question, the problem between
you and God, the problem between you and God
is surrender. That's the issue. Always has
been the issue, never has been any other issue. Men and women
go to hell because they will not bow to Jesus Christ the Lord. That's the reason folks go to
hell. Paul tells us plainly the reason the Jews went to hell
is because they would not submit to the righteousness of God in
Christ. The reason sinners go to hell is because they're determined
to have God on their terms the way they want Him, or not have
Him at all. And they think they can have
Him on their terms the way they want Him. Men really think God's
going to surrender to them. It ain't going to happen. It
ain't gonna happen. You're gonna surrender to God
Almighty. I promise you, you're going to.
Sooner or later. Sooner or later. Either now or
in judgment, you're going to surrender to God Almighty. To His truth, to His glory, to
His dominion, to His Son. You're gonna surrender to the
Gospel of God in Christ. Either surrender or go to hell.
That's the only options. That's the only options. Say,
but I did. That's your problem. You've been
doing. But I, that's your problem. That's your problem. You, you
keep getting in the way. You're going to have to fall
down before his throne. I don't care how many professions
of faith you've made. I don't care how many times you've
been baptized by what preacher or in what church until you have
bowed to Jesus Christ, acknowledging him as your Lord. Until you,
in your heart, have surrendered and continually surrender to
the rule and dominion of Jesus Christ the Lord, you don't know
God. Salvation is not walking a church
aisle, saying a prayer, going to a religious ceremony, getting
baptized. Salvation is the knowledge of
God in Christ, and Christ is king. He's king. Now turn with
me to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. Should you go to any street corner
in this country, any of them, should you walk to any doorstep
this morning of any church in this town or any other, and greet
folks as they came out of their doors after they'd been through
their little religious exercise, after they'd gone through their
little exercise in idolatry and superstition. And you should
ask them, what is the gospel? I challenge you to do it. Just
ask them. Go to work tomorrow, ask the
folks at Auburn Church today, ask them, what's the gospel?
What is it? What is it? What is the gospel? Don't give
a hint as to the answer, just ask them, what is the gospel?
I'll guarantee you, you'll get almost as many answers as you
will people you ask. Because nobody has a clue. We
live in a generation, we live in the most spiritually ignorant,
blinded, darkened generation, topside God's earth has ever
known. I recognize in the scriptures that men knew little, and that
was the case in Paul's day. It is even more so in our day.
Most people have always, and they do continually, defined
the gospel by their own experiences, thoughts, and emotions. You ask
somebody a question about the things of God, they say, well,
I think. Well, who gives a hoot what you think? What you think
doesn't matter. What I think doesn't matter.
Well, my mama always told me, what difference does that make?
Your mama was just as blind as mine. It doesn't matter what
mama always said. People interpret the scriptures
by their thoughts and experiences and emotions. They define the
gospel by what they think or by what mama has told them about
something that their religion, something's been passed on to
them secondhand. What do you believe? Well, our church believes
It doesn't matter what your church believes. The church and pastor
and you too are going to hell if you don't understand the gospel. What is it? What is the gospel?
Now in the New Testament, the gospel is called by many different
names. It's sometimes called the gospel
of God, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of Christ, the gospel
of the grace of God, the gospel of peace. It's called the glorious
gospel of Christ, the glorious gospel of the great God. And
yet there is but one gospel, though it is called by many different
names. One gospel which we must know,
which we must believe, by which we must be saved. All other gospels
are clearly stated to be no gospel at all. Any rival gospel is a
false gospel. And those who preach it are false
prophets. And those who believe it are
damned by the gospel they profess to believe. This is what Paul
speaks of in Galatians. He writes to the Galatian church.
Now, Brother Gary Shepherd and I were talking about this yesterday
morning early. The Corinthian church, a morally
decadent Gentile society, But Paul addresses them, believing
the gospel as brethren. He still has hope for them. He
writes to the Galatians. And they had reverted to Judaism.
Some folks had come in and perverted them and turned them away from
the gospel. Paul said, I'm afraid of you.
I fear for you lest I've labored in vain. And he says in verse
6 of Galatians 1, I marvel, I'm astounded at this, that you so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Which is not another. He said
there's not even a gospel. This pretense gospel, this gospel
of works, religion, this gospel where you mix your works and
God's works, your will and God's will, your way and God's way,
this mixture of grace and works is no gospel at all. But there
be some that trouble you and have perverted the gospel of
Christ. Now he says, though we are an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto
you. Let him be damned. And you just thought I was tough.
