Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Romans, chapter 1. Romans, chapter 1. I'd like to read verse 16, this
first service. The second service, Lord willing,
I'm going to be looking at the latter part of verse 17. Look at verse 16 and actually
the first line, the first part of Romans chapter 1 and verse
16. I'll read the 16th verse. For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek. The Apostle Paul had set forth
in verse 13 of this chapter the reason why he's writing to the
church, to the believers who were at Rome. And he told them
in verse 13 the reason that he had not come to Rome visit with
them before now." Here's what he said, "...now I would not
have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to
come unto you, but was let hitherto that I might have some fruit
among you also, even as among other Gentiles." He wanted to
come. He desired. to come, but for
reasons known only to the Lord. The scripture says He was let. He was denied. He was forbidden. He was prevented from going to
Rome by the Lord. Just as in, hold your place there
and just turn back a few pages to Acts 16.6. Acts 16.6. The Lord didn't let him go. Acts
16, chapter 6. The scripture says, now when
they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia and
were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia. After
they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go unto Bithynia,
but the Spirit suffered them not. And passing by Mysia, came
down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood
a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia
and help us. Paul said, We were going to go
to Asia. They've been given a commission
by the Lord. You go into all the world and
preach the gospel. That's what God's people are
commissioned to do. You go preach the truth everywhere. But Paul said we wanted to go. We wanted to go to Asia, but
the Spirit of God forbid us to preach in Asia. They would come to Mysia, they
wanted to go to Bithynia, But the Spirit suffered them not.
Why? No reason given. Could not the
Lord have done it another way? Yep. Why didn't He? Because He didn't want to. That's
the bottom line. Read that passage through and
you're going to find out that in time, Paul the Apostle was
preaching down by a river and there was a woman there, Lydia,
and she was from a place called Thyatira, but she happened to
be at this particular time in Philippi. get to looking at the
map, you're going to find out that Philippi and Thyatira is
a long way apart. Why did the Spirit of God forbid
Paul and the others to go to Asia and go to these other places? Because he was pleased to do
so. You know, we don't know why.
The Lord forbids certain things we desire, we're prevented from
accomplishing that which we think that we want to do. But let's
rest assured, when we seek the Lord's will, and the Lord prevents,
the Lord stops, remember, that the scripture set forth that
the Lord worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
The lot is laid in the lap, but the disposing of it is of the
Lord. So back in Romans 1, Paul was
desiring to come that he might have some fruit, Behold the work
of God and the conversion of God's people and the edification
of the saints. But the Lord prevented Paul up
until this point from coming and he said, I wanted to come. God had shown mercy to me. He had not left Paul in spiritual
darkness and unbelief and called him to the ministry and therefore,
because of the calling of the Lord. Paul had this attitude
concerning himself. Verse 14, I'm a debtor, both
to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. He said, I owe a debt. I owe
a debt. I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor by
the grace of God to preach the gospel. So he said, that's the
conclusion, verse 15, as much as in me is. I read that line,
I've been going over these notes this past week, and I read that
line again, I thought, as much as in me is. Boy, that has a
sound of dedication, commitment. as much as in me is. I thought
to myself, Lord, help me. I don't want to have this lackadaisical,
just kind of, well, you know, as much as in me is. With a desire
that is as much as I can desire. I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also. He said, I'm ready, I'm willing
to do that which God has called me to do. And here's where I
want to stay for just a few minutes this morning. Verse 16, because,
for, or therefore, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? Because, for it is the power
of God. This is Paul's conclusion concerning
the preaching of the gospel. He said, is what Almighty God
has been pleased to use as the means in the setting forth of
His power unto salvation for His elect. Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of this. It pleased God to send the gospel
to the Jews first, and obviously they by and large rejected it,
but It was sent to the Gentiles and Paul said, I'm a debtor by
the grace of God to preach to you because this is the power
of God unto salvation. And he said, I'm not ashamed
of it. I'm not ashamed of it. You know, when you're ashamed of something
or someone, I began to think on that this morning and jotted
down this couple of notes here. If I'm ashamed, that means I'm
disappointed, or I'm embarrassed by one's actions. If you're ashamed,
I'm disappointed. You know, you're raising your
kids, you want them to do this, that, and the other, and you
teach them this, that, and the other, and they do something else, and
you're ashamed of them. You know, you've disappointed
me. I'm embarrassed by your actions. Or ashamed is I'm reluctant to
do something for fear of humiliation. I'm ashamed of it. I don't want
to, you know. Or I'm regretful to be associated
with. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed. Paul
said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
I'm not disappointed. I'm not embarrassed. by God's
actions. I'm not ashamed of this. Almighty
God has set forth concerning salvation to be all of grace. Almighty God has set forth that
He was pleased according to the counsel of His will to choose
a people. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
that. Why? God chose The Lord Jesus Christ
set forth. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Now, I know what everybody else
says. I know what the world says. He died for everybody. Paul said,
that's not what the Lord says. He said, I'm not ashamed of it.
