The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

3. The Cross

Jesus was crucified. The Gospel tells us that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, the promised and long awaited Messiah, was crucified.

Mark 15:15-26, 33-37
And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him... And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ...And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

What kind of Savior story is this? Crucifixion was a horrible, painful way to die, yet we glory in the cross. But, it is not the agony that we glory in. We glory in the cross because by dying on the cross Jesus paid our sin debt. By the cross he defeated death. Jesus died: our sins can be forgiven. Jesus died: death no longer has dominion over us. And it is the incarnation that gives the cross infinite value.

This was always the plan. It cannot be said much plainer than Isaiah 53:

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

1 Corinthians 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified...
Christmas leads straight to the cross. The Son of God was born in a manger so he could die on a cross.

Acts 2:22-23 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

But, Why?

Jesus described his purpose:
The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10.45)

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.  
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:11, 17-18)

The Apostles take up this theme:

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried...

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree... by whose stripes ye were healed.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God...

As we confess in the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. 
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;

The Gospel is clear, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was crucified. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

2. The Earthly Ministry
Jesus' earthly ministry was one of signs and wonders, and the gospels unashamedly record them for us. I went through the Gospel According to Matthew and made this simple list of what he healed during his earthly ministry:

Chapter 4 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Chapter 8 Leprosy; palsy; fever; they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick, rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm; cast out demons.

Chapter 9 Palsy and forgiveness; raised a dead girl; gave sight to the blind; cast out a demon and made the mute to speak; And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Chapter 11 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Chapter 12 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spoke and saw.

Chapter 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick; fed about five thousand men, beside women and children with five loaves and two fish; walked on water; And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole; cast out a demon; And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them; fed four thousand men beside women and children with seven loaves of bread and a few little fish.

Chapter 17 A man brought his son to Jesus and said, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water... And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Chapter 20 Restored sight to two blind men

This is amazing! This is how Jesus began his public ministry:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ 
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ (Luke 4:16-21)

When Peter was preaching the gospel to Cornelius he summarized the ministry of Jesus: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

I began by saying Jesus' earthly ministry was one of signs and wonders. Why should he have a ministry of signs and wonders?

† He did them because of his compassion for the people

† His miracles were fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies of what Messiah would do and were therefore signs of him being the Messiah

† The miracles were demonstrations of the kingdom of God; by his ministry he demonstrated that the kingdom had come

From his ministry of signs and wonders we see the kingdom comes with power:

Power over sin - he forgave it

Power over Satan - he cast out demons

Power over sickness, disease, infirmity - he healed the sick and suffering

Power over death - he raised the dead

Finally, John tells us the goal of his ministry of signs and wonders:

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:30-31)

The earthly ministry of Jesus is a fundamental part of the gospel!

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

1. The Incarnation

Incarnation is actually not a Bible word, that is, it does not occur in the Bible. However, while the word itself does not occur, the thought does. Incarnate comes from Latin: in + carnes, in flesh. This thought is most definitely in the Bible:

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14

The Word was made flesh, became a man. What is he talking about, the Word was made flesh? Who is this Word? He tells us at the very beginning of chapter 1:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
2 The same was in the beginning with God.  
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This is who is referring to when he says:

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...

and then

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

The Word was made flesh, the only begotten Son of God became a man.

Does the Bible tell us how this happened? Yes! In the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel According to Matthew, we read:

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke, in the first chapter of his gospel, gives more detail:

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.  

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

This was prophesied in the Old Testament by Isaiah the prophet:

7:14 Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...

This is one of the greatest events in the history of creation! But, Why would God send his Son to earth to become a man?

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son...

The Gospel begins on this note: God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world that He might save sinners; the Son was made flesh that he might rescue those who had wandered far from God.

What I thought about on the way to Augusta

Monday we went to Augusta, and as I was driving, for some reason I began thinking about all the schools I attended after high school and what is especially associated with each one.

I was saved in March of 1973 in Nashville, TN, in my senior year of high school. I graduated in June of that same year. I literally had one life goal while I was in high school – graduate. And since I made no real effort toward that goal, I was surprised I made it!

