Should you leave here and go
this morning to the various church buildings in this town, in this
county, in this state, and ask folks, what is the gospel as
they come out the church door? I will almost guarantee you,
you will get as many different answers as people you ask. Because most people are in a
fog concerning what they profess to believe. And most everyone
is in a fog concerning the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Few, very few, can point to anything
in the scriptures and clearly identify and define the gospel
of the grace of God. The fact is most people, aren't
terribly dogmatic about what the gospel is. And they acknowledge
readily that one person's opinion of the gospel is as good as another
person's, and you can't be very precise about these things. But
if you'll turn to Galatians chapter 1, our text is going to be Romans
chapter 1, but let's begin here in Galatians 1. You'll find that
the word of God gives a clear assertion that there is but one
gospel. There is but one gospel. And every rival gospel is a false
gospel. The word gospel means good news. Good news. If you should listen
to preachers on radio and television Internet or however you choose
to do so, I don't recommend that you do. But if you should listen
to them, you will find that what they give folks is good advice. And really, their good advice
is bad advice because it's contrary to the gospel. The gospel is
not good advice. It is not telling you what you
must do. It is not a declaration of something
you must perform. The gospel is good news. It is the declaration of that
which is done. There's a big difference. Most
religion, most religion is two letters short. The whole of the
religion is D-O, do. The gospel is D-O-N-E, done. It is the declaration of redemption,
done. Salvation done, righteousness
done, grace done by Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Now it is called
by many names in the scriptures. It is called the gospel of God,
the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the grace of God, the
gospel of Christ, the glorious gospel of the blessed God, the
everlasting gospel. But the gospel is just one. The
King Galatians chapter one. The Apostle Paul came to Galatia
and preached the gospel. And when he did, God saved many. A gospel church was established
there. But as soon as Paul left, men
came in behind him, professing to be his brothers, professing
to be preaching the same gospel. But they were really Judaizers.
That's a big name for folks who mixed law and grace. They were
Jews who professed faith in Christ, but sought to retain the laws
of the Jews, the law given by Moses and the various ceremonies
of the law, mixing grace and works, mixing the elements of
the world, mixing the works of the flesh, which is what the
law is. The works of the flesh is what
the law is mixing those things with the grace of God They didn't
come and say now now Paul's a false prophet They didn't say Paul
preached the false gospel to you. No, no, they said Paul didn't
say enough Paul declared we're saved by grace, but it just makes
sense that you've got to do something. That just stands for reason.
You know God expects something from you, something you must
contribute. Now watch what it says. Galatians
1 verse 6. I marvel, I'm astonished, I'm
astonished that you're so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Paul, by
the preaching of the gospel, called them into the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But now they move away from Paul
and the gospel that Paul preached to another gospel. Now watch
what he says. Which is not another. Which is not another. It is not
even similar. It is not even similar. Oh, they use the same words.
and the same phrases, and they use the same slogans, and they
use the same cliches, but they mean something altogether different.
Many of you are old enough to remember the controversy that
raged in this country right up through the 60s, but it was a
great controversy that began in the 30s. 1930s, running right
through the 60s and 70s, between liberalism and fundamentalism. And the liberals did not openly
deny that the Bible is the Word of God. No, they'd take the Word
of God and they'd talk about the Bible. But when they said
this is the Word of God, this is what they meant. And it's
what they still mean. Somewhere in these pages, if you're smart
enough and you have enough discernment, you can find the Word of God.
They don't deny that the Word of God is here somewhere. What
they do deny is that this book is in its entirety the Word of
God. So they take the Word of God
and strip it of its meaning and use the same phrase and give
it an entirely different meaning. When they speak about the resurrection,
denying the resurrection of the dead, denying the new birth,
they would speak of the resurrection as being a social elevation. So they use the same terms, but
they deny the essence of the terms. So it is today in the
preaching of the gospel. Many use the word redemption
and redeem, but they talk about a redemption that redeems no
one. Many use the word substitution, but they use substitution as
though the Lord Jesus died as a substitute for everybody, but
that doesn't make any difference. You may die too. They use the
word grace, but they use the word grace to speak of it merely
as something that God offers to men, not something God performs
for men and in men. So they, Bring a gospel, but
it is another gospel is not even similar to the gospel of the
grace of God. We don't Galatians 1 But there'd
be some that trouble you that trouble you now tell you what
every false gospel will do for you I'll tell you what every
false gospel will do for you. It'll trouble you It'll trouble
you it'll give you no rest It'll give you no peace. It'll give
you no contentment. It'll give you no assurance.
It'll give you no satisfaction. It'll trouble you because every
false gospel leaves you looking to something in you. And as long
as you're looking for something in you to give you hope before
God, you can have nothing but trouble. No rest for your soul.
Read on. They trouble you and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. But though we are an angel from
heaven, Now Mark, those are strong words. We are an angel from heaven. Paul says, if I come back to
you, or if you should have an angel come down from heaven and
visit you at your bedpost tonight, though we are an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you. Well, pray for him. So what it says? Wish him well. Well, brother, we just don't
see eye to eye on these things. We're all working for the same
thing. We're all going to the same heaven,
serving the same Jesus, but we just have to agree to differ
on these things. That's not what the book says,
Ron. He says, let him be damned. Let him be damned. Let him be accursed. Let him
be accursed. I said before so say I now again
if any man preach any other gospel unto you then that ye have received
Let him be damned Now those are strong words in the light of
these things my subject this morning should be of immense
interest to us all The title of my message is the gospel defined
the gospel defined right here Romans chapter 1 verses 1 through
7 and I'm not going to show you the badness definition of the
gospel, the Calvinistic definition of the gospel, or the reformed
definition of the gospel. Mr. Spurgeon, on one occasion,
was asked to come to the United States to conduct a series of
preaching engagements. And the person who did the inviting
made a tragic mistake. He said to Spurgeon, we feel
that you could do much good in the advancement of the Baptist
cause in America. And Spurgeon wrote back and said,
I wouldn't go across the street to advance the Baptist cause,
let alone across the ocean. I'm not here to defend Baptist
or Calvinist or reform folks. I'm not here to give you the
Baptist definition, the Calvinistic definition, the reform definition
of the gospel. I'm no more interested in the
Baptist definition than I am the Mormon definition. I'm no
more interested in the Calvinistic definition than the Arminian
definition. I'm no more interested in the
reformed definition of the gospel than I am of the papist definition
of the gospel. Those things just don't matter.
They just don't matter. I am interested. I am very interested
in God's definition of the gospel. And you'd better be. Here in
Romans chapter one, The Apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration,
gives us an inspired definition of the gospel. Now let me remind
you again, and I will probably almost every time I preach to
you through the Book of Romans, of the content of this book.
This is placed here by divine arrangement, by divine providence,
as the first of Paul's epistles, though he wrote it later in life.
It is placed in the very first position because of its immense
importance. This volume gives us this inspired
portion of Scripture, these 16 chapters in Romans, give us the
whole message of the gospel in great detail. Chapter 1 beginning
at verse verse 18 and going down through chapter 3 verse 19 Paul
spells out our need of grace Total depravity telling us that
we are all by nature dead in trespasses and in sins dead dead
dead Let's see if I can be impressive Do you know what that word dead
means in the Greek? It means dead. Isn't that astonishing? Dead. Well, how dead? How dead? How can there be degrees of dead?