I'm going to preach that which Almighty God has taught me. Because
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now concerning Paul
not being ashamed, not feeling disgrace in this electing and
redeeming and regenerating grace, why was he not ashamed? Well, there's only one answer
for this. It's because the Lord gave him
a new heart. Before, Paul obviously was ashamed. He stood The scripture sets forth
consenting to the stoning of Stephen. He kept the raiment
of the murderers. Why? Because he was ashamed of
Christ. This fellow right here, this
Stephen guy, what he's been preaching, what he's been saying, and he
stood before the Jews, and he told them, he just said, this
is the way it is, this is what you've done, this is what you've
said. And they just, they got so mad, and they were just gnashing
on him with their teeth, and they picked up some rocks, and
Saul of Tarsus said, well let me hold y'all's coats for you.
You know, I don't want that to be any hindrance. Let's get this
guy out of our lives. He started stoning him, and you
know what happened. Stephen was being stoned. He said, I see the Son of Man
standing. And they just bashed him. Saul of Tarsus was ashamed of
the gospel. It was an embarrassment to him.
But on the road to Damascus, something happened. Almighty
God arrested spiritually, powerfully, affectionately, stopped this
arrogant Pharisee. He was religious. I mean, go
back and read the account Paul said of himself and he said,
y'all think y'all were righteous. You know, you weren't as righteous
as me. Gave all of his credentials that he put so much faith in
and he stopped him on the road to Damascus and gave him a new
heart. And Almighty God changed him. He thought differently. That's
what repentance means, to think differently. Now, Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Now, what does it mean to not
be ashamed of the gospel? What does it mean? Well, it means
to not be in resistance I mean, it's going to be an attitude
that I will freely and openly confess that salvation is all
of grace. How am I going to know it? Well, there's going to be a new
attitude toward the gospel of God's grace. There's
going to be an openness to set forth that Christ is all, and
I myself, nothing. Here's the attitude that is set
forth concerning our Lord's declaration of those that know Him, that
are not ashamed of Him. Matthew 10, 32-33, Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men. Him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Now, everybody and their brother says, I confess the Lord. But
to confess the Lord before men is to say that salvation is all
of God. That salvation is of the Lord. That salvation is by the grace
of God. Not a gracious offer that you
receive. No, now you're getting into works
again. But it is the salvation is all according to God's will
and God's purpose and God's power. And shame and rejection of that
The Lord said, we'll end up with shame and rejection by Christ
before Almighty God in the day of judgment. So, when God Almighty
says concerning the Gospel, through the Apostle, the preaching of
the cross, The preaching of Christ, the preaching of what Christ
has accomplished concerning the will of Almighty God, the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish, or those that are perishing. It's foolishness. But unto us
which are saved, which are being saved, it is the power of God. The gospel of Christ is the message
that Almighty God, by His Holy Spirit, renders efficacious. That is, it gets the job done. This is the only thing that the
Lord will bless. It is the power of God Not to
everyone that's circumcised, not to everyone that's baptized,
not to everyone that exercises his free will or joins the church.
