Gospel—D. Rule
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Let's read and Mark's Gospel chapter one.
The Gospel of Mark, chapter one.
And verse one.
Mark chapter one and verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Well, we've had some words here this weekend that we've gone over in the reading meetings and I expect most everybody here this evening has been with us the last several days. And even this afternoon we had one word in particular that a lot of us have struggled with reconciliation. And by the time the afternoon was over, we should have all known what that word reconciliation means.
It is to be made agreeable with God to have a change in your heart, and it takes sides with God to think like God. You know, isn't it true that we often go through life, all of us, and we come into a group of people and we take up a language and we get certain terms that we begin to use with our lips, and yet we never think about what those words mean?
There's so many people today that go around and they say saved and born again and gospel and reconciliation and sanctification, and a lot of them don't even know what the words mean.
Well, I'm glad for this afternoon's meeting because I was helped very much in learning what the word reconciliation means.
But there's a couple words. There's one word in particular in this first verse that we read gospel.
I wonder how many people here don't know what the word gospel means.
Well, if you were to look it up in a dictionary, you might find out that it means good news or glad tidings.
And that's just what it is. That's just what this meeting is. It's a good news meeting.
But sometimes people will ask me, well what is sanctified mean or born again mean or save mean? And I found the best way to define your terms is to go right to the word of God.
I trust we've all this evening believe here, we all here believe that the Bible is the word of God. If you don't, it's going to be difficult, but nevertheless, read it anyway. But what does the word gospel mean? We need to define our terms from the Bible.
But with that in mind, let's turn briefly to Romans chapter one and see what gospel means.
There are several places in Scripture which make it easy for us to define the term gospel in Romans. Chapter one is one of those places.
Romans one and verse 16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
To everyone that believeth, to the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek, for therein is a righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, that 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. So somebody were to ask me, well, Mr. what does the gospel mean? Here's a good place to turn in the Word of God. So I don't have any of my own ideas. You know it. It's not the words of men that will save your soul this evening. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the word of God that saves souls. So here we have a definition of what the gospel is. We've heard the gospel preached at least twice this weekend.
The last two nights has been preached in no uncertain terms.
No uncertain terms, so we ought to know, but here are some scriptures that we can read. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation.
So there's many people in the world tonight going about in some way to save themselves.
You know religion is the power of men under condemnation. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now which have you got?
Which have you got? Are you trying to save yourself?
You'll never save yourself. You work all your life and try to be a religious person and wind up in the dungeons of the damned. You need God's power to be saved. You know God wants to save you, just like he wanted to save me. I remember the struggle, the religious struggle for so many years, trying to save myself or make myself right with God. It won't work.
But religion is a hard thing to get rid of, isn't it? You drink the old wine and new wines.
Just not nearly as good as the old wine. We want to do it our way. I want to do it my way.
But the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The good news is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He did the work at the cross of Calvary. He died for sinners on the cross, and from that same cross his precious blood was shed. You believe in the death of Christ, and His precious blood will cleanse you from all your sins for eternity. They're very simple. That's good news.
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That's the gospel.
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and he was raised again the third day according to the scriptures.
You know, I beg of everybody here this evening, I know it's entertaining sometimes and interesting to come and hear different speakers.
I tell you, the only thing that's going to save your soul is whether you believe the word of God.
You can hear 1000 creatures.
Some of them great and some of them not so great.
And I tell you, what's going to save your soul is the word of God. You have faith in the Word of God. That's what brings you salvation.
If you're not saved by the Word of God, I don't know how you can believe that you are saved.
That's the power of God unto salvation. To everyone that believes. Jesus had only believed according to your faith, be it unto you, not according to your works. Remember, religion will lead you to hell. You can work all your life in a religious sense. You may be ever so upright before men that you've never believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will never have anything to do with God except in judgment.
There are millions of people that are deceived tonight by religion.
Again, I believe that religion is the power of men and the condemnation, but what we have this evening is the power of God under salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. To everyone that believeth. You don't work. You work your way to hell. You don't work your way to heaven. You work your way to hell. You believe to be saved. You believe to get into heaven. That's all. The work's been done at Calvary. You can't add to it. You can't take away from it. It's been done once. It's been done forever. You need to believe it.
To be saved. I remember the struggle for so many months as reading the scriptures, you know, and I had my doubts. Is this really the Bible or some of it seems to be very right and very true. I remember the sleepless nights and the struggle. It was, why don't I have peace? I'm just struggling. It's a religious flesh. It's a man that wants to justify himself before God instead of allowing God to justify him through faith in Christ. You know, God is a justifier, not man.
