Romans 1:14-17 - I Am Not Ashamed

 

Intro: This morning there are 2 things  that we are going to accomplish in the time that we have together .

1st we are going to finish our series on the subject of relational Evangelism which we began 5 weeks ago

 

A) In that series we have been reminded of our Lords call upon our lives to be salt & light in this world in which He has placed us !

 

B) In order to do that we have discussed our need to be people who are seeking to be led by the H.S. to be building relationships w/ those who are lost

1)  Because salt needs to be tasted or applied in order to be affective / and light needs to be seen !

 

C) So in order for us to be that salt of the earth & the light of the world we need to be rubbing shoulders w/ lost people .

1)  Getting to know them & allowing them to get to know us !

 

D) Today as we finish our series we are going to focus on the message we are to share / the gospel story that John was singing about !

 

 

But we are also going to begin our study in the book of Romans today !

A) For the next 4 to 6 months we are going to borrow a chapter out of Pastor Chuck's Play book on Preaching & teaching !

 

B) Chuck teaching method / Sun. night / Sun. morning /  Jon Courson / Wed. / Sun. /  

 

C) The reason we are going to do this is because the book of Romans is such a Powerful book / fascinating book / awesome book

1)  We could literally spend the next 6 yrs studying it ! But I feel the Lord wants us to keep a little faster pace in our study through the word on Wed.

D) So this Wed. as we begin our study in the book of Romans we are going to cover a least a  ½ of a Chapter each week

1)  But on Sunday morning we will take a section out of whatever we are studying on Wed. night and take a more in-depth look !

 

E) Accomplish both/ we will still be able to look at things in-depth manner but we will be able to cover some ground as well !   Good proven method

1)  Good connection between Sun. & Wed. for this book ! Romans 1:1-17

 

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God  2  which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

3  concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,   4  and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

5  Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,   6  among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

 

7  To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,

10  making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

11  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established;   12  that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

13  Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.

14  I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.

15  So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Now this Wed when we look at this section some of the things we are going to see is in v. 2-4 Paul gives a powerful description of our Lord !

A) Jesus is the revealed - one prophecies of old  . reigning one , the resurrected one  

 

B) In v. 5-16 we get some neat insights into Paul’s heart for these People / His desire to see them grow / insights on our calling / on Prayer / / on service

 

C) But this morning I want to draw our attention to V. 14 -17 and focus on what Paul says here concerning the gospel !

          1) Before we do lets keep our place here & turn to 2 Kings Ch. 7

 

 

 

2 Kings 7: 3-11

Scene: the city of Samaria was surrounded by Syrian forces led by King Benhadad / at that same time there was a great famine in the Land !

 

A) This put the people in a very vulnerable position / they couldn’t leave the city & no one could get into the city to bring food !

1)  As a result the situation looked pretty grim /  in fact we read in Ch. 6 v. 25   And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver

 

B) The world today is in a similar place spiritually / they are starving and the Devil seeks to keep men from what will really satisfy their spiritual hunger

1)  By dangling in front of them things which look good but have no substance or nutritional value spiritually speaking

 

C) Isa. Made note of this problem in ch. 55  Where the Lord says  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance

 

D) Also said there Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.

          1) Keep this in mind as we look at this story !

So The Samaritans were starving to death ! but we read in v. 3  4 Lepers

who were Outside the city / read v. 3-11

 

A) Now these 4 lepers say / "Lets go to the Syrian camp "/ die one way or another /    The miracle /   Wow !

 

B) The feast ! Catch themselves "This a day of good news how can we  remain silent     /     This is Not right!

1)  Guys we should feel the same way ! We live in a world that is starving /  

    hungry and thirsty / We Know where there is bread ! Bread of life

         

C) We know Him who declared If anyone is thirsty let him come unto Me & drink / he who comes to me will never hunger / believes will never thirst !

 

 

D) Guys we could say the same thing as these Lepers Today is a day of good news how can we remain silent !  Good news to Share !   

