Romans 1:14-17

Romans 1, verses 14-17.

Romans 1:14–17

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for the opportunity to come together to study your word.

And I pray, Father, that in our frailty, you will find us faithful.

Pray, Father, that both the preaching and the hearing of your word this morning will honor you.

And that the end result of that will be the proclamation of your good news to the world.

And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

So last week we talked about the obligation to gospel ministry that Paul had.

It's a little early. You can take that down.

We talked about the obligation to gospel ministry that Paul had to the church.

And we saw that through beginning in verse 8 and coming down through the end of 15.

So we're kind of overlapping a little bit this morning to speak of Paul's obligation to gospel ministry.

But this morning we're going to talk about his obligation to gospel ministry to the world.

So to those who did not know Christ.

And he kind of gives us some different people groups in our text here.

We see the Greeks and the barbarians.

I told you last week that those were the wise and the foolish of the world.

The Greeks were very educated.

The barbarians to the Greeks spoke in nonsensical language.

That's where they got that name.

They would make fun of them and say they sounded like they were just saying bar, bar, bar, bar.

So they became known as the barbarians.

And also to the Jews who the gospel was first brought to and presented to.

And so Paul essentially kind of restates Jesus' second stating of the Great Commission in Acts 1.8 when he says to the disciples,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

And what Christ was saying to them was that the Spirit of God is going to come and it's going to work in you,

and you're going to be a disciple.

You're going to be a carrier of the message of the good news of Jesus Christ to your city, to your region,

those of other ethnicities.

That's who the Sumerians were.

And to the rest of the world.

So where do we find ourselves today in the world?

I'll give you a little current statistics.

In America, we have approximately 314 million people, only 28.9% of which claim to be evangelical Christians.

And I would argue that to be a Christian at all, you must be an evangelical Christian.

And I would also argue that many of those are probably nominal Christians at best.

So 30% from a very, very positive estimate of what may actually be Christian in America today.

In the world, almost 7 billion people that exist.

60% are unreached.

And what that means is that there's less than 2% of the population of that nation, that people group,

that know Christ at all.

So 60% of the peoples are unreached.

Very conservative estimates.

That makes it 4 billion people who are unreached for the gospel of Christ.

4 billion out of the 7 billion people.

Very conservative.

So we find ourselves in a situation, as carriers of the gospel,

of this message that's been given to us to take to the world.

We've got a huge job ahead of us, don't we?

We're failing pitifully at carrying the gospel to the nations.

4 billion people, conservatively, who have never even heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And they are storing up for themselves the wrath of God against them.

They are already found guilty, condemned where they stand,

because of their disknowledge of God, because of their breaking of the law.

There's no excuse for them.

Because they haven't heard, there's no excuse.

They've carried the curse of Adam in their flesh,

and they will be damned to hell,

unless they hear the gospel and place their faith in that message.

So I believe that God is at work.

He is all-powerful.

He is sovereign.

He will redeem His church.

So we have this great task before us,

this 4 billion people out there.

And I believe that God is active and involved in reaching them.

But He uses His church to do so.

He uses us to accomplish that.

And He does that because He loves us.

Because God is a great treasure,

and He wants to include us in what He's doing.

He wants us to experience and to know Him more

by being involved in His mission to the world.

So the gospel must go.

People must hear it.

And God's going to carry us to do that.

Romans chapter 10, verse 14, Paul writes,

Romans 10:14

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So we're called to be ministers of the gospel to the world.

I kind of thought of this analogy this week,

and I actually wasn't planning on using it.

But as I typically do,

because I figure it'll embarrass myself,

I can use it anyway.

We're intended to be a tool in the hand of God

in accomplishing His work.

And I have a leaf rake

that I didn't use very faithfully this year.

But that leaf rake was fashioned

for the purpose of raking leaves.

And it sits in my shed.

And when I go to get my rake leaf,

it doesn't give me any resistance at all, does it?

I just pick up my rake leaf,

and off I go with my rake leaf.

If I am that rake leaf,

if it's me,

fashioned to do this certain work,

I don't tend to just be picked up

and carried out to do the work.

I tend to grab on to the shovel

and the other stuff

and the wall of the shed,

desperately clinging

to the comfort of the shed.

We're tools.

We're meant to be used.

God has made us for a purpose.

And if my rake had any soul at all,

it would be the happiest raking leaves.

That's where we find ourselves.

God has created us

for a very intent purpose.

And if we're about that work,

we'll be full of joy in doing it.

