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Amen. What a day, glorious day that
will be. What a song to remind us of the
hope that we have for all eternity is.
Think about that hope. People often ask me, I guess
because I'm a preacher about heaven and I can just tell you
this, I don't know a whole lot about heaven.
I don't. Scripture doesn't speak on the
subject a whole lot. There's some things that we we
can gather and there's some things that just have not been
revealed to US. One, one thing I do, it's that
Jesus will be there and I long for him.
I pray that you long for him as well because the Apostle Paul
says that there's a crown of righteousness that awaits those
who long for him. What a day that will be.
We are privileged and graced with the opportunity to see the
Son of God through our glorified eyes to worship in His presence
forever. Thank you guys for that
reminder. Give your Bibles if you would
turn to Romans in first chapter, Paul's epistle throne.
As you know, we've spent several weeks, many weeks thus far
revisiting the one true gospel in a series entitled There is
One Gospel. And I do not retract that there
is still only one gospel. In fact, the gospel today is
going to be Speaking of that one true gospel.
And in looking at that one true gospel today, I want us to turn
to the life of the Apostle Paul in light of the verse that we
are going to be looking at today.
Yes, we're going to be looking at 1:00.
Verse. Romans chapter 1 And there Paul
is going to remind us and remind those Roman believers that he
was addressing at the time the fact that he was not ashamed of
the gospel. I'm afraid in our day we need to
be reminded of what it looks like, is not ashamed of the
gospel Because as we were going to see today, many of us who
would probably not admit it, who may not even acknowledge it,
will have to agree with the fact that we live our lives ashamed
of the God. How many of you believers here
this morning believe that Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 is
trustworthy? And it says there in second
Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 that all Scripture is God breathes,
that it comes from God, that it is useful for teaching, for
rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness.
How many of you agree with that? I want you to acknowledge that
this morning because there will be much rebuke for us this
morning, Word of God, which to your testimony you said, I
believe that the Word of God is worthy of rebuking me because in
our day, unlike Paul, many are living their lives ashamed of
the gospel. And So what I want to do just
rather quickly is I want us to talk about Paul's life for just
a second. I want us to talk about how he
stood in boldness, how he was unashamed to proclaim the truth
no matter what audience he faced, be that chief priests,
kings, philosophers. Paul stood with boldness,
unashamed every time. And the gospel to Paul was not a
burden as it seems to be to so many in the church today, right?
It's just this thing that we have, thing that we have to
carry. Not so for the apostle Paul.
To him, the gospel was a privilege.
It was a privilege that had been given to him by God's grace.
God's grace saved him. God's grace called him.
God's grace made him the apostle.
He saw it as a privilege, one who had once blasphemed God and
persecuted the very Church of Jesus Christ.
Now, by the grace of God, he is proclaiming the glorious good
news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Paul of the gospel was a privilege.
Not only was it the Paul, the gospel was his passion.
It was the thing that I got Paul out of bed every single day,
motivated him, encouraged him, gave him the stamina to keep on
keeping on, to press on when others around him would fall.
It was the gospel passion and motivation for all that he did
in his life. The gospel being that passion
also defined his purpose, because our passion find our
purpose. It was his entire reason for
living. He loved the Lord Jesus and the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so much.
There was the entire reason that he lived.
And as we will see in a month 3 waking moment, unashamedly
living for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, O Philippians
chapter 1 and his words there in verse 20 depicts this for us
perfectly. He says this I eagerly expect
and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have
sufficient courage. As always, Christ will be
exalted in my body, in His body, wherever, wherever He goes,
whatever He does, whatever He. Says whatever suffering,
whatever persecution he must face.
His passion and his purpose was that Christ be exalted.
He says, whether by life or by death or whether I'm dying, I
want Christ to be exalted in my life and in my death. 21 He goes
on and he says, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain. Paul was consumed with Christ.
His purpose was Christ. His purpose was the message of
Christ. It was also power to Paul, the
gospel power to him. He's the one who will write what
we will read in a moment, in one verse, that the power of God
unto salvation. Paul understood this, the power
of God to save sinners. Shouldn't that be what the
gospel is to all of us who claim to be saved?
Because if you claim to be saved, you're saved because of
the power of God unto salvation, not to be the power behind your
life. Paul understood this.
He understood if the gospel being the privilege, that it was
the passion that drove him, the purpose for his very he could
not be ashamed of it. It had to be the power that
drove him to do all that he did. What did he do?
Let's look at his life briefly. I would encourage you.
I'm not going to read all of these passages to you, though I
will cite them back in your own time, and you can just hold my
feet to the fire. As I claimed that Paul lived a
life unashamed of the gospel. And because Paul lived a life
unashamed of the gospel, we too should look at his life and live
a life that's unashamed of the gospel as well.
Agree that Paul is an example of us to follow because he followed
Christ. In fact, Paul said that of
himself, Follow me because I follow Christ.
He was unashamed. He proved it.
In fact, in Acts Chapter 9, verses 23 through 25, they're in
Damascus. Shortly after his conversion.
Now I want you to watch that shortly after his conversion,
Paul's unashamedly preaching the gospel, and you know what
happened then? People plotted to kill him
immediately. People ask me, they say this,
Well Kirk, how long did it take you to be willing to be
unashamed and to share the godly?
Immediately after I was saved, I was on a shame to proclaim the
gospel. Why?
It is the power of God unto salvation.
