upon the subject building materials. And it's from 1 Corinthians 3
where Paul says to build on the foundation the two different
kinds of building materials, either gold, silver, and precious
stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. What kind of building materials
am I using? Over the years, I have entitled
many messages I have attempted to preach on this title, what
is the gospel? Good question, isn't it? What is the gospel? Now that question is answered
quite clearly in the passage of scripture that I just read,
and there's many other passages of scripture we could read where
the gospel is defined. For instance, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, we begin with these words, moreover, brethren, I
declare unto you the gospel. He continues that thought until
the end of verse 25. Because every verse is connected
by a conjunction saying the thought is not over until the end of
verse 25. And it would be well worth our
pursuit to look at that passage of scripture to find out what
God says the gospel is. And then we have this glorious
statement in Romans chapter one, verse 16, where Paul says, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it, the gospel, here's
what it is. It's the power of God into salvation
to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first, also to the
Greek for therein in the gospel is the righteousness of God. revealed how righteous God can
be righteous and accept somebody like me. What is the gospel? Now, what I'm going to do this
morning is look at the phrases in the scripture with regard
to the gospel, where it defines itself. What is the gospel? Now I love the fact that the
gospel means good news. What is the gospel? It is good
news. Any message that is preached
that does not define the gospel. Whatever else it may be, it's
not a gospel message, is it? The gospel is good news. The gospel is news. It's something in the present.
It's right now. The gospel is news. The fact that it's news prevents
us from hiding in these two false refuges, the false refuge of
the past and the false refuge of the future. It's in the now,
right now. Forget about yesterday. Forget
about tomorrow. Right now. You see, when I hide in a false
refuge in the past, I'm hiding in some kind of experience I
think I had or something that I did that gives me assurance.
I must be saved because of what happened yesterday. To hide in
the future is to say, well, tomorrow things are going to be better.
Tomorrow I'm going to straighten up things. Tomorrow I'm going
to fill in the blank. That's salvation by works. That's
all it is. The gospel is news. The gospel is something you hear. Have you heard the news? It's something you hear. I don't
know how many times I've heard this statement. I would rather
see a sermon than hear one. Oh, would you now? That is sanctimonious, pious
dribble and nothing more. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. The news is something you hear. Present tense. And it's good news. The gospel by its very definition
is good news. If it's not good news, it's not
the gospel. Now, I realize the gospel is
not good news to everybody. Listen to this scripture. I quoted
this in Bible study this morning. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to embrace this
and receive it as the best news you've ever heard that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom Paul says, I am the chief. What demographic is that good
news to? Sinners. Nobody else. Sinners. What is the gospel? What is the good? And notice the definite article,
the. What is the gospel? The gospel that excludes all
others that are not defined in these terms. What is the gospel? I hope nobody says, well, I already
know what that is. Remember, this is always present. It's
always present. It's news. What is the gospel? Here's my first statement. Jesus Christ, the son of God,
is the gospel. I love this verse of scripture.
This is one of my favorite. I've got a lot of favorite verses
of scripture. When I heard 1 Corinthians chapter 13, I thought, that's
my favorite chapter in the Bible. I love that chapter. But listen
to this verse. The beginning verse of the Gospel
of Mark is stated, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. There's the Gospel. He is the
Gospel. Jesus. Thou shalt call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Christ. The Christ. His offices, God's
prophet, the Word of God. And He's a prophet like no other
prophet. Every other prophet says, thus
saith the Lord. He says, I say unto you, absolute
authority. He's God's priest. Every other
priest has brought the sacrifice of animal blood He brings his
own blood into the very presence of God. He's a king like no other
king because every other king has borrowed authority. He has inherent authority because
of who he is. He's the son of God. Jesus Christ,
the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God,
the second person of the Trinity, the uncreated creator of the
universe. It's good news. You see, he's
able to save because of who he is. You see, everything is predicated
on who he is. He is the gospel. That's not
cliche. That's the truth. He is. The
gospel. Hear his own testimony in John
chapter 14, verse six. He said, I am the way. Not I'll show you the way, I
meant. I am the truth. Not I'll teach you the truth. I'm it. I'm it. I love it when the Lord said,
after Martha said, I understand that he'll be raised on the third
day. Or I understand that he'll be
raised on the last day when you raise him. And he said, I am
the resurrection. It's not an event. I'm it. I am the truth. I am the life. He doesn't say, I'll show you
life, or even I'll give you life. He said, I'm it. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. You know what that means? That
means when he comes to the Father, everybody in him comes to the
Father. Jesus Christ is the gospel. Now, do you understand that?