Man tries to justify himself. He only condemns himself. There's nothing just in you or me.
I need somebody else. I needed Christ. Well, that's the power of God. The gospel is don't trust in yourself.
I beg of you, don't trust in anything yourself. If you're adding one iota to the cross of Christ or to the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, you're making a terrible mistake.
Whatsoever God does, he does forever, and he did the work, the redemption at the cross.
And the gospel is simply this. Believe it and be saved.
For therein is a righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, that just shall live by faith. Would you like to be right with God? Would you like even to have the character of God just believe the gospel?
Men going about to establishing their own, establishing their own righteousness and not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God are just foolish people. That's what religion does. It tries to make much of men. The gospel makes much of Jesus Christ, makes very little of men. The gospel puts us in our right place. We're lost and we're sinners, you and I, we were conceived in iniquity. We were born in sin. And most, if not all of us here this evening that understand these words have produced the fruit of that root sin.
We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The gun. But now God through the gospel, makes this wonderful offer His righteousness.
Not your own righteousness, not a filthy rag, not a pile of filthy rags, But the righteousness of God, which is by faith in Jesus Christ, simply means the quality of being right, perfectly right. God wants to make me perfectly righteous. Not halfway, not religiously right, but right in Christ.
Well, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
There's some verse to look at now.
You know, be very careful how you read this. The wrath of God here is not revealed against man.
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It's revealed against the unrighteousness of men. You know what's revealed to men tonight in this meeting?
Has been all weekend the love of God, that God so loved the world.
That He gave his only begotten Son here in his love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us.
And he sent his son to be a propitiation, a sacrifice, a mercy seat for our sins.
So the love of God is revealed toward men, but the wrath of God is revealed toward their sin. That's right. But there is a distinction in this verse. Notice that the wrath of God is revealed not against men, but against their ungodliness, against their sins. Now God wants to take care of your sins.
And he'll do it right now if you just put your trust in Christ. Christ died for your sins.
Will you believe it?
That's what makes you righteous. But if you don't believe it, you're going to have to face that wrath of God if you're not separated from your sins tonight by the blood of Christ. If you're not cleansed.
By the blood of Jesus, God is going to have to deal with you connected with your sins. You see, God wants to take away sin. God has taken away my sins and many in this room that I know there's many of you I don't know, but that's why we preach the gospel tonight. We don't know all of you. The God has taken away my sins by his, by the precious blood of Christ. He's put them all behind his back. I don't know where that is, but that's what the Scriptures teach. He's taking away my sins into an unknown land as far as the east is from the West. God has removed my sins from me.
And everyone in this room that's believed on the Lord Jesus.
So what do we want tonight in the gospel? The gospel has a warning in it. You know, it's grace first. Now the truth comes out. God reaches down in love, but with the admonition of His love comes the admonition of the warning of judgment to come. Notice, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now it was always the ministry of the Lord, and it's the ministry of the gospel. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God.
So it's the goodness of God that we minister first. But as in this portion we get to the end of the definition of the gospel, we find out there's a warning about the wrath, about the wrath.
So we have to tell people there's judgment if your sins are not removed.
You know, the Lord Jesus is the only one that really taught us anything about hell.
It was the Lord Jesus that revealed to us about the weeping, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth in hell. It was the Lord Jesus that said, take him, bind him hand and foot, cast him into outer darkness.
Where the worm never died and the fire is never quenched.
You know, I've heard people say to me, and I'm sure some of you have to. Well, my friends are in hell. I heard that just on my way to Des Moines. Person wasn't speaking to me, but they were joking. In a restaurant. It'll be fun there, but you're bound hand and foot in hell. How can you go anywhere or do anything? It's perfectly dark in hell. Can't do anything when it's perfectly dark. The worm never dies.
The conscience is never eased, you know, I remember when I first heard the gospel.
Our servant of the Lord brought these scriptures before me and how it used to prick my conscience in the night. And I want peace, but I don't have it. And there's the gospel. You have to believe on the Lord Jesus. Don't want to do it that way. I want to do it my way. There must be an easier way. Must be a better way. Got to believe on the Lord Jesus. And that little worm turning in my mind, convicting me of my sins, showing me my needs. That worm turning inside, outside, around and around. You know that worm is going to be in your conscience forever.
Son, remember, remember. Oh, people are going to remember and hell, they're going to remember the gospel meetings in hell.
