I'm asking you to open your Bibles
with me today to the Book of Romans. I'm going to be speaking
from the first chapter of the Book of Romans, verse 16 through
18. Now, the title of this message
is, I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. I Am Not Ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ. Paul writes in Romans 1.16, For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth,
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Now the Apostle Paul
knew from experience the opposition which the gospel encounters everywhere. men hate the true gospel of God's
redeeming grace. Especially, especially the religious
and the self-righteous hate the gospel of God's sovereign redeeming
grace. Now the gospel of Christ, the
true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has no enemies, quite
like those who are endeavoring by their own efforts to find
favor with God. You'll find that those who hated
Christ and who despised his message were not the publicans and harlots,
but the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and religious leaders.
And you'll find today that those who despise the gospel of free
grace are not found among the open propane sinners of this
world. They know if they're ever saved,
God will have to do it. They know if they ever receive
mercy, it'll be sovereign mercy. They'll not earn it. They'll
not work for it. But those who despise the message
of grace, the gospel of God's grace in Christ, are the religious
people who are endeavoring by their own efforts, and by their
own works, and by their own obedience to certain laws, to find favor
with God Almighty. The scripture says the preaching
of the cross. When we say the preaching of
the cross, we're talking about substitution. We're talking about
effectual deliverance. We're talking about righteousness
through the merits of Jesus Christ. The preaching of the cross is
to them that are perishing foolishness. To the religious, it's a stumbling
block, an offense. And to the pagan, it's sheer
nonsense. Paul said the gospel, the preaching
of the gospel is offensive. In Galatians 5.11, he says, if
I preach works, then why am I persecuted? If I preach works, there is no
offense to the cross. It's gone. But if I preach the
cross, it's offensive to the natural man. Now, what is there
about the gospel of Christ that makes it offensive to the religious
man? What is there about the gospel
of redeeming grace that makes it quite offensive, that makes
it a stumbling block, an offense to the natural religious man?
I'll give you four things, and I'm going to drive some nails
here. And I want you to listen to me just as carefully as you
possibly can. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. He's talking about the gospel
of God. He's talking about the gospel of God's grace. He's talking
about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and his sufficient
effectual work. I'm not ashamed of it. Many people
are. Paul said, I am not. And here's
the reason why men are ashamed of it. Here's the reason why
it's offensive. First of all, the gospel of Christ. addresses
all men as sinners. The gospel of Jesus Christ says
that all men are sinners, and that offends man's dignity. The religious person says, we
be not sinners. That's what they said to Christ.
We be not sinners. He said, the Son of Man has come
to seek and to save the lost. Paul said, Christ came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. They said, we be
not sinners. And then those outside the church
say, well, we'd be not any worse sinners than the people in the
church. We're no worse than they are. And then the people out
in profanity and blasphemy and evil, they say, well, we're not
so bad. We've got some good traits. But
what does the scripture say? The scripture says, all have
sinned, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All
we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. The Scripture says to offend
in one point of the law, just one jot or tittle, is to be guilty
of the whole law of God. The Word of God says what the
law says, it says to them who are under the law that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God. Your sin has separated you from
God. And that's the first point of
offense. That's the first stumbling block.
The gospel of Christ addresses all men as sinners. Not good
sinners, not pretty good sinners, not pretty bad sinners, but just
sinners. They're all grouped under one
heading. There's none good, there's none righteous, there's none
that seek after God, they all together become unprofitable.
None that doeth good, no, not one. Now secondly, why is the
true gospel offensive? I didn't say religion is offensive.
The natural man is religious. I didn't say that the average
message of salvation is offensive. It's not. It tells the sinner
what he can do in order to purchase salvation, what he can do in
order to merit heaven, what he can do in order to merit God's
favor. But the gospel of Christ is offensive. It's offensive because, secondly,
the gospel of Christ is learned by revelation. by revelation,
not by education, not by human wisdom. It's learned by revelation. It comes as a revelation of the
Holy Spirit, and that offends man's wisdom. Oh, how wise we
think we are, how intelligent we think we are. But the Word
of God tells us, the natural man receiveth not the things
of God, they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
for they are spiritually comprehended. or spiritually understood. The
gospel of Jesus Christ is a mystery. Religion is not a mystery. Free
willism is not a mystery. Antinomianism is not a mystery.
Arminianism is not a mystery. The gospel of grace is a mystery.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said one day as he lifted his eyes to
heaven, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent And
thou hast revealed them unto babes, for even so, father, it
seemed good in thy sight." Our Lord said to Nicodemus, one of
the smartest, most intelligent Pharisees of his day, except
you be born again, you cannot see, comprehend, understand,
discern. That's what the word see means.
