Is the Contemporary Gospel Biblical?

The Gravity of the Gospel and the Purpose of the Sermon

0:01 A reading from the Word of God is found in Paul's letter to the church at Galatians, chapter 1. Galatians, chapter 1. I shall read verses 6 through 10. Galatians 1, verses 6 through 10.

0:26 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, that there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that he hath received, let him be accursed.

1:09 Or do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men?

1:20 For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Let us unite in prayer.

1:35 O Lord, we are sobered by these words,

1:39 which remind us that thy gospel is a holy trust committed to us, with which we dare not tamper, which we, dare not seek to alter,

1:57 but given to be embraced, loved, and then proclaimed in power. And we pray that thy Holy Spirit may so instruct us as we study the scriptures together, that that gospel, once for all delivered to the saints,

2:17 shall be loved as never before, shall be understood with new clarity. And then, O Lord, is it we shall leave this place, to proclaim this everlasting gospel, with fervency and zeal and power, that hitherto we have never known? To this end we beseech thy help in the proclamation and attention to thy holy word, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

2:49 Amen.

2:56 The subject with which I am to deal, as has been announced, is couched in the form of a question.

3:06 The question is this. Is today's God, Is today's God, the gospel, the biblical gospel? And we shall be considering that question in the three evening sessions. I believe I have the three evening sessions.

3:20 Do I not? Thank you. I didn't check that schedule for a while, and sometimes they change the schedule from the initial reception. And perhaps some of you might wonder, why should we spend our time considering such an elementary subject as this subject?

3:41 Should we not rather assume that we all, understand the gospel and get on with the job of learning better, how better to communicate it? How to arm ourselves with the tools of communication? Well, in the light of Paul's words, you see that nothing can be more vital than a consideration of this question. What is the gospel?

4:02 For the apostle declares in this passage, though an angel should come with all the glow of heaven upon him, and with all the apparent marks of a divine messenger, and bring a gospel that was just a few degrees less the center of the gospel which Paul preached, he says the curse of God should be upon him. Now, is it not strange that the man who said in his letter to the church in Philippi, though Christ is preached from a wrong motive, some preach him of envy, some of strife, Christ is preached, and therein I rejoice. A man who would rejoice if Christ was rightly preached, even with wrong motive, could now turn around and say the curse of God be upon any man who would tamper with the message of Christ. Now, the reason Paul spoke this way is because he knew, as our generation needs to know, that what you believe as the gospel and what you receive as the gospel will determine whether or not you experience the blessings promised in the gospel. And to receive a false gospel in all sincerity does not mean that one's damnation will be less severe than if one knowingly embraces error. And so there can be no consideration more vital for the average layman, the teenager, the young person,

5:29 concerned about the issues of eternity than this question that is before us. Is today's gospel the biblical gospel? And certainly for those of us who are called upon to communicate the gospel, nothing is more vital than to, again and again, ask ourselves, are we communicating that gospel, which is the biblical and the apostolic gospel? So much, then, for the title, so much for the importance that perhaps I ought to spend just a couple of minutes exegeting the question.

The Standard of Evaluation: Holy Scripture

6:00 What I say is today's gospel, the biblical gospel. What do I mean by today's gospel? Well, I do not mean the so-called gospel of liberalism. I was at a school of higher learning a few weeks ago, and entered into debate and discussion with the chaplain of that school, who is an avowed liberal.

6:18 And his concept of the gospel is, if you go down into what are called in our area, I live just eight miles from Newark, and about 18 miles from the heart of New York City, you go down into the ghettos and involve yourself with the needs of men in their physical context, and that is communicating the gospel. Liberals don't think of the gospel as a message to be communicated. Well, we're not talking about that. As far as I'm concerned, that's not even worth considering under the title of gospel.

6:48 But when I use the term is today's gospel, the biblical gospel, I'm speaking of the gospel that is generally preached in our evangelical pulpit, the gospel that is generally proclaimed over our evangelical radio ministry, the gospel that is generally set forth in our gospel tract. Now, when I say today's gospel, of course, I am making a generalization. This generalization will not be true in every specific instance. When you say, and when I say, our contemporary society is an immoral and lawless society, you are not saying that every individual is immoral and lawless.

