I want you to turn back in your
Bibles to Romans chapter one, if you will. You can pull your
pastor's commentary in your bulletin out to follow along. Romans chapter
one, we are eagerly and thankfully moving on into our investigation
of this glorious treatise, an epistle, an anthem of gospel
truth. And we are compelled as we enter
into the study to thank God for His servant, the Apostle Paul,
has been a wonderful example, mentor, and model for us in terms
of his sacrifice and commitment to the cause of the gospel. As
I've said before, probably in the Scriptures, only a few men
have influenced me in terms of my own desire and passion. One
of them, of course, is my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is none like Him. there's none like Christ. He
is matchless in the manifestation of His love and zeal for His
Father. And He is the cause for which all of His people rejoice
and are thrilled with hearts full of glory. But then the Lord
Jesus has been pleased to touch men and women, but certainly
the men of the Scriptures who play a role in pointing us to
Christ. And in my opinion, the Apostle
Paul far surpasses almost all of them for His love and His
zeal and His passion for Christ. And so the title of our message
as we continue to work through a foundation in the book of Romans
is, I am ready to preach to the Romans. I am ready to preach
to the Romans. Spirit of God, help us to understand
what Your servant meant when he said that. Help us to draw
from this text a sense of the beauty and splendor of our Savior's
work in his heart. I am ready, he says, to preach
the gospel to the Romans. Last week, we opened up addressing
the unique privilege that the apostles saw in the gospel being
preached to the Romans. He did not start the churches
that were in Rome. He didn't actually initiate any
work in Rome. He becomes the author of the
epistle that would be given to the Roman churches to regulate
their worship and to help them grow in Christ, but Paul never
was one who was actually in Rome, but he desired to go there. He
wanted to be among them. He wanted to labor with them
and that's the way the opening verses 1 through 11 Present themselves. He had a great great desire to
share the gospel with them. He says over in verse 8 I thank
my God First and foremost through Jesus Christ for you all That
your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. I Now just imagine
that, children of God. The joy in the heart of Paul
was that not only there were believers in Rome, but their
faith was visible and evident everywhere. Notice what his joy
is in. His joy is in the fact that their
faith is spoken of through the whole world. Now why is he happy
about that? Because when we have biblical
faith, We have that faith that does not point to ourselves,
but to Jesus Christ. And so really what Paul is saying
is, I am rejoicing in the fact that Christ is being preached
in all of the regions of Rome, because your faith is going to
tell everyone you believe on Him, you trust Him, you love
Him. Their faith was spoken of everywhere
throughout the whole, what, world. That's just radical because in
reality what we're talking about is the regional areas of Rome.
This would have been another Greek term if we were dealing
definitely with just the historical context. The Roman Empire would
have been enough for Paul to imagine and contemplate and be
delighted in the fact that the gospel had gone to the Roman
culture all throughout the whole of the Roman Empire. But the
word here is cosmos. And that means the whole world.
So in a sense, Paul was speaking prophetically of the gospel spreading
through out the whole world. And as you and I closed out last
week in our message, we said that you and I are the beneficiaries. of the gospel going into all
the world. Today we believe the gospel because
it went to the Roman Empire. And from the Roman Empire it
spread through Britain and England and Germany and Russia and then
the Middle East and then India and then China and then to the
Americas. And here we are believing the
same gospel today. Is that not marvelous? Believing
the same gospel today. And so what Paul was rejoicing
in was not merely the limited facts of what was taking place
in the Roman Empire at that time. He was, but he was also thinking
about the potential. Don't you think about the potential
of the gospel and what it can do if God allows it to continue
to reverberate? That's how I think. I kind of
think like God is, and I've said it before. God is the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's the God of the living. And
God is a God who continues forever. And when you think about the
plan and purposes of God, don't confine your thoughts to your
present generation. Think about your children, and
your grandchildren, and your great-great-grandchildren. Because
reality is, it's a very good possibility that you and I are
going to get old and die, and this world will continue on for
another two, three, four, five generations. That's very possible.
It's more likely than not, based on history. And wouldn't you
want to be the seed that God used to sow into the ground to
bear forth fruit from generation to generation? Don't you want
your grandkids to be able to look on the picture and say,
look at grandpa, look at grandma. What was the primary objective
of their life? How did they influence this downline?
Look at great, great grandma, great, great grandpa. How shall
we remember them? Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And really, that's how Paul thought because he understood this great
plan of the gospel going into all the world. And I would have
you to think that way too. But here's another thought that
I derived from these first eight verses before we deal with our
text, is that Paul really loved these people. He really loved
them. And he didn't even know them.
That's remarkable. That's the other thing about
Paul that I love in terms of his life's desire. There was
a people that he loved that he had never seen. Can you love
people that you have never seen? Can you have a basic connection
with a group of people that while you have heard about their faith,
you have never seen them have any personal interaction with
them and yet love them? Can you have what we call an
ideal love for someone? Yes. Yes. The Bible would tell
us to love all the people of God. That the saints should love
one another out of a pure heart fervently, even when we don't
know each other. In our prayer service, my prayer
team will bear you record with this. If they don't do it, I
do it. And they do it because I do it.
And I do it with them because we do it. You know what we do?
We pray for the saints everywhere in the world. All the time. Because Paul has taught me to
do it without ceasing. And so I am in love with the
people of God all around the world. I love the people of God
everywhere on planet Earth. Don't know them? Love them. That's probably why I love them,
because I don't know them. Because because maybe if I got
to know him, I wouldn't love him so much. So I kind of love
him in an ideal fashion because I can kind of paint the picture
of how they behave in my own mind and be endeared towards
them with great passion until I meet him. So I don't mind ever
not seeing them and just loving them passionately and praying
to the same God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he
would meet all their needs with all of his resources and grace
so that they can be just as blessed and even more than I am. I want to show you a couple verses
that affirm this. First John chapter 5 verse 1
and then we'll quickly run through my three questions. First John
chapter 5 verse 1. This is a very fundamental principle
but it's critical to learn. Watch this. Whosoever believe
it. This is what we call a perfect verb form. That means we are
believing completely. Nothing deficient in our faith.
This is a comprehensive believing. It's a settled fact. It's the
grace of God in our life. Whosoever believe it that Jesus
is the Christ is already born of God. Do you guys see that?
