Gospel—Dave Knowles
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All right, let's just pray and ask the Lord for help.
Our gracious God and our loving Father, we look up and we are so thankful. So thankful for this past week. The time of refreshment away from our normal cares and responsibilities of life. Time up in the mountains to reflect on Thy glory and to have the word before us and to have that enjoyment and the privilege of enjoying happy fellowship with other believers. Father, we give thanks for it. We give thanks to for those that have labored to make it possible.
And we just pray for thy blessing on them. And tonight, as we're gathered here for the purpose of the gospel, we just pray, Lord, that it might be.
Told forth in his freshness and that it would be beautiful and precious to each one of us. And that if there's any here that have not yet bowed the knee, blessed Lord, we pray that they would be convicted and that there would be repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So we just pray and ask for help. Lord, we pray for clarity of thought and we pray too that it would be put forth in its simplicity. So we just asked this giving thanks in Jesus name, Amen.
Well, you guys are troopers. I know it's been a long week and on top of a long week, it's been a long day. So thank you guys very much for that. Appreciate you being here and and.
Being willing to listen.
So tonight, as we take up the gospel message, I'm not going to take a long time. I promise I'll keep it short, but I'd love to have your attention. And for those of you that have already made Christ your own, Hallelujah. Rejoice in the beauty and the preciousness of that. And for any that have not, I trust and pray that their heart would be opened to the message.
You know, tonight I was thinking about it, in particular the invitation of the gospel in regards to relationship.
We stopped and we've enjoyed a wonderful week and that beauty of God's creation and think about the fact that the God who is Jeff Lindeen reminded us this morning spoke the world's into existence. It's that God, it's the only God, the one true God who desires a relationship with you and I creatures such as we it's it's amazing. It's it's incredible, but it's true. And so as we think of that in light of the invitation that he's given us to enter into relationships.
I wanted to be clear that we're not born into this world with a relationship with him. Mark mentioned that on Thursday as he talked about the fallen in Genesis 3, where sin came into the world and sin ultimately separates us from God because God is holy.
And from Adam on down, we were of the same seed. We were born into this world, sinners. And so there's need for a restoration. There's need for repentance and transformation. And tonight I hope to cover that in just a little bit of detail. I don't know how many of you guys have had the privilege and the opportunity of interacting with other individuals, but every once in a while, I'm sure there's actually more opportunities than I take advantage of. But there are some opportunities that I've taken advantage of to share the gospel.
And one response that I've gotten that it's common, particular when you're particularly when you're speaking to somebody who's been either familiar or is in the Catholic faith, if you ask them the way of salvation. The response that I've got more commonly than not is, you know, what do you need to have eternal life? What do you need to have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?
And more often than not, the responses be a good person.
And as we start out the gospel message, I'd like to just address it from that angle to be a good person. You know, my first response, naturally speaking over the years is I've, I've, you know, you kind of recoil and then you jump right in and you said, no, it's not by being, being good. But what I've, what I've struggled is as soon as I cut off their ear, they don't usually want to listen to the rest of the dialogue. And so a while back I was listening to a, a meeting by Michael Ramsden and he he shared he'd often gotten the same response.
And he said, he said, you know what, I would encourage you to do this. He said, the next time you get that response, I agree with him. So you're absolutely right. You can actually have eternal life by being good. And he said, and then I would ask them another question to follow up because by asking them questions, you force them to open up within their own assumptions that they've made. If you're quick to the draw and cut off the year, they don't even listen to what's coming in. But if you agree with them and you're on the same playing field, on the same page, and then ask them.
By definition. OK, so let me ask you, what does it mean when you say you can be good?
Until him and ha and beat around the Bush a little bit and scratch and and usually they'll come up with.
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An interpretation that sounds something like this and it really depends on who you're talking to and what they've what their life history has been. OK, because I've gotten the opportunity and the privilege to preach the gospel in the jail and I've gotten the opportunity and the privilege to just share the gospel with men out on the street. And I get two different responses. But it's always unique and interesting because multiple responses more than two but but these categories are stark contrast one to another because when you're talking to a man on the street who hasn't had a problem maybe per Southeast with infractions against.
