1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:24,960 We're going to be in Romans chapter one. 10 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,480 If you have your Bibles turned there with us. 11 00:00:27,030 --> 00:00:32,230 We are going to continue our sermon series entitled Theology Matters. 12 00:00:32,310 --> 00:00:35,190 And the title of the sermon this morning is Not Ashamed. 13 00:00:35,590 --> 00:00:36,230 Not Ashamed. 14 00:00:36,230 --> 00:00:37,510 We're in Romans, chapter one. 15 00:00:37,510 --> 00:00:40,910 We're going to start in verse number 16 here. 16 00:00:40,910 --> 00:00:45,350 Paul is specifically speaking in the context of the gospel. 17 00:00:45,430 --> 00:00:47,990 If you follow along on the back of your bulletins this morning, 18 00:00:47,990 --> 00:00:51,070 you'll see an outline and that might help you kind of see where 19 00:00:51,070 --> 00:00:53,310 we're going and where we have been. 20 00:00:53,630 --> 00:00:57,230 But last week we looked at Paul stating in verse 15 that he 21 00:00:57,630 --> 00:01:00,430 is ready to preach the gospel. 22 00:01:00,670 --> 00:01:01,950 That was his testimony. 23 00:01:01,950 --> 00:01:03,150 His testimony was this. 24 00:01:03,230 --> 00:01:06,030 I am ready to preach the gospel, specifically in this case 25 00:01:06,030 --> 00:01:07,550 to those that were there in Rome. 26 00:01:07,790 --> 00:01:11,670 But we know that in Paul's life, he was ready in all cases to 27 00:01:11,670 --> 00:01:13,310 preach the gospel wherever he was. 28 00:01:13,870 --> 00:01:17,750 And I challenged all of us that morning that are we ready to 29 00:01:17,750 --> 00:01:18,510 preach the gospel? 30 00:01:18,510 --> 00:01:19,570 Are we ready to. 31 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,680 To proclaim the gospel to those around us, whether it be in 32 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,600 our workplaces, in our homes, in any area, in any avenue? 33 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,720 And so the Bible says very clearly that Paul was ready to preach 34 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:31,200 the gospel. 35 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,760 And the challenge for all of us is, are we ready to preach the 36 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:34,080 gospel? 37 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,400 And again, we have to know what the gospel is before we can 38 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:36,920 preach it. 39 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,000 There in your notes, it clearly defines the gospel as the 40 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,240 good news of Jesus. 41 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,680 The gospel is the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done 42 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:46,120 for us. 43 00:01:46,780 --> 00:01:48,220 Jesus is God. 44 00:01:48,540 --> 00:01:51,980 Jesus comes to this earth perfect in every way. 45 00:01:51,980 --> 00:01:56,100 No sin lived that perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, 46 00:01:56,100 --> 00:02:00,220 paid the price for our sins, was buried in a tomb three days later, 47 00:02:00,220 --> 00:02:04,380 rose on that third day and conquered death through the resurrection. 48 00:02:04,460 --> 00:02:06,300 That is the message of the gospel. 49 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:10,060 The gospel message is this, that if we place our faith and trust 50 00:02:10,060 --> 00:02:13,440 in Jesus and what he has done for us, that we can have salvation, 51 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,000 that we can have everlasting life, that we can be forgiven of 52 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:17,480 our sins. 53 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:22,520 And so I want to proclaim that as a pastor and I hope that as a 54 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,720 church, we proclaim that as a church, and you as an individual, 55 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:27,240 proclaim that in your life. 56 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,880 And so Paul Says here that to preach the gospel, we must be confident. 57 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,880 If we have trusted in the gospel message, we are to proclaim 58 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:37,680 that message to those around us. 59 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,090 But we are not going to be able to proclaim that message to 60 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:41,040 to those around us. 61 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,760 If we are lacking in some areas. 62 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,560 Maybe it's the lacking of faith, maybe it's the lacking of 63 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:48,000 confidence. 64 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,280 Maybe it's a place in our life where we have fear to share what 65 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:52,880 we believe. 66 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,080 And so Paul explains the main point of the whole letter, the whole 67 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:58,200 letter to the Romans. 68 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,200 He explains it all here in verses 16 and 17. 69 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,400 And so here this morning, we're gonna just be taking two verses. 70 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,240 We're gonna be looking at that here, verses 16 and 17. 71 00:03:08,430 --> 00:03:12,790 Look at that there with me in verse 16 he says, for I am not ashamed 72 00:03:12,790 --> 00:03:18,190 of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation 73 00:03:18,190 --> 00:03:19,950 to everyone that believeth. 74 00:03:20,110 --> 00:03:25,470 To the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness 75 00:03:25,470 --> 00:03:28,830 of God revealed from faith to faith. 76 00:03:29,070 --> 00:03:32,750 As it is written, the just shall live by faith. 77 00:03:32,750 --> 00:03:34,590 Here this morning we're going to look at these two verses. 78 00:03:35,010 --> 00:03:37,530 We're going to understand what it means to not be ashamed of the 79 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:38,690 Gospel of Jesus Christ. 80 00:03:38,850 --> 00:03:42,050 We're going to understand why we don't have to be ashamed because 81 00:03:42,050 --> 00:03:45,490 of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can proclaim it in our 82 00:03:45,490 --> 00:03:45,770 lives. 83 00:03:45,770 --> 00:03:48,290 And so let's go ahead and open up with a word of prayer and we're 84 00:03:48,290 --> 00:03:50,290 going to look right into our points here this morning. 85 00:03:50,689 --> 00:03:52,690 Lord, I thank you for this time that you've given us. 86 00:03:52,690 --> 00:03:55,570 I thank you for the opportunity to look into your word. 87 00:03:55,650 --> 00:03:58,090 Lord, I pray that you can challenge our hearts this morning 88 00:03:58,090 --> 00:04:02,100 to live confidently, to live boldly for the cause of the gospel. 89 00:04:02,340 --> 00:04:05,700 Lord, if we've trusted in the gospel and it's changed our lives, 90 00:04:06,260 --> 00:04:09,300 may we be the ones who proclaim that message to those around 91 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:11,300 us so that we can see their lives changed. 92 00:04:11,620 --> 00:04:14,620 And hopefully, Lord, that even if there's someone here today that 93 00:04:14,620 --> 00:04:17,460 does not know you as Savior, that today can be the day of salvation, 94 00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:20,020 that today can be the day of trusting in the gospel. 95 00:04:20,020 --> 00:04:23,260 So, Lord, I pray that you help us to not be ashamed of the gospel 96 00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:23,860 of Jesus Christ. 97 00:04:23,860 --> 00:04:26,680 Lord, I pray that you remove any distractions from our minds and 98 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:27,280 from our hearts. 99 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:30,520 Lord, get me out of the way so that your word is clearly seen here 100 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:30,920 this morning. 101 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,320 In Jesus name we pray. 102 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:33,280 Amen. 103 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,840 Paul speaks here about having boldness in his faith, having boldness 104 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:41,440 in the gospel proclamation and the boldness in the truth. 105 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,080 I think that sometimes as Christians, we lack in this area. 106 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:49,400 Sometimes we're fearful of proclaiming the gospel because maybe 107 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,730 what people will say or maybe what people will do, and we live 108 00:04:52,730 --> 00:04:56,170 in a world today that is boldly proclaiming its message. 109 00:04:56,330 --> 00:04:59,210 We live in a world today that's boldly lifting up sin. 110 00:04:59,290 --> 00:05:03,130 And we as Christians sometimes are cowering in fear because we're 111 00:05:03,130 --> 00:05:06,170 afraid of what the outcome might be if we proclaim in a loud 112 00:05:06,170 --> 00:05:07,530 way the truth of Jesus Christ. 113 00:05:07,610 --> 00:05:11,250 And what Paul says here is to be ready to preach the gospel means 114 00:05:11,250 --> 00:05:14,210 that we are not ashamed of what Jesus Christ has done for us. 115 00:05:14,210 --> 00:05:15,970 We are not ashamed of our Savior. 116 00:05:15,970 --> 00:05:17,530 We're not ashamed of the truth. 117 00:05:17,830 --> 00:05:20,150 We're not ashamed of our need for a Savior. 118 00:05:20,150 --> 00:05:23,270 We're not ashamed to preach the message to a lost and dying world. 119 00:05:23,270 --> 00:05:27,470 And so he says here, verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel 120 00:05:27,470 --> 00:05:28,070 of Christ. 121 00:05:28,310 --> 00:05:30,710 I hope that's our testimony here this morning. 122 00:05:31,270 --> 00:05:34,710 And sometimes we'll say that we're not ashamed, but the way that 123 00:05:34,710 --> 00:05:37,030 we live our life says a different message. 124 00:05:37,430 --> 00:05:39,910 Sometimes we'll say, you know, I'm not ashamed to tell people about 125 00:05:39,910 --> 00:05:40,390 Jesus. 126 00:05:40,710 --> 00:05:44,470 But if we look at our lives, our lives indicate that we are ashamed. 127 00:05:44,470 --> 00:05:44,790 Why? 128 00:05:45,300 --> 00:05:48,940 Because sometimes what we say doesn't always match up with what 129 00:05:48,940 --> 00:05:49,380 we do. 130 00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:52,220 And to be ashamed means that we're going to be quiet. 131 00:05:52,220 --> 00:05:56,340 To be ashamed means that we're gonna be fearful of sharing that 132 00:05:56,340 --> 00:05:58,900 message to those that we come across in our life. 133 00:05:59,220 --> 00:06:00,140 Maybe it's just this. 134 00:06:00,140 --> 00:06:02,700 Maybe someone has come up and said, why are you different? 135 00:06:02,700 --> 00:06:05,780 The Bible says in First Peter, Chapter 3 that people will notice 136 00:06:05,780 --> 00:06:06,900 the hope that's within us. 137 00:06:06,900 --> 00:06:08,900 And so maybe someone says, why are you different? 138 00:06:09,060 --> 00:06:10,980 Why don't you join in with the things that we do at work? 139 00:06:10,980 --> 00:06:13,270 Or why don't you talk the way that we talk? 140 00:06:13,350 --> 00:06:15,590 And a lot of times as Christians, we get fearful. 141 00:06:15,590 --> 00:06:17,870 We say, well, I want to stay away from that stuff. 142 00:06:17,870 --> 00:06:18,950 That's not a good thing to do. 143 00:06:19,350 --> 00:06:20,750 What we should be saying is, you know what? 144 00:06:20,750 --> 00:06:22,030 I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. 145 00:06:22,030 --> 00:06:22,950 He has made me different. 146 00:06:22,950 --> 00:06:24,390 He has changed me. 147 00:06:24,470 --> 00:06:28,270 And that same change that I've seen in my life can be seen in your 148 00:06:28,270 --> 00:06:30,150 life if you trust in him as your Savior. 149 00:06:30,230 --> 00:06:32,790 And sometimes we're like, well, that's kind of pushy, right? 150 00:06:33,750 --> 00:06:35,350 Isn't that called proselytizing? 151 00:06:35,510 --> 00:06:37,560 Isn't that a little bit too strong, folks? 152 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,760 Telling people about what Jesus Christ did for you is not too 153 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:41,080 strong. 