I'm reading this morning from
the book of Acts, chapter 17, verse 22 and 23. Now, the title
of this message is, The Message of the Cross, or The Message
of the Gospel of the Son of God. In Acts, chapter 17, verse 22,
the scripture says, Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and
said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are most
superstitious. Now that word is religious. Paul
said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are most
religious. I passed by and beheld your shrines,
your altars, and the tributes to the gods which you worship,
and I found among them an altar with this inscription, to the
unknown God. I found an altar among your shrines
and altars and temples, an altar with this inscription, to the
unknown God. Now listen to this. Whom therefore
ye ignorantly worship or recognize and honor, him declare I unto
you. Now, like the people of Athens,
the people of America are most religious. Like the city of Athens,
our cities are filled with churches and shrines and altars and sects
and cults of every variety. And like the men of Athens, the
men and women of America have many different ideas about who
God is and how God is to be worshipped. And like the city of Athens,
somewhere, somewhere in all of this craze and fad and tradition
and notions and enthusiasm about religion, somewhere there is
a revelation, somewhere there is a true word, somewhere in
all of this religious atmosphere there is an understanding of
the true and the living God. Paul addressed these philosophers
of Athens, and he said, I perceive that you are a most religious
people. I've walked up and down the streets
of your cities, and I've seen the shrines and altars and temples
that you've erected to your many gods. And he said, I found one
shrine, one altar, in the midst of all these other tributes to
gods. And inscribed on that altar were
these words. to the unknown God. In case we've
left out some God, here is a shrine, an altar, to the unknown God.
Now, he said, him whom you ignorantly recognize, him whom you ignorantly
honor, him whom you ignorantly worship, declare I unto you. In 1 John 5, verse 20, John said,
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding That's what I'm saying. Somewhere in all of this
religious tradition, in all of this religious enthusiasm, there
is an understanding. There's somebody with a revelation.
God hath not left himself without a witness. There's somebody with
a revelation. There's somebody with an understanding
of the true God. And this is what John is talking
about in 1 John 5.20. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an understanding that we may know
Him that is true, that we may know Him that is true and that
we're in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. Now speak for myself and I hope
I speak for you. I am not content with the traditions
and customs of my fathers. I am not content with the religious
customs and traditions that have been handed down by generations. My soul, like that of David,
panteth after the living God. I am not satisfied with the hoopla
and the enthusiasm and the emotional zeal of today's religious cheerleaders. I speak for myself. I hope for
you too. I want to win Christ and be found
in him. I want to know him and the power
of his resurrection. Oh, Paul said that I may win
Christ and be found in him. I'm not persuaded that a way
is right because everyone is walking that way. I'm not persuaded
that a thing is right because everybody's doing it. I don't
think we prove anything is right by the multitudes that follow
that way. I must search the scriptures
to see if these things be so. Let every message and every activity
of our churches be proven by the word of God. Try the spirits,
whether they be of God. Let God be true in every man,
a liar. Let God be true in the multitude,
liars. Let God be true in the masses,
liars. If they speak, Isaiah said, If
they speak not according to the word of God, it is because there
is no light in them. Now Paul said, Whom therefore
you ignorantly honor, whom therefore you ignorantly recognize, this
unknown God, him declare I unto you. And I feel like that's the
message for this day. I walk down the city streets,
the streets of our little towns and suburbs and communities Just
all kinds of churches and all kinds of ideas about who God
is and how God is to be worshipped. And I think Him whose Bible is
in every home and in every motel and in every filling station
and in every church building but seldom read and even more
seldom believed, Him declare I unto you. Him whose cross is
superstitiously displayed not only on church steeples but around
people's necks, on the walls of our homes. Him whose cross
is superstitiously displayed, but rarely understood, and more
rarely preached, declare I unto you. Him whose name is on every
tongue, yes, Jesus of Nazareth. Him whose name is on every tongue,
most of the time in profanity, but sometime in mock praise,
Him declare I unto you. him whose house is now a place
