What is my response to the gospel? It's a good question, isn't it?
What is my response to the gospel? Now, ordinarily, the way that
would be answered is with faith or unbelief. I either believe
what I hear or I do not believe what I hear. And that would be
an accurate answer. But I'm going to try to use a different word
to see what the appropriate response to the gospel is. Now, another
way to respond to the gospel is yes or no. In Psalm 14, 1, we read, the
fool has said in his heart, And in the King James that there
is, is in the italics, it's not really there. It's not the fool
saying that there is no God. It's the fool saying, no God. No. That's the response. And then there is the response
of those blind men I just read. Do you believe that I'm able
to do this? Yes. No and yes. Now, somebody once
told me that the most powerful word there is, is the word no. It is a very powerful word. Will
you marry me? No. Okay. Can I be saved by anything I
do? No. No, emphatically. No, that's a very powerful word,
but is it any more powerful than the word yes? I don't believe
it is. When you ask your wife to marry
you, how powerful was it when she said yes? Is salvation really all of grace?
Yes. That's just powerful to know,
isn't it? Now, I could find four different
words that were translated, yea or yes, in the New Testament,
and the word I want us to consider is the strongest yes. It's also
translated by the words, even so, surely, truth, and verily. It means strong affirmation. joyous agreement. Oh, would to God that that would
be my response to the gospel being preached to me. Now, the
word yes is used to answer a question when being interviewed for a
position that you think you could excel at and you want very bad.
And if the person giving the interview said, do you want the
job? You'd say yes. I do, yes, and you'd say it with
enthusiasm. It wouldn't be well, I reckon,
no. Yes. It's used for assent or agreement
with a declaration, joyous assent with a declaration. Let's say
that you've been told you have a tumor of some kind and you're
concerned and you go to get it biopsied. I've had that happen.
Many of you have had that happen and you're waiting for the results.
And the doctor comes in and says, I've got the results of the biopsy.
It's benign. You say, yes. You're glad. You're happy. It can be a confirmation of an
assertion. You hear something that seems
too good to be true, and someone confirms it. Yes, it's true. Oh, we love hearing that, don't
we? And it's used in solemn agreement,
like a sentence is passed out by the judge against a criminal
who is guilty of horrible crimes. And when you hear that sentence
passed out against that individual, you say, yes, I agree. That is the right thing. Now,
before we consider how the Bible uses this glorious word, and
I hope this is the response of everybody in this room to the
gospel. I hope nobody in here said no.
I hope everybody says yes. Yay, Lord. But did you know that
the Bible also points out that this word can be used insincerely
and falsely? Peter said to Sapphira, tell
me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yay. And she said so with enthusiasm.
Yay for so much. And it was a lie. And God killed
her along with her husband. So we see the word can be used
without any heart being in it. There's no power in that. But
when it's the spontaneous response of the heart to hearing something
good, it's a beautiful word. Back to Matthew chapter nine
for a moment. And when Jesus departed thence,
two blind men followed Him. The only way they could have
been following Him is because they heard His voice and crying
and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. Now they knew who He was. He's
the Son of David. David's Lord and David's Son,
the Messiah, the Son of God, the promised Christ. They knew
who he was. And bless God, they were asking
for the right thing. Would to God you and I would
be asking the same thing these two poor blind men were asking. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy. on me. I tell you, when you ask
for mercy, when you have no merit and all your sin is all your
fault and God would be absolutely just in cutting you off and you
need his mercy and you cry out, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And when he was coming to the
house, the blind men came to him and Jesus saith unto them, And I want you to imagine the
Lord Jesus Christ saying this to you personally. Believe ye that I am able to
do this. And they had asked that they
might receive their sight. They'd asked for mercy. And he
asked them this simple question. Do you believe? that I am able
to do this. I love their answer. Yay, Lord. Yes. I do believe that you are
able to do this. You see, they were convinced
of his ability. Now I want to ask you, are you
convinced of the Lord's ability to save you by himself? Do you believe the
Lord has the ability to save you, to make you perfect in his
sight, to make you without sin in his sight, to make you perfectly
righteous, saved from your sins? Do you believe the Lord is able
to save you from your sins? I love their answer. They believe
the same thing the leper believed. He said, Lord, he knew he was
the Lord. Oh, it wasn't an empty title
with him. He knew he was the Lord. He said,
Lord, if you will, you can, you're able to make me clean. He believed the same thing Abraham
did. Abraham was fully persuaded that whatever God had promised,
He was able also to perform. When God said to Abraham, see
the stars, can you count them? So shall your seed be. The scripture
says he believed what God said. He believed God. He was fully
persuaded that whatever it was God had promised, he was able
also to perform. He believed same thing Paul did.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 1, 12, I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded. that he is able. You and I am too. I believe he
is able to save me and to present me before him without fault. I believe he's able and when
I Hear this simple question put forth. Do you believe I'm able
to do this? My response is yay, Lord. Yes. Yes, I do. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
13. Now, in this chapter, the Lord
gave seven different parables. Seven parables. Nobody understood
what he's talking about except the disciples, because he would
expound the parables to them. And they were made to understand
what they meant. They said, what did that mean?
