THE Good News of the Gospel
Let me start with a question: Do you enjoy hearing bad news?
I assume this morning that there is one thing we all have in common - we all want to hear good news. We want to be encouraged.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear something good for a change on the evening news?
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Deep down, every one of us wants to hear good news.
This morning I want us to briefly consider the most wonderful news that has ever been reported.
The Good News of the Gospel.
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By way of introduction let me remind you of the events recorded in Acts Chapter 10 of when an angel appeared to Cornelius.
Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian regiment of the Roman army. These centurions were in change of 100 men, and they were always men of very noble character.
The angel says, “Cornelius, God has remembered your prayers and your gifts to the poor. Now send for a man named Simon Peter, and he will tell you the way to be saved.”
The Bible describes Cornelius and his family as God-fearing and devout.
He was always donating money to the poor, he prayed to God regularly.
By the worlds standard Cornelius was a great guy, but something was wrong – he wasn’t going to heaven.
Why? He seemed good.
He followed the religion of the Jews.
He prayed, he donated to the poor, he tried to live a good, clean life.
In his mind, Cornelius thought, that’s what God wants me to do – Cornelius thought that was the way to heaven.
But something was wrong.
Something was missing in his heart, something big, and so God sent an angel to Cornelius,
and told Cornelius to find the Apostle Peter.
But Peter had a problem.
The problem is that Peter doesn’t like Gentiles!
He only likes hanging out with other Jews!
So God needs to deal with Peter.
Peter falls into a trance.
And God gives him a vision and God teaches Peter in this vision that God cares about all the people of the world. Not just the Jews.
While Peter was thinking about this vision, God told him, “Some friends of Cornelius are here because they want you to preach about God’s love to his family. Don’t be afraid to go with them, for I have sent them.”
So Peter travels with these men to the house of Cornelius.
When he goes inside the house, he sees that there’s a whole load of people sitting around, waiting to hear the good news of God’s love.
And Peter opens his mouth, and his words recorded in Acts 10:34-36 are “34Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. 35In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. 36This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ”
Peter then goes on to describe how Jesus took away the sins of the world by dying on the cross and then rising from the dead.
And Cornelius is listening to every word.
He had always thought that being a good person, helping the poor, praying – that’s how you please God, that’s how you go to heaven.
But now, Cornelius finds out something different.
He finds out that no matter how good you are, in your own merit you can never be good enough.
He finds out that Jesus Christ, someone he had heard about before, can be his personal Saviour.
He finds out that Jesus has taken all of his sins away, that God loves him and forgives him because of what Jesus had done for him.
He finds out that prayer and good works are not the way to heaven, but ways of thanking Jesus for saving him.
God had changed the way he thought.
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Can you relate to this Roman soldier thoughts?
Maybe you thought that you could get to heaven by being a good person.
Maybe you prayed once in awhile.
Maybe you even helped out those in need.
Maybe you tried to live a good, clean life.
Sure, you had heard of Jesus Christ.
And maybe you even thought you should just try and be a good person, like Him.
And then, you found out, no, that’s not how it works.
Through his Word, God changes the way you think. You find out that no matter how good you are, in your own merit you’ll never be good enough, you’ll never do enough to earn God’s favour.
Through his Word, you find out that even the nicest person in the world still has faults, still has shortcomings, and because of those short comings, can never be nice enough to earn their way to heaven.
That’s what God tells us in his Word.
Then you find out who Jesus Christ really is!
You find out that he’s more than just an example of how to be a good person.
You find out that he has done something for you, something that you really need.
You find out that he has taken all your faults,
all your shortcomings, all your sins, and has washed them away, by dying on a cross.
You find out that Jesus has risen from the dead, to prove to you that God really does love you and forgive you for all the mistakes you have made in life.
You can stop trying to earn your way to heaven, and you can start trusting in Jesus Christ as your Saviour.
You hear these things and say in your heart,
“I know that I am forgiven. I know that because of Jesus, I am going to heaven.”
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Like Peter, I come from a Jewish background.
And I grew up thinking “God must love me, I’m one of the chosen people!”
But I was 100% wrong!
The Bible says in John 3:16 that God so loved the WORLD!
It doesn’t say “God so loved only the Jewish people”
It says “God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Deuteronomy 10:17 tells us that “the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, WHO SHOWS NO PARTIALITY!”
God loves everyone that will accept Jesus as Saviour, people from EVERY nation, EVERY tongue.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Dean, this sounds good.
I wish I could believe it. But I’ve done a lot of wrong things in my life.”
You want to know something?
We all have things in our past and things in our present that we wish weren’t there.
The good news is that the Bible is filled with stories of people who were not perfect.
But they repented, they apologized for their sins and God welcomed them with open arms.
In Luke 18 there’s a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector who went into the temple to pray.
The Pharisee prayed about himself.
He said,
I thank you Lord, that I am not like other men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get!”
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even look up to heaven. He beat himself on the chest and said, “God, have mercy on me a sinner!”
And the Bible says that this was the man went home justified before God!
Even though he was not perfect, he went before God and asked for forgiveness, and the Lord said “Yes!!!”
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Peter, Jesus disciple, Peter did one of the worst things that a Christian can do! He publicly denied Jesus three times.
One week later, Jesus took Peter aside.
Jesus asked him, “Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?”
The third time, Peter broke down and said,
“Lord, you know all things! You KNOW that I love you!”
Jesus said, “I want you back on my team. Feed my sheep. Take care of my people.”
This same Peter who was accepted back by God says God wants to accept us!
Peter speaks from personal experience.
The good news of Jesus Christ is a message of acceptance.
No matter what you have done, no matter what you have been, no matter how far you have fallen,
God wants you back!
That is the good news!
But the gospel message is not just a message of acceptance. It is also a message of peace.
Acts 10:36 says “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”
Before Jesus came to earth, our sins had created a wall of separation between us and God.
But when Jesus died on the cross, His blood washed away all our sins. And the wall of separation came crumbling down!
Now when we put your faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross, His blood washes OUR sins away, and it bring us back into a peaceful standing with God.
How do we know that? Because Romans 5:1 says that “Since we have been justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And Colossians 1:20 says that Christ made peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
Jesus broke down the wall of separation between us and God.
Jesus has made peace between us and God the Father.
He has made it possible for us to have peace with one another.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is also a message of peace.
Sometimes we forget that no matter what a person’s nationality, no matter what a person’s social or economic situation, God wants every person on the face of this earth to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.
Maybe it’s hard to fully accept, that God loves you, but he does.
God loves YOU, and he loves that person who has made too many mistakes in life and is now sitting in prison – God loves that person just as much.
God is a God who loves all people, and wants all people no matter who they are, to believe in Jesus and be saved.
He does not show favoritism, as the Apostle Peter reminds us today.
What an amazing and loving God we have!
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Here is another great truth, the more time we spend with God - the more He reveals truth to us.
And the deeper our relationship becomes with Him.
And that improves our relationship with each other.
And really, that’s the purpose of meeting together as church.
And God has also given us a command to share the truth with others. The purpose for us as church is to get people in touch with this wonderful message, so that God can change people for the better.
There are so many people in the world, in this community, just like Cornelius, nice people who don’t know the way of salvation.
There are so many people out there like Peter, people who don’t know just how loving our God really is.
As church, and as individuals, we need to share these wonderful truths from God’s Word with others, so that God can change people for the better. So that the unsaved can be saved.
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The good news of God is a message of acceptance, and a message of peace. It is also a message of power.
Acts 10:37-38 says “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
Friends, the power of Christ sets us free.
There are so many examples of His power in the New Testament - let me remind you of just a few from the Gospel of Mark.
In Mark chapter one, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. And there’s a man there who is possessed by a demon. The demon shouts, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God!”
And Jesus said, “Be quiet! Come out of Him!” And immediately, the demon left the man, and he never came back again.
Because when Jesus Christ speaks, things happen.
In Mark 5, Jesus enters a house where a 12 year old girl has died. Everyone is crying.
Everyone is upset.
Jesus tells everyone to leave the room except for Peter, James, and John.
Then He takes the girl by the hand, and He says ‘Talitha koum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’)” and right away she gets up.
Because when Jesus Christ speaks, things happen.
Mark 7, some people bring to Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.
Jesus puts his fingers into the man’s ears.
And He says, ‘Be opened!’” and right away his ears are opened and he can speak.
Because when Jesus Christ speaks, things happen!”
Or what about John chapter 11,
Lazarus has been buried in his tomb for 4 days.
Jesus walks over to the tomb.
And he says, “Father, I thank you that you hear my prayers.”
And then Jesus calls out in a loud voice, “LAZARUS!!! COME FORTH!!!”
Immediately, Lazarus came out of his grave and was restored to his family.
Because when Jesus Christ speaks, things happen.
The message of the gospel is a message of power.
The same power that delivered people in the first century can deliver people in the 21st century.
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Perhaps you struggle with bitterness.
Someone in your life has hurt you so much, you just can’t forgive them.
Whenever they come to mind, your blood starts to boil. And your heart starts to pound.
But the good news is that this is no match for the power of Jesus Christ.
I’m not saying that you’re never going to meet people who will test the end of your patience.
But Christ can give you the power to love and forgive people that you’ve never been able to forgive before.
The message of the gospel is a message of acceptance, a message of peace, a message of power, and it is a message of victory!
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Lets finish by going back to where we began Acts10
Acts 10:39-42 Peter tells Cornelius and the others gathered with Him that Jesus was killed by being hung on the cross, but God raised Him from the dead.
And Peter says in verse 43 says that “everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
And they must have believed in Jesus right there on the spot.
Because while Peter is saying these very words, the Holy Spirit came down on everyone in the room.
And they were speaking in tongues and praising God for His goodness in their lives!
As I draw the sermon to a close
Let me ask you this:
Do you know that your sins forgiven?
Do you have your very own personal relationship with God?
Are you to experiencing the power of God in your life?
Do you want to experience the power of God in your life like never before?
Do you know what it feels like to have the peace of God guarding your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus?
Do you know that you have been accepted into God’s family?
If these are things you really want, to experience, either for the first time, or if you want to move forward in your faith, all you need to do is ask God.
Ask Him to be your Lord! Tell Him you are ready to fully accept His peace and His power and His presence.
That’s what it means to accept the good news of God into our lives.
Will you hand the leadership of your life over to Jesus Christ?
Let’s pray together.
