.
It's an eternal work. If God didn't save you in eternity,
you won't be saved in time. And if God saved you in eternity,
you will be saved in time. We don't play games with men.
We don't try to manipulate folks psychologically. We don't try
to pressure folks into making the decision. We don't scare
young people into making a profession of faith. We don't twist arms
and all that nonsense that goes on trying to increase our numbers
and make folks see what great things we're doing. Why? Because
I'm concerned for your soul. I want you to know God. There's
a huge difference. I want you to know God. And we
know full well that God will save his people by the preaching
of the gospel, by the word of his grace. All right. Second,
somebody's got to tell this generation what happened in the garden.
God created man in his own image and after his own likeness, he
created man, Adam. in the image of Christ, the last
Adam, who would come in time, of whom Adam was a type, a representation,
and a picture. He created man upright, righteous,
holy, sinless, and he gave man all creation. God created Adam,
and then he created Eve, and brought Eve to Adam, and Adam
said, look at that. Look at that. joined them together
and Adam and Eve walked before God and they were naked and unashamed
Naked and unashamed because they had nothing to hide nothing to
be ashamed of and then one day Satan appeared in the garden
and tempted Eve and she took the forbidden fruit now remember
God had given them everything and God, he created the world
for him. He created the world for him.
Do you understand that? God created the world for man.
He didn't create man for the world. He created the world for
man. We got things kind of backwards these days. But God created the
world for man, and he gave Adam everything. He gave him every
animal that walked on the earth. He gave him every fish in the
sea. He gave him every bird in the sky. He gave him every bit
of vegetation on the earth, every tree, everything. And it's yours. Enjoy it, boy. Enjoy it. That's all we did. Walk with
God, worship God, serve God. And then one day Eve took the
fruit and Adam saw what she had done. God had just that one tree
in the garden, just one tree. Just one tree. He said, Adam,
here is the one symbol, the one symbol of my right to be God. You don't eat it. That's the
only thing, not yours. That's the only thing, not yours.
This testifies that I'm God and you're mine. And when Adam saw
what Eve had done, He remembered God's word and day thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die And he took the fruit from his
hand and he said you got no right to be God And he took the fruit
and shoved his fist in God's face and Adam died and his sons
had been born in this world with their fist in God's face ever
since and That's what sin is. It is man living with his fist
in God's face saying, you have no right to be God. This is my right. He said, my
right, I can rule my life. I know what's best and I'll do
what I want. That's what sin is. That's man's
corruption and depravity, his sin continually. That's what
happened in the garden. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. We sinned in Adam, we died in
Adam, we come forth from our mother's womb with Adam's nature,
and that's the way we'll go to hell unless God intervenes. That's
exactly right. You who are yet with your fist
in God's face, you who yet stand with clenched fist before God
and say, get out of my way, get out of my way, get out of my
way, I will not bow. You'll go to hell unless God
does something for you, unless God bows you, unless God breaks
you, unless God gives you life. That's exactly what the book
teaches. Man by nature, since the fall of man in the garden,
is dead in trespasses and in sins. His only hope, his only
hope, your only hope is that God Almighty intervene. Oh, thank God he does. Thank God he does. I was running
rapidly as I could to hell. And God stepped in my way. And
unless God steps in your way, you're going to run into hell.