I knew that Kurt did not save himself and I knew that if
anyone else was going to be saved, they must be saved
through the power of God that was proclaimed in the gospel to
me. I could I unfold for you all of
the technical things in regard to soteriology, an election and
predestination and those things that go along with salvation?
Absolutely not. I can simply.
Tell a man this, I once was blind, but now I see it is the
power of God that opened the eyes to this blind dead center
is the faith that God gifted me with as I believed and I trusted
in Christ that empowered me to repent and to turn from my sin
and to trust in Him and Him alone.
And if you too will trust in Christ alone, He will save you
by the power of God. Paul immediately preaching this
message there in Acts chapter 923 through 25 as they plotted
to kill him, but he escaped. Then we see him there in
Jerusalem in Acts Chapter 9 verses 28 through 29, still
shortly after his conversion, preaching the gospel, already
receiving more death threats. We're going to kill this man who
once persecuted the church, but now is preaching the gospel and
walking in the way. We see Paul there in Acts
chapter 13 as we Fast forward in his life beside Antioch and
there city. You know why he was expelled
from the city? Not because he wasn't a good
citizen, but because he preached the gospel boldly, unashamedly.
We see in Acts 14 verses 5 through 6, Paul now in Iconium.
You know what they do there? Stop preaching the gospel where
we're going to stone you. He escapes that attempt on him,
only to now continue to preach the gospel in a place called
Lystra. Then in Acts chapter 14, verses
1919 through 20. And here he's stoned and left
for dead. They thought they had gotten
this Saul of Tarsus who had been converted by the which is the
power of God unto salvation, but they failed.
Acts chapter 16, verses 22 through 24.
We see him in Philippi. We know the influence that he
had on those folks while he was there.
He was there beaten and he was in prison.
No, because he preached the gospel boldly in Acts 17, verses
5 through 10. We see him in Thessalonica and a
riot breaks out. I'm going to learn about the
apostle Paul and about those who preach the gospel when we, we
people don't like it and riots break out.
The riot broke out and he had to flee from Thessalonica, but not
before preaching the glorious gospel and leaving the gospel
footprints there. He finds himself in Acts 17
verse in Berea. He faced more opposition there.
Of course he did. He was forced to leave Acts 18.
We see him there in Corinth where he faces a false legal
attack, right? They're going to bring charges
against him that they have no charges that are valid.
Paul once again being persecuted for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Then in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19 verses 23 through 29, another
riot breaks out for preaching the gospel.
This time the riot broke out because the silversmith there
decided that if people gospel the one true saving gospel, then
they would turn from idolatry in the little silver silver trinket
idols that he was making, charging people for them.
They would no longer have need for these things, ultimately
putting him out of business. So a riot breaks out will change
the hearts of men, which it will.
Then in Acts chapter 21, verses 27 through 32, we see him back
in Jerusalem, the holy city of God.
He's again beaten, he's arrested because he continued to preach
the gospel. Acts 23, chapter 23, all the way
to chapter 26. We see him in Caesarea where
he's imprisoned, and he goes from this trial to that trial
before Felix, before Festus, before King Agrippa.
And each opportunity he boldly continued to proclaim the
gospel. Then in Acts 27, in route to
Rome, after he was sentenced to go back to Rome under house
erect, we see that he's he faces all kinds of hardships and even
in the midst of shipwrecks and hardships, hunger and pain, he's
still unashamedly preaches the gospel for those who need the
hope of Jesus Christ. We see 28 verse 16 and then all
the way through Acts 30 and the 31st See him under house arrest
there. In those verses, Paul sums his
life up for us, compromise, ensuring the gospel.
In Second Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 23, you have your
Bibles. You can turn there and you can
read along, but it says this Speaking of those false apostles
who had crept into the church, claiming to be apostles but
distorting the gospel, not willing to suffer preaching only
for false and altered gospel. Paul says this in verse 23 of
2nd Corinthians 11. Are they servants of Christ?
Am I out of my mind to talk like this?
I am more. I have worked much harder, been
in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely and been
exposed to death again. Bragging about himself, he's
saying these are the facts. He says five times.
I received from the Jews 40 lashes -1 I'm not very good at
math, but that's 39 lashes 5 different times.
Most scholars will agree to this, that 40 lashes was a death
sentence, Paul said. Five different.
Ash away from death. Three times I was beaten with
rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.
I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
I've been constantly on the move.
I've been in danger from rivers and dangers from bandits and
danger from my own countrymen, in danger from gentiles, in
danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false
brothers. I've labored and toiled.
I have often gone without sleep. I've I have known hunger and
thirst and have often gone without.
Food. I have been cold and naked.
That's for all the prosperity gospel preachers who lie to
people over and over and over again.
That God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Yes, He wants you to be wise, but He wants you to be wise in
the eyes of the Lord. He wants you to find your wealth
in Him. He wants you to find ultimate
healing in Christ. Stood this he understood all of
the opposition that he had faced?
And why did he do this? Why are we looking at these
things? Because today we're going to
read the words of Paul in one verse.
But before we read those words that proclaim that he was
unashamed of the gospel, I want you to understand that those
weren't just mere words. He didn't just talk a big game
and then deny it by his life. He said those words because he
meant those words, those words by the life that he lived, that
he truly was unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
These events that we've looked at this morning briefly prove
that that is the truth. And so now we turn our eyes to
Romans chapter one in our verse for today, verse 16 of Romans
chapter 1. Paul says this.
I am not ashamed of the gospel and.
