Well, let's look at Galatians
1, verse 6. Galatians 1, 6. I marvel, I'm
amazed that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel. I marvel that you're
removed from the gospel. I marvel. Now, sometimes de-gospel. Sometimes the gospel is removed
from a certain people or a place. I'll show you an example of that
if you'll just don't leave my text and coming back, but turn
to Acts chapter 13. Sometimes the gospel is removed
from a people and from a place. I'm talking about the gospel
now. The gospel of God, the gospel of grace, the gospel of Christ,
the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation, the gospel
which is, David, the dynamite, the dynamite of God, that life,
that explosiveness, that life-changing gospel. Sometimes God takes it
away from people, just removes it. Acts 13, verse 46, Then Paul
and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing you
put it from you, Judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.
I'm leaving here. I'm Turning to the Gentiles,
you know what Paul said and that's what he did And that's what he
did. All right. He said it necessary
that I preach to you Because the gospel is to the Jew first
and also to the Greeks But you Jewish leaders, and that's folks
he's talking to, seeing that you put it from you and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, I'm leaving. I'm going
to the Gentiles. And that's duplicated in this
day. Sometimes God removes the gospel from a certain people. You say, well, that's just Paul
the preacher leaving. When the preacher leaves, the
gospel leaves. If he's God's preacher. If he's God's preacher. If he's not God's preacher, God
may send one in, you know. But if the God's messenger goes
through the Bible, if Moses leaves, if John the Baptist leaves, if
Paul leaves, the gospel is well. Secondly, sometimes men remove
themselves from the gospel. I've seen that happen. I've seen
people remove themselves and their families from the gospel
for whatever reason. For whatever reason, they leave
the place where the gospel is preached. I've seen people do
that. I've seen men get a better job in another town and move
over there and take it and leave the gospel. I've seen folks do
that, get their feelings hurt in church and leave the place
where the gospel is preached. Happens all the time. Well, thirdly,
sometimes preachers remove the gospel from their sermon. They
do now. They remove the gospel from their
sermon. The gospel now, I'm talking about. You see, in that first
case, sometimes the gospel is removed from certain people and
places. Well, that doesn't mean they
quit being religious. They go right on with religion. They
go right on with their traditions. They go right on with their form
and ceremony, even though God's removed the gospel. The Jews
didn't go out of the religion business, Cecil, because Paul
left. They stayed in the religion business. And the gospel can
be literally lifted out of a pulpit and away from a people, but they'll
go on playing church. And these folks who remove themselves
from the gospel, they still go to church, they'll find another
church to go to. The gospel may not be preached there. But they're
playing religion, so they join up with them, you know, they
associate themselves. People have moved to other places,
and I've said to them, well, have you found a place to go
to church? Oh, we found a place. Well, are they preaching the
gospel? Well, you know, he says some good things. In other words,
he's not preaching the gospel. Well, not entirely. Are you happy? No. Can't be if you know Christ. And sometimes preachers, they
don't quit preaching, but they remove the gospel from their
sermon. Several reasons for that turn
to Galatians 5. Paul gives one reason here. He says, because of the offense
of the gospel. In Galatians 5, verse 11, Paul
says, And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, If that's
what I'm preaching, works, circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense, the offense
of the cross. You say the cross, the gospel
is offensive? It is to the natural man. It
is to the religious man. It's offensive. This gospel that
Paul's talking about, he's saying that you're removed from the
gospel. He said, if any man, me or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached, let him be accursed. This gospel of God,
this gospel of grace, this gospel of God's glory is offensive. You say, what do you mean offensive?
Folks don't like it. They're offended. They're offended. Like you say to someone, I don't
mean to offend you. Well, you mean you're going to
say something distasteful. And the gospel is offensive,
it's distasteful to the religious man. Now, religion is not distasteful. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
many good works have I done among you, for which of these do you
stone me? And they said, we don't stone
you for a good work. Good works are not offensive.
