Gospel—David Harman
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There to the gospel meeting.
We're glad you're here. If you're here by special invitation, it's because somebody cares about your soul.
And we want you to know that God loves you.
And that he's long-suffering. To us, we're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
And so we'd like to begin our meeting tonight by singing #22 on the hymn sheet. Sorry, 23.
If if someone could please start that one.
On the cross.
Let's ask the Lord's help.
Turn with me, please, to the book of Romans.
Chapter One.
And we'll begin reading.
At verse one.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
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That's as far as we'll read for now.
So we want to talk tonight about the Gospel of God.
And these first few verses in the book of Romans introduced the subject.
And we have in the verses that we read.
The servant, the source, and the subject of the Gospel.
Paul was a special servant of the Lord.
Chosen by God to preach the gospel of salvation, the gospel of the grace of God to the Gentile.
And it's called here the Gospel of God, because God is its source.
The entire plan of salvation by which man can be redeemed, brought back to God, originated in the past eternity in the heart and the mind of God.
And he had you in mind, and he had me in mind.
And so he.
Devised this plan. It's beyond human comprehension. No man could ever come up with such a plan.
And when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman.
Made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And so God had a plan.
And he has now revealed it to man.
In the gospel, the gospel of God.
Gospel means good news, and I think we all know tonight that this world needs good news.
And if you're lost in your sins tonight?
You need good news, and that good news that you need is found in the gospel.
The Gospel of God.
And the subject?
Is his Son Jesus Christ our Lord?
Who was?
Foretold in the Prophets and the Holy Scriptures.
Verse two tells us he had promised a four by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
In the book of Luke, the Lord, in speaking to those two on the road to Emmaus, He expounded unto them and all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
And so it's been said.
That.
There are over 300 prophetic references in the Old Testament to the coming of the Messiah, the Savior.
And if any of you have read Josh Mcdowell's book More Than a Carpenter, you'll be familiar with this these facts.
The out of 300 plus prophecies about the coming of the Lord Jesus.
To professors.
Made a calculation.
About the probability of only eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one man from the time they were written to the current day.
Their statistical methods were reviewed or they were approved and certified as legitimate by peer review.
And they determined that the probability of eight of these 300 or more prophecies being fulfilled in one man was.
One in 10 trillion. That's one with 17 zeros after it. That's only eight of the 300 prophecies.
And we don't we don't understand that kind of a number. And so to put it, put a little perspective on it, the example was used if you.
Got 100 trillion silver dollars.
And place them in the state of Texas. That would fill the state of Texas to the depth of two feet.
And if you marked one of the silver dollars and mixed them all up thoroughly throughout the state, you put a blindfold on a man and told him to drive as far as he wanted in any direction he wished, and pick 1 silver dollar, the chance of him picking the one with the mark on it is one in 100 trillion.
So it's mathematically impossible.
For 8 prophecies to be fulfilled in one man, if those prophecies were written by men.
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Scripture tells us that prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
And that all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
And so.
We can be.
100% confident that.
The scriptures that we hold in our hand are what they claim to be the inspired Word of God.
And so God.
Sent forth his son.
As we have said.
And this gospel, the subject of this gospel is his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. This brings before us his humanity.
He was fully man.
And he was declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
And so he was God as well as man.
Scripture tells us that in the beginning was the word and the word was.
With God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
No man has seen God at anytime. The only Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
And the Lord Jesus told the Jews that I and my Father are one.
They understood exactly what he was claiming to be God.
Equality with God. And so it was.
God become man.
God and man and the same person.
We can't explain it, we can't understand it.
But it's the truth of Scripture.
And it's the beauty of the person of Christ, this one who came from heaven's highest glory.
Humbled himself.
And became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.
And force and condemn sin in the flesh.
And so he walked this earth as a man.
Unknown, unrecognized for who he was.
Rejected by those who should have known him.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own, and His own received Him not.
They didn't recognize.
Didn't recognize him for who he was.
