I'd like to turn your attention
this morning to Acts chapter 20 and verses 23 and 24 where
we read in verse 23 that bonds and afflictions abide with me
but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear
unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel
of the grace of God. None of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy. And the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace
of God. Paul's desire, Paul's joy, Paul's
desire was to testify the gospel of the grace of God. This was
the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to preach,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Now the preaching
of this gospel brought many bonds and afflictions upon Paul. in
every city, as witnessed by the Holy Ghost. It brought him into
great trouble. Yet he says here in our verse,
verse 24, but none of these things moved me. Neither count I my
life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course with joy. His
desire was to preach the gospel of the grace of God and nothing
moved him, nothing prevented him. Nothing would sway him from
that which the Lord Jesus had sent him to do. Opposition, persecution,
the hatred of men, both for him and his message. Even death itself
didn't move Paul. It didn't prevent him doing that
which he was sent to do, which was to testify, to preach the
gospel. of the grace of God. He was sent to preach, and preach
he would. But consider the gospel he was
sent to preach. It is defined here. Paul defines
it. He does not merely say, I was
sent to preach the gospel. But here he describes it as the
gospel of the grace of God. This gospel he defines here as
the gospel of the grace of God. We read of the gospel in various
descriptions throughout the New Testament. We read of the gospel
of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel of your salvation. And here, in this verse, we read
of the gospel of the grace of God. It's not that these are
different gospels. We read also the gospel of the
kingdom elsewhere in Matthew. It's not that these are different
gospels. They're all many descriptions of the one gospel. But each description
defines that gospel. It's the gospel of God. The gospel
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ. The gospel of your salvation. The gospel of the kingdom. And
the gospel of the grace of God. Now we live in days when many
will speak of the gospel or of preaching the gospel, where there
are many churches and many multitudes and many different religious
people, all of whom speak of preaching the gospel. But it's
evident simply from the variety and the multiplying of gospels
and churches that their gospels are not all the same gospel.
And it has to be asked, is their gospel the gospel of the grace
of God? The world, you see, has its religion. And much of its religion is called
Christianity. And that Christianity has its
gospel. Indeed, it has 10,000 versions
of that gospel in almost 10,000 different sects and denominations. But these gospels are not the
gospel of the grace of God. In fact, these gospels, their
gospel, bears no resemblance to the gospel of the grace of
God whatsoever. No resemblance. It may take the
name gospel. It may use certain translations
of the scriptures. It may speak of a person called
Jesus. but it brings a very different
message to that which Paul defines as the gospel of the grace of
God. Paul's gospel is objective, it's
defined, it has content. And if someone brings a message
which lacks this content or which opposes this content, it is not
the gospel of the grace of God. and the world with its religion,
indeed it does oppose this gospel. This is what brought the opposition
upon Paul. He preached to many people in
many cities. He began in various places preaching
to those who were Jews. Even in the Gentile cities in
which he went, he would go to those places, those synagogues,
those gatherings of the Jews in those cities. And these Jews
were very religious people. They had the scriptures. And
yet these who should have heard his gospel and recognized it
as the fulfillment of those scriptures concerning the Messiah, concerning
the Savior who was to come, concerning him who was prophesied of throughout
all the Old Testament scriptures, these who should have recognized
it and received it rather opposed it hated it and hated the messenger
who brought it. Even these hated it. Yes, the
world has its gospel and its religion, but the world hates
this gospel and all who preach this gospel. It hates it even
unto death. But there is actually only one
true gospel, Whatever the world may preach,
whatever the world's religion may preach, Paul preached the
gospel of the grace of God. He knew but one gospel. He may describe it in various
ways, the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel
of the kingdom, the gospel of the grace of God. But all these
descriptions merely serve to define and establish the truth
of this gospel. The gospel is defined, you see. It's a defined and an objective
message of truth. It isn't subjective. It isn't
variable. It doesn't change according to
the times and the seasons. It doesn't change with the cultures
and the fashions of this world. There wasn't a Jewish gospel
and a Gentile gospel. Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, but it is the power of God unto salvation
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He preached the same
gospel to Jew and Greek. There isn't one gospel for one
nation and another gospel for another. There isn't one gospel
for one culture and another for another. There isn't a western
gospel or an eastern gospel. There isn't a contemporary gospel
and a traditional gospel. There isn't one which is more
modern than another. There is but one gospel, the
gospel of God. the gospel of Christ, the gospel
of the grace of God. No, the gospel is not subjective. It's not varied by experience
or experiences. People's experience vary, but
the gospel doesn't. We don't have one gospel tailored
for one person who had this experience and another gospel for another
person. Their experience doesn't alter
