For the sake of time, we're not
going to be able to go through the entire proverb, but the Lord's
given me a message in several parts of this precious passage
of Proverbs 14. The first thing I would bring
to your attention is to notice what it says in Proverbs 14 and
verse 12. There is a way which seemeth
right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And I
would remind us that that is the exact same words that we
just read in chapter 16, verse 25, verbatim, literally the exact
same words. In Proverbs 21 too, it says,
every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth
the hearts. So the question I have for us
tonight, If there's a way that seems right, if there is, and
he said, there's a way that seems right unto man. If there's a
way that seems right, then that means there's a way that's wrong,
is what he's saying. So there's only one way, as we
know, Christ Jesus is the way. And the gospel is only one true
gospel. So my question tonight for us,
and I've titled this message, this, is our gospel God's gospel? If there's a way that seems right
unto man, but the end thereof is the ways of death, I want
to know and be of certain that our gospel is God's gospel. I
want to know that our way is his way. It's not just our way,
but it's his way that he's revealing to us. Todd Niber wrote an article
and it had these eight points in it. And I've actually drawn
a text from these eight points tonight that I will tell you
what God gospel is and what God's gospel says. and what God's gospel
does. Number one, God's gospel lines
up with the Old Testament. Number two, God's gospel gives
God all the glory and all the preeminence to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Number three, God's gospel doesn't contradict any attribute
whatsoever of God. Number four, God's gospel supplies
all that is required in salvation. Number five, God's gospel meets
a sinner where he is, dead and trespasses and in sin and gives
him life. Number six, God's gospel saves
the chief of sinners and keeps him saved. Number seven, God's
gospel enables his elect to face death and judgment with perfect
peace. And lastly, number eight, God's
gospel conforms sinners to the image of Christ. Let's read a
few verses here in Proverbs 14, verse 12. There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end
of the mirth is heaviness. The backslider in heart shall
be filled with his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied
from himself. The simple believeth every word,
the prudent man looketh well to his going. A wise man feareth
and departeth from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident."
As we look over the words of Solomon, the wisest man that
ever lived besides the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, Solomon being
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, He gives us so many insights
unto what thus saith the Lord about wisdom, about righteousness,
about the opposite of that, which would be foolishness and wickedness. And he gives us the gospel throughout
Proverbs as we saw last week, and we even saw Sunday a little
bit. I mentioned that to us. I want to make certain before
we leave here tonight that we're sure that what we believe in
is the true gospel. That's my purpose tonight. I
want to make certain I don't want it to be my gospel. I want
it to be God's gospel that he has revealed unto me. And that's
what made it mine. Not that I have fabricated something
in my mind, or you have fabricated something in your mind, or we
have fabricated something in our mind. I want to know of certain,
it's life and death, brethren. This thing of God's gospel is
life and death. It's the only good news that saves sinners.
And I want us to look at these eight points that I just read
to us and see if they line up with what Solomon's talking about.
if they line up with what Genesis Revelation is declaring, the
Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel. So number one, God's gospel lines
up with the Old Testament. Everything written in the Old
Testament was written of the Lord Jesus Christ. He told the
Pharisees, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, but they are they which testify of me. Everything
written in the Old Testament, all of the types, all of the
shadows, the priesthood, the sacrifice, the blood atonement,
the tabernacle, everything pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ and
the salvation of his elected bride, everything. Christ's purpose
was to save his people, and everything that the Lord ordained in the
Old Testament pointed to that Messiah, pointed to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Even the place of his birth is mentioned in
Micah. It's Bethlehem, that's where
he was to be born, as we know. Bethlehem, there would become
a ruler, an everlasting ruler, but there's no way that could
be a man, it had to be the Lord Jesus Christ. So does our gospel
line up with everything in the Old Testament? Turn with me to
Mark chapter nine, Now hold your place, because we're going to
come back to Proverbs 14. Turn to Mark 9. Mark 9, verse 11. And they asked him, saying, Why
say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he answered and
told them, Elias verily cometh first and restoreth all things.
