What Is the Gospel?

Now, those who preach have a serious and solemn commandment
from the Lord Jesus Christ, who said to his apostles and
to all who do the work of the ministry, Go ye, go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel. And preach that gospel to every
creature, all who will hear you. Preach the gospel to them. And he that believeth, who believes
that gospel, and is baptized shall be saved. And he that believes
not that gospel shall be damned. And then they who preach, those
who preach, have a serious and solemn warning. They have a serious and solemn
commandment. He said, go preach the gospel.
And then he gives them, through the Apostle Paul, a most serious
and solemn warning. He said, if any man preach any
other gospel, let him be damned. Let him be damned. So I asked this morning, what
is the gospel? And for the answer, I turn to
Hebrews 10. What is the gospel? I don't think there's a chapter
in the Bible that's clearer on the gospel than Hebrews 10. I
really don't. I don't think there's a chapter
in the Bible that's plainer on the gospel, the gospel. What
is the gospel? Then Hebrews 10, that begins
with the law. Let's look at it. Hebrews 10,
1 says, for the law. It begins with the law. I think
there was something like 613 laws. 613 laws. Ordinances, commandments, ceremonies,
washings, sacrifices, do's and don'ts. 613 of them. And he says here that that law
is a shadow. It's not the substance, it's
the shadow of the gospel. It's the picture of the gospel. If a man has the law of God,
the ordinances and the ceremonies and the sacrifices, and he has
a knowledge of Christ, then he can see the gospel in these pictures. He can see it in the pictures,
but they are still just pictures, that's what he says, the shadow
of good things to come. And it says here that the law
can never, with those sacrifices which they're offered year by
year, could never make a man perfect, could never make him
accepted in God's sight. This law is not the gospel. This
covenant of works is not the gospel. It's a picture, and it
can never, it can never perfect. It can never make whole. And
verse 3 says, actually, that law not only can never make a
man perfect, but all the law does is continually remind him
that he's a sinner. You see that? In those sacrifices,
there's a reminder. There's a remembrance of sin.
It just keeps reminding you you're a sinner. You're a sinner. You're
a sinner. That's what the law does. The
law just keeps reminding you, you're a sinner. Because, he said, verse 4, it's
impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. Preaching
the law is not preaching the gospel. Preaching morality is
not preaching the gospel. Preaching good works is not preaching
the gospel. There are a lot of people who
preach who never preach the gospel. He said, but they preach good
things. Preaching good things is not preaching the gospel. Preaching religious duties is
not preaching the gospel. Ronnie prayed a while ago, as
we give, God help us and deliver us from any sense of giving out
of responsibility and duty, because that's not the gospel. You see, the law is always a
word of wrath. Do you understand that? It's
always a word of wrath. The gospel is a word of peace. The law always says, you're a
sinner. You're a sinner. It always says
that. It'll remind you of that constantly. You who would be
under the law, don't you hear the law? The law says you're
a sinner. And it not only says you're a sinner, but it says
you're going to be damned for your sins. But the gospel says Christ came
into the world to save sinners. The gospel says believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. But the law, I'm talking
about the law, the covenant, I'm talking about the ceremonies,
the sacrifices, the watchings, the feast days, all these things.
The law says pay me what you owe me. Pay me what you owe me. or you'll
be put in prison if you don't pay me what you owe me. Curse
him. Kiss everyone that continues not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. The law says pay me or I'll put
you in prison. The gospel says deliver him from
going down into the pit. I found a ransom. I found the
payment. Christ is our ransom. Christ
is our redeemer. The law says It always says this. It can't say anything else. You
have not continued. You have not continued in all
things written in the book of the law to do them. You haven't
done them. Therefore you're cursed. You're cursed. But the gospel says, Christ hath
redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
me. The law says you haven't continued. The gospel says he
did. The law says, you're cursed. The gospel says, he was cursed
for me. The law says, you'll die. The gospel says, you'll
live. Because I live, you live. The law still commands perfect
obedience. I don't care how you alter it,
twist it, rest it, or whatever, it still demands perfect obedience.
