I've entitled the message for
this morning, not ashamed of the gospel. Not ashamed of the gospel. Now look in verse 13 of Romans
chapter one. Paul said, now I would not have
you ignorant brethren that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you, but
was let hitherto. I was hindered. I wanted to come,
but something hindered me. And I wanted to come that I might
have some fruit among you, even as among other Gentiles." Now,
Paul had never been to the church at Rome. He made plans many times
to come, but he was hindered or restrained. And you can be
sure that Satan did not want him there. He said in 1 Thessalonians
2.18, wherefore we would have come unto you again, Even I,
Paul, once again, but Satan hindered us. Satan is always going to
be seeking to hinder the gospel being preached. Wherever the
Lord is at work, Satan will be at work. But it's also true that
ultimately it was the Lord that kept this from taking place.
It was the Lord who kept him from coming into their presence.
And I know why. You see, through him being hindered,
he was enabled to sit down and write this great epistle to the
Romans. What blessing came from him doing
that, being hindered. We're given this great epistle
to the Romans. And in a true ministry, there's
always a desire for fruit. He said, I want to see some fruit.
People coming to know the living God and people being saved from
their sins. Now look what he says in verse
14. He says, I'm a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians,
both to the wise and to the unwise. I'm a debtor. I'm obligated. I'm a debtor to preach the gospel
to the Greeks and to the barbarians. Those are people who do not speak
Greek, both to the wise and the unwise. And that covers pretty
much every demographic, doesn't it? I'm a debtor. to all men
to preach the gospel to them. Now, if I had cancer and I found
a cure for that cancer, what kind of person would I be if
I withheld that information from people who had that disease?
That would be criminal, wouldn't it? I would be obligated, I would
be a debtor to tell those people what I know. Now, I have a disease worse than
cancer. And so do you. It's called sin. You call sin a disease? Well,
yeah, I reckon I can. In this sense, it's a disease that I have that's
all my fault. It's all my fault. And it's equally
true that I was born with this disease. And there's nothing
that I can do about this disease. There's nothing I can do to heal
myself of it. But do you know, I know the cure. I know the cure to this disease. You know, preaching is one beggar
telling another beggar where he got bread. It's a man who
is, who was healed of his disease, telling others who have the same
disease, how they can be healed. And you know, there is a certain
camaraderie among people who have the same disease. It really
is. I remember when I had Hodgkin's
disease and I'd go in for my chemotherapy and the other people
who had Hodgkin's disease, we were friends. We were interested
in one another, interested in what happened to one another.
There's a certain camaraderie of people who have the same disease.
And you know, there's a certain camaraderie of sinners. They
love one another. They have the same disease and
they have the same need of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's
a certain camaraderie there. And that's what Paul means when
he says, I'm a debtor. I've learned the cure. I've been
cured. And it's my solemn obligation
to tell all men of the cure that the Lord has given me. Verse
15, so as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel. to you that are at Rome also. I'm not going to hold back. I'm
going to tell you everything I know. All that God, all that
Christ has taught me, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. Indeed, this book of Romans,
it's the gospel. He said in another place, 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 none effect. Now he says in verse 16, for
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it, the gospel
is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believeth to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Now Paul says, first of
all, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I was thinking of Paul making
that statement. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. There are a number
of things that I am ashamed of. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of my present sinfulness. I'm not talking about the past.
I'm talking about right now. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of my
present sinfulness. I'm ashamed of the bad attitudes
that I fall into. I'm ashamed at how hypocritical
I can be. I'm ashamed of judging and being
critical. I'm ashamed of things I've done,
things I'm doing. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of things
which I've said. I'm ashamed of things which I
thought. I'm ashamed of myself. I'm ashamed. I really am. You
know, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. There were some
things Paul was ashamed of and I guarantee you he'd be saying
the same things I'm saying about himself. I'm ashamed of my sin. And you know, I'm ashamed of
what goes on under the name of Christianity. I'm ashamed of
it. I don't want to be identified
with it. You know, I, I try to keep from telling people I'm
a preacher when I'm out in public. I mean, a lot of them know it
because of TV and everything, but if I can avoid it because I know
the stuff I might have to hear afterwards, and I'm just ashamed
to be identified with what goes on under the name of God, it
bears no resemblance to the gospel of Christ. The foolishness that's
going on right now in the name of Christ, I'm ashamed of. I do not want to be identified
with it. I'm ashamed of myself. I'm ashamed of what goes on under
the name of Christ, and I'm ashamed of others. I'm ashamed of seeing
some believers that should be so mature act so immature and
ungracious, petty and self-willed. I mean,
there are believers who ought to be much more mature in grace.
