Read a columnist this week and she had the startling experience of having her 17-year-old son come into her bedroom late one evening and said mom Here's the music. I won't play it at my memorial service Now at that comment a mother takes a big swallow Because you're supposed to sit down and talk to your elderly parents About the music at a memorial service You don't envision having that discussion with your teenagers What prompted such a remark? Well, this young man had been listening to the music of a Group Christian group called DC talk a song called Jesus Freak That contains this line. What would people think when they hear I'm a Jesus Freak? What will people do when they find that it's true? There was an accompanying book that spoke of Jesus Freak's young People who stood for Jesus many of whom had been martyred the world over this young man was particularly moved by an 18-year-old Russian soldier who in 1970 Avalidly professed faith in an era in the old Soviet Union where that clearly was not allowed In fact, the government insisted that he deny Christ he refused it was assigned 12 Days of guard duty in the harshest part of winter outdoors wearing only his summer uniform and an attempt to break his spirit his response was You know you can take a lot you can take a songbird and you can put it in a cage, but it will still sing Songbird songbirds sing even at the threat of death because it's their nature to sing and And so it is with the Christian threaten me as you will and I will not stop Professing the name of Jesus. He wrote to his parents and he said I do not think you will see me again In fact, they did see him again When they received his lifeless body back Stabbed six times around the heart battered bruised beaten all over the body around the head and the face His commander said to his mother your son died a brave young man. He fought death. He resisted But I want you to know He never denied his faith He never denied Christ And so a 17-year-old boy reading about people standing for Christ understands an opposed Columbine world That perhaps following Jesus means you think a bit about your Memorial service Kind of freaky, huh? Well, I want to ask this morning are you a Jesus freak? The word freak in the dictionary one of the Uses of that word one of the definitions is a freak is an ardent Infusious and I might ask what are you freaked about? What are you ardently enthusiastic about maybe maybe you'd be begrudging about it? But I bet that if we asked your family or people around you, they just answer just like that But he's enthusiastic, ardently enthusiastic about Florida state He's ardently enthusiastic about golf Or it might be the stock market or exercise boy. They exercise religiously every day Or he might say she is ardently enthusiastic about her children That is just the soul and the center and the purpose of her life Some in this room on this day would say the Tampa Bay Boy in here. How many would say that you are a Jesus freak? The gospel freak That the core and center of your life is Jesus Christ Everything you do everything you're about is the truth of the gospel ardent Infusious, it said that hot peppers Really seem rather benign They don't look that hot you could take them and and probably in some cases sniff them and in some cases even Touch your tongue to them and experience a little reaction But mash them between your teeth and something is unleashed that makes you You know run for release You tell you my Challenge this morning is to ask you Not that you believe the gospel not of your herd the gospel not that you subscribe to the gospel But have you Masticated the gospel but have you mashed it? Has the juice of the gospel flown down and flowed down into your life So that it could be said of you the gospel has totally freaked you out Would you do me a favor? Would you start by praying for me? Very hard to stand in front of people and not want to be good not want to be like not want to be seen as effective and eloquent That's really a bunch of garbage you didn't come to see me or hear me you want Jesus It's just pray for me that I believe everything I say and And that I might decrease in my own heart So that he might in every way be increased Will you pray for the preacher now you pray for the listener? Will you pray for yourself that if there's if there's a pungency to the gospel if there's a freedom to it if There's a part of it that captures the heart Well, that your heart just hasn't been heated up by yet Will you say to God whatever roadblocks whatever obstinence whatever order? Stubbornness Take it away. I Want the gospel I want to be freaked by it in Every way Lord. This is our prayer in Jesus name Amen. You see your sermon outline says that Paul has been freaked by the gospel. He is passion. That's the first point gospel Passion we find that the Apostle Paul has it the olicin Romans chapter one the opening verses What do you say the very first verses that the gospel has totally swept away Paul and his life Paul says He writes this letter to the church and he says Paul a slave of Christ That's how he describes himself. That's his self-image. I am a bond servant bonded over Catitude property of Jesus Christ called out as an apostle set apart for what? My life is set apart to be consumed and used for the gospel now. What is this gospel is the gospel? The best of men's opinions is the best that possible Paul a highly educated Jewish religious leader can put together is the miscellaneous of men's best thoughts and speculations about God What is Romans one one say the gospel comes from Not from men, but from God it's the gospel of God. It's good news from God and I ask you who would be so audacious as to ever make this up Nobody has ever even envisioned the idea of a God who would come down and die on the half of worthless people It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way in myth It doesn't work that way in fable It doesn't work that way anywhere else nobody could and visit such a scheme only God the gospel comes from God you look at verse two and we find out that the whole Old Testament all the Prophets that have