He told them. The other fellows didn't understand, the other
people that heard. And we read in verse 51 of Matthew
chapter 13, Jesus saith unto them, talking about the 12, have
you understood all these things? Now remember, he expounded the
parables to them. He didn't expound them to everybody
else. They said, what does this mean? He told them. And he said
to them, do you understand all these things? Now, with regard to the gospel, I
want to say this the right way. It's not understanding, it's
believing. I don't understand so many things. As a matter of fact, I don't
understand anything as far as intellectually comprehending
anything in the Bible. I don't understand how God can
be one God and three separate persons. I can't understand how
God never began to be. I mean, that just, I can't understand
how I've always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. I've always been
accepted in the beloved. I don't understand these things.
I just believe them. But I understand this. I understand in my heart that
the only way I can be saved is if he saves me. Do you understand
that? More than just believing it,
you understand it. You know it now. Understanding
is the response to revelation. When he teaches you something,
you're taught. When he speaks to you, you understand. Understanding is the response
to revelation. Do you understand these things? Yea, Lord. When he teaches you,
you understand, don't you? Turn to John 11. Verse 23, Jesus saith unto her,
Martha, thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him,
I already know that. I know that he shall rise again
in the resurrection at the last day. I understand the doctrine
of the resurrection and what's going to take place. You've taught
us that and I believe it. I already know that stuff. I know that.
I know he's going to be raised on the last day. Now look what
the Lord says to her. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. The resurrection is not an event.
I myself am the resurrection. And I myself am the life. The only life I have before God
is Jesus Christ himself. He is my life before God. That's my life. I don't want
to take claim to anything else. I don't have anything to do with
my life. He himself is my life before
God. He said, I am the resurrection. It's not just an event that you
got down pat. I'm it. I myself am the life
before God. I'm the way. Don't you love the
way the Lord said that? I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. He said, he that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me. And note the order. You're not
gonna believe until you live. Now, living and believing come
precisely at the same time. I don't understand, there's another
thing I don't understand. It didn't come a millisecond before.
Living and believing come at the precise same time, but you
can't believe until you first live. He said, Whoso liveth,
he gives life to. Whoso liveth and believeth in
me shall never die. Now, do you believe this? Do you believe this? Whoso liveth
and believeth in me shall never die? I love her answer. Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ,
the Son of God, which had come into the world. I believe. Yes,
I believe everything you said. You know, isn't that a good rule
of thumb with regard to everything the Lord says? We believe it.
No matter what it is, we believe everything he says. Look in Romans
chapter 3. Now Paul had so clearly preach the
gospel in Romans chapter three. What a glorious chapter. As a
matter of fact, if somebody said, you got one opportunity to preach
the gospel, pick out a passage of scripture and preach it from
it, I'd pick out Romans chapter three, I believe. I love this
chapter. And Paul has concluded it. And
he says in verse 29, he says, is he the God of the Jews only?
Is this salvation only for the Jews? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. That's me. That means the gospel
is for everybody. It's not just for some particular
demographic. It's for everybody. Jews, Gentiles,
white, black, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, doesn't matter. The gospel is for everybody.
And that's a big yes, isn't it? You yes to that. I wish we would
be more amazed that we even get to hear the gospel. Gentile dogs
get to hear the gospel. Yes, of the Gentiles also. And here's some scriptures where
there is a heartfelt agreement with what has been expressed.