Now Paul writes in verse 16 and 17

kind of the theme

of the book of Romans.

And we talked about this

a couple of weeks ago,

but it's certainly worth repeating

as we think about these

four billion people

who the wrath of God

is being stored up for.

They have no hope

except for Christ.

And Paul was writing this

from a coming out of one worldview

where he thought he was doing

everything he could possibly do

to please God.

He was a Pharisee,

the most upright of people,

the most zealous pursuer of God

in his zeal for the law.

He thought he had it all figured out.

And it all gets flipped upside down

when he meets Christ.

And Christ says to him,

you fool,

you cannot fulfill the law.

It's impossible for you to do so.

Place your faith in me

and live in righteousness

and walk in faith.

He flips it completely over here.

And here's what he writes for us.

Verse 16,

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.

It is the power of God,

not the law,

no good works you think you're doing,

not the church you belong to,

not the way you attend.

Your perfect attendance record

means nothing for your salvation.

The gospel itself

is the power of God

for salvation.

Matthew 28.

Oh, excuse me,

I've got to back up.

So then,

we ought to preach no other message.

Those of us who are recipients of this grace,

we ought to preach no other message

to the world

than the gospel of Christ.

Not our traditions

and those things,

but the gospel of Jesus Christ

because it is the power of God

for salvation

and He will accomplish His work.

It's also the gospel

that gives us the righteousness of God

and it's revealed from faith

for faith.

That's kind of a confusing phrase

and it simply just means,

all Paul's trying to say to us,

is that the gospel

that we place our faith in

brings us the righteousness of God.

It's not our own doing.

The gospel itself,

Christ's imputed righteousness to us

brings us righteousness

and continues that work.

So it's for faith,

from faith,

for faith.

Okay?

So from faith,

for faith.

That both our salvation,

our righteousness,

begins in Christ

and it ends in Christ.

Right?

And that's what He's saying to us.

Right?

So Matthew 28,

18-20,

it's known as the Great Commission.

Jesus came and said to them,

All authority in heaven and on earth

has been given to Me.

Go therefore

and make disciples of all nations.

Not simply converts,

but disciples

of all nations.

Alright?

He said that earlier

up in verse 5,

didn't He?

To bring about the obedience

of the faith.

Baptizing them

in the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit.

Verse 20,

Teaching them to observe all

that I have commanded you.

And behold,

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

Matthew 24, 14,

Jesus said,

And this gospel of the kingdom

will be proclaimed

throughout the whole world

as a testimony

to all nations.

And then the end will come.

So this gospel message

is going to be preached

to all nations.

And then the end will come.

That's the mission

that He has set us about.

It's fulfilling

that Great Commission work.

In a commentary

on Matthew 24, 14,

and that phrase

all nations,

George Eldon Ladd

wrote this,

God alone knows

the definition

of terms.

I cannot precisely define

who all the nations are,

but I do not need

to know.

I know only one thing.

Christ is not yet returned.

Therefore,

the task is not yet done.

When it is done,

Christ will come.

Our responsibility

is not to insist

on defining terms.

Our responsibility

is to complete

the task.

So long as Christ

does not return,

our work is undone.

Let us get busy

and complete our mission.

So if we're to do that,

I think we can learn

three things

from Paul's life

in order to do so.

And I think that there's

some pretty deep

indictments on us here.

Three things.

We need to be obligated

to share the gospel,

which is going to mean

a life of self-sacrifice.

We need to be eager

and we need to be unashamed.

We need to be obligated,

eager,

and unashamed.

Obligated.

We find that in verse 14.

Self-sacrificial.

We talked last week

about this obligation

that Paul felt

and that it wasn't

an obligation to God

because therefore,

grace would have ceased

to be grace.

The free gift given to him

would have been

based on works,

not on the grace of God.

It's an obligation

to his identity.

Obligation to who he is

in Christ.

This is my paraphrase

of Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

9, and 10,

and then verse 12.

Anyone who does not

have the spirit of Christ

does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you,

we are debtors

to the spirit of Christ

within us.

We are debtors.

That's who we're obligated to,

to our own identity,

to the fact that

we are children of God.

We ought to share

the gospel, right,

with each other

and with the world.

So it means

we must be self-sacrificial.

We need to die

to ourselves,

to our flesh,

and we need to live

to the spirit

within us.

Luke chapter 9,

Luke 9:23

verse 23 and 24.

Christ says,

if anyone would come

after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross

daily

and follow me.