Religion is not offensive. Emotional, sentimental religion
is not offensive. It's the gospel that's offensive. You say, well, Brother Mann,
what is there in the gospel that's offensive? Well, several things,
but primarily, primarily, number one, when you address people as sinners,
it offends their dignity. Now, it does. I mean if you tell
them what we really are. If I stand up here and define
what God says about us in his word by our birth and nature
and practice, if I tell us this morning what we really are in
the sight of God, not comparing ourselves with ourselves now,
that's what we do. I'm as good as you. Sure you
are. I'm as good as anybody down at your church. Sure you are.
That's one worm bragging on another, you know. One lump of coal says
to the other, I'm as white as you are. Well, sure you are.
Of course you are. No problem there at all. No problem. But when you define sin and tell
men, tell us what we are in God's eyes before the searchlight of
God's holiness, it's offensive. The rottenness, and I'm going
to talk about it tonight in the message, the rottenness even
of the best saints. You know the heavens are not
clean in God's sight? The heavens are not clean in
God's sight. How much more abominable are men who drink iniquity like
water? We drink iniquity like water. Oh, the pride in us, the envy
in us, the jealousy in us, the lust in us, the hatred in us,
the bigotry in us, the selfishness, the greed, all these things that
just live in us. live in us, the flesh. That's offensive. I'll tell you
something else that's offensive in this gospel. When you tell
a man that the gospel comes by revelation, not by education. Now we're proud of what we know,
we're proud of what we can do, we're proud of our beauty and
appearance, we're proud of all these things, we're proud people.
But when you tell us that we are so ignorant spiritually that
except God open the heart and reveal the gospel to us by the
power of the Spirit, that offends our wisdom. You mean to tell
me I can't read that book and understand it? You mean to tell
me that with my education and my knowledge and my genius? You know, we like to brag about
what we can do, how smart we are. Well, before the before
the mystery of the gospel, every one of us are ignorant. Now that's
just ignorant. And God has to take us, God has
to enlighten us. And that's offensive. Now here's
another thing that's offensive about this gospel, and that is
substitution. To say that Christ literally
did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves, that in his obedience
and in his death, in his righteousness and in the shedding of his blood,
he perfected, perfected a salvation. He reconciled us to God by giving
us a perfect righteousness, justification and sanctification before God,
and literally blotted out our transgressions by burying them
in his body, and nothing we do contributes to it, not even our
walking the aisle or shaking the preacher's hand, or not even
our act of faith. It's all of grace. Now, that's
offensive, and it offends our pride. Man, John, he wants something
to do with his salvation, if it's just a little bit. Isn't
that correct? If it's just a little bit, God
can do 99%, but just let me hold God up and make my contribution. And I'll tell you something else
that's offensive, and that's the Lordship of Christ. Christ
reigns and Christ rules. Now, a lot of preachers remove
the gospel from their message because of the offense. It's
offensive, and a lot of them remove it because of the fear
of men. Look back here at Galatians 1. I emphasized this a while
ago when I read it, Galatians 1.10. Paul said this, Galatians
1.10, Do I persuade men or God? Now, what is my objective? To glorify God or to please men? What's my objective? Am I the
servant of God or the servant of men? Do I seek to please men? He said, I do know this, if I
please men, if my message and my ministry and methods is so
oriented as to get along with this natural religious world,
he said, I'm not the servant of Christ. Now you can just put
that down. Go unto you when all men speak well of you. We don't
go around and try to be contentious. I believe that the minister of
the gospel and the people of God ought to be pleasant people,
and kind and congenial people, and cooperative people, and generous
people, and they will be. It's not us that offends, it's
our message that offends. Don't suffer for our contrariness. Let's not bring reproach on Christ
and on the Church by our contrariness and hatefulness and the fact
that we are hard to get along with. Let's not be hard to get along
with. Let's, as much as within us,
live peaceably with all men, and let the offense be where
it is supposed to be in the message. But we're not trying to please
men. And then some preachers, look at Galatians 6, 12. There's
some preachers who remove the gospel from their message in
order to, because of ambition, they won't be successful. In
Galatians 6, verse 12, listen to this, "...as many as desire
to make a fair show in the flesh." They constrain you to be circumcised
only lest they should suffer persecution from the cross of
Christ. There are two things there. Men remove the gospel
from the message because of the offense and because of ambition. They're ambitious to be successful.
