Turning now in our Bible to the
book of Acts chapter five, one more time, look verse 41, Acts
5, 41. And they departed from the presence
of the council, that is the apostles had been called before this council,
had been beaten and commanded never to mention the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ again. And they departed from the presence
of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for his name. And daily in the temple, that
is in a most public way, and in every house, privately, publicly,
they ceased not To teach and preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They thought it was pretty important,
didn't they? To preach the gospel of Christ. I'm entitling the message this
morning, The Importance of Preaching the Gospel. The importance of
preaching. And of course, when we say preaching,
we mean preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Apostle Paul said, for as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you who are at Rome also. For the gospel is
the power of God, that is, the gospel of Christ is the power
of God to everyone that believeth. To the Jew or to the Gentile,
therein is a righteousness of God revealed. The early church,
even though greatly persecuted, persecuted unto death for the
gospel, were beaten and commanded not to say one more word, don't
preach one more sermon. You can talk about Moses, you
can talk about the law, you can talk about Daniel, you can talk
about Isaiah and Jeremiah, just don't mention Jesus Christ. Why
were they so adamant about that? Something special about that
name. Something special about that name. Yet we find their
history, the history of the early church and the apostles recorded
by God the Holy Spirit through the book of Acts, doing exactly
what they were told by the established religion of the day not to do. Acts chapter 8 we read when they
were persecuted for the gospel sake they went everywhere everywhere
preaching Christ preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Hold your place right here in Acts chapter 5 and turn to Acts
the last chapter in the book of Acts It'd be chapter 28 the
last couple verses when the Apostle Paul who earlier was known as
Saul of Tarsus, who met the Lord Jesus Christ, was converted and
made a preacher of the gospel. When he went preaching the gospel,
he too was beaten, whipped, and jailed, and later shipped off
to Rome to stand for execution, not for crimes against Rome,
but for preaching the gospel. And before he was executed for
the gospel, it says in the last two verses in the book of Acts
chapter 28, and Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired
house, received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom
of God, teaching those saying what's concerned the Lord Jesus
Christ with all confidence. Forbidding, no man forbidding
him. He spent two years. God gave
him two years. Why didn't God give him 20? It
wasn't his purpose. God gave him two years to preach
the gospel while in confinement and then the Lord was pleased
to take him home to glory. The Apostle Paul referred to
it as, thou the time of my departure is at hand. Why do we spend the
majority of our time Together, each time we meet,
we spend the majority of our time reading the word, preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't entertain folks.
We sing, we pray, we read, have special music, songs that magnify
the Lord, and then we spend the majority of our time, usually
an hour, hour 10, 15 minutes, we spend at least 40 or 45 minutes
preaching, teaching the Word. Why do we put so much emphasis
upon the Word of God and preaching the Word of God? Because that's
what God has been pleased to use to call out His people, to
feed His people, to bless His people. God has ordained the
preaching of the gospel. That's why. Why do we spend the
majority of our time together each time preaching the Word?
I'll give you three reasons. Number one, because the Lord
has ordained and commanded that His church be about the business
of preaching the gospel. Our Lord said in Mark chapter
16, go into all the world, do the work of an evangelist, go
into all the world and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The apostle Paul, when he writes
his last letter, his last words back to young Timothy, a preacher
of the gospel, we read it earlier, I charge thee before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead
that you entertain folks. Make sure that you make themselves,
those sinners, feel good about themselves. Oh no. He said you go and preach the
Word, preach the Word, preach the Word, always, in season,
out of season, always preaching Christ, preaching Christ. That's
what we do here. Preach the Gospel. Secondly,
why do we spend so much time preaching the Gospel? To promote
the glory and preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory
and preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's take our Bible
and find 1 Corinthians 1. The glory and preeminence of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God had determined that the Lord
Jesus Christ should receive all glory and all preeminence. That
is the first place, the right place, all preeminence. In 1
Corinthians 1, Verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God,
the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. The Jews require a sign,
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews. It's a stumbling block, a rock
of offense. Unto the Greeks, the educated,
it's just foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews or Greek, Christ the power of God and Christ the wisdom
of God. Now look in the same chapter,
1 Corinthians chapter one, down at verse 27, verse 26, but you
see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, God had chosen. Notice carefully now underscore
this God had chosen God had chosen The weak things of the world
confound the things which are mighty and the base things of
the world and things which are despised had God chosen In the
things of which are not to bring to naught the things that are
that no flesh should glory in his presence But of him are you
in Christ who of God is made unto us wisdom righteousness
sanctification and redemption that According as it is written,
he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. So why do we spend
so much time preaching Christ, preaching the Word? God has ordained
that. God has also ordained that to
promote the glory and preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
grand design of redemption is the glory of Christ. It has pleased
God. Thirdly, it has pleased God by
and through the preaching of the gospel, through the declaration
of the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, to reveal
the gospel of Christ to those who are blessed to hear it. Those
who are blessed to hear it. Now let's turn to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Knowing brethren, someone asked
me recently, how do we know who the elect are? I don't know. God knows. But here we see some
evidence of who the elect are. First Thessalonians chapter 1
verse 4. Knowing brethren beloved your
election of God for our gospel came not unto you in word only. It did come in word though didn't
it? But also it was accompanied with
the power of God the Holy Spirit. They heard the Word, but in hearing
the Word preached, they heard God speak to their heart. And
God has chosen preaching, by the preaching of the Gospel,
to do that. Now turn to Romans chapter 10.
