Do You Really Want to Know the Gospel?

2 Corinthians 5, verse 20. Paul says, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives of Christ. I claim no special powers. In fact, Paul said to Timothy,
In 1 Timothy 4, verse 16, take heed to yourself and to your
doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both
save thyself and them that hear thee. We are not apostles. The Apostles are gone. We're
not the prophets of the Old Testament, whom God visited, to whom God
spake. They're gone. We are ambassadors
of Christ. We are representatives of Christ.
We have no special power. And then we have no special privileges. Paul said, I keep my body and
bring it into subjection, lest while preaching to others I become
a castaway. We have no special hotline to
heaven any more than you do. I claim no special privileges.
It may be that I shall be a castaway. I hope not. I pray not. Paul
was concerned about this. And then I have no special position. Look over at 2 Corinthians 4.
You have your Bible open there to 2 Corinthians 5. Turn back
to chapter 4. And look at verse 5. Paul said,
we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. I'm not
preaching Paul. I'm not preaching his ministry,
his message, his desires. I'm preaching Christ and ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake. We have no special position unless
it's servants, for he said, I am less than the least of all the
saints. Our Lord said, he that would occupy the chief position,
let him be the servant. And we claim no special holiness.
Look at verse 7 of chapter 4. But we have this treasure, and
don't ever forget it. This treasure is the gospel.
This treasure is the knowledge of Christ. This treasure is God's
revelation, but we have it in an earthen vessel. It's an earthen
vessel that the excellency of the power might be of God and
not of us. We have no special holiness.
Paul said, Christ came to save sinners of whom I am the chief.
So we make no claim to special powers and the preacher who does
is a pompous fool. We make no claim to special privileges
or to special position. We're servants. We're less than
the least of all the saints. We're the chief of sinners. We
have this treasure, this great blessing, this gift of God in
a vessel that is clay just like yours. We have no special holiness. We recognize ourselves to be
the chief of sinners, most unworthy of the least of his favors. The
only claim that any minister can make who is truthful with
himself and with God and with the people is this. I believe
the word of God. I come to you preaching the word
of God. I am a representative of Jesus
Christ, as every believer is a representative of Jesus Christ.
And I call on you as a representative of Jesus Christ, as a minister
of his gospel, I call upon you to cease from following men, and to believe God's word, and
to receive God's word, to cease from following tradition however
old it might be, to cease from following religious customs,
even your own deceitful heart, and find out from this book who
God is, and who you are, and who Christ is, and what salvation
is, and how God really saves sinners. Do you really want to
know the gospel? Most people don't. They want
to hear what they believe. They want to hear what they've
always been taught. They cannot cease from men. They
cannot cease from the flesh. They cannot take their confidence
out of the flesh and put it wholly and completely in the Word of
God and in the Holy Spirit's power to reveal it to them personally. Do you really want to know the
gospel? Do you really want to know God's divine purpose in
redemption, God's purpose, God's glory? Do you really want to
know how God, the Holy God of Heaven, can be just and justify
folks like, as Don prayed, you and me? Do you really want to know the
hidden mystery, the great secret? God was manifest in the flesh. Do you really want to know? Well,
are you willing, are you willing to lay your wisdom down at the
feet of a sovereign Lord? Your wisdom. Are you willing to lay your tradition,
your religious custom, are you willing to lay it down at Christ's
feet and say, oh Lord, I'm just a child, just a child. I want
you to teach me. Well, if you are, if you really
want to know the gospel, here it is. Paul says in verse 20,
we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead. Be you reconciled to God,
for, here it is, for, here is the message of redemption without
eloquence, without grand oratory. without fine words. Here it is. For he, it starts with God, it
ends with God. He hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. For he, it begins with God. Him, it ends with God. He hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made, O my, what a blessing, the righteousness of God. Not
just righteous, but the righteousness of God in him. Now, the three
persons mentioned here, I want to introduce you to three persons. He, he, he hath made him, he. God the Father, He, hath made
heal, heal, there is Christ the Son, to be seen for us, us, there's
the center. I introduce you to three persons.
First of all, now, open your heart, open your mind, do away
with all your tradition, approach it as if you were hearing it
for the first time. Here's God. eternal life is to know the only
true God. Isn't that what Christ said?
