The Gospel, the Whole Gospel and Nothing but the Gosepl

I love that very simple song. I don't know if you caught the title. It's called the gospel song. It's one we sing regularly with our children on Wednesday nights and it is extremely accurate in communicating the gospel. I'm very pleased when I hear parents say that they hear their children singing that song in their homes and in their cars. I think if you're around on Wednesday night, faithful on Wednesday nights, you know that one as well as adults. Thank you for singing that. Brother Keith, I appreciate it. Well, take your Bible and turn back with me to the book of Romans. Like I said earlier, we'll be in the book of Romans.

We'll be in several places. We will be in chapter one, chapter three, chapter five, chapter six. I said earlier that we will start in chapter three. You know it's not my habit to call you to turn the various places, but it is necessary. I will give you some instructions as to when to turn. I want you to be able to follow the message, but also read for yourself and your copy of God's word. And as we take notes during the message, if you are unable to turn to one of the passages, write that down. I want you to follow me. And in your own time, you can go back and study because we do want to get all that the Lord wants to give us this morning.

Now, most everyone here knows that we are in our series studying the 10 pillars of the church. We started this series with an introductory message back in first Timothy, chapter three, verse 15. We know that Paul's writing to the Ephesian church. He had left his young protege, Timothy, there as the pastor, and he is writing to help Timothy in this pastoral work. In our second message, we study the first pillar. The first pillar is the church. And we study that the last Lord's day. Now, truthfully, these messages are a one-two punch. If I could use that language, these messages build on one another.

I know I shared that with some of you on Wednesday night. The introductory message really fits. It sets the stage for last week's message. And then last week's message really cannot be fully understood unless you have that introductory message. And as I said last week, I really encourage you to go back and study those messages. Go back and listen if you haven't listened to them. Make sure they're firmly fixed in your mind and in your heart. Now, before we proceed, I want us to take three steps back. I want us to take three steps back and see what the Lord has taught us.

In 1 Timothy 3.15, we learned that the church must be the strong pillar holding up the truth, and that truth is God's Word. The church is supported by the solid rock of Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the foundation of the church. This is the core mission of the church. And this applies to us in our day and our time. We are to be the pillar of God's truth, and our foundation must be the rock of Christ Jesus. And this must be our core mission. And these ten pillars, which God has given us, they flow out of the truth of God's Word. Take the church, the first pillar, the church that we studied last week.

We learned that the church is the institution that Christ founded. We learned that Christ died for the church, therefore He is the sole owner of the church. We learned that Christ, He entrusted Kingdom work on earth to the church. And the church alone is responsible for this Kingdom work in this day. And He is coming back. He's coming back for us, but He's coming back for the church. And we learned that we are that church. Everything we learned last week, we are that church. And all of this teaching and much more concerning the church, it comes out of the truth of God's Word. Now, we understand that this teaching on the ten pillars is vital.

This is not just necessary. I want to move past that type of standard. This is essential to the function of the church and the ultimate well-being of the church. And that is why it is so important for us to fully embrace this teaching, every one of us, because we must live and die by the teaching of the ten pillars. Now, last Sunday I used an analogy that I will continue to use. Sometimes analogies help us visualize, help us hold on to things. Our first message I called at the front porch of the house. That just got us started.

And then last week's message which was titled, "The Church, the Whole Church, and Nothing But the Church," I called that the front room because we walked into the house. And this morning we are going into the next room in the house for pillar number two. And our second pillar is the gospel. Now we are going to look at the gospel in four ways this morning. This is by no means exhaustive. There is so much that we could say concerning the gospel. We could be here week after week after week studying the gospel. But this morning we are going to look at one message and we are going to look at the gospel in four ways.

We are going to look at a definition of the gospel. This definition is very practical, very biblical. This will help you. We are going to look at a basic understanding of the gospel. Then we are going to look at the work of the gospel and then our responsibility with the gospel. Now after we get through with these major truths here, I will make some application at the end of the message for us and I will challenge us just as last week the Lord would take what He shares with us and form it in us as individuals and as a church. So let's look at our first major truth in our outline.

