Loved ones, would you turn with me in the Word of God to the letter to the Romans, Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, this morning I'd like to read verses 8 through 17, and we'll be thinking particularly about verses 14 through 17. This is God's Word, let's give our attention to the reading of it. Romans chapter 1 verse 8. 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 and 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'm 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. So far the reading of God's holy word. This morning, loved ones, I want to draw your attention to this missionary letter. Paul was a missionary. He was probably the greatest missionary of all. And he wrote this letter when he was in Greece, probably on his third missionary journey around the year 57 AD. He's in the city of Corinth in Greece, and he was planning to go to Italy, to the city of Rome, and then pass on to Spain. That was his plan. And at that time, the city of Rome was the epicenter of the whole civilized world, without question. it was an impressive city full of beautiful art and breathtaking architecture if you've ever had the opportunity to travel to Rome you know what I mean if you've seen the the Colosseum that's there from the first century that was built with the funds that were obtained from destroying Jerusalem, still standing there, if you've seen the Pantheon, that huge, impressive temple dedicated to all the gods, or Circus Maximus, or the Forum, it's easy to see how this was an impressive city in the ancient world, that 2,000 years later, it still looks impressive. It was also an extremely pagan city. Religious devotion to the myriad of gods was rampant in society. Sacrifices, temple prostitution, those were ordinary parts of Roman spirituality and daily life. So was emperor worship, evidenced by the massive marble arches everywhere through the city, throughout the Italian peninsula and the Roman Empire that commemorate victorious battles of Roman generals and Caesars. In fact, in those days, it was difficult to separate patriotism and religious devotion. And then there was the worship of sports. Sports was considered part of life. Sports in which human life had very little value and was always at risk. As you're listening to this, you're probably thinking it sounds a little bit like today. More and more, in fact. And then, of course, there was all of the sexual immorality and debauchery and self-indulgence that the whole Roman culture was steeped in. Things that were unimaginable were considered normal and acceptable practices in society. Male promiscuity, homosexuality, even pedophilia. That was the world in which the early church lived. They did not live in a Christian culture. They lived in a pagan culture. They lived in a pagan culture for centuries. without any tolerance, without any protection from the government. In fact, if you remember maybe some church history lessons that Dr. Godfrey's given or you've done a little reading on your own, Christianity wasn't protected, wasn't even tolerated by the government until the year 313. When the Edict of Milan, the city in which we live, which at that time was the capital of the Roman Empire, not Rome, was enacted by Constantine. So here's my question. How did the church survive in a pagan, dark culture for almost 300 years without any toleration? When Christians were few in number, when they were the subject of state-sponsored persecution, when they had no cultural clout, no political power, no economic might, how did the church not only survive, loved ones, but flourish for almost 300 years? Well, the answer was that the early church was committed to the gospel mission that the Lord Jesus gave it. And they were willing to submit to King Jesus no matter the cost. That's the answer. And the same holds true for us today, loved ones. You know, in many ways, the description of Roman life in the first century is sounding more and more familiar, more and more like Western society. You know, one example, just one example, is the pagan sexual revolution that we're witnessing today, in which the last remnants of the Christian sexual ethic are being abandoned. Things that were once forbidden are now celebrated. Things that were once considered absurd and crazy are now considered natural and good. And consequently, Christians are increasingly seen as backward, as radical, as stopping progress, and even as being dangerous to society. And we're seeing more and more what some writers are calling this soft totalitarianism, where No longer is it even about tolerance or coexistence, but you have to get with the program or you'll be canceled in one way or another. That's the world we're living in now. And the question is, as we see Christianity moving into cultural exile, as we see how Christianity is not winning the culture war, we have to ask if Western civilization collapses in the name of progress and revolution, how will Christianity survive? And the answer, loved ones, the answer is not by winning the culture war, not by having political might or economic power, not by overcoming through our abilities, but the same way the church overcame and flourished and had progress in those first three centuries, through remaining committed to the word of God and the gospel mission that Jesus has given us, no matter the cost, no matter the cost. And that's what Paul's letter, that's why Paul's letter is so applicable to us today, right now, in this time of history. And here in chapter 1, in these verses, Paul tells us that in the gospel mission of the church, no matter what the cultural climate may be, we are urgent, we are unashamed, and we are confident. Let's think about how he tells us these three things. First of all, in the gospel mission of the church, we are urgent. He says in verse 14 that he is under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to the foolish. What does he mean there? Sometimes the New Testament distinguishes between Jews and Greeks, meaning Jews and Gentiles, because basically