The evidence that I'm born of God is that I believe on the
Lord Jesus. I was talking to one of my brothers this morning
about the kind of which came first, the chicken or the egg.
In theology, we are always working through how to prioritize theological
syllogisms and theological complexities. And often people argue around
the evidences of grace versus the source of grace when we need
to keep those things clear. The evidence of grace is faith.
The source of grace is God. God is the source of the grace
that he gives us by which we believe the gospel. Is that true?
That means whenever you meet a believer, the evidence that
they are a believer is that they believe. And if they believe
the gospel, it's because grace was given to them to believe.
You and I don't believe and then get grace. We believe because
of grace. It's God that infuses grace in
us, and it's evident that we have the grace of God, because
we believe the gospel. Guess what else is the evidence
that we believe the gospel? Watch this. And everyone that
loves Him, that is God, that begot, loves also Him that is
begotten of Him. Oh, I am bound to love my brethren.
Do you know why that is? Because we're all family. You
might as well get used to it. We're all family. And so I'm
bound to love them because of the spelling. And so we call
it filial love. I'm teaching in the marriage
class. And those of you who are married, you ought to be there
for at least one class. Get the CD. It'll help your life. It'll enhance
your marriage life. But there are distinctions in
love. There's no doubt about that. There is your basic platonic
love, where you can have kindness and friendship with people that
doesn't take on an erotic or a romantic component. Then there's
filial love. That is the family love that
we have towards our brothers and sisters who are our blood
kindred and individuals with whom we have a kind of tie because
of family relationships. And that's where we are as believers
in Christ. I love you with the filial love.
I may love you with a greater love than that. if we know each
other and we have a lot in common and we work through issues and
we have become passionate towards one another. But in general,
the believer loves each other because we are family in that
context. I may not stand you, but I love
you. You understand what I'm saying?
I love you. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but we
got family members that we don't necessarily mind not seeing for
a few months. And yet we love them. I'll send
you a few dollars. I'll help you out from a distance. No, and I do love you. I do love
you. Don't get me wrong, but we may
not necessarily get along together. Can I tell the truth today? See,
people be faking a lot of times about how they love each other.
You better find that category of love and understand that it's
okay to know that two people can have enormous differences.
and still love each other. But if you try to put those two
people into a category that is not designed for close-knit love,
like in the marriage series, listen, you want to jack your
life up? Marry some dude, ladies, with which you and him have radical
basic differences. You just asking for trouble and
vice versa, because personality types do matter. And at the core,
you can't change that. Now you can have a very, very
good love for an individual, but if it doesn't carry those
things that connect you because of very common characteristics
and common desires and common passions, you're just asking
for a struggle. It's like putting an ox and an
ass under the double yoke. The ox strokes differently than
the ass. Now you can determine which one
you are, the ass or the ox, that's up to you. OK, but I'm just saying
they stroke differently. And then when you discover, man,
we about to break this yoke. Well, there's your problem right
there. Now, we still family, but we may not be able to fit
in that particular category. The Apostle Paul loved the people
of God like that. Go to Colossians chapter 2, I'll
show you one more. Colossians chapter 2 verse 1. And I've never
met Paul, and Paul frequently did not meet a whole lot of people.
He started churches, and on the move, because everyone hated
him, he was a moving target a lot, because everywhere he went, the
gospel produced both friends and enemies, as it does, and
he had to move frequently. Another church with which this
was the case is the church at Colossae. I love this church
as well. It was really part of the regions
of the seven churches of Asia Minor, of which we spent considerable
time going through recently. And notice what he says over
in verse one of chapter two and verse three concerning his passion
for them, of whom many of them he did not know. Watch this now.
For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you. Isn't that amazing? He says,
I actually want you to know the trials and struggles I'm going
through for you. I want you to know that. Because
see, when we love each other and we discover that our brother,
our sister, or those with whom we are to be aligned in love
are actually laboring for my good, suffering for my good,
that's going to build my love for them. Is that true? If I
know that your life is being committed to the cause of the
gospel and that cause is going to strengthen my walk with God,
I'm going to love you the more. One of the things, again, we're
learning is how to put love notes, love units in the bank, right?
If I act right, you're gonna love me better. If you act right,
I'm gonna love you better. Doesn't that just make some sense?
And so what the apostle is saying to the church at Colossae is,
I actually just want you to know the great battles and conflicts,
the word is agonizomai, and it means the struggles he had in
the preaching of the gospel to see to it that those churches
were free to know Christ and preach Christ. And for them at
what? Laodicea, this last church we spoke about in Revelation. And for as many as have not what?
Seen my face in the flesh. Here he is conscious of them.
He says, this is my desire, verse 2, that their hearts might be
comforted, see it? Being knit together in love unto
all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement,
to the revelation, to the full yielding to, to the commitment
of, this is another word of faith, the obedience of faith, of the
mystery of God. and of the Father and of Christ
in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Paul
wanted the highest good for all of the churches. Let's go back
to our text now and deal with this man who loved the saints,
whether he saw them or not. And we're going to consider three
questions today and trust that these three questions will catapult
us individually into a greater commitment of the cause of the
gospel. I am ready to preach the gospel
to Rome, too, says the apostle. Ready, ready to preach. I am
engaged. I'm already set. The trigger
is cocked. Just let me go. I can't wait
to get there to share this word with them. And there are many
reasons for which he is wanting to do that. But the first I want
you to consider under this question, what compels the apostle to preach? what compels him, what drives
him, what moves his agenda, his custom, his ways in Christ to
preach, period. Look at verse 15. He says, so
as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. What drives you, Paul, to want
to go to Rome and preach the gospel? Verse 14, here it is.
