GOD’S NOT DEAD: THE GOSPEL
A. Over the past few weeks we have been DEFENDING our faith that GOD IS NOT DEAD.
1. Now, I realize that you already BELIEVE that, or else you wouldn’t be here this morning.
COMMENT:
However, there are people you WORK with, people you go to SCHOOL with—FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS—who either DO NOT believe that God exists or REFUSES to accept His Son as their LORD and SAVIOR.
2. That’s why it is extremely IMPORTANT that we get God’s MESSAGE of SALVATION out so that people have a CHOICE to either ACCEPT or REJECT it. WHAT DOES GOD WANT?
a. 1 Timothy 2:4- “He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
b. Yet, as FREE WILL AGENTS, God allows us to make that CHOICE.
B. It all boils down to BELIEVING and ACCEPTING the GOSPEL.
1. Can anyone tell me what the word GOSPEL means? “GOOD NEWS!”
2. Now, can anyone tell me what the GOSPEL is? “DEATH, BURIAL, & RESURRECTION of Christ.”
a. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
In this passage apostle Paul presents the Gospel Message not as a statement of PRINCIPLES, but a RECORD of FACTS.
b. He presents EVIDENCE to this FACT by LISTING names of those who WITNESSED the
RESURRECTION of Jesus- vv. 5-8 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
By listing the names of these people, Paul is INVITING the Corinthians to CHECK it out for themselves if Jesus was indeed EXECUTED, was BURIED, and ROSE AGAIN. Each and every PERSON they talk to will ATTEST to what they SAW.
C. For this reason Paul writes these words as recorded in Romans 1:16-17 (READ and COMMENT)
1. Have you ever had anyone or anything bring SHAME upon you?
COMMENT:
Teenagers could probably give you a few EXAMPLES of when their PARENTS brought SHAME or EMBARRASSMENT upon them. In fact, we PARENTS could probably name a few times when our KIDS brought some SHAME and EMBARRASSMENT our way.
2. How about the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ? Have you ever been ASHAMED of letting people know that
you are Christian?
ILLUSTRATION:
Have you had opportunities to SHARE Christ with others, but didn’t? Have you been around your FRIENDS when they made FUN of Jesus or spoke derogatively about the Christian FAITH, but instead of DEFENDING Christ you just WENT ALONG with them or quietly WALKED AWAY? Have you removed the CROSS around your NECK when around some of your FRIENDS at school or
at work, because you didn’t want them to know that you are a Christian?
Truthfully, I have done all those THINGS. There were times when I was ASHAMED to let people know that I BELONGED to Jesus. Now, I am SHAMEFUL of being ASHAMED of my Lord.
MESSAGE:
COMMENT:
Paul is writing to Christians who were living right at the door step of one of the most GODLESS, RUTHLESS Emperors the Roman Empire ever had—NERO. He was not a friend of Christians. In fact, he would have them KILLED in the Roman Coliseum for SPORT.
Paul is wanting the Roman church to understand the GOSPEL that he PREACHES and they OBEYED, is nothing of which to be ASHAMED. He was not going to be INTIMIDATED or SWAYED away from the GOOD NEWS of Christ.
Paul gives three reasons why he was not ASHAMED of the GOSPEL.
I. THE GOSPEL IS THE POWER OF SALVATION
A. The reality of being given FREE WILL is that we can choose the PATH we want to go in life.
1. Jesus talks about that in the “Sermon on the Mount”- Matthew 7:13-14 (READ)
COMMENT:
The TWO WAYS that Jesus is talking about are HEAVEN and HELL. Jesus said one WAY—“the SMALL and NARROW way leads to ETERNAL LIFE in Heaven,” while the other WAY—“the WIDE and BROAD way leads to ETERNAL DESTRUCTION in Hell.” We are on one of the ROADS.
2. The truth is, we don’t have to be on the ROAD that leads to ETERNAL DESTRUCTION, because God has PROVIDED the POWER of SALVATION through the GOSPEL—His Son’s DEATH, BURIAL, and RESURRECTION.
B. The POWER of the GOSPEL is the CHOICE that God made to send His One and Only Son to this
earth to LIVE among us and to DIE for us.
1. Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And then Paul said in Roman 6:23a, “The wages of sin is DEATH…”
a. DEATH is what we EARN, that’s what we DESERVE—every one of us because we CHOSE SIN over God.
b. Yet, I am so thankful that Paul has more to say about the “wages of sin”. He concludes Romans
6:23 by saying, “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
c. Jesus took our PLACE on the CROSS.
2. God coming to EARTH to DIE in our PLACE—that’s the POWER of SALVATION!!
II. THE GOSPEL IS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES
A. No one is LEFT OUT from the OPPORTUNITY of accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and
Savior.
1. The reason is, once again, God doesn’t want anyone to be LOST.
a. John 3:16- “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that WHOEVER
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
b. 1 John 2:2- “Jesus is our atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the
sins of the WHOLE WORLD.”
c. Every living person has an opportunity to be SAVED if they CHOOSE to be.
2. From the moment that Jesus gave His disciples the COMMISSION to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person” (Mark 16:16), it was clear that God’s MERCY and GRACE were to be extended to ALL.
a. The early DISCIPLES took Christ’s COMMISSION to heart and presented the GOSPEL—the GOOD NEWS of Christ to anyone who would LISTEN.
COMMENT:
They didn’t teach only those of the same ETHNIC BACKGROUND. The gift of LANGUAGES enabled them to bring the GOSPEL to any RACE.
They didn’t teach only those of the same SOCIAL STANDING. They were not RELUCTANT to go into the PLACES of the KINGS, nor in the SLUMS of the CITIES to SHARE God’s GRACE.
Nor did they present Christ’s GOSPEL to only those whom they felt were WORTHY enough to ACCEPT it. They knew that Jesus shed His BLOOD on that CROSS for the UNGODLY, the SINNER, the UNWORTHY.
b. They were well AWARE that Jesus DIED for the WHOLE WORLD and not just for a SELECT few who met a certain CRITERIA.
B. THE GOSPEL IS FOR ALL!!
III. THE GOSPEL IS LIFE CHANGING
A. Paul, of all people, knows that full well.
1. Listen to how Paul describes his life before becoming a Christian- 1 Timothy 1:12-15 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
Paul did all he could to DESTROY the church of Jesus Christ before becoming a Christian. “The first time he is introduced in Scripture, we see him tending to the COATS of those who were STONING Stephen to death for preaching Jesus, and giving hearty approval of his execution”- Acts 8:1.
He was RUTHLESS, but “when he was confronted with the RISEN Christ on the road to Damascus as he was on his way to capture and torture even more Christians” (Acts 9), his life changed. Saul the PERSECUTOR became PAUL the PREACHER.
2. That’s what the GOSPEL does when we truly ACCEPT it.
a. Paul- “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed…”- v. 17.
COMMENT:
It is that RIGHTEOUSNESS from God that reveals in us an UGLINESS that is fueled by Satan. It is that RIGHTEOUSNESS from God that gives us reason to CHANGE. It is that RIGHTEOUSNESS from God that helps to be BETTER people as we strive to be like Christ.
b. Paul concludes- “For the righteous shall live by faith”- v. 17.
COMMENT:
FAITH that God does indeed EXIST and that He is the CREATOR of this UNIVERSE . . . FAITH that God sent His Son Jesus to the CROSS to DIE for us . . . FAITH that if we ACCEPT Christ as our Lord and Savior and LIVE for Him, we will spend ETERNITY with our Father in Heaven.
B. There are many in this AUDIENCE today who can ATTEST to how the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ has
CHANGED your LIVES.
1. Some have told me that if it wasn’t for Jesus, they wouldn’t be ALIVE today.
COMMENT:
They were traveling down a PATH that would have eventually KILLED them if it wasn’t for
someone LOVING them enough to share with them the GOSPEL MESSAGE.
2. Others will tell you that accepting the GOSPEL of Christ has given them a DIRECTION in LIFE, a
SENSE of PURPOSE, a HOPE for TOMORROW.
C. Just think what our WORLD would look like without the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ?
1. It would be total ANARCHY.
COMMENT:
Human life would mean nothing—killings, abuse, robbery, rape would be rampant. Immorality and disease would be widespread. Suicide would become the only HOPE that one could RESORT to by way of ESCAPING the WRETCHED existence that is called LIFE.
2. Whether ATHEISTS want to ADMIT it or NOT, they need GOD to EXIST because their WORLD without Him would NOT be worth LIVING.
CONCLUSION:
SHARE STORY OF TOM STILES.
BAPTIZED 12/9/12
PASSED AWAY THREE WEEKS LATER