And how it is written of the son of man that he must suffer
many things and be said it not. But I say unto you that Elias
is indeed come and they have done unto him whatsoever they
listed as it is written of him." The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
about Isaiah. And I would remind us of Isaiah
chapter 53. that Christ was to be led as a lamb dumb to the
slaughter. Is that not what it says? That
he would be despised and rejected of men. No beauty in him that
we would find him attractive in any way that we would look
upon him and be desirous of him. Is that not what happened to
the Lord Jesus Christ? He was led unto the slaughter
dumb before the shearers. The Old Testament testified of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament completely
lines up. God's gospel acknowledges the
Old Testament through and through. It completely lines up with the
Old Testament. We see that Christ Jesus, his
soul was made an offering for sin. We found that out in Isaiah
chapter 53. So what the Lord is telling all
the Pharisees here is that he's going to Suffer, he's going to,
everything that was testified of him, all the prophecies, everything
that was spoken of the Lord Jesus Christ, all came true in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the good news of the
gospel, that it's all been fulfilled. Every bit of the Old Testament
prophecies, shadows, types, the fullness of all of these things
is Jesus Christ, and he is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ told them, search the
Scriptures, as they constantly would ask Him and try to belittle
Him, try to catch Him, try to capture Him, if you will. He
said, search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life. I know I've already said that, but He tells us that they
testified of Him. God's gospel lines up with the
Old Testament in every way. Now, brethren, what God's gospel
is not is just proclaiming the birth, the death, the burial,
and the resurrection of Jesus. A man can proclaim that and still
not proclaim the gospel, did you know that? Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians
15, for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died, and he didn't stop there. How
that Christ died for our sins, he didn't stop there. He said
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. What scriptures? The Old Testament.
He fulfilled everything, every jot, every tittle of the Old
Testament, prophecies, fulfilled the law, everything about God's
gospel lines up with the Old Testament in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Men will preach the birth, death,
burial, and resurrection, and they will believe in the birth,
death, burial, and resurrection of a man called Jesus, and they
will die in their sins, and they will go to hell. Think about
that. But the Lord Jesus Christ is declared not just as the birth,
the life, the death and the resurrection, but it's according to the scriptures,
how that his people were given to him before the foundation
of the world. What did he accomplish in his birth and his life and
his death and his resurrection? What did he accomplish? It wasn't
that he tried to do anything. He successfully redeemed. That's
what's declared in God's gospel, and that is the difference between
this way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death and the good news of God's gospel. That's
the difference. God's gospel lines up with and declares that
Christ fulfilled all of the Old Testament according to the scriptures. Number two. God's gospel gives
grace or gives God. God's gospel gives God all the
glory and the preeminence to Jesus Christ. You know what the
word preeminence means? Superiority, surpassing all others. It declares him as God. It declares
that Jesus Christ is God. Men don't believe that Jesus
Christ is God. They just believe, maybe they
believe he's the son of God. Maybe they believe like the Pharisees
did, that he's a prophet, or maybe they believe this or that.
To believe that Jesus Christ is God, we believe that he is
sovereign in everything that he did. He didn't try to do anything.
See, if he's God, he's immutable. He can't change, so he didn't
attempt. He saved his people. So if you believe that Jesus
Christ is God and everything that entails, you're a believer.
It's that simple. Men do not want to believe that
Jesus Christ is God. They will not have this man reign
over them. But God's gospel gives God all the glory and all the
preeminence to the Lord Jesus Christ. From the very beginning,
we see that men have always wanted God's glory. The very first sin
that took place upon the face of the earth by our mother Eve,
according to the scripture, tells us she was tempted with power,
she was tempted with popularity, and she was tempted with pleasure
in the forbidden fruit. The Lord said, do not eat of
that tree, lest you die. And Satan said, God knows in
the day that you eat of that tree, you shall not surely die,
but you'll be like what? The translators said the word
God's there, but it's the exact same word as God in the previous
verse. It's the exact same word, no
difference. He said, you'll be like God if you eat of that fruit. Men want to be their own God
and they want their own glory, but God's gospel gives all the
glory to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished
work. Cain was the same way, wasn't
he? He thought that he could offer up the works of his hands. He
thought that he could present what he'd done, take the place
of Christ as what he was doing. Do we see that? That's what Cain
did by offering up the fruit of his own hands rather than
the lamb that Abel offered up. And the Lord was not pleased.
The scripture says this. God was not pleased. He had no respect to Cain's sacrifice
or to Cain. See, understand when the Lord
hates, It's not that he loves the sinner and hates the sin. The Lord hates with the perfect
hatred. He hates individuals. He doesn't love the sinner and
hate the sin. He hates the sinner. Our only
hope is God's gospel, that we are put in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that we've never sinned in his eyes, that we've been justified.
