Would you turn back to First
Corinthians chapter nine? I hope. That I'm approaching the message
that I'm going to attempt to preach this morning. With fear. Paul said in verse 16, woe is
unto me if I preach not the gospel. Now, can you see why I have a
reason for fear? If I'm not afraid, I ought to
be. Woe is unto me. If I preach not the gospel now,
I fear. Misrepresenting God. I fear doing as Job said, darkening
counsel with words without knowledge. I've entitled this message. Preach. The. Gospel. preach the gospel. Now, Paul says in verse 14, we
considered this last week, even so had the Lord ordained that
they which preach the gospel should live with the gospel.
He was talking about the support of the gospel ministry. But Paul
says in verse 15, but I have used none of these things. I
have not, he said to the church of Corinth, sought your support.
Neither have I written these things that it should be so done
unto me. I'm not writing in order to elicit
financial support. That's not my purpose. For it
was better for me to die than that any man should make my glory
void. Now, Paul is saying, although
I have a right to be supported as a preacher of the gospel,
I refuse to take that support. Woe to the preacher. Who merely preaches for a paycheck. Woe to the preacher who's in
it because it's his job. Well, that's what I'm paid to
do. I preach. Now, Paul says in verse 16, for
though I preach the gospel. And we're going to explore what
he means by that in a few moments. He says, for though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing. to glory of necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me if I preach
not the gospel. Now Paul says I can't glory in
my preaching of the gospel. There is nothing meritorious
in me in preaching the gospel. And just as Paul says that, I
say that. If I have a gift to preach the
gospel, it's just that. It's a gift. There's nothing
I can personally glory in. It's a gift. Paul goes on to say necessity
is laid on me. That's a heavy burden, too. You
know, the scripture speaks of the burden the burden of the
Word of the Lord. Paul says, I have no choice in
this, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Now every time the word woe is
used in the scripture, I looked it up. Every time the word woe
is used in the scripture, it's a reference to condemnation. Paul's not merely saying my manner
of life will not be as good if I don't preach the gospel. He's
saying if I don't preach the gospel, I will be condemned. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. And I'm sitting there saying
the same thing to you as I preach. Woe! Condemnation is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. Now can you see why anybody that
preaches ought to be scared? they ought to preach with weakness
and with fear and with much trembling as Paul described his preaching
in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Now the question that first enters
my mind when I read this passage of scripture is what is the gospel? You know there's not a more important
question that we could possibly consider. What is the Gospel. Do you know that God uses the
whole Bible to answer that question? That's something to think about,
isn't it? God uses this entire book we call the Bible to answer
that question. Now, the word gospel means good
news. Good news. Not bad news. But good news. Glad tidings. Now the gospel's not good news
to everybody. You know that as well as I do. But it is good
news to those that it's good news to. Now I want to be one of those
people who finds the gospel to be good news. You know, news is always fresh,
isn't it? You know, reading yesterday's paper just doesn't get it. It's
no longer news. Old news is boring. The gospel
comes fresh and powerful. And it comes as good news. Good news to a thirsty soul.
Now, what is the gospel? Now, there are a lot of passages
we could go to to get a scriptural definition of the gospel. But
this morning, I want us to go for a few moments to Romans chapter
one. Would you turn with me there to Romans chapter one? Now, Paul
says, I preach the gospel. Romans chapter one. Verse one, Paul. A servant. Of Jesus Christ. called to be an apostle separated
unto the gospel of God. Now, the first thing that I want
us to notice is that Paul says he's separated to the gospel,
not a gospel. You know, the definite article,
the makes all the difference in the world. The gospel, as
opposed to what Paul calls in other places, a perverted gospel,
there's only one gospel, the gospel, and any deviation from
this message is not the gospel. Turn with me, hold your finger
on Romans 1 and turn to Galatians 1 for a moment. Paul says in verse 6, I'm marveled.