7:32 I hope you are accepting yourself at least when you say this generation is an immoral and lawless generation. I trust you are at least the one exception to that generality. But by and large, it's accurate to say our generation, our society is lawless, our society is this, is characterized by the words immoral and lawless. So when I use the term today's gospel, I am not bringing a sweeping indictment upon every individual Christian or every individual preacher or pastor or gospel tract or radio broadcast or evangelical posting.

8:17 Now, when I say biblical gospel, what do I mean by that? Well, I mean the gospel as preached by our Lord Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the apostles and recorded for us in Holy Scripture, particularly in the book of the Acts of the Apostles and then in any explanation of the gospel given by the apostles and the inspired penman in that section of Holy Scripture called the Epistles. I'm speaking of that gospel which the Church has loved and embraced and preached in the most glorious period of her history. The gospel preached by the Reformers, by the Whitfields and the Spurgeons and the Brainards and the Edwards.

8:58 The gospel preached by these whose ministry was owned with power and with the might of God the Holy Ghost. Now, another question as we move into the subject, and this is all vital. I'm not using this for filler. I've got about ten hours of material that I've got to squeeze into a maximum of three hours and it's most frustrating, and yet I feel these guidelines are necessary.

9:20 I want to ask this question. By what standard will we attempt to answer the question? The question is, is today's gospel the biblical gospel? Now, if we're going to answer that, we must have some standard of evaluation.

9:34 And that standard will be Holy Scripture. For we read in Isaiah 820, to the law and to the testament. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Suppose when you came into the auditorium tonight, you found Pastor Lyon and myself in a very heated argument.

9:57 His face was red. My face was red. Of course, that would never be, but just supposedly. And you drew close and you found that the substance of our argument was that I was claiming I was seven feet six inches tall.

10:09 And he was vehemently saying, you are not seven feet six inches tall. And every time he'd raise his voice and wave his hand, I'd raise mine a little louder and wave my hand. And so we're going at it hot and heavy. I am seven feet six inches tall.

10:24 You are not seven feet six inches tall. I am. You are not. I am.

10:29 You are not. Until all of a sudden, one of you comes in with a little eight and nine year old who has an unusual measure of insight. And this little person comes and lifts his hands and says, Mr. Lyon, Mr. Martin, I have a suggestion.

10:39 And we say, well, what is that? What do you want? I think I can help you with your problem. Oh, you can?

10:44 Yes. He said, I just happen to know that my dad's got a yardstick out in his car. And I think I can solve the problem. So he runs out and gets his yardstick.

10:54 And he comes over and puts it against the wall and takes out his pencil. And he puts the yardstick there at three feet and draws a little mark. Then puts the yardstick at that mark. It's just another little mark.

11:04 And he says, now, Mr. Martin, you're tall enough to do this. Now, let's see. That would be 18 more inches at the top of your head.

11:11 After that, you draw another little mark. And now he says, now, that's seven feet six inches. Now, Mr. Martin, you turn around and back yourself up against the wall.

11:20 And if I were to do that, lo and behold, I would have to concede defeat. I would have to acknowledge that the pastor, your pastor was right and I was wrong. Now, what ended the controversy? Well, when we brought our opinion to an objective, inflexible standard, that was the end of all controversy.

11:40 Now, suppose I admit because I was shown up to be wrong. And I said, all right, that thing says I'm not seven feet six inches tall, but I'm still going to convince you I am. So I go down to Metro Toronto and I get a gang of 10,000 people. And by some tremendous influence over them, a mass hypnosis, I convince all those people I'm seven feet six inches tall.

12:05 And then I bring them out in dust loads and they surround the church and then they chant in unison, he is seven feet six inches tall. He is seven feet six inches tall. He is seven feet six inches tall. But he's not impressed.

12:25 He said, Mr. Martin, I hear all that hollering, but will you get over against that wall, please? And when I get over against the wall, sure enough, all their shouting doesn't stretch me one inch. There I am, 18 inches short.