154 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,840 It's actually the call of the Christian's life is to tell people 155 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:46,520 about what Jesus has done for you. 156 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,000 The Bible says in First Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 15, to be ready 157 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,280 to give an answer for the hope that's within you. 158 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,200 And so the whole idea for a believer is to live differently and 159 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:57,760 proclaim what Jesus Christ has done. 160 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,400 But if we're ashamed, we'll have another reason to be different. 161 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,550 We sometimes will hold back what God is speaking to us to tell 162 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:06,030 other people. 163 00:07:06,030 --> 00:07:08,790 So, for example, maybe there's an opportunity, a door opens and 164 00:07:08,790 --> 00:07:10,350 someone says, you know what? 165 00:07:10,590 --> 00:07:11,790 I'm looking for a church. 166 00:07:12,270 --> 00:07:15,070 Some of us would take that opportunity to invite them to church. 167 00:07:15,070 --> 00:07:17,030 Or some of us would be like, well, I don't know if I want that 168 00:07:17,030 --> 00:07:18,190 person to come to my church. 169 00:07:18,670 --> 00:07:21,830 You know what the truth is, is that we have to look for opportunities. 170 00:07:21,830 --> 00:07:26,110 Paul says in the New Testament to walk circumspectly, looking for 171 00:07:26,110 --> 00:07:26,830 open doors. 172 00:07:26,990 --> 00:07:31,090 He prayed for what's called a door of utterance, praying for opportunities 173 00:07:31,090 --> 00:07:34,090 to proclaim the gospel to everyone around us. 174 00:07:34,090 --> 00:07:36,130 And so we see point number one here. 175 00:07:36,130 --> 00:07:39,170 Paul has boldness in the proclamation of the gospel. 176 00:07:39,170 --> 00:07:41,050 We're called to have boldness as well. 177 00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:42,250 Confidence. 178 00:07:42,730 --> 00:07:45,130 The believer shouldn't be ashamed of the gospel. 179 00:07:45,130 --> 00:07:45,370 Why? 180 00:07:45,370 --> 00:07:50,250 Well, even Jesus teaches in Mark, chapter 8, verse 38, that what 181 00:07:50,250 --> 00:07:53,770 we believe about God should dictate how we live publicly. 182 00:07:53,930 --> 00:07:54,530 Publicly. 183 00:07:54,530 --> 00:07:57,080 A lot of times people will say, well, the Christian faith is 184 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:57,920 a private thing. 185 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,120 This is my thing that I have that no one else needs to know about. 186 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,520 It's the complete opposite in Scripture. 187 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,880 The Bible says that we are to publicly display our testimony to 188 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:08,560 those around us. 189 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,720 We're publicly to display our Savior to those around us. 190 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,200 And so Mark 8, 38, this is Jesus speaking. 191 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,640 If you have a red letter Bible, there's gonna be red letters 192 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:17,840 there. 193 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,040 Jesus is teaching here. 194 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,880 And he says, whosoever therefore, shall be ashamed of me 195 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,270 and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation. 196 00:08:27,270 --> 00:08:30,430 By the way, we live in an adulterous and sinful generation, 197 00:08:30,670 --> 00:08:31,070 okay? 198 00:08:31,070 --> 00:08:34,150 If you look at it from the perspective of scripture, we live 199 00:08:34,150 --> 00:08:35,350 in a world that is dark. 200 00:08:35,350 --> 00:08:37,310 We live in a world that is in rebellion. 201 00:08:37,310 --> 00:08:38,830 And so what Jesus says is this. 202 00:08:38,830 --> 00:08:42,590 If you're going to be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous 203 00:08:42,590 --> 00:08:46,670 and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed 204 00:08:47,070 --> 00:08:50,390 when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 205 00:08:50,390 --> 00:08:51,630 And so what is Jesus saying here? 206 00:08:51,630 --> 00:08:53,720 He says, don't be ashamed of who I am. 207 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:55,320 Don't be ashamed of my words. 208 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,320 Don't be ashamed of the word of God. 209 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,040 And so sometimes in our life we might have an opportunity to proclaim 210 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:02,280 what the Bible actually says. 211 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,600 But we're fearful that people are going to say, well, that's a 212 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,239 little bit narrow minded, that's not open minded to love. 213 00:09:09,239 --> 00:09:11,840 And the Bible does say that we are to love, but the Bible says that 214 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:13,480 we are to love with truth. 215 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,440 And so to proclaim love to a world that we should be proclaiming 216 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,560 love to should also mean proclaiming the truth. 217 00:09:19,970 --> 00:09:21,650 And Paul says, have boldness in that. 218 00:09:22,370 --> 00:09:25,410 And so the confidence, the boldness doesn't come from our own 219 00:09:25,410 --> 00:09:25,850 skills. 220 00:09:25,850 --> 00:09:29,130 It doesn't come from understanding everything in the Bible 221 00:09:29,130 --> 00:09:29,730 completely. 222 00:09:29,810 --> 00:09:33,370 The confidence comes from trusting in the person and work of 223 00:09:33,370 --> 00:09:34,010 Jesus Christ. 224 00:09:34,010 --> 00:09:37,370 Let's go back to verse number 16 here he says, for I am not ashamed 225 00:09:37,370 --> 00:09:38,450 of the gospel of Christ. 226 00:09:38,690 --> 00:09:39,090 Why? 227 00:09:39,330 --> 00:09:42,930 For it is the power of God unto salvation. 228 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:43,850 It's the power of God. 229 00:09:43,850 --> 00:09:45,290 We're trusting in the power of God. 230 00:09:45,290 --> 00:09:46,920 That's why we, we can be confident. 231 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:51,280 That's why we can go and do these things boldly and confidently 232 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,200 because of who Jesus Christ is, the power of God working through 233 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:55,400 us. 234 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,000 And so that's where the boldness comes from. 235 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,960 There's times in my life where I've had the opportunity to benefit 236 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,480 from being around other people that are maybe really experienced 237 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:05,040 in an area. 238 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,600 For example, you know, like if I'm going. 239 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,440 The very first time I went out witnessing okay. 240 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:14,280 To door to door visitation back in Florida, I went with another 241 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,300 pastor and I was super confident. 242 00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:18,340 I'm like, I'm with a guy who knows what he's doing. 243 00:10:18,900 --> 00:10:20,740 You know, he's got all the answers. 244 00:10:20,740 --> 00:10:22,580 And so I would walk around all confident. 245 00:10:22,580 --> 00:10:24,140 My only job was to pray for him. 246 00:10:24,140 --> 00:10:24,460 Okay. 247 00:10:24,460 --> 00:10:26,420 He's like, just pray for me, just pray for me. 248 00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:28,340 So I was praying and I felt really confident. 249 00:10:28,340 --> 00:10:30,980 I'm like, hey, I'll even knock at the door, you know. 250 00:10:31,139 --> 00:10:34,820 And then he says, okay, it's your turn now, you do the talking. 251 00:10:35,300 --> 00:10:36,660 And that was a totally different thing. 252 00:10:36,660 --> 00:10:37,700 I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait. 253 00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:39,860 You were the one that was supposed to do the talking, right? 254 00:10:39,940 --> 00:10:40,300 Right. 255 00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:42,500 So my boldness, my confidence came through. 256 00:10:42,500 --> 00:10:46,700 So somebody else's power, someone else's wisdom, and so I benefited 257 00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:47,180 from that. 258 00:10:47,340 --> 00:10:49,940 But the moment that I started trying to rely on my own strength 259 00:10:49,940 --> 00:10:51,540 in that, I got a little bit nervous. 260 00:10:51,540 --> 00:10:52,700 I lost my confidence. 261 00:10:53,420 --> 00:10:55,940 And so when we're Christians, sometimes the reason why we lose 262 00:10:55,940 --> 00:10:59,140 our confidence, the reason why we walk in fear, the reason why we 263 00:10:59,140 --> 00:11:01,980 are Sometimes ashamed of the gospel is because we're walking in 264 00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:02,660 our own strength. 265 00:11:02,660 --> 00:11:04,020 We're walking in our flesh. 266 00:11:04,020 --> 00:11:06,300 We're walking in our own wisdom. 267 00:11:06,460 --> 00:11:10,080 And we know that all of that eventually is going to fall and fail. 268 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,600 But what we see here in this case is that the power of God is 269 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:13,160 working through us. 270 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,800 So therefore, we're not speaking in our own wisdom. 271 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,200 We're speaking in the wisdom of God. 272 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,880 We're not speaking in our own power, but we're speaking in the 273 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:20,360 power of God. 274 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,520 And so the boldness comes through trusting in Jesus, in the 275 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:25,920 person and work of Jesus Christ. 276 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,120 And so we have boldness in our message. 277 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:30,960 But there's power in the message. 278 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,640 There's power in the message of the gospel. 279 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:34,760 We see it there in verse 16. 280 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,260 He says, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is 281 00:11:38,260 --> 00:11:40,460 the power of God unto salvation. 282 00:11:41,100 --> 00:11:45,740 And so the power of the gospel is why we can live in confidence. 283 00:11:46,380 --> 00:11:48,380 The message in and of itself is powerful. 284 00:11:48,380 --> 00:11:48,620 Why? 285 00:11:48,620 --> 00:11:50,220 Because it's the message of Jesus Christ. 286 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:52,580 And I wrote this down in our notes here. 287 00:11:52,580 --> 00:11:55,900 It says, in a world obsessed with power, by the way, we live in 288 00:11:55,900 --> 00:11:58,300 a world that's obsessed with power, but a different type of power. 289 00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:00,740 It's the power of man. 290 00:12:00,740 --> 00:12:02,060 It's the power of control. 291 00:12:03,220 --> 00:12:07,300 And so we live in a society that is all about power. 292 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:11,980 The best thing a person can do in this society is to trust in the 293 00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:13,780 one who is all powerful. 294 00:12:14,420 --> 00:12:15,940 And that's our Lord and Savior. 295 00:12:16,100 --> 00:12:17,900 And we know that he is all powerful. 296 00:12:17,900 --> 00:12:20,020 And so instead of trying to trust in the power of some other 297 00:12:20,020 --> 00:12:22,940 man, trying to trust in the power of myself, maybe trying to 298 00:12:22,940 --> 00:12:26,580 trust in the power of a country or the power of the almighty 299 00:12:26,580 --> 00:12:27,420 US dollar. 