Participants:
Series Code: TAM
Program Code: TAM000002S
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00:30 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
00:31 Our Father and our God, we come before Your throne today 00:38 confessing our own insufficiency, and the inability 00:43 to understand Your Word without our finite minds. 00:47 Therefore we ask that you would be present with us, 00:52 through the ministration of Your Holy Spirit. 00:54 We ask, Lord, that You will give us clarity of thought, 00:58 that you will give us willing hearts, that we might understand 01:03 Your will for our lives. 01:05 As we study about the marvelous plan of the everlasting gospel, 01:09 we ask that You will instill in our hearts a deeper love 01:14 each day for You, and for Your Beloved Son Jesus, 01:17 for we ask it in His precious name, Amen. 01:22 As I mentioned in our last study together, we are going to study 01:29 today about the everlasting gospel. 01:33 And I'd like to read the first angel's message where we find 01:37 the reference to the everlasting gospel. 01:40 I'm reading from Revelation 14: 6, 7. 01:47 It says the following: Then I saw another angel flying 01:54 in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach 02:01 to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, 02:06 tongue, and people. 02:26 Interestingly enough, the apostle John wrote several books 02:33 of the New Testament. 02:34 He wrote the gospel of John, Revelation, 02:38 as well as three epistles. 02:40 But this is the only time in the writings of John where you 02:45 find the word gospel, and much less the everlasting gospel. 02:53 Now because this is the only time in the writings of John 02:58 where we find the reference to the gospel, 03:00 it's necessary for us to go to other places in Scripture 03:05 to study this topic of the everlasting gospel. 03:09 And so we're going to go to other places in Scripture that 03:14 describe the meaning of the everlasting gospel. 03:17 Now the first question that we want to ask is this: 03:21 Why is the gospel called everlasting? 03:26 After all the Bible tells us that the gospel was the 03:30 salvation event in Jesus Christ. 03:32 So what makes the gospel everlasting? 03:36 Well, in order to understand why the gospel is everlasting 03:42 we need to go back to the story that we find of the fall 03:47 in the book of Genesis. 03:49 So go back with me to Genesis 2, and we're going to look at 03:56 several important details that will set the framework 03:59 for understanding the meaning of the everlasting gospel. 04:03 The first thing that I want to review from Genesis 1 and 2 04:07 is that God, that is Jesus, created Adam and Eve 04:12 holy, innocent, and righteous. 04:16 And the Bible tells us that in order to show this righteousness 04:22 in a visible way, God clothed Adam and Eve with a 04:27 literal robe of light. 04:29 But that literal robe of light symbolized something; 04:33 it represented something. 04:35 The literal robe of light represented their righteousness, 04:40 their obedience to the law of God. 04:43 In other words, the literal robe of light represented 04:47 obedience to God's law. 04:49 It showed that Adam and Eve were righteous, 04:53 because they had not broken God's holy law. 04:56 But we're told in the book of Genesis that when Adam and Eve 05:00 sinned the first result of their sin was that this literal robe 05:05 of light disappeared. 05:07 And we find in Genesis 2:25 the description of what happened 05:13 when the robe of light disappeared. 05:15 It says there in Genesis 2:25, first of all, about their 05:22 original condition, and then we'll read verse 7 of chapter 3. 05:26 It says: And they were both naked, the man and his wife, 05:29 and were not ashamed. 05:31 But now notice verse 7. 05:32 Immediately after their sin it says: Then the eyes of both of 05:37 them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. 05:41 So in other words, in their innocence, when they were 05:45 obedient to God's holy law, they had a literal robe of light 05:49 that represented spiritual obedience to God's holy law. 05:55 But when they sinned the literal robe of light left them, 06:00 and they became literally naked. 06:03 Now what did the literal nakedness represent? 06:07 It represented the fact that now they were 06:10 disobedient to God's law. 06:12 They were unrighteous. 06:13 In other words, being clothed with the robe of light 06:17 represented obedience to God's law, whereas being unclothed 06:21 or naked represented, or symbolized disobedience 06:25 to God's holy law. 06:27 And, of course, the Bible tells us that the nakedness of Adam 06:33 and Eve led ultimately to the sentence of death against them. 06:38 And it's no coincidence that the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 06:43 refers to death as nakedness, because your body 06:48 goes back to the dust. 06:50 Your body is your clothing, so to speak, spiritually speaking. 06:54 And so when man dies, the apostle Paul says 06:57 that he's left naked. 07:00 So the nakedness of Adam and Eve represented the fact that 07:05 ultimately they were going to die, and they were going to be 07:09 left naked; their body, in other words, 07:11 was going to disintegrate. 07:13 We find in Romans 6:23 the sentence of death. 07:19 And I want to read just the first part of Romans 6:23. 07:24 It says there: 07:29 The wages of sin is death, or the ultimate nakedness 07:35 or unclothing, according to the apostle Paul 07:38 in 2 Corinthians 5:2-4. 07:43 I like to think of this topic of the wages of sin being death, 07:49 in the context of what I call an equal opportunity employer. 07:54 You know, sin is actually personified in Romans 6:23. 