The Glory of The Gospel #1

We turn now to God's Word to forget about ourselves and to see the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It seems like every day you hear about the latest self-help program or book, the latest diet or exercise program, or maybe a new way to invest your money, all promising to change your life. Welcome to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I'm Bill Wright. And today, as Don kicks off a series called The Glory of the Gospel, he'll show us that if we want real change in our lives, change that will impact our eternal destiny, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only place we're going to find it. And Don, when we genuinely accept the truths found in the Gospel, we're never quite the same again, are we?

Well, Bill, that's one of the reasons, I guess, that Scripture refers to salvation as conversion. We are changed from the old man into the new man. Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.

The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. And that's because when God saves us, he gives us new life. He causes us to be born again. He puts his Holy Spirit within us.

And we have a life that is like the very nature of God in holiness and a pursuit of righteousness. And so, yes, the Gospel changes us. Christ changes us. Salvation changes us. And that's one of the marks of a true Christian, that there is a change that has taken place. And it's going to be our privilege to talk about that today as we study God's Word right here on The Truth Pulpit.

Thanks, Don. And right now, friend, go ahead and open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, as we join our teacher for part one of a message called The Glory of the Gospel here on The Truth Pulpit. You know, some people blasphemously say, well, I want to be drinking beer with my buddies in hell rather than to go to heaven with Christ.

Oh, the thought of that. All we can say is, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're saying. They don't realize the consequences of what they're saying. Whatever else other people say about it, you yourself, you individually need to take these things to heart and say, let me seek the Lord while he may be found. And that's the benefit of being under God's Word as we turn to it here, because we are offering, more importantly and more accurately, Jesus Christ himself is offering eternal life to you. He is offering the forgiveness of sin to you. He is offering deliverance from hell to you. He is offering the eternal blessedness of heaven to you in the words that we're going to be considering here today. And so there is a great opportunity for you to make this the day of your salvation. Christ is willing to save you, as we will see. Christ desires your salvation.

And he offers himself freely to you without cost and calls you to come to him that you might be saved. And so the gospel is glorious. It's glorious in a cosmic sense. And my unsaved friend, it's glorious for you in a personal, individual sense that right now is being presented to you the difference between eternal hell and eternal heaven. And the opportunity is laid before you plainly for you to repent and come to Christ and be delivered utterly and completely that you might know the greatness of Christ and the greatness of eternal life.

That's nothing less than what we have before us here as we turn to this text and how much we need the help of the Holy Spirit to communicate and to help us as we turn to his word now. The gospel is glorious. We are considering the glory of the gospel.

And so we ask this question, how so? Why is it glorious? What is it about the gospel that is glorious?

We're going to see seven aspects of that from today's text. Seven distinct reasons for us to esteem the gospel, to cherish it, and to proclaim it in humility, with confidence that the Lord would bless it to the souls of everyone who would hear. First of all, the first distinct reason that we consider the gospel glorious is this. First of all, the gospel changes lives. The gospel literally changes lives. Certainly Christ has changed my life from what I used to be. And I know many of you that are members of Truth Community Church, you rejoice in remembering how you are not what you once were.

And the difference is the fact that Christ came and Christ saved you. Well, let's reflect on that as believers now and realize the wonder, the glory of the fact that the gospel changes lives. The apostle Paul opens this chapter by giving thanks to God for the Thessalonian church that he is writing to. These Thessalonian believers used to be utter, thorough pagans, but now their lives have been utterly transformed by the power of Christ and by the power of the gospel that was brought to them. Now look at verse 2 as we'll open up there, verses 2 and 3 from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. The apostle Paul says, We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

Notice what Paul says. He describes three different aspects, three different ways in which their transformed lives had been manifest in a way that he could give thanks to God for because God was the one who by his power had produced this result in their lives. He speaks of their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope. That is the visible fruit of the gospel. Their lives were changed from their prior idolatrous ways, and they were now manifesting. Faith was producing itself, was producing work, invisible work in their lives. They were bringing forth spiritual fruit. Their lives to one degree or another were manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit that Paul spoke about elsewhere in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 and 23.

Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Their lives had been transformed. They were showing forth love to other believers. And not only that, not only that, there was this certainty of confidence that they had in the ultimate outcome of their salvation. There was a steadfastness of hope that they had that Christ was going to fulfill all of his promises to them. And so their lives were aflame with the glory of the gospel. From their prior darkness, they were now walking as children of light. The gospel had changed their lives. Now, we're going to go through these things rather briefly.

We just want to see an overview here today. But secondly, the gospel does something else that is glorious in that the gospel reveals God's love. The gospel reveals God's love.

It's not just that the gospel changes lives, it reveals God's love. And I think that it's probably fair to say that the most famous verse in all of the Bible is John 3 16 that focuses on the love of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.