This is what I call a definition of the gospel, a definition of the gospel. Now one of the most popular definitions of the gospel is simply the good news, the good news. If I were to ask ten people this morning out of our congregation for a simple definition of the gospel, many of you would say something like this, "Well pastor, it's the good news isn't it? You might even say something like this, it is the good news of salvation." Now a question, is this correct? Would a response of this nature be correct? Yes this is correct. This answer is very simplistic in its form but it's correct.

But we need to see that there is more, there is more to this gospel definition that we need to have. Now back in our first message, our introductory message, I gave you the ten pillars. I have a list for them if you need them. I think most everyone here has that list in their notes maybe in their bible. But with each of the ten pillars I gave you a definition. Now I want to revisit this definition that I gave us for the gospel. Here's the definition. The gospel is the good news that God provided a way for salvation for sinful men through the sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. I'll repeat that.

The gospel, it is the good news that God provided a way of salvation for sinful men through the sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. Now if you ask a question as to the origin of this definition, I really can't tell you. To be honest with you this has just come to the surface for me as I've been studying so long this gospel message. So I would say this comes out of my heart but yet it comes out of much study. So I do not take credit for this definition. And we will revisit this definition as we proceed in the message. Now when we start to look into the New Testament, because we always have to go back to God's word.

When we start looking to the New Testament, this word gospel, it always refers to the good news or the message proclaimed by Jesus and His apostles. We see this in many places in the New Testament. I'm going to name just a few. There are far more instances in the New Testament. We don't have time to look at all of them. In Romans chapter 1 verse 1, it is called the gospel of God. It is called the gospel about Jesus Christ in Romans 15, 19. In Acts 20 verse 24, it is called the gospel of God's grace. In Ephesians 1, 13, it is called the gospel of your salvation.

In Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 4, 4, it is called the gospel of the glory of Christ. Now we must see that the gospel is entirely about Christ and His salvation. Do we not see this in this definition that I gave us earlier? Let me go back and read it. The gospel is the good news that God, that would be God the Father, provided a way of salvation for sinful men through the sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. So He is at the center of the gospel. So we have established here the fact that the gospel is the good news and it's not wrong for us to refer to it as the good news. This is true. But truthfully, we need to see that slightly incomplete.

You might say, "Pastor, you just said it's accurate." Yes, it's accurate, but it is slightly incomplete and our full understanding of the gospel. We must see the negative side of the gospel. Let me go back to that definition and see if you can't hear the negative side. The gospel is the good news that God provided a way of salvation for sinful men through the sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. Notice that this is good news for sinful men. This is the bad news of the gospel. You might pause there and say, "Pastor, how can the good news be bad news?" Well, there is a side of the gospel that is bad. Bad news because man is sinful.

Man is in rebellion against God. Therefore, man is in need of God's salvation through Jesus, His only Son. So in summary, what do we need to see here? We need to see the bad news of the gospel and the good news of the gospel. We cannot separate the two. We cannot separate the two. We can't leapfrog over one part to get to the other part. We must also see that Christ is at the heart of the gospel. He is the gospel. Now an application for us. You can truthfully find good definitions concerning the gospel.

There are many good explanations, many good definitions, some long, some short, some very theological, some very practical, and they're out there. In all of my study this week and the past few weeks concerning the gospel, I've read lots of good information, even listened to some good sermons about the gospel. Here's the warning for you. Stay away from any definition, any presentation, any proclamation of the gospel that does two things. First, run from a gospel that ignores man's sin. Oh, if you hear a man preaching about the gospel, if you hear a definition of the gospel, or you're reading about the gospel, and if they ignore man's sin, run.

Run because that is a false gospel. And then second, make sure that the presentation of the gospel makes more of Christ than man. If they make more of man than Christ, run, run because that can be a man-centered gospel. You see the warning that your pastor's giving you? When you hear anyone talking about the gospel, if they ignore man's sin, or make more of man than Christ, watch out. It could be a false gospel. Here at Nola Baptist Church, we must present the gospel in its totality. It's not wrong for us to say that the gospel is the good news, but we must not stop there.

We must go on, and we must explain it fully, and thoroughly, and totally, so as to communicate every aspect of the gospel. We must present the good side. Yes, the good side makes us all feel good, does it not? But we must present the bad side. We must present the fact that man is sinful. And the gospel that we present must, it must be Christ-centered. Now, I think we've had a good definition of the gospel. Not only have I given you this definition, I've helped you see that it is biblical, it's thoroughly biblical. Now, let's move on. Let's notice our second major truth in our outline. We have before us a basic understanding of the gospel.