of entertainment, merchandise, social gathering, and business
enterprises, but seldom a house of prayer. How long has it been? And seldom a house of worship,
and seldom a house of praise, declare I unto you. And if I
can find me someone with an ear to hear, and our God says, Let
him that hath an ear to hear, hear what the Spirit of God saith
to the churches, if I can Find somebody whose eyes long to see
the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. If I can
find someone who can say, with David, my heart, my soul panteth,
diligently panteth, yearneth to see and to hear from the living
God, I believe I have a message of truth and grace. And I call
it the message of the gospel, the message of his cross. Now
here are seven things for you to consider. If you'd like to,
write them down. But listen carefully as I give
them to you, one at a time. Here are seven things, I believe,
that tell us what the message of the gospel really is. This
true gospel of God's Son, this gospel of redeeming grace, this
gospel of God's glory, this gospel of concerning God's Son. Paul
said there's not another. Though we, an angel from heaven,
preach unto you any other gospel than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be occurred." But here's that gospel, and here's
the message of that gospel, presented under seven headings. First of
all, now listen to this. First of all, the religion of
the gospel arises from a right knowledge of God and of ourselves. The religion of the gospel arises
from a right knowledge of God and of ourselves. Pharaoh once
said to Moses, who is the Lord? That's a good question. Who is
the Lord that I should obey him? The heathen said to David, where
is your God? And we know where our God is.
Our God is where we put him. Our God is where we lift him.
Our God is in the little house we built for him. We keep him
there all the time. We go to see him once in a while
on holidays or special days or holy days. Where's your God?
Where's your God, David? Where is your God? Christ said
to the disciples, he said, whom do they, the multitude, say that
I am? And when the disciples answered, he said, well, whom
do you say that I am? Who is Jesus Christ? Who is God Almighty? The message of the gospel arises
from a right knowledge of God. Our Lord said, this is eternal
life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. When God Almighty revealed himself
to Moses, and Moses said, I'll go down to Egypt now to deliver
the people. And when I go and tell them,
the God of your fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sent me to
deliver you from Egypt and from bondage. And they're going to
ask me, what's his name? What is the name of this God
who sent you? Now, what am I going to say?
And the Lord God spake to Moses and said, you tell them, I am
that I am. That's his eternality. Our God
is, was, and always has been, and always will be. I am. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. That's what David replied
when the heathen said, where's your God? We know where our God
is. Our God's where we left him. Our God's on the little throne
we built for him. We designed it especially for
him. Now where's your God? And David stretched out his hands
and he said, our God is in the heavens. The heaven of heavens
won't contain him. The earth is his footstool. He
considers the inhabitants of the world as grasshoppers. He
hangeth the earth upon nothing. He is in the heavens. He hath
done whatsoever he pleased, whatsoever the Lord pleased. That did he
in heaven, in earth, in the seas, in all deep places. Our God's
not only eternal, our God's sovereign, absolutely, immutably, unchangeably
sovereign, not only in creation and providence, but in salvation.
Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. Let's call in Isaiah as a witness.
Who is the Lord, Isaiah? I saw the Lord. Yes, sir, in
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I lifted up. And his train filled the temple.
And the cherubims and seraphims of glory covered their faces
and covered their ears and cried, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of
hosts. Holy, holy, holy. Our God is
holy. True and righteous are his judgments. A scepter of righteousness. is
the scepter of his blessed kingdom. Our Lord is righteous and true
and holy and just, but our God is merciful and John said he
is love. And that led David to cry, when
I consider the heaven, the work of thy hands, when I consider
thy eternality, when I consider thy majesty, thy sovereignty,
thy holiness, thy righteousness and truth and love, what is man? What is man? What is man, that
thou art mindful of him? Well, what is man? He's everything
God is not. Everything God is not. Man is
dead. God is light. Man is darkness. God is light. Man is sin. God is holy. Man is evil. God is good. Man is hate. God is love. Man is a lie. God is true. Man is mortal. God is immortal. Man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Job said, how can a man be just
with God? Behold the moon, it shineth not.
