Go to the street corner tomorrow
morning and stop 20 people and ask them, what is the gospel? Should you go to any church in
this county next Sunday morning as they're coming out of the
church door and ask the folks coming out of the church door,
what is the gospel? I can almost assure you, you
will get as many different answers as people you ask. Because almost
all people, religious and otherwise, live in a total fog with regard
to the knowledge of God and the gospel of the grace of God. For
most people, the gospel is defined in terms of their church creed.
their confession of faith, some emotional thing about their experience
or that which they received by tradition from their parents
or grandparents. The vast majority of folks aren't
terribly dogmatic about it. Very few are very dogmatic. In
fact, for most people, one person's understanding and definition
of the gospel, one church's teaching of the gospel is just as good
as another's. However, if you open this book,
and I want you to, I want you to open the scriptures and follow
me in the book of God. Let's begin in Galatians chapter
one. If you open the word of God, if you open the word of
God, you will very quickly discover that this blessed book everywhere
asserts there is one gospel. Just one. One gospel. just one. That means that every
gospel, every pretend gospel, everything men call gospel that
is contrary to God's revelation concerning this one gospel is
a false gospel and no gospel at all. The gospel, the word
means good news. It does not mean good advice. It does not mean good counsel.
It means good news. The gospel is not something that
tells you what you must, can, or should do. The gospel declares
that which is done to which you can add nothing. That which is
fully accomplished by Jesus Christ. It is the good news of redemption,
grace, and salvation accomplished by the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's darling son. Now in the scriptures, the
gospel is called by various names. It's called the gospel of God,
the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of Christ. It's called
by many different names, but it's just one gospel. Look here
in Galatians 1 verse 6. One gospel you must know. One gospel you must believe. One gospel, Paul says in 1 Corinthians
15, by which we are saved. All right, look at it. Galatians
1, verse 6. I marvel that you were so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Now when Paul says, I marvel
that you're moved away from him who called you to the grace of
Christ. He's not talking about folks who once walked in the
spirit now moved away from the spirit. Folks who once believed
on Christ and now no longer believe on him. Paul came to Galatia
preaching the gospel. Many were converted, came to
faith in Christ. God established a gospel church.
and no sooner had Paul left going elsewhere to preach the gospel
than false preachers came in behind him. They pretended to
believe on the Lord Jesus. They said they believed on the
Son of God, but they were Judaizers. They were mixing works and grace. They did not say, they did not
say, you are saved by your works. I don't know many fools who would
say that. Satan is a clever folk. They did not say you're saved
by your works. What they said is you're saved by grace, saved
by faith in Christ, saved by the blood and righteousness of
Christ. Then that just stands for a reason, you got to do something. Just stands for a reason, you
got to do something. And they were gradually moved away from
Paul by whom they'd been called into the grace of Christ to another
gospel. Now watch what it says about
it. which is not another. Which is not another. If you
could read this in the Greek text, there are two different
words used for another. You remember how our Lord Jesus
spoke of another comforter? In John 14, 15, and 16 when he
said, I pray the Father and he will send you another comforter.
Another comforter like myself that word another means another
of the same kind Another just like me another comforter who
is God another comforter who does the same work? I'm doing
bringing you the grace of God the word that translated another
here when Paul says You're removed to another gospel He says it's
not even similar it's not even similar not remotely similar
and which is not another, but there be some that trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Pervert the gospel
of Christ. Some of you are old enough to
remember the fundamentalist conservative and liberal controversy that
took place in this country back in the fifties and forties and
even before that. And there was a great movement
of liberal theology and liberal theologians did not stand up
and say, we don't believe the Bible is the word of God. They
didn't say we don't believe in the resurrection. They didn't
say we don't believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. What
they did is they said, we believe this book is the word of God.
But when they said that what they meant was and if you read
the writers, I say it plainly It contains God's Word and if
you're really smart you figure out what's true and what's not
We believe in the new birth. They didn't mean we believe that
God comes and plants in you a new nature. God makes you new creatures. God raises you from the dead,
gives you spiritual life. What they meant is that if you
experience religion as we give it to you, it will change your
life dramatically. They didn't say, we don't believe
in the resurrection. Oh, no, no. Oh, we do believe in the
resurrection. You come to God and your life
will just be so much better. A resurrected life. Those things
are a perversion of truth. They retain the same words, but
pervert the truth. So it is in all ages when men
pervert the gospel of Christ. They use the words we use. They
use words like grace and substitution and redemption and atonement.