Even though he was a light, that lightest light of every man that cometh into the world.
Light exposes darkness. Light exposes what is hidden in the darkness.
And man.
Chose darkness rather than light because his deeds are evil.
So this is the one who is the subject of the Gospel, this one, this holy Son of God who became a man.
And walked among men.
Why did he do that? Why did he lower lower himself in such a way?
Trust we'll get into that in a little bit.
But it's because.
There was number other way.
For the question of sin to be settled, but by the blood of a perfect sacrifice being shed.
And so when he was declared to be the Son of God, with power by the resurrection from the dead.
This is a vital.
To Christianity. To the Christian faith.
Because without a spotless sacrifice, we have no savior.
Scripture says that none of none of you can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him. And so if there is, if there were one who was under the curse of sin.
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It was impossible for him to make atonement for sin, for the sin of another.
Had to be a spotless sacrifice.
In answer to all those sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament as a type, looking forward to that one who would come and OfferUp the perfect sacrifice of himself to God.
And so, without a spotless sacrifice, we have no savior.
Thank God as He provided a lamb without blemish and without spot.
It was foreordained before the foundation of the world, and so sin did not take God by surprise.
It only provided.
The means whereby God can glorify his Son.
And be glorified in him.
Let's turn over to.
Verse 16.
For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and to salvation to everyone that believeth.
To the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written. The just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
We'll stop there for now.
The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.
Why Salvation?
Saved from what?
Who needs to be saved?
In the Sunday school this morning I didn't count, but at least I would say at least 12 young children quoted the memory verse that tells us for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Even a child in quoting that scripture can understand what it means in a measure.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God has a standard. God has loved that is well well known and often claimed by even by rejecters of God. Well, God is love. How can you do this? God is love, but he is also light.
God is holy and he cannot look upon sin.
And so man's sin has offended God in his holy nature.
In chapter 5 tells us.
Wherefore as by one man, that is, Adam's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
And so if you were born into this world, you are partakers of that atom, nature.
Born in sin, shape and iniquity.
And as we've been reminded this today already, that we are owned by the God of this world.
Who has a claim on this world?
And so we are sinners by nature and by practice.
And our iniquities have separated us from our God.
And our sins have hid his face from us, and so we need to be reconciled to God.
There had to be a sacrifice made, for without the shedding of blood is no remission for sin, there's no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood. The price had to be paid.
And so we all need to be saved. In answer to the question about salvation, we're all lost.
When we're born into this world, we are lost in our sins apart from God, and we need salvation.
And salvation is not found in ourselves. We have no hope. We are without God in this world.
And so God provided a savior.
God provided the sacrifice.
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And the person of his son.
The power of God unto salvation.
Scripture tells us that before we were saved, we are dead in trespasses and sins.
And we are darkness.
And so it's only the power of God that can can quicken.
Those who once were dead in trespasses and sins. It's only God who can give life to the dead.
It's only God who can, who can bring one from the power of darkness into his marvelous light.
God, who has shined, who caused the light to shine out of darkness, shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Only God can do that. It's the power of God unto salvation. It's found in the Gospel.
Countless stories could be told of lives who were transformed by the power of the gospel.
Those who once were.
Profligate.
Wanton Careless.
Were turned around and became vessels of mercy.
And the transformation was like night and day, as we say. Sure enough, they were brought from the power of darkness into his marvelous light.
So it's the power of God.
To everyone that believeth everyone.
There's not a one in this in this room. Who can say I'm not included in this? I'm too bad or I'm too good?
Or it's not for me?
If you believe the gospel.
Then the power of God will bring you salvation.
It's to everyone that believeth.
Chapter 3 tells us that it's unto all and upon all them that believe.
A little song says, Whosoever will may come.
And so the gospel goes out to all. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
There's no such thing as a special elect.
Outside of which no one else can be saved.
God says all may come, whosoever will may come.
So why do we need to be safe? What? What do we save from?
Well, verse 18.
