Gospel—Bernie Roossinck
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We certainly like to give a warm welcome to everyone that's here for the Gospel meeting tonight.
The message of the Gospel.
Is a beautiful story of God's love for me and for you. That's what the gospel is. Good news, the word of God says as cold water to a thirsty soul.
Or as good news from a far country.
Got it wrong, should look it up.
The gospel is good news from a far country, friends.
This is a message from God to you. Let's begin by singing #2 on our hymn sheets. Come tis Jesus gently calling.
Ye with care and toil oppressed.
With your guilt, how are appalling come?
And I will give you rest for your sin. He once has suffered on the cross. The work was done, and the Word by God now ordered to each weary soul has come.
Maybe we could stand up and sing this hymn together.
I would also like to sing #9.
On our hem sheets.
Come every soul by sin oppressed.
There's mercy with the Lord.
And He will surely give you rest by trusting in His word only.
Trust him. Only trust Him. Only trust Him now. He will save you. He will save you. He will save you now.
Where Jesus shed his precious blood. That's what the Gospel is about, friends. That lovely man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world.
To save sinners of whom I am chief, we read.
Let's sing #9 together.
Before I open God's word.
I would like to ask you.
To listen carefully to what God is saying to you.
Never mind the person that's sitting next to you.
I know that many of you use your phones for the Bible, and I'm fine with that.
But I would ask you don't be texting your friends.
We'll be looking at Instagram or Snapchat or Facebook Listen.
To what God is saying.
But I am OK if you're using your phone to use the word of God. So we all know this book that I have in my hand, it's God's word, God.
Revealed truth to us here.
Let's open with a verse in Matthew Chapter 11.
Verse 28.
Matthew 1128. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's beloved Son.
This is the invitation of the gospel to you. Come unto me.
Come unto me.
All ye that labor and are heavy laden.
And I will give you a rest.
You want to rest in your soul, friends?
The invitation of the Lord Jesus has come unto me.
All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Let's turn to a verse I love in Isaiah chapter 55.
If you don't know where that is, that's okay.
Just listen.
Isaiah 55 verse one Ho everyone that thirsteth.
Come ye to the waters.
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He that hath no money come yell.
Buy and eat, yay. Come buy wine and milk without money.
And without price.
God's invitation, friend to you, is come. There's no cost to you to the gospel.
God has provided a way of salvation and He has paid the entire bill.
And his invitation has come. You don't need money. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
I would like to look at a passage, short passage in the Old Testament. It's in First Samuel 22 and I hope it's OK if I move around a little bit. I like to interact with you kids.
Lineal Have you ever heard of King David?
Yeah, most of us have heard of King David. King David in the Old Testament was a man after God's own heart, and he shows out to us in many, many ways.
The love of the Lord Jesus sees a picture of the Lord Jesus in many ways, so let's turn to a short passage in.
First Samuel, chapter 22.
At this time, David had been anointed to be the king of God's people, Israel.
But it wasn't the king yet. Joy. There was another king and God said.
I am removing that person, King Saul.
And I'm going to make you my chosen person.
And David wasn't king yet, kids, he was in rejection. So I wanted to kill him. And he haunted him like a Partridge that says chased him throughout the wilderness. He wanted to kill him. So let's read first Samuel 22 verse one. David therefore escaped this departed fence and escaped to The Cave of Dolem.
When his brethren and all of his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.
Stop right there.
Lord Jesus, God's Son.
In this world, today is in rejection.
God sent his Son into the world to be the savior of the world.
We read in John 316 for God so loved the world.
That's the people, not the planet.
For God so loved Lennie, will you and Bernie.
Each one of you kids, God loved you. He sent his Son into the world.
Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so the day came.
When the Lord Jesus was born into this world.
To marry.
His father was God.
So this baby was born in Bethlehem. It says they went there to be taxed. They were doing a census in the Roman Empire and everybody had to go to their home family's roots. And so that's why they were there. And the hour came for this baby to be born. And this says there was no room for him.
In the end, no room the very first moment that the God.
