Back in Romans chapter 1, we'll not read it again, but
I'd like to take as my text verse 16. Verse 16 of Romans chapter
1. Paul makes this statement. He
says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Not ashamed. As we said in the reading, Paul
hadn't yet been to Rome when he wrote this epistle. He says
in verses 10 and 11, I long to come, I want to come. If God
wills it, I will come. And he does. He does afterwards,
under arrest. But Paul says, I want to come
not to see the great city of Rome. No, no, no. That wasn't Paul's
intent. No, there were believers there. That's why Paul wanted to go.
Those of light, precious faith. For Paul, all roads didn't lead
to Rome. No, for Paul, all his roads led
to Jesus Christ. Look what he says at verse 15.
So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also. Rome's riches didn't compare
to the riches of Jesus Christ. Or the privilege of being a citizen
of Rome didn't compare to being a member of the household of
faith of Jesus Christ. Greater riches in Him than in
anything else or in any other. The riches, as Paul described
it in Ephesians chapter 2, the riches of His grace. Paul wasn't going there to see
the historical sites like the great Colosseum. For again, Paul
would say, I'm not impressed with that. Not impressed. I've
seen greater things than this. Turn back, if you will, to Acts
chapter 22. We referred to it a moment ago. But Paul goes to Jerusalem. He's determined to be there,
he said, at Passover, he told the Ephesian elders. And in Acts
chapter 22, he goes to Jerusalem. And in chapter 21, he's speaking
to the people. He mentions the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. And they say away with him. It's
not fit that such a one should live. and he's arrested. That's how Paul ends up in Rome,
by God's wonderful providence. But in chapter 22, verse 12,
Paul says this, they come to stone him and the
captain comes, the authorities come and rescue him, and Paul
says this, verse I'm sorry, I've been wrong. Chapter 21. Did I
say 22? Chapter 21. Look at verse 30. And all the
city was moved, and the people ran together, and they took Paul
and drew him out of the temple. And forthwith the doors were
shut. And as they went about to kill
him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band that all
Jerusalem was in a uproar. And they came and rescued him,
this man." Verse 36, "'For the multitude of the people followed
after, crying, Away with him.'" Now imagine that. Imagine that. This mob wants to kill Paul on
the spot. The captain, the police, they
come there, take Paul away. And you know what Paul's heart
is? You know where it's at. He says to this man, he speaks
in the Hebrew tongue so this man could understand him, or
rather in the Greek, and he says, I'm a citizen but no mean city.
And this is what he said, let me speak to these people. Look
down, if you will, at verse 40. When the captain of the guard
had given him leave, when he had given him license, Paul stood
on the stairs and beckoned with the hand of the people, and when
there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew
tongue." Imagine that! This is what Paul said in Romans,
didn't he? I'm ready to preach the gospel
to the Greek, to the barbarian, to the Jew, to the Gentile, to
you that are at Rome, Paul was separated unto the gospel of
God. Oh, he said to that guard, let
me speak to them. They had just tried to kill him,
and they wanted to kill him then, and yet he says, let me preach
the gospel to them. Oh, no wonder Paul said, I believe
that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and he
proved it. Oh, I'm not ashamed, he said,
of the gospel of Christ. There was a greater power to
Paul than there was any powers that be in Rome. It didn't make
any difference to Him whether it be Nero or any other man. Jesus Christ, Paul knew, declared
that in His hands was all power. Father, You've given me power
over all flesh. You remember when Christ came
and appeared to His disciples on Mount Olivet before He ascended
back to glory? And he appeared to them and said,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And then
what did he say? With that at your back, so to
speak, I don't send you on a fool's errand. I don't send you alone. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go you therefore and preach the
gospel. I go with you." Oh, in another
place he said, John's Gospel, chapter 10, I believe, other
sheep I have which are not of this fold. What did he say? Them also I must bring. Paul knew this. In writing to
Timothy he said, I endure all things for the elect's sake that
they too may obtain the salvation that's in Jesus Christ. The means that God uses to call
out His elect that Paul was so well aware of was the glorious
