The Gospel Ministry

Now there are six things of which
I am absolutely certain. I think if a person will take
these six things and look carefully at them and find confidence in
these six things, that they will be able to say, I have a good
hope. I think these six things form
the foundation of what we call a gospel ministry. I think a
man who does not understand these six things is not able to be
a gospel ministry. Perhaps those who do not know
and understand these six things do not understand the gospel
ministry. The first one is this. God is
the giver of all grace. God is the giver of all grace. James 1.17 declares, Every good
gift and every perfect gift cometh from the Father, with whom there
is no variableness, change, shadow of turning. Every good gift cometh
from God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our Lord was standing before Pilate one day, and Pilate was
questioning him. The crowd was crying for his
blood, his death. Our Lord answered not a word,
and it disturbed Pilate, made him angry, and he said to Christ,
Answerest thou not me, knowing that I have the power to crucify
you or let you go? And our Lord said this, Pilate,
thou couldst have no power over me at all, except it were given
you from above. I am confident that God is the
giver of all grace. John wrote in 1 John 1 11, this
is the record, God hath given us eternal life. If you have
faith, God gave it. If you have repentance, God gave
it. If you have a knowledge of Christ,
God gave If you have a knowledge of the gospel, the mystery of
life, God gave it. Every good gift, and that is
a good gift, cometh from God. The second statement is this.
Christ is the source of all grace. Now, the giver is the Father.
It originates with the Father. The covenant was made with the
Father. The promise comes from the Father. The gift proceeds
from the throne. But the source of all grace is
Christ. This is the record God has given
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. In him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. God has vested in Christ
all grace, all grace. Now when Joseph told Pharaoh
there'd be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, And
the seven years of plenty came to pass, and Pharaoh put Joseph
in charge of the storehouses. And Joseph stored up enough food
to last through the seven years of famine. And people who came
to Pharaoh for food, for corn, for wheat, Pharaoh always said
this, Go to Joseph, go to Joseph. The storehouses were filled by
him, and he's in charge. And this is what the Heavenly
Father would tell any seeker tonight. Go to Christ. It's all
in Him. He is the well of living water. He is the bread of life. Jesus
Christ, our Lord, is the source of all grace. There is no grace
outside of Christ. Outside of Christ there is no
love. There is no grace. There is no
life. There is no light. There is no
truth. There is no hope. It's all in
Him. The third statement is this. Now watch as we proceed. All
grace comes from the Father. He's the giver of all grace.
Christ is the source of all grace. And thirdly, only union with
Christ. Not admiration for him, but union
with Christ. Not knowledge about him, but
union with Christ. not concern for it, but union
with Christ. Only union with Christ can bring
that grace to you. The only way that you can receive,
the Father is the giver of grace, the grace of life. The Father
is the giver of grace. The Son is the source of grace.
But the only way to be a partaker yourself of that grace and of
that joy and of that peace is to be vitally united in a living
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen, this is the
record. God hath given us eternal life,
this life is in his Son, and he that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son,
whatever his knowledge, whatever his intentions, whatever his
concern, if he hath not the Son, he hath not life. He hath not
life. He that hath the Son of God hath
life." Christ is our hope! And only, he said, I'm the vine,
you're the branches. Severed from me, you're only
fit for the burning. The fourth statement. There can be no union with Christ
without faith. Now, God is the giver of all
grace, and all grace is stowed in Christ. All grace comes from
Christ, he's the source of it. And only God bringing me into
a living union with Christ, Christ the head, I am the body, Christ
divine, and you and I are the branches. Only by living union
with Christ can we have life and hope and nourishment. And
the only way that we can have union with Christ is by faith.