It is the power of God to everyone that believeth, that believes
it, that believes that salvation is by the grace of God, apart
from any works on man's part. So here's the, in closing, I've
got three things that every person who is not ashamed of the gospel
will do. Now, these are three things that
every person who is not ashamed of the gospel will do. The first two are inward acts
of faith that no one outwardly can see. You know, you believe
something by faith. I can't see that. I mean, I don't
know what's going on inside. The only thing that I'm going
to know is how it manifests itself outwardly, which the third part
will deal with. So these first two are acts of
faith, faith that's given from above, concerning a person that's
not ashamed of the gospel. Here's the first one. They will
cast themselves upon Christ as a spiritually impotent sinner,
offering nothing that they've done to justify themselves. Now this is what every person
who's not ashamed of the gospel... Now remember, there's only two
messages being preached. There's only two. It's either salvation by something
that you have to do or I have to do in order to be saved, or
the only other message is this, that Almighty God does something
for a sinner. While that sinner was not even
seeking God, Every person that Almighty God ever comes to in
saving grace, that person was not seeking God. How do you know
that? Well, because the scripture says, no man seeketh after God.
I know that for a fact. So here's what's going to happen.
Every person that Almighty God saves, He saves them while they're
not looking for Him. He stops them in their tracks. And He saves them in power, in
grace, mercy, and then grants them faith to believe what He's
done. He tells them what He's done
after He's done it. And they believe it. How many people here had a heart
to seek after God? Now I'm talking about before
God saved you. None. How do you know that? Because
you were dead. you were spiritually dead. So every person that Almighty
God gives a heart to not be ashamed of the gospel, here's what they're
going to do. After the Lord saves them and
gives them faith to believe, faith that they didn't have,
all men have not faith, they will cast themselves upon Christ
as a spiritually impotent sinner, saying this, Lord, I didn't have anything. I had
nothing to give. They won't come confessing their
good works because they're going to know I came as an impotent
sinner. I had nothing. Brother Scott
used to say this, a man that comes to God with an empty hand,
that empty hand is everything. Because that's all they got.
What do you got? Nothing. I don't have anything. Listen to Isaiah 55. Let me just
read this to you. Isaiah 55 in verse 1 says this. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Thirsteth for what? Thirsteth
for life. Thirsteth for righteousness.
Thirsteth for right standing before God, everyone that thirsteth. When is a man going to thirst?
When God gives him a thirst. What will he do? Come ye to the
waters. Come to Christ who is the water. And all that is involved in life
is in Him. Come ye to the waters, he that
hath no money, Come ye, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
money, without price. How are you going to buy something
that doesn't have a price? Faith. Faith that I didn't have. Faith that I couldn't produce.
A man, a woman that thirsts after Christ. is one that Almighty
God has given a new heart. A new heart to now thirst before
Almighty God called you out of darkness. You never thirsted
for Him. All you ever thirsted for was
yourself. So I know this, the first thing
I realize is that a man will cast himself upon Christ. You
will come to Christ as a helpless beggar. You'll just be a blind
Barnabas, crying out for mercy, have mercy on me. And if you
cry out for mercy, God's already had mercy. Here's the second
thing I'll know. You will come to Him. Life has been imparted. Here's
the second thing that you're going to do. Here again, nobody
can see this, but the person that possesses it. you will consider
all false and former hopes of salvation by your works to be
worthless and detestable. This is the reason you won't
offer it to God. This was the attitude of the
Apostle Paul before he was everything he thought in himself. After
Almighty God, called him out of darkness, Philippians 3, 7
to 10, what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung. that I may win Christ and be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I may know Him. A man, a woman
that's not ashamed of the gospel, they will cast themselves upon
the mercy of God, coming to Him, Seeking Him, asking for mercy,
because God's given them life. And they know they have nothing
to give. And everything that they ever trusted Him, I did
ABCD, I did this, I did this, I did this, none of that, this
is what they will consider that. Just exactly what the Scripture
of God says it is. It's dung. It's dung. Now you want to insult somebody,
why don't you offer them dung and see how quickly they're insulted. A man, a woman that comes to
Almighty God, comes to Him having nothing and realizing that all
I can ever produce is filthy rags before God. They gladly
refuse their former self-righteousness and by the grace of God gain
the righteousness of God in Christ. They lose religious bondage by
a new heart and now have complete freedom in Christ Jesus the Lord. They lose a false peace They
never had any peace before, they didn't. Not before God, maybe
in themselves, but it was a false, empty peace and they gain true
peace with God in Christ. And they lose pretended glory
and gain and joy for eternal glory. I remember
years ago, and there's one, this one incident sticks out in my
mind. I came up, I've told you a thousand
times, came up in false religion and did everything I knew to do and
it was, I knew then, I knew then I'm not happy in this. I'm not happy. I went through
the motions, but this one incident stuck out in my mind. I was somewhere and there was
somebody that was with me, and they believed the same thing
I did. Nothing. Nothing. And I remember him just acting
very, very happy and joyful and clapping and praising the Lord
and hallelujah and everything. And I thought to myself, I don't
feel that way. But I've got to act that way.
