Our text this morning, 1 Corinthians
15, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 1, moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. If there is one sentence which
can sum up the ministry of this faithful servant of God, Paul,
it would be he was a gospel preacher. I preached unto you the gospel. I declared unto you the gospel. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 9 verse
16, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. is laid upon me. I must preach
the gospel. If I preach not the gospel, woe
is unto me. I must preach the gospel. This
is my calling. This is what God sent me to do.
I'm a gospel preacher. In Romans 1, verse 1, he said,
Paul, a bond slave, a willing, loving bond slave of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle. but separated to the gospel,
the gospel, obsessed with the gospel, dedicated to the gospel,
committed to the gospel. And here in this text that I've
selected to preach to you this morning, Paul writes to the church
at Carlin, and he reminds them. He said, God sent me not to baptize,
he sent me to preach the gospel. not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ be made of non-effect." And he said, when
I came to you, I came not with wisdom of words or eloquence
of speech, declaring unto you the gospel, that your faith should
not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power in the gospel
of God. What a blessing to me to be called
and sent to preach the gospel. What a blessing to be a gospel
preacher. There's no higher calling. And
I'll tell you this, what a blessing. How highly favored are you to
be enabled to hear that gospel? There are a lot of places today where
men are assembled together in the name of God where the gospel
is not preached. God sent me to preach the gospel. He taught me the gospel. And
God brought you here to hear the gospel. What a blessing,
highly favored. And it's a special gospel. There
are really four things that are vital to the gospel. Number one,
it's the gospel of God. The gospel we preach is the gospel
of God. That's what Paul called it in
Romans 1. He said, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle and separated to the gospel of God. God's gospel. God planned it. God purposed
it from all eternity. God executed it. He sent his
son. It pleased God to bruise him.
God applied it. Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb was pleased to reveal his Son in
me. He revealed it. He purposed the
gospel. Planned it. Purchased it. Applied it. He sustains it. He keeps us in
the gospel. He keeps us preaching the gospel.
He keeps us loving the gospel. He keeps us believing the gospel.
He keeps us through faith. He will one day raise us and
perfect us. It's his gospel. It's his gospel. The Lord himself will give you
a sign. A virgin shall be with child.
You'll call his name Immanuel, God with us. God with us. It's his gospel. Paul said they're
preaching another gospel, which is not another gospel. It's a
perversion of the true gospel. There's but one gospel. That's
the gospel of God. It's the gospel of God. It's
all of God. It's not of work, it's of God. It's not of man,
it's of God. It's the gift of God. And secondly,
this gospel, that which identifies the true gospel, it's God's gospel. Secondly, it's the gospel concerning
his Son. The gospel is concerning his
Son. That's what Paul said in that
same scripture, Romans 1, he said, Paul, a bondslave of Jesus
Christ, separated to the gospel of God concerning his son. The gospel is concerning his
son. It's concerning the person and
work of Christ. The gospel has nothing to do
with you. It has everything to do with
Christ. It's not your response to it. People misuse the word gospel
today. They say we have a gospel quartet.
You don't have a gospel quartet. There's no gospel in a quartet.
The gospel is Christ. We have a gospel church. You
have a church that believes the gospel, but the church is not
the gospel. Christ is the gospel. Who he is, what he did, why he
did it, where he is now, what he's doing now. That's the gospel. There are a lot of men today
who are preaching about the gospel who don't preach the gospel.
They use the word, but they're not preaching the person. I heard
a fellow say one time, well, the gospel, John 3, 16 is the
gospel in a nutshell. There's no gospel in John 3,
16. John 3, 16 is not a summary of
the gospel. John 3, 14 is the gospel. What does John 3, 16 say? For
God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's
the results. The gospel is in John 3, 14,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. How did he
lift him up? On a pole between heaven and earth. Even so must
the Son of Man, God became a man, the God-man. the Christ, the
substitute, the Messiah, and he was lifted up on a cross.