See, that's what we've been talking about all week, isn't it? The love of God, warning sinners and also having sent Christ to deliver us from hell, is all an expression of the love of God. And when we speak of the love of God, what we're talking about in this context is the fact that God, at the cost of self-sacrifice, that the Lord Jesus Christ, at the cost of his own blood, sought out our best interests. Christ sought out our eternal well-being.

And this is not a mere sentiment of feeling. This is the deliberately chosen path by Jesus Christ that he undertook in order to save his people. It shows us how wonderful our Good Shepherd is, that he would do this for us. That our Good Shepherd, at the cost of his own life, at the temporary sacrifice of his glories in heaven, by which I mean simply that he left behind the glory that he was entitled to in order to walk as a humble carpenter on earth, that in that Christ sought out our well-being, that he identified with us in our humanity, that he identified with us in our afflictions and sorrows, and that at the cross he took our sins into his body and suffered the penalty that they deserved. There is no greater love than this. There is no greater love than the fact that Christ laid down his life for us, that he did it for sinners like you and I. And so what we see here is that the gospel is revealing the love of God to us. And if you look at this in verse 4, you can see it when Paul says, Knowing, brethren, here it is, beloved by God, we are on the receiving end of the love of God.

He has made us the objects of his concern. Whereas we were children of wrath, even as the rest, even though we were under the lordship of Satan, the father of lies, even though you and I were dead and lifeless in our trespasses and sins, and there was nothing about you, there was nothing about me, there was nothing about us to attract God to us, there was no goodness in us, there certainly was nothing remotely approaching an equality of essence, an equality of holiness, none of that existed. We were dead, we were separated from God by our sins, and yet while we were like that is when Christ came, it was when we were in that condition that the Spirit came and applied the gospel to our hearts and brought Christ to us. Don't you see, my friends, don't you see, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, that whatever else is happening in your life, we can always go back to that orienting place in our minds, that place that gives perspective to everything else, and to recognize the great love of God that he has put upon us in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are beloved by God, God has shown forth his love for us in a way that brought the gospel to us with power, that genuinely saved us, that actually made us a new creation in Christ, and set us on a path that leads certainly and without fail to heaven.

Don't you see it, my friends? Don't you see how effusive and how overflowing and how abundant beyond words, beyond measure, the love of God is for those who belong to Christ? We who deserve that hell of which Jesus spoke now are on the receiving end of the fullness of his blessing, having received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. That's what God has done for us.

Consider what he has done and realize what he has done testifies about who he is and his perspective on his people. His actions reveal the greatness of the love that he has for us. What Christ has done shows forth the pinnacle of love through all of the universe for all of time and eternity. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. You see, that's what the gospel reveals to us.

It reveals the love of God. And my Christian friend, let's just step back and consider our Christian lives for just a moment here. Do you realize that God loved you when you were a sinner?

That's true, when you were separated from him. But do you realize what this says, that God loves you and is keeping you and is seeking your well-being even in your most imperfect Christian life? Even in your times of indifference, God is still loving you with that great, unchanging, immutable love. In those times when you've rebelled and sinned against him, either in your thoughts or in your actions toward his people, or even in just doubting him and questioning him and rejecting his word and its application to your life from time to time, do you realize that through all of that, the love of God is still being manifested as he continually cleanses you from all of that sin, that he keeps you, that he does not send you away in that kind of indifference and rebellion, but that he continues by his indwelling Holy Spirit to work, to sanctify you, to guarantee that you would ultimately arrive at that destination that he set apart for you before the beginning of time? Do you see how much the love of God abounds upon us as believers, how much it abounds upon you?

Can you remember times when God came to you graciously, when you were so discouraged or when you were so rebellious and God brought a word to you, brought a friend to you, brought a scripture passage to you that altered your outlook and where once there had been anger and discouragement, it was replaced with joy and peace? Even in your Christian experience, friend, that is the display of the love of God for us. And one day, one day when we are in heaven and we see Christ face to face and we see all of the glory that now we only see darkly as if in a darkened mirror, when we see the fullness of the glory of what God has done for us, we are going to spend all of eternity exploring the infinite depths of the great love that he has had for us and exploring the great infinite glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will never get old.

It will never be stale to us. We will never tire of us as the Steve Green song, our hearts will never tire of Christ and of what he has done for us. This is a manifestation of how great the love of God is. This is how much he has loved us and the gospel displays that for all of us to see. We've been loved with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know, precious spirit from above, thou has taught me it is so, as the hymn writer said. And so in light of this everlasting love, we see the glory of the gospel which points to the glory of Christ and it is that love, it is that power that has changed our lives and enables us to step back here today and whatever else is happening, we can say with confidence and with full affirmation and joy in our hearts, the gospel is glorious. The Lord Jesus Christ is glorious.

