I'll be reading from the book
of Galatians, chapter 1, verse 6 through 9, for my text this
morning. The title of the message is,
The Gospel That Glorifies Our God. The Gospel That Glorifies
Our God. Now, let's not preach around
the issues of our day. Let's be bold and meet them head
on. Someone recently commenting about
today's preachers said this, all of them are saying the same
thing, nothing. And I'm afraid there's a lot
of truth to that. I don't want to be saying nothing. I want
to face the issues of this day in a bold and truthful way for
the glory of God and for the good of our heroes. Now if you
will, turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians. Chapter
1, I'll be reading verses 6 through 9, and we'll be thinking together
on this subject, the gospel, the gospel which glorifies God. Paul is writing here in the book
of Galatians, chapter 1, and he says to the church at Galatia,
I marvel, I'm amazed that you're so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. He says, but it's not another
gospel actually, but there be some among you that would pervert
or confuse or confound the gospel of Christ. Now listen to this,
but though we, and he repeats this twice, though we are an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
we have preached, let him be accursed. Now, the first thing
that I see in this passage of Scripture is this. According
to the Word of God, my friends, there is but one gospel. There
are not many gospels. There is one gospel. Paul said
in Romans 1, 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, which is the power
of God unto salvation. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
I am not ashamed of the gospel. When our Lord commissioned His
disciples to go into all the world, He sent them to preach,
not a gospel, not any gospel, but the definite article, the
gospel. What I'm saying is this, there's
only one gospel according to the Word of God. And then in
1 Corinthians 15, Paul writing to the church at Corinth says,
Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, the gospel, which
I preached unto you and which you received, and wherein you
stand, and by which you are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried and rose again
according to the Scriptures." Paul said, this is the gospel
that I preached, this is the gospel that you received, this
is the gospel wherein you stand, And this is the gospel by which
you are saved. It is THE gospel. Now, it's called
in the Scripture THE gospel of God. Paul said in Romans 1, verse
1, Paul, an apostle, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, separated unto
THE gospel. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying there's one gospel. According to the Word of God,
there's only one gospel. And Paul said, if anybody comes
preaching any other gospel, I don't care if it's an angel from heaven.
Let him be accursed. It's God's gospel. He planned
it. He executed it. He applies it. He sustains it. And by his grace,
he will perfect it. It's the gospel of God. But not
only that, it's the gospel, the gospel of God's grace. Paul said
in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. And then in II Timothy 1, he
declared, he saved us, and he called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. This is the gospel, which is
the gospel of God and the gospel of God's grace, and chiefly,
it's the gospel concerning His Son. Now, the gospel is not what
you do for God. It's not a proposition. It's
not an invitation. The gospel, the gospel, my friend,
is a declaration of a fact. It's the proclamation of something
Christ did. Not a proposition for you to
do something for God. It's not an invitation for you
to contribute something to God. This gospel is a declaration,
a proclamation of good news of what Christ has done for us.
It is the gospel concerning His Son. His Son, our Prophet, who
reveals God. This is my Son. You hear Him.
He's the Prophet. He's the Word of God. He communes
unto us, the Father. The disciples said, show us the
Father and it'll satisfy us. He said, he that has seen me
has seen my Father. He's not only our prophet, but
he's our priest forever, forever, having an eternal priesthood,
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And he is our
King of kings and our Lord of lords. This gospel, called the
gospel, which is the gospel of God, the gospel of His grace,
is the gospel concerning his son. Now listen to this. It is
the only gospel that God's ever had. It is the only gospel that
God Almighty has ever given to men. It is the gospel of Moses. It's the gospel of Abel. It's
the gospel of Abraham and the gospel of Isaiah. It's the gospel
of Paul, Peter, James, and John. It's the gospel of Luther, Calvin,
Spurgeon, Owen, Whitefield. It's the gospel of today. Moses
wrote of me, Christ said. Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. You go
back and read the Old Testament, there is but one gospel in the
Old Testament. There is but one gospel in the
New Testament. There is but one gospel for today
and one gospel for the tribulation and one gospel for the millennium,
only one gospel. And everybody who inhabits God's
heaven and God's glory will sing the praises of Jesus Christ the
Lord who is the one whom the gospel concerns, the one about
whom the gospel is written. Christ is that gospel. Now, I
don't mean to be offensive, but I want, as I said at the beginning
of this program, I want to face the issues of our day head on.
The Bible declares there's one gospel, only one, not several,
only one. It is the gospel of God, it is
the gospel of His grace, it's the gospel of His Son, and it's
the everlasting gospel. The only gospel God's ever had,
ever revealed, ever given. The only gospel by which He's
ever saved the sinner. But now listen to me. That's
not true today among churches and preachers. It cannot be said
that we have one gospel today. The Bible says there's one gospel.
