ROMANS 1:16-19 RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WRATH REVEALED2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 1:16-19 Righteousness And Wrath Revealed

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015.

We are here this evening in Romans chapter 1, continuing our journey, just really starting early here in the book of Romans chapter 1. We'll be looking at verses 16 through 19 this evening, and so I'd like to take a moment and read through that for you. Romans chapter 1 verse 16 says...

Verse 1.

Here as we continue on in Romans chapter 1, Paul has introduced himself and he has expressed his desire to go to Rome, but he has also expressed his desire to go to Rome.

But he's starting now to really dive into the main subject of the book of Romans, which is the gospel. And we've already seen him deal with the gospel quite a bit here in chapter 1. And now he's going to unpack it. He's going to kind of go slowly through the different elements of the gospel message and really prove each element of the gospel here throughout the book of Romans.

And so as we begin here looking at this subject with Paul, he starts out letting us know that he's not ashamed of the gospel, but then he tells us why. And there's two reasons that I would say that are primarily why he's not ashamed of the gospel, and I titled the message to go along with it, and that is because in the gospel, the

The righteousness of God and the wrath of God are revealed. Righteousness and wrath are revealed. Actually, the wrath is not revealed in the gospel, but he's not ashamed of the gospel because the wrath of God is revealed already. And so the gospel presents the righteousness of God. Now, as he gives this contrast between righteousness and wrath,

This could be a little bit of a difficult thing for some people because, well, sometimes we struggle with this concept of the wrath of God. And it can be a difficult subject. We need to always remember that there is...

the wrath of God. That it's a legitimate thing. It is a real thing. Of course, we know that God is love, but we must not hold to that and just think that God is only love because God is also holy. And so God being love and God also being holy gives us also this same idea in God's righteousness and God's wrath.

And as we talk about the gospel message in connection to the righteousness and the wrath of God, we're thinking of it in terms that, well, the good news of the gospel message is such good news because the bad news is very bad news.

The wrath of God is very bad news. And so that's why the good news, the righteousness of God is, well, it's such great news. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because of the revelation of God's wrath and because, well, through the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

And as we see Paul not ashamed of the gospel, he encourages us as we study these things this evening to not be ashamed also. And so there's really just two points I'd like to hit as we look at this passage together this evening. The first point is that God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel.

the righteousness of God is revealed. It's manifested for us in the gospel message. Now, Paul has already been talking about the gospel. You might remember we left off last week with Paul saying, I really want to go to Rome. I'm trying hard to get there. I'm trying to find a way in the will of God. And in verse 15, he says, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. And

He's expressing this great burden that he has to preach the gospel, and he's ready to go to Rome to do that. Now, why? Why does he have this great burden? Why is he so ready to preach the gospel? Well, because Paul understands that it's the only means of salvation for all people. And that's what he's saying again here in verse 16. It says, "'For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.'"

for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Now, this verse, of course, is a famous verse, and I'm sure you've heard this verse. You've maybe memorized this verse. You know it. You've heard it taught before. It's a famous verse. It's an important verse. It is a key verse, and there's a lot of truth in it. Now,

this verse really starts this discussion that Paul is going to be having for the rest of this chapter and then on into chapter 2 and then on into chapter 3. And so a lot of these concepts we're going to be hitting over the next several weeks repeatedly. But I wanted to kind of just look kind of in a broad look at this contrast between the righteousness of God and the wrath of God that is revealed. Now

As he talks about the gospel here in verse 16, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And as we understand the righteousness of God and the wrath of God, I think this will help us to be like the Apostle Paul and not be ashamed of the gospel. I think as believers, I don't mean to speak for everybody, maybe there's some exceptions here, but I think we all pretty much know what it's like to be ashamed of the gospel, right?

