Speaker 1: 1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
Speaker 1: We're in Romans, chapter 1.
Speaker 1: Today, looking at verse 16.
Speaker 1: Romans 1, verse 16, and I'll read it, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Speaker 1: Let's pray one more time together.
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, thank you for your word.
Speaker 1: Would you teach us by your spirit now Let us be transformed by your word.
Speaker 1: We ask in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you ever go into a moment where you are not so knowledgeable about the situation you're entering into.
Speaker 1: There's a temptation to be a little bit ashamed when you walk into these moments.
Speaker 1: For me it's walking into Home Depot.
Speaker 1: I can do some light things.
Speaker 1: There's things I'm able to do, but I'll admit I'm not the handiest guy in the world and I can watch a YouTube video and figure out some things, but I'm not super handy.
Speaker 1: And when I do go to Home Depot, there's things I'm looking for, there's stuff I want to find, but there's a lot of things on every aisle and it's very hard to find and what I'm not going to do is, give up.
Speaker 1: What I'm not going to do is swallow my pride and ask someone in an orange vest where this item is found.
Speaker 1: I'm too ashamed to let them know that I don't know what I'm doing, even though that's what they're paid to do.
Speaker 1: That's what they want to do.
Speaker 1: I'm too ashamed to let them know that I don't know what I'm doing, even though that's what they're paid to do.
Speaker 1: That's what they want to do.
Speaker 1: I'm too ashamed to let them know I need help.
Speaker 1: When we come into situations where we're not so knowledgeable, there is a temptation to feel a little bit ashamed.
Speaker 1: If you were living in Rome in the first century, like we talked about last week, under the watchful eye of the emperor, in the greatest city in the world, and you were tasked with believing and spreading the news that your savior was a man that died on a criminal's cross, there might be a little temptation to wonder am I ashamed of this message?
Speaker 1: Can I be bold with this message?
Speaker 1: And so that's why Paul begins in verse 16, after he has introduced himself, introduced what the gospel is, let the church know he desires to build them up.
Speaker 1: And now he says this.
Speaker 1: For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: And my first thought when I read that is well, of course, paul.
Speaker 1: I don't think any of us thought Paul was ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: He's Paul.
Speaker 1: He's, you know, in his third missionary journey.
Speaker 1: He's been all around the known world.
Speaker 1: He is the apostle to the Gentiles.
Speaker 1: He's really good at spreading the gospel where it has not been spread yet.
Speaker 1: None of us thought, paul, you were ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: So why is he telling us this?
Speaker 1: I think because there could have been reason in this time to feel a little ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: We might even sit in this room and say about ourselves well, paul, of course we're not ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: I might look at you and say I'm not ashamed of the gospel and I'd hope you'd look at me and say you're not ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: But the reality is that's probably very easy to say in a room like this one, and I'm thankful for a room like this one where, by and large, we're like-minded people.
Speaker 1: We probably think the same way about the gospel.
Speaker 1: We probably have no need to feel ashamed in this room because we all believe in the power that the gospel is.
Speaker 1: But when you leave this room, when you go out into the world.
Speaker 1: When you go beyond the walls of this church building, suddenly you do look up and say it's a little bit more difficult, this church building.
Speaker 1: Suddenly you do look up and say it's a little bit more difficult.
Speaker 1: Can we say in all places, at all times, that, lord Jesus, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: And I think it's difficult sometimes for two reasons I want to talk about briefly, and number one is this why are we tempted to be ashamed?
Speaker 1: One is the message of the gospel doesn't make sense to the world.
Speaker 1: Did you know that the message of the gospel doesn't make sense to the world?
Speaker 1: If you're turning on the TV today, this afternoon you're watching the football games.
Speaker 1: Later on today you're turning on the TV, you'll probably see a certain commercial, a movie trailer will come on.
Speaker 1: Really, if you've turned on the TV at one time in the last 20 years, you've probably gotten to a commercial break and seen a commercial, a movie trailer for one of these movies.
Speaker 1: That's everywhere now, the superhero genre of movies.
