The Power of the Church

Isaiah’s Promise That God Will Not Forget His People

When I first heard brother Colin play the piano that was today I Couldn't help but saying how much it reminded me of me playing the piano really. Okay, not at all. It's very beautiful brother. Thank you for blessing us with that leading us in that tonight.

Your church is very blessed to have you leading them and Not just in your talent, but in your heart for worship. We sang that song. I'm gonna We're gonna end up we're gonna are the text tonight I'm gonna preach from Romans 1 but just hearing that song I sent a message out this week.

And so I can't help but think about a passage Going a little off script tonight in Isaiah 49 just gonna start tonight with just sharing you a Few verses and I say 49. It's quite Beautiful. I read it this week in the hotel room and or in the hotel lobby actually in Atlanta and you know how it is when you're on vacation vacation or you're out of the Out of your routine or you're you know at a conference like we were.

It's hard your Bible reading is hard things. It's it's just you're out of routine. But I was reading this. This is where I was in Isaiah. How I read this passage I just I just wept Isaiah 49 14 But Zion said the Lord has forsaken me.

My Lord has forgotten me. In other words, if I may offer Interpretation there that is the church says sometimes Lord, you've you've forgotten about us. You've forsaken us. Look at the things that we're going through.

Don't you don't you know our pain or our our travails our sorrow and here's the Lord responds in verse 15. Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb in other words Imagine a godly mother and her son's they're crying Wanting to be fed and the mom just forgets him.

Well, that's not gonna happen. The Lord says even these may forget.

Yet, I.

Will not forget you.

Behold, I.

Have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. You cannot fathom this evening as you turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 1. You cannot fathom this evening the love that our triune God has.

For.

His.

Church.

The Gospel as the Church’s Power

As we begin tonight. I want you to think of a Guitar without strings. You could paint it be a beautiful Instrument on the outside, but it could play no notes. Imagine a wedding with no Groom, you could have many of the festivities.

You could have a meal you could try to go through a Ceremony, but there's no groom. There's no wedding. Imagine a car Without an engine. It's got great tires. It's got a great stereo system. It's got a great paint job.

It's a beautiful-looking car. It can't go anywhere. A guitar without strings. A wedding without a groom. A Car without an engine. Friends, this is the church without the gospel. What I want to preach to you about this evening is What is the power of the church?

The power of the church is the gospel. Every other religion in the world today is about do do do do. How do I so everybody kind of has this? Understanding that there's something wrong with the world. Now.

They're not gonna give you a Christian worldview. They're not gonna give you you know, we fell in Adam and sin is the problem and that but but they understand something's wrong whether it's Buddhism or Hinduism or Islam or Mormon, whatever it may be.

There's something wrong. Okay, so every other religion is how do I how do I fix it? How do I get back to God? How do I do do do do? Christianity is about done. It's about God has done what we cannot do and Reconciling us to himself in his own Son.

So a book without pages. Flashlight without batteries. A house without walls. A soccer game a football game a basketball game. Without a ball. That is the church without the gospel. So I encourage you tonight to find Romans chapter 1 in verse 16.

I invite you to stand as we honor the reading of God's Word and We're just going to look at one text. I have some thoughts to share with you tonight about the power of the church Paul says. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek Father. We thank you for this Text. We thank you that the Apostle Paul wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and tonight we read Your very word to us.

I Pray that you would give us the faith that we need to believe it to submit ourselves to it. To apply it to our lives that you would root it deeply in our hearts and work it In us that would be the church that you would have us be.

Remind us tonight how much you love the church. Remind us tonight how the church is your plan a for the nation's. Remind us tonight that Jesus is worthy of a healthy church in Perryville, Arkansas. We pray it all in Christ's name.

Amen. You may be seated. We come tonight upon a dangerous text. This is this is a text that have gotten people in trouble. This is a text that gripped Martin Luther and literally turned the Roman Catholic Church on its head.

This is a text that has gripped men and women women over the years that has caused them to March to a wooden stake and be burned alive as they sing the glories of the gospel. This is a text that has caused men to boldly stand before magistrates before Kings before tyrants and demand their repentance.