He's going to going to answer for us why he's not ashamed of
the gospel, because it is God for the salvation of everyone
who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
As we read those words today, I invite you to ask yourself this
question. Are you ashamed of the gospel?
Are you ashamed of the gospel, or are you unashamed of the
gospel? Paul has showed us through his
life with every occasion that we have and there are others that
we did not mention. He's shown us what it looks.
Like, to be honest, shame. And so as we consider that
today, may you ask yourself that question.
Am I unashamed of the gospel? Pray with me, Father, in the
name of Jesus, as we have opened your word today and as we have
already been challenged by your faithful servant Paul, and the
fact that he is unashamed in his proclamation and in unto the
gospel and the gospel alone. God.
I pray that we would see him as an expert in being unashamed of
the gospel and that we would compare our lives today to
through the Apostle Paul who you have left for us in your word to
see. No, God, I pray that we would
get honest with ourselves, that we as a church as a whole would
get honest, that the church in this country would get honest,
that the church around the world would get honest about this
subject. Answer the question, are we
unashamed or speak truth to us now?
But even truth that hurts and rebukes so that we will know the
truth, so that we can declare as the apostle Paul did, that I am
Gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation for all who believe. First for the Jew, then for the
Gentile. Speak to us, change us, mold us
into obedience for your Kingdom. And we pray these things in
Jesus name, Amen. So we ask the are you ashamed of
the gospel? And before you answer that
question, I want to take the time today in comparing our
lives to the life of the Lord Jesus, of course, and his
follower here, the apostle Paul, who made this claim, backing it
up with his life. Are you unashamed of the gospel?
Or we could word it, Are you ashamed of the gospel?
Either way, it's the correct question.
Either way, it's a question worth asking today because I'm
afraid that many who would no, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
are going to learn today that yes, yes you are.
There's a problem there in and being ashamed of the gospel.
So you're taking notes. Write this down.
You're ashamed of the Gospel. If if you're ashamed.
If you aren't sharing it, Apostle Paul giving us the
example of his life over and over and over again of sharing
the gospel no matter where he was.
Some of you are ashamed of the gospel, and that shame is
evidence that you are refusing to speak the truth of the
gospel. I know you've got your laundry
list of reasons why. And every single one of them are
unacceptable. Paul not making excuses as to
why he shouldn't proclaim the He was looking for every
opportunity where he was able to proclaim the gospel.
And for some of you, your shame is evident because you're
refusing to speak the truth. Your silence reveals your shame.
You say nothing while those around you are perishing, and
God forbid you were ashamed of the gospel to the degree that
you will not even open your mouth for the one who you
claimed rescue you and saved you from the wrath of God that is to
come. Luke 9, as we saw in our
Scripture reading, says this again.
Let me remind you in verse 26, if anyone is ashamed of me and
my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of Him when He comes in
His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy
angels. What is he talking about?
If you're ashamed of him and his the gospel that he taught to his
disciples, who then taught to those who would follow?
And if you were silent about the gospel, it reveals that you are
ashamed of not only the message of the gospel, but the Savior to
which that message contained. Paul knew the power of the
gospel. He says it's the power of God
unto salvation. He knew that anyone who was
going to be saved had to be saved by the power of God.
He knew that our own works wouldn't save us, our own deeds
wouldn't save us, wouldn't save us, our baptism wouldn't save
us. He knew that the only way that a
man was going to be saved as if God powerfully saved that man.
And he also knew that it was impossible apart from the
gospel. That's why he says I'm unashamed
of it, because it is the power of God unto salvation.
Who believed Paul would not be silenced in regard to the
Gospel? Second Timothy chapter one,
verse 9, Paul says this to Timothy.
He says this about Christ. He saved us and called us to a
holy life, not because of anything we have done, but in
grace. This grace was given us in
Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has
now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ
Jesus, who has destroyed to death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
And of this gospel he says, I was appointed a herald and an
apostle and a teacher. I am suffering as I am, yet I am
not ashamed because I know whom I have believed, and I am
convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to
him for that day. He says I'm not ashamed of that
gospel because that gospel gives me.
Hope. And we when we refused to share
the gospel with those around us who have no hope, we're ashamed
of it. John Owens said this in
reference to being silent Gospel.
He says the gospel is to be professed openly, confessed
boldly, and preached without fear.
He goes on to say to be ashamed of it is to.
Deny him who bought us Paul. Oldness for Christ revealed that
he was not going to deny the very one who bought him.
He understood the power of God that had been revealed through
the gospel that changed him from the inside out immediately.
When we refuse to speak the truth, we don't just deny the
gospel to those in need of the gospel, we deny the very Savior
of the Gospel. In fact, Matthew chapter 10,
verse 32, here's what Jesus said.
He said whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also
acknowledge Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before
men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
When we deny the Lord Jesus Christ by refusing to speak the
truth of the gospel, we confirm that we will be those who He is
ashamed of for all eternity, never knowing Christ at all.
Christ could never disown those who are truly His, all who
saved. He is talking about those who
profess Christ but yet who are ashamed of Him and refuse to
speak the truth. Those who are refraining to.
Offer. Hope to others, as I began to
say a moment ago, how can we have this hope, the power of
God, and claim that it is real, but yet in our cubicle at work,
the person next to us is hopeless and we have the message
of hope, and we never open our mouths to offer that hope to
them. How can we claim to know that
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation?
Open our life and yet we ride in a work truck all week long with
another soul who is hopeless and helpless and enslaved to their
sin, and yet we never open our mouths.