Our Lord said to his disciples, you go into all the world and
preach the gospel, and he that believeth, and he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Again the scripture says in John
3.36, he that believeth on the Son of God hath life, he that
believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. that I can be vitally united
with Christ is my faith. Apart from faith, there is no
union. The fifth faith. And there can
be no saving union with Christ, and there can be no saving union
with Christ, and no saving faith in Christ, without the preaching
of the gospel. I want you to turn with me to
Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. Now let's sound a clear note
on this. This is what we're talking about. The gospel ministry, the
preaching of the gospel. God is the giver of all grace.
Christ is the source of all grace. Only a union with Christ can
bring me into that grace and there can be no union without
faith. He that believeth not hath not life. He that believeth
hath life. He that believeth on Christ hath
eternal life. But there can be no saving faith
without the preaching of the gospel. Now this is what Paul
is saying in Romans 10, 13. Whosoever shall call, and that's
faith, shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How
then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And
how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that believes it. And to those who are perishing,
the preaching of the gospel is foolishness. But this foolishness
of God, this foolishness of preaching, is ordained of God as the means
of bringing his people to faith. Now, the sixth statement. God is the giver of all grace.
comes from Him. Whatever I have, He gave me.
Whatever I am, He made me. Whatever I know, He taught me.
He gets the glory. Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive
it, why do you glory as if you didn't? And it's all in Christ. It pleased God that in Him should
all fullness dwell. That's where it is. Come to me,
He said. I'll give you rest. My peace
I give unto you. I'm the door, by me if any man
enter in he shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.
I'm the bread, I'm the water. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath life, and he that eateth not my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath no life in him." It's union with Christ. And that
comes to us by faith. And that faith comes to us by
hearing the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing. I told
the men Saturday night, I hear these little religious clichÃ©s,
you know, and they sound good. It's just like a lot of songs
we sing. They sound good, but not a nickel's
worth of truth in them. These poems we read are not a
nickel's worth of truth. And listen to this. You've heard
it all your life. I'd rather see a sermon than
hear one any day. I'd rather one walk beside me
than merely point the way. Isn't that pretty? Well, it's
just not so. It's not so. Nobody will ever
be saved, ever be saved by watching you live. They've got to hear
God's Word. That's so. Faith cometh by hearing,
not by seeing. These people said, show us a
sign. He said, no sign will be given
but the Word of God. I know what Satan has set out
to do is do away with this Word. He's set out to make men religious
without truth. We worship God in spirit, yes,
but in spirit and truth. And you cannot be saved by seeing
anything. You're saved by hearing God's
Word. That's the importance of the
truth, and that's the importance of the message, and that's the
importance of the doctrine, and that's the importance of the
gospel ministry. There can be no saving faith
without the preaching of the Word. They cannot call on him
in whom they haven't believed, and they can't believe in him
of whom they haven't heard. And they can't hear without somebody
preaching, preaching, preaching. And the world despises preaching.
And the churches today are organizing it and squeezing it out. That's
what they're doing. And the television promoters
and entertainers and religious men are squeezing preaching out.
And you'll finally come to the place where there will not be
any preaching. The sixth thing that I know,
undeniable statement. But preaching, this is not it,
but preaching ought to have the prominent place in the worship
of the Lord. Preaching. Because it's God's
Word. Everything else is what I say.
Everything else is what I contribute. The sixth statement
is this. There can be no entering into
glory. by any man unless he continues
in that faith. There can be no entering into
glory by any person unless he continues in that faith. He that
endures to the end, the same shall be saved. Now those six
things are true. Those six things are And the
preaching of the gospel is what I want to talk about tonight,
that fifth one. There can be no saving faith
without the preaching of the gospel. For the preaching of
the gospel by Christ's ambassadors is the principal means appointed
by God to bring sinners to Christ Jesus. The whole of the work whereby
a lost sinner is redeemed from his state of darkness and disease
and death and ruin is of God and of him only, and it's in
Christ and in Christ only. And it's by a vital living union
with Christ and only by a living union with Christ, and it comes
to that sinner by faith, and that faith comes through hearing
the word of God, and that hearing of the word of God comes through
preaching the gospel. And this carries with it a two-fold
responsibility. The first responsibility is on
the preacher. Brother Barnard told me a story
years ago that just meant an awful lot to me, a true experience. It didn't happen to him, it happened
to another preacher. But it severely, severely troubled
this preacher. He said it changed his ministry.
