this day. If you'll turn with
me, I would like to read to you in the first chapter of the book
of Romans. Romans chapter 1, and we'll begin
reading this afternoon in verse 1. The Apostle Paul says, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God, which we have promised afore by the prophets
in the Holy Scripture concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,
and declaring to be the Son of God with power according to the
spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. by whom we have
received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among
all nations for his name. Among whom are ye also the called
of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called
to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all. Let your faith be spoken
of throughout the entire world, for God is my witness, whom I
serve with the Spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making
requests, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous
journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to
see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the
end you may be established. That is, that I may be afforded
together with you by the mutual faith of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I propose to come unto you, as was let
unto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as
among other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greek
and to the barbarian, both to the wise and to the unwise, so
as much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The
just shall live by faith. May God bless the reading of
his word this afternoon. Paul says in this whole epistle
that man's justification before God rests fundamentally not on
the law of Moses but on the mercy of Christ. It is not a matter
of the law at all, because man, because of his sinful nature,
could not fully live up to God's law, which is an expression of
God's holiness. But it is holy because Christ,
out of His mercy and goodness, forgives men's sins. It's a statement that I believe.
It's a statement that I believe of the intent of Paul writing
to the people in Rome. Man's standing before God depends
not on what man has done or can do for himself, but on what Christ
has done for him. We wonder today why men hate
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We wonder why those who
preach this gospel are not held in high esteem into this world. But the truth is this, that this
gospel is alien to the thoughts and intentions of this world. It has nothing in common with
what we see on the street in our government. It opposes everything
that we are aware of today. And when we stand to proclaim
the gospel of Jesus Christ, that all that I am, all that I ever
shall be, is at the plan and the purpose of Almighty God,
in Christ Jesus. And that before the foundation
of the world that He purposed a people. And that He purposed
this people through the sacrifice of His own Son and made it so. And apart from that sacred work
upon the cross, no man shall see God. No man may be lucky
enough to earn His wings into heaven's gate, but is solely
upon the purpose of God in Christ Jesus, none other. We all have
relatives. We all have families. We all
have friends. We have acquaintances. And every
man who breathes is upon the mercy of Almighty God. When we go into eternity, we
will not be judged on how well we were in this life, how rich
we were, and what we have prospered in this life. But our soul will
be judged on one matter and one alone. Are we in the household
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Fifty years ago, a hundred years
ago, 2,000 years ago? No, not even 2,000 years ago. It was in all eternity that God
purposed His people, elected them, saved them through the
knowledge of the truth, yes, but salvation, this gospel has
its beginning, its very beginning right there in all eternity with
God. How old is God? No one can know. No one can tell. How old is your
faith? How old is the trust? How old
is your confidence? As old as the will and purpose
of God that stands today. Man stands before God. His standing
depends, again, not on what he's done, not what he's going to
do, but on Christ and Christ alone. In verse 15 of our text,
Paul says an astonishing thing. So, as much as in me is, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. My
question to you this morning, and the one that I pondered this
week, why Why would Paul want to go to the center, the center
of all hypocrisy, the center of all atheism, the center of
everything, go to Rome and proclaim this gospel that he had been
run out of most every town in Asia Minor and Asia. Why would
he want to go and to declare this message? Why would a man
give his life a young man, a middle-aged man, an old man, why would one
give and dedicate his life for the proclamation of the gospel
of Jesus Christ? Why? Why would you think? Why would one do such a thing? I believe for the same cause
that the Apostle Paul did. Paul was on the Damascus Road
and he heard the voice of Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord said unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou? When a person hears the voice
of Almighty God, hears the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, And
when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks righteousness and hope and satisfaction
into one's heart and soul, it gives him the desire to tell
others about God's saving grace. When Paul heard these words,
he was never, never, no, never the same again because this gospel
changed his life. It blinded him temporarily, but
when his eyes were open, he wanted to know one thing. And this is
what he said to the Lord. What would you have me to do? What did Paul do once his eyes
were open? He was baptized. He was identifying
himself as we would in the magistrate behind me, he identified himself
to be in the household of faith with his brethren. He wanted
to be counted one of those who believed the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, giving his allegiance to our Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted his neighbors to know
He wanted His family to know. He wanted the world to know that
this man, Christ Jesus, has affected my life and now I shall serve
Him. Paul's history, Paul's occasion is not
too much different from yours. But he was the Apostle Paul.
