And Harlow, is that right? Harlow is Spanish. She was a teacher at school when she passed away. I remember giving her prayers. Happy birthday this week to Hannah. She was on the bad side of her 20s, now she's heading into her 30s. She's old. And Arlene Cochran is just old. It's really good to see y'all. It's a wondrous thing. I get depressed when I can't do it. Sometimes I get depressed when I can't do it. You're about to go. Let's get our worship service going with your hand out.

Is that right? And we'll sing the song of grace, the song of the kingdom. This is my Father's Word. Come sing of Sovereign Grace. Ye people of the Lord. Jesus Christ is born! Behold, redeeming grace! The star-spread to lay down His life, to strength His chosen praise!

The Spirit to us came, when we in sin were dead. For we need grace to do the soul's work through Christ's will. That grace which saves from sin, He strikes us on our way and grace will keep us ever safe for let us know what's great. the vessel of His grace by the unending triumph by grace the Savior calls me His by grace I call Him mine the image of His face should all be silent in fear. God saves us by His grace alone, so let us give thanks to Him here. ...in prayer we'll sing hymn number 45. We have your Bible, sir, the first chapter, the epistle to the Roman church, Romans chapter 1. of Scripture out of my message this morning, The Shameless, Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. Paul says, 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, let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, gracious Lord of mercy and grace, We are thankful for your electing grace. We are thankful for the peace that it brings to our heart and the knowledge that we were reconciled unto you by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on His cross. We are thankful that all of this was accomplished for us before we ever knew about it. And we are grateful that in the course of time and according to the appointed time, you sent someone to tell us of what Jesus Christ had done. and your Holy Spirit applied it to our hearts and minds, and gave this wonderful thing called faith, where we simply rest in the work of Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. We praise you for that perfect sacrifice which satisfied your justice and your law, that honored you in your holiness and purity, and fixed it so you could look at we poor sinners as if we had never sinned at all, Our mind cannot even begin to wrap around it. It's a wondrous thing.

Father, we pray for those who are sick and going through trials and tribulations. We pray for this family who's lost this loved one. Ask your help for them. We pray, Father, for ourselves this hour, that you might be pleased to give us worship. We thank you, Father, that you fixed it so we can get back together, sit down and hear and preach the word. and think on things of Christ and not our own things. Help us, Lord, this day to worship you.

We pray in Christ's name, amen. And number 45, the servants of God, Masterful Father. be servants of God, your master proclaim, and publish abroad his wonderful name, the name of which But Jesus extolled His kingdom, His glorious He rules over all! God who loved the High Almighty to save And still He is nigh His presence we have The new congregation His triumph shall see! A striving salvation to Jesus our King! Salvation to God who sits on the throne! Let all cry aloud and honor the Son! The praises of Jesus the angels proclaimed, all down on their faces and worshiped the Lamb! Him let us adore and give Him His right All glory and power and wisdom and might All honor and blessing with angels above And thanks never cease in heaven and love. Let us pray.

Father, give me hope in the blessed name and perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is indeed made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We know that every good Father of lights, in whom there is no parable, there is no shadow of turning. We are thankful that you have given him to us, and us to him. Help us, Lord, to render unto thee that which belongs to you with thankful hearts. We pray in Christ's name, amen. so so ♪ ♪ so so I'd like to invite your attention back to the Book of Romans, Chapter 1.

Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The question might be asked, why would anyone be ashamed of the gospel? Well, the gospel is a unique and wondrous thing that declares Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said in the first part of his chapter. He says the gospel concerns the Lord Jesus Christ.

So in truth, it's not about you. It's about the good news that something has been done, which has accomplished the salvation of all for whom God died. And it is a declaration that you have nothing to do with your salvation. So if you feel that something you did or something you believed or something you will have something to do with your salvation, that would be cause for you to be ashamed of the gospel because it takes all those things away.

The words of the apostle in verse 16 have been throughout the ages the banner of every preacher of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has stood through time as the only message from God, the only message that glorifies God, the only message that God will honor. The gospel is the law understood and declared.

It is necessity laid upon every preacher whom God has called to preach the gospel. Paul said, woe unto me if I preach not the gospel because necessity is laid upon me. It is the means employed by God to give birth to all His elect who are born not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed, even the Word of God, which by the Gospel is preached unto you. It is the means employed by God to give birth to His elect.