I had made no plans for college so I had no where to go come fall. But when fall came I started taking night classes at the University of Tennessee at Nashville. I had been to one, maybe two classes when I was hit by a car one night riding home from a friend’s house! I got confused on the neighborhood roads so I went back to McGavock Pike, a main road. As soon as did I was hit. I was pretty much laid up all that fall.

As I was recovering I discovered that my next door neighbor attended the University of Tennessee at Martin. In January of 1974, in a bad snowstorm, off I went to Martin to major in Pre-Forestry. This meant that after 2 years at UTM I would then transfer to UT Knoxville. I wasn’t excited about that, but there I was. That first quarter (UTM had quarters instead of semesters) I really grew in the Lord, discovered that Forestry wasn’t going to work, and felt called to the ministry. Oh yeah, I also met Mary! Actually, I met her in the first class. Well, we didn’t actually meet, but I did pick up her pencil. A couple of days later we formally met and pretty quickly developed a relationship. We went home for the summer – Mary to work at a camp and me to pump gas. I returned for the Fall quarter, but we got engaged and planned on getting married in 1975 so I dropped out to get a job (and because I didn't think Pre-Forestry was a helpful degree for the ministry).

Friday June 13, 1975 we were married. Mary continued her studies in nursing school and I was working at Sonic Drive-In.

Sometime in 1975 or 76 I started attending Mid-Continent Baptist Bible College in Mayfield, KY. It was a 45 minute drive from Martin to Mayfield, straight up Hwy 45. Might’ve been quicker using the Purchase Parkway, but that was a toll road and Hwy 45 was free! Two things stand out about Mid-Continent Baptist Bible College. First, the President of the school. I don’t remember his name, but he was the oldest person I had ever seen! When I introduced us I said we were up from Martin. No more than five minutes into the interview he asked, “How long have you been in Mayfield?” I couldn’t help myself, I answered, “About twenty minutes.” He didn’t laugh but I still got in! Second, the school itself. It was a Landmark Baptist school. What is a Landmark Baptist? Well, simply put, John was the first Baptist; Jesus walked 60 miles for Baptist baptism; the Apostles were Baptist preachers; the church in Jerusalem was the first Baptist church; give a man a new heart and an open Bible and he will be a Baptist. Yeah. No kidding.

Mary graduated UTM in June of 1976 and we moved to Memphis, TN. Mary went to work at Methodist Hospital and that fall I began attending Mid-South Bible College. MSBC was an old line dispensational school. I referred to it as "Scofield Tech" (because if you had a Scofield Reference Bible you knew exactly what they taught; the ‘New’ Scofield Reference Bible was referred to as “the Bible with the unauthorized changes and additions”) and "Dallas JR" (referring to Dallas Theological Seminary). As much as I wrestled with their anti-charismatic bias I will have to say I received a good theological foundation, at least compared to other Bible college grads I spoke with.

In 1978 our first daughter was born so Mary quit work to stay home with her and I went to work full time as a custodian at Audubon Park Baptist Church & School. My schooling slowed down considerably as I was only able to take night classes and a class during my lunch break. I still remember eating Vienna sausage sandwiches in the car on the way to class.

One day, after a year or year and a half of this, I can still picture where I was at work when I realized how close I was to graduating, but that it would require taking classes from other schools in addition to my work at Mid-South Bible College. It was clearly the Lord speaking to me, it was almost like a vision, it was so clear. I also knew at that moment that History of Western Civilization I & II was the biggest hurdle, since MSBC only offered it every other year and the upcoming year was the off year.

So that summer I went to summer school at Memphis State University. That was a trip!! History of Western Civilization I was a breeze, but History of Western Civ II was a different story. I have to admit that I did not learn how to study until that summer course in my senior year! It was at this time that I began riding my bicycle to school. That was in the summer and that fall and winter I also rode the bike to Bible College. A long ride, in Memphis traffic!