300 00:12:27,420 --> 00:12:28,220 What do we do? 301 00:12:28,220 --> 00:12:32,630 We proclaim the power of the one who is all powerful. 302 00:12:32,630 --> 00:12:34,390 And that is the power of God in our life. 303 00:12:34,390 --> 00:12:37,510 And so the gospel has the power to overcome anything. 304 00:12:38,550 --> 00:12:39,190 You know what? 305 00:12:39,270 --> 00:12:43,270 All of us at some point in our life have walked in a path of unrighteousness. 306 00:12:43,270 --> 00:12:44,950 We've walked in a path of sin. 307 00:12:45,430 --> 00:12:49,350 And when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, that power of the gospel, 308 00:12:49,350 --> 00:12:53,510 that power of God is power enough to change us from a life of 309 00:12:53,510 --> 00:12:55,210 sin to a life of righteousness. 310 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,280 And so think of anything in your life that you struggle with. 311 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,320 Think of anything in your life that you seem that seems to you as 312 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,600 a hindrance or destructive. 313 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,960 The Bible says that the power of God can overcome any of that. 314 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,080 The power of God can overcome your fear. 315 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,320 The power of God can overcome your doubt. 316 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:14,400 The power of God can overcome your weakness. 317 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,320 The power of God can overcome anything. 318 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,160 And so what we do here as Christians is that we can tell people 319 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:19,840 a lot of things. 320 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:20,520 Hey, you know what? 321 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:21,280 We have a good church. 322 00:13:22,170 --> 00:13:22,610 You know what? 323 00:13:22,610 --> 00:13:23,850 We have good ministries. 324 00:13:24,970 --> 00:13:26,250 We have a friendly church. 325 00:13:26,730 --> 00:13:27,970 We have a lot of good food. 326 00:13:27,970 --> 00:13:30,410 We have a lot of good activities. 327 00:13:30,570 --> 00:13:33,770 These are all good things, but they're not the ultimate thing. 328 00:13:34,410 --> 00:13:38,210 What we need to be proclaiming is not the gospel of Middletown Baptist 329 00:13:38,210 --> 00:13:38,530 Church. 330 00:13:38,530 --> 00:13:41,050 We need to be proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. 331 00:13:41,690 --> 00:13:43,610 And we are just messengers of that. 332 00:13:43,610 --> 00:13:47,010 Middletown Baptist Church is just a beacon for light so that people 333 00:13:47,010 --> 00:13:49,790 can come in and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. 334 00:13:50,030 --> 00:13:51,950 And so it's the gospel that can change our lives. 335 00:13:51,950 --> 00:13:53,070 I can't change your life. 336 00:13:53,390 --> 00:13:55,070 Counseling cannot change your life. 337 00:13:55,630 --> 00:13:57,710 A devotional book cannot change your life. 338 00:13:58,750 --> 00:14:01,590 All these things that people try to fill in the gaps and say, 339 00:14:01,590 --> 00:14:04,750 well, maybe just me removing myself from these type of people 340 00:14:04,750 --> 00:14:06,030 will help me change my life. 341 00:14:06,190 --> 00:14:07,590 That's not going to change your life. 342 00:14:07,590 --> 00:14:11,590 Ultimately, what ultimately changes our life is the gospel of 343 00:14:11,590 --> 00:14:14,870 Jesus Christ, the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done for 344 00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:15,150 us. 345 00:14:15,460 --> 00:14:17,060 All those other things come along with that. 346 00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:19,620 Should I separate myself from my sinful friends? 347 00:14:19,780 --> 00:14:20,260 Yes. 348 00:14:20,420 --> 00:14:22,620 Should I read devotional books and study the Word? 349 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:22,980 Yes. 350 00:14:23,140 --> 00:14:24,820 Should I get involved in church ministries? 351 00:14:24,820 --> 00:14:25,220 Yes. 352 00:14:25,300 --> 00:14:28,540 But all of that is empty outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 353 00:14:28,540 --> 00:14:29,220 That's the start. 354 00:14:29,380 --> 00:14:30,180 That's the heart. 355 00:14:30,260 --> 00:14:30,980 That's everything. 356 00:14:31,060 --> 00:14:33,500 Everything that we do wraps around the gospel of Jesus Christ. 357 00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:35,940 So Paul says, don't be ashamed of the gospel. 358 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:37,460 Don't hold back. 359 00:14:38,020 --> 00:14:41,630 Well, you know, I don't want to scare someone away, folks. 360 00:14:42,270 --> 00:14:47,110 If the gospel is scaring somebody away, that's their problem. 361 00:14:47,110 --> 00:14:47,950 That's not our problem. 362 00:14:48,110 --> 00:14:48,390 Right? 363 00:14:48,390 --> 00:14:49,710 Because the idea would be this. 364 00:14:49,870 --> 00:14:52,830 If we have someone come into our church and we have one opportunity 365 00:14:52,830 --> 00:14:55,910 to talk to them, one opportunity to talk to them, what 366 00:14:55,910 --> 00:14:56,830 do I want to say? 367 00:14:58,030 --> 00:14:59,990 Well, come on out to the potluck. 368 00:14:59,990 --> 00:15:01,470 We got some really good casseroles. 369 00:15:01,870 --> 00:15:02,830 Okay, well, that's. 370 00:15:02,830 --> 00:15:05,390 I mean, again, some of you might say, is Pastor Josh against 371 00:15:05,390 --> 00:15:05,950 potlucks? 372 00:15:05,950 --> 00:15:06,470 No, I love them. 373 00:15:06,470 --> 00:15:06,750 Okay. 374 00:15:06,750 --> 00:15:07,310 I love food. 375 00:15:07,940 --> 00:15:12,420 But what if we had one opportunity to talk to someone? 376 00:15:12,980 --> 00:15:14,100 What would we tell them? 377 00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:15,460 What would we tell them? 378 00:15:16,260 --> 00:15:17,860 Well, I would tell them John 3:16. 379 00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:21,740 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. 380 00:15:21,740 --> 00:15:22,020 Right? 381 00:15:22,100 --> 00:15:23,460 Tell them the gospel message. 382 00:15:23,460 --> 00:15:25,540 Because it's the gospel that can change someone's heart. 383 00:15:26,340 --> 00:15:29,540 Well, you know, I come into the church and, hey, what does it 384 00:15:29,540 --> 00:15:31,100 mean to be a member of Middletown Baptist Church? 385 00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,590 Well, it means that you got to start doing this and, and doing this 386 00:15:33,590 --> 00:15:36,630 and doing this, and then you can be a good member of Middletown 387 00:15:36,630 --> 00:15:37,230 Baptist Church. 388 00:15:37,230 --> 00:15:39,950 No, the starting place to be a member of Middletown Baptist Church 389 00:15:39,950 --> 00:15:41,310 is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 390 00:15:41,390 --> 00:15:43,870 You must know who he is and what he has done. 391 00:15:43,870 --> 00:15:45,470 And so the Bible says, don't be ashamed. 392 00:15:45,470 --> 00:15:46,750 So as a church, what does that mean? 393 00:15:46,910 --> 00:15:50,990 That means every ministry, every aspect of what we're doing, 394 00:15:50,990 --> 00:15:53,150 we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 395 00:15:53,550 --> 00:15:55,550 We have this GO initiative, right? 396 00:15:55,870 --> 00:15:57,190 We want to go into the world. 397 00:15:57,190 --> 00:15:58,470 We want to go into Middletown. 398 00:15:58,470 --> 00:16:00,910 We want to go into New Jersey, we want to go into Maryland. 399 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:02,040 It's not to go. 400 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,760 To say that, hey, we're here to help you and build these buildings. 401 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,480 It's not about going there and passing out flyers. 402 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,600 It's all about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 403 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,400 Those are all just elements of bringing people to the truth of who 404 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,040 Jesus is. 405 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:18,120 And so Paul says here, hey, look, the gospel has the power to 406 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:19,080 overcome sin. 407 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,560 Ultimately, the powerful nature of God is best witnessed through 408 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:24,360 salvation. 409 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:25,960 What do I mean by that? 410 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,680 Everyone's looking for signs and wonders and miracles. 411 00:16:29,370 --> 00:16:33,490 The greatest miracle of the power of God is the salvation message. 412 00:16:33,490 --> 00:16:36,010 And that is the fact that someone can be taken from a life 413 00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:41,690 of sin and bondage and torture and taken to a place of freedom and 414 00:16:41,690 --> 00:16:43,450 forgiveness and eternal life. 415 00:16:43,450 --> 00:16:44,809 That is the miracle of God. 416 00:16:44,809 --> 00:16:46,770 Sometimes we think of a miracle would be someone who can't 417 00:16:46,770 --> 00:16:47,690 walk and walk again. 418 00:16:47,770 --> 00:16:49,290 And that is a wonderful miracle. 419 00:16:50,010 --> 00:16:51,370 Sometimes people say, you know what? 420 00:16:52,490 --> 00:16:53,410 We want to see it. 421 00:16:53,410 --> 00:16:55,690 We want to see the transformation happen before us, 422 00:16:55,770 --> 00:16:58,410 folks, you want to see a transformation happen before you 423 00:16:58,690 --> 00:17:01,530 see someone who came from a life of sin and bondage and moved 424 00:17:01,530 --> 00:17:02,770 to a life of salvation. 425 00:17:02,770 --> 00:17:05,650 That is the transformation that we should be celebrating within 426 00:17:05,650 --> 00:17:06,210 the church. 427 00:17:06,210 --> 00:17:08,170 And so what I would say here this morning is this. 428 00:17:08,170 --> 00:17:09,570 You want to see the power of God? 429 00:17:09,570 --> 00:17:10,690 You want to see miracles? 430 00:17:10,930 --> 00:17:14,250 Proclaim the gospel message, because that is the miracle worker 431 00:17:14,250 --> 00:17:16,290 right there, the gospel message of Jesus Christ. 432 00:17:16,290 --> 00:17:20,250 That is where we see the power of God fully on display, is when 433 00:17:20,250 --> 00:17:24,170 someone comes and we see a life change in the gospel in repentance 434 00:17:24,170 --> 00:17:24,690 and faith. 435 00:17:25,260 --> 00:17:28,620 And so ultimately, the powerful nature of God is best witnessed 436 00:17:28,620 --> 00:17:29,340 through salvation. 437 00:17:29,580 --> 00:17:32,140 And so what we can see at the end of verse 16 is this. 438 00:17:32,140 --> 00:17:34,380 He says, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. 439 00:17:35,180 --> 00:17:35,540 Why? 440 00:17:35,540 --> 00:17:37,860 Because it's the power of God unto salvation. 441 00:17:37,860 --> 00:17:40,540 So he says, I'm not ashamed of this awesome thing. 442 00:17:40,780 --> 00:17:41,139 Why? 443 00:17:41,139 --> 00:17:42,620 Because it's about salvation. 444 00:17:42,940 --> 00:17:45,500 And then he goes on to say something very interesting here, 445 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,740 which would have been contradictory to many people back 446 00:17:47,740 --> 00:17:50,740 then and in some degrees contradictory to the way that we 447 00:17:50,740 --> 00:17:52,060 do things in our world today. 448 00:17:52,420 --> 00:17:55,620 It says to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 449 00:17:56,340 --> 00:17:59,300 You might not get the context of what he's explaining here, but 450 00:17:59,300 --> 00:17:59,900 what is he saying? 451 00:17:59,900 --> 00:18:01,980 He's saying the gospel is for everyone. 452 00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:04,740 It doesn't matter what culture you're from, it doesn't matter what 453 00:18:04,740 --> 00:18:05,620 background you're in. 454 00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:07,540 He says, yes, it does go to the Jew first. 455 00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:07,900 Right. 456 00:18:07,900 --> 00:18:10,140 That was just the reason being is because the church started in 457 00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:12,020 Jerusalem, there was mostly Jews there. 458 00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:13,700 But then he says it went to the Greek. 459 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:16,260 Now, that doesn't just mean people that lived in Greece. 