Comprehend, discern, understand the kingdom of God. The average
person thinks that he can just open a Bible and read it and
comprehend all that is written there through his natural wisdom
and natural intelligence. I'm here to tell you it's not
so. No man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man
which is in him, even so. No man knoweth the things of
God except the Spirit of God, and he to whom the Spirit of
God will reveal it. And Christ said no man knoweth
the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. And again our Lord said, No man
cometh unto me, except my Father which sent me draw him, as it
is written in the prophets, They shall all be taught of God. And
every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
unto me. Now this is offensive. And that's
the reason I'm saying that the gospel of Christ is offensive
to the natural man. It's a hated message, it's a
hated doctrine. But our Lord sent his disciples
out and he said, Now before you go, let me tell you. Marvel not,
my brethren, if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated
you. And if you take the message of
do-goodism and the message of self-righteousness and the message
of human works and the message of obedience to laws in order
to merit, gain, or earn your way to heaven, nobody's going
to despise you, nobody's going to hate you, nobody's going to
turn you off. But if you take the message of free grace, the
message of salvation by the merits of another, cleansing by the
blood of another, and righteousness by the obedience of another,
in particular the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to be hated
of all men. It's an offensive message. Calling
a man a sinner, a lost sinner, is offending his dignity. And
telling a man that he cannot by natural wisdom lay hold upon
or embrace or find an interest in the things of God because
Christ's death is a mystery is to offend his wisdom. And then thirdly, are you with
me? This is the reason the gospel of Christ is offensive. Thirdly,
the gospel of Christ is the gospel of substitution, and this offends
man's pride. The gospel says he was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was laid on him, and by his stripes
we are healed. The scripture says Christ bore
our sin in his body on the tree. that we, being dead to sin, might
live unto righteousness. By his stripes, by his wounds,
by his sacrifice, we are healed. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And Paul said in Romans 5, 19,
by the disobedience of one representation in our stead, we became sinners. Even so, by the obedience of
one Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. This gospel
of Christ is a gospel of substitution. Christ bore my sins, that I might
bear his glory. Christ bore my hell, that I might
enjoy his heaven. Christ bore my sickness, that
I might have his help. Christ bore my guilt, that I
might have his grace. But what does the natural man
want? He wants something to do himself in order to be saved. His pride will not let him come
to God as a beggar, asking for bread. His pride will not permit
him to come to God bankrupt, seeking God's favor. His pride
will not let him come to God guilty, guilty, guilty, without
one plea, except, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. His pride will
not permit it. And when you go forth declaring
that this grace is free grace, and this mercy is sovereign mercy,
and this blood is applied by the will and sovereignty of God
to whom he will, plus nothing, minus nothing, you're going to
have a fight on your hands. Charlotte Elliott summed it up
this way, just as I am, without one plea, but that his blood
was shed for me. O Lamb of God, I come to thee.
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot. O Lamb of God, I come,
just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, sight, riches, healing
of the mind, all I need in thee to find. Lamb of God, I come."
That's offensive. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
it, though. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I know it's offensive.
It's the offense of the cross. I know it's despised. Our Lord
was hated. He was despised of men. He was
esteemed not. Everybody who was anybody turned
thumbs down on him because of what he preached. It wasn't because
of what he did. He healed the sick and fed the
hungry and was good to the poor. He went about doing good, but
they hated what he said because he said that the gospel is free
grace. All right. Fourthly, the gospel
of Christ is offensive. Because it's the gospel of sovereign
mercy. What does the word sovereign
mean? Well, somebody said the meaning of sovereign is right
in the middle of it. S-O-V-R-E-I-G-N. Reigns. Sovereign. God reigns. God reigns and God rules. The
gospel of Christ is the gospel of sovereign mercy. God said,
I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. In other words, God Almighty
owes no man anything. He's not obligated to this human
race. Go back at the beginning. Who
fell first? Man didn't fall first. There
was a fall before Adam's fall. There was the fall of Lucifer
and the heavenly host who rebelled against God and fell. And you
read in the scripture, there's no savior for the fallen angels.
There's no mercy for the fallen angels. There's no provision
for the fallen angels. In fact, plainly, Paul wrote
in Hebrews, Christ took not on himself the nature of angels,
but the seed of Abraham. So there's God's sovereign mercy
right there. He was pleased to pass by the
fallen angels and reserve them, according to Jew's writings,
in the chains of everlasting darkness until the day of judgment.
