you All right, if you take your Bibles
now and turn with me to Romans, Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. You're looking
at verses 5 and 6 this morning. Romans chapter 1, verses 5 and
6. The title of the message is,
of Jesus Christ, the call of Jesus Christ. He says, "...by
whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to
the faith among all nations for his name, among whom are ye also
the called of Jesus Christ." And the calling of the Apostle
Paul was a direct act of God himself. It was by the grace
of God clearly evidenced that the Apostle Paul was to be set
aside for this office of apostleship. He says, by whom? By God, by
the will of God. He is an apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Saul was a hater of the Lord
Jesus Christ and destroyer of the church. But now, saved by
the grace of God through faith in Christ, Paul was given an
apostleship. This is not something he took
upon himself, but if you will notice, in all this All his most
all of his epistles, just look over that a couple. First Corinthians,
chapter one. First Corinthians, chapter one. His introduction says Paul called
to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. Now flip over to second Corinthians,
chapter one. Second Corinthians, chapter one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God. And you can see this in Galatians,
Ephesians, and Colossians. We won't take the time to turn
there. He says the same thing continually, that he is an apostle,
that he was given this office of the declaration of God's message
of Jesus Christ by the will of God and not by himself. And he
did not receive his message from other men. He received his message
directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was called an apostle
by the grace of God. Now, what is the purpose of the
apostle? He was called by grace and given
the apostleship for what reason? Look at verse 5. For obedience
to the faith among all nations for his name." It is because
of the grace of God he is an apostle so that others, so that
men of all nations might obey the truth, might obey God's command
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we continue now steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine. Isn't that what the early church
did? When the early church first met and God added to the church
3,000 souls in Acts chapter 2, it said they continued steadfastly
in the study of other religions. You say that? Absolutely not. They continue steadfastly patting
each other on the back and saying, what a great job you guys are
doing. No. They continue steadfastly
in the Apostles doctrine. In the Apostles doctrine. What
is the Apostles doctrine? The Apostles doctrine is spelled
out by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Great Commission. He says,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned." There it is. There's the Apostles' doctrine.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We continue steadfastly preaching
this gospel of God so that sinners might be converted, that sinners
might be saved from their sin. Well, who do we preach to? Because we preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified as our only gospel message, we
know this, that many people will grow tired of this message. We
know this, that if we continue to preach the doctrine of the
apostles, which is the person, the gospel of God, as is declared
in our He said, the gospel of God concerning His Son, Jesus
Christ. If we continually preach this message, we know this, that
many will grow tired of this message. This gospel that we preach, this
bread that is called manna in the Scriptures, was typified
by this manna given to the Israelites. You remember when they were in
the wilderness, the Lord fed them for forty years. Forty years in the wilderness.
The Lord dropped down manna from heaven. It was a light wafer
of bread. And it fell in plentiful as the
dew on the grass. This light bread fell down from
heaven. It was called angel's food. It
was sweet as honey to the taste. And it was nourishing. It nourished
these people all these years that they walked in the wilderness. But it wasn't long they grew
very tired of this bread. They didn't have to labor for
this bread. They didn't have to knead the dough or bake it. It was ready for them to eat.
All they had to do was gather it and gather just enough for
their household. Not be stingy, not try to hoard
it up. What happens if they hoarded
it up? It turned and bred to worms. Even so, this is a picture
of the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ. Is this not the bread
that angels desire to feast on? Scripture says the angels desire
to look into these things, and they are even here this morning
desiring to understand grace. Grace is foreign to angels. God
did not show grace to angels that sinned, but He did show
grace to man that sinned. This is a great mystery to them.
And yet, here it is. I preached this morning to sinners,
to blind, Captive of heart, I preach a message from heaven. Jesus
Christ that came down from heaven. He is the message. He is the
manna. He is the bread from heaven.
Every time the gospel is preached, the bread is scattered like the
dew. I preach a very light message.
