Retreat:
Saturday, 2:00, June 29, 2013
THE GLORIOUS
GOSPEL
Rom. 1:16
Consider this message: "You are incomplete and
unfulfilled. You desperately need
something in your life. Whether you have
realized it or not, what you need is Jesus.
Jesus died for you. Just confess
your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
Then you will find joy and peace, and you will spend eternity in heaven."
Now let me ask you a question: Why is that a defective gospel? The words that I spoke were true, but as
presentation of the good news of Christ that is a defective gospel. Why?
My purpose this morning is to look
at the gospel. You may say,
"Why? Most all of us know what the
gospel is. Why do we need to go over it
again?" We don't know it nearly as
well as we think. We will never exhaust
the everlasting gospel. We need to
understand it. We need to make sure the
gospel is working in us. We must
proclaim it for the glory of God. My
desire this morning is to strengthen our confidence in the power of the gospel
and to grant us assurance, while at the same time exposing our sin and
welcoming the conviction of God's Holy Spirit.
Some who are here this afternoon have experienced the glorious power of
the gospel and are now sons and daughters of the living God. Others of you have not, and you are dead in
your trespasses and sins, bound for everlasting torment in hell. Others of you are not sure where you are in
relation to God and the gospel. No
doubt, some of you think you have come into a relationship with God through
Christ, but you have not. And if that
situation isn't remedied, you will hear Jesus say to you at the last day,
"I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness." Praise God that He is
able to speak to all of us, even though we are in different places.
Rom. 1:16, "For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believes -- to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Many of you know that the word
"gospel" means "good news."
I am not ashamed of the good news of Christ, because it has power to
bring salvation to those who believe it.
But we must understand what the gospel is. Not just any message will bring salvation to
those who believe it. The gospel is good
news, but not every message that claims to be gospel is truly good news. In short, we must define what the gospel
is. That's what I want us to do this
morning. As we do, may those who are
most familiar with the gospel experience the truth of the old hymn...
I love to tell the
story; 'Tis pleasant to repeat.
What seems each time I
tell it more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the
story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation
from God's own holy Word.
I love to tell the
story, 'twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old
story of Jesus and His love.
So let me share that brief message
with which we began: You are incomplete
and unfulfilled. You desperately need
something in your life. Whether you have
realized it or not, what you need is Jesus.
Jesus died for you. Just confess
your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
Why is that a defective gospel? I
am starting like this because I want us to be aware that we must be clear in
our understanding of the gospel, and messages such as this are not adequate to
communicate the good news.
I.
No Concept of God
When I say, "You are incomplete
and unfulfilled," I am starting in the wrong place. I am starting with man, with the individual
who has need. While I may be stating a
fact, there is a much larger truth that must come first. God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in the
Bible. And how does the Bible
begin? "In the beginning, man had a
great need." Is that what we
read? No. How does it begin? "In the beginning God..." God what?
"God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). There is no explanation of who God is or
where He came from, but He is present.
Genesis 1 goes on to tell us how God created the universe. He made all of it out of nothing. He simply spoke it into existence. God said, "Let there be light, and there
was light" (1:3). "Let the
waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry
land appear; and it was so" (1:9). Finally, God said, "Let us make man in
our own image... So God created man in His own image" (1:26-27).
Although man is the climax of God's
creation, man is not the center of the universe. God didn't create human beings because He was
lonely and needed someone to talk to.
From the beginning, God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was
perfectly content. He needed
nothing. Ultimately, He created man for
His own glory. That is why we will never
be correct in our thinking until we start with God. When we start with man, our foundation is
shaky from the very beginning. All we
have to do is look around us. We live in
a man-centered world. That fact leads to
what we see today -- a world where God is largely forgotten. When He is remembered, He is there simply for
the good of man. Certainly we believe in
God, for He is the one who can make us happy and fill all our needs. While that is true, He is also the One who
can bring us to account and assign us to eternal destruction.
Perhaps we need to understand who
this God is. He is the awesome
Creator. When the nuclear bomb was first
used in warfare, exploding over Nagasaki and Hiroshima, men looked on in
awe. What awesome power. When we watch the space station fly over at
night, we are reminded of what man can do.
He can place the space station in orbit, send people to and from it, and
seemingly sustain it from now on. But
that space station can span only a tiny, tiny portion of the universe which God
created. That universe is so vast that
our most powerful telescopes cannot even see it all, much less fathom the power
required to create and sustain it. The
most powerful human bomb can cause awesome destruction, but God has created
matchless beauty that leaves us spellbound.
