The Unshakeable Pillar of the Gospel

The theme verse of Calvary Church is for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. That comes from the book of Revelation chapter one, and that means that Calvary Church, for all that we do, for all of our ministries in terms of our mission and our vision, is dependent upon these two, what I'm calling, unshakable pillars. Last week, we thought of the unshakable pillar of the Word of God. That is, we preach the Word of God, we teach it, and I trust we live it.

That is absolutely essential. If that falls, if we compromise on the Word of God and we listen more to our own ideas and the prevailing and fluctuating ideas and opinions of the world, this church, like all churches, will falter. So we stand firmly on the Bible, believing it is the Word of God, and that when the Bible speaks, God speaks. So we have a very high view of Scripture, believing it is inspired by God. But now I want to speak on the other unshakable pillar, which is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

That is, I want to speak about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Now this might seem very elementary, very rudimentary, and perhaps some of you are already thinking, well, we've heard all of this before. Possibly you have, and possibly you could deliver it much better than I could. I concede that. But I realize a couple of things. One is that some of you have not heard it. Others of you have heard it but not truly understood it.

Some of you have heard it, may understand it, but have never personally appropriated it. And if this is familiar territory, I trust that you will be refreshed as we think of the gospel. As a pastor, I'm privileged to speak to all kinds of people who come to see me, not just when I preach from this pulpit or teach in a classroom, but people who come to my study upstairs or who come to my home, and I've had many, many conversations with people about the gospel. People who want to get baptized. People who want to be a member of the church.

People who are applying to work at Calvary Church or at CDC or CCA. I meet all kinds of people in all kinds of circumstances, people who come to me for counsel. And when I ask people about their spiritual journey, I find over the years I get all kinds of answers. There are some who are able to give a very strong biblical testimony of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

Others are confused. Some are cultural Christians, I would call. Some of them, like some of you, have been raised in the church. You enjoy coming to church and send your children to Sunday school.

You've signed them up for Awana. You perhaps even send your children to a Christian school. But when I ask you about your spiritual journey, you may talk about God. You may say that God has been there to help you. You believe in God, that you are someone who is not an atheist or agnostic. You firmly believe about God, but after speaking perhaps for about 10 or 10 minutes, I notice you've said absolutely nothing about Jesus Christ. Many people, I fear, have embraced a therapeutic gospel, a gospel which is self-help, a gospel which is designed to make me feel good, a gospel which presents Jesus as my friend.

He's a wonderful friend. He's there to help me, and He's really there to help me to fulfill my dreams. Dream my dream, and Jesus is there to help me fulfill my dream.

Endless possibilities, I'm told, are there, and I can live my best life now being very happy and successful. And yes, Jesus is part of my life. A recent survey by Life Research found that in the last five years, more churchgoers are reflecting prosperity gospel. That is, in a sense, we are using the gospel for our own selfish and self-indulgent needs. The question of the gospel and what is the gospel is not a new one, of course. Right in the first century during the apostolic age, there was a debate about the gospel, and the Apostle Paul was a strong proponent of the gospel, as we're going to hear. And writing to Galatians, Paul becomes very emotional, very strong, very dogmatic, if you like, about the gospel and says this, If we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

Did you get that? Paul is saying even if an angel came from heaven, or if I, as an apostle, preached a gospel, not that there are other gospels in a sense, but if there is any other gospel proclaimed rather than the true gospel, that person is under the curse of God. That's very strong, difficult to think of it being stronger than that. And so we must never mistake the cheap, shallow, superficial, cultural Christianity which is so prevalent today in our nation for the pure biblical gospel. So I want today for us to consider the unshakable pillar of the gospel, the true gospel, the only gospel, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You say, is this important?

Absolutely. I can't think of anything more important than getting the gospel right. One would have thought that churches and preachers would get the gospel right.

Sadly, that is not often the case. Why is it so important? Because your eternal destiny depends on getting the gospel right. If we believe that there is a God, as I do, if we believe that we are created by God and answerable to God, and if we believe that in a few years none of us will be here but we'll be in eternity, if you believe that, surely it's absolutely essential that you understand the way of salvation. That is, you understand the gospel. And so I want us to turn in our Bibles to Romans chapter 1 because there this great apostle, Paul, who is so passionate about the gospel and is very concerned that there were in the first century, and so did they, people who do not get the gospel right, he gives this wonderful exposition of the gospel in the book of Romans. And obviously we don't have time to go through Romans, but I do want us to think of the kernel truths of the gospel as presented by the apostle writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Here he is in Romans chapter 1 verse 16. This is Paul's thesis, as you like.

