I've spent a great deal of time
thinking about the message that I'm going to bring to you today.
I've given it much prayer and sought the leadership of the
Spirit of God. And I'm going to speak to you
on the subject, A Return to the Gospel. I wish that you'd listen
very carefully and consider the things that I'm going to say
in the scripture that I'll be reading, A Return to the Gospel. Now, if you'd like to have this
message on a cassette tape, I'll tell you about it after the program. But you listen now as I speak
to you on the subject, A Return to the Gospel. Now, our text
will be taken from 2 Chronicles 34, verse 21. 2 Chronicles 34,
21. The nation Israel had departed
from the true worship of God, which they did on many occasions. But this time the temple was
deserted. And the temple was in ruins,
and evil kings had reigned, and covetous priests and prophets
had led the people into all forms of idolatry and turned their
hearts away from the living God. And a young man was made king
by the name of Josiah. They crowned him king of Israel. He was a very young man. But
when Josiah came to be 26 years of age, HE ORDERED THE IDOLS
TO BE DESTROYED. HE WANTED TO FOLLOW THE GOD OF
HIS FATHERS. AND HE ORDERED THE IDOLS TO BE
DESTROYED. HE ORDERED THE EVIL PRIESTS TO
BE PUT TO DEATH. AND HE SENT WORD FOR THE TEMPLE
TO BE CLEANED OUT AND WORSHIP OF GOD TO BE RESTORED. WELL,
WHILE THEY WERE CLEANING OUT THE TEMPLE, HILKIAH THE PRIEST
FOUND THE BOOKS a most important book. This was the Word of God
written by Moses. I suppose it was the first five
books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. But Hilkiah the priest found
the book, he found the Word of God, and he dusted it off, and
he brought the Word of God to the young king. And that brings
me to my text in 2 Chronicles 34, 19. He'll cow and shape and the scribe
brought this book the Word of God to this young King Josiah
He'd never read the Word of God. He'd never heard it read and
It says in 2nd Chronicles 34 19 it came to pass when the king
heard the words of the Lord when they read the scriptures to him
and He rent his clothes. That was a sign of great grief
and great sorrow on the part of people back then. He rent
his clothes and he said to the priest, go inquire of the Lord
for me and for the people concerning the words of this book. This
book that is found, you inquire of the Lord concerning me and
the people. about the words of this book.
For great is the wrath of our God, because our fathers have
not kept nor taught the words of this book. Our fathers have
not kept nor taught the words of this book. Now, I could stop
this message right here and just leave it with you. JUST LEAVE
IT WITH YOU. AND MANY OF YOU COULD APPLY THIS
ILLUSTRATION, THIS STORY, WHAT HAPPENED HERE. YOU COULD APPLY
IT TO OUR DAY BECAUSE IT CERTAINLY CAN BE SAID OUR FATHERS AND OUR
CHURCH LEADERS HAVE NOT TAUGHT NOR PREACHED THE WORDS OF THIS
BOOK. THEY HAVE NEGLECTED THE WORD
OF THE LORD. WHAT GOD HAS WRITTEN HAS BEEN
LOST AND IGNORED IN ALL OF THE CEREMONIES OF RELIGION ALL OF
THE CUSTOMS AND RITUALS AND TRADITIONS. AND IN 1986, IN ALL OF THE ENTERTAINMENT
AND FOOLISHNESS THAT GOES ON IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. YOU
KNOW THAT AND I KNOW THAT. UTTER FOOLISHNESS. THEATRICAL
PRODUCTIONS. AND ENTERTAINMENT IN THE NAME
OF GOD WITH NO PREACHING OF THE SCRIPTURES. YOU KNOW THIS AND
I KNOW THIS. that is set to cry against it,
at least to some who will hear my voice. Preachers on television,
and not only on television, but from their pulpits, spend more
time raising money and building buildings than they spend preaching
the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ. And everybody listening
to me knows that. Although we know this too. What
Paul said in Acts 17, he said, God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he's the Lord of heaven and earth,
he dwelleth not in temples. He dwelleth not in temples and
cathedrals made with hands, neither is he worshiped with men's hands.