Let him be damned. What's your attitude toward these
preachers? Let him be damned, Paul said.
Let him be damned. I echo Paul's words. I hold the
religion of this world, the religious leaders of this world, the religious
society in which we live, in absolute contempt. I never intend
to give it the least measure of credibility, nor do I intend
to give its doctrine the least measure of credibility. Let those
who preach another gospel be damned! That's Paul's language,
Galatians chapter 1 verse 8. Read on. And we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that which you have received, let him be damned,
let him be accursed. Now in the light of these things,
my subject this morning ought to be of great interest, very
great interest to every one of us. My message is the gospel
defined. Now, I'm not going to show you
the Baptist definition of the gospel, or the Calvinistic definition
of the gospel, or the Reformed definition of the gospel. I don't
have any more interest in the Baptist definition than I do
the Mormon. I have no more interest in the Calvinistic definition
than I do the Arminian. I have no more interest in the
Reformed definition of the gospel than I do the Catholic definition
of the gospel. But I am interested, Bobbie Estes,
in God's definition of the gospel. I am interested in that and you
better be. Turn with me again to Romans
chapter 1 and you'll find my text in the opening words of
this inspired textbook of theology. Now this was not Paul's first
epistle, he had written several before this, but the book of
Romans has been providentially by divine arrangement placed
at the front of Paul's epistles that were written to us by inspiration
and done so with good reason. As John Calvin put it, when anyone
gains knowledge of this epistle, an entrance is opened to him,
to all the most hidden treasures of scripture. The book of Romans
is a textbook inspired by God in sacred theology. Now Paul's
primary purpose in this epistle is to show us plainly Clearly,
with unmistakable clarity and irrefutable declaration, the
foundation doctrine of Christianity, the foundation doctrine of Holy
Scripture, the foundation upon which our souls must be built
or we must forever be damned. And that foundation doctrine
is justification. free justification by the grace
of God without the works of the law through the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ the Lord given to chosen redeemed sinners by
the almighty operation of God himself. Now let's begin in verse
1 and we'll work our way down through the passage. Paul. What a way to begin such a splendid
epistle. No epistle dedicatory? No lengthy
introduction of the author. No detailed forward. No show of pretentious humility. Sometimes I read the writings
of some of the old writers and they, you know, they seem to
just grovel before folks in a pretense of humility. Nothing like that
here. Nothing like that here. Paul. And yet he begins this
epistle, the greatest of books, in the most humble manner possible.
And no pretense of humility, but real humility. Paul. That's all. Just Paul. Not Dr. Paul. Not Reverend Paul. Not Elder Paul. Not Bishop Paul. Not Cardinal Paul. Not Father
Paul. Not Pope Paul. Just Paul. Just
Paul. You see, those who are God's
servants. Now listen to me. God's servants. are not fond of titles of distinction. They despise them. They despise
them. God's servants don't seek honor
for themselves. And God's servants certainly
do not take to themselves honor that belongs to God alone. His
name is holy and reverend, not my name. He is the father, not
me. He is our elder brother. He is our high priest, not me.
Paul was a man who sought to honor God, and he does it with
the very inception of his word. Look at it now. Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ. What an honor. What a privilege. What a distinction. This is an
expression certainly of humility, but more than that, it is a declaration
of a recognized fact. You see, the true gospel preacher,
is the minister. That word minister means servant.