Speaker 1: They're coming out with them monthly, it seems, and they're everywhere.
Speaker 1: And I looked up this week the Marvel movies.
Speaker 1: Look at this now.
Speaker 1: In the last 20 years they've been everywhere At the box office in 20 years, $31.1 billion.
Speaker 1: That's with a B, $31.1 billion this one genre of movies has made in the last 20 years at the box office.
Speaker 1: That's an unbelievable number in one sense.
Speaker 1: In one sense I can really believe it because their formula is a winning formula.
Speaker 1: Their formula is one that the world likes, because in two or two and a half hours you're going to walk into a movie theater, You're going to meet your hero, you're going to meet the good guy and within that two, two and a half hours, the bad guy's going to lose and the good guy's going to win.
Speaker 1: You do that for 20 years, over and over.
Speaker 1: You're probably going to make $31.1 billion.
Speaker 1: It's a good story.
Speaker 1: We like it when the hero wins and the bad guy loses.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's going to take a couple movies they need to be continued but at the end of that second one, the good guy's going to win.
Speaker 1: In all of our lives, in our worldly culture, I mean, that's what we love.
Speaker 1: We want the hero to win and we want the bad guy to lose.
Speaker 1: That's what we want.
Speaker 1: But then think about this If you come to the gospel and you're looking at it from the outside, what this?
Speaker 1: If you come to the gospel and you're looking at it from the outside.
Speaker 1: What do you see?
Speaker 1: You look at the message of Christianity and you don't have a context for the resurrection.
Speaker 1: You don't believe that anyone could come back from the grave.
Speaker 1: So all you see is a group of people who spend their lives worshiping an individual that sure he was a good teacher, maybe he was a moral example, but that at the end of his days he died on a criminal's cross beside two other criminals.
Speaker 1: And that's his story.
Speaker 1: That's not how Marvel does it.
Speaker 1: That's not the good guys winning in the end in the world's eyes.
Speaker 1: Now let's be clear.
Speaker 1: You and I know the story.
Speaker 1: It keeps going.
Speaker 1: I'm talking from the worldly perspective.
Speaker 1: That's not a winning story.
Speaker 1: It seems your guy died on a criminal's cross.
Speaker 1: And now imagine, not just as we hear that today, but imagine if you're sitting in the church at Rome, and this is somewhere between AD 55 and 58.
Speaker 1: And so this cross, jesus, the gospel event happened.
Speaker 1: What, 20 years before this, and you're in Rome, the very people who created crucifixion.
Speaker 1: Crucifixion was their idea and their method for executing the worst of the worst.
Speaker 1: And who went to the cross?
Speaker 1: Who went to crucifixion?
Speaker 1: Criminals, that's who did it.
Speaker 1: And here is your Savior.
Speaker 1: And you show up every Lord's Day to rejoice in the fact that you have a Savior that died on a criminal's cross.
Speaker 1: The world can't grasp that Again.
Speaker 1: They don't see what happened next.
Speaker 1: We know the story doesn't end on a cross.
Speaker 1: We know we'll come in this room in a couple of months and celebrate Good Friday.
Speaker 1: But it is Good Friday because two days later we're going to come back in this room and celebrate another event.
Speaker 1: But if you're in the world's eyes, your Savior died on the cross.
Speaker 1: The world doesn't understand it.
Speaker 1: But also this I believe this the message of the gospel.
Speaker 1: It condemns the world.
Speaker 1: What do I mean by that?
Speaker 1: Because the gospel Taylor, it's the good news.
Speaker 1: That's not a message of condemnation.
Speaker 1: It's good news.
Speaker 1: This is a message.
Speaker 1: Message of condemnation, it's good news.
Speaker 1: This is a message of freedom and forgiveness.
Speaker 1: And you're right.
Speaker 1: You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: But think about what is implied by the fact.
Speaker 1: If I walk into this room today and say there is good news, you have a savior.
Speaker 1: There is good news, your sins can be forgiven.
Speaker 1: What is implied there?
