Romans #1 - Preach Jesus!

Here’s a question for you this morning: Have you ever wondered why it is that the church is still in the world?

Is it to praise and worship?  No – because we’ll do that in heaven. Is it to sing and to serve? No – because we'll do that in heaven too! There’s really only one thing that we can do here that we won’t be able to do in heaven - and that’s this:

Share Jesus with Hurting people and reach out to the least, the last and the lost .

So - if I had to sum up the prime objective for the body of Christ in just two words,it would be this very simple truth: Preach Jesus.

So today I may well repeat these two words a bunch of times: Preach Jesus. I want those 2 words ringing in your ears. When you wake up in the middle of the night I want those to be the 2 words on your lips: Preach Jesus. As you go thru the day I want those 2 words to be continually in your mind like a spiritual heart beat:
Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus!

See, I have to get you all to understand something: the role of preaching Jesus is not limited to pastors, teachers, or evangelists. Every believer has been called to let his or her light shine. Every believer has been called to be salt.Every believer has been commissioned to preach the good news of the Gospel, that Jesus Saves!

Romans 1:16 “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.”

So, as we start to analyze this verse a bit lets start by asking another question: What is the Gospel?

The word “gospel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “godspel,” meaning “god-message” or “good story.” So today, when we translate the Greek word euaggelion,we use the transliterated term good news. But thats not entirely accurate. While we have a tendancey to only think of it as meaning the good tidings themselves, in reality, the Greek word euaggelion actually means a present given to one who brought good tidings, or a sacrifice offered in thanksgiving for the good tidings. So therefore, the word gospel signifies NOT ONLY the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ  (the “good news”) BUT ALSO our response to that message in thanksgiving for such good tidings having come(i.e. obeying the plan of salvation).

In Romans 2:16 - Paul called this “MY GOSPEL” because God showed Paul that the full doctrinal content of the Gospel includes not only our relationship on the basis of grace,  but also our responsibilities on the basis of gratitude. That’s why most of his epistles are divided between doctrinal and practical teaching.

This is the REAL gospel! So, if you preach “only believe!” “repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost …
and then stop - you’re NOT preaching the true gospel. The gospel of the New Testament BEGINS with the working of God’s grace in SALVATION, but it CONTINUEs with the working of God’s grace in SANCTIFICATION,

Now, if you take away from it the gospelor of you add something to itthe gospel’s not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It won’t work if you do that! In Galatians 1:8, Paul says

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (accursed means devoted to destruction).

And this verse applies to anyone who tries to influence other people by mixing Gods message with the ideas of men. Because when you do that you create a “perverted gospel.” The Judaizers of Paul’s day did not deny Christ; they merely changed the plan of salvation preached by his Apostles.

See, THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS, NOT JUST GOOD ADVICE! Good advice is what a banker gives outby providing the address of the Salvation Army Shelter to someone he has just foreclosed on. Good news is when he tells the person that an unnamed benefactor has just paid the overdue mortgage in full

People today are tired of listening to good advice all the time.They just don’t have the energy to HOPE while trying to COPE with problems that just get worse day by day. They don’t want good advice, they want good news!

So now we have a better idea of what we need to preach about, lets look a the word “preach” itself. These days - the word “preach” has been defined in such narrow terms .We think it involves a pulpit and a microphone. But the true meaning of the verb to preach,  is simply, “to proclaim.”

Proclamation is not and has never been limited to the preacher, we’ve all been called to tell the least, the last and the lost that there’s a savior, and His name is Jesus.

I want to share with you 3 thoughts about the command to Preach Jesus,

#1: Jesus is the Message. You’re not the message
#2 There is power in the Message. It works unless you alter it
#3: The whole Church has been empowered to Preach the Message.

#1: Jesus Is the Message
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk to a stranger about the weather? about the Magic, about football or your children or where you’re from, and yet when it come to telling people the simple truth that Jesus loves them our stomach gets tied up in knots ?

Why IS that?

God hasn’t called us to be weathermen or sportscasters, He’s called us and empowered us to be light shining in the darkness. And so that means that somewhere in the course of our conversations we need to seize upon the opportunity to Preach Jesus! The world doesn’t care if you talk about baseball, and they don’t care if you talk about the government. And I don’t think they care too much if you talk about church' But when you start talking about Jesus, about His love, about His sacrifice, about His saving power, demons tremble. Satan tells his demons “Get them to talk about anything under the sun, but intimidate them, scare them, do whatever you have to do to get them to keep Jesus to themselves.”