This is a dangerous text if you're going to be serious about Christianity this text shows us the power of the church. Which is the power of God in the gospel? Now, what does Paul mean here? And he says gospel.

We could spend a few sermons on that. But let me just summarize it for us. The gospel is the good news of the work of Christ. That is his being truly God and truly man. His being born of the Virgin Mary.

His righteous life of obedience before the Father. His Fulfillment of the law and the prophets. And every Old Testament text. His completion of the Covenant of Works. It was broken in Adam. His willingness to suffer his Crucifixion upon Calvary has already been said in the service.

His willingness to become a curse for us. He's becoming a curse for us. His atoning sacrifice his sin bearing upon the cross. His dying as our Perfect representative. In some ways you could say he not he didn't merely die for us.

But he died as us as our perfect Representative. He died bodily his brain quit thinking his heart quit beating his lungs quit breathing. The blood in his veins quit flowing. He died. He's laid in a borrowed tomb.

He rose again on the third day. He was with his Disciples for 40 days proclaiming his victory teaching them. He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He is our perfect prophet perfect priest perfect King and he rules and reigns.

We're not waiting for him to rule and reign. He rules and reigns the universe now and he's coming again to judge the living in the dead. This is this is Paul's Gospel. And all of this friends is God's work.

So I read from Isaiah earlier this even began in eternity past that is in the covenant of redemption the triune. God Was agreeable. Had this plan to rescue his people the father chose a people in the Sun the Sun.

Guaranteed that he would die on the cross for them. And the Spirit promised to Regenerate the hearts of God's people. And Paul says that it is the power of God here. Look at your text. Notice something very important.

It is the power of God. This gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. Now listen very carefully about this. This gospel then that Paul preaches. It's not a pathway to money.

It's not a pathway to not having to deal with rainy Mondays. It's not a pathway to to a cancer-free life. It's not a pathway to fame or fortune. The gospel is not a means to gain your greatest potential in the eyes of the world.

The gospel rather is what saves you from. Listen to this.

God.

The gospel is God's way of saving you from his holy and righteous wrath. We are saved it has been said by God for God from God. We talked about Satan this morning. Ultimately God didn't rescue from Satan.

Although he did that is there's truth to that in the the scriptures teach that but ultimately God has rescued us from himself. The Gospels the means by which God graciously forgives sinners. It is what God does to save us from his wrath by counting all of our sins as paid in full in Christ and then by grace alone through faith.

They'll only give verse 17 for in it The righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith at is as it is written the righteous shall live by faith by the way. That is quoting from the Old Testament.

So even in the Old Testament, this is true. That we receive by grace alone through faith alone the right in Christ alone the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. This is the power of God. Not not not that he's merely initiate salvation.

Not merely that he Raised Christ from the dead. All of that is true. But also through the proclamation of the gospel the Holy Spirit brings the power of the gospel home Into the hearts of sinners giving us new life.

Through the gospel God regenerates sinners. He justifies sinners. He sanctifies sinners. He builds his church and he furthers his kingdom. So I'm telling you tonight is the power of the church is the power of God in the gospel.

Why Paul Is Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Now it's interesting here church is in verse 16 Paul says an interesting statement to begin. I am NOT ashamed of The gospel. This may be strange to our ears, right? If everything I said is true and it it is true Why would anyone be? ashamed of.

The gospel.

Well friends is because in the gospel in saving sinners by the cross of Christ alone God tells the world that the way is of your humanity in the works of your hands and the Wisdom of your head and the will of your heart.

There's nothing you can do. You cannot reconcile Yourself to God. It has a that I can meet people all over the world and I already know something about them that Is very important to their existence and that is they are yes made in the image of God.

But also I know that they're so wretched. They're so sinful that in and of themselves the only way that they could ever be reconciled to a holy God is through what Jesus has done in his sin atoning sacrifice and his resurrection.

So the only way for you to be right with God is for God to work. The gospel reveals just how bad we are and it reveals just how great and wonderful and holy God is. And so there's a temptation to be ashamed of this gospel.