Are you ready? I am a debtor, vote to the Greeks,
and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. Fascinating. Paul said, I'm a debtor. What
does he mean by that? What does he mean that he's driven
by a sense of indebtedness? Well, you have an outline there,
right? I've already given you the answer. You know what it is? Love. It's
right there. So you don't have to pretend
like, ooh, what's the answer, Pastor? It's in your outline. It's the word
love. Love. Love makes you a debtor. Love
makes you voluntarily and intentionally wanting to operate as if you
owe that person something and you are willing now to make sure
that you meet their needs. When you are operating out of
love, you feel indebted to want to take care of someone. Romans
chapter 13 verse 8 is a good definition of love. in terms
of its practical application to the object of its love. Listen
to this. And then you and I get to examine
ourselves. Are we debtors to anyone in this way? Here we are
in Romans chapter 13 as he moves into the ethic of responding
to the gospel for the Romans. He says in verse 7, rendered
therefore to all their dues. Tribute to whom tribute is due
custom to whom custom is due fear to whom fear is due honor
to whom honors do isn't that in that good? Doesn't that make
just good sense? People that are an authority
respect them Pay your bills When you get to the tollbooth don't
run through the tollbooth and act like you're not gonna pay
The camera's gonna catch you and send you a ticket. Anyway,
I was uh, I I was in uh I was in Ohio six or seven months ago,
me and my wife on a family reunion. And in Ohio, they have these
strange toe boots. You know what they have? They
have these toe boots where you can drive by and throw your money
in it and keep rolling. I like that. I can roll my window
down and try to play. Can I get it in? And coins. And guess how much it costs?
15 cent. I wish they would come to California.
All this money we paying across the bridge. 15 cent I took out
I don't know how much I reached down and I threw some money in
I Forgot what it was didn't know what it was. Hope that it was
enough Several weeks later I get a letter
in the mail from Ohio I'm saying I don't remember giving anybody
my address in Ohio and I opened it up and it was a letter saying
I owed them 13 cents and I own 13 cent. I mean, 13 cent,
man. Do you know how much it's going
to cost to send that 13 cent to you? It's going to at least
cost 41 cent to send you the 13 cent. I'm like, now our government
is really jacked up if they're going to make me pay 13 cent.
And see, the cool thing about that is I had to go through those
tolls several times. And in many other times, I threw
way more in than 15 cent. I threw in 50 cents, 75 cents. Why didn't they give me my change
back? Or at least credit it to my account and say, I owe this
brother. Look at all this money he given
us. No, they going to make me pay. What that means is there
are cameras watching. The government's cold. That's
the B system. I told you that. He's never in a hurry to give
you your money back, but he'll take every dime you got. But
as debtors to love, you and I are compelled right along with the
Apostle Paul to understand that there's one central area in which
we are all indebted to a loving act. And that is we are indebted
to let all men know they need Christ. See, when God saved you,
he saved you in order that you might tell others that he saved
you and that they need to be saved like you were saved. And
the reason why we won't necessarily be compelled to tell others about
Christ is because we don't feel like we're debtors to all men.
But if you're debtors to all men, you are ready. You're ready
to preach the gospel to them too. You're ready to preach to
family members. You ought to let that be an ethic in your
life. You ought to wake up in debt. You ought to wake up with
a letter in the mail from heaven. with your name on it, saying
you owe some neighbor this debt. Tell him about Christ. Tell him
about it's a debt of grace and it's a debt of love. That's the
ethic and the motive. Secondly, he was compelled to
preach Christ because of the fruit that comes out of it. This
is what I love. Look at verse 11 of chapter one,
verse 11 of chapter one. Here's what the apostle Paul
said about his wanting to go to Rome as well. He says in verse
11, for I long to see you. I long to be with you that I
may impart unto you some spiritual gift. Do you see that? To the
end that you may be established. Now again, I'm going to take
the rubric and the concept of love and apply it here. And this
is evangelical love. It's filial love because they're
all the body of Christ along with Paul. What Paul is saying
is I want to come see you so I can give you something. Now,
ladies and gentlemen, please understand the biblical definition
of love. The biblical definition of love
is giving. It's always giving. Love gives. Write it down. Especially those
of you in the marriage class. Love gives. You know someone
loves you because they give to you. Even if it's kind words.
Even if it's good advice. Even if it's a direction you
need to go in so that you can better your life. Love always
gives. Love always. Listen, love never
takes. It never takes. It always gives. Love will receive. What's the
difference, Pastor? Well, I'll tell you later. But
love never takes. And there's a difference between
receiving and taking. And you feel it when that's occurring.
When people take from you, they're defrauding you. When people receive
from you, they are honoring the fact that you are bestowing upon
them a blessing, and it's reciprocal in nature. That's what I mean.
That's what I mean. And so takers don't know what
it means to receive. All they know what to do is take
to take and if they're taking they're not operating out of
love. Am I making some sense? It's very important for us to
know that especially in close relationship So here's what paul
said when I come to you I come with the objective of imparting
some spiritual gift to you And what do we mean by that if you
read it for yourself in first thessalonians chapter 2 paul
explained that gospel preachers People with the gospel are people
who never come to take things from people, but we always come
bearing gifts. We come ready to give you a knowledge
of God, a revelation of God's glory, to impart unto you edifying
things that build you up, that advance your knowledge in God,
so that when you go away from the experience with that person,
you are better, you have received something that you didn't have
when you came. Now, if you and I are engaging
and you leave and you feel drained, if you feel like you have less
than what you came with, it was not the gospel. The gospel always
adds, it always blesses, it always gives, it always imparts on a
spiritual level. If not merely affirmation, it
actually adds to you some spiritual dynamic. It'll give you a breakthrough.
It'll give you strength. It'll confirm you in your walk
in Christ. It'll actually deliver you from
bondages. The gospel will reaffirm your
walk with God. When you go away, you will have
received something. So, as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
2, we did not come to take from you, we came giving gifts. And here's the objective. In
order that you may be established, So in other words, when you act
out of love towards someone, and in this context it's the
gospel, what you want people to be is rooted and grounded.
You want them to be a little bit more solid with their walk
with God than when they came. Does that make some sense? That's,
you know, life shakes us up. It really does. Life can shake
you up. And there are some days where
you and I can barely hold on. And you need someone to come
to you and help establish you. The word literally means to be
strengthened. So view yourself as a tree whose roots are really
struggling with being able to reach to the water source and
the winds and the trials around that tree are shaking that tree.
And then someone comes along and anchors in pillars around
that tree and puts bands around that pillar to strengthen that
trunk on that tree. and then irrigates the water
source under the line so that you can receive the water, so
that tree can get rooted more deeply, so that it can grow up
straight and bear more fruit. That's called strengthening the
tree, establishing the tree. That's what we want to do with
the Word of God in the lives of men and women. Does that make
some sense? Here then is another purpose. Fruit, honor to Christ's
glory. Look at chapter 15, verse 16.
15, verse 16. In chapter 15, as he's closing
out his basic mission, he tells us this. I'm going to read in
verse 15 and 16. Nevertheless, brethren, I have
written more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in
remembrance because of the grace of God that is given to me. We'll
be able to deal with that throughout the book of Romans. That I should
be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. See, Paul knew
that he was the minister to the Gentiles, not exclusively, but
preeminently. Have chosen you Paul as a vessel
to preach and bear my name to the wet Gentiles that I should
be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles watch this ministering
the gospel of God That's all he has to give is the gospel
of God. Here's the objective that the
offering up of the Gentiles That's you and me Saints that the offering
up the Gentiles up watches might be acceptable. I Paul says I'm
laboring to make sure all the gentile churches are an acceptable
offering to God when we get offered up God won't reject us why because
he preached the true gospel to us which established us in faith
and our relationship with God was based on the person and work
of Christ which is the grounds of our acceptance before God
and when the gospels preached and expounded in that way you
and I don't have to worry about on that last day we go Lord Lord
and he says I never knew you Because the gospel is designed
to make sure you're calling an election. When the gospel is
preached, it's designed to make sure you're calling an election. Our desire is to strengthen you
in the faith so that on that day you can be sure you will
meet Him with acceptance. That the offering up of the gospel
might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Isn't that
powerful? Implication. What is the implication?
That the Spirit of God works only through the truth of the
gospel to sanctify the heart, to set men and women apart, to
consecrate them unto God, to seal them and to secure them
as a whole offering up to God. So Paul says, I preach the gospel.
So what compels the apostle to preach? Death. What compels the
apostle to preach? Fruit. John 15 and 16. So here's another contemplation
you've heard me talk about frequently. I believe in fruit bearing. I
believe that the primary objective, not the sole objective, but a
primary objective in the life of the believer for which God
leaves us here in the world is to bear fruit. I do not believe
that God has called you and me here to abide alone as a single
seed bearing no kind of fruit, no kind of impact in people's
lives. I do not believe in a gospel that does not have the capacity
for expansion, for increase, for growth. I do not believe
in a gospel that is content with abiding alone. Can I tell you
why? That kind of gospel defies the revelation of God. The God
of the Bible is a God of constant multiplication, constant increase,
constant dynamic. The God of the Bible is a God
of constant growth. The first command given to the
whole human race is go and have dominion over the earth. Subdue
it, replenish it, and fill it with my glory. Fill it with my
glory. That's the command to Adam and
Eve. That is a gospel command to us. God wants his glory to
be manifested everywhere because God has a seed he must bring
in. I want to be part of that process,
don't you? I don't ever want to be fruitless before God. I'm
warned about that. Do not be content with not bearing
fruit. So I want to be part of a body
politic that's preaching the gospel, that's passionate about
Christ, and that's ready to die for Christ. See? You want to
be fruitful? You got to die. It's just that
clear. That's kind of the reason why,
in fact, that's the other definition of love. Are you ready? The definition
of love is to die. If you want to bear fruit, you've
got to die. Now, if you just love yourself, you're going to
be all by yourself, and you're going to lose your soul. That's
what Jesus said. He that loveth his life shall what? But he that
loveth his life or giveth his life away for my sake will also
have it, and much more. And so the idea of love is the
idea of giving one's life away for the cause of the gospel so
that others might come into the faith. This is what I meant by
fruit, which is to the honor of Christ. In John 15, 16, this
ought to be a motive for you and me. Here it is. Watch this.
You have not chosen me. Hurry up and get that into your
head. Some of you may wonder why when
we preach the gospel here at Graves, we quickly demolish the
notion that salvation is the consequence of your action. Something
you've done. even as small as your decision
for Jesus. Which is what a lot of people
think. A lot of people really think that the reason why they're
saved is because they chose God. Because they accepted the Lord
Jesus into their life. Because they chose Jesus. We hear that
mechanism talked about a lot. But it fails to understand that
a choice made has behind it a choice made. And if you don't acknowledge
the choice made behind the choice made, you steal the glory from
the first cause. Am I making some sense? I'm just
being nice on the whole idea of making choices. So people
will say, I received the Lord and therefore I'm saved. No,
you were saved and therefore you received the Lord. I chose
the Lord and therefore he chose me. No, he chose you, qualified
you to choose him and then you said yes to Jesus. Am I making
some sense? And so if you don't qualify,
I accepted the Lord with God gave me grace to accept the Lord.
We're going to take away your acceptance and tell you, no,
you did not accept the Lord. He accepted you. And then you
finally responded to his overtures of love. And you were better
than no other human being when you did it. It was all of grace.
Had God not planted in your heart faith to receive him, you'd be
just as much an unbeliever as everybody else on planet Earth.
Am I making some sense, Saints? You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and I've ordained you. I've established you. I've
purposed you. I've anointed you. I've appointed
you. That you should go and bring forth what? That's right. So
can you see how the Apostle Paul is driven by this mandate? And
that your fruit should remain. that whatsoever you shall ask
of my Father in my name, He may give it to me. That's a whole
message in itself. And I might say about three messages
in there. God's choice to call us, God's
purpose to use us, God's objective to bear fruit in our life, God's
objective to make sure that in our doing His will, we have confidence
that everything we ask God, He will do because the things that
we will ask for will correspond with the will of God. God will
never not give you what you want. As long as what you want corresponds
with his will. Ask and you shall have. So long
as it corresponds with his will. God will never not give you what
you want. Children of God, he will always
give you what you want. Always. One of the points we
made last night is love and what? Do what you will. Love and do
what you will. That's the ethic we say to our
spouse. As long as you love me, sweetheart, you can do whatever
you want to. Do whatever you want to, as long as the basis
of what you do is love. And that's what God says to you
and me. As long as you love me, you can do whatever you want
to. That's called free grace. That's the freedom of grace.