He died. He shed his blood. Who he is? Son of man, Son of God. What
did he do? Lifted up on a cross. Why was
he lifted up? To die for his people. That's the gospel. That's the
remedy. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
You can't have a gospel without the Son of Man. You can't have
a gospel without a cross. You can't have a gospel without
blood. You can't have a gospel without a substitute. And here's the remedy. That's
the remedy. Here's the result that whosoever
believeth on him might have everlasting life. And John 3, 16 is the reason.
because God loved." You see what I'm saying? This
gospel is the gospel of God. It's God's sovereign gospel,
and it's the gospel concerning his Son, the remedy lifted up,
the result that whosoever believeth might have life, the reason because
God loved. Christ didn't come down here
to get God in the notion of loving us. He came because He did love
us. When Christ died, that didn't
change God's love. God's love was before He died.
That's why He died, because God loved. He said, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn you. The gospel is concerning His
Son, thirdly. The gospel is the gospel of grace.
Grace. Not works, grace. Nothing I did
before God saved me contributed to my salvation, and nothing
I did after God saved me contributed to my salvation. It's the grace
of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith. Through faith. That not of yourselves. Faith
not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's not
of works, lest any man should vote. Let's read Romans chapter
9. Look at this. Romans chapter. What good news! What good news! I tell you, it's of grace through
faith that it might be sure to all who believe. Romans 9 verse
15. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, Not of him that runneth, it's
of God that showeth mercy. His people are willing, but they're
willing in the day of his power. For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will hardeneth. It's grace. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Grace taught my heart to pray. Grace gave me faith to believe. Grace included my name in that
precious family. It was grace that brought me
safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. It's all of grace.
And then fourthly, this gospel is the gospel of eternal life
and eternal glory. It'll never fail. One other scripture
over here in Romans chapter 8, turn over there, it'll never
fail. He cannot fail. Paul was a gospel preacher, committed
to, dedicated to the gospel, the only gospel, the gospel of
God, the gospel concerning his Son. It's the gospel of his grace,
free grace, sovereign grace. infinite grace, provenient grace,
keeping grace, unfailing grace, eternal grace, grace upon grace,
mercy upon mercy. And then it's the gospel of eternal
glory. Verse 29, Romans 8, For whom
he did foreknow, whom he foreknew. I love him
because he loved me. I know him because he knew me.
I seek him because he sought me. I choose him because he chose
me, whom he foreknew. Then he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son. That's what we're
going to be. That he, Christ, might be the
firstborn among many brethren, that he might be surrounded in
glory with those who are like him, who love him, who enjoy
what he enjoys and rejoices in what he rejoices. There won't be anything there
that worketh or maketh a lie. There won't be one thought out
of conformity to his thoughts, or one will out of conformity
to his will. Not one. Not one attitude or
spirit or thought or word contrary to his perfect holiness. We're
going to see him as he is and be like him. That's what predestination
is. Election has to do with persons.
God chose us in Christ. Christ be my first elect. He's
the first elect. He's the Son. He's the heir. What we have is because we're
one with Him. We were chosen in Him, loved
in Him, accepted in Him, redeemed in Him, risen in Him, seated
in Him. He's the heir. We're joint heirs.
He's the heir. The one who marries Him has what
she has because of her relationship with him. The two become one. Here's a very wealthy young man,
has everything. His father left him everything.
He marries a poor, downtrodden, poverty-stricken girl. Soon as
she takes his name, becomes one with him, she's wealthy. She
has everything he has. That's right. One. She's a joint
heir. joint tenants. And that's when
God chose us, he said, Christ be my first elect, God said,
and then chose us in our head. And everything God Almighty elected
us in Christ and predestinated us to be like him. You see that? Predestination
has to Election has to do with who's chosen. Predestination
has to do with what they're going to be, like Christ. He's predestinated. That's why he's got me here preaching
to you. That's why by his good providence
you came to hear it. It's one of the steps along the
road to the throne. As Joseph, he doesn't look like
a king down there when he's wearing that multicolored robe and agitating
his brothers, and they threw him in the pit, and somebody
bought him and sold him to somebody else, and had a run-in with him,
sent him to jail, and all these things are God's predestinated
purpose to bring Joseph to the throne. And whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be like Christ. Listen. And whom he predestinated,
he called. There'll come a time in your
journey that God will call you. If He doesn't call you, you'll
perish. He calls. It's a high calling.