gospel of the blessed God, nothing else. That's why he suffered
as he did. That's why he counted the cost
to be nothing compared to preaching the gospel of Christ. First of
all, we look again at this statement that Paul makes in verse 16,
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And notice first,
Paul states it plainly, without any reservation, without any
hesitation, without any qualification. No ifs, no buts. No means. I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. Paul said you can mark it down. I plant my feet here and I'm
determined to preach nothing but the gospel and that gospel
concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed. Why would he
be? Why would Paul even Mention this. I'll tell you why. Because many
people in Paul's day were ashamed of the gospel. Just as many people
in our day are ashamed of the gospel. Many were ashamed to
be identified with the Christ of the cross. And they still
are. Nothing's changed. Still the
same. Christ the teacher? Oh yes. We'll accept that. Christ the
good example? Yeah, yeah, we'll accept that. Christ even a martyr? Yeah, we'll
even go that far. But not Christ the sacrifice. Oh no, not Christ made sin. don't talk to us about blood
atonement. Oh no, we can't have that. That men are ashamed of. That men want priests. That God
made Christ to be seen for us. That by Jesus Christ alone are
men declared righteous before a holy God. That gospel that
lays men down in the dust and puts Christ upon the throne and
declares He's the only way, the only truth, the only life. Men
are ashamed of that gospel in our day. I don't mean men walking
the street out there. I mean men standing in pulpits
this morning all over this land, sad to say. Oh, Paul said in
verse 4, Christ died. by the resurrection of the dead. Yes, his death was absolutely
necessary. He had to die. It was required
by God. It was necessary for our salvation,
but it was required by a holy God. What do we read in Hebrews? And Paul quotes from the Old
Testament. Without the shedding of blood, his blood. Oh, in that same book he says,
the blood of bullocks and goats can never take away sin, but
without the shedding of blood, his precious blood, there is
no remission. Never! Never would be, never
could be. Oh, thank God for the precious
blood. In Revelation chapter 5 we're
told, the multitude before the throne seen worthy as the lamb. He had redeemed us with his own
blood. Oh, Paul says, I'm not ashamed
of that message. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Men say, oh, that's barbaric. Not long ago, I saw a smart man. He said he was smart. He was
a doctor, a doctor of theology. And he was talking to this other
fellow. It was on CNN, something along
that line. But he said this teaching, that
Christ was made sin for sinners, And they can't know God in any
other way. He said, that's barbaric. That's barbaric, he said. I can't
accept that. And he represents multitudes
of men who say the same thing. You can see why Paul says. And
I, by God's grace, say the same thing. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. Thank God for his precious blood. Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. You know where I'm going. Paul
describes that gospel message in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Look at verse 1 again. You know this passage very well.
But Paul says, beginning at verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 15, Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. Same thing he said
to the church at Rome, didn't he? Same message to the church
at Corinth. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have
received, and wherein ye stand. by which also ye are saved, if
ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which also I received." Remember when he wrote to the
church at Galatia? He said, I didn't receive this
from men. I didn't learn it from men. I
learned this truth, this glorious gospel, by a revelation of Jesus
Christ. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which also I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures." And, of course, he's referring
to the Old Testament Scriptures. The Gospel was there. The New
Testament is a continuation of the message of the Old. Clearer,
yes, but still the Gospel of the Old Testament. How that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. Oh, how that Christ died! How that Christ died! That's
where the importance lies. According to the Scriptures,
yes. According to God's purpose, yes. But how did he die? He became obedient unto death,
we're told. Even the death of the cross.
The death of the cross. Cursed is every one, God's law
said, that hangeth on a tree. Cursed of God. That's death upon
the cross. It was an offensive message.