He was pastor of a church for 10 or 11 years. There was a lawyer,
a member of the church. That lawyer was a faithful member.
In fact, when he was out of town on Friday and Saturday, he'd
always drive back. If he had to drive all night
on Saturday night, he'd drive back to be in church on Sunday
morning. He was always there, always heard his pastor preach
every Sunday morning for 10 years. This lawyer was in his early
40s. He had a heart attack. And it was a serious heart attack.
And the doctor told him that he did not think he was going
to live. He said, I'll just tell you. He said, I just don't think
you're going to make it. It's that serious. It'll be a
miracle if you live. And he sent for his pastor. It
happened down in Memphis, Tennessee. And the pastor came to see the
man. And he walked in and stood by his bed in intensive care.
And the man looked up at him and said, Pastor, he said, I've
heard you preach now for ten years. He said, I faithfully
attended the services. When I was out of town, I'd drive
back to be in the service. I've been there. Every time you
preach, I've been there. Pastor, I'm dying. It never occurred to me that
I would die this early in life, but I'm dying. The doctors told
me that I can't live, and I'm scared. And pastor, I want you
to know this. You have not prepared me for
this moment. I'm dying and I'm not ready to
die. And you have not prepared me
for this moment. You have failed me, pastor, and
I want those words to ring in your ears. You have failed me. Oh, the responsibility. That's the
reason Paul said, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.
There's a two-fold responsibility in this preaching, in this gospel
ministry. One is a heavy, serious responsibility
upon the man who preaches. And second, our Lord told us
to be careful what we preach, but he said, take heed how you
hear. Turn with me to Luke 10. Luke
10, verse 16. Now, Luke 10, 16. Woe is unto
me! If I don't preach the gospel,
the gospel of redemption, the gospel of salvation, the gospel
of substitution, the gospel of Christ, woe is unto me if I fail
you and don't prepare you to die tonight. Most not thouself
of tomorrow, thou knowest not what a day will bring forth.
But woe is unto you if I preach it and you don't receive it.
Huh? Woe is unto you if I preach,
if I'm faithful to preach this gospel, and you're not faithful
to hear it, the woe is not unto me, but unto you. Our Lord said,
Ezekiel, son of man, I've made you a watchman to the house of
Israel, and if you don't warn them, and they die in their sins,
I'll require their blood at your hands. But if you speak to warn
the wicked, and the wicked continue in his ways and dies in his sins,
you have delivered your soul. You're not responsible. In Luke
10, verse 16, Luke 10, verse 16 says this. Our Lord's sending the 70 out
to preach. You notice in verse 1, he sent
70 out, but verse 16, and he says this, And he that heareth
you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you despiseth
me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me." Now, to the world, this preaching
business is foolishness. To the world, this preaching
business is foolishness. And I have to confess that most
preaching that I have to listen to today to me is foolishness. But all this preaching of the
grace of God and the glory of God and the work of Christ, it's
not foolishness. To them who are being saved,
it's the power of God. It's the means God uses to bring
you to a knowledge of himself. It's the means God uses to bring
you into faith. It's the means God uses to bring
you into Christ. It's preaching the gospel. three
divisions in this message. The first one from our text in
2 Corinthians 5 is who gave us this ministry? Who gave us this
ministry? Have we taken it upon ourselves?
Have we sought it? Have we coveted it? Is it a profession,
a vocation that we've entered like a man enters medicine or
law or business? who gave us our ministry. Verse
18 of 2 Corinthians 5 says, And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and he hath given to
us this ministry of reconciliation. Look at that first line, All
things are of God. Do you believe that? That's where
you'll find your comfort That's where you'll find your hope.