Go back to the Old Testament. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Abraham found grace in the eyes of the Lord. the
Hittites, the Amorites, the Philistines, all of the Medes, the Persians,
the Babylonians, the Egyptians, these people were not partakers
of God's mercy. Israel, Israel, God chose Israel. God was pleased to show mercy
to Israel. Israel did not deserve God's
mercy any more than the Hittites or the Amorites or any of the
other ites. But God said, I'll show favor
to you because of a covenant I made with your father. And
then you come to the New Testament. And you'll find the Apostle Paul
saying to the Gentiles in Ephesus, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath chosen us in Christ, blessed
us with all spiritual blessings according as he chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we of all people,
heathen, pagan, outcasts, foreigners, aliens, strangers from the commonwealth
of Israel, that we might be holy before him in love, having predestinated
us to the adoption of children according to the good pleasure
of his own will." If you'll read John the first chapter, you'll
find John writing, he came to his own. And his own received
him not, talking about the Jews. His own received him not, talking
about Israel. Christ was a Jew. He was an Israelite.
He came as the king of Israel. He came as a fulfillment of Melchizedek
the priest, of Aaron the priest, of Moses the prophet, of David
the king. He came as a fulfillment of the
tabernacle, the sacrifices, and all the types and furniture and
pictures in the whole Old Testament, but they received him not. He
came to his own things. He came to his own people. He
came to his own world, and the world knew him not, and they
rejected him. But, listen, as many as received
him by faith, to them gave he the privilege to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now watch it. This
thing of salvation is not a decision, a chance, a choice, it's a birth,
which were born, not of blood, that is, not of family inheritance,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but they
were born of God, born of God. For the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld by faith through God-given eyes
the glory of Christ, and by God-given ears the voice of Christ. It's
not of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, it's
God that showeth mercy. Salvation, my friends, is the
gift of God. It's not the reward of works
presented. It's not the reward of earned
by the human race. It's the gift of God. The gift
of God. Now, preachers may attempt to
present God as weak and helpless and defeated in the matter of
salvation. They may try to present God's
will and His purpose frustrated by human beings. But I'll tell
you this, God's on the throne. He rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of this earth, and he giveth it
to whomsoever he will. And our God is sovereign. He
reigns. He rules. He said, Can I not
do with my own what I will? Hath not the potter power over
the clay to make of the same lump a vessel unto honor and
a vessel unto dishonor? And my friends, God's sovereign
in creation. He made this world and heavens
and the earth as it pleased Him. And He's sovereign in providence.
Our Lord said, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your
father. He said, He numbers the hairs of your head. God is sovereign
in providence. All things work together for
good to them who love God, who are called according to His purpose.
And God is not only sovereign in creation and in providence,
but He's sovereign in salvation too. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, God knoweth them that are here. God knoweth
them that are here. Yes, sir, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of this earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. And our Master said, All that
my Father giveth me shall, shall, shall come to me. So that's why
the gospel is effective. That's four reasons. Paul says,
I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of this gospel.
It may offend man's dignity, calling him a sinner. It may
offend his wisdom, preaching to him that the understanding
thereof is by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. It may offend
his concept of free will, to tell him God is sovereign. And
it may offend his pride, to tell him the blood of Christ is sufficient
to save all for whom it was shed. But my friend, it's so. Now,
the amazing thing to me, and I want you to listen for a moment,
I want your undivided attention. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
this gospel, I'm not ashamed of it, that God created man in
his own image, and man sinned and fell, and death and darkness,
judgment and sin came upon all men. I'm not ashamed of that.
I'm not ashamed to declare it. That's what the book says. I'm
not ashamed to declare that man rebelled against God. And he
had no hope and no ability of ever being restored except God
show mercy. I'm not ashamed to declare that
God Almighty purposed to save a people out of Adam's race.
In fact, Paul said in Romans, if God had not left us a remnant
according to election, we'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah, there
wouldn't be ten. That's what Abraham pleaded,
wasn't it? Lord, if you find ten down there, will you spare
the city? I'll spare it. He couldn't find any other than
Lot who strayed in. I'm not ashamed, Paul said, to
declare that Jesus Christ, from the foundation of this world,
was the Lamb slain, that he was made our representative, that
he was designated and ordained as our surety, that he was anointed
and appointed as our Savior. God set him apart to redeem a
people. And in the fullness of time, he came down to this earth,
the God-man, clothed in human flesh, made of a woman, made
under the law as our representative. And he met the law and obeyed
it in every jot and tittle as a human being. He sweated. He
wept. He walked. He wearied with his
journey. He was hungry and thirsty and
tired. He was under the law of the home
and the law of the nation and the law of ceremonial law and
the moral law and every law, every jot and tittle of man and
God. And he didn't offend in one point. He was a perfect man.
And he was doing that for the people he represented. And he
went to the cross and there was laid upon him our guilt and filth
and sin And he paid for it, he paid it in full. Jesus paid it
all, all the debt I owe. Sin left a crimson stain, and
he washed it white as snow. And he died on that cross, under
the charge of our sins, under the just charge of all condemnation
of our guilt. And he was buried and rose again.