This is the kernel of what he's going to expound. Here is the center, as it were, of his theology. Romans 1 verse 16, he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. Isn't it interesting that people in our society are not ashamed to come with all kinds of views, including the most bizarre and perverse views, but we who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ are often ashamed of the gospel. Never, ever be ashamed of being a follower of Christ. Never be ashamed of the gospel.

Why? For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

What a claim. What does it say? It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek to everyone else. For in it, that is in the gospel, the good news, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the righteous, the just shall live by faith. So let's think of the gospel. First of all, we need to understand that this is a message from God. The gospel comes from God.

Paul says that here in the first verse of Romans chapter 1, he says, I'm Paul, I'm a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. Notice how he describes the gospel. It is the gospel of God. The gospel originates with God.

The gospel means good news. And this good news comes from God to us. There used to be a version of the New Testament, and this title was Good News for Modern Man.

Some of you may remember that. That's a very good title of the New Testament. Good news for modern man. Good news for post-modern man.

Good news for everyone. And it comes from God. It is the gospel of God. Yes, there are many philosophies, many religions, many points of views, many opinions in our world, but the gospel is unique because it comes from God himself. It is a message which comes from heaven to earth.

We must understand this. And so Paul preached, he says, in Galatians 1 verses 11 and 12, he says, I didn't preach man's gospel. That's the opposite of God's gospel. Yes, there are a lot of man's gospels, other ideas, how to get right with God, other philosophies, other ideas how we should live and conduct ourselves here on planet earth, all kinds of ideas. But Paul says, no, I didn't preach man's gospel, for I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

That is, it is God's message which now is entrusted to His ambassador, to His messenger, to His apostle, Paul, whose whole life has lived in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Now, because the gospel comes from God, it cannot be changed. How arrogant of us to think that we could ever improve on the gospel, that we could maybe make it a little more nuanced, that we could tamper with it to make it more acceptable to our society, which is often what is done in churches in order to get people in, in order to portray that we really are very cool, sophisticated people. We're going to change the gospel a little bit in order to make it more attractive to people. In so doing that, we destroy the gospel. We don't change the gospel. We don't spice it up.

We don't make it more cool or more secret friendly or anything like that. No, we are entrusted with a message. The gospel is not our message. It's a supernatural message coming from God Himself.

I think we've forgotten that. The gospel is God's eternal plan of salvation. Notice what Paul says here in verse two, Romans one, verse two. He says it was the gospel of God, verse two, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. This is not just a New Testament idea.

No. Paul says if you knew your Bible, you would realize that this is the message that God has promised through His prophets. It's not an afterthought. In fact, this message, the gospel, is rooted in the eternal purposes of God. The gospel's origin, then, is not in ourselves, not in Calvary Church, not in our traditions, not in our own ideas, but in God Himself. It originates with God.

What's at the heart of it? Paul tells us, again, Romans one, verse three, this gospel which comes from God, this gospel which was promised beforehand by the prophets, verse three, concerning His Son. That's the gospel. The content of the gospel is Jesus Christ who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. This gospel, which has its origin in God, which was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, centers on the Son of God.

Who is He? In His humanity, Jesus Christ, verse three, was descended from David according to His flesh. He is David's greater son. He's of the tribe of Judah. He is a man descended from David according to the flesh.

He is truly man. Verse four, He's declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Think of Paul's theology. He's telling us who Jesus Christ is, this one who's at the very center of the gospel, this message from God to us. It's a message from God, but it concerns His Son. Who is Jesus?

It's one of the most important questions we could ask, isn't it? Paul tells us He's truly man. According to the flesh, He comes from David.

Who is He? He's truly God. God declares Him to be His Son, risen from the dead. His deity is demonstrated by His resurrection from the dead. So who is at the center of the gospel? You or me?

No. Center of the gospel is Jesus Christ. He is truly man. He is truly God. He is the man Christ Jesus, the unique one. This is a unique message coming from God, centering on His Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who's perfect man and perfect God.

So what does this one do? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verses three and four, I deliver to you as of first importance. He's going to tell us what the gospel is. It's of first importance. It is, at Calvary, an unshakable pillar.

We can talk about, even argue about other things, but there can be no debate, no discussion on this. This is central to who we are. This is of first importance. What is of first importance, Paul?

