Now let's turn in our Bibles
to Romans 1, 16. Romans 1, verse 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Now the gospel of substitution
The gospel of the cross is the strength and glory of the Church. The minister has nothing for
the hearer, nothing at all, if he does not preach the gospel.
Someone said, without the gospel, a minister is like a soldier
without a weapon. Without the gospel, a minister
is like an artist without a pencil. He's like a pilot without a compass. He's like a laborer without tools. And I say let others, if they
will, preach the law, preach morality. Let others, if they
will, hold forth the terrors of hell, yea, and even the joys
of heaven. Let others, if they will, drench
their congregations with social reform and good works. Give me the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the only message, the
only message that will turn a man from sin to God. This is the
only message, the only word that can give hope to the hopeless. This is the only message that
has grace for the guilty and healing for the distressed of
soul. If the gospel of the cross, if
the gospel of the blood of Jesus Christ will not help you, you
cannot be helped. If the gospel of substitution
will not deliver you, you cannot be delivered. If the gospel of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, will not save, then nothing will. I say that a man may step into
the pulpit with a perfect knowledge of history, a perfect knowledge
of religion, even a knowledge of law, but he'll do no good
until he knows the gospel. The Holy Ghost will bless only
the preaching of the gospel, because the Spirit of the living
God honors those who honor Jesus Christ and who are not ashamed
of His cross. Paul said in Romans 1, 16, I'm
not ashamed. I am not ashamed of the gospel. Some are. He called it an offense. He said the gospel of the cross
is offensive. In Galatians 5, 11, he said it's
offensive to the natural man. The gospel is offensive to the
natural man because, number one, it addresses all men as sinners. Those in Congress and those in
the penitentiary, in the sight of God, need the same Savior. Charles Spurgeon once preached
before Parliament, and he preached a sermon on man's depravity and
man's sin and God's mercy for the guilty, all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. And one of the men of Parliament
came to him after the sermon, very offended, and he said, Mr. Spurgeon, that sermon would have
been more suitable for Newgate. than for Parliament. Newgate
was a notorious penitentiary. Mr. Spurgeon, without batting
an eye, looked at him and said, If I had been preaching in Newgate,
I would not have preached that sermon, All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. I would have preached, Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. They know
they're lost. They know they're lost. The gospel
is offensive to men because it addresses them as sinners and
offends their dignity. The gospel of Christ, the gospel
of substitution, the gospel of the cross, offends man's pride
because it shuts him up to a blood atonement. Now, I know this is
1974, but I preached the same message that Paul preached A
few years after Christ was crucified, 1900 years ago, there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. The same message that the Apostle
Peter preached when he said, We know we are redeemed with
the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without spot and blemish,
without the atonement We are condemned without the atonement. We are already judged without
the atonement, without the blood of Jesus Christ in the sight
of God. We are guilty, filthy sinners. The atonement offends man's pride,
and then the doctrine of revelation offends man's wisdom. Man thinks
he is wise, and God says his wisdom is foolishness. The gospel
must be revealed. I heard a preacher say one time,
I preach the gospel so simply that a little child can understand
it. No man can preach the gospel
so that any person can understand it without the aid of the Spirit
of God, because the gospel is a mystery. And the gospel is
a mystery that must be revealed by the Holy Spirit. No man understands
the gospel without the aid of God's Spirit. It must be revealed. And then the doctrine of godliness
offends man's love of sin. Man loves darkness. He doesn't
love light. He loves sin. He doesn't love
holiness. He loves rebellion. He does not
love submission. And when we exalt Jesus Christ,
it offends man's love of self. The doctrine of divine substitution
for the guilty is offensive to the natural man. But I think
I can say with Paul this morning, it does not offend me. I am not
ashamed to confess before God I am the chief of sinners. I am not ashamed to confess before
God that I need mercy. I am not ashamed to confess before
God and before the congregation that without the shedding of
Christ's blood there is no remission, that I am dependent whole and
completely on the fact that Christ died for my sins. I once was
lost, but now I am found, and by God's grace I am heaven-bound. But my only hope, my only plea,
is that when He died on that cross, He died for me. I am not
ashamed of that. And I am not ashamed that I was
blind and could not see, and that God came, as Paul said,
and revealed His Son to me. I am not ashamed to confess that
without the aid of the Holy Spirit the Bible is a closed book. I
am not ashamed to confess that I am nothing, and that I know
nothing, that I have nothing. I am in complete spiritual poverty,
bankrupt, and Jesus Christ is all and in all. I am not ashamed
of the gospel. Are you ashamed of the gospel?
