1. Afraid & Ashamed. Embarrassed & Intimidated.& Timid & Shy.
a. I’m sure some of you can identify with these… at times we’ve all had a little bit of each in our lives.
b. But it’s a bummer when it comes to Jesus isn’t it?
c. I mean we don’t want to be intimidated… but we are.
d. We don’t want to be embarrassed… but we can be.
NO… we want BOLDNESS in sharing the good news!
• You’ll remember back in the EC, the believers were called before the Sanhedrin, the religious rulers of the day…
• They were grilled for the message they were spreading and warned to never share this message again!
• Every reason to be afraid, fearful, ashamed… What did they do?
• Notice 4:23… they went home and prayed!
NOTE: There have been times when I’ve really struggled with v16.
• It’s just so silly to be ashamed of the good news, but it’s also very easy to fall into the trap of fear.
Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV) 25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
• So I pray for boldness in my life and in yours.
• It’s God’s will for us to share the gospel with everyone, everywhere, seeking to win them to Jesus Christ!
NOW Paul had a LOT TO FEAR in going to Rome!
• Nero was on the throne and was actively persecuting, torturing, and killing Christians.
Nero ordered the Christians to be rolled in pitch and set alight to form living torches for his gardens. He ordered Christians to be swen ito the skins of wild beasts and flung to savage dogs. He had them shut up in ships which were sunk in the Tiber.
• Rome was where Caesar worship was alive and well making the worship of Jesus grounds for losing everything.
• Rome… full of military might. Rome… full of immorality.
• Rome… filled with reason after reason to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• And to think of a Jewish tentmaker going to Rome to preach a message of a poor Jewish carpenter who was crucified in a most horrific way… it sounds a little funny.
• But Paul was ready… Look back at 1:14ff
I. (1:16) NOT ASHAMED!
1. (16) THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS
a. With all that could force the gospel into hiding, Paul says I’m not ashamed of the gospel!
b. I’m a debtor. I’m ready. AND I’m NOT ashamed.
Paul KNEW the gospel message… not from some class that he took, or from the testimony of someone else…
• He was personally touched by Jesus Christ Himself & changed!
• When he mentions SALVATION, he speaks first of himself.
Psalm 40:2 (NKJV) 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
You’ll notice the word SAVED is used some 20 times in this section.
Saved & Salvation carry the same basic idea…
• It means to BE RESCUED or DELIVERED from something.
• From what? Look at v18… the WRATH OF GOD.
• So people today need to be saved whether in Rome, or Aurora, or Denver, or Vladimir Russia
And THOUGH GOD’S grace can’t be earned, or deserved and salvation is a totally a gift and there is nothing we could ever do to pay for it, Paul still felt he was indebted to God’s great grace!
• NO He’s not trying to earn anything, he just realizes that because of God has done, he wants others to be saved too!
• We’re so grateful for all God has done that we have His favor and we feel forever obligated not only to ENJOY the gospel but also to SHARE it with others!
IN the Old Test there is a wonderful story of a group of lepers who head into the Syrian camp.
• Let’s flip over to 2 Kings 7:1-8
Today is the day of GOOD NEWS!
• Jesus Christ has come and it’s not enough to just sit around and be happy we’re saved… it’s time to go to the lost!
• God loves this world: He so loved it that He sent His only Son.
Notice too that the GOSPEL IS POWERFUL.
• There are 6 different words in the Greek language for power and this one means that it’s INHERENT, RESIDING IN NATURALLY!
• It’s not A power, or SOME power, but it’s the POWER OF GOD inherently… an explosive kind of power.
• Whenever you share the gospel, God’s power is unleashed!
• Be careful when you start seeing people’s lives change that you begin to think it’s you. It’s not!
Matthew 16:18 (NKJV) 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
NOTE: This is very important to know as we evangelize.
• All we need is the gospel in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
• We don’t need great programs, or buildings, or dramas…
• The gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful in and of itself!
• The Bible doesn’t say it’s through the foolishness of drama, or the foolishness of a building…
1 Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV) 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Faith comes by hearing and… “HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD!”
• It’s hearing… we haven’t grown beyond that.
• Just because we have the technology, and the improvements of sound, and such doesn’t mean we’re not needing to preach the gospel simply and clearly to the lost!
