Not Ashamed!

Not Ashamed! — Romans 1:16–17In this powerful episode, Pastor Anthony challenges believers to rediscover boldness in a culture that has grown spiritually adrift. Drawing from Romans 1:16–17, he reminds us that “the gospel… is the power of God that brings salvation” and calls the church to stand firm, speak truth, and live unashamed of Christ.
Through personal stories, biblical examples, and a heartfelt call to deeper devotion, Pastor Anthony urges listeners to embrace the gospel personally, expect its power, and boldly share their faith—no matter the cost.If you’ve ever struggled with fear, complacency, or feeling spiritually stagnant, this message will encourage, convict, and refocus your heart on the mission Jesus gave us.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome back to On the Road with Pastor Anthony. And of course, I am your host, Pastor Anthony, and I'm super glad that you all are here today. Hey, before we get started, I wanted to ask you to consider subscribing to the podcast on your favorite platform so that you never miss another episode. And if you enjoy what you hear, give us a thumbs up and share the podcast with your friends. And by joining us each week, you will discover practical ways to live out your faith and to connect others and connect with others as we share Jesus in life. One mile a time. This week we got a um you know a question to ask. You know, are you ashamed of the gospel? Something to all of us need to ask. We need to, you know, as we continue on, is like, is it a priority to learn it and then share it with others? You know, we tell we say, you know, every podcast episode, we're sharing Jesus in life one mile at a time. You know, that's the focus. But are we? Are we doing that? Are we meeting that challenge? You know, Jesus said if we didn't speak, that the rocks would cry out. So the question again is, are you? Do you look for opportunities to share Christ? You know, I believe that the church has become complacent in our walk with Christ, and we no longer stand up for what scripture teaches. We just kind of go with the flow and allow sin to run rampant. And sadly, some churches have accepted cultural things that the Bible calls sin. You know, and I think that Paul and the early church, you know, were great examples of how we should be bold for Jesus and not really concerned about persecution or ridicule or I mean just simply what others think. You know, Paul wanted to reach the world with the gospel and with you know that being his priority number one, his attention was drawn, you know, to Rome, a city like no other, a city like you know, London a century ago. Rome was the political, military, economic hub of the world, which I guess you can compare that to United States now that we that we live in. And yet, in spite of their unchallenged global supremacy supremacy, the people of Rome were adrift morally, spiritually dead, and culturally, you know, decaying. And as we look at Rome, we see ourselves, we see America, we are a nation adrift, spiritually in retreat and morally uh decay. You know, abortion, you know, the militant homosexual agenda, the transgender, you know, all the confusions, and I'm a cat, and I all the stuff, you know. And I mean it's really the utter breakdown of the family unit, you know, it's you know, that's plagued our culture today. And yet we uh still have an unmatched opportunity to preach the gospel. We should feel the burden and the passion that Paul felt. You know, I've often said many times that the the apostles today would, I mean, they would absolutely love the time in which we live in, because they'd be like, there is so much work to do, we should have got started yesterday. But it seems like the rest of us is too worried about what we need to do for ourselves and you know, all that instead of the burden of sharing the gospel, even though even wherever we're at. But the solution to our problem is not social engineering, it's not government action, it's not political activism or even religion. Instead, it's the irreductible work of the church going root strong in the gospel, sharing the best news ever, and following the Great Commission. We see three demands in scripture that we'll be looking at this morning, uh, or not this morning, this afternoon, or well, whenever it is that you're listening. It could be morning for you. It is near to me. Well, it's actually almost noon right now as I'm recording this. But if you have, you know, so if you are looking at your Bibles and following along, we're gonna be in Romans chapter 1. We're gonna be looking at verses 16 and 17. We're going to unpack these verses with us today as we dive in. So let's go ahead and pray and ask God's blessing upon the message, and then we'll get started. Father God, Lord, we thank you so much for the opportunity to be able to come to you and open your word. And Lord, you know, uh, what you've got cooking over the next few weeks is going to be pretty challenging to those who are listening. And uh, Father, even myself. And Lord, as we move into this next area uh of ministry, Lord, we just ask your blessing upon it. The message and episode today, Father, and if those are here or watching, uh, you know, Lord, I pray that you challenge them. I pray that you kind of convict them a little bit if they have been swaying their opponent, the responsibility of a follower of Christ. And so, Father, um, we just ask again, just open our hearts and minds and teach us today, Lord, and give me the words to speak in Jesus' name and amen. So, when you think about how much time you spend in God's word versus everything else that we do in our life, you know, our time in the word is very little. I'm talking, you know, minimal. Well, maybe, you know, somebody might just be somebody reads a verse and shares it on Facebook or something, you know, but it's and I may be all that you read, um, we definitely need to do better in that area. And I'm gonna tell you, I can raise my hand as well if you're just listening to this, and you know, you know, I was but uh I asked my youth group one time during a lesson, and I asked them to be honest with me. You know, how many read their Bibles or Scripture on a daily basis, daily basis? So I'm asking you that same question. You know, I can't see your hands, but but but you know it's something to think about. So you know, I've talked to people who have been in church their whole lives, but couldn't even recite one verse from memory. You know, and a