It was an offensive gospel. It offended man's sense of worth. It offends man's sense of merit. And it certainly offends his
idea of his own self-righteousness to be told, you can't come to
God except through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
offends man's sense of his own worth and dignity. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of that message. Oh, because the cross, as people
well knew in Paul's day, was a shameful way to die. Today,
the cross is a decoration. People decorate so-called churches
with crosses, houses with crosses. Drive along the highway, you
see crosses everywhere. People even make it a little
piece of jewelry and wear it around their neck. Paul said
he would never hear of such a thing. He said the cross was a shameful
thing. Not that he was ashamed of it,
but it was a shameful way to die. Death upon the cross. It was a method of capital punishment. It wasn't anything glamorous
about it. Oh, no. It was execution reserved
for those considered fit to be killed that way. It was the form
of capital punishment fit, deserving of such a shameful death, those
that were put to it. Everything about crucifixion
was designed to publicly shame its victims. Everything. Stripping them down to bear nothing. Taking their clothes off of them.
Hanging them out in utter nakedness. A public spectacle of humiliation
for people to see. forced to carry their cross,
but in Christ's case, even more. The Gospel tells us he was made
an object of ridicule and mockery. Herod used him just to be entertained,
he and his band of soldiers, after Pilate sent him to Herod,
and then Herod mocked the Pilate. He was sped upon. A crown of
thorns was forced down on his head, and a wreath stuck in his
hand, and they bowed to me and said, Hey, King of the Jews,
in utter mockery. His crucifixion was shameful. As I said, He was made a spectacle,
an object of derision and contempt. Turn, if you will, to Luke's
Gospel, chapter 23. We already referred to it, but
we need to look at this. Luke, chapter 23, verse 8. Pilate wants to be rid of this
Jesus of Nazareth. He doesn't want to have this
hanging over his head, so he sends him to Herod. Verse 8. And when Herod saw Jesus, he
was exceeding glad. But look why, look why he was
glad. For he was desirous to see Him.
Luke chapter 23, verse 8. For he was desirous to see Him
of a long season. because he had heard many things
of him, and he'd hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Herod wanted to be entertained
by him. Perhaps Christ would show him
some trick, some magic. Verse 9, Then he questioned with
him in many words, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests
and scribes stood vehemently. They followed him from Pilate's
hall with the same accusations. Verse 11, And Herod, with his
men of war, set him at nought. Set him at nought. You know what
that means? They didn't consider him worthy
of their notice. They just set him at naught.
They looked over at him with utter contempt. They considered
him nothing. The best he can do is be an object
of entertainment for us. Take him and beat him. Beat him. Mock him. Put that robe up on
him and bow the knee. He claims to be a king and all
this band of soldiers said, well, let's treat him like one. shameful,
shameful. But more than that, not only
was he treated with contempt and ridicule by man and forsaken
by man, forsaken by his disciples, you're
all going to forsake me tonight? You're all going to deny that
you even know me. Peter did verbally, but they
all did by their actions. Don't know him, don't want to
be near him, don't want to be recognized with him. But more
than that, he was forsaken by his God. In Matthew 27, or Matthew's Gospel
chapter 27, we're told, when they came to the place called
Golgotha. There they crucified him. Golgotha,
a place of a skull. You know why it's called that?