That's where you'll find your peace. That's where you'll find
your joy, when you discover that all things are of God. Job discovered
it. They came to him and said, Oh,
Job, Job, your property's all perished, your animals, all of
these things is gone, your wealth, your possessions. Oh, Job, your
children are all gone, your family's gone. Well, the Lord gave and
the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Do you believe that? Do you believe not a sparrow, not a sparrow,
think what a sparrow, not worth a fathering, Christ said, not
worth two cents, but not a sparrow, falls to the ground. What does
it say? Without God knowing it, that's
not what it says. It says, without your father.
Did you know the hairs of your head are numbered? All things
are of God. I believe that. All things are
of God. The scripture says all things
in the old creation are of God because by the word of God the
heavens were of old. He created it like he pleased.
He made it like he pleased. It says in Colossians chapter
1 verse 16, Colossians 1 verse 16, turn over there just a moment.
Colossians 1.16 says, By him were all things created that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him, and he's before
all things, and by him all things, all things are of God. All things
consist. All things. All things work together
for good to them who love God, who are called according to his
purpose because he controls all things. Absolutely. And nothing happens to me, nothing
happens around me that is not either in the permissive or directive
will of my Heavenly Father. All things are of God. Happy
is the man, happy is the woman who can say with the Apostle
Paul, and all things are of God. Not only in creation, not only
in providence, but in salvation. I believe that. I believe all
things in the new creation of God. Look at the next line. Who? Who hath reconciled us to
himself? He reconciled us. All things
are of God in the old creation, all things are of God in the
new creation. All things are of God in providence, all things
are of God in purpose. What I'm saying is this, and
I want to clearly be understood. I don't want to camouflage it
so you won't know what I'm saying. I don't want to soften it so
you won't understand what I'm preaching. I believe that everything
that happens to a child of God in the life of a child of God,
in the past of a child of God, in the presence of a child of
God, in the future of a child of God, All things are of God
and for his glory and your good. All things. Doesn't matter whether
it's failure or success, doesn't matter whether it's death or
life, doesn't matter whether it's tragedy or happiness, doesn't
matter whether it's failure or what it is, sorrow, it's of God. Big things, little things, all
of God. All to bring you to himself and
to make you like his son. I want to show you five scriptures.
The first one is found in 2 Samuel, and you might want to jot this
down in your Bible somewhere, but here are five scriptures. You know, 1 Samuel 12. You know David, David said this
one time, they said, Where's your God, David? He said, He's
in the heavens. He's in the heavens. He's not in Rome. He's not in
Nashville. He's not in the pulpit. He's
in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, earth, and seas, and
all deep places. He does what he pleases. That's
our God. All right, look at 1 Samuel 12, verse 22. The Lord will not
forsake his people for his great namesake, because it hath pleased
the Lord to make you his people. You want me to tell you why you're
in the kingdom of God? It pleased God to put you there.
You want me to tell you why you're in the family of God? You say,
because I believe. Yeah, you did believe, but it
pleased God to put you there. It pleased God to make you his
people. It pleased God. From before the foundation of
the world, he gave his Son a people. Out of Adam's fallen race, our
God, in his wisdom and in his mercy and in his love, chose
a people. to make them like his sons, and
it pleased him to make you one of them. That's right. Turn with me to Colossians 1. These people whom he chose and
these people whom he set out to redeem and these people whom
he predestinated to be like Christ and these people whom he was
pleased to make his own, there wasn't much to them. Like Hosea,
he married them out of hoard of Like Abraham, he found them
in idolatry. Like Mephibosheth, he found them
lame on both their feet. Like Bartimaeus, he found them
blind from birth. So there was no goodness in them.
So it says in Colossians 1, chapter 1, verse 19, It pleased the Father
that in Christ should all fullness dwell, and, having made peace
through the blood of his cross by Christ, to reconcile all things
unto himself. By him I say, whether they are
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were alienated
enemies in your mind by wicked work, he hath reconciled it."
