The Gospel of Jesus Christ — Charles E. Fuller

Christian Heritage Ministry, in cooperation with Fuller Seminary, proudly presents the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, a broadcast of the Gospel with Dr. Charles Eagle. Let's join the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour just getting underway.

It's been a time of joy and beauty.

Glad to see so many here and so many first-timers. Now, we want to hear all of you just sing this out to the international radio audience. You never know where this song goes until you hear from some lonesome, sin-sick heart how they've been cheered by the music.

So as you sing through the first time, turn around and shake hands with as many as possible. All together.

Heavenly Son of the Bride of God. Son of the wine and the blood of the Lamb. I wish to thank every one of you friends who have stood by the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour so faithfully.

And we praise God that he will richly reward you for your part in this radio ministry. If there are some listening today who have not had a part in this work, may we not hear from you this week? Your letter would be such an encouragement to us as we seek to carry on this soul-saving ministry.

And remember also that Matthew 620 says, Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

This world is not my home, I'm just a passing crew. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't be at home in this world anymore. O Lord, friend like you, if heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't be at home in this world anymore. They're all except one thing I know, I fixed it up with Jesus many years ago. I know you'll take me through, Lord, I can't be at home in this world anymore.

If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't be at home in this world anymore. Just over in glory land we'll live eternally and I'm shouting victory to heaven's shore.

And I can't be at home in this world anymore. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't be at home in this world anymore.

Sweetest voice in America to read from the letters. Go right ahead, honey.

Greetings, friends. I have some good letters for you today. From Miami Beach, Florida, the president of a hotel there writes, Dear Reverend Fuller, the staff, the guests, and I at the Savoy Plaza have been and still are enjoying your sermons.

And they send you their blessings and wish you long life because they believe there are very few like you. For you preach the Bible honestly and without private interpretation. And the world needs that today.

From Northern Ireland, dear Mr. Fuller, we have a confectionery shop in this little seaside town and have a notice in our window asking folks to tune in on Thursday nights to Luxembourg. And the response has been great.

We are asked daily what the program is, but we don't tell them. Just advise them to listen and find out. And so a great number of regular listeners have been found. Two Christian friends come to our home Thursday nights to listen with us and owe the blessings that we do receive.

From Worcester, Massachusetts, a young college student writes of his conversion. Dear sir, I'm a college student here in Worcester. And today for the first time I heard your program. And my previous sentiments regarding religion were tossed sky high.

Until today I have followed no faith. But after your sincere message from God's word, I was saved. And I don't mean this simply or loosely. I was saved and I feel the change all over. Right now as you are finishing the message over the radio, my emotions are such that I can barely hold a steady hand.

This is the first time that I have ever heard your program. But I promise you it will not be the last. For I shall never miss it. Would appreciate your sending me some reading matter which will help me.

And please pray for me. From Tennessee, a man writes. I heard your sermon Sunday afternoon and it had the power to set me thinking and change my life. As you said, I asked God to be merciful to me, a sinner.

And from now on I intend to live for our Savior and Lord to the end. For I have given myself to Christ as I listen today over the air. I intend to pray for you regularly and I ask you to pray for me that I may get strong in Christ.

And then this last letter is from Arkansas, Little Rock. Dear Dr. Fuller, I am a polio victim of the 1949 epidemic. I could not move for three and a half months and was in an iron lung. But thanks be to God I am able to go to school now and learn a trade so I can make a living in spite of my handicap.

I have to sit in a wheelchair, but I am learning to walk, though the doctor said that I never could. I thank God for what I can do. Since I am not able to go to church, I certainly do enjoy your services on my little radio.

And always look forward to the old-fashioned revival hour. I enjoy the singing and playing so much. But most of all, the Good Spirit-filled sermons, which help me to face my life, which is so different now and far from easy.

And that is all I shall have time for today, friends.

Asking our son, Dan Fuller, to lead us to the throne of grace.

Our Heavenly Father, we come to Thee today, counting it a great privilege to pray to Thee because we know that Thou art our friend. And truly a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. And we would say, as the psalmist of old, that we would rather be a doorkeeper at Thy house than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Today we pray especially that every moment of this broadcast may be used to meet the needs of the audience. O Father, we pray especially that the message may be used to strengthen young converts and also to be a blessing to those that may be seasoned Christians.

We pray also that the gospel songs may be used to bring men and women back to Thee, the God whom their fathers and their mothers worshiped. Father, we pray today for those who may feel that all purpose has gone out of their lives, who are simply living according to the impulse of the moment.

We pray that they may come to find Christ as their Savior and that they may know what it is to live for Him who died for them and rose once again. We pray also for those who may feel confused and somewhat in trepidation concerning the future with World War III impending.

We pray that they may have that faith which enables them to know that all things do work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to Thy purpose. We pray today that Thou wilt bless those whose loved ones are away in the armed services.

We pray especially that in these days of separation and loneliness that they may be drawn more closely to Thee and that they may come to know Thy love and Thy peace which alone can pass all understanding.

For we ask it in Christ's name and for His sake. Amen.

