well you know the the singing is good and the music is good when you go from i can't wait to get up there and preach to maybe we should just wait a little while longer we have your bibles with you open them to the book of romans romans chapter 1 and i have been assigned romans 1 verses 16 and 17. and as you turn there let me just say once again what an incredible privilege it is to be in this place with you brothers and it is an even more significant privilege um this time than any of the other times we were supposed to be here last year and this conference didn't happen but also a year ago this time i was in the midst of a couple of heart surgeries that the lord decided to deliver me through and as i walked in and austin you said the same thing to me tonight that that dr macarthur said the first time we saw each other after this whole ordeal i'll never forget it we were at the g3 conference and um john walks up and he makes a beeline over to me and looks me in the eye and says i'm so glad you didn't die me too um i need to as we examine this text i want to tell you a story this story doesn't originate with me it's a story that's been used to sort of illustrate post-modernism and i i think if you'll bear with me you'll see how it relates to what we're dealing with here tonight and the story goes something like this there's a man and he's walking with his son through a strawberry patch and he walks through the strawberry patch and he takes a strawberry and eats a strawberry and gives the strawberry to his son and the strawberries good beautiful perfect sweet but something happens to strawberries over time and eventually strawberries are taken in and they're chopped up and used in other foods and they're put on top of cereal and eventually strawberries are made into strawberry preserves and into strawberry jam and eventually strawberries get messed with and processed and put inside of things like pop-tarts eventually you get into laboratory where you have the essence of strawberry without strawberries eventually men don't take their sons to strawberry patches anymore to give them strawberries they they they go and get them strawberry slushes that don't actually have any strawberry in them whatsoever it's just a combination of chemicals and colors and high fructose this and that and the kid loves the strawberry slush and he gets used to the strawberry slush and then one day the kid who's grown to love the strawberry slush that has no strawberries in it is walking through a strawberry patch and he picks up an actual strawberry and eats it and doesn't like it because it doesn't taste like the slush brothers i think that's what we've seen happen to the gospel as i surveyed the last few decades i i can remember how there there was the recognition of a loss of the gospel there was a recognition that the gospel had begun to be messed with and tinkered with there was a recognition that that things like the the church growth movement and other movements like that were were shying away from the gospel and all of a sudden in response to that you had you had gospel everything in this attempt to recover the gospel and put the gospel at the center of everything and then all of a sudden that became a fad the gospel became a fad and there was gospel this and gospel that and gospel everything gospel baked sales but interestingly enough as gospel became a fad and attaching gospel to everything became a fad the gospel was being lost again in the name of the gospel and there were things that were called gospel because that was the fad but they had no gospel in them whatsoever and then fast forward and gospel has become everything which means it's become nothing and then people start saying that things are the gospel that aren't the gospel and all of a sudden things that are implications of the gospel the name and maybe maybe fruit of the gospel are being identified as the gospel classic example of this is what we've done with social justice we've gone from social justice is a gospel issue to social justice is the gospel racial reconciliation is the gospel these things are the gospel but actually they're not the gospel and ironically for the most part they are law which is the opposite of the gospel and then when you stand up against that i don't know maybe that was a statement on social justice in the gospel hypothetically you get attacked by some of the same people who were claiming that their desire was to recover the gospel and something else has happened there is a generation of young christians who when they actually hear the gospel don't like the taste of it anymore there was a recent clip where ibra makes kindy who's the author of how to be an anti-racist and if you if you haven't read how to be an anti-racist let me tell you right here and right now don't one of the best-selling books in in recent years millions of copies sold ibram xkindy has paid tens of thousands of dollars by fortune 500 companies to come in and beat them about the head and neck until they have been sufficiently guilted over their racism and sufficiently guilted into these works of anti-racism even max kindy's book how to be an anti-racist is being used in churches all over the country promoted by christian leaders all over the country and recently he was at an event sitting on the stage and he was asked about the church and the church's role in this issue of anti-racism and candy expressed this idea of the gospel not being palatable anymore and in a nutshell what he said was that that there was liberation theology and then there's savior theology and kindy argued that jesus was a revolutionary and he was about liberation and that christians in the church ought to be about liberating people from earthly oppression and earthly oppressors that's liberation theology and that's what that's what jesus was about and that's what the church should be about he he contrasted that with what he called savior theology savior theology is this this passe idea this racist idea that what we need to do is we need to get people saved and we need to look at people on an individual level and bring them into the church and change them and and transform them this he refers to as a racist ideology that's the gospel of anti-racism it looks at the biblical gospel and it says that's wicked and his books are in churches used and promoted even by some whom we just a few years ago would have considered heroes and giants we need gospel clarity we need to confront wickedness like this we need to recognize that this is an attack on the gospel and on the god of the gospel and we need to make it clear that's my assignment tonight romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17. and it reads for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek for in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith for faith as it is written the righteous shall live by faith amen hallelujah praise the lord the gospel the gospel the true gospel there are several things that we need to hear from this text for in particular that i want to share with us number one we see here in this text that we must not be ashamed of the gospel and i'm afraid that for many that's what we've come to where we're ashamed of the gospel we think that there's something more significant than the gospel something more important than the gospel we're ashamed of the gospel in order to understand the weightiness of this statement you have to understand paul's historical context and it's hard for us to comprehend because we minister in a very different age we are accepted in society people call us things like reverend and pastor and doctor we're asked to officiate at weddings and funerals we give invocations at important events we preach in magnificent edifices we're viewed as respected professionals we have accredited degrees often advanced degrees we cannot comprehend this statement we have to conjure things up in our mind in order for this statement to be relevant to us but in order for us to grasp this let us remember brothers that paul was arrested as a criminal in fact he was what you call a repeat offender he was beaten and chased out of town he didn't have lofty titles or offices no one in rome was asking him to come give the invocational prayer at the inauguration the message that he preached was considered anathema think about how tempted paul would have been or could have been at mars hill when he stands there before the most erudite minds of his day these people who called him an idol babbler and yet he was not ashamed of the gospel in a time where it would have been very easy for him to be ashamed of the gospel and yet ironically in the day and age in which we live where we have the lofty titles and where we have the respect where we're not being beaten and chased out of town ironically in that environment it is us who are ashamed of the gospel we're the ones when we're given an opportunity to be on television don't want to sound backwards so we sugarcoat we're the ones when we're given an opportunity for a position of prominence and in our community we decide to sort of back off of the offensive things so that we can be accepted and promoted we're the ones who do that we're the ones who've come to believe that there are things that are more significant than the work that we do in preaching and proclaiming the gospel we're the ones who've come to believe that there are things in the culture that are beyond what we can address because the gospel is just not enough i think we've seen this in a number of ways but recently this stood out to me because of a clear contrast and and i don't want to get all into it because we'll be here all night but this clear contrast recently you know covet hits and and and and things shut down and nobody knows what's going to happen and and and there's fear and we're told that people are just going to die by the millions and then we're told we're we're told that we can't gather and there's much that can be said about that but but we're told that we can't gather so so so many just don't gather some begin to gather get sued by the city and win but but regardless of where where we are in that this is and this is not about that there's something else there's something else that stood out to me is that some of the very people who didn't gather and then condemned those who did gather went to public blm protests help me holy ghost and the city didn't come down on them why because both they and the city believed that that was more essential than the saints gathering under the ministry of the gospel that is being ashamed of the gospel that is being ashamed of the gospel and that's what we've seen but listen to these words the very one who says that i am not ashamed of the gospel he says to young timothy in second timothy chapter four i charge you in the presence of god and of christ jesus who's to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching for the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths as for you always be sober minded endure suffering do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry do not be ashamed of the gospel second corinthians 4 8-10 we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not driven to despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed always carrying in the body the death of jesus so that the life of jesus may also be manifested in our bodies do not be ashamed of the gospel we cannot have clarity in the gospel if we are ashamed of the gospel but not only must we avoid being ashamed of the gospel but we must also have confidence in the gospel paul says for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation it's one thing not to be ashamed of the gospel but it's another thing to actually have confidence in the gospel and when i say have confidence in the gospel what i mean is have confidence in the fact that the god uses the gospel to save sinners that the gospel is the power of god for salvation that the gospel is sufficient that our work in the gospel will bear fruit that our work in the gospel is our highest calling that we have confidence in the gospel paul says in first corinthians 1 18 for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of god do we believe that the gospel is indeed the power of god and that is the power of god unto salvation do we believe that or do we believe that there is something more that people need do we believe that we need to graduate from the gospel do we believe do we believe that the ills of our society and the great problems that men and women face need something more significant than the gospel god forbid