that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ and to another gospel. Now, do you see that? Another gospel. Paul speaks of
other gospels, which is not another. It's not like there are two gospels,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert, would
change the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we've
preached unto you, let him be accursed. Now just in case you didn't hear
me, as we said before, so say now again, if any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that which you've received, let
him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or
God, or do I seek to please men? If I yet please men, I shouldn't
be the servant of Christ. I certify you, brethren, that
the gospel which was preached of me is not act or man. It's
not derived from any human source. He speaks of the gospel that
excludes all what Paul called other gospels. Now back to Romans
1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. Now, the gospel, the gospel is
the gospel of God. He's the author of it. He is the subject of it. And it's for his glory. That
is the gospel. And look what he says in verse
2, which, speaking of the gospel of God, which he had promised
to for by his prophets in the holy scriptures, it's the gospel
of the scriptures. Now, the gospel is not a subjective
message. Well, here's what's gospel to
this person and here's what's gospel to that person. It depends
on your interpretation. You know, this is good news to
me. No, it's not a subjective message. It's the objective message
of the scriptures. Whatever the Gospel is, it's
the Gospel of the Holy Scriptures. The Gospel of God is the Gospel
of the Old Testament Scriptures. When he's speaking of the Scriptures,
he's speaking of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Gospel, I believe,
is going to have to line up with the Old Testament Scriptures.
The Old Testament Scriptures are not just character studies.
It tells us the Gospel. And look what he says next, verse
3. The Gospel Is the gospel concerning
his son? Jesus Christ. Our Lord. The gospel is concerning Jesus
Christ now. I'm going to tell you something
that's going to surprise you. It's not about you. It's really not. It's about Jesus
Christ. He himself. is the gospel. And if you ever believe, you'll
understand what that means. And if you don't believe, it'll
just seem mysterious to you. He himself is the gospel. Look down in verse 15 of Romans
chapter 1. Paul says, so as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach
the gospel. To you that are in Rome also,
for, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel. Now there's a lot of things I'm
ashamed of. I'm ashamed of myself in so many ways. And I tell you
what, I'm sure enough ashamed to be identified with religion.
I tell you what, you wouldn't believe how hesitant I am for
anybody to find out I'm a preacher, because I know what I'm going
to have to go through when they find that out. I just, you know, I try to stay
incognito, you know, keep my head down, you know. I'm ashamed
to be identified with religion. But let me say this, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. The gospel that I preach, the
gospel of the scripture, the gospel concerning His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, the gospel of God is worthy of God. And that's quite a statement.
The gospel I preach, the true gospel is worthy of God. I'm not ashamed of it. Matter
of fact, I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the gospel I believe. It's worthy of God. Are you proud
of your gospel? Do you find it to be worthy of
God? Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation. And here's the next thing about
the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation.
It's a gospel that saves. It doesn't just make men savable.
It doesn't give you a chance. It doesn't give you an opportunity.
The gospel saves. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Now this is a message that is
to be believed. You ought to believe the truth,
shouldn't you? You just ought to believe the truth. It's a
message to be believed. Now look what he says in verse
17. For therein In the gospel is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now here's a very important term,
if I would call it a term. I don't suppose that's really
what ought to call it. I don't know what, I don't know the exact,
the righteousness of God. There's not a more important
word in all the Bible than this, the righteousness of God. and
the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. Now if you ask the average
Joe out on the street, what's the gospel reveal? What would
they say? The love of God. The love of
God. That's what the gospel reveals,
the love of God. Now I'm not going to say the
gospel doesn't reveal the love of God, it does. The love of God, these
people, the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord. But
when the Holy Spirit, who is the author of this book, uses
the word to describe what the gospel reveals. What does he
say? It reveals the righteousness
of God. Now, there's only one righteousness.
What's that? Let me give you a hint. It's not yours. The righteousness
of God. David said, I've made mention
of thy righteousness, even of thine only. The righteousness of God. The gospel reveals the righteousness
of God. Now, Jesus Christ the Lord nailed
to a cross, bleeding and dying, actually dying and being raised
from the dead. That reveals the righteousness
of God. It reveals His righteous character.
How holy do you have to be for God to accept you? Can you have
any sin on you at all? Jesus Christ is God's Son, and
yet when sin was found upon Him, God forsook Him. He wouldn't have anything to
do with Him. That reveals the righteousness
of God's character. I see a righteousness needed.