The stars are not pure in God's sight. How much more abominable
and filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like the water? Yes,
the true religion of the gospel arises out of a sense, a sense
of the holiness majesty and awesomeness, unchangeableness, immutability,
eternality, sovereignty, the character of the Holy God, and
also a sense of our own guilt and shame and unworthiness. Secondly,
the religion of the gospel arises from a sense of the great things,
the great things that God has done for fallen sinners through
His grace and His mercy. You know, in the book of Ephesians,
chapter 2, when Paul describes the fall of man and the sin of
man and the darkness and death that has gripped us and enslaved
us and put us in bondage, he says, But God, but God, who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, we
didn't love him, he loved us, here in his love, not that we
loved God, he loved us. sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. We love him. Yes, every believer
loves God because he first loved us. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. It was God's grace that purposed
to redeem a people. It was God's grace that sent
Christ into the world as our substitute, as our representative,
as our savior, as our atonement. It was God's grace that suffered
our rebellion and in His long suffering put up with our sins
and waited to call us in the day of His good pleasure. It
was God's grace that called us by His Spirit and awakened us
and quickened us and brought us forth to life and led us to
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. It was God's grace that
has preserved us to this day. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. It's by His grace I've come thus
far, and it'll be His grace that'll lead me home. For God, in His
grace, will one day raise our vile bodies, and He said in Philippians
chapter 4, make them liken to His glorious bodies. So this
religion of the gospel arises out of a deep sense of the great
thing that God has done for fallen sinners through his mercy and
grace in Christ Jesus. And then thirdly, the religion
of the gospel produces a well-grounded hope. Now the Bible talks about
salvation as a hope, a hope in Christ. He's given us a good
hope, a blessed hope. He had given us a living hope.
And this gospel of redemption, this religion of the gospel,
produces a well-grounded hope based on the Word of God of our
saving interest in Jesus Christ. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
lives. Whatever has happened or whatever
will happen, one thing I know, the root of the matter is in
me. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that. David said, the
Lord is my shepherd. Again, he said, the Lord is my
rock. The Lord is my fortress. The Lord is my salvation. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. And
John said, we know that we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. All assurance is the result of
faith in Christ. And all assurance is based on
the word of God. Assurance is drawn from a saving
interest in Christ. He's the object of faith. Faith
itself does not give assurance. He gives it. And it's based on
every promise of his word. Abraham believed God that he
was able to perform all that he promised. Fourthly, the religion
of the gospel produces a principle. A principle. of sincere love
to him who first loved us. We love him because he first
loved us. This principle of love reigns
in the heart of every believer. And this love for Christ leads
men to worship Christ. Men do not worship God unless
they love God. This principle of love for Christ
constrains his people and restrains them. This principle of love
for Christ makes us serve Christ. He sat down by the fire one day
and looked at his disciple Peter and said, do you love me? Peter
said, you know I love you. He asked him the second time,
Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know I love you. He
asked him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you
know all things. He was grieved that the master
should ask him the third time, do you love me? He said, you
know all things. You know I love you. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Love for Christ makes us serve
Christ. Love for Christ casteth out fear.
Fear of condemnation, fear of separation, fear of death, fear
of men. Love for Christ causes men to
love Christ's people. You can't love Christ and not
love his people. Whosoever is born of God loveth Christ and
loveth those that are begotten of Christ. He that loveth not
knoweth not God. God is love. Love for Christ
causes people to love his word. They delight in his word. They
long to hear his word preached. They love his commandment. I
love thee, Lord. I love thee in life, I love thee
in death. I love thee as long as you give me breath. And I'll
say when the death do lies cold on my brow, if ever I love thee,
my Jesus is now." And then in the fifth place, the religion
of the gospel consists of a total surrender of ourselves to Christ
Jesus as our Lord and King. Now when all of this misfortune
had come into the life of Job. He'd lost everything he had.
