What is the Gospel?

Now the title of my message today
is, What is the Gospel? What is the Gospel? If you want
this message on a cassette tape, at the end of the program I'll
tell you how you may receive the message. But that's the title,
What is the Gospel? Now we're turning to the book
of Hebrews, chapter 10. I'm going to be using several
verses from the 10th chapter of Hebrews. And I'd like very
much if you'd open your Bibles and read with me. Now, those
who preach the Word of God have a serious and solemn commandment
from the Lord Jesus Christ, a serious and solemn commandment. Our Lord
said to his disciples and to those who preach, go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel. That's your assignment,
that's your commission. to go to every creature, to all
the world, and preach the gospel. And then those who preach have
a serious and solemn warning from the Apostle Paul, who said,
if any man preach any other gospel than that gospel which I preached,
let him be accursed. And Paul said, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. So our Lord sends us forth into
all the world to preach the gospel. And we're warned by his apostle
not to preach any other gospel. So my question today is this,
what is the gospel? What is this gospel that we're
commissioned and appointed to preach? What is this gospel?
Well, for the answer, I'm turning to the book of Hebrews. Now,
I do not know a chapter in God's Word that is clearer on the gospel
than the 10th chapter of Hebrews. I wish that you would be motivated
by this message to go to the Word of God and read the 10th
chapter of Hebrews. Now, Hebrews 10 begins with the
law. For the law, it says, having
a shadow of good things to come, and not the substance or image
of those things, can never, with the sacrifices which are offered
often, make the comers thereunto perfect or acceptable. In other
words, the Old Testament law, the law of ceremonies and sacrifices
and tabernacle and priesthood and commandments, the laws of
washings and days and do's and don'ts. And someone said there
are about 613 of these laws, commandments, ordinances, washings
and sacrifices. Well, all of these things can
never, never, never justify a sinner, cannot make him acceptable before
God, cannot make him perfect by the deeds of the law, shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. You see, the law, the
law of ceremony and ordinances, the law of commandments and the
law of the priesthood and the tabernacle and the sacrifices,
it's a shadow. It's not the substance, it's
not the real thing. It's a picture, it's a pattern.
It is not, now it never has been, the way to God. You see, this
law with its sacrifices can never make a man acceptable before
God, but rather it only brings sin to memory. It brings sin
to remembrance. That's what verse 2 says in verse
3. It brings sin to remembrance.
It never puts it away, cannot put it away. By the law is the
knowledge of sin, not the cleansing of sin. And preaching the law
is not preaching the gospel. Preaching morality and preaching
good works and preaching religious duties is not preaching the gospel. You see, the law is a word of
wrath. The gospel is a word of peace. The law says you're a sinner.
That's all the law can say to you. You're a sinner. And you
shall be damned. But the gospel says Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and I shall be saved. The law says pay me what you
owe or I'll put you in prison. And the gospel says deliver him
from going down into the pit. I found a payment. I found a
ransom. There is a redeemer. You see
the difference? The law says you have not continued
in all things written in the law to do them. And therefore
you're cursed. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law, not to admire
them or even to agree with them, but to do them. So you're cursed. But the gospel says Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. The law commands perfect obedience. It can be satisfied with no less
than perfect obedience. God said to be accepted, it must
be perfect. But the gospel commands one thing.
There's one condition. Believe. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Believe. So let's look
at this Hebrews 10 now, verse 5. Now watch this. He says in
the first four verses, the law is just a shadow, a picture,
a pattern. The law can never make anybody
perfect. Through the law comes a memory of sin, the remembrance
of sin. It's not possible that blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. And then this announcement
in verse 5, now look at it. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, now the law was given, the law was given through Moses,
not by Moses, given by God, given through Moses, but grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ, when he, look at verse 5, wherefore
when he cometh into the world, now there's the gospel, there's
the good news, he cometh into the world. And coming into the
world he brought grace, grace flows from his lips. He brought
truth, he is. Grace and truth didn't come by
Jesus Christ, came through him, came because of him. And there's
your gospel. No gospel in the law, the gospel's
a person. Well, I asked several questions.
