Once again, we are in the Book
of Romans. This is our second lesson. Kathy
asked me, she goes, how long do you think we might stay in
Romans? I said, well, I heard a preacher
once say he was in the Book of Romans for three years. You know,
you go through the Book of Romans, get to the end, and it'd be just
like the Golden Gate Bridge. You know that they start every
year at one day and begin to paint? And when they get through
with the bridge, they finish the complete year and turn around
and come back to that very same thing and start doing it all
over again. What a monotonous job that would
be after a couple years, huh? It might not take that long now,
but that was the way it was back 20 years ago. They may have faster
and more up-to-date things that they don't have to do that anymore
like that, but that's the way they used to paint it. We could go through the Book
of Romans today, spend however long we need to go through it,
stop at the end, come right back to the beginning, and it would
all be refreshed all over again. Folks, God's mercies are refreshed
every day. A child of God who walks through
this valley of shadow of death, we see God's mercy and grace
afresh every day. We know that His mercy and grace
to us is new day by day, don't we? Oh, the love that our Lord
has for us in showing us these things. This is study number
two, and we began last week with verses one through six, and we're
gonna look at that again. This week, I'd like to bring
your attention to the called of Jesus Christ. We once again
turn our Bibles to this epistle that is written to the saints
at Rome. And in our first lesson, we considered the phrase in verse
one, the gospel of God. Folks, this entire Bible, everything
about the word in between these two covers is about God's gospel. In the beginning, God created.
What a gospel that is right there. What good news. It didn't just
happen. Oh, the world would like us to
think there was a big bang and everything came and everything
evolved out of whatever happened with the big bang, but no. God
thought something and it came to be. This is the very God that
we talk about that holds our salvation in his hand. This is
the power that we thought that we talked about in Friday night's
Bible study, the power of God Almighty, sovereign ruler of
everything. It's his gospel, and he is that
gospel, his son coming to this earth, allowing, permitting,
By the determinate counsel, that means by the determinate will
of God, he came to this world to be sacrificed for you and
I. That's the love of God for his people. The entire Bible
is about the gospel of God. There is only one gospel, and
it's called the gospel. Now, there are other doctrines,
other teachings that claim to be a gospel. We have a good news
here. If you just do this, you can
be saved. They think that's pretty good
news. Well, if you don't see yourself in the depravity that
you are before God, I can see why that would be good news for
you. But when God has opened our eyes to his glorious knowledge
of how deep we are in that pit, what it took for God to reach
down and pull us out of that pit, Hmm. Oh, the magnification of
his grace. There are other doctrines, other
teachings that claim to be a gospel, but the Spirit of God inspired
Paul to address that very theme. Listen to these words that Paul
wrote to the Galatians, chapter one, verses six and seven. I
marvel, he says, that ye, ye folks of God, you folks of God,
you folks that are in the church there at Galatia, I marvel that
you so soon removed from him that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ. Now notice he
called them. Folks, those who are teaching
the lie that it is up to you to decide, pass right by that
very thing. God calls his people with the
power of God. We are called by the power of
God. I'm thankful for, you know, There's a lot of people who know
about election. A lot of people know all about
election. They have a brain knowledge. You can know about election and
not be saved because election doesn't save you. Christ saves
us. He is our only, salvation is
of the Lord. That's the way it is. But you
cannot be saved without knowing and loving the doctrine of election. That's what it means to be called.
Chosen of God before the world was. You just didn't know that
God loved you until he called you. Until the day of his love
when he came to you and said, Peter, James, Matthew, come,
follow me. and I will make you fishers of
men. Beloved, no, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. And then Paul addresses that,
what I just told you a moment ago. He addresses it, he says,
which is not another gospel. It's not a gospel at all. What
good news is there in something that you can do? If you think you can do something,
then you think more of yourself than what God says of you. Plain
and simple. He says you're dead and trespasses
in sin. That means you're dead. And to
say, no, it's my decision, means that, no, God, I'm not dead,
I'm alive. I can decide. Is that not correct? It's not another gospel. Paul
goes on to say these words, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert, pervert the
gospel of Christ. That's God's gospel. The gospel
of Christ, God's gospel, the gospel. These are the same ones
that is speaking of here, be there some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of God. These are the same ones, God,
the spirit moved the apostle Jude to warn you and I up. Listen to the words of Jude.
Jude one, verses three and four. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, the very salvation,
the gospel of God, there's only one. But that one gospel is common
in between each and every one of God's elect. I was talking with Shelby, and
she was sharing with me some folks down there in Australia.