12:37 I say, all right, I'm not going to concede defeat yet. You won't listen to the great, impressive crowd. I'll get some people with influence. You just think that because these are the rank and file and they're having a riff-raff, so I go down to the university and I get some PhDs.

12:51 And I go down and get the mayor. And I get some people with influence and with pulse and with status. And I convince them that I'm seven feet six inches tall. And so the dignitaries walk in, all looking very dignified, upstate condemnation.

13:05 Mr. Lyon, we are here to inform you, this gentleman is seven feet six inches tall and you'd better believe it because you know who we are? I'm the mayor. I'm the head of such and such department.

13:16 And he takes five minutes to tell us all the degrees he's done. And so and so tells us what he's done. And in the midst of all this, that stubborn little fellow raises his hand. He says, excuse me, gentlemen, I don't want to be injured, but will you watch Mr. Martin walk over to the wall?

13:30 And sure enough. Well, you say, what are you driving at? Well, I hope by now you see. When the issue of a man's physical height is set against an objective, inflexible standard, nothing can change the outcome.

13:49 Multitudes of people claiming otherwise, people of great influence and standing, it doesn't change the fact. And yet I have found, dear people, when one seeks to do this with something so vital as the gospel, and people begin to measure their standing of the gospel by the line on the wall, and they see that it comes to the people who say, today's gospel is the biblical gospel. Today's gospel is the biblical gospel. Today's gospel is the biblical gospel.

14:32 Dr. So-and-so can't be wrong. Mr. So-and-so can't be wrong.

14:36 And this man, a great influence, I love him. Listen, there's one issue these three nights, the line on the wall, a wattage of light in me if I speak not according to this word. And there's not a wattage of light in anybody when it comes to the gospel if he speaks according to this word. Now, so much for the interpretation.

15:11 Now, so much for the interpretation. And I hope you won't forget the line on the wall. And by God's grace, it will all come to that line. Now, to the extent that the gospel priest today in our evangelical circles acknowledges that this book comes from God, oh yes, not dropped out with black covers from heaven carried down by an angel, but it may as well have been, as far as its authority and accuracy.

15:42 God spoke through many different penmen, yes, yes, I understand all of that. But it's the book of God. All scripture is God-breathed. And to the extent that today's gospel acknowledges that, it is the biblical gospel.

15:57 To the extent that it acknowledges that salvation is to be found in no works of man but through the meritorious death and resurrection of Christ, today's gospel is the biblical gospel. But Martin Luther said, and I believe his words are correct, the Bible is prophetic to our own generation. If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, where the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides this is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. And so I want us to focus our attention upon areas of the gospel where the battle rages, and in those areas to ask ourselves, is today's gospel the biblical gospel if not sounding a clear note in these areas? Area number one,

The First Area of Concern: A Sound Doctrine of God

17:19 is today's gospel the biblical gospel when it does not build on a sound doctrine of God? There is a great difference between, and the first statement will be for the theologians and then the next one for the laymen, or I should say, there are some of you laymen who are theologians, forgive me, that terrible sacerdotalism is in the heart of all of us, I'm afraid. There is a great difference between a Christocentric theism, that is, a Christ-centered doctrine of God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, as we worship Him in that opening hymn. There's all the difference in the world between a Christ-centered doctrine of God and a Jesus-only cultism that talks glibly and freely about Jesus. Jesus is friend, companion, Savior, but knows nothing of Jesus revealing a God of majesty and might and power, a God of glory, who causes us to fall before Him in trembling reverence and awe. Now we want to go to the evangelism of the Apostles to try to answer this question.

18:41 Are we embracing, are we communicating to our children as parents, to our Sunday school scholars, as teachers, to our parishioners as pastors, in our literature that we hand out, in the gospel efforts that we support with our money, are we communicating the biblical gospel if we fail to build upon a sound doctrine of God? Well, the only way to answer is to compare the gospel of Scripture with the gospel of today. Now, how did the Apostle Paul evangelize? Certainly, if anyone can be taken as a model of what it means to preach the gospel, it would be the Apostle Paul. Will you turn, please, to the 17th chapter of Acts, where we have a statement of Paul's general practice in evangelizing. Remember, now, he was a pioneer missionary, going out to evangelize with a view to making disciples and then gathering them together into local churches. Acts, chapter 17.

