Be Unashamed of The Gospel

Introduction

Today’s sermon will be unlike our normal format, as it is a sort of recap of the entire sermon series.

I want you for a moment, to think about your young self as a child. Now, as your young self, I want you to think of something that you were really proud of. For the women, it may be a little dolly that you loved very much or a stuffed animal. Guys, maybe for you it was a baseball glove or bicycle. It doesn’t really matter what it was, but whatever it is, take a moment, close your eyes and think of yourself playing with it……. Got it, good. Now, think of your best friend, who hasn't ever seen your prized possession yet. What, then do you do? Well, since you are proud of and happy from it, of course you can’t help but show it and share it with that friend! Especially in the hopes that your friend will get as much joy as you have out of it and that you will have someone else to appreciate it with you. In our main text today, look at what Paul says about his most praised procession. But first, before we read, let’s pray. 

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[i] because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,[j] just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

Context/main passage

Paul writes to the church in Rome here. Now, it is important to know about Paul, that at the time of writing Paul’s letter to the Romans, he was under arrest. In fact, this arrest happened during the time that we left off at in our Acts sermon series around 57 or 58AD, which we will pick back up next week until we begin our Easter series. For those wanting to know, yes I do expect we will finish our Acts series this year! 

Paul here, as you will remember, was arrested because a group of Jews had made false accusations against him, but in general they were angry at him and looking for reasons to bring him harm because he spread the Gospel of Jesus everywhere he went, making new believers and in the process planting several new churches. The Jews in general didn’t like this, because everywhere he went and brought the light, the darkness of sin was exposed and the powers that be were threatened. So, Paul was placed under arrest here, for his own protection because the riled up crowds were so against him. 

Now, if you go back to the idea of your favorite toy you had a child. If someone were to tell you that your doll or stuffed animal looked ugly or if your glove or bike was stupid, what would happen? You would be embarrassed by it, you would be ashamed of it, and odds are you would never share it with someone again and hide it, only to be seen by you, if that is you ever used it again. This is not what Paul did. This is not how Paul acted or thought, no; even despite the fact that at this point he had been arrested and on multiple occasions harmed and had his life threatened. 

Instead, he said, despite the pain and suffering that The Gospel of Jesus had brought Him, he is not ashamed of it. He is proud of it, and even if it brought him more pain or even death, he was going to share it! Why? Because it is through The Gospel that God saves a person and their faith is not only made (established) but also it is built upon and grows. 

Listen to this paraphrase of these verses, by a commentator by the name of Kruse, he sums up these verses that Paul say, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, and seen in the growth of faith in Christ, beginning with faith among the Jews and spreading to the Gentiles, as it is written, ‘the righteous by faith will live’. Paul was eager to share The Gospel, the good news, because The Gospel points towards God;s greatness and grows the faith of everyone who hears it and believes it.

This fearless eagerness and enthusiasm is how we are to live our lives when it comes not only to understanding The Gospel, but also how you are to apply it to your faith life and sharing it with others. You have heard me say this before, but without a basic understanding of the gospel, the disciple of Jesus can grow very little in loving God, loving people, and making disciples. So, you must not find shame in the gospel, but be very proud of and encouraged by it for the sake of your own growth and development, and the others that God has placed around you. So, let’s review the gospel texts we have looked through in this series, so that your proudness of the gospel will grow, that you would be unashamed of the gospel, and You would Know the Gospel and Share the Gospel. 

Message/Previous Texts

The first point, so that you will not be ashamed but proud, and know the gospel and share it to: Know and Stand in the Gospel (1 Cor 15:1-4)

15 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Remember these few verses. Remember them well believer and commit them to your memory to your memory so that you will never forget. If you are looking for any passage in the bible that clearly communicates that The Gospel of Jesus is, then you need look no further then these here in 1 Cor 15:1-4. Paul writes to the corinthian church and believers here reminding of The Gospel, in which you live, in which if you are a follower of Christ, in which you stand on a day by day, moment by moment, second by second biases. Here it is, That Christ died for you as the scriptures said he would (because we need a sacrifice to make up/atone for our great sin separation from God) and that even after dying on the cross for everyone to see and was buried, he was raised 3 days later as the scriptures told us He would (thus proving that Jesus is God and has the power to forgive our sins, which He does when you put your faith in Him.

The gospel itself, though very profound having more and more and more layers of importance as you unravel it’s importance in your life, isn't hard to communicate. Though it is powerful, it is something that you can wield, the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. All you have to do share through your words that sin separates you from God, and that everyone is a sinner who needs to be made right before God, and that Jesus makes you right before God through His sacrifice on the cross, all you have to do is put your faith in Him and submit to His Lordship. When you do this, you are saved. That’s the gospel, you are a sinner, you need Jesus, and when you put faith in Him you are saved. So know and Stand in that Gospel believer, not just as a one time “Now i’m saved” thing, but also and importantly, as a constant reminder and focus as your purse God all through your life. 