I was asking her about other preachers that might be in Australia,
because I knew Don had gone down there. And actually, he had gone
down several times and preached for a lot of different people
down there. And she said there was a Presbyterian man down there
The basic doctrine, the basic gospel, they were on the same
page with. And Don was very blessed to have
a relationship and speak about the gospel with this poor man. But the doctrines had some differences
in that. And there were some troubles
with some of the other doctrines. Beloved, when I gave diligence
to write unto you the common salvation, The gospel of Christ,
the salvation of Christ, it was needful for me to write unto
you and exhort you to build you up, that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was delivered unto the saints. The belief, the belief in God's
word, to trust in the Lord's word, to believe Jesus for who
he is, to believe Jesus for what he's done, to believe Jesus for
where he is right now. For there are certain men crept
in, unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Then he goes about to express
these very men. These very ones that Paul wrote
about here, he said, that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. Jude tells us they are ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness. You know what that word means?
That means wickedness. Anytime you raise yourself up
above God, that's wickedness. When you think you know better
than God, you're committing wickedness. And that's exactly what folks
who teach there's something for you to add to God's gospel, they're
teaching wickedness. They're taking the word of God
and they're turning it into the wickedness of man. And denying. the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we addressed verses two through
six last week, but only in a minimal term. So I wish to look again
at our text in verses one through six of Romans chapter one. Will
you read with me? Romans chapter one, verse one,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated
under the gospel of God, which he had promised. Now this separation,
this is what Paul is saying here, this separation that he was separated
unto the gospel of God, which was promised, which he, God had
promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, all the
Old Testament prophets promised. They pointed to the promise of
God that he would choose a people unto himself. He would choose
a people to be his. to belong to him, concerning his son, Jesus Christ,
verse three, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh. It's exactly how it was supposed
to. God sent two men, as we read in Friday night's Bible study,
into Bithynia to get an ass's colt, and he said, If anybody
asks you, what are you doing? Tell them the Lord is of need
of it. And you know what? It happened exactly how our Lord
told to. That's what Paul's referring
to here. Everything that happened in the Old Testament happened
exactly how it was supposed to, according to Christ. Verse four,
and declared to be the son of God with power, our Lord Jesus
Christ was declared to be the son of power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Verse five, by
whom we have received grace, Paul speaking of himself now,
and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations
for his name. Now I want you to catch this
next part here. This is what our subject is for this morning.
Among whom are ye? Among whom are ye? Not only did Paul and the apostles
receive grace unto the obedience of faith among all nations, not
only were they chosen of God to be such, each and every one
of us were chosen of God to be who we are, to be part of the
body of Christ. Whether you're the finger, or
the shoulder, or the mouth, or whatever you are, you are the
body of Christ, and you were chosen by God to be that part. Something I don't do enough of,
and I'm gonna do it right here in front of everybody, and you're
my witnesses. My Lord has chosen this woman
to be my helpmate. And what a helpmate she is. She
works her fingers off trying to figure out how to put bulletins
together every week. She's working her mind right
now trying to put together bulletins for while we're gone on vacation.
She goes and she figures things out on the computer that I can't
even touch a finger and figure out on my own at all. Kathy,
can you help me? I've taken a picture this morning
of that big TV. Somebody wanted to see the codes
on the back. Can you help me do this? I knew
how to take a picture, but I don't know how to transfer it over
to their email and get it to them. Oh, yeah, I can do that. I'm telling you, folks, I don't
do it enough, honey. But you are exactly the part
of the body of Christ that you're supposed to be, because God has
put you there. And each and every one of us
are that exact part of the body that we are supposed to be, God
has put us there. What are we supposed to be? I
didn't know I was supposed to be a pastor until he did it. Kathy had no idea that she was
supposed to be a pastor's wife. She thought, well, I want John
to be a pastor. I think he's gonna be a pastor,
but you know, he keeps saying no, he keeps saying no, and boom,
the Lord did it. And she was the pastor's wife
right away. You see what I'm saying, though?