Paul's Evangelism to Jews: Assuming a Foundation

19:48 Verse 1. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. Now, here we have, in a summary statement, Paul's general pattern of evangelism.

20:28 When he would go into a Roman city, he would first of all go to the synagogue. This was the place where the Jews in that area and any proselytes from the Gentiles would come, not primarily for worship. Worship was conducted back at the temple, and three times a year, the males would go up to the temple. But the main purpose of the synagogue was for the reading and exposition, explanation of Holy Scripture.

20:56 Remember, Christ, at the initiation of his ministry, went into the synagogue in his hometown, and then he was given authority to go ahead and read and expound the Scriptures, which he did from the book of the prophecy of Isaiah. Now, when Paul would go into the city and immediately make his way to the synagogue, he then could open up the Scriptures, open up the Scriptures with these people, and move right to what we might call the meaty core of the Gospels, namely, notice, the sufferings of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the long-promised Messiah. Going into the synagogue, Paul could assume this tremendous foundation of Jewish theism, a Jewish biblical doctrine of God. He could assume that these people were clear on the doctrine of creation, in the beginning God created. He stood above his world as its creator. He stood over that world as its governor and preserver.

22:03 He could assume that these people had a basic understanding of the sovereignty of God. They knew something of the history of Israel and how God moved kings and nations to deliver and preserve and establish his people in the land of Canaan. They knew something of the concept of the holiness of God and that God could only be approached on the basis of the blood of an innocent sacrifice. The whole sacrificial system of Judaism was very familiar to them.

22:33 Most of these people would be found going up to Jerusalem three times a year. They were steeped, at least in an external way. It does not mean they understood these things from the heart, but there was at least the intellectual comprehension of these basic tenets of Jewish theism. But now, if Paul were to come into a situation where he couldn't assume this, how did he preach?

Paul's Evangelism to Pagans: Building the Foundation

23:00 When he came to some raw pagans, whether they were intellectual or whether we would call sort of non-intellectual, how did he approach them? Did he immediately open up his Bible and spring it into 20th century vernacular and start telling them about the cross, and about salvation? No, he didn't do this. You know where he began?

23:21 Well, let's see where he began, for in the book of the Acts of the Apostles we have two instances where he's dealing with people in whom he could not assume this foundation of Jewish theism. And how did he start with them? Turn back to Acts 14 and we shall see. Acts chapter 14, beginning with verse number 8.

23:44 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. And then we have in the next few verses the account of how he was miraculously healed through these special gifts given to Paul and his companions. And as a result of this, these people wanted to make a god out of Paul and Barnabas. Since they were polytheists, believing in many gods, why, here they thought maybe a couple of them had dropped down in our midst, and we just simply ought to acknowledge them.

24:20 We have dignitaries among us. So they wanted to call Paul one of the gods and Barnabas one of the others. Verse 14, which when the apostles heard, which when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes and ran in among the people crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that.

24:46 Now what are they going to preach to them? Well, some would say what they ought to do is say this. We are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Others would say, why, it's obvious what you ought to preach.

25:07 They're sinners, they need the gospel. So you ought to tell them Jesus died on the cross for them. Why, anybody knows that. You've gone to Sunday school for a year, you know that, don't you?

25:16 Is that what Paul does? What did he preach? No. We preach unto you that you should turn from these fanatics, unto the living God, which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that have erred in, who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.

25:41 Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. What did he preach to these people as his foundational message? He preached a message of the basic, sound doctrine of God. He started with the doctrine of God as creator.

26:07 He made the heavens, the sea, and everything that is in them. Then in verse 16 he preaches him as the God of great benevolence. He's permitted the nations to go on in their course of sinfulness and rebellion. But he has stood as governor of the nations.