1)  Baby Born /  good news / blessing/ ladies call - guess what ! She had the baby

 

E) I think women get a little more excited about this than men for 2 reasons /1st they love kids / 2nd  they know what is involved in giving birth !

1)  Its over she had it - 20 hrs / did she have an epidural? 

 

F)  Hey we all know first hand the pain of life w/out Jesus / but we have good news here’s how a person can be Born again !  Get the word  out !

 

There is an obligation that we have to share the message of the gospel / That is exactly how Paul felt when he was writing in the book of Romans turn ch.1

A) v. 14,15 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.  So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

 

B) Now understand that Paul was not suggesting that he was in debt to the Lord to share the gospel / not a matter of pay back

1)  Paul said he was in debt to lost people / like a man who finds the cure for cancer & is healed from that deadly disease / I need to share it !

C) Paul’s life had been so touched by the power of the gospel / his life was radically changed / that he was in debt to share this w/ the world !

1)  He owed it to the rest of humanity that they might come to experience the gift of life Paul received in Jesus

 

D) That like Paul they might come to know what it is to really live !

 

Paul says I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

 

A) Note that : the message of the gospel is a powerful message ! It is a simple message but it is a powerful message !

1)  Power to change the Life of everyone who believes / Power of God for salvation to everyone who believes !

 

B) Realize it is not our communication skills or our effectiveness in sharing that makes the gospel powerful / it is the message !  Powerful message

 

C) For the rest of our time this morning I want us to look at 3 things / 1st  what the message is/ make sure we have a clear understanding of the gospel !

1)  2ndly We want to look at what we are to share & I want to give some practical illustrations of how we can share it more clearly !

 

D) 3rd We want to conclude this morning by looking at what it means to be saved by looking at what we have been saved from & saved unto !

          1) 1st What is the Gospel

 

The message of the Gospel is essentially this :

A) God loves human beings but they have broken His laws, fallen miserably short of His glory and sinned against Him.

 

B) As a result of our sin and rebellion we have an emptiness, loneliness, and void in our lives.

1)  Those are the temporal consequences of our sin, but we also face the future consequences of sin / specifically judgment and hell.

C) Knowing our hopeless situation, God took drastic measures by sending His Son Jesus to earth to die on a cross in our place and take the judgment we deserved upon Himself.

 

D) Consequently, we must respond to Jesus Christ and His message. We must believe in Him and receive Him into our lives as our Lord and Savior.

1)  In doing so we must repent, which means to turn away from sin and turn toward God

 

E) . If we fail to repent, we have not fully responded to the gospel.

      That is the gospel in a nutshell !

 

D) That is the message that we are to communicate that has the Power to change & transform lives !

1)  Not Church / or politics /  the gospel is what we are to be equipped w/

 

 

Having a good working Knowledge of the gospel & knowing how to use it is like having the right tools to do a Job !

A) When we were working on our Church building in Oregon / we had to tear down some walls /

 

B) So one day a group of teenagers /armed w/ sledge hammers / and regular hammers went at it !  They got part of the wall down but they also made mess

1)  Next day one of the Construction guys in the Church showed up w/ a saw saws-all / took the whole wall out in one piece !  Little mess ! less time /

 

C) Having the right tool & knowing how to use it / makes a big diff. When building fixing things ! 

1)  Shelves in the garage / wrong size head for my Phillips drill bit / screw these screws into these 2 by fours  / kept slipping !

 

D) I was getting very frustrated when Denise comes out & says  Aren’t you finished yet !   Wrong thing to say to your husband holding a power tool !

          1) I was mad ! Frustrated !

 

E) Evangelism can be the same way When we don’t have a good working knowledge of the gospel & how to use it !

1)  We can be like those fired up High school kids who were eager to tear down that wall - we go out w/ fliers / tracks / make a big mess

 

F)  Or we can end up very frustrated like I was as the conversation goes round & round in circles but like that screw - never going anywhere !

