Evil succeeds when good people do nothing. We have the Gospel. It is the Message that faces sin. Everyone needs the truth, everyone must be born again. We are separated to this purpose. (Romans 1:1; Leviticus 18:7-23)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11930
11:00 AM on 8/2/2020

P. Schaller –

I saw P. Chris Moore come in and Gosia. Great to have you. This message is – I just pray the Spirit will speak
to us – this message which really is awesome what we want to say from Romans 1. It will be with
stammering lips and staggering portions here and there but because you have spiritual ears,
your ears are circumcised, and your hearts are circumcised by God. You and I are different. Lee
White is here also. We think about you. It’s good. We are different the way we think and also
what we have to say, the message we have. In a very – we are watching fascinating things
happen on the news and in the streets and in the minds and hearts of American people.
Sometimes we are very concerned about the very fundamentals of what we are believing and
embracing in our hearts regarding life.

The key verse is Romans 1:1. I think P. Scibelli many years ago – did you preach a message about Separated unto the Gospel? Yeah, Separated unto the Gospel. Anyone remember it? Separated unto the Gospel. That’s Romans 1:1. Do you remember in Luke 2:10, good tidings, this is the Gospel. What is the context of this? The birth of Jesus.
Where? Town of Bethlehem, Christ is born. What did the angel say? He’s out of his mind. He’s
going it’s unbelievable. It’s unbelievable. I bring to you good tidings of great joy which shall be
to all people. Russian, Chinese, Korean, Indian – all people! Great joy, great Gospel. What was
Paul separated unto? The Gospel. The word means to mark off by bounds. To separate, to
determine. It is used of the divine action of setting men apart for the work of the Gospel. You
have to be moved from the natural and what we would call normal mind to another
understanding, a deeper one.

It’s the same world but I understand life in a different way. I’m separated unto something I see and grow in and I realize it is God’s world, God’s salvation of souls. We were in Havre de Grace on Thursday night. We knocked on the door, P. Ramir and I. There was a big plaque on the front door. You are knocking on the door of an 8 th infantry
corpsman who is as tough as nails and you would never want to get in a gun fight with him. And
on it went. It was really long. Ramir and I were looking at the shabby house and this posting
on the front door and wondering if we should knock on the door. I said let’s go for it. We
knocked on the door and an old man came out with a marine hat on, scruffy, t-shirt with
spaghetti stains on it in his 80’s and when I looked at him, Wow! I saw it. Jesus. I saw Jesus.
When he started to speak, he was the kindest, sweetest guy.

He said I used to teach Sunday school down at the Baptist church. I’m thinking this sign totally misrepresents this guy. I was so happy for this guy. We sat on the porch on the rocking chairs and we had fellowship. He was
the sweetest, humblest guy. It was awesome. You know the Gospel is the greatest message,
greatest news to the world. But many times you and I can drift away into being nice people who
believe in Christian ethics – turn the other cheek and do good to your neighbor – and that’s all
the message is. It’s just about being good people and there is no Gospel. The Gospel is
different. The Gospel is unique. Paul was separated unto it. He understood it so he wrote the
Book of Romans which tells us with great detail, very profound. If you were in Paul’s Bible
school class and listened to him for three or four hours or five or two weeks or a month or a
couple of years, you would see how much he understood what the Gospel is.

The Holy Spirit had him write it in poignant, profound, packaged statements: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians,
Philippians and these epistles with packed understanding. We need to realize why we are here. We see in America real problems going on. You know what America needs. This is London in the
19 th century. Let me read this to you: “John Richard Green fired with the social gospel with
emphasis on reformation left Oxford and went down to London into the sin Sodom slums.
There he labored for ten years when despairingly he said, it’s no use. These men will go on
drinking and gambling until doomsday. Defeated, he went back to Oxford to write his history of
England. Down into the self-same squalid, sin Sodom slums went William and Katherine Booth
with hearts aglow, with the love of God for sinful souls with only one Gospel of the grace of
God.