They're ambitious to gain a following. They're ambitious to make a show.
They're ambitious to give a report. They're ambitious to say, this
many people believe what I preach. Well, now let's go back to our
text. Here's the fourth observation
that I would make. But these Galatians were removing
themselves from the gospel. They were removing themselves
from the gospel that Paul preached to another gospel, which was
a mixture of works and grace. Now there was their problem.
They weren't leaving town. And their preacher hadn't quit
preaching the gospel. And God hadn't by a sovereign
act removed the gospel from their presence, but they were removing
themselves from the gospel by receiving a mixture of grace
and works. And Paul says that can't be.
That can't be. A mixture of grace and works
is not the gospel. He said it's another gospel.
It's a perversion. What does the word perversion
mean? Well, I took the time to look
it up. Perversion. He said in verse 7 there, this
is not another gospel. There be folks that have crept
in, that trouble you, cause confusion, sneak in, unaware, wolves in
sheep's clothing, and they pervert, pervert the gospel of God. Well,
perversion is this, it's deviating from that which is right, that
which is right. It's deviating from that which
is normal. It's deviating from that which
is true. Now, that's perversion. And Paul
said, this is serious now. These people did an amazing thing.
They didn't deny that the Bible was God's Word. They didn't deny
that Jesus died on the cross. They didn't deny that the blood
was essential to salvation. They didn't deny these basic
fundamental truths. What these false teachers were
doing were mixing with that something for men to do. You must be circumcised. You must keep the Sabbath. You
must tithe. You must do what Moses commanded
in the law. You must keep the Holy Days.
You must do this. And Paul said that can't be.
This gospel is a gospel of pure grace. It can't be both. Let me show you that in Romans
11. Turn to Romans 11, verse 5. Now listen to this. Romans
11, 5. This gospel, now brethren, we're talking about THE gospel.
There's just one. And I'll tell you this, today
it's hard to find. It's not as plentiful as you
think. Now, this mixture is easy to find. You can find it. But listen to Romans 11, verse
5. Even so, then, at this present time also there is a rendement
according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it's no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it's no more grace, otherwise work
is not work. Paul said, that makes sense,
doesn't it? Work is work and grace is grace. And they're poles
apart. Grace is pure by pure divine
mercy. It's unmerited favor. It's God
giving us what we don't earn or deserve or merit. Only because
he will. Works is God paying us off. Works
is God rewarding us. Now, let me show you one little
stinking problem Peter had right here. Just look at Galatians
2. Now, this will shock you. And you say, well, I believe
in grace, grace alone, grace from start to finish, grace from
alpha to omega. Do you? Peter thought he did,
too. But Paul had to back him against
the wall right down here in Antioch, wasn't it? Look at Galatians
2. When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face,
because he was to be blamed. And you know what the issue was?
You know what it was? Works in grace. That's exactly
what it was. For before that certain came
from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were
come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them, which
was the circumcision. Now, you say, explain that. All
right, let me explain. Here was a church at Antioch made up of
Jews and Gentiles. Jews that practiced circumcision
or had in the past circumcision, Sabbath day, tithing, Mosaic
economy, Mosaic law, special days, all these things. And they'd
come to faith in Christ. There were some Gentiles, pagan,
heathen, without Moses, without the law, without the tabernacle.
They had come to the knowledge of Christ. And they were all
in the same church. And they would have fellowship
and Peter would sit at the table with the Gentiles and eat with
them and fellowship with them. You're one of us. Uncircumcised. No background, heritage, tradition
or anything. Grace alone. Pastor James up
in Jerusalem sent some folks down there to Antioch to see
how they were getting along. These were strict, staunch, reformed
Jews. Strict, staunch Jews. And they came down there to see
how they was getting along, and old Peter was sitting there with
these Gentiles. Charlie, he got up and left. He went over here
and sat with these tithers, with these Sabbath keepers, with these
circumcised men. When the fellas came down from
Jerusalem, that's what exactly what you said, surely he did.