Many people are ashamed of the gospel. Paul says, I'm not ashamed
of it. I'm not ashamed of all that's
incorporated and included in the gospel. Divine grace, total
inability, the divine covenant, the cleansing atonement, divine
revelation, man's inability, and God's ability. I'm not ashamed
to be a beggar at the back door of mercy and ask God for help. I'm not ashamed of that. I'm
not ashamed. Are you? Many people are. I've jotted down seven things
that reveal unto me that there are friends of mine who are ashamed
of the gospel. I'm going to give you these seven
things. Number one, they reveal their
embarrassment by not preaching the gospel of grace. It's clear
to me that they are ashamed of the gospel when they do not preach
it. There are many congregations, and I want you to think about
this, there are many congregations in this town and in this state
and in this nation that if a poor lost sinner wandered into their
congregations, or sanctuaries as they call them, we've gotten
modern, we've quit calling it an auditorium, it's a sanctuary
now. This isn't a pulpit anymore,
it's a lectern. But if a lost sinner wandered
into their sanctuaries, into their assemblies, and heard the
singing and heard the preaching, he would walk out just as ignorant
of the way that God saves sinners as when he walked in. the gospel
of substitution, the gospel of Christ, the gospel of the cross,
is just flat not being preached. And men come in and sit in the
congregation and listen to the preacher and get up and walk
out, and if you were to walk up to them and ask them, how
is the sinner saved? How is a poor, lost, damned,
doomed sinner, hopeless and helpless before God, how are his sins
remitted? How does he receive any righteousness? How is he perfected in the sight
of God? How can he approach a living
God? And they'd look at you and say, I don't have the faintest
idea. Didn't you just go to church? Yeah, but they didn't tell me
how a poor ruined sinner could come before God. And a man who
does not preach the gospel of grace is ashamed of it. He's embarrassed by it. Roland Hill said, every time
we get up to preach, every time we get up to preach, whether
it be a Sunday morning service, a Wednesday night service, an
evangelistic service, a missionary service, a funeral, or whatever
it may be, let us never conclude that service without making it
perfectly clear how a sinner can approach God in mercy and
be received. Let us preach ruin by the fall.
Regeneration by the Spirit and redemption by the blood. I do
not want men to leave the congregation and die of a heart attack on
Sunday afternoon and me go visit the wife at the funeral home
knowing that I failed to tell that man how to meet God. The second reason I jotted down
that I believe men are ashamed of the gospel and embarrassed
by it, embarrassed by blood atonement, embarrassed by sovereign mercy,
embarrassed by our gospel of the cross. And that is, I listen
to them preach, and they preach with wisdom of words, and the
cross of Jesus Christ is so covered with their theological terms
and with their wisdom of words and with their oratorical efforts. that no one can detect what they're
talking about. No one has the faintest idea
what that man's saying. What did he say? Well, he said
something, but I don't know what he said. There are too many preachers
today who are preaching with an effort to please all men and
offend no one. I know in many pulpits this morning
the pastor is standing there hoping in his heart that he can
get through that sermon without offending a good giver, without
offending a good worker, without offending an influential visitor,
or without some way keeping somebody from coming back next Sunday.
