The Gospel: What Is It?

(#56, Imperial, 1954)

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16.

Gal. 1:8-9 insists there is only one "gospel".  What do we mean by that term?  It is heard often in Christian circles but little understood. 

ƒ    The English term comes from "God-spell", to spell God.

ƒ    The Greek term means "good tidings" or "good news".

The "good news" presumes the "bad news" of sin, guilt and condemnation.  So what is the gospel for those in sin?

First, the gospel is not...

w   the law, or keeping the law.

w   good works, good deeds that somehow make up for sin.

w   reformation, as in turning over a new leaf.

The good news is good because it actually deals with sin itself, providing a covering so sin is forgiven.

The Gospel means the life of Christ in it's principal aspects: birth ... life ... death ... resurrection.

The gospel is the good news concerning...

    1.  Death, John 5:24.  Passing from death to life.

    2.  Sin, Psalm 103:12.  Sin removed as far as east from west.

    3.  Judgment, Rom. 8:1.  There is no condemnation in Christ.

The characteristics of the gospel:

It is the gospel of power (Rom. 1:16).  That is, it can do what it claims in dealing with death, sin and judgment.

It is the gospel of love (John 3:16).  Those principle aspects of Christ's life are all the result of God's love for the world.

It is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24).  The best part of the news is that it is given as a gift, not as a result of our merit.

How may we receive its benefits?

    1.  Believe the message of the gospel, John 20:31.

    2.  Repent of sin, Acts 17:30-31; Luke 13:3.

    3.  Receive Jesus Christ, John 1:12.

It is all of faith, faith in the Subject of the gospel, Jesus Christ.  When one receives Him, he in fact turns from sin.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

Hiding from God

(#55, Hinkley/Kelso, 1951)

Read Genesis 3:1-10,21.

Look at how Satan deceived Eve.

    1.  He got Eve to listen, v1.

    2.  He put doubt in Eve's mind about the word of God, v1.

    3.  He created suspicion that God was withholding good from them, v5.

    4.  He got Eve to look, v6.

    5.  Eve desired, v6.

    6.  Eve took, v6.

They hid themselves from the presence of God, v8.

There are many ways people try to hide from God.  They may seek to hide behind the tree of...

ƒ    False hope, religion.  Psalm 10:11 speaks of those who delude themselves by thinking God does not see the sin, that guilt is not real.

ƒ    False peace.  1 Thess. 5:3 speaks of those who say "peace and safety" when God's judging wrath is at the door.

ƒ    Self-righteousness.  The Pharisee praying in Luke 18:11-12 was like this.  He thought "his" righteousness gave him right standing in God's presence.

ƒ    God's works.  Some think that since they are related to the powerful works of God that He has accepted them.  Simon in Acts 8:9-13,18-23 was like this.  He was on hand when God moved in a mighty way.  But his faith was not genuinely in God but merely in God's power.  Those who trusted Jesus for His miracles alone were also like this (John 6:25-29).

In the time of God's judgment people will seek to hide behind rocks and mountains (Rev. 6:16).  But the fact is: it is impossible to hide from God (Jer. 23:24; Heb. 4:13).

They covered themselves with fig leaves.

Again the Bible is clear: man cannot cover over his sin (Rom. 3:9-12; 7:18; Jer. 2:22).  There is only One working cover for sin, a covering that involves the shedding of blood.  God's provision of skins for Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21) prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ Who is that covering (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Stop hiding from God so you can hide in God (Psalm 32:7)

The Good Things of God

(We are beginning another round of 30 devotionals from the ministry of my father, Bertram J. Youde.  A brief biography can be found in the blog for September 26, 2014.  Each post includes various occasions when he preached the sermon from which the post was taken.)

(#53, Hinkley, 1944; Radio 1951, 1959; Imperial, 1955)

Read Psalm 84:11; 34:9-10; Prov. 28:10..

God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).  And should you ask what good things He gives, one answer comes in Acts 14:15-17: rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, the filling of our hearts with food and gladness.

Some will deny this truth, saying that they do not receive these good things from God.  But the Bible makes it clear that it is not because God has failed but because we fail God (Jeremiah 5:24-25).

If God is withholding His good things from us there are two questions to ask:

    1.  Are the things we long for really good?  A father might choose to give his 12-year-old son a pellet gun as a gift while withholding it from his 4-year-old son.  Both the giving and withholding are "good gifts".

    2.  Are we forfeiting God's good gifts because of our wrongdoings.  This is Jeremiah's issue.

Thus we ask, in the language of Psalm 84:11, what does it mean to walk uprightly?  Ephesians keys on the term "walk" as a picture of the believer's life.  The Holy Spirit thus says that the "upright walk" is a...

w   Walk in obedience, Eph. 2:1-2.  In the Bible Naaman wasn't cured until he obeyed.

w   Worthy walk, Eph. 4:1.  Our walk must fit that we are children of a perfect heavenly Father.

w   Walk unlike those around us, Eph. 4:17.  The children of God are, by definition, distinct from the children of Satan.

w   Walk in love, Eph. 5:2. 

w   Walk in the light, Eph. 5:8.  Again, the walk is simply consistent with our God.  God is Light (1 John 5:5) so His children are Children of Light!

w   Walk in wisdom, Eph. 5:15. 

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.