A basic understanding of the gospel. Now, I want to take the time to give us a basic, but accurate understanding of the gospel from God's Word. No definitions, no definitions from a theologian or any particular man. This is just straight out of the Bible. Now, when I say basic, I am not meaning that it is lacking. These verses will give us the basics and a complete understanding of the gospel, but yet there is so much more that we can see. So, let's look at three observations or three sub-points here in our outline. Notice first, all people are sinful. Write that down if you're taking notes. All people are sinful.

Now, I asked you earlier to be at Romans chapter 3. Let's look at this Romans chapter 3 passage, chapter 3 verse 23. Notice what the apostles Paul says to this church. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Now, here in this one verse, we see the basic problem that is universal to all mankind. And that word, sin. Sin is the problem for all men. But notice how Paul states the situation here. He states all. All have sin. This is all inclusive. Go back to the end of verse 22. What does he say? "For there is no distinction." What does he mean by that? There is no distinction among men. "For all have sinned." None are separated.

None are left out of this problem. All is all. But what is this word sinned? What is this meaning of this word sin? In the original, this word speaks of a deficiency or a lacking. Here it means that man is lacking or deficient of God's glory, which speaks of God's standard. God's standard is perfection. And mankind has fallen from that perfection. All men are lacking. All men are sinful. All men are substandard of God's standard. And you can say it like this. "The sinfulness of man is universal. All men have been born into the sinful image of Adam." Romans 5, 12, and all men have sinned. So what must we see?

This basic understanding of the Gospel. All have sinned. And our second observation, we'll go over to Romans chapter 6, verse 23 for this passage. I want you to get this one in your notes as well. Notice the penalty for sin is death. The penalty for sin is death. Romans 6, 23. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Here we see the penalty or the payment for that universal sin. Now what's the payment? Death. Death. Now this is physical death and also spiritual death. This is the eternal death or damnation. This is the eternal punishment for sin.

We see this taught in Romans 5, 12 as well. I alluded to that earlier. Notice what Paul says in Romans 5, 12. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man," let me pause there, that was Adam, "and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all men have sinned." So the penalty for sin is death. So we have the universal problem that all men have sinned and the universal problem that that penalty for that sin is death. But then the third observation that I want us to see is that in Romans 5, 8, Jesus paid the penalty for that sin. Jesus paid the penalty for that sin. Look at Romans 5, 8 with me.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Here we see God's predetermined plan. "The death of His Son Jesus on the cross for sin." Notice the verse though. "While we were sinners in the face of man's sin, in the face of man's rebellion against God, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for that sin and that rebellion." 1 John 2, John speaks of this. It says that Jesus was our propitiation or our atoning sacrifice for sin. Simply these three verses here in Romans give us the biblical basis for a proper definition of the gospel.

Now I want to pause here and go back to the definition. Now you tell me if this does not come out of these verses. Let me read the definition. "The gospel is the good news that God provided a way for salvation." Does that not ring of Romans 5, 8? For sinful men does not ring of Romans 3, 23? The sacrifice of Jesus, God's only Son. So I want you to see that this definition, it comes right out of these passages that are the basis of our understanding of the gospel. So what do we see here? Three verses in Romans that form our basic understanding of the gospel. But I want to give you a warning here.

Now this warning comes from something that I read this week. It is just lingered in my mind. I found myself going back to it numerous times in my study. This comes from Wayne Grudem, the Bible scholar. As he is describing the gospel, notice what he says. Those facts and even agreeing that they are true is not enough for a person to be saved. There must also be an invitation for a personal response on the part of the individual who will repent of his or her sins and trust personally in Christ. Now what am I trying to show you in that warning? Assimilating that information does not guarantee salvation. We understand that man must be converted.

It is not the assimilation of information, it is the conversion of the heart and the mind and the life. And here at Nola Baptist Church, we preach that the gospel impacts people's lives, transforms their lives. It is not the mental assent of information, no. And this basic understanding teaches us the basic truths of the gospel. Now what about us here at Nola? Let me carry this a little further, this application. We must be sure to preach the good news and the bad news. First from this pulpit, oh we must not alter the gospel or add to the gospel or take away from the gospel. We must preach the good and the bad of the gospel from this pulpit.