 

 

So lets look at some practical illustrations that will help in our attempts to communicate the gospel in such a way to make the message Clear !

A) Paul outlines for us in the book of Romans /  Referred to as the Romans Road

  3 pts / 1st Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 

B) This is the place where people need to begin is w/ the realization that they are sinners ! Once realize they are sinners / they can accept that they need a savior

1)  Now the Bible tells us that Satan has blinded the eyes of those who are in the world / they need their eyes opened !

 

C) When sharing I like to use a simple illustration w/ people / to make point that we are all sinners .

1)  Take kids / do you have to teach them how to be bad or how to be good / tell the truth or tell lies  ?

 

D) fact is being bad / & telling lies comes naturally - because they are born w/ a sin nature !

1)  When little Johnny writes on the wall in your house  w/ a crayon & you ask Johnny do you know who wrote on the wall ?

 

E) He responds I don’t know -  No one had to teach him that !  Natural !

1)  Kids have to be taught how to tell the truth & how to be good / being bad is something that comes very naturally because born w/ a sinful nature

 

 

Now some people like to say well / I’m not as bad as so & so / Charles Manson now that guy is a real sinner !

A) This is interesting to me because in the book of Gal. & in the book of 1 Cor. We have two list of sins in which Paul says

 

B) Those practicing such things will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven !

     Listen to what is mention in those list ! 

1)  1 Cor . 6 :9,10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,10  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

C) Now most people would say that sounds like a pretty good description of the unrighteous  to me !  fornicators / adulterers / drunks / thieves / Homosexuals

1)  But notice also that he mentions those who covet - wanting something someone else has / car / house / job/ wife / husband / narrows it down !

 

D) But listen to what Paul says in  Gal. 5 :19,20 19  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, , murders, drunkenness, revelries, /  hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies,  envy; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

E)  Suddenly when Paul says that all have sinned & fallen short of the Glory of God it takes on new meaning !

1)  Another picture I like to use to illustrate this point is / the canyon / man on one side / God’s glory on the other !

 

F)  Run & jump / some travel 5 feet / some 10 feet / others 20 feet / problem all fall short / all miss the mark - all sinners !

 

 

The 2nd thing that Paul outlines - of the Romans Road is / Romans 6:23 wages of sin is death !

A) Death equals separation from God / eternal death means to be eternally separated from God - Hell !

 

B) That was mans dilemma / sinner separated from god because of our sin / & there was nothing we could do about our situation/ we were doomed !

1)  But that is not the end of the story - in fact that is not the end of the verse

 

C) look again at Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1)  The wages of sin is death / but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ !

 

D) Man blew it big time / but God gave a gift / His Son who was sent to pay the penalty for your sins / take your punishment on Himself /

1)  All you need to do is to receive the gift !

 

E) Good time to bring up the Diff. Between Christianity & religion ! Religion is spelled Do !  Do, do ,do , do ( Problem is you never know when done enough !)

1)  When do you know if you have knocked on enough doors or have gone to church enough times or have learned enough scripture !

 

F)  Religion is spelled Do ! / But Christianity - what the Bible teaches is spelled Done ?   Jesus on Cross It is finished = Paid in full

1)  Credit card debt - someone has to pay !  Jesus Paid the bill - all you have to do is receive it ! The gift is no good unless you receive it !

 

 

Brings us to the 3rd aspect of the Romans Rd. Romans 10: 9,10,13  9  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

 

A) The way that you receive the gift is to confess & believe !

1)  Confess sinner / need a savior / see your sin for what it is - rebellion against God / believe that Jesus was who He said He was - raised - saved

 

B) Guys that is the gospel ! And Paul declares it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes ! It’s a powerful message !

1)  A young man was once talking to CH Spurgeon about defending the gospel

C) Spurgeon responded  You don’t need to defend the gospel / do you defend a Lion ? No just let it loose & let it do its thing / same true gospel

 

D)The gospel is the Power of God unto salvation for all who believe !