You know how we do this? It is because we are ashamed of
the gospel. And it is revealed in the fact
that we refuse to speak the truth.
It is revealed in the fact that we refrain to.
Offer hope to others. We withhold from them the very
hope. That we profess to have.
There's no concern and no regard for their desperate situation.
This is akin to someone in this congregation this morning having
the cure to cancer, then walking through the Anderson are the
halls of Texas children and offering it to no one, but
keeping it for yourself. And it is an even greater sin
because the cure for cancer is not the power of God unto
salvation. The cure for cancer would human
health. Yet we have the hope of eternal
life in the gospel, and we're ashamed withholding it from
those who are perishing, refraining to offer hope to
others, contrary to what to do. In first Peter chapter 3 verse
15 he says this, but in your heart set apart, Christ is Lord.
And. Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope
that you have. You know the reason for any hope
that any of us have. It is the gospel of Jesus
Christ, of Christ. None of us have any eternal
hope. And so when someone asks you
about that hope, don't give them some kind of inspirational
speech. Don't give them something that
you read on a placard in Kirkland's God for the Glorious
Gospel of Jesus Christ. For is the power of God unto
salvation for all who believe, and if you withhold that from
them. It shows you're ashamed of the
gospel. You have a hard time.
Anyone who has any sense that you are unashamed of the gospel,
that you do not share, you're not boldly proclaiming this
truth. There is an element of shame and
you need and ask yourself why. Secondly, as we answer this
question that no one wants to ask, are you ashamed of the
gospel? You're ashamed of the gospel if
you aren't sharing it. That's obvious.
You can come up with all the excuses you want.
I don't know how we'll teach you.
I don't know where to go anywhere, what will happen?
Who cares? But secondly, I want you to see
this. You're ashamed of the gospel if
you're my Isn't there enough of that in our culture?
Many show their shame for the gospel by the fact that they
sugarcoat it, that they water it down, that they make it
something that it's not because they're afraid of facing the
criticism of others. Right if we.
Stand up and we boldly proclaim the gospel.
The fact that man is a sin and is totally depraved and he is
heading straight long into the wrath and the judgment of God.
Unless God intervene by His grace and His mercy through the
Lord Jesus Christ, man has no hope.
We tell them you must trust in Jesus.
Christ, repent of your sin, believe on Him.
Only way that you're to be saved.
People get offended by that message, don't they?
Especially in our time. Any exclusive message they get
offended by the gospel is an exclusive message.
It is only for those who repent and believe, however.
Many are sugar coating that. Aren't they concerned more about
their own acceptance instead of that sinner's soul?
Oh, I just want people to like me.
So I want to make this message a likable message.
And in doing so, you reveal your shame being the true message.
You, unlike Paul, are not standing there saying that I'm
unashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto
salvation. You are saying I am ashamed of
the gospel and I'm going to alter it a little bit and I'm
going to change it and I'm going to make this thing a little more
palatable. A little more acceptable to our
culture. Many try to do this, attempting
to make the message less offensive.
Let me just help all of you out. The gospel that Paul preached,
which was given to him by himself, is an offensive
message. It will never be anything other
than an offensive message. You can't change that.
It is what it is. In fact, in First Corinthians
chapter one, verse 22, here's what Paul says about it.
Jews demand miraculous. Wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified, the Gospel, a stumbling block to the Jews and
foolishness to the Gentiles. It is by nature a stumbling
block. It is by nature foolishness to
the unbeliever. It is by nature offensive.
That's why Paul in Galatians chapter 5, verse 11, the offense
of the cross. It is offensive to a lost person
to tell them that they are on their way to hell and
everlasting judgment, lest they repent and turn to the one who
died on the cross to save them. We hear it all the.
Time. But who are you?
Oh, don't worry, friend, I'm not going to judge you, but you will
be judged. Who's appointed unto man wants
to die. And after that, the judgment you
will stand before a holy God and you will give an account and
those who stand before the Father, not clothed in the
righteousness of Jesus Christ, you will perish for all eternity
gospel and apart from Jesus Christ, there is no saving hope
for man. So what we do, we try to make
this message a little less offensive, softening the blow,
softening the truth, sanding the edges just a little bit, because
we're more concerned about offending people.
And you are about the wretched condition of their souls.
And I tell you, this preacher stands before you today, a one
who was once offended by the gospel.
But I'm so thankful that one was willing to offend me by it,
because in the offense of hearing the gospel, I realized I
had offended my Creator. I needed redemption and I needed
forgiveness and I needed cleansing from sin.
And in the gospel we find that hope, but many sugar coat it,
water it down, because we don't want.
People to push them away. They're already away.
What are you going to do, push them all the way to hell?
They are condemned already Stop thinking like the world and
start thinking like the apostle Paul.
If I don't present to them the gospel, they it's not that they
might perish. They are condemned already.
See it from what it is, See it from what Scripture says.
You can't make that less offensive.
You can't send that down. You can't soften it in any way.
It is the gospel. Stop being concerned with
offending people. Be concerned with people
hearing. That offensive truth and
repenting and being turned to Christ.
Paul tells Timothy in second Timothy chapter 4.
He says this to him boldly preach the word, be prepared in
the season and be ready all the time no matter what culture
accepts, no matter what culture declines.
You preach the word instant in season and out of season.
