Presented to Warehouse 614 at River St in
Toronto, 14 January 2017
Based on
the sermon presented to Swift Current Corps, 05 July 2006. Click here to read the full sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/07/romans-116-i-am-not-ashamed-of-gospel.html
Romans 1:16. This is a very important scripture. It states,
in part:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that
brings salvation to everyone who believes…
I
remember one Canada Day in Victoria when one of my daughters was just 2 years
old. We went to the celebrations at Fort Rodd Hill. They had a lot of things to
see and do. We could see people dressed in historic costumes. There were
mascots dressed like animals walking around: great for kids, right? There was
even one person who was dressed as a tree giving balloons to children and
telling them about the environment. This tree came up to us to say ‘hi’ and as
he leaned over my daughter offering a balloon, he asked her, “Do you like
trees?” to which she replied as sweet as can be, “not trees that talk and
walk.”
Young children are great for innocently
speaking their minds. They are not ashamed to say what they mean. This is
actually some of what Paul is speaking about in Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it
is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”
There is one thing we must know before we can share that gospel, however,
and that is the meaning of the word gospel.
Gospel is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, which means
‘good news’ or ‘good message’. In its
most basic form, gospel means good news. And what is this good news?
This good news is that we can be saved from eternal death and damnation. We
can actually be bodily raised from the dead to eternal life and even more. By
the power of God we can start to experience a new life this very day! This is
good news and we should definitely not be ashamed of this good news! But
sometimes, sadly, some of us are.
What are some of other things that people are
commonly ashamed of? I know many people are not forthcoming about their weight
either because they have too much of it or, less prevalent in our culture, not
nearly enough. I know that I was caught off guard once when a reporter asked
for my wife’s and my ages – I gave him mine. As far as Susan’s age was
concerned, I told him he’d have to ask her himself.
Again, this is gospel: Jesus died and rose
again so that we can be free from sin; we can be free from death. There are
some people who don’t realize this yet, who aren’t experiencing the power of
the gospel of salvation. This is the reality: when Christ returns it
will be like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44). The time and the hour is
unknown (Matthew 25:1-13) but we know it is coming and He is coming to judge
the living and the dead (Acts 10:42, 2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5); some will go
off to eternal happiness and some to hear weeping and gnashing of teeth
(Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28). To know this is good news, believe it or not.
It is
like when hurricanes strike.There is usually enough warning
these days so that no one needs to perish.
Can you imagine this situation then:
the news reporters are so ashamed of the fact that a hurricane as
coming that they don’t share the information? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so ashamed of the fact that they did not
know the exact time and hour the
hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if
your neighbour knew the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never
told you because she was ashamed that she couldn’t explain exactly why, where,
how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look
up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved
because they were ashamed?
An
eschatological hurricane is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than
any normal storm. There are people in this world today who are sleeping in their
beds, working, or watching their TVs right now who have no idea that the end is
coming. There are people out there who are just waiting for us to point them to
salvation; so today let us do that.
Today
let us be the announcers and rescue workers pointing people to safety. None of
us know when our lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us
know when the Lord is returning. But, like the weathermen and women watching
the storm, we do know that the things of this world are going to pass away
(Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, Revelation 21:1) and it is our job to
share with everyone the good news of the way to Salvation so that they do not
need to perish. It is our responsibility to share the gospel, for the gospel is
the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I
encourage us to look for opportunities to share this good news so that we may
all turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.
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