 

 

How do I really realize that this is God's power displayed ?

A) This scripture takes on its greatest display when I realize what I have been saved from and what I have been saved unto !

 

B)William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army used to say that he wished he could take all his workers & dangle them over hell for 60 sections

     1) So they could get a glimpse of  what they had been saved from !

 

C) Home work assignment this week / do a topical study on the word Hell - go through the Old & New testament & see places where word hell used - what says

1)  I suggest to you that when you do you will discover some interesting facts that will cause your salvation to take on new meaning !

 

D) And the next time you hear someone talking about how we have been saved your response will be different / Instead of Yea I am saved

1)  It will be YEA I AM SAVED !

 

E) It is then that we will begin to feel the way that Paul did about the gospel ! In Debt to all / because we know what we have been saved from !

         

 

In closing today I want to quickly point out 5 things the Bible tells us about Hell / about what we have been saved from !

A)1st  The Bible describes Hell as a place of torment ! We get this picture  

     displayed for us in Luke Ch. 16 story of Lazarus & the rich man

 

B) The rich man finds himself in hell before an eternal fire ! It was so hot there that he longed for one drop of water for his tongue

1)  in hopes of finding some relief for the anguish he was in !

 

C) Doesn’t sound like he is playing cards w/ his buddies does it !  But so often that is how we hear those in the world talking about Hell

1)  Yea I’ll go to hell - skiing on the Lake of fire w/ my buddies / we will open a few cold ones / going to be one big party !

 

D) Guys that is not the Greek word used here for Torment !

1)  The word used for torment means : a place of pain, anguish, suffering & agony /   Place of suffering & agony - sounds serious !

 

 

2nd thing the Bible teaches us about Hell is it is a place of full memory use !

A) In other words it is a place where you are going to be able to remember what your life was like here !  Parties / selfishness/ everything

 

B) In fact scripture seems to imply that you are going to back on your life here & be reminded of every opportunity you had to receive Christ !  Gift / & refused !

1)  Those people will throughout eternity be thinking  I don’t have to be here

I should have listened ! 

 

C) In fact if you are here today & you haven’t received Christ / been wrestling w/ that decision / stop / respond today !

 

 

3rd thing the Bible tells us about Hell is it will be a place of weeping & Gnashing of teeth !

A) Gnashing that is a great word ! Thought of it hurts ! What mean ? Webster defines gnashing as when our teeth meet our teeth & there is constant grinding

 

B) Boy That sounds good ! /  But I understand this / In this place of constant memory / looking back on every chance you had to receive Christ & didn’t

1)  Filled w/ anguish - weeping / and Anger at yourself - Gnashing your teeth thinking I don’t have to be here if I would have just listened !

 

4th thing about How / we are told in the book of Rev. Hell is a place of burning sulfur ! Ever smell sulfur ?

A) Webster says concerning sulfur that when it burns it has a stifling odor !

B) Stifling is too nice of a word ! Sulfur smells like rotten eggs !

1)  So Hell is going to be this place of incredible torment / before an eternal fire

it is going to stink like rotten eggs / constant weeping & gnashing of teeth

 

 

5th thing A place of outer Darkness !

A) Now I’m not sure how the Lord is going to do this / where there will be an eternal fire / and outer darkness / outer darkness speaks of being very dark !

1)  Some of those rides at Disneyland / can’t see hand in front of face !

 

B) So Picture this : Hell is this place of intense heat tormenting heat / so hot a person is longing for just one drop of water

1)  Place that is completely dark where you can’t see anything but you hear constant screaming weeping & gnashing of teeth !

 

C) Man I am glad that I am not going there ! If I wasn’t saved I sure wouldn’t want to go there !

 

 

That is what we have been saved from now what have we been saved unto !  

A) Relationship / not religion/ family - not a church / sins forgiven / guilt removed / new creation / inheritance /eternal life !

 

B) No WONDER THIS IS CALLED THE GOOD NEWS !