The Apostle says there's one gospel. The Lord Jesus declares
there's one gospel. But you know, and I know, today
there are many gospels. There are almost as many gospels
as there are denominations. There are almost as many Gospels
as there are churches. Many ways to God. We have a mixture
of God and man, of grace and works, of Christ and the Church.
There are just dozens of Gospels. Let me give you a few of them.
And you know this is true. I'm not telling you something
you don't know. You know that today there's the Gospel of salvation
through the Church. You know there are people listening
to my voice right now, a multitude. who believe that they have an
interest in God because they belong to a certain church. And
no certain church has a corner on this thing. There are people
sitting out there who believe that they have an interest in
God because they're Baptists, because they're Methodists, because
they're Presbyterian, or because they're Catholic, or because
they're something else. And we're a whole lot like Israel
of old, who thought that they had a corner on God through their
name. There are churches today who
call themselves the Church of God and say we're the only church
because we got the name of God. Others say we call ourselves
the Church of Christ, then we're the only church because we got
the name of Christ. Another says we're the church
because we got the name Baptist, and we go back to John the Baptist
who started the church. Another says we're the only church
because we're Catholic. That means universal. That means
everybody's under the same umbrella. No man is saved because he's
a church member. No man is saved because he's
a member of a certain denomination. Salvation is not in the church.
Salvation is not in the priest. Salvation is not in the preacher.
Salvation is not in your denomination. Salvation is in Christ. And the
gospel hasn't got one thing to do with the church. Christ is
the gospel. Now, people who know the gospel,
who love the gospel, who are saved by the gospel, wish to
be identified with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
part of the church, which is the body of Christ. But the church
is not the gospel. Christ is the gospel. We're not
saved by association with or affiliation with some church.
We're saved because we have a living, vital union with the Lord Jesus
Christ, because He's our Redeemer. Now, you know that's so. And
you know this, there's the gospel of decisionism. Oh, I tell you,
this prevails all over the country today in nearly every church. It's called fundamentalism. And
the preacher stands up and preaches a sermon. And then the choir
starts singing softly in the background, and the people stand,
and the preacher says, if you're saved, raise your hand. If you
couldn't raise your hand, then raise it now and we'll pray for
you. And everybody who raised your hand, come down to the front
and say the Apprentice Center's prayer and make your decision
for Jesus. And multiplied millions of boys
and girls and young people and moms and dads are marching to
the front of the church making a decision for Jesus and resting
their hope of eternal life on that decision. Let me tell you
something. Salvation is not a physical coming to the front of the church.
It's a spiritual coming to Christ. Salvation is not going to the
front of the church and kneeling at an altar or shaking a preacher's
hand or signing some kind of card. Salvation is being brought
by the Spirit of God into a living union with the Son of God through
repentance toward God in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
a heart work. It's a heart matter. You say,
Preacher, are you against going to the front? Oh, no. I'm certainly
not. Going to the front of the church
and confessing your faith in Christ, going to the front of
the church and telling people what God has done for you. But
my friend, that is to tell what has been done. If God has done
a work of grace in your heart, if you've been brought to a true
conviction of sin, true repentance toward God, true faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's your foundation, He's your refuge,
He's your Redeemer, He's your hope, He's your salvation. You're
trusting in Him and Him alone. God has given you a new heart
and a new nature. God has given you hope, a saving
interest in Christ. Then tell people about it. You
will tell people about it. You'll follow your Lord in believers'
baptism. You'll unite with His church.
You'll identify with His people. But salvation's in Christ. That's
what I'm trying to say. It's not in a decision. It's
not in an experience. It's not in a feeling. It's not
in making your decision for Jesus. Salvation is in a living union.
with Christ Jesus. And decisionism is not salvation.
And there are multiplied millions of people who have no interest
in the Bible, who have no prayer life, who have no worship, no
life of worship. They don't even attend the house
of God. You say, are you saved? Oh, yeah. I made my decision
for Jesus when I was 11 years old. I accepted Jesus as my personal
Savior when I was 10 years old. And I've just been saved all
these years. And I said, goodbye, God. I'll meet you in heaven.
one of these days. But I have no interest in the
gospel. I have no interest in church. I have no interest in
the Bible. I have no interest in the people of God. And you're
not saved. Salvation is to know Christ.
It's not a decision down at the front of the church. And then
there's the gospel of church ordinances. Now, like I said,
I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm trying to shut people
up to Christ. I'm trying to show folks where
salvation is. It's not in church membership.
It's not down at the front of the church. And it's not in the
baptismal pool. Simon Magus was baptized and
did not know God. The thief was not baptized and
he did know God. Paul said, the Lord didn't send
me to baptize. He sent me to preach the gospel.