A light message. Jesus said, come unto me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. He says that his yoke is easy
and his burden is light. It's light. Why do you labor? Sinners, why
do you labor for that which satisfies not? Why do sinners labor to work
and to earn merit with God that they can't earn? That it's impossible
for them to earn? Why do sinners seek to please
their own conscience when nothing is going to please your conscience?
Nothing you do. Why do we try to obey the law
or expect our good deeds to earn some acceptance with God? I preach to you Jesus Christ
who came from heaven and took upon Him the nature of a man. To say He understands our weaknesses
and our hurts and our sorrows is an understatement. He took upon Himself the nature
of man and being found in fashion, He did something that none of
us ever did. He humbled Himself and became
obedient even unto death. Jesus as a man was subject to
the law of God. He obliged himself to be subject
to his own law. And he was obligated to this
law in every detail because he was a representative man. Jesus
came down from heaven like the bread that fell in the wilderness. He is that light bread that is
sweeter than honey. He came down to be the substitute
for sinners. I preach to you Jesus Christ,
who came and died in the place of sinners. Therefore, the King of all glory,
the Son of God, was made to be an offering for sin. It was God the Father who imputed
the sins of His people to His Son. God the Father, in great love
for His people, imputed the sins of His people to Jesus, His only
begotten Son. And Jesus bore our sins, our
guilt in His own body on the cross, God has laid on Him the
iniquity of us all. He has made His soul to be an
offering for sin. He shall see of the travail of
His soul and be satisfied." Satisfied. I preach Jesus who did not make
salvation possible, but actually obtained it. Obtained it by His
own hands. The Scripture tells us in the
Revelation, it says that the lamb that was slain, he reaches
up toward God who sits on the throne and there's a book there
sealed with seven seals that no one is able to look on. No
one is able to touch. And he said he took the book
from God. He took it. Why? Because he merited. He earned it. He earned the right
to take that book and to loose the seals thereof. The book of
God's salvation. The book of God's providence.
The book of God's grace. And now this same Jesus that
died for our sins was buried according to the Scriptures.
As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale,
even so must the Son of Man be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth. And He was. This proved he was dead. You
don't bury a man that's alive. Bury a man that's dead. He was
dead. And this same Jesus who died
for our sins also is risen again for our justification. Because he had by his one offering
satisfied God forever, death could no longer hold him. What's the power of death? Sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. The reason we die is because of sin. Why is it
that Christ died? It was because of our sins. But yet, now that our sins have
been expiated, now that our sins are gone, He is risen from the
dead to testify that our sins are gone. He rose from the dead. He's risen
from the dead to testify He was victorious in His work. His body saw no corruption. Why? Because there was no sin. The
reason our bodies will rot is because of our sin. This old
man, this old nature is full of sin. When it dies, it will
die in its sin. It will die and be turned back
to the dust. It's not until Christ comes again
and raises that body incorruptible that we'll meet together in full
unity, body, soul, and spirit. But His body saw no corruption,
and He was raised from the dead and glorified. He was glorified
in a glorified body. John says this, he said, He that
was from the beginning, our hands have touched and handled Isn't
this glorious? One day we shall be able to touch
Him. We'll be able to touch Him. Not only touch Him, but embrace
Him. What a glorious thought that
one day we'll meet with our Savior face to face Job said, I know
this, that in my own eye, with my own eyes, I shall see my Redeemer. With my own eyes, and not with
another. And even now, this light bread
falls from heaven this morning. The gospel of God concerning
His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the bread of
heaven. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood shall never hunger or thirst." These words that Jesus spake
was not concerning the Lord's table. It's not concerning physical
bread or physical blood. As the cannibalistic church,
I like to call them cannibalistic church, they believe they're
actually eating blood and drinking blood and eating His flesh. Tell
you the truth, they probably would want Him to be crucified
every single day. But my Lord was crucified once
for sin and risen again and sits on the right hand of God. We
eat the Lord's Supper as a type, as a picture, but to eat His
flesh and to drink His blood, these words He said are spirit
and they are truth. These words are spiritual words. That means to drink His blood
and to eat His flesh is to believe Him, to believe on Him, to trust
Him. It is to be in union with Him.