Because I don't want them to think that I don't think that
way. It was a joke. It was fake. I didn't know any
better. But I knew that that was not... I wasn't happy. I wasn't rejoicing. I didn't have... And the only
joy that a believer has is the joy of knowing salvations of
the Lord. Because if it's left up to me,
I have nothing. So there's two things that a
believer that is not ashamed of the gospel will do inwardly. He'll cast himself upon the mercy
of God and say, Lord, save me or I'm going to perish. And Lord,
I don't have anything to give you. But the third thing, and
this is the only thing that would be an outward manifestation. You know, James says faith without
works. Faith without a manifestation
of it is not true faith. Faith will manifest itself. Something is going to be different. And here's the third thing. Those
who are not ashamed of the gospel. And here's the outward manifestation
of an inward work. They will associate themselves
first with God's people. That's the first thing I know
they're going to do. They're going to be assembling together
with those that the Lord has given like faith. They will. They want to be with
God's people. That's what they want to do.
Matthew 18, 20, For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, There am I in the midst of them. I know that they're
going to be with God's people. Come out from among them. Be
separate. Let me tell you what a believer
won't do. He will not sit under a false gospel. He will not. He will not. He will not sit and listen to
someone lie on God. He won't do it. And here's what
else I know he's going to do. They will faithfully be praying
for one another. I love this passage of scripture.
Many times I'll be writing to someone, and I'll just write
down this passage. I'll just write down the passage.
It's Philippians 1, 3 to 5. Listen to this. I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you. always in every prayer of mine
for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. Paul, under the
inspiration of God's Spirit, says, every time I think about
you, I pray for you. I'm so thankful that God's given
us some fellowship in Christ. I know this. God's people will
assemble themselves together And they'll be praying for one
another. And then the third thing I know,
according to God's scripture, is that they're going to support
the work and the ministry where God has raised up a place for
them. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verses
6 to 8. 2 Corinthians 9. But this I say, he which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He that soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity.
For God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace. abound toward you that ye always,
having all sufficiency and all things, may abound to every good
work." Almighty God gives His people a new heart. He gives
them a heart for each other. He gives them a heart to pray
for one another. And He gives them a heart to
support. That which Almighty God has raised
up. You know, I've had people say,
well, I can't afford to give. As God Almighty prospers a man,
give. There was a time when I was a
little hesitant to deal with certain things like that giving
or something like that. I was talking to Brother Don
Fortner one day, and Don told me this. He said, don't ever
be ashamed to deal with something that God deals with. Don't ever
be. So I'll tell you this. Here's
one thing. Here's what I'm going to tell
you, God says, concerning those who are not ashamed of the gospel.
They meet with God's people. They meet with them. They're
there. Secondly, they pray for them. And thirdly, they support
the ministry. I wish you could know, well you'd
have to talk to Brother Mark because he's the guy that has
been given by the grace of God the responsibility of the finances
here. you know, not his, I know and
he doesn't even consider it his, but I tell you what, he's a faithful
man. But I'll tell you this, you'd be surprised the ministry
of this assembly. Not only just here, I'm not talking
about just state, but the ministry of giving to other assemblies
where God has raised up a work and has raised up a need and
has given us the responsibility and other churches of supplying
that need. And the blessing of Almighty
God upon this assembly through the means of giving by others. So believers that have a heart
to not be ashamed of the gospel, they have a heart that's singled.
toward Christ, toward each other. They love one another. By this
shall all men know you're my disciples. How? How? You have love one for another.
There's a sign. God's people love God's people
that Almighty God loves. A new heart, a new nature, a
new attitude, a new conduct, Toward all men, yes, but especially
toward the household of faith. That's the distinguishing mark
of a believer. Not what he says. Not what he
says. I've had a lot of people tell
me what they believe, what they do. That's what a man believes. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. Lord bless the word to our hearts
for Christ's sake. Amen.