That's what gives God all the glory, isn't it? He did all the
work. That's what God's gospel declares for his people, I don't know that I've ever mentioned
this account to us, but in the book of Joshua, where we find
a man by the name of Achan, it was very shortly after the walls
of Jericho fell. The Lord was very clear to the
children of Israel and said, do not touch anything from Jericho. It's consecrated unto the Lord.
It's considered holy things. It's to be given unto the Lord,
put into the temple. And Achan, He saw a little bit
of silver, he saw a robe, and he coveted those things, the
scripture says, and he took them. And he went and he hid them in
his tent. Shortly after they leave Jericho, nobody really
knows that Achan did that, and they're gonna come up against
a little nation called Ai. Now, the children of Israel just
saw the walls of Jericho fall down. And you can imagine, seeing
this little nation, how prideful they may have been or how confident.
That's a good word to put. Maybe it was definitely overconfidence.
They didn't realize they had sin in the camp. But they tell
Joshua, they said, don't send everybody down there to fight
them. Send two or 3,000 men. That's how tiny Ai was. Send
two or 3,000 men. We got this. Lord just took care
of Jericho. We just marched around and shouted.
He took care of that. He's gonna take care of us if we send two
or 3,000. Is that not our mentality most of the time? Problem was
is Achan had taken of the forbidden things that the Lord said, no,
those are sacred unto me. See, that's my glory. I get all
the glory in this. You can't take any part of it
for yourself. It's consecrated unto me. That was the sin, right? They go down to try to fight
Ai, and what happens? Well, they had to tell and run.
Several of them died, but they certainly didn't get the victory.
Ai won. The nation Ai beat Israel. And
Joshua ran his clothes and said, why has this befallen us, Lord?
We just did this Jericho, and now we can't even defeat Ai.
And the Lord revealed that there was sin in the camp. I've heard
many men preach about, let's get the sin out of the camp and
false religion. That's not the picture here. See, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one that gets all the glory for getting the sin
out of the camp. He has to reveal that there's sin there. But they
brought all the men before Joshua. All day long, they're bringing
men before him. And finally, Achan comes walking up and Joshua
says this, give God the glory. Give God the glory. Achan said,
I coveted those things for myself. I wanted the glory. I wanted
that possession. I wanted those, that little pleasure that it
could have bought me or whatever his motivation was. Either way,
he was robbing God's glory. And that's what Joshua says,
give God the glory. Once he does that, they go and
they take and they dig everything up from the earth and they bring
everything out before the nation of Israel and put it there. And
judgment falls upon Achan. And Joshua says, stone him and
his wife and his children and burn everything he has. God's
very serious about not sharing his glory. God gets all the glory
in this gospel. In his gospel, he gets all the
glory. Why does he get all the glory? Because in John chapter
one, verse 14, it tells us that Jesus Christ is the word of God. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory as of
the glory of the only begotten of the father full of grace and
truth. Why does God get all the glory? Because Jesus Christ is
the glory of God. Jesus Christ is God's glory.
And he's given all glory unto his son and his son hath glorified
his father. Do we see that? He tells us that
in John 17, he says, Father, I will that they also whom thou
hast given me, that's his bride, that's his elect, be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given
me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
God will not share his glory with anyone. God gets all the
glory in his gospel. It says in Isaiah 42, verse eight,
I am the Lord, that is my name. His name demands he gets all
the glory. And he says, my glory will I
not give to another, neither my praise to graven image. His
very name, Jehovah, the I am, the sovereign one, demands that
he gets all the glory in salvation. He's the king of kings. He's
the Lord of lords. God's gospel gives all the glory
to God and to Christ, it gives all the preeminence. Gives God glory, not only He
gives God the glory in everything, doesn't it? In salvation, in
sanctification, in glorification, everything. It's by his own will,
brethren, that he begat us, and therefore he gets all the glory,
and the Lord's people love it that way. There's a way that
seemed rotten to man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
God's gospel is the only hope that you and I have, his way. Number three, God's gospel does
not contradict any attribute of God. To say that God is sovereign,
to say that God is holy, do we understand that that means he
has the right by his isness, if I can use that term. I think
I've preached a message on God's isness before, so you understand
what I mean by that. He is the I am, that's his essence, his
isness. To say that he's sovereign and
to say that he's holy Understand that that means he has the right
to do whatsoever he will in any way, shape or form that he see
fit, but he will not at any time contradict his attributes. God loves with the perfect love.
