I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

The Lord said to his disciples,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. The Apostle
Paul, in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, said, Brethren, I
declare unto you the gospel by which you are saved, which you
believe wherein you stand, it's the gospel that I preached unto
you. And then he said, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. This is what I intend to do on
this telecast and next week's telecast. I'm going to bring
two messages on the gospel. Today's message will be on the
subject, I am not ashamed of the gospel. And next week I'm
going to speak on the subject, the credentials of gospel preaching. Now if I had two messages that
I could preach to the whole world, they would be these two messages.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel and the credentials of gospel
preaching. I want you to listen to this
message today and then listen again at the same time next week
and hear the second message. from Romans chapter 1 verse 1
through 6 on the credentials of gospel preaching. Now, my
text today is the 16th verse of the first chapter of Romans.
Will you take your Bibles and follow along with me? Now Romans
1 verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek or to the
Gentile. Now the Apostle Paul knew from
personal experience the opposition which the true gospel experienced. The gospel of substitution, the
gospel of redeeming grace, encountered strong, severe opposition wherever
it was preached. The gospel of the crucified Christ
was everywhere spoken against. Listen to what the scripture
said. To the Jew the religious leaders, it was a stumbling block. To the Gentiles, the pagan Gentiles,
it was sheer nonsense, it was foolishness. But to those who
were being saved, the gospel, the true gospel, was the power
of God unto salvation. The gospel of the crucified,
risen Redeemer met with contempt It met with ridicule, it met
with persecution. In fact, Paul called it in Galatians
5 verse 11, the offense of the cross. The offense of the cross. Why is the cross offensive? Why
is the true gospel offensive to the natural man? Why does
he meet it with contempt and ridicule and persecution? Why
are men ashamed of the gospel of a crucified substitute? Well,
here are four reasons. Now you look at these carefully.
I've weighed these over the years and I find that these are the
four areas where we meet with the most opposition and the most
contempt from natural men. First of all, the gospel addresses
all men everywhere as sinners. All men. I'm talking about in
the pulpit and in the pew. I'm talking about in the church
and in the world. I'm talking about the old and
the young. I'm talking about the intellectual. I'm talking about those who are
not intellectual. I'm talking about the black man
and the white man, the European, the American. The gospel addresses
all men everywhere as sinners. And this offends man's dignity. There is none good, no not one.
There is none that seeketh after God. There altogether become
unprofitable. There is none righteous, no,
not one. The Lord God looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there was any that
did do good. He found there altogether gone
aside. The scripture tells us in Romans
chapter 5 that Christ died for the ungodly. Men do not consider
themselves to be ungodly. In Romans chapter 5 verse 8 it
says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Men do not
label themselves sinners. They label other people sinners,
but not themselves. The scripture in Romans 5 verse
10, when we were enemies, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son. Ungodly, sinners, enemies. And Paul said in 1 Timothy 1
verse 15, this is a fateful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And Christ himself said he came
to seek and to save the lost. A man will never be found until
he is lost. A man will never be clothed until
he is stripped. A man will never be raised until
he is slain. A man will never be brought to
God until, first of all, he is slain by the law of God. And
this offends man's dignity. The gospel, the true gospel,
the gospel of God's redeeming grace, the gospel of Christ's
merciful, gracious, substitutionary work, addresses you, and you,
and you, and me, as sinners. And this is hard to take. It
offends man's dignity. Now I'll show you the second
area where we meet with contempt and persecution, where the gospel
encounters rejection. And that is, the true gospel
comes to man as a revelation, and it offends man's wisdom. What does the scripture say?
Now look at the word of God. Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians
2, beginning with verse 9. It declares, I have not seen,
ear hath not heard, Neither hath it entered the heart of man,
the things that God has prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by the Spirit. The gospel comes
as a revelation. It is not understood by the natural
mind. The natural mind is enmity against
God. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. When Peter gave that great confession,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord said,
Peter, Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my Father,
which is in heaven, revealed that to you. God hath revealed. That's how the gospel comes.
It does not come by education. It comes by revelation. Now if
we want to learn the things of the material world, if we want
to learn the things of the physical world, or of the universe, you
take a book and you apply your mind to it. You study it. That's
how you come to know these things. But when you open the Bible,
you are shut up to the revelation of the Holy Spirit. God wrote
it, God must teach it. It's spiritually discerned. That's
what the scripture says. The reason natural men receive,
if not the things of God, is because they're spiritually discerned. That is, spiritually understood.
And men are not spiritually alive. They're dead in trespasses and
sins. And when we preach that the gospel
comes as a revelation, that's what the new birth is. That's
what Christ said to Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, have I told
you earthly things and you don't believe? How would you believe
if I told you heavenly things? How would you understand heavenly
things? If you don't understand earthly things, how would you
comprehend heavenly things? Except a man is born again, he
cannot see, discern, understand the kingdom of God. The Bible
has to be taught by its author, the Holy Spirit. And when he
has come, the Spirit of truth, this is what the Master said,
talking to the disciples. He said, I go away, but I won't
leave you comfortless. The Holy Spirit will come to
you and he will take the things of mine and show them to you.
He will not speak of himself. He will not magnify his office.
He will not exalt himself. He will glorify me. He will take
the things of mine, show them unto you. has to come by revelation. And that's a place where men
object to this true gospel. They're dependent upon God and
not upon their natural minds. This offends their natural wisdom. Now the third area. Here's where
we get in trouble. The gospel of substitution offends
man's pride. Now you give a man something
to do, anything. You give him something to do.
Give him a pilgrimage to take to a holy land. Let him crawl
on broken glass so many miles to get to some religious Mecca.
Give him some works of charity. Give him something to do. Reformation,
turning over a new leaf, joining the church, being baptized, taking
the sacraments, doing works of charity. Give him something to
do to earn his salvation. To earn his way into heaven.
And he'll be content. He'll be content. But his pride
will not permit him to come to the cross as an empty-handed
beggar, crying with top lady, in my hands no price I bring,
simply to the cross of Jesus Christ I cling." His pride won't
let him do that. And when we preach salvation
by the death of a substitute, by the sacrifice of the Son of
God, as a free gift of God's grace, given to all men everywhere
who can come empty-handed, when we preach it that way, it's offensive
to man's pride. He'd rather stand with a publican
in the temple who said, God, I thank you, I'm not like other
men. I'm a religious person, I tithe, I fast, I give alms
to the poor, I do all these things, I'm not even like this publican.
That's where man had rather stand, and that's where he will stand,
even at the judgment. Our Lord said, many will say
unto me on that day, why Lord, we preached in your name. And
we cast out devils in your name, and we perform many wonderful
works in your name. Therefore we demand, we expect
to be taken into heaven on the basis of what we did for you.
But he replied, I never knew you. Salvation is by grace. Salvation is a gift. Salvation
is based on the merits of another. Salvation comes not through work.
By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. That's
what the scripture says. By works of righteousness which
we've done? No, sir, not by works of righteousness,
but according to his free grace. And men will not take that. It
offends their pride. They will not stand with a publican
in the temple who smote upon his breast and cried in anguish
and with a broken heart. God be merciful, be merciful
to me, the sinner. They will not stand with the
Republican in the temple and own their sinnerhood, nor will
they take their place at the feet of Christ with the harlot,
weeping tears of repentance and begging for mercy and for grace. Salvation is the gift of God
given to empty-handed sinners, and that offends man's pride.
And it comes by the sacrifice and the merit of Jesus Christ,
our substitute. Now the fourth area. This is
what's offensive. Paul said, the offense of the
cross. And this is where it's offensive. This is where it's
offensive. Addressing all men everywhere
as sinners offends man's dignity. And to tell a man that salvation
and a knowledge of God's word comes by revelation offends his
wisdom. And to tell him that he's shut
up to the mercy of God, that as an empty-handed beggar he
comes to Christ. Having nothing, knowing nothing,
can produce nothing, it all comes as a gift purchased by the death
of God's Son. That offends his pride. But now
here's the fourth area. When we preach the gospel of
sovereign grace, when we preach the gospel of God Almighty's
sovereign grace, it offends man's concept of the freedom of his
will. He continually cries, we be free.