God permitted Satan to take it away. Even his townspeople, his
friends, had turned against him. His servants had turned against
him. Even little children laughed at him on the street. And finally
his wife came, and she said, why don't you just curse God
and die? Now listen to what the old man said. In the face of
all of this trial and tribulation and agony and misfortune, he
said, though he slay me, I'll trust him. Though he slay me,
I'll trust him. This is what Job declared. Listen
to Joshua. He said, as for me and my house,
we'll serve the Lord. We'll serve the Lord. Listen
to Eli. They came to Eli and said, Eli,
God has pronounced judgment upon your son. These young men have
offered strange fire upon the altar of God, and God's going
to slay them." And Eli replied, "'It's the Lord. Let him do what
he will.'" My friend, this is what I'm saying. If Jesus Christ
is not your Lord, he is certainly not your Savior, because he is
the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You can't have half a Savior.
You can't have half a Redeemer. You can't have Christ in some
of his offices and reject the rest. He's prophet, priest, and
king. We're not our own. We're bought
with a price. The redeemed of the world have
been conquered. They're now bond slaves of the Son of God. That's
the way Paul liked to refer to himself. I'm a bond slave of
Jesus Christ. What's a bond slave? Well, it's
a willing, loving bond slave. It's a willing, loving obedience.
Thomas summed it up when he fell at his feet and lifted his eyes
into the face of the Son of God and he said, my Lord and my God. That's the solution for the rest
of life. That's the solution for every problem. That's the
solution for every conflict. Thomas recognized that Jesus
Christ was his Lord. That happened to Saul on the
road to Damascus. There was no conflict after that.
He looked into the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord, and he said,
Lord, what will you have me do? What will you have me do? You're
my Lord. I'm your servant. Say what you will, and I'll do
it. Your will is my command. Lord, what will you have me do?
That's the gateway to the kingdom of God. Romans 10 says, If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. Now, here's the sixth thing. The religion of the gospel,
carefully listen to this now, makes the goodness and grace
of God to me to be the motive and model of my attitude and
conduct and behavior toward you. That's what the scripture says.
Listen to this. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also so
to love one another. Listen to this, Ephesians 4.32.
Be ye kind. kinder hearted, forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. What I'm saying
is this, that if you have been a partaker of the mercy of God,
you will yourself be merciful. If you have been a recipient
of God's love, God's undeserved love, God's unmerited mercy,
then you'll certainly learn how to give that which you yourself
have received. How can you be hard upon someone
who owes you so little when God has forgiven you and me of so
much? Be you kind, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. So the goodness of God to me
and to you, his mercy to us in our sin and affliction and infirmity,
is the model and is the motive of my attitude. Not only my conduct,
well, I'll forgive you, but I won't forget it. That's not the right
attitude. Suppose God says, I'll forgive
you, but I won't forget it. God has not only forgiven our
sins, but cast them behind his back to remember them no more.
Now watch this last of all. In the seventh place, the religion
of the gospel presses upon me. It's an active principle. It's
a nature, a spirit within. It's a new creature in Christ
Jesus. It's not just an outward profession or a mental assent
to some facts or a decision, a religious decision, but this
religion of the gospel presses upon men three goals, all of
them unattainable in this life. We'll never fully realize one
of these goals in this life, but the seed is planted. The
principle is there. The root is there. And it begins
to grow. Now here are these three goals.
First of all, total commitment to Jesus Christ. That's exactly
what the believer wants, above all things, total commitment
to Jesus Christ. The disciples said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Paul said,
I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed, committed unto him against that
day. And then secondly, total communion with Christ. That's
what the believer wants, total, complete, perfect communion with
Christ. That's what Paul's saying, oh,
that I may know him. Don't you know him, Paul? Want
to know him better. And thirdly, total conformity
to Jesus Christ. That's the three goals of a believer,
total commitment to Christ, total communion with Christ, total
conformity to Christ. David said, and I shall be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness. That's when I'll be complete.
That's when I'll be happy. Thoroughly, completely happy. Until then, everything else is
judged in its relationship to that total conformity to Jesus
Christ. Everything else falls in that
picture. I'm going to be like Christ.
And he that hath this hope in him, that he's going to be like
Christ, he purifies himself even as Christ is pure.