Verse 16, Paul said, I am not
ashamed. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Many years ago, a young communist left an Eastern
university and traveled to Mexico. He went there to labor among
the people of Mexico and spread communism. He wrote a letter to his fiancée,
breaking off their engagement, and this is what he said in the
letter. He said, there is one thing about
which I am in dead earnest. And that is the cause of communism. Communism is my life, my business,
my hobby, my sweetheart, my family, my bread, and my drink. I think of it in the daytime
and I dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens,
as time goes by. I cannot carry on a friendship,
a love affair, or a conversation without relating it to communism,
for communism drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books,
ideas and action according to that person or that book's attitude
toward communism. I'm ready to die for communism. You say, why did that appeal
to you and why did you read it? Well, it appealed to me and I
read it because if you read that letter again and put the name
of Christ everywhere the word communism appears and you'll
have an idea, just an idea, of Paul's dedication to Jesus Christ
and what ought to be my dedication to Christ. Let's look at it again. There's one thing about which
I'm in dead earnest and that is the cause of Christ. Christ is my life. my business,
my hobby, my sweetheart, my family, my bread, my drink. I think of
him in the daytime and I dream of him at night. His hold on
me grows, not lessens, as time goes by. I cannot carry on a
friendship, that is, a lasting friendship, a love affair, or
a conversation without relating it to Christ and his gospel.
For Christ and his gospel drives me and guides my life, and I
evaluate people, books, ideas, and actions according to their
attitude toward Christ. I'm ready to die for Christ."
That's what he said over here in the book of Acts. If you'll
turn to Acts 21. Acts 21. Now, what I'm saying
is this. If a person is that much in love
with Christ and the gospel of Christ, he'll never be ashamed
of Christ. There's no way. There's no one
before whom he can be ashamed. He's not ashamed of Christ before
God. He's not ashamed of Christ before
men if he loves Christ more than he loves men. He's not ashamed
of Christ before his family and friends or even his enemies because
he counts them as nothing that he may win Christ and be found
in him. So you can't say I'm not ashamed
of the gospel until you can to some extent say that Christ is
my life. Acts 21 verse 13, Paul answered,
they tried to get him not to go to Jerusalem. They said he
was going to be killed there, verse 12, and they tried to get
him not to go. And he said in verse 13, Paul
answered, what mean ye to weep and to break my heart? Why are
you doing this? I'm ready not to be bound only, that is in
prison, but I'm ready to die at Jerusalem for the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the young man said.
I'm ready to die for communism. Paul said, I'm ready to die for
the gospel. I'm ready. Go back to our text
in verse 15. Paul said I'm, in verse 15, so
much as in me is I'm ready, I'm ready to preach the gospel. To
Rome, the mightiest city, the most wicked city, the most violent
city, I'm ready to preach the gospel there. For he says I'm
also ready to die for Christ in Jerusalem or Rome, it doesn't
matter. He said, I'm ready to be offered. I'm ready to be offered
up as a martyr for the glory of Jesus Christ. Bishop J.C. Rowe wrote this on this same
subject. He said, the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And we say the gospel of Jesus
Christ, we're talking about the gospel of God, the gospel of
his grace, the gospel of his glory. I'm not talking about
just an offer. I'm not talking about a proposition.
I'm talking about a clear declaration of a revelation of God's redemptive
mercies in Jesus Christ. I'm talking about a full and
effectual and sufficient sacrifice, righteousness, and everything
to be found in him. I'm talking about the gospel
concerning a person and his work, from his suretyship to his intercession,
to his eternal glory, all of it in Christ. Christ is all.
Christ is all. Christ is all. And he says this
gospel of Christ is the strength of the minister. The ambassador
of God has nothing for the hearer if he does not preach the gospel. I'm not talking about a gospel
or some gospel or any gospel. I'm talking about this gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. And there is no other gospel.
Paul said if any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. Let him go to hell, let him be
under the wrath and judgment of God, any other gospel. Bishop
Riles said, a man without the gospel, a preacher without the
gospel is like a soldier without a gun. He's a useless person.