the message. The message stands sure and certain. It is an objective, defined message
of doctrinal truth concerning the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is the gospel of God. concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel. The gospel. But see how Paul defines the
gospel here. It is the gospel of the grace
of God. Of the grace of God. Grace defines this gospel. Grace is a fundamental part of
this gospel. Leave grace out and you have
another gospel. Another gospel, not this gospel. Another gospel, which as Paul
says in Galatians 1, is not another. Grace defines the gospel. Consider this gospel of the grace
of God then. Firstly it is the gospel, the
gospel, good news, glad tidings, a wonderful message, God's glorious
message which he has delivered unto men, the gospel, good news,
it's not bad news, The gospel is not bad news, it's not a ministration
of condemnation, but a ministration of life, a ministration of righteousness. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians
3, that God has made us able ministers of the New Testament,
not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. For if the ministration of death,
i.e. the law of God, which was written
and engraven in stone, which was given unto men to prove men
that they are sinners, to prove to men that they are sinners,
if that ministration was glorious so that the children of Israel
could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory
of his countenance, which glory was to be done away? How shall
not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the
ministration of condemnation, the law, be glory, much more
doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. Yes, the gospel
is a ministration of righteousness, a ministration of life. It's
good news. It isn't sent to condemn men,
but to save men. It isn't sent to put us into
bondage, but to deliver us from bondage. It doesn't come to slay
us, but to present hope to us. Hope to the weak, hope to the
poor, hope to the broken, hope to the downcast, hope to those
who know their need, those who know their helplessness. Hope
for those who are helpless, Hope for those who know their need. Hope for those in need of salvation. Yes, the gospel is good news. Hope, glory, salvation. Yes, the gospel will first show
a man what he is. It will first show him he's a
sinner in need of salvation. It will bring him down low. but
it doesn't leave him low. It doesn't simply come to condemn. It points that sinner, that one
who's brought to see his need, to the one who saves, to the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus. It's good news. The Gospel is
good news. Secondly, this Gospel is the
Gospel of the grace of God. The gospel is of God. It's not of man but of God. This is not a message of man's
contrivance and it is not a message telling man what he must do but
it is the good news from God which declares what God has done
to save a people. It's God's gospel He wrought
it, He purposed it, He declares it, He sends it, He preaches
it. It's not of man, it's of God. Notice also it's the gospel of
the grace of God. It's not the gospel of man, and
it's not the gospel of the works of man, but it is the gospel
of the grace of God. It's not of works, but of grace. One may ask, well, surely to
be saved, we should do something. Surely we must do something. Surely we ought to do something. One may say, I know I'm a sinner,
but surely for God to save me, surely for me to enter heaven,
I ought to live right. Surely I ought to do something.
Surely there's some contribution I can make. Surely God expects
us to play our part. Surely there's something we should
do to save ourselves. I know I can't do it all, but
surely I should do something. Why ask in return? What can we
do? What can man possibly do to save
himself? What can those who have no strength
and no ability by nature possibly do to contribute to their own
salvation? If you think you have any strength,
if you think you have any ability in yourself, if you think there's
the slightest thing that you can do which is good, that you
can present before God as some sort of contribution, as some
sort of part that you play to save yourself, that you play
to contribute towards God's saving of you. If you think there's
anything that you can do that's good, then you haven't begun
to discover just what you are by nature. And what you need
to hear is the gospel of the grace of God. For the beginning
of the gospel of the grace of God is to reveal to man just
what he is by nature. And you'll never begin to understand
the gospel until you know that you are dead by nature, dead
in trespasses and sins, fallen, vile, base, sinful, weak, hopeless,
lost, Without strength. Without strength. How can one
who is without strength do anything to save themselves? We are by
nature as it were drowning in the sea. Our ship has sunk and
we are swimming in rough seas and our strength is ebbing out
so that we no longer have strength. We no longer have the strength
in our arms and legs to keep above water, we're sinking fast. Now what can one whose strength
has run out do to keep himself above water? What can he do to
save himself? Nothing. He's drowning, he's
dying. In a moment he'll be gone. Such
men need one to come and to pluck them out of the water, one to
come and to dive in and put their arms around them and to drag
them to shore. They're without strength. And
that's where man is by nature, when he hears the gospel, he's
without strength. As Paul says in Romans 5, of
the work of Christ in the gospel, he says that when we were without
strength, Christ died for the ungodly. When we were without
strength. Yes, I ask what can man do? What are his works worth? Nothing. As God says on man's
works, they're but filthy rags. They spring forth from an evil
heart. There's nothing that man can
do. There's no part he can play. You say, but oughtn't we? Yes,
you ought. You're right, you ought. You
ought to live godly. You ought to be righteous. You
ought to be holy before God. You're right that you ought.