Look at Mark chapter seven. What is my response to the gospel? Verse 27, But Jesus said unto
her, Let the children first be filled, for it is not meat to
take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. Now
what would you think of somebody who had hungry kids that wanted
food, and he didn't give them the food, and he threw it out
to the dogs and let the dogs eat it? That's not right, is
it? It's not right to take the children's
bread and to throw it out to the dogs. And he's saying to
this woman, it's not right. It's not appropriate to take
my gospel grace and just throw it out to dogs. The implication
being you are a dog. You are not fit for my gospel. You're not fit. Now, that's exactly
what he says. Look at her response. And she
answered to him and said, Yes, Lord. That's the truth. I agree. Yes, Lord. Yes. I mean, she said
this was her spontaneous response to what the Lord said. I'm a
dog and I don't expect to sit with the children, but oh, even
the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's table.
And I would be so very grateful for any crumbs of mercy that
fall my undeserving way. Yes, Lord. I sure want to give a yes to
anything he says, don't you? Yes, Lord. Revelation 1. Now, John had made these glorious
statements regarding the Lord Jesus Christ in verses 5 and
6. He is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his father. To him be glory
and dominion forever, ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with
the clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced
him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Yes. At word, even so is the same
word. Yes. Even so. Amen. Look in Revelation 22. What is my response? Verse 20. He which testifies these things
saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Yes. Even so, same word. Yay. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Now let me give you some scriptures
where yes is a testimonial confirmation of what has been said. Let me read this one to you.
It's in Luke 10 21. You can turn there if you want,
but I'm just going to read it in that hour. Jesus rejoiced in spirit
and said, I thank the old father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Even so, father. Yes, father. And that's the Lord's response
to that. You've hid these things from the wise and prudent. You've
revealed them unto babes. Yes, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. And anything that seems good
in his sight, you know what our response to it is? Yes. If it
seems good in his sight, it's good. Yes, even so, come Lord
Jesus. And then in Revelation chapter
14, verse 13, John wrote, right. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors. Now, did you hear that? Blessed
are the dead that die in the Lord. Yea. Yes, saith the Spirit,
they rest from their labors. Now that labors is not talking
about them working real hard and trying to witness and spread
the gospel. Now they don't have to do it
anymore. Now they can just lay around the rest of their existence throughout
eternity. No, their labors is what our
Lord was talking about when he said, come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my
yoke upon you and learn of me for i'm meek and lowly in heart
and you'll find rest for your souls now they have rest from
their labors they which believe do enter into rest and you know
what we we rest right now but we don't really fully enter into
that rest till we die blessed are the dead that die in the
lord at that time i won't even remember what it's like to be
a sinner And did that make you want to
die? If you have full assurance that all your sins are put away
and the salvation really is all of grace, it has nothing to do
with you. It's His work and His work alone. And when you die,
you're going to be brought right into the very presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ, beholding His face in righteousness. And
you won't even remember what it's like to feel guilty, to
feel sinful. Yes, save the spirit. And I love the way it also says
their works do follow. They don't come out in front
of them as cause. They don't come out of the side of them
as a contributing factor, but they follow them as proof God
had done something for them every time. Blessed are the dead that
die in the Lord. Now, I'd like you to turn to
2 Corinthians 1. Verse 17, When I therefore was
thus minded, did I use likeness? For the things that I purpose,
do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there should
be yea, yea, and nay, nay. Yes and no to the same thing.
But as God is true, Our word toward you was not yea and nay,
for the Son of God, which was preached among you by us, even
by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him
was yea. For all the promises of God in
him, every single one of them, are yea. And amen. So be it, to the glory of God. Now, you take whatever promise
it is, it's all yea. There's no, well yeah it'll work
this way but it won't work if you don't do this. There's no
promise of God like that. They're all yay. Is salvation
really all of grace? I mean to where everything is
free and you don't do anything to get it. It's just because
of the grace of God bestowed upon you. His free grace. Is that really so? Yes. No, yes and no. Is the blood
of Christ really all I need for all my sins to be washed away?