He says correct rebuke and encourage with great patience
and careful instruction. Why for the time will come when
men will put up with will not put up with sound doctrine
desires. They will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear a less offensive gospel, he says they will turn their ears
away from the truth and turn aside the myths.
Oh, the easy believism Gospels. And I need We've covered it in
this series, those easy believism Gospels.
Are easy for people to swallow. But they are not the power of
God unto salvation for all who believe.
They are a poor sub and they are not the message that Paul
preached. They're not the message that
he's encouraging Timothy to preach there in Second Timothy.
But what many do because of those who want to have their
ears tickled, well, I'm thankful to pastor a Church of people who
don't want to have their ears tickled.
Who will say, yes, we believe that there is rebuke in
Scripture and to welcome it, rebuke us, Pastor.
Oh, I'm thankful for the rebuke and the correction that I have
received through the Scriptures throughout the years.
But there are those, in fact the majority, who just want to have
their just enough Jesus to make them feel like they're on their
way to heaven. But let's don't get into the
offensive parts of it. Let's don't get into the fact
that Jesus tells us to forsake everything and follow him, and
that those that don't forsake everything aren't really follow.
Let's don't speak that kind of hard truth.
So they make the message less offensive, moving the truth,
removing certain elements right involving God's wrath and His
justice towards sinners. Removing even the very word sin
because we don't want to offend those who are trying to reach.
If you're not willing to offend them with the true gospel,
you're not trying to reach them. You are tickling their ears.
Buying them, you are pampering them.
That's why so many of these churches that call themselves
churches are nothing but a nursery school for lost people.
The gospel will be offensive. We can't make it less offensive.
You show your shame when you sugarcoat it.
You make the message less offensive.
Or where you manipulate the message for comfort and ease.
Let's take the gospel and let's just add a spoonful of sugar.
Because a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,
doesn't it, Mary Poppins? And that's the problem.
You believe in Mary. You don't believe the one true
gospel. Because the one true gospel
needs nothing added to it, nothing taken away from it.
And when it meets us, it is designed to do what only that
message can do, need us to alter it or to fit it to fit the
crowd. Notice the apostle Paul.
Though he always related to the crowd, he never changed the
gospel to so that it would fit the crowd.
He related to the crowd, and then he gave them the gospel.
Right. Where they were, and every time
he gave it, it was the same. He was unashamed of it.
When we change the gospel to fit the culture or the audience that
we're addressing, we air. What do you think?
I don't know this by now. We could fill this building 20
times over if I was willing to preach a sweeter, unbiblical
gospel. My prayer has always been for
this church and God would raise up a group of believers that
believe in the one true God, ashamed of that one true gospel,
and who will live and die for that gospel just as the Apostle
Paul did. I've watched God do this work
over and over and over again. Not by manipulating the message
for comfort and ease. By boldly proclaiming the
message of Jesus Christ. Paul preached the same gospel
message to the Jew and to the Gentile.
How do I know this? It's the power of God unto
salvation for all who believe. First for the Jew and then for
the Gentile. He included both of them in the
same God, not ashamed of. So we need not alter this
message or manipulate it for any reason.
He was unashamed of the gospel just as it is.
Have you ever met those people who they began to proclaim the
gospel and then they somehow through the middle of it, feel
like they need to apologize for God being a God of justice and
wrath? I don't have to apologize for
God. In fact, no one has to apologize
for God because everything that he does is right.
When he exercises his wrath and his judgment, it is absolutely,
positively right. And.
Holy, I don't have to. Soften that up to make it true.
It is true. Soften it up so that you can
somehow swallow it. Paul was unashamed of the
message. He knew there was no need to
alter. In fact, as we learned in our
first message in this series, did he not rebuke the Galatians
and those who were there stirring up chaos in regard to
the gospel Galatians, chapter one, verse 8, he says this.
But even if we are an Angel from heaven should preach one we
preach to you. Let him be eternally condemned,
as we've already said. So now I say again, if anybody
is preaching to you a gospel other than what is, except you
accepted, let him be eternally condemned.
Am I now trying to win the approval of men?
Why would he throw that in there?
Because there were many who were altering the gospel.
How received the approval of men?
They were sending it. They were shaving it.
They were sugar coating it. He.
Says I'm, am I trying to please men?
He says if I were still trying to please men, I would not be a
servant of Christ. You know what, Paul?
Says there are often times we miss If you're trying to please
men, you're not pleasing Christ. Don't miss that.
And so when we share the gospel, if we share the gospel in a way
that is somehow appealing to men.
We reveal that we're ashamed of Christ.
Let that be heard. Because those who are unashamed
of the true gospel, they will like Paul listen to me church.
They will like Paul unabridged, on a bass, unedited, untouched.
They will preach the people that they.
Received Paul here the gospel that he received personally from
Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus personally as Christ
took the time to teach him wisdom and knowledge straight
from Christ himself. The message for comfort and
ease. We don't have to make the
message less offensive a sugar coating it.
We reveal we're ashamed of it and sadly so isn't a church.
Thirdly, you're ashamed of the gospel, putting it aside.
We learned last week in First Corinthians chapter 15, as we
covered those few verses there, that the true gospel, the
elements that it contains, are to be of first importance, that
that's the burial of the resurrection of Christ.
Paul was saying that the gospel ought to be.
And when we set aside the gospel for any reason.
Or even any element of that gospel.
We reveal our shame for the gospel.
So you're ashamed of the gospel if you're What does that mean?
Give us clarity. I will.
We're setting the gospel aside when we find ourselves putting
it on the back burner on our list of things to do.