Speaker 1: What comes before that?
Speaker 1: The reality is that you need a savior.
Speaker 1: There is good news your sins can be forgiven.
Speaker 1: What is implied there?
Speaker 1: What comes before that?
Speaker 1: The reality is that you need a savior.
Speaker 1: The reality is that you are in sin and you need to be forgiven.
Speaker 1: And let me tell you what the world does not like to hear that they are in sin and they need to be forgiven.
Speaker 1: We live in a world and a culture that we don't like to talk about sin very much, do we?
Speaker 1: We don't like to be on the wrong end of all of this.
Speaker 1: We like to hear that we're doing okay.
Speaker 1: We like to hear that we're not sick.
Speaker 1: We don't have to.
Speaker 1: You know, as Jesus talked about, it's not the well who need him, but the sick.
Speaker 1: It's the sick that know they need to go to the doctor.
Speaker 1: We don't want to act sick and say we need the great physician.
Speaker 1: We'd rather just go along saying we're doing all right.
Speaker 1: That's what our culture wants.
Speaker 1: And yet the gospel comes to us with a beautiful, a good news message that we need a savior.
Speaker 1: But again, implied in that is we need a savior.
Speaker 1: We implied in that is we need a savior, we're in sin, we need forgiveness, and now amplify that by first century believers in rome.
Speaker 1: All roads led to rome.
Speaker 1: It's the center of the world, but it's the place of power.
Speaker 1: We talked last week about the roman forum, the Circus Maximus, the center of the world, the emperor there it was the place of power.
Speaker 1: And then the gospel message.
Speaker 1: This little group of believers in these house churches are willing to step into culture and say actually, power's found somewhere else and you're actually broken and you need a savior.
Speaker 1: The world doesn't understand the message of the gospel.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense to the world.
Speaker 1: But the world is also condemned with the reality that we need the gospel.
Speaker 1: And yet here steps Paul, writing to these believers in Rome saying this for I am not ashamed of the gospel, I'm not ashamed to proclaim it, I'm not ashamed to talk about it, to bank my whole life on it.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, not the power of man, not the power of Rome, not the power of the emperor.
Speaker 1: Where is the source of the gospel's power found?
Speaker 1: It is the power of God To understand how powerful something is.
Speaker 1: You kind of have to know what you're up against To understand if something really has some power behind it.
Speaker 1: I got to ask the question what was the opposition.
Speaker 1: What was the obstacle that that power was able to overcome?
Speaker 1: I remember it's been 10 or 12 years now and it was right around this time because it was in Little Rock, a Martin Luther King Day 5k that myself, my brother and my father we went out in one very cold January morning and we ran this race and probably went and ate breakfast after.
Speaker 1: That ruined every gain we had made in that race.
Speaker 1: But we were there on that cold morning and we ran it in 30, 35 minutes and there weren't many people there, but it was a good way to spend the morning, I guess.
Speaker 1: And we finished up and at the end of it we were pretty excited because my dad got a medal.
Speaker 1: He got a medal from this race and they let him know that he had won.
Speaker 1: He finished first in the 60 plus division.
Speaker 1: We were so proud, we were so excited he wore his medal.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he probably still has his medal, but to this day we're not allowed to ask how many people were in the 60 plus division.
Speaker 1: And if you're watching, dad, I'm sorry, uh, but the reality is, if there was a second place medal, it was not given out that day, um, but I'm still proud of them.
Speaker 1: But I do ask the question.
Speaker 1: You know, what is that victory?
Speaker 1: You know, depending on opposition, was there much opposition?
Speaker 1: What does that do for the cause of that victory, the excitement of that victory?
Speaker 1: But the reality is this I look at the gospel and I wonder the power that exists there.
Speaker 1: And so I asked the question what was the opposition that exists there?
Speaker 1: And so I asked the question what was the opposition?
Speaker 1: What was the obstacle that had to be overcome to make me realize just how powerful the gospel really is?
Speaker 1: What are we working against here?
Speaker 1: And then I look in the mirror of my own life and I see the answer of my own life.