And yet we keep on building and promoting and organizing. as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. And
our Lord said, God is spirit. He does not dwell in temples
and churches and buildings. God is spirit and they who worship
God must worship him in spirit and truth. The earth is the Lord's
and the fullness are of the world and all they that dwell therein.
He asked David, would you build a house for me to dwell in? Seeing
the heaven of heavens cannot contain me and the earth is my
footstool. Yet knowing this, we go on building
and raising millions and erecting great monuments to the flesh
and putting our names on these monuments, organizing, promoting
and entertaining in the name of God. We say we're doing it
for God and yet God doesn't dwell in buildings and houses and things
of that nature. And preaching the Word of God,
preaching the gospel and teaching the Word of God has been literally
pushed aside. Not too many months ago, I made
a trip to Africa to preach in several places in England and
down in the Ivory Coast. And I was invited to the capital
city of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan, a large city in the Ivory Coast
section of Africa. And I was to preach Sunday morning
at 8.30 in a large church called the International Missionary
Fellowship. This was a church made up of
missionaries and their families from all over the world, all
different denominations, mostly Americans and English. And I
was to speak to them on Sunday morning. I traveled all the way
from America. to speak at several places, but
particularly on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, in this International
Missionary Fellowship Church. Service began at 8.30, and I
asked the young man who was presiding, I said, now, how long does your
service last? He said, well, we start at 8.30
and we're out by 9.15. I said, well, how long do you
usually preach? Oh, he said, not over 15 minutes. I said, what do you do? He said,
we sing and we pray and we share and we have testimonies and this
sort of thing, but we don't preach over 15 minutes. I said, young
man, I'll be preaching a minimum of 30 minutes. And when I opened
my message, I talked to those missionaries about restoring
the preaching of the gospel to the pulpit. BUT IN THIS DAY,
PREACHING AND TEACHING THE WORD OF GOD HAS BEEN PUSHED ASIDE.
IT HAS TO MAKE WAY FOR ENTERTAINMENT, EDUCATION, SHARING, PROGRAMS,
SOCIAL CONTACT, AND WE JUSTIFY, YOU LISTEN TO ME, WE'RE JUSTIFYING
EVERY GIMMICK AND EVERY TRICK WE CAN COME UP WITH TO GET PEOPLE
TO COME TO THE HOUSE OF GOD. WE'RE JUSTIFYING AND PREACHERS
ON TELEVISION ARE JUSTIFYING EVERY GIMMICK THAT THEY CAN USE
FROM SELLING BRICKS TO BLOOMS AND SELLING LAPEL PINS TO NECKLACES
AND OFFERING TAPES AT EXORBITANT PRICES and Bibles at exorbitant
prices, Bibles with their pictures in them, and their signatures
on them, and their notes on them. We're doing everything under
the sun, known to men, to get people to support our organizations,
and we're ignoring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
just not being preached. Now, we talk about preaching
it, but not many people preach it. We're always saying we want
to raise more money to get more stations, to put more programs
on, to send more missionaries, to preach a gospel that we never
preach, that we never declare. The Apostle Paul, and here's
what we've got today. We've got the gospel of entertainment
and the gospel of socialism and the gospel of this and the gospel
of that. And Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11, he said, they'll come preaching
another Jesus. THEY'LL COME PREACHING ANOTHER
SPIRIT AND ANOTHER GOSPEL. ANOTHER JESUS, ANOTHER SPIRIT,
AND ANOTHER GOSPEL. AND AGAIN, HE WARNED IN GALATIANS,