Men say that, don't they? They say God is love. What they
mean by that is God loved everybody and he sent Jesus to die for
everybody and everybody can be saved. That's what they mean
by saying God is love. What they don't understand is
God is love that God has hate because of his holiness, demanding
justice, demanding judgment. So how is it that God cannot
contradict any of his attributes? Christ Jesus had to become a
man. He had to live a perfect life. He had to fulfill all the
demands of God's law. He had to fulfill all of the
scriptures. As we've already said, God, gospel, lines up with
the Old Testament in every way. That was the embodiment of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he did. But Jesus Christ in no
way, shape, or form did he ever contradict any of God's attributes. He was 100% man and 100% God. I don't understand that, but
I believe it because God said so in his word. God's sovereignty will not be
manipulated to, will not be threatened. He will not change for any man
in God's gospel. God's gospel doesn't contradict
any attribute of God. All of his attributes are true
in Christ. All of his attributes are manifest
in his gospel, isn't it? In the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his sovereign right to save sinners and how he saves
them, every bit of it, none of it contradicts God's attributes
whatsoever. God did not come off of his throne,
so to speak, to allow us to make a decision. Well, that means
he's no longer sovereign. Do we see that? God doesn't change
his love based upon what you do or he's not omnipotent. He
would have to change an attribute, but he remains omnipotent. He
remains immutable. He remains unchangeable. And
he saved sinners, his sinners. Think about that. That's what
his gospel does. It does not contribute. It does
not contradict any attribute of God. Fourthly, God's gospel supplies
all that is required in salvation. Now, there's a way that seemeth
right unto men, and I could have named, I could have titled this
message that verse, I suppose. There's a way that seemeth right
unto men, but then there are other ways of death. People say that Christ did everything
necessary for salvation, but you have to make a decision,
or but you have to do this. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ was
very clear. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved,
but understand, The very thing of belief comes from faith, but
whose faith is it? It's not something we produce,
is it? It's the faith of Christ. So when he says believe, the
only reason we believe is because he's given us the faith to believe
so. He gets all the glory in it. Do we see that? There's a
way that seemeth right unto man, but we're not looking for a way
to God, are we? We're not looking for a way.
We're not trying different avenues and different paths and trying
to find a way. We are to believe the way. Christ
didn't say I'm a way. He says, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. This is what God's gospel declares. God's gospel declares that God
was satisfied. His law's demands were met in
the person of Christ. Justice was satisfied. And the
scripture says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to them that believe. He put away the sin of the elect
by his own person. The scripture says in Hebrews
9 26, but now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Brethren, by his
own blood, he hath purged our sin "'neither by the blood of
goats and of calves, "'but by his own blood he entered once
"'into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.'"
God's gospel clearly declares that he supplied everything for
the salvation of his people. Everything required. Everything
required, Christ Jesus supplied, and his people are eternally
saved because of it. There is not one thing left undone,
There's not one thing left to do. Men would say, but I thought
I had an obligation to do this. I had to let Jesus into my heart.
I've heard that so many times throughout my life. The Lord
don't want to come into your heart. Our hearts deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Lord's not trying to get men
to let him have his way. He's going to have his way. He's
going to do his will. And brethren, he successfully
saved his people. He redeemed them. So what must I, the rich young
ruler came up to Christ and said, what must I do to inherit eternal
life? Nicodemus had the same question. Men today are asking
the same question. What do I do in order to be saved? Nothing. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Okay, well, there it is. I believe,
and that's how I'm saved. We can't believe because we're
dead in trespasses and in sins. He has saved us, and then he
called us. I'm getting ahead of myself, but that's okay. He
saved us, then he called us. He says, live, and we live. He
gets all the glory in it. He says live, and we realize
we're alive. That's the believing part. We
just can't not believe. We have to believe. Everything required, brethren,
predestinate. Those who foreknow, He called,
He justified, He glorified, He predestinated according to His
will. Of His own will begat He as everything required for our
salvation. Rest, because He hath provided
it. Number five, God's gospel meets
a sinner where he is, dead. Dead and trespasses and in sin,
dead without hope and gives him life. You're still in Proverbs
14, look at verse 26. In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear
of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares
of death. Now, how can a dead man fear? How can a dead man fear? The
fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, but how can a dead man
fear? We can't. No matter what we say or what we do to an individual
that has no life, nothing will be heard, nothing will be seen,
nothing can be reciprocated. The Lord gives life, and he gives
this fear. What is this fear? This fear
is nothing less than repentance. Repentance. The Lord's changed
our mind about who God is, about what we are. He's caused us to
have faith, to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, which is worship.