Listening to the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour brought to you by the Gospel Broadcasting Association.

From the Municipal Auditorium at Long Beach, California. This is Charles E. Fuller speaking. Listening to the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour from the Municipal Auditorium at Long Beach, California. This is Charles E. Fuller speaking.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ in Mark

Glad to see so many servicemen here in the auditorium today. And all of you listening in and all here at the auditorium, have your Bibles open to the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, beginning at the 21st verse.

I encourage you out in the radio audience to get that Bible.

And open it right away quickly to Mark, the first chapter, verse 21 because I'm going to give many references of God's Word today and I want you to follow me on the subject of demons. The Church of Jesus Christ is not taught as well as it should be upon the subject of Satan and demons.

I want you to follow carefully because what we're giving will be out of God's Word. Briefly, by the way of review, may we keep in mind that the main theme of Mark is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And this wonderful gospel centers around and in the person of God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. May I put it this way? The Lord Jesus is the gospel and the gospel is the Lord Jesus. And these two are one and inseparable, one and the same.

Any other gospel given forth apart from the substitutionary atoning work of Christ and His bodily resurrection from the dead is satanically inspired and out of the pit. And that brand of wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Spiritual Warfare and the Two Spiritual Laws

Personally, I thank God today that my eternal hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, that all other ground or foundations are but sinking sand. And when we carefully scan the sixteen chapters of Mark, we see the gospel in action, the captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, coming head on against fallen humanity, sold under sin, sunk in sin.

And the warfare, the greatest warfare of all ages, is on between God and Satan, between the forces of righteousness and the forces of unrighteousness. It is at white heat, this warfare, and Satan knows that his time is short and he is energizing his own, perhaps as never before in the world's history.

Nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, wars and rumors of wars, men's hearts failing with fear. And I want you to know that there are two great spiritual laws in operation in this sin-sick, sin-wrecked world of ours.

First, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and the law of sin and death, or Operation Killer. All men, by nature, irrespective of nationality, color, or creed, are now under the absolute control and domination of the law of sin and death.

And the only way out from under this law of sin and death is through the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If and when a natural man, now dead in trespasses and sin, hears the glad tidings, repents, and believes the gospel, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus becomes operative, Operation Life.

And that law will make him free, and he will be delivered from the power of darkness and be translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, a new creation in Christ Jesus. Now, in Mark, we observe the captain of our salvation, God's true servant, in action, in our hand-to-hand conflict with Satan and all of his hosts of darkness.

And by comparing Matthew and Luke with Mark, we find Christ the gospel meets head-on with Satan and all of his works of unrighteousness. And Christ meets and defeats three of Satan's most powerful and active divisions, demons, disease, and death.

And it's upon the first that I speak today, next Sunday, Lord willing, upon leprosy, the type of sin. The Church of Jesus Christ, as I said a moment ago, is not as well taught or versed about Satan and his work as she should be.

Very seldom, if at all, do you hear a sermon on Satan, his origin, his work, his destiny. And we should know about the greatest enemy of our souls and be strong, clothed upon with the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the evil one.

Satan's Fall and the Kingdom of Fallen Angels

Very briefly now, and I can't go into much explanation in the time allotted, Satan, the archenemy of God, the hater of the righteous, a liar from the beginning, was a created being, a being of great beauty and full of wisdom, perfect before his fall, before becoming Satan.

And according to Ezekiel 28, 15, we learn that Satan was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created till iniquity was found in him. He was the anointed cherub that covered, that is, the head officer over the great host of angels.

And under God appointed to be the head over the vast host of heavenly angels. Then, according to Isaiah 14, 12 to 17, we learn that Satan, or Lucifer, the son of the morning, desired to be like God, to have the worship of the angels unto himself, that is, to unseat God.

For we read in Isaiah 14 as follows, listen carefully, For thou hast said in thine heart, speaking to Satan, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will be like the Most High.

And Satan, in his attempt to dethrone God to be like the Most High, fell through pride, and in his fall drew a host of angels with him. Now follow carefully. Now those angels which followed Satan in his fall are now called fallen angels.

These fallen angels comprise Satan's spiritual kingdom in the heavenlies, between earth and heaven itself. He's the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

And the enforcers of the law of sin and death, operation killer, is none other than Satan and his host. Truly great is the mystery of iniquity which is so active in the world today. Again, by the word, by a word of further explanation, some of the fallen angels are now in chains of darkness reserved unto the coming judgment of the great white throne.

And these fallen angels, or those fallen angels rather, not now in chains of darkness, are in active 24 hours around the clock. These are termed demons. Is that clear? There is one devil, many demons, or fallen angels.

And these demons or fallen angels are constantly seeking entrance into or to be closed upon or to indwell fallen humanity. I'm not saying that all humanity outside of Christ is demon-indwelled or demon-possessed, but there are scores and millions over the land today that are demon-possessed and have indwelling in them a demon, one of the fallen angels.

Demonic Possession in Matthew and Second Timothy

Now take your Bible and turn to the eighth chapter of Matthew, please. Beginning at the 28th verse, we're going to do some comparing and remembering this, that the entrance of God's Word giveth light.

