Well, I invite you to please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 1. And as you are turning there, I once again want to thank you for the kind invitation to be with you this weekend. It has been such a joy for Marla and me. We're so thankful to be here and what a joy to spend time with your pastor and his wife Chris and Darcy are special people and this is a special church sometimes it can be the case when you're in a healthy and happy church you think well sort of all churches are sort of like this well I've got news for you all churches are not like this this is a special place there's a special ministry happening here and I praise the Lord for the witness of this church and of the ministry and friendship of your pastor. And so this evening we're going to continue with this theme, which was asked of me, which is the mission theme, evangelism theme, that we're going to continue on with tonight from Romans chapter one. And I'll tell you, I've been preaching through Romans. I told my congregation I was going to wait till I was 50 years old to begin preaching romans um and so chris told me that he was he preached romans 10 years ago that's far too young chris far too young to preach romans but i always told my congregation i needed a good bit of gray hair before i started preaching romans and maybe chris had that 10 years ago i don't know uh but the idea was anyway and there's nothing biblical about this this is just sort of some thoughts i had is i wanted to be sort of in a mature place before i got to Romans, because Romans is kind of the, you know, the peak, the great mountaintop of doctrine and theology and the gospel, and I wanted to do a good job, and I don't know that I'm doing a good job, but we are about 100 sermons in, we are starting chapter 11 next month, it has been absolutely wondrous, and so going back to these verses this evening is special to me because I absolutely loved being in Romans chapter 1, where we will be tonight. Romans chapter 1, and let's look at the first, actually the first 17 verses to give us a little bit of context. And if you are able, I would ask you to please stand for the reading of God's Word. Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, and please pay attention to the living, active efficacious authoritative inspired all-sufficient word of the living God Paul a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead jesus christ our lord through whom we have received grace and apostle apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations including you who are called to belong to jesus christ to all those in rome who are loved by god and called to be saints grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith both yours and mine I do not want you to be unaware brothers that I have often intended to come to you but thus far have been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians both to the wise and to the foolish so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. Amen. Thus far the reading of God's Word. You may be seated. Aren't you glad that the Apostle Paul was not able to make it to Rome when he wanted to? It's because the Holy Spirit obstructed him and his providence from getting there that he wrote this letter from Corinth to the church at Rome. We would not have the book of Romans if Paul hadn't been obstructed from going to Rome when he wanted to. And what a glorious, gospel-rich epistle this is. Like many of you, I love church history. It's a stimulant to true piety. When well-written, there's nothing more encouraging and engaging for the Christian believer than good church history. All the glorious and gritty details related to the witness of the church from the first century to our own. It inspires us to lift high the banner of Christ in our own generation, to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our present moment. This is what I believe we need more than anything in our present age. In the moment we are in right now, in our context, in our country, what we need more than anything is boldness, courage, and along with that, humility in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear upon our culture, upon our neighbors. In church history, we are spurred on by that great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 11. Those in Scripture like Noah and Abraham and Moses and like Joshua who said to God's covenant people those wonderful words, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers serve beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me in my house, we will what? We will serve the Lord. But also we think of those throughout church history, like Jan Hus, for instance, the unflinching pre-Reformation Czech reformer, who, not being ashamed of the gospel, contended for the truth at the Council of Constance in the year 1415, and for his bold gospel witness was burned alive at the stake, singing the Psalms as he perished. How about John Wycliffe, the 14th century Oxford professor who is considered the morning star of the Protestant Reformation. He opposed the medieval church's doctrinal errors and translated the Bible into English, giving ordinary people in the pew access to the Word of God. After his death, he was posthumously exhumed and his corpse was exhumed and burned. It was actually Wycliffe's faithful witness that spurred on Jan Hus's faithful gospel ministry in martyrdom and how about martin luther how about martin luther 100 years later the passionate wittenberg