Because the bodies of the people who were executed there on the
cross, once they died, they were just being thrown out there and
barely covered over. There were skulls laying around. It was a human garbage dump. And our Lord hung there. And
from the third hour, twelve o'clock, until the sixth hour, three o'clock,
there was darkness over the whole earth, portraying the darkness
of His soul. His Father forsook Him. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and God forsakes. I was as one brought up with
Him, we read in Proverbs. I was daily His delight. When
there was no mountains, no stars, no heavens, I was with Him. And from that place of the skull,
Our Lord cries through the darkness, the darkness of his soul and
sufferings. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Someone wrote, the sufferings
of his soul were the soul of his sufferings. Turn, if you
will, to Psalm 22. Here you have the prophetic psalm, as indeed throughout scripture,
of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, even the very words
he used upon the cross. Psalm 22, verse 1. Listen to this. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me? This is our Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. And from the words of Mount Rory,
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in
the night season, and am not silent, but thou art holy. You're holy. O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel, Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted
and thou didst deliver them, but not me. Not Christ. They cried unto thee and were
delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. But
I am a worm. Anything more despicable? But
I am a worm and no man. A reproach of men and despised
of the people, contemptible. And they that see me laugh me
to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake their heads,
saying, He trusted in the Lord. This is what they said at the
cross, didn't they? Come down from the cross and we'll believe
you. Can you imagine anybody acting
that way at someone's execution? Can you imagine that? They wouldn't
do the worst. Osama bin Laden wouldn't be treated
that way. He's dying, He's breathing at
His last, and they're standing there laughing at Him. Oh, they that see me, laugh me
to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord, that He would deliver
Him. Let Him deliver Him, saying,
He delighted in Him. But thou art He that took me
out of the womb. Thou didst make me whole when
I was up on my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from
me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me." In Hebrews
chapter 12 we're told, he endured the cross. Christ endured the
cross despising the shame. He endured the cross. That is, He would not stop. He would not quit. He would not
go back. He would not turn away. I have
a baptism. I'm going to be immersed in sufferings. I'm going to be covered wave
after wave of my Holy Father's wrath for sin, but I'm determined
to do it." He would not go back. He endured
the cross, we're told, despising the shame. Is there anything
harder, Lester, for a man to endure than shame? or a woman
to be shamed. But we're told He endured the
shame for the joy that was set before Him. The joy of bringing
many sons to glory, He endured the cross. In Hebrews chapter
13, we're told Much the same thing. Turn there
if you will, Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13 verse 11. Paul says, for the bodies of
those beasts. Now what he's talking about,
you can read of it in Exodus 29, was the sacrifice offered
for sin, the sin offering. After the blood of that sacrifice
had been offered by the high priest in the holy place, the
body, the body of that slain animal was taken out, taken out
and burned. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the candle." That's what happened
to Christ. Hmm. He went without the camp. Paul tells us that in verse 12.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with
his own blood, suffered without the gate, out at that human garbage
dump called the place of the skull. Verse 13. Let us go forth
therefore unto him. I'm not ashamed. without the
camp bearing his reproach. Without the camp bearing his
reproach. Let those who will ridicule the
glorious gospel of substitution. Let those who will not be identified with us. That's
why this church has no more than it has in it, because people
want to go somewhere else. They don't want to be identified
with the gospel that we preach, the gospel of Christ. So be it. So be it. Let them stay away. So be it. If that's the reason
they don't come, they best stay away. Oh, Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. One hymn writer expressed it
like this, Jesus, and shall it ever be, a mortal man ashamed
of thee, ashamed of thee whom angels praise, whose glory shines
through endless days. Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend,
on whom my hopes of heaven depend? No, when I blush, be this my
shame, that I no more revere His name." That's the shame. That's the shame. "'Til then,
nor is my boasting vain, till then I boast the Savior's slain. And oh, may this my glory be,
that Christ is not ashamed of me." Paul says, the gospel of
Christ The gospel of Christ, meaning it's His gospel. It's His gospel. Not only that
it's all about Him, that's true, but it belongs to Him. It's His. Look again in Romans
chapter 1, what Paul says there. Now, let's not read verse 2.