Everyday moral laws, they haven't been locked up in jail. Well, for them, the definition of good is by obeying the laws and not getting put in jail and doing the best you can. And they, him and Han beat around the Bush. But that's ultimately what they say. It's characteristic of the response you'll get of any individual who takes up that platform where they can be good. They'll share with you the basis of their foundation of being good is basically essentially how they can describe their own life and everybody that falls up above that. Now you go into the jail and you share the gospel and you get some of the same responses. Well, ultimately by being good. And you ask them, well, just tell me just just how good have you been? What, what is good enough?
And they'll get pretty defensive because they're sitting there in a jail suit and they probably assume that we're looking at them just a little bit judgmental. And they'll say, well, you know, I'm not like so and so and I haven't, I haven't done this and I haven't done that and I haven't, I've been a pretty good guy. I mean, I broke a few rules, but ultimately everybody that you talk to that wants to come to the Lord Jesus Christ wants to come to enter into relationship with God on a platform of being good. They always use a sliding scale. They grade on a curve.
And tonight, I just want to share with you a few verses that Michael Ramsden shared. There's many more, and I hope I don't want to take too long, but we'll get the opportunity to touch in on a few of them if you just turn with me over to Matthew chapter 19.
And I know there's a lot of things that we can draw from, from this little passage, but I hope that you'll allow me just to just to focus on this particular phrase that I'm looking for in relation that's relevant to what we're speaking to tonight. Matthew 19 and verse 16. It says, and behold, one came to him and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why call us thou me good? There is none good.
But one.
That is God.
But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. There is none good but one. Now, there's a lot that's being said here. The Lord Jesus is no doubt giving the man the opportunity to give confession to who he is, who he's asking, that he has God himself. But by definition, the Lord Jesus Christ clarifies that there is none good but God.
So when you dialogue with them and you ask them about their standard of good, and then you open the word of God and you say, yeah, but at the end of the day, who's the one that's going to decide the destiny of your eternal soul? Is it you or is it God?
Well, if they're honest, all of us have to admit it's God, isn't it? And what's God's valuation of mankind? There's none good but God, none. That means you and Oi. If we've sent in our application and if we've done the best we can to make it look as pretty as we can, and we've come on the basis of our works and our good efforts, it's been rejected. God says that won't work. And you know, it's very sad because many men.
Reject the simplicity of the Gospel message.
Because they want to do it on their own terms. Michael Ramsey gives us illustration and I find it to be very helpful. But in relation to the gospel message, if you look at this here and you take it in, in view of let's just say a bookshelf, okay, a tiered bookshelf, up at the top, you have good moral people, okay, good moral people. Down here you got maybe white lies, maybe they're guilty of some, some guile. Down here you got thieves and then maybe kidnappers, murderers, and many other things we could classify.
But ultimately, man by nature.
We tend to tear sin.
Now, if you live a good moral life, at best you've still failed because pride is sin, arrogance is sin, independence from God whatsoever is not a faith is sin. So nobody's missing out on the qualifications of God's judgment. But the beautiful thing about the gospel message is it doesn't matter which one of these categories you come from.
The message of the Gospel is for you.
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That's the beautiful thing. That's why I love going into the jail or love getting the opportunity to share in the streets because it doesn't matter their backdrop of their lifestyle or where they've come from. The message of the gospel brings hope because it's not a message for good moral people who think they can earn their way to salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he came down into this world, what did he say? He said they that are holding me not a physician, but they that are sick. Isn't that the beauty of the gospel message? It's for it's for you and I all we have to do to qualify to be brought into the relationship with the creator of the universe.
Is to acknowledge that we're sinners and to repent and by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Lord and Savior. That's how simple it is. You know, there's many verses we could go to and maybe just that that further this point, maybe forsake of time, we'll just turn over to Romans chapter 3. There's a few here in Romans chapter 3.
