Good morning. I count it a great privilege to be here. I am very encouraged by the personality of this congregation. Last night, I got in and was warmly welcomed in the parsonage, which I understand has recently been renovated. And just the way that you have so generously provided for your pastor and his family makes my heart sing. I think of 2 Kings chapter 4 and Elisha having prepared for him an upper chamber with a bed and a table and a chair and a lampstand and how that Shunammite who provided that provision for the man of God was richly blessed. And just the way that you have provided for your pastor and his family I believe that's a forecast of great blessing that will be here in this church, Hope Reform Baptist Church here in Aloha, Portland, Oregon area. And I trust that this is a place where there is a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. I've gotten to know your pastor. I actually visited here about a year and a half ago and spent time with him there as you were meeting at the school. now to be able to see that the Lord has really parted the financial seas and enabled you to pass through to a place where you have a plot of land for yourself and the building that is owned this is the finger of God in your life and I trust again that he has plans for this place plans not to harm you but to prosper you and to give you a future here in the metro portland area let's take our bibles and turn to romans chapter 1 romans chapter 1 we'll focus our attention on verses 16 And 17, it speaks of the gospel. And just to give you a little background about myself, I'm sure I am an akizidex to you. I've got no genealogy. Who is this man? Where did he come from? I was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, born in 1959 to a Roman Catholic family. And I grew up basically thinking that if I did more goods then bads in my life, the scales of justice would tip in my favor and I'd be declared on Judgment Day a basically good guy for my good deeds and I'd gain entrance into heaven. But then at age 17, I went to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp at Central Michigan University, and I heard the gospel. I still remember as I was walking from the Rose Arena at Central Michigan University back to my dormitory about a mile away, I couldn't stop weeping because I heard the gospel of the forgiveness of sins based on the blood-bought righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as I was walking back from that gymnasium with the other 11 athletes from my public high school, I couldn't stop crying and weeping. I couldn't even catch my breath. And the guy said, what's the matter with Chansky? And I said, I don't know what's the matter with me. But in retrospect, I was born again. that day. The Lord gave me a new heart. And eventually I went off to Calvin College, which I thought was a conservative Christian school, but it really wasn't. I went then to Cornerstone University and somebody was handing out these magazines called Sword and Trowel. They were Spurgeon magazines that talked about the doctrines of grace. I said, is there a church? that embraces these things. And they sent me to the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, where there's a guy named Sam Waldron, who was preaching at this time there. And I eventually attended and joined the church. And I was sent off to seminary. And I married my wife, Diane, we had five children. We pastored in Dayton, Ohio for three and a half years from 86 to 89, then 89 to 94, I pastored alongside Sam Waldron back up in Grand Rapids. We planted churches in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Louisville, Kentucky, Lethbridge, Alberta, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. And the fifth church we planted was in Holland, Michigan, which was 30 miles away from Grand Rapids. We plucked churches out of the Grand, families out of the Grand Rapids church. And we planted the church. I became a pastor there in 1994. And then for 28 years, I pastored at that church. I became then the coordinator of the Reformed Baptist Network. And now I'm visiting this Reformed Baptist Church that's been established in Portland, Oregon. And interesting, I see uh... josiah here and uh... josiah's dad was someone that i got to know in grand rapids shawn and uh... just uh... actually it's your grandfather leonard vincent that married my aunt so i have all kinds of connections with this church here but having given that genealogy let's go to the word of god which speaks about that gospel that saved my soul," Romans 1, verses 16-17. Just two verses, really, just focus on the first. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The righteous man shall live by faith. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we come this day. We're thirsty. And as we take our bucket and we lower it and dip it into the well of your word, we pray, Father, that it would come up full to the brim, and we ask that you would open our mouths wide, that you would fill them, that it would be refreshing to our souls, that it would brighten our eyes, and we pray that it would even bring life. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. A man named Constantine became the emperor of Rome in 311, A.D. And this provided Christianity with Caesar's protection. A Christian emperor bringing over two centuries of persecution to an end. But then after 25 years of Constantine, he died and Julian named the apostate. He became the emperor. He became the Caesar in Rome. And Julian, hating Christianity, didn't return to a policy of persecution against Christians with sword and fire and lions. He feared that martyrdom would actually energize Christianity instead of crushing it. So instead, Caesar Julian cunningly fought the church by writing treatises against Christianity and by his saying that Christians should be forbidden education And by robbing Christians of their possessions and removing Christians from their positions of influence, he persecuted Christians, Julian did subtly. And during a night battle in 363, Caesar Julian was struck at a venture by an arrow that was shot. by chance, and this gave him a mortal wound. And legend has it that his last words were spoken in surrender to King Jesus, against whom he had bitterly fought. And his words were, Galilean, referred to Jesus, thou hast conquered. And since then, Arguably, the influence of Christianity has dominated the Western world. Jesus had conquered. And so earlier, think with me now, approximately in 57 AD, the Apostle Paul anticipated his soon arrival to pagan Rome, which was the capital of Caesar's power there in the first century. Now, Paul was the captain in the motley and pitiable looking legions of King Jesus. Jesus was a rival ruler to the Caesar at this time who was Nero. And Nero fought against Jesus and hated Jesus eventually. But Caesar Nero called for supreme allegiance in the hearts of men. And so we see that his long and lone weapon that the Apostle Paul had as he approached the intimidating city of Rome was this flimsy sling that he had in his hand, which was the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul approaching Rome with merely the sling of the gospel seemed that he was on a fool's errand. So these Thoughts warm our minds to the first century conflict that was residing in Paul's words here. Look what it says. For I'm not ashamed of this gospel for it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. We want to unpack this verse in three main headings. First, we'll look at Paul's gospel confidence stated. Then secondly, Paul's gospel confidence reasoned. And then thirdly, Paul's gospel confidence applied. So come on with me firstly to Paul's gospel confidence stated in 16a. He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel means he's not embarrassed. He's not afraid of the ridicule it'll bring. It doesn't make him shrink back as he approaches Rome as he comes with the gospel. Let's consider two angles of this gospel confidence stated. First, in the face of scorning. Now, Paul wrote the letter to Rome. from Corinth, and as Paul looked across the Adriatic Sea, he could basically see the Italian peninsula where Rome resided. Now, Rome, as he looked across the sea, that was the capital of world power. That was the residence of all the great people, the who's who of the globe. They resided there in Rome. There in Rome was the pomp and ceremony of the Roman Emperor's Court. There were senators there, and philosophers, and orators, and writers, and intellectuals. Rome was a really intimidating place to visit. And put yourself in Paul's sandals as he approached Rome. He had this little sling in his hand, which was his gospel, which was the message that, listen to this now, the savior of the world, the whole world, is a Galilean Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, whose life campaign had climaxed and is being crucified, hung on a Roman cross. A Galilean! That's the focus of Paul's gospel. Now, Rome was a sophisticated and learned city. How are they going to respond to this bald-headed, hook-nosed, bow-legged man who came to the city with this kind of a message. They're going to laugh him out of town. They're going to look at him and say, who is this funny little man? Is he auditioning to be the court jester of Caesar's palace? You see, that's the kind of response he had gotten in a world-class city of Athens there in Acts chapter 17. Remember, they responded to him as he spoke at the Areopagus. It says, the Epicurean and the Stoic philosophers, they listened to him, and they scoffed. They scorned. They sneered at him. Who is this idle babbler, they said, which literally means, who's this seed picker? He's hardly a sophisticated philosopher. And the things that he's saying, like the resurrection from the dead, what's the matter with this man? People don't rise out of graves. They laughed at him. Now understand that Paul was not a man of steel. Just like you just like me. He he had insecurities of his own that Paul even says when he wrote to the Corinthians in first Corinthians 2 1. Having come from Athens, having gotten beaten up in his ego, he said, I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. But Paul says, even so, he had these insecurities. But he had set his jaw to say, but I determined I would know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. I'm not going to bring the wisdom of the world, he said, what the philosophers bring with their fancy elite talk. No, I'm going to bring just the gospel. Now understand, Paul could have been a philosopher who was impressive in rhetoric. Paul was a man of mighty intellect. He had the mental muscle to fight with worldly methods. didn't have to use the hokey hillbilly gospel the simple gospel of the lord jesus christ this little sling that he had to bring against the giant of rome he could have used their Methods, as many do in our day, swapping the message of the gospel to present one that is more palatable and tasty to the unbeliever's mind, to remove the offense of the cross and its related themes. What we see here, Paul's gospel comment stated, I'm not ashamed of the gospel in the face of scorning. But the second angle is Paul's gospel confidence stated, yeah, in the face of scorning, but also with a voice of daring. You hear it here in this passage. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It says he speaks with a very bold voice. It's not spoken with a with a cheapish Nicodemus like cowardly weak faith. Remember John 3 in verse 1 Nicodemus came to Jesus to talk to him at night. Jesus may have said, well, you remember the Sanhedrin, aren't you? Why are you coming to me at night? Are you ashamed of me Nicodemus? I'm not ashamed, but he really was. But Paul is saying here, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because he's going to speak this gospel as in this verse with a defiant David like voice. I'm not ashamed of you, Goliath. I'm not afraid of you as you looked up the nostrils of that mountain of a man, though he may have felt intimidated. David was. And though he was taunted and mocked by the giant, he said, I am not afraid of you, Goliath. And I'm also not afraid of this little sling that I have in my hand as my lone weapon. I'm not afraid. Think of that passage in first Samuel 17, where David says regarding this pitched battle that was there in the valley of Elah. David says there, the battle, O giant, is the Lord's. And I will strike you down and I will remove your head from you. And likewise, as Paul approached the giant city of Rome, we see here he was unashamed, bringing the sling like gospel that he had against this massive, intimidating city. Alexander McLaren says this. This danger of approaching Rome was an attraction to Paul's chivalrous spirit. He believed in flying at the head of a thing when you're fighting with a serpent. And he knew that influence exerted in Rome would thrill through the empire. See, Paul knew that the Galilean could and would triumph with this little sling of the gospel. And so Paul here in this first chapter, we see, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. He's armed with the flimsy looking sling of the gospel and the smooth stones of its key doctrines. And he makes his approach to Rome. That's our first main heading, Paul's gospel confidence statement. I promise three main headings. The second is this, Paul's gospel confidence reasoned. Here, Paul gives the reason for this confidence. He gives three lines here. Look what it says there. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Look at his Gospel of Confidence reasoned three lines here. Look, it says, first, because it announces salvation. It says, for it is the power for salvation. That word salvation is the Greek word soterion, which means deliverance or rescue or preservation or safety from something dangerous and deadly that that word Soterion or salvation is used back in Exodus chapter 14 verse 13 in the Septuagint the Old Testament Greek translation where Moses is standing there on the shore of the Red Sea seeing the waters at his back and seeing the Egyptian military machine who is riding up against them in the front, and he's got this wooden staff in his hand, and Moses says this, stand by, he says to Israel, stand by and see the salvation of the Lord. See, at this point, Israel is hemmed in with a Red Sea at their backs and Pharaoh's chariots in their faces, and their wives and their children are in the crosshairs of their swords. Israel is doomed to be mowed down and massacred. It already endured the agonizing whip of Egypt, and now they were awaiting being thrust through by the sword of Egypt. And all their leader has in his hand is this pathetic wooden staff that he's pointing out over the Red Sea. You see, this is kind of a depiction, I think, of even the whole race of humanity standing in a doomed state and condition. That's our condition. You're all of us left to ourselves. We're standing just chilling and shaking on the seashore. We think of even Revelation 19 speaks of the Jesus coming with his sword and the chariots and the horsemen of heaven coming to mow down all sinners, because due to Adam's sin, we'll surely die. And due to our own personal sins, what does it say in Romans 6? The wages of sin is death. We're all doomed here as our teeth clatter on the shore of judgment. And we see here that the chariots and the horsemen of heaven are poised to mow us down and cast us into hell. That's our condition. That's all of Oregon's condition. It's all of America's condition. It's all of the world's condition. It's all of the city of Rome's condition as Paul approached. And so we see that the sinners of Rome, to whom Paul was approaching, they were in a desperate condition. And Paul says, all I'm doing is I'm coming to that city, which is doomed for judgment. And I'm bringing this wooden staff. I'm simply showing the way of salvation. Jesus in the gospel says, I am the way. the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. Paul says, I'm coming to Rome, and I'm just showing the one way of deliverance with this gospel. So Paul says, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. Well, why would anyone be ashamed? Why would anyone blush and be embarrassed by showing to that vast city, those hordes of people, the one way of salvation? the one access to escape. They're doomed. I'm bringing them the good news. I'm not ashamed of this gospel because it announces salvation. And secondly, as we look at his confidence reason, because it contains great power. This gospel contains great power. I'm not ashamed of it. It says, look, it is the power of God for salvation. That word power is the Greek word dunamis, which means this is the strength. This is the ability. This is the potential of God. In other words, like dynamite comes from the word dunamis. Dynamite packs great punch. And so we see that's the nature of this gospel, this little wooden staff that I'm bringing, showing the way, the truth, and The life. You see, Paul had seen the punch this gospel had. He knew what