You're either dead or you're alive. Dead. Dead. That's the nature of man. That
means man has no ability, no sensitivity, no sense, no thought,
no desire, no aspiration, no inclination. He's dead. He is not moved by anything and
cannot do anything. He's dead. That's the nature
of man, spiritually dead, utterly incapable of life apart from
God. Then in chapter three, verse
20, Going to the end of the fifth chapter, the Apostle Paul shows
us God's great operation of grace in free justification, telling
us that we're justified by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus
Christ, justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, justified righteously so that grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. then beginning in chapter 6 the
Apostle gives us by inspiration a declaration of the believers
experience of grace and Sanctification that is the gift of God the Holy
Ghost making us new creatures in Christ Jesus making us partakers
of the divine nature imparting to us that holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord and Then in chapter 8, the apostle
begins in the middle of the chapter and goes through the end of the
11th chapter dealing with God's great purpose of grace. He's
shown us that man's dead. He's shown us that salvation
is by the grace of God in justification and in sanctification. And he
says this is all done according to God's purpose. God's purpose,
God's purpose. Everything is by God's purpose. And then in chapters 12 through
16, Paul speaks to us about that salvation as it results in the
consecration of the believer's life to Jesus Christ, the Lord. Now, Paul's primary object in
this great epistle is to set forth the foundation doctrine
of Holy Scripture, the foundation doctrine of Christianity, the
unmistakable light of the gospel doctrine of free justification. Justification not by nature,
not by birth, not by works, not by law, not by religious ceremony,
but justification by the righteousness of Christ given to us and imparted
to us by the free grace of God. All right, let's begin in Romans
1 verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
separated, called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of
God. Now, here is a man who's given
to the cause of Christ. He describes himself as the servant
of God in these three ways. First, he says, I am the servant
or a servant of Jesus Christ. That certainly is an expression
of humility, but it's an expression of much more. It was a declaration
of a recognized fact. A true gospel preacher is the
minister. The minister. The word minister
takes on a different meaning in our society than it actually
has. We have the idea that ministers
are clerics. We have the idea that ministers
are pastors or bishops or some kind of religious title given
to them. The word means servant. In our nation, we have a secretary
of state, a secretary of defense. In Great Britain, those same
offices are called minister of defense. minister of state because
in Britain at least they the politicians still maintain a
Some evidence the title of serving the people well God's servants
are the servants of Jesus Christ the ministers of Jesus Christ
men Who know themselves as to be the servants of Christ who
willingly give themselves to the service of Christ and count
it their highest honor to do so. Look what it says, called
to be an apostle. Now apostles were men sent by
Christ who had his authority and his doctrine, or they had
their authority and their doctrine directly from Christ himself.
They had special apostolic power to perform miracles. They could
lay their hands on folks and impart the Holy Ghost to others.
They could lay hands on folks and folks who were sick would
be healed. They had apostolic power. They
spoke the gospel in languages they never learned. They had
a word of knowledge from God, special revelation from God,
and they were given these apostolic powers to confirm them as God's
messengers to his people, writing out in scripture the words of
the Lord Jesus, explaining what the Savior himself had given
them while he walked upon this earth. There are no apostles
today. There's no such thing. I know
that there are a lot of folks who claim apostolic gifts and
you'll see them on television or you'll hear them preaching
and they'll have a word of knowledge and they'll have a special revelation
from God. It strikes me as strange that their special revelation,
their word of knowledge from God has always got something
to do with getting your money from your wallet into their wallet.