Let him deny himself

the pleasures

of this world,

those things

that our flesh

longs for

and take up our cross.

What does that mean?

That we die.

We literally die

to ourselves

every day

if we're going

to follow Christ.

Verse 24.

For whoever

will save his life

will lose it,

but whoever

loses his life

for my sake

will save it.

Luke chapter 14,

Luke 14:27

verse 27.

Whoever does not

bear his own cross

and come after me

cannot be

my disciple.

It's pretty huge,

isn't it?

Whoever does not

bear his own cross

and come after me

cannot be

my disciple.

So do you die

daily

to yourself,

the pleasures

of your flesh,

the lusts

for this world?

We need to lay

aside our comfort

and our vanity.

All of us

care too much

about how we look

and how comfortable

we are.

I try hard

to look

like I don't care.

we need to die

to our

self-promotion,

our ambition.

That's what the word

ambition means.

It means

self-promotion.

And we need to

begin promoting

Christ.

Ambition,

good,

but let's

redefine the term.

Let's make it

about promoting

Christ

and his kingdom.

we as Americans

are far

too comfortable.

I wonder

what would happen

to this room

if suddenly

Christianity

was declared

illegal

and it was

an offense

punishable

by imprisonment

and death.

How many of us

would still sit

in this room?

There are people

all over the world

this morning

meeting in underground

secret locations

for hours.

We get mad

if the service

goes past

an hour and a half.

You have

comfy padded chairs

they sit on

dirt floors

for hours

because they're

so hungry

to know

their Savior.

We're shackled

by our comfort.

I want to be

the type of Christian

that everything

could be taken

away from me

and I would still

follow Christ.

I'll give you

an example of Paul.

I want you to

turn here.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11

I believe most

of you will be

familiar with this

passage but it

certainly bears

repeating.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11:24–27

chapter 11

verses 24

through 27

Paul recounts

his suffering.

He says,

five times I

received at the

hands of the

Jews the

forty lashes

less one.

Three times I

was beaten

with rods.

Once I was

stoned.

Three times I

was shipwrecked.

A night and a

day I was

adrift at sea

on frequent

journeys and

dangers from

rivers,

dangers from

robbers,

dangers from

my own people,

dangers from

Gentiles,

dangers in the

city,

dangers in the

wilderness,

danger at sea,

danger from

false brothers,

in toil and

hardship through

many a

sleepless night,

in hunger and

thirst,

often without

food,

in cold and

exposure.

This was the

life that Paul

was called into.

This was the

guy that in

Philippians 1.21

says,

for to me to

live is Christ

and to die is

gain.

This is the

man who found

his joy in the

supremacy of

Christ greater

than the

circumstances of

the world.

This is not

us.

This sounds like

a horrible

camping trip

to me.

Number two,

we can learn

from Paul,

we need to

be eager.

We'll see that

in verse 15.

We need to be

eager.

How is it that

you're eager to

share the

gospel?

I believe that

if you value

Christ as

supreme,

if you treasure

him above all

else,

you will be

eager,

you will be

desirous to

talk about what

you love and

to experience

more of him

in sharing

your faith.

He is active.

He is at

work.

His spirit is

moving throughout

this world.

The gospel is

advancing.

We've been

invited to

join him in

that.

We ought to

want that.

We ought to

be eager to

be involved,

to experience

him deeper and

to know him

more in his

work.

Turn to

Philippians

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

We're going

to start in

verse 7.

Paul has

just completed

giving his

religious pedigree.

He's

compadding the

Judaizers,

those who

would have

the Philippians

be circumcised.

He's saying,

hey,

listen,

if it

matters,

if outward

appearance,

if outward

stuff matters

at all,

if it's not

about a

change in

heart

regeneration,

the statement

that we read

this morning,

then I was

the best.

I had it

all sorted

out.

He's just

finished saying

that.

And then

verse 7,

he says,

but whatever

gain I had,

I counted

as loss

for the sake

of Christ.

Whatever

gain I had,

I counted

it as loss

for the sake

of Christ.

Indeed,

I count

everything

as loss

because of

the surpassing

worth of

knowing Christ

Jesus my

Lord.

Pause

there.

everything,

I count

it all

as loss

because of

the surpassing

greatness

of knowing

Christ Jesus

my Lord.

For his

sake,

I have

suffered the

loss of

all things

and count

them as

rubbish

in order

that I

may gain

Christ.

I count

them as

rubbish

in order

that I

may gain

Christ.