that I'm ashamed of. I'm ashamed to see some believers
grow smaller in grace, less faithful, less zealous, yet vindicating
and justifying themselves the whole time, putting the blame
anywhere but themselves. And that is shameful. Shameful. And when you see that
in people who ought to be manifest in grace, and then they act so
contrary. I'm ashamed of that. But I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. And
I'm ashamed of what goes on under the name of religion. And I'm
ashamed of the immaturity some people who ought not be that
way demonstrate. But I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's a glorious gospel, and I'm
proud of it. I'm proud of the gospel, I believe. Proud of it. It's a gospel that
glorifies and honors God. And it's a gospel that fits my
needs perfectly. It's a gospel of pure, free grace. And that's the gospel I need.
And I am proud of the gospel. Now, from this scripture, I want
to say six things about the gospel of which I am not ashamed. First, it is a definitive gospel. It is THE gospel. Definite article, THE gospel
of Christ. It's a gospel that can be defined. Now, if I can't define my hope,
my hope's no good. It's a gospel that can be defined. It's THE gospel of Christ. Look in Romans chapter one, verse
one, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle. separated under the gospel of
God, which he had promised to for by his prophets in the holy
scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now that's
the gospel, the gospel of God, the gospel of the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now the gospel, let me say this
first of all, there's not a more important point than this. The
gospel is not about you. You know, false religion begins
right here. Man and his need of God and God's
ability to fulfill those needs. Now that has nothing to do with
the true gospel. The gospel doesn't begin with
man and God's ability to fulfill his needs. The gospel is the
gospel of Christ. It is about Him who He is. He's the God-man. It's about
what He did. He was made flesh. God became
a man. And what did He do in the flesh? He fulfilled God's law perfectly. He glorified His Father. In the flesh, He died. And you
know what He did by that death? He put away the sins of everybody
He died for. He was raised from the dead because
He finished what He did. God accepted what He did. And
right now, He's seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling
and reigning We're in His hands. He's the King. He's the Lord
of Lords. He's the King of Kings. And He's coming again as a mighty
reigning King. It's the gospel of Christ. It's
concerning Him. And beloved, it is good news. It's the gospel. That's what
the word gospel means. Good news. Now, listen. Listen
real carefully to this. The Bible teaches that men, me
and you, are dead in scenes and can do absolutely nothing to
save ourselves. That's what the Bible teaches.
Not one thing you can do to save yourself. You're in God's hands.
It's up to Him as to whether or not you'll be saved. You don't
have any control of this. Now, somebody says, where's that
good news? You know it is good news. And
here's how it's good news. It's good news because it tells
me now God acts in grace. If salvation were by works in
any way, that wouldn't be good news to me. Not good news at
all, but you tell me that God saves by grace, there's nothing
I can do to be saved, but now God operates by grace, that's
good news. I love that. I love to be told
that I can't save myself. If that's all I was told, that
wouldn't be good news. But if I was told the rest of
the gospel, to be told that God freely elected a people to salvation,
that's good news. To find that Christ died for
the elect and accomplished their salvation, that's good news.
to hear that the grace of the Holy Spirit is irresistible and
invincible. That's good news to me because
that's the only way I can be saved. I need God to let me. I need Christ to die for me.
I need God the Holy Spirit to call me irresistibly and invincibly. I need Him to enable me to persevere.