I don't know if you've ever been ashamed of the gospel, but you know, there's those times where you're maybe put on the spot and you have an opportunity to share, but you're timid in your sharing. And maybe it's in a group setting or maybe it's with someone in particular and there's this fear, there's this timidity, there's this fear of maybe ridicule. Sometimes when it comes to sharing the gospel, we kind of get shy about it because sometimes

Because it seems so simple, you know, and we kind of expect people to mock. We kind of expect people to laugh at how simple it is. And sometimes it could feel foolish to share the gospel and to explain the gospel message. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23, he says, That's the essence of the gospel.

He says, to the Jews, it's a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, it's foolishness. And knowing that it's a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, sometimes it stirs up within us a little bit of, well, we're ashamed. We're a little bit shy. We're a little bit timid when it comes to the gospel message. And that's why looking at these passages here in the book of Romans is so good for us,

It's a great reminder of the importance and value of the gospel, even if it is a stumbling block, even if it's not popular, even if it's well-received. Because the point that Paul is about to make is the wrath of God is revealed, and there is judgment for sin, and that's why we need the righteousness of God, and that's brought forth by

in the gospel. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the only way for people to have the righteousness of God. He goes on to say, it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. So he's not ashamed of the gospel because, well, it's the power of God unto salvation. It's the power of God to bring salvation to those who believe.

Believing this gospel message is the means that God has chosen to bring salvation to all people. Now, it is a simple message. The message, we could say it in quite a few different ways, but the gospel message essentially starts with the reality that you and I are sinful.

And that we, on our own, can't do anything about our sinfulness because, well, we are sinful to the very core. And so we don't deserve heaven. We're never going to get to heaven on our own, no matter how many good works we do, no matter how many, you know, things that we try to do or money that we give or whatever. We can't, on our own, do anything to bring ourselves into right standing with God.

And so God, in seeing and knowing our condition, sent his only son, Jesus. Jesus being God, became man in order to die on the cross for our sin. That is, he received the punishment that you and I deserved so that, well, there's no more punishment to give unto us if we receive the

this truth that Jesus has died upon the cross for us. And by believing in Jesus and believing that he took our place on the cross, well, God then gives us the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is not just describing, you know, his attribute. It's describing him giving us his righteousness so that we, well, then we have right standing with God.

Now, you could explain the gospel message in a variety of ways, but that's the basic elements of the gospel message. We are sinful. God provided a Savior. It's Himself, His only Son, and He died upon the cross for our sins. And believing in Jesus, we have everlasting life. It's a simple message. It doesn't take a long time to learn it. Young children can learn the gospel message. It's simple.

But it has great power. He says it's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. I kind of think about it like a key. You know, picture like the old school keys, right? Where you got the handle on the end and you got the long stem and then you have just like two prongs, you know, that stick down. It's like real simple, right? But that key could be really powerful depending on

what door it's opened, you know? So if it opens the bathroom door, well, it's not that powerful of a key perhaps. But if it opens the door to the treasure, you know, well, then it's a powerful key. There's great immense wealth in it. There's great immense wealth behind it. And that's what it's like with the gospel. It is simple. Yeah, there's just a couple points. But through that message, it unlocks the righteousness of God.

And so that everyone who believes is clothed in his righteousness. And that's what makes the gospel so powerful. Check out verse 17. He says, for in it, again, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because in the gospel, in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And so he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because in the gospel, again,

the righteousness of God is revealed. The righteousness that God gives to us when we believe the gospel is revealed in the gospel. The only way to be right with God is revealed in the gospel. This word revealed, it means to remove a veil, to remove a covering. Something was hidden before and

But now it's been revealed. Now, throughout history, leading up to when Paul is writing these things, God has been working amongst the Jewish people. And of course, he gave them the law of Moses, right? And he gave them an opportunity to approach him and have relationship with him. He instituted the Levitical system and the sacrifices. But all throughout history,

Although they had this system for dealing with their sin, it never actually made them righteous. It never actually removed their sin completely. It was a covering. It was temporary. But in the gospel, because of what Christ has done upon the cross, now that has changed. And so now it's not a temporary solution, but now there is this real cleansing from sin.

