Stand Firm in the Gospel of God

At a time of crisis in our nation, I want to read a scripture, a scripture which we all need to hear. Not only to hear, but to obey. This morning, we're looking at the third theme in our four themes.

Lord willing, we'll think of the final one next Sunday. The first theme was, obey the Word of God. So as we read the scripture, and you don't know which one I'm going to read, it's not the one that we advertised in looking up. You don't know what scripture I'm going to read, but it's a scripture in the New Testament.

So I want you to obey the scripture, obey the Word of God. And then the second theme, which we thought of last week, was preserve the unity of the Spirit, that we are to be people of peace, people of love, not people of vegetation. In our homes, in our church, and in society, we are to preserve the unity of the Spirit. And then the third theme, which is the focus this morning, is stand firm in the Gospel of God. Obey the Word of God, preserve the unity of the Spirit, and now stand firm in the Gospel of God. So here it is, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 13. Here is the Word of God to us today. A very relevant scripture, and we believe that it is the Word of God. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution.

Did you hear that? Are you going to obey that? Are you obeying it? Be subject, notice what Peter says, for the Lord's sake to every human institution. He's writing to Christians, they're scattered, if you know the context of 1 Peter, they're scattered throughout the known world because of their followers of Jesus Christ. They're persecuted.

They're under Rome, the Roman Empire, with an evil emperor persecuting them. And here he writes to them not to be insurrectionists, not to focus on that, but he says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Brothers and sisters, I remind you, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or Independent, whether you're a political activist or whether you have zero interest in politics, here is the Word of God to us. Because I think many today in our nation who profess the name of Jesus Christ, who in fact use the Word of God for their own political ends, have forgotten this Scripture.

We need to hear it. We need to obey it. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Yes, the Congress. Yes, the president. Yes, the governor. Yes, the principal of the school.

Yes, your employer. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good, for this is the will of God. Virtually every day I have conversations with people and I'm grateful for them, and often it comes down to this. John, pastor, I want to do the will of God. I'm confused as I'm in a situation, and I want to do the will of God. Well, here is the will of God in this very practical way.

Are you going to do it? For this is the will of God. It may not be your will, your self-will, your self-determined. You're a bit of an agitator.

You want to get on social media and insult people and engage in fruitless debate and to be involved in some kind of hate speech, to adopt some kind of silly conspiracy theory and all of that nonsense. This is the will of God, that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Isn't that amazing? There are foolish people around in the first century that were ignorant people. Is that true today?

It certainly is. I try to keep up social media, but I'm aware of what's going on. There's a lot of foolishness, a lot of ignorance. Ignorance about the history of this country, ignorance about many, many things, and here are the first century believers. They're persecuted for their faith.

They're under the heel of Rome. They're spread out from their homes, and He's saying to them, this is the will of God. What are you to do? To retaliate, to return evil for evil?

Absolutely not. As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, we're not to do that. We're to love our enemies, and we are to do good in the middle of turmoil. Can I say to us, in the middle of all that's going on in our nation right now, isn't it wonderful if the millions and millions of professing Christians, those who take the name of Jesus Christ, who claim to be followers of Christ, would do good, not evil? Or a difference that would make in this country, where millions profess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but are not acting as followers of Jesus Christ, because when you're doing evil, when you're rebelling, if you're an insurrectionist and supporting that, you're going right against the Word of God.

Now some of you don't like me saying this, but here it is. This is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people, live as people who are free. We Americans pride ourselves and are thankful for this freedom. Freedom as Americans, but Peter is talking about a greater freedom, a freedom of being a follower of Jesus Christ. We've been freed from sin. We're no longer under the shackles of the enemy. We are free. The freedom that Jesus gives. You will know the truth, says Jesus, and the truth will make you free. It is the truth, not lies of the devil.

And here is truth. You are free. Not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, which is what many people are doing.

We're free. I have the right. This is the First Amendment. I have a right to do such and such. I have a right to say such and such. You may have a right, but are you using that right?

Are you using that freedom as a cover-up for evil? Peter could be writing today, couldn't he? See, we believe the Bible is the living Word of God. Don't say, well, it was just written 2,000 years ago. Yes, it was written 2,000 years ago. But if the Apostle Peter was standing in this pulpit today, I believe this is what the Scripture is. He would read the Scripture.

Do you hear it? Don't use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Literally, living as slaves of God. You're a servant of God. You're a slave of God. Verse 17, honor everyone.