Baptism is not a part of the gospel. It certainly is not. The Lord's Supper is not part
of the gospel. Baptism is a confession of Christ. It's an identification with Christ.
It declares what the gospel of Christ has done for you. It's
not a part of the gospel. The Lord's table is not a part
of the gospel. You know, and I know, there are multitudes
of preachers and people who are saying that when you're baptized,
you're baptized into the kingdom of God, that baptism is the door
into the kingdom of God, it's the entrance into Christ, and
it's just not so. Faith is the door into the kingdom
of God. We believe on Christ, we receive
Christ, we trust in Christ. And then there are others who
say that the bread and wine at the Lord's table actually becomes
the broken body of Christ, actually becomes the blood of Christ.
And when you take that wafer and take that wine, you're taking
into yourself the body of Christ and the blood of Christ. The
Bible doesn't teach that. The Lord's table is not a sacrament.
It does not have any saving power. A sacrament means that it has
saving power, and the Lord's table has no saving power. You
can go to the Lord's table a thousand times and take gallons of wine
and bushels of bread and perish. Salvation's in a person. That bread and wine is a picture
of Christ. It's a memorial feast. He said,
you do this in remembrance of me. Not in order to be saved,
but in remembrance of me. When you come to the Lord's table
and take that bread, you're saying, his body was broken for me. And
you take that wine, you're saying, His blood was shed for me. And
I do judge, and I do discern, and I do understand the significance
of the sacrifice and the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, my Lord
and my Savior. When you come to baptism, you're
already saved, you're already in Christ, baptized into Christ
by the Holy Spirit. But when you are baptized in
water, you're confessing Christ. You're publicly identifying with
Christ. This is the way the people in
the New Testament confess Christ. The Ethiopian eunuch said to
Philip, here's water, what does hinder me from being baptized?
Philip said, if you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, you may. And he said, I do believe that.
And then he was baptized, confessing Christ. He that believeth on
the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Then
there's the gospel of morality and the gospel of love. Now,
God's people are a holy people. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. I believe that. I believe God's
people are striving after holiness. God's people want to be like
Christ. God's people, in their conduct, in their conversation,
want to glorify God. They want to adorn the gospel
of Jesus Christ. But salvation is not in reformation. Salvation is not in changing
your ways. Salvation is not in turning over
a new leaf. Salvation is not quitting a few
sins. Because even when we come to
know Christ, we have to say our righteousness is a filthy rag.
There's none good, no, not one. In our flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In the flesh no man can please God. Our righteousness
is Christ. It's not ours, it's His. His
righteousness becomes ours through faith in the Son of God. And
then there's household salvation or covenant salvation. Here are
babies born into a family, and the mother and dad are Christians
or church members, and that baby is brought before the preacher,
and the preacher sprinkles water on the baby, and they say he's
in the covenant, that he's a part of the household of God. And
he's just educated right on up into the church and educated
right on up into salvation. Salvation is not by education. It's by revelation. Salvation
is a new birth. And a person is not a believer
is not saved because his mother and daddy were Christian. He's
not a child of God because his mother and daddy are children
of God. He's born again with the Spirit of God. Now, there
are hundreds of other ways by which people hope to hide from
the judgment of God and inherit the glory of His kingdom. But
the Word of God declares clearly and plainly that salvation is
not in a church, salvation is not in the law. Salvation is
not in baptism or the Lord's Supper. Salvation is not in the
covenant. Salvation is in Christ. Let me
read that to you. First of all, John 14, 6. The
disciples said to our Lord, We know not whither thou goest.
How can we know the way? And our Lord Jesus said, I am
the way. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Listen to I John 5, verse 11. This is the record. God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God,
whatever he might have, hath not life." Now, do you hear that?