And this real, well, giving of righteousness to those who believe. And so now you and I as believers can have right standing with God. That is, we, well, we get to relate to God as if we had never sinned. We get to relate to God as if we were completely righteous, which we're not, we're sinful. But because we believe in Jesus,

The righteousness of God is attributed to us. And that's revealed in the gospel message. The way to be right with God wasn't revealed yet until the cross.

But now it's been revealed. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because now this is, we could pull away the curtain and people can find out there's a way to be right with God. There's a way to be reconciled. There's a way to have that right standing with God and to be clothed with his righteousness. And that's important because people try a lot of different ways to be righteous.

There's a lot of different attempts of, you know, how to make things right, how to have right standing with God. And people try all kinds of things. There's only one way to be righteous. There's only one way to have right standing with God. And that's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the only way. And how is it that this righteousness is attributed or given to those? Well, he says it's from faith to faith.

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. There's a couple ways to look at this phrase from faith to faith, but essentially Paul is saying it's all about faith. From beginning to end, the righteousness of God is about faith. To receive initially the righteousness of God, to have right standing with God, it's by faith. We believe the gospel message. We believe what Christ has done for us.

And it's by faith that we receive that righteousness. From there on out, it continues to be by faith. And sometimes we make a mistake by, well, we think we believe in Jesus, and then from there on out, we have to work for it. But that's not the truth. That's not the reality. It's from faith to faith. It's always going to be about faith. From beginning to end,

Salvation is about faith. And that's why he quotes now from Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 and he says, "...the just shall live by faith." Because it's about faith. It's not just a one-time event, but the rest of your life is going to be by faith. And you're going to live by faith from there on out, believing in Jesus, believing that gospel message, approaching God by faith in the finished work upon the cross. And

The just shall live by faith. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because this is the only way in which the righteousness of God is revealed. That people could understand, that they could know that there is an opportunity for them to have relationship with God, to be reconciled with God by faith.

And he's going to unpack that quite a bit more as we head into the further chapters in chapters 4, 5, and 6, and so on. We're going to get into the whole idea of righteousness by faith. And he'll give us the examples of Abraham. He'll talk about how, you know, it's grace and faith, and they're working together. And it's amazing how good God is towards us. But here, as he introduces the subject, he says, I want you to know I'm not ashamed of

because this is the way that the righteousness of God is revealed. And again, it's an exhortation for us that we should not be ashamed of the gospel, because nothing has changed since Paul wrote this. There still is the only one way of attaining righteousness, and that is through the gospel message. And so it's an exhortation for us to not be ashamed of the gospel.

but to be bold, to know the gospel. And yes, there will be times of fear. There will be great intimidation. And yes, it's a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, but to not be ashamed because in the gospel message, there is the power of God for a person, well, to be right with God, to receive what God has done for them. And so the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.

But then we also see the second point in verse 18 and 19 is that God's wrath is revealed to all. So God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel. God's wrath is revealed to all. And there's this contrast. There's a difference in these revelations. One is very limited and then the other is very broad. The revelation of righteousness is limited to the gospel message. There's no other opportunity for revelation

the righteousness of God to be revealed or received. It's only in the gospel. But the wrath of God is revealed in a variety of ways. Again, let's look at verse 18. It says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

And so he says the wrath of God is revealed. He's been talking about the righteousness of God being revealed, but now he switches to the wrath of God. And he's going to be talking about this for the rest of the chapter and then again on into chapter two. And so we'll be repeating some of these things and looking a little bit deeper. But I wanted to take some time this evening for us to appreciate the contrast that Paul is showing us here.

there is a revelation of the righteousness of God. And that is revealed. The covering is removed in one way. It's in the gospel message. And that's why he's not ashamed of it. But the wrath of God, well, that has a different revelation. He says it's revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. This is a much broader revelation.

The scope is quite a bit bigger. There's lots of ways to see the wrath of God. It's revealed in a variety of ways as opposed to the righteousness of God, which is just revealed in one way. And so the wrath of God, it's a real thing. There is a

Real judgment against sin. And again, sometimes we struggle with this concept of the wrath of God because we know God is love. And so how could there be this wrath of God? And I often encourage you that when we do not understand the judgment of God, it's because we do not understand the severity of sin. And many times we kind of forget how bad sin really is.