But what about in our personal witness? When we minister to people in the workplace, when we minister to people in our neighborhoods and where we go, we must share the truth of the gospel, the good news and the bad news, and then also in our homes. I'm sad to say that this is where many parents will really miss it. Because sometimes it's real hard for parents to look at their sons and their daughters and say to them that they are a sinner. I'm so afraid many parents look at Johnny and Susie and say, "Oh you're a good kid," when actually the scriptures teach otherwise. What am I trying to show you?

This basic understanding of the gospel will equip us to be able to communicate the gospel accurately. Now let's move on to our third major truth in our outline. Notice the work of the gospel. The work of the gospel. Now we have grasped the proper definition of the gospel. We have acquired a basic understanding of the gospel just from three verses out of the book of Romans. And now we must see how the gospel works. What the gospel does. Now I want to introduce this thought. I want to introduce this portion by quoting from a little book that I've had for quite a few years. It's one of those that I find myself going to from time to time.

And in my study I picked it back up and I realized how rich it was. It would be a good one for you to purchase. The title of the book is called A Gospel Primer for Christians. And it's by an author named Milton Vincent. Someone gave it to me years ago and I was gripped by the simplicity and the power within that little book. It will be a good read for you. And he, this author, Milton Vincent, it helps get us thinking in the right direction. And I want to borrow his words and I'm quoting. Outside of heaven, the power of God in its highest density is found inside the gospel.

Indeed God's power is seen in erupting volcanoes, in unimaginably hot boil of our massive sun, and in the lightning speed of a recently discovered sun seen screeching through the heavens at 1.5 million miles an hour. Yet in the scripture such wonders are never labeled the power of God. But the Bible twice describes the gospel as the power of God. Do you get that? With that in mind I want us to turn back to our first passage from our Bible reading. Romans chapter 1 verse 16. What did Paul say to these people at the Roman church? I want them to come see you. I want my heart as far as you. I've never met you.

I want to come minister to you and have you minister to me. I want to preach the gospel among you. But notice what he says in verse 16. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Here we see God's own saving power unleashed through the gospel and into the life of a sinner for their salvation. Again this power of God is not used to describe the awesome creation that's all around us, but the salvation of a sinner for their sin. Four simple observations I want to make here. These will be rather short. First notice the origin of this power. What does he say?

"From not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God." The origin of this power, the origin of this gospel is from God. This is not the invention of Paul, the apostle Paul, or any of the other apostles. The origin of this power is from God. And then second notice the vehicle of this power. It is his gospel. Go back to the verse. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it," that's the gospel, "is the power of God for salvation." The vehicle for the power of God that is unleashed in a sinner's life is the gospel. And then third notice the recipient of this power. That is the sinner.

"For it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes." Who needs to believe? The lost sinner. So the lost sinner receives this power of God through the gospel. And then fourth, the demonstration of this saving power is evident to see. Go back to the verse. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." If the power of God is unleashed through the gospel in a sinner's life, people will see it. So what we see here is vitally important. "The work of the gospel has its end in the power of God for the salvation of sinful men." The gospel is the power of God.

We need to have that firmly fixed in our minds. The gospel is the power of God and that is what transforms man. And for us here at Nola Baptist Church, we must believe in the power of God. Listen, we must believe in the power of God to use His gospel to transform sinners. And it doesn't matter how big that sinner is in our eyes. It is the power of God that can and will transform sinners. We must believe in the power of God. Someone might say, "Pastor, you're kind of one of those old-fashioned preachers. If that makes me old-fashioned, that's fine. I will refer you to a Bible verse that communicates so much.

John chapter 3, we have Jesus in His earthly ministry and at night there comes a man named Nicodemus, a moral man, a good man by man's standards, a leader among His people, the Jews. He was a leader in the land, a teacher of God's word, the Old Testament, an authority in the law of Moses, moral and good and clean and godly by the Jew's standards." But he had one problem. He had not been transformed by the power of God. And what does Jesus say to him when Nicodemus comes into his company? Jesus looks at him and says, "Nicodemus, you must be born from God, born from above, born again." And then He uses an analogy to communicate this word.