And you need to know something about the enemy of your soul and his work and the kind of host that he has working under him and with him. Speaking of Jesus, when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils or demons.

Coming out of the tomb, now notice it, he met, Christ met two possessed of demons coming out of the tomb associated with death and the word exceeding fierce. Now that word fierce means furious, perilous, and is exactly the same word in 2 Timothy 3, 1, which says, In the last days shall be perilous or fierce or furious at times.

Energized, if you please, by demons. And we go on to note the characteristics of the last days, that men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, juvenile delinquency, if you please, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, cruise breakers, false accusers, incontinent, that is without self-control, sexual depravity, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, petty, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

That's what the word fierce means. Turn to the fifth chapter of Mark, at the second verse, please. Something more about these demons and these fallen angels that are trying to be clothed upon with fallen humanity.

And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. And that word unclean means impure, lewd, foul, vile. You go home and read chapters 1, verse 18 of Romans, bound to the end of the chapter, and you'll see what it means to be lewd and vile and impure.

Read it. God unmasked the human heart energized by Satan and his host of demons or unclean spirits. Furthermore, note verse 5 of Mark 5,. And always night and day he was in the mountains, in the tomb, crying and cutting himself with stones.

And we note from this that they are sadists, sadistic in nature. They love to torture. They love to punish. And some men revel in torturing the human flesh and inflicting cruel, inhuman punishment. And I'll tell you, back of it is demon possession without natural affection.

Demonism from Noah's Day to the Last Days

And you take the 8th chapter of Luke, beginning at the 27th verse. These things need to be put forth, and you need to be warned to be on your guard, to be clothed upon with the whole armor of God. And may I interject this before I read from Luke 8 chapter.

As it was in the days of Noah, there was an outbreak of demonism until the whole earth was filled with violence. And when Jesus came the first advent, another outbreak of demonism. And according to Revelation, three unclean spirits are to come out from the pit.

An unregenerated man who has received the mark of the beast will be energized by such a mass of demonism that the world has never seen. And the only safe harbor of rest and assurance and safety is in the blood of Jesus Christ.

The 8th chapter of Luke, 27th verse, here it is. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man which had demons a long time and wear no clothes. Why all of this modern day scanty bathing suits, women and men parading almost in the nude?

It's energized by Satan. And Satan and his demon hosts are back of this. And now go back to the first chapter of Mark, verse 21. Oh, how we need to know these things. And I have the remedy at the close for all of this.

And they went into Capernaum. And straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine. And so forth, the 23rd verse. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

Even in the synagogue and in the church, there are demon-possessed men that are unregenerated. And the pastor talking to him the other day, he remarked, he said, What? Only one demon-possessed man in the church?

Well, that's as much to say my church has got many of them. Unregenerated church members. You have a name to be alive, but dead with no witness of the spirit in your heart that you've passed from death unto life.

Christ's Authority over Demons and the Call to Salvation

Now notice quickly in Mark 1, 24, what the demons think of Jesus. They think a lot more of Jesus than some of the modern-day preachers. Here it is. Jesus of Nazareth, art thou come to destroy us? I know thee, who thou art the Holy One of God.

In other words, they confess that Jesus was the virgin-born Son of God. That's more than some liberal preachers will ever admit. Let's go on. And in Matthew 8, 29 again, we find these words. And behold, the demons cried out, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?

Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And Satan and his demons know that the time is short and that the lake of fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. And they thought in 1900 years ago that Jesus, who had come then incarnate in the flesh, was going to put the demons into the lake of fire.

Come hither to torment us before the time? And I close with these words. What have I to do with thee? What have I to do with thee, says the demons? We know we're separated for all eternal ages. We know that we've fallen.

We know that we are headed for the lake of fire. No hope, no redemption, no second chance, but their destiny fixed for time and eternity. And I say to every soul outside of Jesus Christ today, listening to my voice, if you die in your sin, you cannot go where Jesus is, but you will go after the judgment of the great white throne into the lake of fire prepared only for the devil and his angels.

God didn't prepare it for you. He's saying to you outside of Christ, Why will you die? As I live, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And I sent my son to die in your place instead on Calvary's cross.

And he is saying to you, Come now, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And you'll have in dwelling you the Holy Spirit. And he that is in you then is greater than he that is in the world.

And you'll be more than conquerors through Christ who overcame Satan and all of his foes through the blood shed on Calvary's cross. Are you saved? If not, why not? The fowler heads in prayer, no one's stirring plea.

As I plead with the souls outside of Christ in the radio audience, friend of mine, God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son, that if you'll only believe in him, you'll not perish but have everlasting life.

God says, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. We're in a great spiritual warfare. I want you to come under the operation of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ.

Become a new creation passing from death unto life. All things becoming new and be able to stand against the wild of the evil one in these closing difficult days. God bless you as you're making the decision.

Kneel where you are and say, God be merciful to me a sinner and save me for Christ's sake. And him that cometh unto me, God says, I'll in the wise cast out. Continue in prayer as we leave the air. Forbidding you goodbye and God's richest blessing upon you.