The law does not demand admiration. It demands obedience. The holy ceremonial law of God,
the covenant of works, does not demand agreement, it demands
obedience. Ethical obedience. And the gospel
only requires one thing. The gospel requires one thing,
one condition on this gospel. And every benefit and blessing
attached to this gospel has one condition. Believe. Is that right? That's the only condition. if
you can believe all things are possible to them that believe." So Hebrews 10 starts with what
can't say, and what won't say, the Lord. Then verse 5, "...wherefore
when he cometh into the world," now here's the gospel, here's the gospel, "...when he
cometh into the world," Well, who is he? Who is he? Well, first of all,
the he here is the Word, the Word of God. I'm not talking
about the written Word, I'm talking about the incarnate Word. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him, without Him was not anything made that was
made, and that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He
cometh into the world. It's not the giving of a law
or the giving of a ceremony or the giving of the ordinance,
it's the giving of Himself. He, the Word. Secondly, He is
Immanuel. When the angel told Joseph of
his coming into the world, the angel said to Joseph, call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He'll do it. He'll do it himself.
He'll do it single-handedly. He'll save his people from their
sins. And all this that the scripture
might be fulfilled which saith, Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bring forth a son, called his name Immanuel, God with us."
Who is He? When He cometh into the world.
He. Who is He? He is the Word by
whom all things are made. He is Immanuel. He is God manifest
in human flesh. I can't explain that. God said to David, do you build
me a house? The heaven of heavens won't contain
me and the earth is my footstool? Well, how can God be contained
in the body of a man? I do not know. That I can't explain. Yet never leaving the bosom of
the Father, and yet he said to Nathanael, I saw you under the
tree. I'm with you always. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. Proclaim it, I do. Explain it,
I can't. Who is He? He cometh into the
world. He's the Word. He's Emmanuel. He's wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, the Ruler, the Government's on His shoulders. He cometh into
the world. He's the God-man. God Himself,
the Father, said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. He cometh
into the world. Well, why did He come into the
world? Well, He said this, I'm come
to seek and to save. What the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, what religion and works
and sacrifices could never do, The law is not weak if the flesh
is weak. God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh condemns sin in the flesh. He came into
the world to seek and to save the lost. He said, I am come
that they might have life. I am come, he said, to do thy
will. Look at verse 6. He said, sacrifice
an offering, thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure.
Do you know that? Do you know from the sacrifice
of Abel to the last lamb that was slain, God never took any
pleasure or delight in any of those sacrifices? None of them? None of them? God had never had any pleasure,
never had any satisfaction in any sacrifice that's ever been
offered. Verse 7, "...then said I, Lo,
I come to do thy will." In the volume of the book, it is written
of me, I come to do thy will. Above, when he said, sacrifice
and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thou wouldest
not neither had any pleasure therein. I tell you, the only
time God ever looked upon anything in the flesh and found pleasures
when he looked upon his son standing in the Jordan River and he said,
this is my son in whom I am well pleased. He pleased God. Verse 9, then
said he, this word, this Emmanuel, then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will. I come to do thy will, O God.
He pleased God. He did God's will. And he put
away the old covenant, he put away the old sacrifices, he put
away the old ordinances and established the second, his sacrifice, his
offering, his priesthood. And verse 10 said, by the witch
will we are sanctified. He sanctified through the offering
of his body every believer once for all. He sanctified every
believer, made us perfect. And verse 12 says, and he put
away sin. This man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sin, putting it away, sat down at the right
hand of God. He protected forever all who
believe on him. Verse 14, for by one offering,
one sacrifice, he came into this world, did the will of God, fulfilled
the law of God. And by one offering and one sacrifice,
he put away every sin of every believer. He perfected us forever. The holy law of God is fulfilled. Atonement now is made. And our
great debt, much too great for us, he has now fully paid. No work is left undone. of all
that the Father willed, his life and his sorrows, one by one,
the scriptures all fulfilled. For ever God, for ever man, my
Savior shall endure, and fixed on him my hope remains eternally
secure. That's the gospel. The gospel
is a person, wherefore when he comes into the He said, I come
to do your will. No man's ever done your will.