reformer stood against the two world superpowers that is the imperial roman empire and the roman catholic church though early on he experienced doubts and internal struggles, Luther finally stood unashamed of the gospel, standing courageously for the unassailable truth that sinners are not saved through cooperation with God or through human tradition, but through faith in the work of Christ alone. And what about the Scottish reformer John Knox, who as a prisoner on a French galley ship prayed, give me Scotland or I die. The spirited Scott was not ashamed of the gospel as he later stood before queens and princes and bishops courageously confronting doctrinal air and and preaching the true gospel of grace. He sought to encourage fellow believers to be unashamed of the gospel when he declared this, quote, stand with Christ Jesus in this day of battle, which shall be short and the victory everlasting. For the Lord himself shall come in our defense with his mighty power. He shall give us the victory when the battle is most strong, and he shall turn our tears into everlasting joy. end quote isn't that stirring such stirring preaching such stirring writing now what's true of all of these men huss wycliffe luther knox is that they lived in dangerous times let's not forget the context in which they lived they were perilous times for christians who opposed error and held fast to the truth the times were also unsafe and uncertain due to civil tyranny and ecclesiastical persecution and frequent and brutal wars and deadly plagues and yet they and countless other ordinary christians across western europe and around the world were unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? Because they sincerely believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Their faith and witness were forged in challenging times. In the end, their gospel witness did not crumble under political hostility, ecclesiastical pressure or internal fears. With the Apostle Paul, who faced these same pressures, they declared, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This evening, I want us to focus on these words, these seven words, I am not ashamed of the gospel. As I drilled down into the meaning and application of these two verses. And by the way, I preached three sermons in my own church on this little section here. And so we're just getting a portion. We're focusing in on these seven words this evening. I am not ashamed of the gospel. These two verses provide a kind of thesis statement for the entire letter. But when I thought through this, as I began to study this this little this little verses this thesis statement for the entire book of Romans these words I am not ashamed of the gospel I realize were massively important for the modern church as we navigate the waters of our fast changing society and as we seek to steer clear of the rocky shores of moral and spiritual compromise now before we unpack Paul's inspired words I am not ashamed of the gospel we must all ask ourselves am I ashamed of the gospel am I ashamed of the gospel am I generally embarrassed among unbelievers to call myself a follower of Jesus Christ and a believer in the scriptures I love it when those who have wide platforms are asked tell me about yourself and the first thing they say is well i'm a follower of jesus christ he is my lord he is my savior my identity is in him it's refreshing to hear those kinds of things and and we have opportunities to do that as well tell me about yourself i am a follower of jesus christ he saved me from my sins you want to know about me that's the most important thing about me we show that we are not ashamed but are we more concerned that others think well of us than that my savior our savior is glorified and pleased with us is it my chief and highest end to glorify god or to be accepted by the world these are very real questions we should be asking ourselves as we look at this text am i embarrassed to pray in public am i ashamed to talk about my savior amongst my my friends now this this topic this evening isn't some kind of license to be obnoxious obviously we all know that sort of person that just gets obnoxious and is unnecessarily obnoxious in their gospel witness but this is challenging all of us to not be ashamed of the gospel to share the gospel to invite people to church to talk about the Lord these are all important things we should be thinking about and asking ourselves in our Christian lives it's in our text for this evening that we will discover not only that Paul was unashamed of the gospel but why he was unashamed of the gospel what motivated his faithful witness for christ so we learn from the preceding verses in this chapter that paul was ardent in his desire to visit the believers in rome to encourage them and notice with me uh in uh in the opening chapter in verse 14, he says, I am under obligation to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. Notice he wants to preach the gospel to everyone. He wants to preach the gospel to believers. He wants to preach the gospel to unbelievers. He wants to preach the gospel to those who are the educated, the uneducated, the sophisticated, the unsophisticated. He wanted to preach the gospel to everyone. He saw himself as obligated to do this and eager to do this. He was not ashamed of the gospel. In his commentary on Romans, the late British pastor and theologian John Stott, he wrote this, quote, the reasons that these affirmations are so striking is that they are in direct