You remember the tracks that were handed to them. They're going to remember that quiet neighbor it came over to sweep their pork chop or shovel the snow off and just try to speak a kind word to him about Christ. People are going to remember. They're going to remember the rebuke of a servant of the Lord that came and warned that soul. If he believed not that I am, he shall die in your sins. The worm will never die. People will know some scriptures in hell, but it'll be to their eternal torment.
I can't imagine.
That worm, that's something to think about. That's part of the wrath of God.
Fires never quenched in hell. Fire never quenched in hell. The fire of my passions and your passions. You know, we all here have natural desires and there's a wide range of things in nature that we go after and like to do.
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And in hell, just think of that. One person may like to climb a mountain. I visited somebody that is obsessed with rock climbing, has climbed many of the mountains in this country, bare handed and barefooted, is an expert in hell. They'd love to do that. Never will be able to see a single mountain in hell. People like to fish, no water in hell. People like to drink. There's no water in hell either. Nothing, absolutely nothing. The fire is never quenched. There's a man that woke up in hell and he wanted one drop of water for his finger to put on his tongue.
Not one drop of water. Now this is real, you know, This is the wrath of God that's revealed.
Against somebody that hasn't got the blood of Christ to take away their sin. This is what the Scriptures teach. This is what the gospel teaches. And this is serious business. We just can't pawn this off and say, well, that's that's nice preaching you're doing, you know, it's the word of God.
It's the word of God. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Now we plead with sinners tonight, be reconciled to God. It's not in God's heart to judge you. God is not willing that anybody here should perish in Des Moines, in this meeting room, in this country, in this whole world.
It's just contrary to God's will tonight that somebody perish and go to hell. You have to resist the will of God to perish in hell. Nobody is going to be in hell accidentally, not one.
As we had the other night, you have to go right around the cross of Christ. You have to go right around a crucified Jesus.
To get into hell, there's Christ dying for sinners, died for sinners, buried, risen again the third day.
The work's all done. You've got to go right around that.
To get into hell.
Well, one Corinthians 15.
Christians want to know sometimes, well, where could I turn somebody to?
Show them what the gospel is. Romans one is a good place. Romans 3 is another place. Romans pens another place. First Corinthians 15 is a short but very plain portion. First Corinthians 15.
And verse one Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. How? That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now there's a very simple definition of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If somebody asked you as a Christian, where could I look in the Bible to find out what the gospel is? Now here's some place you could turn them.
And you have the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus brought out all according to scriptures.
That's a blessed thing, blessed place to turn them to. But what about the death of Jesus?
Well, I tell you in my own soul, it's difficult to talk about, but there's been ministry on it, the sufferings of Christ, the death of Christ this past weekend.
And I tell you, if the sufferings of the Lord Jesus don't touch your heart, there's something wrong. There's something wrong to look up at that cross and see that man that went about doing such good. To see those hands nailed to that tree. Those hands that reached out and touched lepers. Those blessed hands that reached out and took up the little children and blessed them. Those hands that broke the lows and passed out the fish to the multitudes, fed the multitudes, those hands.
Those blessed hands they nailed to that cross.
You know, there's a people that Jesus made that put him on the cross.
And those feet that were so weary, those feet that trod those desert paths to reach out to the poor, to go out into the regions roundabout, Galilee Tire and Siding, and preach the gospel.
Those feet, they nailed it across to nobody. Nobody, ever.
Suffered by Jesus.
It's a good thing to contemplate. Read Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Psalm 88, Isaiah 53, and contemplate. Please contemplate the sufferings and the death of Jesus. If those things don't reach your conscience, I say there may be something very wrong.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
He's not suffering now, but he has suffered.
And entered into his glory and the resurrection was all according to Scripture. Two. You know, that's what saved my soul. I was encouraged to meet a young man here this weekend that told me how he was saved and and very naturally, he just explained it to me that he was reading in the book of Romans. He came to Romans 10/9. He said, you know, Tom, that's that's the verse that gave me peace. That just made my heart leap because that's the very same verse that gave me peace to that verse saved my soul. A verse in the Bible.
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Sitting at home reading the word of God, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Can it be that's all I have to do is believe? That's what the word of God says. Now, religion will tell you something else. We're not here to give you religion. You need to believe the scriptures and that's how you give the gospel to the lost. Believe the word of God. So do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? I had another person tell me many years ago, well, yes, I believe. And with tears in her eyes, she was telling me, I believe all that. I know I'm a Sinner. I believe it. I said, hey, look.
Get this book in your hand. What's it say in Romans chapter 10 and verse 9? Read it.
