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Romans Series #6
Title: Why I Preach the Gospel
Text: Romans 1:14-17 Subject: Motive in Preaching Date: Sunday Morning — March 9, 2014 Reading: Romans 1:1-32 Introduction:
The title of my message is — Why I Preach the Gospel. You will find my text in Romans 1:14-17. — Romans 1:14-17.
(Romans 1:14-17) (14) I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. (15) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. (16) 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 Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Why I Preach the Gospel — That’s my subject. Why am I in the ministry? Why do I pastor this church? Why have I spent my life in this work? Why do I leave home and travel to other places to preach, almost every week of the year? What motivates me in this business of preaching the Gospel? What motivates any true preacher of the Gospel of Christ, to give his life, time, and effort to study and prayer, preparing messages and preaching the Gospel? Why do I preach the Gospel?
Let me show you five good reasons why I preach the Gospel. The Apostle Paul, writing by Divine inspiration, answers all of these questions. He answers them for himself and, because he wrote by Divine inspiration, he answers them for me, and answers them for every man who truly preaches the Gospel. Remember, my subject is Why I Preach the Gospel.
God’s Call
Why was Paul in the ministry? He said, God put me in the ministry. God enabled me. God counted me faithful. And God put me in the ministry (1 Timothy 1:12). I am not trying to compare myself with the Apostle Paul, not in any way. I don’t want to give that impression. What I am saying is the reasons he gave for being in the ministry are the reasons that I am in the ministry. The reasons he gave for being a preacher of the Gospel are my reasons for preaching the Gospel. The things that motivated him are the things that motivate me in this blessed work the Lord God has trusted to my hands. This is why I preach the Gospel. If you will go back to verse one (Romans 1:1), I will give you my first reason for preaching the Gospel.
(Romans 1:1) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.
Here’s the first reason why I preach the Gospel — The Call of God. God called me to this work.
I am often asked, “What is the call to the ministry?’ I don’t know that I can answer that question better than Paul did in 1st Timothy 1:12. — God put me in the ministry. Listen to what he said about it in Ephesians 3:8.
(Ephesians 3:8) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
I am a preacher because of God’s call and God’s gift. God put me in the ministry. Supernaturally, mysteriously, God opened the door. God gave me the message. God gave me the gifts. God sent me on this mission. God gave me this stewardship. God gave me this dispensation. I didn’t seek it. I didn’t volunteer for it. I didn’t covet it. As an old preacher once put it, “I neither thought it, nor sought it, nor bought it.” But God put me in the ministry. I am a preacher of the Gospel because I have been called of God to be a preacher of the Gospel.
A Debtor
So, first, I preach the Gospel because God called me to this work. Now, move on to verses 14-17 — Romans 1:14-17.
Here’s my second reason. — “I am a debtor.”
(Romans 1:14) I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
I preach the gospel because I am a debtor. That’s why I preach the Gospel. I am a debtor and I am in debt.
A debtor is a person who owes something. He owes someone something. He may owe money. If you owe a great deal of money, you are a debtor. He may owe obedience. A child owes obedience to a parent. A servant owes obedience and service to his master. A person may owe gratitude.
Do you remember what the Apostle Paul said to Philemon? He said, “I would remind you that you owe me your life” (Philemon 19). Paul preached the Gospel to him; and God used Paul as his messenger to the man’s soul, making the Gospel he heard Paul preach the instrument of his salvation. Paul said to Philemon, “You owe me your life;” you owe me gratitude for coming your way with the Gospel.
A person may owe honor to another. We are supposed to “Render honor to whom honor is due. Tribute to whom tribute is due, respect to whom respect is due.” God tells us, “To owe no man anything but to love one another.” So we owe a debt of love. A debtor is a person who owes another person, no matter what he owes him.
Paul is saying this, “I am a debtor.” I preach the Gospel because I am a debtor. I am a debtor to God the Father who chose me. He didn’t have to. He chose me because he would. He chose me because he loved me, not because I loved him, because he loved me. I am a debtor to God for his mercy to me, a sinner.
I am a debtor to God the Son, to the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me. He came from heaven’s glory and took upon himself the robe of sinful flesh and died for my sins. I am a debtor to Christ, because he redeemed me with his precious blood! — I am not my own. I belong to Christ. He bought me with the price of his precious blood!
I am a debtor to God the Holy Spirit who called me, who came and regenerated me, who raised me from death to life and gave me faith in Christ.
I am a debtor to the prophets. There was Moses, David, Jeremiah, and all those men whom God used. There were men who suffered and gave their lives to write the Scriptures and to give us the Gospel down through the years.
I am a debtor to the apostles. Did you know that all the apostles were finally martyred, except one? John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. The rest of them were cruelly murdered and martyred. They gave their lives to give us the Word of God. I know the Word of God is verbally and Divinely inspired, but God used those holy men of old to give us his Word; and they gave their lives to do it! — I am a debtor to the prophets and apostles.
I am a debtor to a faithful pastor who preached the Gospel of the grace of God to me. He came and preached to me. Phillip went to the Eunuch and Paul went to Lydia. The apostle Peter went to Cornelius with the Gospel. And God sent a man to me with the Gospel and I am a debtor.
I will tell you this, since God has given me all that he has given me in Christ, I am a debtor to you. I am head over heels in debt to the triune God, to the prophets and apostles of old, to the faithful men who taught me the Gospel. And I am a debtor to you and to this generation, to tell you the good news of redemption, grace, salvation, and eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I owe you that!
Let me illustrate what I am saying. — Suppose we lived in a dry, desert country, where there was no water, and the land was suffering a severe drought and famine. If I found water on my land and someone gave me a well, that was pumping water on my property, wouldn’t you think out of gratitude and love that I would feel a responsibility to share it with my neighbors? Well, God has literally given me in my soul, in my heart a well of living water, springing up into everlasting life (John 7:37-38). Like David said, “I live in a dry and thirsty land.” But in this dry and thirsty land, the God of all grace has given me the Water of Life! This peace, this joy, this grace, this life that God has so freely given me, I am a debtor to share it with anyone and everyone who will listen to it. I am not talking about my friends only, but everybody.
“I am a debtor, both to the Greeks and the Barbarians.” The Greeks with all their philosophy and education, and the Barbarians were poles apart; but Paul felt himself a debtor to both. He said, “I am a debtor to the learned and the unlearned, the wise and the unwise.” We preach the same Gospel to all men. — “This is a faithful saying and worthy of acceptation, by all men, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
So, I am in the Gospel ministry and I preach the Gospel. As God enables me, I plan to keep preaching the Gospel until he calls me to glory. I plan to go on preaching it to all men everywhere, by every means at my disposal, with every fiber of my being, with every ounce of strength I can muster, because I am a debtor.
Look at verse 15. — “So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you who are at Rome, also.” Rome was a cruel city, a very hard, harsh, and cruel city. It was city of soldiers and Caesars and martyred believers. It was a city of infidels, libertines, and sodomites. But Paul said, “So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you who are at Rome, also.”
I am ready to preach the Gospel, because God has called me to do so and “I am a debtor.” I am a debtor to preach the Gospel and I am ready, God helping me, to preach the Gospel wherever he opens the door.
I am talking about the true Gospel, the Gospel of God’s free, sovereign, saving grace in Christ. I am ready to preach it without compromise, boldly, and plainly, so that all who hear my voice understand the Gospel I preach.
Not Ashamed
That brings me to the third reason I preach the Gospel. Look at verse 16. — “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. “It is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
I know that the Gospel of Christ, the message of the cross, is offensive to fallen men. The Word of God tells us that. — “To the Greeks it is foolishness” and it is sheer nonsense. To religious ritualists, it is a stumbling block; but to those who are saved (or being saved), “it is the power and the wisdom of God.” I know, that in this world, that what I am doing is foolishness. What I am saying is nonsense to most people. That’s just so!
The story of creation by the hand of God is offensive. I could tell you some foolish theory about the earth, men, and animals coming into being by some accident. I could say that one planet ran into another, or an atom exploded into a universe, and people would believe that. They would like that. But, when I tell you the hand of God and the will of God, according to the purpose of God, created all things as it pleased him, that is offensive and foolishness to men, because it shows man to be the property of God.
This Book tells us about the fall of Adam. —“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” That offends men. It is offensive to be told that we are sinners, spiritually dead, ignorant, helpless — Dead! — That our hearts are hardened with enmity against God. It is true; but it is offensive. I am not ashamed of it. I believe that God created the heavens and the earth. I believe that man was created in the image of God and he fell. Man is not evolving; he is fallen.
The blood sacrifices that were ordained by God typifying the blood sacrifice of God’s dear Son, the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, are offensive. Cain showed us that right away. There, in the very early years after the fall, God said, “Bring a lamb, bring a sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. It’s the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.” All of those blood sacrifices pictured God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.
But Cain looked upon God’s way of salvation and grace by a Substitute, by the blood atonement that satisfies justice, and said, “That’s not for me. I know a better way.” He wasn’t about to come by the blood, so he brought some beautiful things that he had grown in his garden. The blood was offensive. It was a stumbling block to him. I am not ashamed of it. I am not ashamed of the blood of Christ.
God’s election offends men, too. The Bible clearly says that God chose Abraham and made of him a great nation. Through Abraham’s loins came Israel, the Jewish nation. They were God’s chosen people all the way through the Old Testament. Isn’t that correct? You know that it is and I know that it is. God said to Israel, “The Lord thy God chose you; it pleased God to make you his people. The Lord didn’t choose you or set his love upon you because you were the most of all; you were the fewest of all.” You were the smallest nation. When they went into Egypt, there were only 70 of them. God loved that nation. How did the world feel about that nation? The whole world hated that nation. They were all against them. They were alone. — Why? They were God’s people, God’s chosen people. The Hittites, the Amorites, the Moabites, the Philistines, the Egyptians, and the Babylonians, all the nations of the world despised Israel for one reason, just one reason. — They were chosen of God.
But that nation in the Old Testament was only typical of God’s true Israel. “There is a remnant (today) according to the election of grace.” The world hates that fact. Every form of false religion in the world hates grace. It hates free grace, sovereign grace, particular grace, effectual grace, and prevenient grace. Proud man just hates grace. He loves works; but he hates grace. He loves religion; but he hates grace. He loves ceremonies and rituals; but he hates grace. The whole world is aligned as one against the Israel of God.
God became a man, born of a virgin, walked this earth in perfect holiness. It is true, but it is offensive. Christ died on the cross. The Son of God went to the cross and he was nailed to the cross as our Substitute, our sin offering. “He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was laid on him; by his stripes we are healed.” He who knew no sin was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. — “He died the just for the unjust to bring me to God.”
I am not ashamed of that! — “I am not ashamed of the Gospel!” I was separated from God because of my sins. I was condemned by the law of God and condemned by the justice of God. Christ came down here and honored the law of God. He satisfied the justice of God and brought me to God. “I am accepted in the Beloved.” I am not ashamed of that!
It is strange to me that men and women will follow the most ridiculous religious practices without shame. Yet, they are ashamed of the grace of God. Isn’t that strange?
Men and women will burn candles, get baptized, mutilate their bodies, and do all kinds of physical exercises to get God to look with favor upon them and to forgive them. They are not ashamed of that. The whole world approves of that. They will do all of these things and not be ashamed of it.
But God sending a Savior, a real Savior, a Redeemer, a real Redeemer, sent by God’s own choice, ordination, and appointment. Men are ashamed of that. God’s dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, met the law head-on in the flesh. He identifies himself with us, being numbered with the transgressors and obeying God’s law, so that God might be just and the Justifier of sinners like you and me. He went to the cross and died in the place of sinners, so that sinners like us never die! That message men are ashamed of; ashamed of it because it takes salvation altogether out of the hands of man!
When Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,” he was saying many are. How sad! Many, many who profess to be Gospel preachers are ashamed of the Gospel. — “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!”
The Power of God
The fourth reason I preach the Gospel and I am not ashamed of it is because “It is the power of God unto salvation.” As our Representative, chosen by God, the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth and by his obedience he brought in perfect righteousness and accomplished perfect redemption, complete, full, perfect atonement before a holy God, atonement that enables that God to be just and Justifier. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to honor the law. It is the power of God.
God’s law is strong. God’s law is condemning. I’ll tell you how strong the law is. The Bible says, “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them.” Everybody listening to my voice, and looking into my eyes right now, is a sinner. You have not honored the law of God perfectly and you have not obeyed it perfectly; you are under its curse because of your sin.
It is going to take some real power to take away my sins and yours. I am thankful that, “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” The Gospel I preach to you honors the law and satisfies the justice of the holy Lord God. God said, “The soul that sinneth shall die.” Just how are you going to get around that? You won’t get around it. You have to die.
I can’t get around it either; but I can meet it head-on. You can too, if Christ died for us. He says, “Because I live, you live. The gospel is the power of God.” It satisfies the law and honors the justice of God. The Gospel is the power of God to forgive sin; it puts away all sin. The Gospel gives life to dead sinners. That is the power of God to raise the dead. It takes the power of God to give life to a dead man. Our Lord said, “Those in the grave, shall hear my voice and come forth unto life everlasting.” The Gospel is the power of God to keep us from falling.
The Word of God says, Christ “is able to save to the uttermost, all them that come to God, by him.” He is able; and that takes power. The Word of God says that, “He is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” The Word of God says, “He is able to raise our vile bodies and make them like his own.” That takes power! Do you see what I am saying? “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ because, it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”
The Gospel announces, “a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” How is that going to come to pass? The old heaven and this old earth are going to pass away. There is going to be “a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Who is going to fix that up and who is going to do that? Who is going to create the new heaven and the new earth?
God says, He is going to destroy this present creation “with a burning and fervent heat” and “create a new heaven and a new earth.” That is the power of God; and that is because of Christ. That is a part of the good news of the Gospel, which “is the power of salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Let me ask you a question: — If someone were to ask you “What will keep a man out of heaven? What is the one thing that will keep a man out of heaven?” what would you answer? What will keep a man out of heaven? What would you say? Would you say blasphemy? Saul of Tarsus said, “I was a blasphemer.” God saved him and took him to glory. Would you say adultery? Rahab the harlot practiced prostitution. God took her to glory. Would you say murder? Well, David killed Uriah. God saved David. David is a man after God’s own heart. Would you say divorce? The woman at the well was married five times. God saved her. Would you say stealing or thievery? Well, Jacob stole his brother’s birthright. He didn’t just steal his favorite cup or his horse; he stole his birthright. God took him to glory. God’s saints are all called the “sons of Jacob.”
Let me tell you the one thing that will keep a man out of the presence of God, and out of heaven. — Unbelief! “I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek.” — Believe what? Believe the Gospel, the Gospel of Christ. The Lord Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Righteousness Revealed
Why do I preach the Gospel?
All right, here is the fifth reason I preach the Gospel of Christ because — “Therein is the righteousness of God revealed” (v. 17). The Gospel of Christ is the revelation of the righteousness of God.
What is the Gospel? The Gospel is Christ crucified. The Gospel is how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, how that he was buried and rose again according to the scriptures, according to the Old Testament prophecies and types and pictures. There on the cross, hanging as the Son of God, he reveals the love of God. In his death, He reveals the justice of God, he reveals the righteousness and holiness of God; “God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.”
The birth and life and death of Jesus Christ reveals the righteousness and holiness which God requires of you and me, which God provided for sinners and God accepts for sinners like you and me. “Christ died for our sins!” — “Christ died for sinners!”
What God requires, only God can perform. What God requires only God can provide. What God provides in Christ, God will accept.
(Romans 1:14-17) (14) I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. (15) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. (16) 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 Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Amen.
Don Fortner
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