My friends, we cannot please God and please men. Paul said
that. If I please men, I am not the
servant of Christ. We cannot build our local programs
and build God's program. We cannot build our denominational
programs and build God's kingdom. We've got to stand and effectually
saw the log and let the chips fall exactly where they will. When we want to preach man's
sinful condition, let's preach it in words that people at least
can understand in their heads what we're saying, whether they
believe it in their hearts or not. When we preach how that
God quickens and regenerates and makes alive a dead sinner,
let's tell men how it's done, that they might at least understand
it in their heads. And when we preach that salvation's
in the blood, salvation's in the cross, salvation's in the
death of the substitute, let men go out saying, well, I may
not believe it, but I sure did understand it. I'll tell you
another way that men show their embarrassment and the fact that
they're ashamed of the gospel. Number three, they're careful
to mix. They're careful to mix. Just
enough truth. with human error, just enough
truth, with human works. My friend, salvation is either,
Paul said, all of grace or all of works. It is not a mixture. And I cannot stand up here and
declare to you that you are complete in Christ and then turn right
around and give you something to do in order to be saved. No
way. No way. I do nothing but confuse
you. But pastor, you said that Christ
paid it all, and now you tell me that there's something for
me to pay. You tell me that God was in Christ reconciling the
world, and now you turn around and say, if I don't, if I'm not
faithful to the Church, and if I don't give my time, and if
I don't stay out of the picture show, and if I don't do this,
etc., etc., etc., I'll go to hell. Now, am I completely in
Christ, or must I do something to appease God? Most preachers threaten their
congregations with eternal hell if they do not meet certain human
requirements and standards. I'm not afraid of hell. Christ
hath redeemed me. I'm afraid of sin, but I'm not
afraid of hell. Salvation is either all of grace
In its entirety, Christ is either the author and finisher, the
alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, and all in between,
or it's by works. It can't be a mixture. That's
what has the world confused, the religious world. Preachers
have mixed the gospel with works, grace with works, truth with
error, and men are totally, completely confused. The Christian is not
motivated by fear, he's motivated by love. And I'll tell you another way
that men show their embarrassment. They're ashamed of the gospel.
They're really ashamed of it. They wouldn't tell you that.
They use terms like gospel, cross, salvation, church, worship, prayer,
all these things. Another way that people show
their embarrassment. where this offensive gospel,
this gospel of crucifixion, this gospel of substitution, this
gospel of free undiluted grace, the gift of God to sinners, and
that is they attempt to walk with the world while they keep
one foot in the church door. James said, I believe it was
James or the Apostle Peter said, know ye not that friendship with
the world is enmity with God? And he that would be a friend
of the world is the enemy of God. There are a lot of people
who just can't quite make up their minds whether they want
to walk with the people of God or whether they want to walk
with the world, so they try to walk with both of them. The people
of God are an embarrassment to them around their worldly companions. They're ashamed of the gospel.
They're ashamed of total identification. They're ashamed of total commitment. And I say that people who are
not totally committed, I'm not ashamed of my Christian friends,
I'm ashamed of my worldly friends. I'm not ashamed to introduce
my believing friends to the world. Are you? Are you ashamed of believers? Are you ashamed of identification
with the cross? Are you ashamed of identification
with the gospel of grace? If these people of God are an
embarrassment to you in your business and in your social activities
and in your social companionship, if the people of God are an embarrassment
to you in these particular situations, it's because you're ashamed of
what they represent. It's the gospel you're really
ashamed of. It's not them, because they dress just like anybody
else, and comb their hair just like anybody else, and they work
in the mills just like anybody else, but they are different. They're peculiar. And then I'll tell you another
way that men show their embarrassment, the fact that they're ashamed
of the gospel. And that is, and this is so evident to me, that
really it becomes a little amusing. People are ashamed of the gospel
and they reveal it, the gospel of grace, the gospel of substitution. And they show it by attempting
to find fault with those who believe it. Now watch this. Those who, they find fault. They
seek to find a weak spot in the armor. They seek to find a weak
spot in the walk. They seek to find a weak spot
in the presentation. They seek to find a weak spot
in this man who believes in grace and preaches it and stands for
it. And here's the reason. If they
can find in the advocate of the gospel of grace some weakness
and some failure, they feel like it justifies their silence and
justifies their compromise. It justifies their silence and
justifies their compromise. They're not preaching the gospel.
They're not standing for the gospel of God's redeeming grace,
and if they can find a weakness, if they can find a failure, if
they can find in that man or woman who is contending for the
gospel of grace, if they can find some reason not to like
them, then it'll justify their silence and justify their compromise. Instead of pointing out that
person's strong point, they'll point out his weak point. And
then here's another group of people who are ashamed of the
gospel. They appoint themselves as champions of the underdog.
Oh, I listen to them talk. They don't know anything about
the Bible, but they talk about the unfairness of election. They talk about this. They say,
I think everybody ought to have a chance, you know. They speak
of the unfairness of God to pass by some and save others. They
talk about universal redemption while they praise human works.