But your problem is not whether or not you recognise you ought.
But the problem is you cannot. You cannot. Whether you ought
or not, you cannot. You are without strength. Without strength. But that's
why the Gospel's so wonderful news to men without strength. Because the Gospel is the Gospel
of the grace of God. This isn't a message sent to
tell men what to do to save themselves. This isn't a message sent to
mock those who are drowning in the sea, as it were to stand
above them and say, just swim to shore, to those who are falling
and ebbing away, to those who are underneath the water. It
doesn't come to mock them and condemn them, but it comes to
declare what God has done. It comes to bring salvation to
the sinner. It comes, as it were, to rescue
them from the sea and bring them to shore. And it does so by grace,
by that unmerited, undeserved favour of God, who, when they
were without strength, he sent his own son to die for the ungodly,
that he might ransom a people, that he might redeem a people,
that he might save a people. Yes, it's the gospel of the grace
of God. Grace is fundamental to the gospel. It is the gospel. A gospel without
grace is not the gospel. A gospel of works is not the
gospel. A gospel which mixes works with
grace is not the gospel. We're without strength if you
expect the slightest work of man, who can render no work acceptable
unto God, then you make it certain that that man will be lost. You've
undermined grace and made it of works. If it's by grace, then
it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. So says Romans
11, 6, it must be by grace, all of grace, entirely of grace. Man without strength cannot work,
and he will not work for ultimately his will is not willing to. His
will is bound. but thank God that the gospel
is good news and it's good news from God and it's good news of
the grace of God sent to those who are without strength. Notice also that it is not of
the will of man not only is it not of the works of man but it
cannot be the will of man for it is the gospel of the grace
of God and if of the grace of God then at the will of God and
at the purpose of God for grace being grace is that marital favour
freely given by one to another at the discretion of the one
who gives it if it is the gospel of the grace of God then it must
be at the will of God and the purpose of God it is God who
determines whom he will show grace unto It is God who determines
whom he will save. It is not the will of man which
brings the grace of God to a man, but it is the will of God which
goes out to seek and to save that which is lost. God seeks
after those whom he will save. He comes as it were to those
who are drowning and he plucks out those whom he will save.
At his will, at His purpose, at the fulfilment of that purpose
which He purposed ever before this world was created. He determined
to save a people and save them He would at His will. How could it be at the will of
man? Who would ever choose God and
His gospel? Who would ever choose to be saved
by God, by this gospel? Mankind by nature is at enmity
with God. All men have gone astray, all
like sheep have gone astray. There is none that seeketh after
righteousness, there is none that seeketh after God. Then
who, by their own will, is going to seek after God? If none are
good, if none have sought after God, as Paul plainly states in
Romans 2, then show me which man's will is set upon God. I answer none is. Our wills by
nature are set, they are fixed, they are fastened upon self and
upon none other. We are selfish, self-centered
creatures by nature. We fell from God when man sinned
in the garden, we turned aside and we are consumed with self
and our own glory and our own self-gratification. Our will
is set in one direction, it seeks our own end, our own desires
and our own glory. Then whose will is going to seek
after God? Our will is bound. Our heart
is polluted, polluted with sin. Whose heart would seek God? The
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it, says Jeremiah? All the imaginations of man's
heart are only evil continually. Then what good works? And what
good will, seeking after God, can ever spring from such a heart? What good can such a heart, will
and purpose? How can such a heart of such
men choose God? How can they? None seek after
God. No, the gospel is the gospel
of the grace of God. One may protest. They may protest,
but I chose. One may protest, but I heard
the gospel. I heard the gospel of Jesus,
and I chose. I exercised my will, and I accepted
Jesus into my heart. How can you say that none are
willing? I wanted to be saved, and I chose. But I answer, no
you did not. You never chose the God of the
gospel of the grace of God. You never chose to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ who is made known in the gospel of Christ.