I also began taking correspondence courses from Fort Wayne Bible College. Yes, I said correspondence. In those days there was no online presence as there was no online, so all assignments were mailed in, then you had to wait for the response by mail to let you know how you did. Can’t remember all the courses I took by correspondence, just The Gospel According to John. All of this while still taking classes at MSBC. And working full time.

Finally, in 1981 I graduated from Mid-South Bible College with a B.A. in Pastoral Ministries. Oh yeah, I graduated Magna Cum Laude. I certainly did not see that coming!! Our second daughter was born that fall and shortly after her birth I became pastor of Brent Alliance Church in Pensacola, FL.

In 1984 we moved to Macon, GA and I became pastor of First Alliance Church. In 1987 we moved to York, SC so I could pastor Bible Covenant Community Church. Not long after moving to York I began correspondence courses from Luther Rice Seminary. Still correspondence courses but I moved up in the world – I bought a Word Processor. A what? Everybody knows this is an app on a computer (or phone), but computers were rare in those days. The church had an electric typewriter, but I had none; so I bought a Word Processor, sort of a mix between a typewriter and a computer. Alas, the school was mostly focused on critical matters, “Write a paper proving Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles” and such. That was of no interest to me. I did write a few papers that were very profitable and edifying but I also got several responses that said something like, “This is good work but please refrain from writing on topics without prior approval.” Ha! What I got the most from wasn’t approved and what was approved I got nothing out of . . . this wasn’t working so I threw in the towel.

That was the end of my formal schooling. I’ve read a lot since then, but nothing for a grade. Anyway, that’s what I thought about on the way to Augusta: After high school I went to  . . . schools.

The power of a testimony

We went up to Tennessee this past weekend and Sunday we attended Johnson City Alliance Church. I could write about the worship and the brethren there we knew, but I want to focus on something else.

A part of their worship time is called “Kiddie Korner”. They invite all the children to come to the front of the auditorium for a teaching on their level. Since the pastor was planning to teach James 4:4-10, the passage for the children was from verse 7, Submit yourselves therefore to God. The sister who was teaching the children focused on the word submit. She explained the meaning of submit and had an interesting visual illustration. Near the beginning of her teaching she gave each child a piece of candy, at some point during her explanation of submit she asked who was willing to give up their piece of candy. I think every child but one surrendered their piece of candy. Then at the end she gave the children who had surrendered their candy something bigger, better, or more - I couldn’t see, but it was clearly a better thing than that original piece of candy. Then I heard her say, “Oh, now she wants to give up her candy!” Oh I was so hoping she would say the right thing now…and she did: “It’s never too late to submit God.” Oh, Amen!!

Right there was the power of a testimony. When this little girl saw what happened for those who trusted the teacher and surrendered their candy, she was willing to do the same.

So what am I saying?

We ought to teach and preach about salvation through faith in Jesus, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer, joy unspeakable and full of glory, peace that passes understanding, healing, full surrender, and more! There’s power in the Word, in the promises, and people will be led into life and life more abundant through such teaching. But, if all we do is preach/teach it then we run the risk of this becoming mere theology, a doctrine to give mental assent to and nothing more. Ah, but when a brother or sister stands up and says, “I heard about how Jesus saves sinners, and when I believed in him he saved me!” I’m telling you there’s power in that!

Man, this is like signs following. It’s good to teach about the baptism with the Spirit, what it is and how to receive it. There’s power in teaching the Word. But, next week when a brother comes to the meeting and says, “I just want to let y’all know, last week he told us about this baptism with the Spirit; well, I went home and sought Jesus, and he filled me with the Holy Spirit. It’s real, man, praise Jesus!” There’s power in that too!!

This is true for all of the Word: prayer, joy, peace, victory. Folks need to hear the full gospel of Christ, that’s the only way their going to know about and enter into their inheritance. There is power in the Word, in the promises, and in the faith that claims them. Amen! Hallelujah! But there is also power in testifying.

This pretty much describes the book of Psalms. They are songs of testimony. Very few of them (if any) are doctrinal treatises. No, they are songs of fear, doubt, trouble, tribulation, struggles, and how God rescued the psalmist. That’s why they’re so popular: “Hey, I’m going through the same type of struggle and he found victory!” Just one Psalm will suffice:

Psalm 34
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.  
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.  
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.  
7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.  
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

David is simply sharing his testimony, I cried and the Lord heard. Hallelujah!