08:01 The wages of sin is death. 08:03 In other words, Mr. Sin is an employer. 08:07 Whoever works for Mr. Sin, the wages that that person earns 08:13 are what? death. The wages of sin are death. 08:17 So when Adam and Eve sinned, they began to be employees 08:22 of Mr. Sin. And Mr. Sin said, Being that you're working 08:27 for me, being that you're committing sin, the wages that 08:31 I'm going to pay you are wages of death. 08:34 Now it's very important for us to realize that the death that 08:39 God was talking about was not only physical death. 08:42 God was speaking about eternal separation from Him. 08:47 He was referring to spiritual death. 08:49 He was referring to spiritual death, but he was also referring 08:54 to eternal or everlasting death. 08:57 And the Bible says that Adam and Eve should have 09:00 died that very day. 09:02 Notice Genesis 2:17. 09:05 The Bible is very clear on this point. 09:08 Genesis 2:17. It says there, God is speaking: 09:15 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 09:18 you shall not eat: for in the day that you eat of it 09:24 you shall surely die. 09:26 Notice, God didn't tell Adam, You know, 09:28 you'll die 930 years later. 09:30 He said, The day that you eat of the tree, that is the day 09:35 that you will surely die. 09:37 In other words, there was no doubt that Adam and Eve 09:40 should have died that very day. 09:43 And, of course, the question is, Why didn't they die that very 09:49 day in which they sinned? in which they were left physically 09:53 naked, which represented their spiritual nakedness, 09:57 in other words their unrighteousness, 09:58 which eventually would lead to death, to the decomposition 10:02 of their bodies; the ultimate nakedness. 10:05 Why didn't they suffer death in all of its 10:09 implications that day? 10:11 The reason why is because God had established an everlasting 10:17 plan in the ceaseless ages of eternity. 10:21 In fact, that plan that God established before the 10:27 foundation of the world, we're going to read it in a moment 10:29 from Scripture, in vision two things: 1. It envisioned 10:35 choosing a perfect, unblemished, lamb. 10:40 And then that perfect, unblemished lamb was to be 10:45 sacrificed for the sin of humanity. 10:49 In the case of Adam and Eve, for the sin that they 10:53 had just committed. 10:55 Now it's very important to realize that this plan was not 10:58 implemented by God as an emergency. 11:01 God didn't say, Uh oh, human beings sinned. 11:04 What are we going to do now? 11:05 The fact is that this plan had already been made before 11:10 this world was even created. 11:13 In other words, God always had a contingency plan. 11:17 It was not a last minute emergency plan. 11:20 God knew all the time what was going to be necessary to 11:24 save man from his sin. 11:27 Notice 1 Peter 1:18-20, and we're going to read especially 11:34 two phrases in this passage. 11:36 1 Peter 1:18-20. Here the apostle Peter 11:42 says the following: 11:59 Notice that Jesus had to shed His blood. 12:06 There it is. 12:12 Notice two things: the lamb had to be without blemish, 12:15 and then the lamb had to be what? sacrificed. 12:18 His blood had to be shed. 12:20 Now when was this plan made, and when was 12:24 this plan implemented? 12:25 Notice what we find in verse 20. 12:28 He, that is Jesus, indeed was foreordained, in other words 12:34 this plan was made before the foundation of the world, 12:39 but was made manifest, in other words was implemented, 12:44 in these last times for you. 12:48 So when was the plan of redemption 12:51 elaborated and established? 12:54 It was not established when human beings sinned. 12:56 The Bible tells us that Jesus had already in eternity past, 13:02 offered to live a perfect life as a lamb, and to suffer death 13:07 in place of human beings. 13:09 He was foreordained before the foundation of the world. 13:13 Sin did not catch God by surprise. 13:17 God already had a plan. 13:19 That's the reason why the gospel is called, The Everlasting 13:23 Gospel, is because it goes all the way into eternity past, 13:28 at least as a plan. 13:30 Now I want us to notice that this plan was announced to Adam 13:36 and Eve when they sinned. 13:38 You see, the Bible tells us that they were covered with the 13:41 glorious robe of light, which represented their obedience 13:45 to the law of God; their righteousness. 13:47 When they sinned, the Bible tells us that they were left 13:50 physically naked, which represented the fact that now 13:54 they were unrighteous. 13:56 In other words they were disobedient to God's law. 13:59 So, basically they needed to be covered once again. 14:02 They needed the robe of righteousness once again. 14:05 But how could their nakedness be covered? 14:08 The fact is the Bible tells us that they tried to cover 14:12 their nakedness in a very unique way. 14:14 Notice Genesis 3:7, Genesis 3:7. 14:18 Immediately after they find themselves naked, 14:21 because of their sin, we find this statement. 14:24 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, 14:28 and they knew that they were naked; 14:31 and they sewed fig leaves together, 14:34 and made themselves coverings. 14:37 How did they attempt to cover their unrighteousness, 14:41 or their disobedience to God's law? 14:44 They tried to cover it by making garments of fig leaves 14:50 themselves, and by clothing themselves. 14:53 But the interesting thing is, if you read all the way down 14:56 to verse 10 you're going to discover that Adam and Eve, 14:59 even after they were covered with the fig leaves, 15:02 they still felt naked. 15:04 Because when God came looking for them, Adam said we hid 15:06 in the midst of the trees of the garden because we were naked. 