And sometimes we forget how bad sin really is in our own selves. And we kind of think, you know, we're not that bad. Of course, we know better than to say that. But we kind of slip into that mindset many times. And the reality of sin is much more horrific than we're often understanding. Sin is much more devastating, much more destructive, right?

Sin deserves judgment. Now, the word wrath here is not directly a word that's talking about the punishment, but it's talking about God's attitude towards sin. It's talking about God's heart towards sin. And so sin stirs up this wrath of God. Maybe a good example of this in the life of Jesus is in Mark 3, verse 5.

And it's a time when the religious leaders were trying to test Jesus. And so they were there on the Sabbath and there was this guy with a withered hand and they were looking for an accusation. They were trying to trap Jesus.

And so Jesus asked him a couple questions, and he's intending to heal this guy, and he knows they're upset about it. And it says in Mark chapter 3 verse 5, And so as Jesus is having this dialogue with these religious leaders who, they're just looking for a way to get Jesus, to trap Jesus.

Their hearts are far away from God at this point. And it says that he looked around with them at anger. Same word here. He looked around at them with wrath. But then notice it says, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts. And so this is that grief, that sorrow that comes from the condition of their hearts. And the Lord looks at sin, not just as anger,

We might see with, you know, some of the surface elements of sin, but he sees how it impacts the heart, right?

And he sees how it impacts the life and the soul. And not only them, but the people around them. And how it impacts the world around them. And he sees the devastation. And so that's why he tells us not to sin. Not because he wants to try to keep us from all the great things that exist in the world. But because he wants to keep us from all the hurtful, the harmful, the devastating, the destructive things that are in the world.

And so there's this wrath that's stirred up. It's combined with grief over the issue of sin. God hates sin. That's his attitude towards it. If you ever want to know how does God feel about sin, you can know that God hates sin. And he must punish sin. And so you could boil it down this way. Every individual will either have the righteousness of God or

or the wrath of God. Every individual is going to have one or the other. Either you have the righteousness of God, or you have the wrath of God. J. Vernon McGee puts it this way. He says, It's one or the other.

And that's why Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. Because every person will experience the wrath of God unless they receive the righteousness of God. That's it. Those are the only two options. There's no middle ground. There's no gray area. There's no third, you know, loophole, you know, option. There's one or the other. Either we receive the wrath of God or we receive the righteousness of God.

And so whoever does not receive the righteousness of God will experience the wrath of God. And how does one receive the righteousness of God? Well, that's revealed in the gospel. I know these are simple truths, but these are truths that we need to have a solid grasp on and we need to be reminded of because, well, as I shared earlier, I think we all know what it's like to be timid when it comes to the gospel, right?

And to not be like the Apostle Paul who says, I'm not ashamed. I'm ready to preach the gospel because I understand either that person's going to receive the wrath of God or the righteousness of God. But if I don't share the gospel, if they don't receive the gospel, that revelation isn't brought forth. They might not know that they have the opportunity to have right standing with God. And so I'm ready to share the gospel because I want people to have that opportunity. I want to remove the covering. It's up to them whether or not they receive it, but I'm ready to share the gospel.

But I want to remove the covering, share the gospel that they could receive the righteousness of God. But if they don't receive the righteousness of God, they will receive the wrath of God. That's the reality. And again, the good news is such good news because the bad news is very bad news. And the wrath of God is bad news. It is judgment. God is stirred up with great fire against sin.

And we're in desperate need of a Savior because without a Savior, we don't stand a chance. We can't endure the wrath of God. The only thing that satisfies the wrath of God regarding sin is judgment. And that's what Jesus received for us upon the cross. You have to accept that Jesus received the punishment for your sin, or you have to receive that punishment yourself. Those are your choices.

He received your punishment. If you say, yeah, I don't receive that. I reject that. Well, then you will receive your punishment. Again, those are the only options, the righteousness of God or the wrath of God. Now, again, some people in wrestling with this whole idea of the wrath of God, they try to then say that, well, you know, this is really Paul the apostle talking here. And this wasn't part of Jesus's message, they might say.