In the person of his son, Jesus came into this world. There is no room for him. They laid him in a Manger. They wrapped him in swaddling clothes. I think that means grave clothes. And I don't, you know, I, I work on farms. That's my work. I've been in some pretty cool barns, big barns.
That might not be that bad to be born in, really. I don't think it was that way with the Lord Jesus.
I think they said we don't have any room here, take it outside. And I think that was more or less a cave, a dark, slimy, dirty cave. And they laid them down there on that old hay, wet probably.
Says in John One, He came unto his own, His own received him not.
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The Lord Jesus was rejected.
He went through his life.
His path was to obey his father and to go to the cross of Calvary and die.
We had this earlier in our meetings.
How the Lord Jesus did every single thing in perfect obedience to His Father's will.
He said us in John for my meat, that is my whole purpose is to do the will of him that sent me.
And God sent him to die in the cross.
He sent him to die in the cross while the Lord Jesus was in rejection. He's still in rejection today. When the day for his trial came, you know what they said? Oh, we made a big mistake. Is that what they said? No, they said, we will not have this man. Away with him. Killed him, take him away.
One time in our assembly I was speaking on this and Drew Vandenberg was a little boy.
And I was trying to emphasize the rejection of Christ, and I picked him up like this with one hand, and I hauled him out of the meeting room and I shut him outside the door.
And I instantly regretted doing it.
It was not in the spirit, I'm afraid to say, because Drew was terrified.
And he was weeping and.
Immediately the Spirit of God said to me, whosoever so offend one of these little ones, it's better than a bill stone be hung around his neck. But anyway, thankfully Drew forgave me. But that's what they did to the Lord Jesus kids. They said we don't want them, kill them, and that's what they did.
Well, the Lord Jesus is in rejection, just like David was in rejection here and here he is in The Cave.
I used to think it'd be neat to live in a cave, but I don't think so now.
Now look what happens in verse 2.
And everyone that was in distress.
Friends.
If you are in your sins tonight. If you do not know God's forgiveness.
You're in distress and maybe you don't even know it.
But you're in distress.
God who loves you, he says.
Come unto me, Lily.
The Lord Jesus says, Lily, come unto me. You may not know that you're in distress, but unless your sins are washed away.
You're in distress, you are. What else? Everyone that was in debt?
You know, before I got saved, before I met the Lord, before He washed my sins away, I was in debt. What kind of debt? The debt of sin. A debt that I could never pay. How many sins is it going to take to keep you out of heaven?
How many sins, kids?
Will it take to keep you out of heaven?
God is holy. There can be no sin in heaven. One sin is too much.
Now.
How many people have sinned in this room?
The scripture says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Let's use an example.
Suppose that.
Can I use you hands? Hands is a medium stature person.
Andrew is tall. If we asked Andrew to touch the kids, if we asked the Andrew to touch the top of that door, he probably could do it. And maybe hands could too.
And your your dad could do that, couldn't he? But.
If we asked Andrew and Hans to touch the ceiling, how about that? Is that? No, they're short. There's no way. And the Bible says Zach.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That means me and you.
Our sinners, and we can't get out of it by ourselves. And your dad too. Yeah.
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I think, though, that you're dead. Has his sins washed away? Are you glad about that? I am too. But we're short. We're in debt to God. We can't pay. We can't pay.
OK, what else? And everyone that was discontented.
Friends.
Without Christ, without salvation, there is no satisfaction in life.
Discontented.
Look at all the advertisements that you see in the newspaper, in magazines, on billboards, on television. Everywhere you look on the radio, you hear stuff.
Discontented. They're telling you, Bernie, you can't be happy unless you're driving this car.
You can't be happy unless you're eating at this restaurant or wearing these kind of shoes or vacationing in this place.
We all know what it's like to be discontented, you know, Without Christ there is no satisfaction. None.
Tell you something that happened to you, my daughter Brittany and I recently. I hope this is OK.
I know there are some people in here that like hockey.
I like hockey, I think if you're Canadian, which I am.
You like hockey?
And there was a day that the Detroit Red Wings were going to play against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
And.
I have made it to try to make it my habit to date my daughters.
So Brittany and I went to this game in Detroit.
And I didn't know this was going to happen. When we got there, they were honoring a man, an old man named Red Kelly.