460 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:19,540 That's specifically talking about people who live the Greek lifestyle. 461 00:18:19,540 --> 00:18:19,860 The. 462 00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:23,100 The person who we would consider to be a worldly person to 463 00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:26,740 adopt the Greek culture, as you well know, maybe you don't. 464 00:18:26,740 --> 00:18:29,460 But in history, there was a guy named Alexander the Great, and 465 00:18:29,460 --> 00:18:32,420 when he went on his conquering spree and basically conquered the 466 00:18:32,420 --> 00:18:35,660 known world, he passed along that Greek way of thinking to a bunch 467 00:18:35,660 --> 00:18:36,379 of different people. 468 00:18:36,780 --> 00:18:38,780 So that was considered worldly culture. 469 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:40,340 And so what is he saying here? 470 00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:43,020 He says the gospel is for those who are religious in the Jewish 471 00:18:43,180 --> 00:18:46,700 sector there and in tradition, but also the gospel is for those 472 00:18:46,700 --> 00:18:47,900 people who are living in the world. 473 00:18:47,900 --> 00:18:48,220 Right. 474 00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:50,220 We have to proclaim the gospel to everyone. 475 00:18:50,300 --> 00:18:53,500 And so the gospel message is not just for people who we're comfortable 476 00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:53,820 with. 477 00:18:54,300 --> 00:18:56,820 We're supposed to live boldly to those around us that might be 478 00:18:56,820 --> 00:18:57,580 different than us. 479 00:18:57,580 --> 00:18:59,700 And that's what we see here in this context. 480 00:18:59,700 --> 00:19:01,220 He says it's to the Jew first. 481 00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:01,500 Yes. 482 00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:04,699 And so it's the people that we know, but also to the Greek, to those 483 00:19:04,860 --> 00:19:07,100 on the farther ends of culture. 484 00:19:07,580 --> 00:19:10,980 And so there's power, and the power is there to change people, 485 00:19:10,980 --> 00:19:13,940 and the power is there to change people that we would say they're 486 00:19:13,940 --> 00:19:16,520 unchangeable, they're beyond the gospel. 487 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:17,200 You know what? 488 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:18,520 I can never see them come to Christ. 489 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,880 Maybe there are some people in this room that people said that about 490 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:22,120 you. 491 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,760 Maybe someone in this room was that type of person that was running 492 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:27,200 their own path, going the wrong way. 493 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:28,080 And then someone said, you know what? 494 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:29,080 There's no hope for that person. 495 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:31,720 Truth is that there still is hope for those people. 496 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,320 There's hope for your family members, there's hope for your co 497 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:34,600 workers. 498 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,960 There's hope for anyone who comes to Jesus Christ in faith. 499 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,570 And so the gospel message is There for the Jew first, and also 500 00:19:41,570 --> 00:19:42,290 to the Greek. 501 00:19:42,690 --> 00:19:44,690 And so we have boldness, we have power. 502 00:19:44,930 --> 00:19:48,450 But then we see, in verse number 17, we see the righteousness. 503 00:19:48,610 --> 00:19:49,490 The righteousness? 504 00:19:49,490 --> 00:19:50,530 Whose righteousness? 505 00:19:50,530 --> 00:19:53,330 Well, ultimately God's righteousness. 506 00:19:53,330 --> 00:19:55,490 But we get to be the beneficiaries of that. 507 00:19:55,810 --> 00:19:59,250 We get to be those who are walking in righteousness. 508 00:19:59,410 --> 00:20:00,730 He says, for therein. 509 00:20:00,730 --> 00:20:01,290 Therein. 510 00:20:01,290 --> 00:20:02,610 What is he talking about therein? 511 00:20:02,690 --> 00:20:07,250 Salvation is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. 512 00:20:07,930 --> 00:20:10,010 As it is written, the just shall live by faith. 513 00:20:10,010 --> 00:20:14,250 And so the gospel points the believer to the righteousness of 514 00:20:14,250 --> 00:20:14,650 God. 515 00:20:15,530 --> 00:20:19,770 Everybody has to come to a place in their life where they come 516 00:20:19,770 --> 00:20:22,010 and understand the righteousness of God, the perfect 517 00:20:22,010 --> 00:20:23,290 nature of who God is. 518 00:20:24,010 --> 00:20:27,170 And then we also have to realize how limited we are, that 519 00:20:27,170 --> 00:20:28,730 we are in need of a Savior. 520 00:20:28,970 --> 00:20:31,770 And therefore, when we see the righteousness of God, we're able 521 00:20:31,770 --> 00:20:33,310 to experience what it means to. 522 00:20:33,460 --> 00:20:34,820 To know him in a personal way. 523 00:20:35,220 --> 00:20:38,940 So in faith, when we trust in him, we are trusting in the righteousness 524 00:20:38,940 --> 00:20:42,220 of God, we are trusting in the forgiveness of God, we are trusting 525 00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:43,580 in the sacrifice of God. 526 00:20:43,580 --> 00:20:46,580 And it says here, in faith, the righteousness of God is extended 527 00:20:46,580 --> 00:20:47,860 to the believer, meaning this. 528 00:20:48,020 --> 00:20:51,740 We as Christians are able to be beneficiaries of the righteousness 529 00:20:51,740 --> 00:20:52,260 of God. 530 00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:56,100 So then we can be called righteous so that we can be declared 531 00:20:56,100 --> 00:20:58,980 not guilty, as Suzette's saying here this morning. 532 00:20:59,740 --> 00:21:00,740 And there's a term for that. 533 00:21:00,740 --> 00:21:03,620 There's a theological term that we use, and you don't have to 534 00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:05,580 remember the term, but it is nice to know. 535 00:21:05,740 --> 00:21:07,660 And that is the term justification. 536 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:09,220 Justification. 537 00:21:09,220 --> 00:21:11,820 Justification is not me trying to justify my own life. 538 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:13,660 That's how we use it in our culture today. 539 00:21:14,060 --> 00:21:16,580 Well, I had justification to do that to that person because they 540 00:21:16,580 --> 00:21:17,180 wronged me. 541 00:21:17,180 --> 00:21:18,620 That's not what we're talking about here. 542 00:21:18,620 --> 00:21:23,100 In the biblical sense, justification is God declaring us 543 00:21:23,180 --> 00:21:23,740 righteous. 544 00:21:24,300 --> 00:21:27,500 It's God's declaration of righteousness to those who believe 545 00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:27,980 in him. 546 00:21:28,300 --> 00:21:30,220 That's God declaring us righteous. 547 00:21:30,700 --> 00:21:32,620 Think about how crazy that is. 548 00:21:32,940 --> 00:21:38,140 That the perfect God, the creator of the universe, the only 549 00:21:38,220 --> 00:21:42,620 righteous God, he then looks upon us who are sinners, but in faith 550 00:21:42,780 --> 00:21:46,100 sees his son and sees the sacrifice and understands that we 551 00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:46,900 are forgiven in him. 552 00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:49,260 And therefore we can be called righteous as well. 553 00:21:49,660 --> 00:21:51,660 We can be declared not guilty. 554 00:21:52,060 --> 00:21:54,550 Folks, what I deserve is in my sin. 555 00:21:54,630 --> 00:21:58,510 And if you are like me in my sin, I deserve punishment. 556 00:21:58,510 --> 00:22:01,470 But the Bible says that the gift of grace is the fact that God 557 00:22:01,470 --> 00:22:03,950 can extend to us that righteousness and forgiveness. 558 00:22:03,950 --> 00:22:05,430 And therefore we can know Him. 559 00:22:05,430 --> 00:22:07,030 And that's what we're proclaiming to people. 560 00:22:07,670 --> 00:22:09,750 We're not proclaiming to people, clean your life up. 561 00:22:11,430 --> 00:22:14,470 The cleaning comes up after salvation, right? 562 00:22:14,550 --> 00:22:17,110 We're not proclaiming to them that, hey, you know what, you gotta 563 00:22:17,110 --> 00:22:17,590 work your way. 564 00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:19,510 The works come after salvation. 565 00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:21,140 So what do we proclaim to them? 566 00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:22,940 We proclaim the righteousness of God. 567 00:22:22,940 --> 00:22:25,340 We proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ. 568 00:22:26,140 --> 00:22:27,060 Justification. 569 00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:30,740 Justification is this fact that God declares us righteous even 570 00:22:30,740 --> 00:22:32,300 though we deserve punishment. 571 00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:35,020 And so I think that's so important to understand when we're 572 00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:36,139 sharing our faith with people. 573 00:22:36,940 --> 00:22:39,180 It's being clear and simple about what we're doing. 574 00:22:40,060 --> 00:22:43,140 A lot of times we try to add things to the Gospel message, and 575 00:22:43,140 --> 00:22:43,580 we should. 576 00:22:43,740 --> 00:22:47,620 The Bible does speak later on in the sanctification process, in 577 00:22:47,620 --> 00:22:48,700 the spiritual growth process. 578 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,600 We are to add things to our faith, right? 579 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:53,920 We are to add spiritual maturity. 580 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,520 But in the process of understanding who God is and what 581 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,760 he has done for us, we need to preach Jesus and Jesus alone. 582 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:00,760 John 14:6. 583 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,480 You'll hear me quote this almost every week, and that is that 584 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,480 Jesus is the way, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 585 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,240 And so what we can see here in this case in verse number 17 is he's 586 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,480 proclaiming the righteousness of God revealed to us through faith. 587 00:23:15,110 --> 00:23:17,670 And so a believer is saved by faith. 588 00:23:18,390 --> 00:23:21,630 And as we see here, lives by faith. 589 00:23:21,630 --> 00:23:23,670 Look at the end of verse 17 with me here. 590 00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:28,470 Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2, 4. 591 00:23:28,870 --> 00:23:31,190 Now, some of you that come to our Wednesday night Bible studies 592 00:23:31,190 --> 00:23:33,590 here know that that's the exact passage of scripture that we 593 00:23:33,590 --> 00:23:34,710 were in this past week. 594 00:23:34,710 --> 00:23:37,670 It's an amazing thing to see how God ordains all this coming together. 595 00:23:37,990 --> 00:23:41,170 But in the book of Habakkuk, we see God speaking through help. 596 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:41,760 Habakkuk. 597 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,280 And he says, the just shall live by faith. 598 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,920 The justified should live by faith. 599 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:47,560 Meaning this. 600 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,160 You cannot justify yourselves. 601 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,200 The only way that you can come to an understanding of who God is 602 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:54,760 and salvation in him is through faith. 603 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,800 And so those that are justified not only are saved by faith, 604 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,000 but live by faith. 605 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:00,680 What does that mean? 606 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:01,640 That means this. 607 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,640 My salvation is based in my faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, 608 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,850 but supposed to live daily in that faith. 