A Gospel or The Gospel

And I want you to turn back to
the text and let me read it again, because as I bring this message
tonight, I want the words which Paul has written here, I want
them to be uppermost in your mind, in my mind. In Galatians
chapter 1, my text will be found in verse 8 and 9, the subject,
a gospel or the gospel. Galatians 1 verse 8, Paul said,
Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be a curse. As we said before, so say I now
again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, let him be a curse. These are strong words,
and as I prepared the message tonight, I read them over, or
part of the night, I read them over and over and over again.
And the more you read these words, the stronger they become. I don't
see how it could be stated more plainly than Paul has stated
it. And I'll be honest with you, if these words were not inspired,
if they were not inspired, they wouldn't trouble me. But because
they are inspired, because they are God-given and God-breathed,
I look upon them with great concern. If any man preach any other gospel
than that which we have preached, let him be accursed when Christ
comes. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that which you have received, I say it again,
let him be accursed These words are in harmony with
all the rest of the scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 9.16, Paul said,
He didn't say, He didn't say, He said, Now, he was tolerant
along a lot of lines. He had one of the men circumcised
to get along with the Jews. On another occasion he did, and
a few other things, to become all things to all men, that by
all means he might win the confidence and the ear of many. This is
one point on which he wouldn't compromise. The gospel, how God
saved sinners. He said again in Romans 1.16,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. He said in 1 Corinthians 15,
verses 1 and 2, "...moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel by which you are saved, if you keep in memory what I
preached unto you." The gospel. There isn't but one. Then our
Lord said in Mark 16, verse 15, "...go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
will be saved, and he that believeth not will be damned." And then in 1 Corinthians 1,
17, Paul said, God sent me not to baptize, that's not my primary
task, to baptize or to pastor a church, but he sent me to preach
the gospel, the gospel. Now, I'm not just talking to
the preachers, I'm talking to the teachers, I'm talking to
the personal witnesses, I'm talking to everybody here. to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ, is our calling. And if we preach
any other gospel, Paul said, we're under God's wrath, under
curse. If you receive any other gospel,
or if you, watch it now, if you support any other gospel. Now,
old Brother Barnard used to say that when two fellas go in to
rob a bank, and they get caught, they're guilty and they're sentenced
to prison. But the fellow that sits out front and provides them
transportation and keeps the car motor running while they're
in robbing the bank, he gets the prison term, too, because
he was in on the Christ. And a man may stand in this pulpit
or some other pulpit and preach another gospel, and he's guilty.
Paul said, let him be under God's wrath, under the curse of Christ
when he comes. But that man who furnished him
a place to live, furnished him an automobile to drive, furnished
him food for his table in time to occupy that pulpit, the man
who put him in the pulpit and kept him there is just as guilty
as the man who preaches the other Gospels. I hear people say, Well, I grew
up in a certain church and can't leave it. If they're not preaching
the Gospels, you'd better leave it. Well, this man's been my
pastor since I was a layman. If he's not preaching the Gospels,
don't be. led by the blind, because you're
blind also, the blind leads the blind, and they both fall into
the ditch. Now, this is terrible. It's not
enough just to be religious. We're going to have to know the
gospel. Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel. If any man preach
any other gospel, then that which I preach, Paul said, and that
which you receive and wherein you stand, It doesn't say, avoid
him or don't speak to him or talk about him. It says, let
him be under God's curse. That's my business. I've got
an immortal soul that someday will live in God's presence or
eternally separated from the Holy God. That's what the Bible
declares. It's my business and it's your business because you
have a soul, too. It's our business to find out
what the gospel is. Not what we think it is, what
God says it is. Not what our mothers and fathers
taught us. We love our parents, we respect them and we honor
them. But I'm not going to blindly follow any person. It's evil
and it's deadly. We've got to find out what the
gospel is, not a gospel, not a Baptist gospel or a Methodist
gospel or a Presbyterian gospel or any other denomination. I've
got to find out what the gospel is. And having found out what
it is, it's serious. I've got to decide whether or
not I'll receive it, whether or not I'll support it, and whether
or not I'll stand with it. That's what he said in 1 Corinthians
15. Turn over there and look at it
with me. 1 Corinthians 15. I declare unto
you the gospel, the gospel, which I preach to you, and which you
receive and wherein you stand. This is where I stand. I like
what old Martin Luther said. Here I stand. I can do no other. He had the wrath of the Pope
against him, and that was something in those days. It doesn't mean
a whole lot now. He had the wrath of the Catholic
Church against him, he had the wrath of the crown against him,
and when he stood against selling indulgences and selling time
off in purgatory, he fought it, he warred against it, he declared
justification by faith, and they said, Take it back or we'll kill
you. He said, Here I stand, I can do no of them. That's it, wherein
you stand. that this won't be an easy thing.
