896. The Beauty of the Gospel

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today. That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform today were beginning a three-part series on evangelism and today speaker is Dave Doran, Junior, pastor of Resurrection church in Lincoln Park, Michigan. The title of his message is the beauty of the gospel. Thank you for the opportunity to preach here. I want to hopefully be an encouragement to you all as a student body. He talked about how you have been focusing on the work of Jesus Christ and the work of Jesus Christ. When we center our attention on it will inevitably propel us forward and sets my goal of the next two days is to help you be propelled forward into the places that your to disperse across the next coming months. Some of your graduate and that go forward for a lifetime and I hope that evangelism will be central to your career and life plans no matter what you described your career and life as being in working to talk about how that is before we begin to talk about evangelism we should make sure that were on the same page.

A lot of things get painted as evangelism and so I wanted to find my term really quickly by saying that I believe evangelism is teaching the gospel proclaiming the gospel with the aim to persuade so that the relationships you build are excellent things and they are part of getting to that point where you evangelized the outreach events that your church may do are excellent things and they are a part of getting to opportunities to evangelized but evangelism is great preaching proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the aim of seeing people turn and trust in him which leads probably to a simple question. What is the gospel, and it's been answered over the last couple weeks in chapel.

I trust in your classes and hopefully that such a simple question but a question that you never stop pondering because the person and work of Jesus Christ is worth lifelong attention of the Scripture describes the gospel uses that word gospel in a couple different ways. One of the ways is the big picture.

Good news of God's work in the world. We talk about his kingdom. We talk about redemption over talk about the being in the presence of God and across the story of Scripture, the biblical theological metanarrative you see how God is working to bring back the creation which is fallen but then some people use the word gospel like the gospel of Matthew. Write a theological life narrative of Jesus of Nazareth and then probably what we most think of only think of evangelism is what I think we should think of as central is a core theological content of the gospel which you've even been focusing on last week, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation by replacement by Jesus that he lived perfectly.

The way you could never that he died sacrificially on your behalf and that he rose victoriously as your whole that he is coming again, and that he calls all people to turn from sin and to trust in him and he holds in his hands. The promise of forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit to live a new way. This is the gospel, the good news that Jesus live the way you could never and died the way you should've to give you new life to live for him and give to others and if you know that gospel, then we begin to talk about evangelism and so often it seems that people want a professional or someone who seems evangelistic work or to comment say what are your pro tips and I'll tell you I love to share the gospel and I'm gonna share stories about how I've seen the gospel change lives. I want to know that I don't have a secret sauce. I don't have a secret formula.

There is no strategy that like once you hear it from me like oh now. Now I am just the evangelist. The gospel is the secret sauce and what I believe is that just like this morning that for 45 we pulled into CrossFit potentia and in Greenville and and there was a bunch of people who wanted to work out together and and they message me before they found out I was visiting some of the guys and we are excited to get together and get a workout in, and we didn't have anybody lay out a plan. Nobody said like you have to be excited about this and you know that if you met someone who does CrossFit right you don't have to ask them to just tell you because they love it or if you met somebody who likes Chick-fil-A or if you met somebody who likes you know what ever it is. Maybe it's monads or whatever social media thing right. If you have a social media account you got somebody trying to tell you about something that is change their life because when they've experienced the deep impact of a product or a person when they have understood the weight of something they found and they see joy in value in it. They share it and they share contagious leave. Almost as if it doesn't have effort and so I think the best thing that I could start today with is an opportunity to instigate your evangelism by trying to fix your view on the beauty of the gospel you have on on what the gospel is and so from Ephesians chapter 1, I would like to read a passage because of our time, and because of the nature of focusing on evangelism, I would like to then draw several point out about evangelism to help you think and grow in joy delight in an confidence in this gospel you have in the Savior. You worship, so that then you will be propelled forward. Let's read Ephesians chapter 1 bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless without blame before him in love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the heat, the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches, the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom he also trusted, after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that, he believes he were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Paul celebrates the beauty of the gospel that you have this morning and I want to draw out several points that I think will propel you forward in the gospel I'm in a state them in a couple different ways, but I am going to try to cut off at the knees a week gospel in the first first thing I want to say is this your gospel is good be weak. It's gonna be thankless you can have any energy to go forward. If it's thankless because you forgotten it was a gift. Did you notice in the passage where you hear Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then you see across the passage.

The fact that our triune God started and finished your salvation that the father planned your salvation, that the son Jesus Christ accomplished your salvation that the Holy Spirit applied your salvation brought you in to your salvation that from the beginning. The father laid out a plan for his people to be holy and it was before the foundation of the world's leading have a chance to get started, just like Dr. Pettit said he knew me before I was formed the sun. Jesus accomplished the plan and one for those people.

All the blessings of the father and the spirit applied these blessings to Christ people as he united them to Christ in their faith in the gospel father planned son provided spirit applied. Notice I did mention you in their because the beauty of what you have is a gift and gifts are worth bragging about if I brag about something that I have accomplished its ugly right but I even even while the geysers were now. This morning he a friend Nate.

He has a company called red Elm and I was visiting him here in this in Greenville and I was watching his guys work and they have these awesome carts and there were working in the colder months. A couple knots back and err it last year and he and he had these cards in car to Detroit company. I said to those of sweet man. Those codes are awesome. I said here take one and maybe you don't like Carhart but when he threw me a several hundred dollar jacket. I have worn it every winter day since then and people come up to me and there like where did you get all red Carhart all the time in the neighborhood and I get to brag on the gift I received.

Now I said well you know I bought it because I'm sweet. They will look at me like wow you are not sweet, but because a friend gave it to me. I get to celebrate on a negative right.

I have no shame in saying all this cold. It was given to me. My wife doesn't share the same piņata see it but anyway, a gift is worth bragging about. And if God started plan accomplished and applied your salvation you got nothing embarrassed about you not looking at your friends over the coffee table or your classmates or your coworkers this summer and and taking a stance of pride to talk about your religious convictions is not a holier than thou.

It's a high and mighty is the same thing as celebrating an awesome gift that was given to you.

The second thing is this your gospel is selfish if you forget it isn't about you. Did you notice the passage were said to the praise of the glory of his grace that from start to finish. This salvation was given to you and it is ultimately been about a project way bigger than you, which should be encouraging for you right because I know that you've young people, especially want to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You are not enamored with you know that the kind of rat race to just get for me and mine is much as may be. I have her other generations have been in the past and that's a credit to you but sometimes you set your eyes on a project too low, but when you set your eyes on the fact that the gospel is making the glory of the greatest being in all creation, sparkle you have set your eyes on a task so big that you can pour your entire being into it for all of eternity. You have the opportunity not to say what this really helped me. People share that on social media anyway man I don't care about your hair product.

Obviously, right but they still share what you have gospel that is worth celebrating because not about you is a summary sitting at the the Grand Canyon welcome center and there on their phone and they're playing in a fortnight or whatever there there there inside and there they're playing this game out Mankato Grand Canyon's okay, give or take.

Where you sit determines what you see if you got your back to the real beauty of the gospel because you're looking at you, you take that person outside the welcome center and you set them on a bench looking at the Grand Canyon and then they go wow this is better than fortnight right this is beautiful and you be contagious ready to share. The third thing I want to know is your gospel this summer. It's going to be unstable. If you forget it. Center did you hear how many times the center of the gospel.

I've heard this passage preach before and and and and thought of and even myself as something that unfolds blessings fundamentally about me and all the heavenly blessings that have been dropped on me and that is deftly part of the passage, but let me read for you.

The center of this blessing.

It says in Christ. In verse three you were chosen in him. Verse four adoption by Jesus Christ in verse five accepted in the beloved. Verse six. In him we have redemption. Verse seven in him we have obtained an inheritance, verse eight, the center of salvation, the center of the gospel is not its gifts.

It is the giver salvation is not its blessings. Justification is a beautiful thing but did you know that justification happens because of what you celebrated last week, Jesus lived perfectly. The way you couldn't and died sacrificially in your place. And when we talk about salvation like hey I just wanted to tell my friend that they can get forgiven. That is true, but they get forgiven by Jesus. Forgiveness is not the gospel. Jesus is the gospel, and when you are seeing him and savoring him.

You are not comfortable with keeping him secret if if somebody doesn't really feel that lonely and you tell them of the adoption to sign ship if somebody doesn't feel that guilty and you tell them that they will be forgiven. Or they they don't feel like they're enslaved to sin and you tell them that we redeemed all of those things are beautiful facets of the gospel that are provided by Jesus Christ, and I believe that when we forget that being united to Jesus is the heart of the gospel, we will lose sight and start to think, oh, it's kind of a package of of benefits. If you like this package of benefits. I really don't how to sell it to you but we are calling people to churn and trust in Jesus, by the way, if salvation at its center is not having things done to you, but being united with Christ in a death like his, and being raised to new life as Roman success.

Nobody in here is allowed to claim Jesus that isn't planning on being transformed by Jesus like saying you cannot hug the sun as UN and not get hot this whole bogus idea that God wants them. Amazon you blessings.

Jesus did not come to take part of your life. He came to take over your life. He did not come to take part in the world, he came to take over the world and if you still want somebody to express mail you blessings you are missing the depth and beauty of the picture, which leads number four that your gospel is only optional if you forget the future verse one and nine and 10 are kind of complex and the way they're worded the bullet down to this God's plan for everything is Jesus over everything. That's what he says in his wisdom everything is good to be united under Christ.

Everything everyone everything will be united under Jesus and is the book of Ephesians in the Scripture entirely makes clear that there are two paths to be under Jesus, I'll summarize them for you. You can bow like this passage says under the sheer weight of his blessings. Or you can bow under his boot in judgment that those in the options for every coworker you have a summer neuron that it's bow or burn. That sounds harsh, but that is the good news that actually everybody has earned the boot and we have to offer. Bowing under the sheer weight of God's goodness, kindness and love. What a gift.

What a gift and when we forget that.

Here's what we do all the adoption you know you don't mean my friends are having this discussion and in the neighborhood. People have all kinds of different beliefs and here's what I believe and here's what God is on the change my life. That is a good and true statement, but I was on the porch of a man in Lincoln Park to rough neighborhood, but not that rough. It's fine, but it there are people that have some tough backgrounds and I stood talking with the guy who was head to toe, covered in not the kind of I want to be cute tattoos. But like the, the gang memorabilia tattoos that say walk lightly right and we were talking about Christ and he said in a profanity laced description that was I think meant to be hostile. It was just the way he spoke that this was a crutch for people to get through hard times and that Jesus had helped him when he did time in prison couple times and that he was fine with that. Now he had a wife and kids, and he didn't need what Jesus offered for him and I asked him do you think that the disciples would lay down their lives for self self-help myth annually sentiment said yeah he said I got so many buddies who would die for gang leaders that are already dead or locked in prison for life that doesn't impress me and I was taken aback is usually people don't say that we came to a point where my in O'Connell logic was stuck and I looked at J and I said here's the deal man, whether you believe this or not, it's the line you are to be measured by whether you believe this or not, this is your future. I don't care if you functionally don't agree with my arguments.

At one point Jesus is gonna kick the door in and he is going to come through with on ending joy for his people, and Thessalonians are told that estimates are told by Paul that is also been a come and pay back trouble to those who have troubled you this will come when Jesus comes with his angels in eternal destruction and fire bow in blessing or bow under the boot of the king is the option so if you ever feel like what I don't want to really interrupt them and ruin their Sunday morning for the rest of their life. That's not talking about we say you need to be an evangelist you are offering life when they have earned death, you have the opportunity to celebrate if there are any in here have not turned to Jesus and I just warn you, this is not my conviction alone. This is the world you live in.

There is a day when every one of us will stand before Jesus and the simple reality is people for Jesus trusting in Jesus.

This world is the closest thing they will ever experience to help. There is no condemnation there will be no more sorrow there will be no more suffering. There will be no more sin there will be no more death, but people who have stood against Jesus. This world is the closest thing that will ever experience to heaven there will be no more of the good presence of God in his kindness to send rain on the evil and the good.

It's not it's not for us to be pansies and be like, well, maybe you should consider this set the truth plainly before your friends and family and neighbors because you love them and you love that you were given freedom from condemnation when you have wholeheartedly embraced it.

Your gospel number five is powerless if you forget the word passage says after we heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation you want to see God work keep giving people the Bible the word of God is the work of God. I want to bring keep us moving here I I almost feel like we can go a couple times in this passage that is not my plan for tomorrow.

Number six. Your gospel is hopeless.

If you forget the spirit it says in the passage you been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the down payment of our inheritance in the hardest and darkest places in the world you have the hope because here's the thing.

If we think of the good news as CrossFit or as a plexus or monad or whatever thing that people want to make your life better now. And then you enter the darkest parts of the world you can realize that it doesn't turn key.

Transform people overnight so that no law you you got saved and I don't have cancer, you got saved you turn from from trusting in yourself to trusting in Jesus and now the suffering of the world is gone.

There's a woman Althea, who was a part of our church and and she was 52 and from the time of 13 years old until the day she died. She was wracked with the struggle of suffering of sin in this world, sickness up to age 51 she had been in in traps and prostitution and drug addiction. From 13 to 51.

She lived in a world that many of you have never praise God have never seen her first year claim was the year she walked with our church, 51, 52, but you know what the didn't just all of a sudden transform her physical body, she still passed away at 52, but the spirit was the down payment of her inheritance made sure that she is with the Lord and he is making sure and is going to accomplish the redemption of her body in the resurrection.

My friend Barry was badly damaged and broken by drug addiction and overdose and relay for the last 13 years of his life.

He followed the Lord, but battled the symptoms and end scars of what he had done to his body and his brain and he struggled but he clung to Jesus because he of the down payment of his inheritance the Holy Spirit helping and keeping him in some of the hardest and darkest places and when he passed last year at 41, he entered the presence of the king the gospel you hold is is planned and accomplished by God. Your generous God, the gospel you hold is the biggest cause you could ever be a part of it is securely built on the King Jesus and it is the only hope for everyone. You will ever meet.

It is powerful and living and active and it is secure even in the darkest places by the very power of the spirit of God. So don't be embarrassed like sharing the gospel is bragging about your accomplishments don't shy away like the gospel is something you talk about that you've done and you found don't be timid like your sliding benefit packages across to people that they can make a decision about call them to the king and don't pretend that there's discussion to be had.

The future is written in the very words of God and he is coming again to judge the living and the dead. You don't have to be cute enough for log have enough logic you keep giving people the Bible and holding out to them the hope and even when it seems like it got darker from the time they turn to Jesus you don't have to give in or Lucite because the spirit in you is going to keep them when they trust Jesus to until we see the beautiful bloom of Christ gospel in the new creation. Let's pray father I pray in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of his spirit that these young people would be compelled by the love of Christ the gospel that we have received that they would hold it out to others that they would declare it, that it would burn in their hearts this morning that it would not be a matter of technique and of skill but a matter of declaration of the coming king you Lord Jesus fill our hearts with joy inexpressible at what you have done on our behalf.

You live perfectly. The way we never could. And you died sacrificially on our behalf and you are our whole empower us till you come again. It's in Christ name we pray. Amen. You been listening to a sermon preached by Dave Doran Junior, pastor of Resurrection church in Lincoln Park, Michigan. We trust that you'll join us tomorrow as we continue the series on evangelism here on The Daily Platform