HE SAID, I MARVEL. HERE WAS TO THE CHURCH AT GALATIA,
NOT TOO MANY YEARS AFTER OUR LORD HAD RISEN AND GONE BACK
TO HEAVEN. HE SAID, I MARVEL THAT YOU'RE
SO SOON, SO SOON. REMOVED FROM HIM THAT CALLED
YOU INTO THE GRACE OF CHRIST UNTO ANOTHER GOSPEL, WHICH IS
NOT ANOTHER GOSPEL. IT'S A PERVERSION. A PERVERSION
OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. NOW, MY MESSAGE MAY BE OFFENSIVE,
BUT I'M GOING TO SPEAK PLAINLY TO YOU. I AM CONVINCED THAT MOST
OF WHAT'S GOING ON TODAY IN THE NAME OF GOD IS ANOTHER GOSPEL. IT'S ANOTHER SPIRIT. And it's
another Jesus. And it's not the gospel of God's
grace and mercy at all. It's not glorifying to God. It
is not exalting to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's one of our
problems. Today's gospel is a plea. We've made our God a beggar. INSTEAD OF MEN WAITING ON GOD,
GOD WAITS ON MEN. THAT'S WHAT WE PREACH. INSTEAD
OF MEN PLEADING FOR MERCY, WE HAVE GOD PLEADING WITH MEN TO
LET HIM SHOW MERCY. AND TODAY'S GOSPEL IS A PATHETIC
PLEA FROM THE PULPIT FOR PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING FOR GOD. RATHER
THAN WHAT MUST BE DONE, AND THAT IS GOD MUST DO SOMETHING FOR
US. He reminds me of the Pharisee
in the temple who stood there and lauded himself and praised
himself and added up all the things he had done for God. He
said, I tithe, I fast twice a week, I give alms to the poor, I'm
not an extortioner, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not unjust, I'm
not like other folks. But there in the back of the
building was a publican A notorious sinner who would not so much
as lift his eyes, let alone his pleas and his hands to heaven,
but he smote on his breast and he cried, oh God, you show mercy
to me, the sinner. That's the sinner pleading with
God to show mercy. The Pharisee was adding up all
of his services and things he had done for God. Here was a
man asking God to have mercy and our Lord said the publican
went home justified. The rich young ruler talked to
Christ of his morality. He talked to Christ of his righteousness. He talked of Christ of his faithfulness
to the commandments all his life and went home sorrowfully while
the harlot fell at his feet, bathed them with tears of repentance
and received the forgiveness of her sins. The religious people
at the judgment in Matthew 7 were talking about all the things
they'd done in the name of the Lord. They bragged about how
they'd preached in the name of the Lord and cast out devils
in the name of the Lord and done many wonderful works in the name
of the Lord on the mission fields and at home and all these places. And our Lord said, depart from
me, I never knew you. While the thief, while the thief,
the repentant thief, who had nothing to boast of and brag
about and present to God except an empty handed sinner, WALKED
INTO GLORY ON THE ARM OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. MEN TODAY
MAKE DECISIONS FOR JESUS. THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID, I OBTAINED
MERCY. MEN TODAY ARE BUSY ACCEPTING
JESUS AND PAUL SAID THAT WE ARE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. THAT'S
THE OPPOSITE. IT'S NOT OUR ACCEPTING HIM, IT'S
HIS ACCEPTING US. HE'S NOT THE GUILTY ONE, WE ARE.
HE'S NOT THE OFFENDER, WE ARE. WE'VE MADE GOD THE OFFENDER.
WE'RE OUT BEGGING SINNERS TO DO SOMETHING FOR GOD AND WE CAN'T
ADD ANYTHING TO GOD'S GLORY. HE DOESN'T NEED US, WE NEED HIM. MEN TODAY ARE BUSY GIVING THEIR
HEARTS TO GOD AND THE PROPHET SAID HE'LL TAKE THAT OLD STONY
HEART OUT AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. GOD DOESN'T NEED MY
HEART, I NEED A NEW HEART. MEN TODAY WIN SOULS AND MAKE
CONVERTS, WHILE PAUL SAID, I AM WHAT I AM BY THE GRACE OF GOD.