He says it's like the power of the wind. We don't know where it comes from. We don't know where it's going. Oh, but when the wind blows through, we see its effect. See that analogy communicates the power of God transforming a life. And although Nicodemus was so moral on the outside, he needed to be transformed by the power of the gospel. And now I want you to see the reason I refer back to John 3 is that it communicates that it's the power of God using His gospel to transform a life. That's the work of the gospel. It's not assimilating information. It's not nodding ahead. It's not joining a church. It's not being baptized.

There are so many people in our culture. They're members of churches. They've been baptized. They know all of the Sunday school answers, but the power of God has never affected their life. That's the work of the gospel. Let's continue on with our fourth major truth. Notice our responsibility with the gospel. Our responsibility with the gospel. Now, if I were to ask 10 people here this morning what our responsibility with the gospel is, most of you would say something like this, "Well, pastor, we must share the gospel." That's true, but that is not enough. That's an incomplete answer.

This morning we must see that we are responsible for sharing the gospel in two ways or with two peoples. First, we must see that the church should hear the gospel as much as the lost. Now, that might surprise some of you. The church, the redeemed people of God should hear the gospel as much as the lost. Paul's letter to the Romans in chapter 1, verse 15, Paul tells the Roman Christians that he was eager to preach the gospel to them. Paul does the very same thing when he's writing to the Corinthian church.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1, Paul says, "Now, I would remind you, brothers," there's the Christians, "of the gospel I preach to you, which you receive and in which you stand." Paul does this repeatedly in 1 Corinthians as he deals with various problems and situations within the church. In many of Paul's letters, there are lengthy portions which are truths about the gospel repeated to Christians to the church. Romans chapter 1 through chapter 11, it's all about the gospel. Ephesians chapters 1 and 3, they are about the gospel. In Colossians chapter 1 and 2, it's about the gospel.

Paul teaches and re-preaches the gospel back to the church. And that might surprise some of you. But the church should hear the gospel as much as the lost. And then second, we must see that the church should proclaim the gospel to the lost world. We see this in the familiar Great Commission passage. Matthew chapter 28. The Great Commission passage is in verse 18, or excuse me, verse 19. But what does Jesus say in verse 18? "All authority has been given to me." In other words, I'm commanding you. God's given me the authority.

Go, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Father, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things. Here, we do not see the word gospel or a variation of the word gospel, but we see the command for the church to evangelize the world. Now a question. Two questions. How is the church to do that? What tool does the church have in her tool bag for the evangelization of the world? Oh, there's only one tool. That is the gospel. As the church moves to reach the lost, she is to share and to teach and to preach the gospel. That was the New Testament church's method.

As they advanced into the lost world, they preached the gospel. And this was the Apostle Paul's method as he advanced throughout the Gentile world in three major missionary journeys. This is God's prescribed way to reach the lost, those who are without Christ. So what do we see here? The gospel is to be proclaimed to the church and to the lost world. The church should get a regular plate full of the gospel just as the New Testament churches did. And the gospel is to be proclaimed to the lost world as the church moves in the world and goes into the world. Now an application, I'll make two comments.

First, this pulpit must regularly explain and teach the gospel. Not necessarily in sermons, but everything that's taught should be infused with the gospel message. So much so that when you hear a message that's set aside for the gospel, you know in your heart, you know in your mind what's taught. This pulpit should regularly thunder the gospel to you. And then we, us, you and me, as we go out into the world, our lips should utter the gospel. We should speak of the gospel. Our lives should be saturated with the gospel. That is our responsibility. It is a two-fold responsibility.

So in summary, notice what's taking place this morning in this message. We've embraced a good definition of the gospel. I think it's biblically accurate. You could add to it, sure. We've grasped a basic understanding of the gospel from the book of Romans, three passages that give us a basic and firm understanding. We learned the work of the gospel, that it is the power of God to save lost sinners and transform their lives. We've seen that it is our responsibility. We are to proclaim the gospel to the church and to the world.

Now as I move away from the message, the body of the message, I want to make some closing comments, some application, and then I will give us the title of the message. First, we must guard the purity of the gospel. Listen church, we must work very hard to guard the purity of the gospel. The gospel message that we present, whether from this pulpit or from our lips, it has eternal consequences. If we preach the true gospel message to men and women and young people, they can be brought into a saving knowledge of Christ. Oh, but if we present a false gospel to men, a false gospel to women and young people, then we will eternally damn them.

