Sermon – The Full Gospel of Jesus Christ
Scripture Text - Ro 1:16-22 “16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.[a] 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[b] 18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.[c] 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.”
Introduction: The message of Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. It is good news that God himself has made complete deliverance available for all and to all who believe. Not only by the declarations of the Holy Scriptures, and God’s judgments, but by nature's teachings, and by the human conscience. God’s revelation of himself and his righteousness standards are made so clear, mankind is without excuse.
Much of the gospel preached today is incomplete. Romans does afford us the luxury of hearing an incomplete Gospel message. Paul lifts the idea of Righteousness and Wrath. Both are revealed and should be preached with equal clarity. God’s standard exposes the great aggravation of sin: men willfully sin against the light of their own minds, and rebel against the convictions of their own consciences. The wrath of God is kindled and his judgment is declared against all those that live in the course of sin, rebelling against the Laws of God, the laws of nature and dictates and convictions of their own enlightened consciences. All mankind is without excuse. Faith in Christ provides the only safe haven from the wrath of God. To willfully sin against knowledge, to rebel against the light of thy own mind, to slight the whispers of your heart, to stifle the voice of thy own conscience is inviting the wrath of God. We should seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon while he is near, then reverently and obediently follow the commands of God.
The gospel not only reveals God’s righteousness, but also His wrath. The wrath of God confirms the fact the God hates sin and will judge every ungodly sinner. God is angry with the unrepentant sinner all day long. God is angry with the ungodly because they (suppress) hold the truth in unrighteousness.
In other words, these men knew the truth, but willfully chose unrighteousness over righteousness. They thoroughly understood God’s standard but chose to walk in disobedience. When they knew God, they glorified him not as God. We normally do not like to hear about wrath. Wrath seems to be contrary to God’s loving nature. Wrath is an unpleasant subject. Heaven is so much easier to talk about than Hell. The message of blessings just sounds better than a message of judgment. We must be aware that the gospel message reveals both the righteousness of God and the wrath of God.
The problem with much of today’s preaching is that the message is incomplete. The early church grew in the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. We must be careful that our message is a balanced message. The Bible reveals the streets of Gold, the Gates of Pearl and the leaves of the trees that are good for the healing of the nation, but it also reveals the judgment of God and a place of torment where the fire never goes out and the worms never die. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because in it the righteousness of God and the wrath of God are revealed.
1. Man’s Only Hope is To Be Put Right with God - Understand this, that in and of ourselves we are not the least bit righteous. We are corrupt and rebellious by nature against God. We often break God's law. To be saved from condemnation and wrath we need a righteousness that is from God's own nature, a righteousness that comes from God that fully satisfies all God’s demands. And that is what the gospel reveals! Paul says in Romans 3:21-23,
" 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[a] and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard."
It does not matter if you were a Jew with the Law or a Gentile without the Law, all have sinned. All were equally condemned before the judgment of God. His righteousness demanded Justice. His Justice demanded death. It's God’s righteousness and God's standard of rightness that we all needed. That righteousness is only revealed in the Gospel. The gospel also reveals the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The sinfulness of man is described two ways as ungodliness against the laws of the first table, and unrighteousness against those laws of the second table. Ungodliness is sin against God while unrighteousness sin is against our fellowman.
2. Man’s Only Reward For Willful Disobedience is God’s Judgment – It has been revealed from Heaven, in History and in His word. God has judged all men guilty who hold the truth in unrighteousness. God caused his light to shine upon every man's heart, they know right from wrong. So, mankind sins with knowledge. All willfully do what they know to be wrong, and omit what they know to be right, so none can plead ignorance before God. All mankind stood guilty before God.
Why is God angry with sinful people? Why does God hate sin? Those who walk around in willful sin have substituted the truth about God with a fantasy of their own imagination. They have suppressed the truth God clearly reveals to believe anything that supports their own self-centered lifestyle. God cannot tolerate sin because of his holy and righteous nature. God is a Holy God. God cannot condone nor ignore willful rebellion against his righteous standard. His desire is to remove sin and restore every sinner who will believe. But He will judge the unrepentant sinner.
3. God’s Clearest Standard is Revealed in the Gospel. 19 “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.”
I thank God that his standard is clear. It is not just my way or your way, it is God's way from start to finish. We are saved by his grace through faith. He gives us faith to believe, faith to receive, and faith to continue from day to day. Everything has been given from God, by God and for God’s glory. We owe everything to him. It is not what we have done; it’s what He has done for us. In this powerful text, Paul gives several reasons why he is not ashamed. He is not ashamed because of what the Gospel is; because of what it requires; because of what the Gospel can do; because of the hope it brings to all and because of what the Gospel reveals. I hope that we all feel the same way.
Paul was not only unashamed, so he felt compelled to share the good news. The world still needs to know there is good news, their sin can be forgiven, and right standing with God is available for the asking. They need to know that they can believe and by faith receive the free gift of God. Not one person need be lost. When you think of the thousands that face eternity without Christ, not one of them need be lost. Every person who ends up in hell will be there against the will of God. God is not willing that any should perish, as a matter of fact He is longsuffering and patient that every person might have an opportunity to be saved. Saints of Old use to sing a song, “Wait a little longer, sweet Jesus. There are so many of us still wandering around in sin; if you wait a little longer, sweet Jesus, it will give us a few more days to get our loved ones in.”
They recognized that people without Christ were lost and on their way to a devil’s hell. They need to hear the gospel. The gospel message is good news that saves. We must not be ashamed or afraid to proclaim it. Every Christian ought to be ready to stand up courageously and unashamedly for the Lord. How inconsistent that a person redeemed by the blood of Christ, who has experienced saving power of Christ should be ashamed to speak His name before an unbelieving world! 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 his Father with the holy angels.”
There are two main reasons that people don't share the gospel: fear and shame. Those who are bound by fear dare not share the message, and those who are ashamed will not share the Gospel. The world needs the gospel. The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth those who will go and open their mouths for Him. We should pray the open prayer. Lord, open a door! Lord, open their hearts! Lord, open our mouths!
If we allow fear and shame to stop us, it is evident that we place the praises of men above the approval of God. It means that we put greater value on earthly things than on heavenly things, and we would rather be a friend to the world and an enemy of God. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ it is the power of God unto salvation. Every believer should take their rightful place in the harvest field of God. We must proclaim the message because a dying world is waiting.