He said, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. It hated
me before it hated you. And you're going to find enemies
in strange places. You may find your chief enemy
right in bed with you. You may find one of your greatest
enemies sitting right at the table with you. That's what our
Lord said. Turn to Matthew 10. It won't
be easy. Our Lord never promised us an
easy road. He said, in the world you'll have tribulation. Be of
good cheer, I've overcome the world. Here in Matthew 10, verse
34, and I listen to the Master, he said, Think not that I am
come to send peace on this earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. I have come to set a man at variance with his father,
daughter against her mother, daughter-in-law against Our mother-in-law
and a man's enemies shall be they of his own household." Enemies
because of what? The gospel. The gospel, not religion. Everybody's religious. You can't
start a fight now over religion. Everybody's religious, from the
White House to the President. But you can start a fight over
the gospel. It's not religion men hate, it's the God of the
Bible they hate. It's not the God of their imagination they
hate, it's the God of the Bible. It's not the idols they worship,
it's the God of the Bible. It's the Christ of victory. It's
the Christ of power. And a man's enemy shall be there
of his own household. He that loveth his father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me. This is the stand you've
got to take. There's no compromise. Not here. Other places, tolerance. Yes,
sir. Love your enemy. Pray for them which despitefully
use you. Feed your enemy. If your enemy
is hungry, feed him. I don't mind sending wheat to
Russia. or wheat to China or wheat to
anybody else. I resent sending guns to them, but wheat, fine,
feed your enemies. That's God's way. Pray for them, but don't walk with them. That's
what he's saying. Listen, read on. And he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he
that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy
of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it. You preserve it,
you save it, you keep the status quo, and you lose it. But he
that loses his life, his friends, his home, his job, his wealth,
his reputation, for my sake, will find it. Our Lord, the Scripture
said, even his brethren didn't believe on him. They hated him.
That's right. Mocked him, Why don't you go
up to Jerusalem? The feast is going on. If you
are what you say you are, go up there and show yourself off."
He said, My time has not come yet. Your time is always here.
He said, Somewhere else you'll find your enemies, too, in the
religious world. Turn to John 16. You'll find
your enemies among the religious people. It was the religious
people that put most of the martyrs to death. It wasn't the drunkards
and the harlots and the armies. It was the religious people.
Our Lord said in John 16, verse 1, These things have I spoken
unto you, that ye should not be offended, and they will put
you out of the synagogue. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. Here is
a man serving God, killing God's people. He is serving his God,
not the God of the Bible. He hates the gospel. He hates
the grace of God. Salvation by works and salvation
by grace cannot live together in peace. They're opposite, they're
enemies. It's either all of works or it's
all of grace, it cannot be both. Grace is not going to make war
on works, but works is going to make war on grace. Our Lord said in verse 3, And
these things will they do unto you, because they have not known
the Father, nor me. You're going to find your enemies
in strange places. I've got to find out what the
gospel is. This gospel of which Isaiah wrote, who hath believed
our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? This gospel for which our Lord was despised and for
which his disciples were despised and for which the martyrs down
through the years have been slain, this gospel, I've got to find
out what it is. And then I've got to make up
my mind, am I going to receive it, am I going to stand in it,
am I going to count the cost and be willing to pay it? And
I'll find my enemies in my own household. I'll find them in
the churches, I'll find them in the pulpit, and you know where
else I'll find them? Right in here, my own flesh.
