DEFINING METRO Metro’s Motto – Metro’s Message

Romans 1:16a

INTRODUCTION

Rom 1:15-17 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 7For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

KEY INSIGHT: These are crucial, vital verses for Metro.

In these two verses we find the very BED ROCK and FOUNDATION of Evangelical Christianity.

If we aren’t perfectly clear as to what they teach, somewhere along the line we will go wrong in either our MESSAGE or in our METHODS.

I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

KEY OBSERVATION #1 - PAUL’S BOLDNESS IN THE CAUSE OF THE GOSPEL.

BOLD = to be frank in utterance, or confident in spirit and demeanor:--be (wax) bold, (preach, speak) boldly.

KEY INSIGHT #1 - Paul could afford to be BOLD in the Gospel

WE can afford to be bold in the Gospel

BECAUSE IT IS TRUE.

We have the truth.

We don’t need to

APOLOGIZE for it

EXCUSE it

Or DIMINISH it.

We should SPEAK IT in love!

KEY INSIGHT #2 - Their boldness was NOT something they possessed in and of themselves.

1 Th 2:2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

(1 Th 2:2 NLT) You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, even though we were surrounded by many who opposed us.

KEY INSIGHT: It was in that MOMENT OF NEED that they GREW BOLD

Acts 13:46 KJV THEN Paul and Barnabas WAXED BOLD,

KEY APPLICATION: This BOLDNESS encouraged others concerning the power of the Spirit.

(Phil 1:14 NLT) And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ.

1 - PAUL’S BOLDNESS IN THE CAUSE OF THE GOSPEL.

KEY OBSERVATION #2 – PAUL NEEDED TO DECLARE THAT HE WAS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL

1.) There was a time when he was ashamed.

Paul wrote this letter from Corinth!

(1 Cor 2:1-5 NKJV) And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

These verses described what was happening in Paul’s heart after He came to Corinth from Athens. There on Mars Hill he tried to communicate the Gospel in terms of human wisdom – it was his most ineffective time of ministry.

2.) It seems to be abundantly clear that even a man like Timothy was a little guilty of that.

2 Tim 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

3.) In fact, it is also apparent that when Paul was in prison in Rome, that many believers were ashamed to be associated with him.

But in contrast to them, Paul praises a man named Onesiphorus.

(2 Tim 1:16-17 NLT) May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in prison. {17} When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.

NOTE WELL: THE WORLD RIDICULES THE GOSPEL, MAKING THE BELIEVER ASHAMED OF IT.

The world always ridicules the Gospel and regards it as utter foolishness.

That was true in the early days of the church.

1 Cor 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

STUMBLINGBLOCK = skandalon, skan'-dal-on ("scandal");

from a der. of a trap-stick (bent sapling), i.e. snare (fig. cause of displeasure or sin):--occasion to fall (of stumbling), offence, thing that offends,

FOLLY = From moros, mo-ros'; (We get moron from this word)

dull or stupid (as if shut up), i.e. heedless, (mor.) blockhead, (appar.) absurd:--fool (-ish, X -ishness).

POINT: Virtually ALL of academia see the Gospel as moronic — while the religious person stumbles over/is offended by the message of grace and faith — by the necessity of the cross.

Paul NEEDED to make that declaration in Romans 1:16 because the world always ridicules the Gospel — and man by nature does not like being ridiculed.

WHY DOES THE WORLD RIDICULE THE GOSPEL?

THE WORLD RIDICULES THE GOSPEL

1.) Because of the SUBJECT and CENTERPIECE of the Gospel.

The focal point of the Gospel is One who was born in utter, abject poverty and died in utter shame.

Yet He is the One we devote our lives to and proclaim to be the Savior of the World.

So the SUBJECT of the message produces this ridicule, and, man by nature does not like being ridiculed, so he is ashamed of this Gospel.

2.) Because the Gospel is not a philosophy; it is a statement of facts.

The world never ridicules philosophy — it likes it.

You put up the rival views, and you discuss them.

The world likes that — lets have a conversation!

BUT THE GOSPEL IS NOT PHILOSOPHY.

We hold forth ONE Gospel in FOUR accounts which give an account of THIS PERSON — His life, miracles, death and resurrection and promise to return.

There is no great philosophical argument here.

It does not ask for a conversation — it DEMANDS a RESPONSE to it’s declaration!

That tends to make the world ridicule it.

THERE’S APPLICATION IN THIS — The Gospel of Jesus Christ is always exposed to this charge of ridicule and contempt.

In light of this — one of the best ways of testing the preaching or exposition of the Gospel is this

Is it offensive to the natural man?

Will it annoy the natural man?

Will the natural man hate it?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not popular with the natural man — He is against it.

Preach the CROSS of Jesus Christ and you will find that the natural man is OFFENDED!

Preach the reality of HELL as the consequence of rejecting the Gospel and you find more contempt.

So - if you find the natural man or woman — the unregenerate man or woman — praising either the preacher or his message then you had better examine preacher and his preaching very carefully.

THERE ARE OTHER REASONS WHY HE WAS NOT ASHAMED

1.) HE BELIEVED IN THE WRATH OF GOD

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

LET’S NOT MISS THIS — The thought of people actually facing the wrath of God — and the knowledge that he had the ONE MESSAGE that could deliver them caused him to be unashamed

2.) HE BELIEVED IN THE LOVE OF GOD

2Cor. 5:14-15 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

SUMMARY: So Paul had REASONS to GLORY IN and to be UNASHAMED of the Gospel.

It is TRUE.

He was Bold in His God.

They GREW BOLD in time of Need.

He believed in the wrath of God.

He believed in the Love Of God.

Now we come to the BED ROCK of His boldness

The very NATURE OF THE GOSPEL

is what Paul GLORIED IN.

is why Paul was NOT ASHAMED.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

HUGE QUESTION / HUGE IMPLICATION

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?

The word basically means

"DELIVERANCE”

to HEAL

to MAKE WHOLE.

Paul was NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL because IT was POWERFUL TO DELIVER.

Power is the one thing that Rome boasted of the most.

Greece might have its philosophy, but Rome had its power.

But the fear of Rome hovered over the empire like a cloud.

THEY were the conquerors!

The conquering Roman legions were stationed all over the known world.

NOTE: But for all of her military power, Rome was still a weak nation.

The philosopher Seneca called the city of Rome “a cesspool of iniquity” — The writer Juvenal called it a “filthy sewer into which the dregs of the empire flood.”

NO WONDER Paul was not ashamed — He was taking to the cesspool of Rome the one message that had the power to change men’s lives!

He had seen the power of the Gospel at work in other wicked cities such as Corinth and Ephesus — and he was confident that it would work mightily in Rome.

It had transformed his own life — and he knew it could transform the lives of others.

Sometimes we forget that the Gospel changed OUR lives.

THE GOSPEL DELIVERS US FROM SIN

1.) THE POSITION OF GUILT before God and the judgment we faced.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

THE GOSPEL DELIVERS US FROM SIN

2.) THE POWER OF SIN over us

INSIGHT: The unhindered work of Satan in one’s life is destroyed at the moment of true salvation.

1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

NOTE WELL: This salvation / deliverence is evidenced by change

Salvation produces a life of freedom from the bondage of sin and bondage of Satan that came with it — We have the ability to CHOSE to obey.

THE GOSPEL DELIVERS US FROM SIN

3.) THE POLLUTION OF SIN within us.

ILLUSTRATION: Upon detonation — the atom bomb leveled a city and killed hundreds of thousands.

But radioactivity slowly infected and polluted the bodies of those exposed who did not immediately die.

Sin POLLUTES this world.

2 Pet 1:4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

This POLLUTION warps our thinking.

But upon being saved our WARPED THINKING IS STRAIGHTEND out.

EXAMPLE: My attitude towards Billy Graham… Pre-marital sex, etc.

Isa. 40:4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

Isa. 42:16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

QUOTE: Spurgeon on how our desires change - The man who believes in God becomes by that faith moved to everthing that is right, and good, and true…..The faith which is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost is the greatest sin-killer under heaven. By the grace of God it affects the inmost heart, changes the desires and the affections, and makes the man a new creature in Christ Jesus. If there be on earth any who can truly be called just, they are those who are made so by faith in God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Indeed, no other men are "just" save those to whom the holy God gives the title, and of these the text says that they live by faith. Faith trusts God, and therefore loves him, and therefore obeys him, and therefore grows like him. It is the root of holiness, the spring of righteousness, the life of the just.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

THE GOSPEL DELIVERS US FROM SIN

4.) THE PRESENCE OF SIN completely removed in the future in Heaven

(Rev 21:27 KJV) And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

QUOTE: 2nd Chapter Of Acts: “I’ll never ever break His heart again”

SALVATION RESTORES — HEALS/MAKES WHOLE — OUR COMMUNION WITH GOD

1.) BEFORE the Fall — man lived in glorious communion and fellowship with God

NOTE: Some represent salvation as only forgiveness!

Forgiveness is NECESSARY, but it is only the BEGINNING!

John 17:1-3 “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

2.) The Gospel has the POWER to bring the worst of sinners into IMMEDIATE fellowship with Godwith the living God!

We are INSTANTLY brought out of darkness into the light of fellowship with God.

Col 1:13-14; 19-20 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

EXAMPLE: In my own conversion this is what was so surprising to me!

I was INSTANTLY brought into fellowship with God.

What an AMAZING and AWESOME and GLORIOUS THING:

When WE ARE READY TO BELIEVE upon Him and RECEIVE the free gift of salvation

WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO GET HIS ATTENTION!

Every human being already has his undivided attention

SALVATION RESTORES TO US THE HOPE OF GLORY

Man was MADE for GLORY!

The whole story of salvation is about bringing man back to paradise — where he originally experienced the glory of God.

POINT: The message of the Gospel — our experiences of God’s goodness — causes us to burn bright with this hope

This hope is NOT some pie in the sky mentality.

This hope is an intense reality based on all that has been shown so far.

Col 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

(Heb 6:18-19 NLT) So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. {19} This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary.

SUMMARY:

SALVATION = DELIVERANCE

SALVATION GIVES TO US DELIVERANCE FROM SIN.

Deliverance from the POSITION OF GUILT

Deliverance from the POWER OF SIN

Deliverance from the POLLUTION OF SIN

Deliverance from and the the PRESENCE OF SIN .

SALVATION RESTORES US TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.

We become WORSHIPPERS of the True and Living God!

SALVATION RESTORES THE HOPE OF GLORY

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for IT is the POWER OF GOD for salvation…

HUGE THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT — The Gospel IS the revelation of God’s power on the earth

There are always those say — "I'd believe if Jesus appeared to me now!”

*God says look at those around you whose lives are radically changed.

1 Th 1:9; 1 Thes. 2:13-14 KJV For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.;….. 2:13 for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 14For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,

We actually become BLINDED TO THE POWER of the Gospel BECAUSE we

get so focused on some weakness in our own life

forget the major changes that God has worked in our lives.

Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

METRO’S MOTTO — Not ashamed of the Gospel

METRO’S MESSAGE — The Gospel — for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes