What is the Gospel?
Notes
Transcript
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Text
1 May God arise, may His enemies be scattered,
And may those who hate Him flee from His presence.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before a fire,
So the wicked will perish before God.
3 But the righteous will be joyful; they will rejoice before God;
Yes, they will rejoice with gladness.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Exalt Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the Lord, and be jubilant before Him.
5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy dwelling.
6 God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious live in parched lands.
7 God, when You went forth before Your people,
When You marched through the desert,
Selah
8 The earth quaked;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You made plentiful rain fall, God;
You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched.
10 Your creatures settled in it;
In Your kindness You provided for the poor, God.
11 The Lord gives the command;
The women who proclaim good news are a great army:
12 “Kings of armies flee, they flee,
And she who remains at home will divide the spoils!”
13 When you lie down among the sheepfolds,
You are like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And its pinions with glistening gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
It was snowing in Zalmon.
15 The mountain of Bashan is a mountain of God;
The mountain of Bashan is a mountain of many peaks.
16 Why do you look with envy, you mountains of many peaks,
At the mountain God has desired as His dwelling?
Indeed, the Lord will dwell there forever.
17 The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands;
The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.
18 You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives;
You have received gifts among people,
Even among the rebellious as well, that the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation.
Selah
Sermon
Sermon
Everyone who reads their bibles or has seen a church service knows that the business of the church is to preach the gospel.
But what do those words mean?
To many in modern American evangelicalism, preaching the gospel means to use emotional manipulation to wrest a decision from people - Finney used this definition, and most of his followers agree.
It has become part of our vocabulary - preach the gospel means to compel individuals to make a decision for Christ.
To some - a popular definition which I read this week - is to bring people to repentance. If you convict them of their sins and shame them enough then they will repent, stop their sinning, and become better people.
To others, preaching the gospel is to enforce gender roles, promote aggressive white militant masculinity and make sure women stay in their places as submissive objects designed to serve the lusts of men.
This kind of preaching has dominated the church for the last 50 years.
To those, however, who love the Lord, even then there is some confusion as to what the gospel is…is it the proclamation of what Jesus did for me? Does it consist solely of justification? Does it include repentance? What about faith? What are we called to believe?
And those questions I hope to answer. I’ve been meditating on the word for a while, and I would like to draw your attention to Psalm 68 for some insight that might be helpful.
It is a Psalm of David - David was the anointed king. The word “anointed” in Hebrew is Messiah. In Greek, it is Christ. Christ was not Jesus’ last name. It is a title - the anointed one of God…keep that in mind.
As I have said before, the military power of David and the kingdom of God were linked in the Psalms. It was God that brought the victory, and he promised that David’s son would reign forever over his enemies if he obeyed and kept the covenant.
Of course, one king after the other failed. They died, and their son took their place.
But as we read through the Psalms, especially Psalms like this one, we see the military language, but God is the conquering hero. In many places, God and David are spoken of as one person - a mystery that would not be solved until the Christ came into the world...
But let’s look at that Psalm
Verses 1-6
Verses 1-6
God is righteous and just. The wicked flee away from him, but the righteous rejoice in his reign.
This is a great comfort for those who have been plagued by the children of the devil. So often justice fails, the sons of men continue to abuse and exploit, and those with no power have nowhere to turn.
But God provides - he is a father to the fatherless. Those whose fathers have died, or have lost the right to the name for extreme wickedness - they have left children without a name, without resource, without hope. But God is a father to the fatherless.
He is a judge for the widow. Again, when power is unchecked and wickedness reigns, women and children suffer the most. Those with less physical strength, less clout, are despised.
They report the crimes committed against them, and the whole system conspires to let the strong continue to abuse, and the weak continue to be prey.
We see it over and over.
And yet God also sees. He is the judge of the widow, the one with no husband, left exposed and vulnerable.
And though God may for a time allow wickedness to thrive, yet he is merely storing up wrath for the days to come. He will judge for the widow and provide strength for the fatherless. As we continue, we will see how God accomplishes this through the Son of David
Verses 7-10
Verses 7-10
David echoes now the events of the exodus - where God led his people through the desert in a pillar of cloud and fire. God’s glory went before them, and he met with them on Sinai. The great king settled his creatures in his land.
We know that this was merely a sign of greater victories to come.
Egypt represents all the nations of the world, placed under the control of the evil one. Sin is a pervasive cancer that has brought death and slavery and misery to the human race. We are sold under sin, and have made a covenant with death.
God’s good creation, men and women, children and all creatures, were subjected to futility, as Paul tells us.
We have enemies that are far more powerful than even the great ancient nation of Egypt.
To show all mankind their enslavement to sin and the power of the devil, God pulled the curtain back on what was happening in Egypt.
No matter what the nation of Israel did, no matter what they wanted to do, who they loved, what they dreamed of, what they longed for.
No matter what natural gifts or beauty or abilities they had, no matter what stories were in their hearts, or songs in their souls
What they actually did was this:
They made bricks and built cities for Pharaoh. Every day. Over and over. For their whole lives. Until they died.
And there was nothing they could do about it.
But God set them free. The earth, the weather, the glory of God and his nature as a kind, good, and all-powerful ruler overcame Pharaoh, and Israel went free.
The Psalmists alludes to it, but uses more generic language. He is speaking of all of the victories and of greater victories.
Military victories are sometimes good, and sometimes provide relief for the people of God.
In the book of Judges, the people were delivered from harsh bondage over and over again.
And they went right back to it. There was no king in Israel, and everyone did that which was right in their own eyes.
But the promise is that a greater king, David, but David’s Lord, would deliver us from ALL of our enemies. Sin, death, misery, sickness, sorrow, injustice, insignificance, mass graves, slanders - all of the things that cause our tears to flow and our weaknesses to come to the surface.