He's made us worship. He said, I passed by thee and
said unto thee, live and execute. It wasn't about what you and
I did or didn't do. We were dead. We were dead and
the Lord passed by and he said, live. God met us right where
we were. He came all the way down. He
condescended down to us in our cesspool of sin, in our, our
Mari clay of iniquity, dead. dead as we can possibly fathom
dead. There wasn't a little bit of
a pulse left. There wasn't a little thought
process happening. We were brain dead. We were beyond
dead. We had been dead for years. And
the Lord said, live, and we lived. He met us right where we were.
That's what his gospel declares. He came right to where we are
and provided everything that was required for you and I to
live. And he says, live. He says, live. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the end thereof is the ways of death though.
Men says, well, I believe the Lord's passing by and I have
an opportunity to make a decision. Make your decision for Jesus.
I've heard that so many times. If you take the first step, God
will take the rest. God has a vote for you and the devil has a vote
against you and you have to break the tie. That's what men preach.
No, God's gospel says you are dead. Dead as dead can be. He said, live. He came to where
you were. He came to where I was, to where
his people are, at the appointed time, and says, live. God's gospel comes to where the
man is, dead, and brings them life. He gets all the glory for
it, doesn't he? He said, and you hath he quickened
who were dead, and trespasses and in sin. You know what quickened
means? To be made alive. To be made alive. That's what
he did for his people. He takes a bunch of dead dog
sinners, and makes them living faithful sheep. That's what God's
gospel declares. Number six, God's gospel saves
the chief of sinners and keeps him saved. Paul said in 1 Timothy
1 15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of who
I am chief. Somebody mentioned to me recently
about progressive sanctification, and that's foolish, just so everybody
understands where we stand on that here. It's not possible.
We get worse and worse. We don't get better and better.
May and Mac talked about that, didn't we, Mac? But the thing about
progressive sanctification, it goes completely against everything
that the Lord has said and the Lord has taught. The more you
see of Christ, the less you'll see of yourself. That's how that
works. Paul began out saying, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy
to be one of the elect, to be one of the brethren. And then
he went on to say that he kept getting worse and worse. At the
very end of his statement, the last thing that he said about
himself is, I'm the chief of sinners. It's like, not only
am I not worthy to be part of the brotherhood, but I'm the
chief of sinners. This is what we see that God's gospel declares
unto us. You're the chief of sinners,
but here is salvation in the person of Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no way you can be bad enough. to not be saved in God's
sight, because you're in the Lord Jesus Christ if you're his.
Takes the most wretched, vile, disgusting, polluted, worthless
sinners. You know that's our description?
That's our description. We're abominations. You know
what the word abomination means? Disgusting. Disgusting. And what does he do with those
individuals that have that description? He makes them precious in His
sight. What other gospel can do that? There is no other gospel
that gives life and causes you to be seen as precious. That
means beyond value. He values His people that much.