When we believe on Christ, it is as though we have eaten His
flesh and it is now one with us. His blood that cleanses us
from all our sins is now one with us in the new nature. These words were spiritual. I
preach the gospel of God so that men might obey the commandment
of God. Listen to me, pay attention. When I say believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, that is not a request. That is not a request. This is
not a debatable issue. This is a command of God. God
did not send his son down here to suffer and to die in the hopes
that you might believe. God says, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. This is a command of God. Lazarus, come forth. Well, gee,
Lord, I don't know if I want to come out of here. Let me think
about it. And I'll get back with you. Nope. As soon as he spoke
the Word, Lazarus came forth. And I like that. He was bound
hand and foot. There was nothing going to stop
him from coming out of that grave. Nothing. And when he came forth, I love
this, he said, Lucie, and let him go. And we believe we have
heard the voice of the Son of God. Life ushers into our soul. And he says, come to me. And
we say, yes, Lord. Bound hand and foot. And He says, loose Him and let
Him go. We've been set free. We've been set free. Do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Have you received
the Spirit of God by grace and by power? Has He called you to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Or is this just something frivolous
and light to you? Why do you labor for that which
is not going to satisfy? Men labor for money. They labor
for their family. They labor in religion. Why do that when Jesus has already
done the labor? To not believe on the Son of
God is to spit in the face of God. It is to say that Jesus Christ
is not enough. God, you did a good job sending
your Son, but I know this, I've got to add mine into it. He didn't
do enough. I've got to finish this. That is a spit in the face of
Almighty God. What does it profit you to gain
the whole world and lose your own soul? What will you give in exchange
for your soul? I preach that you might believe. And that in believing you might
be saved. I preach that men might believe,
and in believing, you might rest in this truth. You are the called
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You who believe, you are the
called. The called. The privileged. The blessed. We were dead and
our sins are now called to life. We were devoid of righteousness,
have now been given the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ in the
inner man. We were polluted by our own blood,
have been washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ
from all our sin, from all our iniquity. Believer, rejoice, for we are
the beloved of God. Look at this in verse 7, he said,
to all that be at Rome, he might as well say to all that be at
Redeemer Baptist Church. Beloved of God, called saints. Not called to be saints. We are
saints. I am a saint. What does that
mean? I'm a called one. I'm a chosen
one. Called of God. We are saints
of God. And grace and peace from God
our Father and Lord Jesus Christ be to every one of us who believe. Second of all, I not only preach
to you, I pray for you. The Apostle Paul here begins
by telling them, he says, I thank my God always to you. How? By
prayer. He said, for God is my witness,
whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without
ceasing I make mention always of you in my prayers. Oftentimes, we desire that others
come to faith in Christ. You know, I long to see this
church full. I do. Not full of the world. I don't want the world. Full
of saints. Full of God's people. But let us not neglect to give
thanks for the brethren that we have now. I thank God upon every remembrance
of you in my prayers always. If God does not add any more
to our assembly, I'm thankful for the church we have now. I
am. I am thankful to God for it. Thanks be to God for saving us
by His grace. Thanks be to God for quickening
our souls, giving us life and faith. And thank God for allowing
us to be together, to assemble together, rejoice together. Paul says this in verse 14, he
says, I'm a debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the
wise and the unwise. What is he saying? He's saying
I'm obligated to you. Friends, I preach the gospel
and I pray for you and I am obligated to you. I'm obligated to you. I'm committed. To declare the
gospel. To you. Do I declare this gospel when
it's popular or when it's unpopular? Both. We declare this gospel and we
must preach this gospel to all men that will hear. How do I
preach this gospel? I preach it at a venture. Some people ask me, well, did
you see me do this? Did you see me...? I look at
you sometimes and I may see something here. Not really. Not really. I'm not specifically trying to
just focus in on your particular thing. Although you think I am.
Although some people say, well, where have you been watching
me? I've been watching you. I'm just throwing out the seed.
I don't know where it's going. I studied this message long before
you came in here today. I throw this message at a venture.