A preacher without the gospel of God's grace is like an artist
without a brush. He's like a pilot without a compass. He's like a laborer without tools.
Let others if they will, drench their congregations with social
reform and good works and the terrors of hell and even the
joys of heaven, give me the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For
in that gospel, you have the only hope for the hopeless. In
that gospel, you have the only grace for the guilty. In that
gospel you have the only rest for the weary. It is the only
message that will turn men from sin to God. If the gospel of Christ won't
save, nothing will. If the gospel of Christ won't
lift, nothing will. A man may begin his ministry
with a keen knowledge of history, of the law, of the languages
and of the history of religion, but he'll do no good for anybody
until he personally in his heart learns the gospel and is enabled
by the Holy Spirit with clearness, plainness, and power to present
that gospel, because the Holy Spirit was given of God to bless
the preaching of the gospel. He takes the things of Christ
and reveals them to us. God the Father has committed
himself to honor those who honor the Son. Now, it's not blasphemy
for me to say there's some things God can't do. I don't care for
sermons like that, three things God can't do. I've even preached
them, but I'm not too happy with the title. But it's not blasphemy
to say there are things God can't do. The Scripture says God can't
lie. Doesn't that say that in the
Scripture? God cannot lie. because it's contrary to his
nature. And there's some things that God Almighty won't do and
can't do because they're contrary to his justice and his righteousness. Three things to be exact. Number
one, God cannot justify a sinner. And this is, Joe, what you dealt
with in your message Wednesday night two weeks ago. God cannot,
cannot, because of his holiness and righteousness, justify a
sinner. He cannot, without his law being
perfectly honored and his justice perfectly satisfied, he cannot
justify a sinner. He just cannot. God cannot, any
more than God cannot lie, God cannot justify a sinner. That's
the reason Job kept asking and Bildad asked and others asked,
how can man be just with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? It can't be. It's impossible
with men. God cannot justify a sinner without
his law being perfectly honored, his justice satisfied. He cannot.
Secondly, God cannot speak to. God cannot be spoken to. God
cannot communicate with in any shape, form, or fashion a sinner,
a son of Adam. apart from a suitable priest
with a sufficient sacrifice. It's impossible. And the Old
Testament tabernacle tells us that. When the wrong man went
into the Holy of Holies, they drug him out dead. When a person
went into the holy place with strange fire, they drug him out
dead. When a person went before God
who wasn't supposed to with a wrong sacrifice, they drug him out
dead. It cannot be. It's got to be
God's appointed priest at God's appointed time with God's appointed
sacrifice that's true to his holy character. That's a fulfillment
of every picture, prophecy, and type, and that is Christ. We
have a suitable sacrifice and a sufficient priest, and that
is in Christ. Now the third thing, God cannot,
listen to me, and I say this, I trust soberly And with great
care, it's something God cannot do. God has pledged himself to
honor his son. And God has pledged himself to
honor those who honor the son. And God has pledged himself to
destroy those who despise the son. It's all in Christ. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God shall not see life. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath life, he that believeth not the Son
of God hath not life, the wrath of God abideth on him. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not
shall be damned. D-A-M-N-E-D, damned, just like
it is. God has pledged himself to honor
his Son and to honor those who honor the Son. This is a place
where we better exercise the most extreme caution and care. What think ye of Christ? Heaven
and hell hinge on that question, what think ye of Christ? I don't
care how sentimental you are or emotional you are, there's
not a nickel's worth of difference in men and women, boys and girls
anywhere. They're all fallen dead sons
of Adam. And whether you're religious
or not religious, whether you're emotional or not emotional, whether
you're sentimental or not sentimental, whether you're Baptist or Methodist,
whether you're Catholic or a Jew, whatever you are, you're just
a fallen son of Adam in the flesh. And Almighty God loves men, chooses
men, receives men, honors men, saves men in Christ, through
Christ, by Christ, because of Christ, and that's where the
whole blooming issue is decided. And you can play church the rest
of your life if you want to. You can memorize the dead letter.
You can march in cadence with the world. You can march in conformity. You can line up with the religious.
