The Apostle Paul was a compassionate
and tolerant man. He said, If a brother be overtaken
in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tested. He was compassionate and tolerant
toward those who erred. Again he said, Be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. And then in Romans 14, I'd like
you to turn to this scripture. In Romans 14, verse 2, he deals
with some questionable things. In Romans 14 verse 2, he says,
For one believeth that he may eat all things, that is, all
manner of meat, ham, pork, sausage, beef, whatever. Another who is
weak, that is, weak in faith, he eateth only herbs, vegetables,
Let not him that eateth, let not the man who is strong in
faith and confidence, who knows that these laws have been done
away in Christ, let not that man despise him that eateth not,
sit in judgment on him, and let not him which eateth not judge
him that eateth. For God hath received him, and
who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master
he standeth or calleth. He was compassionate and tender
and tolerant toward those who had peculiar beliefs, beliefs
that were different than his. And then in verse 5 of this same
chapter, Romans 14, one man esteemeth one day above We have friends
who put much emphasis on the Christian, what they call the
Christian Sabbath, almost carrying it as far as the old Jews did
the seventh day. Well, another steameth every
day alike. Verse 5, Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth
it unto the Lord. He that regardeth not the day
to the Lord, he doth not regard it. Paul said, we're not going
to fight over that. If you want to spend your Sundays
like the Jews spent their old Sabbath, that's all right with
me, Paul said, that's your business. We won't part company over that
at all. And then verse 21 of Romans 14, he deals with another
subject. He said, it's good neither to
eat flesh nor to drink wine nor anything. whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or offended, or is made weak. Do you have faith? Do you have strong faith? Have
it to thyself before God. Don't flaunt it in the eyes of
your brother that's offended. Keep it between you and God.
Happy is he that condemneth not himself, and that thing which
ye alloweth. He that doubteth, for man does
something just because somebody else does he's in trouble because
he's not eating or drinking in faith. But Paul says, we're not
going to be divided over that. Days and meets and things of
this nature. And then in Philippians chapter
1, he was very compassionate, very tender in regard to these
things. Turn to Philippians 1, and there
must have been some denominational divisions in that day, because
Paul said in Philippians verse 15, that some people were preaching
Christ even of Indian strife. The church down the street was
trying to have more in Sunday school than the church up the
street. They were trying to get members, no matter how they got
them, so they could have more than the church up the street.
Paul said that envy and strife, and some were preaching Christ
of goodwill, one preaches Christ of contention, not sincerely,
supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love,
knowing that I'm set for the defense of the gospel. What then?
Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ
is preached and I rejoice. We won't divide over that, Paul
said. You may be motivated by envy. He said that's all right
as long as you preach the gospel, as long as you preach Christ. And then in Acts 16, I want you
to go over here a moment. Timothy's father was a Greek. Timothy was not His mother was
a Jew, a Jewish, but his father was a Greek, and Timothy was
not circumcised when he was eight days old, like other Jewish boys. Timothy was a believer, and Paul
wanted Timothy with him, wanted him as his sidekick, his associate,
his helper. Paul knew that he was going to
be ministering to Jews, and he knew that the Jews put
great emphasis on circumcision. He knew that there was a good
possibility that they wouldn't listen to Timothy preach if they
found out he hadn't been circumcised. So to give Timothy an open door to
preach to these Jewish people, Paul had him circumcised. He
knew that this meant nothing, had nothing to do with salvation,
acceptance with God, but to keep them offending these people,
that's what he did. The Apostle Paul was a very compassionate
and understanding man, not a compromiser. He knew where to draw the line,
he knew where to compromise. He knew that on issues that were
not vital, that we could give, we could be tolerant. But there
was one area where Paul was absolutely unyielding. absolutely intolerant
and firm in denouncing those who erred. And that one area
was how God saved sinners. Look at Galatians chapter 1.
I want to repeat what I read in your presence a moment ago. Galatians chapter 1, beginning
with verse 6. He says, that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. And it's not another gospel,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. It's not another gospel, it's
a perversion of the gospel of Christ. All error has got to
have some truth in it to make it acceptable. And listen to
this, but though we are an angel from heaven preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you." He said, let him be accursed,
and he repeats it. He said, I've said it before
and I'm going to say it again. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. Now, let's be careful in this
message tonight and thinking on this subject, let's be very
careful that we do not imply that those who disagree with
us on some matter are preaching another gospel. Let's be careful
that we don't imply that those who don't seek our company are
preaching another gospel. This is a big world. It's a big
world. And there's no preacher or person
or group of persons who can minister to the spiritual needs of even
their own city, let alone the world. It would be impossible
for me, for you, for this church to minister to the spiritual
needs of this little town right here. let alone to the whole United
States or the whole world. So let's don't come to the conclusion,
because someone doesn't seek our company, that they're preaching
another gospel. It's not necessarily so. There
are personality differences that divide people. There are racial
differences, and they're here to stay, whatever you say, they're
here to stay. Nothing you're going to do about
it. It's regrettable, but it's here to stay. There are cultural
differences that divide people. There are educational differences.