gone before but we're about the gospel. That's what the Old Testament is about you want to know the gospel read the Old Testament You want to know the gospel verse three read the Read the New Testament because the gospel's about Jesus all the Bible points to Jesus he is a man born in the flesh He is the eternal son of God resurrected from the dead. He's the eternal God man who comes to rescue his people What a verses four and chapter five verses four and five of chapter one say about the gospel that the gospel is not for the Jew alone but also for the Gentile you look further down as at verse 10 or so and following all the way down to verse 14 It says Paul says I want to go to Rome Because I want to give you the gospel. I am under obligation. I am obligated I am bound to to to Jew to Greek to the barbarian to all the world to see all the world here the good news that God has delivered Through Jesus Christ. I've now been set apart to deliver that news to the rest of the world Paul is passionate about the gospel Paul's life has been captured up in it swept away by it and you might wonder why Well Philippians chapter three maybe you've got a Bible if you're there and your dexterous you turn over to Philippians chapter three We'll get just a hint of Paul's testimony. You know Margaret witcher stood up here today, and she said essentially what did I need with the gospel? As as the church I was more church than you as the Bible study I knew more about it than you as the God I knew God better than you I thought Sonny's go better than you. I had all that in my favor But guess what she didn't have a gospel she didn't get it The Apostle Paul look at it Philippians chapter three verse four. He said if anyone could have confidence in their human achievement You know I'm way ahead. I'll be way ahead. I'd kill you in that game Paul says put confidence in the flesh me more than you Circumcise the eighth day of the nation of Israel the tribe of vengeance Hebrew of Hebrews as to the law I was a Pharisee as to zeal I killed Christian It didn't get much more zealous than that I'm so passionate about the things of God. I'm out there killing the enemies of God Now what does Paul say? He says as to the law I was blameless But now what's his testimony? Whatever things were gained to me. I count them as what? Rubbish trash dumb crap. That's what he said. I count them as utterly Worthless that I might be found in Christ not with the righteousness of my own But with the righteousness that's provided to me and received by faith alone Paul's life has been swept away. I mean his his his His health his family his future his money His gifts whatever he's got. He's pouring it out for the gospel passion the gospel captures your heart It captures your whole life you Do you have that? Has the gospel permeated your home? But somebody come in and and and if they were invisible and they were watching your home But they say this is a gospel saturated home the gospel permeated your marriage People look at the interaction between you and your spouse and say It's a gospel saturated relationship How about your workplace? How about your vocation? What about your parenting? What about your checkbook? Is the gospel saturated? Have you chewed on the gospel enough that that the way you deal with your finances is different? You're a gospel spender now How about your relationship with your parents? How about your neighbors? Is the gospel making you new the gospel changing your heart and your life? Let me tell you something You know when revival is happening when church members start getting the gospel Not when non-church members do When church folks start having the lights go on and Getting the gospel it is a terrible thing to be an ardent Enthusiest about religion and church and not Get the gospel It's a terrible thing to go to church every week to try so hard to go to those Bible studies and life groups and and do all the exercises and And just not really ever get warmed up by it. Not ever really see it work its way out and who you are John Wesley knew that John Wesley came from England to be a missionary to Georgia and He went to came to St. Simon's Island. Have you been there? You've been there to see where Wesley was and and there's still a church there Mission founded church of England Wesley labored there. I don't think it was much more than a year and he kind of ran aground his ministry did in fact He got in trouble because he fell in love with a woman who who did not respond His affection and so he had her ex-communicated from the church Isn't that great? It's just one of the perks of the ministry. We don't get many but people don't like you throw them out. So
Wesley an adject failure It's back on the boat and when he ultimately becomes a Christian and he gets the gospel This is what he said when I got on that boat I saw that something was absent from me the true Christians had he said because the boat encountered terrible storms And there was a band of mer avian Christians on that boat and in the midst of the tempest I saw these people Believing that God was their father sovereign over the elements knowing that they were in his hands come Come death or or safekeeping and they they were filled with joy in the midst of danger while in my soul I was scared and frightened He said the Bible says that the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit the spirit who bears inward testimony to us constantly that we are the children of God He said my spirit and my life bore no evidence of that inward work of the Holy Spirit