Now, nobody likes to be hated, and nobody likes to be despised.
There's something wrong with a fellow that likes to be hated.
There's something wrong with a fellow that likes to be despised.
There's something wrong with a fellow that says, I don't care
what people think. I do care. I do care. He warned Peter. Peter said,
I'll stand for you, let these other fellows deny you, I'll
stand with you. The Lord said, Peter, before the top close three
times, you'll deny me three times. And he did. Turn to Matthew 26.
He got around the fire there with those enemies of the Lord.
He got around the fire there. That crowd he ran with, that
old crowd, those folks there, he got around with them. He didn't
want to be different. He didn't want to be earmarked
as a fanatic or a radical, didn't want to suffer any persecution,
didn't want folks to dislike him. He got around with the crowd
there, the crowd he used to run with and fish with and all that. And in Matthew 27, verse 69,
Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came to them and
said, Why, you were with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before
them all, saying, I don't know what you're talking about. And
when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him,
and she said to them that were there, Well, that fellow also
was with Jesus of Nazareth, and again he denied with an oath,
I don't know the man. And after a while came unto him
they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art
one of them, your speech betrayeth you." You talk like a Christian. So he changed his speech and
he began to curse and he began to swear, and he said, I don't
know the man. I believe at some time or other
every believer has the opportunity to sit down by the fire with
the enemies of our Lord. And I believe every believer
at some time or other has the opportunity to either be identified
with him or shamed of him. And you'll find that this old
flesh does not enjoy tribulation, it does not enjoy trials, it
does not enjoy being disliked and hated. And there's another
place you'll find an enemy, an ally of Satan, is in your own
hearts. It's not easy. It's not easy. It's not easy. But if I know
my heart and if I know many of you, I believe that together
we're looking for the gospel. We're looking for the gospel,
the gospel, not a gospel, the gospel. And if I know my heart,
I believe I can say, and that's something the heart's desperately
wicked and deceitful, who can know it? I know what the Scripture
says. But I believe I want to take a stand here, whatever the
cost, whatever the cost, and believe this gospel and preach
this gospel. Because I know this, it's the
only gospel that will It's the only gospel that will whittle
down a man and knock his foundations of flesh out from under him and
bring him to a saving, living union with Jesus Christ. Oh,
I see him walking the aisle and shaking preachers' hands and
joining the churches and moving out about as fast as a movie.
But oh, for that gospel that unites us to Christ, that gospel
that forms a living union, that gospel that regenerates and sanctifies
and justifies and makes a man a new creation in Christ! and
brings him to the end of the road where he's saying with the
Apostle Paul, I've kept the faith, I've finished my course, laid
up for me a crown of righteousness. What is the gospel? Let me point
out four things, what I believe the gospel is. In Romans 1, this
is what I believe about the gospel. What is the gospel? There are four things, and I
want you to think about them and I want you to study them.
How long does it take to prepare a message? Well, it takes several
hours to get it on paper, but it takes a lot of years to prepare
a message. And this, what I'm preaching
tonight, is what God has taught me in thirty years of preaching. What is the gospel? Number one,
the gospel, not a gospel, the gospel is the gospel of God. That's what Paul said in chapter
1 of Romans 1. He said, Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God. This gospel didn't originate
with the disciples. This gospel didn't originate
with Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Hutt. This gospel didn't
originate in Nashville or Anderson, Indiana, or Rome, Italy. This
gospel originated before the foundation of the world in the
council halls of eternity with God Almighty. It's God's gospel.