Because the boundaries and parameters of my choices are going to be
based on love. I'm never going to hurt God if
I love him. I'm never going to abuse God if I love him. I'm
never going to distort his glory if I love him. If you love me,
I don't ever have to worry about you harming me. Whatever you
do, do it because I know that what you do is going to have
in mind my best good. Am I making some sense? And so
it is with this promise here. And that's why I want to be in
on the dynamic of this appointment. I want to know what it means
to bear fruit to the glory of God, because it will affirm that
my heart is right. If my heart is right, God will
bear fruit in my life. That's good. That's what Paul
was really committed to. Going back to our text, not only
is he compelled to preach the gospel because of debt, he's
compelled to preach the gospel because he wants to see the fruit
unto the glory of Christ. He's compelled by mutual joy. Mutual joy. It's absolutely phenomenal. It's just in our text here. It's
in our text. I want you to think about this
one. We're going to move on to our second point. This is actually
getting into the bio of Paul, but it's also the bio of every
believer. Now watch this. He says in Romans chapter 1 verse
12, he says this, after having said, for I long to see you that
I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you may
be established, that is, watch this, let me expand on that,
that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith
of both you and me. Do you see that? Do you know
what he just said? He says, now I do want to impart
unto you something. I want to give you something.
God has made me a giver and so I want to give. May God make
us all givers. To be a giver means you are a
receiver. You guys got that? You do not give if you're not
a receiver. If you're a taker, you're not a receiver. If you
are a giver, it's because you receive. There is no confidence
in giving anything away if you are not a vehicle of reception.
If, however, you are a vehicle that's connected to an infinite
well of grace, you don't ever have to worry about running out
of giving folks things. Because all you are is a vehicle
by which the infinite well of grace is pouring into your life
all the time. So not only are you willing to
give, you are compelled to give because you want to empty yourself
out so God can fill you up again. And God will never stop filling
you up. He will never stop filling you up if in fact you are a biblical
giver if you're a biblical giver Christ is the model of that He's
the model of that. He received the Spirit without
measure and because of it he was able to give everything he
had even the laying down of his life why because he knew the
Blessings would come again to raise him from the dead and establish
him in his own right and go on giving like he has for 2,000
years now I want to be like that, don't you? But more than that,
it's not giving just to give so that you can feel good about
giving poor saps something they don't have. He says, I want to be able to
give to experience the mutual joy that comes from relationship. He's actually saying that when
he preaches the gospel to the Romans, if he if he can get there,
and he did the last three or four chapters of Acts, Paul's
in Rome. And he's in prison, but he's
in Rome. And he's imparting the gospel and people are becoming
believers. And guess what they're doing?
They're sharing the gospel with him in all sorts of ways. See,
a reciprocal relationship does not mean that we are giving equally
tangible gifts in return. I may give you a spiritual gift.
You may return favors of food. Who knows? You know how I am.
But it's reciprocal. And we're both being edified
because the God who's working through me is working through
you as well. He's blessing you like he's blessing me. And when
it comes to the gospel, you guys know this, we love talking to
one another about Christ. Because you can always receive
a little something from any brother or sister who has spent time
with God. And so just because you shook
their hands and said, I'm going to take 30 seconds to talk, boom,
God spoke through them to you, blessed your soul. That's what
Paul is saying. I can't wait to get to Rome because I want
to hear the gospel from you too. We want to sit down and have
a gospel feast together. Very much the case. Very much
the case. Point number two, not only what
compels the apostle to preach, what emboldens him to preach?
What emboldens him to preach? There's one thing to be compelled.
It's another thing to be emboldened. What emboldens him to preach?
He says in verse 16, these words, for I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believes to the Jews first and also to the Greeks. You know
what he did? He says, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. There's nothing about the gospel,
Paul says. Watch this now. That is disappointing. See, let me develop that. Here's
what he's getting ready to say to the saints at Rome. He says,
when I come, all I'm bringing is the gospel. Now, I want to
let you know, I'm not ashamed of the gospel on any level. The
gospel that I have can handle any situation. The gospel that
I have has handled every situation. The gospel that I have, watch
this, has never let me down. The gospel that I've received
has never disappointed me. Every time I unload the gospel,
it's always worked. I am not ashamed to bring the
gospel. What? Your wise men? Bring them. They're not going to scare me.
I don't care how much learning they have. I don't care how much
they have dug into Aristotelian thought or Platonic thought or
any of the philosophers of their age. Bring them on. I've got
wisdom in my gospel for them. My gospel can handle all their
arguments, all their syllogism, all their propositions, all of
their allegations against biblical truth. My gospel can handle it.
I am not afraid of wisdom. Bring it! I've got wisdom too.
Watch this now. In my gospel, my gospel can handle
the Jew. with his proud self. Him being
one said, my gospel can handle the Jew with their arguments
for signs and wonders. Signs and wonders? My gospel
been doing that ever since I met Christ. Ever since Christ came
into my life, God's been working major signs and wonders. So when
he goes among the Jews, as we're learning in the book of Acts,
the Lord Jesus shows up by the spirit of the living God and
does something outstanding by way of signs. and wonders done
by the apostles to throw the Jews back, to shut them up to
this reality that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the barbarian, that's
what he just stated, I'm not ashamed of the barbarian. Watch
this now. My gospel is powerful enough to take the most imbecile
person and give them clarity of mind. bring them up out of
the dark, dark pagan practices of barbarianism and set them
on Hollywood princes. My gospel is so simple and so
clear and so straight, it can penetrate into the heart of a
barbarian and make him a saint. My gospel doesn't have any deficiency
in it so that I should be ashamed of it. What a word for this generation. Watch this now, watch this saints.
If you don't get what I'm saying, Understand that the institutions
of higher learning with which our country is endowed all over
the United States, I might say today, cursed. I would say endowed,
but by and large, the institutions of learning in our country are
cursed because they dare to stand on their premise without God. And they laugh at the idea that
some of us would believe that there is even a God. And they
would say that the notion that you believe in God is anti-intellectual. It's irrational. It makes no
sense. It's backyard thinking. I would
say to them, the Bible has already checked you out. It's already
exposed you. You intellectuals at the highest
level, the gospel has an answer for you too. Do you know what
that is? Are you ready? You fool. You fool. You fool, there's nothing
in your logic that is even logical to suggest or argue that there
is no God. You have to argue on an illogical
principle, premise, to say that there is no God. So we are ready
to deal with the highest educated persons in the world around the
claims of the gospel, because it is God's gospel. And God's
able to break through all of the barriers of their highfalutin
notions and arguments and prove to them that they are the most
ignoramuses on the planet. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believes. Under that proposition, three
things I want you to consider. I do not shrink back. That's
what it means to be ashamed. When you're ashamed of something,
guess what you do? You shrink away from it. You separate yourself
from it. You separate yourself from it.