26:24 There is not only the doctrine of the benevolence of God over his creation, but his control of all creatures and his creation. Where does he start? He starts by giving some of the most basic facts about God. He starts with Jesus.

27:01 And in the light of who he is, what I am, when I see what I am, what he is, a sinner's religion. And isn't that what Christianity is, a sinner's religion? Well, it's not a religion for me until I know myself to be a sinner. And I don't know myself to be a sinner in the biblical sense until I see sin in the light of the creation.

27:26 In the light of the creator-creature relationship. Now turn to Acts chapter 17 where we have a similar example here. Paul is not with what we might call ignorant people. He's with the philosophical beatniks of his day.

27:45 I'm often perplexed when I read this passage. Apparently they didn't have welfare statism back then. But how this crowd had nothing to do but stand around and talk is beyond me. How they got their bread in their sheep, I don't know.

28:01 And Skipton is silent. But notice what it says about this crowd in Acts 17, 21. For all the Athenians and strangers that were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. That was their occupation, standing around, talking.

The Necessity of Repentance Toward God

28:20 Here's some new thing. So Paul came along and they thought, well, this fellow is setting forth some strange gods and talking some strange doctrines, so we'll hear him out. So Paul stands, verse 22, Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship.

28:48 Him I declare unto you. Notice what he says. He said, I'm going to be him by telling you some facts about God. Now where does he start?

28:57 Right where he started at Lystra. He became a tyrant in order to be a god. Now Lystra was a tyrant in order to be a god. I say, what did he have to do with all these gods?

29:13 I mean, who, who was the god that created the world? The god that created the world. God that made the world. He's saying to these people, whatever you think of God, you must never think of Him as some vague, impersonal spirit world and all things therein. Not only that, Paul says, he's in control of the world he made, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth. He didn't make his world to sweat off his brow and go off for a vacation to leave it to its own resources. No, no. He made a world and everything in it, and he stands at the top. Whatever you think of God, you

29:59 Athenians, never think that you're going to sit down at the table and have a little dialogue with him. Whatever you think of God, remember he's creator. You're the creature. He's sovereign. You're the subject. You better start thinking straight about him, you Athenians.

30:15 Then he goes on to say, he dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Whatever you think of God, never think of him as a God who can be confined with walls, with brick and mortar. He is the immense, incomprehensible God. He is pure, pure.

30:30 Whatever you think of God, don't limit him by whatever you've seen as a representation of God, idols. He hath made of one blood all nations. I'm sorry, verse 25, neither has he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. You Athenians, all life is dependent upon him, the author and sustainer of life. Then he goes on to deal with the basic facts.

31:01 Then he ends up with the doctrine that this God who made the world and made us and sustains us in him whom we live and move and have our being, we're going to meet him someday, face to face, for he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world by that man whom he hath ordained and given assurance unto all men in that he raised him from the dead. He begins with the doctrine of God as creator, sovereign, sustainer. And ends with the doctrine of God as judge of the world and all men in that world. Now why did he do this? Can you grapple in your thinking with why didn't he move right in to tell them about Jesus? I venture to say if some of the gospelers of our day had stood by Paul, they would have rebuked him by the time he got the second verse out and said, Paul, you're not preaching the gospel. He was preaching the gospel. He knew that the good news would never be good news until the people understood it. He knew that the good

32:07 news would never be good news until the people understood some of these basic facts about God. Now, if that is so, and I believe we've handled honestly these passages of scripture, then it is no surprise to find that Paul put as one of the essential ingredients of his gospel something that is almost lacking in the gospel in our day. We'll touch on that another night. But simply in this connection, turn to Acts 20 and notice what Paul says was one of the main, dominant, clearly spelled out notes of his gospel. Acts chapter 20,

32:49 verse 20. And I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, that is God the Father, and faith toward our God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, my preaching could be summarized under two tremendous headings. One had to do with repentance toward God, one with faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