Romans chapter 10. Now I wouldn't make much of any
preacher We are just a earthen vessel, but I would make much
of preaching, preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For
it says in Romans 10 verse 13, for whosoever, Romans 10, 13,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, the Lord
now, shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? You've got to hear the word. You've got to hear
the gospel. How shall they preach except they be sent as it is
written? How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Isaiah saith, Who hath believed our report? Lord, who hath believed
thy report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Faith, hearing, and the Word
has to be there. Faith, hearing, and the Word. You see, faith, true saving faith,
the faith of God's elect, is a product of true preaching. You've heard the old saying,
many of you have heard this saying before, You are what you eat. You are what you eat. I mean,
you eat Twinkies and drink Mountain Dew and you won't be very healthy
if you have a diet of Twinkies and Mountain Dew. You are what
you eat. True faith is born of true preaching. You are what you hear. If you hear nothing but lies,
that's what you will believe. It is the truth that sets sinners
free. You must hear the truth. You cannot believe something
you have not heard. Can you? You can't trust an unknown
Christ. There must be the preaching of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. True faith is born of
true gospel preaching. Something else. Our knowledge
of God is the product of true preaching. If you hear that God
is not able to save unless you let Him, and that's what we hear
in most religious circles, God wants to and can't, He's trying,
but you won't let Him. If you hear that God is not able
to save unless you let Him, if you hear that God is weak-handed
and weary, that is what you'll be left and led to
believe, that God's unable. If you hear that preached, then
God wants to and can't. If that's all you hear and that's
all you know, that's what you believe. But if you hear the
true gospel of God, and that God is absolute almighty. If God gives you ears to hear
that, and eyes to see that, and a heart to believe that, and
being revealed by the Spirit of God who He is, you'll embrace
that. And you'll have the knowledge
of the true and living God. And let me show you why that's
important. Turn to John chapter 17. John
chapter 17. John 17. You see, eternal life
is to know the true and living God. Now, not the God of your
imagination now. Eternal life is to know the true
and living God. Our knowledge of God, the true
and living God, is the product of true preaching. Look what
he says here, John 17, verse one. These words speak Jesus,
verse one. Lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son, that thy
son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God. Jesus Christ. You see, eternal
life is knowing the true and living God. Not the God of your
imagination. Not the God who wants to and
can't. You see, you cannot believe what you do not know. You cannot
believe what you've never heard. Now here's a question I want
us to consider. What is it then to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? We see the importance of it,
don't we? We see the necessity of it. God commanded it. So what
is it then to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now
turn to that scripture I pointed out earlier. First Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16. We have established the fact,
the importance of preaching, the necessity of preaching, and
the blessedness of preaching. Now what is it to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? 1 Corinthians 9, verse 16. For though I preach the gospel,
the gospel, definite article, just one, I have nothing to glory
of, because he gloried only in Christ. He didn't glory in the
fact that he was a preacher. He gloried only in Christ. For
necessity is laid upon me, absolutely necessary, yea, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. Now he didn't say woe is unto
me if I don't preach. What was done to me if I don't
preach the gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
then what is it to preach the gospel of Christ? Is everybody
that calls himself a preacher preaching the gospel of Christ? No, they're not. No, they're
not. So what is it? Four things. Number
one, let me give you these four things. You can jot these down
if you want to or you can get this CD and listen to it later.