It's just that simple. We must work hard to present the true gospel, not an altered version of the gospel, but the real gospel. Second, we must see the importance of the gospel. We must see the importance of the gospel. We must see that the gospel message is the most important message of the church. The gospel of God is the power of God unto salvation. Remember our Romans 1 16 passage, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." And if the gospel of God is the power of God to save sinners, then you tell me how important is the gospel message. This is life and death, people.

This is heaven and hell. This is an eternity with Christ and glory or an eternal punishment. The gospel must be our preeminent message. And then third, we must be dependent on the gospel. We must be dependent on the gospel. We must be dependent on the gospel in two ways. First, we must be dependent on the Holy Spirit to draw sinners to Christ. You might say, "Pastor, that has nothing to do with the gospel." Oh, that's the beginning of the work, people. We must depend on the Holy Spirit to draw sinners to Christ. And then second, we must be dependent on the gospel to save those lost sinners.

If the Holy Spirit does not draw lost sinners, and if the gospel does not save sinners, then we must fail. If we succeed with anything else, then we are an apostate church. If I succeed with anything else, then I'm an apostate minister. No minister of the gospel. And then fourth, we must heed a warning concerning the gospel. I will listen to your pastor here. We can't add to and we can't take away from the gospel. We can't add to or take away from the message of the gospel and the work of the gospel. And many people do one or the other. Even some do both today, and it can be so subtle.

Now, let me show you the test for getting off here is when you attach "but." That little word "but" to the gospel. It's the gospel "but." Or if you attach another word, this word "and." If you say it's the gospel "and," let me give you a few hypotheticals that will help you see this. We live in a day when many churches have turned to entertainments and gimmicks to draw people. We live in a day when many churches have turned to gospel gimmicks, many people call them, to get people to make a decision for Christ. You see the error there?

They're moving away from the gospel and see they're not saying we're going to depend on the Holy Spirit to draw men, and the gospel and the power of the gospel to save men, many churches have turned to entertainments and gimmicks to get people "save." Look, our church roles are full of people that have been victimized by this. They're in your families, in your neighborhoods, and you work with them. My question is this, has the power of God transformed into life? I'll give you another example here. It's our form and approach to evangelism. You know that we brought in our friend and brother, Ed Lacy, to teach us Christ's Center of Evangelism.

There were some of you here. You said, "Pastor, for five years you've been preaching this to us." But yet there were some of you. You came, you said, "This turned my whole world upside down." Why? Because it is a gospel center of evangelism. It is a Christ center of evangelism, and we must evangelize God's way according to God's word. I'll give you another situation that shows you how people have moved away from the gospel. It's sad to say there's lots of children's material that's moved away from the accurate representation of the gospel and conversion.

Lots of children's material will have a dumbed down version, the ABCs, leading children to just A, admit, B, believe, C, commit. Now in and of that, there's nothing heretical, but that's an incomplete message of the gospel. What people have done is they have dumbed it down. They've changed it. Why? Trying to get decisions. Listen, an eight year old is saved the same way as a 28 year old and an 88 year old. The Holy Spirit of God draws them to Christ, convicts them of their sin and God's righteousness and judgment to come, and is the good news and the bad news of the gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit that changes their life. But one more.

We must be careful with how we deal with our children. Many times people, parents, will have a great zeal and a great desire for their children to come to faith in Christ. And no matter our approach, we cannot sidestep the gospel. We cannot say it's Jesus and no matter how educated they are, they will never be saved unless the power of God affects their life. I said this years ago, I've held onto it. Education without salvation, it just simply leads to damnation. Now I'm all for educating our children. We must teach them the word in church and in our homes and in our cars and in our trucks as we're going and coming.

They must see the word of God in our life. We must pour the truth of God's word, but notice our approach here with children. We teach them the word and we pray for God to save it. What am I showing you? Some hypothetical, some scenarios that help us heed the warning of adding to or taking away. Now as I move to close, here's your pastor talking to you. We must believe, preach, and proclaim the gospel. It is the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel that saves. Oh, somebody need to see that today. It is the gospel, it is the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel that saves.

And I think by now most of you have gathered that that is the title of the message. And with God's help, that will be our preeminent message here at Nola Baptist Church. And with God's help, that will be the preeminent message that comes out of our life and everything we do. It's the gospel, the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel. Let's pray.