It's good news to me to hear that He does. This isn't Calvinism or doctrine. This is
the Gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we give the historical
facts of the gospel. We speak of his life, his death,
his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, and his present
reign. And we tell why it is good news. Now, the gospel is
a hope that a man can explain. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter eight. I'll look forward to getting to this when
we, as we preach through Romans, but, but here, here's the good
news. Verse 31, what should we then
say to these things? If God be for us. who can be
against us. Now, what things was he speaking
of when he said, what should we say with regard to these things? We'll look up in verse 28. And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose
for whom he did for know. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified,
and whom he justified, then he also glorified. Look at the completeness
of that. Is that good news to you? Or
what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? There's nothing to be intimidated
by. If God be for us, if God's for me, Who can be against
me? And look what he says next. Verse
32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not? What could
possibly prevent him from freely giving us all things? That's
good news, isn't it? There's nothing that could prevent
God's blessing upon me. Nothing that can prevent it.
What it says next, verse 33, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? There's nothing to accuse me
of. You know the reason people are afraid of death? Because
of sin. That's the only reason anybody's
afraid of death really is because of sin. But if I don't have to
deal with sin, if there's nothing to accuse me of, I have nothing
to fear, do I? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer I need. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than it's risen again. Who is even at the right hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Now that's my hope. That's my
hope. That's a hope a man can explain.
Now do I understand it all? No. No, I don't claim to be able
to really intellectually grasp anything I believe. I just believe
it. I didn't believe it. And it's good news. So first
of all, it's the gospel. It's a gospel a man can define.
It's definable, the definite article, the gospel of Christ. And here's my second point. The
gospel is an objective message. The gospel that can be defined
from the word of God, the gospel of Christ is an objective message. It's not subject to what men
think. It, the gospel, the objective
gospel, that's not subject to man's thoughts and ideas and
so on. It, is the power of God unto salvation. Not our attempts at making it
culturally relevant, not the loving way we present it, or
it being bathed in our tears. It by itself is the power of
God unto salvation. The gospel is an objective message. It is what it is. And it's not
subject to what you or I think, feel, agree, or disagree. It is what it is. Whatever it
was before time began, it is now. Whatever it is now, it always
will be. It's an absolutely objective
message. Somebody says, God said it. I
believe it. That settles it. No, God said
it. That settles it. It's not subject
to what you believe or what I believe or what somebody else believes.
It's an absolutely, I love this. That's comforting, isn't it?
If it was subject to what you think or what I think, I wouldn't
have any comfort in that. But no, it's an objective message. It is what it is. It, the gospel,
not my ability to bring it, not my ability to persuade you, not
my ability to preach. None of that has anything to,
it, the gospel, is the power of God. unto salvation. Now my job is to preach the gospel. I want you to look at this passage
of scripture with me. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Hold your finger there in Romans
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul says, And I, brethren, when
I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. I didn't come that way,
for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. That was my attitude about myself.
I didn't come in some haughty, arrogant way. And my speech and
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. I wasn't
trying to give you plausible arguments to make things understandable.
I was just declaring the gospel. My speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power that your face should not stand in
the wisdom of men. but in the power of God. My job is to preach the gospel,
not to try to make it more attractive. Just tell it and trust God to
take care of the results. And you know, he does. He does. It's an objective message. Aren't you thankful for that?
It's an objective message. But thirdly, The gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, turn back to Romans chapter one is an omnipotent
message. It's a powerful message. Look
at this verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the power of God. Now there is only one power. Do you realize that? I think it's amusing the way
people think of men and women as being powerful men and powerful
women. It's kind of amusing, isn't it? I think of Pilate coming up to
the Lord. I love this passage of scripture.
It almost makes my spine tingle every time I think about it.
Pilate saying, Speaketh thou not to me? Don't you know that
I have power to crucify you, and I have power to release you?
And the Lord says, you could have no power at all over me,
except it be given thee from above. You see, power belongeth
unto the Lord. He is all powerful. And like I said, I think it was
Wednesday night, he has a monopoly on power. He has a complete monopoly
on power. He has all power, and his gospel
is the powerful gospel. It's the mighty power of God.
Christ, the power of God. Now, power. It is the power of God into salvation. Now, when we think of the power
of God, there's three things I think of. I say it all the
time. First of all, I think of creation. God spake the universe
into existence. What power! He didn't have anything
to work with. And He spake the universe into
existence. There was nothing. He said, Light
be! And light was. Now that is mighty
power. His great work of creation. Which mirrors His work of salvation.
You know, in salvation. We don't have anything to do
with it. It's His work and His work alone, just like in creation.