John Wesley got back to England and he began to read the book of Roman and And in reading Romans chapter one and in Luther's writing on Romans his heart was strangely warm He was gospel converted What happened to Wesley and has it happened to you? Is your life Terminated with the gospel Point two This is what you got to get It's the content of the gospel if someone is going to experience the liberating power of Good news the first thing that must be said is the there is something they have to admit There's something they have to admit isn't this Interesting verse 16 Paul says I am not what I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why would you be ashamed of the gospel? Because the gospel is offensive because the gospel is Controversial why would you be ashamed of the gospel? Because a lot of people don't like it at all and and here's why Gospel content there is something to admit to get the gospel you must first admit that you are a Now you're more than that You know, I got to admit that you're not good. You got to admit that you're rotten You got to admit that you're flawed. You got to admit that you're broken and however much you think you are you haven't even got a clue I Mean whatever the x-ray show. It's really far worse It's just an absolute mess and to be a Christian to get the gospel You've got to admit that now that's why Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel because that very message is highly offensive to people It runs right up against the most Strongly held tenant of man which is that at the core of my being I am ultimately what I'm good And then I don't know as a nugget and somewhere in there. There's goodness. No true I don't always act good because I've been I was messed up on my parents, right? They didn't diaper me properly and I was you know, and and society and education and other influences have come in And if only somehow I could replace that bad karma with good karma You know, I could add this essential core goodness in me could work its way out and and when I can polish up that goodness It's in there and it'll start manifesting myself But at the core of my being I'm good and you see the gospel so offensive because it says what? Yeah, hogwash Tell the truth about yourself Given every opportunity you'll do what's best for you Because the one thing that's most true about us is that we love ourselves more than anyone else and We are filled with pride and self love and you see to get the gospel you have to admit that and That's highly offensive. Tell you something else I mean the gospel said you got to admit that you're so rotten that the only way you could be converted is for the eternal Son of God to leave heaven live a perfect life and offer himself up on a cross and die a horrible sacrifice to cover your sins That's how rotten you are right That that's highly offensive And it takes the brutal sacrifice of the only perfect person who ever lived to cover my transgressions That's highly offensive. Tell you something else is offensive about the gospel as modern man says Whatever will be will be I must retain my autonomy. I Will choose the path and and in fact if there is a God I'll find my way to him There's many paths to God, but I'll find him in my own time and my own way and that's just the way it is I'm ultimately going to retain control and the gospel says what Yeah, right Let me tell you something the only way to be recognized of the God is that God comes and finds you You're not even looking you don't even know where to look if you're looking all the wrong places and don't think there's many paths to God You can choose one of them whenever you well Please the fact is God comes and finds you and if your eyes are ever open It's because he does it from start to finish all and all you contribute nothing You are hopelessly lost you are blind you're wandering in circles and you'll never find your way out of a wet paper bag You understand why Paul said I'm not ashamed of the gospel Because the gospel offense the pride of man and My experience is that for the non-Christian rebellious do whatever I want the gospel is much less offensive than Then for the person who is religious and moral and church going I Want to suggest church goers are most defended by the gospel because the gospel says you have a leg up on no one The gospel says that that there is you have contribute you contribute nothing to your salvation and all your choir singing and all your tithing and all your good deeds and all your good work Have added up to nothing in God's eye and if I tell you that Jeffrey Dahmer's a Christian what do you think of that? Yuck That can't be how I can somebody live that until the heart of double evil things that he did at the end of his life How convenient there he is in prison. He's gonna die anyway, and he prays a prayer and Jesus accepts him. I'm not going for that That's what I mean. You don't get the gospel you understand What what makes that conversion any different than yours? You see how offensive the gospel is it says that we're you're on the exact same plane it said that that Jeffrey Dahmer has absolutely nothing to offer to God It has to just to purely a gift of God because he has done everything not to deserve it, right? And guess what the thing is true a lot Tommy Allen said last Saturday night he said Guy he was sitting down with a professional football player who's a real estate Agent as well and and that God was real curious about his church, and he said you know there You are to planning a church in urban Seattle, and I understand there's lots of gays coming to your church He said, what do you do about the gays who are coming to your church? Tommy leaned across the table and he said you know that can be a problem, but I think I've solved it now I remember Tommy's an army ranger. He said I think I've solved it when the services over I invite him around back of The church I string him up and I beat the crud out of them tell him never to darken our doors again The guy's eyes got real big And he said that's ridiculous And Tom said yeah, it is, but it's not as ridiculous as your question You see the gospel Jesus said a Pharisee and a publicant went up the church together Religious leader and a tax collector and the religious leaders stood off to the side and he watched the tax collector and he prayed He said God. Oh God. I'm so grateful that you didn't make me like him. Hi, I'm a grateful man And over on the side was the tax collector The equivalent of the most ostracized person in culture and he is laying on his face and tears are rolling Added from his eyes and he is saying God Be merciful to me the center and Jesus said which of those two went up from that place