For I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel…..

Preached September 28, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For 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.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, ^as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17, ESV)

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

Paul realizes more than any of us, that the message of the Gospel is not acceptable in the world. People hate this message. They hate it because of what it is….the righteousness of God, and when the true message is spoken, it brings the true glorious light of the righteousness of God against the backdrop of the blackness of man's sin, and sinful man hates that. He will not receive it, and is indeed an enemy of it, until God opens his eyes. The only way that God opens eyes is through this message….through the Gospel that is hated in the world….and He has given us the task of preaching it. So Paul, in these verses, exclaims that he is not ashamed….and gives us warning not to be so as well, but to expect shame to be heaped on us because of it…..

So how can we be not ashamed? Let us look at David in the Old Testament:

When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. (Psalm 69:10-13, ESV)

So how is it that the Scriptures teach us to not be ashamed? Here in Psalm 69, we see that a correct knowledge of God gives hope to the one who has been shamed….so that they are not ashamed. This person (David) here was doing things that were pleasing to God, but mockworthy to the world. Humbling himself….fasting….mourning for himself and his people….these are not acceptable to the world…..but David knows his God. He calls not just for God to deliver him….but he calls on God by His attributes….! What David called on in this time of weakness and shame was something that the modern church in America is ASHAMED OF, because it is not taught…..David used THEOLOGY to bring comfort to himself in this time of suffering! Theology is theos (God) logos (knowledge/study), or the study of God. God, not as we imagine Him to be, but as He is revealed in Scripture. And this knowledge of God will bring you great resolution in the day when you face shame. And you will face shame, if you are obedient to the Scriptures.

Our trust must be in God alone, through His Word alone. Our comfort must come from knowing Him, knowing that He promises us deliverance, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come. Though your enemies be many, and though there be much shame heaped upon you for being different, you CAN be not ashamed…..

Psalm 25:1-2 (Scottish Metrical Psalter)

To thee I lift my soul:

O Lord, I trust in thee:

My God, let me not be asham'd,

nor foes triumph o'er me.

 

Let none that wait on thee

be put to shame at all;

But those that without cause transgress,

let shame upon them fall.

 

Shew me thy ways, O Lord;

thy paths, O teach thou me:

And do thou lead me in thy truth,

therein my teacher be:

 

The way the Scripture teaches to alleviate shame is not to change it, not to conform to the standard of others, but to be taught by God, to be led by the truth of God, and to keep one's eyes on God, and to learn continually from God, for He alone is your salvation:

Again, From
Psalm 25:

Mine eyes upon the Lord

continually are set:

For he it is that shall bring forth

my feet out of the net.

 

Turn unto me thy face,

and to me mercy show;

Because that I am desolate,

and am brought very low.

 

O do thou keep my soul,

do thou deliver me:

And let me never be asham'd,

because I trust in thee.