I can't come into God's presence without a perfect righteousness. I see a righteousness needed,
but thank God I see a righteousness provided. The perfect obedience
of Jesus Christ, just as truly as He was made sin, the sins
of His people literally became His. His perfect righteousness,
His obedience, His law-keeping is mine. I see a righteousness
provided for everybody He died for. I see a righteousness accepted. When God raised Him from the
dead, the righteousness of God demanded His resurrection. He
made full payment. He made full payment. And now
if I'm saved, And every believer is saved. Everybody that believes
is saved. The very righteousness of God demands my salvation. What a gospel we believe. Paul
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's the
power of God to salvation. To everyone that believes, to
the Jew first and also the Greek, but they're in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. Now, what
I'd like to do is give you nine brief scriptural descriptions
of the gospel. Notice I said scriptural descriptions
of the gospel. Every one of these come from
the Word of God to describe the gospel for us. And the first
one is found in Galatians 2.14. You can jot these down, look
them up later. We read this phrase, the truth
of the gospel. The truth of the gospel. The gospel is the truth. You want to know the truth? Now,
if I'm not deceived, this is what I want more than anything
else. Give me the truth. If it condemns me, whatever,
we're not talking about what it does to me. What I want more
than anything else is I want the truth. We read of the truth
of the gospel. The gospel tells the truth concerning
who God really is. The gospel tells us the truth
concerning who I really am. You want to know the truth about
me, don't ask me. Go to the Word of God and you'll find out the
truth concerning me, my sinfulness and so on. The Gospel tells us
the truth concerning how sinners are saved. Christ Jesus is salvation. Oh, thank God for the truth of
the Gospel. And then we read in Ephesians
6.15 of the mystery of the Gospel. Man could never come up with
the gospel. I love what Paul said when he
said, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
to me is not after man. It's not derived from any human
source. The gospel is a mystery that
we could have never known unless God was pleased to make it known
in his word. And you know, the gospel is mysterious.
It's all inspiring. I mean, it's not just cut and
dry. It's mysterious. There's nothing wrong with that.
I mean, if I could just grasp it all, there wouldn't be that
much to it, would there? I mean, if I could grasp intellectually
everything about God, there just wouldn't be much to God. The
Gospel's mysterious. We read of the mystery of the
Gospel. That doesn't mean we don't know, but we These mysteries
He's made known in His Word, they're things we would have
never known unless He would have revealed it in His Word. And
we know the mystery of the Gospel. Do you find the Gospel majestic,
mysterious, awe-inspiring? It provokes reverence for the
living God. The mystery of the Gospel. And then we read in Revelation
14, 6 of the everlasting gospel. The everlasting gospel. What it always was, it is. And
what it is, it always will be. It's never changed. It's never
modified. It never adapts itself. It's always the same. It's the eternal gospel. What it was before time began,
it never had a beginning. It is. And what it is, it always
will be. It knows no changes. It is the everlasting, eternal
gospel. And I like this. First Timothy
111, we read of the glorious gospel. Or the gospel of the
glory of God. The gospel of the glory of the
blessed God. Now, the gospel is for the glory
of God. It gives God all the glory. Any gospel that gives man any
glory is not the gospel. The gospel is about the glory
of God. It's not about the happiness
of man. It's not about God giving everybody a chance and hoping
this will happen. No, it's about His glory. It's
all for His glory. The glorious gospel of the blessed
God. And then we read in Acts chapter
20, verse 24, of the gospel of the grace of
God. Now, here's a wonderful description
of the gospel, the gospel of the grace of God. If it's not
about the grace of God, it's not the gospel, is it? Now, grace
is not just a phrase we know, have some kind of vague understanding
of. No, grace is the gospel. Now, what's the Bible mean by
the word grace? Well, here's what the Bible means
by grace. And you, hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and
sins? Wherein in times past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the mind, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and the mind. We were by nature the
children of wrath, just like everybody. but God who is rich
in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace
ye are saved that's God's grace but God but God elected you But God justified you. But God redeemed you. But God gave you life. But God preserves you. But God made you exactly like
His Son. Now that's grace. It's the gospel of the grace
of God. And then we read in Romans chapter
10, verse 15 of the gospel of peace. I like that description
of the gospel. What's the gospel of peace? You
know, the gospel is the gospel of peace. God's at peace with me because
of the gospel. Do you know God doesn't have any reason to be
mad at me? He doesn't have one single reason
to be mad at me. Now, I can think of all kinds
of reasons why He'd be mad at me. I mean, not what I think
of in myself. I think, well, I can see why He'd squash me
and just get rid of me. But do you know, truly, not a He has no reason to be mad at
me because the blood of Christ has washed away my sins. He has
peace with me. I'm perfect before God. The righteousness
of His Son counted to me. He's at peace with me and I'm
at peace with Him. Peace. Being justified by faith
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you
know anything about the peace of believing? The peace of knowing
that Christ is all and you really do not need anything else. There's peace there, isn't there?