We are desperate in our churches today for the power of God. This is what we have in the gospel. The gospel is God's power in the churches so Paul says he's not ashamed of the gospel because there is a Temptation for us to kind of nuance this into to not to be so offensive, right?

Like we want to take the the gospel of God is this beautiful story of how God redeemed sinner and sinners. And we want to turn it in we want to take the bite out of it, right? Like it's like, you know what we're just to focus on this God just he loves you He loves you just the way that you are.

Well, there's a little bit of truth there, but saying it that way actually distorts what God is doing in the gospel because the gospel puts all the blame on man and all the power upon God to Fix it. So so Paul says he's not ashamed because there's real temptation in his day to be ashamed of this message.

And there's real temptation today For us to be ashamed of this message. You can be ashamed of how confrontational it is. It is a message of hope. Absolutely but it addresses people exactly where they are it calls them to repent as Tells them they're children of wrath lost wicked undone vile sinful or you may be ashamed of how foolish it is to give up all the pleasures of this world to give up the accolades and the thing the world says is are Important and to follow a crucified and resurrected Galilean or you're ashamed of the scriptures the King's book Afraid to tell the world all that it says you fear man and not God.

Proverbs 29 25 says the fear of man is a snare and so we have this Wrestling in our own hearts and in churches today to be tempted to be ashamed of the gospel. But of course Paul says in verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because this is it.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel because this is the power of God for salvation. This is all we have without the gospel. I've got nothing. I'm a guitar without strings a car without an engine a wedding without a groom a wedding without a bride a book without pages a Sporting game without a ball, right?

This is it. We have to have the gospel and so what I want to do tonight in the time that we have is Give you four ways that churches must respond To the gospel and I hope that you find this encouraging challenging edifying.

But since all this is true and Paul says he's not ashamed of the gospel The power of God for salvation everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek then there are four ways that I have Thought about that.

The church must respond to the gospel. The first is it's very simple. The church must respond to the gospel by believing it number one. The church must believe this message. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for the power of God for unto salvation for everyone who what?

Believes believes.

The gospel is for everyone who believes the Jews first now listen to this. Because the Jews received the gospel first now I don't think that this refers to merely when Jesus came in the flesh. Right the people of God that were saved in the Old Testament were saved by means and virtue of the gospel.

They looked forward to the coming Messiah the gospel you need tonight is not just Paul's gospel not just Christ's gospel. There's one gospel. You need the gospel of Abraham. You need the gospel of Moses.

You need the gospel of Isaiah. What I mean is the way that these men were saved and women were saved in the Old Testament is the only way that you're Saying there's only one gospel. There's only one way of salvation.

The only way of salvation is Christ. So the gospel came to the Jews first, but it's not just for the Jews. It's also to the Greeks. It's for everyone who believes right the vast majority of a physical Israel reject the gospel.

They reject God's work. They reject the Definitively in the ministry of Christ they reject these things. But God is still saving Jews today how by the gospel right and he's still saving Gentiles today how by the gospel everyone who believes so the first question we come to is do you believe this message?

Not merely. Do you understand the facts? Yeah, I get it. You go out into the town knock on doors ask people what the gospel is. A lot of people do get it wrong, but a lot of people a lot of people actually get it, right.

You know at least you know.

Passing.

Intellectually Jesus died for my sins. Okay, but believing this message is not merely being able to recite the facts of the gospel. Believing this message friends is letting go of every work that you have.

It's turning from our sins and it's trusting Christ personally as our only way to go as the only means of the forgiveness of sins as the only way to be counted. Righteous with the righteousness that is not our own but an alien righteousness.

Theologians say the the righteousness of Christ imputed to us credited to our account by grace through faith. It's bowing our hearts to Christ and gladly embracing him as the king that he is. So so we begin tonight with just a reminder.

You must believe this gospel. Your morals your works your your southern politeness, right? None of these things will reconcile you to God. None of these things will bring about your salvation. I'm calling the church tonight to stake all that we are and all that we have and all that we do upon this bedrock foundation.

Christ is king. He has given his life for his people. He has risen again. This is the gospel and we must believe it. So Number one we respond to the gospel by believing it. I might even on a Sunday night issue an invitation here.