And he had been a player for Detroit and also Toronto.
Won the Stanley Cup three times in Detroit, three times in throne.
He was a good player.
And so they had a big red carpet ceremony and they were going to retire the man's number. What that means, kids?
They were honoring him, and no other player would wear #4 ever again in his honor.
And it was interesting to watch that. And he came shuffling out with his family.
And.
People were clapping. You know, this man had probably one of the most successful careers in hockey playing that you could have.
And he sat down there and it was pretty clear that he couldn't hear a thing.
He could barely walk.
His wife was hollering in his ear. They're clapping for you. What?
Then you would kind of raise his hand like this.
And he came up to the mic and he just said in a really low.
Broken voice. I wish I was better.
That's it.
You know my.
Everybody else was cheering for the man. I wanted to go down and give him a hug and say Mr. Kelly.
You're on your last step right now. God loves you. All of that success that the man had, and I don't take away his confidence. He was a good hockey player. But you know what?
Probably in a month or two or three, that man will enter eternity and all that fame and all that ability. It's not worth anything. He didn't look contented and he didn't sound contented. I think he would have traded it all.
To feel better for one day.
You know, friends, that's what sin is like.
Seeing this a robber.
We read in John chapter 10.
Turn to it so I don't misquote it like I did before.
Or in John chapter 10 here.
Verse 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
That's what Satan wants to do to your life, young people, the thief. He wants to get you into sin, and you're bound by it. You're a captive of it. Does he have your good and blessing in mind? He does not. He's come to steal and to kill and to destroy.
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But that's not the end of the verse. The Lord Jesus says I am come that they might have life.
And that they might have it more abundantly. I love that.
Now I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. You know when the Lord Jesus was here.
We read in Matthew in AI. Think it's Chapter 9.
The Lord Jesus was walking down this road, it says. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion.
Moved with compassion.
Because they were as sheep, having no shepherd.
That's where we are friends. Without God in our sins, sheep having no shepherd lost, wandering around. We need to be saved.
And the Lord Jesus, I love that says that a few times in the Gospels about the Lord. He was moved with compassion for you, friends, for you and for me. He looks down and he says there's Bernie. I love that boy.
I'm going to go to the cross.
Looks at you, says I love you.
I'm going to die for you and he did do that. On what basis can we say that says in Galatians chapter 2, the son of God who loved who?
Me and gave himself for me. You know, kids, if you were the only person in this world, the only one, the Lord Jesus still would have come down and given up His life on the cross for you. He would have done it.
The Son of God, who loved Bob, who loved Bernie, who loved Lemuel. Put your own name in it, friend. God loves you.
The problem is, as sinners, we can't come into God's family in our sins. We just can't.
And those people that came to that cave with King David?
Everyone that was distressed and in debt and discontent gathered themselves unto him.
It's like the Lord Jesus saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. I think it's in John Chapter 7. The Lord Jesus says that last great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying.
If any man thirst.
If any man or woman, or boy or girl thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
The Lord Jesus wants to save your soul. He loves you.
So here we have the shepherd giving his life for the sheep.
You know, the Lord Jesus went to the cross and he died there. The one person in all of the history of time that did not deserve to die, He died.
He died for you, He died for me.
When I was a kid we used to sing a little song that went like this.
3 crosses standing side by side the.
Oh, at a site Sublime.
Two for their own transgressions died, the middle one for mine.
Can you say that?
That's what the gospel is about.
The Lord Jesus went into.
Death for you. Why did Jesus have to die, kids?
We read in Romans the wages of sin is death.
The wages of sin is death.
We're all sinners.
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The payment? Somebody had to die.
The message of the gospel is it doesn't have to be you.
Our bodies may die.
But our soul and our spirit will go back to God who gave it, and there will be a judgment. The question will go out, What have you done with my son Jesus?
If your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, you'll be cast into the lake of fire. That's not a popular message today, but it's what the Word of God teaches that if you die in your sins.
You will pass eternally ruined into a sinner's hell.
God didn't create hell to put you in it, since Hell was created for the devil and his angels.
But God is holy.