It's a holy calling. It's a heavenly calling. It's
a gospel calling. It's called to Christ, whom He
predestinated to be like Christ. He's got to call him. Zacchaeus,
come down. John and James, follow me. Matthew,
come on. He left all the roads and followed
Him too. I call people and they don't come. I don't blame them. But when He calls them, they
come. All that my Father giveth me will come to me. Other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, him I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and they shall be one fold, one shepherd.
They'll come. They'll come willingly. They'll
come lovingly. They'll come completely. They'll
come sacrificially. They'll come never with any intention
of going back. Because I give them a new heart,
a new nature. And they'll follow me. And the
other shepherds, they won't follow. I call them. I call them. And
whom He called, He justified. Everlast one of them. For whom
did Christ die? He died for those he foreknew.
He died for those who were going to be like Christ. Had to. Had
to wash them. Had to cleanse them. Had to perfect
them. For whom did Christ die? He died
for those whom he calls. Everybody whom he calls, he died
for them. Whom does he justify? Those he
calls. And said whom he justified, he's
going to glorify them. In fact, the glory which thou
gavest me, I've given them, that they may be won, even as, oh,
this just takes your breath away, even as we're won. You talk about somebody being
saved today and lost tomorrow, you talk foolishness, absolute
foolishness. That's the most outranked foolishness
I've ever heard of. He said, those whom you gave
me, I'll lose none. I don't pray
for this world, I pray for those whom you've given me. And all
thine are mine, and mine are thine. And I love them. And the glory you gave me, I
gave to him. You gonna take it away? And you love them like you love
me. When's he gonna stop loving me? What am I gonna do to make
him stop loving me? Somebody said, you mean Christ loved you
before you was born? Well, did I do anything after
I was born to marry this love? No, contrary. And whom he called,
he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they
may be one as we are one. He's the head, we're the body,
and not one member is going to be missing. See, if you've got
a missing member, you're deformed, aren't you? Well, the body of
Christ is not deformed. It's whole, every member. Ah,
brethren, listen, listen. Verse 31, what shall we say to
these things? I say, if God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him freely, freely, freely, without works,
without merit, give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? He challenges heaven, earth,
and hell. Who? If you have a charge against
me, bring it forth." Christ answered every charge, paid every debt,
satisfied every loss. justified us. It's God that justified
us. We're not justifying ourselves.
He brought that charge against the Pharisees. He said, you're
they that justify yourselves. And that which is highly esteemed
among men, that which you claim, is an abomination to God. It's
an outward righteousness. It's God that justified us. And
what's this? Who can condemn us? Paul, that's a It's a mighty
bold statement for a human being. Who can condemn me? I challenge
the angels, the seraphims, the cherubims. I challenge heaven. I challenge earth. Who can condemn
me? Mighty bold. What's your defense?
Here it is. It's Christ that died. It's Christ
that died. He bore my sins in His body on
the tree. He suffered the just for the
unjust to bring me to God. He paid every debt. Who can condemn
me if Christ had died? Watch this now. Yea rather is
risen again. When God raised Him, God said
to the whole world, He said to the church, when God raised Him
from the dead, When the great high priest, who was our scapegoat,
our justifier, and our sacrifice, and our sin offering died, and
God raised him, God said to all of us, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. By one offering,
he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. I'm satisfied.
He raised him from the dead. The great high priest was raised
from the dead. He's even at the right hand of
God. who also maketh intercession for us." Oh, my. Let's go back to my text for
a few moments. Bradman, this is the gospel I declared unto
you. This is the gospel, gospel of God, gospel concerning His
Son, gospel of His free, unmerited favor, grace, the gospel of eternal
life and eternal glory. And watch this. He said, I preached
it to you, and you received it. And you received. Let me tell
you something. Don't ever underestimate the importance of preaching.