But the greatest enemy is the cancer that is destroying my own heart - sin, rebellion against God, fleeing from him who is beauty and life and light and demanding my own way.
Many of us will know the power of sin this next coming year. No amount of resolutions, good intentions, or self-help books can take away the lusts of the heart - and we weep as much as Israel wept in Egypt, and have as little power over that enemy as they did.
That brings us to the word “gospel”.
The Greek word is euanggelion. It is made of of two words. Aggelion - where we get our word Angels. It is a message, but not just any message. It is an official message from a king sent by an appointed messenger - the anggelon.
The other word is eu. It means good, beneficial, welcome.
Together, we can roughly translate it “good news”, and that seems to be enough for most people. But it isn’t quite enough.
The word in the Greek was used in the secular language of the Roman Empire. It almost always referred to the cult of the emperor. It celebrated his birthday, his conquests, his battles, his milestones.
Good news - Augustus has won. Good news - we are celebrating his empire and his victories today. Good news, he is still the emperor!
This same word was used to translate the Hebrew word “Basar” which means almost the same thing.
We can see how it is used in the Old Testament - almost always announcing the good news of victory.
The Philistines rejoicing over the death of Saul:
9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people.
David weeping over the same “good news” proclaimed in the Philistine cities.
20 Tell it not in Gath,
Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon—
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
The death of Absalom
19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies.”
And the “gospel” of Saul’s death proclaimed in the temple of the Philistines...
9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people.
There are many, many more examples. The coming of Jehu is seen as “good news”, mistakenly, as it turns out, by the son of Ahab.
Many more.
The idea is this: The word in Hebrew and in Greek means good news -
But specifically good news of a conquering king, who has won the victory, established his kingdom and defeated his enemies.
It isn’t just good news - it is good news proclaimed by the angellon - the messengers of Good Tidings of Victory.
Notice how in the New Covenant the “gospel” is connected to the kingdom.
New covenant
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
In Luke’s writings - Luke and Acts - the word is translated “preaching” - to preach means to declare the good news that Christ has conquered the enemy and is establishing his kingdom.
1 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him,
25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
And in the writings of Paul, the gospel is the good news of the Christ, the anointed king, with victory over the grave, the curse of the law, and the corruption of my own heart.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
With this in mind, look at where we left off in Psalm 68.
We saw God as the conquering king, defeating all of the enemies that cause the righteous hearts to weep, bringing justice and righteousness to the world.
And now, to complete the image, the Psalmist jumps ahead to prophecy - the time when victory is complete, the kingdom is announced.
“My lord gave the word” - My Lord. The language David uses for his greater son. He makes the anouncement and sends out his messengers.
11 The Lord gives the command;
The women who proclaim good news are a great army:
The king james and the New King James both leave off the gender in their translations, but it is important.
The book of common prayer in the church of England translates it “Great was the company of the preachers” - which is the version Handel uses for Messiah.
But that, again, misses the gender.
There is no question in the test. The verb is the same verb we have been talking about. The proclamation of the conquering king.
And the word is being spread throughout the kingdom by a great company of women.
It is reading too much into this to say that the Psalmist is taking sides in 21st century gender wars.
But at the very least, women are honored here as messengers of the king.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
My Lord gives the command.
The company of women proclaim it.
But even more than that, the church, the bride of Christ, proclaims the victory throughout the world.
The picture used in this psalm is the picture of the conquering army. The women are at home awaiting the word - and the word comes to them - they are given the message and they proclaim it.
The king has conquered.
But it is the king, Jehovah Himself, who has conquered. We make the announcement. Jehovah conquers.
That is the good news.
We receive the spoils of his triumph.
The beauty of the king, the garments of righteousness, the jewels of restored Eden.
But he is the conqueror. We proclaim it.
YOU in verse 13 is masculine plural. Now referring to the people of God. They are resting in the sheepfolds and receive all of the benefits of the conquering king.
The armies have fled. The enemy is routed. The king has conquered.
He took away the enemy of the curse of the law on the cross.
He took away the thorns and thistles on his head.
He took away our sicknesses and uncleannesses. He touched us and with his stripes we were healed.
And when he rose from the dead, Satan fell like lightening from heaven.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
This is the gospel. The proclamation of the conquering king, announced by his messengers to the whole world.
What about faith?
Faith is the response to the proclamation. Rahab believed that God had given the kingdom to Israel. So what did she do? She made peace with Israel. That is faith, which resulted in action. A change from previous loyalties to new loyalty.
Do you believe that Christ has conquered death, that he has risen from the dead, that he is reigning at God’s right hand over kingdoms and demonic forces and wickedness in high places?
Then we are to live like it.
27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
But our conduct is NOT the gospel. The gospel is the proclamation of what Jesus has done.
We are called to believe it.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
But that isn’t the gospel. The good news is not the same as my response to the news. The good news is the proclamation of Christ, the conquering king.
He has won. It is why we meet on his day, the first day of the week, when he rose from the dead.
The old is gone. The new is brought in.
17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
We have been removed from the kingdom of the Evil One, the kingdom of futility and misery and death, and have been brought into the kingdom of heaven.
The strong man is bound and his house is being spoiled.
Great was the company of women who proclaimed the good news!
The seed of the woman has crushed the head of the serpent.
The virility of mankind has not brought about salvation. Aggressive militant masculinity will not save the world.
And it certainly isn’t the gospel.
The gospel is that the seed of the woman has already conquered. Sin and death and misery are defeated.
Goliath has been cast down, and Israel didn’t do it. David did.
We aren’t David. We are the Israelites in the cleanup operation. Proclaiming the news, singing “David has slain his ten-thousands”
And rejoicing in hope.
If you carry anything into the new year, carry that. The gospel of Jesus Christ.