Well, they do say that this is Paul's addition. He kind of took this beautiful thing that was the gospel and then added this, you know, ugly part to it. It's really not part of God's plan, they would say. And they try to discount or kind of water down this whole idea of the wrath of God. It is a difficult subject and it is unpleasant to consider, but it is part of the essential truths that are presented. And Paul didn't invent this.

This is very clear in Jesus's ministry and in his teaching as well. And I'll just give you one example in John chapter three, verse 36. Here's what Jesus says. He who believes in the son has everlasting life. And he who does not believe the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. So Jesus presents the same two options. You believe in the son and you have everlasting life, the righteousness of God.

Or you don't believe in the son and then you will not have life, but instead you have the wrath of God. And so this is the reality. This is the truth. Whether we're comfortable with it or not is a whole nother matter, but this is the reality. There's the righteousness of God. There's the wrath of God. Both are revealed. God's made both visible. We can understand both of them and it's our choice which one we receive.

The wrath of God or the righteousness of God? And Jesus says, if you don't believe in the Son, then the wrath of God abides on you. And so Paul here in Romans chapter 1 says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

It's the power of God unto salvation because the righteousness of God is revealed. And finally, there's a way for people to have right standing with God. And it's made clear. It's made visible. People can know that they have this right relationship with God by believing in Jesus, receiving what he accomplished for us upon the cross. But this message, he says, I'm also not ashamed of it. It's also really crucial because, well, the wrath of God is revealed.

And in contrast to the righteousness of God, the wrath of God is revealed in a variety of ways. He says it's revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Now, again, this is the beginning of a discussion that Paul is going to be having in this chapter and the next couple chapters. And so I'm adding a little bit from, you know, what I know is to come.

But let me just give you some examples of the ways that wrath is revealed. I think the primary point that Paul is making here is that God's wrath is revealed on a personal level in a person's conscience. In the guilt that they experience, it's a revelation of God's wrath to them. And we'll come back to that as we head into verse 19 in a few moments.

But another way that the wrath of God is revealed, he'll continue on here in chapter one to talk about, and that is more of a social revelation of the wrath of God. And that is that things are getting worse. As Paul talks about how God gave them up. And so there's this giving over to these sinful practices and lifestyles and the destruction that it brings. It's a revelation as we watch society change.

lean in to those sinful practices and turn more and more to sinful things. It's a revelation. God is showing his wrath. He's making it clear. He's removing the covering and showing the wrath of God. But then you can also look at the scriptures and see the wrath of God is revealed in the scriptures because he's speaking to Jews and Gentiles. And so he's reminding the Jews, hey, think about your history.

I mean, you can look at the scriptures, you can see the wrath of God revealed as God brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

You could see the wrath of God revealed as God dealt with the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel. They were his people, but they had turned away from God. And so God used the nation of Assyria. God used the nation of Babylon to come and bring judgment, to pour out his wrath upon these nations that had turned from God. Of course, one of the

The big examples of the wrath of God we find in the scriptures is in Genesis chapter 6 with the flood where the judgment is poured out upon the earth because the thoughts and intents of man are wicked continually.

And so he points out to this, or he points back to the scriptures. He points to what's happening in society and he points to what's happening within the person. And he says, the wrath of God is revealed. Now, just a quick side note. I mentioned, you know, the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. And since we're talking about the wrath of God, I think it's appropriate to point out. It's a danger for us to try to attribute catastrophes and things that happen to us.

you know, specific judgments from God today. Because as you look back at these catastrophes that happened, these acts of judgment that God did, he announced them. He spoke to Noah ahead of time. He spoke to the nation of Israel and Judah ahead of time, calling them to repentance as God was bringing the children of Israel into the

conquer the land and he brought the wrath of God on the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. He spoke to them for 400 years ahead of time, calling them to repentance and so on and so forth. And so for us to look back and say, well, that disaster, you know, that's the wrath of God. That's the judgment of God. You know, there are the effects of sin that we just experience continually, but I think we need to be very cautious in like saying, you know, that's God judging a particular people or location.