Reminds us of the wrath of God. There's the power of God.
And there's the wrath of God that is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Are you leaving God out of your life?
Are you living as if there is no God?
The wrath of God is something you have to reckon with.
Scripture tells us that he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
I picture it as this cloud of judgment over one's head.
Ready to fall at any minute? You don't know when that will be. The wrath of God is abiding on you if you're outside of Christ.
We were reminded last night in the book of Jude.
How about the wrath of God? We'll turn to a similar passage, not Jude, but in second Peter.
Chapter 2.
Verse 4.
For if God spared, not the angels that sinned.
But cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.
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And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the 8th person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an in sample. And to those that after should live ungodly, and delivered just lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.
Verse 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust.
Unto the day of judgment to be punished.
So the message is clear. There is judgment coming.
God has appointed a day in which He will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
There has never been another judge like that.
There has never been.
A perfectly righteous judge in this world before.
But God will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
Where until he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised them from the dead.
And so there's this question of right, wrath and judgment that you have to reckon with.
But you'll notice in these verses that we just read in two Peter.
That accepting the angels there was a way of escape.
There were those who.
Found refuge from that judgment.
A little picture of the refuge to be found in the Savior.
To find shelter from the coming judgment.
And where is that refuge to be found? How do we escape this judgment?
How do we avail ourselves of this salvation?
Turn back to our chapter in Romans.
Verse 17.
Speaking of the gospel of Christ, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
From faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And so there's the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel.
And there is where we find refuge from this judgment.
What is the righteousness of God?
I believe in this context it is the means whereby God can save the Sinner and still be righteous.
How can he do that?
God's holy claims demand that.
The wages of sin is death.
And there must be bloodshed to make atonement for the soul.
And so, in the absence of any other suitable sacrifice that could ever take away sin, he offered up his Son, his only beloved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And so the Lord Jesus.
Came into this world.
Failed his intrinsic glory for a time.
Entered into manhood.
And he walked in perfect obedience for 33 years.
Obedience to his Father's will.
Never a wrong thought, never an angry word.
Are you always those things that please him, my father?
And at the end of it all.
The wicked hands of men and their hatred took him and nailed him to the cross.
Get rid of him. Away with this man. We will not have this man to reign over us.
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And so they killed the Prince of Life.
Incidentally, that was a fulfillment.
Of a prophecy that was made 800 years before the Romans began crucifying their prisoners.
It was unknown as a method of death and for 800 years before this prophecy was fulfilled.
But he fulfilled the Scriptures by being condemned to death.
And dying on a criminal's cross.
Being hung up between heaven and earth.
As a spectacle.
The object of men's hatred and derision.
Whatever the object of the Father's love.
And as he hung upon that cross.
There came a time at midday where the sun was darkened.
God shut out that scene from the eye of man.
And in the midst of that darkness, he forsook his son.
And the cry was heard. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
We sang about that, an awful scene.
Where God forsook his Son.
And He took upon him our sins.
And he bore the awful judgment of God for those sins. He became the sin bearer, the one who knew no sin was made sin for us.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
There's a story, a true story, that was told a number of years ago.
About a young lady who was.
Apprehended for traffic violation.
She's brought before the court before the judge.
And the judge?
Ask her how do you plead? And she replied. Guilty, your honor.
And so he brought his gavel down and sentenced her, this was a number of years ago, to $100 or ten years or 1010 days in jail.
And then the judge rose from the seat, took off his robes.
And he came down and he paid her fine. The judge was her father.
Was he righteous? Yes, he was. The law demanded that the fine had to be paid.
And so he paid it for her.
And so God.
Could be righteous.
And still forgive the Sinner because his son has paid the price had to be paid.
Tis in the cross of Christ we see how God can save, yet righteous be.
And and so this is revealed in the gospel, the righteousness of God.
Have you availed yourself of the righteousness of God? Are you sheltered under the precious blood of the Lord Jesus?
Have you heard his voice calling to you? Come.
The righteousness of God.