You hide from it. Oh, I better not tell them I'm a Christian.
You know, I'm in a place with all these highfalutin sediti
folks. I better not tell them I'm a
Christian. They're going to look at me cross-eyed and maybe throw
me out of the club. If I tell them I'm a Christian,
girl, don't tell them we Christians. You're shrinking back. You're
shrinking back. The idea of being ashamed means
to shrink back, thinking that the thing that you possess will,
watch this now, disappoint you. Ladies and gentlemen, guess what
you and I ought to be disappointed in? Our sin. We ought to be ashamed
of our sin. Romans 6.21. Watch what the apostle
said. I want to show you a couple of
things about why he says, I do not shrink back. Romans 6.21.
If anything, we should shrink back from our sin. He says over
in verse 20, for when you were the servants of sin, the word
is doulos, means slaves of sin. Are you ready? When you were
slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. You know
what that means? You had no relationship with righteousness. You didn't
think righteously. You didn't act righteously. You
were not committed to righteousness as a Lord or ruler in your life.
You were free from it. And watch this. You were free
from righteousness. He says in verse 21, what fruit
had you then in those things wherein you are now a what? For
the end of those things is death. I am ashamed of what I used to
do. Now, if there's one thing I want to hide from people is
what I did before Christ came into my life. If there's one
thing I don't want people to know is the hell I live. When I was separated from the
true and the living God and walking in darkness, If there's one thing
I want to shrink back from, it's having to identify with the crimes
and practices that I engaged in before Christ revealed His
glory to me. I'm ashamed of that. I am not
ashamed of the Gospel. I am not ashamed of the gospel,
but I am ashamed of the life I used to live. I shrink back
from it because it disappointed me. It told me one thing and
it was something else. It promised one thing and it
did not deliver. It said it would save me, make
me wealthy and rich, and it sent me to hell. I'm ashamed of that
but the gospel never lies all the promises of God are yes and
amen Through Jesus Christ by the glory of God through us to
the glory of God. It's always gonna bring its promises
to pass I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I am ashamed of my sin
And this is what Jesus meant when he said in the gospel of
Matthew Mark and Luke whosoever is ashamed of me in this generation. I Will be ashamed of him in the
day when he stands before my heavenly father ashamed Ashamed
and yet in the New Testament. I'll just give you one more word
of encouragement. Do you know Jesus not ashamed? He's not ashamed. He's not ashamed of us He's not
ashamed to call us brethren He's not ashamed to be our God. He's
not ashamed to tell men and women who we are in him He's not ashamed
of us. Why would we be ashamed of him? I? Are you hearing what
I'm saying? I'm not ashamed of the gospel, Paul says. I'm ready
to come to Rome and all I'm bringing is the gospel. I'm not bringing
any other argument but Christ and him crucified. Look at Paul. Thank you, Paul. Thank you. What emboldens him to preach?
There's nothing in the gospel that's worth shrinking back from.
Secondly, what emboldens him to preach? It's foolishness to
unbelieving men only. See I had already stated that
but I want you to see it in one verse 1st Corinthians chapter
1 verse 18 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. You've heard this
before Here's what the Apostle says about why people reject
the message of redemption in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse
18 It becomes an evidence of where they are before God He
says in verse 17 for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach
the gospel Not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ
should be made of non effect for the preaching of the cross
Here it is, is to them that perish what? For the preaching of the
cross is to them that are in a state of perishing foolishness. Paul understood that when he
preached the gospel to the wise and the unwise, to the barbarian
and to the Greek, that when those who had heard it counted it as
foolishness, he realized that they were in a state of perishing.
See, the gospel exposes us as to where we stand before God.
When it's claims are set forth and you mock it, laugh it, ridicule
it. I don't believe that. You are in a state of perishing.
You are disconnected from God. Your mind is cut off. That's
what the descent into Romans chapter 1 is going to teach us.
Remember I said we are on several mountain peaks looking over the
horizon of the book of Romans. There are several mountain peaks.
We looked at them last week. We are on the first mountain peak
right now and that mountain peak is the righteousness of God.
Right now we're dealing with the righteousness of God through
the mechanism of gospel preaching. This is why Paul says, I'm not
ashamed. I'm going to deal with all of the personalities and
characters that have to do with hearing the gospel, but we're
getting ready to descend into the pit of human depravity. because of the rejection of the
gospel. That's where we're going now. We won't be there today,
but we're going to touch on it briefly today. And so what Paul
is saying is that when you share the word of God with people,
when you say, I'm a Christian, you tell men and women, you believe
the Bible and you say that salvation is by the by the vicarious work
of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary for sinners who trust
him. And they go, oh, I don't I don't believe that. Then tell
them that's because you are perishing. Tell him The reason you don't
believe is because you are in a state of perishing And then
when they say I don't like that say then give me another reason
Tell me why it's rational for you to deny a salvation claim
by God for your soul What are you doing? What gives you confidence
to stand on the grounds upon what you're standing and meeting
God in eternity apart from Christ? Help me understand that argument
and they won't give it to you Because they don't have one.
They do not have a superior argument to the gospel. Ladies and gentlemen,
whether you know it or not, there is not one. There is no better
argument than salvation by the free grace of God in Jesus Christ
to all humanity because we are all sinners. Am I making some
sense? So for human beings to reject
Christ is insane. You know, when you're sitting
there with them, eating your tea and crumpets, and they go, I don't believe
that. Just say, that's because you're insane, sweetheart. You're
insane. You're insane. And let that resonate. You're insane. You've lost your
mind. It's foolishness to the unbeliever. Listen to what it
says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14. This is what Paul
says. See, Paul has surmised all this
after dealing with all of these people. He said over in verse
14, but the natural man cannot, does not receive the things of
the Spirit of God. You see that? For they are, what? Foolishness unto him. Neither
can he know them because they are only spiritually discerned.