When God is bringing this kind of judgment, like the flood or Sodom and Gomorrah, he gives warning and he speaks ahead of time to prepare the people and give them an opportunity to repent. But getting back to Romans chapter 1, so the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. But although there is this revelation, he says that they suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

So there's this revelation personally, socially, historically, there's this revelation of the wrath of God. But even though people know about the wrath of God, they suppress the truth. And it's this idea of holding something down or pushing it down. Like, I don't want to think about that right now. I don't want to deal with that right now. And so they push it down with their unrighteousness.

They push it down. They hold it down. They suppress it in their sinful practices and lifestyle. And so there's this intentional suppressing of the revelation. Similar to what Peter said in 2 Peter 3, talking about those who scoff at the promises of God. He says,

So he refers back to creation. He refers back to the flood. And he says, I'm not going to remember that.

Now that's a good practice whenever you're forgiving someone of their sin. They've repented. You say, on purpose, I choose. I'm not going to remember that. But it's a very bad practice when it comes to this revelation of God, the wrath of God. And sometimes, well, people willfully, on purpose, choose to suppress, to forget, to say, I'm not going to think about that. But as hard as they fight against it,

He goes on in verse 19, and he says, People can try to claim ignorance, but Paul says, The word manifest, it means to shine or to cause to appear. You could think about it like turning on the light. And when you turn on the light, well, the room is revealed.

It's made manifest. It's visible. And Paul is saying, God has turned on the light in people's hearts, in people's souls, so that they know the truth. God has shown it. It's that same word, manifest. He's turned on the light. The light's turned on. God's turned on the light. They know the truth. They try to suppress it, but they know the truth.

I think the New Living Translation puts it in an easy to understand way. It says, they know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. So the revelation of the wrath of God has been made obvious. As humans, we try to suppress it. We try to willfully forget, but it doesn't do away with what God has revealed.

It doesn't turn off the light. The light has been turned on. It's manifest. It's made known. It's obvious. And again, I think at this particular point, as Paul is just beginning this discussion, he's going to move on to some other things. But as he's talking about this internal revelation, it's manifest in them for God has shown it to them. I think he's focusing on this personal aspect of revelation, right?

And I would suggest that that is speaking of the conscience that he has given to each person and the guilt that is experienced as a result of having a conscience and knowing that there are things that are right and there are things that are wrong. It's built into us. God put it there. It's his revelation of the wrath of God to us personally.

So that we recognize, so that we have manifest. The lights are turned on and we recognize this is right and this is wrong. In chapter 2, Paul's going to deal with this a little bit more specifically as he talks about the Gentiles who don't have the scriptures. But he makes the point in Romans chapter 2 verse 15. He says these Gentiles, they show the work of the law written in their hearts.

And he says,

bears witness. It testifies. I know right from wrong. The wrath of God is revealed. And then in their mind, there's their thoughts, either accusing or excusing them. The thoughts accusing, of course, we know that's, you know, testifying. Yeah, there's wrong, the wrath of God. But the thoughts excusing testifies just the same.

Because we work so hard at excusing ourselves and justifying ourselves. And why do we work so hard at that? Because the lights have been turned on and the wrath of God is revealed. And so the righteousness of God is revealed and the wrath of God is revealed. The wrath of God is revealed in several ways. It's made known to everybody. God's made it manifest in them. He's turned on the lights. That's widespread.

But the righteousness of God is revealed only in one way. And again, all of these concepts that we're about to read in the coming verses, they all tie together. But the Lord put it on my heart in this way, for us to take a moment and just appreciate the contrast, to recognize the difference. Everybody knows about the wrath of God. They might suppress the truth and try to willfully forget, but everybody knows about the wrath of God.