He said, And this is eternal life, that they might know thee,
the only true God. David said, As the deer panteth
for the water book, so panteth my soul after thee, the living
God. God is a very different being
from what some people suppose. The God of heaven and earth,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, the God of creation,
the God of holy scriptures, the God of all grace is not the God
that most people are calling upon today. The God of all grace is not the
God that some men make unto themselves and worship. Let's ask ourselves
the question right now, do we worship the true and living God,
or do we worship a God of our imagination? Thou thoughtest
I was altogether such a one as thyself. The God of the Bible,
the God of holy scriptures, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and Isaiah, and David. The God of eternal glory who
has chosen to reveal himself in this book has three attributes, three great and grand attributes,
three identifying attributes, and they are all revealed right
here in our text. First of all, the God of heaven, the God of
earth, the God of creation, the God of scripture, The God of
this Bible is a sovereign God. Turn to Psalms 135. Listen to it. The God of the
scriptures has three great attributes that are revealed in our text.
The first one is, he's a sovereign God. He hath made him to be seen. He has made him to be sinned
because he's got the right to do it, he's got the power to
do it, he's got the authority to do it, and none can stay his
hand. He made him to be sinned. Look
at Psalm 135, verse 5. I know David said that the Lord
is great, that our Lord is above all gods, gods of men's imagination,
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in
earth, in the seas, in all deep places. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that's what he did. Turn to Isaiah 46. The God of
the scriptures is a sovereign God. Look at Isaiah 46, beginning
with verse 9. Isaiah 46, remember the former
things of old. I am God. There is none else. I am God. There is none like
me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
I will do all my pleasure. calling a ravenous bird from
the East, a man that executed my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it, I will bring it to pass, I have purposed
it, I will do it, God said. The God of scriptures has absolute,
unchangeable, infinite total power and authority. He knows
no rule but his own will. He knows no purpose but his own
purpose. He knows no glory but his own
glory. He says, Can I not do with my
own what I will? He says, He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. He doeth all things according
to his will. Father, thou hast hidden these
things from the wise and prudent because it seemed good in thy
sight. The God of heaven and earth, the God of scriptures,
is a sovereign God. And then secondly, the God of
heaven is a God of infinite justice. That he is a sovereign God is
seen in his power to make Christ to be seen for us, and that he
is a God of infinite justice is seen in the fact that he spared
not his own son, but made him to be seen for us. His justice
must be satisfied. Even his divine sovereignty cannot
act contrary to his divine justice. The God of scriptures is not
the God who winks at sin. The God of scriptures is not
the God who has all love and no wrath. The God of scriptures
is not the God who's pacified by promises, ceremonies, rituals,
and deeds. The God of scriptures is a God
whose holiness cannot be compromised. He says, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? He will by, he said, no means
clear the guilty. He said the soul that's in it,
it shall surely die. The God of the Bible will not,
cannot blot out sin without justice being satisfied. Without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission. The God of scriptures is a sovereign
God and he is a God of infinite justice. He cannot change. His justice, his righteousness,
his holiness is as important as his sovereignty or his love. But here's the third attribute.
Watch it carefully. The God of heaven is a sovereign
God. He hath made him to be seen.
The God of heaven is a God of infinite justice. He has made
him to be seen for us, that his righteousness and his justice
might be magnified and glorified. But watch this, he's a God of
grace. He is a God of mercy. For God
so loved, God so loved the world, But he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have eternal life." God is love, love to its highest degree. He
is plenteous in mercy. He delights to show mercy. As
the judge of this earth, he punishes sin. As the Father of love, he
pardons sin. He is rich in mercy to all who
call upon him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved." So we need to face this. We need
to understand it. We need to ask the Holy Spirit
to help us to comprehend it. Our God, the God of scriptures,
the God of creation, is a sovereign God. Absolutely. All authority, Christ said, is
given unto me. None can stay my hand or say
unto me, What doest thou? He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth.
That's so. The fact that he is God tells
us that. Who wants a God who cannot see,
who cannot hear, whose arm is shortened that he cannot see?
Who wants a God that cannot do his will? Who wants a God that
depends upon his creatures? Who wants a God whose will is
staid, whose hand is staid, whose purpose is thwarted? Who wants
a God who's defeated, disappointed, disillusioned, frustrated by
men? No one can worship such a God.