That's exactly what he did. And Paul got angry. Now listen.
And not only verse 13 did he do it, but other Jews dissembled
with him. He had an influence. Every one
of us have an influence, don't we? We think we can pick up our
little briefcase and do what we will and affect nobody. Oh
yeah, you affect somebody. And there are some more fellows
affected by what he did. And they went over there. And
Barnabas, Paul's sidekick, even Barnabas was upset! Oh, bless
his heart. Old Barnabas got upset too. Well,
if Peter ain't going to eat with him, I'm not either. But if Peter's
going to go over here and observe the circumcision and the Sabbath
and all these things, I am too. I'm not going to get caught over
here. So there's those poor Gentiles sitting over there by themselves,
Barnabas and Peter and a whole bunch of them. Not Paul. Paul
was a grace man, 100% grace. Listen to him. And when I saw
that they walked not uprightly, according to the truth of the
gospel." See, so there's the key word right there. Peter was
violating the gospel. Wasn't he, Charlie? Paul says
he wasn't walking according to the truth of the gospel. He said,
I said unto Peter before everybody, now you being a Jew, livest after
the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews. Why do you compel
these Gentiles to live like Jews? We who are Jews by nature, not
sinners of the Gentiles, know that a man is not justified by
the works of the law in any shape, form, or fashion, but by the
faith of Christ Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not even by
our own faith, but His faithfulness and His truthfulness, and not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified." Don't get it all mixed up, Peter. Ooh,
don't you think that's embarrassing? Peter was the Pope, is what they
tell me. First post, and here Paul is
dressing him down. Oh, I tell you, good. You say,
how serious is this? Turn to Galatians 5. I'll show
you how serious it is, Galatians 5. Listen to this, Galatians
5.1. Here's how serious it is. Suppose
this offense of Peter and Barnabas and others had been permitted
to continue. How serious is it? All right,
listen to that Galatians 5.1. Stand fast. Therefore, in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, free from the curse of the law, free
from the covenant of the law, free from all these chains of
the law, don't you become entangled again with this yoke of bondage?
Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, if you be circumcised in order
to be accepted of God, such a little thing as that, In other words,
if this Jewish daddy is going to have a son, his wife is going
to bring a son into the world, and he says to his wife, now
I know, I know that salvation is by Christ alone, but Moses
in the law, and just to be sure, we'll circumcise this lad, Christ
profits you nothing. Now, if you do it for hygienic
purposes, different story. If you do it because you want
to do it, different story. If you do it for various... If
you do it in order to be accepted of God, you're in trouble. Christ
listens, he'll profit you nothing. Same thing about Sabbath day.
Now, people tell me this is the Christian Sabbath, Sunday. I
always thought Saturday was the Sabbath. Didn't know it was changed.
But this is Sunday. And the way I keep Sunday, you
know, I come here and worship and go home and eat lunch and
take a nap and come back and worship the whole day. And most
of you do that. But some of these men have to
work shift work. They can't shut Arnco down. They can't shut Ashland
Oil down. You can shut a lot of things
down, but not some of those things. And you're required to do that.
But I'm telling you this, if a man keeps Sunday, in a diligent,
sabbatical type of way, in order to make himself accepted of God
or holy before God, he's in trouble. Now, he's in trouble, I'm telling
you, and Christ is of no effect. Every day is the Lord's day.
Tomorrow is going to be the Lord's day, too. He made it, too. Twenty-four
hours a day belongs to him. And you tithe, now let me tell
you something, All our lives we were taught tithing. We were
taught 10% belonged to the Lord, 90% belonged to us, and we weren't
told that 100% belonged to God. But it does, 100%. Everything
you are or have belongs to God. It's His. You don't own anything.
We're bankrupt, did you know that? It belongs to Him. But
I'll tell you, if this week you say you made $300 this week,
and you put out, well wife put out $30 for the church, that's
our tithe, you're in trouble. Now I'm telling you, you're doing
that out of a rule or a responsibility or regulation trying to get along
with God, and it's bad news. Christ is our sanctification.