This

word in

Greek

is a

foul

word.

It

means

excrement,

human

excrement.

Not

wadded up

paper

rubbish.

vile.

And what

he does

to us

here,

understand

what he's

saying,

that if

you don't

have the

same mind

as him,

if you

value the

things of

this world

more than

Christ,

if you

do that,

what you're

doing is

you're playing

with your

own

excrement.

What he's

saying,

you love

it.

You want

to live

in it.

That's the

indictment on

us there.

We love

the things of

this world

more than

Christ

to plan

with our

excrement.

You're

welcome,

parents.

I'm trying

to use

big words

for you.

All right.

Verse

9.

In order

that I may

gain Christ,

verse 9,

and be

found in

him,

not having

a righteousness

of my own

that comes

from the

law,

but that

which comes

through

faith in

Christ,

the

righteousness

from

God

that

depends

on

faith,

that I

may know

him and

the power

of his

resurrection

and may

share in

his

sufferings,

becoming

like him

in his

death,

that by

any means

possible I

may attain

the resurrection

from the

dead,

not that I

have already

obtained this

or am

already

perfect,

but I

press on

to make

it my

own,

because

Christ

Jesus

has made

me his

own.

I press

on to

make my

perfection,

my

perfection

which will

come through

suffering,

see what

he's saying

there,

and I

may share

in his

suffering,

becoming

like him

in his

death,

I press

on,

I am

eager to

arrive at

it,

because Christ

Jesus has

made me

his own.

Verse 13,

brothers,

I do not

consider that I

have made it

my own,

but one

thing I do,

forgetting what

lies behind

all those

things,

all those

things he's

counted as

loss,

and straining

forward to

what lies

ahead,

I press on

toward the

goal for the

prize of the

upward call of

God in

Christ Jesus,

and what's

the prize?

It's Christ

himself,

Christ himself,

so we

ought to be

eager to

share our

faith with

the world.

I'll give

you another

Pauline

example,

Acts 9,

20,

after his

conversion in

Damascus,

verse 9,

20 says,

and immediately

he proclaimed

Jesus in the

sin of God,

saying,

he is the

son of God.

So this

Jew of

Jews,

the man,

the great

Pharisee,

who was

going to

Damascus to

drag the

Christians out,

to take

them back,

to have

them imprisoned

and stoned

like Stephen,

went to the

very same

places he

was headed

to,

to those

synagogues,

and proclaimed

he is the

son of

God.

Number

three,

we should

be unashamed

when we see

this in

verse 16.

We need

to be bold

and courageous.

Isaiah

Isaiah 6:8

chapter 6,

verse 8.

Isaiah

is just

seeing this

vision of

heaven.

And he

records,

I heard the

voice of the

Lord saying,

whom shall I

send and

who will go

for us?

Then I

said,

and you

got to

notice the

punctuation

in this,

here am I,

send me.

here am I,

send me.

He was

bold.

God

said,

there is a

great message

I have to

carry to

my people.

Who

will go

for me?

Isaiah

was bold.

Here

am I,

send me.

We need

to be

courageous

as well.

Psalm 40,

Psalms 40:9

verse 9

and 10,

David wrote,

I have told

the glad

news of

deliverance

in the

great

congregation.

Behold,

I have

not restrained

my lips,

as you

know,

O Lord.

I have

not hidden

your

deliverance

within my

heart.

I have

spoken of

your

faithfulness

and your

salvation.

I have

not concealed

your steadfast

love and

your faithfulness

from the

great

congregation.

So we

have this

great news

and we

tend to

keep it

all hidden,

like it's

a little

secret for

us.

We need

to be

courageous

in sharing

it.

I'm going

to use a

term I

don't love.

I need

to get

out of our

comfort

zone.

I learned

this this

week.

Did you

know that

if you have

a goose

and you

put it on

a concrete

and you

draw a

white circle

around it

with chalk

and it

won't cross

the circle?

Did you

know that?

It's

phenomenal.

Maybe that's

not the

truth.

But it's

actually afraid

of crossing

over that

line.

So if you

draw it in

a circle,

it won't

cross over

that line.

I can't

wait to go

to the

park and

test this

out.

If some

goose proves

me wrong,

it's still

a good

analogy.

Supposedly,

a goose

will not

cross this

line,

will not

go outside

of this

because it's

afraid of

going outside

of it.

There is

no doubt,

there is

no doubt

that you

will find

ridicule in

this world

if you

share your

faith.

None

whatsoever.