lot of people can be like John 3 16, they'll be like, Oh yeah, I've heard that. Well, can you tell me what it is? No, I mean it's sad the amount of scripture that's not memorized. You know, if you read it enough, you're gonna start remembering it. You may not remember everything word for word, and you know, and I still stumble on sometimes of where things are, but um I still remember the verses. Uh but I will tell you though that during COVID, I probably memorized more scripture then than I have in any other time in my walk with Christ. But I think a lot of us can at least remember some stories that we've heard, David and Goliath, you know, Jonah getting swallowed up by the big fish, you know, uh just stories like that. But there are some that that I've talked to that don't even like what's what's that story? I mean, why do you suppose that is? How can we share the gospel boldly if we don't even know what it says? And it's not like I'm saying we need to memorize the whole Bible, even though they did do that back in you know Jesus' time. I mean, that's how the the priests actually were become rabbis, was memorizing the whole Bible and to be able to cross-reference it, you know, my finite brain couldn't do it. I don't know if I could do that or not, but you know, whoo, that'd be something, wouldn't it? Be able to just quote off any scripture at any time. And and there are people nowadays that they actually can do stuff like that, can you know, couldn't just, I mean, it blows my mind. Uh one guy, Cal Otterman, he can actually uh he used it as kind of a you know a kind of a funny thing, but and it is, but it's still kind of impressive. He could say all the books of the all 66 books of the Bible in one breath. And he's like, Isn't that impressive? And he's like, No, not really, because it doesn't really do anything. Memorizing the scriptures, that's something else. But I still thought it was pretty impressive. But anyway, let's get back on track. So we don't want to really, you know, I'm not we're not gonna set out to memorize the whole Bible. Uh, you know, it could be a goal, may not, you know, attain it, but maybe we could try to learn some more than what we have. But we should be learning scriptures. I mean, that's really the the point of learning you know, valuable scriptures. This, I mean, because it'll help you so much in life. You know, you're having a bad day, you know, you're having a scripture pop in your mind, somebody else is having something going on or something positive, and you know, some something can come up and just like, oh yeah, man, the scripture talks about the da-da-da, and you know, being able to know what you're talking and where it came from. One year at the uh church where I attended, the pastor he actually used uh certain scripture for that year's theme. And and this is like before I was even in in ministry. I mean, I hadn't been coming to church very long. I wasn't in, I mean, I wasn't even on the leadership team yet. I wasn't even uh helping set up or any of that kind of stuff, wasn't doing anything. Just I was just coming to church and you know starting to get learning. And he used and he put a in that that year he had a scripture verse, uh James 122. That was the theme. I don't remember exactly what the theme is, but this is one of the first verses that I memorized. But he put it in there in the bulletin and didn't tell anybody, and uh he just wanted to see who was listening who was reading the bulletins, and then he talked about you know memorizing verses and stuff, and then he would ask if someone could tell him that particular verse. And uh, and then he finally told him, He's like, Listen, this verse is in here. He said, I want he said, I want you know to see how many of you actually memorize it and then come tell me. And so that was one of the first verses that I memorized, which James 1.22 is you know, do not merely lit uh do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. My brain just went blank there for a second, and uh but anyway, he would do this to see if the people were really reading the bulletin, really putting the time in, reading their Bible, and and I started thinking about that. What if God put things in the Bible that would answer life's questions and he put it in there just to see if we would read it? Oh, wait, I forgot. He did that, he did, and we and we don't know that because we don't read it, and I think you know, we all need to memorize more scripture, but I mean just reading the Bible to be reading the Bible would be fun, you know, just phenomenal. And I'm gonna tell you, I always tell people, you know, the phone apps is fine, but if you're trying to read scripture, get a Bible and put your phone down, put it on airplane mode, something, because if you're reading scripture, you're gonna get a text, alert, notification, something's gonna come along and break your concentration, and then you're gonna respond, reply, whatever, look at, and the next thing you know, you're off in the left field somewhere and you forgot that you'd even started reading scripture. So um I recommend to getting a Bible and um and digging into that. And if you gotta you want to know some more about that, maybe we'll do a ser a lesson on that, yeah, because there's always the well, what version to read? And then you have some that's they ain't reading nothing but King James. That's fine if that's for you. But you know, uh there are other versions that are just as biblical, and you know, and I know that's you know kind of a hot uh you know a debate for some people, but it's not for me. So I use several different versions during my lesson plannings and messages and and all that. And so, like I said, your preference is the one you like, and you know, do you need to do some research a little bit? Yeah, you should. Uh just like on everything, but there are you know several you know versions out there that are definitely very biblical. All right, so we don't want to go down that tangent or or you know, rabbit trail, but you know, we think about some of the scripture that you can read, it talks about, you know, I will hide your word in my heart so that you may not sin against you. You know, I love that verse. I'm drawing a blank where the where it comes from. So if you know, put it in the scripture and tell me. I mean, you know, I can look it up real quick, but I want to hear from you all and see, you know. But our lives just would be so much better if we followed the Bible, if we read it