You can build your colleges and your clubs and your churches
and all cathedrals and all these other things. God has put all
his eggs in one basket. His name's Christ. He loves Christ. He honors Christ. He looks to
Christ. He receives Christ. And outside
of Christ, he's a consuming fire. That's where it is. Do what you
want to with it. But God Almighty cannot justify
a sinner without his holy law being satisfied, his justice
honored. And Christ did it, and he's the
only one who ever did do it, and the only one who ever will
do it. And that's where it all is. The only time God ever was
pleased with the flesh is when he looked at Christ and said,
this is my son. In him I'm pleased. In the flesh no man can please
God. You've never pleased God by anything you said, thought,
or did. Did you know that? Never! Never, outside of Christ. That's so. And Almighty God cannot
deal with, I don't care how we pray, I don't care how old grandma
is, or how sweet grandma is, or grandpa, I don't care how
frail they are, I don't care how many good works you've done,
God's never spoken to, or been spoken to by, or had any communion
with, any son of Adam, no matter how gray their hair, or how blonde
their hair, how old or how young, how religious or irreligious,
God has no dealings with men apart from Christ. Our great
high priest with that suitable atonement and sacrifice. He doesn't
look your way. You're a smoke in his nostril.
You're a stench to God. He says your lukewarmness makes
me vomit. I want nothing to do with you.
He loves Christ. He honors Christ. That's right. If you're in Christ, you got
a shot at glory. But outside of Christ, you don't
have a chance of a snowball in a Manda Blass furnace. That's
just it. The third thing, God cannot,
God cannot condemn a man for whom Christ died. Can't do it. Romans chapter 8 says that. He
cannot. He's pledged himself. God is
under oath. He's sworn by himself. He can
swear by no greater. God's under oath. You go down
there to the, some of us got a few principles and we go down
to the court and they put that Bible out there and They lay
your right, left hand on it, raise your hand. You swear to
tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, except
you're God? I do. We sit down in the witness stand,
and the lawyer says, remember, you're under oath. And he kind
of straightens us up, you know. We're prepared to tell the truth
as we know it. Well, let me tell you this, God's
under oath. That's what he said, Charlie. He's under oath. He's
under oath. That's what it says. His oath,
his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood. And
God's under oath to Christ. And God's under oath to those
in Christ. And he cannot and he will not,
being God, send one person to hell for whom Christ died. In
Romans chapter 8, verse 34, it says, who is he that condemns? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
maketh intercession, who also maketh intercession for us. So
this is a great God. This is a great gospel. This
is a great message. This is the only message. This
is the only communication with heaven. This is the only telephone. You better use it. Only one. This is the only communication.
This is the only hope that a hopeless sinner has. This is the only
grace that a guilty sinner has. This is the only mercy the miserable
sinner has. This is the only direction. There
was only one tabernacle. There was only one high priest.
There was only one day of atonement. There was only one Paschal Lamb
slain that day. It was only one sacrifice offered. It was only one mercy seed and
one application of blood. And brother, those who weren't
in that were outside under the wrath of God. And I'm saying
right now, I know they say there are many roads to heaven. We're
all going different roads. Christ said, I'm the way. There's
one sacrifice. There's one priest. There's one
atonement. There's one offering. And that's
Jesus Christ. And I'm not ashamed of that.
Paul says he's not ashamed. He said in verse 16 Romans 1,
I'm not ashamed of this gospel. Now there's some who are ashamed.
Are there? Yeah, I think they reveal it
in the fact they don't preach it. I don't know whether it's
from fear. I don't know whether it's from
covetousness. Maybe it's a combination of both. But then some men who
do not preach the gospel of God's grace Or they're ashamed of it
and they mix works with grace. Not pure grace, but a little
grace in works too, and that can't be. You see, my salvation
is either totally by the grace of God or by works. It cannot
be both. It can't even be 98% grace and
2% works. It cannot be 99% grace and 1%
works. My salvation is all of grace.