Turn over to Chapter 3.
Verse 19 Now we know that what things whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.
That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
The law was given to God's people, children of Israel.
And they were like a little.
Sample of humanity, you might say, to put man to the test to see whether he could measure up to God's standard of righteousness.
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And so you might take a sample of water out of a well.
And you run your tests on it and whatever the results of that test reveal.
You conclude that it is true of all the water in that well.
And so God had this little sample of humanity, and he gave them the law and put them to the tests, and they failed.
And the results of that test are true of all humanity.
And so he's concluded, all under sin.
And every mouth is stopped, and the whole world has become guilty before God.
Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Christ is the end of the law to righteousness.
We've proved that we can't keep the law.
There is no good in.
But now verse 21, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.
Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe, For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So there's the righteousness of God again.
How God can save yet righteous be?
And it is imputed to all who believe in Jesus.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe.
If you have not believed the gospel.
You are not righteous before God.
As simple as that.
Furthermore, there's no way that you can be righteous before God without believing the gospel.
There's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And so if you are not believing the gospel tonight, you are not righteous before God, and you cannot be.
This righteousness of God.
Is by faith of Jesus Christ, and it's unto all, and upon all them that believe.
For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Can you say that tonight that you're justified?
The moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As your savior, believe that he died for you and that God raised him from the dead. God removes every charge that could ever come against you.
That's what justification is.
No more charge of sin can ever be brought against you. That's justified.
Can you, can you say tonight that you're justified freely by his grace?
There's no money involved in this transaction.
But an awful price was paid.
The.
Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.
To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
This big word propitiation. It means that God is satisfied as to this in question.
Through the death of his son.
But it's only upon all them that believe.
Are you under the shelter of that precious blood tonight?
Job tells us because there is wrath.
Beware lest he take the away with his stroke, and then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
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God's offer of free salvation is a limited time offer.
Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Don't wait too long.
You don't know how. How long is too long?
That's the key. You don't know how long is too long.
Come now, while there's still time.
Receive God's offer of salvation full and free.
Without money and without price.
I'd like to turn back again to chapter one.
And comment a little on verse 18.
The end of verse 18. But we will read the whole verse. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
How about you young people?
Compared to the man on the street on average.
You young people know a lot of truth.
I don't think you realize how much truth you have, but what are you doing with it?
Are you holding it in unrighteousness?
And.
Are you comfortable in your knowledge of the truth and the blessings that it brings?
But going on in a path of unrighteousness or carelessness.
As if there is no God.
That's holding the truth in unrighteousness.
And God has something to say to you about that.
God's truth demands a response.
What has your response been to the truth that God has revealed to you?
That speaks to all of us, not just the young people.
It's not enough to know about the Savior.
It's not enough to know the facts of the gospel.
There's millions of people in this world that know that Jesus was a historical figure. That's not enough.
Do you know Him as your savior?
Have you had a transaction with him?
Whereby He has taken away your sins and given you eternal life.
It's not enough to know the truth.
If we don't walk in it.
To whom much is given of the same shall much be required.
What are we doing with what we have?
Two final verses.
In closing, John chapter 12.
Verse 48.
The Lord Jesus speaking, he that rejecteth me.
And receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him.
The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day.
Don't trifle with the word of God.
You can't.
Just relegate the gospel message to mere words, ignore it and walk away without any consequences.
Because the very word that we're considering tonight, the word that it has been spoken, will judge you in the last day.
You'll be held to account for what you what you've heard, what you know.
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And you'll be speechless if you're without Christ.
Chapter 5.
Verse 24.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me.
Hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
Is passed from death unto life.
Present and immediate effect of believing the Gospel.
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me half everlasting life.
And shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
We pray tonight that if you're still dead in trespasses and sins that you'll believe the gospel of your salvation.
And that God will quicken you, quicken your soul, give you life.
Eternal life.
In his son.
Can we sing in closing?
Verse #21 on the hymn sheet.
Someone could start it.