The peace of grace. The peace of believing, the gospel
of peace. And then in Philippians chapter
1, verse 27, we read of the faith of the gospel. The faith of the
gospel. The gospel, the gospel is a message
to be believed. It's a message to be relied upon. Our Lord said, repent ye and
believe the gospel. Change your mind. You didn't
believe, you believe the gospel. This is a message to be believed.
It's a message to be received. It's a message to rejoice in. We read of the faith of the gospel. And then in Colossians chapter
1 verse 23 we read of the hope of the gospel. The hope of the
gospel. Now what's hope mean? Well, I
hope when I go home today I don't wreck. I hope that ice kind of
is melted away and I hope, but do I know for sure that I won't
wreck? Well, you know better than that.
That's not really what the Bible means by the word hope. Hope
is a confident expectation. You hope in what you know. Now,
I know, I hope, I have a hope that when I die, and I thought
something about dying last week. Thought something about dying.
We were doing something in Mexico. We were on a trip. Nobody else got scared, but I
was. We were on these train tracks. I mean little bitty train tracks
on this wooden cart and this horse was pulling us down toward
this thing. I mean it was pulling us. It
was going fast and then all of a sudden while we were going
this way all of a sudden the horse was going in that direction.
And I was thinking about dying. I could see my head getting bashed
up against the rocks and I was thinking about dying. But even
while I was thinking about dying I have a hope that when I do
die I will stand before God. Perfect. He's going to look me
over, up and down, and He's not going to see anything but that
which pleases Him. I'm going to be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. Now, I don't just, well, I hope
it ends up being that way. I know it will. Because Christ
Jesus makes me that way. Now, what a blessed hope that
is. And I have a hope that everything between now and that point when
I'm made just like Christ is going to work together for my
good and His glory. Now is that hope or what? We
have the hope of the gospel and what a blessed hope that is.
And then in Romans chapter 16 verse 25 we read this description
of the gospel and Paul uses this quite often. He talks about my
gospel. This might be my favorite. What I'm talking about is good
news to me. It's news to me. You know, I
need the gospel every day. It's not like, well, I sinned
yesterday. I needed it yesterday, but everything's OK. No, I need
the gospel continually. It comes as new and fresh and
powerful, it's my gospel. This is what is good news to
me. It's my gospel. Now, what is
it to preach the gospel? Paul said, woe is unto me if
I preach not the gospel. What's it mean to preach the
gospel? Well, preaching is bringing a message from God. If I'm truly preaching, I'm bringing
a message from God. Well, how do I know it's from
God? Well, you look it up to see if what I'm saying is according
to the word of God. You've got a way of knowing. I mean, you've
got a way of knowing whether or not what I'm preaching is
a message from God. You've got his word to see. Preaching is
a message from God for that hour. Now, first, if I'm going to preach
the gospel, I must ask Paul. This is what preaching the gospel
is all about. Paul said, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. If I'm going to preach the gospel,
I must, as Paul, not shun to declare unto you the whole counsel
of God. Now, if I'm going to preach the
gospel, I must preach the whole counsel of God. I cannot, in
one setting, bring out every doctrine of the Bible. You know
that. That's impossible. I mean, we'd be here forever.
You want me to give it a shot? But I can only in one setting
bring out every doctrine in the Bible. But if I purposely omit
any part of the truth, if I preach one aspect of the
truth to the exclusion of another, if I only preach half the gospel,
I've not preached the gospel at all. And Paul says, woe unto
me if I preach not the gospel. Paul said, I've kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you. Blessed is the preacher who can
say that. I've kept back nothing that was
profitable to you. And blessed are the people who
hear him. Woe unto me if I preach not the
gospel. Now, preaching the gospel is
not merely grinding out the facts. preaching the gospel is testifying.
I'm preaching what I've experienced. Yes, it's an objective message. It's the message of the scripture,
but it's also subjective. I'm preaching what I've experienced.