It's the gift of God. It's freely given, or else It's
of works. It cannot be both. Then there
are the men who give people something to do. Now, I know God's grace
is available, but here's what you must do in order to make
God's works effectual. Well, look at Galatians 6. Let
me show you what Paul says here in Galatians 6. In Galatians
chapter 6, he describes these people. He says in chapter 6,
verse 12, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh. That's their desire, to make
a show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised. They constrain you to be baptized.
They constrain you to take a visible sign, or a visible step, or a
visible act, or a visible work. It's all of grace, but you have
to be circumcised, or you have to be baptized, or you have to
do something else. And these people, he said, do
this to make a show, to make a visible show in the flesh.
Read on. And here's the reason. Lest they
suffer persecution for grace, for the cross, for the effectual
work of the cross. That's the reason they do it.
It's got to take your stand. You've got to say over here that
we're redeemed by the blood. We're saved by the blood. We're
reconciled by the blood. We're God's children by the grace
of God through Christ. We're entirely passive in this
matter of the justification of our souls. It's all of Christ
from Alpha to Omega. And folks won't have that. You
see, the gospel's offensive. Right over across the page in
Galatians 5.11, Paul calls it the offense. the offense, the
offensiveness. What's something offensive? Well,
it's something that doesn't appeal to you, something that's nauseous. It's offensive. A bad smell is
offensive. A bad sound is offensive. And
this gospel's offensive. Paul says in Galatians 5.11,
and our brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, if that's what
I'm preaching, baptism, church membership, circumcision, all
of these things, if I preach that, requiring you to do these
things. Now, everything has its proper
place. We're not discounting baptism.
We're not discounting the Lord's table. We're not discounting
identification with the church. Man's fool think we are. But
in this matter of justification before God, we are subtracting
everything but Christ. It's all in Him. And that's where
Paul, if I preach circumcision, If I preach these things, then
why do I suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross
is ceased. There's no offense. Give a man
something to do, and it ceases to be offensive. The gospel of
pure grace, of it's a gift of God, it's by the sovereign grace
of God, it's the free and sovereign work of God, it's all in Christ.
I'm a beggar, I'm a bum, I'm an empty vessel. God even made
the vessel and filled it with his grace. That's offensive. Well, just say over here, well,
God's grace saved, but we do these things. And that takes
the offense off. Paul said no persecution there.
And let me tell you this, you take this down at least in your
mind. The offense of the cross is fourfold. Yes, it's fourfold. Number one, when you address,
when you address all people, All people. I'm not talking about
just the drunkard and the harlot and the liar and the blasphemer
and the thief and the murderer. I'm talking about all people,
all sons of... When you address everybody as a sinner, as a defiled
sinner, as a depraved sinner, as a sinner who's come short
of the glory of God. I offended a lady recently in
a Bible conference. I know I offended her. Her whole
attitude changed towards me. When I compared the ladies in
the congregation to some ladies in the scripture, you know, that
were fallen, and she got offended. People do get offended. They
get offended. But when you address everybody
as a sinner in the sight of God, it's offensive. That's just so. We are better than some folks.
Yes, we are. We just know we are. We just
have to be, you know. No, we're not. In the flesh dwelleth
no good thing. They're all the same. There's
no difference. That's what the Bible says. No difference between
Jew and Gentile. They're all under sin. All we
like sheep have gone astray. None good. No, not one. None
righteous. None that understand. None. No. No. Not one. Oh, that's offensive. I know it, but that's still so.
And then when we preach the gospel, this gospel of grace, coming
to sinners as a revelation, Not from education, but revelation. It has to be revealed that God
elected a people, and God predestinated a people to be like Christ, and
God will show mercy to whom He will, and harden whom He will,
be gracious to whom He will, and merciful to whom He will.
And the natural man receive it, not the things of God. They're
foolishness to him. Neither can he know them. They're
spiritually understood. He's not spiritual. He's flesh.