But what they speak when they use those words is something
altogether different from what this book describes as substitution
and redemption and grace and atonement. All right, watch what
it says. They pervert the gospel of Christ. Now Paul says, but
though we, that is me, my companions, are an angel from heaven. We
are an angel. If somebody comes, I don't care
whether it's me, or Eric, or Henry Mayhem, or you laying down
in bed tonight and you have a dream and there's an angel sitting
on your bedpost. I don't care what you experience.
Though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you. Let that man be damned. Is that what the book says? That's
not my doctrine. That's not your pastor's doctrine.
That's what God says in the book. Let that man. I don't care whether
it's your brother or your daddy or your son-in-law. I don't care
who it is. Somebody comes preaching another gospel. Let it be damned. Don't pray for him. Don't help
him. If he's on the mission field,
help him get home. That's all you can do. Just pay the way
back home. Don't give him a dime. If you
do, you'll partake with him in his evil deeds. Read on what
it says here. Let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, I want you to be sure you understand what I'm saying.
If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which ye have
received, let him be damned. Now, in the light of those things,
my subject tonight should be of great interest to you as it
is to me. Turn with me to Romans chapter
1. And just hold your Bibles open here at Romans chapter 1.
Here's the title of my message, The Gospel Defined. The gospel
defined. Now, I have read many definitions
of the gospel. I've never read a good one that
wasn't written in this book. The gospel defined. I'm not talking
about the Baptist definition of the gospel, or the Mormon
definition of the gospel, or the papist definition of the
gospel. I'm not talking about the Calvinistic definition, or
the Armenian definition. I don't give a hoot what any
of those folks say about it. I'm talking about what God says
the gospel is. That's all that matters. What
God says the gospel is. It doesn't matter what you think
or I think. Doesn't matter what your mom or daddy thinks. What
does God say the gospel is? Now the gospel is clearly defined
right here in the first seven verses of Romans chapter one.
This book of Paul to the Romans. was not by any means the first
of Paul's inspired writings. But in God's providence, it is
placed first in the canon of Holy Scripture because of its
importance. In this marvelous masterpiece
of inspiration, God the Holy Spirit gives us the essence of
the gospel clearly declared in these sixteen chapters. If you
care to make a few notes, I would suggest that you understand the
subject matter going through the book of Romans. In chapter
1, beginning at verse 1, going down through verse 19 of chapter
3, Paul is showing us the universal need of the gospel. Why it is
we must preach the gospel to all men everywhere. And that
need is the fact that all men, without the knowledge of God
in Christ revealed by the gospel, are lost. They're dead in trespasses
and in sins and there is no possibility of any ever knowing God. There's
no possibility of any ever experiencing God's salvation except by the
preaching of the gospel. Then beginning in chapter 3 verse
20, Going down through the end of the fifth chapter, chapter
five, verse 21, Paul declares to us the wondrous truth of free
justification by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ,
telling us that we're justified not by what we do, but by what
God in Christ has done. We're justified not by what we
do, but by what God in Christ has done. We're justified by
the righteousness of Christ given to us, bestowed upon us, and
imputed to us by God's free gift of grace. Then beginning in chapter
6, going to the middle of chapter 8, down about verse 27, the apostle
deals with our sanctification. And he tells us that we are sanctified
by the grace of God, just as we're justified by the grace
of God. Not by something we do. but by what God does for us in
his purpose, in redemption, and in the experience of grace, giving
us life and faith in Christ Jesus, preserving us under the glorious
liberty of the sons of God in the resurrection day. Then in
chapter 8, beginning at verse 28, and going to chapter 11 and
verse 36, the apostle speaks to us about how all this is accomplished
by the marvelous purpose of God. The purpose of God. Isn't that
a wonderful term? The purpose of God. The purpose
of God. People talk about the plan of
redemption. Ain't no such thing. People talk about God's plans
for my life. He doesn't have plans. God doesn't
have plans. You have plans, it's your shop,
but they can easily be messed up. God doesn't have plans. I make plans all the time, but
my plans, you better not count on them much. I'm 63 years old,
and a lot can get in my way. A lot can get in my way. God
doesn't make plans. God rules the universe according
to his purpose, and his purpose is the salvation of his people.