this gospel could do. He knew what it did in his life. He was a raging wolf. He was armed with the teeth to persecute Christians as he approached Damascus. And what did the gospel do on the road to Damascus? It threw him down. off his horse, and it totally disarmed him. There's power in this gospel, Paul knew by his own personal experience in Acts 9. Or, you move ahead to Acts chapter 13, and the proconsul on Cyprus. He was struck down by the gospel, or Acts 16, the Philippian jailer. He was struck down by the gospel, or in Acts chapter 18, Crispus, the synagogue leader. This wasn't just a little janitor at the synagogue. This was a teacher, the leader of the synagogue. He was struck down by the gospel. Or you think of how it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 that homosexuals, murderers of those homosexuals, that they had been cleansed. that they had been justified, that they had been saved by the gospel. You ever read that book, Confessions of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield? She was thrown down by this gospel, that it may be in Christ, a new creation. Old things have gone and new things have come. This gospel has power in it. John Murray says this, the gospel is the omnipotence of God operative in salvation. And Charles Hodge says, the gospel is that through which God exercises his power. Oh, we sit back in our orange pews and we say, well, in what sense is there power in this? Is it merely in the mere letters? In the words when spoken like an incantation? No, that's not the way it is. It says in 1 Thessalonians 1.5, Paul says, our gospel did not come to you in word only. but also in power. This gospel that Paul has, this gospel is a message when declared and then believed, it unleashes power as it shields us from the wrath of God to come. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones in his commentary on this phrase, for it is the power of God for salvation, this gospel. You know, Lloyd-Jones was, physician he was the Queen's surgeon he was the top-notch healer in the United Kingdom but he abandoned his stethoscope and took up the Bible and he now became a physician of souls and he brought the true medication every man needs, which is the gospel. And this person says, or Lloyd-Jones says, what is this gospel? Is it merely the words? It's like when a physician writes up a prescription to someone who is diseased, and it's written on a little piece of paper, scribbled. Are there power in those words? No, it's not just the words, he says. But he says, if that prescription is taken to the pharmacist, And then the ingredients of that prescription are ingested. And then it unleashes power within the body to save the body from the disease. And so likewise, the gospel has power in the sense that the spirit of God applies the great truths of the gospel preached. And that unleashes within the soul a certain spiritual power that deposes and forgives sin. It's got power to do that. Like for me, why couldn't I catch my breath when I was walking on Central Michigan campus? Because the power of the gospel came home by the Spirit. And it imputes and enthrones righteousness. It's like dynamite in the soul of one who's saved. You see, the Spirit of God applies these great truths of the gospel preached within the soul. And so Paul says, so with this gospel that I had, this little crumpled piece of paper, these truths, these doctrines that I'm bringing to the city of Rome, I'm not ashamed of this prescription that I carry in my pocket here, for I know what it can do, Paul says. I know what it did for me and to others. And I'm going to this sick, spiritually leprous colony in Rome And I know what this gospel can do for them and their spiritual disease. It can save them from damnation and they're splitting hell wide open. And though the multitudes of Rome may laugh at my message, they may call me a stupid man with a crumpled note. I'm not ashamed of this gospel and what it can do. Just turn with me to first Corinthians chapter one, And look what it says there, how Paul, again, even approaching this great city with this mindset, 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse 18. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us are being saved. It is the power of God, for it's written, I'll destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Paul is saying some are going to ingest this when I get to Rome and some are going to be saved from the wrath of God to come. So Paul's gospel message is reason. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it's the power of God for salvation. So because it announces salvation, because it contains great power, but also thirdly, because it saves all kinds. That's what it says here. Look, look. First, the Jew and also the Greek. Paul is saying, as I go to Rome, there are Jews and Greeks. There are Jews and Gentiles. And in my gospel is the spiritual antidote to save every kind of sinner. Imagine if there was an Ebola outbreak and people were dying right and left in the Portland metro area. And let's say that there was maybe some antidote. Listen, only for Asian people. But for some reason, it didn't work for Caucasians. Didn't work for black people. Didn't work for Latino people. Only for Asians. That would be a useful antidote, but it wouldn't be for everybody. But Paul says, this gospel that I preach is for Jews and for Gentiles alike. Saving Jews, well, that's a good thing. Notice how when the disciples were given the commission, go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, basically all our Jewish people, then where? the outermost parts of the earth. In other words, this gospel can save not just Jews, but also Gentiles. It's