I'M NOT WHAT I AM BY THE CUNNING CRAFTINESS OF SOME MAN. I'M NOT
WHAT I AM BY THE POWERFUL PERSUASION OF SOME PREACHER. I'M NOT WHAT
I AM BY THE CLEVERNESS OF SOME SOUL WINNER. I AM WHAT I AM BY
THE GRACE OF GOD. WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST
LOVED US. MY FRIEND, SALVATION'S NOT OF
MAN. IT'S NOT OF THE WILL OF MAN.
Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Salvation is His work of grace
in us, not our work for Him, His work for us and in us. Paul
said, summing up his conversion, he said, It pleased God to reveal
His Son in me. And then in I Corinthians 1.30,
he said, Of Him are you in Christ? OF GOD ARE YOU IN CHRIST JESUS,
WHO OF GOD IS MADE UNTO US WISDOM, RIGHTEOUSNESS, SANCTIFICATION,
AND REDEMPTION. OH, I TELL YOU, GOD DOESN'T NEED
US TO DO ANYTHING FOR HIM. WE'RE DESPERATELY IN NEED OF
GOD DOING SOMETHING FOR US. AND THIS PATHETIC PLEA FROM THE
PULPIT TODAY THAT MUST MAKE A HOLY GOD NAUSEATED, when they picture
him in heaven wanting to do what he can't do, willing to do what
he's not able to do, and men resisting his hand on every turn,
when he said, my ear's not dull that I cannot hear, my arm's
not short that I cannot save, can I not do with my own what
I will? WE NEED GOD TO DO SOMETHING FOR
US. WE NEED NEW HEARTS. WE NEED REGENERATION. WE NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN. WE
NEED GOD TO SHOW MERCY TO US. WE NEED GOD TO VISIT US WITH
A REFRESHING FROM HEAVEN. WE MUST NOT TURN TO MEN AND FIND
OUT WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO. LET'S TURN TO HEAVEN AND SEE
WHAT GOD'S GONNA DO. HE'S NOT IN OUR HANDS. WE'RE
IN HIS HANDS. I'LL TELL YOU ANOTHER PROBLEM
WE'VE GOT. LISTEN CAREFULLY TO ME. NOW THINK ABOUT THIS. TODAY'S
GOSPEL HAS ONE GOAL. TODAY'S PREACHERS HAVE ONE GOAL.
TODAY'S CHURCH SERVICES HAVE ONE GOAL. TO MAKE HEAVEN AND
MISS HELL. THAT'S ALL THAT'S ON THE MIND
OF THE AVERAGE PREACHER AND THE AVERAGE PULPITEER AND THE AVERAGE
CHURCH MEMBER. WE WANT TO MAKE IT TO HEAVEN.
WE DON'T WANT TO GO TO HELL, WHATEVER IT TAKES. WHAT DOES
THE SCRIPTURE TALK ABOUT? THE SCRIPTURE TALKS ABOUT KNOWING
CHRIST. KNOWING GOD. THE SCRIPTURE DOESN'T
TALK ABOUT BEING SAVED FROM HELL, IT TALKS ABOUT BEING SAVED FROM
SIN. WE'VE GOT A... NOT WE'VE GOT
A HELL PROBLEM, WE'VE GOT A SIN PROBLEM. WE'VE GOT TO KNOW THE
LIVING GOD. THE MESSAGE FROM TODAY'S PULPIT
IS THIS, AND YOU'VE HEARD IT SO MUCH, WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO
GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE? ARE YOU GOING TO GO TO HEAVEN
WHEN YOU DIE? MAN'S GOAL IN RELIGION IS TO MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. PAUL'S
GOAL WAS TO WIN CHRIST. and be found in Him. Oh, He said
that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Oh, that I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection. John 17 verse 3, our Lord was
praying to the Heavenly Father and He said this, He said, Thou
hast given me authority over all flesh that I should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me. And this is life
eternal. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE THAT
THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE NOT THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE THEIR NAMES IN
HEAVEN OR MISS HELL THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW GOD THE LIVING GOD
THE TRUE GOD AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM THOU HAST SENT YOU CAN'T
GIVE A MAN A TITLE TO HEAVEN WHO DOESN'T HAVE A UNION WITH
CHRIST BECAUSE CHRIST IS SALVATION AND CHRIST IS HEAVEN AND CHRIST
IS LIFE And people who are not joined in a living union with
Christ have no inheritance in heaven. He is our inheritance. He is our reward. I tell you, congregations today
are just drenched with the terrors of hell and drenched with the
comforts of heaven while they miss the gospel of Jesus Christ. AND THE MISSUBSTITUTION. HERE
ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE VITAL. IT'S NOT WILL YOU GO TO HEAVEN
OR HELL. THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE VITAL
ARE THESE. HOW CAN A MAN BE JUST WITH GOD? THAT'S THE QUESTION. HOW CAN HE BE CLEAN THAT'S BORN
OF A WOMAN? HOW CAN SIN BE PUT AWAY? IF YOU
PUT MY SIN AWAY, YOU PUT AWAY THE CAUSE OF HELL. How can a
man attain to the righteousness of God? How can a man receive
and have and possess the righteousness of God? If I have the righteousness
of God, I have heaven. If I have the righteousness of
God, which is Christ, I have heaven. How can God be just and
justify the ungodly? That's the question. But no, we've got this thing
wrapped up in one thing. I want to go to heaven. I want
to go to heaven. I want to go to heaven. That's all I'm interested
in, going to heaven. Well, you wouldn't like it. You
wouldn't like it. IF YOU DON'T KNOW CHRIST NOW
AND LOVE CHRIST NOW, YOU WOULDN'T ENJOY OR LIKE HEAVEN BECAUSE
HEAVEN IS TO BE WITH HIM. HEAVEN IS TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP
HIM. HEAVEN IS TO IGNORE AND LIVE
IN HIS PRESENCE. HEAVEN IS TO BE LIKE CHRIST.
THAT'S WHAT HEAVEN IS. HEAVEN IS NOTHING IN THE WORLD
BUT THE PERFECTION OF WHAT GOD STARTS ON THIS EARTH IN BRINGING
MAN TO A UNION WITH THE JESUS CHRIST HIS SON. AND I'M LEVELING
WITH YOU. And this thing of the gospel's
not a heaven, hell proposition, it's a Christ and sin proposition. It's being redeemed from sin,
it's being saved from sin, it's being brought to love Christ,
to trust Christ, to know Christ, to believe Christ, and being
brought to a saving union with Jesus Christ. Who is our substitute? Who is our sin offering? Who
is our savior? Who is our righteousness? I'll
tell you another problem. Today's preaching and today's
so-called gospel is a message to the head, not to the heart.
It's a message to the head. Religion today is debated, it's
argued, it's fought over. And you know why? Because the
heads of men are full of doctrines and creeds and their hearts are
empty of Christ. THEIR HEADS ARE FULL OF DOCTRINES
AND THEIR HEARTS ARE EMPTY OF THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE LOVE
OF GOD AND THE MERCY OF GOD. WE TALK ABOUT WHAT WE BELIEVE.
PAUL TALKED ABOUT WHOM HE BELIEVED. I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED.
CHRIST IS MY LIFE, HE SAID. CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.