antithesis to the attitude of many in the modern church. People nowadays, he writes, tend to view evangelism as an optional extra and consider, if they engage in it, that they are conferring a favor on God. But then he writes this, Paul spoke of it as an obligation. The modern mood is one of reluctance. Paul's was one of eagerness and enthusiasm. Many of us today would have to confess if we are honest, he writes, that we are ashamed of the gospel. Paul declared that he was not. Some might hear this and respond to this and say, yes, but isn't this the great Apostle Paul we're discussing here? The great Apostle Paul who was unflinching and unshrinking in his gospel witness? Dear ones, please hear this. Part of the reason Paul writes that he is unashamed of the gospel is because he knows even for himself that there is always that lingering temptation to be ashamed of the gospel and to fear the world's hostility against it. He always knows that's there for every Christian, even for himself, even for his disciple Timothy. In fact, when the Apostle Paul was in Corinth, in his own words, he confesses that he came to them not in strength but in weakness and fear and much trembling. have you ever experienced weakness and fear and much trembling when you're about to share the gospel with someone or approach someone with the truth well you're in good company the apostle paul himself had these fears and tremblings he exhorts his disciple timothy in second timothy 1 8 therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our lord nor of me his prisoner but share and suffering for the gospel by the power of God the same power of God that saves us is the power that guards us and keeps us and that helps us in time of need when we are fearful Paul knew that the temptation to be ashamed was always present for his young disciple Timothy because he knew it was always there for him and for all believers especially dare I say in the great urban power centers like rome where so much prevails that is antithetical to christianity the city of rome as many of you will know was the seat of power in the greco-roman world in the roman empire it was the the heart of greco-roman culture in first century rome a person would have encountered if you were there if you were walking through the streets of rome in the first century you would have encountered the grandest architecture, the finest art, the most scrumptious cuisine, the greatest military in the world, the most skilled politicians, the great philosophers, the highest standard of education, the most celebrated teachers of the land, and the most imposing pagan temples all around you all the time. One could understand then why Christian believers might be reluctant or hesitant or even afraid to live out their faith and share the gospel. A gospel, mind you, that centers on a man who was born in a stable, placed in a manger, a man who was scorned by his own people, condemned to crucifixion by the religious and civil authorities, a man who came to rescue the world from sin, not by military might and worldly power, but by the shedding of his own blood on a cross on a cross an instrument of torture and death and shame in the roman world so much so i was just reading a history of of rome and the cross was so shameful that people wouldn't even talk about it in good company you would never even bring it up because that was something that happened on the great garbage heap outside of Rome with criminals and the worst of people. This gospel was countercultural and counterintuitive then, even as it is now. One might be tempted to downplay the truth of the gospel in the shadow of such impressive power and worldly pomp in Rome or in Escondido or San Diego or Charleston or New York or L.A. or Chicago or Dallas or Paris or Milan. the fact is we can be tempted to downplay all of this as well and be ashamed the very nature of the gospel itself can tempt us to be ashamed of it because the gospel is so counter-cultural and counter-intuitive listen to what commentator C.E.B. Cranfield writes quote Paul knows full well the inevitability of the temptation to be ashamed of the gospel in view of the continuing hostility of the world to God on the one hand and on the other the nature of the gospel itself its unimpressiveness over against the impressiveness of the world the fact that God has intervened in history for the salvation of men not in obvious might and majesty but in a veiled way which was bound to look to the world like object abject weakness and foolishness the presence of this temptation is a constant feature not just of the life of all christian preachers but of all the christian life end quote we were speaking at lunch at the gordon's table it's wonderful after lunch the bible's pulled out we looked over the text for this evening we started talking about evangelism and witness amongst friends and how at times one can feel ashamed or embarrassed and part of it is because we're concerned about the way people will respond to us and and think that we are nerds or fools and my response to this you know with the the teenage kids there is let's just own it let's just own it we're we're we're nerds we're weird we're strange we're aliens we're exiles this is who we are as christians let's just own it in fact the bible bible doesn't call us nerds i don't think i hadn't seen that one yet but it does call us strangers and aliens and exiles this is not our home we are to to be different to act different because we are in union with christ and so we own this and we we like paul say yes to the world it's foolishness but to those who are being saved it is the power of god unto salvation and so we are unashamed of this gospel by his grace and by the spirit's leading and strength our lord jesus christ knew this would be a struggle for his disciples as well and so jesus rather than shrug his shoulders at his disciples of being ashamed of him and his words he confronts this idea head on as it relates to discipleship and the return of christ this is what mark says in mark 8 34 through 38 what he reports jesus saying rather mark writes mark 8 34 through 38 and calling the crowd to him with his disciples jesus said to them if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul for what can a man give in return for his soul now listen to this for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in glory of his father with the holy angels now this in a way is just a matter of belief do we really believe that one day christ will return with his angels do we believe his words here that if we are ashamed of him now if the pattern of our life is one of being ashamed and embarrassed of christ then we need to know that when he returns he will be ashamed of us. It's just right there in our Bibles. Do we believe this? Do we believe this? It's true that at times we will wither under cultural and social pressures, a failure of nerve, as I spoke about this morning. But this kind of shame that I'm talking about is not just a failure of nerve from time to time. It's not responding from time to time in ways we wish we wouldn't. This is a pattern of life, one of being ashamed of him, embarrassed by him, never opening our mouth as it concerns the gospel. Look with me again at verse 16 of Romans 1. Paul writes I am not ashamed it means that he is not ashamed of first of all the gospel he is not ashamed of the gospel he mentions the gospel numerous times even before he gets to verse 16 but you say what is he not ashamed he's not ashamed of the gospel that that announcement that good news that God sent His Son into the world to perfectly, sinlessly, flawlessly obey the law of God in our stead, on our behalf. And then as a righteous substitute to lay His life down on the cross at Calvary, with your sins and mine laid upon Him, with the wrath of God poured out upon him on the cross. And then for him to pay the wages of sin, which is death. He died on the cross. And on the third day he rose again from the dead and then ascended into heaven and has all authority in heaven and on earth. And he's building his church and he's doing so through the power of the gospel, the message of the gospel. this is the gospel for in it for in this gospel sinners are saved for in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith for faith for the righteous shall live by faith and so this is what christ has done and so by his grace when this gospel is preached and by his grace when people believe, they go from being united to Adam and under God's wrath and condemnation to being united to Christ and being justified by grace through faith, receiving the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Christ. This is the gospel that Paul is unashamed of, the gospel of jesus christ he truly believed the gospel he truly believed this announcement of the good news of salvation in jesus christ that it the gospel is the power of god unto salvation it's when we are ashamed of the gospel that we begin to replace the gospel with something different something more in line with the values of the culture something less offensive to secular ears when we replace the gospel with something else something that receives cultural approval the power of God unto salvation is absent. When we preach something different than the true gospel, the power of God is not present. That's right. Amen. The church then no longer possesses the power of God, but only the fading, flawed, and corrupt power of this world. Power that promises so much, but ultimately delivers nothing. This is what is so concerning in a year of political fervor when the message of pulpits turns from the gospel to anything else. Because the gospel is the power of God and salvation to those who believe. These other things are part of the fading powers of this world. fading powers of this world promise so much but ultimately they deliver nothing this is the gospel that paul is unashamed of and he's unashamed of jesus christ the gospel of jesus christ he was not ashamed of the person of jesus christ jesus came in weakness and suffering the very things the world despises but paul was not ashamed of christ he loved christ he adored jesus he wanted to proclaim the uh the the the unsearchable riches of christ it was him that he wanted to proclaim it was the word of christ that he was not ashamed of one of the biggest problems of the progressive christian movement is that it is embarrassed by the Word of God. I believe it's at the center of so much compromised preaching. Preachers are embarrassed about the Word of God, what it says in our current cultural context. Due to the moral revolution, this teaching, this teaching where Christ says in the Great Commission, teach them all that I've commanded you, this teaching becomes offensive. Teaching on marriage and the sanctity of human life and sexuality and and christian manhood and womanhood and the authority of scripture and the uniqueness of christ as savior and all of these teachings they become offensive in the culture and so it's so easy to become ashamed of these things or to water them down or to keep them on the margins are we unashamed of the gospel are we unashamed of the of the gospel are we unashamed of jesus christ are we unashamed of the word of christ well dear ones what does it mean to live not ashamed what does it mean to live not ashamed we need to live not ashamed in our homes we need to live not ashamed in our homes should be able to say with Joshua, as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. We will not serve the idols of the culture. We will not serve the idols that are coming through our screens constantly. We will serve the Lord in this house. It's possible to live ashamed of the gospel even among your family members, among your children. But listen to Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 9. That is living unashamed. of the Word of God? How about in the workplace? It's not always appropriate, of course, to give some bold evangelistic witness in the workplace. Sometimes it's not the right place or the right time. But are we living out our faith at work? Do we recognize and even pray for opportunities to share the gospel? do we invite them to church are we ashamed of the gospel at work or are we looking to be a faithful witness in that context how about in our wider extended family are we ashamed of the gospel at family gatherings do we hope no one asks us about our faith in christ or do we hope that someone does do we go into family gatherings hoping someone will ask us about the hope that's within us or do we shrink back do we think oh i hope someone doesn't ask me about church how about among friends are we embarrassed of our beliefs among unbelieving friends or are we looking and praying for opportunities to reach them with the gospel teenagers and young people you need to know and perhaps you already do i'm sure you hear it many times but people your own age are depressed and lonely there's a book that came out a couple of years ago and it kind of deals with the digital revolution and how many young people are addicted to social media and the title of the book it's a it's an outstanding title it's called alone together that we're the most connected that we've ever been in the history of the world and there's likely to be never be more loneliness than there is today than ever before in history young people are depressed and they are lonely and i want to exhort all of you all of you but i'm speaking to the young people particularly the teenagers the 20 somethings you need to recognize that there are so many people that are in this position who are lonely who are looking for a friend and you can go and step beside them be a friend encourage them and bring to them the gospel of jesus christ bring them to church this is the great opportunity we have let us not get so caught up in our lives that we forget about those around us who are perishing how about our enemies we are called to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Again, we don't want to get swept up in the political vitriol and angst of the next several months. We don't want to size people up when we meet them, figuring out what their sort of political stance is or what things they're connected to. We want to see people made in the image of God and in need of the gospel. And so let's reach out to those, even those who may be enemies. In fact, one of the greatest witnesses you can have is to forgive and to love and to not hold grudges against those who have hurt you or sinned against you. We are living in strange times, to be sure. The moral revolution, the sexual revolution. But rather than see all of this in negative terms let us like paul and the early believers see it as a wonderful opportunity you know as the world grows darker christians will shine brighter it's kind of like when a room is is dimly lit and you light a candle you can see the candle but when the lights continue to go down and the darkness begins to overcome the room that light shines brighter and brighter and it is in the darkness of this world that we as christians shine as lights and hold fast to the word of life what an opportunity we have to spread the gospel to pray for the holy spirit's strength to say with paul and with countless others throughout church history i am not ashamed of the gospel for it the gospel is the power of god unto salvation for everyone who believes. Would you pray with me? Our loving and merciful Father, we confess this evening that we have fallen short of your glory in myriad ways. We have not been the witnesses that you have called us to be. We have not obeyed the great commission As we should Our hearts are drawn in a thousand different directions We are so distracted, we are so busy And we often forget To be those witnesses that you have called us to be And for that, Lord, we pray for forgiveness And we thank you That your forgiveness is full And free in Christ And we ask you, O Lord As your weak saints As pilgrims and exiles in this present evil age, that you would grant us the grace and the strength and the compassion and the power to be your gospel witnesses in this world. Father, bring about revival in our hearts that we would care about the souls of those who are around us and not overlook them and not forget them and not become impatient with them, but be men and women of prayer, of joy, of love, reaching out to the lost with the message of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.