Are you doing that? Everyone? The person you disagree with?

A person who is directly opposed to your views. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. We thought of that last week, that we are in the brotherhood of the church, the community of believers, and we're to love people. This is one of the characteristics of the church, of Christians, that we love the brotherhood. But then he says, fear God.

That everything you do, you do in the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. Have we forgotten that? Are we living in the fear of God?

It doesn't seem to me that we are. It seems that we've largely forgotten God, that we use God to, for our own selfish ends, or for political ends. We quote Scripture out of context, and we say we're followers of Jesus. Peter is saying, fear God, honor the emperor.

How could you honor this emperor? He's a pagan. He doesn't like Christians. He persecuted us. Yes, says Peter. But you are to be in, to be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution. This is what we're called to. We're called to do good.

We're called to love. And as we do that, we must stand firm in the gospel of God. 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5, verse 12, one of the Scriptures we've used. Here it is, by Sylvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him.

I've written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. And surely he's referring, among other things, to the passage I just read in 1 Peter 2. We're to stand firm in the gospel. We're to stand firm in the grace of God. We're to stand firm in the teaching of Scripture and not find ourselves drawn in to ungodly and unbiblical attitudes and actions just because others are doing it.

We're to be different. And our theme for 2021, the third theme is this, stand firm in the gospel of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, it's important that we're known as people of love, not bigotry, not prejudice, not pride, but people of conviction.

That is, conviction based on the Word of God. That's why I teach the Word of God, so that you have convictions that you understand this is not what John Monroe just believes or Calvary Church, but it is the living Word of God. And it pierces us, doesn't it? And perhaps the Scripture I just read you didn't really want to hear.

No, because that's the nature of the Word of God. It's a two-edged sword. It cuts us. It exposes us.

And says, John, you're behaving like this. Listen to the Word of God. We live in a very rapidly changing culture, don't we, where beliefs and the laws and opinions and lifestyle and people say what it means to be in the right side of history. All of that is quickly changing. And it's important as followers of Jesus that we understand the culture, that we understand what's going on, so that we can engage the culture in a biblical and in a gracious and persuasive way. But we must never assimilate with the culture.

And I think this is largely what's happening today. The many who profess the name of Jesus Christ are adopting attitudes and actions which are really quite ungodly, that we've allowed ourselves to be conformed to the culture. It may have a veneer of Christianity, but so much of it is in direct conflict with the Word of God. And we stand not on some kind of cultural Christianity, not some Americanized Christianity.

We stand firm in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And can I remind you that Jesus calls you to be different. Jesus says that you are to be light in the world, light illuminating the darkness, salt permeating the culture.

That is, that often we are in direct conflict with the culture. Instead of selling ourselves out to the culture, we are often in direct conflict with it, and we are to shine in the darkness, and the salt is to be penetrating the corruption, standing firm in the gospel of God. Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Pastor Hathaway referred this to us. Here it is, standing firm. Peter says in 1 Peter 5, standing firm in the grace of God.

Will you do that? It's the grace of God, the truth of God. Stand firm in it. Think of what you hear, of whether it is conforming with the Holy Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1, now remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand.

That's it. And by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain, you have to hold fast to this. What is it Paul? For I delivered to you as of first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Here is Paul, he comes to Corinth.

What's he going to say? Paul is an intellectual. He understands the Old Testament Scripture.

He understands the philosophies of the day. He can engage the best of the debaters on their own terms, but when he comes to Corinth, the corrupt, sinful city, what does he do? He reminds them that he preached the gospel. This is the gospel they received. This is the gospel in which they stand, he's saying. This is the gospel by which they are being saved, and it is of first importance.

Number one, the gospel, primary importance. And says Paul in verse three, I received it. How did Paul get the gospel? Who gave him the gospel? He got it from God himself. This is not my gospel, although Paul can identify with the gospel so much that he sometimes does refer to it as my gospel, but it is the gospel of God.

It has its origin in God. So when Paul comes to Corinth, he says in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2, he decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here's Paul's message. Christ crucified.

Of all of the things that he could have said, it's Christ crucified. Paul understood because the gospel comes from God, it cannot be changed. In fact, says Paul in Galatians 1, even if an angel from heaven comes and preaches another message, reject it. He says, even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. Galatians 1 8. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached to you is not man's gospel.