There's nothing I need to do. Is the blood of Christ really
it? Yes. Is His righteousness really the
only righteousness there is? Yes. No, yes and no. No, no, no, maybe, if, say. And
I love this. If all I have is Jesus Christ, and I don't
have anything else, is that really enough to make me accepted before
God? Yes. Yes. Yay. Yes. Yay! Yay! You know, we're celebrating
with it, aren't we? Yes. And then we have several scriptures
where the word is used in solemn agreement. Look in Romans chapter
16. I mean Revelation chapter 16.
Now this is talking about the judgments of God. beginning in
verse five. And I heard the angel of the
water say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast and
shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the
blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood
to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the
altar say, Even so. Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous
are thy judgments. Now we're going to say yes to
all his righteous judgments, whatever they are. And I'm asking
myself this question. I was thinking about this while
I was trying to consider this. If God, now I believe the Lord
has saved me, but if he didn't, And if he sent me to hell. Would I say yes? Doesn't mean I want to go there
in any way, but when I say he's right in doing this, yes to his
righteous judgments. Whatever he does. Is right. And you know, with regard to
everyone he saves. You know, I'm gonna say. Most,
especially if it's me. Yes! Yes. I'm saved because of his righteous
judgments. If I'm brought into heaven, it'll be because that's
where I deserve to be. All my sin, I don't have any
sin. I'm perfectly righteous in God's sight. So we say yes
to all his judgments. In Luke chapter 12, verse 45,
the Lord said, and I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid
of them that kill the body. And after that, there's no more
that they can do. But I forewarn you whom you shall fear. Fear
him that after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, yes, I say unto you. Fear him. Don't fear that person
who can just kill you. And that's all they could do.
That really isn't anything. I mean, all that's done is usher
you into the presence of Christ. Fear him who, after he's killed
the body, has the power and the authority to cast you into hell. In Matthew chapter 21, we read,
and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things
that he did, and the children crying in the temple and saying,
Hosanna to the son of David. They were sore displeased and
said unto them, Hearest thou what they say? And Jesus saith
unto them, Yea, I hear. Hosanna to the highest. Blessed is he who cometh in the
name of the Lord. Yea, I hear. Have you never read
how thou hast perfected praise in the mouth of babes and sucklings?
And then he said, if these should hold their peace, even the stones
would cry out. You know, the Lord's going to
have his praise. Whether you praise him or not, he's going
to have his praise. If you don't praise him, if I
don't praise him, the stones will. He must be praised. Now, I want to close with John
chapter 21. Now, remember Peter at this time. Peter has denied the Lord three
times. He went out and wept bitterly
over this. And after he had denied the Lord and the Lord was raised
again, he led an exposition, I go fishing. And I really don't
believe he just meant I'm going fishing the way me or you. would
want to go fishing. I think he's saying, I'm finished
with this disciple stuff. I'm going back to the way it
used to be. I'm going back to fishing. I don't know what's
going to happen. He led this and some people followed him
on it. And that's when the Lord appeared to him when they were
out there in the boat. And John said, it's the Lord. And they
came swimming back and so on. But the Lord asked Peter a question. And I hope that this question can be addressed
to us. He didn't say. Peter. Are you sorry? He didn't say Peter. Do you promise
you won't do this anymore? He didn't say Peter, have you
repented? He didn't say, Peter, you're
going to start giving a better example. Nothing like that. He said, Peter, do you love me? Now, I'm asking you right now
to not think about your love, but I want you to think about
him. Do you love who I am? Do you love that I'm God? the creator of the universe.
Do you love that I'm the Lord? That I control everybody and
everything? Do you love my holiness? I can't sin. Do you love my justice? Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Do you love my sovereignty? I
reign. Do you love my mercy? My grace? Do you love my eternal
being, how I never had a beginning and I'll never have an ending,
that I'm the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the
first and the last. Do you love my person? Yea, Lord. He asked him the second time.
Peter, do you love me? Yea, Lord. He asked him a third time. Peter,
do you love me? Peter was grieved. And he could
appeal to the very omniscience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
you see everything. You see right through me. You
know how weak, how sinful, how contradictory, how hypocritical
I've been and I am. You know that. And you also know
that I really do love your person. Do you love me? Yay, Lord. Now that is our response to the
gospel. Not no. Oh, by God's grace, I don't want
to say no to anything regarding him. Yes, Lord. Even so. Verily. Truth. When I hear the gospel. This
is my response. By his grace. Yes. Let's pray.