And she read it.
And I said, what's the last statement of that verse says thou shalt be saved. Do you get it? Oh, I see, I see, I'm saved. You've got to believe the word of God. That's all there is to it. That's the goodness of God. You don't have to work. You can believe right in your chair. The better you believe before this meeting's over if you haven't. It's a goodness of God that's reaching out tonight, the Pierce at hands of Christ, reaching down to this gospel message.
To save your soul well, the gospel. Now we can turn to a lot of other scriptures that define it, but.
We need to move on. Let's go back to Mark chapter one.
We need to know what we're talking about. I've been guilty myself of talking just about the gospel in a general way, but the Scriptures have a lot more power than our reasoning about them.
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We talked about what the gospel is and what Christ has done on the cross to save our souls. But who is Jesus? Who is Jesus Christ?
And this is pressing more on my own heart lately, even in the gospel.
We need to have the right price because some of you here, you know, maybe you've never been in a meeting like this, but you may go to other places and you may hear something preached about the gospel. But I want to warn you.
You have to have the gospel according to the scriptures, and not only that, you have to have the person of Christ according to the scripture.
You have to have the right Jesus, because there's many Jesus preached tonight because people have all kinds of abstract ideas about Christ.
In the Christ we preach is a Christ out of this book anything I'd like to make clear from this verse that Jesus Christ is the.
Son of God, and he's the eternal Son of God, and we don't have that right. Then we haven't got the gospel right. If the person of Christ isn't right, all our preaching about the gospel is utterly in vain.
Well, Sir, how do you know Jesus is God? You're disdain that says he's the Son of God here, but we're in the Scriptures to say that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
I don't know the scripture that says that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
But I do know scriptures that says that he is God.
Turn to the book of Romans, Chapter 9.
The book of Romans, Chapter 9.
In the middle of verse 5, Romans Chapter 9 and verse 5.
Christ, who is overall God, blessed forever. Amen.
Christ is God. That's a simple verse.
There's no need to get into explanation of the context or anything like that. This is a simple meeting. This verse have been a help to me. Jesus Christ is God. Now turn to Hebrews chapter one.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses is every word established. We need the scriptures for what we believe.
Hebrews chapter one.
Non Romans Chapter 9. That was Paul's testimony about Christ. We know that Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans. We know that Paul, or believe that Paul wrote the official to the Hebrews. But here we have a little different testimony as to the person of Jesus Christ. Verse one God, who at sundry times and diverse manners spake in time passed under the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir over all, of all things, by whom also He made the world.
Will be in the brightness of His glory and the expressed image or the exact expression of His person.
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Now go on down to verse 8.
Under the sun he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever.
And ever. And I believe that's God the Father speaking about God the Son. Now God the Father calls his son God.
And if I had no other witness out of the Bible than this, that should be sufficient that Jesus is God.
Well, I believe he's God had no beginning. And if Jesus is the Son of God, he must be the eternal Son of God. Now in Isaiah Chapter 9, there's a third verse that you can use. It's very helpful to establish the person of Christ. Unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. Jesus had a beginning as the Son of man. He was born into this world, God manifest in the flesh. She had a beginning at Bethlehem. But as the Son of God, he had no beginning. He was given.
Well, these things are pressing on my soul.
I want to be sure that I have the right Christ, the Christ in the Bible. I want you to be sure to maybe some of you heard a gospel and nobody's ever bothered to define for you who Jesus Christ is.
He is the Son of God from all eternity. And I want to say this too before we go on to another verse.
That Jesus Christ could not sin. Jesus could say of Satan. Satan has come and has found nothing in me.
And another scripture says in him is no sin, no nature that could sin.
I've had people who are speaking to them about the gospel. How do you know Christ is perfect? You know, you said he's a perfect Savior. How do you know he's perfect? Well, he couldn't sin. He had no sin in him. They say. Well, the reasoning is this. Well, I suppose I've heard it said that Christ never did sin, and so maybe it's true that he couldn't sin. But I believe that's a little tack of Satan that's going out of backwards. The Scriptures teach he could not sin, therefore he didn't sin. Let's keep it right. That's to the glory of Christ, I believe.
Well, I hope this isn't a digression.
But in the Gospel, we need to have the right Jesus because there are many Jesus preached today.
Well, Mark chapter one, what did the Lord Jesus preach? Mark chapter one and verse 14.
Now after that John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
And saying that time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent ye and believe the gospel, the time is fulfilled. A little verse that proves to me the Bible is the word of God.