Please God, put it all in Christ. All you need, your wisdom, your
righteousness, your sanctification, and your redemption, he put it
in Christ. That's where he put it. All right? Turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53,
verse 10. I'll tell you something else
about this thing of the gift of grace and the mercy of God.
It pleaded God to put Christ on the cross. Now, the Jews can
argue about the Romans did it, and the Romans can argue about
the Jews did it, and the religious can argue about the rabble did
it, and the rabble can argue that the religious did it, They
all had a part in it, but he who did it was the only one who
could do it, and that was the Heavenly Father. Or they did
what their wicked hands wanted to do, they did what their wicked
heart devised to do, but in doing what their wicked hearts wanted
to do, they did what God purposed to do. Isaiah 53, 10, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. And I'll tell you this, he never
would have gone to that cross if it hadn't pleased the Father.
pleased the Father. And then in Galatians 1.15, turn
over there with me just a moment, these people whom it pleased
the Lord to make his own, these people whom it pleased the Lord
to set his affections upon and make them his children, and for
whom he made Christ the surety and filled him with all fullness,
and for whom he nailed Christ to the cross, they were still
out yonder in sin, still in rebellion, still in unbelief. That's right. When did God know Paul and love
Paul and choose Paul and redeem Paul? Well, look at Galatians
1.15, "...but when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb." Now here's what I'm saying so you can understand,
so you won't be in the darkness. I'm saying when the Apostle Paul
came into this world, from that Jewish mother and father. And
he entered into all of his religious form and ceremony and tradition.
And while he was wrapped up in his own self-righteousness, and
while he was injurious and a blasphemer, and while he persecuted the Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and while he kicked against the pitch,
and while he walked his own way, and while he despised the name
of Jesus Christ and hated his grace, He's one of God's own. God separated him from his mother's
womb. And one day, look at this, it
pleased God to call me and to reveal his Son in me. Yes, sir, if you're one of his
own, he'll find you. If you're one of his own, he'll
strip you. If you're one of his own, he'll
break you. If he's one of his own, you're
one of his own, he'll do like Paul, he did to Saul, he'll shut
your mouth. If you're one of his own, I don't
care where you go, whither shall I flee from thy presence? If
I ascend into heaven, he's there. If I make my bed in hell, he's
there. If I travel to the uttermost parts of the earth, the ends
of the earth, even there, his hand will find me." Yes, he will. He'll bring his own. Somebody
said, well, why don't you preach to just the elect? Well, if you
go out in front of them and put an X on them, I will. You go
out in front of them, you go wherever I go, and you just go
to the town and stay there about two weeks and put an X on all
the elect, and I'll just preach to them. But since you don't
know who they are, and I don't know who they are, and only God
knows who they are, I'm going to do what he said, preach it to every creature. And he that believeth shall be
saved. To every creature. And he that
believeth. They said to him, now if you
be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you, and you
didn't believe me. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and I give them eternal life. So Paul says, it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb. Our Lord said
to Jeremiah, you want to turn over there a minute? Jeremiah
chapter 1, listen to this. Jeremiah chapter 1, the word
of the Lord came to Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 4,
the word of the Lord came to him and said, Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before you came out of
the womb, I set you apart. I sanctified you. Yes, sir, I
did. God's a God of purpose. Yes,
sir, this is what I'm saying. I'm saying all things are of
God. All things. All things in creation,
all things in providence, all things in salvation. Now go back
to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Now listen to me. And don't get
out here and say, well, if they wanted God's elect, don't need
to preach to them. Now, wait a minute. It pleased
God. Let's keep on this same subject.
It pleased God to make you His people. It pleased God that in
Christ should all fullness dwell. It pleased God to bruise Him. It pleased God to call you and
to reveal His Son in you. Now, look at 1 Corinthians 1.21.