He was a preacher throughout the known world at that time.
He is the one that wrote all those books in the Bible. But
aren't you? But aren't you? Aren't you the
one that God spoke to? And have you been less than you
were on that day? No, you've never been less. You've
been more all the time because the grace of God came to you
and the knowledge of the truth and you've never been the same.
You've never been the same. You have persevered on, trusting
and caring about the things of God from that day. Was Paul a
sinless man after that day? No. He was not a sinless man,
neither are you, neither am I. But he was a believer. He was
a truster. He was one who leaned upon the
things of God from that time. said he was ready to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. A Christ that the Jewish nation
had themselves officially rejected. A Christ who had been despised
and crucified at their cry by the Roman governor to preach
a gospel that the Jews in Rome would tell Paul was everywhere
spoken against. Would you go and work for a company
that was publicly known broke? Would you go and work for a company
that it was publicly known that all their checks last week bounced? Don't think so. I don't think
so. Paul was preaching a gospel that
he knew was real. What made the gospel of Christ
real in his heart and soul? It was the revelation of sin
forgiven. It was the revelation that he
had departed this nature, that he had received of the Lord what
he had never had before. And that is what spurred Paul
on throughout all of his journeys and all of his preaching. Sin's
forgiven. Sin's forgiven. Christ had forgiven
him. He had awoken him from a deep
sleep and given him life and immortality in God. In our text, in verse 16, we
have the key to the whole epistle of the book of Romans. We have,
first of all, that amazing word, the gospel. The gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel. of Jesus Christ. And then we
have the universal saving power of the gospel is asserted. Gospel
power. Gospel power. And then we have
the revelation of God's righteousness on the principle of faith. This
is the first time that Paul had brought this up. It is something
that thrills every heart of those who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the revelation of the righteousness or principle of
faith. That His righteousness becomes
my righteousness. His righteousness becomes my
faith. Have you ever heard a man say,
if you can't believe, then share my belief? In the sales business,
I've heard many sales managers say, If you don't believe in
yourself, believe in me. When you go to a house to try
to sell and to make you give the presentation, and you don't
have any confidence in yourself, just remember what I've told
you. I believe. If you don't believe, then just
believe in me. I have no confidence this morning
in this flesh, and probably you don't either. But the confidence
that I have is in Christ. and His righteousness. That righteousness
is the principle of my faith this morning. And finally, according
to the Old Testament, it says the righteous shall live by faith. This morning, it will help our
study if you'll look with me three things this morning. It's
all in our text there in 16 and 17. verses Romans 1, verses 16
and 17. Paul says, I am not ashamed of
the gospel, and then the second for, for it is the power of God
unto salvation, and thirdly, for the righteousness of God
is revealed in it. What is it that Paul was not
ashamed? We have Paul's willingness to
go to Rome with this astonishing message of the crucified Nazarene,
despised by the Jews and put to death by the Romans, the inherent
glory of the message of the gospel as God's saving, God's giving
message to a dying world, so filled Paul's soul that like
his blessed master, he despised not the shame. The Lord was despised. The Lord was hated. The Lord,
we might say, was disliked. Because the Lord, you see, didn't
fit in to the world's estimate of what religion was supposed
to be. Religion was a ceremony that
they looked to. But the gospel of Jesus Christ
was quite different. Paul preached something that
was despised of others, but was not despised of God. Paul is
not speaking about being afraid of telling what he believes.
He is speaking about the validity of what he believes in the sight
of God. He could boldly proclaim what
they are sure of and to be right, but all the conviction of his
soul But unless this gospel of Paul and the Scriptures teaches
us, all that Paul taught, all that he believed, was according
to the Scripture. And that Paul was not ashamed
of. Paul was an educated person in
the law of God. He was probably the great scholar
of his day. He knew the Old Testament. Though
his present generation despised him, but yet he did not despise
this gospel. He preached it with all and full
assurance. In 2 Timothy 2 and verse 8, the
scripture says, Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but be thou partakers of the
affliction of the gospel according to the power of God. And in 2
Timothy 2 verse 12 the scripture says, For the witchcalls I also
suffered these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. If
you had to this morning to put on paper And I remember years
ago, the preacher asked us to go home and to write out a statement
of belief, of what we believe. What it was that we believe what
God was teaching in the scripture. That wasn't thirty years ago.