609 00:24:10,090 --> 00:24:13,130 I'm supposed to live daily in trusting God in the little things 610 00:24:13,130 --> 00:24:15,770 and the big things and the hard things and the confusing things. 611 00:24:15,930 --> 00:24:19,090 Folks, we are called as Christians to live in every aspect 612 00:24:19,090 --> 00:24:21,850 of our life through faith, through faith. 613 00:24:21,850 --> 00:24:24,850 And so the Bible clearly teaches, in this case that the Christian 614 00:24:24,850 --> 00:24:27,290 is called not just to get a ticket to heaven and say, well, I'm 615 00:24:27,290 --> 00:24:28,050 going to heaven now. 616 00:24:28,050 --> 00:24:29,730 I'm just going to live my life the way I want to live it? 617 00:24:29,730 --> 00:24:30,050 No. 618 00:24:30,050 --> 00:24:33,650 The Bible says here that a believer is saved by faith and will 619 00:24:33,650 --> 00:24:34,650 live by faith. 620 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,120 Every aspect of our life should be based in trusting in God. 621 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,360 Specifically speaking in this case and in this context, proclaiming 622 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:43,080 the gospel message to those around us. 623 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,160 Do we believe that the power of the gospel is still here today 624 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:47,640 for us? 625 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:52,360 Do we believe that it is worth it to share our faith with those 626 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:53,080 around us? 627 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,200 Do we believe that God will protect us? 628 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,080 Do we believe that God will go before us? 629 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,040 Do we believe that God will preserve us? 630 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,880 Do we believe that God will give us the wisdom and the power 631 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:02,200 to. 632 00:25:02,270 --> 00:25:05,990 To proclaim the truth to the people that we love, to the people 633 00:25:05,990 --> 00:25:08,430 that we don't even know, to the people that might be different 634 00:25:08,430 --> 00:25:08,910 than us? 635 00:25:09,070 --> 00:25:11,590 That's the question that we need to answer this morning is do 636 00:25:11,590 --> 00:25:14,750 we truly believe that there is power in the gospel? 637 00:25:14,830 --> 00:25:18,430 Do we truly believe that there's power in the truth of who 638 00:25:18,430 --> 00:25:21,910 Jesus Christ and who he is and what he has done for us? 639 00:25:21,910 --> 00:25:24,110 And so I think that that's something that we need to think about 640 00:25:24,110 --> 00:25:24,590 this morning. 641 00:25:25,150 --> 00:25:26,670 Are we living in boldness? 642 00:25:26,670 --> 00:25:28,110 Are we living in power? 643 00:25:28,110 --> 00:25:30,510 Are we living in the righteousness of God? 644 00:25:30,930 --> 00:25:33,570 Because I think that so many times we think about it as. 645 00:25:33,650 --> 00:25:36,290 And I'll speak for myself, I'll think about it from this case 646 00:25:36,290 --> 00:25:39,770 that if someone brings someone my way, then I'll definitely tell 647 00:25:39,770 --> 00:25:40,850 them the truth of Jesus. 648 00:25:41,010 --> 00:25:45,290 Like, if someone stops me in the supermarket and says, hey, how 649 00:25:45,290 --> 00:25:46,290 do you go to heaven? 650 00:25:46,850 --> 00:25:47,890 Okay, that could happen. 651 00:25:47,890 --> 00:25:49,730 It really could pray for those opportunities. 652 00:25:49,810 --> 00:25:52,170 But a lot of times I think, well, if someone comes my way, I'll 653 00:25:52,170 --> 00:25:53,490 present that gospel to them. 654 00:25:53,570 --> 00:25:55,170 But that's not what this is talking about. 655 00:25:55,330 --> 00:25:58,910 This is talking about boldly living a different way, boldly proclaiming 656 00:25:58,910 --> 00:26:01,390 a different way around us so that people will notice the truth 657 00:26:01,390 --> 00:26:01,910 of God. 658 00:26:01,910 --> 00:26:03,590 Paul says, I'm not ashamed. 659 00:26:03,670 --> 00:26:04,910 I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 660 00:26:04,910 --> 00:26:06,630 There's some things that we should be ashamed of. 661 00:26:07,190 --> 00:26:08,870 We should be ashamed of our sin. 662 00:26:08,870 --> 00:26:12,710 We should be ashamed of our rebellion against God. 663 00:26:12,790 --> 00:26:15,830 But there's people in our culture today who are not ashamed 664 00:26:15,830 --> 00:26:16,110 of that. 665 00:26:16,110 --> 00:26:18,630 It's actually something that they are proud of, Right? 666 00:26:18,870 --> 00:26:21,990 There's the proclamation of pride all over, okay? 667 00:26:21,990 --> 00:26:25,150 We know that people celebrate their sin and they're not ashamed 668 00:26:25,150 --> 00:26:25,550 of that. 669 00:26:25,950 --> 00:26:27,470 And do you see the irony there? 670 00:26:27,630 --> 00:26:30,510 The world lives in boldness in their sin. 671 00:26:30,510 --> 00:26:32,630 And we as Christians Live in fear. 672 00:26:32,630 --> 00:26:36,190 And being ashamed of our righteousness should be the other 673 00:26:36,190 --> 00:26:37,070 way around, right? 674 00:26:37,070 --> 00:26:41,270 The other way around should be that we boldly proclaim the truth 675 00:26:41,270 --> 00:26:42,830 of God, the righteousness of God. 676 00:26:42,830 --> 00:26:45,670 And those that are in sin should be ashamed of their sin and 677 00:26:45,670 --> 00:26:47,150 brought to the truth of Jesus Christ. 678 00:26:47,310 --> 00:26:50,430 There's power in the word of God, and that's what we see here. 679 00:26:50,870 --> 00:26:53,470 Remember back in Mark, chapter eight, Jesus says, those who are 680 00:26:53,470 --> 00:26:59,030 ashamed of me and my word, a lot of times we'll say, well, I love 681 00:26:59,030 --> 00:27:00,510 Jesus and I'll proclaim Jesus. 682 00:27:00,510 --> 00:27:02,550 But there's some things in scripture that I just don't. 683 00:27:02,630 --> 00:27:03,990 I don't want to really proclaim. 684 00:27:04,070 --> 00:27:06,590 I might somewhat believe it, but I'm not really all about that, 685 00:27:06,590 --> 00:27:07,030 folks. 686 00:27:07,110 --> 00:27:09,830 The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration 687 00:27:09,830 --> 00:27:10,390 of God. 688 00:27:10,710 --> 00:27:11,590 So what does that mean? 689 00:27:11,910 --> 00:27:15,150 That means if I love God like we talked about last week, if I love 690 00:27:15,150 --> 00:27:20,440 God, and if I am not ashamed of who he is, I am not ashamed of 691 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:21,360 what this word says. 692 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,960 I'm not ashamed of what the Bible says about certain topics that 693 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:26,480 our world is struggling with today. 694 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,240 Let me tell you, there are things that children and adults are 695 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,080 struggling with today that the Bible very clearly defines. 696 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:35,280 Okay? 697 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:35,760 Marriage. 698 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:36,480 Let's look at it. 699 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:37,280 Scripture. 700 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:38,000 We're gonna. 701 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:39,840 Folks, if you're getting a little uncomfortable with me talking 702 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,040 about this, just wait for the next few verses in the book of Romans, 703 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,410 because we're gonna talk about some things that are taboo in our 704 00:27:44,410 --> 00:27:46,290 society to talk about, okay? 705 00:27:46,370 --> 00:27:48,130 But the Bible defines what marriage is. 706 00:27:48,290 --> 00:27:49,810 Marriage is between a man and a woman. 707 00:27:49,810 --> 00:27:51,970 The Bible clearly defines that from the book of Genesis. 708 00:27:52,050 --> 00:27:53,850 There are people that shudder with that. 709 00:27:53,850 --> 00:27:55,730 Oh, can pastor really say that? 710 00:27:55,810 --> 00:27:56,170 Why? 711 00:27:56,170 --> 00:27:59,770 Because we live in a culture that proclaims evil and is ashamed 712 00:27:59,770 --> 00:28:00,210 of good. 713 00:28:00,530 --> 00:28:04,370 Proclaim what the Bible says if you're struggling with your identity. 714 00:28:05,010 --> 00:28:05,570 Okay? 715 00:28:05,570 --> 00:28:07,410 Don't go with what the world tells you to do. 716 00:28:07,410 --> 00:28:10,380 We'll just pick whatever identity you want, okay? 717 00:28:10,380 --> 00:28:11,740 Whatever orientation you want. 718 00:28:11,740 --> 00:28:12,340 Just create one. 719 00:28:12,340 --> 00:28:13,180 If you can't find one. 720 00:28:13,180 --> 00:28:16,980 Okay, folks, the Bible very clearly tells us that there is an 721 00:28:16,980 --> 00:28:21,460 identity in Christ that is the Christian's identity. 722 00:28:21,460 --> 00:28:23,900 No longer do I identify with something else. 723 00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:26,620 I identify with Christ in the Bible very. 724 00:28:26,620 --> 00:28:27,660 And here it is, folks. 725 00:28:28,220 --> 00:28:29,460 This is really the truth. 726 00:28:29,460 --> 00:28:29,900 Okay? 727 00:28:29,900 --> 00:28:30,980 This is the biblical truth. 728 00:28:30,980 --> 00:28:32,300 We talked about this last week. 729 00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:38,870 You're either a child of God or the Bible says the child of the 730 00:28:38,870 --> 00:28:39,750 prince of this world. 731 00:28:39,830 --> 00:28:41,110 Prince of the power of the air. 732 00:28:41,750 --> 00:28:44,990 So essentially, what we see is we're either serving God or we're 733 00:28:44,990 --> 00:28:45,910 serving the enemy. 734 00:28:46,870 --> 00:28:49,270 And there's a lot of people that say, well, my identity is this 735 00:28:49,270 --> 00:28:50,310 or my identity is that. 736 00:28:50,310 --> 00:28:53,270 Folks, if your identity is not in Christ, your identity is in evil. 737 00:28:53,270 --> 00:28:54,790 Your identity is in rebellion. 738 00:28:55,590 --> 00:28:57,350 And this isn't a feel good message. 739 00:28:57,350 --> 00:28:59,350 You're not going to leave today going, well, you know what, 740 00:28:59,350 --> 00:29:02,120 Pastor Josh is just such a, such an open minded person. 741 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:02,880 But that's okay. 742 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:03,480 I love that. 743 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,720 Because the gospel is narrow minded because it's through Jesus 744 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:07,000 Christ. 745 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,600 Now going back, are we hateful to those people that are different 746 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:11,040 than us? 747 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:11,400 No. 748 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:12,120 No. 749 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:13,040 What do we, what do we see? 750 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,520 He says for the, for the gospel messages for the Jew first 751 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:17,960 and also to the Greek. 752 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,600 Paul says, hey, that unsaved person doesn't need us to condemn 753 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:21,880 them. 754 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:25,280 They need us to preach the gospel to them so we can look around 755 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,760 the Middletown community and we can go, well, you know what, there's 756 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,480 a lot of people that look different than we do. 757 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:31,800 There's a lot of people that are living in sin. 758 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:33,480 So we just need to separate ourselves from them. 759 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,360 Or we can say, hey, let's preach them the gospel. 760 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,280 Let's show them the love of Christ. 761 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,360 Now I picked on the definition of marriage, but there's a lot of 762 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,800 things in this world that sometimes are what we would call 763 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,000 more palatable sins that we can even see within the church. 