There are age differences. There are all manner of differences
that divide people, not divide them to the point that they're
enemies, but just they do not seek social contact and do not
seek fellowship in the sense that they see things alike, they're
different. And this doesn't mean that they're
divided over the gospel, and we must not imply that it does
mean that at all. But our Lord warned us about
false preachers. Now, this is what we're talking
about. We're not talking about because someone disagrees with
us on some matter, they're preaching another gospel, or even that
they don't seek our company, they're preaching another gospel.
It doesn't mean that at all. It's easy to determine who's
preaching the gospel. Our Lord warned us about false
preachers. He said, beware of false prophets. They'll come to you in sheep's
clothing. He says in Matthew 24, 24, they
are so tricky that they would even deceive the elect if it
were possible. The Apostle Paul warns us about
false preachers. You might want to turn to this
scripture, 2 Corinthians 11. He has a severe warning here,
and the thing that Paul deals with in 2 Corinthians 11 He says
that these men transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness,
good, clean, Christian living. That's their platform. He says
in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 13, such are false apostles, they're
deceitful workers. They transformed themselves into
the apostles of Christ, and that's no marvel. Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light, therefore it's no great thing if his ministers
also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. These men are
dangerous, they're deadly, because they come to you not as they
really are, but they come to you on the platform of righteousness and a form of holiness. Peter
warned us about false preachers. Over here in 2 Peter 2, verse
1, listen to this. There are false prophets among you, even
as there shall be false teachers among you. They privately bring
in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and
bring upon themselves swift destruction. Many shall follow their pernicious
ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of, and through covetousness shall they with feigned words
make merchandise out of you." Just so much merchandise, that's
what you amount to to these false preachers. Now, there are three
things that motivate a false preacher. There are three things. False prophets, according to
the word of God, are motivated by three things. Number one,
they're motivated by personal gain. Turn to the book of Titus,
chapter one. Now, this is clear here, Titus,
the first chapter. Now, our Lord warned us about
false teachers. The Apostle Paul warned us about
false preachers. The Apostle Peter warned us about
false preachers. And he says the reason you've
got to be warned here is they're going to come in privately and
secretly and creep in. They're deceitful workers. They
change themselves into ministers of righteousness and morality
and they promote a form of Christianity. But they're false hucksters who
make merchandise out of you. They're insincere men. And there
are three marks of a false preacher, three things that motivate them.
Number one, it says in Titus 1 verse 10, there are many unruly
and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision,
whose mouths must be stopped, whose subvert whole houses, teaching
things which they ought not for a filthy lucre's sake, personal
gain, money. There are plenty of preachers
in the ministry for a comfortable and profitable living, for personal
gain. That's why they're in it. That's
one of the things that motivates them. It's not the only thing,
it's one of the things that motivates them. The second thing that motivates
a false preacher is desire to make an impression. Let's turn
to Acts 20. There are two scriptures I want
to read here. The second thing that motivates
a false preacher is a desire to make an impression, to make
a showing, to draw followers after him, to report numbers following his
ministry. In Acts 20, verse 29. Paul is warning the church at
Ephesus, or the elders of the church at Ephesus. He said, I
know this, verse 29, Acts 20, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, also
of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them. That's one of the things that
motivates false preachers. They've got to make an impression. They've got to make a show. They've
got to get results. And Galatians chapter 6, they
do it for gain. They do it for personal gain. They do it for money. They preach
and promote religion. with a burning desire to make
a show, to make an impression, Galatians 6 verse 12. Paul says,
as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised. They want to make a show in the
flesh. Now you read the reports in these evangelists and pastors
and preachers, their basis for a successful church is how many
people are there how fast they're growing, how many additions they
have, it's a numerical thing. The success of the church is
measured not by the depths of spirituality or the depths of
the people and their spirituality, it's measured by how many bodies
are there. And then the next thing that
motivates a false preacher, a desire for personal gain, a desire to
make an impression. to get followers of themselves.
And thirdly, fear, just plain old fear. Fear of the disapproval
of men. Galatians 6, verse 12. As many
as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution
for the cross of Jesus Christ. No way. They're not going to
bear the offense of the cross. They're not going to suffer loss.
