Oct 29 2009
The Simple Gospel
Off and on, as I find time, I have been reading through a book put together by Grace Community Church in honor of Pastor John MacArthur’s fortieth year as their pastor. This book entitled “Truth Endures” is, primarily, a collection of congregation favorite sermons preached by Pastor MacArthur over the past forty years. I say ‘primarily’ because the book begins with a wonderful biography of Pastor MacArthur written by Iain Murray.
One of the most amazing thing about this collection is how these favorite sermons span the years. For example, one favorite is the first sermon John preached at his new church. Others are from the 70’s or 80’s - what most of us would consider the early years. Obviously, while Pastor MacArthur has commented on his spiritual and practical growth over the years, God had already blessed this man with a wonderful understanding of the foundational principles of Christianity. Furthermore, John was committed to expository preaching, right from the start. The depth of his early sermons reveals this.
As I have read through these sermons, I have been blessed and exhorted and encouraged and convicted. Each one is a hallmark for the truths it proclaims and its unrelenting commitment to God’s word.
While most books I read focus on one subject - and, I believe, this is good and necessary as a general rule - this book covers a gamete of subjects all interconnected by their tie to the teachings of God’s’ Word. I strongly encourage you to get it and read it for yourself.
Over the next few days or weeks maybe even months, I will be sharing excerpts from some of these sermons - excerpts which I believe will not only give you a taste of the value of this book, but will also, I pray, convict and encourage and uplift you as they are me.
Today I will focus on Pastor MacArthur’s Sermon from December 26, 1976. This sermon entitled, The Simple Gospel, has ‘endured as a favorite for more than thirty years.’ Pastor MacArthur’s text was John 8:21-30. His premise: “What happens when a person maintains the masquerade of Christmas, giving homage to an event, but not tolerating the individual in which that event finds its meaning? If receiving Jesus Christ results in an abundant and eternal life, then not receiving Jesus Christ results in receiving the curse of God.”
He then turns to John 8 which he calls a difficult passage which makes him “want to cry out with Richard Baxter, ‘Oh, for an empty hell and a full heaven!’” Let’s look at the passage:
“Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.”
As Pastor MacArthur points out, those ‘who give lip service to Christianity while rejecting Christ are engaged in the most foolish kind of fun.’ This is serious stuff. This is stuff we all should be paying attention to. Remember, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees. These are religious people. These people not only thought they were headed to heaven, they knew they were going there. What about me? What about you? How closely do our ‘convictions’ about our eternal destiny line up with theirs? More importantly, how closely do our reasons behind our convictions line up with Scripture?
Pastor MacArthur went on to point out several ways to ‘guarantee’ we will die in our sins. The first way he listed was to be self righteous. He said, “The first way to guarantee that you will die in your sin and not go to the Father’s house in heaven with Jesus is to be convinced that you don’t need to be saved, that you are spiritually all right. By far, those who deny their need of a Savior are the most difficult people to reach. . . Self-righteous people, who have developed a system that they believe gives them the right to enter God’s presence, are the hardest people to convince that they need a Savior because they already feel they are fine.” Upon what or whom is your salvation based? Is it really based on Scripture or are you being misled?
He went on to relate an article sent to a Melbourne newspaper by someone who had heard Billy Graham preach. The article read, “After hearing Dr. Billing Graham on the air, viewing him on television, and seeing reports and letters concerning his mission, I am heartily sick of the type of religion that insists my soul and everyone else’s needs saving, whatever that means. I have never felt that I was lost nor do I feel that I daily wallow in the mire of sin, although repetitious preaching insists I do. Give me a practical religion that teaches gentleness and tolerance, that acknowledges no barriers of color or creed, that remembers the aged and teaches children goodness and not sin. If in order to save my soul I must accept such a philosophy as I have recently heard preached, I prefer to remain forever damned.”
God be merciful!
The second way we can guarantee we will die in our sins is to be earthbound (vs 23). Pastor MacArthur said, “If you want to guarantee that you will die in your sin, just be part of the world system and accept what it offers. Then you can be classified as ‘sons of this age’ (Luke 16:8) entrapped in ‘this present evil age,’ from which Jesus seeks to deliver man (Gal 1:14). Opposed to the truth of God, the world propagates its own self-righteous system.”
Before you assume this is an area of no concern, think again. In my judgment, we are far too influence by our culture. We need to take a good hard look at Scripture (a good place to start might be the Sermon on the Mount) before we consider ourselves free of this pitfall.
The third way we can guarantee we will die in our sins is to be unbelieving (vs 24). Pastor MacArthur says, “You don’t have to go out and kill someone and be bad to go to hell, because hell is not just for criminals, it is for everyone and anyone who refuses Christ. If you refuse Christ in this life, God isn’t going to force you to dwell with Him forever in eternity. . .Because Jesus was identifying Himself with God, saving faith not only becomes a question of turning from sin, but trusting the Son as well. It’s a question of believing Jesus is who He claimed to be. You ask, ‘Am I going to die in my sin unless I believe that He is all that He claimed to be?’ That’s right.”
The last way to guarantee we will die in our sins is to be wilfully ignorant (vs 25). Pastor MacArthur said, “The Jewish leaders had enough evidence about Christ, they just refused to believe. . .They were wilfully ignorant of Christ’s identity. . .
“I wish we could transport ourselves back in a time capsule and meet those people so we could understand the tragedy of rejecting Christ. You would get a little idea of the intensity and the fearfulness of such a warning as Jesus made here.” I suspect we would be AMAZED at how much they are like most ‘Christians’ today. God grant we are not like them.
God grant us the grace to study His word that we may know beyond a shadow of a doubt the Jesus we are following, the Jesus we claim to believe, is the real Jesus - the only way to God. While the gospel is simple, there is only ONE TRUE GOSPEL! We must not settle for a carbon copy or a substitute spawned by man’s ideas or our own self-righteous conceptions.