When we share the Word of God with people, and while as yet
those people are not born again, having a renewed mind and a mind
filled with the knowledge of God, when you share biblical
truth with them, it's a strange thing. And they have no way of
anchoring what you say to anything rational in their own reference
point. So they're actually discombobulated, confounded, but too proud to
say, that makes no sense to me. I need help. Would you please
explain that? Out of pride, they will just
reject it out of hand as moronic. And what we're saying is, ah,
now I know that you are a natural man because only spiritual people
comprehend spiritual things. You guys got that? This is what
the apostle was saying, and this is what I'm saying. Why do we
why are we emboldened to preach the gospel? Because it's these
very same people who are blinded and foolish in their sin, that
ultimately God saves. Our last point under what emboldens
him to preach. What emboldens him to preach
is it's gloriously powerful message in being able to save the believer.
Look at it again, Romans chapter one, verse 16. He says, I am
not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because it is the power
of God unto salvation. Watch this now, to everyone that
what? Now, that really needs to be
thought through because my PowerPoint sub point is it's gloriously
powerful in saving who? Believers. It's gloriously powerful
in saving believers. Now, what am I talking about?
I'm talking about the subjective experience that the believer
knows about the power of the gospel. I'm saying this. We share the gospel because we
don't know who God's going to say. But in that God is going
to say when that gospel goes out, it reveals itself as gloriously
powerful in the heart of believers. Oh, oh, what do you mean? I mean that God is the one that
breaks through all of these arguments, all of these resistant barriers
that we set up. All of the barriers that are
too big for human argument, for intellectual argument, all of
the barriers that you and I, sometimes we're just, we don't
even want to attempt it. I mean, all of the obstacles
that men puts up, all of the roadblocks they put up to oppose
the gospel. Sometimes when we look at it, we go, I don't want
to even attempt it. You know what Paul says? Those
same people who are presently unbelievers will become believers
because of the preaching of that gospel. And one day they're going
to experience what we call the glorious, The gospel to save
watch what it says watch what it says if this is in first 1st
Corinthians chapter 1 verse 23 and 24 What I am sharing with
you has to do with why we preach the gospel to the unbeliever
Hoping that one day they become a believer Because one day when
they become a believer They will admit and confess The power of
the gospel to save them Paul had just stated in 1 Corinthians
1, verse 18, it's foolishness to them that are perishing. But
unto us, verse 18, the latter part, but unto us which are being
saved, it is the power of God. Do you see that? Watch this,
for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, to them
that are perishing, foolishness. But unto us, he describes who
the us is, those who are being saved. Are you a believer in
Christ today? Watch this, children of God.
You are presently being saved. You are presently being saved. You are right now in a state
of being saved. Do you know what's saving you?
The gospel. The gospel is presently holding
you up. It's presently giving you a foundation
under you. It's presently renewing your
mind. It's presently changing your understanding, changing
your affections, changing your goals. It's presently sustaining
you. That's what the Gospel is doing.
It's conforming you to the image of Christ. It's keeping you.
The Gospel keeps you. It's preserving you. The gospel
preserves you. Watch this. And when you, by
God's providence, jump out of the gospel's lap and fall back
into the mud, the gospel comes get you and pick you back up
and washes you off again and puts you back where you need
to be. That's the gospel. It's the power of God unto our
complete salvation. Justification, sanctification,
glorification, mortification. That's what the gospel does.
That's why we stay under it, because it alone saves. Look at verse 23 and 24. But
we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block unto
the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called another
word for a believer. Both the Jews and the Greeks,
Christ, the power of God and Christ, the wisdom of You see
why Paul does it? Because of what it's able to
do. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. A couple more verses, I'm done.
1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. Here's a description
of what the gospel did when it came in power and broke down
all your arguments. Because you know how you argued
against the gospel? The reason you argued against
the gospel is because heretofore it had not done nothing for you.
That's why you argued against it. Because in God's sovereignty,
he needed to let you know that you were a rebel. And he let
you raise all your arguments against Christ, and your arguments
against the church, and your arguments against the preacher,
and your arguments against the world. You raise all your arguments,
and God let you raise them. And then God say, so now what
you gonna do? You didn't raise all your arguments, nothing's
fixed. Now what you gonna do? And then
he came in and got a hold of your heart, start dragging you
into the kingdom. Set you down in front of his
glorious son and says, now be taught of God. That's what happened. That's what happened. Listen
to what the Apostle Paul said was the case with the Thessalonians
in First Thessalonians chapter one, four and five. Tell me if
this was not the case for you. Are you ready? Knowing, brethren
beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only. Do you see that? That's the difference
between the brother and the sister or the group of people that come
into the church. One falls asleep and the other one starts crying.
One gets agitated because that pastor preaches more than 40
minutes and the other one stuck in their seat, fixed on every
word he's preaching. One leaves away saying, what
did we, what did we, what did we go through? And the other
one leaves away. I've met the Lord. God revealed
him. He spoke to me so clearly in
the preaching. That's the difference. That is
the difference when you come under the preaching of the gospel.
Knowing brother and beloved your election of God for our gospel
came not unto you in word only but also in power Dunamis and
in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you know what manner
of men we were among you look at chapter 2 verse 13 again here
it is for this cause also we thank God without ceasing because
when you receive the Word of God when you received it which
you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but
as it is in the truth, the word of God. Here it is, are you ready?
Which worketh effectually also in you, that what? When God gives you faith, the
word takes over your life. It has mastery over your life.
When God gives you the gift of faith, what he fundamentally
is doing is giving the Holy Ghost the key to your heart. When God
gives you the gift of faith, he gives the Holy Ghost the key
to your heart. So he get to come in whenever he want to and start
doing rearrangement in your life. Shaking up stuff, moving out
old stuff, bringing in new stuff. Talking to you when you don't
want to be talked to. Dealing with you. That's the work of
the Spirit of God. You want to go this way? He said,
no, we're going this way. And he proves himself sovereign.
Why did I come to church today? I didn't want to come because
the Holy Ghost wanted you here. See, faith, which is a gift of
God, allows the Spirit of God to actually move you in directions
that you would not go. Isn't that true? Watch this.
And so like when we actually operate out of a little sense,
we don't do that a lot. I'm telling you, if it's left
up there, we'd be making bad choices. But every now and then
we agree with the Holy Ghost. Because we start learning, you
know, this thought is not right. It's not right. I want to do
it. It ain't right. I want to do
it. And then we say, but see, I know
you're here. I know you're here. So go ahead
on, man. Have your way. Have your way
in my life. That's called yielding to him.