Romans chapter 3 and we'll just start with.
Verse nine I think it is.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 9 says.
What then are we better than they? No, and no wise. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that all are under sin.
As it is written, there is none. Righteous, No, not one. And then if we jump down to verse 23, a well known verse.
We read there that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And if we could, we could go to many others. There's I made a list of a few other references, but first John 18 and eight and 10 lead us to the same conclusion. Galatians 322 Ecclesiastes 720 first Kings 8. Then there's another there's there's several more, but the Scriptures are really clear about the condition of mankind. All have sinned and come short of the of the glory of God.
What do we do then? That's our condition before a holy God.
You know the remedy.
Starts off with repentance. As I mentioned, there's a verse in Acts chapter 17 and maybe we can just read it briefly.
Acts 17 and verse.
Verse 30 and it's the last half of the verse it says, but now.
Let's see at times and at the times of this ignorance, God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. That's the beginning, That's that, that's that's where it all starts. Repentance. When we're willing to acknowledge what we are, we're willing repentance ultimately to turn from and turn to right. That's that's where we wreck it. We're willing to recognize what God's conclusion of mankind is, is true and accurate. And then if we turn over to Romans 10, we get there the gospel and simplicity. And there's a few other verses I want to turn to.
As well.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Don't you love it?
Is it complex?
You know how many times I remember there was a hairy Ironside, I think it was, was preaching the gospel down on the streets. And and he's as he's preaching the gospel, one man came up and was exasperated and threw up his arm, something to this degree and said, how in the world are we supposed to figure it out? There's thousands of religions out there. There's so many different options. How are we supposed to find the right way? And Harry Ironside said, really, there's thousands. He said, as far as I know, there's really only two.
You see, all the religions of the world can be classified into two categories. Those that say they can save themselves, they can earn their favor with God on their own terms, and those that need a savior. Is that simple?
And so it isn't complex. You don't have to have a degree in theology, you don't have to have a great understanding. You have to be willing to believe what God says. God says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart, the God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And then let's just read a couple more verses in John 10.
John 10 I'm actually just going to read one verse here and then we'll turn over to Acts 16. John 10:00 and 9:00 I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture, and then turn with me to Acts chapter 16.
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Acts chapter 16 And I think we're familiar with this story, but this is the Philippian jailer as he has witnessed Paul and Silas. And then the earthquake happens and he fears for his life. He goes to take his own life with a sword and then he runs in. Well Paul tells him don't, don't harm myself, we're all here. And he runs in and he asks a simple question. He says he came in trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and said unto them, or brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And thou shalt be saved in thy house.
You know, the preciousness about the gospel is that all of the men that I've spoken to in regards to good, the although they draw themselves at whatever level, whatever moral level they think is going to make it into heaven. If you really try to pin them down and ask them if they're sure of their salvation, not one of them is, and they can't be because they know better. Their conscience tells them better. But you and I, if we accept what God has said in his Word, it's not my words, it's not your words.
It's God's words himself. If we rest in that our soul rests and nothing less than Christ, a solid rock. That's the wonder of it. We don't have to be fearful. I think James when he was speaking to the young people.
And it wasn't here. I was taking care of some kids, if I remember right. But he, he correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's talked about anxiety. Is that right? Talked a little bit about anxiety. Something about New York Times has written it up as an epidemic in this in this generation.
You know, I don't just in Walla Walla. I don't in my own lifetime.
2-3 years ago they finally legalized marijuana and within short period of time there was at least three stores that opened up that sell marijuana. But it's just indicative of the hurt of this culture they're grasping. Why would anybody in their right mind smoke a cigarette when they know it's destroying their health and it costs them a lot of money? They do it at a desperation right to try to find some peace. I don't, I don't know if you're familiar, but if you've been around a chain smoker and they get into a stressful situation and they haven't had a smoke in a while.
They get incredibly shaky really fast. They're living off of that And why? It's because of the unanswered questions in life.