They lived and preached Christ, the power of God unto salvation and to everyone that
believes.” Now, what are we looking at in America? I have a couple simple points to make. 1)
God and God’s mind. We were in sauna yesterday with a bunch of guys and we each had to
have a Bible verse and a comment. Josh Harris was there, and we said, what’s your verse? He
said Nehemiah 8:1. He said Ezra said, get the Book. Get the Book. In the sauna, we’re just talking like
that. Get the Book. What book? The Bible. Get the Book. That’s what Ezra said. Get the Book.
This morning at 9:00, P. Feyers said the same verse. Get the Book. Get the Book. Sometimes the
Book is in the dumpster. You know that? It’s in the dumpster. We had some missionaries on our
team years ago. They rented out their house while they were in Hungary and they came back
one summer, and someone came to them with their wedding photo album.

They said I thought you might want to have this. They said, where did you find that? In the dumpster. They were
heartbroken. Someone they had rented their house out to had cleaned their house out and
threw their wedding album in the dumpster. That might happen. What if your Bible is thrown in
the dumpster? What if God’s Word is thrown in the dumpster? What if America turns away
from God? What if the local school turns away from God and the university? It’s already
happened. It’s already happened. Where’s the Gospel? If you don’t have the Book, you won’t
have the Gospel. You won’t understand the Gospel. You don’t have the Book. Get the Book.
That’s what we are doing. Yesterday, a group of us went up to New Freedom, PA in memory of
our summer there in 1987.

Anybody remember it? We went up there to New Freedom, Pa where we had our transition conference from Lenox down to Maryland. We went into town soul winning by faith. We’ve been doing this going to a small village or small town by faith. So I get out of the car and the Spirit directed me to these two pick up trucks at a gas station. I go
with a tract holding it up and a woman shakes her head she doesn’t want it. I go to another guy
and he goes, give this to that woman. So I did. I went over there. She said we just buried my
mother in the cemetery. We’re coming from a funeral. I said to her and the little family, a lot of
people there, a couple cars and stuff and we had a talk. In my mind, I know this amazing
message of the Gospel. Don’t underestimate it. It’s the power of God unto salvation. We’re
going to see my mother again. I said yeah. I believe there is a heaven. I’m sure of that and we
talked. I said that Jesus Christ is the answer.

That’s the message. When we evangelize, we may not see the end result. When we evangelize, we may not see where it’s going. There’s many ways that God works, and he does it but there’s a couple things that have to be very clear about it. One of them is God’s mind. Let me show you something. It’s kind of strange but turn with me
to Leviticus 18. It’s not strange actually. Get the Book and read it. You have a church and there’s no
message in the church. Get the Book. I have problems with my kids. Get the Book. I don’t know where I’m going in my life. Get the Book. Get the Word of God. What about my future? Get the
Book. You wouldn’t believe what is happening in my life. It’s crazy, weird, strange. Get the
Book. I’m reading this chapter on purpose. It’s a bit vulgar for us Americans. It’s strange. It’s
addressing paganism but we can see where the world is going today when we leave the Book in
the dumpster, in the trash can.

When we don’t care about it. What will happen to our family? Leviticus 18:7-10, it’s about sexuality and nudity. It’s about homosexuality in vs 22. How about animals? Vs. 23. I heard about that happening on a farm with a young man. And the shame and the local high school found out about it and the boy took his life. Why? The shame,
abomination, sin. You and I we better get used to what paganism before Christianity was. What
was paganism like? It’s this. This is Jewish law. Remember the phrase American or western
civilization based on Judeo-Christian ethic? Remember that? That’s what we are fighting for. It
doesn’t mean much to many people. What’s wrong with looking at your naked mother
someone could say. Well, to many of us that’s shameful. It’s written in our heart, Romans 2:14-15.
Many of us that would be a violation of a moral law.

But the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans saying that this is what happens to the human heart because of sin. I would think with the theory of evolution and the development of the human race and the growth of technology
that we would be morally way over here in a high place. Instead, we are reverting to paganism.
Sex with animals. Children. Sex with orgies and family members and all this shameful wicked,
evil activity. If we don’t believe in sin, if we don’t believe in the Bible, if we don’t believe in God,
if atheism is growing in large numbers, what do we expect to happen? Where does it go? What
happens to the human race? Do we improve by nature? Leave God alone. Throw the Bible in
the dumpster. You don’t need to talk about those things anymore. Where is the human race
going? It’s going to hell. It’s going to hell.