They're charlatans, they're fakes. They're no such thing as apostles
today. No one has apostolic gifts. But this word apostle, in its
essence, means messenger. Paul says, I am a servant of
Jesus Christ, called by God, my savior, to be his messenger. Called and sent of God as the
messenger of Jesus Christ. Now watch this. Separated under
the gospel like Jeremiah Paul was separated from his mother's
womb he was separated by Christ to carry the gospel to the Gentiles
and He was separated by God the Holy Ghost to this work You know
how he was separated turn back to Acts chapter 13. Let me show
you Acts chapter 13 Now there were in the church
that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and
Simeon that was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Maonin
which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. As they ministered, you got it
there verse two? As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy
Ghost said, said to who? This church at Antioch, separate
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them. The call is given by God, but
the call is recognized by the local church. Now I make you
a promise. I make you a promise. of men
young and old, if God calls you to preach the gospel, somebody
will know it before you do. Somebody will know it before
you do. For you to assume it without those folks knowing it
is a mighty big assumption. If God calls a man to preach
the gospel, his people know he's called. They recognize his gifts. They understand this man has
the hand of God upon him for the work of the ministry. Paul
was separated to the gospel by the Holy Spirit, by his church
at Antioch. But there's more here than his
being separated by God. Paul speaks distinctly here of
his own resolve and determination to preach the gospel of God so
that he separated himself constantly to this work. He separated himself
relentlessly to the business of preaching the gospel. With
relentless resolve, he committed his life to this work. That means nobody else, nothing else is
of any comparison to this. How can I state it plainly enough
that everyone understands it? God was pleased in his great
mercy to call me to this work, separate me to the calls of Christ. I was called upon by others to
preach long before I had any notion that I ought to preach.
And God put me in the work. And from the day that God put
me in this work as a pastor and preacher of the gospel, it has
been my resolve to separate myself to this work. And I ask you to
pray for grace from God for me. That in my aging years, I will
yet more separate myself to this work, allow nothing to interfere. That means I can't give consideration
to what's best for my wife or my daughter or my grandchildren
or myself. Those things are of no consideration,
of no consideration. Some of you were among the men
who asked me to come here as your pastor. And when you began
to speak to me about how you'd provide for me, I said to you,
that's not a concern. That's not a concern. Not a concern. If God's in this thing, God'll
take care of things. And you won't find me begging
for anything. Not gonna happen. Not gonna happen. Well, but you
gotta give consideration to those things. No, I don't. No, I don't. It's a mistake for me to give
consideration to those things. Well, how you gonna take care
of your wife? She belongs to God. How you gonna take care
of your children? They belong to God. I'm his servant. I'm his servant. Our master said,
If you're gonna be my disciple, you gotta hate your father, and
your mother, and your brother, and your sister, yea, and your
own life also. Or you can't be my disciple.
What does that mean? Brother John, are you telling
us you hate Shelby? In the sense in which the master demands it. I beg for grace to do so. How is that? He said, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What does that mean? He did everything
for Jacob and gave Esau no consideration. So God's servant must do everything
for Christ without consideration as to how this affects someone
else, even himself. Separated to the gospel, here
is a man fully Deliberately dedicated to the preaching of the gospel
Determined to be faithful to his calling to his dying breath
the verse 1 of 1st Corinthians our verse 17 of 1st Corinthians
chapter 1 1st Corinthians chapter 1 Paul says in verse 17 Christ
sent me not to baptize that is he didn't send me out here to
find out how many converts I could make He sent me to preach the
gospel Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. I often think of this and correct
myself and beat myself for it. I think going out somewhere to
preach, I wish I'd kept records. No, I'm so glad God didn't let
me do that. So glad God didn't let me do that. No, no, I'm not
sent to keep records of how many disciples I've made. No, no.
Oh, well, I preach well I'll do no God sent me to preach. That's all just preach the gospel
all the results up to him What's this mean first Corinthians 2
verse 2? for I determined I Determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and him crucified I'm separated to the gospel Paul
says Then right here in chapter 1 of Romans beginning at verse
2 or verse 1 rather Paul begins to give us a definition of the
gospel. He gives a clear Five-fold definition
of the gospel. Let me give it to you just briefly
First Paul says it is the gospel of God you see that verse 1 Paul
the servant of Jesus Christ Called to be an apostle separated unto
the gospel of God. Of God. God's the author. God's
the subject. God's the executor. God alone
is that one in whom the gospel originates, through whom and
from whom the gospel comes, by whom the gospel is made effectual. God must reveal the gospel or
you'll not know it. Well, Eric Richards in his bulletin
for today had a tremendous article on the salvations of the Lord. And he made these three points
referring to Ephesians 1. He said salvation is of the Lord
in its purpose. God purposed it. Salvation is
of the Lord in its procurement. Christ purchased it. And salvation
is of the Lord in its performance. God, the Holy Spirit, performs
it. Salvation is God's work. The
gospel is of God. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
5. 2 Corinthians 5. Here Paul gives us a clear explanation
of what he's talking about when he says the gospel is of God.