And he's an enemy, his mind is an enemy against God. And he
can understand ABCs, and 2 and 2 is 4, and he can understand
history, and understand geography, and understand construction,
but he can't understand grace. That offends his wisdom. Don't
tell me I can't read the Bible and get as much out of it as
anybody else. Well, I'm telling you that. I'm telling you apart
from the Holy Spirit's revelation You can get a lot of foolishness
out of the Bible, but no fact. You can get a lot of error, but
no truth, as it is in Christ. And then the doctrine of the
atonement, the sufficiency of Christ's atonement, offends man's
pride. It surely does. It offends his
pride. You mean there's... Christ did it all? We sing that,
but we don't believe it. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin left her crimson stain. He
washed it white as snow. We just sing that. But we really
don't believe it. We really don't believe it. He
did it all. A-L-L, all. All my righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption. I'll tell you the fourth thing
that offends man's love of self, and that is the exaltation of
Christ. God has exalted him and given
him a name above every name. Now, we like to exalt ourselves.
We like to see our name in print. We like to see our name on plaques
on the pulpit in the pews. We like to see our names on the
windows. We like to see our names in the bulletin. We like to be
bragged on and praised. I'm telling you this, God said
in all things, he has the preeminence. He, all the crowns on his head,
all the crowns are at his feet. It's just human nature for man
to want something, some recognition for himself. Well, let others
do what they will. Let them compromise with men
or compromise with programs. Let them take the edge off the
cross of Christ's word of fiends. Let them seek the applause of
the world. Let them become obsessed with
crowds and success. Let them apologize for God's
justice and holiness. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. And I'll give you five quick
reasons, and then I'll close. Five reasons why I'm not ashamed
of the gospel. here five quick reasons. Number
one, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. I believe I've properly
identified I properly identified it. This gospel of God's sovereign
grace, I'm talking about, if you want to talk about five points,
if you want to call it Calvinism, if you want to call it sovereign
grace, if you want to call it the doctrine of the reformers,
if you want to call it first century theologies, call it by
any name you want to call it. I'm not ashamed of the free grace
and gospel of God in Christ. I'm not ashamed of its author.
I'm not ashamed of its guarantor. I'm not ashamed of its revelator. I'm not ashamed of its message. I'm not ashamed. And whether
I preach to this church or whatever church, to the royalty or to
the rebellious or to the parliament or to the prisoners, wherever
I preach it, I'm saying I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God's
grace. Are you ashamed of it? Not ashamed. If you are, there's a reason.
There's a reason. And that main reason is you haven't
come to know it, either yourself or it yet. But first of all,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel because verse 1, Romans 1, says
it's the gospel of God. It's God's gospel. I'm not ashamed
of that which originated with God. I'm not ashamed of that. Paul said, I'm a servant, I'm
a bond slave, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ, I'm called to be
an apostle, and I'm separated, dedicated, obsessed with the
gospel of God. I'm not ashamed of that which
began with him, that which was born of his love and born of
his mercy and born of his grace. It's the gospel of God. In verse
2, he said it's that old gospel. It's Moses' gospel. It's Abel's
gospel. It's Abraham's gospel. It's Isaiah's
gospel. It's the gospel which he promised
and purposed and planned and prophesied and pictured through
the old prophets in the Holy Scripture. I'm not ashamed of
the gospel, verse 3, because it's concerning his son. It's
not concerning your walk in an hour. It's not concerned with
your teaching a class. It's not concerned with your
doing good work. It's concerned with his son.
That's who this gospel is concerned with, taken up with. It's his
son. A man doesn't preach the gospel
unless he preaches Christ. And I'm not saying preaching
about Christ. I'm saying preaching Christ. Most preachers in this world
have never preached the gospel in their lives. They preached
about it, but they never preached it. They've never preached Christ. It says, and I'm not ashamed
of the gospel because it's concerning his son. Look at verse 3. His
son was made of the flesh, made of the seed of David according
to the flesh. Listen to me. Our God became
a man of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, the family
of David. He was made of the seed of David. Who is this man Jesus Christ?
He's God in human flesh. He's Almighty God in human flesh.
And verse 4 says, And he was determined, or declared, or revealed
to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit who dwelt
upon him, and in him the Spirit of holiness without limit. By
the resurrection from the dead he died, he was buried, and God
Almighty raised him from the dead. And when he came out of
that tomb, the voice of God says, This is my son. Everything that
he said, everything that he did, I've accepted. Come up here and
sit on my right hand that I make your enemies your footstool.
Verse 5, this gospel is by whom or because of Christ that we
have received grace. Not because what God saw in me.
Not because of what God saw I would do. Not because of what God saw
he could get out of me. Nothing about me Nothing within
me, nothing concerning me attracted one atom of God's attention. God looked at Christ, and it's
in Christ and by Christ that God's full grace, not a part
of His grace, but the full measure of God's grace was put upon us
because of Christ. That's what it says, by whom
we have received grace. And verse 6 says, among whom
are you also the call of Christ Jesus. Is that clear what I'm
saying? That's the reason I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because
it's God's gospel. It's God's gospel. The gospel
means good news, glad tidings. It's God's gospel. This is God's
gospel. Now, Baptists have a gospel, and the Catholics have a gospel,
and the Jews have a gospel, and the Lutherans have a gospel,
and the Methodists have a gospel, and the Holy Rollers have got
a gospel. Everybody's got a gospel, but this is God's gospel. And
I'm ashamed of all that other stuff. I'm thoroughly and completely
ashamed of it. I'm ashamed of any message that
any man delivers to this world and engages the attention of
folks to try to gain their way to heaven by taking certain steps.
There are no steps to heaven. The way to heaven is through
a person. Secondly, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, look at verse
16, because it's the power of God, the power of God. And that
word power, I think, is dunamis or dynamite, that which changes
the whole situation. This gospel is the power of God
to salvation. In other words, this gospel is
the seed of life. This gospel is the means of life
and regeneration. Listen to the scripture. Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. We are born again
not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible seed by the word
of God. This is what I'm saying. It's what Christ said to Nicodemus.
When we're born the first time of our earthly parents, we're
born flesh. We have life, but so do the plants. We have life, but so do the animals.
And we have a fleshly life. We have a natural life. But we're
born without God. We're born without spiritual
life. We're born dead in trespasses and sin. And it's this gospel. It's this gospel. For the gospel
is Christ. You can't separate the gospel
from Christ. He is the gospel. Whether it's
the incarnate word or the written word, Christ is the word. The
Word here is lifeless without Christ. Christ is the Word. And
so in a dead sinner, When the Holy Spirit begets spiritual
life, he does it with the gospel, see, so with the Word of God.
Of his own will, beget he us with the Word. We're born again,
not a corruptible semen, but with the Word, the seed of God.
That's the Word. The sower is the son of man,
the seed is the Word, Richard. You see, it's the Word preached.
God is chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. So when a dead sinner is begotten,
or quickened, or regenerated, or has life given to him, it's
through the word, this gospel. That's the reason I'm not ashamed
of this gospel. And you're not going to have
men regenerated, or quickened, or born again preaching law,
or preaching works, or preaching religion, or preaching Baptist
history, or preaching landmarkism, or denominationalism, or anti-Easter,
or anti-Christmas, or anti-anything else. You're going to have to
preach Christ, who is the gospel. That's where men are regenerated.
It's the power of God to salvation. Make a man a new creature. This
gospel. Somebody says, well, the world
needs education. I agree with you. I need some.
You need some. I need all I can get. But that
won't save me. That won't make me a new creature.
You can send your schoolteachers, much as we love them and much
good as they do, we got a lot of them in this service, but
listen to me. You send your schoolteachers over there to preach to the cannibals,
and you teach those cannibals how to read and write, and they'll
write a new recipe on roasted schoolteacher. That's right,
they won't change their nature. They'll just figure out a new
way to cook you. But the gospel gives them a new heart, makes
them love you. See what I'm saying? The gospel
makes him lay his spear down. Somebody says, well, we need
to change a man's environment. That'll do it. Give him a job.
Yeah, and he'll make some money so he can sin against God. He
can buy more booze with his money. It'd be better to leave him without
a job. He can't drink, can't buy it,
you know. Give him a farm. Give him a new home. Yeah, and
he'll find new ways to live for himself. That's right. Somebody else says, well, man
needs freedom and independence. Set these islands free. Set these
little countries free. Yes, so they can riot and rebel
and organize new governments and new coups and all these other
things and battle against the truth. Man's need is the gospel. That's the power of God in salvation.