The next thing I think of when I think of the power of God,
I think of the power of His providence. Do you know everything that happens? He is in complete control of
everything. If you talk about the physical
universe, if you talk about a dust particle flying through the air,
it's going according to His purpose and plan. If you talk about a
sparrow falling from the ground that nobody else knows about,
it falls out of the tree into the ground, dies, it doesn't
do it without your Heavenly Father. Everything that happens in your
life, every event that takes place, He is in control of because
He is the God of providence. Providence is merely him working
out in time what he purposed in eternity. Everything. Now,
that's powerful. And you know, it's not hard to
the Lord either. You know, we think, how can we cover everything?
Well, it's not hard to him. He's God. He's all powerful. He controls everything. And then
most especially when I think of power, I think of his power
in salvation. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. That means it's his work. He's
got the power to take somebody like me. With no help, with no
contribution from me, he's got the power to take somebody like
me and make me just like his son. Now, the power of God, only
God can make something to be what it was not. I was not holy. I was not righteous. God, by
the gospel, made me to be what I was not, holy and righteous. Only God can make something that
is to not be. You know, as I understand it,
Matter cannot be destroyed. Once matter's in the universe,
it's there for good. It may change forms. I mean, wood, fire may
be burnt, turned to ash, the energy goes somewhere else. It
may change forms, but matter itself cannot be destroyed. That's
something only God can do, is make matter to not be. Can't
be done by anything else. Well, do you know God takes that
which is my sin and makes it to not be. to where it is no
more. That is what the gospel does
and what mighty power is involved in something like that. The gospel,
the gospel that can be defined, the gospel of Christ, the objective
message of the gospel, it, the gospel, is the very power of
God. It's an omnipotent gospel. And
I know that God's will is going to be done. I know God's going
to have his way. When preachers say, won't you
let Jesus have his way? Let me assure you, he has his way. He
has his way. His will is always done. And
if you're one of his, he's going to save you. There's nothing
you can do to prevent it. Isn't that glorious? It's the powerful,
omnipotent gospel. It is the power of God. Aren't you proud of that gospel?
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not. I love the gospel of
Christ. I'm proud of it. It is the power
of God. And here's the fourth point.
It's the power of God unto salvation. It's a saving gospel. It's a saving gospel. It's the gospel that saves. Now, I want us to pretend that
we've never read this passage of scripture before, but would
you turn to Ephesians chapter two and just pretend that you've
never heard this before? It's the power of God and to
salvation. It's a saving gospel. Verse one. And you. hath he quickened, given
life to who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, when you look
at a dead body, a corpse, there's no life in it. It can't do anything. Well, a natural man is dead in
sins. He can't do anything to save
himself. Now, Paul says, wherein in times past You walked according
to the course of this world. According to the prince of the
power of the air, you are under the control of the devil, the
spirit that even now works in the children of disobedience.
I think of what our Lord said to the Pharisees. He said, you're
of your father, the devil and the lust of your father. You'll
do. He was a murderer from the beginning. He bowed, bowed, not
the truth. That's what every natural man is. And Paul says
in verse 3, among whom also we all had our conversation in times
past, in the lusts, the desires, the cravings of our flesh, fallen
human nature, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the
mind. And we were by nature the children of wrath, wrathful,
evil children, just like everybody else, but God. There's the gospel right there.
But God, not that you turned things around, not that you decided
to accept Jesus as your personal savior, not that you turned around
and straightened up and started flying right now. But God. There's my salvation. But God. Who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace are you
what saved saved this is a saving gospel In Matthew chapter 1 verse
21 it says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save
His people from their sins. This is a saving gospel. And
that's exactly what He did. He saved His people. I was talking about myself. being
ashamed of myself, and I am. Do you know all that stuff I'm
ashamed of? It doesn't exist. Christ put
it away. I've been saved from my sins.
I'm not gonna be condemned for them. I'm not going to have to stand
before God and judge me. What about the judgment of the
believers? There's no such thing. They were judged on the cross.