interesting how when, Jay, you read from Romans chapter 9, I thought, oh, this dovetails so well with what we're talking about here, the sovereignty of God. Even the 11th chapter of Romans, how it speaks of the wild olive branches, which would be the Gentiles being grafted into the Jewish roots. And we can see how, well, Jews who were raised on the oracles of God, Romans 3.1, they have in their mind this idea of a Passover lamb. They were taught about that when they were young. Or the idea of the scapegoat from Leviticus chapter 16. Or even the idea of the high priest, Aaron, representing the people of God. And how when Paul's gospel came, like John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is being presented as the lamb who his blood smeared and blood posted my soul the wrath of God will pass over the Jew gets it because it's like a natural branch put back on to the Jewish root or the idea of a scapegoat they knew what a scapegoat was in the day of atonement But the Gentiles, they weren't raised on the oracles of God. So that when they heard the gospel, I mean, they were raised on Zeus and Hermes and Artemis and Poseidon, these false gods and that gospel coming to them. It's like no communication. wrong wavelength but Paul says but the gospel can break through even that hindrance with the gentiles though it be so well contoured to the jew as well that's for all who believe so the point is that paul is saying regardless of the disease None in Rome is too sick. None is beyond the healing power of this prescription. The gospel is the panacea cure for everybody. For the Jews, well, they would be, like Romans chapter 2, guilty of hypocrisy, like whitewashed tombs. They would be guilty of boasting, being adulterers, there's none righteous, not even one. Jews are sinners. You know, sometimes the Jew would be kind of righteous. Sort of like the person who has pancreatic cancer. You look at his face and he can be very handsome. She can be very beautiful, but inside the disease is going to kill her. And that's the way it was with Jews. It could be outwardly righteous. The gospel can save them with that kind of spiritual pancreatic cancer. But it can also save the Gentiles who You ever see somebody with a picture of leprosy and their nose is corroding and their ear may have fallen off. They look ugly on the outside. That's where the Gentile would look. Someone who was living a life of prostitution or someone who was a drunkard, a broken down life. Well, you see, the gospel, it can save not only those who are outwardly ugly and grotesque, but also those who are outwardly whitewashed tombs. But inwardly, they are evil and wicked. Paul says, it saves all kinds. It saves both the Jew and the Greek. So I'm not ashamed of this gospel as I approach Rome, because it is the power of God for salvation to all people residing in Rome. So that's the exposition of our passage. Now, having expounded, I want you to then see thirdly, as we've seen Paul's gospel conference stated, Gospel confidence reasoned. Now consider Paul's gospel confidence applied. First, consider to Christian witnesses. How do we apply this to our lives? Paul is not ashamed of that gospel. Most to us, as witnesses, we can apply this. Again, the last words of our Savior were, you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, you know, go make disciples of all nations. That's the that's the great commission. Now, I preach from this passage a while back in in Holland that I preached it. Somebody had come to our church who believed in the sovereignty of God and salvation and believed in Romans chapter 9, just as Jay read it for us, that God elects from the foundation of the world, and all those who are the elect will indeed be saved in the end. And as I emphasize this passage, this person said, well, I'm a man who's a father and a husband, and my responsibility as a Christian, yes, I am to give the gospel to my wife and to my children, period. It's not my business to go to the ends of the earth. God has his elect and he'll save them. Pastor Mark, don't put a guilt trip on your people. Now, he said this is true for you. He said you're a pastor. So you as a pastor, as a clergyman, you need to take the gospel to the ends of the earth or missionaries. But not me. I'm just a rank and file believer. I turn to the passage in Philippians 2, 15, where it says you appear as lights in the world. in this crooked and perverse generation you're to be holding forth the word of life like a lamp to those who are in darkness or colossians 4 6 where it says we're to make the most of every opportunity and what we say we're to be full of grace Everything that we say needs to be seasoned with salt, so wherever we go, we're going to be speaking the gospel. And he just said, calm down, Pastor Mark. Don't be concerned about people going to hell, because God will save them. You shouldn't be a disturber in Israel of the people of God. Well, I was quite agitated, I must admit. Just imagine this. You have there the Columbia River, and I crossed a really cool bridge. over the Columbia River to get here. Now up in Holland, Michigan by Lake Michigan, there's a very large river called the Grand River, and they have a drawbridge there. Imagine if one night I was coming from the north and I saw As I came toward the bridge, I hit the bridge, and all of a sudden, I was on a very steep grade. And I realized, the bridge is up. And I just was able to take my car and get right up to the edge of that bridge, and my tire tread was hanging over the edge. And I was spared. I turned around and went back down again. And what should I do at that point, having been spared, having been saved? Should I go around? 17 miles to the next bridge and come back and get home to my wife and say, Honey, I was just spared from drowning in the Grand River. Shame on me if that's my response. What should I be doing instead? I should park my car right alongside that bridge. I should put my flashing lights on. I should be waving people down late at night and saying, Stop! Stop! This bridge is out! See, what I'm saying is, when you think of this idea of, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. power of God for salvation to everybody who believes. There's a certain impetus. There's a certain commission that's given to us. And God have mercy on us. If we use the reality of what Jay read in Romans chapter nine, regarding the sovereignty of God and salvation and election to use that as a Novocaine to numb our consciences. So we're apathetic about those who are lost. So our perspective needs to be that this is the gospel that we must bring to the leper colonies of this world, that they might be healed. Think of Jesus in John 19, 41. He looked at not the city of Rome, but the city of Jerusalem, and he wailed over it, didn't he? Because they didn't embrace the gospel. It was like a mother hen calling in the chicks. I mean, doesn't Spurgeon say we need to leap at people's ankles and grab them and say, if you go to hell, you have to go to hell trampling over us and our gospel endeavors. The point is, beloved, as we sit here in these orange pews, we have in our pockets the gospel prescription. But you know what we have sometimes in our heads? Especially when you live in maybe the sophisticated state of Oregon, where you've got those who are very academic, maybe in Portland, or those who are very sophisticated, who are down in Eugene. We feel like this particular gospel that we bring, they're going to laugh at us. They're gonna look at us as fools. And sometimes, you know what we do with that prescription of truth in the gospel we have in our pockets? We just leave it there. Because we're afraid of getting embarrassed. And we use the sovereignty of God and election as that Novocaine which numbs our shrieking consciences. I'm just saying, don't let that be the case. Don't be ashamed of the gospel in our day in our age. I mean think with me if there was a polio outbreak and people were being struck down and if my son had polio and as a result, he couldn't breathe and he was having a difficult time catching his breath and his limbs were contorting and I found from a particular maybe European-German physician that he had the cure that nobody else had for this strain of polio. And think about this cure had peculiar herbs like, listen to this, sneezewort, toadflax, and goosefoot. Would these be ingested? I gave it to my son and he was restored back to full health. Now, what would it be like if I saw a man at the mall in Portland, and he was pushing his wheelchair. And so I said, what's the matter here? He says, oh, he's got that polio and there's no way out. He seemed like he has only a day or two to live. God have mercy on me. If I'm afraid of speaking to him, maybe he looked like a postgraduate professor like John Payne in the back there. And maybe I thought, I don't want to run the risk of his thinking I'm just a fool. Oh, God have mercy on me if I don't pull my prescription out and hand it to him. You see, we are not to allow such things to make us quiet when we have this prescription of truth. When we have this sling of the gospel that can take down even presidents of universities in Eugene. There's an interesting account regarding this gospel that we have. Dallimore writes in the Life of Whitefield, he describes there about the conversion of a man named Howell Harris there in the United Kingdom, a couple of centuries ago. You see, Howell Harris was somebody you'd think could not be converted. He was a drinker, he was a gossiper, he was a lovemaker, he was a fop. meaning a dandy, someone who always dressed in a really sharp way. But somebody got him to come to a church service. And as Hull Harris sat in the church service, the preacher said this at the Lord's table, all you who are here are about to celebrate the Lord's table only for Christians. And the preacher said, and if you're not fit to come to the Lord's table, you're not fit to live and you're not fit to die. And that little pebble that came from that pastor's sling, hit Howell Harris right in the forehead. And he left that church building reeling. And four days later, he fell at the foot of the cross. And he embraced the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. You see, the Galilean had triumphed. And so too it is for us. Look, I'm not saying that every time we minister to someone or give them the gospel, we have to give them a whole systematic theology. in order for them to be saved. Sometimes it's just one little pebble of truth. One little pebble of truth guided by the sovereign hand of God to the forehead of a sinner. And they come crashing to their feet. It's like for me at Central Michigan University. A 17-year-old kid who just wanted to focus on basketball and baseball and football. And God took me down by the message of the gospel of forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you're at the break room. At your company. And you just talk, maybe invite a guy. Hey, come on to church with us. He says, I mean, if I come to church, I just feel creepy. People be looking at me and I just feel guilty. Maybe you should respond this way. You know, friend, if you're not fit to come to church, you're not fit to live and you're not fit to die. And you wrap up your sandwich bag and you walk away. Who knows what a statement like that, which is kind of a little capsule of the gospel in his mind. We should be not silent. We should not be ashamed of the gospel, beloved. So Paul's gospel comments applied first to Christian witnesses. Secondly, consider to Christian ministers, to Christian ministers. You see, MacArthur wrote a book a while back called Ashamed of the Gospel, and he You may be familiar with it. It's written to a generation of ministers who were cowed and intimidated by a sophisticated society. They possessed in their Bibles the gospel power of God unto salvation, but they were ashamed of it and they wanted to give it a facelift back in the 80s and the 90s. But is that when the facelift ended? What happens when you change the gospel? You want to sand off the rough edges of the gospel, right? I don't want to talk about hell. I don't want to use the H word. I don't want to talk about the idea of judgment to come. I want to talk about the wrath of God. But wait a minute. What about Romans here? How does Paul begin his gospel? Right after this verse in 118, it says, for, how does it begin? The gospel. For the wrath of God is being revealed against the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." People say, well, don't talk about the wrath of God in 2025. They'll laugh at you. Maybe present the gospel as a new outlook on life that can give you a sense of fulfillment. I mean, there's a proof to that. But you know, just like our little prescription, remember I talked about toadflax and gooseflesh, look how bitter herbs they are. Sometimes people want to take out the bitter truths of the gospel like hell. Like the idea of divorce is evil. That homosexuality or lesbianism or transgenderism is wicked. We don't want to talk about those things, right? We want to take away those bitter elements. You gut the gospel of its power. You take away the idea of the wrath of God to come. Let's not, at Hope Church, take up a user-friendly, gospel-lite, sophisticated, trendy, soft sell. Because when you do, you know what we become? Ashamed of the gospel. Let it not happen here in Portland. Back in Holland, you know, there's Hope College there. It's a very sophisticated college. And there's the Holland Sentinel, the newspaper. You know, sometimes people in our church who are pastors, in order to get a table at the, a seat at the table, the cool kids in Holland, they'll change the gospel. So the Holland Sentinel will write good things about their church. That's dangerous. Likewise for you, don't do things so the Oregonian smiles on your church, or that Eugene has your pastor come and lecture at their school. No, stick with the true contents of the gospel. Be faithful. Don't itch the ears of men. Preach the gospel in season and out of season. Pastor, preachers, be faithful to the true gospel. There's a message of Christian witnesses, a message of Christian ministers. There's also, look, a message here to doubting saints, to doubting saints. We must not be ashamed of the gospel in our own souls. Because sometimes in our own souls, we can hear this suggestion rising up within us that, you know, Mark, this fuddy-duddy hokey foolishness of The gospel, should I really believe it? I mean, not only can that suggestion undermine my witnessing, it can undermine my very soul. I mean, think of how the enemy deceiver insinuates to our hearts, sometimes suggesting to us that the gospel that we believe is absurd. Have you heard that whisper come inside? ridiculous to believe that christianity are we told that christianity is just but the drug of the masses the opium of the plebs in western culture they come in various ways there was one time a while back i i was watching this history channel documentary about the Great Wall of China, and it described the ancient cultural details of Confucianism and Daoism and Buddhism there in China. At that point, this fiery dart that the enemy shot right into my head He suggested to me, Mark, how foolish and naive you are to think in view of the vastness of our world and the vastness of our history to think that Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, a Galilean, that he is the only way of salvation? Come on, Mark. Have you ever had that dart set your mind ablaze with a feeling of unbelief? Come on, Mark. Born of a virgin? Oh, really? In a stable where angels and shepherds came to visit? That he was a Galilean teacher who is barely even mentioned as a blip in secular history? And Mark, he was nailed to a Roman cross as a criminal. And then his resurrection, I think, but he rose from the dead. Yeah, Mark. But on the basis of whose testimony? The testimony of his deluded followers and disciples. Mark, how naive can you get? And then, supposedly, this insignificant philosopher, this Galilean from the backwaters of Palestine, this hillbilly Galilean, he's the only true religion that every man on this world needs to believe and needs to be saved? What kind of a fairy tale are you believing in? And the flames of unbelief can go up in the mind. We can blush with embarrassment and be struck with a strong sense of doubt and having faith withering contemplations. And we've really become what? Ashamed of the gospel in our souls. Well, beloved, we need to remove this poisonous dart from our heads with the pliers of this text. and say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And by the way, I say to the enemy, to where else am I supposed to go? Christ alone has the words of life. There's life nowhere else. When I first dealt with this passage, my mom was dying, and she was, We thought she would die one night, and the next night, and the next night. And she would be fearing and fretting. It's like Christian in Pilgrim's Progress as he's in the river of death, just chilled