For I didn't receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 verses 11 and 12. That is, says Paul, it's a supernatural message coming from God himself. This is God's gospel. It's the gospel of God. And therefore, if you believe that as I do, if it is the gospel of God, we must stand firm in the gospel of God. If the gospel were just a message Paul devised, if it was a message which came from an ancient philosopher, if it were just the latest cultural trend, we could reject it, we could adapt it, we could revise it. No, says Paul, here is the gospel.

It is once and all delivered. And therefore, we must stand firm in the gospel of God because it comes from God himself. Now just think of what God in his grace has done. What does the gospel mean?

Good news. God, looking at us from heaven, is sending down good news. Now first, I want to emphasize, and this is also Sanctity of Life Sunday, I want to emphasize that God is our sovereign creator. God made you. You see, that's very basic.

I'm being very basic today. The gospel is very basic. It is of first importance that God is our sovereign creator.

Now that of course is denied by more and more people. Charles Darwin, with his account of the origin of human beings considered, there's no need to resort to a creator or any other external agent. His theory of natural selection made it unnecessary to have a creator to explain the origins of life. As far as Darwin was concerned, no need for a divine designer, no need for a design architect. We can explain how life comes here. Now when you think of it, the idea, and one of the reasons why evolution is so acceptable, that at one level, the idea that one species can evolve from another doesn't seem too difficult to grasp. I mean, look at an ape, and then look at yourself. Or look at someone else.

Look at the guy next to you. I mean, you can understand, you know, once we look like this, once we acted like this, and now we're there. People think, yeah, that's true.

It kind of makes sense. And in this way, of course, the biblical account of Genesis is rejected. Human beings are not really that different from animals, according to the evolutionists. Now to some of us, myself included, it seems rather far-fetched, doesn't it, that life on earth originated from a single-celled organism and then progresses upwards and onwards in ever increasing complexity to culminate in man himself. That to me takes quite a jump, but evolution has become widely accepted. I remember as a schoolboy in high school, as we were studying science and studying biology and bisecting worms and cockroaches, and finally we were able to get a rat and get a knife into it.

And we were taught, there it is. You started with the amoeba, and you work up into rats, and then there's apes, and then there's human beings. And the popular adage, I don't hear it so much nowadays, but when I was at school was, science has disproved the Bible. And the same if you were a sensible, educated person, you rejected creation, you rejected the whole idea of God. But evolution makes sense. Well, it explains that we're created by blind and purposeless material processes. Here we are, a combination of chance events and impersonal natural laws.

The cosmos is a closed system of material causes and effects, and can never be influenced by anything outside of it. So you don't need God. God is a figment of our imagination. People dreamt up God because they couldn't account for the natural processes, but now we can learn through evolution.

And God is then rejected. He's a product of a pre-scientific age. Many of you have been taught evolution. It's good. You should learn about it. To me, the more I learned about it, the deeper my faith in God came.

When I was at high school, we went through it. I thought, well, this doesn't make much sense. You know, I prefer how the Bible begins, the very first verse. I want to read it. I could quote it.

I want to read it. Don't you love the Bible, how it begins? Genesis 1, 1. Here's the first book in the Bible, the first verse.

What does it say? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Is that wonderful? God created the heavens and the earth. We stand firm on that, that God is the creator of everything, including ourselves.

Psalmist says, Psalm 100, verse 3, know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and not we ourselves. Says John in his brilliant prologue, all things were made through him and without him was not made anything that was made. Paul ends that magnificent doxology in Romans 11 by saying, for from him and through him and to him are all things. God is the creator, he's the sustainer, he's the goal of everything.

To him be glory forever and ever. That God is the sovereign creator. That God is the most important reality there is. In fact, he's the ground of all of the other reality. He's the creator. He's the absolute ruler over everything, over his works, over creation, over the whole universe. God is in control.

He's supreme, he's unique, he's the designer, he's the creator, he's the eternal God, he's the sovereign creator of all things. And we stand firm in the gospel of God that this message comes from God. Yes, we believe in God. Not only do we believe in God, we believe that he is the sovereign creator, therefore we reject the evolutionist theory. We accept the Word of God that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

But I want us to take this more personally. Our sovereign God, yes, he made everything, but in particular he made us in his image. I want you to grasp this. Genesis 1, you can all find that in your Bibles, can't you? You may have difficulty getting the book of Zephaniah, but Genesis is the first page in the Bible. If you've got your Bible there, I want you to see it.

This is wonderful. Genesis 1, verse 26. Then God said, notice God is a God who speaks, God is a God who reveals himself. God speaks.