Speaker 1: And I see the answer.
Speaker 1: I see the brokenness of my own person, my own sin and the way I, as we read earlier, the way I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Speaker 1: I think of my own brokenness and then I multiply that by the sins of all the world, of all who are living today and all who have ever lived.
Speaker 1: And if the Lord doesn't return soon, he will return, but if he doesn't return quickly, how many will live?
Speaker 1: I multiply sin by all of that and I see what must be overcome, because in my own state, in your own state, outside of Christ, it is hopeless and we have no shot at being saved and we are done for outside of Christ.
Speaker 1: And I look at the future I deserve, which is the future of death and hell.
Speaker 1: Multiply that by all humankind, the death and hell that we all deserve, and I look at what must be overcome.
Speaker 1: And then I look at a savior who willingly took that sin upon himself and died the death I deserve and you deserve.
Speaker 1: He became sin 1 Corinthians 5, 21, who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Speaker 1: And he took that upon himself.
Speaker 1: The sweet exchange of the gospel and rising from the grave, defeating sin and death.
Speaker 1: And then I get a picture, even though I feel like until the other side in glory I won't fully understand and grasp the weight of the gospel.
Speaker 1: But even now I see a picture of just how powerful the gospel is.
Speaker 1: It's the power of God for salvation.
Speaker 1: Throughout scripture we see this power, the power of the gospel, played out.
Speaker 1: A few examples I flip over and just want to show you this you see my Bible here and I hold it up here and you see this little sliver.
Speaker 1: This little sliver is 10 pages In my Bible from 1510 to 1520, we've got 10 pages right here.
Speaker 1: It's the distance from John chapter 18 to Acts chapter two.
Speaker 1: 10 pages, the distance from John 18 to Acts chapter two.
Speaker 1: There's a man named Peter in John 18 who's been following Jesus for three years.
Speaker 1: In many ways one of his, his right-hand guys for three years, has made bold confessions I believe you're the Christ, the son of the living God.
Speaker 1: You know where, jesus, where you're going, I'm going, I'm following you.
Speaker 1: And then, the night of Jesus's arrest, peter's following close behind and the servant girl at the door said to Peter you also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?
Speaker 1: And he said I am not.
Speaker 1: Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.
Speaker 1: So they said to him you also are not one of his disciples, are you?
Speaker 1: He denied it and said I'm not One of the servants of the high priest.
Speaker 1: A relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off asked Did I not see you in the garden with him?
Speaker 1: And then verse 27,.
Speaker 1: Peter again denied it and at once the rooster crowed that's John 18.
Speaker 1: Peter, he's been following Jesus for three years.
Speaker 1: And at the moment of his arrest, three people come up to him and say you know the guy, I've seen you with the guy.
Speaker 1: And what does Peter say?
Speaker 1: I don't know him, you've got the wrong guy, I don't have anything to do with him.
Speaker 1: And then I flip 10 pages.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is now risen from the grave.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is now ascended into heaven.
Speaker 1: Acts chapter 2,.
Speaker 1: The spirit of God comes down upon the church.
Speaker 1: Everyone wants to know what's going on.
Speaker 1: They're all looking around for someone to come, get in the pulpit and say something about what in the world is happening.
Speaker 1: And who steps into the pulpit?
Speaker 1: Ten pages later, peter steps up, proclaims the gospel boldly of what Christ has done, proclaims the resurrection and everybody wants to come be saved.
Speaker 1: In verse 41, so those who received his words were baptized.
Speaker 1: And they were added that day about 3,000 souls.
Speaker 1: 10 pages from I don't know the guy to telling 3,000 people here's the guy, from I've never met him to here is the savior of the world and 3,000 people saying I want what you have.
Speaker 1: What can do that?
Speaker 1: What makes that possible in 10 pages?
Speaker 1: What makes that possible in a lifetime of pages?
Speaker 1: It's only one thing it's the power of the gospel, you don't even need 10 pages.
Speaker 1: One page from Acts 8 to 9.