764 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:48,200 Right? 765 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,400 So we get hard and fast on certain sins within the church. 766 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:52,680 Right. 767 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:53,880 Bless God. 768 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,080 If anyone comes through those doors looking like that, we're going 769 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:56,760 to throw them out. 770 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,440 But there's other sins within the church that we get more comfortable 771 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,050 with because there's something that we're used to. 772 00:30:02,610 --> 00:30:03,170 Okay. 773 00:30:03,730 --> 00:30:05,370 And the truth is, is that we need to be. 774 00:30:05,370 --> 00:30:09,090 So if we're against those sins of what we would call those abominable 775 00:30:09,090 --> 00:30:12,770 sins of the world, we need to treat that sin within the church 776 00:30:12,770 --> 00:30:13,490 the same way. 777 00:30:13,890 --> 00:30:16,449 We don't need to accept it, we don't need to condone it, we don't 778 00:30:16,449 --> 00:30:17,250 need to wink at it. 779 00:30:17,250 --> 00:30:20,450 The Bible clearly says that we need to be bold in proclamation of 780 00:30:20,450 --> 00:30:23,650 the truth that's in the world and that's in the church. 781 00:30:24,850 --> 00:30:27,130 And so, so many times we as the church can kind of come together 782 00:30:27,130 --> 00:30:29,090 and commiserate about how evil the world is. 783 00:30:29,090 --> 00:30:31,370 But I think sometimes as a church we need to come together and 784 00:30:31,370 --> 00:30:34,480 say, hey, how corrupt has the church become within America, within 785 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:34,960 the world? 786 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,200 The church is not just a place where we come together and just gossip 787 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,880 about the world or talk bad about the people around us. 788 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,080 This is a place where we come together, we get strengthened in 789 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:43,840 the truth of God. 790 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,840 We leave, not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we proclaim 791 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:47,600 that to the world. 792 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:50,320 So we live by faith. 793 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,920 He says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. 794 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:55,000 From faith to faith. 795 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,010 There's a lot of commentators who kind of will have their own opinions 796 00:30:59,010 --> 00:30:59,690 on what that means. 797 00:30:59,690 --> 00:31:00,610 From faith to faith. 798 00:31:00,610 --> 00:31:05,210 I just think that means having a life characterized by faith. 799 00:31:05,770 --> 00:31:10,250 From the start of my salvation to that justification process, all 800 00:31:10,250 --> 00:31:12,650 the way through every element of my life to the very end. 801 00:31:13,050 --> 00:31:13,970 Faith to faith. 802 00:31:13,970 --> 00:31:15,610 My life is characterized by faith. 803 00:31:15,610 --> 00:31:17,250 Your life is characterized by faith. 804 00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:17,970 That's what he's saying here. 805 00:31:17,970 --> 00:31:21,610 He says that's how God's righteousness is revealed, is through 806 00:31:21,610 --> 00:31:23,050 living a life of faith. 807 00:31:23,290 --> 00:31:24,690 Living a life characterized by faith. 808 00:31:24,690 --> 00:31:29,050 You know what, we want people to talk about us in a good way, right? 809 00:31:29,130 --> 00:31:30,250 And we want to have a. 810 00:31:30,330 --> 00:31:33,050 Hopefully as a Christian, you want to have a godly testimony. 811 00:31:33,050 --> 00:31:35,090 I think one of the greatest testimonies that someone can have 812 00:31:35,090 --> 00:31:36,730 is they say, you know, that's a person of faith. 813 00:31:37,130 --> 00:31:38,450 And a lot of people will claim that. 814 00:31:38,450 --> 00:31:39,930 You'll even see that in culture today. 815 00:31:41,530 --> 00:31:44,010 You'll see that in culture when it comes to people that say, 816 00:31:44,010 --> 00:31:45,690 well, you know what, I'm a man of faith. 817 00:31:46,490 --> 00:31:47,610 Well, what does that mean? 818 00:31:48,410 --> 00:31:49,850 Means that I'm trusting in something. 819 00:31:50,550 --> 00:31:53,070 If I'm a man in faith in Jesus Christ, it means that I'm trusting 820 00:31:53,070 --> 00:31:54,710 in Jesus in every element of my life. 821 00:31:55,030 --> 00:31:57,790 And so the Bible says here is very clearly that we are to be Christians 822 00:31:57,790 --> 00:32:00,470 that are living lives characterized by faith. 823 00:32:00,870 --> 00:32:04,790 And so we come here to the conclusion, we come here to the final 824 00:32:04,790 --> 00:32:05,630 thoughts that we have. 825 00:32:05,630 --> 00:32:09,950 And he says, those that are just, those that are justified, those 826 00:32:09,950 --> 00:32:14,390 that are declared righteous by God, are those who are living by 827 00:32:14,470 --> 00:32:14,950 faith. 828 00:32:14,950 --> 00:32:19,460 And so what we could basically come to in the thesis of Paul's thought 829 00:32:19,460 --> 00:32:20,180 here is this. 830 00:32:20,420 --> 00:32:24,420 If we are living by faith, we will not be ashamed of the gospel 831 00:32:24,420 --> 00:32:25,140 of Jesus Christ. 832 00:32:25,940 --> 00:32:29,740 If we live by faith, we're relying on the power of God in the 833 00:32:29,740 --> 00:32:33,860 gospel message to reach people, to change people, to change 834 00:32:34,020 --> 00:32:34,820 our own lives. 835 00:32:35,460 --> 00:32:37,820 And so what we see here in conclusion is this. 836 00:32:37,820 --> 00:32:43,550 Because of God's love, because of God's grace, because of God's 837 00:32:43,550 --> 00:32:48,590 forgiveness, and ultimately because of God's power, we can live 838 00:32:48,590 --> 00:32:51,590 boldly for the cause of the gospel. 839 00:32:52,070 --> 00:32:53,430 You know what we live. 840 00:32:53,750 --> 00:32:56,630 And I'm joining myself in with you on this, okay? 841 00:32:56,630 --> 00:32:59,910 We live in a society today that is low stakes Christianity. 842 00:32:59,910 --> 00:33:01,550 Low stakes, okay? 843 00:33:01,550 --> 00:33:05,230 So like the worst that can happen to us usually within our society 844 00:33:05,230 --> 00:33:08,550 today is that someone might mock us, someone might reject us, 845 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,920 someone might slam a door in your face, okay? 846 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,640 I've had a handful of doors slammed in my face over the years. 847 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:15,800 I've had multiple people call me names. 848 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,200 Folks, that's a low level persecution. 849 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:20,960 Because the truth is that you're going to have people call 850 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:22,400 you names whether you're a Christian or not. 851 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,959 So it's like, I'd rather be called names for the cause of the 852 00:33:24,959 --> 00:33:27,400 gospel than for my bad mistakes, okay? 853 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:28,040 In my own life. 854 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,520 Just drive out on the main roads and people will call you names, 855 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:31,960 okay? 856 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:33,480 So the truth is this. 857 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,850 You have to understand, I have to understand that what is worth 858 00:33:37,850 --> 00:33:41,850 living for, what is worth sacrificing, what is worth being 859 00:33:41,850 --> 00:33:42,250 bold about? 860 00:33:42,250 --> 00:33:45,330 Like, for some of you, let's say, for example, today as you were 861 00:33:45,330 --> 00:33:48,450 heading out, I said, okay, I want you to tell me your favorite 862 00:33:48,450 --> 00:33:50,650 sports team, okay? 863 00:33:50,650 --> 00:33:53,890 So some of you I know will come up to me and say, the Philadelphia 864 00:33:53,890 --> 00:33:54,490 Eagles. 865 00:33:54,650 --> 00:33:57,930 And I'm a proud fan of those, and rightly so. 866 00:33:57,930 --> 00:34:00,170 Look, they're a good team, okay? 867 00:34:00,970 --> 00:34:03,690 But you would not have a problem if someone in your community 868 00:34:03,850 --> 00:34:06,570 or even you proclaiming, hey, I'm an Eagles fan, you saw someone 869 00:34:06,570 --> 00:34:09,909 maybe wearing a Cowboys shirt too, you might say, hey, what are 870 00:34:09,909 --> 00:34:10,469 you doing here? 871 00:34:10,549 --> 00:34:12,549 This is Eagles country, right? 872 00:34:12,549 --> 00:34:14,309 You have no problem in doing that, right? 873 00:34:14,309 --> 00:34:14,709 Why? 874 00:34:15,269 --> 00:34:15,989 I don't know. 875 00:34:16,149 --> 00:34:19,149 Maybe because it's something that we see is worth being proud 876 00:34:19,149 --> 00:34:19,429 of. 877 00:34:20,149 --> 00:34:21,109 Hey, you know what? 878 00:34:21,429 --> 00:34:22,469 I'm proud to be. 879 00:34:22,469 --> 00:34:25,749 And again, I'm not saying it's wrong to be a sports fan, but I'm 880 00:34:25,749 --> 00:34:27,789 trying to liken it to something that you're familiar with, 881 00:34:27,789 --> 00:34:29,029 that you're comfortable with doing. 882 00:34:29,749 --> 00:34:32,709 None of us have a problem with proclaiming a hobby that we like 883 00:34:32,709 --> 00:34:35,589 or a team that we follow or a food that we enjoy. 884 00:34:35,749 --> 00:34:37,434 It's the same thing with our Christian faith. 885 00:34:37,434 --> 00:34:37,519 We. 886 00:34:37,590 --> 00:34:40,190 There's nothing to be fearful of to tell people that Jesus has 887 00:34:40,190 --> 00:34:44,070 changed your life, that he is different, that it's a better way, 888 00:34:44,150 --> 00:34:47,470 it's the best way, it's the only way to understand true grace 889 00:34:47,470 --> 00:34:49,510 and forgiveness and have everlasting life. 890 00:34:49,510 --> 00:34:52,310 And so we proclaim that boldly to those around us. 891 00:34:52,470 --> 00:34:56,670 And so I think there's this false dichotomy which basically says 892 00:34:56,670 --> 00:35:00,230 you either have to know everything about the Bible and be 893 00:35:00,390 --> 00:35:02,790 an evangelist or just don't say anything at all because you're 894 00:35:02,790 --> 00:35:03,270 not qualified. 895 00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:06,540 I'm going to tell you here this morning, if you are a believer 896 00:35:06,540 --> 00:35:09,980 in Jesus Christ and you have trusted in the forgiveness of Jesus 897 00:35:09,980 --> 00:35:12,900 Christ, in the grace of Jesus Christ, and you know without a shadow 898 00:35:12,900 --> 00:35:14,020 of a doubt that you are saved. 899 00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:16,740 You are qualified to tell people about Jesus Christ. 900 00:35:17,060 --> 00:35:21,860 So what if someone says, ask a question that I don't know the answer 901 00:35:21,860 --> 00:35:22,180 for? 902 00:35:22,660 --> 00:35:23,620 Welcome to the club. 903 00:35:24,100 --> 00:35:26,020 Okay, we don't have all the answers. 904 00:35:26,340 --> 00:35:26,660 Right? 905 00:35:26,660 --> 00:35:28,180 And you don't have to have all the answers. 906 00:35:28,260 --> 00:35:30,580 The only answer you have to have is Jesus Christ and what he 907 00:35:30,580 --> 00:35:31,700 has done in the word of God. 908 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,120 The answers are all here and we should dig in and we should know 909 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:34,440 more. 910 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:35,160 Right? 911 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:38,360 If you're saved for 40, 50, 60 years, you should have more answers 912 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,440 at the end of those 60 years than you did at the beginning. 913 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,920 But at the end of the day, we're not going to have all the answers. 914 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,040 You don't have to have all the answers to proclaim the truth of 915 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:46,120 the gospel of Jesus Christ. 