He is the servant of Christ. And as the servant of Christ,
the servant of Christ's church. He is a servant under the rule
of Christ, and a servant for the church of Christ. He considers
himself, and indeed he is, a willing, loving, obedient bond slave to
the Son of God. He is one of those like described
back in the book of Exodus. He comes to his master and says,
I want to be your servant forever. Here, bow by ear. Identify me
as yours. I'm yours. Paul, the servant
of Jesus Christ. Forget it now. Called to be an
apostle. Now I've told you many times
there are no apostles today. Paul was the last of the apostles,
that apostle born out of due season. He was that apostle chosen
of God to be the twelfth, to replace the apostleship of Judas
who fell by God's appointment. Paul then was the last of the
apostles. That means that there are no
apostles in our day and no apostolic gifts and those pretenders who
claim to have them are deceived and they are deceivers. The apostles
were men who were gifted of God by special things. They had seen
Christ in the flesh. They were taught the doctrine
of God by Christ himself from his own lips in the flesh. And
they were confirmed as the inspired writers of Holy Scripture. Actually,
they weren't inspired, they were the writers by whom the inspired
Scripture was given. And they were confirmed as such
according to Hebrews 2 verses 3 and 4 with signs and wonders
and miracles. They had great, great astounding
powers. Not the kind of stuff you see
on television. Not that silly stuff. Not the
kind of stuff you see in religious ceremonies and folks call attention
to. No, no. These men When they spoke a word and said
to a man, rise up and walk, he got walked. He got walked. They had power. When these men
cast out devils, they cast them out. They were inspired of God. But
now that we have the complete written word of God, we have
no need for apostolic signs and miracles. In fact, the Apostle
Paul himself tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2 that just as surely as these
miraculous gifts were evidence and declaration that these apostles
were God's servants, in this last day of this Antichrist age,
these displays of signs and miracles and wonders are evidence of Antichrist
and his messengers. So don't be deceived by them.
I know the whole world going gung-ho with this charismatic
nonsense speaking in tongues and visions and signs and clapping
and carrying on acting fools in the house of God in the name
of God. Don't be carried away with it. Don't be carried away
with it. It is Antichrist. It is satanic. It is not of God. Paul was called to be an apostle. The word primarily means messenger. He didn't choose himself to be
God's messenger. He wasn't chosen by his mama
and daddy to be God's messenger. And he wasn't made God's messenger
by getting a degree from some seminary. And I'm not in any
way suggesting that pastors ought not be students and ought not
seek degrees and such as that. I am saying that no college in
the world, no man in the world, no church in the world makes
a man a preacher. God's servants are men made to
be God's messengers. They're not just folks who stand
up and talk about religion, who even talk about religion and
doctrine in an orthodox manner. They are men called, gifted,
and sent of God Almighty with a message from God burning in
their hearts to declare to you. Messenger. Oh God, make me a
messenger or let me hush and never speak again. Messenger. Separated unto the gospel. Separated. Like Jeremiah, separated
from his mother's womb. Separated at the initial call
by Jesus Christ. When Christ told Adonai, he said,
he's a chosen vessel to me. Separated by the Holy Spirit
as he called out Paul and Barnabas to go preach the gospel to the
Gentiles. But Paul is here talking about something done deliberately.
He's talking about something that he conscientiously engages
in. Not a passive separation, but
an active separation. He says, I separate myself. unto the gospel. It is a determination
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It is a determination to preach the gospel. He said, necessities
laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.
This is the message God sent me to preach. Ron and I chatted
a good bit going up and back to Fairmont Friday and Saturday.
And I tried to communicate to him again as I try to communicate
to you. I'm determined, God helping me,
not to get sidetracked with any issues. Nothing. Not politics of this world. Not
the economy of this world. Not with the issues of the religious
world. Churches are built, you know,
church issue. Prophecy issue. Baptism issue. Issues, issues, issues, issues,
issues. I'd stand around fussing. Folks like to choose up and take
sides and fuss over religion. What do you think in this world?
I'm determined to preach the gospel of Christ to you. I'm
separated to this. and I continually push everything
else aside. I continually, deliberately push
everything else aside. More than that, separated from
this world to this cause. God's servants deliberately,
conscientiously, continually separate themselves unto the
gospel. So that we cut strings. The world keeps crabbing in.
The cares of the world keep crabbing in. The tensions of the world
keep crabbing in. The fears of the world keep crabbing
in. And we separate ourselves to
this business. so that no concern involves the
care of our hearts except Christ crucified. That's it. Separated
unto the gospel. For those preacher friends of
mine who will hear this message on tape, Brethren, give up everything
that interferes with the preaching of the gospel. Everything. Everything. I don't care whether it's coaching
Little League or earning a living for your family or planning for
your retirement. Give up everything. Give up everything
NOW that interferes with the gospel. So, well, I've got a
plan for a rainy day. He whose servant I am controls
the rainy day. who called me, feeds and clothes
me, that's his responsibility. Mine is to preach the gospel
of his grace. That's our business, that's it.
All right, now then, Paul having deliberately, continually dedicated
himself to the gospel, gives us this definition of it. He
says, number one, it is the gospel of God. It's the gospel of God, not our
church. Somebody sent me a creed, I got
it in the mail while I was gone, want me to read it. I think I'll
just send it back unread, not even interested, not even interested. How come? I'm interested in God,
God, his gospel. This is the gospel of God. He's
the one who conceived it in his heart and mind in eternity. He's
the one who reveals it. He's the one of whom it is about,
of whom it speaks. He is the one who executes it.
He's the one who gets the glory of it. It's the gospel of God.
Now look at verse 2. This is not some new thing. This
is not a novel doctrine, which he had promised afore by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The gospel we preach is the gospel
that Abel believed. It's the gospel Abraham believed.
It's the gospel we believe. It's the gospel of which Moses
wrote. The gospel of which David sang. The gospel we believe is
that gospel which was hidden in Christ from eternity. But
that gospel which was revealed to the sons of men under the
types and ceremonies and shadows and pictures and promises and
prophecies of the Old Testament. But now! is made manifest. Clearly, unmistakably, the veil
is removed and now we see Jesus Christ crucified. There he is.
He's the gospel. That's what he says in the next
line. Look at verse 3. This needs to be read in connection
with verse 1. Verse 2 is a parenthetical statement. This is, he says, I'm separated
unto the gospel, verse 3, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. which was made of the seed of
David, according to the flesh. What's the gospel? It's of God. It's of God. It's about Christ. That's about as plain as it can
get, isn't it? What's the gospel about? Well, the gospel says,
smile, God loves you. That's not so. That's religious
tomfoolery. The gospel says do unto others
as you'd have others do unto you. That's not so. That's religious
tradition. That's not gospel. The gospel
says do good. That's not so. That's religious
lies. That's just not so. What's the
gospel? It's concerning his son. God
Almighty, Gary Baker, is concerned about his son. That's all. And everything connected
with his son, for his glory. You better be. His son. His son. The gospel's all about
Christ. It's not about baptism and morality
and religious reformation and religious ritualism. The gospel's
about Christ. He is the express and solitary
subject of the gospel. Christ is the gospel. It concerns his person and his
work and his glory. He's described here as God's
son. The Lord Jesus Christ, he who
is our Savior, is and must be God, the Son. No one but God
could save us. He is Jesus, our Savior. The gospel we preach is the gospel
of the Christ. Not some imaginary Jesus, not
some imaginary Savior, not some concocted devil being called
a Savior, but the Christ, anointed and appointed and ordained of
God, spoken of throughout the Scriptures. and he's our Lord,
our Lord. The gospel, now listen to this
preacher, listen to me, the gospel reveals one who is your Lord, he's your Lord. Now, in our society,
in which we've been taught since we were knee-high to a grasshopper,
you know every man's opinions counts. And every man's got his
own ideas, and we have human rights. If you don't give me
my human rights, I'm gonna take you to court and get your money.
But that's not what Christianity's all about. This book describes
God, our Savior, who is your Lord. That means you're in his
hands. He does exactly what he will,
all the time, with everybody. Well preacher, why do you keep
pressing this? Why do you keep insisting on
this? To deny that Jesus Christ rules everywhere, everything,
all the time, is to deny that He's God Almighty. I'm telling
you, this age, worshipping, pretending to worship, using God like a
good luck charm. They talk about God, some manby-pamby-penny,
waste-sissy God that wants to do what He can't do, who tries
to do what He fails to do, who puts forth His effort and wants
you to please let Him. That's no God at all. You might
as well have bones in your nose and kneel down and worship stumps
in Africa. That's no God. That's no God. God Almighty sits
on the throne. He's Lord and you're going to
bow to his throne. That's what he said. God's given
his son a name, which is above every name, that in the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things
in the earth, and things under the earth. And every tongue confess,
he's Lord. He's Lord. The gospel speaks
of our Savior, the Son of God, the Christ, Jesus, the Lord,
made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. You see, absolute
God, are you listening? God, in his absolute character,
can't save anybody. He can't do it. He can't redeem
anybody. He can't forgive anybody's sin.