Oh the Co worker that I mentioned to you before that you
see every enslaved by their sin in need of Christ and you put it
on your list of things to do on the back burner, neglecting to
offer hope to them. How about this neglecting for
your fleshly desires? Right when I, when I get through
taking care of all the things that I wanted to take care of on
my list, I, when I eventually get through sharing the gospel
with others, then and then only will I do that.
The interesting thing is scripture actually speaks on
these things. It actually takes all of our
excuses away. Gospel.
In fact, in Mark's Gospel, the 8th chapter verse 31.
Jesus teaching here it says this.
He then began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three
days rise again. Sounds like Jesus was preached
that Paul preached. The death, the burial.
The resurrection prior to it ever happening.
Watch what he continues to say. He spoke plainly about this, and
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
I don't think some of you caught that the gospel and Peter's
going to pull him aside and tell him Jesus, you're not doing this
correctly. He rebukes him because Peter
didn't like the news that he had.
Heard. So he took him aside, and he
began to rebuke him. Can you imagine rebuking the Son
of God? Not a smart move, but when Jesus
turned and looked at his disciples.
He rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan.
Why? Because anything that interferes
with the true gospel is not from God.
It is from the enemy. Get behind me, Satan.
You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of
men. You're worried about what people
are going to think. Peter, stop it.
You're ashamed of me. You're ashamed of the death that
I'm going to die. You're ashamed of what I'm going
to endure. History that you have walked.
With me in. And he called the crowd to him,
along with his disciples, and said this, If anyone would come
after me, he must. Underline that, highlight that.
Make sure you see that in the Word of God.
He must. This is not this is not
something you do later on down the road.
If anyone is going to come after Christ, he must deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. Why was Jesus saying that?
Because he just told him I'm going to take up my cross and
I'm going to die for the sin of all those who will believe and
trust in me myself. I'm going to be buried and then
I'm going to rise from the grave to prove that I am who I say
that I am. Peter, you're acting like Satan.
Shut your mouth and listen to the truth.
This is the gospel if anyone does not deny themselves and
follow. Christ, they're not saved, he
says. Forever wants to save his life.
We'll lose it. Forever loses his life for me
and for the gospel. We'll save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet
forfeit his soul? What can a man give in exchange
for his soul? If anyone is a.
High words in this adulterous and sinful generation.
The Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his
Father's glory with his holy angels.
American Church, please hear the words of Christ Paul here in
Romans chapter 1 saying I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it
is unto salvation. You know why so many Americans,
so-called Christians are ashamed?
Because they've not experienced the power of God unto salvation.
They're ashamed of him, setting him aside constantly for other
things, for their own fleshly desires, negating their own
Christian duty. What do you mean by Christian
duty? Our God-given mission as the
church. And what is that?
Well, we can look at Mark's account in Mark chapter 16.
We can look at Matthew's account in Matthew 28 Commission.
Let's look at Mark 16 and see how it's worded here.
Verse 15. He said to them, Jesus, go into
all the world and preach the good news.
That's the gospel, that's the UN galleon.
That's what we've been talking about for weeks.
He said and preached the good news to all creation.
Baptized will be saved. What does that mean?
Whoever has faith and repents, and they show that repentance
through obedience, though baptism is the first step.
Of obedience, it says he who believes and is baptized will be
saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Why? Because they're already
condemned. You about that church?
We are to follow the command of Christ, the Great Commission.
We are to go and to preach the good news to all creatures, to
not be ashamed of that good news, putting it on the back
burner with every little excuse that we can come up with.
Good at talking to others. Neither were some of these guys,
for the power of the Holy Spirit interrupted their lives.
Well, I don't know what to. Say, well, the Bible says you
don't have to worry about that because he's going to give you
the words to say. I don't want to seem.
Judgy. You're worried about what?
You're more worried about you seeming judgy than the fact that
the person who you're withholding the gospel from will
be judged by God and is in the gospel that we warn them of
this. Stop negating your Christian
duty. Stop forsaking your mission.
You write this down. The omission of the Great
Commission is admission to being ashamed of the gospel.
I'll say it slower so that you can get it.
The omission of the Great Commission is admission to being
of the gospel. And the Church for years has
omitted the Great Commission for so many other things, putting
the gospel on the backburner. We put the gospel on the
backburner because we're ashamed of it.
Paul wouldn't said the gospel Christ and the gospel, as we saw
a moment ago, was his entire life and it should be yours.
Oh, before you say, but Kirk, that's the apostle Paul.
Yeah, a man just like you, a Sinner just like the rest of us,
redeemed by the of the Lord Jesus Christ, purchased by the
blood of our Savior, just like us, commissioned to go and to
tell others the good news, just like us.
So stop with your excuses. Stop making excuses while you're
putting the gospel on the back burner as people are going to
hell all around you. Stop saying that you care,
because you don't. Care you, care about you and
what people think about you. But Paul said this in Acts
chapter 20. He says this in verse 24.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me.
Oh, I wish the American church would get there.
I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the
race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.
He says I want to finish the task the Lord Jesus has given
me. What is that task?
The task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
He said this is the whole reason that I exist and I'm not going
to put this gospel on the back burner because it is my life and
I consider my life worth nothing apart from the gospel mission
that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has given unto me.
It is the same, and to all of you who profess Christ in this
room today, and to all who profess Christ around this
world, it has not changed. Stop setting it aside, putting
it on the back. Burner How about prioritizing it
over other things? Boy, don't we see this a lot
when we give the gospel a lesser place of this world.
