Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Romans, Chapter 1. We're going to look at the
first seven verses in Romans, Chapter 1. It says, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared
to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received
grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations
for his name." among whom are you also the called of Jesus
Christ, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be
saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to begin this message
by giving you the title of it. What is the gospel of God? You know, people talk about the
gospel. They say, I like gospel songs. I like gospel music, meaning
religious, religion in general. But religion is not the gospel. Morality, sincerity, piety, being
devoted to religious duties, that's what that means, is not
the gospel. People hear a fact laid down
and they say, now that's the gospel, meaning that's the truth. But the truth is not necessarily
the gospel. The gospel is true. The gospel is the truth. But
not all truth is the gospel. You and I are both dead, rotting
sinners. That's the sad truth. But that's
not the gospel. What is the gospel of God? Well, let's look at our text.
Romans 1, verse 1 says, Paul, just Paul. Nothing fancy, nothing
special. It doesn't say Paul, D period,
D period, Doctor of Divinity. It doesn't say Reverend Paul. It doesn't say that. It doesn't
say Bishop Paul. It doesn't say Cardinal Paul.
It doesn't say Saint Paul. He doesn't even call himself
the Apostle Paul. How could he? when he wrote in
First Timothy 115 that he believes himself to be the greatest sinner
on earth. He said, I'm just Paul. But he
does describe himself to us three different ways. He says three
things about himself. The first one is, he said, I'm
a servant of Jesus Christ. Those of you who know the Lord,
those of you who know him, is there any higher honor than that? If John the Baptist wasn't worthy
to touch his shoes, how honored was that woman who was allowed
to cry on the master's feet and wash his beautiful feet with
her hair? What an honor. That was the highest
honor of her life. King David, the king, said, oh,
if I could just be a doorkeeper in his house, just a doorkeeper. Paul says, I'm so thankful, I'm
so grateful, I'm so happy to say I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. Every true believer is grateful
to say the same thing. The second thing he says about
himself is, I was called to be an apostle. What he's saying
is, I did not decide to be an apostle. I was not voted into
being an apostle. I was called. And every sinner
whom the Lord has revealed himself to and done a work in him or
her and called him to a knowledge of it, every one of them will
say, I am what I am by the grace of God. I was just notified,
that's all. The third thing Paul says about
himself is, I was separated unto the gospel of God. Paul grew
up in religion. He said, I was a Pharisee of
Pharisees. I was in the church going circle.
I was working my way to heaven, I was racking up my good deeds,
but God separated me from all that, separated me from the pride
of that, separated me from the arrogance of that and the flesh
in all that unto the gospel of God, the glorious gospel of God
separating. All right, now, what is the gospel
of God? Let's start by looking at those
four words. The gospel of God. First of all, it is the. It is
not a. It is not one of. It is the. gospel of God. Turn with me over
to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4 verse 1 says this,
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called with all lowliness
and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace, there is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called
in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all. who is above all, and through
all, and in you all. This is THE gospel of God. Now turn with me over to Galatians
chapter 1. Galatians 1 verse 6 says, I marvel
that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another,
But there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we
have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you, than that you have received, let him be accursed. For do I
now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. There was an angel from heaven
one time that was cast down to earth as a bolt of lightning. and he preached another gospel
to Eve. Turn back two pages to 2 Corinthians
11. Verse 3 says, but I fear, lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another
spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you
have not accepted, you might well bear with him." You might. There is only one true gospel
of God, and it's the gospel It's the gospel. The gospel means
good news. It's good news. Hell, fire, and
brimstone is the truth. But that's not the good news
yet. As I listen to people preach, you gotta do better. You gotta
do better. The things you're doing aren't
good enough. You gotta do better. I think, what terrible news. That's terrible. I can't do any
better. What I'm doing is as good as
it's going to get. It's because I'm a sinner. So
that's awful news. That's not the gospel. The gospel
is good news. It's the gospel of Of means about, and it means
from. If I'm preaching the gospel to
you today, I have good news about God, and I have good news from
God. It's the gospel of God. God, the Almighty, the all-powerful
one. Here's the sad truth, with man
it's impossible. Here's the gospel of God. With
God, all things are possible. Well, back to our text in Romans
chapter 1, verse 1 says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had
promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures." What verse 2 is saying is this,
this glorious gospel doesn't change. The good news about God
And the good news from God is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. That's good news, isn't it? He
said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Now notice that verse two right
here in our text is in parentheses. And what that means is it was
interjected right into the middle of a thought. So let's read verses
one and three together. They say, Paul, a servant of
Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel
of God, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made
of the seed of David, according to the flesh. The gospel of God
is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the good news about God,
and He is the good news from God. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the gospel. He is the gospel. The gospel
is all about Him, who He is, and what He has done. We sing
a song that says, to God be the glory, great things He hath done. So loved He the world that He
gave us His Son, who yielded His life and atonement for sin,
and open the life gate that all whom he opened it for may go
in. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. That's wonderful news, isn't
it? The minute our message leaves the person and work of Jesus
Christ, we are no longer preaching the gospel. No longer. Turn with
me over to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5 verse 11 says
this, And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Verse 20 says, And we know that
the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding. that
we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal
life." So the gospel of God is all about Jesus Christ. Now let's go back over to our
text and we'll see who He is and what He has done. Romans
chapter 1 verse 3 says, the gospel of God is concerning His Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. It's concerning His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. Our Lord, that means He is God. He always has been, He always
will be. The God which was made of the
seed of David according to the flesh, He is God who made Himself
to be a man, a real man, an actual flesh and blood man with all
of the weaknesses and frailties that come with that. The disciples said unto him,
Lord, take something to eat. And as God, he said, I have bread
that you know not of. But then as a man, he went to
that fig tree looking for fruit because it says he hungered.
