GREAT IS THE GOSPEL OF OUR GLORIOUS GOD

Transcription

1 GREAT IS THE GOSPEL OF OUR GLORIOUS GOD A very special meeting took place on 6 th January As far as the main person involved was concerned it was a meeting he hadn t planned. He was a young sixteen-year-old who was making his way to another church I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people s heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache. The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. The text was, LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. Then the good man followed up his text in this way: Look unto Me; I am sweatin great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin at the Father s right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! Look unto Me!... Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I dare say, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, Young man, you look very miserable and you always will be miserable miserable in life, and miserable in death, if you don t obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved. Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live. That young man looked, and he wrote afterwards, I saw at once the way of salvation There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood or Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me this before, Trust Christ, and you shall be saved....

2 2 One hundred and sixty-three years ago today, in a little church in Essex, - with an unknown preacher preaching the Gospel filling in for the preacher who was to come, but couldn t because of the snow, - that was the night God met and saved the young Charles Spurgeon. It is not the preacher, nor the church building but it is Christ alone that saves! What a wonderful Gospel we have! We don t say it often enough! While there are many people pursuing many different types of joy and fulfilment that prove so elusive, we have a God Who loves us so much He provided His Son to bring us to Himself. This beautiful Gospel that is precious to us IT S SIMPLE Spurgeon commented on the preacher, He didn t even pronounce the word rightly, but that did not matter and he spoke about the man preaching in broad Essex. He continued, When he had managed to spin out ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. The Holy Spirit does not need to use fancy words to reach into a person s soul and He showed Spurgeon that day exactly what he must do through the plain preaching of that simple man. The Gospel is all God s, - it all belongs to Him. Consider His glory, - you must look to His glory if you will understand the Gospel. He is the Is. 9:6 Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace II Chron. 2:5 great is our God above all gods. He is seated upon the throne of Heaven, high and lifted up (Is. 6:1). Who is a God like unto thee, Micah asked (7:18). He created the heavens and the earth, and the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead (Rom. 1:20). Every person who has ever lived, every creature that has inhabited this earth, has been shown His glory. John wrote, 1:14 we beheld his glory The writer to the Hebrews spoke about His shekinah, 1:3 the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. Paul refers to Him as the Lord of Glory (I Cor. 2:8). This same glory is the privilege of His Redeemed, because He has made known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.

3 3 Over and over again throughout Scripture, we are blessed with the glorious Gospel of God s grace. Yes, there are times we are mystified, - as was Spurgeon and yet, with all the saints whose eyes have been open by the Saviour, it is the testimony of our hearts, Ps. 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. Yet, this same God descended from Glory to come into this sinful world. He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). Yes, He made Himself, - there was none or nothing that forced Him, - such is sovereign grace! The Gospel is all His! He formulated it in the secrecy of His own counsel. He didn t discuss it with the sinner or with the devil to see how He would compose it. Salvation is all of the Lord, - no interference, or nothing coming in from the outside! The plan of salvation is all His. Through His own sovereign and eternal choice, He elected us to saving grace! Spurgeon again, In my conversion, the very point lay in making the discovery that I had nothing to do but to look to Christ. It s marvellous, and yet it is so simple simple from God s point of view, and also simple from our point of view. If it was complicated, none of us could understand it and benefit from it. It doesn t take a university degree or years of working out. You don t need to go to some so-called holy mountain and follow a whole rig-ma-roll of man s imaginations. It s so simple all you have to do is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 16:31). It s so simple It s not about religion, it s about a relationship. God, in Heaven, from before this world was created embarked upon a plan He would make simple enough for even the lowest of intelligence to comprehend. In time, He sent His Son to die on a wooden cross on a hill where ordinary criminals were sent to die. Yes, granted, how would it be possible for such a plan to arrest the attention of hardened sinners? He even made provision for that too. He sent the Holy Spirit into this world to open the eyes of those whom He would have believe to realise their sin, the immeasurableness of God s mercy, and His welcoming arms to receive them in salvation. IT S SUFFICIENT From God s point of view, nothing more needs to be done. He has finalised all that is required. He gave the dimensions for the ark of Noah, and the ark of the tabernacle, and the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem all the measurements were intricate and exact.

4 4 When He created the man and the woman, there was no sin, - no imperfection, no faults, no mistakes, - they were impeccable, skilfully crafted by the hand of God. The psalmist declared, 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. As the crowd who watched Jesus exclaimed, Mk. 7:37 He hath done all things well. His is the only Gospel that doesn t require the sinner to contribute, in fact, as Augustus Toplady wrote, Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Helpless look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die. From His own lips, the God of our salvation confirms, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness II Cor. 12:9). Yes, from God s point of view, nothing more needs to be done and from my point of view I m glad because there is nothing I can do to effectuate my salvation. If I was to add up all my attempts at righteousness, they would come to so embarrassingly little! They would be like putting on filthy rags going into the presence of the King of kings. There is nothing I can boast of that I have gained acceptance before God, except that I have been born again by the Holy Spirit and I m dependent on the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to save me and to keep me! You see, Ps. 44:8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise [His] name for ever. And what He did for us, - in His plan of salvation, - is altogether sufficient for not only today and tomorrow, but it is also sufficient for eternity! Yes, this beautiful Gospel that is precious to us is simple and sufficient, and also IT S SATISFYING Again, from God s point of view, when He saw His Son taking my sin and nailing it to the cross, it pleased the LORD to bruise him (Is. 53:10). In other words, when He considered His plan of salvation required a sacrifice of inestimable proportions, He presented His Son as a lamb to the slaughter (v.7), and upon Him He laid the iniquity of us all (v.6) yes, all His Redeemed! Only by the sacrifice of His Son would our sins be eternally removed. When, with the eyes of eternity, He surveyed Calvary, the prophet recorded, v.11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

5 5 And because it is satisfying to Him, it is also satisfying to me. From my point of view, I don t have to wonder if I have done enough to be saved because it has been taken completely out of my hands. I don t have to wait until death to find out if He will call my name or not, and if I am going to Heaven for His Word promises me, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16). It s not what I have done to work my salvation, it s all that He has done. He sent His Son to die for me. He brought me into contact with the Gospel. He, - as He did with Lydia beside the river in Philippi (Lk. 16:14f.), - through sovereign and saving grace, He opened my heart to believe and I believed in Him to be saved. All the glory is His. There is nothing I can claim a reward for. Down at the cross where my Saviour died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name! It s simple, sufficient, satisfying, and IT S SACRED Yes, it s sacred because my salvation is all of God. It started with Him from before the world was created and it will continue on out with Him, even into eternity. The plan of my salvation is older than this earth. It will outlast the planets, the stars, the sun and the moon. It is as eternal as God Himself, Ps. 103:17 the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children. Sacred is an old word that describes something dedicated and set apart separated unto. And, from God s point of view, He has separated us unto Himself from out of anything else that would make claims upon us. It s like when He declared, Is. 43:1 I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. His Word describes us as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that [we] should show forth the praises of him who hath called [us] out of darkness into his marvellous light. That s how He sees us, - we are sacred/holy unto Him. Yes, and the proof we are sacred onto Him is that He is sacred unto us. He occupies the highest place in our hearts. His will is the utmost of our desires. When we speak about Him, we speak about Him with reverence. His Name is the highest word in our vocabulary. His direction is the only direction we want to follow. There is no salvation like that which He has worked within us and upon us. There is no other Gospel, but His. We won t exchange it for another, or allow it to be set alongside any other. This Gospel, - our Gospel, - is the power of God unto salvation to every one

6 6 that believeth (Rom. 1:16). It s worth laying your life down for and many have. It s worth setting yourself apart for because that was what Jesus did for us Jn. 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us Phil. 2:8 being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Yes, this Gospel of ours is sacred, because the Christ upon Whom it is firmly founded is sacred. He is the One Who is Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come (Rev. 4:8)... to Whom, even the demons that spoke from the lips of the man called Legion had to declare, Mk. 1:24 I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. CONCLUSION So, as we rise to sing the hymn, will the words come from your heart, Great is the mystery of godliness, great is the work of God s own holiness; it moves my soul, and causes me to long for greater joys than to the earth belong? Are you saved, and following the Master? Is the Son of God your Saviour? Is your soul moved when you consider Christ and Calvary? Has He washed you re your sins forever by His wonderful work of grace that they will be no more remembered against you? The Spirit vindicated Christ our Lord, and angels sang with joy and sweet accord; the nations heard, a dark world flamed with light when Jesus rose in glory and in might. Along with Isaiah, it is our privilege to proclaim, 25:9 Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Spurgeon again wrote, I could not believe that it was possible that my sins could be forgiven. I do not know why, but I seemed to be the odd person in the world. When the catalogue was made out, it appeared to me that, for some reason, I must have been left out. If God had saved me, and not the world, I should have wondered indeed; but if He had saved all the world except me, that would have seemed to me to be but right. And now, being saved by grace, I cannot help saying, "I am indeed a brand plucked out of the fire! I trust this Gospel is God s work of grace each of us here are resting in for our eternal salvation, and that when we leave this scene of time, He will welcome us home to Glory, and there, so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:17). Amen.