There is no improvement in the human race morally. It’s the same wickedness that was in Cain when he killed his brother and Lot’s daughters when they had incest with him and every other sin that is recorded in the Bible. It’s the same human heart. There is no change. There is only cosmetic changes in our culture or there is a
transformation, a new birth, a spiritual birth with a new heart and a new mind by God, by God.
By the grace of God. Here’s another little sauna lesson we had yesterday. It was fun. Here’s a
bunch of people and here is a whole group of people. We could say behind them is the devil.
Behind it all is God. Then there was a time in human history when the world went so bad that
all of the world was judged by water.

The whole world was covered with water. And Noah built the ark and the one ones saved were the people in the ark and the animals. Then God had a rainbow. What did the rainbow mean? It was a promise. What did it mean? I’ll never do that again. I’ll never cover the world with water again. Now we are thousands of years later and we
have another group of people and we can say they are all representing homosexuality. What is
their sign? Rainbow. Why is the rainbow their sign? Could it be that the devil is putting that in
God’s face and saying we’ll be as wicked as we want to be, and you can never flood the earth
again. Our sign is the rainbow. The devil puts it in God’s face. Rainbow. Rainbow. You can’t
destroy the earth again like that. Rainbow. I don’t know if that’s true, but I believe this, the
devil is sticking it to God with our sin. I believe this that the devil is real and he’s saying in your
face. I can destroy. I can take people to hell.

I can mock you. I can hang you on a cross. I can crucify you. I can lie. I can slander. I can destroy what you are doing. God’s answer quietly, lovingly, graciously is the Gospel. It’s the ministry. You may put my Son on the cross, but you can’t keep him in the tomb. You may go after the church, but I do a new thing. I give them a
new heart and a new spirit. I call them righteous. I declare them righteous. They are righteous
as I am. 100% righteous. They are in my heart and mind. Their names are in my book. You
cannot take them away from me. Of all the Father has given me, I have lost none. None has
been plucked out of my Father’s hand. You see the Gospel is not a social reformation. The
Gospel is one by one by God’s grace he has the elect, one by one. One person at a gas station.
One man is on his porch. One teenager on the street corner. One drug addict.

One perverted pedophile. One abuser of mankind. One poor, guilt-ridden human being saved. Saved by God’s
grace. Completely his work of redemption. Jesus’ blood, no less than his blood washing our sins
away. Plus his Spirit regenerating us and giving us a new heart and a new spirit. We are
separated unto the Gospel. This is what we do. We are looking for one Lydia in Philippi in Acts
16. Remember the demon possessed woman in the same chapter and Paul deals with that
demon and she is saved by grace. In the book of Acts, you see individuals, even the names of
people like Lydia or the Philippian jailor. It’s unique but it’s very powerful. The person is born
again. You cannot enter the kingdom of God by water baptism as a child. You must be born
again. You cannot enter the kingdom of God by belonging to a denomination. You must be born
of God. You must be born again. You cannot enter the kingdom of God by being a nice person.
You must be born again.

The church will not have any message unless it is you must be born again by the grace of God. God. You know it’s God. Not you and me. It’s God. It’s the grace of God. Forgiveness of God, Spirit of God, the mind of God, the way of God. So that’s what I want to say today. Believe me if we could see from heaven. I feel that Paul when he was saved on the road to Damascus he goes down and sees Jesus, his world is never the same again. It’s totally
completely in a different way of looking at life. I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He
said it three times in the Book of Acts about his conversion. It’s almost like when he got up off
the ground, he was blind for three days. He never sees life the same way. It was always Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ did it. Jesus Christ is the answer.

Jesus Christ is the way. Jesus Christ is what you need. It’s like the angels of Bethlehem saying – what did they say? Luke 2:10. Social reformation is no great joy. On a college campus, you rarely find great joy. You see parties. But
you don’t find great joy. In a local health club or every walk of life in America, you find empty
people. Suicide rates are going through the ceiling. You find babies aborted. You find people
distracted. You find people looking and searching. Where is the great joy? Where is the great
joy? The angel said I bring you great joy. You know why? Because you are made righteous by
the grace of God in one moment and you are righteous for ever and ever. One day you will see
God in the flesh in Job 19. One day you can see it. I don’t know if you see it. I have a little piece
here to read. This pastor said of 41 years that when he was 30 years old “I did the best I could
after examining all the philosophies and religions of the world; I see nothing is better than the
Gospel.