God raised him from the dead, having accepted his sacrifice
and his sin altogether. And he ascended to the right
hand of the Heavenly Father in triumph, in victory, having conquered
his foes. And he sat down, waiting till
all of his sheep shall be brought home, till all of the elect shall
be called, till every redeemed person shall have been brought
to repentance toward God in faith in Jesus Christ. And he's coming
back again. And Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of that. That's good news. That's free grace. But what amazes
me, this is what amazes me, no matter how unscriptural No matter
how unscriptural and how ridiculous a religious system is, the natural
man is not ashamed of it. In other words, we'll take a
religious leader and we'll dress him up in a funny hat and we'll
put a robe on him in gold and silver and precious stones and
all these things and put him out in a parade carrying some
kind of symbol and people will follow him and they'll bow down
in front of him and they'll kiss his ring. And he can put his
hands on them and bless them. He claims to be the vicar, the
representative, the substitute of Jesus Christ. And they can
do all these things. And people aren't ashamed of
that. It's utterly ridiculous, but they're not ashamed of it.
No matter how ridiculous the ceremony is, no matter how ridiculous
we burn candles, we put food out the day of the dead down
in Mexico, believing the spirits of the departed will come and
eat it. Folks aren't ashamed of that. And we go through all
of this rigmarole in the name of God, no matter how ridiculous
a doctrine is. I attended a mass one time by
the dead in purgatory. And people bought their money
to give, to pay, to get people out of purgatory. Now, no matter
how ridiculous that is, it's not in God's Word, and yet people
are not ashamed of it. No matter how ridiculous the
tradition is, people leave off meat on a certain day of the
week. They'll spend a certain five days during the week doing
without something that they didn't care for anyway, and believe
that God Almighty is impressed with that. How in the world can
anyone believe that the God of heaven and earth cares whether
I eat beans or wood on Friday, or whether I give up this, that,
or the other? God looks on the heart. It's not that which goeth
into the mouth that defileth a man, it's that which comes
out of his heart. And yet no matter how ridiculous the doctrine,
no matter how ridiculous the tradition, no matter how ridiculous
the ceremony, no matter how ridiculous the system, men aren't ashamed. They'll go along with it, they'll
brag on it, they'll put big newspaper ads about it, they'll run magazine
articles about it, they'll follow it, but let a man come along
and tell the truth about man, and the truth about God, and
the truth about Jesus Christ, and all hell breaks loose, and
all of the venom and fire And anger of the mob is bent upon
him, and people are ashamed to be identified with him. Our Lord
said this, listen to me. In John chapter 6, he said, John
chapter 5, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. Let another come in his own name,
doing his own thing. He can come over here from a
foreign country and sell flowers and claim to do all these things.
You'll make a millionaire out of him. Let him come in his own
name. Let him come claiming the power to forgive sin, claiming
the power to pray people out of hell, claiming the power to
heal bodies, claiming the power to take people to heaven, claiming
the power to do all these things. And folks will follow him just
like so many sheep, you know. They'll just follow him just
like the pied piper. They'll believe anything he says.
They'll make him a wealthy man. They'll send him millions of
dollars to build a school, or a hospital, or his own, he'll
have his own nest, or buy anything he wants. He can wear jewels,
and diamonds, and rings, and tell a loud God, and people follow
him. But they're ashamed of the gospel. Well, Paul said, I'm
not. I'm not. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
because it's the power of God unto salvation, and it's the
only thing that will save you. A lot of things will make you
religious, but only Christ can save you. A lot of things will
give you a good feeling, but only Christ can save you. A lot
of things will give you a system to bow to, but only Christ can
save you. Because only Christ can honor,
effectually, every attribute of a holy God. You see, my friends,
God cannot save anybody at the expense of his law, his righteousness,
and his justice. And the gospel of Jesus Christ
reveals the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, the
love of God. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
makes us acceptable in the eyes of our Father, because, listen
to the next verse, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's
the power of God of the salvation to everyone that believes it,
to the Jew, to the Greek, to the black, to the white, to the
old, to the young, to the rich, to the poor, to the intelligent,
to the unintelligent. It's the power of God, the gospel
of Christ. Christ is the Savior. He's the Redeemer, because therein,
in the gospel of Christ, therein, is the righteousness of God,
the holiness of God, the justice of God revealed in Jesus Christ. And here's what I do. I don't
point you to me. I can't save sinners. I can't
heal. I can't give you what you need.
And I don't point you to the church or denomination. I don't
point you to a system of doctrine. I point you, my friend, back
down to the Calvary's cross where Christ died, to the right hand
of God where he sits as our mediator praying for us. assuring us of
God's favor, not because of who we are or what we've done, but
because of who He is and what He did and what He's doing and
what He shall do as our representative.