33:27 Now, what does it mean, repent toward God? It means a change of mind with respect to God, his person, his government, his will, his demand, his glory. How can you tell men to change their mind? How can you tell men to change their mind with reference to God? Until, first of all, you've told them something about this God that he made us. We are his creed. He made us to know him. We have wickedly turned away from him. This God demands that we obey him, and he's expressed his will and his law. We've broken it. We've offended him. We've incurred his wrath. Our breasts are paired to his anger. But blessed be God, this God sent his son, and his son died, and his son was buried. He took him to himself and swallowed up the wrath of God against human sin. He rose from the dead. He went back to the right hand of the Father, that holy God whom we've offended in love, sent his son. We're told to turn from that wicked disposition to ignore the

34:34 claims of God, to defy the rule of God, to live in difference, to fellowship in communion with God. And through his son, Jesus Christ, by casting yourself upon him and pleading mercy on him, you've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. You've offended him. Mercy from him and to enter living fellowship with this God. Repentance toward God. Faith toward our Lord. Then it's not surprising to read, like we do in 1 Thessalonians, how people got converted under the ministry of this kind of preaching. Paul could say, and remember these were his spiritual babies, those of Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 8 and 9, for from you have sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad so that we need not speak anything for they themselves show of us or report of us what manner of entering in we have unto you now notice how that you turn to God that's repentance toward God you turn to God from your idols

The Erosion of Biblical Theism in Society

35:46 to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus that converted the thing that dominated their thinking was this this means that the entire boat faced with reference to the claims and government and will and having turned to his son Jesus they were longing for that day when the work of redemption began would be complete and the son of God when the son of God would come back from heaven to take them to himself now you can't turn to God as creator and governor until you've seen that's what he is and so I submit to you this question is today's gospel the biblical gospel if it fails to take time to build this proper doctrine of God years ago you could have assumed in Canada and in the United States that the average Canadian or the average American was something like the average Jew in a synagogue there was enough basic biblical theism worked into the warp and whoop

37:14 of the whole thinking of our society that you could assume to a greater or lesser degree that people knew whatever I am I'm a created being and I was made by somebody called God and that God sees knows what I'm doing a hundred years ago when the uniformitarian theory of Lyell and some other pseudo-scientists was popularized in the writings of Charles Darwin and this materialistic mechanistic philosophy of evolution was spawned upon the western world particularly way into the warp and whoop and fabric of the world of the thinking of America and Canada that the average person walking down the street can understand the most simple truth of the doctrine of creation we stand back and say how could this happen in the last ten years the student revolt the foreign what the movies that are being shown in the decent movie houses you had to see in the underground art theaters up till five years how could all this come about all at once it hasn't come about all at once

38:41 there's been an evening away at these foundations the same principles of biblical theism if God is the creator and I'm the preacher he has given a law I must obey that law I must regard that law even when men have not been converted men statesmen and others there's been a basic respect for that structure of biblical theism that's gone now absolutely gone and when you and I try to witness to our neighbors we're talking religious gobbledygook to say Christ died for sinners they have no concept of what sin is no concept of the claims of God no concept of the transcendent majesty of God and pity of pities they can come to most of our churches and never once be gripped with the fact that God is an infinitely holy and majestic who ought to be seen in the day and yet the apostle Paul says that's precisely the thing that ought to grip the heart of an unconverted man when he comes into the church let me ask you a question you who are members here of Kenmer Baptist Church you pastor the church where you are a teaching ruling elder suppose I gave you paper and pencil and said will you write down the one thing above all others

The Church's Role in Revealing God's Majesty

40:10 that you would long that every unconverted visitor who stepped within your walls would be made aware of in your church what would you put just one thing oh you'd like many things but one thing above all else you would long that unconverted people coming into the midst of the gathered assembly what one thing would you long they would sense above all else but the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 sets before us that which in his mind should be the answer that every one of us would put 1 Corinthians chapter 14 beginning with verse 23 1 Corinthians 14 23 if therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak with tongues and there come in those that are unlearned or are not learned or unbelievers will they not say that they are mad but if all prophesy and there come in one that believeth not or one unlearned uninstructed in the things of God he is convinced of all he is judged of all and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest

41:35 and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is a man among you of a truth that sets the forces in the people of God should be the people of the presence of a God who when he is discovered even in that initial way by the unburned or unconverted they discover him as a God before whom they should be found not snuggling up straight upon their face upon his face with the contemporary today's gospel where you see we've tried to make the Lord Jesus and the Father the Lord Jesus very comfortable we try to make our church the friendly little church on the corner where everybody feels cozy come and snuggle up to God with us the mark of the grave periods of the church when the Holy Ghost is broken forth upon whole communities is the sense of the presence of God

43:01 which never led men to sober into holy and sanctified all I remember conversing with a friend of mine had a friend who happened to be in Wales during that time of the great moving of God in what's commonly called the Welsh Revival at the turn of the century in the 1900s and as this individual was explaining to my friend that mighty visitation of the Spirit of God in those days my friend being rather outgoing in fact I always feel convicted that I'm pretty sedate and rather withdrawn and inhibited when I get around and he's very outgoing and I can just picture his eyes lighting up with holy delight and pushing to the edge of his chair and then he burst out and said to this man he said oh my when the Spirit of God was moving like that it must have been glorious to preach this individual turned to my friend and he said no my friend we didn't want to preach we wanted we wanted to hide the God who made us

Serving God with Reverence and Godly Fear

44:30 the God who knows the God who holds our lives our destiny is sovereign hell and when I write for that God in the yawning mouth of hell cries for us and the justice of God remains to cry why is it there's so little glow of holy worship in our attendance well how can you get people to worship who've never been driven back by the sense of the oftenness of God it says in the last two verses of Hebrews 12 I want to read these verses and make several applications and then I'll have to close I had hoped to get 2.5 things that I want to cover these three nights but I trust that perhaps covering one somewhat thoroughly will bring more profit than covering two in a tertiary manner will you look carefully at the last two verses of Hebrews chapter 12 wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

45:56 for the only time of service acceptable to God well this tells us right here to God whether it's the service of worship the service of attending to God to his word as we're doing tonight the service of communicating a gospel tract the service of pleading with God for souls of men whatever we render to him in the way of speaking to him is that remembering who God is he's a consuming fire enables me to draw near with full confidence I never draw near with pride and maudlin sentimental over-familiarity one of the greatest indications of the life of the church is the fact that it's hymnody the hymnody of the church is the reflex action of its heart and its mind to its understanding and experience with God let me repeat that the hymnody of the church

47:21 is the reflex action of its heart understanding and experience with God and you listen to the hymnody that's being written in our day in our evangelical circles by people who have close been saved by today's gospel and what is that hymnody? it's an imitation of the word these little bitties I have a wonderful friend with my heart he makes my home heaven every day and if someday he decides this will let him in and unify this wonderful young oh how different by contrast the words that have been written by a man named who said eternal eternal life how pure that soul must be which place within thy burning light shrinks not but with calm delight can live and look on thee the spirit that surround thy throne may bear this burning bliss but surely that is theirs never never known a fallen world like this how shall I whose native breath whose mind is dim before the he sees a problem God is

48:48 and then those last two stances there is a way for man to rise sublime a bold sacrifice a holy picture with God peace peace peace and light of holiness above the sons of ignorance in night may dwell with the eternal light through the eternal love all the intimacy of the gospel the sons of ignorance in night dwelling in that soberly reflect tonight and come to the line in the wall and ask the question is today's gospel

50:06 the biblical gospel when it does not build on a sound doctrine of God you can't what's your great task I'll tell you what it is under God it's to lay in the minds of your children biblical concepts of God so that they can have biblical conviction of truth and biblical experience of repentance towards God your task is not to shunt them off to every little child evangelism class and crank a decision out of them before they're two and a half years old your task is to send your school to minds of preachers to preach to obey Isaiah for it get up into a high mountain and say unto the cities of Judah behold your God now if we stop there that wouldn't be the biblical gospel but if we don't start there I wonder if it is you hear me if we stop there that wouldn't be the biblical gospel but if we don't start there are we being Pauline as we seek to communicate the gospel to the pagans in the mid twentieth century may God grant us to face the question go to the line in the wall and come to the come away with the end dictated by Holy Spirit