At 40, when burdens began to press heavily on me, years seemed to hasten, I said
nothing is as good as the Gospel. At 50, when there were empty chairs in the home and [?]
builders had done me service, I said there’s nothing to be compared with the Gospel. At 60 years of age when my second sight saw through the delusions and vanities of earthy things, I
said there’s nothing but the Gospel. At 70, amid many limitations and deprivations I’ve seen
should all the forms that men devise attack my faith with treacherous art, I call them vanities
and lies and bind the Gospel to my heart.” You know what is needed? The Gospel. What is the
Gospel? To take an auditorium, a stadium, all of America – you listen to me. You listen to me.
Get the Book out of the dumpster.

Get the Book. Read the Book. Pay attention to what the Bible is saying in the Book. The world is filled with sin. There’s so much problems with sin and so much pain with sin. There’s so much pain and deprivation and so much hypocrisy. Have you noticed any hypocrisy in our world lately? Huh? Black Lives Matter. They do. And black baby
lives matter. And they do. And every life matters. They do. And yes, there are problems
everywhere. There’s all kinds of things going on sexually. Sex trafficking and the drugs and the
addiction and the people dying on the streets. What are we out of our minds? Some little boy
says he’s a little girl and we give him an applause for that. What are you out of your mind? I’m
sorry. You got to pray for me. I’m hitting the wall. You got to pray for me. I cannot handle. You
cannot stand. You learn how to stand because God is a righteous God.

We should get in trouble because we are righteous. We should get in trouble because we don’t agree with the world. We should get in trouble because things are not right, and we’ll say so. If things are not right, will
you say that? Or will you do what everyone else is saying and pretend this is beautiful. It’s like
the king has no clothes on. Will you admit it? There is a lie being perpetrated and shoved down
our throats day and night. And as for me and my house, I do not believe that. I do not accept
that. Listen. It sounds crazy. My mother is naked. That’s a shame for me to see her. I don’t want
to see that. She needs a covering. She is precious to me. She needs honor and respect. That
should go to all my family. It should be in our nature. When you are told by the world, it tells
you some pagan, wicked evil idea about it, what are you going to do about it? What are you
going to do about it?

The way evil succeeds is by good people doing nothing about it. It’s stupid.
You learn how to say, I don’t believe that. I don’t like it. I don’t accept it. I do not believe that.
That’s not from God. This is salvation when you get changed and you are living in the slums of
London and the Salvation Army is born in London in those times with the dregs of society. What
happened in the time of the apostle Paul? It was paganism in the Roman Empire, and
everything was against Christianity. It will not succeed against paganism. Paganism is you can
go to the temples and prostitution and all that good stuff sinful people love to do. Paul said you
cannot even sleep one time with a woman that is not your wife in Ephesians 5. You cannot even do it
even one time. Let it not be named even once among you in the church of Ephesus. How will
that religion succeed? It will flourish. It will grow because God is in it.

Why wouldn’t the church  grow in America? Because it doesn’t have a message. It talks like everyone else does. They have a rainbow flag out on their front lawn. Some church has a rainbow flag. What are you out of
your mind? Crazy. So let’s finish. Let’s just say you get some fire in your belly. You get some
conviction in your heart. Love is what wins people. I’m not fighting with people. I’m loving
people. It’s true devil. There will not be another flood. Mark it down. He’s coming with a sword
out of his mouth and he’s going to put things in order. There is a new world coming. It’s not a
world of wickedness and sin. It’s a world of righteousness and truth. It started here and you and I by God’s grace and it grows in us and moves in us and we have fellowship in it. We are to be
on the same page. We are different but at the same time we are separated unto the Gospel. It’s
the power of God unto salvation.

Let’s just say you know what is good in a time like this is to share lovingly, graciously the Gospel of Christ and know it in your heart and embrace it and say in your heart I was made righteous by grace. The Spirit has been given to us and we are growing in Him. Sometimes salvation is so radically clear. With Lydia, it seemed to grow. The Philippian
jailor it seems a radical transformation. With Timothy, we don’t know but he became a really
mature believer. I’m saying that the grace of God is revealed to you. God is saying, I love you.
I’m not against you. Your sins are forgiven and gone. I do not remember them anymore. They
are gone. When God forgets them, you forget them too. Don’t recall them. They are under the
blood. They are washed away. We are free. We are his children. And now we live and move in a
time with a message that needs to be heard and appreciated and related to.

Amen.

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