Verse 17. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. That's God's work. He's a new
creation. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things have become new. Now watch this. And all
things are of God. Now, Frank, you can run just
as far as you want to with that. But what it's talking about here
is salvation. All things connected with this new creation, all things
connected with salvation, all things connected with redemption
and forgiveness and righteousness and everlasting life, all are
of God. who hath reconciled us, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. God reconciled his elect
to himself by the sacrifice of his son, and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation, the service of proclaiming this
reconciliation. To wit, that is to say, this
is what I mean. That God was in Christ Reconciling
the world of his elect Reconciling the world of his elect. I read
that right Reconciling his elect scattered through all the world
unto himself Well, how can you say that's what it means because
the text says so Not imputing their trespasses unto them He
was in Christ reconciling a people to himself throughout all the
world, to whom he refused to impute iniquity, for he imputed
their sin to his Son, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. What's that?
Now then, we're ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech
you by us, we pray you in Christ's name, be you reconciled to God. Four. We call on you now to be
reconciled to God because he hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Back here in our text, Romans
chapter one, verse two. The gospel of God, which he had
promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The gospel is no new thing. It is that which
God gave by prophecy, by promise, by picture, by type in all the
Old Testament scriptures. So that this book is the declaration
of the gospel. The gospel that Adam believed
is the gospel that I'm preaching to you. The gospel that Abraham
believed is the gospel we believe. There's not one gospel in the
Old Testament, another gospel in the New. It is the gospel,
the gospel of God, which he promised in the scriptures. To him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, give all the prophets witness that through
his name, Everyone that believes in his name has the remission
of sins. So that the whole word of God
is the revelation of the gospel. This gospel was conceived in
the heart of God from eternity. Hidden in Christ from the beginning
who is the wisdom of God Revealed to the sons of men in the Old
Testament scriptures by promise and was at last manifested when
Jesus Christ came and appeared to himself or appeared himself
in the flesh and accomplished redemption and is made manifest
to you when Christ appears to you 2nd Timothy chapter 1 2nd
Timothy chapter 1 I want you to look at it. I know most of
you can quote it, but I want you to look at it God hath saved us. Are you there
verse 9? 2nd Timothy 1 9 God hath saved
us and called us With an holy calling now watch what it says
not according to our works but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began and but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. God saved us. He called us. He gave us life in Christ and
gave us his purpose and grace and salvation in Christ before
the world began. Before the world began. But this
is brought to light. It is brought to light in the
experience of grace by the gospel. So that the gospel, which is
of God, is that gospel God promised before the world began and revealed
in his prophets and now has brought to light to us in the sweet experience
of his grace. Now look at verse three. Let's
read verses one and three together. Romans chapter one, verse one.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
under the gospel of God, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. The gospel is all about God's
son. The gospel is all about God's
son. It is of God, It is all about
God's Son. Christ is the gospel. To preach the gospel is to preach
Christ crucified. To preach something else is not
to preach the gospel. Now, you men who preach and teach,
you listen carefully to me. Listen carefully. You can take
Romans chapter 1, right here, in our text, Romans chapter 1.