But the righteousness of God is revealed in only one way. And that's in the gospel message. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Because that's how people can know that there's a solution to this wrath of God. They're trying to suppress it. They're trying to beat down this guilt. They're trying to do all kinds of things to deal with what's happening within. And they know it's not working, but they're trying to pretend like it's working. They're trying to suppress the truth.

But I'm not ashamed of the gospel because in the gospel, they can know, they can find out that there is a way to deal with that guilt, to be released from the wrath of God and to receive the righteousness of God. And so it gave Paul great boldness because he knew as he ministered to people, as he shared the gospel with people, the wrath of God was revealed and his job was to reveal the righteousness of God.

to let them know about the solution that God has provided, the good news to the very, very, very bad news. And this is why you and I should follow the example of the Apostle Paul and not be ashamed of the gospel because the wrath of God is revealed and people around us may suppress it, may fight against it, may pretend really, really well that the lights are off, but the lights are on. It's been revealed. The wrath of God is revealed.

It's made manifest to them. God's revealed it to them. Our job is to bring forth the gospel because in the gospel, God is able to reveal and remove the curtain on his righteousness. That is the righteousness that they can have by believing in Jesus. It's pretty amazing, this gospel message, this grace that God gives to us that we don't have to work for it. We couldn't even if we wanted to. But you know, God could work

set some higher requirements. All right, you believe in me, you give me 90% of your income, 75 push-ups a day. You got to convert at least three people a day too, otherwise you're not going to make it. God could have put some requirements on this, but by his grace, he invites us to believe in him, to receive what he's done for us. He reveals the gospel message or reveals his righteousness in the gospel message.

It's pretty incredible. I'm going to invite the worship team to come up and close us out in some worship. And as we worship the Lord, of course, it's totally appropriate to worship the Lord for what he's done regarding this gospel in our lives and thank him for revealing his righteousness and giving us that opportunity at his expense. And so I would encourage you to worship the Lord.

in that way and thank him and be grateful for what he has done. Also, I would encourage you to be seeking the Lord about boldness regarding the gospel message. As you understand, everybody knows about the wrath of God, but not everybody knows about the righteousness of God. And that's revealed in the gospel. And so it's an opportunity for us to not be ashamed, but to be bold. And we can ask God to give us opportunity to share the gospel.

Well, as we worship, as we do on Wednesday evenings, we also want to give you opportunity to minister to one another.

And so during these songs that they're singing, we want to give you the freedom. You can get up and you can move around. You can go talk to people. You can go pray for people. You can encourage people. And it can look like the manifestations of the Spirit that we see in 1 Corinthians 12. It can be a scripture or a verse maybe that's been on your heart or that God puts on your heart right now. Or it could be a prayer for one another. Now, as I often share,

These times that we have of ministering to one another, this is practice. This is practice for the real thing, which is outside of these doors, when we get the opportunity to share the gospel. And as we have opportunity to share the gospel, and we know what it's like to be timid in that, to be ashamed in that, this is a good opportunity to prepare ourselves so that when we have the opportunity with the gospel, that we're ready for it.

that were experienced. And so I would encourage you to look at this evening and this opportunity this evening as practice. And that is just like the gospel is very simple and yet it has great power. I want to encourage you to minister to one another in things that are simple. Share simple truths. Sometimes we don't minister to each other because we think, well,

I haven't had any revelations that are worth writing books about today. So, you know, what am I going to say? Jesus loves you. Hey, it's a simple truth, but it has great power. And so I want to encourage you to be bold and practice. And don't be ashamed of the gospel. And don't be ashamed of any other simple truth that God has on your heart. But you share it. Sometimes we don't pray for others because we think, well,

I mean, what am I going to say? And what am I going to pray that they can't pray by themselves? I don't have any amazing words to pray for them. Listen, don't be ashamed of simple prayer. Simple prayer has great power. It's much like the gospel. And so use the practice time so that later on you're better equipped, you're better prepared to not be ashamed of the gospel and to reveal the righteousness of God. So let's minister to one another.

Spiritual gifts, scriptures, prayers, according to what the Lord puts on your heart. And so anytime during the worship, you're free to do that. Let's worship Him together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.