They're not going to suffer persecution. They're not going to suffer disapproval. They seek the honor that comes
from men and not the honor that comes from God. And in Galatians
1, when Paul is dealing with this other gospel, in verse 9,
he says, If any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed.
And then he says, do I now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please
men or God? That's the thing that will draw
a man after another gospel, seeking to please men. And we're not
to be brutal, we're not to be hard. where to be compassionate
and tender and kind. But you can speak the truth with
compassion, and you can speak the truth in kindness, but you'd
better speak the truth. And those are the three things
that motivate false preachers. Personal gain, a desire to make
an impression, and fear. Fear of disapproval. Just cannot
stand to bear the offense of the cross or to suffer persecution
for Christ's sake. Now then, I want to give you
three marks of a false gospel. Paul said in our text, if any
man preach any other gospel, and I'm bringing a charge against
the minister of my day and my generation, I am charging that
they're preaching another gospel. They're motivated by personal
gain, they're motivated by a desire to make an impression, and they're
motivated out of pure fear. And I say that there are three
marks of this other gospel, this perversion of the true gospel,
and the first mark is this. Preachers today, churches today,
not all of them, thank God, but many of them, are denying original
sin. Now you put these three things
down in your mind, you'll remember them, I'll call them back to
your attention. Number one, they deny original sin. Most of the
churches in this town deny original sin. Most of the pastors in this
town deny original sin, that's so. Charles Spurgeon once said,
a good beginning is essential to a good race. A man who is
wrong on the sin question is usually wrong on the way God
deals with the sin question. A man who does not know what
happened in the garden does not usually know what God did at
Calvary. To understand the remedy, a physician's
got to understand the disease. Got to. You see what I'm saying? A physician of souls is what
a preacher is, what a minister is. And to understand the remedy,
he's got to understand the disease. Now why is man's fall called
by the old timers, original sin? That's what it's called by all
of the old writers. It's called original sin. It's
called original sin because it was man's first sin. It was the
original sin. It was the sin that gave birth
to all sin. It was the sin that made not
only Adam a sinner, a transgressor, but made all his seed transgressors. Paul wrote of it in Romans 5.
Would you like to read it over there? Romans 5, verse 12. You're very familiar with this
scripture. I've quoted it a thousand times from this pulpit, but let's
look at it again. Romans 5, Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into this world, and death by sin entered into
this world, and so death, spiritual death, passed upon all men for
all sin. Then go over to verse 8 and 19,
if you will, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners."
Now listen to me, I'm going to say something here that most
people don't believe. A man, it's difficult, it's difficult,
it's not difficult to prove to people that they have sinned,
it's difficult to show them why they sinned. That's what's hard. It's not hard to convince, I
could convince everybody in here tonight that you've done wrong
today, but the big problem is convincing you why you did it. Why you did it. Most everybody
knows he has sins, but not everybody knows he has S-I-N. Now man is
not a sinner because he steals a watermelon, He steals because
he's a thief by nature. That's why he steals. You're not a sinner because you
lied today. You lied because you are a liar
by nature. That's right. You're a liar by
nature. You're born a liar. You're not a sinner because you
killed somebody. You killed them because you're
a murderer by nature. You are a blasphemer by nature. You are a thief by nature. That's
where it all comes from. And men and women who know anything
about sin not only repent and mourn over what they've done,
but what they are. Turn with me to Romans 7. Listen
to the Apostle Paul, Romans 7.21. I find then a law. I find in the law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. David said, I was conceived
in sin, I was formed in iniquity, I was brought forth speaking
lies. The wicked are estranged, separated
from God, from the womb. We are not sinners because we
steal, we steal because we are thieves by nature, we are sinners
by nature. And when a person denies original
sin, when he denies the seed of sin, when he denies the taproot
of sin, when he denies the nature of sin, he denies the need of
the new birth. That's the reason Christ said,
Nicodemus, you must be born again, because nothing can be done with
that original fleshly nature. It can't be improved upon, it
can't be helped, it can't be changed, it can't be reformed.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And in the flesh no
man can please God, and in the flesh dwelleth no good thing.
That's dead flesh, that's sinful flesh, that's corrupt flesh,
and it never can be anything but flesh. There must be created
a new nature, a holy nature, a divine nature. And that seed
of sin, that fleshly nature we receive from Adam, can do no
good. And that holy nature we receive
in the new birth can do no evil. Now that's so. What I'm saying
is this. I'm saying that when I was born
into this world from my mother's womb, I came forth from her womb
without hope, without help, without Christ, without God, without
strength, with nothing but a fleshly, ungodly, God-hating, law-breaking,
evil nature. and I remain thus and so under
God the Holy Spirit by divine power, put within me a new nature called a new man. And that new man, the only victory
that I enjoy spiritually, is that which I have in Christ over
that old nature by the power of that new nature. but the flesh
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh,
and they'll never be pals. O wretched man that I am," said
Paul, "'who shall deliver me from this body of death? With
my mind I serve the law of God, with my flesh the law of sin.'"