The gospel is God's gospel. He planned it. He planned it. Before the morning stars sang
together, before the sons of God ever shouted with joy, Christ
was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Who
designed the Lamb? Who designed the sacrifice? Who
gave him to die? The Father. Scripture says, Enter
ye, blessed, into the kingdom prepared for you before the world
began. Scripture says, I declare the
end from the beginning. I am God. I declare the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times of things that are not
yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand. I'll do my pleasure. God planned it. It's God's gospel. God not only planned it, but
he executed it. Jesus Christ said, I came to
do the will of him that sent me. The words that I speak are
not my words, they are his words. The work that I do is not my
work, but his work. That which I came to do is his
will. He planned it and he executed
it. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fulness dwell. In the fulness of time, he sent
his Son into the world. Even on that cross, the scripture
says, it pleased God to bruise him. Herod, Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ to do what God determined
before us to be done. It's God's gospel because he planned
it, it's God's gospel because he executed it, and it's God's
gospel because he applied it. Now let me tell you something.
Anybody that's born again is born of God. They're not born
of the preacher. They're not born of the church,
they're not born of revival meetings, they're not born of the will
of the flesh or the will of man. Anybody that's born again is
born of God. Now let me show you that. Turn
to John 1. In John 1, salvation is of the Lord. The salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. You never have saved anybody.
You can't save anybody. God Almighty is the Savior. That's
right. I look at John, chapter 1, and
read this, verse 12, "...as many, but as many as received him,"
Christ, "...to them gave he the power, the right, the privilege,
to become sons of God, born into the family of God, sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name, which were born not
of blood," that is, not of family inheritance. You're not a Christian
because your daddy was. You're a sinner because your
daddy was. You're not born of blood, nor the will of the flesh,
nor the will of man, but of God. But of God. It's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it's of God that showeth
mercy. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace,
when it pleased him, he revealed his Son in me. Turn to 1 Corinthians
2. I want you to look at this. In
1 Corinthians 2, reading verses 9 and 10, the natural man is
not going to receive the things of God. You can sit and argue
with your friends until both of you are worn out, and if they
don't hear from heaven, they're not going to be enlightened and
they're not going to understand. All of your reasoning and all
of your logic and all of your arguments won't do it. Salvation
is not by education, it's by regeneration, born of God. That's
right. Now, you look at 1 Corinthians
2, verse 9, "...as it is written, I have not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things God has
prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto
us." If you go to hell, it's your
fault. If you go to heaven, it's God's fault. That's so. So this gospel that we're preaching,
first of all, is the gospel of God. It's God's gospel. It started
with him. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. He planned it, he executed it,
he applied it, he sustains it, and he'll complete it. that in
the ages to come he might show the riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Secondly, turn to 1 Timothy 1. What is the gospel? This is so. It's the gospel of God. That's
the gospel. You'd better find out what it
is. God's gospel. I'm not interested
in man's gospel, I'm interested in God's gospel. I'm not even
interested in man's definition of the gospel. I'm interested
in God's gospel. Secondly, it's the gospel of
God and it's the gospel of his glory. His glory, not your glory,
not the glory of the preacher, not the glory of the Church,
not the glory of the great Fathers, it's the glory of God. Look at
1 Timothy 1.11. Paul said, According to the glorious
gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to I don't like
to change the translations, but you'll find the best translation
of 1 Timothy 1.11, if you'll study it, if you look into some
of the other translations, and if you look into some of the
better writers, they'll tell you that this is the way this
verse reads, this is the way it reads here. This gospel which was committed
to my trust, Paul said, is the gospel of the glory of God. That's what it's all about. Old Moses went out there to the
tent, the tent of Nebuchadnezzar. The pillar of God's presence
came down, and Moses was troubled. And he said, Lord, show me, show
me your way, show me your way. And then he said, Lord, Let your
presence go with me. If your presence doesn't go with
me, don't let me go." And then he had one other request. He
said, Lord, show me your glory. Now Moses had seen some astounding
things, some amazing miracles. He'd seen life and death. He'd
seen the flashing of lightning and thunder and the revealed
arm of God in the giving of the commandments, the drying up of
the sea and all these things. But here he is praying, Lord,
show me your glory, show me your glory. your greater glory, your
chief glory. And God said, Moses, I'll cause
my glory to pass before you. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful, and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious. The gospel we preach and the
gospel we believe had better be the gospel that gives all
the credit and all the glory and all the praise to our Lord,
though it's not his gospel. You turn to 1 Corinthians 1,
and that's so. In 1 Corinthians 1, we can sit
around and glory in our numbers and glory in our theological
accuracy and glory in our orthodoxy and glory in our separate living
and glory in all these things, but I'll tell you where you better
find your glory is in his grace. Look at 1 Corinthians 1.26, you
see, you calling brethren, not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen ye, even things that are not,
to bring to naught the things that are. No flesh should glory
in this place. You say, I'm a shy, timid person,
I'm a humble person by nature, I can't speak in public, I can't
carry on, I can't do the things you ought to be thankful for.
That's right. You're in less danger of glorying
in the flesh. That's right. in Matthew 11.25. Look at this,
Matthew 11.25. I feel so guilty, I feel sometimes
so despondent and depressed over my sins. Better thank God for
that. When you're high and lifted up,
you're glowing in the flesh. In Matthew 11, verse 25, our
Lord said, the scripture says, at that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Lord, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thou
hast hid these things. The gospel be hid, is it? Yes,
it is, to them that are blind, to them that are lost. The God
of this world has blinded them. And he'll use religion to blind
you, too. He'll use orthodoxy to blind you. And thou hast revealed
them unto me, because, Father, it seemed good in thy sight.
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." That's the second
thing I know about this gospel. I know, number one, it's the
gospel of God. The gospel is the gospel of God.
It came from God. It will lead to God. Secondly,
I know it will give all the glory to God. We will not take any
glory for faith, even faith is the gift of God. Read your Bible. Repentance is the gift of God. It's the goodness of God that
leads you to repentance. The Apostle said, God hath granted
repentance to the Gentiles, to Israel. It all came from God. Everything's the gift of God
that's worth anything. Thirdly, turn back to Romans
1. This gospel, like Paul said,
these are serious words. In Romans, if anybody preaches
any other gospel, These things I know. I'm setting forth what
I know. I know this. Whether I know the
gospel, I don't know, but I do know this, that the gospel is
the gospel of God. And the gospel is the gospel
of God's glory. He's going to get the glory.
He said, My glory I'll not give to another. Whatever a man does, in word
or deed, he better do it to the glory of God. Let not the wise
man glow in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glow in his might,
let not the wealthy man glow in his wealth, but let him that
gloweth, glory in this!" He knows me. Here's the third point. It's
the gospel concerning his son. In Romans 1, verse 1, Paul said,
I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, I'm called to be an apostle,
I'm separated to the gospel of God. He says it's the ancient
gospel which he promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
It's no new gospel. It's the same old gospel Abraham
preached and Isaiah preached and David preached and Moses
preached. Watch verse 3. It's concerning
his son. That's what the gospel is. It's
concerning his son. Now listen to me. Don't you jump
a creek and go running off somewhere now. You keep your mind right
here for a moment. You need to hear this. Actually, the gospel has nothing to do
with you or with me or with anybody else on this earth. No foul. The gospel is concerning his
Son. And the gospel was planned and
purposed and determined before any human ever walked on this
earth. The gospel was complete. That's right, it's called the
everlasting gospel. It didn't take my creation to
complete the gospel. It didn't take my response to
complete the gospel. It didn't take my faith to complete
the gospel. For it's the gospel whether I
believe it or not, or whether anybody believes it, because
it's the gospel concerning his son. It's the good news, the
glad tidings concerning his son. I'll tell you something else. the church, baptism, the Lord's
table, faith, repentance, confession, are not part of the gospel. Now,
they're part of worship, and they're part of obedience, and
they're part of submission, and they're part of confession, but
they're not part of the gospel. The gospel is concerning his
son, it's concerning one person, Jesus Christ. The gospel is concerning
his son. It's not concerning the Holy
Spirit. It's not concerning a second work of grace. It's concerning
his son, his person, his work, his offices. Heaven, judgment,
and hell and the law have nothing, Charlie, to do with the gospel. I can preach the gospel and never
mention heaven, and never mention hell. because the gospel does
not concern heaven and hell. It is the gospel concerning his
Son. It ain't got nothing to do with
heaven and hell. It's the gospel concerning his
Son. That's right. What is it about his Son that
makes up the gospel? There are three things. Number
one, who he is. You can't preach the gospel.