And that's the reason smart missionaries, when they go into New Guinea
or into the Yucatan or to France or Spain, they don't try to make
democratic Americans out of the people. They preach the gospel
to them. The gospel. And don't try to
change their culture, and don't try to change their ways, don't
try to put a Kentucky Fried Chicken on every corner, you know. Just
preach the gospel. It's the gospel that gives life. It's the gospel. That's the reason
I'm not ashamed of it, because the gospel is the seed of God
It'll give a new heart, it'll give a new nature, it'll give
a new attitude, it'll give love for God and love for others.
This gospel, wonder-working power of the gospel, power of God unto
salvation. This gospel, you read that, verse
16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation, whether it's a Jew or a Gentile. And
you remember this, somebody's got the millennium all fixed
up so the Jews can set up their temple over there and start offering
sacrifices. Let me tell you something, that'd
be the greatest blasphemy against God the world's ever seen if
that happens. Don't you have any pardon? Don't you support
it? That's not of God. The gospel is the power of God
to salvation to whom? To the Jew and to the Greek.
If the Jew doesn't hear what I'm preaching this morning, he'll
perish. whether he's in a millennium or a tribulation or a democratic
society. It's exactly right. It's this
gospel. It won't be any other gospel.
It won't be a new gospel. It'll be this gospel right here.
And it'll be preached by a man. God's not going to send the Jew
a special angel. He's going to send him an ambassador.
That's right. And verse 18, or 17, quickly,
I'm not ashamed of this gospel, for right there is the righteousness
of God revealed. Where? In the gospel. That's
the righteousness, the person and work of Christ. Let me give
you a little clue here and I'll wind it up. Salvation, however
God brings you to do it, however God brings you to receive it,
however God brings you to rest in it, salvation is to take off
the fig leaf apron of human righteousness and put on Christ. That's right,
Joe. That's where it is. It's to lay
it aside. I don't want God to have to strip
you, break you, humble you, crush you, humiliate you, annihilate
you, whatever. But that fig leaf apron of my
righteousness, whether it covers my little finger or my big toe
or wherever, it's coming off. It's going to be laid aside willingly,
deliberately, on purpose. And we're going to put on the
righteousness of Christ. Now, you want me to tell you
the opposite of that, this so-called victorious life and higher life
and all the other life? It's to take off Christ and put
the fig leaves back on. You're in trouble when you do
that. And I'm not ashamed of the righteousness of Christ.
The gospel, because that's where the righteousness of God's revealed,
in the gospel. Then quickly, maybe stretching
a point, but verse 18 says the wrath of God's revealed too.
And there's nowhere the wrath of God's revealed more than in
the gospel. When you go to the cross, you'll see how God treats
sin, even when he finds it in his And our sins were laid on him,
as another point brought out by one of our preachers the other
day. And then last of all, in verse 19, says, that which may
be known of God is manifested where? In the gospel. His grace,
his mercy, and his love. Brethren, if there's any such
thing as rededication, and somebody said when something's dedicated,
it doesn't have to be rededicated. That's perhaps, that's so. There's
a reaffirming. There's taking another, as Brother
Mews said, another hitch at it. Let others do what they will,
say what they will. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Because it is the gospel of God.
Because it's a gospel concerning his Son. Because it's a gospel,
it's a power of God and a salvation to everyone that believes whether
he's a Jew or a Greek. Because they're in that gospel.
the righteousness of God revealed in that gospel nowhere else and
because in that truth the wrath of God revealed and because that's
where all the mercies are found in Christ. Hope for the hopeless. Our Father take your word and
glorify your Son. I know this And your word declares
it so often, he that honoreth the Son, him will the Father
honor. Those who dare to preach Christ
and him crucified, their heroes will be saved and there will
be much glory to the Redeemer. We pray that you would honor
your word that's been preached this morning and that which will
be preached tonight and all over this world where faithful men
today, even at this moment, a holding forth the word of life, bless
them in a special way. For Christ's sake we ask it.
Amen.