I deliver to you as of first importance, which I also received. That is divinely received. That Christ, this one who is truly man and truly God, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures. That He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

How wonderful. That this one who comes, comes to die for our sins. He is buried, and on the third day, He's raised from the dead according to the Scriptures. That is, there is no authentic gospel without Jesus Christ and His cross being central. The symbol of the Christian faith, rightly, is the cross. We have a cross on our ceiling.

It's not just decorative because it looks nice. That is establishing that central to our faith is Jesus Christ, who died, was buried, and who is raised again. That He is alive. This is the unique Lord Jesus Christ.

There is none like Him, nor will there ever be anyone like our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ. No one else comes from heaven to earth, dies on the cross for our sins, lives a perfect life, is raised from the dead, and is alive. So the gospel, the true gospel, centers on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, His death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection. The gospel comes from God. It's a divine message. Do you understand that?

You may disagree with it, but at least listen to what I'm saying. Now secondly, the gospel is God's way of salvation. I want us all to grasp this. This is not just some academic truth.

This impacts all of us very personally. The gospel is God's way of salvation. Could I put it another way? The gospel is the only way of salvation because it's God's way. If it was a man's idea or a woman's idea or a committee's idea or a church's idea, we could disagree and say, well that's your view. We've got our own way of getting to God. No, this is God's way. The gospel is God's way of salvation. Isn't this what Paul is saying in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17? So from Romans, let me very quickly, very briefly, I trust not superficially, but quickly explain briefly, let me explain a few terms and pictures of the gospel that Paul uses in Romans. First of all, it is the way of salvation. We heard sung today the song, I Got Saved.

There was the use of that word saved. Some people object to it. Some people think it's old fashioned.

Well, it is old fashioned in the sense that it's been used for at least 2,000 years. It's a biblical term, and it comes from what Paul is saying here in our text. He says this gospel, it's the power of God for salvation. The goal of the gospel is your salvation. That presupposes that we need salvation. That presupposes that we need to be saved. If I come up to you and say, I am your Savior, you're going to say, from what? The gospel is God's power unto salvation.

It's God's power for our salvation. And Paul, I encourage you to read it for yourself, in the opening chapters of Romans, masterfully presents the universal problem of sin. He deals with a pagan. He deals with a moral person. He deals with a Jew who's got the law, and he thinks of all of them, and he goes through his various arguments, and he comes to this conclusion in Romans 3 verse 23 that all have sinned.

Do you get that? That includes you and me. All of us have come short. All of us have sinned and come short, and continue to come short is the point of the glory of God. You were born to glorify God.

You were born not just to live a comfortable life where you pursue your own ego needs and your own desires and prejudices. You were born, and I was born, to glorify God. God made us in His image. We are the creations of God. But instead of doing that, all of us, without exception, as Paul demonstrates in the opening chapters of Romans, all of us have gone astray.

We've gone our own way. We don't all commit the same sins. Some of us are nicer people than others.

That is true. But without exception, all of us have sinned. We've come short of the glory of God. Now this is what the gospel does. This is the uniqueness of the gospel. The gospel takes sinners like you and me. I almost feel like selecting somebody at random and saying, tell us about all your sins.

But that would be terrible, wouldn't it? I feel like doing it. I'm not going to do it. I can start with myself. I'm a sinner. I've come short of the glory of God. I knew better. I was brought up in a Christian home. I was taught the Word of God.

But I went my own way. That's the human life, isn't it? Every single person you know comes short. I meet with couples who are having problems, and they're very quick to point a finger at each other, and often they're right. My wife does this. My husband does that.

What are they saying? I'm married to a sinful person. And I sometimes tell couples who are about to get married, do you realize you're marrying a sinner? Who wants to marry a sinner? I want to marry somebody who's perfect, right?

No. Even in the best of relationships, we realize there are flaws. You don't have a perfect friend. You don't have a perfect son or daughter. You don't have a perfect mother-in-law, believe me.

All of us, not that there's anything wrong with mother-in-laws, but all of us have come short. This is what the gospel does. The gospel takes sinners like us, cleanses us with the blood of Jesus Christ so that we are forgiven and we are saved.

Saved. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to get us saved. Here's Paul in Romans 5 verse 6. Romans 5 verse 6, for while we were still weak, that is spiritually weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Notice that Christ died not for good people, not for wonderful people, but He dies for the ungodly. Though perhaps, sorry, verse 7, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die, but God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Notice what Paul is saying.

This is wonderful. This is why the gospel is good news. Paul says it was when we were ungodly.

It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. The message of the gospel is not that you're a nasty person, clean up your act, get yourself together, start living a decent life and being nice to people, and then I may save you. That's not the gospel. The gospel is God saying to us, I understand that you are ungodly. I understand you're a sinful person.

I want you to acknowledge that. That's called repentance. I want you to admit your own sin because the gospel is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is why the gospel is the greatest power in the universe.

Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 1, when the Jews and the — the Jews with their religion and the Greeks with their sophisticated philosophy were mocking the gospel. He says, you know, to those who are perishing, the word of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel is foolishness. But to us who believe, it's the power of God. I've seen the power of God in the lives of many people. People whose lives were really messed up and have been transformed through the power of the gospel. I can testify to the transforming power of the gospel in my own life. The gospel changes us.

It saves us. Through the gospel, our sins are forgiven. Here's another word. So, first, salvation. Here's another word that Paul does — uses — justification. You say, oh, now you're getting into theology. Yes, I'm getting into theology.

The Bible's about theology, about the study of God. Justification by faith was the truth grasped by Martin Luther and proclaimed by the Reformers, which began the Protestant Reformation at the beginning of the 16th century. This word justification is a legal term. Paul uses it to be justified. What's the picture with this word of being justified? The picture is of the criminal being guilty in court.

He's appeared before court. The evidence is presented, and the verdict is pronounced guilty. And the penalty for our sin is death. The wages of sin is death. I'm not going to ask if any of you have ever been to court and charged with a criminal offense, but if you were, you know that with the charge, with the indictment, there is a penalty. If you're charged with a crime, you can see that if I'm convicted of this crime, this is the likely penalty. With the verdict of guilt, there is a penalty. We have been found guilty before God.

It's Paul's argument. All of us have sinned. All of us are guilty before God, and the verdict has been pronounced guilty, guilty, guilty before God. But here's the wonder of the Gospel. That those who acknowledge their guilt, not the self-righteous who think they can make their own way to God, but those who repent of their sin, those who say, yes, that's me, I'm ungodly, I'm a sinful person, and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who are saved, who embrace the Savior who's come to save them, they are not only acquitted, but are declared righteous before God.

This is wonderful. Maybe a criminal has been acquitted in court by a judge or a jury and is far from righteous. You know that.

I know that. But think of this, that you come, as it were, before a perfect judge who knows everything about you, and as he looks at you, he not only pronounces you not guilty, i.e. your sins are forgiven, he declares you righteous. And Paul says in chapter 3 verse 28, for we hold that no one is, for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. That this justification doesn't, isn't achieved by what we do. It isn't by obeying the law.

It isn't by cleaning up our lives. It is achieved by faith. We are justified by faith.

That is critical. Receiving, what's faith? Faith is receiving the free gift of salvation. Romans 6 verse 23, the wages of sin is death. Listen to this, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you get that? I stand before God. I'm guilty. As I turn from my sin, as I embrace my Savior, I am declared justified.

Not only is the slate wiped clean, i.e. not guilty, it's more than that. The righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ is credited to my account.

Here's the illustration. You have a tremendous debt. You're in debt for a million dollars. And there's no way you're ever going to pay that. A million dollars in debt.

Think of that. But there's a very generous multimillionaire who for some unknown reason loves you. Not that you deserve it. And this very wealthy individual not only pays off your debt, i.e. he pays a million dollars, so that now your debt is totally wiped out.

You don't owe anything. Not only does he do that to your account, into your bank account, he credits one million dollars. Here's the wonder of the gospel, one of the wonders of the gospel. That when we are saved by the grace of God, not only are all of our sins wiped out, that's forgiven. That itself is spectacular in God's generosity and love. Not only does He do that, but to our account, He credits the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Think of it. That there is put to my account the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So Paul writes, he made Him, that is God made Him, His Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And this is all of God's grace. I'm saved.

I'm justified. Third, here's another picture Paul uses, no condemnation. Chapter 8 verse 1, Romans 8 verse 1 really follows from the truth of justification. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I think most of us know what it is to feel condemned, to feel shame. One of the common topics of conversation I have with people is about their guilt, their regrets, their failures, their mistakes, their sin, their shame. They feel condemned. Think of this. Think of the beauty of the gospel. There is therefore now, says Paul, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Have you experienced that?

Just sit here. Do you feel condemned? Do you feel shame, guilt, your past?

You've done some pretty nasty things, haven't you? Listen to how another apostle, John, puts it in beautiful words. John 3 verses 17 and 18, for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. That's why we call the gospel good news. Do you deserve condemnation?

Yes. Speaking personally, I do, but God didn't send Jesus Christ into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

So that is this. John is saying, who's emphasizing belief, who's emphasizing faith, that God didn't send Jesus Christ into this world to condemn. No, He comes to save in order that the world might be saved through Him. Well, how can I be saved? How can I have this verdict of no condemnation? John says, believe in God's wonderful Son.

In the gospel, there is forgiveness. There is no condemnation. There is freedom. This is a country that talks an awful lot about freedom, doesn't it? We all want to be free.

Here's true freedom. No condemnation. Charles Wesley writes in that beautiful hymn, no condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in Him is mine, alive in Him my living head and clothed in righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Bold? To approach God's eternal throne? Are you crazy, Wesley? God is holy. God will wipe you out. You're going to come in boldness to God's eternal throne? Yes, Charles Wesley says, because I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

I'm accepted in the beloved. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Salvation, justification, no condemnation. Here's another one, eternal life, eternal life.

I marvel at this. Through the gospel, which comes from God to us, which centers on our Lord Jesus Christ, we receive eternal life. Again, Romans 6 verse 23, for the wages of sin is death. If Jesus Christ doesn't come, all of us here will die. And a hundred years from now, there will be no one. None of us will be here. But the free gift of God, notice it's a gift.

Gifts are to be received, and they don't work for your gift. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Can you imagine going through life with this security that I have eternal life? This is why the death, the burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is so foundational to our faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who conquered death. No one in all of human history did what Jesus did, by His own power was raised from the dead and is alive. He's the only one who can deal with death. He's gone into death and He's conquered death, and He has promised that if you come to Him and embrace Him and are saved by Him, you will have eternal life alive forevermore. Only Jesus Christ can give you eternal life.

You can't work for it. No, it's a free gift, and we will never perish. Jesus says, I give to my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man snatch them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

I and my Father are one. Eternal life. Life is fragile.

Life is brief. I've just been reading the last couple of days a book about the IRA in their plot to kill Margaret Thatcher when she was prime minister back in 1983. You say, why do you read stuff like that? I don't know, it was fascinating. And it's very well written by a journalist, an Irishman, and he traces the IRA's hatred of the British and how they plot it, and how they put various bombs in various places, and all of the security trying to protect the United Kingdom from the IRA. And the IRA came up with this scheme, they did it for about over three years, they plotted this, to put a bomb when Margaret Thatcher was going to be in Brighton at the conservative party conference. This Irishman went, days before, months before the event, planted a bomb under a bath in a room which was timed to go off at the right time. And it went off. Quite amazing to read the story. I knew about it, but I didn't know all the details. And Margaret Thatcher worked very late, and she was working about 2 o'clock in the morning or so, preparing her speech for the next day.

And the bomb went off just before 3 a.m. causing a lot of devastation. And the writer says that if she had just been a few feet — if she had been in her bathroom, she was a few feet from it, she almost certainly would have been killed, if not ripped to shreds. And I thought, you know, not that we have, I don't think, anyone plotting our death like that. I don't think I have any assassin trying to kill me or you, but I thought, you know, in a sense, that's how we all live, isn't it? We're only a step from death. Whether it's a car accident, whether it's a disease, whatever it is, life comes. And death comes.

No exceptions. One out of one dies. I say this not to be gloomy, not that we live in fear. Quite the contrary to say that our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death, has removed the fear of death, that we as Christians can look at death, can face death.

Why? Because we are following the man Christ Jesus who's gone into death and has gone through death and is in the eternal presence of God. And so that those of us who have been saved, whose lives are united with our Lord Jesus Christ, know that when that time comes, which none of us know, when we will pass from time into eternity, there's nothing to fear because through the personal work of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been granted this magnificent free gift of eternal life.

Isn't that a wonderful way to live, knowing that you are totally secure in Jesus Christ? That's the gospel. That's the good news of the gospel, eternal life.

We have salvation, justification, no condemnation, eternal life. Finally, Paul talks about a changed life. Romans 6 verse 4, he says, we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. It's a new life. Verse 22, but now that we have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and is end eternal life. See before Christ, you live your own life, don't you? But when you come to Jesus Christ, when you're saved, when you're justified, when you're forgiven, when you receive eternal life, you can't go on living as you once lived.