Number three, somebody's got to tell this generation what
happened to Calvary. What happened to Calvary? People
have the idea that somehow Jesus came here to be a good man, show
us a good way of life, and he wound up dying because the Jews
wouldn't let him be king in Israel. What a pathetic thing. What a
pathetic thing. Oh, no, no, no. He came here
to die. He was born to die. It was his
purpose from eternity to die. He swore in the covenant that
he would die for us. He became responsible in the
covenant to redeem us, to shed his blood for us, to satisfy
justice for us. And so he came in the fullness
of time to lay down his life for his sheep at Calvary, to
redeem and save his sheep. And this is what happened. When
the Lord Jesus went up to the cursed tree, he who knew no sin,
was made sin for us. He was made sin for us. I can't say this with less emphasis. God doesn't pretend. God didn't pretend that his son
was made sin. He took that awful mass of iniquity,
that awful mass of corruption, that awful mass of sin that we
are, all the sin of all his people, and made it his sons. Heaped upon him all our transgressions. and his son took our iniquities in his own
body and bear our sin in his own body and bore our transgressions
in his own body on the tree and when it was made sin for us God
Almighty did the only thing God in His holiness, righteousness,
and justice could do. The only thing He could do if
He would be God. He cried, Awake, O sword, against
the man that is my fellow. Smite and slay the shepherd. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
slaughtered under the justice of God as a sacrifice for sin. The angry, furious, horrible
justice of God vented itself, poured out upon His Son, until
God Almighty had poured on Him all the fury of His wrath against
sin, until sin was gold and justice was satisfied. And when He did,
He did it that we, his elect. Every sinner who trusts
his son. God help you now trust Christ.
Trust Christ. If you trust him, you trust him
because God chose you. Christ redeemed you. The Spirit's
called, trust the Son of God. He made his son sin and punished
his son as our substitute because of our sins made his. That we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Made righteous. Remember what I said a little
bit ago? Mark, God doesn't pretend. He made you righteous. Made us
righteous. Made us righteous. The righteousness
of God in Christ. So that all we are, Christ was
made in order that all that Christ is, we might be made. He is the
righteousness of God. His name is Jehovah Sikinyu,
the Lord our righteousness. So the Lord Jesus, by His sacrifice
on the tree, put away our sins, satisfied divine justice, and
made us righteous. He brought in everlasting righteousness. And thus he fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah in magnifying the law and making it honorable. So that
all for whom Christ died. Every sinner for whom the son
of God laid down his life Every sinner for whom Christ paid the
satisfaction of justice Every sinner for whom Christ suffered
the wrath of God was redeemed by him and forgiven by him Listen
to the book of God Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law for it is written Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree that we might receive the promise of the spirit, the blessing
of Abraham coming on the Gentiles. Christ redeemed us. He purchased
us out from under the curse of the law, that the blessing of
Abraham might come on us, the promise of God, the promise of
the covenant. What is that? It is the spirit
of Christ coming to us in regeneration, giving us life and faith in his
dear son. Fourth, somebody has got to tell
this generation what happens in the new birth. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2 for a minute. Ephesians chapter 2. You hath he quickened. The word
means made alive. Made alive. You have he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sins. Dead in trespasses and in sins. Now, preachers everywhere tell
you if you take the first step, God will do the rest. If you
can take the first step, you don't need God to do anything.
There is a legend, a papal legend, about
a martyred fellow who had his head chopped off and he got up
and walked 100 miles after he had his head chopped off. That
does surprise me a bit in the world. If he could take the first
step, he'd walk all the way. That's not a problem. But taking
the first step is something else with his head chopped off. Just
as well tell a man with his head cut off to get up and walk. is
tell a dead sinner if he takes the first step, God will do the
rest. You choose the Lord, he'll take you. If you decide for Jesus,
Jesus will take you. If you give your heart to the
Lord, everything will be all right. No, you're dead. Dead. And a dead man doesn't do anything. A dead man has no sense and no
sensibility. A dead man has no capacity for
anything. A dead man doesn't feel anything. A dead man is not aware of anything. That's a pretty good description
of man by nature. You who are without Christ are
dead in trespasses and in sins. Dead. Pour scalding water on
a dead man? He didn't feel anything. Pour
cold water on him. He didn't feel anything. Tell
him the saddest stories there are. Doesn't move him. Massage
his limbs. Won't help him. He's dead. He's
dead. But people are told relentlessly
in churches everywhere that if they would be born again, you've
got to... And Alan, it doesn't matter what
you got to. It doesn't matter what follows that. Whatever it
is, you can't do it. You're dead! You're dead. No,
if a person's born again, somebody's got to give you life. That's what it is to be born
again. You have to be quickened who were dead in trespasses and
in sins. When in time past, you walked
according to the course of this world. According to the prince
of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience Among whom also we all had our conversation in
time past in the lust of our flesh Fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others. Oh Now there you see God changes
and we were once children of wrath and now we're not children
of wrath That's not talking about changing God. That's talking
about changing us. I all the difference in the world. We were
wrathful children, children full of wrath. When I was growing up, I was an angry young man. I was an angry young man, full
of anger, full of wrath. The surest way The surest way
to get me to do something is for my mama to tell me I couldn't
do it. If you do that, son, I'm going to kill you. And you know
what? She pretty near did several times.