916 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,560 I remember a couple years ago we were passing out tracks at the 917 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:56,000 park up here in Middletown and Brother Dan and I were there and 918 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,300 our kids were out passing flyers out and, and I just thought 919 00:35:58,300 --> 00:36:01,740 like, you know what, at that time our kids were really young. 920 00:36:01,820 --> 00:36:04,460 It's like, you know, four or five year old kids can go pass out 921 00:36:04,460 --> 00:36:06,380 a flyer to someone and invite them to church. 922 00:36:07,580 --> 00:36:08,380 Anyone can. 923 00:36:08,780 --> 00:36:11,140 Right now some of you are like, well, they're cute and they 924 00:36:11,140 --> 00:36:11,500 walk up. 925 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:14,300 You know what the truth is, is that all of us have the capability 926 00:36:14,620 --> 00:36:17,020 to proclaim the gospel message of Jesus Christ. 927 00:36:17,900 --> 00:36:22,580 It's overcoming that fear, it's overcoming the apprehension, 928 00:36:22,580 --> 00:36:25,500 it's overcoming the that concept of being ashamed. 929 00:36:25,580 --> 00:36:28,420 Even though you might not be ashamed of who Jesus is. 930 00:36:28,420 --> 00:36:31,180 I know that word sometimes holds us up and we say, well, I'm 931 00:36:31,180 --> 00:36:34,620 not ashamed of who Jesus is, but we're ashamed of maybe what might 932 00:36:34,620 --> 00:36:37,260 happen if I proclaim the truth of God to those around me. 933 00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:40,300 And so the challenge would be, is like we would be so confident 934 00:36:40,300 --> 00:36:43,460 that we would be so much in love with God that we would tell 935 00:36:43,460 --> 00:36:46,140 people around us what Jesus has done for us. 936 00:36:46,700 --> 00:36:49,900 Think about how different this world would be if we were bold enough 937 00:36:49,900 --> 00:36:51,300 to go to people and say, you know what? 938 00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:53,730 Jesus is the one that can change your life. 939 00:36:54,450 --> 00:36:57,810 Jesus is the one who is reigning supreme. 940 00:36:57,970 --> 00:36:59,890 He is the one who is all powerful. 941 00:37:00,530 --> 00:37:02,130 Now you would say, how does that look? 942 00:37:02,130 --> 00:37:03,410 That looks different for different people. 943 00:37:03,570 --> 00:37:07,530 Just practically speaking, you might not ever get a chance to come 944 00:37:07,530 --> 00:37:10,490 up behind a podium and preach a message to multiple people. 945 00:37:10,490 --> 00:37:13,290 That might not ever be in your realm of life. 946 00:37:13,290 --> 00:37:16,410 But what I will say is that all of us have opportunities for 947 00:37:16,410 --> 00:37:19,090 some people, let's say, for example, some people like sports. 948 00:37:19,090 --> 00:37:19,570 Okay? 949 00:37:20,430 --> 00:37:22,510 Are sports evil or godly? 950 00:37:22,590 --> 00:37:23,310 Neither one. 951 00:37:23,390 --> 00:37:24,390 They're indifferent. 952 00:37:24,390 --> 00:37:25,630 It's just like anything. 953 00:37:25,870 --> 00:37:28,110 They can be bad, they can be used for evil, or they could be used 954 00:37:28,110 --> 00:37:28,470 for good. 955 00:37:28,470 --> 00:37:29,270 So what do we say? 956 00:37:29,270 --> 00:37:32,590 We say, hey, if you like that, use that as your outlet. 957 00:37:32,830 --> 00:37:35,990 So I'm not a sports person, but I like, you know, I don't know, 958 00:37:35,990 --> 00:37:36,790 I like crocheting. 959 00:37:36,790 --> 00:37:38,430 Okay, Use that as an outlet, right? 960 00:37:39,310 --> 00:37:41,870 There's all these things that God has given us in this world as 961 00:37:41,870 --> 00:37:42,670 beautiful things. 962 00:37:42,830 --> 00:37:45,510 And we can use them for our own good, we can use them for our 963 00:37:45,510 --> 00:37:46,990 own pleasure, we can use them. 964 00:37:46,990 --> 00:37:47,210 And. 965 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,400 And the Bible speaks of the gift of the talents, right? 966 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,960 And we have opportunities as a church to receive things in this 967 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,960 world so that we can redeem them for the kingdom of God. 968 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:00,000 There are certain things that we can use. 969 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,800 And so what I would say to you this morning is this. 970 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,760 Not all of you are gonna get up and preach a three part sermon, 971 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,520 but all of you are gonna preach a sermon by what you do in 972 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:12,400 your life and use those things that you have in your life that you're 973 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:15,680 already doing as a cause to point people to Jesus Christ. 974 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:17,800 It's a beautiful thing that we have. 975 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:21,080 We have the freedom, the Bible speaks of Christian liberty, Christian 976 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,960 freedom to use what God has given us in our life. 977 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,760 So some of you, you might say, well, you know what? 978 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,360 I have a workplace that have a lot of people around me and we get 979 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:29,720 to sit around and we can talk all day. 980 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:30,400 There you go. 981 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:31,640 Use that as your opportunity. 982 00:38:31,799 --> 00:38:34,640 You can have a neighborhood, you can have a hobby, you can have 983 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,480 whatever it is and use that for the cause of the kingdom. 984 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,960 In Second Corinthians, we saw that there's a ministry of reconciliation, 985 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:43,240 a ministry of the gospel. 986 00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:46,830 All of us are called, and we have a ministry of the gospel. 987 00:38:46,830 --> 00:38:48,390 We have the message, that's the gospel. 988 00:38:48,390 --> 00:38:51,430 And we all should have a ministry of the gospel within our 989 00:38:51,430 --> 00:38:51,790 lives. 990 00:38:51,790 --> 00:38:53,550 I don't care who you are, I don't care if you're a church member 991 00:38:53,550 --> 00:38:54,030 or not. 992 00:38:54,030 --> 00:38:56,030 I don't care if you're a ministry leader or not. 993 00:38:56,430 --> 00:38:59,870 I don't care if you're 8 years old or 88 years old. 994 00:38:59,870 --> 00:39:03,350 We are all called to have a gospel ministry in our lives. 995 00:39:03,350 --> 00:39:04,910 And so I would encourage you to think about that. 996 00:39:04,910 --> 00:39:08,030 How can we live boldly in the power of God? 997 00:39:08,110 --> 00:39:11,630 Through the righteousness of God, to not be ashamed of the gospel 998 00:39:11,630 --> 00:39:12,590 of Jesus Christ. 999 00:39:13,330 --> 00:39:15,010 Folks, I really Want you to think about this today. 1000 00:39:15,730 --> 00:39:18,610 In a few moments, we're going to have an opportunity to go through 1001 00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:20,130 the different ministries of our church. 1002 00:39:21,090 --> 00:39:22,650 And it's a long list. 1003 00:39:22,650 --> 00:39:25,410 And there's things that we probably overlook because these are 1004 00:39:25,410 --> 00:39:27,090 like corporate ministries of the church. 1005 00:39:27,250 --> 00:39:30,450 I know that many of you, many of you have individual ministries 1006 00:39:30,450 --> 00:39:32,690 that you're doing that aren't even listed. 1007 00:39:32,690 --> 00:39:33,970 Maybe no one even knows. 1008 00:39:34,850 --> 00:39:37,410 Truth is, is that it doesn't really matter if it's on a list or 1009 00:39:37,410 --> 00:39:38,050 not on a list. 1010 00:39:38,050 --> 00:39:42,150 All of us are called to some area of service to the Lord for the 1011 00:39:42,150 --> 00:39:43,390 cause of the gospel. 1012 00:39:44,110 --> 00:39:46,270 Every ministry should be pointing people to the gospel. 1013 00:39:47,310 --> 00:39:48,950 Now, you might say this. 1014 00:39:48,950 --> 00:39:51,070 Well, Pastor, what about someone who's coming off the street? 1015 00:39:52,030 --> 00:39:54,830 Do we beat him over the head with every single theological term? 1016 00:39:56,270 --> 00:39:57,550 Sometimes I want to do that. 1017 00:39:57,710 --> 00:39:59,910 Sometimes I want to sit down with someone who has no understanding 1018 00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:02,910 of the gospel and say, well, let me talk to you about soteriology 1019 00:40:03,230 --> 00:40:04,510 and the theory behind this. 1020 00:40:04,510 --> 00:40:05,030 And the theory. 1021 00:40:05,030 --> 00:40:05,390 And. 1022 00:40:05,570 --> 00:40:08,410 And the problem comes sometimes is that we can give too 1023 00:40:08,410 --> 00:40:09,650 much information, right? 1024 00:40:10,290 --> 00:40:12,770 And we overwhelm them with something that they can't obtain. 1025 00:40:12,770 --> 00:40:16,050 So, for example, let's say all of you, some of you are starting 1026 00:40:16,050 --> 00:40:16,890 to get hungry, Okay? 1027 00:40:16,890 --> 00:40:18,450 I can hear your stomach's growling from here. 1028 00:40:18,530 --> 00:40:19,090 I'm just. 1029 00:40:19,890 --> 00:40:20,530 I can't. 1030 00:40:20,530 --> 00:40:22,410 But we're going to go out to eat. 1031 00:40:22,410 --> 00:40:23,410 Some of us are going to go out to eat. 1032 00:40:23,410 --> 00:40:24,770 Some of us are going to go home and eat. 1033 00:40:24,850 --> 00:40:27,570 And maybe they pull out this wonderful meal, right? 1034 00:40:28,370 --> 00:40:30,570 Whatever you might like, think about in your mind what you like 1035 00:40:30,570 --> 00:40:31,010 the most. 1036 00:40:31,450 --> 00:40:34,250 And they lay it out on the table and you start eating. 1037 00:40:34,730 --> 00:40:36,530 They go, oh, it's all you can eat, by the way. 1038 00:40:36,530 --> 00:40:37,490 Let's bring out another plate. 1039 00:40:37,490 --> 00:40:40,690 And you're like, oh, yeah, another plate and another plate and 1040 00:40:40,690 --> 00:40:41,210 another plate. 1041 00:40:41,210 --> 00:40:41,850 And it keeps coming out. 1042 00:40:41,850 --> 00:40:45,090 Eventually, you might love that food, but that food might just. 1043 00:40:45,090 --> 00:40:47,050 You just can't take any more in, right? 1044 00:40:47,690 --> 00:40:49,650 Think about it from even a smaller perspective. 1045 00:40:49,650 --> 00:40:50,090 Think about. 1046 00:40:50,410 --> 00:40:53,290 Some of you have seen our son, our youngest son, running around. 1047 00:40:53,290 --> 00:40:54,490 He runs around everywhere. 1048 00:40:55,210 --> 00:40:57,330 You know, Silas, he's just starting to walk. 1049 00:40:57,330 --> 00:41:00,060 And, you know, he likes food, by the way. 1050 00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:00,700 He loves food. 1051 00:41:00,700 --> 00:41:01,220 Okay? 1052 00:41:01,460 --> 00:41:04,580 But there's a certain thing that we're not gonna, you know, even 1053 00:41:04,580 --> 00:41:06,860 now with, after his surgery, he has some eating restrictions, 1054 00:41:06,860 --> 00:41:08,180 and we have to be careful with that. 1055 00:41:08,580 --> 00:41:11,820 And so even when he was younger, if he came in and we said, 1056 00:41:11,820 --> 00:41:14,019 okay, all of you like steak? 1057 00:41:14,019 --> 00:41:15,220 We're gonna give him steak today. 1058 00:41:15,380 --> 00:41:17,180 He doesn't even have Teeth, how's he gonna eat the steak? 1059 00:41:17,180 --> 00:41:17,940 We have to grind. 1060 00:41:18,260 --> 00:41:22,740 So you understand that we have to give the proper nutrition to people 1061 00:41:22,740 --> 00:41:24,260 at the stage that they are in. 1062 00:41:25,010 --> 00:41:27,730 So someone coming in off the street that knows nothing about God, 1063 00:41:27,730 --> 00:41:30,490 who knows nothing about the gospel, I'm not gonna sit down there 1064 00:41:30,490 --> 00:41:33,410 and talk to them about end times philosophy, okay? 1065 00:41:33,810 --> 00:41:36,970 Even though that is important in the cause of the gospel, eventually 1066 00:41:36,970 --> 00:41:37,650 to get to. 1067 00:41:38,450 --> 00:41:41,050 But what we do is we put it down to the most basic level of, 1068 00:41:41,050 --> 00:41:42,450 hey, Jesus loves you. 1069 00:41:42,690 --> 00:41:43,570 John 3:16. 1070 00:41:44,770 --> 00:41:48,290 Jesus loves you and he did something for you. 1071 00:41:48,690 --> 00:41:51,410 And if you trust in him, you can have that salvation. 1072 00:41:51,850 --> 00:41:56,890 And so that's reduced down to the most simple, simple message is 1073 00:41:56,890 --> 00:41:58,330 that's the message that we proclaim. 