We should remember that one. This morning I have a question
for you in regarding that. How would you put what is the
gospel in writing? How would you pin the answer
this morning on paper? What is the gospel? Well, I've
thought about it and this is what I've come up with. The gospel
is the joyous proclamation of God's redemption in Christ Jesus
on the behalf of His people. The bombs go off this morning
when that would be read in the congregations throughout this
country. When you talk about the gospel
being a proclamation of God's redemption in Christ on behalf
of His chosen people, Their answer might be, well, then we're all
chosen. If we're all chosen, why is it that men perish? I
believe that God, our Lord, died for His people and has secured
their salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1
through 8, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I have preached unto you, which also you have received,
and therein you stand, by which also you have been saved. if
you keep in memory what I preach unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I deliver unto you first
of all that which I have received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scripture, and that He was buried and rose
again on the third day according to the Scripture, and that it
was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, after that He was seen
of five hundred brethren at once, for whom the greater part remain
until this present, but some have fallen asleep. After that
he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of
all he was seen of me also as one born out of due time." Paul
identified himself with this message. A preacher will have
a difficult time preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. if this
gospel is not a part of his heart and soul. If this gospel has
not affected your heart, you won't be able to speak about
the gospel of Christ. You may end up giving big screen
TVs away, or bicycles, or $300 in cash, or a new refrigerator,
or a new stove, or an Easter bunny, or some Easter eggs, or
something. The gospel of Christ is the good
news of Christ's redemption for His people. This is the gospel. This is the only message of the
Bible. We have nothing else to preach
except Christ and Him crucified. There is no No rabbit trails
off on the side to talk about health and safety. There is no
way that we can get into politics or any other little rabbit trails. But the gospel of Christ has
to do with Christ dying for His people and the benefit we share
in receiving this message. In 1 Corinthians 1, 23 and 24,
But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stunning blot,
and to the Greeks, foolishness. But unto them which are called
both Jew and Greek, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God." Paul had only one message. He had only one emphasis. His
outline, at the very top, was Christ and Him crucified. I don't care what you preach
in the Bible. I don't care what page you read
from. It all goes back to the message
of the Gospel. The eternal Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If we take the Gospel just to
Jerusalem, if we just take it back to Easter, we're going to
miss the benefit of what the Gospel of Christ is. The Gospel
of Christ. is the eternal message of God's
sovereign intention toward you, His brethren, you, His beloved
this morning. The Lord is precious. The Lord
is precious to all that believe and call upon His name. Now this
evening, we have a second four. Paul is declaring the gospel
of Jesus Christ to be the power of his message. It says, for
it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. 1
Corinthians 1.16 For the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto which are saved. It is the power
of God. 1 Thessalonians 1.5 For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance as we know what manner of men
we were for your sake. I'll read another scripture. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3-5 For
though we walk after the flesh, we do not war against the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalt itself
against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. This was power. This was the
power of the Apostle Paul, we think. this morning about the
Gospel. We think about the Gospel, how
the Scriptures have said that Christ died. He gave Himself
for our sins. Galatians 1.4. We think about
Christ gave Himself a ransom for many. 1 Timothy 2.6. Christ took our place on the
cross. Christ was a vicarious offering,
a sacrificial death and willing death for us. This is what Paul
preached. Paul spoke of this message, this
proclamation, this truth as being his power, his strength behind
his preaching. Have you ever thought of the
Apostle Paul? He was no Joelstein. He wasn't
as good as Joelstein. Joelstein has power to command
the attention of 30,000 and to be heard of and to be
read of and to be listened to by people throughout the entire
world. It reminds me of another Baptist
preacher who are now in the business of selling vitamins. The gospel
wasn't powerful enough for him. It's not powerful enough of the
so-called preachers of this day. They have to go and use some
cheap psychology in order to obtain a following after me. If you want a crowd, I suppose
a flat screen TV will get you a crowd today. But the Apostle
Paul was not interested in getting a crowd. He was interested in
proclamating the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was interested in
teaching and preaching what God had done for him through the