Christ is our acceptance. Christ is our Sabbath. Christ
is our peace. Christ is our holiness. Christ
is our justification. What I chose to give in the offering
this morning, I chose to give it because I love Christ. And
I personally determined the amount as the Holy Spirit led me. I
said, this is what Doris and I want to give. No 10% had anything to do with
it. Better not now. Oh, you say,
these things are hard to shuck off. I know they are. We've worn
them too long. How I keep this day is determined
by my love for Christ. Whether I come to worship is
determined by my love for Christ. Now brethren, what I'm saying,
I know it, it just goes against the grain of modern religious
teaching, it goes against the grain of what we've been taught
all of our lives. We've been taught if you do this,
God will do that. If you give to God, He'll reward
you. If you plant a seed of faith, He'll prosper you. All this foolishness,
if you will, God will. But I'll tell you this, if God
will, you will. If God will. Look at verse 3, Galatians 5,
I testify again to every man that's circumcised, you start
this foolishness now, you're deader to do what? The whole
law. You start this, oh, let's have our Constitution around
here and set some rules up about Sabbath day. You can't go on
a picnic on Sunday. You women can't cook on Sunday.
We're going to do this on Sunday. We're not going to do that on
Sunday. You know what we're putting ourselves in for? Let's go back
and get Genesis through Deuteronomy, get the whole law. Is that right? Don't just take
the part that appeals to you. The whole law. And he that offendeth
in one point of the law, guilty the whole law. Boy, I tell you,
that's dangerous. Verse 4, Christ is become of
no effect to you, whosoever you are, that are justified either
in your salvation, justified in your actions, justified in
your person, justified in your conduct, justified in any way
before God. You've fallen from grace. You know, people have taken that
falling from grace and taking it right out of context, misused
it. They teach that if a man backslides or loses salvation,
he's fallen from grace. What this is talking about is
this, you've fallen, you've departed, you've removed yourself from
the grace of God in salvation, the gospel of grace. You quit
preaching grace, you're going to preach in words. Oh, my, I have two points in
this message to sum it up in the next few minutes. What do we mean by salvation
is all of grace? What do we mean? All of grace,
grace, grace, grace. Well, the first answer to that
is this, and I'll give you, if you want to jot down five things,
this is what I'm saying. The salvation, the whole of the
work of salvation, I'm talking about we have been saved, we're
being saved, and we will be saved. This whole work of salvation
in its purpose and planning is of the Lord by grace. Now that's
right. Beloved, I thank God for you
because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. From
all eternity before the foundation of this world, God set his love
on a people. I preached that Sunday night
a week ago. loved them in Christ. In its
planning and purpose, the salvation of sinners is of the Lord by
his grace. Secondly, what do I mean by grace? That the salvation of sinners
in its execution, in its execution, is of the Lord by divine grace.
What does that mean? In the fullest of time, God sent
his Son into the world. We didn't go to heaven and bring
Christ down. That originated with God. He
sent him here. He deliberately, on purpose,
by His sovereign will, sent His Son to be made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem us. When He was nailed to the cross,
sure, men did it, but they did what God willed to be done. It
pleased the Lord to bruise Him. The whole work of salvation,
whereby a sinner is lifted from the dunghill and washed from
his blackness and seated on a throne and made like Christ, is of the
Lord and of Him only. All of grace, the execution of
it. That's right. Thirdly, the salvation
of sinners in its application, in its application is of the
Lord and by His grace. We are all going to hell if we
can. Do you know that? They asked this fellow, said,
well, they said, you're saved? Yes. Said, well, what did you
do? He said, I did the running. God did the catching. We're going
to run if we can. We're going to hide from God.