How did it please God to do it? 1 Corinthians 1.21, For after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
yet pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. That's the means. That's the
reason I said a moment ago, the preaching of the gospel by Christ's
ambassadors is the principal means appointed by the Heavenly
Father for bringing His own to knowledge of Christ. That's the
means. And if you'll turn over there
to the book of Timothy, 1 Timothy, chapter 1. Now listen to this. 1 Timothy, chapter 1. The Apostle
Paul is talking here in 1 Timothy, chapter 1. And he says this,
1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 12, I thank Christ our Lord, who
hath enabled me, he counted me faithful, he put me in the ministry."
All things are of God. Paul said, he put me in the ministry.
God did. God put me in the ministry. And
then secondly, Paul says we won't have to give an account to him,
but what a preacher! Turn to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13,
verse 17, it says, He put me in the ministry, and Hebrews
13, verse 17 says this to you, Obey them that have the rule
over you, submit yourselves, they watch for your souls, as
they that must give account, got to give an account, to him
who put me in the ministry. Now I cannot be silent, Paul
said, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. And I must not
seek to please God, please men, but to please God. He said, for
please men I'm not the servant of Christ. And our doctrine is
not ours, but his. Even Christ said, the words that
I speak are not my words, or my works, but the words of him
that sent me. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians
11, 23, I delivered unto you what I have received of God. And then our goal is to get men
not to follow us. Woe be unto the preacher. Turn
to John 3. Woe be unto the preacher that
covets a following, and woe be unto the people that are foolish
enough to follow him. Woe unto the preacher who covets
a following, and woe unto the people who are foolish enough
to follow him. Look at John 3, verse 26. And
there came to John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with
thee beyond Jordan, to whom you bear witness, the one you said,
Behold, the Lamb of God, behold, the same baptizeth in all men,
come to him. John answered and said, A man
can receive nothing, nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
You see that? I tell you, these old preachers
were sovereign gracers. Old John the Baptist preached
the grace of God. A man can't receive anything
except God gave it to him. You yourselves bear me witness.
I said I'm not the Christ. I'm sent before him. He that
hath the bride, he's the bridegroom. Christ is the bridegroom. It's
his bride, his church, his people. I hear preachers sometimes say,
well, down there at my church we do this. Now, fellow, you
better not have a church. It's not yours, it's God's choice.
I hear preachers saying, my people do so and so. We don't have any
people, His people. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, if he's really
a friend, huh, if he's really a friend, he standeth and heareth
him rejoicing greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This
is my joy. This my joy therefore is fulfilled."
Oh, boy, they came to him and said, Hey, people are leaving
you, John. Hey, John, listen, people are
leaving you. They're going to follow Christ.
He said, Oh, boy, you've just fulfilled my joy. He said, That's
what I've been waiting to hear. He must increase and old John
must decrease. What does that do to us? What
does that do to our pride? What does that do to our self-righteousness? What does that do to our plans? The friend, if he's really a
friend of the bridegroom, he stands beside and he hears the
bridegroom's voice as he rejoices in the joys of his bride, and
that's his joy, it's fulfilled. Oh boy, think about it, think
about it. All right, if the giving and
sending of faithful ministers of the gospel be of God. And if the giving and sending
of faithful ministers be a blessing to the people, then the removal
of the saint is of God, and would result in a great judgment upon
the people. Right? Happy are those people
who have a privilege of hearing somebody whom God has sent. miserable
are those people who are sheep without a shepherd, people without
a vision, a church without a leader. Well, what is this ministry?
Look back at the text, and I've got to close, but look at the
text, 2 Corinthians 5 again. Verse 18 says, He hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and he hath given us this ministry of reconciliation. God gave it to us. Thank God. Handle it with care. Handle it
with care. You who preach it, and you who
are charged with hearing it, wouldn't it be a horrible judgment
for God to remove it? God to remove it. What is this
ministry? Verse 19, to wit. Right out beside that, N-A-M-E-L-Y,
namely. That's what that means. Or exactly. Here it is. God has given us
a ministry of reconciliation, and this is it. Namely, that
God was in Christ. Jesus Christ is God. God visited
this world in the person of his Son. God came down here and dwelt
among us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Secondly, and he reconciled the
world. This reconciliation is not confined
to the Jews. He hath reconciled the world
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, people unto heaven.