They're ashamed of sovereign mercy. Somebody said one time,
if a man is really a beggar, Diseased, ragged, dirty, barefoot,
hungry, poverty-stricken, he'll accept the handout without one
time questioning the giver. Not one time will he question
the giver. If he's really in need of mercy, if he's really
in need of help, he'll accept the handout and he'll never say,
where did you get it? He'll never say, why don't you
give my buddy some? He'll never say, how come you've
kept it so long without giving it to us? He'll never say, it's
not fair to you to have so much and me to have so little. He's
so hungry, and so in such extreme circumstances, he just accepts
it and says, thank you. Thank you. But these champions of the underdog,
I'll tell you what they're doing. They're revealing their embarrassment. They're revealing the fact that
deep down they're ashamed of this gospel. And then there are
others who try to justify their position, number seven, of opposing
the gospel of grace by putting new meaning on orthodox Bible
language. Now my friends, it says in John
3, ye must be born again. I don't hear people running up
down the street saying, well, that doesn't mean that. Every
preacher preaches you must be born again. You must be born
again. It says in the Word of God, thou
shalt not kill. That's what it says. Thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear
false witness. And that's so easy for people
to understand. But then the Word of God points
out this. You who were dead hath he quickened. You who were dead in trespasses
and sins, well that doesn't mean that. God from the beginning
hath chosen you to life eternal, that doesn't mean that. For by
grace are you saved through faith, that and out of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, that doesn't mean that. The Son of Man quickeneth whom
he will. That doesn't mean that. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. That doesn't mean that. Without
the shedding of blood there's no remission. That doesn't mean
that. What does it mean? The strangest thing in the world
is that we can take the part of the Scripture that we like,
the part of the Scripture that we in our natural minds understand,
the part of the Scripture that we in our flesh can comprehend,
for we brought God down and made Him like ourselves, and we say,
that's what it means That's what it means in the part of Scripture
that grates against our human dignity, and grates against our
human pride, and crosses our human will, and takes away human
glory, and gives God all the glory, and shuts us up to the
back door of mercy to receive grace from the hand of a sovereign
God. That doesn't mean that. It tickles me to death in some
of these hula-rola congregations. The women are whooping it up
and dancing around and doing all the testifying and the praying
and some preacher gets up and he says, let your women keep
silence in the church. I suffer not a woman to speak,
nor the use of authority. That doesn't mean that. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. And I say to this whole tri-state
area, and we're on the television and we're on the radio, and I
preach from this pulpit, and I want to say to every human
being in this tri-state area to whom I have the privilege
of speaking, if you're interested in salvation, if you're interested
in a right relationship with God, I have something for you. I have a good Glad tidings, good
news. I have a gospel that is able
to save. Now, if you're not interested
in a relationship with God, if you're interested in a social
life, if you're interested in a big building, if you're interested
in influential friends, if you're interested in making contacts
in religion, if you're interested in building your business through
your religion, if you're interested in politics, if you're interested
in getting along with the world, if you're interested In a denominational
program, I don't have a thing in the world for you, but I'm
sure you can find some place that does, because there are
enough cults and sects in this world that will please you and
allow you to have your own thoughts." And the prophet of God said in
Isaiah 55, turn over there and listen to it. In Isaiah 55, he
says in verse 6, "...seek ye the Lord, while he may be found." What are you seeking? That's
the first thing you've got to determine, what you're seeking.
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while
he is near, but let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous
man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and God will
have mercy on him. Mercy! That's what we're seeking,
mercy. And to our God he will abundantly
pardon, for God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts. Well,
this is what I think, preacher. Well, it doesn't matter what
you think or what I think. What matters is what God says. That's what matters. My thoughts
are not your thoughts, and you can take your natural thoughts
about religion, salvation, God, eternal life, you can take your
natural thoughts and you can be sure of this, they're wrong. They're wrong. And my ways are
not your ways. There's a way that seems right
unto men, and the end is death and destruction. Turn back to
Romans 1, 16. Romans 1, 16. Listen to it again. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Paul said in verse 14, I'm a debtor to the Greek and to the barbarian. I'm a debtor to the wise and
the unwise. I'm ready to preach the gospel at Rome also, the
capital of the world. I'm ready to preach to the Roman
Forum. I'm ready to preach to the Roman
leaders. I'm ready to preach to the Roman
jailers. I'm ready to preach to the Roman
rebels and rabble. I'm ready to preach at Rome.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of it. It's the
gospel of God. Where did Paul learn his gospel?