He has to flush us out. He has to bring us out. He has
to make us willing in the day of his power. We'll reject and
resist and rebel against any act of mercy. Our people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. It says over here in Galatians
1 15, I read, when it pleased God, He revealed his Son in me,
when it pleased God. John says, we're born of God. James says, of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth. Here's the fourth thing. This
salvation of sinners in its sustaining powers of the Lord. Now then,
I've been a believer in the grace of God for 35 years. When I died, God didn't keep
me 34 of those years and myself one year. God kept me all 35
years, all 365 days of each of those years, all 12 months of
each of those years, and all 24 hours of each of those days,
and every 60 seconds of every minute, God kept me. I didn't
keep myself. I didn't keep on keeping on.
He kept me. It says in 1 Peter, we're kept
by the power of God through faith. Not apart from faith now, not
without faith, but through faith. And then Jude says, unto him
who is able to keep you from falling, I'll not be kept. Now, remember this. This is so,
and I know this is contrary to what most preachers are saying.
Y'all pray that I'll hold out. That's the way they talk. Brethren, we persevere, but we
persevere because we are preserved. That's so. No, we'll not leave
Christ, but because he'll never leave us. If he leaves me, I'll
leave him. If he turns loose of me, I'll
turn loose of him. It's not a matter of my holding
his hand, it's a matter of him holding me. Salvation is of grace,
and then last of all, salvation, the salvation of a sinner, in
its ultimate perfection, is of the Lord through his grace. Paul
said in Philippians, He is able to raise us and change our bow
body like unto his glorious body. That's by the grace of God. Any
grace in us is his grace. Now, brethren, that's what I
mean. That's what I mean by salvation
by grace. From eternity past to our conformity
to the image of Christ, every bit of it, every jot and tittle
of it, every moment of it, is by the grace of God. And what
I do is because of His grace in me. It's not I, but Christ
that liveth in me. Now, here's the second point
quickly. How do I know that my gospel is this gospel? Here at
the 13th Street Baptist Church, you're sitting here, you support
this ministry, you let me go wherever the places and preach,
you put me on television every Sunday at a cost of $950 a Sunday,
besides a television program in the West Indies, radio program
in Cincinnati, you support missionaries. If you're not supporting the
gospel, you're guilty as I am. See, I'm supposed to be preaching
it, and if you're supporting it, you're responsible too. So
let's ask the question, how do we know that our gospel is the
gospel? I don't want to be cursed. I
don't want you cursed. Ed, you've been supporting this
gospel almost 30 years around here. Do you know it's the gospel?
I believe it is, don't you? Well, let's find out. Let me
show you what a lady wrote me this week. Listen to this letter
right here. Send me two tapes of your message, What Are We
To Believe, Where Is Your God? I want to listen to them over
again. And I want you to know that God has opened my daughter's
eyes to the true gospel. Your tapes and books have helped
her to understand the Word of God. She says it's just like
everything is opening up now for her. She was so mixed up
with all the other doctrines. She's a true believer. And you
can tell by the way she talks that she loves the Lord and is
thankful that He sent His Son to bear our sins. These so-called
preachers she used to watch on TV, she can now see them for
what they are. Now hold your hat. Brother Mews
said don't move a hand nor a hair. She has been comparing your gospel
with their gospel. See what I'm saying? It's what
this woman says about her daughter. She's been comparing. And I thank
God for that, she says. Your gospel. She called that
my gospel. You say, is that wrong? Paul
called it his gospel. Didn't he? He said, it's my gospel.
Well, if I'm preaching, it's mine. If I've been saved by it,
it's mine. My gospel. And you're supporting
it, so it's your gospel. This woman here says she's been
comparing Charlie and Jim and Ed, all you fellas, she's been
comparing your gospel with their gospel. Well, how do you know
your gospel is the gospel? Maybe their gospel is the gospel.
They're both not the gospel. You know how I know our gospel
is the gospel? If you'll listen, I'm going to
give you a couple of reasons. Number one, I know our gospel is the
gospel because, number one, it glorifies God. That's number
one. It glorifies God, Ron, from start
to finish. In all that's done for sinners,
from Alpha to Omega, I give God all the glory. That's the starting
point, isn't it? That no flesh should glow in
his presence. Isn't that what 1 Corinthians
says? All right, secondly, my gospel is true to the Old Testament
scriptures, all the way through Genesis to Malachi. Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures. He's bare and rose
again, according to the Scriptures. I can see him, the seed of woman,
the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. I can see him, the
prophet like Moses, the rock, the brazen serpent, the atonement,
the priest, all the way through. Christ is the Old Testament fulfilled. That's right. He's the manna,
he's the water of life, he's the smitten rock. That rock was
Christ. Our gospel is true, the Scripture.