I can preach the gospel and never mention you or me or any other
human being. I can preach the gospel and never
mention heaven, never mention hell. I can preach the gospel
and never mention baptism or the Lord's table or confession
of faith. I can preach the gospel and never
mention those things, but I can't preach the gospel unless I properly
identify who Jesus Christ is. I've heard preachers preach for
an hour and a half and never touch the gospel topside, That's right, I've heard people
sing dozens of songs and never one time touch the gospel. I've
heard people give their testimonies and never one time touch the
gospel. And you can talk about the church,
you can talk about making a profession of faith, you can talk about
getting right with God, you can talk about all these things and
never mention the gospel. But if you're preaching the gospel,
you will properly sound this note. Number one, who is Jesus
Christ? Because the gospel is concerning
him. And it says here in Romans 1, verse 3, concerning his son,
which was made of the seed of David. Number one, he was made
of the seed of David. He became a man in human flesh. Verse four, and declared to be
the Son of God. The gospel is concerning the
God-man. It's concerning him who made
the world and who was in the world. He was in the world and
the world was made by him. The Word, who dwelt with God
and was God, and all things were made by him, became flesh and
dwelt among us." Now you are preaching the gospel. You are
talking about who he is, who he is. He is very God of very
God. They said, Who are you? He said,
I and my Father are one. Philip said, Show us the Father.
He said, If you have seen me, you have seen God. The seed of David, the Son of
God, the God-man. God in human flesh, who he is. The gospel is concerning not
who I am or what I do or what I give or where I go. The gospel
has got nothing to do with me. The gospel is concerning who
he is. Who is this man called Jesus
Christ? What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? That's the second thing. It's
concerning not only who he is, but what he did. What did he do? First of all,
he was made of woman. We can go back further than that.
He stood as the surety of the everlasting covenant. He was
our guarantor. He was our surety. You take a
fellow down to the bank with you and you borrow $5,000 and
you take a buddy with you and he signs. He signs as surety. If old Steve won't pay this note,
he will. He's your guarantor. He's your
surety. You know, when Joseph was down
there in Egypt, and he hadn't revealed himself to his brethren,
he sent them back to the father and told the father to send Benjamin
down there, his little brother. He didn't tell him who he was,
he wanted to see his little brother Benjamin. And the boys came back,
ten of them, and they told the father, this man down there in
Egypt said he'll give us corn if we'll take Benjamin back with
us. The father said, No, sir. Now, Joseph's already dead, and
Simeon is not. He kept one of the other brothers,
there were nine of them. And Joseph said, the father, Jacob,
said, You're not taking Benjamin, you're not taking Benjamin down
there. Finally Judah spoke up, and Judah is the tribe from which
Christ came. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah till Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, comes. And Judah spoke
up and said, Father, send Benjamin down there with me. I'll be surety
for him. And if I don't bring him back,
you can kill me and my whole family. I'll be sure of it. And that's what Christ was back
yon in eternity, our surety. Father, all that my Father giveth
me, they'll come to me. Why? Because I'm their surety.