You never chose to seek after the God who is revealed in the
gospel of for which Paul suffered when he preached it. No, the
Jesus you chose and the gospel you received is your Jesus. your gospel, another Jesus in
another gospel. You seek after your own ends
by nature and when a preacher comes unto you and says that
after this life you will pass into eternal death if you don't
believe in Jesus and when he says unto you if you want to
go to heaven you must receive and accept and believe on Jesus
then most men presented with such a decision will make a decision
to receive a Jesus who loves them and saves them and for whom
it will everything will be all right if they but accept him
they'll make a decision to follow such a Jesus but that Jesus who
they say loves all men and died for all men, and wants all men
to be saved if they but will. That Jesus is not the Jesus made
known in the gospel of God, made known in the gospel of the grace
of God. Yes, men may accept such a Jesus
who is really a Jesus of their own imagination, one who serves
their selfish ends. One who gives them their eternal
salvation that they would like to add on to their life which
they have here below. They'll accept such a Jesus,
such a Jesus that they can tag on to their life which they live
for self here below. They want to live for their own
glory, they want to continue in their own ways here below
but have some assurance that when they die all will be well
and they'll make a decision for such a Jesus. But when they hear
the gospel of the grace of God, every man to the last man rejects
it utterly. For the truth declared in the
gospel of one who saves at his discretion, of one who saves
according to his will and his eternal purpose, of one who does
what he wills, not what man wills, of one to whom man is in his
hand, not that he is in man's hand. That gospel, that gospel
of the grace of God is one that man despises. I ask you, what
is your response to this gospel? What have you heard of this gospel?
Have you cried out for mercy? to the Christ who is made known
in this gospel. Have you cried out as one who
has been left brokenhearted and guilty before God? As one who
doesn't merely seek his own ends, but as one who knows that outside
of the grace of God, he is utterly lost. As one who knows that he
is nothing. As one who knows that he is hopeless
and helpless. except God show him mercy, for
if you have called unto this God, if you ever cry unto this
God, it won't be simply because of your will, it will be because
God first willed and purposed to choose you, and he made you
willing to cry out unto him, to cry out unto him for mercy,
for you wouldn't call by nature. No, it's not the gospel of the
works of man, nor is it the gospel of the will of man. It is the
gospel of the grace of God. It's by grace. Salvation is a
free gift. It's unmerited, undeserved. The works and the will of man
are excluded. All boasting in self is excluded. For all is of God, and all is
by grace, from start to finish. He has done everything to save
his people. All is of grace, and all boasting
and all glory redounds unto God and God alone, and not unto man. You see, we need grace. We need grace. Left to ourselves,
we'd never be saved. Our works can't save us. Our
will can't save us. Our hearts will never choose
God. They'll never seek after God.
We're drowning. We're without strength. We need
grace. For man to be saved, God must
intervene. He must do the work. He must
change the heart. He must draw guilty sinners under
Him. Yes, it's all of grace. And if
of grace, then no more of works. And if of grace, then of God. And if of God, then it's His
gift of grace to give under whom He chooses, not under whom we
choose. As He says in John 15, ye have
not chosen me, but I, chosen you.' He says under his disciples,
I have chosen you. This gospel is revealed, is revealed
unto those whom God chooses, is revealed unto those to whom
he is pleased to make known his Son as the Saviour of sinners. to whom he is pleased to preach
the gospel of the grace of God, which reveals his Son both to
them and in them, which makes him known unto them in their
own hearts as their own Saviour. It's revealed, revealed unto
those whom God chooses, reveals unto those whom he predestinates,
chooses unto salvation, to those under whom he chooses and unto
none other. Nor does God seek or desire the
salvation of any other. He seeks and saves those whom
he chose in Christ and those alone. He seeks his sheep and
he saves all his sheep, all those whom Christ died for. all those
for whom he gave his son a sacrifice for sin, all his sheep. He saves all whom he purposes
to save. He desires the salvation of all
whom he purposes to save, and none other. No, that's not the
gospel which says that God would have all men to be saved. That's
not the gospel which says that Christ died for all men. That's
not the gospel which says that Christ desires the salvation
of all men. And yet all men are not saved.