15:10 Well, the fact is they were covered with the fig 15:12 leaves at this point. 15:14 But they still feel naked, because the glorious robe of 15:17 light was not there; there were just fig leaves. 15:19 And they knew that in order to have the innocence of God 15:24 they needed to have the robe of light. 15:27 And so they're standing there in the garden, they're trembling, 15:30 they're shaking, they know that the sentence of death 15:32 should fall upon them. 15:33 And God descends to the garden and He gives a magnificent 15:38 prophecy, that we find in Genesis 3:15. 15:40 This is when the gospel plan is first announced after sin. 15:46 It says there in Genesis 3:15, and God is speaking to the 15:50 serpent. He's speaking to the Devil. 16:00 He, that is the seed of the woman. 16:08 In other words, God is saying, I'm going to send 16:10 a seed to the world. 16:11 And that seed is going to war against you, 16:15 serpent, against you, the Devil. 16:18 In the process of the war you are going to wound His heel, 16:22 but after wounding His heel, He is going to crush your head. 16:27 Now the question is, What event was going to crush 16:31 the head of the serpent? 16:33 How could this seed of the woman defeat the serpent 16:41 in order to restore to man what man had lost? 16:45 How could man be covered with the glorious robe 16:48 of light once again? 16:50 The fact is that in verse 21, just a few verses 16:54 after verse 15, we find how God was going to cover 16:59 the nakedness of Adam and Eve. 17:01 It says in verse 21, of chapter 3: 17:09 Notice for Adam and his wife. 17:12 Somebody else is doing this; this is God. 17:20 Garments that is of what? 17:29 Who made the garments? God did. 17:32 What did He make them from? skins. 17:35 What do you need to do to get the skin of an animal? 17:38 The animal has to die. 17:40 In other words, the very day that Adam and Even sinned, 17:44 that very day there was a death. 17:47 The lamb died. A perfect lamb was sacrificed. 17:52 The plan had been made before sin, 17:55 before the foundation of the world, 17:56 according to what we read in 1 Peter 1. 17:59 But here the plan is being announced. 18:03 The seed is going to come is what God is saying. 18:06 He's going to crush the head of the serpent. 18:08 And the way He's going to do it is that He's going to be a 18:11 perfect lamb who will be sacrificed, 18:14 and with His garments the nakedness 18:17 of man will be covered. 18:22 Now throughout the Old Testament the gospel was foreshadowed. 18:27 Before Jesus came, how were people saved? 18:31 You know, some people think that people were only saved 18:35 after Jesus died on the cross. 18:36 The fact is how was Israel saved in the Old Testament? 18:40 Were they lost because Jesus, the Lamb of God, had not come 18:44 to live His perfect life, and had not suffered 18:47 death in place of man? Absolutely not! 18:50 God provided a way, even in the Old Testament, so that Adam and 18:55 Eve, and all of their descendents before Jesus came, 18:58 could understand that a perfect lamb was going to come and live 19:03 a perfect life, and then that lamb was going to die 19:07 for the sins of man. 19:08 And we're talking about a person. 19:10 But the way that God illustrated it in the Old Testament was by 19:14 the sacrificial system, the ceremonial system 19:18 that God gave to Israel. 19:19 Now there's many things that we could say about the sacrificial 19:23 system, but I want to underline two facts concerning the system 19:27 of sacrifices in the Old Testament. 19:29 The first thing that I want to underline is that the priest 19:34 that offered the sacrifice had to be 19:37 absolutely without blemish. 19:38 And obviously it's not talking about moral blemish, 19:42 it's talking about physical, external blemish. 19:45 Let me read from Leviticus 21: 17-21. 19:50 Speak to Aaron saying, No man of your descendents 19:55 in succeeding generations who has any defect may approach 20:01 to offer the bread of his God. 20:03 For any man who has a defect shall not approach a man blind, 20:10 or lame, who has a marred face, or any limb too long, 20:14 a man who has a broken foot, or broken hand, 20:18 or is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect 20:22 in his eye, or eczema, or scab, or is a eunuch. 20:27 No man of the descendents of Aaron the priest who has a 20:32 defect shall come near to offer the offerings made 20:35 by fire to the Lord. 20:37 He has a defect. He shall not come near to offer 20:41 the bread of his God. 20:43 In other words, the priest had to be without blemish; 20:48 the priest that offered the sacrifice. 20:52 But also the victim that the priest offered had 20:55 to be without blemish. 20:57 Notice Leviticus 22:20-22, Leviticus 22:20-22. 21:05 Speaking about the victims that were offered 21:09 in the sacrificial system, we find Moses writing this: 21:14 Whatever has any defect you shall not offer: 21:18 for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. 21:22 And whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord 21:27 to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the 21:31 cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted. 21:35 There shall be no defect in it. 21:40 Those that are blind, or broken, or maimed, or have an ulcer, 21:45 or eczema, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, 21:50 nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. 21:55 In other words, the priest that offered the sacrifice 21:59 had to be without blemish, and the sacrifice that he offered 22:03 also had to be without blemish. 22:07 Now let me ask you, Why did you have to have a priest without 22:12 blemish, and a victim without blemish? 22:14 Because, as we're going to notice, this pointed forward 22:18 to the fact that Jesus was going to officiate His own sacrifice. 22:24 Many times in the book of Hebrews we're told that Jesus 22:28 offered Himself a sacrifice. 22:31 But in order to offer the sacrifice, 22:34 He had to be an unblemished priest, 22:37 and He also had to be an unblemished sacrifice. 22:41 And in all of this system in the Old Testament God was 22:45 foreshadowing the gospel. 22:48 The fact that a perfect priest, and a perfect sacrifice would 22:52 come in the future to live the life that human beings should 22:56 live, and to die the death that human beings should die. 23:00 But folks, none of these sacrifices 23:02 actually took away sin. 23:04 Legally no one was saved until Jesus lived His perfect life, 23:11 and died on the cross of Calvary. 23:14 Now you say, Weren't people saved in the Old Testament? 23:17 Yes, they were. Do you know how they were saved? 23:19 by seeing Jesus Christ in their sacrifices; 23:23 the Jesus that would come in the future. 23:25 In other words, they were saved by looking at the sacrifices, 23:29 and seeing in the sacrifices, and in the priest, 23:31 the future coming of the Messiah. 23:33 They had faith in the Messiah. 23:35 We are saved in the same way, only we look back 23:40 to an accomplished fact. 23:41 But both groups, Old Testament and New Testament, 23:44 are saved by the same Jesus. 23:47 In the Old Testament they were saved on the 23:50 basis of the promise. 23:51 Today we are saved on the basis of the fulfillment. 23:55 But none of those ceremonies in the Old Testament could actually 23:59 remove sin legally. 24:01 Only could they be removed because they had faith 24:04 in what Jesus would do. 24:05 And that's the reason why in Hebrews 10:4 we're told: 24:11 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats 24:18 could take away sin. 24:20 Now we want to come to the times of Christ. 24:24 You see, we've looked at the gospel from this 24:26 different perspective. 24:27 We've looked at the gospel plan established 24:31 in the ages of eternity. 24:32 We looked at the gospel as it was announced to Adam and Eve. 24:37 We've looked at the gospel as it was foreshadowed 24:40 in the sacrificial system. 24:42 Now we want to look at the fulfillment 24:44 of this gospel promise. 24:47 You see, the fulfillment of this promise was when Jesus Christ 24:51 decided to leave the courts of heaven and come to this earth 24:58 and live the life that all of us should live, 25:01 in perfect obedience and harmony with the law of God. 25:05 And then at the end of His life, after living a perfect life 25:10 in harmony with the law of God, to take upon Himself the sins 25:16 of all of the world, and make payment for all of those sins. 25:21 Now Jesus could do this because Jesus created everyone. 25:25 So He who created all could take the place of all. 25:28 He could live a perfect life for all, and He could suffer death 25:33 for all, according to the New Testament. 25:35 So the mission of Jesus was to come, and as a priest 25:39 live an unblemished life, and as a sacrifice be an unblemished 25:44 perfect sacrifice. 25:46 The New Testament makes it very clear that Jesus was 25:49 an unblemished priest. 25:51 Notice Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 4: 15. 25:58 Here we find the apostle Paul saying, For we do not have 26:04 a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. 26:09 Another way of putting it is: We have a high priest who is able 26:14 to sympathize with our weaknesses. 26:16 ...but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 26:24 Was He a perfect priest? a perfect high priest? Yes. 26:29 Notice Hebrews 7:26 where this idea of the perfect 26:33 high priest is underlined. 26:36 Once again, Hebrews 7:26 says, For such a high priest 26:41 was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, 26:48 separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. 26:53 So do we have a high priest that lived an absolutely perfect life 26:58 in harmony with God's holy law? 27:00 Did He weave a robe of perfect righteousness? 27:04 He most certainly did. 27:05 But let me ask you, was He also a perfect victim when He 27:09 took our sins upon Himself? 27:11 Was He a clean, perfect, unblemished victim? 27:16 He most certainly was. 27:17 Let's read 1 Peter 1:18, 19 once again. 27:21 1 Peter 1:18, 19. 27:46 Was Jesus the perfect priest? 27:48 He most certainly was. 27:50 Was He the perfect sacrifice? Yes. 27:53 In fact Jesus, by living a perfect life in harmony with 27:57 the law of God, through that life Jesus wove a perfect 28:05 robe of righteousness for every human being that has ever 28:09 lived on Planet Earth. 28:10 And when Jesus died on the cross He died the death that every 28:15 human being on Planet Earth should die. 28:19 In other words Jesus lived for all, and Jesus died for all. 28:24 In fact this is what Scripture teaches. 28:27 Notice, for example, what we find in 1 John 2:2. 28:43 For how many sins did Jesus die? 28:46 For how many people did Jesus live? 28:48 He lived for everyone on Planet Earth. 28:51 And, of course, you're acquainted with that most famous 28:54 verse in the Bible: For God so loved Fresno. 28:57 Well, Fresno too. 29:00 For God so loved what? 29:05 For whom did God give His Son? 29:08 He gave His Son for the whole world. 29:11 He died for the sins of the world. 29:13 He lived the life that every person in the world should live. 29:17 In Isaiah 53:6 we find, once again, the same idea that Jesus 29:23 lived and died for every person in the world. It says there: 29:40 And in Galatians 3:13, we could read many, many more verses, 29:45 Galatians 3:13, we're told by the apostle Paul: 29:53 And notice how He did it. 30:03 So if I ask you, Did Jesus pay the debt of the sins 30:07 of the whole world? 30:09 What would your answer be? 30:10 Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. 30:12 Jesus lived a life for every person that has ever 30:16 lived on this earth. 30:17 He wove the robe. 30:19 Jesus died the death that every person on 30:22 Planet Earth should die. 30:24 Jesus fully paid the debt of the whole human race. 30:27 Some people say, Well, then Pastor, everybody's going 30:30 to be saved, right? 30:31 No, folks. You see, we've talked now about the gospel gift, 30:37 but the Bible tells us that in order to benefit from the gospel 30:41 gift we have to accept, or we have to receive that gift. 30:45 Do you remember the text that we read from Romans 6:23? 30:51 For the wages of sin is what? is death. 30:55 See when you serve Mr. Sin, Mr. Sin says, 30:58 Well, you're entitled to your check. 31:00 Your check is death. 31:02 That's your payment, you know. 31:04 Let me ask you, Did I earn it? 31:05 Sure! I worked for him, right? 31:08 But notice the last half of Romans 6:23. 31:10 It says: but the free gift of God is eternal life through 31:16 Jesus Christ our Lord. 31:18 In other words, we serve Mr. Sin, 31:22 and we earn our wages of death. 31:24 But salvation is a what? salvation is a gift. 31:29 Do you remember that most famous verse in the Bible? 31:32 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. 31:36 So is all of the world going to be saved? No. 31:39 Because the last half of the verse says, For God so loved 31:42 the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, 31:45 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 31:49 but have everlasting life. 31:51 Let me illustrate what I mean. 31:52 Let's suppose that there's a bank, 31:55 we'll call it the Bank of the Universe, 31:58 and there's a super rich person, who just happens to be Jesus 32:04 Christ, who deposits enough money in that bank for every 32:09 person on Planet Earth to pay all of their debts: 32:12 credit cards, mortgage, auto payments, educational loans, 32:20 you name it. He puts enough money in there to pay every debt 32:23 of every person on Planet Earth. 32:26 Is there enough money in the bank to pay for 32:28 everyone's release from debt? Absolutely! 32:32 But there's only one condition: you have to come to the bank, 32:35 and you have to withdraw the money. 32:38 Let me ask you, If you don't come to withdraw the money, 32:41 are you still in debt? Yes, you are. 32:43 When Jesus died, He deposited enough spiritual money, 32:47 if you please, in the Bank of the Universe to save 32:50 every human being. 32:51 He paid for everyone; everyone's debt. 32:54 But the Bible says that we must come, and we must claim 32:57 the payment that He made. 32:58 Let me give you another little illustration. 33:01 You know, I don't know about you husbands, 33:04 but on Mother's Day I get a gift for my wife. 33:07 I don't do it because I have to, but because I like to do it. 33:10 You know, it's not because we're supposed to do it. 33:13 It's because we love our wives. 33:15 So, you know, I go out and I buy my wife a $100.00 33:19 gift certificate to a certain store. 33:22 I don't want to give any free advertising here. 33:24 And the morning when the time comes to give her the gift, 33:32 the morning of her birthday, I give her the gift 33:35 and she opens it. She says, Wow! 33:39 Thank you! I love this gift. 33:41 Let me ask you, how much did that gift cost her? 33:48 How much did she pay for that gift? 33:50 Nothing, it's free, but did it cost? 33:54 The giver pays; the receiver gets it free. 33:59 But let me ask you this, suppose my wife didn't like 34:04 the gift that I bought. 34:05 Would she have the option to say, You cheapskate! 34:09 That's not the gift that I wanted. 34:12 Would she have the option to reject the gift? Of course! 34:16 Would the gift benefit her then? Absolutely not. 34:19 You see, Jesus bought the gift of salvation by living our life, 34:24 and by dying our death. 34:26 But the only way that we can benefit is by receiving the gift 34:30 that He purchased. 34:32 That's why people are going to be lost, 34:34 because they're going to reject the gift. 34:36 That's incredible! 34:37 It's unbelievable! 34:39 Why would people reject the gift of everlasting 34:40 life when it's free? 34:43 Don't people love freebies? Absolutely! 34:46 Now allow me to read you some statements in the Bible that 34:49 show that there are conditions for being saved. 34:53 Even though Jesus paid for all of the sins, and lived the life 34:56 for every human being, we must receive it; we must accept it. 34:59 And we must receive it and accept it by repenting, 35:02 by confessing our sins, by believing and trusting in Jesus, 35:06 and by being baptized according to Scripture. 35:08 Those are the conditions for receiving the robe. 35:11 See, Jesus already has a robe. 35:13 Jesus wove the robe when He lived a perfect life. 35:16 Jesus wove the robe when He died our death on the cross. 35:20 The robe is sitting there in the closet. 35:23 And Jesus is just waiting for us to come, and say Jesus, 35:28 I'm sorry for my sins. 35:30 I repent and I confess my sins, and I say, 35:35 Please give me Your robe. 35:37 That's trusting in Him. 35:38 That's having faith in Him. 35:39 And then Jesus says, Okay, here, take the robe. 35:43 And He covers you with His robe. 35:45 He covers your nakedness. 35:47 Is that good news? 35:48 It's wonderful news! 35:49 Notice several texts. 35:51 This is Acts 2:38. 35:55 This is about claiming the gospel gift. 35:58 Then Peter said to them, Repent! 36:02 What did he say? Repent. 36:06 Notice the condition. 36:19 The word remission means forgiveness. 36:20 Let me ask you, Are there conditions for the remission 36:23 or forgiveness of sins? Absolutely! 36:25 It says, Repent and be baptized... 36:34 Notice Acts 5:30, 31, Acts 5:30, 31. It says: 36:54 Now notice this: 37:01 Why did Jesus ascend to the right hand of God? 37:04 So that He could give what? 37:05 So that He could give repentance and forgiveness of sins. 37:10 Let me ask you, Were everyone's sins forgiven 37:13 on the cross of Calvary? 37:14 No, the payment was made on the cross of Calvary. 37:18 The deposit was made in the bank, but when we repent, 37:23 and we confess, and we are baptized, 37:26 at that moment Jesus takes the payment 37:29 and credits it to my account. 37:32 In other words, His righteousness is imputed to me. 37:36 Now I want you to notice Acts 10:43, the same idea. 37:42 It says, To Him, that is to Jesus. 38:00 What is the condition for receiving the remission 38:02 or forgiveness of sins? believing, or trusting in Him. 38:08 Notice Hebrews 7:25. 38:12 This thought comes through time and time again. 38:14 We must claim the gospel gift. 38:16 It's not enough for Jesus to have woven the robe. 38:20 It's not enough for Jesus to have lived this perfect life, 38:22 and paid death for all of humanity. 38:25 It's necessary to accept what Jesus did. 38:27 Notice Hebrews 7:25, Therefore He is also able to save 38:33 to the uttermost... 38:34 Notice who He is able to save. 38:38 He is able to save to the uttermost those who come 38:44 to God through Him. 38:45 Must we come to God? Absolutely! 38:48 ...those who come to God through Him, since He always lives 38:53 to make intercession for them. 38:55 That is intercession for those who come to God through Him. 38:59 Notice 1 John 1:9. 39:01 There's so many verses in the New Testament that speak about 39:04 claiming the gospel gift. 39:07 1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins,... 39:11 Notice if; conditional. 39:14 If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us 39:21 our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 39:25 Is forgiveness conditional? 39:27 The Bible states that forgiveness is conditional. 39:31 It is conditioned upon what? confessing our sins; 39:36 repenting from sin. 39:38 So when a preacher gets up and says, Only believe in Jesus 39:42 and you'll be saved, that's not technically true, 39:45 because the Bible says even the devils believe and tremble. 39:49 There has to be contrite repentance. 39:53 There has to be a confession of sin. 39:56 There has to be, according to the Bible, baptism into Christ. 40:01 Now do you know what's interesting? 40:04 When we repent, and when we confess our sins, 40:08 and when we have faith in Jesus and are baptized, 40:12 at that very moment Jesus puts on us His spiritual 40:16 robe of righteousness, and He covers our spiritual nakedness. 40:20 You say, Where does the Bible say that? 40:22 Notice Galatians 3:26, 27, Galatians 3:26, 27. 40:31 Here the apostle Paul says: 40:50 When is it that we're garbed with Christ? 40:53 When we are baptized. 40:56 But in order to be baptized, we have to repent. 40:59 And when we repent we confess. 41:01 And when we confess we claim the righteousness of Christ. 41:06 We believe in Him, we trust in Him, and then we take 41:09 the step of baptism 41:10 And in baptism we're told by the apostle Paul that we put 41:15 on Jesus Christ, and so we are no longer spiritually naked. 41:19 We are clothed with a robe of Christ's perfect righteousness. 41:24 Not many Christians are willing to reach up to this point. 41:28 They say, Okay, I understand that the gospel 41:31 plan was everlasting. 41:32 I understand that God announced the gospel plan to Adam and Eve. 41:37 I understand that the gospel plan was foreshadowed 41:40 in the Old Testament sacrificial system. 41:43 I understand that Jesus came and He lived 41:46 the life we should live. 41:47 He died the life that we should die. 41:49 And I'm willing to believe also that it's necessary to repent, 41:52 and to confess our sin, and to believe in Jesus, 41:55 to trust in Him, and in this way to be baptized and receive 42:00 His robe of righteousness. 42:01 But most Christians stop there. 42:03 But now I want to talk about another dimension of the gospel. 42:07 It's what I call gospel fruit. 42:13 Very few Christians talk about gospel fruit. 42:16 Now you say, What do you mean by gospel fruit? 42:19 Listen folks, when we truly repent, and we truly confess 42:25 our sins, and we truly trust in the merits of Jesus, 42:29 and we are baptized, and our old man or woman is buried 42:34 in the waters, and we truly come forth to a new life, 42:38 our lifestyle changes. 42:40 And if our lifestyle does not change, it's because we have 42:44 not had the experience. 42:45 Let me tell you, the gospel fruit demands that when we have 42:51 received the righteousness of Christ, the robe of Christ's 42:54 righteousness, we talk differently, we eat differently, 42:59 we use our time differently, we watch different things, 43:04 we listen to different things than we used to, 43:07 we use our money differently, we treat other people differently. 43:13 In other words there's a transformation 43:15 or change in the life. 43:17 We are not saved by the transformed life, 43:20 but the transformed life is the fruit of true conversion. 43:23 Jesus said that whoever is attached to Him 43:30 bears much fruit, gospel fruit. 43:33 And if you don't have gospel fruit, it's because you don't 43:36 really have the experience of the gospel in your life. 43:39 You don't really have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 43:42 Many Christians emphasize just, Oh yeah, when I received Jesus 43:46 He takes His righteousness and He puts it on my account, 43:49 and He looks at me as if I'd never sinned. 43:52 And that's true if repentance is true, if confession of sin 43:57 is true, and if I'm truly trusting in Jesus Christ. 44:01 You see, salvation is not an easy way to get off the hook. 44:05 It's not, He paid so that I don't have to pay. 44:10 By the way, have you noticed that the first angel's message 44:14 actually calls for a change in the life? 44:18 I don't know whether you noticed, you know, most people 44:21 end their reading at verse 6, but let's read verse 7. 44:27 Let me ask you, Does the gospel make demands upon us? 44:31 It most certainly does. 44:32 Let's read Revelation 14:6, 7 once again. 44:36 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 44:40 having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell 44:44 on the earth; to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. 44:48 And many people stop right there. 44:50 But I want you to notice what the everlasting gospel 44:54 commands people to do. 44:55 There's three imperatives here for those who receive 45:00 the everlasting gospel. 45:01 Notice verse 7. What does the first angel say? the angel that 45:07 brings the everlasting gospel? 45:13 That's our next topic of study. 45:28 Let me ask you, Does the gospel make demands upon us? 45:32 It most certainly does. 45:34 A person who has received the everlasting gospel in every 45:37 nation, tribe, tongue and people, fears God. 45:41 And most people don't know what it means to fear God. 45:44 They give glory to God. 45:46 What does that mean? 45:47 Well, we're going to study that phrase. 45:49 They're supposed to worship the Creator. 45:51 In other words, their worship styles will change when they 45:56 receive the everlasting gospel. 45:58 You see, Jesus, through His gospel, not only guarantees 46:03 great benefits and privileges, but He also gives us great 46:07 obligations and responsibilities when we receive the gospel. 46:12 Notice Titus 2:11-14, Titus 2:11-14, still speaking 46:20 about gospel fruit; the change in the life when we have 46:23 the real deal; when we have the real gospel embrace us; 46:28 when there's true repentance, when there's true confession of 46:31 sin; when we have faith and trust in Jesus; 46:36 and when we're baptized and we bury the old man, 46:38 and resurrect to newness of life. 46:40 Notice what happens: Titus 2: 11-14. Listen to this: 46:48 Lots of people love to talk about grace. 46:57 What has appeared to all men? the grace of God. 47:00 Now what I want you to notice is that the grace of God 47:03 teaches us something. 47:04 See, when you have God's grace, which is the gospel, 47:07 the grace teaches us something. 47:09 What does it teach us? Listen, verse 12: teaching us... 47:13 See, the gospel teaches us something; 47:14 grace teaches us something. 47:41 Now why did He give Himself for us? so that we can continue 47:44 living the same old life that we were living before? 47:46 Absolutely not! Notice: 48:03 Did Jesus redeem us for good works? 48:06 Did grace manifest itself for good works? 48:11 Did grace teach us that we need to renounce the world, 48:16 and worldly lusts? Absolutely. 48:18 So grace does not mean that you can continue sinning. 48:21 If you've had true grace grasp your life, 48:25 you're going to have a change in your lifestyle: gospel fruit. 48:30 You know, some people love to read from Ephesians 2:8-10 48:34 where the apostle Paul says, For by grace you have been saved 48:38 through faith. See we're saved by grace through faith; 48:43 and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 48:47 See, grace is the gift of God: not of works, 48:51 lest anyone should boast. 48:53 So they say, See, we don't have to do any works, 48:55 because it says it's all of grace. 48:56 The problem is they don't read verse 10. 49:01 See, they stop at verse 9. 49:03 A text out of context is a pretext for teaching error. 49:07 Notice what we find in verse 10, the very next verse. 49:13 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus... 49:17 See, when you receive Jesus, you're a new creation, right? 49:19 The apostle Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 49:22 that those who are in Christ are a new creation. 49:24 You're new because you're not in yourself anymore; you're in Him! 49:29 And so it says, For we are His workmanship, 49:31 created in Christ Jesus... 49:34 To continue living like the Devil. No! 49:38 It says: created in Christ Jesus for good works, 49:43 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 49:48 Did God prepare good works for us when we're truly converted? 49:51 When we're born into Christ, when we're a new creation, 49:54 are there good works in our life? Yes! 49:57 But the works are not produced by us, they are produced as 50:00 a loving response to Him. 50:03 Now go with me to James 2, James 2, 50:07 and I'm going to read verses 14-24, because people love 50:11 to talk about faith. 50:13 And it's good to talk about faith; 50:15 it's good to talk about grace, as long as faith and grace lead 50:22 to something that God expects from us. 50:24 Then the experience of salvation is genuine and real. 50:28 James 2:14, What does it profit, my brethren, 50:33 if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? 50:38 Notice, he doesn't have faith. 50:39 He says he has faith, but he doesn't have works. 50:42 Can faith save him? 50:44 Literally the Greek says, Can such a faith save him? 50:47 Can a workless faith save you? 50:50 If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, 50:55 and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, 50:58 be warmed and filled; but you do not give them the things 51:02 which are needed for the body; what does it profit? 