Sermon Series
|
Audio / Video PowerPoint Text Recommend Subscribe Help
Streaming Audio: Download mp3 [left click to stream, right click to 'save as' for ipod or CD listening.] Or, use the controls, below, just like you would a VCR. Double-click the "Play" arrow to begin. This page must remain open to continue listening. To browse the internet while you listen, open a new browser window by clicking on "File", then "New", then "Window".PowerPoint Presentation:Click here after starting sermon audio to bring up slides and visual aides which go along with the sermon. [May take 1-3 minutes to open.] Once the first slide appears you can follow along with the message and use the arrow keys to advance the slides. How to edit and use
Please help keep this ministry free by honoring our system...
Please Choose:
Help spread the Word by using the recommendation links, above...it's a proven system that keeps this ministry free!
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some gifts we shower on them from time to time!
Not Ashamed
Romans 1:16
Am I a soldier of the
cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I fear to own His cause or blush to
speak His name? [old hymn] When every vile and wicked
thing imaginable is coming out of its closet, I think it’s time that the
people of God came out from underneath the rock, stood on the Rock, and let
it be known where they stand, don’t you? I really do. Do you stand up and stand
out for the Lord Jesus Christ? I heard of a little boy who had a dog - kind
of a mangy pooch. And somebody asked him, ‘What kind of a dog is that?” He
said, “Well, he’s a police dog.” They said, “Well, he doesn’t look like it.”
He said, “Well, he’s in the Secret Service.” I think we have some Christians
who are in the Secret Service. I mean, they’re not bold believers. They
don’t stand up like the apostle Paul and say, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ.” You say, “Well, it was
easier in his day.” No, you’re wrong. It was far more difficult in his day
to stand up for the gospel of Christ than it is in this day. Today, we
decorate with the cross. We put the cross of gold around our necks and we
put the cross upon our steeples, but I want to remind you that the cross was
an instrument of capital punishment. It was an instrument of execution. Can
you imagine somebody coming to church tonight with a little gold electric
chair around their neck or a miniature gas chamber around their neck? Why,
in Roman society, you did not even mention the cross in polite society. It
was so ghastly, so gruesome. And in Paul’s day, Jesus Christ was not known
as the great world religious leader. Ah, to the people of Paul’s day, Jesus
was a mad man at best and a criminal at worst. I mean, the gospel was
identified with a poor Jewish carpenter. And on top of that, this poor
Jewish carpenter died an ignominious death. He was crucified. Besides that, He was a Jew.
Paul is writing to the Romans, and the Romans had no special appreciation
for the Jews. The Romans would ask themselves, why should I put my faith in
a Jew, a carpenter who was nailed up on a cross and crucified? Besides that,
the Romans had some great philosophers and some great philosophy. Why should
we at Dr. R. G. Lee used to tell
about a preacher. And this preacher talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ
and his relationship to it. And this preacher said, “At 30 I was a young
preacher. I studied the world’s religions and the world’s philosophies and I
compared them to the gospel. And I said, ‘There’s nothing better than the
gospel.’” But he said, “When I got to be 40 and the burdens of life began to
press heavily upon me and the years seemed to go by quickly, I began to say,
‘There’s nothing as good as the gospel.’” But then he said, “Time went on
and there were some empty chairs in our house, those who had stepped over to
glory. And, ah, the gravediggers had done their work and the mound builders
had built up the mounds over our loved ones.’” And he said, “I began to say,
‘There’s nothing to be compared to the gospel.’” Then he said, “I got to be
60. When I got to be 60, I began to see with improved spiritual insight.” He
said, “I began to see through the illusions and the vanity of earthly
things. And in the clear light of eternity I said, ‘There’s nothing but the
gospel of Jesus Christ.’” But then he said, “At 70, when my old body now is
beginning to wear out and I have many limitations, and I know that before
long I’ll be going home, I now sing, ’Should all the forms which
men devise attack my faith with
treacherous art, I would call them all
vanities and lies and bind the gospel to my
heart.’” There is nothing but the
gospel, if you really step back and see what life is all about. So why
should we be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Why should we be a
closet Christian? Why should we blush and stutter and stammer, rather than
standing up straight and bold and clear and saying, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Jesus Christ?” I want to give you four
reasons why you ought to be incredibly proud of the gospel of Jesus Christ
and why you ought to be a bold believer.
1.
Because of the sovereign majesty Whose gospel it is. It is the gospel of Christ!
The gospel of Christ! Who is Christ? He is Christ Jesus. Who is Christ
Jesus? He is Jesus, the Son of God and Jesus, God the Son. He is the God
man, totally unique. Only a few philosophers, a few scientists, a few
rulers, a few politicians; just a handful of religious leaders out of all of
these 60 billion who have ever lived have made any significant impact on the
world. But I want to say, of that handful there is one person whose name is
Jesus who towers like
He never wrote a book, and
yet more books have been written about Him than any person who ever lived.
He never painted a picture so far as we know. He never composed any poetry.
He never wrote any music. But more art, more poetry, more music has been
written and composed about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object of songs
and plays and poetry and art. He never raised an army, and yet millions
would gladly die for Him. It’s estimated that there are at least 350,000
martyrs a year today in this modern world who die for the Lord Jesus Christ
and die for their faith. When He was here, He only had a few thousand people
that He ever spoke to at one time. But today, over 30% of the world’s
population claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the largest
religious grouping that has ever existed. He had no formal education, yet I
went to a university that was founded because of Jesus Christ. Thousands of
universities, thousands of seminaries, colleges and schools have been
founded in the name of Jesus Christ. The sovereign majesty of the gospel. Napoleon Bonaparte, that
archangel of war, said, “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I founded
empires, but on what foundation did we wrest the creatures of our genius?
Upon force. But Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love. What an abyss lies
between my deep misery and the eternal Are you ashamed to identify
yourself with someone as wonderful as Jesus Christ? There was a young man
who had lived a wicked and a vile life. He had gone deep into sin, and he
had drunk deeply of the cup of sin all the way down to the dregs. And then
he was saved by the gospel of Christ. And then, after he was saved, he was
called to preach. He did not have the gifts of education. He was not
articulate, but he had a hot heart, a tongue on fire for Christ. But there
was somebody in the congregation who had known him BC. They had known him
before Christ had come into his life, and they resented the fact that he was
up there because of the wickedness of his life before he was saved. And in a
cruel way, I think, they wrote a note and sent it up to him by an usher, and
it listed all of the things that he had done. And then it said, “What are
you doing up there? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” Do you know what he
did? Rather than crumpling it up and putting it in his pocket, he stood
behind the pulpit on the platform and took the list of those terrible,
horrible, heinous, hurtful, hellish things that he had done, and he read
them one by one without leaving anything out. And then he said, “Ladies and
gentlemen, I am very ashamed of myself, but I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” Why be ashamed of Christ?
Jesus said in Mark 8:38: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of
my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when
he cometh in the glory of the Father with his holy angels.” The first reason
I’m not ashamed of the gospel is the sovereign majesty of whose gospel it
is, the Lord Jesus.
2.
His saving ministry. Look
at it again. “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God unto salvation, unto salvation….” That’s what the gospel is all
about. Now what is more important than getting saved? Can you think of
anything more important than that? You think it’s business? Do you think
it’s fame? Do you think it’s pleasure? You let Congress run the nation.
They’re trying and not doing a good job. You let Wall Street handle the
finance. You let
3.
The supernatural miracle of
that gospel. Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God, the power of God…..” There has never been greater power
than the power of the gospel. What can wash away my sin? Psychiatry can’t do
it. Psychology cannot do it. It is the power of God. And apart from the
gospel, God is powerless. God has limited Himself to the gospel. You say,
“Well, I just believe there are many ways. I think there are many ways to go
to heaven.” You do? Well, if there are many ways to go to heaven, why did
Jesus die? Why didn’t God just take one of those other ways? Why did God let
His darling Son die in agony and blood on that cross when there was some
other way? Don’t you think if there was another way God would have taken it?
If God let Jesus die the most shameful, horrible death that anyone has ever
died, and there was some other way, I'd lose respect for that kind of a God.
I wouldn’t want to meet Him in a dark alley. I’m not ashamed of the
power of this book. I know that I know that the gospel, and the gospel
alone, has power to transform, to rescue the perishing, to care for the
dying, to snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. That alone is the job
of the gospel. Thank God for the
supernatural miracle, the power of God. Christians are not just nice chaps;
they’re new creatures. Our gospel is a supernatural gospel.
4.
The simple method of the
gospel. The apostle Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for
it is the power of God unto salvation [now listen to this. It seems so
simple], to everyone that believeth.” You say, “Now, Paul, come on.
Complicate it up a little bit. Make it a little more difficult. “No,” he
says, “the preaching of the cross is to them which perish foolishness, but
unto us which are saved it’s the power of God.” You can call it foolish if
you want, but the simple message of the gospel is to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is gloriously simple. It is simply glorious. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That’s the only requirement.
Well, why does God do it
that way? Well, I want you to go to chapter 4 and look in v. 16. Look at it.
“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace….” You see, if there
were any other requirement other than belief then it’s not of grace. What if God said,
“Everybody who wants to be saved, run around the block.” Well, you say,
“That would be simple enough.” But some little crippled children can’t run.
What if God said, “Everybody who wants to be saved, read a chapter in the
Bible.” Well, that would be simple enough, except some people can’t read.
What if He said, “Everybody who wants to be saved, give a hundred dollars.”
Some people don’t have a hundred dollars. You see, “It’s by faith, that it
might be of grace…for by grace are ye saved through faith….whosoever
believeth.” That’s so wonderful. Now listen. We’re not finished yet.
“Therefore it is of by faith, that it might be by grace; to the end that the
promise might be sure to all the seed….” All the descendants you see, this
plan doesn’t leave anybody out. It’s a “whosoever” gospel. This is the only
way it can be a “whosoever” gospel. It’s by faith because it’s of grace. And
if it’s not by grace, then it leaves certain people out who can’t do certain
things. Isn’t that wonderful? Some believe you have to be baptized to be saved. Well, how about the thief on the cross? What if your plane was going down? Could you be baptized? No! But you could believe on the Lord! [personal testimony on audio]
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time! Help keep this service free by recommending it using the links above the sermon
|
|
All Sermons and PowerPoint Slideshow Presentations ©Copyright Jerry Shirley and Grace Notes Ministries® unless otherwise credited. These resources are yours to use freely, but only in public worship services or private study groups and devotions. They may not be sold, republished or retransmitted in any form without written permission.