Let’s keep going, let’s see the next point, that you will be proud and not ashamed, that you will Know the Gospel and Share the gospel, the next is to:

Know why we have good news (John 3:16-21)

16 For God loved the world in this way:[e] He gave[f] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it,[g] so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by[h] the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Also of key importance to know for the believer, whether you be a new one or one for a long time, is why we have the good news, why the Gospel of Jesus. The truth is, we have for The Gospel for a very different reason than what we would come to on our thinking/reckoning. It’s very different, because the way the world you live in works, is based on a merit or “earned” based system. That is, you go to work, you get a paycheck. You win a contest you get a trophy or medal. You help someone, they help you back. You give someone a favor, they give you one back. So on and so forth.

This is not how the gospel goes, it is not tit for tat. It is not earn and you will receive. No, The Gospel doesn’t work like that. We do not have the gospel because we are good or nice people. No, the truth of the matter is, no one is good enough, no one is nice enough, no one is worthy enough; except one. Jesus Christ, the The Son of God and Son of Man, the God-Man, God-The-Son. Only he lived a righteous enough life, only He was spotless and blameless enough before God, only He can truly follow God’s law to perfect T. In fact, their is not a single person in this room and not a single person you have ever met that has not broken all of God’s laws. Don’t believe me, here the words of Paul and King David, they tells us and affirm thorough the Holy Spirit that, “Their is noone that is righteous, no not one.”

If this true, then why do we have the Gospel, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to pay for our sins? Because of this, because of God’s love. Only because of God’s love for you, as His treasured creation can you return to God’s delight and presence. Here the words, that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but no ever lasting life. God sent Jesus not to condemn the world, but to save anyone who will have faith in the one and only  Son of God. God’s love is the reason we have the Gospel. So bask in that love, be proud of it and not ashamed of it, and know his love and share His love, Know the Gospel and Share The Gospel. 

Let’s move onto another point, so that you will be proud of the Gospel, that you will Know the Gospel and Share the Gospel it to:

Know and do your Christian Assignment (Matthew 28:16-20)

16 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped,[d] but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of[e] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,[f] I am with you always,[g] to the end of the age.”

This section of verses is one the most important in the entire Bible. In fact, this this is the bridge between Jesus ministry and sacrifice on the earth, to the book of Acts and on in your New Testament. This is the great commission, a commissioning, an assignment from Christ Himself. 

This commission goes out to all believers, and Christ makes it clear that He is the sovereign authority (as God) of everything, so everything He teaches and tells us, nothing should overrule or be more important than His words. So, here is Jesus’ Commission to all disciples (all followers/students) of Jesus. Your commission is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing then in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and tech them to do everything I have commanded you to do. Do this, knowing that I (Jesus) and always with you. Jesus tells all believers, from then until He returns in Glory, that everyone (You, me, He, she, we) are go and make disciples. These disciples are to be taught and trained to do everything Jesus taught and told those origin disciples to do. That is, grow in your faith, Love God, Love, Make disciples. Make disciples of the same kind and caliber who go and make more disciples. You heard me say this last week, i’ll say it again. Never in your bible does God call you to make simply just Christian converts, no, those converts are to continues and life long disciples (followers/students) of Jesus who put what they have learned into action. This is true for you, everyone you have helped make a disciple, and everyone who they have helped make a disciple. So know and do your Christian Assignment, beloved which is not to just be a disciple yourself, but to be the kind of disciple who makes more disciples. 

Conclusion

lead you to the pursuit of doing God’s word and commands. This yes includes committing/covenating to a church body and gathering with it in worship, learning, prayer, and doing. But, it is not limited to that. It includes your own private and personal devotional life (reading your bible and prayer), also readjusting your life so that you can fulfill Jesus great commands and His great commission, to Love God, Love people, and make disciples. In the end, it all circles back tocovenantingng the Gospel, daily reminding yourself of The Gospel, so that you can Share The Gospel with others as you go about your life.

“Go” Jar- 

You have been given everything you need to know the gospel and know it well. Now, you must commit to it further and sharing it with others. As a way to remind ourselves often of Jesus' commission. So, I have made what i’m calling the “Go make disciples Jar.” or for short “Go” jar. It works like this, every time you are outside of these church doors and you do something to make a disciple (be it a new disciple/convert) or to build up/encourage/teach disciples you add a marble. Each marble is a celebration, because it shows that you were obedient in fulfilling your commission. To put in generally, anytime you do an evangelistic action to a non-Christian or you do a disciple building action (to someone that is already a follower of Jesus) you add a marble. In addition, we have dice here, for every person that you learn of, that you know you did some kind of evangelistic action to at some point and you find out they committed their life to Christ, add a dice. This too is a great big celebration. All you have to do, is before service, when you come in, put your marbles/dice in the jar, they will always be out here and up for you to do.

Now, I counted. And it only takes 200 marbles to fill this jar a little over the top. Let’s say there are only 10 of us regularly here. Well, in theory, if each of us only does 1 action week (a very easy goal, in reality we should all be doing much more than that on a normal week), That means in one week we should have 10 marbles, in 1 month we should have 40. This math means that within reason in 5 months or less, this jar should be filled to the top. So, let’s all commit to filling this jar for glory of Christ, for the Glory of God in Jesus’ name!

So, let’s pray.