If you do that, you have to question whether I really have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, whether I truly am saved. Why would you go back to the old life? Paul is saying, no, you walk in newness of life. Things are different, things are changed.

You're a new creation. Oh yes, you're tempted to go back. When I was 10, 11-year-old, I remember playing football, soccer for a school in Verbrothock Primary School in a little town in Arbroath on the east coast of Scotland. And I'd come home in my, in my football uniform. Inevitably it was wet, usually rains in Scotland. And there's mud all over me, because I played my little heart out. And I also got that green grass, you know, it's stained. And so I would come, got my dirty football boots, my school soccer kit on, and my mom would say, take it off, John.

Take it off. Go and get a bath. I'm totally drenched, dirty, filthy. But could you imagine before my soccer kit was washed that I'd come out of my bath, got myself all cleaned up, and I would wear that same dirty clothes?

And imaginable, isn't it? You say, no, things are different. Things are changed.

Why is it, my brothers and sisters, we so often go back to the old life? Are you tempted to go back? Yes.

Are there things in your past that you are tempted to that seem appealing? The answer is yes. We still have these desires, but now in the power of God, we who are saved demonstrate that we are saved by a changed life, because this gospel is to be personally received. And I challenge you, have you received it? Did you get what Paul says back to our main text, Romans 1, 16, 17? I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

This message will do you absolutely no good at all unless it is personally received. So my strong, strong appeal to you is this, have you personally received Jesus Christ? The gospel is offered to everyone. We are commanded to make disciples of all of the nations. And Paul is saying, listen, you have sinned, and you will be justified, you will be saved, not by what you do, but what Christ has done.

We sung about what He has done, what our Savior has done in dying for our sins, in being buried and rising again. The work is all done, it is now to be personally received. Yes, by sinful people like you. Yes, by people who don't deserve it. Yes, I understand you're totally unworthy of it.

That is true. What you do, you're to accept it, you're to believe, you're to abandon all of your own ideas, your self-righteousness, your church attendance and your heritage and your generosity and all of that, and realize that you bring nothing at all to Christ other than your sin. And faith is the means by which God's salvation is received. Faith is the outstretched hand receiving the free gift that we're saved by grace, through faith and that not of ourselves, not of our own doing.

It's the gift of God. It is trusting Christ alone for salvation. I ask you, have you trusted Christ for salvation?

You may understand intellectually, I hope you do. You may come to church, that's wonderful. But my question to you is, whoever you are, you may have sat there for many, many years, that doesn't save you. You may have come from the best Christian home in North Carolina, that doesn't save you.

You may be a very sincere, genuine person who is very kind to your neighbors, that's wonderful, but that doesn't save you. I'm asking you, do you know Jesus Christ personally? Have you abandoned your self-righteousness and cried out? And Paul says in Romans 10, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

Are you saved? Can I say to those of you who are, never be ashamed of the Gospel. This message is to be communicated by all of us. Paul says to the Jew first and also to the rest of the world, never be ashamed of the Gospel. Communicate it to others, start with your family, your neighborhood, your sphere of influence, where you are, and your relationship.

Why? Because of the Gospel. Don't be ashamed of the Gospel. In the Gospel, sinners are saved. In the Gospel, the lost are found. The dead become alive, the blind see.

The defiled are cleansed. Those alienated are adopted into the eternal family of God. In the Gospel, the guilty are forgiven. This is the Gospel, the most powerful force in all of the world, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I ask today that each of you, that you believe it, that you receive it, and that you live it, and that the Gospel will transform your life and others. As we can say, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. I ask that we'll just pause a few moments, and before we sing, I'm going to give you an opportunity, if you've never done it, to receive Christ as your Savior. These holy moments, perhaps you're a follower of Christ, and you've not been reflected in the Gospel.

Perhaps you've gone back to your old ways. This is a time of dedication, a time in your own heart where you'll say, no, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel. I'm going to tell others I'm not going to live it, because this is the power of God unto salvation. For those of you who are not yet saved, will you just pray with me? Oh God, I acknowledge I'm a sinful person. I failed. I'm unworthy of your love, but thank you that you loved me even when I was a sinner.

I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son who died for my sins on the cross, was buried, and who is eternally alive. Lord Jesus, come and save me. Cleanse me. Grant me eternal life. In Christ's name, amen.