Look over here at verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God. Turn to
Galatians 1 just a moment. Listen to this. In Galatians
1. Galatians 1, verse 10, the apostle
said, Do I now persuade men, or God? Do I seek to please men? If I
yet please men, I am not the servant of Christ. I certify
you, brethren, the gospel which was preached to me is not after
man. I didn't receive it of man. I
wasn't taught it by man. I received it by revelation of
Jesus Christ. That's where I got my gospel.
I didn't get it in the seminary. I didn't get it in college. I
got it from God. That's where I got my gospel.
It's the gospel of God. They said, David, where is your
God? Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Turn to Psalm 135 just a moment. Look at this. Where is your God,
David? Psalm 115, Psalm 135 says the
same thing. Turn to Psalm 135, verse 5. I know that the Lord is great,
our Lord is above all gods, and whatever the Lord please. That's what he did in heaven.
in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. Now, my friends,
you listen just a moment, and God is my witness. I say this, I hope in a way of humility. I could be preaching right now
to eight or nine hundred people, I could have as large a church
as anybody in this state. I believe that. I believe that I could run a
program as well as any other preacher. I believe I have enough
Bible knowledge, enough personality, and enough pulpit ability that
I could recite poems and tell illustrations and use a microphone
in a musical program and have a pretty good-sized thing going. This isn't a popular message.
I know it when I get up here. I know it when I prepare it.
But the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't too popular either. He said,
Marvel not, my brethren, that the world hates you. It hated
me before it ever hated you. All of the apostles, all eleven
of them, with the exception of Judas, were martyred except John. They cut their heads off, crucified
them upside down. Why? Because of what they preached. Luther was chased all over Germany. Calvin was expelled from Switzerland. John Knox, Hus was burned at
the stake. Latimer was burned at the stake.
Bishop Rutherford was burned at the stake. Charles Spurgeon
was despised and hated in London, England as much as any man who
ever walked the streets of that city. Did you know that? He wasn't
popular. He was popular with the people
of God and with nobody else. You cannot name a faithful prophet
of Jonathan Edwards, president of Princeton University, one
of the greatest preachers who ever lived in America, was excluded
from his own pastorate. Why? He demanded a regenerated
church membership. Now, other preachers can pastor
these churches that have 800 members and 200 in the service
they want to. This preacher is not going to
do it. Other preachers can pastor churches where people can be
members and come once in a while and give once in a while and
worship once in a while. This pastor is not going to do
it. If Jesus Christ and the membership with his congregation doesn't
mean enough to you to attend faithfully, I want you to get
out. and I'll see that you do." That's how serious I am about
this. I'm not playing games. I'm not entertaining sinners
on their road to hell. The gospel is offensive. It's not popular. It pleased
God to do what He willed in heaven, earth, and hell. That's what
it says, in deep places. And the gospel we preach is the
gospel of God. And my friends, it's the ancient
gospel. Turn over here again in Romans chapter 1. Paul separated
to the gospel. Separated to the gospel. And
if you're not separated to the gospel of God, it's because you're
ashamed of it. And he says in verse 2, it is
the gospel which he promised to for by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures. It's the old gospel. There aren't
two or three gospels in the Bible any more than there are two or
three different ways of saving men. You go back to the Old Testament
and the message is Christ. Abraham saw my day and was glad. Moses wrote of me. To him giveth
all the prophets witness. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Isaiah said he was wounded for our transgression, bruised for
our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him by his stripes we're healed. That's Old Testament. It's the gospel of God. It's
the ancient gospel. Look at verse 3. It's the gospel
concerning His Son. According to His human nature,
He was a Jew. According to His divine nature,
He's God Almighty. And it's the gospel in the fourth
place of grace. Look at verse 4, verse 5. "...by
whom we have received grace." We didn't earn it. We didn't
deserve it. We didn't buy it. we received
him. Paul explained it this way. He
said, I obtained mercy. And that grace through Christ
is sufficient. It's sufficient for all my sins. Though your sins be as scarlet,
he said, I'll make them white as snow. It's sufficient for
all my trials. Paul prayed, Lord, remove this
thorn. He said, Paul, my grace is sufficient. It's sufficient for the day of
death. and its free grace. And then
in our text, I am not ashamed of the gospel, the gospel of
God, the gospel of substitution, the gospel of grace, the gospel
of redemption. I am not ashamed of the gospel,
look at it, for it is the power of God. The power of God. Let me ask you this. Take an inventory on your religion. Take an inventory of your Christianity. Is your religion and your Christianity