Don't ever underestimate the importance of preaching. Not much today going on that's
true preaching. But I'll tell you this. The preacher
of the gospel of God's grace has always held a prominent place
in the purpose and kingdom of God. Noah was a preacher, a preacher
of righteousness. That's what Scripture says. Solomon
said this. Solomon, the wisest man who ever
lived, the king of Israel, Solomon said, I, the king, no, I, the
preacher. I, the preacher, was king over
Israel. First and foremost, I was a preacher. Jonah was told by
God, Jonah, go to Nineveh and preach unto them the preaching
I'll bid thee. Our Lord said in Luke, when he
came home to Nazareth, opened the scripture to Isaiah 61, what's
the first thing he said? The Spirit of God is upon me.
He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." The Master said that, preaching. And when he gathered his disciples
around him before he went back to glory, what's the last thing
he said to them? Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel. Build cities or straighten out
governments, or reform the social orders,
or elect the best candidates, or fight individual sins, incorporates
the gospel. And Paul said it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Then
he wrote in Romans 9 or Romans 10, whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sinned? And in our day, preaching has
been relegated to the scrapheap. And churches today go in for
everything but preaching, preaching, preaching. Socials, music, cantatas,
plays, suppers, gatherings, and when neglecting the one thing
God has ordained, by which to save sinners, and that's preaching.
Preaching is sad. But Paul said, I preach to you.
And he said, you received it. Don't underestimate the importance
of preaching, and don't underestimate the importance of hearing. Faith
comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Note these four
things. I preached the gospel to you,
and you received it. You received it. You received
it warmly. You received it in heart. You
received it in faith. You know, when he wrote to the
church at Thessalonica, he said, I know you're God's elect. I
know you're God's elect, 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, knowing, brethren, your
election of God. How did Paul know that those
folks in Thessalonica were God's elect? Preacher, you know who
the elect are? There's some evidences, and Paul gave them. You know
the first one? The first evidence of God's elect.
He said, Our gospel came unto you, not in word only, but in
power. And you received it with much
suffering and tribulation. But I preached, and you received
it. That's where the elect starts.
They hear the gospel and they believe it. And what's this next
thing? Where in you stand? And they
take a stand. Yes, sir. They take a stand,
a firm stand. They believe this gospel. Every
time I think about this scripture, where in you stand, I see Martin
Luther 475 years ago. 1521, I believe, 1521, 475 years ago,
Martin Luther, having been called out of works, Catholicism, superstition,
all of these things to faith in Christ, found out justification
by faith, by the blood. And they had that diet of worms.
A diet is not what you're on. Now watching what you eat, this
diet is a formal gathering of the hierarchy, princes, prelates,
and so forth of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. This was the
conclave. This was a meeting of everybody,
it was anybody. And it was at a city called Worms,
the Diet of Worms, a city on the Rhine in Germany called Worms,
60,000 population. And here was everybody, it was
anybody, and they had Luther on trial. He believed Christ
is the Savior only, not Mary, not the church, not the priest.
Christ fulfilled all Old Testament priesthood, and sacrifices, and
incense, and all the rest of it. These idols and statues were
forbidden in the Word, and faith in Christ justified by faith. And they had everybody there
to zero in on Him, and they stood alone. They threatened to do everything
to him you can imagine, and he came forth with these words,
didn't he, John? Here I stand. Here I stand. I can do no other. And I tell
you, when you hear this gospel, not just here, but here, you
stay with Luther. I'm not belligerent. I'm speaking in a humble fashion
with meekness, fear, and trembling. It's by the grace of God I'm
here, and I'm what I am, and know what I know. But I do know
it. And here I stand. I shall not
be moved. This gospel is the gospel. It's
his gospel. It's the only gospel. And here
I stand. And God's elect hear it, receive
it, Take a stand and watch this. And by that gospel, they're saved.
You know, here is the burning question. Everybody today has
got a religion. Everybody I know is religious.
Most people in Ashland have been saved four or five times. Everybody's
got a religion. Everybody's got a gospel. Everybody's
got a creed. But here's the burning question.
Will it save? Will the gospel I preach, will
it save? Like Paul said, I preach to you
the gospel which you receive when you stand by which you are
saved. Will the gospel you believe save
your soul? Will it satisfy God? Will it
please God? Will it take you to God someday? Will it deliver you from condemnation? Will God save? Well done. That's the burning question.
Will the message you preach and I preach, will it save? Not does it suit
my lifestyle, will it save? Most likely it won't suit it.
