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. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; - Romans 1:16-18
THE FIRST THING I DESIRE you to notice, brethren, is the place where Paul was desirous to preach the gospel: 'As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also' (verse 15). We find Paul mentioning the same thing in the verses before: 'For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established' (verse 11); and then in verse 13: 'Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you ... that I might have fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles!' Rome was the mightiest city in the world at that time. Daniel compares it to a great beast which devoured, and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it. We know that Rome was at this time called the 'mistress of the world'. It was at this time the most learned city in the world. It had its buildings and baths, its painters and orators, and philosophers; and it was for this reason that Paul desired so earnestly to preach the gospel to them. But, more than that, it was one of the most wicked cities in the world. One historian calls it 'the place where common sewers meet'; and he that sat on the throne was the wickedest of all, yet Paul desired to preach the gospel there.
The second thing I want you to notice is what Paul wanted to do at Rome. 'I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.' When Paul wanted to go to Rome it was not to see it; many went to Rome to see it, to see its marble baths, its theatres, its palaces, but Paul did not want to see Rome. And it was not to show himself off; all learned men went to Rome to show off their learning, and to publish their works. It was not so with Paul; all that he wanted to do was this -'I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified' (I Corinthians 2:2).
I want you to notice, in the third place, what Paul feelings were in the prospect of going to Rome. 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ...'. These words are very remarkable; there is more meant in them than at first appears. They are like these words, 'He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax' (Isaiah 42:3); which means, that instead of breaking the bruised reed, he will bear it up; and that, instead of quenching the smoking flax, he will fan it into a flame. So, in these words, when Paul says, 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ', it means, I glory in the cross of Christ.
This passage is the same in meaning with that in Galatians 6:14, 'But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...'. The meaning of both passages is just this, that the way of righteousness through Christ was what Paul gloried in.
There are two things implied in it. First, he was not ashamed of the gospel before God. Paul rested his eternal salvation on the righteousness of Christ. Like David, he said, 'This is all my salvation and all my desire' (2 Samuel 23:5). He had no other way of access to God but that; if that failed, all failed. He had no other way of going to God in secret but that, therefore he says, 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.'
But again, there is implied in it that he was not ashamed of the gospel before men. Many men are ashamed of the gospel, but Paul was not ashamed of it. Paul wished that he had a voice that could reach throughout the world, that he might proclaim the gospel. Many men would have smiled at him entering Rome with only a few words in his mouth, but Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Ah, brethren, many men would have thought he was a babbler, who told them to be righteous without works, but Paul did not care for that: 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ! And many would have smiled at Paul coming to such a wicked place as Rome with nothing to tell them of but another's righteousness; but ah! he saw that Christ's righteousness was able to cover them. Pray that we may get such a sight of Christ this day.
Let me show you, from these words:
- some of the reasons why men are ashamed of the gospel of Christ;
- some of the reasons why Paul and all like him are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
Unregenerate men are ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it seems foolish way to them. Look at the 1 Corinthians 1:18: 'For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness ...'; 2:14: 'But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him This is the first great reason why unregenerate men are ashamed of the gospel; it appears so foolish that one man should be accounted righteous for the obedience of another. 'The cross of Christ is to them that perish foolishness', and it will be so to the end of time. Do not think you are different from your fathers; you are just the same. To those of you in this congregation who will perish, the cross of Christ is foolishness.
Oh, brethren, if the gospel were by works you could understand it. If you could get into heaven by your works, you would say, That is a good gospel, that is good preaching; but righteousness by another, that is foolishness. Or suppose salvation was in this way — by God being lenient to the law, that you could understand; or suppose salvation was by your repentance, tears, etc., then you could know its meaning; but that salvation is by the righteousness of another, that is utter foolishness: 'To them that perish, the preaching of the cross is foolishness.'
Ah, brethren, did you never notice that you are ashamed of hearing of the righteousness of another. Many worldly men would not come in at the door of this church, and why? Just because they would hear of the righteousness of another. Are there not many of you who do not like to hear about the righteousness of Christ, that say, when you hear it, O that is one of his rash expressions? And you are ashamed to go to God in this way; to them that perish, this way is foolishness. And you are ashamed to speak about it; you do not tell your children about the white robe - the white linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints and why? Because you do not like it. 'The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.'
Then you are ashamed of its teachers. You are told by the evangelist Mark that Christ's audience said to him, 'Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Jesus, and of Jude and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him' (Mark 6:3). And we are told about the apostles, in Acts 4:13, that the chief priest took notice that they were ignorant and unlearned men. And we are told that when Paul went to Corinth, they said his appearance was weak and his speech contemptible (2 Corinthians 10: 10). Now, Christ has not sent angels, neither has he sent infallible men to preach the gospel: 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us' (2 Corinthians 4:7). 1 do not know a faithful minister in Scotland that has not some defect either in his appearance, or his speech, or his manner; and will you not say, 'Is not this the carpenter?' 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels.' Will you not say, 'That minister is often angry; that one is rude in his manner'? Ah! you are like flies that fasten on the sore on the horse's back. O foolish men! You stick at the faults, and do not take the blessing.