1074 00:41:58,490 --> 00:41:59,970 And that's not a scary message. 1075 00:41:59,970 --> 00:42:01,530 It's not beat him over the head with something. 1076 00:42:01,530 --> 00:42:03,210 It's just, hey, it's a message of love. 1077 00:42:04,090 --> 00:42:05,450 You could take it a step further. 1078 00:42:05,450 --> 00:42:07,050 We're going to go through the book of Romans and we're going to 1079 00:42:07,050 --> 00:42:08,170 talk about the Romans Road. 1080 00:42:08,570 --> 00:42:09,690 Romans 6:23. 1081 00:42:09,690 --> 00:42:11,210 For the wages of sin is death. 1082 00:42:11,610 --> 00:42:13,370 So now we're going to start talking about some difficult things. 1083 00:42:13,370 --> 00:42:16,330 People are going to realize that, hey, life, life's going to 1084 00:42:16,330 --> 00:42:18,540 end eventually for the wages of sin. 1085 00:42:18,540 --> 00:42:19,220 What sin? 1086 00:42:19,700 --> 00:42:20,700 Sin is missing the mark. 1087 00:42:20,700 --> 00:42:22,180 Sin is not following God's law. 1088 00:42:23,060 --> 00:42:24,180 Wages of sin is death. 1089 00:42:24,180 --> 00:42:25,500 That means separation from God. 1090 00:42:25,500 --> 00:42:26,660 That means eternal punishment. 1091 00:42:26,660 --> 00:42:28,100 Whoa, that's some tough stuff. 1092 00:42:28,100 --> 00:42:29,780 But then you have the second part of that verse. 1093 00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:32,180 But the gift of God. 1094 00:42:32,260 --> 00:42:33,620 And everyone wants a gift. 1095 00:42:33,700 --> 00:42:35,060 Everyone understands a gift. 1096 00:42:35,460 --> 00:42:39,460 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1097 00:42:39,940 --> 00:42:43,470 Look, that's two verses that you could point someone to and explain 1098 00:42:43,470 --> 00:42:46,790 to them the love of Christ, ultimately the problem of sin, and 1099 00:42:46,790 --> 00:42:49,350 ultimately the promise of heaven through salvation in Jesus 1100 00:42:49,350 --> 00:42:49,590 Christ. 1101 00:42:49,590 --> 00:42:51,390 Okay, that's basic. 1102 00:42:51,790 --> 00:42:54,270 You don't have to know every element of everything now. 1103 00:42:54,270 --> 00:42:56,750 Grow in it, understand it, be around it more. 1104 00:42:56,910 --> 00:43:00,350 But I would encourage you to think about how you as an individual 1105 00:43:00,510 --> 00:43:02,950 can live that gospel ministry to those around you. 1106 00:43:02,950 --> 00:43:04,990 There are going to be people that I can reach that you can't reach, 1107 00:43:04,990 --> 00:43:07,630 and there's going to be people that you reach that I cannot reach. 1108 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,280 And when we do this together as a team, as a family, we're able 1109 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:14,440 to see more people come into the gospel message of Jesus Christ. 1110 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:16,160 More people come into the family of God. 1111 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:17,320 And we want to do that. 1112 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:18,920 We have a limited amount of time. 1113 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:20,520 We want to go, we want to proclaim. 1114 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:24,000 And so as we think about these ministries, think about how you as 1115 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,360 an individual can be a part of something for the cause of the gospel 1116 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:28,200 of Jesus Christ. 1117 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:30,760 And so we can all say, hopefully today, hopefully all of 1118 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,400 us can lead today saying, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus 1119 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:34,680 Christ. 1120 00:43:35,050 --> 00:43:38,330 I'm not ashamed of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1121 00:43:39,130 --> 00:43:41,810 And what I would say here this morning is if you are ashamed, if 1122 00:43:41,810 --> 00:43:45,330 you look and really evaluate your life, don't just go, pastor 1123 00:43:45,330 --> 00:43:46,010 doesn't know me. 1124 00:43:46,090 --> 00:43:47,130 I'm not ashamed. 1125 00:43:47,130 --> 00:43:51,130 Evaluate your life and say, am I ashamed? 1126 00:43:52,170 --> 00:43:54,090 Have I been living like I'm ashamed? 1127 00:43:54,250 --> 00:43:57,290 If so, what do I need to do to get that right? 1128 00:43:57,770 --> 00:44:00,490 Do I need to just go back and understand God's love for me? 1129 00:44:01,570 --> 00:44:05,010 What if someone came up and gave you this? 1130 00:44:05,170 --> 00:44:07,570 Maybe they saved your life, maybe they saved your life. 1131 00:44:07,570 --> 00:44:11,850 Maybe you were gonna die and someone grabbed you and pulled you 1132 00:44:11,850 --> 00:44:12,850 out of the road or whatever. 1133 00:44:13,090 --> 00:44:17,850 And then they showed up to an event and you go, well, I don't really 1134 00:44:17,850 --> 00:44:20,290 want to introduce them because I'm kind of ashamed of them. 1135 00:44:21,010 --> 00:44:22,090 It doesn't make a lot of sense. 1136 00:44:22,090 --> 00:44:22,770 They saved you. 1137 00:44:22,770 --> 00:44:24,610 You wouldn't be around if it wasn't for them. 1138 00:44:24,850 --> 00:44:26,370 So you want to proclaim who they are. 1139 00:44:26,740 --> 00:44:28,420 That's exactly what Jesus Christ did for you. 1140 00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:31,580 And so sometimes what we have to do is we have to go back to what 1141 00:44:31,580 --> 00:44:34,900 he really did for us to understand why we don't need to be 1142 00:44:34,900 --> 00:44:36,420 ashamed of Jesus within the church. 1143 00:44:36,820 --> 00:44:38,980 And they go, okay, maybe I should start backing that up. 1144 00:44:38,980 --> 00:44:40,820 Maybe I should start not being so excited. 1145 00:44:40,900 --> 00:44:43,380 Folks, never lose your excitement for the gospel of Jesus 1146 00:44:43,380 --> 00:44:43,700 Christ. 1147 00:44:43,780 --> 00:44:44,500 Please don't. 1148 00:44:44,580 --> 00:44:47,060 Because the moment we lose our excitement for Jesus Christ is the 1149 00:44:47,060 --> 00:44:49,540 moment we start becoming ineffective in our witness for Jesus 1150 00:44:49,540 --> 00:44:51,980 Christ and therefore not doing what God has called us to do. 1151 00:44:51,980 --> 00:44:54,700 That's why Paul says at the very beginning of this letter, I'm 1152 00:44:54,700 --> 00:44:55,860 ready to preach the gospel. 1153 00:44:56,900 --> 00:44:59,780 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1154 00:44:59,860 --> 00:45:00,260 Why? 1155 00:45:00,420 --> 00:45:05,300 As it says here, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone 1156 00:45:05,300 --> 00:45:07,220 that believeth, everyone that believeth. 1157 00:45:07,460 --> 00:45:10,900 So may we have a desire, like Paul's desire to proclaim the gospel 1158 00:45:10,900 --> 00:45:11,700 to those around us. 1159 00:45:11,700 --> 00:45:15,300 Next week we're going to talk about the opposite of righteousness, 1160 00:45:15,540 --> 00:45:15,940 right? 1161 00:45:16,100 --> 00:45:20,500 We have righteousness in Christ, but those without Christ 1162 00:45:20,500 --> 00:45:25,250 are living, as the Bible's going to say here, against God, and 1163 00:45:25,250 --> 00:45:27,130 against God comes the wrath of God. 1164 00:45:27,210 --> 00:45:29,890 And we're going to talk about that dynamic of someone who is outside 1165 00:45:29,890 --> 00:45:32,890 of the faith and what they are facing in their sin. 1166 00:45:33,050 --> 00:45:33,650 And this is. 1167 00:45:33,650 --> 00:45:36,530 This is tough topic to Talk about our world doesn't want to talk 1168 00:45:36,530 --> 00:45:39,370 a lot about sin and judgment, but the Bible very clearly talks 1169 00:45:39,370 --> 00:45:42,890 about the need to talk about both sides of God's love and his 1170 00:45:42,890 --> 00:45:43,930 and his justice. 1171 00:45:44,010 --> 00:45:45,250 And we need to talk about that. 1172 00:45:45,250 --> 00:45:47,970 So anyway, we're going to go ahead and conclude there. 1173 00:45:47,970 --> 00:45:49,850 If you're able to stand with me, we're going to have a time of 1174 00:45:49,850 --> 00:45:51,630 invitation, a time of response. 1175 00:45:51,710 --> 00:45:54,110 And so if you're able to stand with me, every head bowed, every 1176 00:45:54,110 --> 00:45:56,710 head closed, as the music plays here in a few moments, what 1177 00:45:56,710 --> 00:46:01,470 I'd like you to do is introspect and look into your life. 1178 00:46:01,870 --> 00:46:06,350 Look into your life in the concept of your response to the gospel. 1179 00:46:06,830 --> 00:46:08,990 Is my response to the gospel one sided? 1180 00:46:08,990 --> 00:46:12,990 Have I received the gospel, trust in the gospel and been changed 1181 00:46:12,990 --> 00:46:13,710 by the gospel? 1182 00:46:14,030 --> 00:46:19,370 If I have received the gospel, believe the gospel, Am I proclaiming 1183 00:46:19,370 --> 00:46:19,970 the gospel? 1184 00:46:19,970 --> 00:46:21,490 Am I living the gospel? 1185 00:46:21,650 --> 00:46:22,930 Am I living in faith? 1186 00:46:22,930 --> 00:46:24,210 Did I come to him in faith? 1187 00:46:24,370 --> 00:46:27,570 Am I living through him in faith? 1188 00:46:28,370 --> 00:46:32,050 I encourage you this morning to respond to the preaching of the 1189 00:46:32,050 --> 00:46:32,690 Word of God. 1190 00:46:32,930 --> 00:46:39,610 If you're struggling with the aspect of boldness, confidence, being 1191 00:46:39,610 --> 00:46:43,050 ashamed of the truth of Jesus Christ, being ashamed of the Word 1192 00:46:43,050 --> 00:46:46,710 of God, by the way, it's the whole word of God, not just parts 1193 00:46:46,710 --> 00:46:49,150 of it that we like, but it's the whole word of God. 1194 00:46:49,150 --> 00:46:52,070 Are we willing to live boldly for the word of God in our communities? 1195 00:46:52,150 --> 00:46:54,350 You know, our lives would be different, our families would be 1196 00:46:54,350 --> 00:46:55,910 different, our communities would be different. 1197 00:46:55,990 --> 00:46:59,949 If we truly live boldly for the cause of the Gospel, we might 1198 00:46:59,949 --> 00:47:01,030 face more pushback. 1199 00:47:01,590 --> 00:47:03,550 But I'm going to tell you, there's going to be a lot more fruit 1200 00:47:03,550 --> 00:47:05,150 if we continue to live boldly for him. 1201 00:47:05,150 --> 00:47:07,870 So if that's something that you want wisdom in, that's something 1202 00:47:07,870 --> 00:47:08,950 that you want strength in. 1203 00:47:08,950 --> 00:47:13,640 Ask God this morning, ask God to give you the courage, the confidence, 1204 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:18,680 the compassion to proclaim the gospel and not be ashamed of the 1205 00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:19,720 truth of who Jesus is. 1206 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:21,760 Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, work in 1207 00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:25,240 hearts and lives, challenge our hearts to the place to understand 1208 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:25,720 you. 1209 00:47:26,039 --> 00:47:29,960 We thank you for your love and your grace and for someone here today 1210 00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:31,640 that does not know you as personal Savior. 1211 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,120 Lord, I pray that today can be the day in which they can come and 1212 00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:36,920 know what it means for the Word of God, what it means to have 1213 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:38,380 salvation and forgiveness. 1214 00:47:38,380 --> 00:47:40,380 And so, Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, 1215 00:47:40,700 --> 00:47:42,340 working hearts and lives in Jesus name. 1216 00:47:42,340 --> 00:47:42,660 Amen. 1217 00:47:42,660 --> 00:47:44,620 As the music plays, follow as the Lord leads this morning. 1218 00:48:03,590 --> 00:49:04,410 Sam It Sam. 1219 00:49:43,780 --> 00:49:46,260 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1220 00:49:46,260 --> 00:49:46,820 Podcast. 1221 00:49:47,330 --> 00:49:49,490 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1222 00:49:50,130 --> 00:49:52,490 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1223 00:49:52,490 --> 00:49:55,970 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1224 00:49:56,210 --> 00:49:58,770 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1225 00:49:59,490 --> 00:50:04,010 You can also email me directly at joshmissaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1226 00:50:04,010 --> 00:50:08,410 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1227 00:50:08,410 --> 00:50:11,250 along for future podcasts and updates. 1228 00:50:11,890 --> 00:50:12,850 Thank you so much. 1229 00:50:13,090 --> 00:50:13,810 God Bless. 1230 00:50:14,050 --> 00:50:15,330 Have a wonderful day.