Now today, let's get down to
some real study of the subject, the gospel. The gospel, that's
what I wanna talk to you about from Romans 1 16, the gospel. In Romans 1 16, Paul says this,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. For it, the gospel of Jesus Christ,
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, my friends, the apostle
Paul was a man whose whole life was the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel definitely was his life. HE BELIEVED THE GOSPEL. HE CALLED IT MY GOSPEL. HE LOVED
THE GOSPEL. HE PREACHED THE GOSPEL. AND HE
LIVED BY THE GOSPEL. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST
CHAPTER OF ROMANS, THE WHOLE FIRST CHAPTER, YOU'LL HEAR HIS
TESTIMONY CONCERNING THIS GOSPEL. IN VERSE 1, HE SAYS THIS, I AM
SEPARATED UNTO THE GOSPEL OF GOD. THAT IS, I'M DEDICATED. I am determined to know nothing
else. That's what he wrote to the church
at Collins. He said, I'm determined to know nothing among you, save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And Paul refused to become entangled
in any way with ceremony, form or ordinances. He said this to
the Corinthian church. He said, God sent me not to baptize,
although he himself was baptized and he believed in being baptized.
He believed baptism was a confession or the confession of Christ.
But he said, that's not what God sent me to do. He sent me
to preach the gospel and I'm separated, dedicated to it, determined
to preach it, obsessed with it. It's my gospel. And then in verse
nine, now watch this. He said in verse nine, I serve
with my spirit. the gospel of his son. I serve with my spirit." That
is, his love for the gospel was not a show. It was sincere. He loved the gospel in his soul
and in his spirit. And this matter of preaching
the gospel was no commercial vocation. It was no commercial
vocation. It was his calling. God called him to preach the
gospel, and his heart was in the gospel which he preached.
And then if you look at verse 15, now watch what he says here. I am ready to preach the gospel. I am ready to preach the gospel
at Rome also. He had one message for all men. It didn't matter whether they
were rich or poor. It didn't matter whether they were Romans
or barbarians. It didn't matter if they were
Jews or Gentiles, learned or ignorant. They were only sinners
to Paul, that's all. He said, all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. We talk about classes and sections
of people and all this sort of thing, but they're just sinners,
that's all. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God and all need the gospel of Christ. So he said
to you at Rome, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you too.
And then notice verse 16. He says something else about
this gospel. He says, I am not ashamed. I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed
of the grace of God. I'm not ashamed of God's eternal
covenant and God's eternal purposes. I'm not ashamed of God's elective
grace and his predestinating mercy. I'm not ashamed of the
cross of substitution. The hymn writer puts it this
way. Ashamed of Jesus, sooner far let evening blush to own
a star. He sheds his beam of light divine
on this poor darkened soul of mine. Ashamed of Jesus, that
dear friend on whom my hope for heaven depends. Know when I blush,
be this my shame, that I no more revere his name. Now, these verses
sum up my personal feelings about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And
these verses sum up my purpose in the work of the ministry,
in this television broadcast or whatever phase of our ministry,
the preaching of the gospel. I believe I can say with the
Apostle Paul, I'm separated, dedicated to the gospel of Jesus
Christ. I'm determined to know nothing
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's my calling. That's not
my job. That's my calling. And then my
gospel is preached in sincerity. I serve with my spirit, the gospel
of his son. I love the gospel. I've been
redeemed by the gospel. And with Paul, I can say it's
my gospel. And then there's only one gospel. We don't change our
message when we change our location. We don't change our message to
fit our congregation. We preach the same message to
all men because all men are the same. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord has laid on Christ the iniquity of us
all. There's no one who doesn't need
a savior. And then I'm definitely not ashamed
of the gospel. I would add this, I'm not only
not ashamed of the gospel, I rejoice in the gospel. I rejoice that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm cheap.
I rejoice that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost.