For such a gospel makes God to be a failure. One who purposes
to save, one who desires to save all men, but cannot, for all
men are not willing. Such a gospel makes God out to
be a failure. weak, dependent upon the will
and works and interest of man. But the gospel of the grace of
God declares a sovereign God, a powerful saviour, one who purposes,
one who does, and one who gets all he purposes, one who really
saves, one who's dependable, One who saves all whom he purposes
to save and loses none. One who saves all the sheep and
loses not one of his sheep. One who seeks out all his lost
sheep and finds all his lost sheep and brings all his lost
sheep in. Yes, that's the gospel of the
grace of God. But do you know this gospel? Is this the gospel you heard? Is this the gospel you received? Is this the gospel you believe?
For this and this alone is the gospel, and this and this alone
saves, and this and this alone builds Christ's church. And this
and this alone truly brings the opposition which Paul received,
which brought him into bonds and afflictions. And yet which
he says of, that none of these things move me, and none of these
things should move us. For that gospel which he preached,
which he was sent to preach, was that which saved. And that
gospel which he was sent to preach is that which saves all God's
people. It's that only gospel which can
save you. This gospel this gospel of the
grace of God, this gospel which declares unto sinners of God's
salvation, which declares unto them the grace of God, made known
by God sending his only begotten Son into this world to die in
the place of sinners, to die for those who are without strength,
to die for the ungodly, to die for sinners. This gospel which
makes known His love for sinners, His grace for sinners, that He
should freely give His Son, freely give His Son to die in their
place, a sacrifice for their sins. This gospel, this objective
gospel of the truth of God, this gospel This gospel which begins
with the voice in the wilderness, which prepares the way for the
Lord, that voice which cries, that voice which cries and makes
known unto men their state, that voice which goes before the coming
of the Lord, which prepares the way, which makes the people hungry,
which makes them needy, which shows them that they need salvation,
Have you first heard the cry? Are you needy? Do you know your
need of salvation? Do you know that you are sinful
through and through? Do you know that except God reveal
his son unto you in this gospel, that you are lost? Do you know
your need? Have you first heard the beginning
of the gospel? Have you heard the rest of the
gospel? That gospel which then goes on
to declare the person of Christ, and the work of Christ, the glorious
Son of God, the glorious eternal Son of God who came, made a man,
made little lower than the angels, even for the suffering of death. That gospel which makes known
the Lord Jesus who died in the place of sinners, who gave himself
in the place of sinners, who gave himself as a substitute
to stand in their stead, to take the judgment of God's wrath against
their sins upon himself, that he might deliver them from their
sins, that he might make them righteous, that he might wash
them clean from head to toe. that he might give those who
had polluted hearts new hearts, that he might wash those who
were filthy, that he might make them pure, that he might take
those who were drowning without strength and put them upon a
rock and give them strength in him. that He might take them
who were unrighteous and make them perfectly righteous in Him. Have you heard of the Son? Do you know the Son? Has He been
revealed unto you? Has He been revealed in you? Have you looked unto His work,
His work upon the cross, His redemption, that price paid,
that blood shed for His own? Have you heard the voice of the
Spirit in the gospel, pointing you to Him? Have you heard the
gospel of the grace of God? Have you heard it? Have you seen
the Lord? Have you seen His work? Have
you seen the Lord Jesus crucified? Have you seen Him crucified for
you? Have you beheld Him in His sufferings? Have you seen His grief, His
agony? Have you perceived his love in
giving himself for sinners? Have you comprehended his innocence
and his perfection? Though he was nailed to a cross
to die in the place of sinners. Have you seen the One who gave
Himself, that sinners like you and me might be brought unto
eternal life and eternal glory? Have you seen the love of God
in the Gospel and in Christ? Have you seen the grace of God?
Have you heard His Gospel, THE Gospel? the gospel of God, the
gospel of the grace of God. Has this grace been made known
unto you? Or Paul would make it known,
even though it brought him trial, even though it brought him bonds
and afflictions, even though men would slay him, he would
say that none of these things move me, neither count I my life
dear unto myself, For he would finish his course with joy, that
the ministry which he received of the Lord Jesus might be made
known unto all those to whom God sent him, to declare unto
them the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel of the
kingdom, the gospel of their salvation, the gospel of the
grace of God. Amen.