It will

happen.

You will

be persecuted

for your

faith.

And that

doesn't

necessarily

mean you're

going to

be beaten

or shot

or imprisoned

here in

America.

It may

mean that

in other

places.

But you'll

be made

fun of.

The

gospel is

foolishness

to those

who are

perishing.

It doesn't

make any

sense to

them at

all.

But we

ought to

continue to

share our

faith in

the hope

that we

find the

one that

will place

their faith

in Christ.

We have

a hundred

sheep and

one wanders

away.

Let's go

get him.

The rest of the

sheep probably

think we're

foolish for

doing so.

Go find

that one.

It will

happen.

Why should

we care?

We care too

much about

being cool

and fitting

in.

Since we

all live in

the southeast,

we don't want

to be associated

with all the

dorky Christians.

I'm in there.

I'm summer

camp kids with

their sandals

and their

white socks

and their

testaments

and all

that stuff,

all that

Christendom

stuff.

I do not

want to be

associated with

it.

Right?

I don't want

to hand out

tracts because

I don't want

to be a

tract hander

out.

I don't

want to be

that person.

The gospel

is contained

in there.

It's a good

message.

We ought to

want to share

it.

And when I'm

in moments

where I

share my

faith and

I'm more

concerned about

how cool

I am,

then the

soul sitting

across the

table from

me or

serving me

or shameful,

absolutely

shameful.

I've got

another example

of Paul in

Acts chapter

Acts 14 · chapter mention

14.

I want you

to read

this one

with me.

Acts chapter

Acts 14 · chapter mention

14.

It's a

story about

Paul being

stoned at

Lystra,

which he

referred to

earlier in

2 Corinthians.

Acts 14

Acts 14:19–22

verse 19

to 22.

But Jews

came from

Antioch and

Iconium,

and having

persuaded the

crowds,

they stoned

Paul and

dragged him

out of the

city,

supposing that

he was

dead.

So they

had stoned

him enough

that he

seemed like

he was

dead.

Verse 20.

But when

the disciples

gathered about

him,

he rose up

and entered

into the

city.

And on

the next

day he

went on

with Barnabas

to Derbe,

I'm going to

guess,

when they

had preached

the gospel

to that

city and

had made

many disciples,

they returned

to Lystra and

to Iconium and

to Antioch,

strengthening the

souls of the

disciples,

encouraging them

to continue in

the faith,

and saying that

through many

tribulations we

must enter the

kingdom of

God.

Now,

let's go back

to the story

again.

So he's in a

town called

Lystra,

and Jews

come from two

other towns.

They come from

Antioch and

Iconium,

and they come

to Lystra,

and they convince

everybody there

that they should

stone him.

And they drag

him outside the

city,

which is what

they did with

dead people.

When the

disciples came,

he rises up,

and what does

he do?

In verse 20,

he goes back

into the city.

To the people

who had just

stoned him and

dragged him out

of the city,

dead,

he goes back

into the city.

And on the

next day,

he goes to

another city,

he goes to

Derbe.

When they

preached the

gospel there,

and made

many disciples,

what does

he do?

Verse 21,

he returns,

and goes to

the two cities

where the Jews

had come from.

He goes to

Lystra and

Iconium.

He went back

into the

lion's den,

back to the

place where

people hated

him and were

trying to

kill him.

He went right

back there

because he

was courageous,

because he

had a message

that must be

taken to

these people.

And he

strengthened the

souls of the

disciples,

saying that

through many

tribulations,

we must enter

the kingdom of

God.

Don't worry

about me,

guys.

This is the

life of a

Christian.

It's cool that

they stoned me.

It's not a

problem at all.

I expected it

to happen,

because the

world is

hostile towards

Christianity.

Okay,

that's all I

can go up

there now.

I wanted to

show you this.

This was a

carving in

stone of a

tablet that was

discovered in

Rome.

There's some

debate about

when it dates

to.

Most agree

the third

century.

Kind of

an interesting

piece.

I got this

pen for

Christmas.

I never

ever thought

I would

use it,

but I got

it out of

the box

and put

batteries in

it because

it's got a

pointer in

it.

So I just

want to show

you what this

actually is,

what it's

depicting.

This is a

cross with a

human body

with the head

of a donkey

on it,

which was

mocking

Christ.

And here you

have a man

raising his

hand.

We would

assume in

worship,

and his

name is

Alexa

Manos.

The inscription

here,

Alexa

Manos

worships

his God.