Speaker 1: When Paul is holding the garments of the men putting Stephen to death, one chapter later Jesus turns his life upside down.
Speaker 1: He sees the risen Christ and becomes the greatest missionary to ever walk the planet.
Speaker 1: In John, chapter 7, it says Jesus's own brothers don't even believe in him.
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, in Acts, chapter 15, jesus's brother, james, is a leader in the church.
Speaker 1: In Galatians 2.9, paul calls James a pillar of the church.
Speaker 1: And you literally turn to a book of the Bible named what James?
Speaker 1: He didn't believe the guy and now he's writing books about the guy.
Speaker 1: What does it?
Speaker 1: It's the gospel.
Speaker 1: In Luke, chapter 8, there's this woman, mary Magdalene.
Speaker 1: She's oppressed by these spirits.
Speaker 1: She's literally oppressed by these demons.
Speaker 1: She's a broken, broken woman, but gets healed of this.
Speaker 1: And then in John, chapter 20, she's at the resurrection.
Speaker 1: She's the first to see Jesus raised from the dead.
Speaker 1: And Jesus looks at her and says go tell the brothers I've risen from the dead.
Speaker 1: And she becomes the first herald of the gospel message who was formerly downcast and oppressed.
Speaker 1: Now she's telling the world, and even the disciples, that Christ has risen.
Speaker 1: What can do this?
Speaker 1: It's the gospel, it's the power of the gospel.
Speaker 1: But these stories don't just exist in scripture, they also exist in your life.
Speaker 1: You have the same kind of story.
Speaker 1: If you know Jesus Christ, then you have a story of being raised from death to life.
Speaker 1: You have a story that the world also needs to hear about what Christ has done in you and through you and how he has saved you, and so this kind of testimony can be your kind of testimony.
Speaker 1: Is your testimony, is your story of what Christ has done.
Speaker 1: Are you ready and willing to share your testimony?
Speaker 1: Okay, to live out the truth that I'm not ashamed of the gospel, but let those at your school know, and those at your work and in your community, maybe even in your own living room.
Speaker 1: Let them know that there is a Savior and I've met him and I know him, but, more importantly, he knows me.
Speaker 1: I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, you can think, to the Gentile.
Speaker 1: This gospel message is for who?
Speaker 1: It's for everyone.
Speaker 1: No one has to be on the outside looking in.
Speaker 1: No one is too far past the grace of God.
Speaker 1: No one is too lost that they can't be found.
Speaker 1: Time and time again, jesus proves this as he tells stories about a lost sheep and a lost coin and a lost son.
Speaker 1: And no one is past the grace of God.
Speaker 1: It is a gospel for everyone who believes, and he says this to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Speaker 1: Now, how do we take this little statement?
Speaker 1: It seems a little odd.
Speaker 1: Does it seem like he's given a little priority to one?
Speaker 1: Does it feel like one gets the salvation and the other maybe gets the leftover salvation?
Speaker 1: It kind of sounds odd.
Speaker 1: The reality is this this was a church filled with Jews and Gentiles.
Speaker 1: Sounds odd.
Speaker 1: The reality is this this was a church filled with Jews and Gentiles.
Speaker 1: We know that in Genesis, chapter 12, god makes a promise to Abraham very early on, not because Abraham is special.
Speaker 1: In fact, abraham was just a normal guy worshiping the gods of the land.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden he gets a call from the God of the universe, setting him apart, making a covenant with him that he will be a blessing, given a name, given a people, and from him, the people of God, this family, the Jewish people come.
Speaker 1: And yet, from the beginning in Genesis, chapter 12, what we see is Abraham.
Speaker 1: I want you to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, not just your family, all the families of the earth, that this is a blessing from God that will go forth, and so that, for all places and all times, the gospel is for who?
Speaker 1: For all people, the Jewish people, who this promise was originally given to, but given with the idea that it would then flow out to all.
Speaker 1: And so if you were in the church at Rome at this time, if you're in the church at El Dorado at this time, then the good news is for you.