And he cannot have sin in his presence. And so somebody had to pay the penalties. Somebody had to pay the wages of sin is death. That's why Jesus had to die.
Now, there's a verse that I have dearly, dearly loved in Leviticus that we'll read here.
Chapter 17.
You know Emma, when you got leukemia is when I started loving this first.
Do you know that?
But I want you to listen to what God is saying. This is a lot deeper than somebody having leukemia.
Leviticus 17.
Verse 11.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood.
And I have given it unto you, given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, or it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Now this in this context, is speaking about animal sacrificing that the children of Israel did in the Old Testament. But I want to bring it.
To you right now.
As the Lord Jesus giving his life for you on the cross, he says I have given it to you upon the altar. We're going to say that altar was the cross. We talked earlier in our Reading meetings about the offerings. There was a offer, a burnt offering of sweet saver, and then there was a sin offering made and the Lord Jesus was both of those.
When you will, when the Lord Jesus died, it was a sweet smell to God.
That his son perfectly obeyed him in every way. But it was also that year in my sins could be washed away. Aren't you glad he did that? I am too.
I love him for that.
The life of the flesh is in the blood. Now the Lord was hanging there on the cross, or before he got through the cross, really. You know, they, they jammed the crown of thorns on his head. I don't think they just placed it on there. I think they yanked it down big thorns.
And I think blood began to flow.
They scourged him, it says in the Psalms. The flowers plowed upon my back. They made long their purpose.
Coming out.
And they laid him on that cross. I take it it was there on the ground and they stretched him out and they grabbed his hands and feet and started pounding these big spikes right through his hands and feet. Think about that, boys.
Sound fun to you?
Terrible agony and more blood comes out.
And then the Lord, they lift it up and they set it there, and he's hanging up between heaven and earth. There he is, kids, God's beloved son, and he was hanging there for me.
And he was hanging there for you.
There he is.
And then?
It says there was darkness over the whole land for three hours.
God blocked out from man's view what was going to happen, and in those three hours, God poured out.
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Upon the head of his own son, Every single.
Stroke of punishment that I deserved and that you deserved. That's what was happening in those three hours of darkness.
Wave after wave stroke.
So, precious friends, and it was for you.
He took all of it.
Upon his sacred head. And when it was done, he cried out. It's finished. Completed. It's done.
Spinach.
I already said.
Gave up the ghost, dismissed the spirit that says.
Laid down his life for you and for me. That's what he did for you.
And then?
A soldier came by. We read this in John.
They wanted to get the process to go faster.
So they started breaking the legs of these three men on the cross.
I don't know how they did that. Maybe they took that spear and hooked it around their legs and leveraged it against that wooden cross and snap, boom, broke their legs. But it says when they came to Jesus, he was already dead, already dead. And you know what they did that soldier, I think he was mad about that.
And cruelty took that spear, and he true.
Right up into the side of a blessed Savior.
This fourth with came their out blood and water.
And here, back to our verse in Leviticus, the life of the flesh is in the blood that I have given it to you.
Upon the altar.
And that was proof that the Lord Jesus was dead.
He died for you, He died for me.
They took him down from the cross.
They wait him in a tomb.
But that's not the end of the story, friends. I love this. The first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came.
It was empty.
He rose from the dead.
God raised him from the dead and put His stamp of approval on everything that His Son had done for you and for me. And the Lord Jesus is a living man right now in the glory.
A living man Now I ask you, is he your savior?
Does he mean anything to you?
You know God doesn't force his way into your heart.
He doesn't kick down the door, as we might say.
He's inviting you, he says. Come, come.
Come to me.
I know that some of you were at the art this week.
In Cincinnati, I haven't been there, but I'd like to go see it.
You guys remember what God said to Noah and his family?
Right before the judgment fell.
He didn't say go in the ark.
He said come.
Thou and thy family into the Ark.
The word come means leave where you're at and go to where Jesus is. That's what he's saying.
You know that may mean changes in your life. It will mean changes in your life.
The gospel calls us to repent. That's a We don't use that word a lot. Basically it means.
Change your thinking.
It means take sides with God against yourself.