I'll guarantee them. Father, I'll go down there and
die for them, I'll go down there and pay the price, I'll go down
there and redeem them, and I'll bring them home. And if I don't,
you can hold me responsible. That's a surety. What I couldn't
do because of the strength of the law and the weakness of my
flesh, Christ came down here and did. He's my surety, he's
my guarantor, he stood for me. And he came down here into this
world in the body of sinful flesh, and he obeyed the law, and he
went to the cross and took my place and paid my debt, and the
law of God had to turn me loose and the justice of God had to
set me free because Christ paid my debt. That's what he did. That's what he did. He was made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were born
under the law. And he took our sins in his body on the tree,
and the sinless became sinful, that the sinful might be sinless.
My surety paid my debt, and God tore it up and threw it away
and cast it behind his back and will remember it no more. That's
what he did. Why did he do that? I'll tell you why he did it,
and you don't preach any gospel unless you are preaching who
he is and what he did. Not what I'm going to do with
him, but what he did for me. That's the gospel. I've heard
preachers get up and they They give a little illustration, a
few points, and read a poem, and tell about somebody's dog
dying, and then beg people to come and do something for Jesus.
And people say, wasn't that a beautiful gospel sermon? Wasn't any gospel
in it? No gospel in it. You're not preaching any gospel
until you start talking about Christ. You can talk about the
church, you can talk about the law, you can talk about morality,
you can talk about decision, you can talk about heaven, you
can talk about hell, you can talk about judgment, you can
talk about baptism, you can talk all day about these religious
things. that are all right in their place, but you haven't
preached any gospel, and you haven't sung any gospel, and
you haven't taught any gospel, and you haven't witnessed any
gospel until you start talking about who he is and what he did
and why he did it. Now watch it. Verse 19 says,
"...every mouth stop, and the whole world become guilty." Now
verse 25, "...God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation."
a mercy seat, an atonement, through faith in his blood, to declare
God's righteousness. For the remission of sins of
the past, through the patience and longsuffering and forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, God's that God might
be just and justify him that believeth in Christ. That's why
Christ did this. There's no way that the God of
glory can save a sinner without that sinner's sins being paid
for. No way. Any more than a just judge can
turn a criminal loose without him paying his debt to society.
Almighty God is merciful, but he's righteous. Almighty God
is loving, but he is just. And Jesus Christ came down here
and did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves and paid our
debt and imputed to us a perfect righteousness, went to the cross
and bore our sins in order that Almighty God might be a just,
righteous, holy God and justify folks like you and me. Now, there
is something else. You're not preaching any gospel
unless you preach where he is now. where he is now. Who is he that condemns? Christ
is died, yea, rather is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God interceding for us. The only thing that makes our
prayers holy is the presence of our High Priest at the right
hand of the Father. The only thing that will permit
a sinner like you and me even to come into the presence of
God is the fact that our High Priest at God's right hand pleads
his blood. and makes us acceptable. We are
accepted in the Beloved. That's the gospel. It's concerning
his son. Fourthly, what is this gospel?
It's the gospel of God, it's the gospel of his glory, it's
the gospel concerning his son, and it's the gospel of power. Romans 1.16 says, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel, for it's the power. This word I don't know great.
Not many folks I know do. But I know this word means dynamite,
dunamis. It's power. You know what dynamite
can do? It's the power. It can sure change the looks
of things when you set it off. Or you set off enough of it,
it can change the complexion of a hill. Well, this gospel
changes things, too. That's right. I know a lot of
preachers get folks to come down now and shake the preacher's
hand, and they can live just like they always did and be the
same old unwholesome, unlovely, unwanted, sourpuss they've ever
been and desert God and the gospel and everything else and be saved,
but carnal. You know how that goes. But this gospel, this dynamite
of God, it changes things. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, he's a new person. Old things are passed away, all
things become new. When God Almighty sets off the
dynamite of his gospel, of his son, of his glory in a man's
heart, it gives that man a new name and a new nature and a new
heart and a new attitude and a new direction and a new family.
That's right, and new goals and new desires. Oh, I tell you,
with his workmanship created in Christ Jesus under good things,
the gospel is not will you decide to go to heaven or to hell, but
will you decide to take Jesus tonight? That ain't the gospel.