First of all, who is he? It says, wherefore when he cometh
into the world? Who is he? Who is he? Well, he's
the Savior. When he came into the world,
the angels, God put a star over his birthplace and sent the angels
down to the Judean hillsides, and these angels said to the
shepherds, Behold, we bring you glad tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, a Saviour. Isaiah said, God is
a just God and a Saviour. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else. He is our Saviour. And then He is the Lamb of God.
This He that came into the world, He's the Savior. He's the Lamb
of God. John the Baptist, the last prophet
of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the
Messiah, when he saw Christ, he said, Behold, the Lamb of
God, the Lamb to fulfill all of the lambs that have died before. This is the Lamb of God. This
is the Lamb of God. And then he's Emmanuel. The angel
spoke to Joseph, said, don't be afraid to take Mary to be
your wife, because that holy thing which shall be born of
her is the Son of God. And you call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. And all of this,
that the word of God through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and bring forth a son, and ye call his name Emmanuel,
God with us. He cometh into the world. He,
the Savior, the Lamb of God, Emmanuel, he's the Word, the
Word of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and he's God manifest in
human flesh. I can't explain that, I just
know it's so. This is a true saying. And without controversy,
the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. God
was manifest in the flesh. And He's the Son of God. He said,
His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Unto us a Son is given.
He cometh into the world. Well, what did He do? He literally
actually came into the world. Galatians 4 says this, when the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a
woman, made under the law. And he took upon him actually
the form of a servant, he who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, made himself of no reputation. Took on him
the form of a servant, was made literally in the likeness of
men, in the likeness of sinful flesh. The word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory." What are you saying,
preacher, in simple words? I'm saying this, that Jesus of
Nazareth is God Almighty in human flesh. He, He, God, came into
the world. He came into the world, born
of a woman, dwelling in flesh and bones, in the likeness of
our flesh, and made himself of no reputation. That's right.
Well, why did he come into the world? Why did he come? Well, Timothy, Paul writing to
Timothy says this, this is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptation
by all men, that Jesus Christ came into the world. to save
sinners, of whom I'm the chief." That's why he came into the world,
to save sinners. He said, I'm come to seek and
to save the lost. He said, I'm come that they might
have life. There's life to be found nowhere
else but in him. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. He said, I'm come to do thy will,
O God. And when he was going to the
cross, He said in that high priestly prayer, I finished the work you
gave me to do. I finished the work. Why did
he come into the world? To save sinners. Well, how did
he save sinners? Well, are you familiar with these
scriptures? Are these scriptures familiar to you? In Romans 5
verse 19 it says this, By the disobedience of one, many were
made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. The one, now by the disobedience
of one, who is that one? Many were made sinners. That
one is Adam. Is that not right? Alright, so
by the obedience of one, well who is that one? Shall many be
made righteous. That's Christ. Wherefore, Paul
says here in Hebrews 10, the law can't help us, the law can't
perfect us, the law can't bring us to God. All the ceremonies,
613 of them. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he said, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body thou hast prepared for me. He, who is the he? He's
Emmanuel, Son of God, our Savior, the Lamb of God. He's the Redeemer. And he literally actually came
into the world. He said, a body you prepared me. God prepared
me a body. I come in the body, in the likeness
of flesh, in the form of a servant, born of a woman. And he came,
he said, to give life. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He came that they might have life and have it more abundantly. He came to save sinners. Now
how did he do it? Well, it tells us here. By the
disobedience of one, Adam, we were made sinners. So, by the
obedience, you see, Adam disobeyed God's law and we fell. Christ
came as a man in the flesh and was made under that law, in subjection
to that law, and he obeyed it. And by his obedience, we were
made righteous. You see that? You see, you've
got to learn something about this representation thing. It
says the first Adam is of the earth, earthy. The second Adam
is the Lord from heaven. He came into the world. The Lord
from heaven came into the world. He says in Adam we died. In Christ we're made alive. By man came death. By this first
man, Adam, by his disobedience, by his fall, by his sin came
death. And death passed upon all men.