He hath reconciled the world unto himself. That's what this
message is. He hath reconciled the world
unto himself. The world didn't devise it. The
world didn't plan it. The world didn't purpose it.
God did it. He reconciled the world to himself, not imputing
their trespasses. What does that mean? God, having
reconciled sinners by the death of his Son, is able to deal with
sinners on the basis of mercy because Christ has satisfied
his justice. God Almighty, having reconciled
the world to himself, is able to deal with those sinners as
if they had never sinned, because Christ fully paid the debt. God
is able to deal with them on the basis of mercy, not in charging,
not imputing their trespasses to them. Now, if the debt hadn't
been paid, he'd have had to charge it to you, and he'd have had
to punish you. If Christ did not fulfill the
law, if God had not satisfied his justice, God would have had
to deal with you on the ground of justice and on the ground
of righteousness and not on the ground of mercy. But now God
is able to deal with you on the basis of mercy. He's able to
deal with you on the basis of love, because Christ has paid
your debt and your sins are not imputed. Now watch this, "...and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The good news
has gone forth from God, not in deeds, in word. Not in deeds,
not in your self-righteousness, not in your efforts, not in your
penance, but in the word. This is the word. He has given
us a word of reconciliation. And what is that word? Verse
21. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Go back to Romans
10 a minute. Some of you fellows will get a blessing out of this
right here. Now follow me here. He said God was in Christ. God
was in Christ. Reconciling the world, not just
the Jews, but Gentiles as well, unto himself, unto himself. Not imputing their trespasses,
not charging their guilt. He's able to deal with them as
if they hadn't sinned, as if they had no sin in Christ. And he has committed to us this
word of reconciliation, not this plan that you're to fulfill,
not these deeds that you're to do, not these requirements that
you're to meet. It's a word. Now watch it, verse
6. Verse 5 of Romans 10, Moses described the righteousness which
is the law of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by it. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Don't say in your heart, well,
who will climb up to heaven and bring Christ down? This is something
I've got to do, I've got to go up and bring him down. Or who
shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring Christ up again
from the dead? What saith it? What is this word
of faith? The word is nigh thee even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach. It's not in doing, it's in believing.
That's what God's committed to us. He hasn't committed to us
to go out with a church covenant and say, now everybody can fulfill
this and go to heaven. No, sir. He sent us out with
a word of faith, the gospel. You believe, you believe, you
believe. He hasn't sent us out to say,
now if you'll do thus and thus and thus, and you'll be saved.
He sent us out to declare that salvation is not by weeping,
not by doing, not by giving, but by believing on Christ. Only believe. That's what he
said to that centurion, all things are possible to them that believe. It's the word of faith. And you
may be tired and weary, and you say, well, it's the same thing.
Pastor preaches the same thing. Well, Paul did too. He said,
I'm determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. It's the word of substitution.
And if the only way a man's going to be converted, the only way
he's going to prepare to meet God, the only way he's going
to have life, is to hear this word of reconciliation. And I
close with this. Verse 20 says, Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we
pray you in Christ's stead. Be ye reconciled to God. Now,
what is your response to this ministry? Be ye reconciled to
God. Be you reconciled to God in Christ
as your prophet? Be you reconciled to Christ as
your priest? Be you reconciled to Christ as
your King? Bow, sinner. The gospel is a
command. Repent, sinner. Repentance is
a command. Believe, sinner. Faith is a command. Stack your arms. Stack your arms
of pride and self-righteousness and merit and covetousness and
surrender to Christ Jesus. That's my response. Be ye reconciled
to God. Let's bow together and pray.

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