They may use him, but they can't worship him. We only worship
at a sovereign throne, at an almighty throne. And the God
of scriptures is a sovereign God. As I said, our text starts
out with God and it ends with God. It starts with he and ends
with him. And the preacher who is preaching
the God of the Bible will preach a God of sovereignty. That's
so. But he'll also preach a God of
infinite justice. God is holy. Isaiah said, when
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and the train
filled the temple, his train filled the temple, and the cherubims
and seraphims, the holy creatures of heaven, hid their faces and
covered their eyes and cried, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God of hosts. God is holy. If you think God
will wink at sin, if you think you can promise God that you'll
do better next week and he'll wink at sin and overlook sin
and cover sin and remit sin and pardon sin without that sin being
paid for, you don't know the God of scripture. God will punish sin. God must
punish sin. All sin, every sin. The judge
of the earth shall do right. God's justice is an infinite
justice. It reaches to the deepest recesses
of the imagination. He says every idle word shall
be called to account in the judgment. Every secret deed. He must punish
sin. But thank God he is a God of
grace. He will be merciful. He will
be gracious. He's plenteous in mercy. He delights
to show mercy. He is going to forgive sin. He's going to pardon sin. He's
going to put away sin. And he tells us how in a few
moments. You say, how can God be just and also justify? We'll find out in a minute. That's
the gospel. How can God be holy and yet merciful? That's where
we're going to find out. That's what Job asked. He said,
how can man be clean that's born of a woman? Behold the moon,
it shineth not. The stars are not clean in his
sight. How can man be clean that drinketh
iniquity like the water? How can man be just with God? How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? How can mercy and peace meet
together? How can righteousness and truth
kiss each other? Well, we'll find out if you're
interested. But that doesn't change this first point. God
is almighty. He's almighty God. And almighty
means almighty in the area of creation, in the area of providence,
in the area of redemption. He's almighty. And he's infinitely
just. Nothing shall escape the microscope
of his sovereignty and his justice, and he is inexhaustible grace,
grace, grace, grace. You don't pay for it. Here is the second person, here
is the Son. It says, "...he hath made him,
him, him." Here is the Son, the only begotten of the Father.
Notice, begotten, not made. being of the same substance as
the Father, co-equal, co-existent, co-eternal. Is the Father almighty? So is the Son. Is the Father
infinite justice? So is the Son. Is the Father
inexhaustible grace? So is the Son. Is the Father
omnipresent? So is the Son. because he is
the image, the brightness of his glory, the expressed image
of his person. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. I and the Father are one, not
two, one. Here is the only begotten. Here
is a man, the son of Mary, very God of very God, yet Divine mystery,
bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. That's what the Bible
says. You say, preacher, you're preaching
mysteries. That's exactly right. Gray is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And you don't figure that out,
it's revealed to you. God was manifest in the flesh.
by whom the worlds were made. The Word, who is one with the
Father, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld
his glory. He was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. He knew no sin. He is the second
Adam. The first Adam was of the earth,
earthy. God took him out of the earth
and made him of the dust. and breathed into him the breath
of life. But the second Adam didn't come from the earth, he
came from heaven, he is the Lord of heaven. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, so by his grace and his justice we shall bear
the image of the heavenly. He is the Son. And then thirdly,
the third person I introduce you to is the sinner. He, Almighty, Infinite, Immutable
God, hath made him, his Beloved, his Only Begotten, co-equal,
co-existent. He's made him to be seen for
us, to be flesh. For whom? For us. Here we are. Oh, have you got a higher opinion
of yourself? Here we are, created in the image
of God. That's right, we were. Now dead
in trespasses and sin. Here we are, us. We once walked with God, but
now we walk according to the principle of power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in children of disobedience. Here
we are, once a child of love, but now a child of wrath, even
as others. Here we are, we once loved light
and truth, and now we love darkness more than light, because our
deeds are evil. Here we are, we once communed
with God, we sought his presence, we walked with him in the garden,
but now we cry, we will not have this man reign over us. Crucify
him, crucify him. Here we are, once upright and
holy, created upright and righteous, now in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. Here we are, we once knew God,
and now Christ comes and says, You don't know me or my Father. Here we are, once higher than
the angels and now lower than the beasts. Here we are, once
king of creation, now servants of sin and sweat and sorrow. Here we are, once had freedom
of the will, now we're prisoners of a fallen nature. You cannot
do the things that you would. The things that I would, I do
them not. The things I would not do, I do. I'm a slave, a
servant of a horrible master. Once filled with love, now filled
with hate. Once filled with power, now nothing