HE SAID, I TRAVAIL AS A WOMAN GIVING BIRTH TO A CHILD TILL
CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU. YOUR HEART. WE TALK ABOUT GOD
AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD. WE BELIEVE THERE IS A GOD AND
NOAH WAS BUSY OBEYING GOD. WE TALK ABOUT LOVE AND THE DISCIPLES
SHOWED IT IN DEED AND IN TRUTH. WE CALL HIM LORD WITH OUR LIPS
AND OUR HEARTS ARE FAR FROM HIM. Intellectual religion is confined
to church building denominations and organizations, and heart
faith is demonstrated in the home, on the job, and on the
street. But we got it up here. We're
the smartest generation in theology that's ever lived. Our preachers
have THDs and THBs and PhDs and DDs and MDivs. BUT THEY DON'T
HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS IN THEIR HEARTS. AND THEREFORE
THEY'RE BUTCHERING THE SOULS OF MEN AND WOMEN. CHURCH PEOPLE
TODAY ARE IDENTIFIED BY THE NAMES OF THE MEN WHOSE DOCTRINES THEY
EMBRACE. WE CALL THEM LUTHERANS. WE CALL
THEM WESTLANDS. We call them Calvinists, we call
them Armenians, we call them Mormons, we call them Baptists,
we call them Presbyterians, and we call them Catholic. We're
noted, we're known by the names of the men whose theology we
embrace. And believers are known by the
name of the Lord whom they love. They were called Christians.
THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS. YOU KNOW THAT'S SO AND I DO TOO.
MEN TODAY ARE CONVINCED IN THEIR HEADS THE PEOPLE AT PENTACOST
WERE BROKEN IN THEIR HEARTS. GOD SAID, MY SON, GIVE ME YOUR
HEART. GIVE ME YOUR HEART. HE SAID, MY SON, KEEP YOUR HEART.
OUT OF IT ARE THE ISSUES OF LIFE. GOD IS KNOWN TO THEM OF A BROKEN
HEART. GOD SAVETH SUCH AS BE OF A BROKEN
HEART AND A CONTRITE SPIRIT. But we think if we can go by
somebody's house, knock on the door, and spread our literature
out, and they can sit there, and we can match wits with them,
and argue doctrine with them, and debate with them, and convince
them of our way, and they'll join our denomination, we've
won a convert. That's all we've won, a convert
to a manmade religion. Salvation's a heart work. Repentance
is a heart work. Faith is a heart work. Love for
Christ is a heart work. We receive a new heart and a
new nature by the power of the Spirit of God and are brought
to love Jesus Christ. And that's not something people
do sitting across the table arguing religion. He's wrong, he's wrong,
you're wrong, I'm right. By nature, we're all wrong. Let
God be true and ever man a liar. Here's another problem. TODAY'S
GOSPEL CALLS ON PEOPLE TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. WE'RE SO BUSY
COUNTING PEOPLE. SOMEBODY SAID THE GLORY OF THE
CHURCH USED TO BE THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. THE PRESENCE OF
THE LORD. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH USED
TO BE THE POWER OF ITS GOSPEL AND ITS PULPIT. THE GLORY OF
THE CHURCH USED TO BE THE WORSHIP, THE SINCERE HEART WORSHIP OF
THOSE WHO BELIEVE. But today, the glory of the church
is the size of its building. Today, the glory of the church
is the height of its steeple. Right downtown, the tallest steeple
standing above all the other buildings, that's the glory of
the church today. We got the tallest steeple. The glory of
the church today is the choir leader, the cantatas, the orchestras,
and all the instruments. The glory of the church today
is the number of people there. And the fact that their minister
is a recognized doctor of theology. And somebody said, we ought to
just take a big black, big black brush, paintbrush and write on
all of them, Ichabod, the glory of God has departed. WE'RE CALLING
ON MEN TO WALK AND STAND UP AND RAISE THEIR HANDS AND BE COUNTED
AND JOIN UP AND SIGN PLEDGE CARDS AND THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
DEMANDS THAT MEN BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP GOD. fall down at his
feet. That's where Mary was always
found at the feet of Christ. And you know what he thought
about her. That's where the harlot was found at the feet of Christ.
That's where the leper was found at the feet of Christ, saying,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. And that's where old
Thomas was found when he made that great confession, my Lord
and my God. What's gonna be done? I don't
know. I don't know, maybe Ichabod's already there, but it may be
God will be pleased in our day to send a prophet and somebody
who'll listen to him. And much prayer go up to God
for our generation. If you want this tape, write
for it, send $2 and we'll mail it to you. God bless you.