Good morning
and welcome to the House of the Lord – we pray that each of you are
experiencing the Blessings of God in this New Year!
As I was
praying and seeking God on what to preach this morning, the Holy Spirit
reminded me of the first two (2) messages that I have preached:
How to Make
a Fresh Start and how we need to do some things to make that fresh start –
2ndly we
preached “A New Year for Our Church”
And in this
message we preached on how we need to have a consuming passion to know Jesus!
This leads
us to this morning’s message. If you
have your Bibles, turn with me to
Romans 1:16
“Seven Words That Will Change Your
Life”
Romans 1:16
From the
moment we accept Christ, we begin a process of change – we become new creatures
in Christ.
The good
news is that it is Christ that gives us the ability to change.
The
scriptures lets us know that, We are his workmanship, his creation, created for
his purpose.
This morning
I want to share with you an avenue of change.
Simply said,
I want to share with you, Seven Words
that will Change your Life.
They are in
our text for this morning:
If you have Romans
1:16 say Amen.
The
scripture reads like this, “For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; For it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jews first, and also to the Greek”.
Did you see
them?
They are
(underline them):
“I am not
ashamed of the Gospel.”
I. Background:
First of all
church, we need to consider the time in which this passage was written.
Rome was in
power. Rome was an Empire filled with pride.
After all,
they’d been in power for a little over 200 years (sounds a lot like another
nation I know).
Pride came
from what a person had or the social status they held.
This Pride
was Empire-wide.
Even the
Jews (i.e. Pharisees) of Jesus’ and Paul’s day had a type of pride.
We read in
Matthew 23:1-7 what Jesus said about them and the passage reads like this:
1Then spake
Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2Saying The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat: 3All therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their
works: for they say, and do not. 4For
they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers. 5But all their works they do
for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the
borders of their garments, 6And love the
uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7And greetings in the markets, and to be
called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi..
And in this
ancient world filled with the pride of social standing Paul says,
“I am not
ashamed of the Gospel!”
II. Ancient Languages Grammar Lesson:
In both
Hebrew and Greek, many times a person will emphasis their statement by stating
the opposite in the negative. For example, several of the 10 commandments are
stated
“You shall
not....”
The reason
for this is that it emphasizes the desired opposite action.
“You shall
not bear false witness against your neighbor” literally means, “you shall have
great respect for your neighbor” or “you shall love your neighbor so much that
you would never say anything bad about him.”
Jesus says
in the model prayer, “and lead us NOT into temptation.” Lit. = “lead us in such
righteousness that we never face temptation.” It emphasizes the desired
opposite action.
The same is
true in our text for this morning. When Paul says, “I am NOT ashamed of the
Gospel,” what he is saying is that “he is PROUD of the Gospel.”
No one in
Rome with pride would even consider following the teachings of the crucified
son of a carpenter.
III. (Paul’s Background)
Consider
what Paul had been through.
He had been imprisoned in Philippi, chased out
of Thessalonica, smuggled out of Beroea, laughed at in Athens, and in Corinth
his message was considered foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling-block to
the Jews.
But Paul
stands firm in his commitment, tall in his faith and says
“I am not
ashamed of the Gospel.”
IV. Can you echo those words?
Are we
living as Paul did…..
A. At
school, at work, or at play, do you proclaim the fact that you have made a
commitment to Jesus, or is that something you try to keep under wraps?
B. Do the
people closest to you know the stand you have taken for Jesus? --- or are you
keeping that top secret?
C. Folks,
these seven words can change you life.
Not just
saying them, but living them. Like Paul.
V. Why was Paul NOT Ashamed of the
Gospel?
A. It was
the “Gospel” -- (Gk. Euangelion) --lit. “Good News”
B. What was
the Good News?
1. The good
news is that there is salvation.
2. And the
Gospel is the force behind salvation. “For it is the power of God for
salvation”
a. “Power”
-- Gk. Dunamis -- Eng. Dynamite -- Force!!!
3. There is
power to be removed from lostness.
There is
power to have sin removed from us.
There is
power to escape the wrath of God (Romans 5:9)
This is the reason
Paul could say “I am not ashamed of the Gospel” Because he heralded the Good
News of Salvation -- Salvation to “everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek.”
I am not
ashamed of the Gospel. Those seven words can change your life. Not just saying
them, but living them, like this college freshman. Like Paul. We are a people
of pride, but in what do we base our pride? Is it in status? Money? Ability? Or
is it in the Gospel of Salvation?
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