Jesus Christ was born was the fulfillment of the Scripture. The scriptures tell exactly.
Where Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, the scriptures tell exactly to the day.
When he would be born, you can get that in Daniel Chapter 9 and other scriptures and the scriptures tell exactly how he would be born. A virgin shall conceive. The scriptures also revealed to us how he would die and you get that in the Psalms Isaiah 53. The whole birth and the life and the death of the Lord Jesus is according to scripture.
Proof the Bible is the word of God. The time is fulfilled. Christ came at exactly the right time. He was Son of God. He's God's anointed to be the Savior of the world. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Although the unsearchable riches of Christ are preached in the gospel. You know what man or what all the men together in the world can't begin to expound on the unsearchable riches of Christ. You know the Kingdom of God has offered to you tonight to come and believe on the Lord Jesus and receive his unsearchable riches. It's more than the forgiveness of sins. Yes, you are forgiven. You will be forgiven if you come to Christ tonight.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. His precious blood will cleanse you from all your sins for eternity. But there's more. There's more. Nice to be forgiven. Wonderful to be saved. The scripture says that God loved us. The scripture teaches that God quickened us. The Scriptures teach us that God raised us. The scriptures teach us that God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? Why has God done that for me, wretched Sinner like me, That in the eternity God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Why?
Why has God done that?
For me, wretched Sinner like me, that in the eternity, eternities to come, the ages to come.
He might show the exceeding riches of his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's why I've been saved, not just to be forgiven, but to spend eternity after eternity after eternity in heaven in God's presence, that he might show me his exceeding riches. Ephesians chapter 2 verses one through 8. We'll bring that out.
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Oh, set your affection on things above where Christ is. There's so much that we don't enter into down here, yet the Scriptures reveal these things to us. The Spirit shows these things to us. And I plead with you, you know, there's more than just the forgiveness of your sins Tonight. The prodigal came back to the Father. That's right. And all he wanted to do was just be forgiven. But look at the place he was brought into. And look at the place you can be brought into tonight if you believe the gospel taken to heaven where Christ is for all eternity. God wants to spend eternity.
Revealing to you His kindness, His grace, His love, His glory, His Majesty. Heaven is a place of absolutely unspeakable bliss and joy and peace and happiness, the Kingdom of God. All you got to do is believe the gospel.
All you have to do tonight if you're not saved is believe one verse you've heard. Just believe a verse about the death and resurrection of Christ. Believe it and be saved.
A Kingdom of God is at hand, The Lord. They've not all believed. Our report is something, isn't it? Our words fail when we begin to talk about the sufferings of Christ. Our words fail when we talk about the glories of Christ. Our words words fail when we talk about heaven. Well, they have to, because only the Spirit can reveal some of these things to us. But the Scriptures teach us this. The Kingdom of God is at hand. All the riches that God can possibly give mankind.
Is available tonight if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
God can't do anything more for mankind tonight than He can do for that poor soul.
That will come and believe.
Repent, ye believe the Gospel.
Well, we've had some pretty positive things that have been said.
Time is fulfilled, the power of God save us, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, Kingdom of God.
All these blessings, but now there's a little item about repentance. Repentance. You know what repentance means?
Well, now, when I was growing up, I heard a little bit about repentance. My dad, as we had mentioned today, is sometimes take us out in the yard and try to make us repent, try to make us feel sorry for what we've done. And there's many of you in this room tonight perhaps are very sorry for what you've done in your past life. You're sorry for what it did to you. You're sorry for what it did to your family. You're sorry for what it did to your friends. And that's all well and good, but you can be sorry all your life like that and go straight to hell.
You know, the Bible is full of all kinds of people that repented. Judas repented himself, but where is he tonight?
Herod was exceeding sorry that he had to cut off the head of John, but whereas Herod the night and Pilate was sorry too that he had to scourge Jesus. The worst pilot tonight.
Saul was very sorry in the Old Testament, but where Saul tonight?
So my friend doesn't do any good to be sorry for yourself.
Repentance toward yourself. The scripture definition of repentance is repentance toward God.
If you don't have repentance toward God, it's all for nothing. Repentance toward God.
And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, what God wants you to do tonight in repentance and the way of repentance.
Is look to him. I used to think repentance was just being sorry and turning away from that which I knew was wrong. I know it's.
Wrong to do this and wrong to go there. And it's wrong to say that and wrong to say this. And I spent my life being sorry for these things. I never realized that the scriptural definition of repentance is not to turn away from things, is to turn toward God, repentance toward God. God loves me and he wants to draw me to himself. And Jesus says, come unto me, I'll give you rest.