NOTE: There is this push in the last 20 years to make church look like, sound like, and feel like the world.
• So church becomes like a movie theater where message is watched. OR
• It becomes like a YMCA & we sit around singing campfire songs.
YES: Today all over this country folks are going out to start churches and the first thing they do is survey the neighborhood.
• What kind of church do you want? What kind would you attend?
• They go door to door trying to find out what is missing.
• What is missing? The preaching of the gospel is missing!!!!
DO you think these things mattered in Paul’s day?!
• What do the pagans have to say about what the church should look like? Who cares?! It would have never happened.
• No when the leaders came to town in Thessalonica…
Acts 17:6 (NKJV) 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
• If you want the world, then go to the world.
• But if you want a real encounter with Jesus then get plugged into a church. The church of Jesus Christ!
APP: When you walk into a church you ought to sense the Spirit God moving and hear the Word of God being taught!
• Today the big thing is don’t bring your Bibles, we’ll just put it upon the screen for you!
• The problem is you CAN’T TAKE THE SCREEN WITH YOU!
• Bring your Bibles. Use it. Read it. Mark it. Love it!
• This is the book that has ALL the answers! It’s our life manual.
NOW… listen carefully to me. I love the lost, the unbeliever.
• Today they are termed ‘seekers’ or ‘pre-christians’. OK.
• I love you today if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus.
AND I also believe that the SEEKER isn’t dumb. I don’t think people want things watered or dumbed down for them.
• I think that’s rather insensitive & unkind.
• I think you can understand the gospel, that you’re lost and in need of the forgiveness of sins that only Jesus provides!
If you came today seeking… May the Lord bless you!
• You’ve already seen & sensed through our time of worship that you’ve been touched… deeply. Do you know what that is?
• It’s the work of God’s Holy Spirit bringing a conviction deep down w/in you, touching U with love, encouraging U to come!
• The gospel rescues you, saves you. You’re safe in Jesus.
• Yes, the wages of sin is death. But in Jesus Christ there is life!
Salvation from our sins really has 3 parts.
#1 – PAST: We can say we are saved from our past.
#2 – PRESENT: We are saved right now. We ARE born again.
#3 – FUTURE: I shall be saved. God will complete that work He has begun in my by the power of His Spirit.
Because you’re with Jesus, He’s got a firm grip on your life.
• You’re not just simply ‘hanging in there’, no way,
• When you get tired and you let go… he’s not letting go!
Salvation is wonderful as God saves us, wholly & completely:
#1 – FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN. This is JUSTIFICATION.
• Before God, in Christ, U are justified. Just-As-If-I-Never-Sinned.
• This happens instantly, Christ’s perfect life is given to me.
#2 – FROM THE POWER OF SIN. This is SANCTIFICATION.
• The ongoing work of God making us more holy. Takes a lifetime!
• It doesn’t happen overnight, even though I wish it were so!
• But throughout lives we get more and more like our Lord.
• You learn you have a new nature and you realize that you don’t have to say yes to sin any longer!
#3 – FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN. This is GLORIFICATION.
• One day you and I will be in the presence of Jesus.
1 John 3:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
• It could be at the rapture or upon death, but at the moment we will be made completely right, new bodies, new everything!
NOTE: God is displaying His power in the gospel to this very day, to this very moment gang.
• Its’ the greatest display of God ever!
• When you think about it, there is nothing like watching a soul being reborn and lives being restored!
• It’s the best eyewitness evidence of God’s power.
• To see someone so dead and trapped in their trespasses and sins come to life! I love it.
• The gospel, and the gospel alone can clean our sins.
• BE CAREFUL not to try to clean your own sins any other way.
• Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
And so… remember… salvation is for EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES.
• That means if you believe you’re saved.
• Not just certain people, but for EVERYONE who believes.
• The gospel goes out to everyone and is for everyone.
• Faith is so simple. God says I give this to you and we respond by saying, Yes God, I accept, thank you!
THE GOSPEL is a gift from God. We accept it freely.
• You don’t’ have to pay for it, or earn it, or work for it.
• It’s paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.
• May the Lord give us GREAT BOLDNESS in sharing the wonderful gospel of grace, calling everyone to repent & believe!