But I'm going to do it if it kills her and me both. You don't tell me what to do.
My daddy tell me to do something. Who are you to tell me what to
do? And I was angry all the time. full of wrath, full of wrath. I hated them. Oh, I kind of loved
them because they were my parents, you know, like boys and girls
love their parents as mom and daddy. But I hated them. I hated
their authority. I hated their rule. I hated their
customs. I hated what they required of
me. I hated the intelligence. I hated being in subjection to
them. And there was no subjection there.
I lived all my life just like this. Get out of my way. Get
out of my way. Get out of my way! I'll have
my own way. That's just what he's talking
about with the children of wrath. That's what we were by nature.
Wrathful, angry children. And here too, the sweetest words
in the English language. But God. But God. who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, hath quickened us, made us alive
together with Christ. What's that mean? By grace, ye
are saved. Skip down to verse seven or verse
eight. For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of
yourselves, The grace didn't come from you. The salvation
didn't come from you. The faith didn't come from you. Billy Graham, years ago, this
has been a long, long time ago, I heard him make a statement
one time. He said, man has a sixth sense. Man has a sixth sense. He has the ability to believe
God. Oh, no, you don't. No, you try. Just try. I believe God. And I find myself
constantly struggling with unbelief. I try to believe him. I can't. Until he graciously gives me
faith to believe him. like Peter. Then she was talking
about him this morning, that horrible fall. Lord said, you're
going to deny me three times before the sun comes up tomorrow.
And he said, not me. Not me. No, not me. No, no, not me. Maybe James and
John, but not me. Not me. Not me. Oh, no, I won't
do that. I'll go with you to death. And
he told the truth, Fred. He went with him to death. that
was that's what that new man is but Peter had to find out
he's still Peter too and He's Lord said well, I'll tell you
what the cocks going to crow twice Before it does you're gonna
die me three times Peter denied the Lord and he denied him again
thought nothing of it and he heard that rooster crow Frank
can you imagine? What must have gone on inside
that man when he heard that rooster crow? Can you imagine? Oh, sure, that'll
be enough. That'll cause him to straighten
up and fly right. That'll cause him to turn and believe God.
He can't until God intervenes. And he goes right on in that
downward spiral. Oh no, faith is born in you by
the Spirit of God, sustained in you by the Spirit of God,
and exercised in you only by the operation of God's grace.
That, not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works. Not of works. Salvation doesn't
come by works. It doesn't come by effort, not
effort of any kind. Grace doesn't come by works.
It doesn't come by effort, not by effort of any kind. And faith
doesn't come by works, not by effort of any kind. Well, you
just got to make up your mind to follow Jesus. You make up
your mind and you'll follow the devil. I promise you. You make
up your mind and you'll follow yourself, I promise you. You
make up your mind, you won't do anything but go to hell unless
God Almighty gives you a new mind, a new nature, a new heart,
and creates faith in you, the gift of God. This is God's work. Look at Titus chapter three.