Get hold of that and it'll sail your boat through the toughest
of times. God rules the universe according to his purpose and
his purpose is the salvation of his people. Then in the light
of that in Romans 12 through chapter 16 verse 27 I believe
it is in the chapter Romans 12 through 16 Paul calls By divine inspiration, he calls
for the most reasonable thing on this earth from God's people,
utter consecration to Christ. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, wholly acceptable under God, which is your reasonable
service. All right, now let's begin at
Romans 1 and verse 1. Romans 1, verse 1. Notice how Paul speaks of himself.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
under the gospel of God. The epistle begins in the most
unadorned, self-abasing manner possible. without any flowery
pretense, without any show of humility, without doing anything
to call attention to himself, Paul, evidently a humble man,
speaks of himself, Paul. Paul. I'm often asked, what should
I call you? Reverend Fortner, no, please
don't. Please don't. Holy and Reverend is God's name,
not mine. Not mine. Pastor, well, that's all right.
That's a term you use in scripture, but I don't much care to be called
pastor. Brother, that's all right, that's
all right. Brother Don, that's fine. I refer
to my friends as brother so-and-so, but Don will do just fine. Paul
said nothing to elevate himself above anyone, for he understand
that there's no elevation to me. No elevation to you except
the elevation of grace raised from death to life by God's free
grace. He doesn't say Dr. Paul or Reverend
Paul or Bishop Paul or Elder Paul or Cardinal Paul or Father
Paul or Pope Paul. He just says Paul, Paul. He says
three things about himself. He's on the servant of Jesus
Christ. That's what every man called
and gifted of God to the work of the ministry is, the servant
of Jesus Christ. You're servants for Christ's
sake, but the servant of Jesus Christ. All believers are, indeed
they are. You're not God's if you're not
the servant of Jesus Christ. But Paul was addressing the Romans
specifically identifying himself as God's messenger, the servant
of Jesus Christ. I've said this to your pastor
many times. I've taught him this since he
was just a small boy when he's heard me preach. I'll tell it
wherever I go. Preachers are not men ruled by
churches, not God's preachers. You're not going to put one in
a straitjacket. You're not going to put one of God's servants
in a box. You're not going to tell one of God's servants what
he can or can't do, should or shouldn't do. He's God's servant. And he's going to do what God
tells him to do. Period. Period. Well, you talk,
the pastor is supposed to rule the church. That's not what I
said. That's what God said. You're overseer. Those who rule
you. Paul says follow them. Follow
their faith. Not rule as a dictator rules a kingdom. No, no, no,
no, no. Rule like a husband rules his house. And that's what you're
responsible to do, Mike. Doesn't matter whether your wife
and children like it or not, you're responsible to rule the house.
And if you don't, that's your problem. That's your fault. It's your responsibility to rule
the house of God by his word as the servant of Jesus Christ. Read on. Called to be an apostle. Called to be an apostle. Now, there are a lot of folks
who claim to have apostolic powers these days. Some folks even there
call themselves apostles. Well, those folks who pretend
to have power to speak in tongues and special gifts of revelation
from God, and isn't it amazing how that when they close their
eyes and they see something, oh, that's something to do with
your money? And them getting it. Those folks are fakes. They're charlatans. They're servants
of Satan. They're not God's people. Oh, you can't say that. Well,
maybe I shouldn't. They're fakes. They're charlatans. They're thieves. They're not
God's servants. They're not God's servants. There's no such thing
as an apostle today. No one has apostolic gifts today.
We have God's word. The apostles ceased when the
word of God was given its full revelation. But the word apostle
does have its application for us today. The word means messenger. Paul says, I'm the servant of
Jesus Christ. God called me to bring you his
message. God called me as his messenger. Called the messenger of God,
the messenger of Christ to his people. And then he says, I am
such because I'm separated under the gospel. Separated by God
from his mother's womb. Separated by God the Holy Spirit
in the calling of his grace when God called him from death to
life in Christ Jesus. Separated by God the Holy Spirit
when he's called to preach the gospel. But separated by the
church at Antioch by God the Holy Spirit. Now there are lots
of folks who dream and imagine that they're called to preach.
Who've never been called to preach. And they say, well I know God's
called me to preach, how do you know? Who said so? Well I just
know it. God's church recognizes the gifts
of God upon a man before ever he does. Read Acts chapter 13.