Boy, I tell you, the heart of God is a lot bigger in our hearts, isn't it?
Our imagination, our thoughts about things like repentance and salvation, it's just not like God. God's ways aren't our ways.
But repentance is a reality in the Word of God. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. You know God commands now every man everywhere to repent, because he's a point of the day in which he's going to judge this world by that man whom he hath ordained. That man is Jesus Christ, and he has given witness to this whole world, and that he's raised Jesus from the dead, and now he commands men everywhere to repent.
And accept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Turn toward God. You know when I'm turning toward God, that's when you turn your back on. What's wrong?
There's a delusion in my own heart, has been for many years, and I trust the Scriptures are delivering me from that, that simply I have to to look at everything that's wrong in this world and just shy away from it. I spend my whole life just fighting off this and that and trying to get rid of this and that. And I just have a perverted view of repentance. No repentance is turned right toward God. The prodigal really repented when he took that first step toward the father. Then he turned his back on the pigsties.
00:35:25
You want to get out of the situation you're in, I say, come to Christ.
Turn toward God. God loves you.
You're going to struggle all the days of your life. You try to clean up your act, turn over a new leaf. It's an endless religious struggle.
I know it took me 15 years to get out from underneath the lie. It's tough. Those old things aren't undone easy, but this book will undo it. If you define your turn by this book, you'll be saved and believe the gospel. We've made that clear already. Verse 32, Mark chapter one and verse 32. And that even when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils, and all the city was gathered together.
At the door. Oh, that would be great if the whole city of Des Moines tried to come in here tonight to hear the gospel, or last night, or the night before. Wouldn't that be something? I'd be shocked.
I'd be shocked, but here's the scripture. All the city was gathered together at the door.
Well I want to say this.
One thing to be gathered together at the door, hear the gospel, and it is entirely another thing for you, my friend, to come through the door and believe in Christ Jesus Christ, that I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved.
You have to enter in, you have to enter in, you have to believe on Christ to be saved.
Doesn't do any good to go to church to come to gospel meeting unless you believe on the Lord Jesus.
We're glad you're here, you're here, but please don't make the mistake like many have in the scriptures.
Of justice, acquainting yourself with Christianity, acquainting yourself with the gospel, making friends with Christians, and thinking you're all right.
That's a terrible mistake, Jesus said again. There are no words more powerful and sharp than these.
If he believed not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. It's a person you need, you have to do with Jesus. You see that the gospel according to Saint Mark is a revelation of the gospel of Christ. We preach a person. All the details and facts of this are wonderful. There is a doctrine of Christ, but until you believe on Christ himself, until you have a personal relationship with Jesus.
You're not saved.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature. The old things are passed away. If you don't have the spirit of Christ, you're none of his.
You're none of his.
Well, we have to speak plainly. You know the time short. We can't mince our words about the gospel. Have you just come to the door? Are you sticking your head in hearing all about the glorious gospel of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, His marvelous death on the cross, His suffering and death for you for sinners, His marvelous resurrection in the glory where He's seated now, and He has all power in heaven and earth? Are you hearing about those things? And yet you won't enter into it. You just simply won't bow the knee.
And confess that Jesus is Lord and believe on him. You can come so close. Jesus says thou art not far from the Kingdom of God. And there may be Sunday night just that far. They're just off the fingertips of that pierced hand. You got to reach out. Take that hand.
Well, there's a man.
Down on the 39th verse they came through the door.
Mark chapter one and verse 40. Verse 39. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
And there came a leopard to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean? And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. Here's a man, my friend, that came through the door.
He came through the door, and this is how you have to come to Christ. It's so simple, but you've got to come, just as you are a leper. Leprosy, of course, speaks of sin. It's an incurable disease. Nobody on earth wants to have anything to do with it. It's a terrible, terrible disease. But here's a leopard.
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It came to Jesus to be healed. Picture of a Sinner coming to Jesus to be forgiven. How did he come?
A leper came to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him. He.
Do you believe, do you own yourself, that Jesus Christ is Lord, the one who has all power and authority? And you may know this in your mind, you may say Lord, Lord. But my friend, there's two people here in this little story, a leper in Jesus. And that's the way it is in the Gospel. Jesus meets the Sinner and either you take the offer, you don't. What are you going to do? Are you going to come like this leper kneeling down beseeching Jesus Lord, if thou wilt?