He takes something that's so ugly, so vile, so polluted, and
makes it by His own blood. He gets all the glory in this
that we've already said. He takes it and He makes us precious in
His sight. We are made perfect. We are made
righteous. We are made acceptable, acceptable
in his sight. And he tells us, he that begun
a good work in you will perform it. So he saved us, but can he
keep us? Well, he said, he that begun
a good work in you. See, he's the one that started
it. He's the one that finished it. He's the one that's sitting
down. He that begun a good work in
you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. God's gospel
saves the chief of sinners. and keeps him saved. We're saved
and kept by grace and his power, aren't we? We're not kept by
ourself. We're kept through grace, unto salvation, ready to be revealed
at the last time, the scripture says. Psalm 121, verse eight
says, the Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
thy day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and not coming in from this
time. From this time forth, even forevermore. We. The elect of God. For who the gospel was even performed
for. We are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation. Now there's a man that's going
to have a contradiction to that statement. The rebuttal that
we have to that is, there's a way that seemeth right unto man,
but the end thereof is the ways of death. Man would say, yeah,
I understand that I'm kept by God, but I have to live this
way. I have to do this, and I have to do this in order to keep him
pleased. I have relatives, my own in-laws,
they have a free will Baptist written above their sign. You
know what a free will Baptist means? They can lose their salvation,
literally. They can fall from grace. The
scripture uses that term, and that just means if they fell
from grace, they never had grace is the whole point. They fell
from, they had a head knowledge, but God had not mixed it with
faith, so they couldn't believe God. The Lord will not lose one
of his sheep. He keeps his sheep. That's what
I'm still speaking on. His gospel saves the chief of
sinners and keeps them. God's gospel saves and keeps,
and that's our hope. Now, number seven. God's gospel
enables his elect to face death and judgment with perfect peace. Look at verse 32, Proverbs 14. The wicked is driven away in
his wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death. How are
you gonna have hope in death? What is in death that would give
us any hope whatsoever? Because we have been made the
righteousness of God in Christ, we have hope in his death. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
We have hope in death. We have peace to face death and
judgment. This is what God's gospel declares. We have peace to face judgment
and death because of what Christ did. We have peace with God. The scripture says death has
been swallowed up in victory. Judgment was executed upon his
darling son. Justice has been satisfied for
his elect. Men would say that we've made
a covenant with death and with hail we're in agreement. What
did the Lord say to that? I will disannul your covenant.
When the overwhelming scourge comes up before you, he said,
I will disannul your covenant. It'll overtake you. See, men
believe there's a way. But in that way, they believe
that's right. It's the ways of death. But we,
the Lord's people, because of God's gospel, we have the ability
to face death and judgment with perfect peace. The scripture
says, he shall keep him at perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee. I used to believe in religion.
That means I needed to read more and I need to listen to preaching
more and I needed to attend church more. Those are good things to
do. I am not discrediting that. Every
chance you get, read the word of God, listen to a message and
attend faithfully. But if that's what we think keeping our focus
on Christ means, then we're gonna miss it. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only one that says, seek ye my face, and we look upon
him. Yes, we come as mercy beggars, but what did we just pray for
a moment ago? Lord, here we are again trying to worship. Stop
our minds, send your spirit. Allow us to worship where we
cannot. The Lord will keep him at perfect peace because he has
stayed his mind, God has stayed his mind on Christ. And when
the death Angel comes, if I can put it that way. When the last
breath that we are about to draw comes, we have peace in death
because he conquered death. Lastly, number eight, God's gospel
conforms sinners, sinners, to the image of Christ. Turn with
me to John chapter three. First John chapter three. Now
I could quote this for you and you've heard me quote it many
times. I want you to see it tonight. First John chapter three. In verse one, behold, what manner
of love the father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore, The world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. There's that word now again,
isn't it? Same now as there's now therefore no condemnation.
Right now, right this very moment, we are the sons of God. And it
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he
shall appear, we shall be made like him, for we shall see him
as he is. God's gospel. conforms sinners
to the image of Christ. Literally, literally made like
the Son of God. God's gospel conforms the chief
of sinners to the image of Christ. Now in closing, I'll ask us the
same question that I asked us to start with. Is our gospel
God's gospel? That's our only hope. Because
if our gospel is not God's gospel, we're wasting our time. We are
of all men most miserable. We would have opened this world
only. But I want to know, is our gospel God's gospel? And
I'll ask us the same eight points that I made throughout this.
Is the gospel that we preach, does it line up with the Old
Testament? Does it line up with the Old
Testament? Does it give God all the glory and the preeminence
to Jesus Christ? Does it contradict any attribute
of God? Any attribute without exception? Does our gospel meet a sinner
where he is dead and give him life? Does our gospel save the
chief of sinners and keep him saved? Does our gospel enable
us to face death and judgment with perfect peace? And lastly,
does our gospel conform sinners to the image of Christ? If our
answer is yes to all of these without exception, our gospel
has been given of God, and it is God's gospel. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. We must
have God's gospel. We must have the way, the only
way, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the successful Savior,
of His elect. Father, thank you for your glorious
gospel. We know that the word gospel
means good news, and it is good news to us. For you have made
us to see that we are nothing but sinners and that you are
everything. Cause us to rest in your gospel.
Cause us to forsake ourself and cleave unto you. In Christ's
name, Amen.