And the beautiful thing about the gospel messages is it is it brings those home and it can give you an eyepiece peace that passes all understanding. It's not peace because we went down to the store and we spent some money and we got a high and it's kind of put us out of our misery for the time being. You know, the sad thing about those things is that it always takes a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more to reach the same effects. It's like a one way St. It's just dragging it down. God wants to deliver us from that. He wants to give us peace. He wants to give our souls rest and hope. And you know what the good news is for all of us that have believed.
On the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted in his own personal Savior by God's grace. It ought to reflect in our lives, in our countenances, and we ought to be like wells, springing up with joy and ready to give an answer if any man asks. The hope that lies within. That's the opportunity that we have as followers of Christ. And if you haven't come to Jesus Christ and made it your own, I trust and pray that you would. You know the gospel in a nutshell.
Is so I want to, when I was in Walla Walla here a couple nights back or a couple weeks ago, I referenced the story I didn't have, I didn't have the actual story in front of me, so I didn't do it in whole. And, and there's some from Walla Walla here and some not. So I trust you'll forgive me for repeating it, but I want to share it with you tonight because I think it, to me, it's a beautiful illustration of the gospel message. OK. So just bear with me as I read you the story and then we'll try to take away just a few applications and we'll bring it to a close.
As far as I know, it's a true story. It's a story of a young man by the name of John Blanchard. John Blanchard stood up on the bench and straightened in his Army uniform and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for a girl whose heart he knew but whose face he didn't. The girl with the Rose. His interest in her had begun 13 months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf, he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin.
The soft hand writing reflected a thoughtful and insightful mind in the front of the book.
He discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Minnell. With time and effort, he located her address. She lived in New York City and he wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond the next day. He was shipped overseas for service in World War 2. During the next year and one month, the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart.
A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting, 7:00 PM at Grand Central Station in New York. You'll recognize me, she wrote. By the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel. So at seven, he was there in the station, looking for a girl whose heart he loved but whose face he'd never seen.
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A young woman who was coming towards him. Sorry, this is now told from his perspective. Actually, a young woman was coming towards me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back and curls from her delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small provocative smile curved her lips.
Going my way, sailor, She murmured, almost uncontrollably. I made one step closer to her and then I saw Hollis Manil. She was standing almost directly behind the grill, a woman well past 40. She had grayed hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick ankled feet thrust into low heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her.
And yet, so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible. Her Gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small, worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me. To her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious. Something perhaps even better than love. A friendship for which.
I had been and must ever be grateful. I ^2 my shoulders and saluted. I ^2, my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman.
Even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Minnell. I'm so glad you've come to meet me. May I take you to dinner? The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. I don't know what this is about, son, she answered. But the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat, and she said if you were to ask me out to dent her out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she was waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street.
She said it was some kind of test.
It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Minnelli's wisdom, the true nature.
Of the heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.
This was a quote by another man. He says tell, tell me whom you love and I will tell you who you are. Now out of this story, I hope to just draw a couple of illustrations, OK.
The first one is, is this man picked up this book and began to read these quotations and these notes in the book?
His heart began to yearn to find out more about this individual. Whatever they were it attracted to him. And you know, in the gospel message for you and I, it's given in its simplicity and its beauty.
First response can be wow.
Is wonderful.
I'd love to partake of it.
And then maybe like this young man as we sit there on the dock and we are, I want to just use the analogy as he's sitting there on the dock and he's waiting to meet her and he sees this 40 year old woman who's plump and definitely not what he imagined and his heart drops for a bit. What about you and I as we begin to enter into that relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ? Think about these verses as we read them, OK?
Isaiah 53 Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
For He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness when we shall see him. There is no beauty in him that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men and man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him.
And with his stripes we are healed. And then one more verse in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. You know our first response to the gospel can be that's wonderful. It's I trade in my sins and the punishment that's due me for the free gift of salvation and eternal life.