As God, he traveled from the third heaven all the way down
to the lowest part of the earth. But as a man, he traveled from
Judea to Samaria, and he rested on a well because he was wearied
with his journey. As God, he never succumbed to
the sinful thoughts and actions and feelings that we do. But
as a man, he was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without
sin. As God, he bore the sin and carried
the grief of every single sinner that he chose to save. The government
was on his shoulders. The weight of the world was on
his shoulders. But as a man, he didn't have
the strength to carry his own cross up the hill. The truth is, this was God. The good news is this was man. As God, he made intercession
to himself. As man, he fulfilled the requirement
of himself. Jesus Christ the Lord was made
the seed of David according to the flesh. That's what our text
says in verse 3. Verse 4 says he was declared
to be the son of God with power. Everything our God does is with
power. Turn with me over to Isaiah chapter
52. Isaiah chapter 52. Scripture says the Lord is the
strength of my life. It says, with a strong hand He'll
deliver us. Isaiah 52 verse 10 says, the
Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God. He has been declared to be the
Son of God with power. When I was a child, I used to
ask my father a question, and I'm sure most of you ask your
dad the same question. I would say, Dad, show me your
muscle. I want to see your muscle. To
me, that was the strongest muscle I'd ever seen in my life. And
my father would roll up his sleeves and he would hold his arm up
and I'd lay my eyes on the biggest muscle I've ever seen in my life.
Well, this text says, the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in
the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God. Power. power, the right hand,
the right arm of God. Turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 says,
God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." By himself. He purged our sins, all of the
sins of his people. That's power. That is power. He didn't try to do anything,
he did it. He didn't purge most of the sins,
he purged all of the sin, all of it. He said, I, even I am
the Lord and beside me there is no savior. Just one, just one. Well, back over to our text,
Romans chapter one, verse four says this. He was declared to
be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness. God the Father sent the Holy
Spirit to him as a man, and the Spirit descended on him like
a dove. And the Father said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, well pleased. Meaning everything he did on
this earth as a man, I'm well pleased with it. He was declared
to be perfect. He was declared to be righteous. He was declared to be holy. How do we know all this is so?
He arose from the dead. That's how we know. Verse four
says, declared to be the son of God with power according to
the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. All
of our faith in the gospel of God is built on the fact that
Jesus Christ rose from the dead, built on the fact. My hope is
built on the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, walked
out of his own grave. Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 12 says,
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain? Yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God. Because we have testified
of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins. Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of
the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive." Alive. The good news of the gospel is
in Christ. If a sinner is in Christ, if
you are in Christ, then he came for you. He lived for you. He died for you. and your sins are gone, they're
gone. You don't have to do better.
The work is finished. Rest. Rest. Rest in the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rest in the salvation that he
accomplished. Rest. When He arose from the
grave, He sealed your salvation for all eternity. Rest. Our texts in Romans chapter 1,
verses 5 and 6 say, By whom we have received grace and apostleship,
for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among
whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of
God is a notification. That call is a notification of
what has already been done for you. Now so far we've been reading
one sentence, verses one through seven is one sentence. And Paul
closes this first sentence with the result of this good news.
Because of Jesus Christ, because of who he is and what he's done,
verse seven says, to all that be in Rome, And he said that
exact same thing to all that be in Corinth, to all that be
in Galatia, to all that be in Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae,
Thessalonica, to all that be in Christ, to all that be in
Kingsport. Verse seven says, beloved of
God, all whom God has chosen to be loved. It says, called
to be saints, called to be followers of Christ, called to be the bride
of Christ, called to be children of God the Father. He says, grace
to you, the gift of God to you. That's Jesus Christ. Christ to
you and peace to you. peace with God to you, peace
within, peace without. And every bit of this wonderful
news, this good news, is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is the gospel of God. It's the only gospel there is.
Until next Sunday morning, may the Lord bless His Word. You
have been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message or to hear other messages of Sovereign
Grace, you can write to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin
Street, Kingsport, Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website
at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.