I believe churches should encourage testifying, and offer opportunities for the brethren to testify. Do you have a testimony? When you have the opportunity, you should share your testimony. There is power in a testimony.

Is it really good news?

The gospel is good news, but not all the news is good. This past Sunday our New Testament reading was from Acts 17 (16-34) which includes this portion:

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

According to verse 18, he preached Jesus and the resurrection in the synagogue and in the market place. We are not told what he said but based on his other sermons in the book of Acts I think it is safe to say that (at the least) it was: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross, and was raised from the dead. Then in 22-31 we have his sermon on Mars Hill. So where is the part that's not good?

He had to have told them that Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried. That is not good news. Crucifixion was a horrible death. His message begins thus, "Christ has come and they killed him. Jesus is the Christ and he was crucified." It actually sounds like the gospel ends before it begins. But God takes this terrible beginning and turns it into good news:

+ Jesus died for us, for our sins, that he might deliver us from sin. Now that is good news!

+ Jesus was raised from the dead. He is the living One! He now offers us forgiveness and life. That is also good news!

From his sermon we glean two other not so pleasant parts of the Gospel.

First he makes it clear, God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Repentance is something that many contemporary preachers ignore. Why? Because it's negative, it sounds like I'm telling you you're doing something wrong and you need to change. Well, that's exactly what it means. Repent means to change your mind, change the way you think. And in this sermon Paul tells the Athenians their ideas of God are wrong.

The city was wholly given to idolatry and he declares, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven [sculpted] by art and man's device. He explains that God is the creator, sustainer, provider; He doesn’t need us, we need Him. Everywhere the Gentiles were idolaters, so he very clearly proclaims, God commands all men everywhere to repent. That is, change the way you think about God; turn away from your idols to the true and living God.

John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus, Peter, and Paul preached it as well. It is as necessary today as it was back then. And even though it sounds negative (no one appreciates being told they are wrong), repentance has positive results. It is linked to forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 5:31), life, (Acts 11:18), and salvation (2 Cor 7.10). And that is good news!

Second, Paul mentions something else that is largely overlooked by modern preachers, God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. In fact, this is why we are urged to repent - judgement is coming and we are not ready for that Day. This is most definitely not a happy thought. Surely this can’t be good news. Ah, but this is why Jesus came and died on the cross, that he might save us from and prepare us for this Day. By his death on the cross we can be forgiven our sins, we can be justified or declared righteous before God. His resurrection is living proof of this. And that is good news!

The gospel is good news, even though not all of it sounds good. It is the good news of salvation, of forgiveness, of justification, of restoration to God, of life – all through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can be saved if you will repent and believe in Jesus. That is good news!

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

The Autobiography of a Rescued Sinner

These are the notes from a sermon I preached on Psalm 51 back in 2014. I know this is a rather long post for me but at least it is not a word for word transcript - I don't have the introduction and I have deleted some of the cues for illustrations. Anyway, I called it The Autobiography of a Rescued Sinner. I hope you find encouragement here.

<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.> [Introduction found in the KJV, which sets the scene]

There are those who think that people like David have the best of both worlds - they get both sin and God. I want to go through the Psalm and see what happens when you fall into sin

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: 
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

I believe “mercy” is the sweetest word in the Bible. I know about grace and love, and no one can deny their importance, but mercy is the sweetest word.

How often do you read, "Have grace upon me, O Lord?" Never. How many Psalms begin, "Love me, O Lord"? None.

The Psalms are full of this cry, "Have mercy upon me, O LORD"; and the Gospels are full of encounters like this: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David."

Is this not our instinctive heart cry when we are in danger or distress, Have mercy on me?

2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, 
and cleanse me from my sin.