by man for Christ. If I can put it in plain words
now, here's the gospel according to the scriptures. Here's what
the scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation. This is it. Now
listen to me. God made man in his own image,
made him upright, holy, breathed unto him the breath of life,
he became a living soul, and God gave him a commandment, a
covenant of works. And he said, Obey and live. That's the covenant, that's the
commandment. Obey me and live. Disobey me and die. Well, that
one man, that first man, that father of all men, that root
of all flesh, that representative, he fell. And he died spiritually,
just like God said he would. And he represented all men, and
it said, as by one man sin entered this world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men for all sin. All have sinned
and come short of God's glory. We have sinners by imputation,
we have sinners by representation, we have sinners by impartation,
we have sinners by birth, by nature, by choice, by practice,
in all forms. Now, sin changed man. From holy to unholy, from light
to darkness, from life to death, sin changed man, rendered him
incapable, not able to fulfill God's law, but sin didn't change
God's law. Sin changed man, but not God's
law. God's law is the same, still true. Obey and live. Obey and
live. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. who's
never lifted his soul to vanity, who's never sworn deceitfully.
That's still true. You see, sin changed man, but
it didn't change God's law, didn't change God's nature, didn't change
God's requirement, didn't change God's commandments. So immediately
after the fall, the Lord God announced his purpose of redemption.
Through a substitute, he immediately announced in Genesis 3, right
after the fall, Before he ever threw Adam out of the Garden
of Eden, God announced the purpose of redemption in Christ Jesus. He said to the serpent, the seed
of woman shall bruise the serpent's head. The seed of woman. That's
Christ. That's the virgin-born Son of
God, you see. We're the seed of man. We're
not the seed of woman. But Christ had no human father.
He's the Son of God. And he's the seed of woman, and
God announced it right then, the seed of woman. In fact, all
the way through the Old Testament. All of the Old Testament, from
Genesis to Malachi, God promised the Messiah. God promised the
Redeemer, God promised the Savior. To Him give all the prophets
witness, all the ceremonies, the sacrifices, the tabernacle,
the priesthood, all these things in the Old Testament. All of
these slain lambs, all of these atonements, all of these sacrifices. are pictures and patterns of
the person and work of Jesus Christ. He said, Abraham saw
my day and was glad. He said, Moses wrote of me. The
rock smitten by Moses, that rock is Christ, said Paul. That Passover
lamb slain in Egypt, that Christ is our Passover. God never had
any pleasure, satisfaction, Old Testament sacrifices and burnt
offerings and atonements. Those were pictures. Those were
patterns, those were shadows of the substance, not the substance
of the gospel. You see, look at Hebrews 10,
6. In burnt offerings and sacrifices, in Old Testament pictures, God
had no pleasure, God had no delight, God took no satisfaction. The
blood of an animal cannot put away the sin of a man. Just a
picture. Then said Christ, Lo, I come,
I come into the world. Emmanuel, God, the Son of God,
I come into the world. In the volume of the whole book,
it's written of me, I come to do thy will, O God. And Jesus
Christ, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, the man Christ
Jesus, representing every believer, representing a covenant people,
representing a mediatorial kingdom, he came to this earth to do what
God commanded. and what we couldn't perform.
To do what God required and what we couldn't supply. To do what
the Holy Lord God expected in something that we could not fulfill.
But He did. He did. Now look there at Hebrews
chapter 10 again. Are you looking at it with me?
Hebrews 10 verse 9. Our Lord said, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first. that
he may establish a second. What is this first that he taketh
away? He taketh away the Old Testament priesthood. He taketh
away the Old Testament ceremonies and sacrifices and Sabbath days.
He taketh away the Passover. He taketh away all these things
that were pictures. You don't need a picture when
you have the person. You don't need a pattern when you have
the person. You don't need that which is a type when you have
him who is the fulfillment of the type. And he said he takes
away all these things. They're no longer in effect.