I want to do it, but go on. Have your way. And when he has
his way, he's always right. He's always right. Always right. And then when it works out right,
guess where you go? I knew it. I knew it. How come I didn't
just agree with you from the jumpstart? Lord, help me learn
how to agree with the resident Lord called the Holy Ghost who
makes your reality in my life. Why don't I just start agreeing
with this dude and just enjoy my life? Because that's what
he's there for, to help you get it right. So many Christians,
though, fighting with him. I want to just call your attention
to one more thing. Last point, we're done. And I'm just going
to touch on this and I can tell I need to come back and work
this through. The last point, what is that sister said? Amen.
Let's shut it down. Amen. Let's shut it down. Amen. Let's shut it down. Now, if that's
from the Holy Ghost, then we got to do it. And I already talked
about how blessed it is to obey him. I don't want to not obey
him. Point number three in your outline.
So what compels the apostle to preach Christ? What emboldens
him to preach? What is it? What is it that necessitates
the preaching of the gospel? What makes preaching Christ necessary? If this is a legitimate inquiry,
what I just stated, if it's legitimate, if the gospel is necessary to
preach, pray for your preachers. Pray for them. If the gospel
is necessary to preach, pray for them. Now, this is the inquiry. This is the question that's going
to descend us into the battle. We're getting ready to go into
a battle now, a battle that's going to take us three weeks
to get through Romans 1. And in this battle, our only hope
is the necessity of gospel preaching. So let me just open this up briefly.
We'll come back next week. What is it that necessitates
the preaching of the gospel? The righteous revelation of God's
wrath. Why must we preach the gospel?
The righteous revelation of God's wrath. We preach the gospel because
the wrath of God has been revealed. It's revealed. And it's revealed
three ways, basically. It's revealed in history. History
tells us we're under the wrath of God. Read your history books. This world is a mess. Wars and
rumors of wars, killings, atrocities from the beginning of time to
the present. Your professors who believe in evolution have
lied to you. You're not getting better, you're
getting worse. We're killing more human beings today than
we ever have. More diseases, more betrayals, more violence,
more hostility, we are not getting better. That's a facade. We're
getting worse, just like the Word of God says. Evil men shall
wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. That's why
the wrath of God is on us. The wrath of God is on us clearly,
ladies and gentlemen, in our conscience. Our conscience, people
are on dope. Addictive behavior patterns are
off the chart. We got all kind of psychosis going on. We are
nutty people. You know what that means? We're
under the wrath of God. Because we're out in the cold without a covering
from God. The conscience is jacked up.
And so we medicate. We medicate. We medicate. Why? Because we're cut off from God.
And in our conscience, we know it. We know it. So we're running
from God through drugs, through alcohol, through sex. through
pornography, through all of the artificial means of pleasure
and comfort, just charging that dopamine, charging that serotonin,
charging that oxytocin to just kind of comfort us through artificial
means, because we're jacked up. Whole world. You go to third
world countries where the barbarians are, you know what they're doing?
They're sucking on trees. Why are they sucking on trees?
To get high. Why are they trying to get high?
Because the wrath of God is on them. The wrath of God. That brother laughing. I'm telling
the truth. You see these cats sitting around
half naked in the jungle with their legs crossed, playing with
all these herbs and stuff. Man, I'm trying to get high.
Because they're under the wrath of God. Can I get a witness? I can get
a witness. The last evidence and the most
incontrovertible evidence that we're under the wrath of God
is the Word of God. From Genesis to Revelation, the
Word of God demonstrates that God has poured His wrath out
on humanity over and over and over and over and over again.
And so our Master said it in John chapter 3, verse 36, He
that believeth shall be saved, he that believeth not, the wrath
of God already abides upon him. John chapter 3, verse 19, men
love darkness rather than light. They will not come to the light
that their deeds might be made manifest at the rod and God all
of humanity loves darkness We love evil and this is the condemnation
that Christ That's the light is coming to the world and men
love darkness rather than life because their deeds are evil
Do you see that? That's why we must preach the
gospel. I We must preach the gospel because of the righteous
revelation of God. Secondly, I'll come back and
expand on this next week. We preach the gospel because
of the rebellious response of all men to it. Men rebel against
the gospel. What are you saying, Pastor?
When they rebel against the gospel, keep preaching it. Keep preaching
it. See, the gospel is designed to
be a battering ram to break through that rebellion. Look at chapter
1, verse 28, part B. Part A, rather. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Do you see that? Even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge. You know what we call that? Rebellion.
Watch this. Every discipline in the world,
that's Romans 1, 28. Every discipline in the world, every educational
system, every vocation, every business adventure, every innovation,
every technological advancement, everything that we discover in
the world of science, We're in we don't give God glory for it.
We have chosen not to acknowledge God That's an act of rebellion
Are you hearing what I'm saying? So what men and women are doing
is suppressing the truth and unrighteousness verse 18 I'll
stop right here verse 18 Look at what verse 18 says Romans
1 verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness the ungodliness That means how we think and all
unrighteousness. The unrighteousness, that means
how we act. All right? Of all unrighteousness are men
who hold the truth. Did you notice that? Stay with
me. Everyone has the truth. Everyone has it. But they're
suppressing it. The word hold there means to
step on it, to lay on it, to cover it up. They're covering
up the truth. They don't want no one to know
what they know. That there is a God. He's holy
and just and righteous. And He's going to punish sin.
So they're suppressing the truth. Literally, it means they are
continually pressing down, unsuccessfully, what they know is right. Watch
this now. In every field of life. Literally,
the way we put it, and I'm going to unpack this next week, show
you next week through the verses. They're not doing a good job
of it. What do you mean? Here we go. Are you ready? Everywhere
the light is, and men try to cover it up with darkness, the
light breaks through, breaks through, breaks through, and
shines out anyway. And it drives the ungodly crazy. In the world of science, God's
there. In the world of technology, God's there. In the world of
business, God's there. In the world of education, God's
there. God's everywhere. The light will never over become
by the darkness. That's why we keep preaching
it That's exactly why we keep preaching it You know what? They'll
do they'll I'll save it till next week