everyone in the world falls into one of those two ethnic categories. But here he makes a different kind of distinction. He makes a cultural one. He distinguishes between Greeks and barbarians. In the first century Greco-Roman world, to be considered a Greek rather than a barbarian did not necessarily mean that you were ethnically Greek, but that you spoke the Greek language, which at that time was the universal civilized language in the world, and that to some degree you embraced Greek philosophy. The term barbarian, on the other hand, originally meant someone that did not speak Greek, who was not cultured. It was a derogatory term coined by Greek-speaking people because to them, their foreign languages sounded like unintelligible chatter. Bar, bar, bar, bar, bar. Therefore, they are a barbarian. And they were unsophisticated by society, considered to be. So in the first century, you were one of two people, a Greek or a barbarian. Now, Paul's point in verse 14 is that he saw himself obligated to all. He made no discrimination between cultures or social classes or races or nationalities. He saw himself as obligated to his neighbor. No matter where they are or what their background is or what language they speak, He saw himself as a debtor to people, whether they were cultured or uncultured, wise or foolish. He was ready to make disciples no matter the cost. Why? Because he knew that the gospel is the solution to the single greatest problem facing every human being. What is the greatest problem facing every human being? There are lots of problems in life. All of us came in here today with certain problems, things that are bugging us. And if we went out onto the street today on Broadway or we went downtown in San Diego and started to take a poll and ask people as they're passing by, what's your greatest problem? What's your greatest problem? What's your greatest problem? You're going to get a variety of answers. I need a surgery. My wife left me. I need a job. These are serious problems. And the world is full of problems. Just watch the news. The world's always been full of problems. But if we were to solve all these problems, bring peace to every war-torn land, feed the hungry, fix every relationship, provide everyone with a job, if we were to solve everyone's problem, which would be wonderful, man would still have his single greatest problem unmet, which is to be made right with a holy God who demands a righteousness that is as good as his own. God doesn't say, now do your best, just be a good person. He says, be holy because you're made in my image. And that's man's greatest problem. That's his biggest problem. He needs to be made right with God. Sin is the common denominator with all people, whether rich or poor, black or white, educated or uneducated, whether here in the United States, whether in Europe or Italy, in the third world, everyone, every human being is corrupt before God because we've all sinned and fallen short of his glory. We've all offended this holy God. cannot look upon sin and demands from us a righteousness that is of his quality. And he's a righteous and just judge. The Bible tells us it is appointed once for all people to die, and then comes the judgment. That's our greatest problem. And that's the question with which the whole Bible is interested. The whole Bible is concerned from Genesis to Revelation with this question. How can a holy God justify sinners? How can a sinner be made right with God? The question with which the Bible is concerned is not how can I have a better life or how can I be more happy or how can I be a better person or how can I transform culture? The truth is you don't even need Christianity to answer those questions. But you do need Christianity for this one. How can I be made right with God? And Paul had the answer. Paul was ready to go to the epicenter of the world to go proclaim this wonderful good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ. No matter the cost. Jesus said, But all authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you to the end of the age. And Paul said, I've got one life. Here we go. He was urgent. He was urgent. He held the prescription, the cure, the solution to the greatest problem facing human beings. And so do we, loved ones. So do we. You have one life, and you know the solution. It gives us a sense of urgency, doesn't it? A sense of urgency. We don't have to go find meaning for our lives. God has already given us meaning. we're created in his image, we're redeemed by his blood, and your life matters. What you do matters. And yet there's this urgency that we feel to go into the world, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, to proclaim the same gospel that the Apostle Paul did in first century Rome. He says, In it, this gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. That is, the righteousness that God requires, righteousness as good as his own, righteousness that says, I have done everything, word, thought, and deed, to fulfill your law is received through faith. That is the greatest news we could ever hear because of what Jesus Christ has done, he is the one who has fulfilled the law the law tells us love the lord with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself do this and you shall live and the problem of course being sinners is that we can't do that and live but the good news is that someone has done it for us in our place and that someone is the one whom the gospel proclaims the lord jesus christ the second Adam who fulfilled that which the first Adam failed to do and has done for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. He has kept the law. He has done it perfectly. His righteousness, says Paul, is received by faith alone. The law says be righteous and you will live, but the gospel says the righteous shall live by faith. Paul quotes from the Old Testament, the prophet Habakkuk, to show this is how it's always been. Salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And by faith in Him, all that He did, all of