What is the Christian Gospel?

The Problem of Guilt Before a Holy God

That's the problem. What can I do about my sins if I am an enemy of God preacher of yours telling me this morning? I'm an enemy of God. What can I do about my sins? He will take vengeance upon those who have transgressed his law.

I've transgressed his law. A God who knows all the ways that I've not only wronged him But that I've wronged others not only have I transgressed the law of God and sinned against God I have sinned against other people and God knows about this all and he will not the text says look at verse 3 I'm just preaching what the text says.

He will by no means clear the guilty. He will not let those who are guilty of these things go unpunished. I am guilty. What can I do? You can do nothing I've already done you've sinned and you can do Nothing, but if I say this prayer, no, what if I get baptized?

No, but if I give money I cannot play. Satisfy the wrath of God. I Might even add here that not even hell in one sense fully satisfies the wrath of God because hell is not just 10 ,000 years in this. It's forever, but in steps of substance his name is Jesus the Son of God Takes on human flesh and is born of the Virgin Mary and he does nothing in his life, but righteousness.

Christ the Propitiation and the Justice of God

This Jesus then goes to Calvary and his hands and his feet are affixed to a Roman wooden cross. And he's suspended between heaven and earth and there the Lord takes vengeance upon his adversaries saves us from his own By avenging our sins against him.

Instead of smiting the pompous Roman officials or the haughty Jewish official officials or destroying the crowds or Annihilating you and me what God does is crush his son under the weight of his holy wrath.

The Lord is jealous and avenging God the Lord is avenging in wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and he keeps a wrath for his enemies and we see this unleashed in part in Nahum and upon the people in Nineveh, but we see it unleashed even further upon Jesus Christ on the cross.

Jesus becomes the guilty one in my place and My guilt therefore is not left unpunished rather. It is punished in Christ. God has his holy vengeance in the gospel Romans 3 25 and 26 God put forward Christ Jesus as a propitiation By his blood to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith In Jesus.

In other words Abraham got off scot-free. David got off scot-free. Moses got off scot-free. The Old Testament Saints got off scot-free. Then you said you don't leave the guilty unpunished, but somehow you forgave their sins.

That's unjust and they're right. That's not just it's not Just to just say well, whatever you just go on. Well, how is God gonna be just answer Jesus in? In Jesus he punished so that his people could be forgiven.

You lose the vengeance of God and you lose the gospel. Christ is our propitiation wrath satisfying sacrifice and he raises again from the dead for our Justification that by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone We might become the children of God and be credited with the righteousness of Christ.

Benjamin Keech. Sin was imputed to Christ. Yay, every sin we have or ever shall commit. So that in Christ we have borne already all that vindictive wrath and vengeance of God. That was due to us according to his holy law and threatening denounced against us.

There is therefore now no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The Lord is avenging the Lord is avenging the Lord is avenging. God's holy vengeance upon the city of Nineveh is a small picture of what he did upon the cross to save his people from their sins and the just Retribution owed to us for our disobedience to his law.

What did Jesus cry on the cross? Not it's about to be done. Not I've finished part of it not I've done 98 There's only 2 left for you to do know our Savior cries from the cross. It is finished and gives up the ghost.

In Christ it is finished. Christ is our all Christ life and death and resurrection is the final word. There is no more vengeance to be had Against those in Christ Jesus because our Savior has already Fully satisfied God's vengeance upon the cross of death.

The Lord is good Stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge. God knows in a saving covenantal way those who take refuge in. You see the the Christian message is this God saves us from God.

God by God saves us from God for God. This is the Christian message and the warning is a storm is coming a storm that will lay to waste every false foundation to bring Recompense upon every rebel soul to expose all the corruption all the corrupt governments all the corrupt Organizations the corruption that has happened in the ethics and religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

It will expose all of the corruption in these places, but it will also expose the corruption of your own heart. But there is a refuge from the storm. There is a place of safety and the shelter is Christ.