justifying that day Which of those two You see to get the gospel you have to admit the truth That you're rotten and there's not a thing you can do about it So offensive so offensive to church people We've invested so much in polishing ourselves up Yeah, you have some piece of junk in your house You have some piece of absolutely awful hideous art. It doesn't matter how much you polish it It's killed junk Friends this week took their little baby four or five months old the baby had to have surgery Cranium was healing together no soft spot no room for the brain to grow And so the surgeons in Sacramento had to cut the baby skull from front to back inside the side And every parent's worst moment is when a hand there infant to the doctors and off they walk in the doors swing And you sit down And now you wait And you feel utterly what utterly helpless Brothers and sisters that's the gospel You hand your soul which is broken To the great position and you say heal me because if you don't I will not be made well Now point to first there's something to admit and secondly, there's something to believe The gospel says that you can be reconciled to God But you cannot be reconciled to God by religion or reform Okay, religion is not the answer and that might surprise you But I want you to know Christianity is not a religion Christianity is the end of religion Martin Luther when he's studying The beginning of Romans you have to understand that Martin Luther when he read Romans chapter one verse 17 He read that there is a righteous God. There's a righteousness of God and he said if this God is righteous And he is holy then we must be righteous in holy and we must offer up our lives to him and so more than almost any other Christian What did he do? He went and became a monk he went and coistered himself in the monastery He went and denied himself every physical pleasure determined like almost no one that you or I would ever know To say if we must be righteous in holy then I will be righteous in holy He was known to confess his sins so ardently and so passionately that the confessors hated to draw Martin Luther He go on for hours finally they chase him away and say don't come back until you know You've done some decent sins that that are worth our time to listen to Luther would be gone five minutes and come rushing back his conscience Pricked by some other thought or something he hadn't remembered and on it went with his life to Luther said I didn't love this God I despised him because I poured my life out for him and still I knew I wasn't good enough I hated a God who would make such demands of us It was on a pilgrimage to Rome Where he was climbing the steps the relics and supposedly from the house of Pontius Pilate to Jesus himself had climbed earning penance earning years off of a time in Purgatory by crawling up each step on his hands and knees stopping to recite prayers and kiss each step He said instead of the prayers instead of every anything else every step. He ascended. He heard this one sound The just shall live by See the just shall live by faith and then he said it broke clear Romans chapter 1 verse 17 says Not that there is a righteous God, but Romans chapter 1 17 says there is a righteousness From God. I wanted to title this sermon not Righteousness to not to but from not to but from if you don't remember anything else remember this that religion says That you live your life in hope of eternity and you try to offer up a righteousness to God that he will find Acceptable the gospel says that there is a righteousness that comes from God to you You don't give a righteous life to him. He gives the righteous life of Jesus Christ to you You got it the conservative church says to us be good but we But we can't The liberal church says you are good but we're not The gospel says Jesus is Good And the only hope you have for all eternity is to rest in his righteousness Ask people do you do you know if you're a Christian? It's only a summer Christian. I ask Jesus into my heart
Well, I'm glad for you, but what in the Sam Hill good is that going to do you when you stand before a righteous God His hair white his eyes of flame down his throne of judgment and he looks at you and he says why Why why what basis do you stand in my presence? My Jesus into my heart To tell you something I wouldn't want to live life without knowing this That I Ray Cortes will stand before a righteous and holy God and he will look at me Who who is a sinner of sinners and he will say you are my beloved son in whom I am well Please he will say that because when he looks at me he will see Jesus Christ Because the perfect life of Christ has been imputed to me. It's been given to me Yes, my sins were taken away on the cross and the guilt and penalty for my sins were paid for by the sacrificial death of Jesus but understand what will stand us in good stead before a holy God It is the perfect life of Jesus so that Jesus Christ saved you because he obeyed his parents when he was five And when he was six and when he was seven he obeyed his elders he obeyed his relatives He obeyed his father he kept every jot and title of the law of God So that the perfect righteousness that you and I need comes from God to us That's the gospel there is a righteousness from God so that God regards us as perfect in his sight Because we're covered with the righteousness earned by Jesus and given to us Pretty cool changed Paul's life that changed Wesley's life that changed Lither's life The changed the gustan Bungan I mean it just makes people Jesus free There are people going to church all over the world laboring under the notion that they have to produce a righteousness
And their hearts end up being bitter and cold South critical Until they are set free by a gospel that says what we cannot do God has done for us in our place. I love the I told the pastor's class about the guy who shows up at heaven and He's at the gates he dies as if the gates Peter comes down Peter says the system works like this You need a hundred points to get in no problem I says I um I uh, I'll tell you what tell you about my life. I've uh, I um Was married for 50 years the same woman and I was never unfaithful to her Peter says awesome three points. I uh, I went to church. I don't know that I missed the Sunday my whole life I was a sunny school teacher and I only taste something. I never missed turning in my ties check on time Peter says Good good Now I start to get a little desperate. Yeah, I worked at the homeless shelter. I helped uh, I helped the shelter for battered women I always you know gave uh To the poor at Thanksgiving and Christmas and Peter said Not we don't usually do this, but I can give you a point for that You're up to six and the man just blows his toppings. This is ridiculous. This system is It isn't I mean it this right the only way I'm gonna get in is by the grace of God Peter says a hundred points
The gospel there's something you must admit and there's something you must believe and the end result of that is the last point of the sermon Is that the gospel is the power of God under salvation That when it happens that you start trusting your own efforts to purify yourself and reform and redeem Yourself and you fully begin to understand that what you could not do has been done for you So that God instead of scowling at you As Luther pictured him now looks at you and he loves you He's things over you He cherishes you as his precious child That meets the deepest needs of our heart So what I want to say to you is whatever is wrong for you the gospel is the answer Whatever's wrong in you be it depression be it anxiety be it bitterness Be it a self-righteous critical spirit The gospel's the answer The gospel is the power of God under salvation that changes parts and minds and families and marriages Changes churches. It's changing this church. It's even changing this pastor You tell you my life purpose statement for a number of years has been this Ray Quartese exists to die for Jesus Christ To die for Jesus Christ first by dying for my wife Secondly by dying for my children and thirdly by dying for the Church of Jesus Christ Langed down my life for Christ particularly to start as many healthy biblical reproducing churches as possible Guess what That's not my life purpose anymore That was bad right It's better than saying my life purpose is to make it to Vegas, you know once a year and
But my life purpose really wasn't that much different than Make it to Vegas once a year My life purpose said I exist to do And you know There are a lot of folks in this community and this church that felt run over by me on my way to serving Jesus Because my life purpose was to build something To show myself that I really was worthy child of God You see if your life purpose is to do something you might consider changing it too. I've changed my life purpose Statement and this is what it now says My life purpose the life purpose of Ray Quartese exists To comprehend what is the height and breadth and depth of the love of God and And to be so taken by the love of God for me That I begin to love others like Jesus Christ has loved me I don't know if you understand, but that's a big change. What's wrong with you Will you let the gospel move in and change it? I think the gospel doesn't deal with bitterness and defensiveness and self-righteousness I saw this week a young man Sean King Bucks quarterback claims to be a Christian He's thrown in the spotlight. He's 22 years old. He has no experience Reporters are all gathered around him and one reporter actually slams into him And and King startled and he just kind of apologizes for what the other guy did So gracious so calm so composed And then I saw the TV station flashed to a news report on Bobby Knight Sage veteran basketball coach Years of dealing with the media and Bobby Knight's charging across the locker I'm pointing at a reporter saying who asked that blankity blank blankity blank question listen You've come here. You blankity blank blankity blank and make an absolute horses rear end of himself You tell me the gospel doesn't make it different And people's lives Dealing with the deepest pathologies here's a man who's who must be 50 60 years old Who is obviously filled with anger and self-defenseness and and and all kinds of pathology just working its way out needs the gospel By you you have trouble relationally have trouble loving people giving yourself some money in our church told me this week This is when they were in high school. They were so filled with fear That um They never went in the cafeteria They brought their lunch every day and they ate it outside they wouldn't dare risk that that public Rejection When a when a guy actually showed interest and started Asking her out she was convinced that he was a football player that the football team put him up to it He was winning some bet, you know, find the ugliest Most anti-social girl on campus and if you'll ask her out, you know She's convinced she was a part of some Some hideous practical joke So her life went filled with fear captured inside herself She said until the gospel broke through and it happened when somebody asked her to do children's ministry in front of this church We used to have a puppet ministry here She said when the asked her to get up and make a fool of herself in front of children, you know doing puppets and all the And she couldn't do it paralyzed by fear And she went to God and said God take the spirit away from man and began to realize that if Christ was her father Christ was for her. What was she risking? What did she have to lose? She sings on the praise team every weekend of our church now She stands up in front of you guys It's same publicly Every week tell me the gospel is not the power of God on the salvation. What's What does God want to change about you? Whatever it is I'm going to tell you something the gospel's the answer
There's something to admit and there's something to believe Did you read in the papers? I did yesterday that the reports that Jane fonda has become a Christian You surprised by that if you are You don't get the gospel What what ought to really Shock the stocks off of you Is that you're a Christian chew on that for a while until it absolutely freaks you out