And you can study the original language and learn Greek and
learn it well. You can sit down and give a good,
thorough, accurate, grammatical interpretation of Romans chapter
1. And everything you say be true and never preach the gospel. Never preach the gospel. You
haven't preached Romans chapter 1, or Genesis chapter 50, or
Psalm 35, or Revelation 22, or anything in between. You haven't
preached the book if you don't preach Christ crucified. Christ
is the gospel. Christ is the gospel. I recall
one of the first statements Brother Merlehart made here. To me, after
we moved into this building, another fellow was preaching
and he talked a good bit about preaching the gospel. You may
or may not remember it. He stood right here at the communion
table and said to me, after everybody else had left, we were just chatting,
he said, Brother Don, I'm so thankful that you don't preach
about preaching the gospel, you just preach the gospel. There's
a huge difference. There's a huge difference. Move
away from Christ. and you move away from the gospel.
Do you get that? Frank, that's the message. That's
the whole message. That's the only message. The
whole message of scripture is concerning his son. What about
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ? This one who is the Christ of
God. Turn over to first John chapter
one, chapter five for a minute. First John chapter five. Paul
wrote to the Corinthians and said, I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity. The word is the singularity or
the singleness that is in Christ Jesus. Look at 1 John chapter
5, and when you get there, turn back to the book of Daniel. Daniel
chapter 9. 1 John chapter 5. When this congregation called
me to be pastor, before accepting the call, I said to the men speaking
to me, Lindsey was among them, if you can go anywhere in this
town and hear the gospel, don't call me as your pastor. Go join
up with them. If you call me as your pastor,
I am presuming that you are acknowledging there is nowhere else where you're
going to go and hear the gospel of the grace of God. If you can,
this town not big enough for two churches preaching the gospel,
not any need for it. Go join up with them. Go join
up with them. Well, but everybody preaches the gospel, do they?
Let's see. First John chapter five, verse
one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. What a statement what a statement
now Every Saturday morning on the streets when the weather
is pretty you'll find a bunch of folks out with tracks and Fistful of
tracks shove them in your face and try to get you to say I believe
in Jesus Oh if I could just get you say I believe in Jesus everything
be alright. Do you believe in Jesus? Oh, yes, I believe in
Jesus will bless God. You're safe. Don't let anybody
tell you any different What a delusion. What a delusion. What's his name? Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Mark to believe that
Jesus of Nazareth that man born in Bethlehem who was crucified
at Calvary is the Christ is to believe that that man is God
in the flesh and he fully accomplished Everything God said the Christ
would accomplish He fully accomplished it not tried to not made it possible
But did it to preach a Christ who tried is to preach a false
Christ? To preach a Christ who just made
it possible is to preach a false Christ. It's not preaching Jesus
Christ at all It is preaching a false Christ. Let's see what
the book says Daniel 9 verse 24. There's just one text There's
one text we go to many others 70 weeks are determined upon
the people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and anoint the most holy. To preach Christ. is to declare
that Jesus of Nazareth, by his accomplishments as the most holy
one anointed of God, finished the transgressions of his people,
made an end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, reconciled us to
God by the sacrifice of himself, and brought in everlasting righteousness,
sealing up all the vision God gave of the Christ in the Old
Testament. Here in 1 John 5, are you still
there? This is the record that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Jesus Christ is God, but Christ
as God could never save anyone. Christ as God could never save
anyone. God must become a man. Our man
must forever die. Jesus Christ is God who came
into this world in human flesh made of the seed of David. Made to be One who came in this
world through David's line so that he has a rightful claim
as a man to sit upon the throne of David. But that one who sits
upon the throne of David today sits on David's throne in heaven's
glory. Peter tells us that in Acts chapter
2. He's made of the flesh of the seed of David. But he was
not made the Son of God. He came as the Son of God and
was declared. Look at verse 4. Declared to
be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. Declared to be the Son
of God. God said at his baptism, this
is my beloved son in whom I'm well-pleased. And God spoke from
heaven at his transfiguration, said this is my beloved son in
whom I'm well-pleased. Hear, ye hear. But that's not
what it's talking about here. Declared to be the son of God.
Our Savior declared himself to be the Son of God. The Pharisee
said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you, and you didn't believe me. I told you, told you plainly.