Each and every one of us have a part. Among whom, these apostles, among
whom are ye, God's chosen people. Also, the called of Jesus Christ. That's the title. There you go,
the last part of verse six. The called of Jesus Christ. Now,
we'll get through this. I'm gonna go a little long. If
I don't get through it pretty quick here. In verse one, Paul declares to
be separated, which means to be set off by boundary, appointed,
et cetera, et cetera, divided, separated. This is what it means
to be called of God, called of Jesus Christ. We have been separated
from what we once were. We were once dead. We didn't
want Christ at all, the true and living God. We had no desire
for him. And we know that, don't we? We
know. Now wait a minute, John. I've been a Christian all my
life. You sure? You sure? Think about it. When did you first hear the gospel
preached? For me, it was 23 years ago. Paul said that all that stuff
that he was before God called him, And he was pretty adamant,
wasn't he? Didn't he call himself to be
a Pharisee, a Pharisee? Isn't that correct? Yeah. A member of the Jews, the chosen
people. All that stuff meant nothing
to Paul after God called him. All that stuff before us meant
nothing after God called us. The only thing that means anything
to us now is his grace. in calling us to Him. This is what it means to be called
of God, called of Jesus. We have been separated from what
we once were. We have been given spiritual
life where once we were dead. Consider with me, if you would,
this word called for a moment. The word means appointed. We
see the same concept over in Ephesians chapter one. Would
you turn over there with me real quick? Again, we're gonna look
at very familiar verses. I heard about a pastor, and I
forget who he was, but he made a statement one time. He said,
these verses, if you open up my Bible, you will see are the
most worn pages out of all scripture. Why? He says, because in God's
gospel, these words mean every bit of it. No matter where you
go to in God's book to preach his word, you can come to these
very words and it explains it plainly to any child can understand
it. What do we read in Ephesians
chapter one, beginning at verse three, blessed be the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us, blessed
his people, blessed all of God's chosen, all of his elect, all
of his called throughout all time, blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Amen. Amen. In Christ. Nothing I have done,
huh? Not me. I'm not blessed because
I turn the page and I start smoking. I'm not blessed because I've
done this and done that. No, I'm blessed because of my
Savior, Christ Jesus. Plain and simple. Verse four. according as he hath chosen us,
that's the word called right there, according as he hath chosen
us and him, separated us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world. How can that be? I wasn't even
walking then. I wasn't even a seed in my daddy's
loins at that time. Our Lord has loved us with an
everlasting love. from before time ever began.
Everything created was for the love of his people, that we might
glorify him throughout eternity for his graciousness and his
mercy in sending his son in our stead as our substitute. According as he had chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. I was talking with brother
Norm about that this morning. You know, we see the promises
of God through his word, but oh, the depth of his love. None
of us will see that depth until the day we stand with him face
to face. Our brother Bill sees it right
now, doesn't he? He sees the love of God. Could care less
about anything that's happening back here on Earth. You know,
he used to tell me that. He says, Bill, don't you want
to, you know, if you don't put something in writing about what's
going to happen to your things at your house, the government's
going to take it. I don't care. He says, when I get to heaven,
John, I don't care what happens to any of that stuff. I don't
care what happens to anything. I don't care about anything back
here on earth. I'm with Jesus Christ, my Lord. What else could
there be? Holy and without blame before
him. Verse five, in love, having predestinated
us. unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
Now we read that again in Romans chapter 28. Turn over there if
you would please, Romans chapter 28. And we'll look at this in
a deeper, you would think, oh John, we look at that deep every
week. It's gonna get even deeper when we get there in our Bible
study, maybe a year from now. The word appointed. It's the
same concept that we just saw in Ephesians chapter 1. We were
chosen in Christ, predestinated in Christ. predestinated to the
adoption of the children by Jesus Christ to himself. Over in Romans
28, we read it this way, Paul addressing the Romans once again,
he says, for whom he, whom God, whom the very one that we put
our trust in, whom he did foreknow, Those that he foreknew before
the world was, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, those whom he predestinated,
then he also what? Called. Chose. Oh, I'm telling you, folks. A child of God loves the doctrine
of election because we know that there was no chance without God
that we would have chose him. We know that his word is true
when he says, we ran from the light. We know that his word
is true when it says that none seeketh after me. Then he also called. Here's wonderful
news. The gospel of Jesus Christ, and
him crucified for his children, and whom he called, then he also
justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. Paul declared who it was that
gave him the authority to preach this gospel. And here in verse
six of our text, he declares that we too are called by that
same authority. Christ Jesus is that authority.
He has all of authority. He is the Lord with all power,
all authority, and we have different gifts, but we are called by the
same one who distributes those gifts. That's what we read in
Ephesians 1. All blessings flow through him. That's why we are all servants
of Christ. We live because he lives in us.
We live for Him and by Him. We are kept by His power, as
Peter declares over in chapter one of his first epistle. Turn
over there if you would, please, and we'll bring this to an end.
1 Peter chapter one, beginning
at verse two, what do we see right there, right off the bat?
Elect. elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience
and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. What shall we say then to these
things? What shall we say, folks? When
we know that we were called by God, when we know that it was
not by our power that brought us to God, when we know that
the power that we have is null, none, nothing there, that by
his power we are called and kept. What shall we say to that? Here's
what Paul said, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up before us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all of him? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
that rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also make an intercession for us, amen.