It says,

Alexa

Manos

worships

his God.

It's a

hero of

mine,

Alexa

Manos.

He was

ridiculed

for his

faith in

the third

century,

depicted in

his piece

of art,

a sign of

the culture

and the

times.

We're not

in a

different

place now

at all.

Another

one of my

Christian heroes

is a man

named

Polycarp.

And I

wish he

had a

better name

because I

would have

named my

next son

Polycarp,

but I'm

not going

to do

that to

him.

I've

read,

most of

you have

probably

heard me

read this

before,

but I

think it

should be

read again.

Polycarp

was a

first century

Jew,

and he

was taken,

excuse me,

Christian,

and he

was taken

before the

pro-council.

He was

going to be

killed for

his faith.

And the

pro-council

then urged

him,

saying,

swear,

and I

will release

thee,

reproach

Christ.

Polycarp

answered,

eighty and

six years

have I

served him,

and he

never once

wronged me.

How then

shall I

blaspheme

my king

who hath

saved me?

The

pro-council

again urged

him,

swear by

the fortune

of Caesar.

Polycarp

replied,

since you

still vainly

strive to

make me

swear by

the fortune

of Caesar

as you

express it,

affecting

ignorance

of my

real character,

hear me

frankly

declaring

what I

am.

I

am a

Christian,

and if

you desire

to learn

the Christian

doctrine,

assign me

a day,

and you

shall

hear.

It's

response.

Love it.

Hereupon the

pro-council

said,

I have

wild beasts,

and I

will expose

you to

them unless

you repent.

Call for

them,

replied

Polycarp,

for repentance

with us is a

wicked thing if

it is to be a

change from

the better to

the worse,

but a good

thing if it

is to be a

change from

evil to

good.

I will

tame thee

with fire,

said the

pro-council,

since you

despise the

wild beasts

unless you

repent.

Then said

Polycarp,

you threaten

me with fire

which burns

for an hour

and is soon

extinguished,

but the

fire of the

future judgment

and of

eternal punishment

reserved for

the ungodly

you are

ignorant of.

But why

do you

delay,

do whatever

you please?

So there's a

little more

banter back

and forth.

They finally

take him

out into

the stadium

and put

him on a

burning pile

of wood.

When they

would have

fastened him

to the stake,

he said,

leave me as

I am,

for he who

giveth me

strength to

sustain the

fire will

enable me also

without your

securing me

with nails to

remain without

flinching in

the pile.

So he said,

don't tie me

up.

God strengthens

me to

withstand the

fire.

I can stand

here.

Upon which

they bound

him without

nailing him.

So he said,

thus,

O Father,

I bless thee

that thou

hast counted

me worthy

to receive

my portion

among the

number of

martyrs.

As soon as

he had uttered

the word

Amen,

the officers

lighted the

fire,

the flame

forming the

appearance of

an ark

as the

sail of a

vessel filled

with wind

surrounded as

with a wall

the body

of the

martyr.

Fire doesn't

do that,

right?

It's like,

made like a

force field

around him.

Around the

body of the

martyr which

was in the

midst,

not as

burning flesh,

but as

gold and

silver refining

in the

furnace.

We received

also in our

nostrils such

a fragrance

as proceeds

from

frankincense

or some

other precious

perfume.

At length,

the wicked

people,

observing that

his body

could not be

consumed with

fire,

ordered the

confectioner to

approach and

to plunge his

sword into

the body.

So,

they're all

sitting around

waiting for him

to be consumed

and he's not.

He's glowing

like gold

being refined

and there's a

sweet smell

coming out of

it.

So,

the confector

comes,

plunges the

sword into

his side.

Upon this,

such a

quantity of

blood gushed

out that the

fire was

extinguished.

Polycarp,

a great man

who died

for his

faith.

For the

gospel to

advance to

this four

billion people,

it's got to

go to dangerous

places.

It has to.

There are

people who

are hostile

toward the

gospel.

They will

not just

make fun

of us,

but will

kill us

for the

gospel.

Some of

you may

have a

call to

go to

countries like

that.

And I

think we

need to

be willing,

whatever our

walk of

life is,

to do so.

My son's

name is

Cademan

Danger

Rainer.

He has

the middle

name Danger

because I

want him

to be

willing to

be dangerous

for the

gospel.

And I

want to

be a

dad who's

willing to

let him

go and

be dangerous

for the

gospel.

We need

young people

who are

willing to

rise up

and to

do this,

to carry

this message

out to

the world.

We're going