I'm not here to put it in the ground of your heart and drill
it in. That's not my focus. That's not
my purpose. I preach the gospel because it
is the power of God unto salvation. I preach the gospel because God
directs the gospel. The seed that I throw will land
somewhere. It'll land on you somewhere.
It'll land directly on your heart. I know it will. Now, I have no
idea what your heart is. It could be a stony ground heart. In other words, you could hit
this and bounce right off and roll right off and walk out the
door and never think twice about what I'm saying. That's a stony
heart. Some of this will land on not. That's what the wayside, I'm
sorry, it's wayside, that's a dry ground, it's a hard ground that
don't penetrate anything. Some are landing on stony ground
where there's a little dirt. And that root will just plumb
down in there and it'll shoot up real fast. In other words, this is a person
at a show of religion. He has some physical need. And
so he takes that and he says, well, I'm just going to do this
and believe God for this. And then shoots right up and
makes it. Oh, they have all these. Oh, I preach in the hospital. I've heard some some strange
things. I remember preaching one time,
and this lady, all she said throughout the whole sermon was, Amen. Now,
she said it so many times, I have no idea how she understood a
word I said, because she was always saying, Amen. See, there's some people who
take that word, and they'll just shoot right up. But because of the
cares and thoughts of this life and this world, they have no
depth of root. They have no interest in these
things. They've made religion part of
their life. I say, this is my religious life,
and then I have my social life, and then I have my family life,
and then all of these things, and pretty soon that religious
life just kind of withers away and is gone. Some of this gospel
will land on thorny ground, and the cares and thoughts of
this life will choke it out. It won't have any interest in
it. They won't bear any fruit. They'll
keep coming. But they won't have any fruit. But praise God, some of this
is going to land on good ground. Ground prepared by the Holy Spirit
before they came. This is what the Holy Spirit
does. He prepares the heart to receive the message. And then
when the message is preached, He plants it into that good ground
He cultivates it. And it grows. It produces fruit. Evidence. What's the evidence? Love, joy,
peace, meekness, temperance, faith. All of the fruits of the
Spirit. You who believe, I see all of
those things in you. You don't. But I do. I do. I see them in you. Praise be
to God that some, the Holy Spirit will break their heart regarding
their sin. Praise God, some will gladly
receive the message of Jesus Christ. And his redemption by his blood. Praise God, because God said
He would do it. The power of this gospel is not
in this preacher. It is in the Holy Spirit. He applies it to the heart. And friends, I am always ready
to preach this gospel to you. I'm ready to preach this gospel
to you. Always ready. I always want to be prepared
to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to you. Paul said, I came not with excellency
of speech. I don't either. I don't come
with excellency of speech. I know at times you may think
Well, he must have put that together in about five minutes or so. But I tell you, I labor for this
message. I labor to be ready to preach
Christ unto you. Are you ready to witness of Christ
to others? Are you ready to give every man
an answer that asketh of the whole that is in you? Are you
ready? We are saved by the grace of
God through faith in Jesus Christ. We see that He is all our righteousness. And to truly believe, to truly
believe on Jesus Christ is to continue to believe on Jesus
Christ. This morning when you woke up,
I know we hadn't seen the sun in a long time, but it's always
been shining, hasn't it? It's always been there. You didn't expect the sun to
go dim this morning, did you? No. Neither will our faith ever
die. He gives me faith to believe
every minute of every day. And if my faith is true and genuine,
then I will always believe this message. Jesus Christ came down
from heaven, took upon him the form of a servant, became obedient
for my righteousness, died for my redemption. rose again for
my justification, and is seated at the right hand of God, directing
all things after the counsel of His will, so that He might
bring others, His sheep, into His fold." That's the purpose
of the church. That's why you're here. J.D., you're not here to be a
retired policeman. No. You're not here to be a student. You're not here to raise a family.
We are here for one purpose. To further the gospel of Jesus
Christ during our lifetime. We have no other reason to live.
I don't. Do you? This is my life. To preach the
gospel. And you who believe this should
be your life, to preach the gospel. May God give us such grace to
truly believe and serve our Master. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.