I rejoice that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. I rejoice that
God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. I own being a sinner and I need
a sinner's savior. I own being a great sinner and
I need a great savior. Now, in the study of the gospel
today, and that's the title of the message, The Gospel, I want
to ask six questions concerning the gospel. And I believe if
you listen carefully and God gives me some understanding,
some wisdom and liberty in dealing with this subject, that you'll
have a better understanding of God's grace and mercy to sinners
in Christ Jesus. Now, here's the first question.
Where did our gospel come from? Where did we get the gospel?
We talk about preaching the gospel. Where did we get the gospel?
Well, Paul answers that. He said, I'm separated unto the
gospel of God. It's God's gospel. It's God's
good news. This gospel was purposed and
planned in the heart of God before the foundation of the world.
This is the ancient gospel. This is the gospel that was preached
by Abel in his sacrifice and the gospel preached by Moses
in his writings and the gospel THAT WAS SEEN BY ABRAHAM WHEN
HE SAID THAT I SAW HIS DAY OR ABRAHAM SAW MY DAY AND REJOICED.
AND IN GALATIANS 1, VERSE 11, PAUL SAYS THIS, I CERTIFY YOU,
BRETHREN, THAT THE GOSPEL PREACHED BY ME IS NOT OF MEN. IT'S NOT
OF MEN. I neither received it of men,
neither was I taught it by men, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ." This is God's gospel. It's the gospel of God. And ours
is an everlasting gospel. It's no new gospel. It's the
everlasting gospel. Listen to these verses of Scripture.
Talks about in Hebrews 13, His blood is the blood of an everlasting
covenant. And then it says also that he
is the surety of an everlasting covenant. And it says, God hath
from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. And then it says
he is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So this
gospel that we're preaching, it's God's gospel. And it found
its beginning in God. It is older than the world. It
is before the foundation of the world. And then ours is an unchanging
gospel. It doesn't change. It doesn't
change from generation to generation, from millennium to millennium.
It never has changed. It's the same gospel. Malachi
3, 6, the Lord says, I am the Lord. I change not. I change
not. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. In Romans 11,
Paul said the gifts and calling of God are without change. And this gospel, notice this,
this everlasting gospel, this unchanging gospel, this gospel
of God, being the gospel of God, And being the everlasting gospel,
it has the power, the power to save all who believe. It has
the power to save. Now man's gospel can't save. Man's gospel can give you religion. And man's gospel can change a
few habits. And man's gospel can give you
a positive mental attitude. But man's gospel cannot save. It cannot act toward God on your
behalf. And here's what we're saying.
Look at verse 17. Now watch this. Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel, which is the gospel of God. For it
is the power, the dynamite of God, It's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek. For therein, for there, right
there in the gospel, this gospel of God, this everlasting gospel,
this unchanging gospel, this gospel of God's grace in Christ.
For therein, in that gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. In other words, in the birth
and in the life and in the death and in the resurrection and in
the exaltation of Jesus Christ, we see the very wisdom of God. The cross is the wisdom of God.
We see the justice of God fulfilled. We see the righteousness of God
honored. And we see the love and grace
of God manifested. All of this is in the gospel.
All of it's in Christ. You see, God's wisdom, God must
be righteous and God must be holy as well as merciful and
gracious and kind. God must be truth. God's justice
must be satisfied. So in this gospel of substitution,
In this gospel of representation, in this gospel of Christ the
God-man coming to earth in the flesh and fulfilling all that
the law demanded and all that justice required and all that
the holiness of God commanded, we see the wisdom of God and
we see the justice of God and we see the righteousness of God.
And we see the character of God in every way, and we see the
love of God. Everything is revealed, and everything is fulfilled in
Christ. Do you see that? For therein,
in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. And not only
revealed, but perfected. Not only perfected, but manifested. Not only manifested, but imputed. Do you see that? There's no need
to go to any other point until we see this, that the very first
question is where did the gospel come from? It's God's gospel.
It didn't originate in some religious board meeting. It didn't originate
in some religious group of preachers who worked on a confession of
faith or a catechism and said, this is what we believe and this
is what our church stands for and what we preach. This is God's
gospel. Paul said, I didn't receive it
from men. I wasn't taught it by men. I
was taught it by God. See, it originated with God from
all eternity. He purposed. TO HAVE A NEW HEAVEN
AND A NEW EARTH, TO HAVE A POPULATED HEAVEN, TO HAVE A PEOPLE LIKE
CHRIST, TO HAVE A REDEEMED KINGDOM FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST JESUS.
AND HE SENT HIS SON INTO THIS WORLD TO FULFILL ALL THAT HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HIS JUSTICE AND HIS HOLINESS Required and
all that his love and grace demanded and at the cross truth truth
and peace met together and righteousness and peace kissed one another
and Therein is the righteousness of God revealed. That's how God
can be just and justify me that's how God can be holy and have
dealings with me and That's how God can be pure and just and
righteous and still receive me into His family and into His
fold and into His fellowship because Christ fulfilled all
that His law and character and holiness demanded. You see that? I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of God. It's the power of God. unto salvation
to every one that believeth. For therein in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed, worked out, manifested, and imputed. Now then, what is this gospel
of God? Well, it's concerning His Son.
And I believe it can be summed up in the words of Paul found
in Acts 13.38. IF YOU HAVE YOUR BIBLE, LOOK IT UP WITH ME. IF
YOU DON'T WRITE DOWN THE SCRIPTURE, LOOK IT UP LATER. BUT IN ACTS
13, 38, PAUL SAYS THIS, BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU, THEREFORE, MEN
AND BRETHREN, THAT THROUGH THIS MAN IS PREACHED UNTO YOU THE
FORGIVENESS OF SINS. AND BY HIM, BY THIS MAN, ALL
THAT BELIEVE ARE JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS, FROM WHICH YOU COULD
NOT BE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW OF MOSES. LET ME READ THAT STATEMENT
AGAIN. BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU, THEREFORE,
MEN AND BRETHREN, THAT THROUGH THIS MAN, ONLY THROUGH THIS MAN,
IS PREACHED UNTO YOU, DECLARED UNTO YOU, THE FORGIVENESS OF
SIN, ALL SIN. AND BY HIM, BY THIS MAN, ALL
OF YOU THAT BELIEVE ARE JUSTIFIED, JUSTIFIED, Freely justified from
all things from everything nothing left From which you could not
be justified by the law now, let's take that statement just
word for word almost men and brethren He's talking to all
nations races ages and generation men and brethren all of you not
a select few all of you Through this man. He is indeed a man
Jesus Christ is the God man. He's God in human flesh. He's
the God man The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He's
not only the God-man, He's the second man. He's the Lord from
heaven. The first man is of the earth, earthly. The second man
is the Lord from heaven. He's the representative man,
the federal head. THE SECOND ADAM. HE'S NOT ONLY
THE GOT MAN AND THE SECOND MAN, HE'S THE PERFECT MAN. HE WAS
WITHOUT SIN. AND HE'S THE CRUCIFIED MAN. HE
BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY ON THE TREE AND PAID THE DEBT. AND
HE'S THE RISEN MAN. GOD TESTIFIED THAT HE RECEIVED
ALL THAT CHRIST DID FOR US BY RAISING HIM FROM THE DEAD. HE'S
NOT ONLY THE RISEN MAN, HE'S THE EXALTED, ENTHRONED MAN. THERE'S ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN
GOD AND MEN, AND THAT'S THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS. OUR MEN AND BRETHREN,
ALL OF YOU, THROUGH THIS MAN, NOT THROUGH THIS MAN IN YOUR
BAPTISM, THIS MAN IN YOUR DECISION, THIS MAN IN YOUR COMMITMENT,
THIS MAN IN YOUR MONEY, THIS MAN IN YOUR DEED, THIS MAN, THROUGH
THIS MAN, IS PREACHED UNTO YOU, DECLARED UNTO YOU, ANNOUNCED
UNTO YOU, FORGIVENESS OF SINS. THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED. THAT'S
WHAT I NEED. THAT'S MY ONLY PROBLEM, SIN. THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN,
ALL SIN. IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION, THE
FORGIVENESS OF SIN. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST CLEANSES
US FROM ALL SIN. HE SAID CONCERNING OUR SINS,
THEY'RE BLOTTED OUT. THEY'RE TORN FAR. THEY'RE CAST
BEHIND THE BACK OF GOD. THEY ARE REMEMBERED NO MORE.