a theological position? Is it a moral position? The Mohammeds
have a pretty good moral position. So do the Buddhists. So do the
black Muslims. Is your religion, your Christianity,
is it a social position? Is your religion, your Christianity,
is it a heaven and hell proposition? I want to go to heaven when I
die, I don't want to go to hell when I die, so I've made a religious
commitment. Or is your religion the result
of the power of God in your life? Or is it your Christianity an
experience of the visitation of the power of God? I'm not
ashamed of the gospel, it's the power of God. It's the power
of God. He is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. He is able to keep that which
I've committed unto Him against that day. What He has promised,
He is able to perform. God is able to make us stand. Is your relationship with God
a vine-branch relationship? And the nourishment of spiritual
life flows from him into you. Do you think on God? Do you live
in Christ? Can you say with Paul, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in
me. And the life which I now live,
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved and gave himself
for me. When that happens, when the gospel
becomes the power of God in a man's life, when it becomes the source
of a man's life, when it becomes the goal of a man's life, when
it becomes the beat of his heart, you can cut into his mind and
you'll find thoughts of Christ. You cut into his heart and you'll
find love for Christ. You cut into his will, you'll
find submission to Christ. You cut into his affections and
you'll find the person of Christ. That's his life. Without Christ, he's dead man. It's not a bargain with God.
Most people, most religious people today, have nothing in the world
but a bargain with God. All right, God, I'll believe
your Bible, and I'll go to church once in a while, and I'll give
a little of my income, and I'll try to stay out of meanness if
you'll take me to heaven when you die. And they're miserable,
and everybody around them is miserable. and they're enemies
of the cross of Christ, and the world looks at them and says,
if that's religion, I don't want it. But here and there, there's
a man or a woman, a boy and girl, whose life the hand of God has
touched, and the person of Christ has possessed, and the fullness
of Christ has come in, and that person loves the Savior and loves
his Word, and he doesn't walk in this world trying to live
a life that he despises. He walks in this world trying
to live a life that he loves. I was glad when they said unto
me, Let's go to the house of the Lord. Glad. O Lord, a day in thy courts is
worth a thousand in the world. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of God than to dwell as the king in the tents of the
wicked. This is my delight. Thy law is
my delight. I love them that love thee, O
God," David said. I hate them that hate thee. That's the difference in salvation
and an empty profession. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
And when something becomes your family, when something becomes
your life, when something like this becomes the very beat of
your heart, when this becomes the very source of your thoughts,
when this becomes the life of your affections, you're not ashamed
of it. You're not ashamed of it. You
see that the emptiness of this world, oh how empty this world,
how empty the people of this world are, how foolish is their
talk. How empty is all of their doings. Much ado about nothing, the writers
sing. Nothing. They're going nowhere. They're on a treadmill going
nowhere. We're going somewhere. We're
looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. I've got a
place for my feet, have you? I've got a place for the old
taproot. It's in the blood that flowed from Calvary. And that's
where life is. I don't mean to be cruel. I don't
mean to be hard. I'm just trying to be truthful.
I know what this book says. And I know that modern religion
is nauseating to even the people that are trying to practice it.
It's nauseating to the ministers, it's nauseating to the officials,
it's nauseating to the congregation, it's nauseating to God. He says,
you're not cold or hot. I'll spit you out of my mouth.
I would you were either cold or hot. But you're lukewarm. I present to you a gospel that
can save. Our Father, make us faithful
to the gospel of thy Son, because it is the gospel of thy Son.
Make us faithful, O Lord, to the message of Christ Jesus our
Lord, because it is his message. Without him we have no message.
Without him we have no gospel. Without him we have no life.
Without him we have no holiness and no righteousness. He is our
life. O Lord, deliver us from hypocrisy. Deliver us from empty professions. Show us the value and the reality
and the beauty of Christ Jesus the Lord. Help us to love him
more. Show us the vanity of the world.
Let us see in a brief term what Solomon saw a lot of and wrote
a lot about. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. To live is Christ, and to die
is gain. Speak to our hearts this morning.
Forgive us where we have been unduly harsh. Cause the people
to forget what is offensive to Christ and to his glory, and
cause them to remember faithfully all that magnifies his grace
and his goodness and his mercy. We're nothing, nothing. Christ
is all.