Thou canst make me clean. Do you believe? Do you know from the scriptures we read that Christ died for your sins? Thou canst, He can. He's done the work. All you have to do is come. Oh, and the compassion of Christ, him that cometh to me, I will in no way cast out. Jesus has never refused someone that came like this. Never, never, never. Well, there's lots of people that came to Christ in the gospels. We may get to one a little later on the next chapter.
But they came to Christ, and their pride and their arrogancy and trying to tell the Lord how to.
Run the House of God and tell the Lord what he should believe. And those people are not saved. Those are called scribes and hypocrites, Pharisees. But a leper, a poor man like you and me. Do we come like this leper, the compassion of Christ, to reach out and touch that leper? Ponder the words of Jesus. I will be thou clean. God is not willing that anybody here should perish tonight, but that all should come to repentance. What a spirit of repentance this man showed, what confidence he had in the power of Christ to save him and all you've got to do.
Is believed to be saved. Well, faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I've had people tell me even recently in the past week, Well, Tom, I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God.
How do you handle that argument? It's a tough one. When I fall back on that verse that I just quoted. Read it, read it. Are you struggling? Maybe there's somebody here tonight that's struggling with the Bible. I did, you know, I just didn't pick it up one night and get saved. There was a period of months where I read and was confused and confounded, but I kept reading. And faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. You keep reading, you'll believe. It's a perfect book. Make no mistake about it. But to be saved, you have to read it and believe it.
You know I people say that all the time. I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God, but it is if you read it.
And to give a little illustration of this, this past week I visited a friend and down in Kansas City, Fort Leavenworth, it's a military base. And I've been to college some 15 years ago with this man, and I often thought about him since I've been saved if I ever get to see John again. Well, it turns out that he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and the Lord opened the door to visit with him at Fort Leavenworth. And I went to see John one night and.
He told me that he's an F16 pilot and apparently one of the best in the world. He's a man that's trained the Israelis to fly their jets, so he knows what he's talking about. I was really impressed. This is a little fellow I used to play around with when I was in college, and now he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force and one of the best pilots in the world, flying one of the best jets in the world. So I had to listen, and I want to know something about a jet or an F16. I listened to John Craig and so I asked him, well, John, what do I have to do if I was going to learn how to fly an F16?
And he reached up on the shelf and he pulled down this big, thick book. It must have weighed 4 lbs.
And he stuck it right in my lap, he says. Here's the book, Here's the book on the front of it. It had General Dynamics F16.
Flight Manual You want to fly an F16? Better read this book. You want to be saved.
Better read this book.
Well, what would you think if I had looked at that book, the front of that book, and I looked at John and I handed it back to him and said, John, I don't believe this book has anything to do with flying an F16.
What kind of insult do you think that would have been to Lieutenant Colonel Craig?
Well, what kind of insult would it have been to General Dynamics?
Well, that's the kind of insult it is to God when people who haven't read the Bible say, I just don't believe it's the word of God. What a shame. So you got to read it. Faith will come if you read it. The people are trying to believe all kinds of things in their own mind instead of submitting themselves to the word of God. Let's go a step further. Let's suppose I, I glanced through that, that flight manual, the F16, and I looked at some of the pictures and some of the text and I said, John, I said, now how Can you believe this book? I mean, there's just a bunch of.
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Typists and stenographers that type this up, and a bunch of.
The blue collar draftsman that drew all these pictures. How Can you believe this is a flight manual by an F16? I mean it's just a bunch of regular old people in some office that put this together.
How Can you believe it?
That's just like people that say, well the Bible is just written by a bunch of men.
General Dynamics is bigger than this dental pool, and God is bigger than his servants that wrote his word. And General Dynamics has seen to it that that book is right, and God has seen to it that this book is right.
So do you believe the Bible? Let's go a step further.
I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God. John closes up the manual, puts it back on the shelf and he says, Tom, he said, you may not believe that this is a flight manual for that jet, but I've flown that jet hundreds hours and I know that jet inside and out and I don't care what you believe. I know that book works. So if there's somebody here tonight still doesn't believe the Bible is the word of God, that doesn't change a thing. I believe it is. And there's many others here that believe it's the word of God because it works. This book saved my soul. I put my trust in one verse in this book.
And I'm saved for eternity.
It's a serious thing, you know, to refuse the word of God. Don't refuse the word of God.
Same way with the women. There's many of you here that like to cook and there's some here that are excellent cooks. And what an insult it is for a young woman to come to an older woman that's a real good cook and say, how do you cook? And the older lady hands the younger 1A cookbook and say here, read this. This will get you started. I don't believe this has anything to do with cooking. What an insult. So it's very serious business, my friend, to refuse the word of God. Don't mock it.
