Obey The Gospel

A. I want to start with a true story: Jorge Rodriquez was new to our country and did not speak English.

1. He had no lawyer the day he appeared in court for hitting a parked car while driving drunk.

2. He went before the judge with what he thought was his “trump card.”

3. Rodriquez approached the bench and handed the judge a “Get Out of Jail Free” card from the game of Monopoly.

4. He had believed someone who had told him that this card was all he needed – He was wrong.

B. I wonder if the scene on Judgement Day is not going to be all that different.

1. I picture many people approaching God’s judgment seat that day thinking they have their spiritual matters in order.

2. How sad it will be when they discover that what they had put their hope in was false.

3. Maybe they had trusted in their own goodness.

4. Maybe they had trusted in the promises of some religious leader.

5. Or maybe they thought there would be some kind of second chance, or that they could work out some kind of deal with God.

6. But, just like Jorge Rodriquez, there will be many on the day of Judgement who will not be able to escape punishment.

C. Please understand that I’m not just making this up, nor am I just trying to scare anyone today.

1. Jesus himself warned us about these things in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7.

2. In verse 21 and following he said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’ ”

3. I certainly don’t want to be among those who will be surprised in that way on that day, and I don’t want that for anyone else.

4. So, how can we know if we are prepared?

a. How can we know if we have done the will of the Father who is in heaven?

b. How can we be sure that we are saved and will go to heaven?

5. The answer to these questions is found in God’s Word.

D. Before we look into God’s Word, I want you to consider this illustration.

1. Who is your legal child?

a. Can anyone be your legal child by just saying so? No, obviously not.

b. A person has to either be your biological child to be your legal child, or they have to go through the legal process of adoption.

2. Similarly, who is a citizen of the United States of America?

a. Can a person be a citizen of the United States of America just by saying so?

b. No, a person can only be a legal citizen of the United States of America by doing what U.S. law says they must do to become an American citizen.

3. The same thing is true about becoming a child of God or being granted heavenly citizenship.

a. No one can just be a child of God or a citizen of heaven by saying so.

b. God is the spiritual lawmaker, and He is the only one who determines how a person can become adopted as His child or become a citizen of His heavenly kingdom.

E. Look with me at Romans 1:16 and 17. Let’s see what Paul has to say here about salvation :“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ”

1. So what do we learn from this passage?

2. We learn that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, for in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed.

3. And we learn that for the gospel to be saving someone and to be imparting this righteousness from God, that person must believe.

4. Also, we notice that the belief must be more than just something in a person’s head, it must be the description of their life. The righteous will live by faith.

5. So, we can conclude that if anyone is going to be saved it is because of the gospel and one’s faithfulness to the gospel. Would you agree with me about that?