We sometimes ask whether scientists will ever be able to create
life. Whatever you call what man
creates, don't ever forget that He cannot create out of nothing. We must have the raw materials, but God began
with absolutely nothing.
We don't have time to explore all
the character of God. We will spend a
life time doing that. But let me remind
you that God is holy. That means that He
is set apart. He is in a class by
Himself. As Hannah cried out in praise,
"There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is
there any Rock like our God" (I Sam. 2:2). Is. 57:15, "For thus says the
High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in
the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive
the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones." God is Creator; man is creature. May we never forget that fact. And the holy God is righteous. That simply means that He always does what is
right. He has never made a mistake. Every single thing He does is just and
fair. Who are we as His creatures to
judge His actions?
The gospel, the good news, comes
from God. Do you see why we have to
define God? It is because that term
"god" has hundreds of meanings.
For some, "god" is simply the power within the inward
self. For others, "god" is
present in everything around us. When we
look at the mountains or the sunset, we are looking at God. No.
God is the Creator of such beauty, but He is distinct from His
creation. For others, "God" is
a heavenly being they have created in their own minds. Oh yes, they may include truths from the
Bible, but those truths are mingled with lies that distort the identity of the
true God. It is popular today to say
that everyone worships the same God. It
doesn't matter whether a person is a Christian, a Moslem, a Buddhist, a Hindu,
a Jew, or any other religion... we all worship the same God. That may sound nice, but we're not talking
about the God of the Bible. Again and
again, through His prophets, the true and living God declares, "I am the
Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me" (Is.
45:6). His prophets made fun of
other gods. Our God declares "I am
the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another..." (Is.
42:8).
So our gospel must begin with God,
because that's where everything begins.
II.
Little or No Concept of Sin
You are incomplete and
unfulfilled. You desperately need
something in your life. Whether you have
realized it or not, what you need is Jesus.
Jesus died for you. Just confess
your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
Not only does this message not begin with God, but it contains little or
no concept of sin. "Sin" is
not just an old-fashioned word used by religious fanatics. It is the term the Bible uses to point out
man's rebellion against God.
This is what we need to
understand. Sin has little meaning until
we get an idea of who God is. The key to
grasping the meaning of sin is in understanding the awesome power, unique
holiness, and perfect righteousness of the true God. You see, God not only created man, but He
laid down a law for man. We can find a
short version of that law in what we know as the Ten Commandments...
You shall have no other
gods before you.
You shall not make any
graven image.
You shall not take the
name of the Lord God in vain.
You shall honor the
sabbath and keep it holy.
You shall honor your
father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit
adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false
witness.
You shall not covet.
The violation of those commandments
does not give an adequate definition of sin, but anyone who breaks any one of
those laws must recognize that he has disobeyed God. So what?
Is it any big deal to disobey God's command-ments? It depends on who God is and what He says
about the consequences of such disobedience.
As we have seen, God is holy and righteous. He is so holy that He cannot tolerate sin in
any form. The Bible says that if we have
broken just one commandment, it is like breaking them all, because the same God
who said "Do not commit adultery" also said, "Do not kill" (James
2:10-11). You don't bring a
bunch of nasty hogs into the house and let them sleep on your nice, clean
bed. That is nothing compared to the
contrast between God's righteousness and our sin. And breaking some specific commandments is
just the symptom of the deeper sin problem.
The reason we commit acts of sin is because we are sinners to the
core. Is. 53:6, "All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way." That's what sin is -- we have gone our own
way. Though God created us, with great
determination we defied Him by doing our own thing.
But is it really any big deal? Again, it depends upon who God is and the
consequences He has assigned to those who have rebelled against Him. "The wages of sin is death..." (Rom.
6:23). That is a brief summary
of what the Bible teaches both directly and indirectly. The person who has the audacity to rise up
and take the reins of his own life must be punished with death -- not only
physical death, but eternal death. The
one who resists the God who created Him has said that he wants to be rid of God's
meddling presence, so he must receive what he has desired. Give him a place in hell, where God will no
longer bother him with the possibility of turning away from sin and back to
Him.
I am well aware that in our day even
preachers avoid the use of the term "hell." I use it because our Lord Jesus used it. He spoke of hell more than of heaven. Why?
Because He didn't want anyone to go there. The popular conception is that if a person
stubbornly resists God, then the devil will throw him into hell. That's not what Jesus said. "And do not fear those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).