What a sad day when the church no longer prioritizes Christ and
his gospel, but we are so distracted by the lesser things
of this world. 9 verse 57 it says as they were walking along
the road, a man said to him, Man comes up to Jesus.
He says, I'll follow you wherever you go.
Jesus, of course, knowing his heart, it says Jesus replied.
Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son
of Man has no place to lay his head.
Oh, what a comfortable gospel. Follow me, you might be
homeless. Follow me, you might be less off
than the foxes and the birds, he said to another man.
Follow me. But the man replied, Lord, first
let me go and bury my father. Now what you need to know about
this is his father wasn't even dead.
He wanted to go and wait for his father to boy his inheritance
that the father was going to give him for just a little while
and then maybe after that, maybe after that, then he would follow
Jesus if it was convenient for him.
Jesus said to him, just like this, how insensitive of our
Savior. Let the dead bury their own dead
but you. Proclaim the Kingdom of God.
Let the dead bury their own dead.
You go proclaim the gospel. Still another said, I will
follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my
family. Well, let me go back and then
take care of these worldly things, these fleshly thing.
The things that are priority in my life.
And Jesus replied, No one who looked, who puts his hands to
the plow and looks back, is fit for service in the Kingdom of
God. Why did he say this?
He said this in the hearing of his true disciples, so that they
would know the truth. Because there are so many
tiesing other things over the gospel, putting their hand to
the pilot and looking back on what all they're missing out for
the sake of the gospel, let me just tell you this, You will
miss out on some things involving this world.
You will miss out on earthly pleasure, but you much more in
eternity as promised by the Lord.
Just as he told his disciples, of any of you have lost family,
fortunes or homes in eternity, I'm going to repay that to you
substantially, multiple folds to you, with eternal rewards for
for forsaking everything for the gospel.
Yet in the church today, we're still prioritizing other things,
putting Jesus in a lesser place than he belongs.
Can we all agree that Jesus and his gospel deserves for him 1st
place? He said.
Well pastor, does that mean that I can't do things?
No, it doesn't mean that you can't do things.
It means that everything you do, you will have in the forefront
of your mind. This is an opportunity for the
gospel. When I go to work, it's a gospel
opportunity. When I go to a football game,
it's a gospel opportunity. When I play sports gospel
opportunity. That's how the true believer
thinks. I'm not going to be ashamed of
the gospel and put the gospel in a back burner or reprioritize it
in my life to where it is something less than preeminent.
Fur giving it a lesser place and the gospel deserves how about
this a lesser placement it once had in your life?
Isn't that what happens to the church at Ephesus?
Paul addresses them in Revelation chapter 2, verses 4
through 5. He gives out messages and
mandates to certain churches there in Asia Minor and Ephesus.
And he says this. He says in verse 4 of chapter 2.
Yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first
love. Remember the height from which
you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did
at first. If you do not repent, I will
come to you and remove your lampstand from his place.
Their first love. They had forgotten their first
love. And who's their first love?
Christ. And if Christ is your first
love, what does he say if you? So they were obviously at one
time obeying Him by preaching the gospel unashamedly, and he
says you've lost to that. What does he say?
Repent and do the things you first did, the things you did
first. Get back to where you know you
need to be. The first love was once Christ.
The first love was once the true gospel of Christ.
And here they had drifted away for this because they had
reprioritized everything. Even good thing some of you have
good priorities that are not gospel priorities, your family,
your marriages, your homes. Have you ever noticed when you
talk about the family, you talk about the home, you talk about
the marriage, the people flock to it.
They want to have a marriage conference.
They won't have a family conference.
But if you say come on Sunday afternoon and learn how to share
the gospel, for it is the good news of God and it is the power
of God unto S leave. Come join us.
We'll teach you how to do it and no one shows up.
Why? Because you have re prioritized
the gospel. You're ashamed of it.
That is, you can teach your sons and to be good husbands, but if
you are not teaching them to prioritize the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, you have failed them as a Christian
Father, you're ashamed of Christ and His message worthizing other
things. It's sad to think that daddies
will spend countless hours teaching their son to throw a
football. And there's nothing wrong with
teaching your son to throw a football.
Please teach him to throw a football so he doesn't look like
a girl in the playground. But you spend teaching him how
to do that and countless hours teaching him how or paying good
money to teach him how to swing a a stick and hit another ball.
And your Son doesn't learn from you and your example how to
unashamedly share the gospel of Jesus Christ with that clerk or
that homeless man in his own vomit in the street who needs
the same hope that we have in Christ.
Shame on you. You are ashamed of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, forgetting that it is the power of God unto
salvation. And my prayer for you is that
God allows you a moment this morning to repent, to receive
His mercy. You're ashamed of the gospel if
you're setting it aside. Anything your own mission of it
reveals your shame. I mean practically.
Speaking, how can one claim that the message of the gospel saved
them and rescued them, only to turn and set it aside for the
things of this world? God, wake us up.
Let us hear the rebuke from the Word today.
Let us hear the truth. Lastly, I will make it as
quickly as possible. You're ashamed of the gospel if
you aren't surrendered to it. Many of you have heard the truth
of the gospel in this very church over and over and over
and over again. And you reveal that you were
ashamed of the gospel, not yet run to the feet of Jesus Christ,
proclaiming Him as Lord and Savior.
And that shame that you have for the gospel and for Christ is
evident. How?
Because you're unbelieving toward Christ.
Week after week we open the pages of Scripture.
You see the life in the ministry of Christ.
You see the message of Christ. You see the miracles of Christ.
You see Him unveiled through God's Word over.
And over and over and over. Again, yet you will not and do
not believe. Why would you not believe in
such a great Savior that we look at over and over and over again?
It's because you are ashamed of Him.
John's Gospel. John highlights a group of
people who are the same chapter in the 19th verse.
It says this is the verdict. Light has come into the world,
Jesus proclaiming the gospel. But men love darkness instead of
light because their deeds were evil.
They were ashamed of the gospel but rather have their evil
deeds. 20 says evil hates the light and will not come into the
light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
And I proclaim to you this morning, unbelieving Sinner,
your deeds have already been exposed before you ever
committed the first one. God has already known the
beginning from the end, and you are not sin from God.
And if you do not repent of that sin and trust in Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior, you will stand before God.
And as Scripture declares, books will be open.
And of those books, one of those books will be books that give an
account of every wrong. And since we're done and you
will be judged. For every single one of them
apart from Jesus Christ. And I implore you today, turn
from your sin, believe in Jesus Christ.
He's the only hope that any if you continue to neglect
acknowledging him as Savior and as Messiah, you are simply
confirming that you are ashamed of the person and the work of
Jesus Christ. Can I remind you?
All who are ashamed of him on this earth, he will be ashamed
of them before his Father in heaven.
You don't have to do any hermeneutical tricks to
interpret that and to understand that it means exactly what it
sounds. Like it means if you've not yet
believed in Christ, you're openly admitting that you're
ashamed of him. And how could we be ashamed of
Christ, the God man embody coming to this earth, die in the
place of undeserving and wicked sinners.
The Christ who bore the wrath of our sin on his back, only to
turn and give us his own righteousness so that we can
stand before God accepted. And you were ashamed of that
kind of savior for himself, for those who would spit in his
face, who would look at the ones who drove nails in his hands and
his feet, and say, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. How can you still be ashamed of
such a savior? Believe on Christ today.
There's no need to be ashamed. The message of Christ is the
power of God unto salvation for all who believe.
So you're ashamed of the gospel if you aren't surrendered to it,
you're still unbelieving toward Christ, or you're still
unsubmitted to Christ? There's a life that's ashamed
of. Christ won't repent.
And life won't and life won't submit to Christ fact Jesus
Matthew chapter 21 verse 32. It says this for John came to
you to show you the way of righteousness.
Speaking of John the Baptist and you did not believe him?
But the tax collectors and the and even after you saw this,
Hugh did not repent and believe him.
I want you to see what he's saying there.
He's telling the Pharisees you saw me saving prostitutes and
tax collectors. You saw me saving the scum of
the earth because they believed I was who I said that I was.
You saw it and you're still ashamed of me, and you still
don't believe. What a sad reckoning a person
will have who said week after week in church services seeing
all that Christ has done, but they still remain ashamed of
Him. Not believing, not submitting,
there's no real evidence in their life of any change.
Repentance. Continuing to refuse to turn and
believe so that they won't perish.
Not only is it sad to think about, it's a sad reality that
eternity will expose. Second Thessalonians chapter 1
verse 8, it says he will punish those who do not know God and do
not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut
out from the presence of the Lord and from the magic of His
power. The fact that you haven't
surrendered to Christ reveals you're ashamed of Him.
And if you're ashamed of film here, he will be ashamed of you
on that day before and the holy angels.
So to the professing believer here today, I ask you, are you
ashamed of the true gospel of Christ based on what we've
looked at today? Paul tells Timothy again, second
Timothy one verse 8. He says so do not be ashamed to
testify about our Lord. He's giving instructions to
another pastor, another man of God.
Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord or shamed of me,
his prisoner Timothy to do something.
I want to invite you to do the same today, He says.
But join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of
God. Well, I don't invite you today
to receive a better life. I don't invite you today to to
receive a world or notoriety. I invite you as Paul.
Invited Timothy Dear professing believer, suffer with us to have
people think that you lunatic who has lost their minds so dead
focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ that nothing else
matters. I invite you as Paul did, join
join in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
It is his power that saves you and it is his power that will
sustain you to the unbeliever. Simply put, you've spent enough
time ashamed of Christ, neglecting the only one, whoever
died as a sacrifice to rescue Sinner.
You spend enough. Time neglecting the one, shame
and suffered agony and rejection and even a brutal death in the
place of undeserving sinners like you.
Like me, you spend enough time ashamed of him.
Why would you be ashamed of such a loving, this merciful Savior?
Why would you not surrender to Him wholeheartedly this very
day? As the scripture says, today is
the day of salvation. Now is the appointed time.
Oh, don't try to put it off until tomorrow.
Why is here? Who is guaranteed tomorrow,
today? Stop being ashamed of Jesus
Christ and run to Him as your Lord and your Savior and your
Master in the only forgiveness that there is to be received for
sinners. Come to Him today and believing
Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your word.
We thank You that it is true. We thank You that it does not
return void, Lord, it has gone forth and it will do exactly
what you desire for it to do. And we rest in that.
And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus for
your sacrifice and for the gospel message that reveals that
sacrifice. To all who believe in trust in
Christ, we love you. We thank you for loving us.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. You've been listening to Key
Life Fellowships, Pulpit Ministry Pop Join us each week
for more teaching from God's Word.