51:05 In other words, if you don't change your way of looking at 51:07 people, and treating people, and you say you have a lot of 51:09 faith, I mean do you really have faith? 51:11 Notice what it continues saying in verse 17. 51:15 Thus also, faith by itself... 51:17 Christians love to say, Faith alone, faith alone! 51:21 But really the Bible teaches faith alone, 51:25 but it has to be a faith that works. 51:27 That's the only true kind of faith. 51:30 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead. 51:36 Can a dead faith save you? No. 51:38 But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. 51:42 And so James says, Show me your faith without your works, 51:46 and I will show you my faith by my works. 51:51 Verse 19: You believe that there is one God; you do well: 51:55 even the demons believe, and tremble. 51:57 Do you think the Devil believes that Jesus died on the cross? 52:00 Do you think the Devil knows that Jesus resurrected? 52:03 Do you think the Devil believes Jesus is coming again? 52:06 Of course he does. 52:08 So if that's all you believe in your brain, 52:10 excuse me for saying it, you're not any better than the Devil. 52:14 That's what James is saying. 52:19 Notice once again verse 20. 52:21 But do you want to know, O foolish man, 52:24 that faith without works is dead? 52:26 Was not Abraham our father justified by works? 52:30 Wow! This, some people say, it contradicts the Bible, 52:33 because Paul says that we're saved by faith, 52:35 without works of the law. 52:36 And here James says, Was not Abraham our father 52:39 justified by works, when he offered Isaac 52:41 his son on the altar? 52:43 Do you see that his faith was working together with his works? 52:47 See, it's a package deal. 52:48 And by works faith was made perfect. 52:51 In other words, faith alone is imperfect. 52:53 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed 52:58 God, that is he trusted God, and it was accounted to him 53:01 for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. 53:04 You see then that man is justified by works 53:07 and not by faith only. 53:08 You say, what does James mean here? 53:10 Is he contradicting Paul? No. 53:12 Let me tell you what's going on. 53:13 The apostle Paul, when he says that we're saved by faith 53:17 without works of law is explaining how we are saved. 53:21 When James says that we're justified by works, 53:27 what he's saying is that works show if our faith is real. 53:31 In other words, Paul is telling us how we are saved, 53:35 whereas James tells us how a saved person lives. 53:39 Are you understanding me? 53:41 In other words, one is talking about the route of salvation, 53:45 and the other is talking about the fruit of salvation. 53:48 Let me ask you, If you look at it from one side faith saves. 53:55 Absolutely! Grace through faith. 53:57 But when you look at it from the other side you see the works. 54:01 You say, Oh yeah, this guy had faith. 54:03 And so really there's no contradiction in the Bible. 54:07 Now lets talk about preaching the gospel before we close. 54:12 The Bible says that the gospel needs to be preached 54:15 to the whole world as a witness to all nations, 54:19 and then the end will come. 54:20 What gospel do we need to preach? 54:23 Just a gospel that Jesus died on the cross? 54:27 You know, He wove a perfect robe. 54:29 And, you know, He died our death on the cross, 54:31 and all that you have to do is simply in your head believe 54:34 that Jesus did that, and you'll be saved, you and your house? 54:37 No. The gospel that needs to be preached, 54:41 according to Revelation 14, is the gospel that goes to every 54:45 nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 54:47 But it's the gospel that says, Fear God; give glory to Him; 54:51 the hour of His judgment has come; and worship the Creator. 54:56 In other words, it's a complete package gospel: faith and works. 55:02 It's a gospel that not only is imputed to us, 55:08 or credited to us, but a gospel that is manifested also 55:12 in the practical life. 55:14 In other words, it's the gospel of justification that produces 55:18 in our lives a sanctified life. 55:21 Now the final point that I want to talk about is the final 55:24 gospel celebration. 55:27 And for this I want to read from Revelation 7:9-12. 55:31 Do you know, the saved someday are going to sing a glorious 55:34 song when we get to heaven. 55:37 And that song is going to give honor and glory to Jesus Christ 55:42 as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 55:46 And, by the way, at this time God's people are going to be 55:49 clothed with a literal robe of light again. 55:53 Now notice the process: man was clothed with a 55:58 literal robe of light. 55:59 It represented, it symbolized obedience to God's law. 56:04 When man sinned the literal robe of light disappeared, 56:09 and man experienced physical nakedness, which represented 56:14 what? disobedience to God's law. 56:17 When we receive Jesus Christ our spiritual nakedness is 56:23 covered by His spiritual robe. 56:24 But when He comes again He's going to complete the process, 56:28 and He's going to give us the literal robe of light 56:30 which man had originally. 56:32 Revelation 7:9, After these things I looked, 56:43 See they received the first angel's message. 56:50 Are we going to receive white robes like Adam 56:53 and Eve at the beginning? 56:54 They're literal at this point. 57:08 And then will be fulfilled that famous parable of Jesus 57:10 of the lost sheep, and when the lost sheep is brought home. 57:15 The owner of the sheep, who had ninety-nine other ones 57:18 that never failed, calls his friends and he says, 57:21 come celebrate because the sheep that was lost has been found. |
Revised 2023-04-20