Words for sin in this Psalm:
sin - miss the mark, fall short
transgression - violate a specific command
iniquity - twisted, perverse

Four categories of sin:
1) Sin that is simple disobedience or rebellion.
2) Then there is sin that becomes a habit and we have to learn a new habit to stop.
3) There is also a deeper kind of sin, a more pernicious kind of sin, one that has a hook or a barb. It grabs something in you, it hides and thrives on this inner and sometimes secret lust or hurt and then shows up in your life. This kind of sin is very difficult to stop. The root is me. I want to stop, I try to stop, but I am sucked into it again and again.
4) A fourth category of sin is the kind that comes with, is the result of, or results in some sort of spiritual oppression and enslavement.

wash me throughly
church tablecloths - We used to have two sets of tablecloths, one set was white and the other was blue. After a fellowship dinner I took them home to wash. I washed both sets together and *gasp* the white ones came out blue!! I knew the white set had been homemade by C____ and I was mortified. I immediately washed the white set again, this time with bleach. Gladness, joy, relief - they were white again! I had washed them throughly (thoroughly). Sin leaves a stain and we need the Lord to wash us throughly.

3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: 
and my sin is ever before me.

I acknowledge my sin, I confess my sin. I did it. It was me.

4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: 
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, 
and be clear when thou judgest.

David was the king. In our day we say, "No one is above the law." Well, in David’s day he was the law. But not even he was above the law of God.

5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; 
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: 
and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

I have a deep rooted problem with sin. The one thing You want, truth in the inward parts, I have trouble with.

7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: 
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

One of the consequences of sin - it makes you dirty…

8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; 
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Another consequence of sin - loss of joy and gladness

There is the pleasure of sin for a season. It feels good for the moment but then there is the loss of gladness. Sin is costly.

Bones which you have broken – not literally. This is describing conviction.

9  Hide thy face from my sins, 
and blot out all mine iniquities.

Yet another consequence - Sin comes between you and God, like a cloud covering the sun.

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; 
and renew a right spirit within me.

See what sin does to the heart? "My spirit was inclined to You and to Your ways, now I am drifting away from you."

11  Cast me not away from thy presence; 
and take not thy holy spirit from me.

I don’t want to get distracted by this, so we will just say, when you sin your sense of the presence of God is affected. This is a serious consequence.

12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; 
and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Earlier he had asked for a restoration of joy and gladness, now he is specific, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Because of his sin he lost joy and gladness in general, and the joy of salvation specifically. What a price we pay when we fall into sin: you get dirty, you lose joy and gladness, you lose the joy of his salvation, there is a cloud between you and God, you are drawn away from God, and your sense of the presence of God is lost or greatly diminished. He most definitely did not have the best of both worlds.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; 
and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: 
and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

He is speaking here of the restoration that comes with forgiveness. "Forgive me, wash me, create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit" and I will praise you and teach others about the dangers of sin and the joy of your rescue."

15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: 
thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: 
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

What is a contrite heart? A heart that feels its sin and acknowledges it.

Here is the point of the Psalm: David's hope is not himself. Not his righteousness; not his goodness; not in his confession; not even his contrition. It is God. His mercy. His hope, his only hope, is that God in His mercy does not despise a contrite heart.

We can suppose that his prayer was answered and his sin forgiven, but we need to be sure. And we can be. Turn to Psalm 32 (I don't know why it doesn't follow this psalm, but it is considered to be what he wrote after he wrote 51 and God met him):

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.  
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.  
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Amen! Hallelujah!

Why preach this Psalm?

1. THIS is what sin does. In everyone. Every time.

2. God wants to rescue sinners

3. THIS is how a sinner is rescued.

How do we apply this to people we know who have fallen into sin?

We need to PRAY for them

We need to be PATIENT with them

We need to be PREPARED to welcome them back


Here is the first line of a hymn every rescued sinner can sing:

I came to Jesus, weary, worn, and sad.
He took my sins away, He took my sins away.
And now His love has made my heart so glad,
He took my sins away.

He took my sins away, He took my sins away,
And keeps me singing every day!
I’m so glad He took my sins away,
He took my sins away.

He Took My Sins Away
Words & Music: Margaret J. Harris
I shall take away their sins. Romans 11:27


For a fuller commentary on this Psalm I invite you to go here.