and quaking and fearing. And basically what she said to me, I will not let go of my Savior. And what a lesson this is to all of us. Be not ashamed of the gospel, even when we're ablaze with doubt. Continue to hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ. He will hold you fast. But just lastly, a word to lost sinners. A word to lost sinners. I don't know why, but this hour, our paths have crossed. Me and you who sit there in that orange pew. I knew nothing of orange pews. but the Lord knew that we were going to meet. And I ought seize on this opportunity to give the gospel prescription. I would be so naive to think that everybody in this room is saved. But it makes me shudder to think how there are probably someone or ones in this room who on the last day, when there's the separation of the sheep and the goats, be on the wrong side. And to think of how, was it March 9, 2025, you have this opportunity to take the message of the gospel, ingest it, believe in it, and have eternal life. Listen, I'm telling you this. Here's the gospel. Jesus the Galilean was born of a virgin. He's the God-man. He's the unblemished Lamb of God. He was slain on the cross. He was slaughtered in the place of sinners. The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world. Believe in Him. Take the blood truth of that doctrine and apply it to the doorpost of your soul. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are in a dangerous condition. We're standing on the shore of humanity, and we see that the chariots and the horsemen of heaven are coming. Jesus will return soon on a day when nobody expects. The chariots and horsemen, the angelic ones, will come, and they will look on everyone, and they will look at, is there the mark of salvation, the blood of the lamb on the forehead of that person? Or is there the mark of the beast on that? Because there's no middle ground. It's either in Christ or outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reality is, those cherubs are going to come, those angels are going to be coming, and they will be the executioners of the holy, holy, holy God. It speaks even how there's going to be a bloodbath, and the blood is going to come out to the horse's brides. And when he comes to you, what will he find? What will the angel find? Ah, there's the blood of the Lamb smeared in the doorpost of that soul. You are not a soldier of Satan. You are a child of the King. Welcome. I'll see you in the throne room soon at the banquet hall. Your name is on a table there and a seat and you'll be welcomed. And he will then ride on to some other soul and that such a soul will be looked at as well. What is your condition right now? Has your soul been smeared with the blood of the Lamb? But you say to me, oh, Mark, you don't know my sins. You don't know about my perverted life and my filthy deeds and my sickening past. How could there ever be hopes like of me? Oh, I know I'm here. I may even be in the membership of this church. But in my heart of hearts, I fear that I'm a fraud, that I'm not the real deal and the Lord knows about it. All I'm saying to you is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Think of even the Apostle Paul, how he had on his hands the blood of saints whom he persecuted. But the blood of Christ, it can make the foulest clean. There's no such thing as being too great a sinner. What have you done? Are you a lobby gossiper? then you're doomed to hell left to yourself. Are you an ISIS beheader? Then you're doomed as well. But as one can be saved, so can the other be saved. There is no sin too great other than blaspheming the Holy Spirit of God, hardening your heart. If you hear the gospel here in early March of 2025, don't harden your heart. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. I just think of old Blind Bartimaeus. You know of him. Blind Bartimaeus, sitting outside of Jericho. He hears Jesus is passing by. He shouts out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. What do they say to him? Shut up, old man. Don't bother the teacher. So what does he do when those doubts come in? Does he just muzzle himself? No, what does he do? He shouts out all the more, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Just telling you, for myself, I have all kinds of doubts within and without, but I resolve, I'm gonna be a part of this. that I'm going to keep shouting out every day of my life. I'm 66 years old right now, and if I live to be as old as my dad, 71 years old, the next five years I'm going to be shouting out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Regardless of what doubts enter my mind, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. But the reality is that the one who keeps crying, that's the saving stuff. Because we see that Bartimaeus was healed. We will be healed. I don't care if this is the first time you've heard the Gospel, or the 10,000th and first time you've heard the gospel. Right now, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. And don't think this is just some hokey message that comes from a guy from the unsophisticated backwaters of the Midwest. What does he know? No, no, no. This is the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And the reality is that all of us here, we're all gonna bend the knee to Galilean. You have triumphed. Galilean, you have conquered. We'll all bend the knee, either through salvation or damnation, because all of us are gonna be like Julian saying, Galilean, thou hast conquered. Some will shout it from the miseries of hell, and others will shout it in the glories of heaven. Be a believer. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. for salvation. May God use it for our good.