about the gospel. So let's have a word of prayer and we'll step into chapter four here. Like I said, I think we'll get at least through the first six verses, I hope. So let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the cross of your son. Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit. It is his work that brings about salvation. in the hearts of all who believe. We thank you, Father, that it is your word in the gospel, the work of your spirit, that brings about a new creation within us. And Father, without your presence, without the Holy Spirit working in our heart, we would never come to Christ. But Father, thank you for your kindness that Paul says in Romans 1 is to lead us to repentance. And so, Father, we thank you for your kindness toward us, your grace and your mercy. So, Father, as we study your word tonight, may your Holy Spirit move in our heart in a fresh way. Again, Father, I pray there might be one listening who is without Christ. We pray, Father, that you'll perform that miracle tonight that you'll bring that light and that conviction tonight, and that you'll draw them to Jesus tonight for your glory. We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Actually, it's chapter two of Romans. I've gone over this several times. Verse four, do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? And that's that second verse of this hallelujah for the cross. You have won me with your kindness. Chase me down when I was lost. Where would I be if it wasn't for the cross? And so the kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance. And we're grateful for his kindness toward us. He doesn't owe us anything. What we deserve and what is owed to us is justice. And we don't want justice, we want grace, we want mercy, we want kindness. So as we saw last week, Paul is making this transition of focusing on the new covenant. As we looked last week, he says that he and others, Silas and Barnabas and Timothy and Titus, Dr. Luke had been made ministers of the new covenant. And he refers to the old covenant as the covenant of death because it brings death. And so he's transitioning and just kind of opening up the meaning of the gospel. Now in my Bible, there's just a subheading here in verses one through six, the light of the gospel. And John in his prologue in the Gospel of John uses this motif of light and Jesus expands it as he goes through the Gospels and says that he's the light of the world. But in verse 4 of John 1, in him was life Nowhere else except in Him. You'll not find life, we're talking about eternal life, we're talking about life that is eternal, that will last forever and ever. Life that relates us to God. Now we're physically alive, and we can say in some respects we're psychologically alive or emotionally alive, but that life that is eternal that connects us to the true and living God, we don't have that life. We're dead in our trespasses and sin, Ephesians 2.1. And we can't find that type of life anywhere except in Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. So in him was life, and the life was the light of men. Go back to Isaiah 9. The people were walking in darkness. As we'll see in this chapter, in these verses, their eyes were blinded. They're walking in darkness. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness On them has light shined. You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you with the joy of the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken on the day of Midian. That's talking about deliverance, the joy of God's salvation, deliverance, the power of this chorus. I was a prisoner. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. I was a prisoner. Now I'm not. With your blood, you bought my freedom. Hallelujah for the cross. That's the picture here. You increased his joy. They rejoiced before you as a joy to harvest. They were glad when they divided the spoil for the yoke of his burden. the staff on his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian. Every boot of the tramping warrior in battle, Tomo, every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for fire, for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, and the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end on the throne of David over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. See the people were walking in deep, great darkness, but a light has shined. In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light. And that's what we're doing. That's what Paul was doing. That's what the baptizer was doing. That's what the disciples, the apostles would do it. That's what every preacher of the gospel has been doing since the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing witness about the light. That all might believe, that we might believe in the light. All might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came into his own creation and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, to all who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but born of God. So, this light of the gospel. So it says, therefore, since we have this greater covenant, this greater message, this greater glory, as we looked last week, the work of the spirit that brings about regeneration and salvation in the hearts of believers, brings the faith which enables us to believe, He says, therefore having this ministry. And he says, we have this ministry by the mercy of God. Paul says, this isn't my ministry. I didn't make this up. I didn't originate this. I was called, go back to the first verses of most of his letters. He said, called to be an apostle, called to be a sent one. As we'll say over in chapter five, called to be an ambassador for Christ. To be a voice. to be one proclaiming this good news. And again, subsequently, as we saw last Sunday morning, we stand on the shoulders of all those who proclaimed it to us, and we heard the gospel. I hope you're hearing the gospel tonight, and you've heard it as I've tried to teach through God's word, because that is the message, the good news in Jesus Christ. And so it says, having this ministry by the mercy of God, He said, Paul says, I am what I am by the grace of God. All the glory goes to him. I am nothing. It's what the baptizer understood. He said, I must decrease that he might increase. In that context, he says, no one has anything except they've received it. The baptizer's saying, this ministry I have, I've received this ministry from God. It's not my ministry. It's not something I thought up while I was living out in the desert. It's not something that was just told me I was going to do. Now, I'm sure Zachariah and Elizabeth shared with him the miracle of his birth, the appearance of Gabriel, and told him the story, but this all originated with God. We go back to Luke, Luke's gospel. and that appearance of Gabriel to Zachariah. And it appeared in verse 11, Luke 1, 11. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right hand of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him, and the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayers have been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink in his will. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. Go before who? The Messiah. Turn the hearts of fathers to the children, the disobedient to the wisdom of just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And so this was God's calling upon John. He was a witness to this light. Paul says we have this ministry by the mercy of God and we do not lose heart. God is carrying out his eternal purpose of redemption. And we do not lose heart. We do not lose confidence in the gospel. We do not lose confidence in the proclamation and the teaching of the word of God. This is God's means. This is how he has purposed it. It's through the proclamation and the teaching of his word. And I just read something by Steve Lawson, a wonderful preacher and teacher of the gospel. He says, the book of Isaiah is not about Isaiah, it's about God. The book of Daniel is not about Daniel, it's about the true and living God. The first five books of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, are not really about Adam or Noah or Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or his sons and Joshua and Caleb and the children of Israel. It's about God. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amos is about God. Jonah is about God, all the word of God. Matthew, Mark, Luke is about the Lord Jesus Christ. All the epistles are about the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God is carrying out his purpose of salvation, of redemption. Just again, I guess I'm tempted to read the first chapter of Ephesians a little bit. I read it regularly, but I think it's good to Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. In Him, in the Beloved, we have redemption through His blood. We have the forgiveness of our trespasses, of our sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him things in heaven and things on earth. In Him, in Christ, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him, the Father, who works all things according to the counsel of His will. so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in him. You also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. So Paul says, we do not lose heart. We have received this ministry by the mercy of God, this ministry of a greater glory, this ministry of true salvation, accomplished salvation, not a ministry of death, but a ministry of life. Now, if the ministry of death carved in letters of stone came with glory, that the Israelites could not gaze upon Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? So we have this ministry, Paul says, by the mercy of God, and we do not lose heart. When we're praying for our children, our grandchildren, our neighbor, our coworker, a husband, a wife, a father or a mother, an aunt or an uncle, our confidence is in the power of the gospel. Our confidence is as we sow the word of God into their hearts. And we come before the Lord in intercession. for their heart to be turned into good soil, to receive the seed of the gospel. For God, as he says here in verse six, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness in creation, when God says, let there be light and there was light, the same power, the same God, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. No matter how dark a heart is, as we're pleading with God and asking God to bring the light of the gospel into the life and heart of our loved ones, we must not lose heart. We must have confidence in God's grace and God's kindness. that God will take that hard heart and soften it, take that heart of stone and bring a heart of flesh. The Holy Spirit will bring that light of the gospel that brings conviction of sin and convinces that individual their only hope is in Jesus Christ. And in the whole process of that, provides the ability, the faith to believe and trust in Christ. So, Paul says, I don't lose hope because I know the power of the gospel. So we renounce disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. A lot of that goes on. I think the poster child of disgraceful, underhanded ways and practicing cunning and tampering God's word. I think the poster child of that statement in our world and our culture is Joel Osteen and everyone like him. Those that think they have to water down the gospel, not talk about sin, not talk about hell, not talk about condemnation, not talk about judgment, not talk about death, Just put a sugar stick out there. Just soften the gospel that doesn't offend anybody. Paul says, I renounce that. I reject that, and I do too. Now again, there's no pleasure in talking about eternal damnation. There's no pleasure, no glee. God has no glee. The prophet Ezekiel, God says to the prophet Ezekiel, he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but he will not compromise his holiness and righteousness to wink at sin and just excuse it. His judgment must fall upon all sin. Now, the beauty of the gospel is that as Jesus hung on the cross, our sin, my sin, every believer's sin was laid upon him and it was judged in him. And again, there are those that characterize that as cosmic child abuse. That the father would punish the son for the sins of the lost. But that's exactly what scripture tells us. The just for the unjust. See, the substitutionary atonement of Christ is attacked over and over and over. It's attacked on all levels. And it's attacked in evangelical circles. that attack the teaching of the substitutionary, sacrificial death of Christ on the cross to suffer and pay my sin debt. I mean, that's