I'm not going to stand on judgment day and be embarrassed. You're
going to bring up the bad things that I've done. No, it's put
away. I've been saved from my sin. I've been saved from the
power of my sin. Not only am I saved from the
condemnation, I'm saved from the power. What's that mean? There's a time when I couldn't
believe, didn't know what it meant to believe. Couldn't repent,
didn't know what it meant to repent. Couldn't love, didn't
know what it meant, mean to love. But now I do because I've been
saved from the power of sin in regeneration, in the new birth.
I'm no longer dead in sins. I've got spiritual life. I've
been saved from the power of sins. And one of these days,
I'm already saved from the presence of sin in Christ. But one of
these days, I'm going to experience it. You know one of the things
I said to Wilma last week? I said, Wilma, I said, very soon,
you're going to be looking in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ
and you're not even going to remember what it is to be a sinner. And you're going to look at his
wounds. You're going to see the wounds of Christ. And even then,
when you don't remember what it is to be a sinner, you're
going to know the only reason you're there is because of his
wounds. That's the only reason. Isn't that wonderful to be saved
from your sins? It's a saving gospel. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. And it's a discriminating, distinguishing
gospel. He doesn't say it's the power
of God to salvation to everyone, does he? Because it's not the
power of God unto salvation to everybody. There is a place called
hell. Not everybody's saved. It's the power of God to salvation
to everyone that believeth. Not to everyone, all men without
exception, but to everyone that believeth. It's the power of
God only to those who believe. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. Not to everyone,
but to everyone that believeth. There is no promise to those
who do not believe. The scripture says in Acts 13,
48, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And did you hear what was said?
as many as were ordained to eternal life. That's not an election.
What did they all do? They believed. The Lord said
to the Pharisees, he said, you believe not because you're not
of my sheep, as I said unto you. He didn't say you're not my sheep
because you don't believe. He said you don't believe because
you're not of my sheep. You see, it's the gospel of God. It's
a discriminating, distinguishing gospel. And somebody, why would
you use a word like discriminating? I mean, that's a bad word. Well,
It explains what we're talking about. God makes a difference.
Who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have
that you didn't receive? Now, if you've received it, why
do you glory? You see, who distinguishes you? Who makes a difference? I think
of that passage in Exodus chapter 11, verse 7, where God said concerning
the children of Israel, but against the children of Israel shall
not a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, so that you may
know that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
It's a distinguishing gospel. And thank God it is, because
if it wasn't, none of us would be saved. Remember this about
God's distinguishing grace. This gives hope for the chief
of sinners. Don't think this is bad. This is good. This is
good news. It's a discriminating gospel
and it's a message to be believed. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, even though this gospel
is a discriminating, distinguishing gospel and by that, The Bible
means that God elected a particular people and he made a difference
with them, and Christ died for the elect and accomplished their
salvation, and the Holy Spirit calls them and gives them life.
All that being said, you don't need to worry as to whether or
not you're one of the elect. You really don't. What you need
to do is believe. You are commanded to believe.
Now, all I said was true about God's discriminating grace. But
what you need, you don't need to worry about whether or not
you're one of the elect. What you do is call upon the
name of the Lord. Ask the Lord to save you. Good
Lord, save me. Don't say, I'm afraid I'm not
one of the elect. What if I'm not? Well, what if you are? There's
about as much in you as anybody else that would cause God to
save you. And that's nothing. It's nothing in you. It's in
him. And this is good news. And lastly, the gospel of Christ
is a revealing gospel. Turn back to Romans chapter one.
For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, the gospel,
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein, in the gospel,
is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith, as it's
written, the just shall live by faith. It's a gospel of revelation. Understand this about the gospel.
We'd never known it unless God was pleased to make it known.
It's a gospel of revelation. What would you know of God? What
would I know of God if he wasn't pleased to make himself known? Now, he makes himself known in
this book and you and I can't possibly understand what this
book is saying unless he makes known to us what this book is
saying by him revealing himself to us. Aren't you thankful for
revelation? It's a gospel of revelation. It comes from God. And what is revealed? Now, I
think this is interesting. If you would ask the average
religious person, what is it that the gospel reveals? How
would they answer it? The love of God. The love of
God. That's what the gospel reveals,
the love of God. Now, the love of God certainly
is in the gospel, but that's not the word Paul used. He didn't
say it reveals the love of God, although indeed it does, but
he says the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. Now that's what Paul said under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the righteousness of God. You
read the book of Acts. There we have the Acts of the
Apostles. There we have the preaching of the Apostles. And how many
times in those sermons is the love of God mentioned in the
Acts of the Apostles? You might find this interesting.
Not once. It's implied, certainly. I wouldn't
dare. I mean, the love of God is the
foundation of the Gospel. We love Him because He first
loved us. God so loved the world that He
sent His Son, that He gave His Son, His only begotten Son. Here
in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. But
when Paul is speaking of what the Gospel reveals, what does
he mention? Therein in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Hold
your finger there in Romans 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now, two things I see in that
verse. These people were not saved.
Whatever else you can say about it, they were not saved. And
Paul desired their salvation. And look what he goes on to say.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. He's talking
about the God of the Bible. They have a zeal for God. They're
not irreligious. They're very religious and very
zealous about what they believe, but not according to knowledge. for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. Now here's something that you
and I must come to have some understanding of. God's righteousness. Why is there a place called hell? One answer to that. God is righteous. That's why. God is righteous. Why did Christ die? Because God is righteous. It was an act of the righteousness
and justice of God against sin. Now, you can't talk about righteousness
and talk about some kind of acceptance of sin. It's not there, not with
righteousness. The sins of God's elect became
the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ. He took my sin and my sorrow
and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Why? Why did Christ die? Because God is righteousness.
Oh, how we see the righteousness of God in the death of his son. Why does God save sinners? Because
God is merciful, yes. Because God is love, yes. But
that's not the first answer. Because God is righteous. You see, the righteousness of
God demands the salvation of everybody for whom Christ died. You see, my sin was paid for.
It's gone. It's wiped away. Christ's righteousness
is given to me. I am now the very righteousness
of God and the very righteousness of God himself demands my salvation. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is the power of God into salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for their
end in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. Now, Paul says,
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness, Romans 10, three
and going about to establish their own righteousness. Something
that they think that will make God obligated. I did this Lord.
I did that. You need to save me. That means
God, you're dead. Or if that's the case, God's
in debt to no man. They, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Now, have you and I submitted ourselves to the righteousness
of God? That means you submit yourself
to his righteousness in your condemnation. But it also means you submit
yourself to his righteousness in your salvation. You're saved
by His righteousness. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Are you ashamed of that? You
know, I'm not. And you know, the only way I prove that is
by preaching it. I preach the gospel I believe.
I believe, therefore, have I spoken. A man doesn't believe any more
than he declares publicly and preaches. I prove I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ by preaching the gospel of Christ. You prove
you're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ when you believe the
gospel of Christ and you identify yourself with the gospel of Christ.
Now, one last scripture I want to look at. Turn to 2 Timothy
chapter 1. Paul says in verse 8 to Timothy, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. You know when you're ashamed
of something, you're afraid to speak of it publicly. You're
ashamed. You don't want to be identified
with it. He says, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me, his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. And those next
verses are such a beautiful summary of the gospel. He saved us. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works. but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior,
Jesus Christ, who had abolished death and brought life and immortality
to life through the gospel, where into I'm appointed a preacher
and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
Even though I'm suffering these things, I'm not ashamed, for
I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Now
you hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard
of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus, that good
thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost,
which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they
which are in Asia be turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus
and Hermogenes. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus, for he offer fresh me, He wasn't ashamed
of my shame. He wasn't ashamed to be identified
with me, even though I had everybody on me, Paul says. Now, may we
not be ashamed of the gospel, not ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord, not ashamed of suffering these things for the gospel of
Christ. You know, I don't want to suffer these
things for me being a jerk. you know, just through my conduct
and actions or arrogant attitude, people being offended by what
I say. I don't want to. I don't want that. But I do not
want. I want to preach the gospel in
such a way as the unbeliever hates my guts for it. because
that's biblical, isn't it? That's biblical. I don't want
to make, I don't want to make, you know, I'm not, I'm not trying
to win friends and influence people. I want to tell the truth
where those who don't believe will hate me for it. And those
who do believe will love me for it. I don't want to be ashamed
of the gospel and I don't want to be ashamed of Paul's change.
I want change. I want to cast my lot with those
who believe and preach the gospel and not be ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein
in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Let's pray
together.