power of the gospel. In our verse He says, for it
is the power of God unto salvation. Many have said it should read,
for it is power, not the power. But it is power! It is the strength of the working
of God upon His people. It is the gospel of Christ that
will convert every one of us to a knowledge of the truth. Regardless of what you want to
preach, regardless of what you want to teach, it will be of
no avail in converting men into Jesus Christ other than the teaching
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember years ago one said,
Can't we move on to something else? We know all this. Can't we move on to something
that's greater and more powerful, that'll get a crowd, that we
can stir the world with words? The Apostle Paul probably stood
about that tall and didn't have a voice that could be heard very
far. He was His speech, the scripture
says, was contemptible. His speech was common. His speech
was poor quality. He would never win a public speaking
contest. But it was not the way that Paul
said it. It wasn't the volume that he
said it. It was the power of all God's
message. It was the gospel. that has done
its work in the hearts of all of God's people. The gospel will
convert every one of His people to a saving knowledge of Jesus
Christ. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. God does not say again, it is
reformation. God does not say, education. God does not say progress. God does not say development. But God says gospel. The gospel of Christ. Him dying,
securing the righteousness for all of His people. All of His
people. Just a little example this morning. If you've got a heart problem
this morning, if the doctor says you've got a serious heart problem,
he's probably not going to load you up with arthritis medicine. He's going to give you a medication
that will affect the problem of the heart. This morning, preachers,
Preachers, wherever you are today, stop giving us the wrong prescription
for men's sins. Men's sins will only be taken
care of by one message, and that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When I first met Brother McDaniel,
there was a lot of preachers who preached a lot about whiskey.
A lot about shorts. A lot about drinking and smoking. That was Reformation preaching. That's all they had to say. If
a person walked in their church with shorts on, they would shut
on the door. You can't come in. You can't
do that. You've got to do this. You've
got to live this way. You've got to fall right into
line. I think they took it right out
of the Law of Moses. 20th century Judaizers today. But Paul didn't go that direction.
He didn't go toward Reformation. He went toward the Gospel of
Jesus Christ that was the right prescription for the ailment. Now the last four. For the righteousness
of God is revealed in him. This is the sweet, the very sweet
of the message to you this morning. And I'm going to close shortly.
This righteousness of God is revealed in it. The righteousness
that we share today is not ours. This righteousness that we have
today I cannot share with you. Only God can share this righteousness
with you. But to everyone that has received
Him, to everyone that trusts in Him today, they are shareholders
of the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is revealed
in the Gospel that we preach. This Gospel is the seed. The Gospel is the beginning.
The gospel is the finish of our journey in this life. Have you ever thought in this
very week there's been two people passed away dear to the congregation
of this church. When that day comes, how and
what will you hold precious to your heart? What is it that you
will cling to more than anything else in this world? It may be
that a doctor or some loved one will come to you and express
to you that maybe life is short and that time has about over
for you. And there will be a time, no
doubt, hopefully, that you will have time to contemplate your
whole life. and what is precious. So many
times, and we've been there, so many times the family is brought
in to say goodbye to their dear ones. There's hugs and kisses,
there's tears and sometimes even joy and laughter. But that's
how the family deals with your loss. How will you deal with
your loss? How will you deal with the fact
that you're about to slip into eternity? What will be that which
will sustain you in that hour? I would like to say that it's
probably going to be the righteousness of God. The righteousness of
God that you are a shareholder in this morning. To go out into
eternity without any hope of any hope of seeing God or go
out into eternity hoping that He'll forgive you on that side
of eternity. Paul preached the Gospel that
was sure and that was full of assurance to those that he preached
to. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scripture. He was buried. He was raised
the third day. and he was manifested in the
good news. There is revealed now openly
for the first time in Paul's writings about the righteousness
of God revealed. The gospel is not something that
we hear once and accept and move on. The gospel is something that
cradles us from the beginning and carries us into all eternity. this word, righteousness revealed,
to me is a sweet sound from the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because apart from this righteousness,
the gospel won't be revealed in you either. So let's pray
to that end, that God might bless us, that God might care for us,
and that He might convert us to know him more and more each
day. I want to thank you for your
time today and would you stand and to be dismissed.