The Holy Spirit ordered the church at Antioch to separate this man
Paul and Barnabas to the work of the ministry. They were called
and gifted of God directly. But the Church of God recognizes
that as they are led by the Spirit of God. Freelance preachers are
never called and gifted of God. They're self-appointed and they
do the work on their own. Now here is the man who's fully,
deliberately dedicated to preaching the gospel. He was determined
to be faithful to his calling. Not only did he know he was separated
to this work by God, he continually separated himself to it. I could
spend a long time here, and maybe I should, preaching to myself
and your pastor. I've been doing this now for
45 years, and there's a constant temptation
to do something else. A little bit of this and a little
bit of that. Constant temptation to take it a little easier. Constant
temptation to make life a little easier. Constant temptation to
get involved in this thing or that. After all, you're 63 years
old, you've got to plan for the future. Will you pray for me? Pray that God will give me grace,
never to be turned aside from what God's given me the gifts
and the responsibility to do, the preaching of the gospel.
Never let any care interfere with that. Not the care of my
wife, my daughter, my son-in-law, my grandchildren, not the care
of anything, nothing. And when I find myself a little
lax, I try to give myself more work to do so that I'm constantly
compelled to give myself to this work. Separate yourself, my friend,
every day to this work. It must consume us. It must consume
us. If it doesn't, we're not God's
servants. I'm determined, determined, Paul
said, to give myself to this work. And then he gives us a
five-fold definition of the gospel. I'll give it to you quickly.
We'll come back to the same text again tomorrow night, the Lord
willing. Some of you know I began Sunday morning preaching through
the book of Romans to our folks. You're getting sermon number
two. Our folks haven't heard it yet. So you get it ahead of
time. Five-fold definition of the gospel,
number one. It's the gospel of God. You see
that? Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. That which is the gospel finds
its origin in the eternal mind and purpose of God Almighty.
It is not the invention of men. It is not something that men
devised and worked out and wrote down in a book. It is not a creed
that men put on paper after they got together and discussed things,
pros and cons and strengths and weaknesses, and decided this
is what we're going to present as the gospel. Oh, no. The gospel
is of God. He's the author of it, the subject
of it. He alone reveals it. He is the
executioner of it. Hold your hands here and turn
to Ephesians 1. Ephesians chapter 1. The gospel is of God, the triune
Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Watch this. Ephesians
1, 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Now this is the work of God the
Father. It is by the purpose of the Father. According as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him. in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. So the gospel is that which God
the Father purposed for us. The gospel is that which God
the Father ordained for us. It is that which is executed,
purchased for us by God the Son, verse 7, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself.
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. Now watch this, that we should be to the praise of
his glory who first trusted in Christ. Did you see what I said, Mark?
God, the triune God, trusted Christ from eternity. Trusted
the mediator. Ordering that we should be to
the praise of the glory of the triune God who trusted Christ
with his glory, with his will, with his people. that we should
be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ,
watch this now, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, what's that? The good news, the gospel of
your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, or having
believed, believing on Christ, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, so that the gospel is sealed to our hearts
in the experience of grace by God the Holy Spirit. which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase
possession to the praise of his glory. He is the earnest, the
pledge, the seal of this whole work of grace until the resurrection
of our bodies in the last day. Now look at verse 2. This gospel
of God is no new thing which he had promised afore by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Now you got your Bible in your
hand. It's right here. It's right here.
All the way back through the whole book starting in Genesis
chapter 1 verse 1 with the word in. It's all about Christ. It's all
about Christ. It's the book of God concerning
His Son. It's that which God gave from
eternity, but the gospel is concerning His Son. That's the second thing.
It is the gospel of God concerning His Son. To Him give all the
prophets witness. all the prophets speak of him
all the scriptures remember how he spoke to those disciples on
the road to Emmaus and he opened to them the scriptures beginning
at Moses and in all the prophets and in the Psalms and in the
law he described to them things concerning himself and he opened
their understanding that they might understand the scriptures
give me the key to understanding this book the key to understanding
this book what is it And if you listen to folks in the Bible
colleges and seminaries with which I had some association
when I was a young man, and I attended two of the best ones in the country
as far as academics and standing, academic standing, and standing
among religious folks, then the key to understanding is prophecy.