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But then as we begin to, maybe it's like this young man, as he actually see, as we begin to open up the scriptures and that relationship begins to build and form, we see what he says. He says, take up that cross and follow me.
And I want to challenge each one of our hearts. I want to entreat us.
To the fullness and the beauty of the gospel message. It can be at that point that we too can be in a crossroads like this young man.
Where there's a battle that rages inside to turn about and to go back.
To what we're, where we come from, what we're used to, what we want.
Or do we dig in and do we stick it out and do we find out who he really is? You know, I believe and I know for my own self, my own experience.
That relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is far more beautiful and far more precious than anything I could have imagined.
Because hear me, young people, when I say.
The storms of life are real, OK, They're real. And there's there's four main questions.
That every human being has. Where did we come from? And there's a lot more questions, don't get me wrong. But if you breakdown a lot of the questions that you hear, you can often fit them into these 4 categories.
Where did I come from? Why am I here? What's my purpose? Who determines what's right and wrong? Morality and my destiny? Where am I going?
Those four haunting questions plague every human being, even down to a child the age of four or five and six. You listen to the questions as they come to your parents, and I know the questions that I had as they begin to ponder, as they begin to think about life.
But you know what?
You lay hold of the preciousness of the gospel, you enter into the fullness of the relationship with Jesus Christ.
And you're gonna find he's provided those answers. He's provided the answers for those four questions.
It's amazing.
It's incredible, you know?
Ravi Zacharias makes a statement he says for the Christian.
Joy is central.
And pain is peripheral.
When you come to Christ, does that mean that your life is going to be made-up of a better roses? Now, who here hasn't enjoyed the past week? It's been an amazing, wonderful time, but is this all that life consists of?
Are you going to go back on Monday?
Get into the role routine on Tuesday. Maybe, I don't know. When you work schools study. Dirty laundry, dirty clothes, dirty floors, making another meal.
Maybe trials, maybe that's just routine activities. But then what about trials? What about when a loved one passes away? When there's an illness that you can't understand or you can't explain? See, Christianity is not immunity from trials and tribulations, but it's a relationship with arisen and a glorified savior. And when we embrace the relationship in its fullness, it brings us peace and it brings us. It brings us, I don't want to say answers in their detail, OK, Answers in the wholeness, because we can lay hold of the promises.
All things work together for good to them that that love God and are called according to His purpose. And there's many, many other scriptures that we could go to along that same line, but they ultimately answer those four questions that haunt the mind of every human being for the unbeliever.
Pain is central and joy is only peripheral. You know why?
They go away to something they enjoy, maybe it's a weekend trip like this, or a week long trip like this, and they get to do lots of fun things, running, playing, riding 4 Wheelers, enjoying the mountain, skiing, whatever, and it provides some element of happiness. But when they go back to their normal routine, in the quietness of their home and the quietness of their daily life, the longing of their soul, there's still no solid answers to the four fundamental questions of life.
I hope and pray that each one of us, by God's grace, will lay hold of and will enter into the fullness of the relationship that Jesus Christ has brought us into one with the Creator. Let's just bow our heads and thank Him. Our gracious God and our loving Father, we look up with thankful hearts.
We rejoice at the message of the Gospel, so simple, Lord Jesus, and yet so precious and so full. Father, we just pray that every heart in the room tonight.
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Would enter into the fullness and the beauty of that relationship that you've made available through that finished work on Calvary's cross, through the work of our blessed Redeemer as He hung there and bore our sins before a holy God.
Help us to rejoice, and Lord, if there's any here tonight that have not yet bowed the knee, we pray that they would, that they would be convicted, and that they would do so before it's forever too late. And for those of us that are thine own, Lord Jesus, we pray that you would fill us with the enjoyment of the fullness of that relationship, that we might be like wellsprings overflowing Lord, that our countenances would be lifted up, full of joy.
Praise and Thanksgiving, that we might have a ready answer for all those who had asked for the hope that lies within. Help us bless it, Lord. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.