Don't mock it.
Well, Chapter 2.
Mark chapter 2, verse one. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noised about that he was in the house.
In a straight way many were gathered together in so much that there was number room to receive them. No, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them, and they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?
Well, they didn't know what a truth they just uttered, and immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they had so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether it's easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed and walk. But they ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thy house.
And immediately he arose and took up the bed, and went forth before the mall in so much that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw it on this fashion.
Little word of encouragement for the Christians here. Maybe you can't preach, maybe you can't teach, maybe you barely know how to explain the gospel. Bring somebody to the gospel meeting. You know, there's such a thing in Scriptures, a wood offering. You get it in Haggai, chapter one. Go up to the mountains, bring the wood, build the house, and I'll take pleasure in it, saith the Lord. Just bring somebody. The gospel meeting. These, that's what these four did. They just brought somebody. Maybe they couldn't tell him a thing about Jesus.
But they brought him to the meeting and the man got his sins forgiven when he saw their faith.
Well we it's good we have a prayer meeting before the gospel to pray for those that are lost and God blesses the gospel because of those prayers.
We've already talked in the previous chapter about the sinner's responsibility. We don't have that in this portion.
But nevertheless, the man had to have the faith to come to the meeting. Maybe there's somebody here tonight that's just been brought.
Jesus wants to forgive your sins if you just believe. And maybe there's some here tonight that are struggling with the dilemma of trying to lead a new life. Oh, I'd like to live a righteous life. I'd like to have power to do right in this world, to do good. Well, you know the secrets in this portion we just read. Not only can Christ take away your sins.
We can give you power to walk a new life. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Would you like to take up your bed, rise up, take up your bed, and walk in a new light? You can only do that if you're saved. You can only do that if you have the Lord Jesus. You know, the very same things that used to keep me chained down in the bed, now the very things I have power over. For the Christian sin shall not have dominion over you. We're not under the power of sin anymore.
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God has given us a new nature, He's given us new ways. He's given us a whole new life.
And so we have power over that bed. We haven't got rid of our old nature. We have to carry that bed around sometimes or all the time until we go home.
But we have power over it. The bed kept that man paralyzed down, that paralyzed man down. Now the man has stood up and he has a bed under control. Would you like to walk in new life? You need to believe the gospel to start with. Jesus will give you that power. He'll give you the power to walk a new light. Here's a man that didn't come through the door, but was brought through the door, but he had the same thing that the leper had in the last chapter. And last of all, we have in this chapter, verse 16.
When the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eat with Republicans and sinners.
They said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician.
That they that are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now here are some people that.
Have come in through the door and think they're OK, but they're not. First a man that just came through the door himself.
Than a man that was brought through the door. The last of all we have a class of people that have weaseled their way in and think they're OK and they're not.
They're not.
Jesus didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and another scripture. The Lord Jesus says go and learn what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Here are these poor scribes and Pharisees trying to offer their ties of mint and rue and all manner of herbs, trying to make themselves right with God to that class of people that spoken of in Job. Do I wash myself with snow water and make myself never so clean, yet thou shalt plunge me into the ditch.
And my clothes shall abhor me.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Not one. Nobody here can cleanse themselves, those poor scribes and Pharisees.
Like a class of people, I suppose in a church meeting or meeting like this, there's those that sit in the back seat and they rebel.
Against the gospel, there's those that come out and sit in the front seat and they profess.
But both of them alike are going to meet in hell.
Maybe in the back row, rebelling against the gospel. You may be in the front row professing to know all this stuff.
But if you don't believe in Jesus.
If you don't believe in Jesus, if you haven't believed that, call and come to Christ.
The rebellious one and the professor are going to meet in hell for eternity. Well, my friend, we're sinners and Jesus has come to call us to repentance. Not to just to be sorry for what I've done, but to turn toward God. God be merciful to me, a Sinner. Well, believe it. It's good news. God's not willing tonight that one person should perish. I hope everybody and pray everybody in this room will go home tonight saved. And if nothing else, you know what the gospel is this evening.
On the Lord Jesus, put your trust in the Scripture, not a meeting or a preacher or anything like that. If something is struggling in your soul, there is a tumult in your soul, believe a scripture, trust the word of God. And if you have a question about anything that's been said, be sure you ask somebody before you leave. But be like that. Be like that leopard Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole.