For Sale: The Gospel: Are You Buying?

Berean Baptist on December 4, 2017

Our focus in this article is the real meaning of the gospel, which sadly is distorted and misunderstood by many. The gospel is the good news, but what particularly is this news?

Some say it is the news that God has a wonderful plan for your life. I believe this is far too simplistic even to the point of being almost heretical. There are many who have a very bad plan mapped for their lives because God has no dealings with them. To assume God has a good plan for them that might not happen is too have too little confidence that He is able to make any plan happen. On the other hand, for those who hear and believe, it is rare their lives include much good—at least not an attractive good that would cause them to come to Christ. Jesus said the lives of His people would be filled with suffering. They would be hated, ridiculed, and considered the scum of the earth.

As we know, God’s wonderful plan is for the afterlife which puts us in the position of enduring the world until this plan is realized. This is not to say a Christian cannot be happy and find peace and contentment in this life. The apostles suffered beatings for their preaching, and yet they rejoiced they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Most do not consider this their kind of joy.

Rarely do we find an honest approach with the gospel. Most feel they must sell the gospel as the most attractive offer you can get. If the pot is not sweetened enough, nobody will buy. However, the real gospel does not need to be sold. The Holy Spirit is not concerned whether people weigh the pros and cons of believing and decide accordingly. The Spirit convicts the heart and brings the person to Christ despite all his objections. He makes us willing to receive the gospel when before we were dead set against it. No matter how bad it looks, people will come to Christ because they have been made willing through His power (Psalms 110:3).

In the days of the apostles, it was impossible to hide the negative aspects of belief in Christ. People could see what it meant to follow Him. Christians lining the roads for miles on crosses was a pretty good indication what it meant to trust Christ. If this is what you were selling, they weren’t buying. In one interesting case in Acts 5, it wasn’t enemies that killed Christians—it was God. Two believers were struck dead for lying to God. In that passage, it says fear came on the people. Many wanted nothing to do with the apostles for fear they would be killed as well. Interestingly, those that were drawn to Christ continued to come and the church continued its rapid growth.

Is it necessary to resort to deceitful tactics and hide the truth? A gospel that is not radical and changes the lives of those who believe is no gospel at all. The good news is the saving power of Christ not a short, sweet version that involves little to no commitment. The gospel may cost your life. It declares the wrath of God against sin and the penalty in hell for those who commit them. It provides the alternative for eternal death by repentance from all sin, faith in Jesus Christ alone, and surrender to His Lordship over the life.

This kind of commitment is not good news for those looking for comfort. Christianity does not end life’s problems. It may very well create many more. You cannot sell this because nobody is buying. Tell the truth. The truth is used by the Holy Spirit to save no matter how difficult it is to believe.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Battle for the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on May 21, 2015

The 18th Psalm is another of the remarkable Old Testament passages that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. We notice at the beginning of the Psalm that David wrote it after he was delivered from the hand of Saul. David related his own experience of deliverance and yet as he wrote the Holy Spirit had much more profound intentions as these words relate to the deliverance of Christ from the death of the tomb. David depended on God to deliver him as he refused to lift his hand against God’s anointed. There were times when David had Saul’s life in his hands, but he never raised a finger against him. This was a battle he chose to leave in the hands of the Almighty.

In David’s action, we see the character of Jesus Christ. He was led to the death of the cross and yet he never opened His mouth in His defense nor did He command angelic armies to release Him. Jesus went to the death of the cross obediently fully expecting the Father to raise Him from the grave. This Psalm reflects His righteous obedience and the fury of God as He beat back the forces of evil that were determined to keep Him in the tomb.

At first, the cross and the tomb appear to be the ignominious defeat of Christ. Satan surely believed he had won the victory and the demons who are his evil companions encamped around the tomb to keep watch to make sure their victory was not short lived. The resurrection would mean their defeat which they struggled with all their might to prevent. God the Father left the body in the tomb for three days and on the third a battle for the resurrection commenced. Verse 5 speaks of death that tried to hold Jesus locked behind the stone that was rolled against the door. Verse 6 is the cry of the Saviour as His soul pleaded for deliverance from the grave. In verse 7, the wrath of God began to shake the earth. The cosmic battle was engaged—an unseen battle that none were aware was happening. In verse 8, the fury of God is seen in the smoke that came from His nostrils as He vented his extreme anger at Satan and his forces of evil.