Repentance, Obedience, and Refusing the Gospel

I Remind you again 2nd Thessalonians 1 8 the Lord Jesus will come. Inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus that is vengeance on those who know God from creation, but I have rejected him.

But then there's another group those who do not obey the gospel in one sense. We talked about in Sunday school. You would say we don't obey the gospel because the gospel is what Jesus has done for us.

But what Paul means is that other sense the gospel? Absolutely. Yes, it demands obedience. It demands a proper response. The response is repent and believe in the gospel. We come to Christ by faith alone and then that faith produces in the hearts of believers a desire to obey what the King has said, but There will be many on the great day of vengeance who heard the gospel.

Maybe you're here this morning. Maybe even you've given a thumbs up or a head nod or a wink or whatever to the gospel. But you've not submitted your life to come and you hear and you sit and the gospel washes over you.

But it's like a it's like a big rock in the middle of a of the Buffalo River or whatever. It's just the gospel is hitting you, but it ain't moving you. You just stand there like a stone wave after wave after wave after wave.

Pastor Jacob preaches his guts out. Pastor Quatro preaches his guts out. We have others that come preach the guts out. We sing the gospel. We share the gospel. We're on the street preaching and passing out tracks.

We're doing these things and here you stand like a stone as the water. Or or maybe you say, you know what I know that I got to get some things right but maybe. Or you know, I'm gonna think about this.

I appreciate that I want to think about that and that just goes on and on and on until Christ returns. But I say to you this morning dear soul that I set Christ before you. The Christ who beckons those to come to him who are weary and heavy laden and he will give them rest.

Christ Invites the Weary and Warns the Unrepentant

Why do I preach this way? I preach this way because I love lost people because I want my sons and my daughters that are Remaining outside of Christ to hear the gospel and come to Christ and I don't want there to be a single Hypocrite in this church or a false believer.

I want no one to stand before the Lord one day and they say why didn't anybody warn me? Why didn't they tell me? Why didn't they? Remind me that that vengeance is God's. I want you to hear and know and believe Christ will save you.

He will save you today. The Christ who says anyone who comes to me. I will not cast out the Christ that is full of love and mercy and pity for wretched and undeserving sinners. Sinners who deserve only judgment and Condemnation who Jesus says to I have done it all come and follow.

The rich young ruler he looked at Jesus. Says he walked away. He realized I can't do it. I won't do it. I got too much stuff and I love my stuff too much. And he turned and he walked away, but here you are with a choice before Christ.

God promises to pardon. To forgive you of every sin to justify you by Christ to set you up on a new path to bind your life together with this ragtag Motley crew of believers in the local church as we seek to know God together and walk in his ways.

The church alone is going to be sheltered from God's vengeance. The truth that the Lord is avenging must this morning arrest your attention and cause you to consider your life. What do you do man? What do you do like the dog chasing the car?

We have dogs at our house. I like to chase the car and I think to myself. What are you gonna do man if you ever catch the tire? It ain't gonna be what you thought it was. And you chasing the world and you chasing your dreams and you chasing the promises the world holds.

It's not gonna be what you thought it was if you ever catch it. But I say to you this morning. There is a refuge in Christ. What does it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul? Come to Jesus who bore the wrath of sinners on the cross and rose again.

Will you this morning? I'm asking you. Will you come to Christ? Will you come to Jesus with the eyes of faith? Will you believe on Christ? Will you repent of your sins and run to Jesus for mercy? Will you understand this morning that Jesus will forgive you and clothe you in his righteousness, but you can't.

Sit there like a stone in the river like a stick in the mud. You must repent and come to Christ and trust him and God says I will forgive you. I will cleanse you. I will heal you if you turn to me. Will you turn little children my children.

Other children in this room, will you turn adults? Are you in Christ? Will you please come to Jesus? Parents. Grandparents the vengeance of God is coming. But today is a day of mercy and God will receive.

Your only qualification is that you must be a sinner. If that's you Trust Jesus and be saved.