We'd be free. That's what the Pharisees said
when Christ came. We'd be free. But did you know
that God says the opposite? God says it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
God says I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious. The scripture says
we're born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not
of the will of man, but we're born of God. Jonah cried in Jonah
2, 9, salvations of the Lord. Salvations of the Lord. And my
friends, we are as helpless and hopeless as Jonah was in the
belly of that fish. Salvation, deliverance, is of
the Lord. If he leaves us where we are,
we perish. If he comes to us in mercy, we
live. That is where the gospel is offensive. It's the gospel of God's sovereign
grace. Now then, Paul declares in our
text, Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. Evidently, evidently
there is a danger of even those who trust the Lord, who believe
the gospel, even those who know Christ, evidently there is a
possibility of our yielding to the pressure of the religious
world and finding ourselves ashamed of the gospel. I know this is
true, and you say, I know this is true, but the people I work
with just don't believe it, and the people to whom I preach,
they just might not receive it, and so I just preach something
else. Now Paul said to Timothy, he warned Timothy, he warned
Timothy in 2 Timothy 1.8, he said, Timothy, don't be ashamed. of the testimony of our Lord.
Don't be ashamed. And then in 2 Timothy 1.12, he
restates his position. He says, for this cause, because
I preached the gospel, because I kept back nothing profitable
unto you, because I didn't refrain from declaring unto you the whole
counsel of God, I suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not
ashamed. I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed
of covenant mercies. I'm not ashamed to declare what
the scripture says about man's total, utter ruin by the fall. I'm not ashamed to declare man's
utter inability, salvation by revelation. I'm not ashamed to
declare that God Almighty has a people to whom he gave, whom
he gave to his son. I'm not ashamed to declare that
Christ is an effectual substitute. He's an effectual redeemer. He
died for his people. His blood is effectual to putting
away of all our sins. that he was buried and rose again,
he is at the right hand of God as our mediator, and he's coming
back again to raise the dead, and our hope and our help and
our strength and our refuge and our redemption is in Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed. He said, for
this cause I suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. He was
beaten, he was stoned, he was shipwrecked, he was cast into
prison, and finally he was martyred. because he dared to preach the
gospel, the gospel of grace. He said, if I please men, I'm
not the servant of Jesus Christ, but I will die a servant of Jesus
Christ. He complimented Onesiphorus over
there in 2 Timothy 1.16. In this same chapter I've been
quoting from, he said, Timothy, don't you be ashamed of the gospel.
He said, I've suffered a lot for the gospel, but I'm not ashamed.
And then he said about Onesiphorus, he said, God grant mercy to Onesiphorus,
he was not ashamed, he was not ashamed. And then our Lord warns
us, listen to Mark chapter 8 verse 38, the master speaking here,
and he says, whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words,
not of the legends, traditions, and customs of religion, but
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation. Of him shall the Son of Man be
ashamed when he comes in the glory of the holy angels. Ashamed of Jesus? Yes, I may,
when I have no sin to wash away, no fear to quell, no soul to
save. Till then, nor is my boasting
vain, till then I'll boast a Savior slain. And oh, may this my glory
be, that he is not ashamed of me." In verse 17, 18, 19, and
20 of Romans 1, Paul gives four reasons why he's not ashamed
of the gospel. Four reasons. Now listen to them
carefully. He says, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel. The gospel of revelation, the gospel of substitution, the
gospel of sovereign grace, the gospel of God Almighty's mercy
and grace. Here's the first reason. I'm
not ashamed of the gospel because It is the power of God unto salvation. It is the power of God unto salvation.
Now, the church is not the power of God unto salvation. The gospel
is. Baptism, the ordinances, the sacraments, the Lord's table,
these are not the power of God unto salvation. The law is not
the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is. The gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. Now, when we talk about the gospel,
Being the power of God under salvation, we're speaking of
two things, and this is vital. This is foundation truth. This
is that which, if you do not know it, you've missed the gospel.
It's the power of God under salvation. And when we talk about the gospel
being the power of God under salvation, we're talking about
two things. It's the power toward God, and it's the power toward
me. Now when we say the gospel is
the power of God under salvation, the power or means for God, we're
saying this, that the gospel of Christ is the means by which
the attributes of God are glorified and enable God to be just and
justify the ungodly. Enable God to be Savior and King,
Redeemer and Judge. Now my friends, God is holy.
God Almighty is holy, and His holiness must be honored. His
holiness must be glorified. He cannot just overlook sin any
more than a judge down in the courtroom can overlook crime.
Just because he feels sorry for the criminal, because he feels
sorry for the guilty, he can't just erase sin or erase crime. The scripture says, every transgression
shall receive a just recompense of reward. And God's holy. And
God Almighty must punish sin. God is just. These are the attributes
of God. He is sovereign. He is holy.