Another reason why you are ashamed of the gospel is, you hate its holiness. This is the main reason; if it were not for this, the other reasons would not stand. If it was a gospel that would let you live in your sins, you would say, 'All hail'; but God gave his Son to bless us, in turning each of us away from our iniquities. The Lord Jesus, when he finds a sinner, clothes him with his righteousness, and then he makes him all glorious within. Christ will not leave a sinner till he sees his Father's image within him. He will not leave a sinner till he has left his own image there — his own lamb-like image. That is the reason why you despise the gospel. Those of you who are drunkards, say, He would take me from my glass; those of you who are card-players, say, He would take me from my play. Ah, it is a holy gospel. '... from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you... '(Ezekiel 36:25, 26). Ah, brethren, I would say for one, if it were not for the holiness of the gospel, it would not be worth the having; and yet this is the reason why you hate the gospel, and reject the counsel of God against yourselves. O brethren, it will be to your condemnation that light came into the world, and that you loved the darkness rather than the light, because your deeds were evil.
2. Reasons why Paul and all like him are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
Because of the power there is in it (verse 16). To unregenerate men the gospel appears the most foolish thing in the world. The scheme of salvation, by the obedience of another, is to them foolishness. And then men think there is nothing in it — there is no power in it. But to us who are saved, it is the power of God, and the wisdom of God; to those who have seen the power of it on others — to them that believe its power, it is the power of God unto salvation.
My brethren, there is a divine power sleeping in the gospel, if I may be allowed so to speak, which is able to break the hardest heart. That gospel that you despise — the dogma that you hate, is all powerful. Brethren, it is more powerful than the thunder or lightning, for it converts the soul. Paul once felt its power; once he hated the gospel, and made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committing them to prison. Brethren, what could turn such a heart? You might as well think ofturning back a river, as changing such a heart; but God revealed his Son to him, and from that day the river was turned back, and he became a new creature in Christ Jesus. And, brethren, Paul had seen its power on others; he had seen its power on the hearts of multitudes, and, therefore, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.
Brethren, it is the power of God unto salvation, not to destruction. Paul had seen so much of the power of the gospel when wielded by God - he had seen that, when it was wielded by God, there was not so much as one Jew or Gentile, bond or free, that could resist; it was this that nerved the arm of Paul when he went to Rome to preach the gospel — he felt he had that which was the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. And oh! brethren, it is this that gives us strength. I am sure, since I came among you, I have felt the hardness of your hearts; but, ah! I know that if God will make use of the gospel, it will bring down the proudest of you all. Awakened sinner! there is a power in the gospel to pardon you, though your sins reach up to heaven.
I come now to a second reason why we are not ashamed of the gospel, that is, that the righteousness of God is revealed in it (verse 17). This is a reason that grows out of the other reason: it is the righteousness of God that gives it all its power. The righteousness of God here spoken of is just the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus. It is called the righteousness of God, because it is that of God himself. You remember when Christ was a child, it is said he was 'the mighty God'; and then it is said that it is the blood of God: 'Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood' (Acts 20:28). The blood that was shed on Calvary was the blood of one who was called God. And then all the sufferings of Christ have got a divine value in them that satisfies the demands of the law in a way which no other can do.
And, in the same manner, the obedience of Christ was the obedience of one who was God; and when he obeyed his parents, it was the obedience of one who was God; and when he obeyed the law, it was the obedience of one who was God. Then the obedience and suffering of Christ when he stood in the room of many, is called the righteousness of God, and it is offered to you as such in the gospel. Ah! my brethren, this was the reason why Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. Paul knew that, suppose he came to Rome, and met in with the chief of sinners, he could tell him a way to be forgiven.
I know that those of you who hate the gospel despise this way, but that will never make me hate the gospel. Brethren, in the gospel there is the righteousness of one who is God offered to the chief of sinners - yet you despise it; yet this does not, so to speak, prick a hole in it. Those of you who are awakened sinners, here is a righteousness that can cover you; behold, for each of your crimson sins, here is a stripe of one who is God. And, brethren, more than that, here are acts of holy obedience to cover your naked soul, here are holy words to cover your unholy words, here are holy deeds to cover your unholy deeds. O brethren! here is a lifetime of obedience to cover your soul.
You know, brethren, at the time of the deluge, it covered the highest mountains to the height of fifteen cubits. Now, suppose you had been above the world and looked down, you would not have seen one mountain. So it is with you; if you have on this righteousness you will be covered, and when God looks down, he will see nothing but the glassy sea of his Son's obedience. O brethren! this is the only way of being saved; if there were another way, I would let you alone to choose your own way; but there is not another way, 'There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4:12), but the name of Jesus Christ. God give you to choose this day the righteousness of Christ.
In conclusion, I would just mention a reason why you should now choose Christ: 'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men' (verse 18). When Paul approached the gates of Rome, when he looked at its marble baths, when he saw the multitudes flocking to the theatre, and when he saw the crowds bowing down to the statue of Jupiter or Minerva, the heart of Paul was touched, and why? Because the wrath of God was revealed from heaven against them, and he knew that he had in his hand that which could cover every sinner. O, said Paul, if I could get them to put on this righteousness! O my brethren! it is this that saves you! It is this that nerves me to preach! For I know if you do accept it you will be saved, but if not, you will be lost. Brethren, I tell you that you must either put on this righteousness, or the wrath of God will be revealed against you.
Oh! my brethren, learn the folly of those of you who reject the gospel of Christ; you think that you have all the wisdom in the world, and that it will perish with you; you think that we are mad, but we will see when we stand that day, when the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. O happy are those of you who are clothed in this righteousness! 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins' (Isaiah 43:25). It is like casting a stone into the deep; it sinks, and it is not seen. It is like the water at the deluge, which covered the loftiest mountains. 'Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back' (Isaiah 3 8:17). Amen.
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