I recently heard of a story
attributed to the late John Stott. He spoke of a man who, when ordering his
breakfast at the hotel asked for egg and bacon. When his breakfast arrived,
there was on his plate egg, bacon and a sausage. The man complained to the
waiter pointing out that he only wanted egg and bacon. The waiter duly took away the plate and returned
a short time later with the man’s breakfast. This time there was only an egg on
the plate. The man again protested, ‘I asked for egg and bacon’ he said. The
waiter apologised, took away the plate, later returning with what the man hoped
was the breakfast he had asked for. As the plate was put before him, the man sighed.
On the plate was a fish!
Credited to the author of the
book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ Stephen Covey said: The main thing is to
keep the main thing the main thing. I can say amen to that.
But I do find it ironic that such a statement
could come from a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
Covey was a Mormon. Far from keeping the main thing the main thing Mormons,
like many other religions and cults, either add a sausage, remove the bacon or
give you a fish.
What is the main thing?
The main thing is the Gospel. The main thing is how a person is made right with God. This
was uppermost and front and centre in the mind of the Apostle Paul:
‘Now I would remind you, brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you
stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to
the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I
delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ
died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on
the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…’ (1 Corinthians
15:1-4)
The apostle here is setting out the gospel. Note the following
points he makes.
It is this gospel by which they
are being saved.
They are to hold fast to that
which he proclaimed to them.
What he said to them were of first
importance (the main thing)
Christ died for our sins,
according to the Scriptures
Christ was buried and he rose on
the third day, according to the Scriptures.
These things for Paul were the main thing. This is the gospel.
I have often asked Jehovah’s Witnesses what the gospel is and what
is the good news they are sharing. I have never had one of them take me to 1
Corinthians 15 or even alluded to anything it contains. Their reply has always
been to tell me in detail their version of the good news. It usually goes something
like this: Armageddon is coming soon and I, through being baptised into their
organisation, can escape annihilation, and live forever on a paradise earth.
This is not the biblical gospel.
If I ask the Mormons the same question, they will often tell me
about an illiterate young man named Joseph Smith who, when visited by an angel,
was led to gold plates, which he in turn translated into the Book of Mormon. If I accept Joseph Smith as a prophet sent by
God and confess my faith in the restored church he founded, get baptised and
faithfully follow the laws and ordinances of the Mormon ‘gospel’, I may become
a god. This is not the biblical gospel.
These kinds of groups never talk about the main thing, they never
share the biblical gospel, they are always ‘adding a sausage’.
Then we have so called liberal progressive Christians. If I were
to ask them what the gospel is, they may say something along the lines of the
good news is that God loves everyone. This leads them to teach that everybody will
therefore be saved. It matters not how a person lives or what they believe. There
is no need to trust the Scriptures or believe you are a sinner in need of
forgiveness. You need not believe that Jesus died or that he literally rose from
the dead. This is not the biblical gospel.
These kinds of groups never talk about the main thing, they never share the biblical gospel. They remove the meat of the gospel, the ‘bacon’.
Finally, there are other religions and cultic groups who have
neither the egg nor the bacon but give you something completely different. These
groups either leave Christ out completely or so downplay his person and role in
salvation, that he is not important at all. There is no biblical gospel to be
found. Think Buddhism, Hinduism, Scientology etc.
These groups like those mentioned above, never talk about the main
thing, they never share the biblical gospel, they just offer something
different, they give you a fish.
The simplicity of the
gospel gives what the complexity of human wisdom promises but never delivers.
John MacArthur
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to make sure keep the main
thing the main thing. Only the Lord Jesus can save. We need to know that we are
wretched sinners in need of grace. Jesus died to pay my sin. He was buried to
prove that he died. He rose again proving his victory over death and appeared to
many to testify to this fact.
Paul encourages the Corinthian church to hold fast to these
important truths and we believing the Scriptures to be the Word of God, must do
the same. For this is of first importance – this is the main thing.
Many will add a sausage, remove the bacon or offer you a fish –
but only the true gospel of the Lord Jesus can save us!
Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfil Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.[1]
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