savior. Paul knew that almost twenty centuries ago. He knew it
when he went to Rome and he knew it wherever he preached.
His response to that was, still, in light of all that and more to
come, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God
to salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
The question is whether you know Jesus as your Savior. And
it is not merely whether you have come to a theoretical and
theological understanding of the fact that Jesus is the Messiah;
the question is, is He your Messiah? Do you know Him as Savior
and Lord? The promise of the gospel is that all those who call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Salvation is by grace
through faith. It is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It begins in the recognition that we, Jew and Gentile alike, are
sinners in desperate need of a savior. We come to the point where
we understand there is nothing that can save us and there is no
one who can save us but Jesus Christ the Lord.
Salvation comes when that heart turns to accept and
acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and then bows the knee to Jesus
the Lord. Salvation is a gift. It is a gift that is declared objectively
upon the authority of God Himself in His revealed Word. But it
is also a gift that must be received, and thus, I preach to you
what Peter preaches on Pentecost in Jerusalem. I preach to you
the gospel that the apostle Paul preaches in Antioch. I preach
this gospel because I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the
power of God unto salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek.
Will you pray with me. “Our Father, what a humbling honor it is to
preach Your gospel and how inadequate is any human preacher,
and yet Lord, you wield us by Your Spirit. Father, I pray that it is
with boldness and clarity that I have declared the gospel. But in
spite of the limitations of our words, despite the limitations of
any preacher, I am confident that here tonight, the Holy Spirit is
at work within hearts, sovereignly calling sinners unto a Savior.
30 | To the Jew First