Now, sir, that may be your response to it, but that's not the gospel.
The gospel is the gospel of God's glory, of God Almighty's power,
of God Almighty's grace, of God Almighty's That's what it is,
it's good news. He took my crown of thorns and
gave me a crown of glory. He wore my nakedness, and I wear
his robe of righteousness. He bore my shame, I bear his
likeness. He endured my sorrow, I'm filled
with his joy. He laid in a grave that I might
rise in glory. He was numbered with a transgressor
that I might be numbered with the redeemed. One other scripture, and I'll
let you go. Turn to Judges 24. That's the gospel. Now Judges chapter 24, now here's
a question. In Judges, Joshua, I beg your
pardon, Joshua chapter 24. I want you to listen, I want
you to listen to Joshua. Joshua chapter 24. Now what will
it be? Will it be a gospel or the gospel? The gospel will cost you. It'll
cost you. It won't be easy. It'll have
to come by revelation. But will it be a gospel of evil?
Now listen to Joshua. He stood there and he said in
verse 14 of Joshua 24, Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him
in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your father
served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve
you the Lord. And if it seem evil to you to
serve the Lord, If it seemed evil to you to walk in this gospel,
to receive this gospel, to stand in this gospel, you'd make the
choice this day whom you'll serve, whether the gods which your fathers
served that are on the other side of the flood, or the God
of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but it's for me and
my house that you serve the Lord. Every man exposed to this gospel
must count the cost and walk either with those who deny the
word or those who believe it, walk with those who quake works
or those who quake grace, walk with those who present salvation
by human works or salvation by divine grace. As for me and my house, I choose
to remain with those who believe in ruin by the fall and addiction
by the blood and regeneration by the spirit. As for me in my
house, Joshua said, we choose to be left behind, left behind
by the great parade of theological intellect, left behind by the
great masses and numbers of religious professors. We choose to stand
by the unmoving cross of Jesus Christ and the old gospel of
redeeming grace. As for me in my house, I believe
Joshua would say today, I plan to preach. man's utter, complete
fall in Adam. I plan to preach God's eternal,
sovereign purpose in Jesus Christ. I plan to preach the effectual,
particular, effectual sacrifice of the Redeemer who accomplished
what he came to do. I plan to preach the Holy Spirit's
convincing work. I plan to preach the unchanging
message of his unchanging You know, the songwriter said, change
and decay all around me, I see. A lot of things are changing. But there's some things that
never change, and one of them is man's need. It never changes. He needs God. He needs mercy. I don't care where he is. He
lives on Knob Hill, or he lives down there in the ghettos. He
needs God's grace. He needs mercy. Now, there's
something else. Time has never changed. It hasn't
changed. God's way of saving sinners. The same way he saved
old Moses and Abraham and David and Isaiah. The way he saved
John and Peter and James and me and you is through the blood
of his son. And I'll tell you this hasn't
changed. When God saves a sinner, he makes him a new creature.
That's right, he'll be with you next month, he'll be with you
next year. As long as you're preaching the gospel, he'll feed
at the table. God's sons are going to come
to God's table. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me,"
Christ said. And another voice they will not hear, another shepherd,
they won't follow. You'll find God's sheep coming
to God's table. That's where they want to be.
Time hasn't changed that. It hasn't changed that. It's
the same old message. The same old message. Our Father, we're
grateful. We believe that Thou hast revealed
the gospel to us. Give us the will and the strength
and the desire to receive him, our Lord Jesus Christ, to kiss
the feet of the Son, to own, to proclaim his Lordship, to
count the cost, whatever that cost may be. Let us say with
that great servant of old, here I stand, I can do no other. Lord, make us compassionate and
tender, but Lord, make us bold. Make us bold. We pray for Christ's
sake and in his name. Amen.

A Gospel or The Gospel

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A Gospel or The Gospel

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