I come to do your will. It's written in the volume of
the book of me, I come to do thy will. You've never had any
pleasure, you've never had any delight, you've never had any
satisfaction in any of these types and pictures that have
gone before, for that's all they are, types and pictures. But
he came into the way. And by one offering and one sacrifice,
he put away all sin, he perfected every believer, he fulfilled
God's law, he ascended to heaven as the God-man and sat down at
the right hand of God till his enemies become his footstool.
Now then, I ask this question. What assurance do we have of
the validity of this gospel? What assurance do we have of
the validity of this gospel? Well, look at verse 15. God the
Holy Ghost also is a witness. The Holy Spirit is a witness
for us, for after that, he said before, now this is what God
said before, this is the covenant I will make with them after those
days, after those days of types and shadows and pictures and
patterns. After those days, saith the Lord,
I'll put my law into their hearts, not on tables of stone, but in
the hearts. so that they'll love them, and
I'll write my law on their minds, so they'll think on them, and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." We
have God's Word for it. God's Spirit bears witness through
God's Word of the validity of this gospel. Not only that, but turn back
to Hebrews 6. Now watch this. This is so beautiful. Hebrews 6, verse 13, what assurance
do we have of the validity of this gospel of Jesus Christ,
God's Spirit, bears witness through God's Word of the validity of
this gospel. And not only that, but we have
God's oath. Now watch this, Hebrews 6, verse
13, For when God made promise to Abraham, Because he could
swear by no greater, he swore by himself. Read on. Saying, swearing by himself,
surely, blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will
multiply thee. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. For men barely swear by the greater. In other words, if I was going
to stand here, while standing in court, I think that they have
you put your hand on the Bible with swearing by the greater.
I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the
truth. People say, well, I swear by, I swear to God, or I swear
by heaven. Men swear by the greater. Always
swear by the greater. Well, you don't. Men swear by the greater, and
an oath for confirmation is to them an end of strife. When a
man takes an oath like that, when he says, I swear by the
Bible, I swear by heaven, I swear by God, that's the end of the
strife, that's the end of the confrontation. They've sworn
by the greater. Wherein God, now he could swear
by no greater. He swore by himself, willing
more abundantly to show under the airs of promise the immutability
of his counsel. You know, what's that word immutability
mean? God won't change. Unchangeableness of his counsel.
He confirmed it with an oath, that by two immutable things,
his promise and his oath, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have a strong assurance, a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, not in the Lord, not in the Christ, but in Christ. Which
hope we have as an anchor of our souls, sure and steadfast.
and which entereth into that within the veil, whether the
forerunner for us is for us entered, even Jesus Christ, our high priesthood,
where is within the veil? It's in the presence of God.
What assurance do I have of this God? Now, the law is not the
gospel. Preaching the law is not the gospel. Rules and regulations,
do this, do that, that's not the gospel. The gospel, He cometh
into the world. You see that? He, Emmanuel, God
with us. God-man. The Word. He cometh into the world. Where
did He come into the world from? I've come to save. I've come
to give my life a ransom for many. I've come that they might
have life. I've come to seek Him to save
the Lord. And He said, Father, You've never
had any pleasure in these ordinances. You've never had any satisfaction. I've come to do Thy will. I've
come to do a purpose, a will. I come to accomplish a task.
You assign me. I'm the only one who can do it.