The question is not, is it agreeable to our thoughts? Naaman said,
well, I thought, I thought. No, will it save? Not, is this what my parents
believed? I run into people all the time that say, well, what
my parents believed, that's not what we're asking. Will your
gospel save? Will it save your soul? Not,
is it what my parents believed? Not, the question is not, do
my friends approve of this? Will it save? It's not, what does my denomination
believe? It's, will it save? Well, that's not being preached
today. I know. What's being preached today won't
save. This gospel saves. And I'll tell you why it saves.
I'll tell you why this gospel saves. Number one, it's because it's
the gospel of His person and Word. That's why it saves. It's the gospel of His person
and Word. Christ saves. effectually, completely. He was
wounded by our transgressions and by his stripes we are healed.
He honored the law, gave us a perfect righteousness. He took our sins
in his body on the tree and paid for them, died for them. God
put them away, remembers them no more. It'll save him because
Christ is a substitute. Secondly, it'll save because
he died according to the scriptures. Now look at these next verses. by which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which
I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that he was buried and rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures." The Scriptures of the Old Testament,
Genesis through Malachi. And this gospel was saved because
it's no new gospel. It's not a New Testament gospel.
It's the everlasting gospel, the eternal gospel, the lamb
slain before the foundation of the world, eternal covenant.
He's the seed of woman, according to the scriptures. He's the Passover
lamb, Christ our Passover. He's the rock smitten. He's the
manna from heaven. He's the priest in the tabernacle,
in the mercy seat, and the sin offering. He's the brazen serpent
lifted up. He's the cities of refuge. He
did all of this according to the Scriptures. He's the kinsman
redeemer. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah. He better be.
He can't save a flea. He's the root of Jesse. He's
the son of David. He better be. Your gospel better
be according to the Scriptures. Somebody invented dispensationalism. God tried to save men by innocence,
and that didn't work, and he tried to save them by law, and
that didn't work, and he tried to save them by judges, and that
didn't work, and he tried to save them by grace, and some
folks don't think that works. And someday he's going to have
a millennium, and he'll save them all then, you know. No.
Saved by the blood. Saved by the blood. Saved by
Christ. Everybody whom he purposed to save is saved by the blood
according to the Scriptures. This gospel was saved because
he's the God-man. He's the only God-man. Unto us a son is given. A child
is born. That's the same thing. No, it
isn't. A child is born who never, ever lived on this earth before.
A body, a human body. God prepared for him a body never
was seen before. Jesus. A lot of Jesus is on this
earth before, but not this one. He's not been here before as
Jesus. No, sir. A child is born, and the Son
inhabited the body of that child. Quit calling him Jesus. He's
the Lord Jesus. Every preacher I hear on television
is, Jesus this and Jesus that. I never called my daddy by his
first name. I knew better. The second thing
I'd say would be from the corner over there. He's my father, my
dad, and he's my Lord, and he's the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus
is his name of humiliation. Jesus is the name of the man,
the Lord Jesus. That's right. That's good advice
now I'm giving you. But you can't call him unless
you know him. No man calls him Lord but by
the Holy Spirit. And everybody who has the Holy
Spirit will call Him Lord. The disciples never called Him
Jesus. They said, Master. The Master. When they went to
get that donkey, they said, The Master sent us over here. He didn't say, Jesus wants this
donkey. He said, The Master wants this donkey. Now sometimes they
wrote in the four Gospels and referred to Jesus of Nazareth.
But they had to do that for folks to think it's talking about the
God of Heaven. They said the Lord appeared. Jesus appeared. See what I'm saying? But when
they referred to Him and spoke to Him and spoke of Him, they
said, The Lord! And He said to them one time,
You call Me Lord. You say, Well, so I am. Isn't
that right, John? The Lord. This gospel is saved
because the Lord became Jesus. The Lord Jesus. And this gospel is saved, fourthly,
because it's free. It's free. Now listen, you better
beware of any preacher that offers to sell you a place in heaven.