What is it to preach the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ? First of all is to tell the truth
about who God is. To tell the truth about who God
is. Secondly, tell the truth about man. Tell the truth about
you. Thirdly, to tell the truth about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lastly, to tell the truth about
salvation. How does God save sinners anyway?
Well, by His grace, doesn't it? By His grace alone that He saves
sinners. So let's go back and look at
those four things and I'll try not to wear you out. But I want
to look at these things and answer this question. What is it to
preach the gospel? First of all, to tell the truth
about the Lord our God. The Lord our God, as he is made
known in scripture, is not what we naturally think about God. That is, all of our thoughts
left to ourselves are completely contrary and wrong. We think the wrong things about
God because naturally we do not know the true and living God.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
1 Corinthians 2.14. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. God is not who we think He is. God is not who we think He is.
He is who He is as He's revealed in Holy Scripture. In Holy Scripture. The only thing we know about
God is what He's been pleased to reveal of Himself in the Word. Thank God we have the Word. We
read in Psalm 50, the Lord through David says, Thou thoughtest I
was altogether such a one as thyself. Now mark it down, God's
not like us. He's the opposite of everything
we are. We read in Exodus 15, 11, Who
is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders? Who
is like unto thee? Well, there's none like Him.
There's none like our God. What one word would you use to
describe the God of Scripture? I asked that young preacher that
was here Friday morning. I asked him this question. What
one word, if you were given one word to describe the God of Scripture,
now not the God of your imagination now, not the God of your denomination,
not the God of mommy and daddy, what one word would you use to
describe the God as He's revealed in Holy Scripture? What one word,
if you were just given one word? God is holy, holy, holy, holy. We read in Isaiah 6. The angels
and seraphims flew around the throne of God when Isaiah saw
the Lord Jesus high and lifted up, and they said, holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty. We read in Revelation 15, four,
who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou
only, only are holy. Our God is holy. We need to tell
the truth about God. Every other attribute of God
radiates out from his sensual character and the sensual character
of God is holy. It is true. God is love. But not at the expense of his
justice. Not at the expense of his holiness.
It is true the scripture said God is love, 1 John 4, 7. It
is true the scriptures declare that God is good. And truly He
is, but not at the expense of His holiness. He's not going
to show mercy at the expense of His justice or goodness at
the expense of His holiness. He must be both a just God and
Savior. God's holiness is manifested
in His works, isn't it? The Lord, listen to Psalm 145
verse 17, the Lord is righteous in all of his ways and holy in
all of his works. God's holiness is manifested
in the law. We read in Romans 7, 12, wherefore
the law is holy and the commandment is holy, just and good. You see, everything about God
is holy. God's holiness is manifested
at the cross, isn't it? We see the love of God manifested
in Christ crucified, but also see the holiness of God, the
wrath of God, the justice of God poured out upon the dying
victim, the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, because God is too holy
to look upon sin with favor. That's what happened at Calvary.
As He was made sin for us, we see the holy wrath of God. falling upon the Lord Jesus Christ
as He stands in our stead, in our room, charged with the guilt
of our sin, the filth of our sin. God must punish sin even
when He finds sin on His own Son, because God is absolutely
holy, acceptance with Him upon the ground of human works, righteousness. What would you say? Can we approach
a holy God In the deeds of this flesh, it would be like throwing a snowball
into a blast furnace. It would not last long, would
it? God is holy. We're sinners. We
need an advocate. We need a mediator. Thank God
for the Lord Jesus Christ. So to tell the truth about God,
that He is holy. Secondly, the Lord our God is
not only absolutely holy, but He's absolutely sovereign. He's
the sovereign God. That is, He does according to
His will in the army of heaven, among the heavens of this earth,
and none can stay His hand. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places. He is subject
to no one, influenced by no one, absolutely independent of all,
none can hinder His sovereignty, none can hinder His purpose,
none can change His will. He does as He pleases, when He
pleases, With whom He pleases. God is sovereign in all things. You preach to Him too high. No,
I'm not. You can't preach Him too high.