And I put away the first. I put away all this typology,
patterns, and pictures, and established my sacrifice, my offering, my
priesthood, my redemption, my atonement. Now, what assurance
do we have? What confidence? The Word of
God. The fact God gave His Son. The
Spirit of God. And God said, I take an oath
on it. I take an oath on it. And I can swear by no greater,
that's what he said in verse 13, I swear by myself. I swear
by myself. That all who come to me in Christ,
all who look to me in Christ, all who rest in Christ, will
be redeemed. Because Christ has already entered
within the veil. Our forerunner. Our representative,
our redeemer. That's the anchor of my soul
and it's sure and steadfast. God who cannot lie has sworn
by himself that all who believe on Christ shall have everlasting
life. All right, back to our text.
Now, are you with me? Now, this is the gospel. And
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Verse 18,
now, where remission of these is, there's no more offering,
there's no more sacrifice, there's nothing more to be done. It's
done, the great transaction's done, I am my Lord and He is
mine. All right, verse 19, having therefore,
Brethren, having therefore, Brethren, boldness, confidence to enter
into the holiest, right into the presence of God. That's the
reason folks like me can stand here and say, our Father, our
Father, what right have I got to call Him my Father? God who
is perfectly holy, God who dwells in a light to which no man can
approach, God who is light, truth, holiness, and I, the chief of
sinners, can call Him my Father? was not because I fulfilled some
laws or performed some duties or worked out some tasks and
my good deeds have outweighed my bad deeds and I got a special
invitation to come because I was in church every Sunday last year.
No, he came into the world and by his sacrifice and by his blood
and by his obedience representing me, he perfected for me a righteousness
before God, and a holiness, and washed me with pure water, and
redeemed me. And he went back to glory and
took me with him. And he sat down at the right
hand of God, the God-man, forever God and forever man. And he's
my forerunner, and he entered within the veil, and sat down,
and therefore because of him, in Him, then I can come to God,
and I can call God my Father. And God will hear me, and God
will receive me, and God will love me in Christ. Do you see
that? Verse 19, Therefore, brethren, I have boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood of Jesus, no other way, by that new and
living way which he consecrated for us through the veil. Where
is this veil? What is this veil? Well, Your
Honor, in the temple. There was the holy place and
the holy of holies. And separating the holy of holies
from the holy place was a veil. And when Christ our Lord died
on that cross, God tore that veil into Him. Opening unto us
the holy of holies. And we can come into that holy
of holies. Verse 21, And having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near. I ask this question,
what is it to draw near to God? What is it to draw near to God?
Talk about drawing near to God. We have a sacrifice, we have
an atonement, we have a high priest, we have a right in Christ
to draw near to God. Well, what is it to draw near
to God? Well, it's not approaching the essence of God because God's
everywhere. I don't have to move to draw
near to God. In Him I live and move and have
my being. I don't have to think anything to draw near to the
essence of God, because He's everywhere. Like David said,
if I ascend into heaven, I'll die right there. If I make my
bed in hell, I'll die right there. If I dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, I'll die right there. So drawing near to God is not
drawing near to the essence of God. He's everywhere. And secondly,
it's not to perform the external acts of religion, bodily exercise,
profit of the living. That's not drawing near to God.
I might say, well, that's all just needle at the same time,
but that's not drawing near to God. Whether I'm on my knees
or standing straight up, drawing near to God, that's not it. Burning a candle is not drawing
near to God. Well, drawing near to God is
not folding my hands a certain way and putting on my face a
special serious look. That's not drawing near to God
because God's where He is. No matter how I look, is that
right? Well, what is it to draw near to God then? Drawing near to God is an act
of the heart. The body may not even move. My
expression might not even change. But drawing near to God is an
act of the heart and the mind, whereby the soul The innermost
being of that man, under the influence of the Holy Ghost,
sweetly, willingly returns to God in Christ Jesus and finds
in him that haven of rest, that object of worship and love and
faith that's drawn near to God. And a man doesn't have any right
to draw near to God that way except in Christ. having therefore
brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which is consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say His flesh, let us draw near." Wait
a minute now. Hold it with a true heart. With
a true heart. God help me. There's nothing
more dishonoring to God. There's nothing more distasteful
to God. There's no greater denial of
the character of God than for me to stand here and say what
I don't mean in His name. Go ahead and blow your brains
out and get it over with. There's nothing more dishonoring
to God. He said, let us draw near with
a true heart, with a true heart. That's where it is, a two-heart.