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In my own strength and my own thinking, I might say one pretty good guy.
I may have a few bad things, got a lot more good things.
I don't really need to change much. That's not what repentance is. Repentance is is stop and turn around and go the other way. Agree with what God says about sin.
That no sin can come into heaven. God has given his Son the Lord Jesus.
To take the punishment for you and for me.
And really, all that there's left is to come.
Say Lord, I believe it, You did it for me. I accept it. I take it.
Romans chapter 10 and verse 9 says if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, what does the word Lord mean? It means authority. It basically is saying if you give the Lord Jesus authority, you put him as your guide. He is your authority, He is your.
Savior, we're not trusting in what I can do or what I think or.
It's saying Lord.
I give myself and all of my own thoughts and all of my own ambitions. Lord, I give it to you. You're my Lord, You're my savior. I also confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And believe.
And thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Believe you know kids, when you stand before God, there's will be a long list when I stand before God. You know, if if Steven could come up here and write all the things that I have ever sinned on this wall.
I wouldn't be able to stand here. He'd probably be shocked.
But I would be if I was writing his right, Stephen. But you know what?
When you're standing before God, there's one thing.
That God is looking for and that is did you believe in my son or didn't you?
Says he that believeth on the son have life.
He that believeth not is condemned already.
It's simple, friends.
God has provided salvation, a way to have our sins washed away, gone, to be brought into God's family as one of his children. Will you have them?
Will you take him? Will you say yes? Lord Jesus, I believe that you did it for me.
I acknowledge that in my own thinking and in my own way, I'm a lost Sinner because that you are a lost Sinner if you don't know Christ.
Say, Lord, I can't save myself.
But I believe that you did it for me.
That's what the that's what the invitation is.
Friends says in Romans 10/13, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.
So be saved.
Shall be saved. You want that? Dear life, friends, I hope you do.
The Lord Jesus says, Come unto me.
Come unto me.
You know, I some of you have probably read the book Pilgrims Progress.
And that's I enjoy that book. It's probably not totally spiritual in every aspect in it, but I really enjoy there's a scene where Christian is the traveler and he's carrying a massive pack on his back and it's such a burden.
Such a burden. He's so troubled about his sin. Huge amount of weight on his back and he gets to the cross. I love this.
He stands there and he's looking at the cross.
And he says thus far did I come loaded with my sin?
Is that where you're at, friend? Right now this is decision night for you. Either you're taking him or you're rejecting him. That's the way it is. There's no neutral ground here thus far. Did I come loading with my sin?
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Nor could ease the grief that I was in till I came hit her.
There at the cross, friends, that's where God would have you right now, standing before the cross. There's a man that many of us remember that used to say God puts the cross, blocks the path of every Sinner with the cross, Christ.
There's that cross before you.
And Christian continues, and he says, what place is this?
Must here be the beginning of my bliss. Must hear.
Must hear the burden fall from up way back.
What your load of sin gone, friend?
Bring it to the cross, say Lord Jesus, I believe it. I.
I love you, I take it.
And then he says.
Blessed Cross, blessed supplicor, yay, rather blessed be the man that there was put to shame for me and that big old pack of sin fell off.
And it was gone. You want that in your life, friends. That's what the invitation of the gospel is.
Blessed cross, yay. Rather blessed be the man that there was put to shame for Bernie.
Oh, I love the Lord Jesus, friends, do you? I can't wait.
I can't wait to get to heaven.
Be with him.
But you know, kids, there's something better than.
Knowing that your sins are washed away and that is keeping company with the person that washed them away.
I'm looking forward to that.
Sins are gone into God's family and.
Spending time with that man, that lovely Lord Jesus that washed my sins away. Do you love them?
I hope you do.
Let's end with another him.
Sing #12.
If you.
Are not.
A Christian if you have not.
Open your heart's door.
Do it now.
While we're singing this hymn.
You don't have to raise your hand or come up here or fill out some survey or.
Just quietly in your seat, friends, bow your head. Speak to the Lord Jesus, Tell Him.
You'll love them. Tell them you believe you accept him.
Ask him to wash her sins away. He'd do it right now.
He loves you, let's sing #12.