He's sovereign in creation. He made all things by the word
of His power. He's sovereign in providence.
All things that unfold in time, God had decreed from all eternity. He's sovereign in salvation.
He said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. This
is a God of Scripture. Is this the God you believe?
Absolutely. Thirdly, God is unchanging in
His character. Not only is He holy and sovereign,
but He's unchanging in His holiness. He's unchanging in His sovereignty. He said, I am the Lord. I don't
change. Now, I change every day. I mean,
I have hair that falls out every day. I get a little bit more
wrinkled every day. I get a little bit weaker in
the flesh every day. I get a little more pain in my
back every day. I walk a little bit slower every
day. Why? I'm changing. God never
changes. He never gets weak. He never
gets weary. He's the Almighty. He's eternally
the same. There never will come a time
when He ceases to be God over all, blessed forever. From everlasting
to everlasting, Psalm 90 verse 2, from everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. God has never grown or improved. All that He is today, He has
forever been. He is the eternal I am. God is unchanging in His character,
His attribute, and unchanging in His purpose. His purpose is
an eternal purpose. which he purposed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and his purpose is going to be done. He said,
I've spoken it, I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I
will do it. Now listen to me, the only place
a sinner will worship is at the throne of the Almighty, Sovereign,
and Holy God. This is the God with whom we
have to do. You see, we must lift up the
character of God, the name of God. We must lift Him up, because
it's the only place a sinner will truly worship, is at the
throne of a sovereign. Listen to Scripture, Hebrews
chapter 4. Neither is there any creature
that's not manifest in His sight. He's not only almighty, He's
all-knowing. But all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." You're not
going to bypass judgment. You have to do with God. We must
lift him up into preaching in the gospel where men will not
have the right thoughts about God. Now mark that down. We must lift Him up as God, holy,
sovereign, eternal, unchanging, or we will not have the right
thoughts about God. This is eternal life, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, Jesus Christ. Someone told
the old preacher, Ralph Barnard, when he came to Ashland in 1950,
And Brother Mahan learned the gospel through this man's ministry
when Brother Barnard came preaching the lordship of Jesus Christ
and lifted up the sovereignty of God in salvation, the power
of God in salvation. Someone said, Brother Barnard,
the God you preach is a monster. To which brother Bronner replied,
get ready to meet a monster then. If that's your idea of God, this
is a God with whom we have to do. He's almighty, eternal, holy,
and sovereign. Bow to his lordship. You see what it is to preach
the gospel? It's just not saying, standing up and saying, well
God loves everybody. That's not so. I told that young
preacher who stood in my study Friday morning, who asked me
some questions when I told him, and I said, you've heard it said
all your life that God loves everybody. I said, that's not
so. I told him, I said, you've heard
everybody say that the Lord Jesus Christ dies for everybody. I
said, that's just not so. Well, he about fell out of the
chair. I said, you've heard it say all your life that God's
doing his dead-level best to try to save all men, but they
just won't let Him. I said, that's not true either.
God is no peanut God. God's Almighty. He will have
mercy on whom He will have mercy. You can't stop the Almighty hand
of God. Come on now. Who do we think
we are? Who are thou that replies against
God? Shall the thing form say to him
that formed it, why have you made me thus? Hath not the potter
power over the clay to make one lump unto honor and another unto
dishonor? Who are you to question God? We're nobody, nothing. You see,
we must lift up the character of God or we won't have true
faith. True faith now. Secondly, what is it to preach
the gospel? Well, it's to tell the truth about man. Tell the
truth about you. truth about me. What one word
would describe you? They're doing an article, a series
of articles in the local paper about the church and a pastor. If you've read some of that,
introduce us to your pastor. Don't put me in that because
they wouldn't even publish it if I told them what I think.
But they always have in there what one word, what one word
describes the pastor of your church? What one word describes
him? And they have all these flowery
words, S-I-N, that's what describes this pastor. What one word describes
you? Sinner, sinner, that offend you? That's what this book says. There is none righteous, no,
not one. Does that include you? There's
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Does that
include you? You see, to preach the gospel we've got to tell
the truth about man as he's revealed in Scripture because we're the
exact opposite to everything God is. He's infinite, we're
finite. He's holy, we're sinners. He's
unchanging, we change all the time. The natural man doesn't
like to hear the truth about God, nor the truth about ourselves. We're sinners. You say, well,
I used to be. Come on now. Really? Well, I used to be a sinner. Really? What are you now? I'm still a sinner. I'm a sinner
saved by His grace, but I'm still a sinner. You know the scripture
said if we say we have no sin, no sin nature, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. You see, sin is what we are by
nature. Born in sin, shaping in iniquity. Sin is what we are by birth.