The key to understanding is you gotta watch what's going on in
Israel. No, that's just not it. That's
just not it. You understand this book, if
you didn't know where Israel is located on the map, it won't
hurt a thing. Matter of fact, it might be better not to know
where it's located. No. Understanding this book, if you
understand the 10 commandments and you live right. No, live
right, by all means do. But that's not what the book's
about. That's not what the book's about. We need to understand the history
of the book. Oh, that'd be good. Let me tell
you about the history of the book. Everything recorded in
Holy Scripture. Every law, every commandment,
every picture, every type, every sacrifice, every holy day, every
Sabbath day, every event, everything recorded in Scripture. is written
there by divine design to teach us our need of Christ and the
accomplishments of Christ as our substitute. Everything. Do you remember what God said
about Pharaoh? People generally have and I had this idea for
a long time. I had the idea that there was
Pharaoh and the Egyptians and they've taken Israel as captives
and God chose to use them to be a picture of redemption. No,
that's wrong. God created them to be a picture
of redemption. God made Egypt a nation. so that he might preserve Abraham's
seed for 400 years in bondage, giving them his word, and them
alone his word, until the day he would bring them out across
the Red Sea by the sacrifice of a Passover lamb. And when
they came out of Egypt, do you know what they lost down there?
Do you know what they lost down there? Anybody? Nothing. They didn't lose anything. But
what did they come out with? Everything that was worth anything.
They came out with all the gold and silver, everything that was
worth anything. They spoiled the Egyptians. And
so it shall be with God's elect when this world is done, we shall
have lost nothing by the sin and fall of this race in Adam.
But rather we shall spoil the world and take from it only that
which is good for our souls unto everlasting and the glory of
our Redeemer. Now this is what our God says
about Pharaoh. For this same purpose have I raised thee up. I made you, I made Egypt the
most powerful nation in the world, the richest nation in the world.
And I made you Pharaoh king over the richest, most powerful nation
in the world for one reason, just one reason. So that everybody
would know that I'm God and this is how I save my people. Anybody
not know who Pharaoh is? Anybody not know what happened
to Pharaoh? God said, I made you so that everybody in the
world will know I'm God and I'll cast Satan into hell when I'm
done with him and my people going free. They're going free. Everything
in the book is about Christ. And if a man preaches, if a man
stands in this place, stands in a position of one speaking
for God, and doesn't preach Jesus Christ and redemption and grace
accomplished in him, he does not preach the gospel, and you'd
be real smart not to hear him. You'd be real smart not to. Well,
most of the time he does. Most of the time he gets around
to it. No, no. God's servants are sent to preach
this book, and to preach this book is to preach Jesus Christ
and him crucified. This is the gospel concerning
God's Son, Jesus our Savior, the Christ, God's anointed one,
he who is Lord of all, that one who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. and declared to be the son of
God by the spirit of holiness to the resurrection of the dead.
Look at it now, verse three. The gospel concerning his son
Jesus Christ our Lord made of the seed of David according to
the flesh as a man. As a man, he came into this world
made of the seed of David. He wasn't made to be the son
of God. He was declared to be the son of God with power by
the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. You
remember what Paul said in first Timothy 3 16 he said he said
he was Raised from the dead being justified
of the Spirit What? How was Christ justified by the
Spirit of God? When he was made sin for us God
poured out all the just fury of his wrath upon his son until
justice is satisfied and buried him in the tomb in darkness.
But on the third day, let's see if his sacrifice is enough. Let's
see if sin has been put away. He is justified in the spirit
being raised from the dead, declared to be the son of God by the resurrection. How is that so? Lazarus was raised
from the dead. He wasn't declared to be the
son of God. The widow of Nain's son was raised from the dead.
He wasn't declared to be the son of God. Jairus' daughter
was raised from the dead. She wasn't declared to be the
son of God. Folks raised from the dead in the Old Testament,
they weren't declared to be the son of God because they were raised by another. Here is one who says I laid down
my life of myself I had the power to lay it down and I had the
power to take it again This commandment have I received in my father
and he by his own power raised himself from the dead Declared
by the resurrection of the dead to be the son of God Well, surely
you don't believe in the resurrection You read first Corinthians chapter
15 And you'll discover that God makes the whole of this book
to hang or fall on the resurrection. The whole gospel hangs or falls
on the resurrection. Paul says, if the dead be not
raised, we're false witnesses of God and you're yet in your
sins. The resurrection is true, or this whole thing's a fantasy. Either Christ was raised from
the dead, having put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
or there's no gospel at all. Christianity's a farce. It's
a fantasy. It's a dream. It's a fable. You
just well be a Hindu. Oh, no, no, no. Christ was declared
to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Now, look at chapter
1 of Romans verse 5, read on. By whom we have received grace
and apostleship for the obedience of the faith among all nations
for his name. The gospel is a message of grace,
just grace, just grace, pure, free grace, eternal grace, free
grace, saving grace, sufficient grace, keeping grace, grace. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that's not of your sales,
not the grace, not the saving, and not your faith. It's the
gift of God. If you're saved, you're saved
because God saved you. If you believe on the Son of
God, it's because God opened heaven and dropped down here
his grace in your heart, opening your dead heart and giving you
life, revealing Christ in you, causing you to believe on him. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach him to this. You preach that
God saves folks against their will. Well, I was glad I was
clear. That's exactly what he does. He saves folks against
their will with their full consent. I can tell by the way you fellows
look at my wife when she's introduced as my wife. How did you get her? Well, for one thing, I didn't
always look like this. She always did, but I didn't. I didn't always
look like this. She was always pretty as a picture.