Just read verse 1 of chapter 1. Skip that which is in parentheses
and go to verse 3. Called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. It's His gospel. It's all about Him. Revelation
14 said, I saw an angel. with the everlasting gospel,
the everlasting gospel. There's no such thing as a Baptist
gospel, and a Catholic gospel, or a Protestant gospel, or an
Armenian gospel, or a Calvinistic gospel. No, there's only one
gospel, and it's the gospel of Jesus Christ, a person. a person. You can't preach the
gospel without preaching Christ, as every step you take from Christ
is a step you take away from the gospel, and vice versa. They're one and the same. Oh,
without Him, there is no gospel. It's the gospel, Paul says, of
Christ. I'm not ashamed of that gospel. And then, As we said, it's also
all about Him. The angels came to those shepherds
that night. We'll hear that so much this
month. And they said, Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. For behold, there is born unto
you this night, tonight, tonight, it's happened. It's just happened. There is born unto you a Savior,
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Oh, wasn't that good news? Wasn't
that good news to you when God made you aware of who He was? Remember, when you became aware,
there is a God, not like I've imagined, high and lifted up,
and at the same time, in view of who He was, you saw what you
really were. And wasn't it good news when
He bore witness to your soul? There's a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. It's He that makes it the good
news. Take Him out. and there's nothing
left. Take Christ out of the gospel
message, and you take out everything that makes it glad tidings to
needy sinners. As he told Joseph, I love this
verse. I've told you this before, I'm
sure. Joseph called his name Jesus. Joshua, the salvation
of the Lord, or the Lord of salvation, for he shall save his people
from their sins. every Christmas or around the
time. Since my children, my sons and
my daughter were old enough to sit and listen, I've read that
passage to them along with the other gospel accounts in Isaiah
9 and Isaiah 6. And now with them, when we're
able to get together, with them and their grandchildren, And
each time I do, I pray, Louie, oh Lord Jesus,
make them to understand, make them to see their needed Make
them experience the Jesus Christ that saves His people from their
sins. Reveal yourself to them. While I'm reading, I'm praying,
God, open their heart and drop your mighty grace in the gospel
of which Paul said he was not ashamed. I've got to wrap this
up. Last of all, brothers and sisters, as you can see, Paul
realized and knew that explains his conduct that Jesus Christ
had entrusted his gospel into the hands of Paul. Paul says that, doesn't he, in
another place. He's entrusted this precious
gospel, His gospel, not only into the hands of the Apostle,
but every believer, me, and you, Louis, Lester, every person,
every believer, male, female, young or old, He's entrusted
that glorious gospel into our In our day, in our generation,
we're all separated unto the gospel of God. Each of us together,
in our own capacity, in our own ability, as God grants opportunity. This is not a one-man ministry. This is our ministry together. We're not all preachers, but
we're all witnesses in that upper room. that we read of last Lord's
Day there was a hundred and twenty and they weren't all apostles
only eleven and they weren't all men there were women there
too and our Lord said your witnesses unto me as believers we've been
given this great honor in this place as I said in our own capacity
in this generation to proclaim the glorious gospel of the blessed
God. What an honor. What an honor. When we gather here, let's come
as those that are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Come
praying that God will meet with us. Come believing. Come reverently. Come as though we're coming before
the Holy God. We are. We are in His presence. I understand why there's so much
nonsense and irreverence and foolishness that goes on in free
will churches. Might as well, He's not saying
anything there worth listening to either. Oh, but not here.
Not here. No, let's come reverently. It
deserves attention. Our God deserves it. Christ deserves
it. The glorious gospel that he's
entrusted into our hands deserves it. I saw the other day, December
the 7th on the news, I'm sure you did too, it was the 70th
anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 70 years ago. And there are still men, there
were men that were there when that happened that survived that.
And what really caught my attention, Louie, was this. There were some
men who were on some of those great battleships that sunk that
are still there. You can see them. Still in the
water. There were some men that survived
that. And their desire was when they
died, they wanted their ashes to be taken. And you have to
be a survivor in order for this to take place. And there were
a few. And they did that this week. A man who was on one of
those battleships that went down to Arizona. Eleven hundred men
perished. He was on that ship and survived.
He told his family, when I die, I want my ashes taken there and
I want them placed down there with the men I served with. I
thought, my soul. And they had such a ceremony.
There was a couple just this past week. They considered it
an honor, considered it an honor to be with those that they had
served with. When I look back through history,
when I look in God's Word a man like Paul, when I visualize him
sitting in that dungeon cell saying, Timothy, the time of
my departure is at hand. The executor is at the door. It's an honor to stand up and
say, I preach the same gospel that Paul preaches. It's an honor
to be identified with those men who gave their life from the
time of Christ to the present day, who gave their life. I don't mean just martyred many
were, but give their life. They're all that preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ. I stand at the salute and say,
I'm proud to be identified with them, and I say with them, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. God bless you.