Now, you try to get these two together, and you'll find I have
you nothing on your hands but a pious hypocrite. That's exactly
what you'll have. You cannot get them together.
One's going one way and one's going the other way. And when
a man denies original sin, whether he's in the pulpit or the pew,
he does not see the need of the new birth. What he tries to do
is get the old natural man to reform his old natural flesh. And some can do a pretty good
job of it for a little while. And then another thing, when
we deny original sin, we deny spiritual inability. When we
deny original sin, we deny the need of sovereign grace and we
promote free willism. When we deny original sin, we
open the door to man's false righteousness and sinless perfection. Our Lord Jesus said, to as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, born of God. And that which is
born of God overcometh the world, and that which is born of God
doth not commit sin. That which is born of God. That's
the new nature. So that's the first error of
another gospel, it denies original sin. The second error, and I
want you to stay with me, I'm going to be on this point for
just very few minutes because I don't know a whole lot about
it, but I just know it's so. The second thing that I know,
these who preach another gospel They deny that sinners deserve
to be damned. They deny that. Everybody is
feeling sorry for the sinner. This so-called burden for souls
that most people are talking about, and I'm not being facetious
now, but this so-called burden for souls is nothing short of
a belief, most of it, that sinners do not deserve to be damned. This is a difficult area, I can
say, and I find it the most difficult of all. It's more difficult for
me to preach on judgment and hell than any other single subject. Somebody says, I think rebels
ought to be sent to hell. I think all unbelievers ought
to be punished." Now, wait a minute. Be careful. It may be that your
sentiments spring from a hatred for people more than a love for
God's justice. Be careful of that. You say,
Well, I think sinners ought to go to hell. Well, it may be because
you hate sinners. Maybe you just have a hatred
for people. Maybe you really don't love people. The coveted
attitude is this. Now, this is what ought to be.
This is what I want. This is what I want you to have.
This is what I think the Bible teaches. The coveted attitude
is to love sinners and to take no pleasure in their condemnation
and yet justify God in his judgments. Now, if you can do that, It's
not just because you hate people, just because you despise people,
that you think people ought to be sent to hell. If you can love
people and still justify God when he condemns them, it's not easy, because we don't
see sin like God sees it, especially in people that are real close
to us. But David said in Psalm 51, and Paul quoted it in Romans
3, I want you to listen to this, Psalm 51, and he's talking about
himself, himself. He said in Psalm 51, verse 4,
O God, against thee and thee only have I sinned, I've done
this evil in your sight, that you might be justified when you
speak." and that you might be clear when you judge me." Whatever
verdict you arrive at, O God, you justify. David certainly
loved himself. If we could just love others
like we love ourselves. God knew we'd love ourselves,
so he said, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. And David
said, God, whatever verdict comes forth from your mouth when you
speak, I justify you. You're clear when you judge me
and when you damn me. Revelation 19, turn over there
here. Here we are at the judgment,
Revelation 19. These are the days of last things. And here are the people of God,
and after these things I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation, glory, honor, power
unto the Lord our God, Revelation 19.20. for true and righteous
are his judgments. He hath judged the great whore,"
that's the religious, ecclesiastical machine, which corrupted the
earth with her fornication. He hath avenged the blood of
his servants at her hand, and again they said, Hallelujah!
And that great religious mass of false profession rose up in
smoke forever and ever, and God's people said, Hallelujah, while
God sent men to hell. Now, I say that the coveted attitude,
our Lord Jesus Christ, the rich young man, stood before him,
and he loved his riches more than he loved God, and he turned
and walked off, and the Scripture said the Master loved him. God
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God delights to
show mercy. And if I can come to the place
where I have this attitude, that I have no pleasure in the condemnation
of sinners, that I genuinely love sinners, and yet, whoever
the sinner is, I can justify God in his judgments and say,
The Lord shall not the judge of the earth do that which is
right. Our attitude toward our guilt
will determine our attitude toward God's justice. Is God obligated
to pardon all sinners? Now, let's think a minute. Is
God obligated to pardon and justify all sinners? No. Is God unjust
if he doesn't pardon all sinners? No. Is God unjust if he pardons some
sinners and passes by the rest of them? No. Because judgment, justice, is
necessary and mercy is in the hands of God. That's what Paul
says in Romans chapter 9. Now let's look at it, Romans
chapter 9. Go there with me just a moment.