more. We wouldn't have the issues that we're having in our country. And it starts with reading our Bibles, but even more I believe that we need to endorse the gospel boldly. And we cannot do that if we don't read God's word. And so the title of the message is I'm you know ashamed, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, which is kind of what we're gonna go through in this first verse, and it goes back to that reading the scripture, but there's a purpose behind you know, reading the scripture because once we start learning it, you know, we mentioned sharing it, but the gospel is one of the most important things that we should be sharing, you know, that the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection, and ascension of Christ. That's the gospel message. That's life changing. So we must endorse the gospel boldly. We're gonna look at uh Romans chapter 1, verse 16, but just that first part right here says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, and that right there stands out a lot because Paul states that he's not ashamed of the gospel, you know, that he feels no loss of status through being identified with the gospel, then you know this is easy to see uh 2,000 years away because we know Paul as you know that missionary, the theologian, but yet if there is anyone who deserved to be ashamed of it, it would be Paul. Of all the apostles and the early church leaders, no one lost more than Paul did. I mean, if you go back and look and at what he had to endure, I mean, he was imprisoned, chased out of cities, you know, laughed at, considered a fool, a blasphemer, stoned. I mean, he was literally stoned and left for dead. And yet he was bold for the gospel. One thing you can always tell by Paul when he showed up into a town, he didn't go looking for a holiday inn or a motel six or or or a Marriott, he didn't look for any of those. He just like, all right, where's your local jail? Because I'm gonna be there very soon. I mean, I mean, he just expected it. But he never left let that waver what he was doing. He was always bold for the gospel, and his boldness was driven by what Christ had done for him. And what Christ did for him, he did for us. So we should be just as bold. Did you know that in some countries when someone gives their life to Christ, that they know immediately that their whole family may turn their back on them. The government, they may kill them, but it doesn't stop them because they are completely devoted to Christ. I mean, I've heard stories of people getting baptized and their family lays and stands and watches, and immediately after the baptism, you just watch them turn their bikes and just walk away, and they're no longer allowed to be a part of their family. They're on their own. But if you think that was still the case, or if that was the case here in the US, do you think people would still give their lives to Jesus if this happened here? Something to think about. And I think it's coming, and I mean it's beginning to happen now. Yeah, I'm not in youth ministry anymore, but I still do deal with students, ones who have accepted Jesus, and I'm gonna tell you the thought to hide that is growing more and more popular because they're afraid of who's gonna be offended and how it's gonna start trouble, and you know, because this is what society has been painting the picture. You know, if someone doesn't agree with you, then you know, um, they think they need to ridicule you until tomorrow, you know, an all eternity. It shouldn't be this way, but either way, we should still be bold enough to, you know, don't care. I lost friends because of uh surrendering my life to Christ, and uh don't care, you know. But I really think that if we give it another five to ten years, we're gonna find out who really loves Jesus and who's just been playing the game. You know, during the pandemic, you know, there was pastors arrested for not closing down their church. Pastors that had their utility shut off because they refused to close their doors. And that's what true, I mean, biblical faith is. You know, that was that was that faith over fear is should have been the theme of all churches, and they should have not closed their doors. You know, some of them you know you got some elderlies and you need to change some things up and do some stuff different. That's fine. I knew pastors that set up big shelter big uh canopies and tents and stuff and had it, and they were outdoors with people where they could just stay in their cars and you know, but they were still meeting and interacting and doing the things that the gospel's called us to do. And that can get me really down a rabbit trail. But you know, that was in 2021 and that we're here in 2026, but we gotta make sure stuff like that don't happen again. We got to make sure we stay rooted in the gospel and in what God has for us to make sure that He, you know, people understand He's in control, we're not, you know, things aren't going to scare us. We're just gonna keep moving forward in the name of Jesus. Amen. And so when we look back at Paul, at the you know, he had the confidence in the gospel. If we look back in a few verses, you know, in Romans 1:14 and 15a, Paul's saying, I am under obligation both to Greeks and barbarians, that was you know us, the Gentiles, and you know, and the Jews, all of them, you know, the wise and the foolish. But so he was saying, Oh, you know, I'm just I'm here for it. I'm obligated to preach the gospel. And I'm eager and so eager to preach the gospel. I mean, he was I mean he was all about it. But why did Paul feel obligated? And when we think about who Paul used to be before Christ when he was Saul from Tarsus, you know, you know the story back in Acts chapter 9. If not, I challenge you to go read it. Uh look at his transformation. You know, Paul ran around, and I mean he had letters from the government from the church and fill, you know, the church leaders and leaderships and and pharaohs and the king. He had stuff from everybody that's giving him authorization to go in there and arrest these Jesus followers and throw them in jail. He had them killed. I mean, we have one, Stephen. I mean, the dude, I mean, he he preached the gospel until he fell on the ground and took his last breath. But he was there giving his approval. Again, go back to Acts and read it. It's a powerful story. But then Jesus finally had enough of him, and on the road to Damascus is where we see Paul's foot on his face, and he meets Jesus face to face in person, why he's the last apostle and changed his life forever. And Jesus said him on the right course. And that was the day of his conversion, his Jesus moment, his Jesus appointment. And so Paul's whole life was now consumed by spreading the best news ever, and that is the news of salvation. His obligation was to Christ for being his savior. How about you? If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are fully surrendered to him. Are you consumed with spreading the good news of Christ? You know, we're all ministers, we're all evangelists, we do it in different ways. So are you spreading the good news of Christ? Or have you gone into that, you know, trying to play that Christian witness protection program we talked about a couple weeks ago? Where the only person who knows that you are saved is you and God. We need to understand that because Christ died for us, we too are obligated to spread his message to others without fear. Paul was not concerned about offending someone or persecuting them. I mean, the man was beat, you know, thrown in every prison. I mean, there was one where he, you know, be like, I think a guard was saved because he was sharing the gospel and they're in chains. Nothing was going to stop him. So what about you? Are you willing to lose friends or have family turn their bikes on you because of your relationship with Jesus Christ? I had a great Aunt Ruth, and man, I loved her fried apples. She used to, you know, I'll get off on tangent here. But she used to make fried apples and can them in applesauce on a campfire. I mean, she lived through the Great Depression. I mean, that she it was just those people were so amazing back in that time. But man, I would, I love my great Aunt Ruth. But she, if she met you, didn't care if she known you for a long time or she just met you at the grocery store or whatever. But she would always ask people, do you know Jesus? And I mean, it didn't matter. She was going, she wanted to know, do you know Jesus? If not, well, let me tell you about him. Yeah, when I was young, I didn't understand why she always asked people that, and you including me. I was like, Grand Aunt Ruth, I go to church, you know that. I know about Jesus. But she's like, but she was asking the question, do you know Jesus? She did it because she was bold in her faith. She wasn't concerned about what others would say, may say about her. And she was also, you know, wasn't concerned, you know, whether or not if that person she asked was comfortable with it or not, what she was asking, but she was concerned about where they were going to spend eternity. And we should be that concerned about others as well. You know, Paul knew what Jesus had taught. I mean, things like in Matthew 5, 11, you know, blessed are you when people uh insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. That was Jesus speaking. People will hate you. Jesus, you know, he let us know. He prepared us in advance. Yeah, before, you know, he he told those. I mean, he's like, listen, he said, they're gonna hate you because of me, but remember they hated me first. I mean, he told us, he prepared us, he did all this before he went back to heaven so that we wouldn't be surprised. He didn't want it to get us to be caught off guard and thinking, hey, everything's gonna be hunky-dory and a-okay because I was a follower of Jesus. Nope. And I've told many people, I say, if you become a Christian, your life may not turn out so hot. Yeah, I always think about those uh that Dan Seaborn used in illustration when we were in Promise Keepers back in 2008, where he said, I want you to understand that Jesus is with you, but Satan is waiting for you. Jesus is with you, but Satan is waiting for you. We got to remember that. You know, I think sometimes that too many Christians have allowed what others think and non-believers' voices to silence us. And that's exactly what the enemy wants. You know, too many are far concerned about how others will react when they find out they're a Christian. And I'm gonna tell you, when I first surrendered my life to Christ and was going to church and stuff, I was kind of nervous about that myself. I was a little concerned, you know, it's because of the things I said, the way I used to act, and all it's like now all of a sudden I'm gonna start doing differently. I'm not gonna be called a hypocrite or Bible thumper, or yeah, but the more I was involved with Christ, the more I read his word, the more I was in church, none of that matters. And now looking back, I'm like, man, I don't even know who that guy was. But now I don't care what others think. I'll talk about Jesus anywhere, anytime with anybody, don't matter. I love it. Luke 1940 says, This you know, this was Jesus speaking uh to the Pharisees about the his disciples being quiet, and we kind of mentioned this earlier, but he said, I tell you, he replied, if they keep quiet, because they were you know the Pharisees was trying to get the disciples to shut up about talking about it. But Jesus said, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. And do the people you know, do they know that you are a follower of Christ? You know, back in 2019, I started praying for God to help me be bolder in my faith and take me out of my comfort zone. You know, every year that's the plan. I plan to be bolder than ever before, grow deeper in God's word, and allow God to use me however he wants without reservation. You know, and we look back at 2020, that was a fall down, the flight of steps year, and 2021 was not look, I mean, it was, I mean, it just is like, will this ever end? And man, there were so many changes that happened in 2021. That I mean, it's just but I'm gonna tell you, through that season, you know, I've grown closer to Christ. I memorized more scripture than ever I had. So, I mean, and I'm more bold in my faith. So it was kind of an answer to the prayer, you know. Um, there was a lot of things that God put the brakes on in my life, because if we start talking about it, you know, what happened in the world, I mean, a lot of that was not good. Even though God can use all things for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. Yeah, and that's in Romans, I think it's 838, maybe not. Told you sometimes I know the verses, but I can't remember where they're at. But anyhow, but the things that I experience is not something me going, well, I need a pat on the bike, going, way to go, good job, Pastor. You did a fantastic job learning all