In Adam all sin, in Adam all died. Sin is what we are by practice
and choice. Sin is what we are. Do you see
that? It's not what we do. What we
do is just a fruit of what we are before God. Sin. We are sinful in our nature. And all that we can do is sin.
If we deny this, read the record, 1 John 1, 7-9, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. How
did we get that way? We were born that way. I received
that nature from my father, Harold Lyman Harding. He had a sinful
nature and he had a son, Thomas Allen Harding. Born March 22,
1952. A sinner just like his daddy. And trace that all the way back
to Adam. When Adam sinned, when Adam fell, read the record Romans
5, 12, and Adam all sinned and Adam all died. You received that
guilt of his sin, the nature of his sin, the defilement of
his sin. We are sinners. We have the guilt and filth and
defilement of Adam's sin resides in all of us. This scripture
is full of vivid true descriptions of what we are, totally depraved
sinners. And unless we understand the
problem, we'll never truly be concerned about the remedy for
sin. Will we? If we don't understand
the problem, we won't understand the remedy for sin. We must continue to preach what
happened in the garden so we can understand the need for what
happened at the cross and see our need of Christ in Him crucified.
If we don't understand ruin in the fall, we won't understand
redemption at the cross through His blood. If we don't understand
sin, we won't understand salvation, how sin is put away. How is sin put away? Well, you
know, I'm just going to quit going to the picture show. I'm
just going to quit reading the newspaper on Sunday. I'm just
going to do this, I'm just going to do that. My soul, if righteousness
can be by what you do, why did the Lord Jesus Christ come and
die? If righteousness is by the law,
then Christ is dead and vain. No need for Christ to come and
die for the sin of his people if you can get the job done just
by leaving off a few bad habits. and reforming your life. I'm
all for morality, but morality is not salvation and we've got
this thing screwed up. Pardon the slang. But we've messed
up. I mean we've messed up. We think
salvation, we think, man by nature thinks salvation is in what we
do. The complete opposite is true.
Salvation is in what Christ did, not what we do. You see, the
gospel is not about you, the gospel is about Him. It's what
He did, His performance, His faithfulness. You see, and preaching
today has left that off. I mean, they just left it off. They have silly signs that says,
we can't spell church without you. You ever see that? You see, the gospel is not about
you. You know, you can't spell stupid without you either. And by nature, we're just stupid.
We're ignorant. I am too. I mean, I cut my teeth
on works religion. Stupid, ignorant, dumb, dead. All I knew. I would have died. in that had not the Lord shown
mercy on me." So what is it to preach the gospel? Tell the truth
about God. What is it to preach the gospel? Tell the truth about
man. What is it to preach the gospel? How about telling the
truth about the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean, who is He? Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He's a good man from Nazareth.
You know, He did some good things. He's recognized by most as a
prophet. Even the Muslims recognize that
Jesus was a prophet. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God Almighty. Peter when he preached at Pentecost
said, this same Jesus whom you crucify, He's Lord and Christ. Barnard also used to say, don't
tell me who your Savior is, tell me who your Lord is. If He's
not your Savior, if He's not your Lord, He's not your Savior.