And we hadn't been dating very long. I was just 17 years old.
We started dating. And I was smitten, and I thought
I was gonna marry her. You know what she said, Eric?
She said, you're crazy, you don't know what you want. Those were exact words. And I
proceeded to court her. And I courted her. Every time
I could get 50 cents together, I'd take her to McDonald's and
buy her a milkshake. And I'd drive plum across town to walk
her a half a block in classes. And I made certain that nobody
nudged in. I was there all the time. I was
a pest. I was a pest. And I courted her
every night for the rest of that summer, every solitary night. We went somewhere, did something
together. And after about a year of doing the best I could, showing
her what a wonderful fellow I am, I tried my best to keep back
every bad thing I could. I didn't want her to see a hair
out of place or a snarl I didn't want her to see. I wanted her
to see nothing but good. And that's all she saw. Isn't
that amazing? That's all she saw. And one night,
in the mountains of North Carolina, visiting my relatives there,
everybody going to bed. I knelt down on the floor beside
the couch where she was sitting, and said, Shelby, I love you.
And I'd like for you to marry me. And you know what she did?
She about jumped into my arms, just to say yes. She was as anxious
to marry me as I was to marry her. Well, what happened? What
happened? Now, she saw And I had managed to conquer
her will by revealing to her myself. Understand that? This is how God saves sinners.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Oh, may
the Son of God reveal himself to you. And if he will open your
eyes and cause you to see him and the glory of God in Christ
crucified, you will believe him. You will thirst for him. You'll
hunger for him. You'll want him more than life
itself. Thus thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Look at Romans chapter one again,
verse six. among whom ye also are the called of Jesus Christ. To all that are in Rome, to all
that be in Rome, you who are the called of Jesus Christ, you
are beloved of God, called to be saints. God chose you, God
loved you, God called you, God redeemed you. Now, grace to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Okay, skip down to verse 16. Here's the fourth thing. For I'm 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 power of God. Power of God. Now, I'm not a
linguist, but I do look words up once in a while. This word
that's translated power. Occasionally, in the New Testament,
as in the old, our translators, rather than actually translating
a word, would make another word by simply giving us a transliteration. This is what that means. They
take the letters of the Greek word and simply give them English
letters. That's a transliteration. That's
not a translation. It's a transliteration. The word baptize in our English
Bibles is not a translation of the word baptizo. It is a transliteration
of the word. They simply took the English
word, or the Greek word, baptizo, and wrote it out in English.
It spells baptize. And there was a good reason for
that. They were under orders from the king to do it that way.
They were under orders to write the word wrongly. And the reason
is they wanted to retain the Roman Catholic doctrine of sprinkling
and pouring, baptizing babies, get them a foot up into heaven.
