Recovery of the Gospel — Rolfe Barnard

The Gospel Amid Sin, Satan, and Antichrist

This conviction, that sin being what it is, and Satan being whom and who he is, and this world lying in the wicked one as it does, and hell popping on every direction, and the spirit of the world being prepared to bow down and accept the devil's Christ, Antichrist, and when the winds are blowing from every direction, the I say character of them upon the hotness of the gospel of Christ, I say to you that it's my conviction.

Recovering the Gospel of God's Grace

Now, this doesn't make it so, but it is my conviction, and I do not ask it in my conviction, and I'll stand for it, and the best I know I'll bear the consequences of preaching this conviction. It is my conviction that the most urgent task facing us today is the recovery of the gospel of the grace of almighty God, and because that is my conviction, I am asking men and women to stand by each Lord's Day for several more Lord's Days, as pretty soon we're going to try to preach the gospel of God's grace.

Thus far we've been preaching for the scripture say where sin did abound, grace did and does abound. Once again in America as of days of yore, that man in the predicament of Satan himself shall once more hear of the abounding grace of a holy God in Jesus Christ.

Sin's Devastation and the Need for Grace

As deadly as the Bible says it is, if sin taking occasion in the flesh and being spurned has caused the situation that we are in today, then I say to you that people in that shape cannot live. The grace of that touch you will be sympathetic with at the root of all that you're preaching, and as many church members and as much the ocean, as much to that gospel preaching today.

Christ's Redeeming Work

In the second place, in the truth that we speak of Christ redeeming work, as if he had done no more of a die at the door of our close lips, I move that the gospel picked up on men two generations ago.

The Urgent Recovery of the True Gospel

May God bless you everyone. My friends, what I've brought to you today over this radio station, and you've just listened to, and your attention, of my heart, to you, for men and women in this desperate day, they hear preaching by earnest, honest men, but the preaching of the gospel, despite our earnestness and honesty, is not from men as they believe it, seems to be strangely absent from our land today, and good morning, subject to salvation of God, the apostle Paul, the foundation of the gospel, but over this radio and these stations, that to my mind, the greatest, most urgent task facing God's people today is the recovery of the gospel, which I believe several generations instituted a gospel, that in some respects is similar to the true gospel, but in its content and its character, and in the fruit of the preaching of it, said that the preaching of this hour, we have the bible against us, the facts of the gospel bible are against the kind of preaching that's turning out the kind of converts that are filling our churches today, and we suggested, as we kind of got lost in the time, last lord's day, and did not get to fully come to a climax in our thought, because of the lack of time, we suggested that gospel preaching find the converts to our preaching, the true or the falseness of the gospel, as we preach it, and I'm saying that with people today, like of a design up at that point today, and of this, I'm sincere, as I preach to many preachers who are kind enough to listen, I'm sincere, as I preach to many people who, and I do not doubt your sincerity, or meant to unconstitute it in your day and mine, often is worth making an issue of controversy out of the grace of an intuitive self, people who've been great people in between a true ignorant of the great truths of god, you sent us, it is not the proclamation of difference salvation, today my friends, in the saint first of the lord jesus christ, over people who've been conditioned to think of a christ, for the day proclaims a savior who does less than say, oh yes, we have preached today, nearly years, that christ has done something that makes it possible, if you do something for god, the savior, preach to christ, you'll see, and by present day preaching to think of god, so and so, if you don't do so and so, unless thus and that, why you'll go to preaching to think of saving faith, as the human health, and I'm lifting up my voice against it, and I'm not trying to make anybody mad, I'm pleading for a recovery of preaching about a god who doesn't make possible salvation, but a god who saves, I'm not preaching a christ who makes salvation possible by a savior who saves people, and I tell you there's good news in that, if I can possible, I'm preaching the gospel, I say to you my friends, and it's a gift of god, and we tell sinners that they do it themselves, and we lie to them, it is their own act, and a sinner must believe, but praise god, that in virtue of what christ was, and did on the cross of the lord jesus christ, the gift of faith for those for whom i blessed lord died, out in this way, we preach a god who doesn't save, but a god who we preach a savior who does less than redeem, and a savior who does less than save, why is it we preach of god's wonderful love, as if it is just a big stream, and we'll hope that we get our little dipper, and and find that god's able to save, why is it we preach faith as a human help that god needs, and he can't save us unless we come to his rescue, well I think it's come about somewhat this way, we who are earnest at least want to magnify the saving grace of god, everybody that preaches today talks about preaching that men are saved by grace, and they mean it, and as honest as they are, I do not doubt their honesty or question their motive, but I say that we who want to magnify the saving grace of god, and the saving power of the lord jesus christ, we really want to do that, you couldn't find the preacher anywhere in this cup, ought to magnify the saving grace of god, and so we we got that right motive, but to do what we think ought to be done, that god's redeeming love, for to be saved, now we need to be clear here, is the popular preaching of the day, instead of exalting the grace of god, preach that way, you blame the limited at all, what to do, somebody set out to do something that you hope might accidentally take place, it's death, news about that, news about that, any church in this section today, and in three or four nights hearing to the line, 95 of the people in the congregations will be saying, if that fellow's preaching the truth, then I'm not saved, friends at baptist, who've always said we believe in the eternal security of the believer, it's hard to find the baptist now, who feels any security, why?

Spurgeon's Defense of Definite Atonement

Brother Spurgeon, whom the preachers quote today, but hate his gospel, they accused him of preaching the limited atonement, he answered this wise, I quote it, brother Spurgeon said, we're often told that we limit the atonement of christ, because we say that christ has not made a satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved, now our reply to this is, brother Spurgeon says, that only us limit the work of christ, we do not, our opponents say christ died by him dying for all men, and they say no, certainly not, secure the salvation of any man in particular, they answer no, they admit this if they're consistent, they say no, certain conditions of salvation limits the death of christ, we say no my dear sir, and if they secured the salvation, cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved, you are welcome to your atonement, says Mr. Spurgeon, you may keep it, we will never renounce the sake of it, I thank god I have the privilege of pointing every sinner I can get and speak in distance of, to the lamb of god, and I can say to them sinner, salvation wasn't made possible, salvation was accomplished, I bid you to look at not somebody who may be conceived, but look at the savior, and he died, so that end of salvation, we gonna start preaching pretty soon, if you don't know the way, I'm preparing, I'm comparing the old gospel, the old savior, to the new gospel, that just can't possibly point anybody with assurance to christ this savior, oh the sinner may still have his good opinion of himself and all his supposed abilities, we deheart repentance and deheart saving faith, in order to make this plausible, it's very simple we tell sinful men, just open your heart to the lord, and in so doing we have function of religion itself, and that basic conviction, I know this is so is, that sinful man is always, and it's no wonder that our preaching begets so little reverence and humility, that our converts are so self-confident and so deficient in the true knowledge of themselves, and in the good works which scripture my dear brother, the old gospel said, a company of helpless sinners, upon whom god had set his free saving love, the keeping, salvation of all, that's what needs today, saves, scripture, dear dying latch of god, needs to be preached today, my time's gone, ask you to be our next lord today, as we take where we're left off with this gospel.