I'm not saying come forward anything like that, but saying young people visitors members. If you haven't really embraced the gospel if it's just been rattling around up here in the gray matter. But it hasn't found its way in your heart.

Then your response is to repent of your sins and trust Christ. We don't move away to these other points without this point. We have to believe it. Okay, so we have to believe it secondly we are to defend it.

Defending the Gospel Against False Gospels

So believe it secondly defend it. Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel. There's a power of God. For salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. What I want to say here is we ought to give our lives in the church of defending this message because there are millions of false Gospels in the world today.

Well, we're dealing with some things most of you probably don't know. You know about the Christian nationalism debates and all those things but there there are so many things that come up in the world today that can just Distract us if we're not careful even good things.

I talked about it this morning even good things that can distract us from The gospel and then there are millions of false gospels in the world today there is the false gospel of abortion that says the child should die so that I can live and have a Prosperous life or my salvation is in my autonomy, right?

I declare to you what I am. I my preferred pronouns are this this this or I'll just make up my own pronouns, right? I get to be in charge of my life. And so that's the gospel or there's a false gospel of course of the Roman Catholic Church and the idolatry there or the false gospel of Islam or the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons and the list goes on and on and on but because the gospel is the power of The church we draw a hard line here.

We don't we don't partner with these people. Because we protect the gospel. We guard the church from false gospels. We guard the church from false gods.

Are.

There any trusting in idols or politics or tradition or a mixture of Christianity and whatever or worldliness? Whatever it may be. We must defend the priority and primacy of The gospel and the proclamation of the gospel because the gospel is the power of God in the church.

So practically, how does this apply to Providence Baptist Church? Listen it means one thing that we must make sure all that we are doing from our worship to our outreach to our Fellowship is centered around the gospel now.

Listen, I was talking with Our our brother here Calling about our church over the last year and Been some difficult times and but but really really some really beautiful time. But I want to I want to tell you something Churchill I want to be very very firm and very clear here a Church in this life is never finished reform.

You understand? You never stop you never reach a point where you say, okay, let's lay our armor down let's put our resources down let's set the cruise control and.

Let's just.

Nap for a little while. You can't do it. Why. Because there's always a battle. There's always a fight. There's always things that are what they're trying to detract from the gospel. There's always silly things like like sometimes churches and I want to be careful the way that I talk about it but sometimes churches kind of do like these these uh.

Like promotional things like you know what? Hey, you know what next Sunday camo Sunday. Everybody wear your camo and come to church or everybody wear a funny hat and come to church or all right. Let's just do these selling but these things detract from the wonder of Christ.

So like what we're doing in churches today and let me put it this way. What we're doing in churches today is we are taking other things and we're saying Jesus isn't beautiful enough. The gospel isn't wonderful enough.

So come to church because of these things and yeah, Jesus is great. But what we have here are these things and what I want Providence Baptist Church to be known for is what God has done. One of the things that I want people to think about our churches.

You know what those crazy people do at Providence Baptist Church Sunday after Sunday. They meet with God and the only way that they're able to meet with God is because of what God has done in the power Of the gospel, you know, what's beautiful about our church.

It sure ain't the preacher. It sure ain't his beard, but sure ain't brother Jacob right the other pastor. It sure ain't Anybody serving the church is not the music. No, it's Christ. That's what I want our church to be known for but we always have to hold the line.

Because if we're not careful. If we're not careful You can easily take a misstep and be known for other things than the gospel. Even even reformed theology. We are a reformed Baptist Church. But you know what reformed theology is.

I'll probably use this analogy before forgive me reformed theology is like my glasses.

Reformed theology.

Is like my glasses in the sense that you put them on and it helps you to see Christ.

As.

Even.

The Christ that he is.

More glorious more beautiful. So what you do with reformed theology is. You don't worship the glasses. Right, I I often don't even recognize that I'm wearing glasses. Right because I've just gotten so here.

So I've got the glasses on and the glasses help me to see. Like right now you by the way. You're just a blob right. Like if you're asking me like if you told me come out probably fall on my face. I'll just say I cannot see.