That's what the Scripture said. And then John 3, 14, "...as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him, in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so
loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Listen
to these scriptures. There is none other name, none
other name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ Jesus. Our Lord said, I am the
door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. and go
in and out and find pasture. Peter wrote this. You're not
redeemed. We know this, he said. We are
not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. And my friend, if you
were to open the Bible for the first time, you'd never heard
a preacher, you'd never seen a Bible, and you open that Bible
for the first time, I'm just confident you'd be convinced
of one thing. That there's one gospel. There's
one gospel. And it's not the gospel of church
membership. That's just not there. It's not
the gospel of church ordinances. It's not the gospel of law and
morality. It's not the gospel of covenant
household salvation. It's not the gospel of decisionism. It's the gospel of Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ. His substitutionary death and
His satisfaction. His satisfaction. of the law
of God and the justice of God perfectly on behalf of his people. Now let me give you just a running
account of what I believe the gospel is. I want you to just
ease back there a moment and listen to me now. First of all,
man fell in the Garden of Eden. That's what the Bible says. Death,
sin, judgment came upon all. From the Scripture, Romans 5,
12, wherefore by one man, by Adam, sin entered this world
and death. That's not only physical death,
that's spiritual death. That's not only disease of the
body, disease of the soul. That's not only darkness physically,
that's darkness spiritually. Sin, by one man, sin entered
this world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. Men do not know God, men do not
love God, men do not desire God, men do not pant after God. Now,
you can deny original sin if you wish to, You can fight against
it, but it's still in the Word of God. Imputed guilt, representation,
in Adam we die. By one man's disobedience we
were made sinners. By one man's sin entered this
world, and death by sin. David said, I was shaped in iniquity,
conceived in sin, brought forth speaking lies. Men steal because
they're thieves. They're not thieves because they
steal. Men are murderers not because they kill. They kill
because they're already murderers. They're born with the murder
in their heart. Sin is a principle. It's a nature. It's a body of
death with which we're born, and we inherited it from our
daddy. Now, that's so. The Word of God declares that.
Secondly, God made an everlasting covenant before this world began
to save a people. God determined in Himself before
the world began. Now, I can show you that in the
Scriptures. Before there was a sinner, there was a Savior.
Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in the heavenlies according as he chose us in Christ before
the world began. Now, that's what Scripture said.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, Paul said, I thank God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification and the belief of the spirit
and belief of the truth. God determined to have a people. He gave His Son a people. He
called His blood the blood of an everlasting covenant. He called
Him the surety of an everlasting covenant. He said He was the
Lamb slain before the world began, before its foundations were laid.
God determined to have a people. All right? Thirdly, throughout
the Old Testament, from the time that man fell in the garden and
God slew an animal to cover the nakedness of our parents, From
that very moment, till Jesus Christ came into this world as
the fulfillment of every prophecy and promise and type, God typified,
God pictured, God prophesied, and God promised a Redeemer.
All the way through the Old Testament. That rock was Christ, that Passover
was Christ, that sacrifice of Abel was Christ, the sacrifice
of Isaac was Christ, the tabernacle with its priesthood, with its
blood sacrifices, with its atonement, with its incense. All of these
things are pictures of a Savior, of a Redeemer coming into this
world and dying as our substitute. God pictured it all the way through
the Old Testament. Then in the fullness of time,
2,000 years ago, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. His Son, the fulfillment of the
priesthood. His Son, the fulfillment of the
prophetic office. His Son, the fulfillment of the
kingly office. His Son, the fulfillment of every
sacrifice. His Son, the fulfillment of every
lamb. Christ came as God promised,
typified, promised, and pictured all the way through the Old Testament.
He was born of a woman, and He was none other than God in human
flesh, and walking on this earth, born without a human father,
because He's the Son of God, but born of a woman. identified
with all flesh, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He was the
God-man, perfect God, perfect man. And in the flesh, he fulfilled
God's law. He was tried and tempted in all
points as we are yet without sin. He honored the law. He magnified
the law. He exalted the law. He did all
that the law required, inwardly and outwardly, in thought, imagination,
word and deed. He went to the cross and died
under the wrath of God for our sins. He was wounded for our
transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement
of our peace was upon Him, and through His stripes we are healed."
God's law honored, God's justice satisfied, He was buried as our
scapegoat, He arose again as our justifier, He ascended as
our high priest, and He intercedes now as our advocate and mediator. Representation. By Adam's disobedience,
we fell. By Christ's obedience, we were
restored. By Adam's disobedience, death passed upon us. By Christ's
obedience, passively and actively in obedience, in life, in righteousness,
in death, we are restored to God's favor. We have life eternal.
Now then, that gospel of Christ, that effectual, sufficient righteousness
and atonement of Christ is preached to you today. And God says for
us to preach it to every creature. And as the Spirit of God opens
men's hearts, and reveals their sins, and creates a need for
Christ, and reveals a need for Christ, and creates an interest
in Christ, all who believe are saved. All who receive Him are
saved. That's what Scripture said. The
Philippian jailer cried out to Paul, What must I do to be saved?
He said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our substitute. He's our satisfaction. He's our
Savior. And one more point. Those who receive Him and those
who believe on Him and those who bow to His Lordship will
continue in the faith until that faith gives way to reality and
they're made just like Jesus Christ. That's the gospel that
glorifies God and the gospel that saves sinners. Now, if you
want that message on tape, I have that message and then one I'll
preach next Sunday on the obedience of faith. If you'll write to
me, the address will be given to you. Send two dollars, we'll
mail you the tape. Until next time we meet, may
God bless you, everyone.