They've been fulfilled. Christ came and fulfilled them
according to the will of God. He said, I come to do thy will,
O God. Look at verse 10. By the which will, by the will
of God in Christ, we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Every believer is sanctified.
What is to be sanctified is to be set apart. is to be made holy,
is to be declared to be holy. In Christ we have righteousness.
In Christ we have a fulfilled law. You see that? He is our
righteousness. He is our sanctification. He
is our redemption. Now look at verse 11. And he
goes back and points to that Old Testament ceremonies and
sacrifices and tabernacles. And he said, every priest of
the Old Testament standeth daily Why do they always stand? They
never sat down, they always stand. There's not a chair in the tabernacle
or temple. They always stood because their
work was never finished. There were many of them and many
sacrifices never finished. And they stand daily, ministering
and offering the same sacrifices over and over and over again.
If these sacrifices could have made the commerce there unto
perfect, they would have ceased to have been offered. For the
conscience once purged would have no more conscience of sin,
no more awareness. But they offered the same sacrifices
which can never take away sin. Now look at verse 12. But this
man, this man who came into the world, this God-man, this special
man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Who is
he? Oh, you see Hebrews 10, Paul
takes all of these ceremonies and ordinances and sacrifices
and said they're not the real thing, they're just pictures,
just shadows. Can't do it, can't make you perfect,
can't justify you, can't bring you to God. But when he cometh
into the world, who is he? Don't forget who he is. What
did he do? He came into this world in the
flesh. It is necessary that our high priest be tempted as we
are, that he be tried as we are, fulfilled, because he represents
us. He came into the world. What
did he come to do? To give life. How did he give life? By one
offering, one sin offering, and that of himself, his blood, not
the blood of an animal, his blood. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified. And after he had offered one
sacrifice for sin forever, he sat down at the right hand of
God, finished what he came to do. Our redemption is complete. Our redemption is secure. For
by that one offering, by that one sacrifice, by that one life,
you say, well, how in the world could one person, one man, satisfy
God's holy law for so many? So many people, so many generations
and nations of people, as the stars of the sky and the sands
of the seashore, because of who he is. It's not just the death on the
cross, it's who died on that cross. It's not just the blood
he shed, it's whose blood was shed. Paul said, who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died, the God-man.
Talking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, he said, feed
the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. God did. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. It's who he is. Do you understand
that? Adam represented a lot of folks, fleshly people. Our
Lord Jesus Christ represents effectually his people. And verse
15 says the Holy Spirit is our witness. He takes the things
of Christ and shows them to us. In verse 16 and 17, the Holy
Spirit declares, this is the covenant, this is the covenant,
this is the promise that I'll make to them after those days,
after those days of pattern and picture. I'll write my law on
their hearts. I'll write my law on their minds.
And their sins and iniquities, I'll remember no more. Now, where
forgiveness is, there's no more sacrifice. We don't need any
more sacrifices. We don't need any more Messiahs.
We don't need any more offerings. By one offering, he has perfected
forever, and there's sins and iniquities that I remember no
more. Now watch verse 19. All right, brethren. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter ourselves into the holiest, into the presence
of God, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which
he hath consecrated through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. So having a high priest over
the house of God, we have a high priest. He's none other than
the Son of God. Let us draw near. Let us draw
near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, knowing that
we'll be received and will be heard and will be accepted in
the beloved. Do you see the gospel? When he
cometh into the world by one obedience and by one sacrifice
and by one offering, he perfected forever every believer and ascended
to the right hand of God and sat down and he says, now let
every believer boldly come into the presence of God, boldly with
a true heart, in full assurance of faith. Now this message is
on a cassette tape. What is the gospel? I'd like
for you to get it and share it with someone else. What is the
gospel? I've tried to be as plain as
I could be, as clear as I could be on this subject. The gospel
is a person.

What is the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

What is the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book