Romans chapter 9. Is God obligated to save all
sinners? No, sir. Is He unjust if He doesn't? No, sir. Is He unjust if He chooses
to pardon some and pass by others? If you are one of the others, in Romans 9, verse 11, the children
being not yet born neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth. It was said to her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
a love, but he shall have a hated. What shall we say then? Is God unrighteous? Read it. God forbid. He said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So it's not of him that will
it. It's not of him that run it. It's of God that shows mercy. You think about this a moment.
This is one of the errors of another Do you think sinners
deserve to be damned? Do you think you deserve to be
damned? Do I think I deserve to be damned? Does God obligate to pardon me?
No. I've earned the wages of sin. Is God unjust if he doesn't pardon
me? No, sir. Is God unjust if he
pardons Don and passes me by? Is God unjust? I'm getting what
I deserve. Did Don get what he deserved?
Uh-uh, he got mercy. I got what I deserve. And God's
not unjust. And when you handle that, you
better be real careful now, because don't you charge God with unrighteousness. Be very careful. There's the
Word right there in front of you. Paul gave that illustration. He said it's true, before Jacob
and Esau were born, God chose Jacob and passed by Esau. And
he asked this, What shall we say to this? And somebody spoke
up and said, God's not righteous, and Paul said, God forbid. Here's
the third thing. These who preach another gospel,
either for for personal gain, to draw followers after them,
not after the Lord, because they are afraid to preach the true
gospel. The third thing they deny is substitution. This is the life, this is the
heart of the gospel. He was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities.
By his stripes I am healed. I lay down my life for the sheep.
I'm the good shepherd, I lay down my life for the sheep. He
gave himself a ransom for our sins. Matthew 1.21 says, Thou
shalt call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from this
sin. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Christ didn't die as
an example, he died as a substitute. He didn't die as a martyr, he
died as a substitute. He didn't die as an offer, he
died as an effectual sacrifice, as a substitute. He died on purpose
to reconcile believers unto the Father. Now I'm going to ask
you five questions, and I want you to think about them a little
bit, and then I'm going to pronounce the benediction. Now here are
the five questions. Did Jesus Christ die on the cross
to make salvation possible? or to make it certain. Think
about it. I say that he died to make it
certain, to save his people from their sins. He said, I came to
seek and to save the Lord, not to try to save them, not to make
them savable, not to enable them to save themselves. I came to
save them. Secondly, when he died, did he actually reconcile
us to God by his blood? Or did he just open a way so
that we could be reconciled by faith? Did he actually, when
he died, was the father reconciled, was the enmity put away? Were
we accepted in the beloved? Or did he just open a way so
that later on, if we made such a decision, we could travel that
route and get to God? Bible teaches that God was in
Christ reconciling the world to himself. The third question,
when Christ died, did he actually take our sins in his body on
the tree? Did he? Or did he just die for
sins as sin? When I listen to 1 Peter 2.24,
it says here, "...who his own self bear our sins in his own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto
righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed." Did he bear your
sins, my sins? Or did he just die for a cause? The fourth question, are there
actually people in hell for whom Christ died? Do you believe that? Do you believe there are people
in hell whose sins Christ bore in his body on the cross? Do
you mean to tell me you believe that there are people in hell
for whom Christ paid a ransom and secured redemption? and shed
his blood and bore their transgressions in his body on the tree, then
I say his death can't save a flea, let alone you and me." Now, think
about it. Now, the fifth question. If Christ
actually was tried and executed for my sins, he actually stood
in my place and the justice of God found him guilty, and sent
him to the gallows. And he bore my sins and died
for them. Can God call me before him and
try me again and execute me for the same crime?" Now, this boy
was acquitted here the other day in Ashland for a crime. They
can't try him again for that one. That's the law of the land, isn't
it? You can't do it. And you mean they're more just
in Catlesburg than God in heaven? What kind of God do you got? Brother, when I've been acquitted,
when I've been justified, there ain't no court in heaven, earth,
or hell that can try me again. That's so. Paul said there is
therefore now no judgment to them who are in Christ. None.
There ain't none left. That's so. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And when Christ took my sins
to the cross and paid for them, who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? That's what Paul said. He called
on heaven, earth, and hell. He called on anybody to bring
one charge against him. They have all been satisfied
in the blood of Christ. That's what the Bible teaches.
That's what the Word of God teaches. Christ is the substitute. Brother Don, you come and now.