OBEY THE GOSPEL?

INTRODUCTION-- The most common and most dangerous attitude among religious people today is the lack of any sense of urgency in living the Christian life. This attitude is the result of......
  1. (1st) An acceptance of contradictory doctrines which proclaims, "It does not matter what a person believes in religion."
    1. This amounts to saying either that all doctrines are right, or, that no doctrine is consequential or significant (except to the one who believes it.)
    2. The multitude of conficting doctrines in the world causes many to think that there is no way to arrive at truth (even though Jesus said that God's Word is truth, John 17:17.)
  2. (2nd) The long standing tradition that man's musings and humanly devised perversions of the truth carry authority comparable to that of the Bible.
    1. The problem with this is that many people feel that their own opinions are just as worthy as those of other men.
    2. There are even those who treat the Bible as a composition totally human.
  3. (3rd) The natural lack of enthusiasm for sacrificial living, a requirement of pure Christianity.
THESIS-- Contrary to these ideas, the New Testament teaches belief in the message as a revelation from God, the necessity of urgent, sacrificial service, and humble obedience to the Gospel, a precept that is not understood (an enigma).
LESSON--
  • Before we can solve the enigma of "obeying the Gospel," we must first ask the question, "What is the Gospel?"
    1. Paul says that it is simply a truth confirmed by a miracle. 1 Corinthians 15:1 11 "Now I make known unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scrip-tures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; 6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; 7 then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed."
      1. The message of the Gospel is that "Christ (the one anointed by God) died for our sins."
      2. The miracle that confirmed this divine truth is the resurrection of the Christ, affirmed by a multitude of eye-witnesses, apostles and disciples.
      3. The message and the miracle combine for salvation. Romans 4:25 "(Christ) was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification."
    2. To know the urgency of this message, certain convictions must be held.
      1. Belief in the existence of a concerned God. Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him."
      2. To understand that our relationship with this concerned God has been broken by our sin. Isaiah 59:1-2 "Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear."
      3. To understand that this alienation caused by sin also cancels our hope. (The condition of the Gentiles before they heard the Gospel) Ephesians 2:11-12 "Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh,.. ...........12 that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world."
    3. With these convictions in place, a sense of urgency grows within us, causing us to seek a solution.
  • Who is the deliverer from our lost state? Christ!!!
    1. He first preached the "good tidings" (or, the Gospel) of hope. Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
    2. He commissioned His apostles (and us) to preach the Gospel.
      1. Luke 24:46-47 "......he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem."
      2. Mark 16:15-16 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned."
    3. He also expected those who believed the gospel to obey Him. Hebrews 5:8-9 "......though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation."
  • How, then, does a person OBEY a message of hope confirmed by a miracle?
    1. First, we must acknowledge that it must be obeyed.
      1. 1 Peter 4:17-18 "For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"
      2. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 "...the Lord Jesus (will come) from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, 8 rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: 9 who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might...."
      3. The other side of the coin is stated in Romans 6:17-18. "But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; 18 and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness."
        1. The very nature of servitude is OBEDIENCE. Colossians 3:22 "Ser vants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord:"
        2. Service to men is to duplicate service to Christ. Ephesians 6:5-6 "Servants, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 not in the way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"
    2. Obedience of the message occurs when we see that it is imperative to receive the word, and do it.
      1. The People on the Day of Pentecost understood this, after hearing the Gospel preached for the first time. Acts 2:37-41
      2. When a person who is "dead in his trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), repents and is "buried with Christ through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4), he has simulated what Christ experienced in His death and resurrection.
      3. Paul speaks of what is accomplished by this obedience. Colossians 2:12-13 "......having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses;..."