But I put these on and I can see. I can see. Right. That's reformed theology. We're reformed Baptist Church, but we don't want to be known.

For that.

So much as we want to be known that that points us to the beauty and wonder and glory of Christ if We are not careful. There's any number of things any number of good things even or silly things or even wicked things that can detract us from.

The main thing the most beautiful thing and that is what God has done for us in Christ. We must defend it. Thirdly. We must grow in it. Not ashamed. The gospel you never get past this since the gospel is the power of God for salvation and the power of the church.

I Give my life to growing in this truth. I never moved past my need for the gospel. We serve one another by growing in the gospel together. So first I mean this growing in knowledge of the gospel. Let me say this today boy.

We did something weird this morning Sunday school. It was really cool my kids were talking about they were encouraged but we took almost 400 year old confession and We instead of talking about five steps to be a better husband or whatever.

Look there's a place for that. Okay, I'm not. I understand there's a place for discussing those things and practical and marriage and all that. Don't take that analogy too far. What I'm saying is what we did is we just talked about God and the greatness and the sovereignty and the decree of God.

We did this why because we need to know God more deeply. I want to study the sound doctrine of the Bible. I want to be a Bible man. I want to read my Bible daily. I want to study the glories of Christ and and the wretchedness of sin and and the beauty of the church and and the work Of the Holy Spirit and the sovereignty of God.

The list goes on and on and on. Don't tell me that you love the gospel and you say I just don't like theology. That's what's happening today in miniature. Just give me Jesus. Don't give me theology. No.

No, don't you understand again? Like the glass like I want rich and deep theology why because I want to grow in the gospel. Secondly we need to grow in the application of the gospel. Hey, I need the gospel every day.

Applied to my heart and my mind and my soul in my entire life. I don't merely need the gospel for conversion. Now. I'm not minimizing that at all, right? Yeah, you need the gospel for conversion. But it don't stop.

I need the gospel Applied to my day to wake up every day in grace to go to Christ daily drawing nourishment from the communion of the triune God and Christ to be reminded of passages like we started this sermon with.

Be reminded of passages like Isaiah 49.

Like.

Graven on my hands. Now what would you think about me if I came in here and I put Stephanie in my hand. She's right, bro. Too far, right? That's the way God speaks about his church. You're graven on my hand.

I can't forget you like in your deepest darkest moment. God hasn't forgotten you. What. And you're in your in your sorrow and in your pain and your suffering. When you mess up and you sin and you're like, okay now God's ready for me to be off his team.

He's got to go. I just messed up for the 1050th time there's no more grace for me. Surely not and God says I haven't forgotten you. Yeah, this plan was began before eternity passed. I had you on my hands in the beginning.

From the beginning before the beginning, right? I chose you in Christ. I said I'm not done with you. This is God's love. You can't fathom his love for his church. I need it every day. I need it applied to relationships.

Hey, I just going to tell you I'm way less patient with you than God is with me. Right in the words of Voddie Bockham if you can't say amen. You better say ouch, right this is true. You're much less patient with your spouse with your children with your church members with your co-workers.

You're much less patient with patient with them than God has been with you. You need the gospel applied to your relationships to your prayer. I'm weak and needy but Christ is Mediating for me. The Spirit is groaning with me.

I Want to show the world. I want to show the local church. I want to show Perry County that the gospel is not just these great truths of Scripture. But that these come to bear in our homes and our jobs and our worship in our lives.

Preaching the Gospel to the World

Okay, so believe it defend it grow in it. Am I missing anything? Well, this is our fourth point. Preach it. This is the gospel that we are to believe. This is the gospel that we are to defend. This is the gospel that we are to grow in and this is the gospel I'm sure I could have alliterated this with some more thought.

But this is the gospel that we are to preach. This is the gospel that we are to declare. Everything I've said before is extremely important. It's foundational. But this point I want to hammer home some important truth in one sense.

I'll say this church members preach the gospel to one another regularly in Conversations and fellowship in the ordinances. I didn't announce it this morning. I forgot somebody didn't do a bulletin, right?