He is merciful. He is love. He is just. He is
righteous. These are all His attributes.
And the gospel enables Him to be a Savior and at the same time
honor each attribute and give expression to each attribute.
God is holy. His law is holy. And in order
for Him to save us, that law has got to be honored. Christ
said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I didn't come to whittle
the law down. I didn't come to take away some
of the strength of the law to enable you to keep it. I came
to fulfill it. That's what he did. He fulfilled
the law. He honored the law. God's just.
He cannot forgive nor justify us at the expense of his justice.
And so the gospel is the power of God under salvation in that
it's the means and the power that enables Almighty God to
occupy a throne of justice and a throne of grace, to occupy
a throne of righteousness and a throne of love. It enables
the Holy God to occupy a throne of holiness and at the same time
a throne of forgiveness and pardon, because our sins were laid on
Christ. By his stripes we were healed.
You see that? It's the power of God unto salvation.
It's not only the power toward God, but it's the power toward
men. It's that which disarms the sinner. It's that which awakens
the sinner. It's that which gives eyes to
the blind. It's that which gives ears to
the deaf. It's that which gives life to the dead. That's what
the gospel is. It's the seed. That's what over
here in James 1, 1 Peter 1, verse 23, he says, we're born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed. by the
word of God that liveth forever. And James says in chapter 1 verse
18, of his own will beget he us with the word of truth. The
gospel which we preach of Christ's merit, Christ's righteousness,
Christ's death, Christ's substitutionary work, enables God Almighty to
be just and pardon your sins, enables God to be holy and forgive
your iniquity, because Christ took your place, honored the
law, and died under the judgment and wrath of a holy God. Now
the second reason why Paul said he wasn't ashamed of the gospel,
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. That's what
I've been talking about. The righteousness of God is not
revealed in the law, it's revealed in the gospel. The righteousness
of God is not revealed in church ceremonies, it's revealed in
the gospel. The greatness of God is revealed in creation.
The power of God is revealed in providence. The love of God
revealed in incarnation, for God so loved the world he gave
his Son. The righteousness of God is revealed on the cross. Job said, how can man be just
with God? How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? Behold the moon, it shineth not.
The stars are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable
is man that drinks iniquity like the water? I'll tell you how
God Almighty can justify a sinner and remain just. That is, that
Christ take that sinner's place. Christ who knew no sin, who had
no sin, take our place and bear our sins. And there in that cross,
take a look at the perfect life of Christ, take a look at the
death of Christ, and there you see the righteousness of God.
The righteousness of God revealed. Colossians chapter 1 verse 21
says, And you that were at one time alienated enemies in your
mind by wicked work, yet now hath he reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death to present you holy." Holy. He's talking about you and me.
Holy and unblameable in his sight. We're so careful to make sure
that we've got a good reputation in the sight of men, but in Christ
we have a perfect holiness in his sight. We're unblameable
in his sight. Now, the third reason. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God
unto salvation. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
because in that cross is the righteousness of God revealed.
And he says, in that cross is the wrath of God revealed too.
Now, I know the wrath of God against sin is revealed in the
fall of Adam. Death came upon all men. He was
shut out of the garden. I know the wrath of God revealed
in the flood when the whole world was covered with water. I know
the wrath of God is revealed in the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I know the wrath of God is revealed in the destruction of Jerusalem.
But I don't know of any place where the wrath of God against
sin is more clearly seen than in the death of his son. God
spared not his own son. And Christ bore not his sins,
but my sins. He was He was dying under the
wrath of God because of imputed sin, not his own, but the sins
of another. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. Will God punish sin? Go to the
cross and you'll find out. You don't have to go to the garden
or to Sodom and Gomorrah or Jerusalem. Go to the cross. God spared not
his own son. And then in closing, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. Because in the gospel, that which
may be known of God is revealed. One of the apostles said to the
master one day, show us the father. And our master said, Philip,
have I been with you so long and you don't know me? He that
has seen me has seen the father. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
because it reveals the father. It reveals his love and grace,
his righteousness and mercy, his holiness, his justice. It's
all seen in the gospel, in the cross. Join us next week now
for the next message, and these messages will be on cassette
tape. If you'd like to have one, write to me. Until next week
at this time, I bid you a very pleasant good day.

I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

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I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel

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