His good works, is imputed to us. It's given to us. I remember the first time that that hit me. It changed my life. Changed the way I lived. I remember over 20 years ago, Pastor Camming, who was the pastor of Escondido, URC, a long time ago, gave an illustration that just smacked me upside the head and made this so clear. He said the good work of Jesus Christ being imputed to you, your justification, this good news of the gospel, It's like this. It's as if you died and you went to the pearly gates and you were standing outside the gates of heaven and there's an angel there and he says, what's your name? And you say, my name's Michael Brown. And he has a huge book and he goes through the list looking through the name. Ah, I see Michael Brown. Wow, you're this person. It says here, you always did what God required. It said that when someone smacked you, you didn't smack them back. It says that when you were reviled, you didn't revile back. It says that you always loved the Lord with your heart, soul, and mind. That you loved your neighbor as yourself. It says that you healed the sick and you fed the hungry and you visited those in prison. Is this you? Are you this saint? And we can say yes, because what Jesus did is given to me. Now, that just seems too good to be true. That just seems like over the top. And I remember Pastor Cam saying, you can't be thrown out of heaven any sooner than Jesus can be thrown out of heaven. And I just thought, that's just too good to be true. That's the gospel that Paul proclaimed. And it's the same gospel we have, loved ones. That's why we have urgency. People need to know this. It gives us such joy to live this life knowing that God accepts me on the basis of Jesus Christ. Because if I look at myself, I get a roller coaster of emotions looking at all of my failure. But if I look at Jesus, I don't have to ride that roller coaster. I know I'm right with God because of Him. I got all the chips on Him. I'm banking on Him. And that's what fills our hearts with gratitude and with zeal and with urgency. But how will they believe? How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Paul says, how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? How are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Escondido URC, you have sent people. You sent me down to Santee, and then you sent me to Italy. I remember Heibert Dembor says, what are we going to do next, send you to Mars? You've sent people. Because of an urgency for the gospel. always keep that urgency, loved ones. Always remember the glorious message that you hear here faithfully proclaimed from your faithful pastor and live in that joy and that comfort and then send people out to dark places, dark places like Italy where the Reformation crushed the gospel, Where there are no Reformed or Presbyterian denominations, none. Where there are 60 million people and very, very few churches. Where Christianity only exists in cultural memories, in architecture, in monuments, but not in the hearts of people. It's not just to the jungles of South America and to the villages of Africa that we need to go. We need to go to dark and difficult places like Europe, the new mission field. Keep sending them. How will they hear? How will they believe? How will they call upon him unless they are sent? Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Urgency. And quickly, we are unashamed. We are unashamed. In verse 16, Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. He was ready to go to Rome where things were big and beautiful, even if he appeared weak and small. If there was one thing the Romans detested, it was weakness. Strength was their biggest virtue. Strength was everything that Rome was built upon. And anything that was weak, all forms of weakness had to be dominated and eliminated. And the truth is we don't like weak things either, right? I mean, who wants a weak thing? We want strong things. We want strong bodies. We want strong investments. We want strong families. We like strength. We don't like weakness. So why would we want a religion that's based on weakness? I mean, God sends his son to die on a cross. That was just foolishness and absurdity to the Romans. The height of weakness. You can't be more weak than that. And yet Paul was unashamed of this message. And then if you looked at Paul's life, he looked pretty weak. He didn't look strong. You know, he didn't have a good lifestyle by his world standards. He was beaten up all the time. He was hopping from one place to the next. He was often in prison. People looked at him and said, that guy's not blessed. your gods were supposed to protect you and provide for you and people looked at Paul and said his gods are weak look at his life he came in weakness foolishness today we would look at him and say that guy must have had a lot of bad karma done a lot of bad things to have so many bad things happen to him and the truth is that you know even as believers who we know that weakness is really part of the christian life and it's just something that we have to deal with the truth is that uh we still sometimes tend to think a little bit in terms of a theology of glory and strength right oh we denounce things like the health and wealth gospel that say if you just follow obey god you're going to be blessed and things are going to work out well We denounce a theology of glory and say we need to live by a theology of the cross. But the truth is, loved ones, when push comes to shove in our lives or push comes to shove in our church or push comes to shove in the culture, we often find ourselves wondering, if Christianity is true, why does it appear so weak before the world? Why don't we have more power? We're the kingdom of God. Why isn't the church strong and powerful? Why is the Christian life so messy? And sometimes we find ourselves a little ashamed of Christianity. There's much today that seems to suggest that the church is ashamed of the gospel. As one writer put it so well, the church in America today is so obsessed with being practical, relevant, helpful, successful, and perhaps even well-liked that it nearly mirrors the world itself. And aside from the packaging, there is nothing that cannot be found in most churches today that could not be satisfied by any number of secular programs and self-help groups. Because that kind of ministry appears strong to the world, appears relevant, appealing, helpful. But, loved ones, it can't convert the sinner. It can't raise the dead. It can't change the human heart that is enslaved to sin. Only the gospel can do that. A gospel that appears weak. Which is why we're unashamed of it. You know, where we minister in Italy, Italy, as you probably know, and Milan, if you've ever visited, it's full of beautiful churches. the biggest beautiful most ornate churches you've ever seen in your life the Duomo in Milan has more statues than any structure in the entire world it took 500 years to build and it holds 40,000 people but there's no gospel preached there it's a museum people go to take pictures pay money to get tickets to go in look at all the artifacts and it's beautiful but there's no gospel but on the outskirts of town in the suburbs in a funky converted computer store your missionary is laboring there and as 40, 50, 60 people gather every Sunday they hear the gospel and they're beginning to tell their friends and more people are beginning to come. And on the one hand, you look at the condition of the place and you kind of sigh and you say, well, okay, but the power's not in our building. The power's not in our aesthetics. The power is going to be in the word of which we are unashamed. Because the gospel can convert the sinner and bring hope to the hopeless. Only the gospel can do that. The gospel can change the heart, not just in conversion, but again and again. As you hear the gospel week in and week out, when it's brought home to our hearts, it transforms us by the Spirit of God. We don't have to lie and cheat anymore because, well, we have an internal inheritance that nobody can touch. I don't have to pretend to be somebody I'm not because my true identity and self-esteem is found in Jesus Christ, not myself. I don't have to look down on others or judge others because, well, I'm found in Jesus Christ. I don't have to try to be moral simply to feel better about myself or look good in front of others. No, I seek to be moral according to God's word because I love him, because I want to please him who loved me and gave himself for me. We seek to be obedient to the Lord and show compassion on others because we belong to Christ. That's what the gospel does to sinners. How can we possibly be ashamed of that? And when the church proclaims that gospel, when it proclaims Christ from Genesis to Revelation, week in and week out, it's announcing the greatest news ever proclaimed, news that has the power to save the sinner. Which brings us to the last thing, briefly, that we're confident. We are urgent, we are unashamed, and we are confident in this gospel mission. We are confident because it is the power to salvation. Only the gospel has the ability to do these things. And that's why, you can turn with me just briefly to 2 Timothy chapter 4, The last thing the Apostle Paul wrote before he died. As he was languishing in a Roman prison in his second incarceration, being ready to be beheaded. The last thing he does is write to this young pastor that was shepherding a church in Ephesus. In this little book, these four chapters, the first three chapters is just a long introduction. telling him, Timothy, be ready to suffer for the gospel. It's all worth it. It's worth it. After 30 years of apostolic ministry, 30 years of being beaten up and bruised, he says, Timothy, it's worth it. Even though people at that time were mocking him, even people in the church saying he must not be a real apostle, look at his life. He's always in prison. He's always being beaten up. He's not blessed. He's cursed. Don't listen to him. And people were ashamed of him. And he says, no, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. All this suffering is worth it. And the last thing he says, and I'm going to give you this exhortation, chapter 4. I charge you, chapter 4, verse 1, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, Timothy, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. He tells Timothy, preach the word. Preach the gospel. He doesn't say now go out there and you need to take control of the government you need to be a culture warrior you need to go out and win the culture he says win the heart through the power of the word that's the gospel mission that's how the church persevered in those first three centuries through word and sacrament loving one another and being willing to suffer the cost for king jesus the power is in the word and in the gospel and paul said it here and we hear it again today do not be ashamed of the gospel be urgent be confident and know that god will continue to bless your labor and your efforts, for your labor and efforts are not in vain, loved ones. May God give us strength so that we will continue to be urgent, unashamed, and confident in his gospel. Amen. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for the power of your gospel that does the work of raising the dead to new life. We thank you for the gospel as it's being preached here in Escondido URC. We pray that you would strengthen Pastor Gordon, strengthen the elders, the deacons, strengthen the entire congregation, increase their joy, bless their faith, their hope, and love, fill them with zeal and urgency, And Lord, the great joy there is in knowing that your gospel is ultimately what matters as we go forth in this world. Thank you for giving us an open door and an opportunity to make disciples of others. Thank you for your son's promise that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him and that he is with us to the end of the age. Help us, O Lord, we pray, to remain confident in those things that you have given us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.