There's a bulletin ministry available in our church if you're Lord's leading. We're going to baptize Lord willing. I'm still talking to her gonna work through her testimony those things but Lord willing in a couple weeks going to baptize my oldest daughter and When I do that She will in a sense now be careful.

I'm not going liberal here, but listen to the whole statement. She's gonna preach the gospel. Because that ordinance preaches the gospel you understand she goes down dead to sin. She raises again a newness of life a picture on the outside Of what God has done on the inside a picture of what Jesus did.

Death and.

Then brought back to life. We need to preach the gospel to one another in the ordinances. Quit courting the world. So many ways that we can be ashamed of preaching the gospel so many things. I'm I am mindful of our time one of the things we we try to commit to on Sunday nights with two services.

One in the Sunday morning once they're not we try to you know, make sure that. We're not extending too far past 7 on Sunday nights so I am mindful of that but Let me just encourage this church that we preach the gospel to one another.

In the way that we do church in our worship in our focus on the word in our confession and catechism reading. All these things guys these all have a purpose like we're not just doing these things to be weird, right?

I got the average kind of church that might come in here. Like there's some things that we do that a little bit weird, you know. Like it's focused on reading the scripture and we read this ancient document from the 1689.

We do this catechism like what are y 'all Roman Catholic or something by no means right? No way. We're just serious about the gospel and we try to adorn the gospel in our worship. That is our goal. But but let me say this now I want to say.

That I also mean that the church must proclaim the gospel.

Verbally.

To a lost and dying world if we are not ashamed of the gospel. Then not only must we believe it. Not only must we defend it. Not only must we Believe it defend it grow in it. Sorry. We also must proclaim it.

We must preach the gospel to a lost and in dying world. Perryville needs the gospel. The city whichever city that you may reside in this evening. It needs the gospel. We cannot sit back and say man. I really hope we're gonna do something.

We'll do a kids play. The pastor will learn how to one of the pastors learn how to juggle chainsaws. Like we'll do something and we'll get people out there that hate God somehow. We'll get them in here.

That's the strategy of many churches, but it's simply not biblical now. We have no problem with lost people coming to church. You can invite lost people to church. That's fine. But we're not tailoring our service in order to get lost people in the church because that's not the Commission We have the Commission we have is to go go out into the world and proclaim the gospel.

And it not merely just feeding people or helping people or hugging people or whatever, right? But telling them of their sin before a holy God and his willingness to Pardon them and forgive them if they will repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ.

If we don't take the gospel to the streets.

Who will.

Who's going to do it? Right. I praise God for the churches in our area the ones that are preaching the gospel. But but this Commission is so important that we can't sit back and say man. I hope another church is gonna do it.

We need to lead from the front. And we need to lead without any kind of jealousy or robbery like I told one of the guys one day I was like, what would you do if you're driving past hearts one day and another church was out there preaching the gospel.

Assuming they're actually, you know, they're preaching the right message and all that. Like what would we do? Would it back? Wait, so that's our turf, man. No, I'd like.

Praise God.

Right our.

Leading from the front has encouraged our other brothers and sisters to take up the mantle of Proclaiming the gospel and declaring it to our city. I believe that God can and is willing. Why would God put such a church?

Why would God do such a work in this little church here in Perry County, Arkansas? If he did not have a plan for our city I believe he has a plan for our city. But we must never lose the motivation and the desire and the command that we have to preach the gospel to this city.

Sinners here in Perryville need.

Christ.

Let me give you this analogy. Now there's debate on whether or not this is true or not, but many of you know historically accurate or not. Maybe it happened. Maybe it didn't happen. You can research yourself and study and read but the at least the myth is there and you know this and that is the story of Troy and they couldn't penetrate the city.

They couldn't get through the walls and so. What they did was Apparently built a big wooden horse. Oh, yeah. Why didn't I think of that, right? They built a big wooden horse. They got inside of the horse.

And so they deceptively were able to make it through the gates and then to ransack the city. Now I give that analogy because that is not the analogy of the church. Jesus says in Matthew 16 18 That I will build my church and the gates of hell Will not prevail against it.