Preacher’s Boast
Romans 1:16-17
September 21, 2002
A minister, a boy scout, and a scientist were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and explained that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot then added, "I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and tree small children." So he took one and jumped.
The scientist jumped up almost immediately and said, "I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me." So he took one and jumped.
The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, as I am sure that all of you would, "You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane."
Then the Boy Scout said, "Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!"
One man’s boast can be another man’s salvation.
If any man had room for boast the apostle Paul most certainly did. He could have boasted had he wanted for any number of reasons. Philippians 3:4 he states, "If anyone else thinks he has reason to boast, I have more." He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was born into the right family, the tribe of Benjamin. He was very faithful to his religion, as religious as they come. He keep all of the rules. But he counted all of that as worthless.
The Apostle’s boast was not in anything but Christ. In Romans 1:16-17 Paul would proclaim this is the Believer’s Boast. Read Romans 1:16-17.
God want each of us to be a messengers of his love. This is the command of evangelism stated in a personal way. Part of the job description of every believer is that once we have been born again, we become messengers of the Good News to others. If we are personalizing the Bible message we must personalize the Great Commission that says "Go ye therefore, into all nations . . ." That means we must boldly go.
We need a confidence in the truth of the Gospel and the message of the God’s redeeming love. The Gospel must then be every believer’s boast.
I. The Believer’s Strength
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because is the dynamic power unto salvation. For nothing short of the very power of God can make anyone a Christian. Not one of us can claim that power alone. Our salvation is not our own. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel is the believer’s power.
Personal faith
Folks, if we are to have any power in our lives, it must first come from knowing personally the lord Jesus Christ. The man of God must have a personal faith. Would you buy a new Ford from a salesman if that salesman drives a Chevy? Without being born again someone who talks about God is like that salesman. They are powerless to speak with conviction. But even more if we doe not know God in Christ personally we not have the power Jesus promised to his disciples. Without being born again a man can only be bound by the conviction of guilt. For the believer’s might comes from knowing the grace and love of God.
The Apostle Paul understood that power. His words are words of experience. He had met Jesus. He had experienced the power of God. In one mighty encounter with the son of God Paul had everyone of his previous boasts immediately striped away. As he neared Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven fell him to the ground. From that moment on all that Paul could say was - "Lord".
For Paul the gospel was his boast because of his own personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer is that you know without a doubt today that your hope is secure. Do you know the person of the Gospel?
The person who can boast in the Gospel is one that has an experience with the living Lord. The believer’s faith must be in the person of the Gospel. Jesus himself is the source of the good news. He is the prophet’s hope, the messiah, the seed of Abraham, and our redeemer. He must be our strength. Paul’s hope and confidence lay in him.
The Power Source
Paul also knew he had no power in his own word or intellect. The gospel power is found in God. For in both of these verses the source of both the power and righteousness is God. The power of God unto salvation belongs only to God. For us to be effective servants of God we must also be accompanied by the Holy Spirit. When we go to our neighbor, friend, our boss and share our faith — we should seek to go filled by the Holy Spirit. The power of every power filled believer lies in his present relationship with Christ.
If you have been called by God unto salvation you have been called to ministry. Here at FBC we believe every member is a minister. You do not want to serve or share without seeking his presence. The results are God’s.
Dr. Jerry Vines I would like to point out to you several principles in his last chapter The Anointed Preaching. In it he lists three prerequisites for a life with power.
First, the believer must have a clean life. Why is it that we believe that the pastor or preacher is the only one who needs to have a life that is pure. But just a few weeks ago I shared that God desire us to be models of His character. We must be pure. Our lives must be clean. That means we must examine our lives. Pray that the Lord will reveal the sin in your life. The worst part of that is that most of us know about sin in our lives that we are reluctant to give up. I do not want to meddle to much but what do you watch on TV, even commercials. Some of the things we put into our minds would be hard to sanctify.
Second, the believer must have a definite Bible study and prayer time.
While I went to seminary, work 30-40 hours a week and I went to school in the mornings write papers and study at night, and try to make time for you family in between. I have got to tell you a body can think of allot of good excuses at 5 in the morning after four hours of sleep for not getting up. It never gets any easier. I do not know about you but God called me to be a messenger of His love.