The word means immerse. if you were to transliterate
this word power here in Romans 1. Anybody got an idea what it
is? If I were to write it out in English, just write out the
Greek word in English, you know what it would spell? Dynamite. Dynamite. I used to be a pretty
good shot. I could take a single shot .22
and go squirrel hunting and get whatever I wanted to eat. Those
days are over. So I kind of like the old Clint
Eastwood westerns where he uses dynamite. You know what you do
with dynamite? You light it, throw it, and get
out of the way. You just light it, throw it,
and get out of the way because it's got power to itself to accomplish
its purpose. Hear me now. The gospel is the
explosive power of God to salvation. We preach the gospel. That's
all. That's all. No entertainment. No slick promotions, no arm twisting,
no we need to do this, we need to do that. No, preach the gospel,
preach the gospel. T-U-L-I-P, TULIP, total depravity,
unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace,
preservation of the saints, TULIP. Well, you shouldn't talk like
that. People, they get confused by those terms. No, they're confused
now, we'll straighten them out. And you do it by speaking plainly,
plainly. I was preaching once in, where
was I, Tampa, Florida, years ago. And I preached a message
on the most hideous doctrine in the world dealing with the
horrors of universal atonement. And I got done preaching and
the pastor actually asked me, he said, you wouldn't preach
that First Baptist Church, would you? I said, do what? He said, if you're preaching
over at First Baptist Church in Tampa, you wouldn't preach there, would
you? I said, you get the appointment and I'll pay the expenses, you'll
find out. Hide the gospel? Only for self-interest
will a man do so. Never for your interest. Only
for self-interest will a man cover it up a little bit, soften
it down a little bit. Never for your interest. God's
servants proclaim God's truth from the housetop with such clarity,
nobody can mistake it. If you ever have to walk out
that door wondering what this man said, don't come back and
hear it. I'm as honest as I can be. If you ever walk out the
door when I've got done preaching and say, well, I wonder if Brother
Don was preaching election. He wasn't. I wonder if he meant for us to
believe in predestination. He didn't. I wonder if he meant
for us to understand that Jesus Christ actually redeemed his
people. Didn't just make an effort at
it. No, if he meant to say that, he'd say it. And that's what
I meant to say. You understand that? This is
the gospel. We're not toying with your souls,
toying with God. This alone is the power of God to salvation.
Now look at this, verse 17. The gospel is the gospel of God.
It's the gospel concerning His Son. It's a message of grace. It's the power of God. And it
is the revelation of the righteousness of God. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. The gospel is the revelation
of the righteousness of God. God saves sinners righteously. He cannot and will not save sinners
apart from righteousness. He won't pardon your sin if he
doesn't punish it. He won't forgive your iniquity
if he doesn't put it away. He won't blot out your transgressions
unless he by some means righteously blots them out. And that's only
by the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. By the obedience
of Christ unto death. God Almighty, God Almighty sent
His Son into this world in human flesh to live in perfect righteousness,
not for Himself, but for His people as our surety. And we
lived before God in Him. If this were plainly written
in the book of God, Pastor, I'd be scared to death to say it.
I'd be scared to death to say it. This is what the book says. This is what the book says. We
walked with God in his son in perfect obedience, perfectly
obeying the law and will of God in every detail to the full age
of a man. God says, walk before me and
be the best you can. God never said such a thing.
He walked before me and be perfect. You'll either be perfect or you'll
go to hell. There's no in between ground. Perfect or eternal damnation. Well, Brother Dunn, none of us
is perfect. No, no. But in Christ we are. in Christ
where he brought in everlasting righteousness. He finished the
transgression. He made an end of sin. When he
had fully obeyed the righteous demands of God's holy law, then
he suffered all the fury of God's wrath when our sin was made his
sin and he was justly executed because of sin. So that when
God slaughtered his son upon the cursed tree, it was because
his darling son Fully deserved the just wrath of God when he
was made sin. And if it takes you to glory,
Mark, it'll be because you fully deserve it. Because I was crucified
with Christ. When he died, I died. When he
arose, I arose. When he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high, I sat down with him. And when
he's done, he's going to say to me, well done, thou good and
faithful servant. Isn't that amazing? It's called
free grace. That's called the gospel. Back
a long time ago, some of you are familiar with history, Trail
of Tears had marched the Cherokee Indians out west. So many hundreds
of them died on the trail. But one of them came who had
been converted under the ministry of a another man and that Indian
tribesman tried to witness to his fellow Indians and as he
did, they'd berate him and belittle him and mock him and finally
one night sitting in the middle of the camp, one of them asked
him, said, why does Jesus mean so much to you? And he raked
up some dried leaves, put them in a circle, and reached over
in wet earth and dug out an earthworm and put it right in the middle
of that circle. And then he took a stick, reached in the fire
and lit those leaves. And that worm went this way and
that way and this way and that way and this way and that way.
Finally, it just curled up right in the middle of that fire waiting
to die. And he reached in and pulled
it out, stuck it back over here in the wet earth again, covered
him up. He said, because that's what
Christ did for me. That's what Christ did for me.
He saved me from hell all by his grace. And that's the gospel. Oh, may God make you to know
him. Amen.