I know you, do you believe it? I know we don't understand all
the, everything that's behind that, but we believe it, don't
we? Jesus Christ is the gospel. The son of God is the gospel. That's why Paul called it the
gospel concerning his son. That's what the gospel is. It's the gospel concerning his
son. What is the gospel? The Bible. The Bible. Genesis 1.1 through
Revelation 22.21. The word of God. Paul put it this way. In Romans
chapter one, verse one, the gospel of God, which he promised to
for by his prophets in the holy scriptures. The gospel is the message contained
from Genesis one, one through revelation 22, 21. Let me tell
you something that I could care less about. Men's
documents and confessions and creeds. God wrote the Bible,
you can't... Why would you wanna look at anything
else? Well, here's our confession. I could care less what your confession
is. What does God's word say? The gospel is the Bible. This is the religion of this
book. 2 Timothy 3, 16 says, all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Isaiah chapter eight, verse 20,
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, not the confessions, not the church rules, but this
word, it's because there's no light in them. What is the gospel? It's this
book. Aren't you thankful for the scriptures?
Aren't you thankful for the Word of God? It's so glorious. I mean,
somebody says, I don't believe the Bible's the Word of God.
I do. I do. I mean, it recommends itself.
You read this book, you know men didn't write this. If you
have the Holy Spirit, you know that. Men did not write this
book. This is the book of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I think of what Paul said in
his defining of the gospel in 1 Corinthians
15, which I mentioned earlier. It's how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures. You can say Christ died for our
sins and never preached the gospel. It's how that he died for our
sins according to the scriptures. What is the gospel? According
to Revelation chapter 14, verse six, it's called The everlasting
gospel. The eternal gospel. What is the gospel? It's the
gospel that is eternal. It's not a thing of time. It is eternal without beginning,
without end. A gospel that has its beginning
in time is what Paul would call another gospel. The gospel is
eternal. It didn't begin with time. It's
eternal. Just as God is eternal, His gospel
is eternal. It never had a beginning. It'll
never have an ending. The gospel is not God's response
to us. The gospel is not God cleaning
up the mess that Adam made. The gospel is eternal. Revelation chapter 13, 8, we
read these glorious words of the lamb slain, the lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4, 3 says
all the works, all the works of the gospel, everything else,
because God's eternal, all the works were finished from the
foundation of the world. 2nd Timothy 1.9 says, He saved
us and He called us. He saved us and He called us. The saving came before the calling.
He saved us and He called us, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. This is the gospel, the
eternal gospel, without beginning, without ending. If it's not eternal,
it's not God's gospel, is it? The gospel is eternal. What is the gospel? Listen to
this scripture from Galatians 1 verse 11. Paul said, I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me was
not after man. It's not derived from any human
source. It's utterly divine. I love thinking about that. The
gospel doesn't come from man. It's not derived from man, not
God's gospel, not the saving gospel. It's not after man. It is utterly divine. It's not derived from any human
source. It's what Paul called in Romans
one, one, the gospel of God, not the gospel of man, the gospel
of God. What is the gospel? What is the
good news? Well, we read in Ephesians chapter
six, verse 19 of the mystery of the gospel. The mystery of the gospel. What is a mystery? What is meant by this word mystery? A mystery is not truth concealed. Mystery to me, that's the way
we use the term really. Mystery to me, I don't know.