He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
Eternal God. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He is the God-Man Mediator. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is both
God and Man in one blessed person. That's what it is to preach the
Gospel, to preach His person, who He is. He's the God-Man Mediator. Think about this, the Lord Jesus
Christ right now is our mediator, ever lives to make intercession
for us, to enable us to worship God. He is the eternal God-man
mediator, of which there is no other. So we tell the truth about
His person, who He is. God, truly God, yet God manifests
in the flesh. Secondly, we tell the truth about
His priestly work. Now this is so vital, and this
is what's being denied today. I dare you. I double-dog dare
you. Go anywhere else but right here. I don't know of anybody else
in this county. If you find somebody, you tell
me. I don't know of anybody else in this county that says that
the Lord Jesus Christ made definite, effectual, eternal, sufficient
atonement for His covenant people and did not fail. I don't know
anybody else that's saying that, but that's what this book teaches.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't come here and die to make a salvation
a possibility, if some men would accept Him. But that's what we've
heard. But that's not so. The Lord Jesus
Christ died to make salvation an absolute certainty for those
for whom He died. Now if He put away their sin
and justified them by His blood, then they're justified. Isn't
that what this book teaches? He justified us by His blood. The good news of redemption by
the preaching of the gospel is the glorious redeeming blood
of Christ that gets the job done. It is good news to know that
the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. The question is,
are you ungodly? It's good news that the Lord
Jesus Christ died for sinners. It's good news if you're a sinner.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. The
Lord Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. It's good news,
the gospel is good news to those who are lost because the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save every lost man. You say, well everyone's
lost. No they're not. Just ask them. They're not lost. You see, before
God saves a man, God's going to show the man that he's lost.
Before God's going to close a man, He's going to strip him. Before
God gives him life, He's going to put him in the dust. Make
him to know the salvation of the Lord. You see, it's good
news to sinners that the Lord Jesus Christ came to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. When we preach an atonement,
when we preach the atonement of Christ, we preach that He
may complete successful and eternal atonement for all of His elect,
His church, His bride, His sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
For whom did the Lord Jesus Christ die anyway? Get that card out
front, written by John Owen way back in the 1500's. For whom
did Christ die? Did He die for all the sin of
all men? If that's so, then all men must be saved. If He died
for some of the sin of all men, then none will be saved. But
if He died for all the sin of some men, then those some men
must be saved eternally in Christ. All for whom Christ died, they're
justified by His blood. You can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Now there's nobody going to perish
in eternal condemnation for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died. Mark
it down. All that the Father giveth me
will come to me, and those who come to me I will never cast
them out." That gives this sinner hope. So what it is to preach
the gospel, tell the truth about God, tell the truth about man,
tell the truth about Christ, His person, His successful redeeming
work. Fourthly, what is it to preach
the gospel? of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is to preach salvation by Him, through Him, in Him, and by grace
alone. Salvation by Him, through Him,
in Him, and by grace alone. You see, salvation is not in
a church. You can join this church or the
one down the road and still go to hell. Salvation is not in
a church. Salvation is not in a profession.
You can make a profession and still go to hell. Salvation is
in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see that? Salvation is by
Him. That is, salvation is by the
means or the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the
way, the truth, the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by Me. Salvation is by Him, by the means
of Him. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Salvation is through Him. through
what He did. God was in Christ, reconciling
us unto Himself. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Salvation is by Him. Salvation is through Him. And
my friend, salvation is in Him. He hath the Son hath life. And
salvation is by His grace alone. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as others. Salvation is not what we do for
God. It is what God in the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for us. No part of salvation can be ascribed
to man in any way. Now wait a minute. I thought the sinner had to repent.
Well he does. Didn't we just read that He's
exalted to give repentance? Repentance is not something that
you do or work up. It's what He gives. Faith is
not something you do. Faith is something that God gives. No part of salvation can be ascribed
to man in any way. Faith is a gift of God. Repentance
is a gift of God. Summing it all up, we use this
statement, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, Woe unto those who deny the gospel
of Christ, especially those who would deny the gospel of Christ
in a public ministry. I cannot think of a greater crime
against God or man than to preach a false gospel that cannot save
a flea. Matter of fact, the Apostle Paul
put it much stronger than that in Galatians chapter 1. If we
or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than which we
have preached, let him be damned. That's why Paul said, Woe is
unto me if I don't preach the gospel. Now, if I'm going to
preach, I've got to preach those four things. Ruined, redeemed,
regeneration, and resurrection by the power of God. Now find
me a man, find me a preacher that is telling the truth about
God, about man, about the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of salvation,
and I'll sit down and listen to him. I'll rejoice in his ministry. I'll show you a man that's sin
of God, that's taught of God, that's blessed of God. And the
Lord will use his ministry to the fervent of the gospel of
God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God. What will it done to me if I
don't preach the gospel? Now listen, here's the flip side
of that. What will it done to you if I
preach the gospel and you won't have it? You see the seriousness of this?
He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not shall not see life. Necessity is laid upon me to
preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And my friend,
necessity is laid upon you to believe the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ as well.