The scripture says over there God was sovereign. He passed
by the angels and chose men. He passed by the Amalekites and
the Hittites and the Philistines and chose Israel, according to
the Old Testament. Same God. He hasn't changed a
bit. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thirdly,
my gospel is the gospel because it depends solely on the person
and work of Jesus Christ. Titus 3.5 says, "...not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy,
he saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Spirit, which he gave to us in Christ our Lord.
It is finished. The Savior cried and meekly bowed
his head and died. It's finished. The race is won, the battle is
fought, the victory is won. All in Christ, one hundred percent. He did it all. Through his death,
he can save a thief on the cross in the last moments of his life,
or as Paul, the apostle who preached for some odd 13, 14 years. Fourthly,
my gospel is the gospel because it's good news to the chief of
sinners. You can't find a sinner my gospel
can't save. Now, I can find a lot of folks
that their gospel can't save, but you can't find a sinner my
gospel can't save. I don't care who it is or what
he's done. My gospel can reach him to the uttermost, because
there's nothing for him to do but look. That's all. He's about to look. You say,
what if the fellow's blind? You are blind. I'm not talking
about looking with these eyes, I'm talking about looking with
the heart. Come let us reason together,
though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson,
just as I am without one plea. My gospel is the gospel. It can
save to the uttermost. Fifthly, my gospel can not only
save the chief of sinners, but my gospel can keep him safe.
And it's the only one who can. Our Lord said, he that believeth
on the Son shall never die. Never die. That's never, never,
never die. Never. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, he said, I will not desert his fold. My gospel doesn't allow for God
changing one name in the book of life. He's going to keep them. Listen to this psalm. Firm as
the throne, my gospel stands. My Lord, my hope, my trust. If
I am found in Jesus' hand, my soul can never be lost. His honor
is engaged to save the weakest of his sheep. All whom his heavenly
Father gave, his hand will surely keep. Nor death nor hell shall
ever remove his people from his breast. Within the bosom of his
love they shall forever rest. That's my gospel. And I'll tell
you last of all, my gospel in glory is going to sing, worthy
is the Lamb who loved us and washed us from our sins in his
own precious blood. Ed, it's the gospel. It's the
gospel, because it glorifies God. It's true to the scripture. It depends solely and completely
not on me or you or the Baptist denomination, but it depends
on Christ. And it can save the chief of
sinners, because it saved some of us, didn't it? And not only
that, but my gospel will keep them safe. Oh, they'll be on
the mountain and in the valley, up and down, wiggle around, but
God's going to keep them. And when they get to glory, they're
not going to be running around looking, showing off their crowns.
You got as many stars as I got? Well, let me see your house.
Oh, is that all the material you sent up to Bill? No, sir,
they're going to all be casting their crowns before the throne,
saying, worthy is the Lamb, for He loved us and washed us from
our sins. I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged. Our Father, thank
You, thank You. Oh, our words are so hollow.
They sound hollow to us. They sound so insignificant that
we feel like we shouldn't say words at all. For you read the
heart, the mind, and the innermost being, the soul of every sinner. But Lord, like Peter said, you
know all things, you know I love thee. And thou knowest, O Lord,
that we are so thankful we weren't left in the bondage of the law,
in the bondage and slavery of traditional religion, self-serving,
self-righteous, but you brought us He opened our eyes and hearts
and ears and brought us to the feet of Christ, the enthroned
Christ, the sovereign Christ, and revealed to us His name,
His glorious name, and brought us to call on His name, and to
rest in His name, and to worship in His name, and to pray in His
name, to live in His name, the name which is above every name.
Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you. Praise your name.
For Christ's sake, amen.