If you lose your first love you will have nothing to say. During my first year at seminary I got way off track with my private Bible study and prayer time. My Bible study and prayer time was not as scheduled as my showers. My life had about that much power. If we abandon our definite time alone with God we can not expect to have any power in our lives. What we will do is look for one more exciting, emotional moment.
Third, we must approach life more fully prepared. Prayerfully and fully prepared to share our faith.
To these I would like to add a fourth. Keep your family a priority. Love your wife. Spend time with your children. I know you have seen preacher’s families falling apart. Paul exhorted Titus that "An elder must blameless, the husband of one wife, and a man whose children believe and are obedient." This is a biblical exhortation. God desires that we love our families.
I want you to know I saw a lot of very happy children yesterday. Spending time with mother or father, catching fish. I was so happy to see folks from our church sharing God’s love with each other.
This is a reflection of our faith. Paul’s hope and confidence lay not in himself but instead in Christ. For he is trustworthy.
II. The Believer’s Motive
The Apostle Paul’s boast was in gospel because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel message is the believer’s strength and also the gospel is the believer’s motive. For in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. It is this knowledge of God’s righteousness that, if understood should motivate each believer.
Perilous Danger - Righteous judgement
The Apostle Paul realized that the wrath of God is revealed in the gospel. The man of God understands that man is in perilous danger. In Romans is expressed man’s pitiful situation. Man is sinful by nature and choice. Completely at enmity with God, and corrupt.
Social scientist tell us that men can reform. If only he is placed in a better environment. But for as long as I have been alive the United States have tested that theory and it has failed. Men are unable to reform or get it right. They are doomed. The very best man has to offer is filthy rags.
In Habakkuk 2:4 the prophet describes the unrighteous condition of the ungodly. "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright." One translation describes man’s prideful condition as his trust in his strong arm. Man’s way has always been trust in self. That has never been God’s plan. God’s way is man’s obedience. God’s righteousness demands obedience.
For man’s disobedience the wages are death and hell. Guys the righteousness of God reveals God’s righteous justice against us all. If we understand that reality it should motivate us to action. My wife and I met a couple from China who had come to visit our church. I ask him about Jesus Christ and he explained that he had only heard of his name. In his home town of several hundred thousand people, he believed there was one church. He had never heard the gospel.
There are people all around Bellaire who may have heard about God, they may have even heard about Jesus — but it is a slick TBN presentation, they have never seen Him lived out in the life of a faithful believer. If all God needed was Televangelist TV would have been invented AD twenty. God want us to personally live out our faith, by believing and belonging, modeling his character, serving and caring for others, and being a messenger of his love.
Provision of Righteousness
God’s provision of righteousness is Jesus but the only way that Jesus to have any affect on our lives is for us to trust him by faith. The unrighteous trusts in himself but the righteous lives by faith. The believer’s boast is found in the power of the Gospel. God’s provision of righteousness is Jesus. For God’s gift of grace is his righteousness revealed. For apart from God’s initiation of grace man is completely lost, condemned. "For by grace are we saved by faith..." The message of the gospel is a message of hope. God’s righteousness means he does what is right. But he has seen fit to graciously share His precious Son. The gospel shares that hope. The hope, "That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shall be saved."
The gospel if it only condemns has no hope. If we fail to share our hope we have failed our those we work with, our friends, neighbors and family. Guilt cannot be experienced when grace is present.
The gospel is good news. We are no better off than a worm in the midst of flaming pile of leave. Till the grace of God snatches us from the fire.
Yet, the gospel’s power is not only about forgiveness but is for living. The power of the gospel is proved by our lives. The man or woman of God lives by faith no longer by his own strength. He leans no longer on his own understand. For the Christian God’s provision of righteousness is his strength for salvation but also for living. The Christian life is committed not to sight but faith.
Martin Luther once wrote, "Faith is a living, busy active, powerful thing; it is impossible for it not to do us good continually. It never asks whether good words are to be done, but has done them before there is time to ask the question, and it is always doing them."
Our faith is an expression of our Godly boast.
Conclusion
The man or woman of God’s boast is the power of God unto salvation. His commitment is a life of faith. It is then that he can boast. I was reminded this week of this very profound statement by an African Pastor. He understood what the Believer’s Boast is:
A young African pastor wrote of his faith:
I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer and labor by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till he stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me -- my banner will be clear! (Illustration origin unknown)
What about you?