We must listen, we must obey. God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Notice there, with all of this transgender business, God created them, male and female.

Verse 31, and God saw everything that it was made, and behold, it was very good, and there was evening and there was morning in the sixth day. We are made in the image of God. The sanctity of human life, which we celebrate today, arises out of our being made in the image of our Creator. Some animal rights activists want to say that animals are just as important as human beings. Now, we are to have dominion over the animals. We have to be kind to animals. The book of Proverbs tells us that. So, be kind to your dog. Be kind to your cat. I'm not sure how kind you can be to a goldfish, but whatever you have as a pet, be kind to it. But there is a huge difference between an animal and a person.

What's the main difference? Both created by God, human beings uniquely are made in the image of God. Therefore, every human being, including that person that you disagree with, every human being, including that person who insults you, every human being is made in the image of God, and therefore has inherent dignity and value. Do we believe that?

We must. We must affirm in the gospel of God, the God who created us in his image. Now, I realize because of sin, as described in Genesis 3, the image of God in us and in you is marred and scarred, but it's still there. No, we are not perfect representations of God. No, we do not matter perfectly the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are still imperfect in our actions and attitudes, but nonetheless, every person is made in the image of God. Now, that is tremendous relevance, doesn't it? Tremendous relevance how you speak to people. Tremendous relevance on how you treat your elderly father or mother or grandfather or grandmother. I've had people say to me, even Christians, I really can't see my mother, you know, she's got dementia, she doesn't really know me, and it's really difficult for me to go in and see her. Your mother, aged, perhaps with dementia, she is made in the image of God.

Honor her. How we treat the elderly, how we treat other races. Here is an individual I meet, he comes from a totally different background, he's got a different color of skin, he's got different features from me, we may find that we may speak a different language. Nonetheless, whoever that person is, I'm to treat with dignity and value. There is no place here for racism, for superiority of one race over another, absolutely not. Every single person is made in the image of God.

I think tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. A reminder, in this great country, we still have racist attitudes. Yes, from all races, I understand that. That's part of our fallenness, that we want to separate ourselves from people, we want to think we're superior, we want to reject them.

Don't do that. That individual is made by God and is made in the image of God. This is very relevant how we treat the disabled, isn't it? I'm so glad we've got a minister at Calvary for the special needs, for our brothers and sisters who have some disability, whether that's physical or psychological or mental, that they're still made in the image of God and to be treated with love and respect. Tremendous relevance as to how we treat the poor. That homeless person you meet, remember that man, that woman is made in the image of God. And, of course, has tremendous relevance as to how we deal with the unborn. That unborn child, that little girl, that little boy in his or her mother's womb is made in the image of God. That brings dignity.

We stand firm on the sanctity of life, and the sacredness and dignity of all human life. And furthermore, when you think about it, being made in the image of God, it's a huge subject which I'm not going to get into in detail, being created in the image of God brings purpose and meaning. Each life is created by God for his glory. That gives purpose.

We are in one of the deacon's testimonies that his marriage, his life, is what? It's for the glory of God. An understanding that God places us here, and that we're made for a purpose. You are made for a purpose. God created you for a purpose. I'm created for a purpose. I'm not here because of some cosmic accident, as the evolutionists would say. No wonder so many people don't have any purpose. As the French existentialists used to argue that really life then is absurd. If I'm just a result of a cosmic accident, I mean, what was the purpose?

What do I do? Life's absurd. Life's a joke.

And I have to authenticate myself in some way. No, we believe that you're here for a purpose. Now this is a very heavy subject, so I'm going to tell an amusing story. Right? It's about a Scotsman in golf. You knew that golf was invented in Scotland. Well, you knew that. Most good things were, but there we are.

So that's why we're so humble. So a Scotsman was demonstrating the game of golf to President Ulysses Grant. We didn't know anything about golf.

Never played it. And the Scotsman was illustrating the game, and he put the ball in the tee, he teed up, and he did a huge hit at the ball. Totally missed it, and his nervousness with the president watching, hit the ground, and some of the dirt went up to the president's beard. Undeterred, the Scotsman, known for their determination, some our enemies would say our stubbornness, but known for our determination, the Scotsman continued, still very nervous, tried it a few times, and again three or four times totally missed the ball. The president looked at this and said, you know, there seems to be a fair amount of exercise in this game, but I fail to see the purpose of the ball.