That's not what we're talking about here. He says, declared
to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the
dead by the Spirit of holiness. How was he declared to be the
Son of God with power? Well, he was raised from the
dead. Yes, but other folks have been raised from the dead. Lazarus
was raised from the dead. Jairus' daughter was raised from
the dead. The widow of Nain, her son was raised from the dead.
Other folks were raised from the dead. They weren't declared
to be the sons of God. How is it that he is declared
to be the son of God with power? He's declared to be the son of
God with power because here is a man who laid down his life
of himself. John 10 verse 18. I have power
to lay it down. And I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. This man was not just raised
from the dead. He raised himself from the dead. For this man is God. And he is
raised from the dead by the spirit of holiness, so that God, the
Holy Spirit, in his resurrection from the dead, declares him to
be the Son of God, who has by the sacrifice of himself put
away our sins, and thus he was justified in the spirit. Now,
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the very heart
of the gospel. It is the very heart of the gospel. If there's no resurrection, you're
still in your sins. 1st Corinthians 15 if there's
no resurrection you have no hope if If he's not raised from the
dead you won't be raised from the dead if Christ didn't rise
from the dead Those who are dead are dead and will never rise
from the dead Christ Jesus rose from the dead and his resurrection
is the validation of his accomplishments as our Redeemer and the first
fruits the declaration the sure declaration of our resurrection
from the dead by him All right, let's move on, verse five. By
whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to
the faith among all nations for his name. Here's the third thing. The gospel of God is the gospel
of grace. Grace. by whom we have received
grace, by whom we've received apostleship, by whom we've received
this grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith. That
is for our obedience to the faith of the gospel and the obedience
of those to whom we preach to the gospel among all nations
for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This gospel we preach
is the gospel of the grace of God. Grace given to us in Christ
before the world began. Grace given to us by God freely. Grace made known and experienced
by the irresistible power of God who gives grace, gives it. God saves sinners by irresistible
power. Did you notice our hymn this
morning? He chose because he loved to
choose, but I would not be saved. Refused him while I could refuse
and bid him go away. But when by sovereign grace compelled,
I made the Lord my choice, made willing by God's sovereign will. In Christ, I now rejoice. Grace proclaimed in the gospel
is free, eternal, irresistible, effectual grace. Grace. How do you spell that? You spell
it G-R-A-C-E. Not W-O-R-K-S. How do you spell grace? T-U L-I-P. That's how you spell grace. T-U-L-I-P. Total depravity. Unconditional
election. Limited atonement. Irresistible
grace. Perseverance of the saints. That's
how you spell grace. Well, not everybody does. Everybody
who spells grace right does. If you spell it some other way,
you spell it something else. Paul considered himself the servant
of God, and so he preached the grace of God and preached the
grace of God with determination and with clarity because he is
God's servant, not the servant of men, not the hiring of men. I forgot who it was said something
to me just recently about hiring a preacher. And talking about
me, not me they didn't. Not me. You can hire preachers
for a dime a piece. That's all right. Not me. God's
servants aren't hirelings. They're the servants of God.
And because they're the servants of God, they're not bashful about
preaching the grace of God. Skip down to verse 16. Here's
Paul's fourth definition of the gospel. He says, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God. It
is the power of God. It's the dynamite of God. The
dynamite of the explosive power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul wasn't
ashamed of the gospel of the grace of God. He preached it
boldly and plainly and God's servants do to this day. I can't
tell you how many times over the years I've heard somebody
say, you know, if you listen carefully, he's preaching grace.
Hmm. Why'd you have to listen carefully?
Because he ain't preaching it. You scratch the chip. I wonder
if he was preaching limited atonement. If he was, you don't have to
wonder about it. He'll make it clear. He'll make it clear. God's
servants don't hide the gospel. They don't express themselves
in words that can be misunderstood. Not God's servants, not faithful
men, not faithful men. Politicians do. They do it on
purpose. They, uh, uh, what was it? Somebody said, somebody gave
a definition of words and said, words are vehicles by which men
hide what they intend. And that's the way it is with
politicians and with most preachers. So that you ask, give me a corner.