I don’t know about you - but I don’t take my orders from Satan. I’m going to Preach Jesus!

If I’m talking to someone who’s lost - I’ll proclaim Jesus as the way!
If I’m talking to the lonely, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
If I’m talking to the sick - I’ll proclaim Jesus as Great Physician.
If I’m talking to someone addicted to drugs or strong drink, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the deliverer.
If I’m talking to the brokenhearted, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the one who came to bind up the brokenhearted.
If I’m talking to someone on their deathbed, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the resurrection and the life.
If I’m talking to the sinner, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the Savior.
If I’m talking to the church, I’ll proclaim Jesus as Lord and Master.

No matter where I am, or who I’m talking to, I can proclaim Jesus in a way that will fill a void and make a broken man whole.

See, Jesus is the message we have come to proclaim: Don’t let the devil scare you into silence on the single most important message you will ever proclaim. When God brings lost souls across your path, square your shoulders, put your foot on the serpents’ head and Preach Jesus!

Preach the Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.The Jesus who walked among men.The Jesus who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.The Jesus who made the lame to walk and the dead to live again. The Jesus who paid for our stuff on an old rugged cross.Preach the Jesus who overcame death, hell, and the grave. Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus!He is the message! He’s the answer. He is the hope for the hopeless. He is the help for the helpless.He is the healing balm for the wounded.

#2 There is Power In the Message
Why is the Gospel powerful? Besides the fact that the Gospel is the word of God,it’s the means by which the Holy Spirit brings a person to faith. No one can ever be brought to faith in Christ unless the Gospel is preached to them in some way, shape, or form.

We don’t ever come to Christ just thinking about the thickness of a certain brand of the tissue we use for our issues. No, people come to Christ in response to being presented with the Gospel. And the Holy Spirit uses what they’re exposed to to bring a person to faith in Jesus and a whole new life.

Here’s the thing: when the Holy Spirit works on a person who has heard the Gospel, there’s always a reaction. People either accept the good news, reject the good news or are simply apathetic to the good news
Because the Gospel causes these reactions in people, it’s clear that the Gospel will force us either to repent or to reject Christ.There is no middle ground! Even the Greeks in Acts 17:32 who told Paul they would “think about it” made a decision not to accept Jesus right that moment. And that’s is 100% rejection.

See, The Gospel is how God saves people. Now, I’m going to say something serious and important. The Gospel is for God’s chosen people only. And there are those who will take humongous issue with that statement.But here’s the truth. God’s people are not an ethnic race. God’s people are all those who believe in Him. All who believe in Christ are His people. This is why Paul often says “to the Jew first and then to the Greek.”

What does this mean?If you belong to God, then the Gospel is for you. How do I know I belong to God? Simple – in 2 ways. You know that you are His if you believe in Him and if you love His people. This theme get repeated all through the New Testament. Christians are marked by two things:  their faith and love they have for their Savior and the love for each other and for the lost

Romans 1:16 “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.”

In this verse, Paul’s telling us that he’s proud of the Gospel. Yes, pride. Pride, for the wrong reasons, is a bad thing. But it is never wrong to be proud of what God’s done. See Pride in what God’s done, with the proper attitude, ought to make us praise Him and give thanks to Him.And Paul undoubtedly has a proper attitude about his pride in the Gospel. He’s not embarrassed by the Gospel;But some of us are ashamed of the Gospel.

What does it mean to be ashamed of something? Well, to be ashamed of something means:
To be embarrassed by it. To be unwilling to do something because we’re afraid of it . To be upset by it. Or to feel guilty about it.

Furthermore, there are two kinds of shame: “good” shame and “bad” shame.

“Good” shame is when: we feel guilty about something we have done. We feel embarrassed about our actions. We’re humiliated or humbled because of something we have done.  We feel responsible for our actions.

Why is this called “good” shame? Because “good” shame can lead us to repentance. It’s called “being convicted of sin (John 16:7-11).”  “Good” shame is when the Holy Spirit makes clear to us that our sin is abhorrent to a holy God.

When we know that our actions are wrong, we ought to feel guilty. We ought to feel embarrassed.We ought to feel some degree of humiliation or experience some degree of humbling. And we most certainly ought to feel responsible! It is the proper response to the knowledge that what we’ve done is wrong.

Bad shame is when: we become afraid of something or someone. We become embarrassed by something or someone and refuse to be involved. And when we try to hide our involvement from other people.

Why is this called “bad” shame? Let me draw this out a little bit. “Bad” shame contains all the elements of “good” shame. The person experiencing “bad” shame certainly feels guilty, embarrassed, humiliated or humbled, and responsible. But the problem comes when your response to the shame is inappropriate. When the shame gets turned in on the person experiencing it.  Instead of repenting, they run from it! “Bad” shame, then, is simply a person hiding from the truth. Its when you attempt to avoid the consequences of your wrong actions. Why do you think that some people who’ve lived exemplary lives see those lives unraveled in a microsecond
when some past indiscretion  and a single, momentary indiscretion at that suddenly surfaces and catches up to them?Because instead of repenting of their sin,  instead of asking forgiveness, and accepting the consequences, they became afraid. They become afraid of what they might lose. They become afraid of the opinion of others. So they hide their involvement.

But Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation....”

Peter preached Jesus on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls were added to the kingdom.Peter and John preached Jesus to a lame man, and the lame man was healed.Stephen preached Jesus and he was stoned to death, but before he died he saw a vision of heaven.Paul got saved, and began to preach Jesus.Peter preached Jesus and the Holy Ghost fell upon the household of Cornelius.Paul preached Jesus from city to city,  in the face of rejection by his own countrymen,  but he preached with power. Souls were saved, churches were planted, the sick were healed, the dead were raised.

The book of Acts teaches us that the Holy Spirit is most powerful in churches that are ready to Preach Jesus.
See, the power of the Holy Ghost and the proclamation of the gospel are inextricably bound together. You won’t have the power long, if you’re not willing to Preach Jesus, and you can’t Preach Jesus for very long until you feel the power of the Spirit stirring in your soul.

#3 The whole Church has been empowered to Preach the Message.

God has has made us “…a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, holy nation that we should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.”

It wasn’t the message of Darwin that changed my life. It wasn’t the message of self-help or message of democracy that brought peace to my troubled soul, it was the simple message of the love of God displayed in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Preach Jesus! There is power in the message! Power to break the power of sin and set the captive free. Power to lift the condemnation.Power to overcome the guilt. Power to make us sons of God!

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus said, “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations...but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.”

In Acts, Jesus said, “And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be my witnesses...”

Jesus told the seventy disciples whom He had sent out to the cities of Judea, “Behold I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.”

He said in Mark’s Gospel, “Go into all the cities and preach the gospel unto every creature...And these sign shall follow them that believe, In my name shall they cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up deadly serpents and it shall not hurt them, poison won’t stop them, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover.”

He didn’t give the church power simply to shout around the altars. He didn’t give the church power to speak cars and houses into existence. He didn’t give the church power to sit around nd tell about how much more power we got than everybody else. He gave the church power to be His witnesses.He gave the church power to Preach Jesus!

We can shout till we’re blue in the face. We can swing on the chandeliers and run the aisles but if the power of the Spirit doesn’t go with us out of these church doors to where the rubber meets the road and souls are hanging in the balance,  then we don’t have much.

But, when we understand that the Spirit of God is never more powerfulthan when we’re witnessing for Jesus,
when we understand that at that moment we’re the vessels through which the Spirit of God flows then we should want to seize every opportunity to tell somebody what Jesus has done for you.

I want our church to grow, and I believe it can and will, but only if we truly become a priesthood of believers and everyone of us makes up our mind to Preach Jesus.

Preach Jesus to that neighbor whose husband just left her. Preach Jesus to that mother whose teenage daughter is pregnant.Preach Jesus to that man you work with Preach Jesus to those whose foul language offends you.

Don’t be afraid, cos there’s power in the message, and the moment you open your mouth to speak, he Holy Spirit will be stirring on the inside of you giving you the very words to speak, giving you the boldness to speak, giving you the authority to speak.