That was pretty funny, wasn't it? I failed to see the purpose of the ball. I mean, we're geared to certain things, to purpose. Why am I here and there? What is my purpose? Here's a wonderful thing, that God has created you. You're listening kids, students, all of us, that God has made you for a purpose, whoever you are. He knows you, knows your name, knows everything about you, has arranged for you to be on this planet earth at this time for a purpose made in the image of God, unique creation, and that means we treat every individual with dignity, with respect, we, we, we cherish one another and we do that not based on what they do, not based on where they come from, but based on this, they are made in the image of God.

Remember that. Yes, we believe in a creator. We stand firm in that. Creator who created us for a purpose. Now, if the center of your existence is your psychological well-being, which is what the vast majority of people seem to think, they can do something if it makes them feel good, if it makes them happy, if they authenticate themselves, then they do that. So they've got not God at the center of their life, not the fear of God that Peter talked about, not doing everything as an act of glory to the Lord, but their psychological well-being.

If that is the case, I can understand, and it's certainly not surprising, that an unborn child can be disposed as a piece of unwanted tissue, as happens. We can't do that as followers of Jesus. Human life is made in the image of God from the moment of conception. We stand firm in this, we stand firm for the sanctity of life. We stand firm in the gospel, the good news of God. Created by God, made in His image, and as Peter said, stand in the grace of God. What's the grace of God? That our sovereign Creator has a plan for our salvation. That's grace, isn't it? That's magnificent grace, grace upon grace. God made me, He made me in His image, He made me for a purpose, and what have I done?

I've gone my own way. Genesis 3, the total history of humanity, without exception, we've sinned, we've come short, we've blown it. Instead of living in the fear of God, we live in the fear of others.

We live for our own happiness. We put God away. We may not openly deny the existence of God, but we live as if we were God ourselves. And yet God, in love and grace, seeing our hopeless dilemma, has devised a plan for your salvation. Let's look back at 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul reminds them, he said, I preached the gospel to you which you received. Yes, the gospel originates with God. This good news comes from God. Many philosophies, many religions, many opinions, many points of view in our society, in our culture, but the gospel is unique.

It comes from God Himself. It's a divine message. It's the gospel of God. We must stand firm in that and this means then that we don't tamper with the gospel. There are people who want to kind of change the gospel to make it more user-friendly. Let's face it, the gospel is hard-hitting.

Who wants to be told that they're sinful? And there's other things about judgment and different things, so let's reconstruct the gospel to make it more palatable. Now, if it was a human message, you could do that. You could say, well, that was OK 2,000 years ago, but people are different, so let's come up with our own message. Let's rebrand it. No, you don't rebrand the gospel. If you try to change the gospel, you no longer have a gospel. It's a supernatural message coming from God Himself.

Its origin is not in us. It's not in Calvary Church. It's not in our human tradition. It's not in some confession of a church. It's in God Himself. That's why Paul says this is of first importance. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3. It's of first importance. Get the gospel right.

Don't miss it. This is what I came to Corinth for Paul is saying. I preached it.

You received it. It's a means by which you're being saved. Stand firm in it. Don't deviate from the gospel.

It is of first importance. There can be no compromise on the gospel. Absolutely none.

Could we make it more palatable? Yes. Many churches do. Many preachers do.

We can't do that, brothers and sisters. We must stand firm in the Word of God, stand firm in the gospel of God. Now what's the content of the gospel? It's about Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ.

Notice how Paul defines it and describes it. I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with scripture. Yes, this is God's way of salvation. This is the means by which you are being saved.

You understand this, that God in His grace, seeing your dilemma, sends His Son into our world. We celebrate that at Christmas, but we celebrate it every day of our lives, that God comes to us, that Jesus Christ is God, sinless God. Dies on the cross, He says, for our sins.

Notice that. The gospel is not just that Jesus died. It is that He died for our sins. People don't like the word sin today, if you notice that.

We're going to rule it out. It makes people uncomfortable, we're told. I've been told I speak too much about sin. Well, I'll continue speaking about sin because the gospel involves sin. But the good news is that it's about the forgiveness of our sins, the cleansing of our sin, but that happens through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. So the cross of Christ is central to the gospel, that God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

If you don't acknowledge your sin, there can be no salvation. You don't come to Jesus just to help you through life. You don't come to Jesus so you can get a better job. You don't come to Jesus so you can get a Christian husband or wife. That's not the gospel.