The mysteries of the gospel is not truth concealed, but truth
revealed. It's not something you intellectually
comprehend. You know, the mysteries of God,
here's the best example I can think of when we think of the
mystery of God. For instance, only in the Bible
do we find that God is one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, one God, hero
Israel, the Lord thy God is one God, he's not two gods, he's
not three, he's one God in three distinct person. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Now that is a mystery that's
revealed that we would never have known had not God made it
known. I couldn't think, well I'm going
to figure out who God is. I'm going to search, I'm going
to study, I'm going to figure out who God is. Oh, I've come
up with it. He's one God in three. You wouldn't do that. You believe
it. You don't so much comprehend
it and understand it. The mysteries of God are not
so much intellectually comprehended and grasped. They're way too
high for that. They're believed. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
The eternal, infinite God, whom the universe cannot contain,
became a man. Understand that? No. Do you believe
it? Yeah. I think of Paul speaking of, I speak a great mystery. I speak concerning Christ in
the church. The two will be one flesh. That's talking about the
union of Christ with his people, the eternal union. I'm one with
him. I've always been one with him. I'm eternally one with him. Great is the mystery. The truth of the gospel is so
high, is so glorious, it's so transcendent. It's beyond human
comprehension. But we believe. We believe the
mystery of the gospel. In Acts chapter 15 verse 7, we
read of the word of the gospel. The word of the gospel. What's in my mind right now? The only way you can know what's
in my mind is by the words that come out of my mouth. Christ
is called the word of God. What's in God's mind? Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God as a distinct
person. The Word was God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, the writer to
the Hebrews said. Peter said, being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. The gospel is the word,
the word. I love thinking about this, believing
it, adoring it. What is the gospel? It's the
word from the word that reveals the word. It's the word, the gospel message. What Paul said to Timothy, Timothy,
preach the word. Does the word declare that God
is? Preach it. Does the word declare
God's sovereign? Preach it. Does the word declare
that God elected a people? Preach it. Preach the word. Preach
the word. The gospel is the word from the
written word. that reveals the living word,
the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the gospel? The gospel
is the word, the word of God. We read in numerous times in
the New Testament of the truth of the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel is the truth. The gospel is the truth. The phrase the truth of the gospel
is used twice in Galatians chapter 2. First, we refused to circumcise
Titus. The Judaizers said he needs to
be circumcised. Paul said, no, we didn't give
a minute of obedience to anything they were saying that the truth
of the gospel might continue. In other words, Paul is saying,
if we would have circumcised Titus, he needs to be circumcised. He said the truth of the gospel
would not continue. It would have been God. And then he saw
Peter get up and move tables and he publicly reprimanded him
in front of everybody because he walked not uprightly according
to the truth of the gospel. Now, what Peter was saying is
if when I'm sitting here eating with these Gentiles and all of
a sudden these guys from Jerusalem come and I'm intimidated. I want to please them. So I get
up and move tables and eat with the Jews instead of the Gentiles. And by that action, I'm saying
by that action that Christ is not all in salvation. I'm saying
you can be a little bit more pleasing to God over here on
the Jewish table and not eating Gentile's food and not being
with it. You're more pleasing. If you can be more pleasing by
anything you do, you're saying Christ is not all in salvation.
That's the truth of the gospel. The truth of the gospel, you
see, it's only the gospel that is a declaration of God's character.
Every attribute of God is manifest in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And anything said that is contrary to any of his attributes
is not the truth. It's only the gospel that declares
the truth of man. Evil, sinful, dead in sins. Anything
contrary to that is not the gospel. The truth of the gospel. Give me the truth. Only the gospel
tells the truth. The law was given by Moses. Listen
to this scripture. The law was given by Moses. Well,
we know God gave Moses the law, but listen to what the Holy Spirit
says. The law was given by Moses. Anything
that has anything to do with salvation by works is law, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The truth of the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel
is the truth. In Acts chapter 20, verse 24,
we read of the gospel of the grace of God. What is the gospel? The gospel is the grace of God. Now what is meant by the grace
of God? It's a good question. Turn to
Romans chapter 11. What is the gospel? The gospel
is the grace of God. Verse one, Romans chapter 11. I say then, hath God cast away
his people? God forbid, for I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew, What does that word foreknowledge
means? Does it mean God's a time traveler and he can look ahead and see what's going to take
place and who's going to? No, doesn't mean that at all. That's a denial of what it means.
Whom he did foreknow. Adam knew his wife Eve. The Lord said to some people,
he knew what their names were and what their works were, but
he said, I never knew you. This is talking about his love. whom
he foreknew. Now, God hath not cast away his
people, which he foreknew. Don't you know that the scripture
says of Elias how he makes intercession of God against Israel saying,
Lord, they killed thy prophets and dig down thine altars and
I'm left alone and they seek my life. But what sayeth the
answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men which have not bowed. the need to the image of Baal.
Even so then at this present time, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Don't you love that term? The
election of grace. That's God's choice of his people
before the foundation of the world. And it's of grace. Now look at verse six. Here's
what grace means. If by grace, then it's no more
works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. You put any work in it at all,
anything that you need to do before God can do something for
you, that ain't