Look at all that he has done for me in love. And so we love him for that, that Christ has sought our interests at the cost of self-sacrifice. It is established in our hearts never to be questioned again, that our God is a good God. He is a loving, gracious, patient God and we love him for it and the gospel is what's made that known to us. And so we consider the way the gospel has changed lives, how it reveals God's love. Thirdly, the gospel is glorious because it reveals God's sovereignty.

It reveals his authority over all and the free way that he has to operate however he chooses. As we continue in this passage in 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul traces the salvation of the Thessalonians all the way back. He traces it back to God's electing love for them. Notice what's happened here, that in those opening two verses he spoke of their labor of love, their faith, their hope. He takes it back and says it's obvious that God has loved you, you're beloved by God.

He takes it all the way back to its original source, where it ultimately came from. And we see that in verse 4 when the apostle Paul says, knowing brethren beloved by God, his choice of you. Salvation was a divine selection of believers. Scripture is very clear that we love because he first loved us, that God was the originating source of salvation, that salvation was entirely his idea.

If it had been left to us, we would have gone into our hopeless, sinful, wicked ways and ultimately had perished forever. But it's because God loved us before the beginning of time that he worked in us and chose us before time that we might experience these blessings of which we have spoken. Salvation originates in God's choice, not in yours. For those who consider the time in which they believed, and speaking very loosely here, the time where in their conscious experience they yielded to Christ, in a sense they chose Christ, understand that behind that choice was a prior choice by God that determined that outcome. And so salvation was God's sovereign purpose we love because he first loved us.

And I'd invite you to see a parallel passage that expands on this. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 in verse 13. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13. Paul is again giving thanks for these believers in a subsequent letter.

And he says this. He says, we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because, here it is, the thanks goes to God because of what God did. We should give thanks to God for you because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No man has a right to salvation because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What the gospel reveals to us is that despite our guilt and rebellion, despite our lostness and deadness in sin, God in love chose us sovereignly by his free will according to nothing in us, no foreseen faith, no preparatory works, nothing of the sort by his sheer pleasure and his sheer love, God sovereignly chose us to enter into this salvation that Christ so graciously purchased for his people. And so this is an act of distinguishing love by God.

He has set goodness. He has given us an unspeakably great gift that we did not deserve, that we could not have earned. God has given to us that out of the freeness of his love and the freeness of his mercy. And all we can do is say, wow, that is glorious.

I remember something of what I used to be, what a wretch and a rebel I was. And now to be on the receiving end of this gift and the love that is behind it from the great creator and the great redeemer of mankind, what love. The gospel reveals that and makes it known to us in a way that draws us to worship, that draws us to adoration, that consumes all of our affections and draws us to fear him in a manner of reverence and respect and gladness and wholehearted life worship in response to him. That's what the gospel does. It changes lives. It reveals God's love. It reveals his sovereignty. And as a result of that, as we've said many times over the past week and further back into the past as well, as a result of this, we understand that there is nothing for us to boast about, that we are Christians.

There is nothing for us to call attention to ourselves or to take pride in. We are gladly and thoroughly humbled before Christ, gladly and thoroughly humbled before the gospel. And we understand that it is solely Deo gloria, to God alone be the glory, that we enjoy this great gift of salvation. Now, my unsaved friend, I'm still not done talking to you.

As long as you're holding out, I'm going to keep talking to you about it as well. Understand that God is graciously, again, bringing to bear upon your mind and on your conscience to come to Christ. And in all of the meager earnestness that I can muster and all of the limitations of my human language, in dependence upon Christ and his Holy Spirit, I call you again to come to Christ, to come out of your sin, to come out of the world, and to come to this Christ who loves sinners just like you and freely offers himself for the forgiveness of your sin and for eternal life.

I know I'm starting to repeat myself, not only in this message, but over the course of what I have said. If you're going to repeatedly reject it, I'm going to repeatedly say it until something changes, until the Lord somehow blesses you and blesses his Word to the good of your soul. Why would I stop simply because you're resistant if matters of great eternal consequence are here and Christ is seeking your well-being and offering you the eternal blessedness that he reserves for those who love him? Oh, my friend, lay aside the weapons of your rebellion and bow the knee and come to Christ. In the Gospel, you can see that there is a genuine love for your soul there that seeks your well-being and will secure it if you will repent and turn to Christ in faith.

Indeed, all of heaven rejoices when even one sinner repents and gives his or her life over to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Well, we pray that you know him in that way, friend. You've been listening to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green. Don will be bringing us the conclusion of today's lesson on our next broadcast. Meanwhile, if you'd like to find out more about our ministry, just go to thetruthpulpit.com. While you're there, you'll find all of Don's messages at no cost to you, along with lots of other great free resources. We hope you'll check it out today. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit.