31. It was necessary that God reveal Himself through the witness of the gospel. God the Son became man and "tabernacled" among us. The Word of God in the OT was like a lamp to our feet to help the Jews see the truth of the gospel; however, all the nations of the earth are called to the gospel. It was 'testified in due time' because of the gospel witness. The gospel was testified in due time; that is, Christ Jesus was manifested in the flesh.
32. The gospel through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was a godly secret and it was kept secret before the foundation of the world or the beginning of the world. The angels marvel at the gospel because they had to maintain goodness where the gospel is given to sinners freely. The angels were formerly separated from God by their fall but the human race never had it better than the angels! The human race is better off than the angels because there is no Redeemer for the angelic race! The fallen angels are cut off and banished from spiritual salvation. They can never be forgiven; no, never. The gospel astonishes all creatures to believe the truth, but the fallen angels cannot be forgiven; that is, there is no Savior for the angelic race but only for the human race to save all kinds of people. We received the adoption as sons in and through Jesus Christ our Lord and King. It pleased God to make the NT gospel known to the world that was unknown to the OT saints.
33. At a certain time in our lives we were without Christ or alien to Him. We were without hope and God in the world. We were brought near by the blood of Christ alone. Jesus is our peace and He broke down the wall of separation. He made peace for us. There is no division now between Jew and Gentile. The discord is abolished.
34. Jesus is the glad tidings of the gospel. He has given us His apostles and ministers of the gospel to advance His cause. We ought to publish the peace of the good news around the world. The Jews were near to God by way of covenant and the solemn pledge made to the fathers (as Calvin says on pg. 60). We need reconciliation through Jesus Christ. The Jews also need reconciliation through Jesus Christ. How much more does the Muslim need reconciliation through Jesus Christ? The glad tidings are meant for those who were afar off. The poor Gentiles are afar off and need the good news of Jesus. We all need the message of spiritual salvation and the spiritual peace of God. Satan cannot save anyone but only God can save. God loved them through the gospel. He forgave all of their sins through Jesus Christ. The wall of separation was broken down. The ceremonies were destroyed by which God made a difference between the Jews and Gentiles. This gospel belongs to the whole world to every kind of nation.
35. We needed Jesus to make atonement for our sins. The death of Christ purchased our redemption. It was required from Jesus to make atonement for our sins. We were left helpless without Jesus but now Jesus means all the world to us. We must believe the testimony brought from in the gospel. We will enjoy the blessings maintained in the good news of the gospel. We ought not say that God can change because he kept the gospel a secret for a season. He had it preached throughout the whole world. He determined it in the counsel of His own will. We ought to be convinced that we ought to worship and reverence Him with all humility (as Calvin says on pg. 61). It is surely the greatest wisdom we can have.
36. Let us not seek questions that are unprofitable because God is able to know what we can bear. We ought to learn in the School of Jesus and no where else. We must understand the time that is acceptable. It is an acceptable time for the message of spiritual salvation throughout the world. God has displayed His goodness and chosen a time to save us. We are stiff-necked people and God reveals the corruption of our hearts. We ought to understand that hard-hearts keep us away from God. This prevents us from coming to God. There is agreement and sweet harmony between God and us through Jesus Christ alone; that is, He calls us to Himself. God has chosen a fit time to save us.
I may have been saved in 1998 or before then but I am unsure; however, I began to repent of my sins when I gained assurance of salvation in 2005. We always ought to renounce Satan and embrace Jesus Christ. The Father will hold us on His lap and speak kind things to us. He has a future for us and a hope. He has a good plan for us through His Son and He will not harm us. This is my testimony but none of us should have a childish faith but a child-like faith; that is, one is sinful and the other is good.
37. If things do not go as they should, we should never fault God for it. All things are being worked out according to His good pleasure and good counsel. We ought to retrain ourselves and keep ourselves from sin and evil and transgression. We ought to show implicit obedience to His good will for us. We ought to be ruled by His good counsel and we should never forget that God always does the right things. It belongs to God to have things happen in time and space, and He commands it.
38. We ought to never forget that the gospel is a testimony of God Himself. The gospel is Jesus and Jesus is the gospel. It is about God Himself and He is the essence of the gospel. We ought to understand that the gospel is a witness to the divine truth of God. We ought to understand that God is kind and favorable toward us-ward. We ought to never waver at the assurance of His good will or show ourselves rebellious against Him. We do God a great dishonor if we rebel after a great testimony to His light. The gospel is about God's goodness and when it is preached to us we hear of God's goodness.
39. The gospel is a holy witness to how God saves sinners. God is kind and favorable to us. We sometimes doubt after having His assurance of His good will. We sometimes waver at His goodness and become rebellious against Him. We cannot do God a greater dishonor than by disobeying Him after He has been so pitiful and kind to us. God bears a witness to His goodness by His preaching to us-ward.
40. The people who speak the Word of God to us are mortal men. May we consider what situation God has placed them. He made the preachers of the Word of God His witnesses. The preacher is taken as true and authentic if He has been qualified for Christian ministry. If other people are accepted, how much more we who preach the living and active Word of God? We ought to receive the message of spiritual salvation which they bring; however, there are false teachers among us. If we do not honor God's message of salvation His honor is abused. May we be more obedient than we were in the past and mediate on the doctrine of the Christian gospel.
41. We ought to be like St. Paul; that is, we ought to fight against pride and malice of men in our time. What should we do? We see that unholiness overflows into evil. The Romanists seek to abolish the truth of God. We have grown profane. People tread down the Word of God under their feet and people live in defiance of the Word of God. People want to be called "Christians" but they are not controlled by the Word of God. And they scorn and scoff at the doctrine of the gospel. These things are common among us but we wish they were not.
42. People hear sermons once a month and see if they like it or not. They would say it is nothing and to make them think we were not doing their duty. We ought to be God's witnesses. They do not have to deal with men but with the living God. We must submit ourselves to God and His Word by His grace alone. Let us bow our necks in obedience to Him alone. We ought to magnify His name and acknowledge Him before men and be His children. He is our Father and Savior. May we call upon Him alone all the days of our lives. Amen.
I pray that you will benefit from this sermon and my notes. The grace and peace of Christ be with you. Amen and amen.
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I am founder or chairman of Lord of Glory Ministries. I have provided my materials as a few "fishes and loaves" to attempt to exalt the Holy Trinity alone and debase the idolatry of man. I hope and pray to provide sound and free online books (although they are not cheap!) and Reformed sermons related to biblical apologetics and theology or regular Reformed "blog posts".