that there scripture. I don't I'm not looking for any of that. But I'm just saying that you know, God answered my prayer back then, you know, to help me. And sometimes we need to be challenged so that we see what God is trying to do so that we do it. And then we'll look back and be like, Man, that was awesome. Thank you, Lord. You know, the Bible, when we look at it and read it and understand what's going on, it's being played out before our eyes our eyes. You know, we're we are living in the last days. I mean, we need to be doing rapture practice, folks, because I mean the things that's happening is just, I mean, just more and more every day is pointing more and more to the imminent return of Christ. Um, now it's not the time that he puts his feet on the earth, yeah, because people get that confused, and I really don't want to I really don't want to go uh I want to go down another rabbit trail, but it'd definitely be a another video that we could or podcast episode we could definitely touch on. But a lot of people don't understand that the rapture is different from the second coming. Because the rapture doesn't say he's gonna be on the earth. He's gonna call us up to where he is. So he's not physically on the earth. And then there's gonna be that you know, the seven-year uh tribulation period, you know, the three three and a half years that's gonna look like world peace, and then the backside of that is gonna be oh, he's talking about, you know, Hades on earth, absolutely. But anyway, we don't want to go all down that. But this event's coming up pretty soon. We don't know when, we don't know how it's gonna come about other than what scripture tells us, but we don't know the whole plan. We're just going, you know, we just gotta keep doing what we're doing and keep moving forward and doing, sharing the gospel and moving forward. But the world is going to continue to get jacked up, it's gonna get worse. Bible tells it's going to. Doesn't mean that we stop doing what we're doing because there's a lot of people that just not yet heard about the gospel, and that's one of the things that has to happen before the rapture will happen. So it tells us the gospel will be preached to all four corners of the earth. So that means everybody's going to have an opportunity, and so that means we should be more vocal, more bold about our faith, and not quiet until Jesus comes back. So even in you know, those messed up, jacked up times in our life and the years that you know feels like it's just feels like groundhold days. It's like one issue after another, after another, after another. We just it doesn't matter. We can still be blessed, still be moving forward, still growing and still being obedient to Christ, no matter what's going on in the world around us. We just keep staying focused on what he's called us to do. And remember, uh, he will give us what we ask for if we're willing to step out and do as he asks. You know, you're gonna hear a little more about that here too in a couple weeks, you know, talking about stepping out and doing what he's called us to do. But think about it, it should be our obligation, just as it was for Paul, to you know, share Christ and to spread that gospel message. And so, you know, pray. God ask, you know, ask God to remove the barriers, barriers that's hindering you. So let's look at the second part of that verse in Romans 1, 16, that second section, which would be like 16b, and it says, as we you know, we think about sharing the gospel, as we move on, uh, we should also, as we think about this, is to expect the gospel to work powerfully, and that comes into that verse 16b, the second half of that. So, because it says, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, to first the Jew, then the Gentile. You know, the gospel's powerful. I mean, literally, I mean, it's powerful. The Bible says is living that the gospel, you know, the Bible is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. And that's where we get the gospel from. It is powerful because of the message that it accomplishes, you know, and you heard me mention this, but it that term gospel refers to deliverance, being saved, being rescued. The gospel has the power to save you, to change you, and rescue you. It is powerful enough to save you from the penalty of sin. There is hell to shun and heaven to gain. Hell is a real place populated with real people who feel real pain. Romans 6 23 tells us what we earn. The wages of death, for the wages of sin is death. But I love this one, but God butts in. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We earn death. That's the wages for our sin. That's what we earn, that's what we worked for, as those, as you know, death. It's what we deserve. You know, remember we were all born into sin, and without hearing the gospel, we have no shot at heaven. This is why it's important to read the Bible and also tell others. Then again, I was talking about James 1:22, that do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. The Bible will help you navigate through life and give you the knowledge to share it with others. You know, the and the gospel also saved you from the practice of sin. Before our conversion, we lived, you know, our lives were marked by sin. When we are converted, the Holy Spirit was you know, now lives within us, changes us, and makes us righteous in Christ, and continues to make us righteous in Christ. I mean, it's that part of that big churchy word, sanctification, you know, but it's an ongoing process that happens throughout our life here as we're still here on earth. Romans 3 23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so if we all got what we deserved, the wages of sin of death, so if we got everything that we earned, what we deserve, we would all be on a one-way track to hell. We'd all be crispy critters. But accepting Christ, we are made new. 