THROUGH THIS MAN IS DECLARED UNTO YOU THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN.
And by him, by him, by his surety ship, by his obedience, by his
suffering, by his intercession, by his death, by his perfect
payment, by him, through him, because of him, all who believe,
not all who work and do their best and strive and labor and
give and win souls and who believe, You can do that, can't you? You
can do that, can't you? Believe. They are justified from
all things. Now, here are two alls. All who
believe are justified from all things. All things, past, present,
and future. And he said, this the law could
not do. By the law is the knowledge of sin, not its forgiveness. By the law is a revelation of
sin and a knowledge of sin. But by Christ, by this man, through
this man, I declare unto you, Paul said, the forgiveness of
sin and justification from all things for all who believe. That's beautiful, isn't it? Well,
that's good news. I know some of you sitting out there saying,
say, I like that gospel, that free gospel, that gospel of grace.
I do too. That's the only kind of gospel
I'm interested in, the gospel of grace. Now, here's the third
question. What is it to believe the gospel?
He said, all who believe. Well, when the scripture speaks
of faith, it usually uses Abraham as an example. And when it speaks
of Abraham, it just uses three words. He believed God. ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD. YOU SEE
FAITH, THIS THING OF BELIEVING MAINLY HAS TO DO WITH TWO THINGS.
BELIEVING THE WORD OF GOD AND BELIEVING CHRIST OF WHOM THE
WORD SPEAKS. YOU GOT THAT? BELIEVING GOD IS
BELIEVING HIS WORD AND BELIEVING HIS SON OF WHOM HIS WORD SPEAKS. THAT'S WHAT THE BIBLE IS ALL
ABOUT. IT'S ABOUT CHRIST. It's about Christ. The Bible's
not a love story. It's a book of redemption. The
Bible's not a history book. It's not just a book of Proverbs.
It's not just what they call a road map. No, the Bible is
a book of redemption. It's the book of Jesus Christ.
Now watch this verse. He that believeth not hath made
God a liar because get that he that believeth not hath made
God a liar because because of what because he believed not
the record God gave of his son And now, what I said, faith consisted
of two things, believing God, that is, believing His Word,
and believing what His Word says about His Son. And that's the
charge to all who believe not. It says, those who believe not,
believe not the record, the Word God gave concerning whom? His
Son. You see, my friends, the Bible
is Christ, and Christ is the Bible. The Bible is Christ, and
Christ is the Word of God. He's the seed of woman. that
God talked about in Genesis 3. He's the seed of Abraham. Christ
is the Passover lamb. Christ is the smitten rock. Christ
is the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. Christ is that prophet. Not Moses, it's Christ. Christ
is that great high priest. Jesus Christ is the lamb, the
altar, the atonement, the sacrifice, and the scapegoat. And Jesus
Christ IS OUR REDEEMER. THE OLD TESTAMENT SAYS ALL THE
WAY THROUGH, SOMEONE'S COMING, SOMEONE'S COMING. AND MATTHEW,
MARK, LUKE AND JOHN SAYS HE'S COME, BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD.
AND THE EPISTLES DECLARE HE'S COMING BACK. SO FAITH COMETH
BY HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD. JUST WHAT I'M DOING
THIS MORNING, PREACHING THE GOSPEL. NOW HERE'S MY FOURTH QUESTION,
WHAT IS OUR WARRANT? or authority for believing the
gospel. By what authority do I believe
on Jesus Christ and expect in Him and through Him and by Him
all these mercies? Well, I'll tell you in one verse
of Scripture. That's all I need, one verse of Scripture. To give
me my authority or my right for believing this gospel and having
such a good hope AN EXPECTATION OF GOD'S MERCIES. I JOHN 3-23
SAYS THIS, AND THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT, THAT YOU BELIEVE ON THE NAME
OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. YOU KNOW MY WARRANT FOR BELIEVING
THE GOSPEL? GOD COMMANDS ME TO BELIEVE IT. THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S RIGHT. THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT.
THIS IS NOT A BARRIER INVITATION, MY DEAR FRIEND. THIS IS NOT SOME
KIND OF OFFER PROJECTED BY GOD. THIS IS HIS COMMANDMENT. This
is his command. Why don't you shoot your next
door neighbor? Well, you say, God commanded you not to. You
do everything God commands you to do? Then why don't you believe
his gospel? He's commanded you to believe
the gospel. If God commands me to do something, I have not only
the liberty to do it, but I must do it. I must do it. God commanded it. You see, experience
is not my authority for believing. NOR IS FEELING MY WARRANT FOR
BELIEVING, NOR IS ELECTION MY WARRANT FOR BELIEVING." WELL,
IF I KNEW I WAS GOING TO ELECT, I'D BELIEVE. THAT'S NOT MY WARRANT.
I KNOW HIS WORD IS TRUE, AND I KNOW HIS WORD IS GOD'S WORD,
AND I KNOW HIS WORD SAYS, THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT THAT YOU BELIEVE
ON MY SON. I'M COMMANDED TO BELIEVE THE
GOSPEL. When our Lord stood before the grave of Lazarus, He said,
Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth. That's a command. And He did.
And that's what I'm saying to you. I'm not saying I'm issuing
some invitation or offer to you. I'm saying, Almighty God who
rules heaven and earth, who in love and grace sent His Son into
this world to die for sinners, commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. God commands you to believe the
gospel. He commands you to believe the gospel. And a man who does
not believe the gospel makes God a liar because he doesn't
believe the record that God gave of his son. Now, what are the
privileges? Five. What are the privileges of those
who believe? Well, it says, he that believeth
hath eternal life. It says, he that believeth on
the son shall never die. It says, he that believeth on
the son shall never be ashamed. It says, he that believeth on
the son has passed from death unto life and shall never come
into condemnation. You don't need to fear the law
if you have Christ because he honored it. You don't need to
fear justice, Christ satisfied it. You don't need to fear death,
Christ conquered it. You don't need to fear the grave,
Christ arose. You don't need to fear judgment,
Christ is your advocate. You don't need to fear eternity
because it says Christ, our forerunner, has already entered in and occupied
heaven for us. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, you have my
word, I'll come again and receive you unto myself. Now, the sixth
question. Preacher, how do you know that's
the true gospel that you're preaching? How do you know that's the true
gospel? Well, I'll give you several reasons. First of all, my gospel,
the gospel which I'm preaching, and I'm so positive about it
and confident of it for these five reasons. Number one, my
gospel glorifies God, not the preacher, not the church, not
you. Not to recipients, it glorifies
God. It gives Him all the glory. Salvation
of the Lord from Alpha to Omega. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. It glorifies His matchless name. If a man saves,
he'll praise God forever. If he's lost, he'll blame himself. Secondly, this gospel I preach
is true to the scriptures. It's true to the scriptures,
and I don't need to jump around from here to there to prove it.
I can go straight through the Word of God. Christ is the Old
Testament. Christ is all the scriptures. Jesus Christ. It all pictures
His life and obedience and death and resurrection. And then my
gospel is the gospel because it enables God to be holy and
just, and yet justify a sinner. It glorifies the character of
God. It doesn't whittle God down.
It doesn't compromise God. And then this gospel can save
the chief of sinners. I don't care who you are or what
you've done. A gospel of grace can reach you. And last of all,
it'll keep you saved too, because we're kept by the power of God,
not through our doings, but through his power. And he'll finish what
he started. I have this message on a cassette
tape, the gospel. You want it along with another
message I'll bring next week on assurance of salvation. Write
for it, send a $2 donation. We'll mail you the tape as soon
as possible. Until next week, may God bless
you.