we must be confident in the gospel in other words when that couple comes to us and their marriage is in trouble do we have confidence in the gospel for them or do we believe that they need to graduate beyond the gospel to something else when that parent comes and and they're struggling as a parent do we believe that that what we have in the gospel is able to aid them in these kinds of situations and circumstances do we believe that if we're having issues in our church and if we're not seeing the kind of growth that we want to see do we believe that the gospel is sufficient for god to do what he promises to do in his church or do we believe that we need something more in our preaching and discipleship of god's people do we believe that we need the gospel in order for them to come into the front door of the kingdom but we need something more in order for them to grow or are we confident in the gospel again in first corinthians 1 verses 22 25 where is the one who is wise where is the scribe where is the debater of this age has not god made foolish the wisdom of the world for since in the wisdom of god the world did not know god through wisdom it pleased god through the folly of what we preached to save those who believe for jews demand signs in greek seek wisdom but we preach christ crucified a stumbling block to jews and folly to gentiles but to those who are being saved jews and greeks christ the power of god and the wisdom of god for the foolishness of god is wiser than men and the weakness of god is stronger than men do we have confidence in this do we really believe that the gospel is our greatest need do we really believe that it's the church's greatest need do we really believe that it is our nation's greatest need do we really believe that it is our world's greatest need do we really believe that or are we waiting for someone to ride in on a white horse who's not named jesus if we believe this we will manifest that belief by preaching this gospel in which we have confidence thirdly we must be indiscriminate with the gospel for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek do we believe this this is being challenged in our day the idea that everyone needs the gospel because in our day we've exchanged this biblical ideology this biblical worldview for this liberation ideology this liberation ideology that not only divides the world into oppressors and the oppressed but in doing so it divides the world into people who are sinners who need to be saved by works and people who are oppressed who need to be delivered this is this is how we've divided the world and because we've divided the world like this we we sort of change who jesus is and now we don't view jesus as the savior of the world but the representative of the oppressed peoples of the world because what oppressed peoples need is not the gospel but they need a jesus who looks like them and so we're arguing over things like what color jesus was it was on a television broadcast you know a a while back and the host of the program just wasn't getting what he wanted or what he expected in the interview and and so you know toward the end of the interview he decided to try to you know throw out a trap or whatever and um it was uh the television host was a black television host and he was very much on the you know social justice liberation theology kind of side of things it was on the young turks actually of all places um and i mean he's just doing everything that he can and he's not getting what he wants and so at the end he's like you know we just got a a few more seconds left and and he says well i i just i just want to ask you because he's gone every angle that he could go right to try to get whatever it is that he's trying to get and prove that i'm the wrong kind of black man i guess uh and he says well do you tell white evangelicals that they need to get rid of pictures of white jesus and you could tell when he asked that he was like i got you now to which i responded i tell everybody to get rid of pictures of jesus and and and and and so he missed it and he said no no no but yeah but do you tell those white evangelicals right because again it's like like it was a curse word you know you preached to white evangelicals right you i hurt my feelings by the way do you tell them to get rid of pictures of white jesus and so because he didn't understand the first time i said well actually pictures of jesus are a violation of the second commandment so i tell everybody to get rid of pictures of jesus because i don't want people violating the second commandment he asked me again but what is this all about this is all about us not believing that jesus is who the bible says that he is this is all about us not believing that we need what the bible says we need this is all about identity politics and trying to drag jesus into identity politics this is about being ashamed of the gospel this is about not being indiscriminate with the gospel this is about thinking that some people because of their social location yes they're sinners and maybe they do need repentance and they do need the gospel but other people because of their social location they are oppressed and what oppressed people need is something other than the gospel something more than the gospel i grew up not far from here it's always interesting and ironic when i have conversations with people like this because they make assumptions about me i'm a los angelino kind of born at ufc medical center raised in south central los angeles raised by a single teenage buddhist mother raised po not poor we couldn't afford the other on the r we were just paul ray's being nervous and afraid of the rampart division the lapd raised by a single teenage buddhist mother never heard the gospel until i went to university raised without my father who left us when i was just a couple of years old raised in a drug-infested and gang-infested environment raised in a situation that that people would refer to as as oppressed and my greatest need was met not when somebody delivered me from some kind of human oppression but when somebody shared the gospel of jesus christ and delivered me from the oppression of sin [Applause] i'm the husband of one wife and the father of nine children why nine children we just couldn't quite get to 10. and somebody asked