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, or the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. You know, that's where you know when we do baptism, that's what that represents. You know, the uh dying to our old self, you know, being buried with Christ, and then rising again, you know, to walk anew, having the Spirit of God living inside of us. Everything that we've ever done has been forgiven, gone, forgotten. That former way of life has been wiped clean, and we now have a fresh start. But it's up to us whether or not we allow the gospel to take root and become fruitful and have deep roots in the gospel. Psalm 119 through 11 says, How can a young man keep his way pure by guarding it according to your word? With my whole heart I seek you, and let me not wander from your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. Hey, there we go. Psalm 119 uh 9 through 11. Yep, there it is. I knew it was in the old testament, but I couldn't remember where. But there we go. Um, so it's hard to sin when we fill our minds with the Bible. You know, if we're filling ourselves with good stuff, you know, think about losing weight. I mean, you're you're eating healthy stuff. Matter of fact, I'm getting ready to start something the intermittent fast that it's fasting, it's 16 and 8, I think is what they call it. It's like 16 hours you fast, eight hours between hours of 12 and 8 p.m. is when you're allowed to eat. So I'm looking at starting that. So, but it's the same thing here. You know, if we change the way we live and doing things, once we've been saved and we're reading our Bibles, we're praying, we're going to church, we're doing, you know, we're serving in the community, we're you know, purposely building our relationship in Christ, and all that stuff is filling us, then our lives are going to be different. We're gonna sin less. Doesn't mean we're gonna be perfect, but we're gonna sin a lot less. But if you get saved and keep doing the same stuff that you've always did, then you're not doing anything any different. And sin is still the master of your life. Then you have to ask yourself, did I really truly give my life to Christ, or did I just say some words? And that's why I say it's hard to sin when we fill our minds with the Bible and do the things that Christ has called us to do. And I think this would fix a whole lot of issues in our culture if we did more Bible reading and less TV and phone watching. You know, I'm pretty guilty of this, but a lot of the things that I've started uh I've started consuming less news, but I started, you know, listening to more, you know, sermon podcasts and those types of things. But I also have, you know, if anybody knows me, you know uh Bicecript Garage, uh Cletus McFarland, uh KSR hasn't put anything, but these are all like car shows, you know, gear heads and those types. Matt's off-road recovery. I like watching those things, things that's friendly, you know, bushcraft camping and survival techniques. I that's I don't have any kind of cable. You know, the only thing we do is stream, and that's the and that's really the conjunction of what I watch, unless the grandkids are over there and we're watching unspeakable. So, but I mean, but I'm guarding what I'm putting in my body or what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing. Because yeah, a lot of times I'll get sometimes me and my wife, we get you know, we're traveling, and and even when I'm on RV transport, sometimes you know, I hit the music playlist or whatever one I just hit like, and it'll start playing stuff from the 80s, you know, and then you kind of like, oh yeah, man, I love this. This is my jam, you know, stuff like that. But then after you know, but I can't do it for very you know for long periods of time, um, because you don't like the way it feels and bring back old memories and all that. So and it's okay to do that stuff once in a while and have some fun, relive some some good old days or whatever, you know, some some uh other happy times with family and friends, but but we need to stay focused and and use scripture and you know and stuff that's godly, things that's gonna be a benefit to us in building our relationship with Christ. But as we uh continue to move on, you know, the gospel also saves us from the pain, the pain of sin. You know, the gospel removes the guilt, the conviction, and the shame, but it doesn't give us the pass on you know the earthly consequences of sin, you know, because there are some consequences. Sometimes you know people make some really dumb mistakes and they have to answer for those. You know, it can be as simple as speeding and you get pulled over. Well, yeah, you broke the law. You know, there it is, you have to pay the fine, and so some of that stuff like that, you know, it's what you gotta deal with. Even though that we are made righteous in God's eyes, however, we cannot continue to knowingly live in sin and expect nothing to happen to us, like living together before marriage. The Bible tells us we're not to do that, they it tells us what marriage is designed for, it's for a man and a woman to come together, you know, to be one flesh and to create and you know have more offsprings and populate the earth. That's that's what marriage is for. You know, and nowadays, you know, they think it's okay for to always live together, you know, do we'll we'll play like we're married, but we're not really married. We're just you know, and or you know, the same-sex stuff and all that it's goes directly against scripture, but yet we don't say anything about it, we're not teaching it um why it's wrong, you know, because we're too afraid offending people. No, we need to be more like Paul. You know, because Paul made it abundantly clear that sin has consequences, and sometimes those consequences are um in the form of you never accepted Christ, and so you're not ever gonna be you're gonna be eternally separated from him. But Galatians 6 7 tells us that tells us this says Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. So if you're living worldly and upside down and like you never lived, you know, never even heard of Jesus, well your life's probably going to be pretty rough. Oh, it might seem like everything's good, but eventually it's going to catch up to you. And that's where it goes back to that, you know, where we were just talking about if we live together, we're not married, or you know, getting together you know that sexual way and not married, live that homosexual lifestyle, you know, looking at porn, doing drugs, having unfair on your spouse, drinking and partying, getting drunk, and rarely attending church, you know, except for you know Easter and Christmas because all the other things are a priority instead of God, you should wonder, you know, you really shouldn't wonder why your life's a mess. Make the change and let the gospel put it and put you on the right track. It takes time, but it takes action on your part. Just like you know, we were talking about a diet or you know, changing the way you're eating just so you can lose weight and feel better. You have to make the