Will you preach an election? Oh, no, no, no. That's what. But the Don, do you believe the
election? Yeah, but we don't even know
about it. No, no, not God's servants. God's servants stand up and speak
plainly and clearly. So there's no misunderstanding.
And they do so everywhere to everybody. Everywhere to everybody. I can't make you believe the
gospel. I can't do that. I can't make
you believe the gospel, but I can make you understand what I say.
And if you leave here wondering what I've said, it's because
I haven't preached. If you leave here wondering what
I've said, it's because either I didn't know what I was talking
about or I wasn't prepared or I didn't want you to know. No,
no, you're going to understand what I preach so that there's
no mistaking what's being preached. The gospel, I'm not ashamed of
it, is the power of God to salvation. We don't have to tone it down.
We don't have to trim the edges off of it. We don't have to cut
off the corners. We just stand up and proclaim the gospel of
God's free grace. The power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. Now watch verse 17. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. The gospel, fifthly,
is the revelation of the righteousness of God. It is of God. It's concerning his son. It's
the gospel of God's grace. It's the power of God to salvation. And it is the revelation of righteousness. It is not a word by which we tell you how
you perform righteousness. It is not a word by which we
tell you how you perform righteousness. It is the declaration of righteousness
performed. There are lots of folks who give
lip service to believing the grace of God. Lots of preachers
who give lip service. Write it out in their creeds.
They say, yes, this is what we believe. But when they preach, it always leaves you looking
here, and it always, they say, now we're preaching grace, but
it always comes out like works. It just comes out like works. Joe
and his family came up here from Charlotte, been in, you correct
me if I'm wrong, Joe, been in Reformed Church, Presbyterian
Church, Preach the creed, T-U-L-I-P, right down the line. But the
preaching is all about what you do. Is that what you heard? All
about what you do. That's because they don't preach
the gospel. That's because they don't preach the gospel. The
gospel is the declaration of righteousness accomplished by
the Redeemer. The gospel is the revelation
of the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. It is
the declaration of having God in His Son is just and the justifier
of all who believe. It is revealed from faith to
faith. The more you experience this
righteousness, the more you learn of this righteousness. The more
you know of it, the more you learn of it. And it is the revelation
of righteousness from my faith to your faith and from your faith
to another's faith so that God graciously makes us vessels in
which he puts the treasure of his grace to carry the gospel
to his elect scattered throughout the earth so that they may hear
and come to the obedience of the faith by the gospel. Why
is the gospel so important? Why do you make such a great
emphasis on what Christ has accomplished? You're familiar with the Veil
of Tears march of the Cherokee Indians across this country.
I went for 30 years down to Cherokee, North Carolina to conference
there with Tim James as pastor. And every year, went by the museum
and they had this show called the Trail of Tears talking about
that horrible march across the country in which so many hundreds
of Indians died being forced off their land to reservations. Out in Oklahoma, I've driven
through the place many times. Some of them were settled out
there and one who had been converted by God's grace, missionary preached
the gospel to them, and he kept talking about the Lord Jesus
and the gospel of God's grace. And somebody asked him, he said,
well, why is this so important to you? Why does Jesus mean so
much to you? Why are you always talking about
this Jesus? And the old man gathered some dried leaves up, put them
in a circle, and he reached over and scratched out an earthworm
out of the moist dirt and put it right in the center of that
circle. reached and got a stick and lit it on fire. And that
worm went this way and that way and this way and that way, finally
just curled up in the middle waiting to die. And he reached in, pulled it
out, stuck it back in that wet earth and covered it up. And
he said, that's what Jesus did for me. That's the gospel of
God's free grace. He snatched me as a bran from
the burning. and gave me life by His grace
and His righteousness. Oh may He do that for you. Amen.