Now watch this, in full assurance, in full assurance of faith, in
full assurance. Could I help you a little bit
with that? I got some help on that, reading it, studying it
yesterday. That us, us. What are we? Who are we? Who
am I and what is my house, David said. what is man, but let us
draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance that
we'll be received in full assurance that we'll be blessed in full
assurance that we'll be saved in full assurance that we'll be accepted. Now then,
there's a difference in assurance of faith. and assurance of sense. You say, full assurance would
mean no doubt. It would, wouldn't it? Full assurance
is full assurance. Full assurance is complete assurance. Well, there's a difference in
full assurance of faith and full assurance of feeling and sense. There is. You see, assurance
of faith has its object without. And you never doubt Him. Assurance
of sense is within. And I'll tell you, it's wrapped
by a lot of things. Thoughts, unfounded thoughts. You see, assurance of faith is
the root, the root of the matter. Assurance of sense is the fruit. Is there any life in that tree?
It doesn't look like it, but you can't see the root. If there's
life in the root, there's life in the tree, and it will in due
time bear fruit. But you can't judge the life
of that tree by the sense, by the appearance. Isn't that right?
Assurance of faith is the cause. Assurance of sense is the effect.
Assurance of faith looks for the promise based on the faithfulness
of the promiser. That's right now. That's full
assurance. Abraham had full assurance that
God was going to give him a son. Yeah, he did. But I'll tell you
this, he had assurance of sense when he held Isaac in his arms.
Now, now. But he believed it before he
ever saw that boy. Yes, he did. He believed it. And he believed
when God told him, take that boy up and sacrifice him on a
mountain. He took the boy with a knife in his hand to kill him. But he believed God had raised
him. He believed God had raised him. He would have never raised
that knife over the chest of his boy if he hadn't believed
God had raised him. But you know, when he was confident of it,
and when he knew it, and when his feelings and sense knew it,
You put that ram in Isaac's place and Isaac stepped off that altar.
That's right. So assurance of faith, I draw
near to God. I know I'm not worthy, but I
draw near to God. I know that I have no right to
be there in myself. I draw near to God with a true
heart in full assurance that what He promised He'll give.
that Christ is able to save me, Christ is sufficient. I'm not
going to say I'm coming with Christ and I might better be
baptized too, or I might better give a tithe too, or I might
better be faithful to this or that. No, sir, in full assurance.
Confidence in the Promiser. I believe Noah, I believe he
believed God, I believe he had full assurance that God would
save his family, but I'll tell you this, When he really entered
into it was when that arch sat down on top of that mountain
and he walked out. That's when he really entered into it. And
David said this, he said, Lord, I'll be satisfied when I wake
with your likeness. What are you saying, Preacher?
I'm saying this, and I'll sum it up with this. For your comfort, the weakest,
frailest believer is as nearly related to God as his father,
as the strongest believer. The youngest, just as the youngest
baby in a household is as much a son as the oldest son, just
as much a son. And the weakest believer here
is a son of God. The weakest believer who rests
in Christ is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and is as much
justified at all times as the strongest believer. There's no
conditions. That's right. Thirdly, the weakest
believer shall endure to the end, kept by the power of God. He may stumble and fumble and
fall, but he will endure to the end, kept by the power of God,
as sure as will the strongest. He carries his lambs in his bosom
as well as leads his sheep. That's right. Just as long as
that full assurance and true heart is in Christ alone, who
is the gospel and who is our justifier, and not in anything
else, in me or of me or about me, that's in Christ alone. Can
you rest in Him? Can you rest in Him? That's the gospel. That's the gospel. I pray God
will bless it to your understanding and to your rest.

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