Speaker 1: You wonder, is the gospel for me?
Speaker 1: I got to tell you, if you are here and you have a pulse this morning, you are qualified, you can get in on this, you can take part in all that God has for you.
Speaker 1: Your sins can be forgiven, you can have hope in this life and the life to come.
Speaker 1: You don't have to wonder what my future looks like.
Speaker 1: Instead, you can say my future looks like that of Christ Jesus and I will be with him for eternity.
Speaker 1: That's good news this morning.
Speaker 1: And if you're here and you know Jesus Christ, then you have the distinct privilege of living unashamed and letting others know that there's a place you can find hope.
Speaker 1: We sometimes ask questions.
Speaker 1: We're tempted to be ashamed of spreading the gospel because we're tempted to say things like am I qualified to do this?
Speaker 1: Am I able to do this?
Speaker 1: Some of our favorite temptations are to say you know what if I get asked a question I can't really answer?
Speaker 1: What if you know what if we have this conversation?
Speaker 1: It's just a little awkward and you know, I know this person well.
Speaker 1: What if things get awkward between us because I bring up religion and Christianity in the midst of all this?
Speaker 1: And really the question is this what if they reject me?
Speaker 1: What if they reject me and church family?
Speaker 1: I want to tell you some news this morning and it may not fire you up, but we're going to get you fired up right after you will be rejected.
Speaker 1: You will share the gospel and people will shut it down.
Speaker 1: Some will.
Speaker 1: You will share the gospel and people will shut it down.
Speaker 1: Some will.
Speaker 1: You will share the gospel and some will not come to know Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: You will share the gospel and there will be times and they may be extremely kind about it, but they're just going to say, hey, I'm really not interested in that.
Speaker 1: But I also want to tell you this as you're faithful to share the gospel, there will be times when people move from death to life for the glory of God and experience new life in Jesus Christ, not just now, but for all eternity.
Speaker 1: How can I tell you that?
Speaker 1: Well, because that job's not on us.
Speaker 1: We're called just to be faithful and share.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.
Speaker 1: Well, because that job's not on us, we're called just to be faithful and share.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.
Speaker 1: So there may be times that they're not saved that day or in that moment, but there may be times when you get to walk someone from death to life as you tell them about Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: So my real question is this church family we don't need to sit back in fear and ask what if they reject me?
Speaker 1: I think my real question is this church family we don't need to sit back in fear and ask what if they reject me.
Speaker 1: I think the better question is this what if they don't?
Speaker 1: What if today they step into life in Christ Jesus?
Speaker 1: What if today they make the greatest decision anyone can ever make, and church family.
Speaker 1: What if you have something to do with that?
Speaker 1: What if the Holy Spirit uses you?
Speaker 1: Not because you have all the answers none of us do, not because you are just qualified beyond belief who among us really is but because God is faithful, because we have the story of Christ Jesus, his death and resurrection, because we have the story in our own hearts of how he's transformed our lives and we have a story to tell to others about how they can take part in this glorious life in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: So, could we say, as individuals and as a church family, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
Speaker 1: In just a moment I'll be down front and maybe this morning's your morning and you want to come, partake in that gospel and you want to enter into that life with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Come, talk to me.
Speaker 1: Maybe you want to join this church or you just want to be prayed over or whatever you need.
Speaker 1: Maybe you want to come.
Speaker 1: I'll be down front.
Speaker 1: However, you need to respond.
Speaker 1: You do so.
Speaker 1: Let me pray for us.
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the gospel, the hope that we find, the life that we find.
Speaker 1: Lord, let us live as individuals who are not ashamed, let us live as individuals who lift high the cross, for it is through your death and resurrection, lord Jesus, that we have life, and not just have life.
Speaker 1: But you say we can have life and have it abundantly.
Speaker 1: So, lord, let us not be ashamed and let us take the gospel with us to a lost and broken world that deeply need it.
Speaker 1: Lord, would you empower us to do it?
Speaker 1: Lord, in Christ's name, amen, let's stand and worship and I'll be down front.