but weakness. Oh, Paul cried the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. So here the prisoner stands before
the bar, turned to Romans 3, and look at his condition. Now
we know the evidence has been overwhelming. The evidence from
hell, heaven, and earth has been brought in to be presented against
us. It's a clear-cut case of guilt. Romans 3, verse 19, now
we know that what things serve of the law say it. It says to
them who are under that law that every mouth may be stopped. We
don't have anything to say. We're standing before the throne
of a sovereign God, a sovereign King, an almighty ruler, infinite
in justice. His piercing eye sees our imagination
and our thoughts and our words and our deeds. Everything is
open before him with whom we have to do. And the evidence
is there, and the law says guilty, and our mouths are stopped. But thank God, the God of sovereignty,
the God of justice, speaks. He says, I will be merciful. I will be gracious. My Son, my
Son will take your place. My son will bear your sin. Here is the gospel, here is the
glorious good news. He, he hath made him who knew
no sin, who wasn't a part of this rebellion, who wasn't a
part of this fall, who has no part of this guilt. He brought
him down here and put him in our place. Here, take his place. I'll make you to be sin for him. You who knew no sin, you who
had no sin, was not acquainted with sin, holiness personified,
take his place. Take his place. His nature was
free from Adam's sin. He was the seed of woman. Every one of us can trace our
birth back to Adam, not Christ. He was the seed of woman. His
life was free from sin, his lips never spoke an idle word, his
heart never harbored an evil thought, his eye never looked
with pride, his hand was never lifted in anger, his feet never
walked in paths of sin. He came down here in the flesh
as a human being. and was tried and tempted and
tested in every point, but he knew no sin. He was a stranger
to sin. He saw it, he heard it, but he
never knew it. And sin never knew him. Sin,
you have nothing in me. And the Father spoke and said,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And he was
made sin. He actually took our place. before the holy law as a human
being and kept that law. He actually was numbered with
the transgressors before the judgment bar of God. Our sins
were laid on him. The scripture says he bore our
sins in his body on the tree. Look at our text again, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It doesn't say that we might
be made righteous only. It's not just the veneer of righteousness. In Christ, the believer is in
the sight of the Father, pure, holy, without blame, unblameable. as pure as Christ, we are the
righteousness of God. What a treasure! Turn to Jude,
verse 24. Now listen to this. Jude, verse
24, listen to it. Now unto him, now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, and to present you, look at that
word, faultless, faultless. That's righteousness, isn't it?
Faultless. We're not just righteous. We're
not just holy. We're not just good. We're not
just acceptable. We are in Christ the righteousness
of God. God himself, his righteousness.
That's how holy it is. That's how pure it is. It's his
righteousness, faultless. Where? Not just before your friends
or before the church or before the community. Faultless before
the presence of his glory! Faultless. He wore my crown of
thorns. that I might wear his crown of
glory. He took my nakedness, my rags, that I might wear his
royal robe. He bore my shame, that I might
wear his honor. He endured my suffering, that
I might have his joy. He died my death, that I might
live his life. He went into the grave, that
I might come forth He ascended to glory where he pleads his
wounds. Father, you have nothing in them,
because my wounds, by my stripes, they are healed. Your justice
has nothing in them. Your law has nothing to demand
of them. My wounds, my stripes, by these
they are healed. He, in his sovereignty, in his
justice, oh, in his love, hath made him at his right hand, his
beloved Son, to be seen for us. Whom we know seen, he made him
to bear all the consequences, the results of God's wrath and
God's judgment and God's justice, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him, the sinless became sinful, that the sinful might
be sinless. This is mine by faith. Turn to
1 John 5, and I'll close. But I want to read this scripture
before I close. In 1 John 5, verse 11, and this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life. And this life in his Son, and
he that hath the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. And these things have I written
unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God. This
is your assurance, that you may know that you have eternal life,
and that you may keep on believing on the name of the Son of God. Our Father, we thank Thee for
the Word, all the richness, the blessedness, the precious promises
of Thy Word. We have been made partakers of
this like precious faith. In Christ, we have all things. We don't understand all the mysteries
of this word, of thy justice, thy righteousness, thy holiness,
thy sovereignty, and especially of thy grace. Why should he love
me so? But we receive it by faith. We
believe. We know thy heart, Almighty.
We know thy are a God of infinite justice. And we know that our
inexhaustible love and grace, we know that Christ is the only
substitute, the only sin offering. He's been made for us a redemption,
a ransom, a sin offering. By faith we believe it. O God,
help our unbelief and increase our faith for the glory of our
Redeemer, for it's in his name we pray.

Do You Really Want to Know the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Do You Really Want to Know the Gospel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book