The gospel is more fundamental to who you are, that you're made in the image of God, that God created you, that you're accountable to God, that spiritually speaking you're lost, you're dead in your sin. And Christ comes now and does what only He can do as a perfect God-man, dying for our sins, demonstrating that He's God. On the third day He's raised from the dead, proving that His work on the cross is perfect, accepted by His Father as He ascends to His Father and is seated at His right hand. Perfect salvation.

Now He's offered. Return from your sin and believe the gospel and receive Christ. Our sins may be forgiven.

We have eternal life because our Lord Jesus Christ has done what only He can do. He's gone ahead of us into death. Do you think you can defeat death? Of course not.

COVID-19 but other diseases demonstrate that you can't defeat death. You're afraid of death, aren't you? Of course.

Of course. Without Christ we should be. Our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ goes into death and dies our death, goes into darkness and the devil and death itself and conquers it. Paul says he takes the sting of death out and now he calls us to follow us.

And as you follow Jesus Christ, he never asks you to go where he has not first gone. Life into death. Don't fear death. Our Lord Jesus Christ has gone there, has conquered it and has risen from the dead and says, I'm the resurrection and the life. He who follows me, I'm the resurrection and the life. Though you were dead, yet shall you live. Resurrection unto life.

And this is the gospel, man, that we place our faith in Christ. My sins are forgiven. I receive eternal life now. I receive the Holy Spirit now. The Spirit of Christ indwells me. And whatever may happen, this I know that Christ will never leave me.

I keep my eyes on Him and He gives me eternal life because He has conquered death and is alive forevermore. And we prayed for, Pastor Hathaway prayed for some families here who are going through bereavement. And all of us have experienced the loss of a parent, a child, a friend, the dreadful reality that this person is no longer with us.

It went as whole in our hearts. And then we remember that their trust is in Christ and they're with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. And we stand firm in the gospel of God. How important it is with all of the changes that are going on that we stand firm in the gospel. Understanding we're created by God, made in His image, accountable to Him that we cannot by our own efforts and intentions get to God and praise God for His grace that He's come to us. So it is by grace that you're saved through faith and none of yourself. It's the gift of God.

And the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Have you received that? Have you received the gospel?

Have you received eternal life? Don't tell me just because you were raised in a Christian home all is well. No.

No. Wonderful to be raised in a Christian home. Praise God for that. Question is, not the home you come from, but the state of your heart and have you personally placed your faith in Christ? If you haven't done that, do that.

Do that now. All of us have sinned. No, not all of us have taken innocent life, but all of us have sinned, have come short. Apart from Christ, we have no hope. Here is the good news. Christ has come and offers you eternal life if you repent and cry to Him for salvation. Our enemy, the murderer, the deceiver, the liar, my, isn't He been very successful in our nation recently?

He's the murderer from the beginning. Put your trust in Christ, the resurrection and the life. He defeats death and darkness and the devil and says, if you come to me, I will give you eternal life. I ask you to come. This is the gospel of God and we stand firm in the gospel.

Why? In the gospel, sinners are saved. In the gospel, the lost are found. In the gospel, the dead receive new life. In the gospel, the guilty are forgiven. In the gospel, the defiled are washed.

In the gospel, the condemned are justified. This is the gospel of God. Believe it. Receive it.

Live it. Stand firm in the gospel of God. Will you bow and pray with me? You've never received Christ. Will you do that right now in your heart? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Trust the Savior now.

Do it now. As a follower of Christ, ask God that He would reaffirm your faith in Him. Our faith wavers, doesn't it? We look around and we're caught up sometimes in these things and we need to confess that to the Lord and pray that you as an individual, as a family, that we as a church, and particularly the leaders of Calvary Church, but all of us will stand firm in the gospel of God. Will you pray with me? Father, I pray for those who are still lost, who are without hope, who really are without purpose. I pray that they will receive Christ.

I pray for many here who are followers of Christ and they've perhaps got their eyes off Jesus. May we look to Him. Strengthen our faith, Father. Father, we want to do good in this society. We want to do Your will as we read. We want to be light and salt. It's difficult for us. It's easy for us to compromise and we ask Your forgiveness and ask Your strength. Give us wisdom, a wisdom that comes from above so that we know when to speak and when to remain silent, that we know what it is to answer, to give a reason for the hope that is within us, but to do that with meekness, to do that with patience, to do that radiating the love of Christ. May Your blessing be on us. In Christ's name, amen.