Yes, He is a God of love, but He is
also a God of wrath. Anyone and everyone
who has not had his sin dealt with us under the wrath of God. That means that the person who has not found
the new life God offers is ripe for the full punishment of his sin. It is one thing to wrong a human being, a
person who has also messed up; it is quite another to sin against the God who
created you and has done you nothing but good.
In other words, we all deserve His wrath. He gave us the standard and we broke it --
not once, but thousands of times.
Yes, we need to confess our sins,
but we also need to understand what that means.
It is far more than a little acknowledgement: "Oh yeah, I'm a sinner," with the
implication, "Of course, so is everyone else." No, true confession of sin admits that I have
violated the standard of the righteous God and I have absolutely no
excuse. I stand con-demned before the
fair and righteous judgment of a holy God.
Let me be blunt. If your sin problem has not been fixed, you
are destined for eternal torment. Your
punishment will never cease. And God
will be perfectly just in assigning you that punishment. If He didn't punish your sin, He would no
longer be a just God.
III.
No Explanation of Who Jesus Is and What He Did
You are incomplete and
unfulfilled. You desperately need
something in your life. Whether you have
realized it or not, what you need is Jesus.
Jesus died for you. Just confess
your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
Yes, Jesus died for you. But what
Jesus is it that died for you? And why
did He have to die? What is the
significance of a death that took place 2,000 years ago?
Before we come to Jesus, I need to
mention a few things in preparation. As
we said, sin is a huge problem because it separates us from God and it earns
for us the just wage of eternal separation from God. But surely that's no problem. Just confess your sins and ask God to forgive
you. That is the greatest problem of all
-- how can a righteous God forgive sinners such as we are? The dilemma is stated concisely in Prov.
17:15, "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD." God hates anyone who justifies the wicked,
who declares that a wicked person is not guilty. So how can He Himself declare wicked people
to be righteous? Doesn't God practice
what He preaches? Surely He can't
violate His own standard. Have you ever
thought about that question: "How
can God forgive me of my sin?" The
popular concept goes like this:
"Well, I just tell Him I'm sorry and ask Him to forgive me. Because He is merciful, He is pleased to
overlook my sin." No, a just God
cannot overlook sin any more than a just judge can take a convicted murder and
rapist and set him free. He would no
longer be a just judge.
So what can be done about sin? All through the Old Testament God pleaded for
His people to turn from their sin and come back to Him, but they refused. Some of you have tried various things to deal
with your sin. You have tried to live a
better life, but the results were short-lived.
Others of you still entertain the hope that your good deeds will
outweigh your bad deeds. Perhaps a few
of you hope that the Lord will somehow forget about your sin in the confusion
of dealing with billions of people. Or
maybe you're into the comparison game; you're a sinner, but you're better than
most. Remember what Jesus said to a man
who was as moral and full of biblical knowledge as anyone you will ever find --
"Unless you are born again, you will never see then kingdom of God"
(John 3:3). Even if you could stop
sinning now, there are still the thousands of sins in your past. Just one makes you guilty before God.
"In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins" (I John 4:10). We
couldn't do anything about our sin? God
could not be God and overlook our sin.
So what did He do? He sent His
Son to the be the wrath-bearing sacrifice for our sins. In other words, He poured out His wrath upon
Jesus, so that we wouldn't have to experience that wrath. Jesus took my punishment for me. God didn't overlook my sin; He punished my
Son completely by emptying the cup of His wrath upon His own Son.
Let me remind you of who this Jesus
was and is. He is the eternal Son of
God. In the first chapter of John Jesus
is referred to as the Word. That is
because when God wanted to communicate most fully, He sent His Son. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God... And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God"
(John
1:1-2,14). Jesus deserved
nothing but praise from His Father, but instead, "it pleased the Lord to
crush Him" (Is. 53:10). Yes, the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Is. 53:6). God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21).
But what good is a man who died,
even if He was the Son of God? This man
who died was God in the flesh, but He didn't remain in that grave. God raised Him up on third day. After appearing off and on to His followers
for 40 days, He then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, to
assume the place of glory and honor that His Father prepared for Him. Jesus is alive today.
Good news! God doesn't just forgive people of sin, but
He gives them new life, the very life of His Son. Because Jesus lives, we can live also. After Jesus ascended to heaven, He and His
Father sent the Holy Spirit to live within everyone who will trust Him. While He was on the earth Jesus said, "I
have come that they might have life, and they might have life in all its
fullness." Through His death,
resurrection, and the sending of His Spirit, He made good on His promise. If you don't have this abundant life in all
its fullness, then you have every reason to question whether you really have
Jesus.
IV.
No Repentance and Vital Trust
You are incomplete and
unfulfilled. You desperately need
something in your life. Whether you have
realized it or not, what you need is Jesus.
Jesus died for you. Just confess
your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
So if the proper response to Jesus is not to just confess your sins and
ask Him to forgive you, then what is it?
Jesus Himself tells us clearly in Mark 1:15,
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Jesus tells us to repent and believe in the good news.
"Repent" is not one of the
buzz words of the early 21st century.
Have you noticed that? Even
religious people generally steer clear of that word. Why?
Primarily because it is connected to sin. I saw something the other day that went like
this: "Satan says: 'Look at your sin.' God says:
'Look at my Son.'" That
sounds very nice, but it is misleading at best.
We could argue which comes first, but looking at God's Son and looking
at my sin go hand in hand. It is when I
see the depth of my sin that I am most amazed that God would send His Son. It is when I see the purity and the sacrifice
of God's Son that I see the depth of my own sin. The two go hand in hand. This idea that we don't want to ever see our
sin is wrong. Jesus' command to repent
involves seeing sin for what it is, and when we see our sin for what it is, we
will hate it. That's repentance.
Belief, or faith, is the other side
of the coin. When I hate my sin, I long
to be delivered from it. Is there
anything or anyone who can deliver me from my sin? Yes, praise God, there is a Savior, and His
name is Jesus. When I believe on Him,
that doesn't mean I just accept the fact that He came and died for my
sins. I throw myself on Him as my only
hope, realizing that His death and resurrection is the only possible payment
for my rebellion against God. This
repentance and faith is a giving up on myself and my way of life and trusting
Him completely with myself. This kind of
radical faith can come only from a deep born-again work of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
"For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone who believes." What
power resides in the true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the Bible is the revelation of God and
its story does indeed bring us good news.
But I must remind you that the good news of Jesus is set against the bad
news of sin. Jesus only becomes good
news when we realize the bad news of our sin and its consequences.
Let me illustrate that. Let's suppose you hear a man say, "I
took a walk around the block with my dad today." Is that good news? Suppose Cleve makes that statement. I suppose it's good news, but I've heard
better. Suppose Emmet says, "I took
a walk around the block with my dad today." Is that good news? It's better news, because Alex doesn't get
around the block as fast as Trey, but I would hardly call it really good
news. But suppose the day comes that
Roger Black can say that. Would it be
good news? Absolutely. Why?
Because Roger's dad has been afflicted by a devastating stroke and is in
a rehab center, rather uncertain of what he will be able to do. Do you get it? If and when Roger can make that statement, it
will be good news because it is set over against the bad news of the stroke.
Many claim Jesus as Savior. For many of those, He is. For many more, He is not, and the primary
reason is because they have never been squarely confronted with the bad news of
sin, the wages of sin, and the wrath of God.
But when we finally face the bad news, then Jesus and His death and
resurrection is the best news there could ever be. No wonder Jesus tells that little parable
about the man who found treasure in a field, and for joy of his find, he went
and sold everything he had so that he could buy that treasure (Matt. 13:44). The good news of Jesus is glorious for sinners
who know they desperately need Him.
We need the whole gospel, not the
abridged, 10-cent version that is pedaled by so many today. Without an understanding of the power and
glory and holiness and righteousness of God, we will never see our sin for what
it is. Remember Isaiah. When he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, when he heard the seraphim crying out, "Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts," then he said, "Woe is me for I am
undone"(Isaiah 6:1-4). Without an
understanding of God, we will not see our sin.
And without a grasp of the depth of our sin and its consequences, we
will not see our need for the real Jesus who died and rose on our behalf. And until we see the glory and Jesus and His
death and resurrection, we will not be able to repent and believe, to give up
on self and cast ourselves on Him.
So what is the reward for trusting
Jesus? They are many, but above all the
reward for trusting Jesus is being able to know Him and God the Father, who
created us. Yes, we will live forever,
but the life we live will be in perfect fellowship with Him who died for us and
loves us. As Jesus prayed, we will share
His glory. When we come to Him, we share
His very life. I beg you today --
"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8). Hear the Almighty say, "Look to
me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other" (Is. 45:22). Take to heart the invitation of
Jesus: "Come to me, all you who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).
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