me the other day how does a kid who grows up like you did without a father in his life in a family where over the last two generations my wife and myself combined 25 marriages 22 divorces how how does a guy like that stay married to a woman for 32 years in a row and raise nine kids and write books about being a husband and a father how does that happen it happens because the gospel is sufficient that's how it happens [Applause] i need the gospel notice i didn't say needed the gospel i need the gospel the real gospel the whole gospel i need the gospel and we must be indiscriminate with the gospel because all people need the gospel forth and finally we must be rooted and grounded in the gospel because it's everything verse 17 for in it in the gospel the righteousness of god is revealed from faith for faith as it is written the righteous shall live by faith the righteous shall live by faith i've said it before and i'll say it again one of the most pathetic sinister and demonic aspects of this entire movement and this spirit of this age is that it robs people of the life-changing truth of the gospel it says that people who find themselves in circumstances like those in which i was found need something other than the gospel and even worse than that it says that it's offensive and racist to say that the gospel is what we need in robin deangelo's book white fragility another one that if you have not read it don't she talks about several kinds of racism and one of the kinds of racist racism that she talks about is aversive racism and here and here's how she defines aversive racism if you look at disparities between groups of people and if you look for example at black people and you say that there are disparities between black people and white people and if you define those disparities or explain those disparities by anything other than racism that that's actually racism so the preacher who looks at people like me in my circumstances and says your family has been broken for generations and there are consequences in your life right now because your family's been broken for generations but the gospel can heal what's broken and change your life and the life of your children and your children's children because god is that good d'angelo says that pastor is a racist candy says that pastor's a racist because what you're supposed to say is you are a weak and helpless victim what's wrong with you is somebody else's fault it is the result of sin but the sins of others committed against you and what you need is to hold your head up high look those people in the face and say give me something how incredibly wicked know what i needed what you need what everyone who hears us needs is the righteousness that is found in the gospel the righteousness that flows from the gospel the righteousness that transforms individual lives and in transforming individual lives actually does transform families actually does transform communities actually does transform nations so what do we do when we find that our child walks through the strawberry patch and no longer likes the taste of strawberries there's a couple of things you can do one just keep them out of the strawberry patch and keep giving him slushies or two stop giving him slushies take him to the strawberry patch again and again and again until strawberries begin to taste sweet and in case you missed it what we do in the midst of this sin sick age that has rejected the gospel and perverted the gospel and replaced the gospel with that which is not the gospel is that we call out that wickedness we call it by name and we remind people of the good news of the gospel again and again and again until it tastes sweet to them when people say no our our problem is this our problem is that we say no no our problem is that god created the world and god created man and he put man in the garden to keep the garden and he gave the man a command and he held that man to perfect perpetual obedience to that command and he promised him life if he kept it and death if he didn't and he didn't keep it he ate and because he ate because of that one man sin entered the world and death through sin and everyone born from that man through ordinary generation inherited that man's sin nature and because of that sin nature sins proceed from it and our world is broken because of that sin and we stand guilty before a holy and righteous god and we know that he's holy and we know that he's righteous and we crave justice but the problem is that if god gives us justice we all die and so that god in his goodness and in his mercy sent forth his son who was not born of ordinary generation but was born of a virgin yes the virgin birth matters why because if he's born of ordinary generation he's born in sin but because he's not born of ordinary generation he's not born in sin he's clean of sin his record is clean and he keeps his record clean and he obeys god's law and because he's fully god and fully man he obeys the law of god on our behalf in his active obedience and then in his passive obedience god made him who knew no sin to be sin for us all we like sheep had gone astray each of us had turned to his own way but god laid upon him the iniquity of us all and christ died for sin once for all the just for the unjust and god imputes our sinfulness to him and he nails our sinfulness to the tree and christ dies and raises again on the third day for our justification and there's another imputation the righteousness of christ is actually imputed to us so that god can be both just and the justifier of the one who places faith in jesus christ so that all those who come to christ may enter in so that all those who place faith in christ might be saved but not only saved but sanctified because he's the firstborn of many brethren we're justified and we're adopted into the family of god and we're sanctified and as his children we begin to bear the family resemblance and we're further sanctified throughout this life by the very same gospel that saves us until one day when it's all said and done we're not just saved from the penalty of sin we're not just saved from the power of sin but one day we're glorified and saved from the very presence of sin that's the gospel that we preach that's the gospel that we need and that's the gospel that's more than enough you