Ron Dunn Podcast - The Gospel Of Christ

Episode Date: January 15, 2020

Ron Dunn preaches from the book of Romans

Would you open your Bibles now to the book of Romans, chapter 1? The book of Romans, chapter 1, and I'm going to read the first six verses and then read verses 14 through 17. Romans, chapter 1, verses 1 through 6, and then verses 14 through 17. We'll skip verses 7 through 13 because they are of a personal nature where Paul is merely greeting the church. The main message of this first chapter is found in the first six verses and then verses 14 through 17.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the

unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone 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. A week ago when I was in North Fork, Virginia, I spoke with a man after the service from another church. He was a member of a local Baptist church, and we were talking about the gospel and

talking about witnessing and talking about revival. And the man made the statement that he did not believe in trying to get anybody else to believe what he believed, that every man had to choose for himself and that he felt it was wrong for him to try to propagate what he believed about the Bible and what he believed about Jesus to anyone else. I did not try to stand there and argue with him about these things, but it reminded me of what I hear so often. I've heard it as we have begun to plan and prepare for the James Robinson crusade. Somebody says, why in the world are you Baptists always trying to push

what you believe down the throat of somebody else? Well, let me say, first of all, that we're not trying to push what we believe down the throat of somebody else. But I do want to say that we're very narrow-minded when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I do want to say that I believe it is our responsibility, having once known the gospel of Christ, to do all in our power to get other people to believe it also. We read a moment ago in Galatians chapter 1 where Paul, very unlike his usual sweet attitude, arrived to that church at Galatia and he said, I am surprised, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him, the Lord, to another gospel which is not another gospel.

And he made a tremendous statement when he said, If I or a man or any other angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which I have preached unto you, let that man go to hell. That's what he said. Let that man be accursed. Let that man's soul be eternally damned if he preaches any other gospel than that which you have heard of me. For what I preached to you was not man's imagination. Nobody told me what to preach, but I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

And even if an angel from heaven were to come and tell you it's not so, don't you believe him? Don't you believe him? Don't you believe him? Well, why in the world was the apostle Paul so dogmatic about the gospel? Why are we so narrow-minded about the gospel? Well, there are about three or four reasons. Now, this isn't a sermon. This is the introduction. There are three or four reasons why we ought to be dogmatic about the gospel.

First of all, because the gospel, Paul says, is the power of God unto salvation. Nobody can be saved and nobody can know the power of God unto salvation without believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The second reason he tells us in verse 17 is because it is in the gospel of Christ that how to get saved is revealed. If a man covers up the gospel, he is covering up the only way to be saved. In that gospel, the righteousness of God is uncovered. The word gospel means good news. And when God gave to us the good news, he was saying, listen, I am revealing to you, I am disclosing to you the only way that you can ever have a right standing with me.

And for us to hide the gospel or to compromise the gospel is to cover up the only way that men can ever be right with God. Another reason he gives in verse 18, it's because the wrath of God is presently being revealed against everyone who isn't saved. If there's one thing the Bible teaches, it teaches that the wrath of God is right now, presently, at this very moment, working in your life. And the wrath of God is resting upon your head, and you're heading to that time of final consummation and final judgment. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way that a man can miss and escape the wrath of God. And again, in the second chapter, in verse 16, he says that when you and I stand escape the wrath of God. And again in the second chapter in verse 16,

he says that when you and I stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we are going to be judged on the basis of what we did with the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is going to be the basis of our judgment, not our denomination affiliation, not my opinions, not your philosophies, but it's going to be the gospel of Jesus Christ and how you responded to it. Now, Paul is getting ready to go to Rome. He's never been there. It's one of the few churches Paul did not found or pastor. And like any great man, a lot of rumors precede him. And so the purpose for which he wrote this letter to the Romans is that he might make

them understand what the gospel is that he's going to preach to them when he gets there. I don't know of anything that you and I need to be more sure about this morning than what the gospel of Christ is. I'm going to take these verses that we've read this morning and I'm going to preach to you the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are three things that I want to say to you about the gospel of Christ. And there are three things that I want to say to you about the gospel of Christ. The reason I'm dogmatic about it, the reason we're narrow-minded about it, and the reason if you do not obey it, you will be lost forever. The first thing is this, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a divine gospel. It is a divine gospel. Paul said when he wrote to that church at Galatia, what I preach to you, I did not receive of men. I didn't learn this at any seminary, but I received it by direct revelation from Jesus

Christ himself. And in this first verse of chapter one, he says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated unto the gospel of God. It is God's message. As to its source, it is divine. It comes from God. It comes from God. And the only answer that I can give to anybody who calls Baptist or anybody else like this narrow-minded and dogmatic is that when we preach the word of God, we are preaching not from ourselves, and the gospel that we preach does not have its source in any fiction that man has penned, but it has its source in God himself. This is the gospel that God has originated.

The book of Hebrews says the only thing that God has to say to us is found in the gospel. And if a man will not listen to the gospel of Christ, God has nothing to say to him. That's the last word on the subject. You don't need to look any farther for anything else from God. There is no further word from God except what is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a divine gospel in its source. It comes from God. That's why I love this book. That's why when you study this book, something happens to you, because you see, this book is God speaking to you. Every time you open this book, God has something he wants to say to you. Every time you give your attention to this book, it is God speaking to you, for this is God's message. I don't know anything that the world needs today

any more than a message from God. I don't know about you, but I sure get tired of hearing a lot of things I hear. You can't turn on the television day without somebody has their cause and some politician is making this statement and some philosopher is making this promise. I agree with Dr. Vance Havner who said, if you took all the politicians in the world and laid them end to end, they would never reach a conclusion. I heard about a farmer in Arkansas who raised pigs and used to call these pigs. I never have learned to do that suey thing. I guess I'm not a real good razorback, but I never have learned to

do that. But he could do it. Well, he got laryngitis and he couldn't call his pigs. So he said, well, what will I do? Well, he devised this method. There was an old dead tree laying out next to the hog pen and he would get a stick and beat on that dead log. And when the pigs heard him beating on that dead log, why, they would know it was feeding time and they'd run and and get their food well that worked all right for a few days until one day a flock of woodpeckers flew in to that farmer's land they filled the trees and were pecking here and there here and there and the farmer went out in the afternoon he saw his pigs running this direction this direction running to this tree and running to this tree and running to this tree.

When I first heard that, I thought to myself, I think that is a good picture of the way people are running today. They'll hear this man get up and make this statement. This lady will make this statement. This fortune teller, I heard about the fortune teller who said, I will tell your fortune and I guarantee you'll be satisfied with what I tell you. Well, that's a pretty good deal. And the way the world is going today is they're listening to every message and listening to every woodpecker and listening to this woodpecker over there

running, trying to find some answer and trying to find some sense out of life. And all the time, it's right here in the age-old story, over 2,000 years old. And this message is the Word of God. That's why I find it useless to preach anything else but the Word of God. Someone asked me one time why I didn't preach more relevant subjects like pollution and ecology and such as that. I can't find anything more relevant than man's sin and man's own spiritual pollution, and this is a message from God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is divine in its source and it's also divine in its subject. Notice what he says in verse 3, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord.

The gospel is not only divine in its source, it not only comes from God, it is also divine in its subject. It is about a person and that person is Jesus Christ. And you've got to know about Jesus if you're going to understand the gospel. Now, I want you to notice something. I didn't realize this until I started studying this passage, but I want you to see something here in verse 3. He says, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. That verse says that Jesus was made a human being. He wasn't a human being until he was born, naturally. But notice the next verse, and declared to be the Son of God with power. Notice it doesn't say he was made to be the Son of God. It says he was

declared to be the Son of God. He was made human because he had never been human before. He wasn't made the Son of God because he had always been divine. He had always been divine. He preexisted in eternity long before Bethlehem was ever an event in history. He was made flesh and he was manifested to be divine.

He was the Son of God. As a little babe lying in Mary's arms in that manger, that was God in the flesh. One of the greatest heresies that has ever invaded the Christian church is this idea that Jesus Christ became divine at his baptism. And when the Spirit of God descended upon him in the river of Jordan, then he became divine, and that divinity left him at his crucifixion. I want to say to you that is a hellish lie.

Jesus Christ has always been divine. He has always been God. And when he was born of a virgin and lay in a manger, that was God in the flesh. And when he was a 12-year-old boy speaking in the temple, that was God in the flesh. And when it was Jesus walking on the water, it was God in the flesh. And when he died upon the cross, it was God in the flesh. And when they laid him in a tomb, it was God in the flesh. And when he died upon the cross, it was God in the flesh. And when they laid him in a tomb, it was God in the flesh. And when he came up out of that tomb, it was God in the flesh.

I'm talking to you about Jesus Christ, who is God. That's the reason that you have to do something about him. That's the reason the greatest sin a man can ever commit is to reject Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, because in that you are rejecting not a man, you are rejecting God himself. The gospel centers in a person. The gospel is not an opinion, it's not a belief, it's not a philosophy, it is a person. It is Jesus Christ. When God comes to you, he's not asking you what you believe about predestination, he's not asking

you what you believe about denomination of lines, he not asking you what you believe about denomination of lines. He's asking you, what are you going to do about my Son, Jesus Christ? So the first thing, the gospel is a divine gospel. The second thing is, it is a dynamic gospel. It is a gospel that has power inherent in it. Notice what the apostle says in verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Well, why? Oh, I, oh, I love to read about the apostle Paul. He wasn't ashamed. You know,

some of us are ashamed. Let's be honest now. Some of you members of this church, you're ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Some of our you're ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Some of our teenagers are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. You get into a group at school and talking about a lot of things, and somebody mentions the name of Jesus, your ears get a little bit red, and somebody says, do you mean you go to church? We get ashamed. You know, at work, we're ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

We're around a group of people, they may be exchanging a few stories. We're ashamed to admit that we know Jesus. His presence, you know, makes us a little bit awkward and embarrassed. And to tell the truth, a great many of us are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And we blush to own his name. But I like to think about the Apostle Paul. He said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and we blush to own his name but I like to think about the apostle Paul he said I'm not ashamed I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ no matter where Paul went he wasn't ashamed and I loved reading the book of Acts where he kept on giving his testimony every time he got a chance to speak to anybody he'd give his testimony say let me tell you about the time I was on the road

to Damascus and I was going to persecute Christians, and all of a sudden this blazing, blinding light filled the road, and I was struck from my horse, and it was Jesus, and he saved me. Everywhere Paul went, he wasn't ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Paul says this, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Well, why aren't you ashamed of it, Paul? When he went to Rome, they said, if you go to Rome, this is what the Holy Spirit said through a prophet. If you go to Rome, it'll cost you your life. Paul said, that doesn't bother me. I'm not only ready to go to prison, I'm ready to die for the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

If I get a chance to speak before King Agrippa, I'll tell him about Jesus. If I get a chance to speak before the governor Felix, I'll tell him about Jesus. If I get a chance to speak before the emperor of Rome, I'll tell him about Jesus. I'm not ashamed of Jesus. Then he tells us why he's not. He says, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. When a person hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in faith they accept that gospel of Jesus Christ, and they submit to that gospel of Christ, and they're willing to let Jesus Christ enter into their life and give total submission to him,

suddenly all the power of Almighty God focuses upon their life. Now I want to say to you that that is one of the most astounding truths that will ever enter your mind if you'll just grasp it. All the power of God, and this is a day of power, all kinds of power we hear about, but no power like the power of God Jesus

that all power in heaven and earth is given unto me. You take all the power of God and it, like a pyramid, haunts down to that one person, that one man, that one woman, that one boy, that one girl. When they respond to the gospel of Christ, all the power of God is made available to them. And Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because in that gospel, all the power of God comes to me. Now, this Greek word power, we get our word dynamo from it. I'm glad. You see, when God saves

you, he puts a generator in you. He puts a new generator in you. He puts a dynamo in you. I talked to a man this past week. All his life had been messed up. He had been strung out on drugs. He had tried this church. He had tried that church. He had gone to the Catholic church. He had gone to the Baptist church. He had tried everything imaginable.

Somehow, somehow to get victory over the problem he had in his life. He just couldn't, he just couldn't break away. He just couldn't take the cure. And I'm thrilled to listen to his testimony that when he came to Jesus Christ and turned his life absolutely over to Jesus Christ, suddenly there was a new power in him. And he said, since that time, I've been set free. Since that time, Jesus has done what the Catholic Church couldn't do.

Jesus has done what the Baptist Church couldn't do. Jesus has done what all of these other methods of withdrawal could not do. And he stood there with a smile on his face, giving a living testimony that when God saves a man, he puts a new dynamic in his life to give him victory and power in his everyday life. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation. But there's one other thing that I want to mention before we close.

The gospel that we preach to you is not only a divine gospel and it is not only a dynamic gospel, but it is also a demanding gospel. It is a demanding gospel. I want you to know this morning that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not cheap. It's free, but it isn't cheap. And if you give yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ and you obey the gospel of Christ, it's going to make some demands upon your life. And the blight that is upon modern day Christianity is that we want a gospel and we want a religion that doesn't demand very much of us.

But once you meet Jesus Christ and you sell out to Jesus Christ and you obey the gospel of Christ, I want you to know that it's going to make some terrific demands upon your life. There are two that I want to mention as revealed in these verses. First of all, the gospel of Christ will demand your submission to the sovereignty of Jesus. It will demand your submission to the sovereignty of Jesus. Notice what he says in verse 3. What's the gospel about?

Now the third verse of that chapter, it gives to us the content of the gospel. The content of the gospel. Now notice, let's read it. Concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. Concerning his son, our Lord. His son, our Lord. What is the subject of the gospel? What is the content of the gospel?

It is Jesus Christ on the divine side, his son. On the human side, my Lord. And I cannot know him as God's son unless I know him as my Lord. Now I want you to notice again in verse 5. Paul says, through Jesus we have received grace and apostleship for obedience. For obedience to the faith. The gospel of Christ demands your total submission to the sovereignty of jesus christ the purpose of the gospel is to make jesus lord in the lives of people and until you can come to this place where you are totally submitted to the sovereignty of christ in your life

and you can testify with paul i am obedient to the word of god in your life and you can testify with Paul, I am obedient to the word of God, then the gospel has not been fulfilled in your life. It has failed of its ultimate purpose. It demands submission to his sovereignty, demands separation unto his service. And I want you to see this in verse 1. Paul says that he is a servant, and that word means slave. There again you get the idea of submission to his sovereignty. He is a slave. You know, most preachers, when they hang their signs up out there, it's so-and-so T.H.D. or P.H.D. or B.A. or B.D.

Or the right reverend or his most excellence. When Paul hung out his shingle at the local church, it was Paul's slave. That's all Paul wanted to be known by. He wanted to be known by only two things. He wanted to be known, first of all, as a slave. Just a slave, that's all. And he wanted to be known as an apostle, one who was sent on a mission by his Lord. Oh, that's the only credentials any man needs to serve Jesus.

Now, notice what he says. Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Now, notice, separated unto the gospel of God. Separated unto the gospel of God. Now, I want you to notice this is not a negative separation. This is a positive separation. There are a great many people filling our churches who have a negative separation. They say, I don't drink, and I don't smoke, and I don't chew, and I don't dance, and I don't play cards.

I don't do any of those things. But I want to say to you, that is not what God is after. Now, don't somebody go out of here like they did one time and say, that preacher condones drinking and smoking and drinking. You know, that's what somebody said. One time I said that Christianity is not equated by what you don't do, and somebody got the idea I was condoning everything. Oh, no, you know better than that. A negative separation, the only thing a negative separation does for a fellow is make him spiritually proud. You know what the word Pharisee means?

It means one who's separated. And the Pharisees were the proudest fellows that ever walked there. They strutted when they walked because they had a negative separation. They had withdrawn themselves from the world. They had what they called a bleeding Pharisee. A bleeding Pharisee was a fellow who was so separated from the world that when he walked outside, he would close his eyes because he didn't want to see anything that would make him sin. And he was always bumping into walls and

trees and cutting his head, and they called them bleeding Pharisees. And you know what Jesus said about the Pharisees? He said, you are of your father, the father the devil now there will be a negative separation that's true but if that's all there is and if that is your religion if your religion is a religion of don'ts then you're no farther down the road than the Pharisees were notice Paul does not say he was separated from the world he was but this isn't what this isn't what enthused him he said separated unto the gospel of God. It is a positive separation. Now, the Greek word separated means to mark off from everybody else. For instance, if you have a hundred people in this room, to separate means that the Lord takes a pen or a pencil and he draws a circle around you.

And marks you off as his property and he severs you from everybody else. Now this is what Paul is saying. Paul is saying the gospel of Jesus Christ demands, it demands that you be marked off and severed and cut off from every other interest except the one interest Jesus Christ you say well this means I'm not supposed to be a citizen

this means I'm not supposed to be a family man this means I'm not supposed to earn a living no that's not what I said what I said is a Christian is not supposed to be dedicated to his business. His business is supposed to be dedicated to Jesus. A husband is not supposed to be dedicated to his family. His family is supposed to be dedicated to the Lord. A homemaker is not to be dedicated to her home.

Her home is to be dedicated to Jesus. You understand what I'm saying? That everything I have and every interest of my life, everything I possess, is to be dedicated to the interest of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am separated under the gospel, and this is my whole life, whether I be a preacher, layman, or Sunday school teacher, or teenage girl, my whole life is to be wrapped up and revolve around the gospel of Jesus Christ, because God in his eternity, and this word separated means that which was done from eternity, that which was done from eternity before you were ever born, before you were ever created, before

God ever made the world, he had a place for you in his kingdom, and he wanted you to be separated under the gospel of Christ. And every interest of your life and every love and affection of your life is supposed to be dedicated to the gospel. You see, if a man is dedicated to his business, then sometimes his business is going to get in the way of his submission to the sovereignty of Christ. But if his business is dedicated to get in the way of his submission to the sovereignty of Christ. But if his business is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, it'll never interfere with his lordship. If a mother is dedicated to her home, sometimes that's going to interfere with her dedication to the lordship of Christ. But if her home is dedicated to the gospel and dedicated to the Lord, it'll never interfere. It'll work out just wonderfully well. If a farmer is dedicated to his farming, sometimes that farming is going

to interfere with his dedication to the Lordship of Christ. But if his farming is dedicated to the gospel, it'll never interfere. He'll still do a good job, but it'll never interfere. You see, we've just gone about it in the wrong way we have dedicated ourselves to things and there's only one thing you ought to dedicate yourself to and that's the lord jesus christ because he owns you he bought you with his blood now if if what i am if if i am dedicated to the gospel of christ and this means that everything i possess and everything that my life revolves around is also dedicated to Christ. This is what Paul is talking about. And I say to you, that's

exactly what the gospel of Christ demands. It demands your separation under the service of Christ. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church.

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