Verse 14 says He shot out lightening. Imagine the power of God as He wrenched death from the clutches of Satan. Jesus in His flesh was no match for the powers of evil just as no man can withstand demonic power on his own. He constantly prayed for strength and complete deliverance. As He believed would happen, verse 17 says He was delivered from His strong enemy. It is interesting that at the crucifixion those that mocked Christ said, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” This is a quotation from the 22nd Psalm, and indeed Christ did trust God to deliver Him. He did not ask to be delivered from the cross. It was predestined and necessary. He rather trusted God to deliver Him from the tomb. The greatest display of God’s power is not that He could save His life, but that He could restore life to the dead. The Psalmist wrote in 18:19, “He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.” The mockers said of God, “Let him deliver him if he will have him.” Yes, God would have Him because of His perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sin. Both Psalm 22:8 and 18:19 say God delighted in Him.

It is too easy for us to pass over this Psalm without thoughtful consideration. None of us knows the depth of commitment Christ made nor the actual power of God that raised Jesus from the dead. These are not trivial matters. No human can fathom the majesty and holiness of God. Consider this as you read. You step into another dimension that will not be fully realized until you stand face to face with God. Be sure you face Him with Christ and not without.

  Pastor V. Mark Smith

Practical Atheism

Berean Baptist on April 6, 2015

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalms 14:1)

In commenting on this text, Matthew Henry wrote: “There is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin.” The first verse of Psalm 14 is the creed of the fool. He says, “There is no God.” As Christians, we read this thinking there is nothing more disgusting than the atheist that boldly and defiantly shakes his finger in the face of God and says, “You do not exist.” J. Vernon McGee stated that atheism is the worst of man’s depravity. In other words, a person can sink no lower in sin than to become an atheist. No wonder we are disgusted when confronted with the pseudo intelligence of our public school teachers and the professors in our colleges and universities that foist their depraved philosophies on our children. They deny the existence of God and give blanket approval to the worst social degradation our country has ever experienced.

Yet, while we are so angry at the blatant atheist, we must remember what Matthew Henry said: “There is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin.” These are sobering words to the Christian that harbors sin in his life and refuses to be yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit. Each time we sin, we become the practical atheist that refuses to obey God. If we truly do believe He is supreme and worthy of worship and is due all honor—if we truly believe He is offended by our unrighteousness—would we dare continue in our sins? If we really believe there are consequences to sin, would we shake our fingers in God’s face and say, “We will defy you?” Whoever stood in the physical presence of Jesus Christ truly believing He was God and then turned his back and walked away? Yet this is what we do when we let sin rule us and take no thought to confess our crimes. Practically, we do not believe in God.

I remember years ago my father preached on this text. He would always say when reading Psalm 14:1, “The fool also says, ‘No! God.” The fool defies God. He says no to His face which is what we do when we continue to live in the vileness of the flesh. It is far more understandable for the atheist to say there is no God than for the Christian that has tasted His divine grace to say no to Him.

We understand why God says the wicked will be cast into hell, and we certainly understand that atheists are deserving of the wrath of God. What we fail to understand is that Christians having been shown God’s favor and yet still continuing in sin are more deserving of hell than the spiritually blinded. As I see it, the grace of God is multiplied ten thousand times over in our preservation to eternal life than in the initial granting of repentance and faith. Paul said, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). Apparently we think so. No wonder scripture says God’s people are kept by His power. Without His mercy and grace salvation would be lost in a heartbeat.

Thank God for persevering and preserving grace. All of us have a touch of atheism in us, so don’t be so unsympathetic to the souls of avowed atheists. We are being saved daily from our own practical atheism.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith