Turn with me now in your Bibles, if you have them, or to the text in the bulletin. The first page of Romans, the first chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 1, verses 14 through 17. Hear the word of God. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians. both to the wise and to the foolish. So I'm eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome, 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 the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. O Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, your inspired Word, your life-giving Word. Father, we pray now that you impart your grace to us, grow us under your Word, grow us in your Son, in your love, and we pray that you would do marvelous things in this hour. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. We live in an age of great power. If there's anything you could say of the whole modern period, the word that characterized it, and when I mean modern, I mean the last 500 years, the word power. We live in the shadow of the promises of great power. Modern science promises power over nature for the relief of our miserable estate. And we see it all around us, the science and the technology and the convenience. We say, light, come on, and you don't even have the switch anymore. Light, come on, and they come on. Power, right? Modern capitalism promises fabulous prosperity, broadly enjoyed. Modern socialism promised the same thing by different means. Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s, the leader of the Soviet Union, pounded the table at the US, said to us in the West, we will bury you by their superior scientific socialism and the prosperity that would come from it. Modern political philosophers promised that we could have perpetual peace. by designing constitutions in just such a way. And except for socialism, which was a horrific tragedy from one end of the century to the next, every one of these promises has delivered amazing results. And we could go back through history. We'll go back to 1988, which was children yesterday. But even if we go back 30 years to 1988, nevermind 1918 or 1688, just 1988. In 1988, 37% of the world lived in extreme poverty. And when I say extreme poverty, I mean they could barely feed themselves. Today, that figure is 9.5%. In 1988, there were 45 democracies in the world containing 2 billion people. Today, 103 democracies containing 4 billion people. In 1988, there were 23 wars raging, killing 3.4 people out of every 100,000. Today, there are 12 wars killing 1.2 people out of 100,000 people. fabulous progress in power over our world. And yet we can say with Jeremiah, the harvest is past, the summer has ended, and yet we are not saved. These things do not save. They deliver wonderful things, good things, but they are not the best things. But Paul the Apostle is commissioned to preach the good news of the power of God in the salvation of God. And it is not the gospel of Adam Smith. It is not the gospel of Karl Marx. It's not the gospel of Alexander Hamilton. It's the gospel of God. And he says he is eager to preach this gospel in Rome. Of course he's eager to preach in Rome. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happened in Rome went to the whole world. So, of course, he is eager to preach this gospel to them in Rome, as he says in verse 15. But the next statement is quite a surprise. He says he is not ashamed of the gospel. Ladies, If your husband gave you an anniversary card and inscribed it, honey, I am not ashamed to be your husband. You could take that charitably, or you could take it as a kind of backhanded compliment, or just a back of the hand. I am not ashamed to be your husband. He says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. But the rest of the sentence clues us in to what he means by that. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, verse 16, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. I am not ashamed of the, there's the gospel of shame and he contrasts it with the gospel as the power of God. So what is the issue there? Talking about the shame of the gospel and the power of God. Where is he going to preach? He's going to preach in Rome. Rome is the capital of the world. The capital of the world, not by consent, but by conquest. And Jesus, the person of this gospel, is conquering the world. And he is calling it to repent and obey. But Jesus, unlike Rome, is unarmed. Jesus, more than unarmed, was crucified. The average patriotic Roman must have viewed the gospel as great weakness. The Romans were a conquering people to whom all the world paid tribute. We think of the grandeur of Rome and the noble Romans, and they thought of it the same way. So imagine what they thought of the crucified Savior. Mars was one of their gods, the god of war. And what is this God? This God who is Jesus Christ. They found some graffiti. I'm not sure where. I think it is in Rome. They found graffiti on a wall. Ancient graffiti. And someone had carved a cross and on it drawn the picture of somebody on the cross with the head of a donkey. And underneath, and in front of the cross, there's a guy worshiping this crucified man with the donkey's head. And it says underneath it, Alexamenos worships his God. Somebody just diddled that. And it survived to our day. But it summarizes the Roman attitude toward the gospel of weakness. And yet, in the first century Rome, there was a church in Rome. What do people in Metro New York think of our crucified Savior? Like Rome, New York City is the world's capital of sorts, not by conquest, but by consent. People love our culture, they love our commerce, and they love our money. New York City is a city of winners, or a city of those who want to be winners. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. If you don't make it here, go back to Paducah, right? That's the attitude. And we admire strong people like Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg and all those Academy Award winners and people like this and the big stars. We admire these strong, big people and haven't much time for losers. We step over them in Penn Station. New York City is also known for its progressive views, morally permissive, even morally experimental views. And they think this is liberating, this is a source of power over your life and of satisfaction. And politically progressive, the government is savior. And if there is a problem, you don't need Jesus, the government can solve it. And then there are the other New Yorkers who are just happy with themselves and their lives. You say you have the power of God and they say, for what? I'm quite happy with my life, my Park Avenue apartment, all the nice restaurants and all the nice museums and things to do. Why do I need Jesus? But they say this only because they underestimate or they don't see the power of sin in their lives and the destruction that it brings to their lives. And what about America? Why is America, why is the gospel so unpopular in America today? Even among Christians, I would suggest. The figure I found is 60 to 70% of the country arguably are credible Christians. America has always been a religious country and even a Christian one. But this is noteworthy to me. The pilgrims came over in the early 1600s. Two hundred years later, we went out into the frontier and the religion that they took there was generally Arminianism, the religion of God does something wonderful on the cross, but then he leaves it up to me to do the rest. I can decide. I, from my intelligence or my goodness or my horse sense or something, I decide to follow Jesus. It's all ultimately in my control. And these are people who went out into the frontier where they, it sure looks like everything is up to you. Everything is in your control. Now, as religion has fallen off amongst those in control in America, it has been left largely to fools for Christ. So again, this classical scorn for the gospel is coming out. What are we proud of today in America? We're proud of all our comforts and conveniences. Things work well. This is a comfortable place to be. We've got all these cool gadgets, and we've got our central heating, and you don't even have to drive anymore. You get in your car and it takes, well, maybe tomorrow, it takes you so you can spend more time on your phone, right? This is a great country. What does Christ have to offer? A religion of blood. A religion of blood, not the blood of war, but the blood of sacrifice. The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1, 7. The blood of Jesus. And we even sing about it. We're not ashamed of it. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. that Jesus' blood and righteousness still provokes scandal. The atheist Christopher Hitchens, who now is no longer with us, called it monstrous. He said it's a monstrous religion with this Savior who was crucified by His Father on the cross, shedding His blood for others. What's monstrous is human rebellion against this beautiful and righteous and holy and loving God. That's monstrous. The hideous horror of the cross mirrors the hideous sin for which it is the only remedy. Early in my spiritual life, I confronted a relative. with what the Bible says about the cross, Christ and Him crucified. And she recoiled at this and said, well, instructing me, we don't focus on the death. We focus on the life. As though Christ's death were somehow an embarrassment, right? A shame. We look away. Talk about the life. As if there could be life without the death. As if anyone could be alive To God. Without Christ and Him crucified. His blood on the cross. But Paul is not ashamed of the cross. Because he says, it is the power of God for salvation. To everyone who believes. The power of God. Paul glories in the gospel of Christ. Not despite its weakness. but precisely because of the power of God in that weakness. The gospel is good news only because it is the power of God for salvation for those who believe. Verse 16. This power saves you from something. It is the power of God for salvation. It saves you from something. And you benefit from this power simply by believing. Again, look at verses 16 to 17. Look at the word belief and faith. The power of God for salvation. To whom? To everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live. by faith. In verse 17, Paul speaks of the righteousness of God. And then in verse 16, he had referred to the power of God. This tells us what the weakness is that we're talking about. It is the weakness of unrighteousness. It's our weakness in sin. The weakness of our moral failure. We cannot help but sin. We try to turn over a new life. We try to, honey, I'm going to be better. I'm going to be a better father, a better husband. I'm not going to do that anymore. And I'm going to get victory over that. And we just collapse. It looms over us without the power of God flowing from the cross into our lives and giving us what we don't have in ourselves. That weakness is our inability not only to do what is right, but even to want to do what is right. That is our need for the power of God. God, by contrast, has no sin and cannot sin, and He is altogether righteous. But how is that of any help to you? How is it good news that God is good? There's a question. A big question. How? People say, oh, God is good. How is that good news that God is good? If I'm not good, if he's good and I'm not, that sounds like trouble for me. Condemnation. If he's a judge, Or maybe if he's good at best, he'll just want nothing to do with me. Generally, we don't want anything to do with stinkers. Oh, that person over there? What a jerk. What a selfish moron. That guy will suck you dry before he stabs you in the back. Bad, right? What do you do with such a person? You stay away. God is good. How is that good news for me? Ah, but in His goodness, part of His goodness is that God is gracious and He therefore has promised to save. And because that salvation is gracious, He saves without preconditions. He calls you simply to believe. Hence it is this power of God for salvation is from faith to faith. Meaning it is all of faith. It's not faith only when you. It's not faith in combination with something you do. It's just faith. Grace means it is all of Him and none of you. And that's good news Because you have nothing to give. Your spiritual pockets are empty. What does Isaiah say? Isaiah 64, 6. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, unacceptable, stained. Somebody offered you a handkerchief, even for your nose, for your nose, to blow your nose on. And it was filthy? You would recoil. Your filthy nose is not good enough. It's not good enough for your filthy nose. We're talking about the altogether righteous God, and you're going to offer him your stained righteousnesses? Not at all. You are empty of anything to give. So it is good news that this salvation is from faith to faith, and the righteous shall live by faith. Imagine you're falling off a cliff, right? You're falling off a cliff. You're helpless. You're going to die. It's not like in the movies, well, I will reach out for this branch. First of all, your grip isn't strong enough to grab, even if there is a branch there. And even if you could grab it, your arm would be ripped off. But there's no branch. There's just air. There's just emptiness. To either side of you, above you and below, not entirely below you, there's something oh so solid way down there and you're heading for it and there's nothing between you and it. You're in a free fall. Okay? And even the strongest, most heroic man is helpless in a free fall. A newborn baby and Dwayne Johnson are equally helpless in such a free fall. But someone has promised to save you. Someone you know can. Even in this helpless situation, someone has promised you will not die. And you cry out. And then that someone swings in and plucks you as promised. That is the gospel. That is salvation. Faith is not something you do. Faith is the despairing of doing. It means despairing of me and resting in Him. You believe His promise to save and you believe His power to save. That is, you believe that He will do it and you believe that He has done it. That's the gospel. That's Christian faith. That is the power of God to salvation. The gospel teaches that all power in men comes from God. It's God's power that supplies man's weakness. And you see this power in the incarnation. The greatest power has no insecurity. We all have insecurity and fears and anxieties because even the most powerful of us is Not all that powerful The greatest power is no insecurity and so Philippians chapter 2 Have this mind amongst yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus Christ Jesus who? Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality of God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. He could do that because he was totally secure in his deity, in his Godhead. So he could lay aside his heavenly status and become a human being, a real human being and take that rather humiliating form. He became a true man so that he could truly save men from their sins. And you see that power in the crucifixion. He laid down his life. He took up his life. That's power. He laid down His life and He took up His life. And Christ paid in a moment for what would have cost you forever. And you see that power in the resurrection. The power of the resurrection was the power of the very first creation. You think of the first creation, there is God. There's nothing else. There's God, and that's enough. That's marvelous. But he creates the world. What does he do? There was nothing, and he said, let there be. And out of nothing was a universe. God's almighty power put the whole universe where there was nothing. And the resurrection is where there was once a dead body. God's almighty power put a living man who would never die again. And it would give life to all nations. The power of the resurrection. The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead will also give you new life. Romans 8, 11. If the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. Christianity is not what you can do. making the right decisions, living the right life, saying no to the right things and yes to the right things. Christianity is what God has done on the cross and what God will do your heart other religions are man's search for God right Buddha looks for enlightenment under the body tree the guru comes down off the mountain having found what he was looking for and offers you spirituality or a certain path of life man's search for God but Christianity is not even God's search for man it's God taking a whole of people and giving them life, turning their heads around, and opening their eyes. That's the gospel. That's the good news. To close, people are impressed with their own power. As ridiculous and silly as it is, people are impressed with their own power. And so they're impressed with themselves. Perhaps you're charming. Perhaps you're strong. Perhaps you have amazing talents for which people give you a lot of money. A lot of that in New York. But all of this is from God. All of it comes from God. He made you. He gifted you. He built you up. He provided you with opportunities. He provided you with what's inside you, the drive, the commitment. He gave you everything. Humility means having a sober... Humility doesn't mean thinking you're nothing. Humility means having a sober, accurate view of yourself. Whereas the proud are those who think that they are better than they are. People with an inflated view of themselves. And so, because of that, reality is always threatening them. There's what they think of themselves, which is not true. And reality is always a challenge to that. And so they're always defending the indefensible. That's why they're so frenetic and in a panic to do things and to make sure people recognize what they think they are. They're always insecure. The proud believe that their value is in themselves, but that's always shifting. That's always failing. That's always aging. Those whom Christ has humbled, who live by faith because there is no other way, see that they're weak, like all of us. And so we cast ourselves upon God's grace. And there we find our value, brothers and sisters. Our value in the love God graciously has bestowed on us. And there we find our strength in his gifts, in his mercies, in his provisions, in the gracious gospel of love. Let's pray. O Heavenly Father, Lord, we look at ourselves and we can at times be impressed and at times we're depressed. But Father, in all things, we thank you that you have turned our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. You have turned our eyes upon Jesus through whom you made us. Jesus, who is our all in all. To whom we owe everything, because everything we are, he has made us. Father, we pray that we would more and more despair of ourselves and find the richness of your provision in Christ, in the power that alone comes from you, through the cross, through the Savior, who is ours. And learn to glorify you with that. and serve you with the richness of all that is. And so have peace, and so have joy, and so have hope. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.