No sir, because justice demands that sin be punished. The only
way God can save is if God is made of the seed of the flesh. If God comes the seed of a woman
to redeem them that were under the law of man, God can be just
and the justifier of the ungodly because he made his son to be
one of us. He became flesh. The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us and now in Him who is God incarnate. God living in righteousness.
God dying as a substitute. God sitting on His throne triumphant
Savior. Now we see the glory of God revealed
in Jesus Christ through the Gospel. Lord Jesus was declared to be
the Son of God. Declared to be the Son of God. And be sure you understand this.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, became a man the seed of
David, but he never became God. He never became the Son of God.
He's just declared to be the Son of God. Declared to be the
Son of God with power. God's given him all power. That's the basis of all hope,
confidence, faith. That's the basis for sinners
to look to Him. That's the basis for evangelism. All powers He
has. All power. That's the reason
why His servants, you're not going to find them trying to
soft pedal the gospel. You're not going to find them
trying to, you know, kind of compromise and figure out a way
to get folks to pretty please, be so nice as to tip their hat
toward God and let them be their preacher. Oh no, not God's servants,
not God's servants. We preach Him who's Lord. I'm
His messenger. I don't have to make you like
it, I just got to tell you about it. I don't have to make you believe it,
I just got to give you His message. It's not my responsibility to make
you bow. Oh, I can't do that. I just tell you bow. And either
you're going to bow or you're going to go to hell. That's all
there is to it. According to the spirit of holiness, when
he had purged our sins, When he was slain under the wrath
of God, when he died as our substitute, God buried his son in the earth,
and then three days later, he was justified in the Spirit.
That is, he came forth quickened by the Spirit from the dead,
because sin was gone, and he's justified. He sits on the throne
of glory with no sin. It was imputed to him, David.
It became his, but now he doesn't have it anymore, because he put
it away. You too. No sin. Justified. He was declared
to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of Holiness, according
to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
The resurrection. The resurrection. It is more than just Something folks
ought to talk about, think about, about Easter time. It's more
than just a historic fact. It's more, certainly more than
just a religious notion. The resurrection from the dead
is the declaration that Jesus Christ is exactly who he said
he was. and it is the visible, undeniable,
historic, physical display to all men everywhere that he did
exactly what he said he came to do. Exactly what it is. The resurrection is the declaration
that justice has been satisfied, righteousness has been brought
in, and those people for whom the Son of God lived and died
now are seated with Him at the right hand of the majesty on
high in the heavens. We were quickened together with
Christ, raised up with Him. The resurrection is the power
by which dead sinners are made to live. How is it that we live? Because I live, you should live
also. What does it take to get a sinner
to come to Christ? What does it take to get you
to bow to Him? What does it take to get you to give up your dead
religion and your dead ways and your dead self-righteousness?
What does it take? What does it take to get you
to turn loose of every weight dragging you down to hell and
lay hold of Christ? Resurrection power! Jesus Christ
comes and gives his spirit to dead sinners and the dead live. Oh God come. Speak and these
bones shall live. The resurrection is the pledge
of our everlasting salvation, everlasting glory. Exactly right. The resurrection declares to
us, there's therefore now no condemnation to them that are
in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Brother Bruce Crabtree told a
story I hadn't heard in a long time yesterday, illustrates what
I want you to carry home with you. Back years ago, before the
West was settled, the wagon train going across to the West And
as they approached, a large prairie fire was burning out in the distance. And what they did is they burned
a clearing, a huge clearing. And the wagon master had them
circle the wagons. And they gathered all their children,
their families, their wagons, their horses, their cattle, everything
into that burned out clearing. And they just sat there waiting.
And this little boy said to his daddy, he said, daddy, we're
going to get burned up. He said, no, son, fire won't bother us.
They sat there a little while longer, and the boy began to
cry and shake. And he said, daddy, daddy, I
can smell the smoke. We're going to die. He said,
no, son, fire's not going to bother us. We're going to be
all right. He said, daddy, how can that be? I can see the fire
coming. He said, son, we're standing on burnt ground. We're standing
on burnt ground, the fire's already been here. And I'm telling you
that the fire of God's wrath fell on his darling son, and
it can't fall on those who are in his son. I bid you then, come
to burnt ground, cast your soul upon Jesus Christ the Lord, believe
him, and live forever. Amen. Ron, you come lead us in
the hymn, please.