Titus chapter three. But after that, the kindness,
verse four. and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ, our Savior, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. When Okiah, the priest, found
the book of God in the temple, and Shaphan the scribe read the
book to King Josiah. Josiah rent his clothes in repentance. He turned to God, confessed his
sin, the sins of the fathers, the sins of the nation, confessed,
God, what you've done, what you've done in sending judgment upon
us. What you've done in this great, great judgment upon us
is right. It's right. We've earned it.
We've earned it. It's high time we recognize that
as a nation and as a generation. So this nation, just terrible,
terrible condition. There's a reason for it. We've
been spitting in God's face for generations. Josiah said, God
is right for you to destroy us. It's right for you to destroy
us. And me too. And he turned to
God in repentance. And he led the people of Israel
to keep the Passover. He led God's people, the elect
remnant in Israel, to worship God through the Passover lamb,
through Jesus Christ, our Passover, who is sacrificed for us. And
Josiah made a covenant to walk before God with all his
heart and all his soul. What's that mean? to perform
all the words of the covenant which are written in this book.
How can he do that? How can he do that? He said,
Lord, here's the sacrifice. You require perfection. You require
righteousness. You require justice. You require
satisfaction. You require expiation. You require
sin be put away. I come to you with Christ, whom
you've given to me. And Josiah, believing God, kept
the covenant. And all Israel joined him in
the covenant. If we would worship God, If the
worship of God would be restored in our day, three things are
absolutely necessary. We must have these three things.
We must return to the preaching of the gospel. I made four O's in my life as
a believer. Just four. Just four. When I was baptized, I lifted
my hand to God and I said, I'm yours. I'm yours. Do with me what you will. Just
do something with me. I'm yours. When I was married, I made an
oath before God and my wife. Gave myself to her. And God put me in this blessed
work of the ministry. I made an oath to God. To preach
the gospel of his grace. And when I came here as your
pastor, I made an oath to you. To preach the gospel of God's
free grace. And God helping me, I'm determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Nothing else. Nothing else. God helping me,
to my dying breath, I will give over to no other thing the preaching
of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. This generation's got
to have it. It's got to have it. let us devote
ourselves to it. Second, there must be a return
to the rule of God's word in his house. Believing what God says, bowing
to what God says, worshiping according to God's order revealed
in this book. People have the idea that they
can worship God just any way they choose, whatever manner
they want to. And so we've got, these days,
contemporary worship. I remember Brother Maurice Montgomery
making an observation years ago. He said, you know what the next
word after contemporary is in the dictionary? He said it's
contempt. That's a pretty good description
of contemporary worship. It's just contempt for God. It's just contempt for God. That's all it is. Get together
and feel good and make folks feel good. Just have a good time. We come to God's house to worship
God. You're not going to come in this
place and find skits and plays and programs and cantatas and
entertainment. ball games, and ball teams, and
raffles, and bingo parlors, and I can't say what I'm thinking. It's just horse manure. You're
not going to come here and get it. Not going to happen. You've
been, to tell you the truth, that's talking an awful lot about
religion. That ain't near as low as I'd
like to talk about it. The religion of this age holds God in contempt,
and I hold the religion in contempt, and you should as well. And third,
We've got to have something else. We've got to have an outpouring
of God's Spirit upon us. Oh, Spirit of God, grant us these
things for Christ's sake. If we would serve our generation,
if we would honor our Lord, if we would be true to the souls
of our hearers, we must, I repeat, we must return to the preaching
of God's free grace. That's what Paul's talking about
here in Romans chapter one. He said, I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you, even to you who are at Rome, because I'm
not ashamed of it, because it's the gospel of Christ, because
it's the power of God to salvation to everyone that believeth. Oh
God help you now, like Josiah, to humble yourself before God.
Bow to him, believe him, trust his son. And as God said to Josiah, you will not see all this evil
written in this book against you. You'll not see it. But you'll be gathered to your
grave in peace, in the peace of God that passeth understanding,
the peace of the knowledge of the living God in his Son, Jesus
Christ the Lord. Oh, God help you then to trust
his Son. Amen.