exactly what Colossians says. I just don't understand how these passages can be ignored. Verse 13, Colossians 2, and you, talking to the believers at Colossae, you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He's talking about the heart, not talking about physical circumcision. He's talking about the circumcision of his heart, of the Adamic nature. God made alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt. King James says the ordinance of handwriting against us. I've explained this at least, I would guess four or five times in the 10 or so years I've been at Antioch. This means every sin that I've committed was nailed to the cross of Christ and Jesus paid the penalty for my sins. This handwriting of ordinance that was against me, that condemned me, that verified that I am a sinner. And he canceled it. cancelling the record of dead Henrich martyrs that stood against us with its legal demands. That's why the old covenant was a covenant of death. It condemns us because we have broken it. We stand guilty before a holy God. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. Now someone emphasized that part, which is true, but this triumph came through his death on the cross. This triumph came through, this victory came through his paying my sin debt and your sin debt and all who believe our sins are canceled. We're going to see that in Hebrews as we go further into Hebrews. So Paul says, we renounce disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning and to tamper with God's word. Part of what that says is there's a lack of confidence that the word of God is sufficient. That I've got to have this little angle here, this little angle here. This is what was driving the whole seeker-friendly church movement. It still is around, but it's faded quite a bit. But that was what's driving. We gotta present things that people are interested in so we can draw them in, and then we'll tell them the gospel. Well, you've already watered down the gospel by not having confidence that the teaching and preaching of God's word is sufficient to bring about salvation. In fact, again, go back to chapter one of 1 Corinthians, that's God's determination. That is through the foolishness of what we preach, God has determined to save those who are being saved. Because though it's a stumbling block to Jews and it's foolishness to the Greeks, it is the power of God to us who are being saved. Because we heard it, The Holy Spirit brought that light and opened our understanding, and we saw our sin, we saw our Savior, and we trusted in Him, and we've experienced the regeneration, we've experienced being made a new creation in Christ. So, he says, we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but, By the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. The open statement of the truth, proclaiming the truth of God's word, publicly, privately, proclaiming it to our own heart, proclaiming it to others, Maybe sowing that seed by a track, by a kind of a prayer gram, sending scripture to our loved ones in text messages, not trying to browbeat them, just trying to sow the seed, sow the seed, sow the seed, praying over the seed, praying for good soil. praying for God to do this work of grace in the heart of those that we love. And we cannot lose heart. We have to trust in the power of God. We have to trust in the sufficiency of the word of God. We have to trust in the sufficiency of teaching and preaching and proclaiming and sharing the gospel. The gospel, as I said last week, is a message. That's what we saw Sunday morning. This message originated with God. I believe, ultimately, it originated within the Trinity before the foundations of the world, that the Father decreed to send the Son and the Son decreed to come and live that sinless life for us, come in incarnation and live that sinless life for us, fulfill the righteous requirements of the law for us. And then at the same time, going to the cross and paying my debt and your debt for our sins that we might be forgiven. And the Holy Spirit applying the finished work into our lives, opening our heart, bringing that light, bringing that understanding, unstuffing our ears, removing the scales from our eyes that we might believe in him. And as I read there from Ephesians 1, the Holy Spirit is God's guarantee within us, his presence within us until the day Jesus comes back. So he says, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. Now, Paul understands, and I understand, that's why the Bible says, be careful about wanting to be a preacher or a teacher of scripture, because we're going to be held to a higher standard. I'm going to be held to a standard. Have I compromised the gospel? Have I compromised the word of God? I'm going to give an account of my life for that. So he says, I commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. God is my judge. God is the one who would redeem me or my either my faithfulness is going to be rewarded with gold, silver, precious stone, because that's what is eternal or My fleshly effort, what I've done in the flesh, is wood, hay, and stubble is gonna be consumed as I stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back to chapter three of 1 Corinthians. So, why are we dependent upon the Holy Spirit? Why are we dependent upon the Word of God, which we'll see in chapter four, verse 12, in Hebrews, that the Word of God is alive, it's powerful, it's sharper than any two-edged sword. Our confidence must be in the word of God and the spirit of God and the will of God. He says, and even if our gospel is veiled or hidden, it is veiled or hidden only to those who are perishing. In their case, the little G God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Why do people mock Jesus? Because they're dead in their trespasses and sin. Their eyes are blinded. Again, what Ephesians 2 says, you are dead in trespass and your sin in which you once walked following the course of this world. following the little p prince of the power of the air that's satan it's the same guy little p prince the power of the air the little g god of this world same guy those who are lost are following the course of this world following satan The little pea prints the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying up desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.