It is the Gospel of Christ, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is the glowing report of His perfect success in finishing the work of salvation for all for whom He died. It is a declaration of his blood and righteousness as a single standard by which God accepts a sinner. There is no other standard. Paul is said of the gospel that it is the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And being a preacher of the gospel, Paul knows that he owes this one thing to all men, and that is to preach the gospel.

That's what he says in verse 14. I am a debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians. to the wise and to the unwise, for as much as in me I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. Notice that verse 16 begins with the word for, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. That means because. Paul declares that he is ready to preach the gospel because he's not ashamed of the gospel. Though this is the banner of every true gospel preacher, Paul is speaking of his own salvation.

He's saying that he is not ashamed of the gospel because that was what was taught him by God, which was the power of God revealed in the salvation of his own soul. The gospel was the light and the voice and the person he met on the road to Damascus when he was cast into the dust and scales were placed upon his eyes. That same gospel was the message that Ananias delivered to him that dropped the scales from his eyes. and sent him out into the world to preach the gospel. Whereupon he said, I conferred not with flesh and blood, but went out for three and a half years on the back side of the desert, and God taught him the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm ready to preach it because I'm not ashamed of it, and I'm not ashamed of it because my salvation was revealed by it. And that's what happens when the gospel is preached. It doesn't save you. It reveals your salvation. We preach the gospel, it's good news. Something has taken place, it's news. Something has happened. And so we're reporting that news. Well, what has happened?

God, by Jesus Christ, has saved His people from their sins. He's redeemed them by His blood. He's bought them by His perfect sacrifice. He satisfies God's law and justice. And therefore, we have a report. This is the news that's come down the pike. And this is what we say to people. But it doesn't save you. If you're one of the elect, what it does, it reveals to you that you've been saved. It doesn't tell you to do anything. It tells you that something has been done for you, and that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it takes the power of God to cause a man to believe that salvation was accomplished for him before he ever even heard about it.

Paul heard it from Stephen the first time. And later, conceding to Stephen's murder, he held the coats of them that stoned Stephen to death for preaching the gospel. Many years later, Lystra, he would be the recipient of the Missals of Earl and him because he preached what Stephen had preached on that fateful day when Stephen was martyred. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, not ashamed to preach it, not ashamed to die for it, because God had saved him by it.

And so is the course of everyone whom God has given faith to believe. In truth, this is the only reason that anyone would have for not being ashamed of it. If the gospel is the means of your salvation, you will not be ashamed of it. You will gladly tell folks when they ask how you were saved, you'll say, Jesus Christ saved me. Jesus Christ redeemed me. I did nothing. All have been saved by Christ and will not be ashamed of it. And they've been revealed the fact that he's by the gospel, or ready to preach it, ready to tell folks, whether in the pulpit or at work or with the family or friends, when the subject of salvation arises, the one who's been saved by the power of God unto salvation, is ready to say, God saved me. God saved me, not that I walked down an aisle, but that God saved me by his power. He'll not do it with great swelling words of man's wisdom, but the demonstration of the Spirit. Like the song says, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. This is the theology of reduction. Men like to study theology and like to talk theology. They usually talk a long time about it, but this is the theology of reduction. When asked what the believer's hope is, his answer is simple.

Christ. And somebody will say to you, probably in religion, well, there's more to it than that. But there's no more to it than that. That's our answer. That's our answer. His blood, his righteousness, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. And this is a revealing statement that Paul has made, taking conversely, this declares that if a person does not preach the gospel, then he must be ashamed of it. He's ashamed of it because he's not saved by it. Simple as that.

To him, it's not the final daughter to his salvation. To that one, that preacher, salvation was by some other means, perhaps by his own will or by his decision or his trek down some church altar or mourner's bench. Perhaps it was by emotional upheaval of guilt or getting caught as washed away with tears of the Reformation. Perhaps it was the adopting of a correct doctrinal position through much study.

Whatever it was or is, if the gospel in its plainness is not preached, it's because men are ashamed of it. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of it. Men are ashamed of it because they have something of themselves to add to the power of God. Paul said, it's the power. That's the word deutomos. You get the word dynamic from it. Dynamite. That's the power of God unto salvation. Unto salvation.

Men are ashamed of it because they have something of themselves. They have the power, the will, the denomination, the intellect, the wisdom. There's something. For such the gospel is shameful because it leaves no room for the declaration of ethics and values or morality and works or politics. These are the subjects of religion in this day. These are the inventions of men because they are ashamed of the gospel. because they believed they were saved another way and they weren't, if they were saved at all. Paul gives the reason why he's not ashamed of the gospel and why others are.

It is because salvation is by the power of God. He also gives the reason why the gospel is the power of God and the salvation. Verse 17 says, for therein in that gospel, in the preaching of the gospel, therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. This is ultimately where the proverbial rubber hits the road. The gospel is the power of God and salvation because they're in it. In that gospel.

Nowhere else in that gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. He's not talking about God's essential righteousness. He's talking about Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God. Paul is not saying the gospel reveals the essential righteousness of God. The subject is why he is not ashamed of the gospel.

It's why it is the power of God unto salvation, why he is saved by it. And the reason is that only in the gospel and by the gospel is the righteousness required of me to be accepted in God's presence supplied to me in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, his dear Son.

Those who are ashamed of the gospel seek another righteousness of one of their own. He talks about it in Romans chapter 10, verses 1 through 4. He talks about Israel has a righteousness of sorts. One that they built on their own. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for God and Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear record they have a zeal for God. They're very religious.

But it's not according to knowledge. They don't know what they're doing. They don't know why they're doing it. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, That's that righteousness revealed in the gospel. The ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.

Well, what is the righteousness of God? For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. So if righteousness ain't by the law, where does it come from? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness. Spurgeon said that a self-made man is very poorly made. That's true. That's true. A God-made man is well put together. He has everything necessary. Everything. For of God are you in Jesus Christ, who of God has made of us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. so that no flesh would ever go over him in his presence. No flesh. Paul was ashamed of his own personal righteousness, though his righteousness was formidable. If you go on by human righteousness, by merit, if you can find any in humanity, Paul just about outshined everybody.

He said that. Look over at Philippians chapter 3. In Philippians chapter 3, Paul says in verse 4, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, I say other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I have much more reason to trust in my ability to stand righteous before God in nature. He said if any man thinks he can do it, I can do it better. That's a pretty bold statement, but he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He says if you want to go by that, righteousness in the flesh, I was circumcised the eighth day. I was keeping the law for him. He knew what the law was.

I was of the stock of Israel. I was part of God's chosen nation. Not only that, I was part of the stock of it. I was of the tribe of Benjamin, one tribe that said never left. This was not true. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. My mama was a Hebrew. My grandmama was a Hebrew because the Hebrew, being a Jew, transferred down through the little woman. My great-great-grandma, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.

As touching the law, I was a Pharisee. That means I wore the robes. I wore the hats. I wore the phylacteries. I had the ribbon around the bottom of my robe, said I was close to God. I knew a whole bunch of scripture. I told people how to live, straighten out their lives. I was a Pharisee.

Not only that, concerning zeal, when they handed me letters to go out and kill them crazy Christians, I was all for it. I went out and put them in jail, had them killed. Held the coats when they stoned Stephen. Y'all fellows want to hit that fellow with rocks for preaching that way, that gospel? I'll hold you, coach," he said, and he did.

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is by the law, that is natural righteousness, I was blameless. Blameless. He says, if you want to stack yourself up against what human righteousness is, I got you beat. Hands down.

There's that wonderful little conjunction that says everything that follows what I'm about, that thing that comes now, is just opposite of what I just said. But what things were gained to me, I count as loss for Christ. Yea, Dallas, I count all things but loss for the ecstasy of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And do count them all but dung, manure, plow, that I may win Christ. That's all I want.

And be found in him. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That's the righteousness revealed in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is really where it all comes to.

By what righteousness are men made fit to stand except in unblameable and unapproved when in God's presence? Only the righteousness revealed in the gospel can accommodate such a wondrous thing. To believe the gospel is to believe that the only righteousness we have is the righteousness of Christ, or Christ as our righteousness. Or better, Christ being made our righteousness. dream of, or conjure up, or consider any other righteousness, is to be ashamed of the Gospel. The Gospel declares that Christ sacrificed, we have the righteousness of God. For He made Him to be no sin, and we might be made the righteousness of God again.

How righteous do you have to be to be welcomed into the presence of God in heaven. Perfectly righteous. Anybody want to raise their hand and say they've reached dead in the flesh? You've got to be perfectly righteous. And those who are in Christ are. Not only righteous, but righteousness is what the Lord says. This righteousness is revealed from faith to faith. As God has written, the just shall live by faith. What does that mean? The just, or those justified by grace and by the blood of Jesus Christ, live by faith. What does that mean?

All is not changed, and the horse is in the middle of the stream. The subject is still. He's not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God and the salvation of everyone who believes. Because therein is the righteousness of God revealed. The just live by faith. in the righteousness of Christ. It is the only righteousness that a man can live by faith on. Think of it. To walk by faith is not to live by sight.

I know we enjoy looking at stuff and all the stuff around us. We live in the most beautiful place in the world. I've been around the world. I've been to 14 different countries. This is the best place in the world. Absolutely gorgeous. Changes every 15 minutes if you hang around and look at it. Marvelous place to be. All that's going to meld with the firm heat.

It's not going to last. Look around at your loved ones. Those you care about. They're not going to last either. They're going to go away. What lasts? this righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Personal righteousness, self-righteousness, or any other righteousness than the one revealed in the gospel cannot be lived on by faith. Such must be lived on by sight and visible words.

That's what men do. They want you to see what they do. So they can say that you're righteous. They talk about stuff like evidence of salvation. You know what the evidence of salvation is? Only time the word evidence is used in Scripture. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. The substance of things not seen. This is the wonder, the fascinating, confusing sometimes, wonder of the child of God. He believes the Word of God.

That's it. He only believes it. He don't look to himself. He don't look to his works. He don't look to his own heart, because his own heart is deceitful and desperate and wicked. His mind is corrupted. He knows it. He can't do anything without sin. He don't look anywhere but one place. Christ. Say, how do you know? By faith. Well, that don't make sense. Another one. The world is foolishness. It's stupid to the world. But how do you know? I believe. What? That just shall live by faith and not by sight. I believe. Do you believe? Do you believe? A thing seen cannot be hoped in. We hope in that which cannot be seen. We look on things that are not seen.

That's what the Bible says. How can you do that? By faith. Only by faith. This righteousness revealed in the gospel is revealed from faith to faith. There have been many efforts to explain what this means. I've said that it means that when I preach, I preach from faith, my faith to your faith. Some have said it speaks of Old Testament faith to New Testament faith. Others have said that the righteousness God reveals revealed begets faith. I think old Robert Hawker got it right. He said from faith to faith means, and I'm paraphrasing in a more understandable vernacular, he said from faith to faith first asserts that rather than the righteousness of God revealed produced faith, it is revealed to faith that already exists from faith to faith.

This is a wonder. But when God reveals His Gospel to you, He's already given you faith to believe it. You believed after you heard the Word of Truth. And what was the Word of Truth? The Gospel, Good News, of your personal possessive pronoun, your salvation.

It was yours already? Yeah. You just didn't know about it. You just didn't know about it. This is reasonable since a person must have faith to believe what is revealed. Faith is the gift of God that comes with life given in the gospel. It all works together.

I don't know how. I can't explain most of the stuff in scripture. I can't explain it. Probably 90% of it, I can't explain. Few things are simple enough for me to get a hold of. Most of it just fills me with wonder and awe. It made me want to worship God for His greatness and His magnitude. He does wondrous things. Wondrous things. It comes from the preaching of the gospel. Don't know how.

This righteousness is revealed to faith by the way assuring that it is only obtained by faith. In other words, faith believes that faith has nothing to do with the obtaining of the righteousness revealed in the gospel. Faith believes that. The whole and sole cause of the righteousness revealed is justification by Christ. Faith is in the hand that receives it. Faith does not give entitlement to this revealed righteousness. Faith is produced by the work of Christ and is produced for the sole purpose of believing when that righteousness is revealed in the gospel. Faith has no hand in the work and no merit in the performance. This righteousness is not revealed from works to faith, but rather from faith to faith. Faith lives and acts solely upon the person and the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's what faith lives. And don't expect the world to get that.

It takes an act of God, a sovereign God, for you to see and understand that. But if you see and understand that today, you've been highly favored, my friend. God has graced you. Oh, how he's graced you. Millions walk out there in religion who never know this. But if you know it in your heart and you believe it, it's because you're God's child. He's given you faith.

Finally, look at the last phrase of verse 16. Now, it takes me to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The gospel is the singular message for the believer. Any believer, any true believer, whether he's religious or irreligious, civilized or uncivilized, barbarian, or bohemian. The believer is not ashamed of the gospel. Though it is an offense to the world's religion, he's not ashamed of the gospel. Why? I wouldn't be ashamed of the man who saved me if I was drowning. I wouldn't be ashamed of him. I'd tell everybody about him. I was drowning, dead in trespasses and sin.

Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel, came and reached way down. Plucked me out of that married clay, set my feet upon the solid rock, Christ Jesus. How do I know? I believe. I believe. Father, bless us to understand, pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.