change. I mean, you can't keep doing the same stuff that you're always doing, eating out every single night and keeping cookies by your bed so you can wake up in the middle of the night and grab some. I mean, you can't do that and then wonder why you're not losing weight. Well, it's the same thing in the Christian life. If you're, you know, you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you know, the definition of insanity, doing the same thing that expecting a different result, but yet you try to say that you're a follower of Christ, but yet then you wonder why your life's a dumpster fire. Well, it's probably because you have not changed, you've not had that heart change, you're not fully surrendered, not fully committed to Christ, and then and so you need to make the change. If you've, you know, if Christ has saved you, but you've been resisting and fighting the Holy Spirit the whole way, it's time to stop fighting it and let it do its part. And be start be, you know, start praying for God to remove those barriers so that you can become bold. And if you're like, well, I'm having a hard time being willing, well, say, God, you know, right now I'm really not willing, but I'm willing to be made willing, so do what you need to do. And then stand by because it's gonna get real. So ask yourself the question, if you're if you're the one that's kind of that stuck, you're you're not living the way you're supposed to be living, you know, it's you know you need to make some changes, what are you gonna do about it? James 4.17 says, if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. So when we know Jesus or what Jesus expects for us and don't do it, it's the same thing as rejecting him. There was a verse that I that I read not long after I'd rededicated my life and really fully surrendered my life to Christ. And I'm gonna tell you, I mean, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, I mean, it was yeah, I mean it was hard. And I was like, I never want to do this. But let me share it with you. It's Hebrews 6, 4 to Hebrews 6, verse 4 through 6. It says, it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, and to have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance, to their loss, they are crucifying, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. And that still hits me. I don't know about you, but when the thought of Christ going through the beatings, all those beatings, getting drugs and forced to carry a cross people laughing at him, making fun of him, throwing stuff at him, and then having to go to that cross again and be nailed down because of me. I don't want to do that to him. It makes me feel ill. My goal is to do my best to please him. I mean, I still mess up, I still put the truck in the ditch just like the rest of us. But I'm never going to turn my bike on him no matter what. And this is why it's so important to be in tune with God and to share his message with others and learn all that we can. Again, we can look back at Psalm 1911, where it says, I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. And when we embrace the gospel personally and let it fill us, we will drive out sin and fear, and it'll give us a new sense of purpose and hope and joy and understanding. You know, the Bible calls the word sharper than a double-edged sword. So it can definitely do some cutting, it can definitely do some work. So remember, we've got to embrace the gospel boldly or personally. Let's look at Romans 1:17. It says, For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith from the first to last, just as it is written. The righteous will live by faith. So answer this, and you can do it out loud if you're home by yourself, or well, and maybe if you're with somebody else, and both of you want to do it. That's awesome. But true or false, you must have a perfectly righteous life to enter heaven. I hope you said true. It just doesn't have to be yours. Everyone who has been saved and receives Christ has received the righteousness of Christ. In God's eyes, we're spotless. And notice in verse 17 he states that the faith in Christ makes us righteous. Those righteous now live by faith. Second Corinthians 5 21 says, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In the order to receive the righteousness of God, we must be saved first. Romans 10 13 says, For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So you see, it is about trusting and believing. By trusting God, our relationship with God is made right from first to last. God declares us to be righteous because of faith and faith alone. I believe that this is this was the point that Paul was making that the righteousness from God is completely based on faith from the beginning to end. And we can look at one of our you know my other favorite verses that you know I've mentioned several times, but it's Ephesians 2 8 9 says, For it is grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. You know, and we can look through the gospel and see how people's faith had been saved, you know, had saved them. I mean, think about you know Luke 5, 17 through 26, the men that had torn off the roof of the house where Jesus was and let their friend down through the roof so he could be healed. In verse 20, it says, Jesus saw their faith, proof that our faith in Christ can lead others to Jesus if we are willing to go the extra steps and to bring them to the one who can save them from their sin. Or what about the example in Luke 8, 40 through 47, where we have you know the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years? I mean, she'd been to the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, you know, every other clinic you can possibly think of. Spent everything that she had, but the only option was to get to Jesus, nobody else could figure it out. So she began pushing. I mean, she was not going to let nothing stop her. She was going to get to Jesus, and she knew all I have to do was touch him. She knew that's all it was going to take. And when she did, Jesus looked around and he finally found her and said in verse 47, daughter, your faith has healed you. So if we want to be close to Jesus, we will do whatever we can to get to him. Matthew 15, 21 through 28 is another example of faith. I want to even look at this and take a take a look at it a little bit. Jesus withdrew to a region of Tyree and Sodom. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, Lord, son of God son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him to send her away, for she keeps crying out after us, and Jesus and he answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. And the woman came and knelt before him. Lord help Lord help me, she said. And he replied, It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. That's too powerful. And then Jesus said to her, Woman, you have great faith, your request is granted. And her daughter was healed at that moment. And did you notice that all of these verses that we read was others pursuing Christ? You know, we have Luke 19 10 where it says the Son of Man came to seek and to save which is lost. He came to do his part, but we also need to do our part. We must go after Christ and seek him out and then let him speak to us. I don't believe that we pursue Christ as strongly as we should or what we could. I mean, think about sports, school, in our jobs. If we want to go far and do the best and be noticed for doing good, we have to give 110% to get it done. But do we ever go after God with the same zeal? And if that's no, then why do you suppose that is? I love these examples that we read in uh the first and second, were they were actually Jewish people, but when we look at the last one, the one that really stood out to me was she's a gentile. We are gentiles, but do you notice how she was having a conversation with Jesus? And I really think Jesus was just testing her and knew that she would keep coming after him. She it was her persistent, and I really believe that her persistence was really a model for um everybody around watching, even the disciples. It's like we gotta, you know, you need to pursue me like this. But it was her persistent faith, believing that Jesus was the answer, the only answer to her problems. And she found exactly what she was looking for. And after she had done this or had this encounter with Jesus, I guarantee that you know she went and made a viral post on Instagram, TikTok, and you know, Rumbles and X and everywhere else, and Facebook, I'm you Instagrams, all of them. I mean, she was posting everywhere. Let me tell you about this guy, Jesus. Guarantee it. And she was telling them how Jesus healed her daughter and I mean, and changed her life forever. She had to be asking questions, you know, to find him. She may not know where he was at and didn't know if she could even get to him, didn't know where he was coming from or where he was going. None of that. So she had to be seeking him. She had to be asking, who is this guy called Jesus? Where is he at? Where can I find him? I need him. She had to believe that he was the one who he said he was, and she had that kind of faith that to believe that Jesus was truly the one man who could help her with her problems. So the question is, have you embraced the gospel personally? Are you going after Christ and spending time with him and learning all you can when sharing what you have learned with others? The way we live our lives should speak volumes. Do others see Christ living, see Christ in how you live? Do you fully believe that Christ is Lord? Is he Lord of your life? It is hard to share something you don't believe in. Do you turn to Scripture in your day-to-day decisions when a friend reaches out for advice to be encouraged, challenged when you're having a bad day, just to learn more about your heavenly father, just to spend time with it. The more time that we spend with Christ in the gospel, the better we are prepared to be bold and to speak the life-changing message of the gospel to others. I was thinking about um one time with my youth group, we had a group of us, we used to have a Facebook messenger, my other adult leaders would get on there, and we started this thing. We weren't even a youth group, but there was a group of us that wanted to participate, and every night we we read through all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in a month. And so we would read our section and then we would get on this messenger and we would discuss it in detail. And those students that participated in that absolutely loved it. It was that simple. Just read a few verses and discuss it with friends. So you can do that. You don't have to have a you know, get a big party and you know everybody come over, which those are great. The home groups, yeah, but love them. But just reading the scriptures and then discussing with others. I mean, that's great times. But I think about listening to God, because when we read the scriptures, we'll God will speak to us if we're silent and listen. But I think about Samuel from the Old Testament. When God called him and spoke to him, you know, his words resonate with me today from Samuel. Says, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. So if God speaks to you, would that be your statement as well? Let's pray together. Father God, again, we come to you and we thank you so much for all that you do in our lives. And fathers, you know, the question, am I ashamed of the gospel? Well, I hope a lot of people answered, you know, that question with nope, I love sharing the gospel, want to do more. You know, I hope they were challenged. And Lord, I hope there, you know, if there is some here that has been holding back, that's not doing exactly what they're supposed to, and has been struggling and just having so much going on and can't figure it out. Maybe today is the day that they've had the revelation of understanding that they need you, they need more time with you, they need to be in your word, they need to make some changes. And Father, we ask that uh that you just speak to them and let them feel your presence the way that maybe they've never felt. And Lord, if anybody's listening to this podcast for the first time, Lord, we we pray that maybe today will be the day of their their salvation, the day that they cry out that Abba, Father, that they need you. They want you to save them from the sins. Father, again, we just love you and we thank you for all the time that we get to spend together. Lord, continue to bless this ministry, Lord, that we do the things that honor you. And we love you in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so if this message has encouraged you, don't forget to like it and share it with a friend, and also hit the subscribe and the little bell thing because it, yep, it does do something. 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So, again, thanks for being a part of this journey. Keep sharing Jesus in life one mile at a time, and we will see you on the next one.