I'm preaching what I really believe. I'm preaching what I am willing
to die for. That's what I'm preaching. I'm
testifying. It's not just grinding out the
facts. It's testifying. It's preaching in the power of
the Holy Spirit. It's a supernatural thing. It's
preaching Christ. Now, that's not just throwing
out some facts. It's more than that. Preaching,
true preaching is a supernatural thing. True preaching is communication. It's a message from God, from
His Word for that hour. That's true. It's to men. That's
true. And it's something they understand.
If you don't understand, you didn't hear any preaching. I
mean, if it wasn't, if you don't personally understand it, it
wasn't preaching to you. You see, when God teaches, you're
taught. You ever say, God's trying to
teach me something? No, no, no, no, no. God doesn't try to do
anything. If He teaches you, you're taught.
And you come to understand and understand this thing in preaching
the gospel. I don't preach a message to unbelievers. I don't preach a message to believers. I preach to men. And I trust God to apply it however
he's pleased to apply it. I don't have a special message
for unbelievers. This is for unbelievers. I don't
have a special message for believers. This is only to believers. No,
I preach to men. We're men. We're people. And
you trust God, the Holy Spirit, to bless it as He sees fit. Now, Paul said, Woe unto me if
I preach not the gospel. And he could have also said this,
Woe unto you if I preach the gospel. And you don't believe
it. Is that so? The gospel is a message to be
believed right now. True preaching calls for a verdict. If I preach the gospel, you better
believe it, and you better believe it right now if I told the truth.
It calls for a verdict. Now, I want to conclude this
message by asking How can I know that the gospel that I preach? How can you know the gospel that
you're hearing preached that you believe? How can I know that
the gospel I believe is the gospel? I want to know the answer to
that question, don't you? How can I know that the gospel I
preach is the gospel? Well, let me give you seven or
eight ways I can know it. I'm just not going to comment
much on these. I just want to give them to you. I know the
gospel I preach is the gospel because the gospel I preach is
true to the Old Testament scriptures. You know, most people look at
the Old Testament as kind of irrelevant. You can use it for
character studies and so on, but it's irrelevant. It's the New Testament that's
relevant for our day. Now, wait a minute. The gospel
I preach lines right up with the Passover. God says, when
I see the blood, I will pass over you. The gospel I preach
lines right up with the great day of Atonement, when that high
priest went into the Holy of Holies with the blood and with
the names of Israel on his breastplate, and he represents them. That's
the gospel, I believe. It's the gospel of the Old Testament
Scriptures. If my gospel doesn't line up with the Old Testament
Scriptures, it's not the gospel. Second reason I know my gospel
is the gospel, because it's the gospel that gives God all the
glory. It doesn't give any glory to man. And you know, I don't
want any glory. I love Christ having all the
glory. I find such satisfaction in that. The gospel I preach
gives Jesus Christ all the glory. It doesn't give any to me. It
gives it all to Him. And that's how I know my gospel
is true. It's the gospel that gives all the glory to God. Thirdly,
my gospel, the gospel, tells how God can be absolutely just,
inflexibly just. and yet justify the ungodly. Now how in the world can that
be? Only the gospel answers that question. How God can actually
be just and yet justify the sinner. I know my gospel is the gospel
fourthly because it meets the sinner where he's at and gives
him life. Now my gospel A false gospel
doesn't meet the sinner where he's really at. It's false. It's false. It meets the sinner
where he supposedly, well, you know, he has some power of will
and he has the power to choose and he can choose. That's all
false. The true gospel meets the sinner
where he's at dead in sins. Dead. No ability. It gives him
life. Christ Jesus came to me where
I was. And he gives me life. I know my gospel is the gospel
because my gospel gives hope to the very chief of sinners. You cannot be too bad to be saved. This gospel gives the very chief
of sinners hope. And my gospel, I know it's the
gospel because it's a gospel I can die with. And I can die
with complete confidence. And here's where this complete
confidence comes from. When Christ said, it is finished,
that means nothing else is needed. I can die with this gospel. Can
you die with the gospel? Right now, can you die with the
gospel you believe? I know my gospel is the gospel
because it meets every need that I have. And my gospel, I know my gospel
is the gospel because it is the gospel that actually saves. By grace are you saved. Preach the gospel. Let's pray.