I don't care who he is, if he comes to you and says, now, if,
if you do this, if you tithe, if you join the church, if you'll
be baptized, if you'll keep this Sunday, Sabbath, and if you'll
straighten up and quit your drinking and carrying on, if you do that,
God will save you. You tell him, thanks anyway,
but I can't afford, I can't afford salvation. It costs too much.
It costs perfection. If you're going to come that
way now, you've got to be perfect. Salvation is a free gift of God.
That's why it suits my need. It's free. If it costs anything
to go to heaven, I'll never go. It's free. Therefore, being freely
justified by his grace, we have peace with God. It's free. Now,
there are some things that God's people do because they're saved,
not in order to be saved. Salvation is not a reward. Salvation
is a gift. Was the thief on the cross saved?
Come on, was he? Was that man saved? Well, the
Lord said so. Well, now, he didn't. He wasn't
baptized. Somebody said he never washed. He never did a work,
never joined church, never worked, never paid a tithe, never ever
in his life ever gave a dime to missions, never won a soul,
never witnessed, never walked the world and gave testimony. He was a sinner. who believe
Christ. Isn't that right? And that's where God saved you. I preached here 45 years. It didn't contribute one thing
to the redemption of my soul, putting away my sins, or making
me a child of God. I did it because I'm a child
of God. because I have some good news, because he sent me, because
he told me to go. If he'd have told me not to go,
I wouldn't have gone. If he'd told me to do something else,
I'd have done it. Because he told me. It's free. You better be glad it's free.
It's by grace through faith that it might be sure. If it hinges
on even your faith, we're in trouble. And I'll close. This gospel is
saved because he lives. It says here in verse 4, he was
buried and he rose again, according to the Scriptures. And he was
seen of Cephas, and then of the twelve, and then of the five
hundred brethren, and he lives! You know, somebody says, you
preach the resurrection. Well, I do. But I'll tell you this, the resurrection
is not a doctrine. The resurrection is a person.
The disciples didn't argue the resurrection. They walked with
a risen Lord. They walked with a risen Lord.
It wasn't a matter of doctrine. He said to Mary, to Martha, you
know, Martha said, well, Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother
wouldn't have died. He said, your brother will rise again. She said, oh, I know that. He'll
rise in the resurrection. He said, Martha, I'm the resurrection, and I'm the life. And he that
believeth on me, though he were dead, he lives. I know what I believe. Well,
that's good, but when you know whom you believe, it'll be better.
What you believe will take on life when you know whom. He's the resurrection, isn't
it? Isn't that a great gospel? I'm
so glad he called me to preach the gospel. I'm so glad. I'm not tempted to preach anything
else. Aren't you glad that you've heard this gospel? It'll save
you. It'll save you. And he said this,
he said, keep it in memory, what I preached to you. Some of you
young people raised here, You've been hearing this a long time. Maybe it's commonplace, but maybe
there's a seed planted and maybe someday God will save you if
you keep in memory what I preached to you. Keep it in memory. Don't let it go. It's only gospel. Foolishness to the world. I know
that. You're not going to run into many people that believe
it. Not out there. That's the reason I come here
every Lord's Day, because look at my buddies. Look at the folks
that believe this. That's encouraging. Look at them.
Old gray-haired folks like me and young people like you. Old
Elijah said, I'm the only one, Lord. Just kill me too. He said,
now wait a minute, Elijah. You hold on. I've reserved 7,000
men that hadn't bowed their knee to Baal. When you think you're
the only one, you just remember, he's got a people of every tribe,
kindred, nation, tongue under heaven. A number which no man
can number is the sands of the sea and the stars of the sky.
We're in the majority, really. Rain hailed down on this place,
and you better get your cattle in. Everybody that bladed took
the cattle in. They obeyed him. Those that didn't believe him
left the cattle out and they died. And he says, under you
that believe, he's precious. He's precious. He's all in all. He's the altogether lovely one.
He's the fairest of ten thousand. He's the bright and morning star.
He's the altogether lovely. Under you that believe, he's
precious. Precious. Unto them which be disobedient,
He's not precious. The stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and to
them he's a stone of stumbling. The Lord Jesus Christ is a stone
not on which they build, not on which they rest, not on which
they're saved, not in which they're hid. He's a stumbling stone by
which they fall.