to begin a series this morning
from the Book of Romans. So if you'd like to open your
Bibles to the Book of Romans and put a marker there, we'll
be coming back to this book every Sunday until we finish through
it, Lord willing. We may take it in steps of, man,
there's that fool again. Something in my nose just started
itching like crazy all of a sudden. Try another drink of water, maybe
that'll work. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh, that's good. We may take
it one verse, one word, one section. It just depends on how the Lord
leads us. We're gonna do the same thing like we did through
the book of Mark. Just go through and see where the Lord leads
us and where he wants us to see and so on and so on. Now, the
book of Romans, This is considered study number one, and we'll be
considering verses one through six this morning. We may come
back to verse one or verse two or verse three in next week.
I can't tell you until we get a little bit further down. So
this Book of Romans is considered to be, by many, to be the most
profound piece of literature in existence. It is without a
question an epistle of pure gold from beginning to end. It has
powerfully influenced and altered the lives of countless men and
women for nearly 2,000 years. John Calvin said this about it.
When anyone gains a knowledge of this epistle, he has an entrance
open to him to all the most hidden treasures of scripture. Now,
that was an, I introduced you to this book by a quotation from
Don Fortner. That was from Don Fortner. This
book reveals every essential aspect of gospel doctrine. In the first chapter, Paul clearly
defines the gospel. Remember, there is but one gospel.
Look over, hold your place here in Romans, and let's turn over
to Galatians, just a couple of books over to the right, just
before Ephesians, Galatians chapter one. There is only one gospel. There are many out there who
say they have the gospel. Here's their gospel. Here's the
good news. Jesus is trying to save you.
Jesus wants to, I saw this on the internet the other day. I
wanted to throw something at my computer when I saw this.
Jesus wants to be your BFF, your best friend or whatever that
means. Jesus wants. Their gospel is, there's a creator
out there who's done everything he can and he's waiting for you. Would you please just let Jesus
into your life? Would you please, if you want
to, I'll tell you, this is how you do it. You come down here
to the front of the church and we'll put hands on you and make
you feel good. You'll experience something. You'll have such a feeling of
euphoria Folks, that's not a gospel. That's
putting your, what you think is good news, trusting in what
you do. Have you ever heard of a sinner
trusting in himself? I've heard of people who are
self-righteous trusting in what they do. But a true sinner, one
who has had the revelation of the depth of our depravity, One
who is brought to an understanding of what we are before a thrice
holy God, we know there's no confidence
in what we stand in. We know, don't we? We see now
because we were blind before. We thought we were pretty righteous,
just like the world goes about thinking they're righteous. There's
only one gospel. And that's the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and it's called God's gospel. Listen to the words here
in Galatians chapter one, verses six through nine. I marvel, writes
Paul to the Galatians, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ and unto, what's
he say there? Another, a different gospel. Then he goes on in verse seven
to tell us the very same thing I just told you a moment ago,
which is not another gospel. How can you say it's good news
to save yourself? How can you say it's good news
to build yourself up, pump you up? It's not another gospel,
but there'll be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. They'll take the gospel of Christ,
the good news of God Almighty, the good news that Jesus has
mercy upon whom he will have mercy. They take that good news
and they want to add something they did to it. They want to
add a little leaven to the bread. What does scripture tell us about
a little bit of leaven? It ruins the whole lump, doesn't it? You take just a little bit of
works and you try to mix it with grace, and it just throws grace
right out the window. Verse eight, but though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed. I was telling these young men
that are coming to visit with us. Man, I just can't get this itching
to go away. I was telling him, I said, you
know, I don't take this lightly calling upon you. First off, I expressed and very
much am thankful how Kathy and I are, that they're willing and
that they are able to come and fill this pulpit. I expressed
to him, I don't take this lightly at all. I'm not going to let somebody
who has only preached once get up in this pulpit and preach
Christ to you. I need to, I need to know that
they have a little bit of experience. I need to know that what they're
going to preach is the gospel of God. And I know that we can't see
all things. We thought we had a man here
who would preach the gospel. We sat under him preaching for
five years, and it turned out it wasn't so. But still, we do
the best we can. Let them be accursed. Verse nine
says, and we said before, so say I now, that if any man preach
any other gospel unto you, then that ye have received, let him
be accursed. Now back in our text in Romans
chapter one. This is exactly what Paul is
addressing right from the start. Look with me if you would in
Romans chapter one, verse one. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto what? Do you notice it doesn't say
a gospel? Did you notice the words there?
Separated unto the, the. That means there's only one.
The gospel of God. Paul declares himself a servant
to Christ. He no longer serves the religion.
Remember, there was a religion that he served once before, and
he did it pretty well. He did it pretty well. He was
quite the Pharisee. He was so good at it that the
head of the church gave him papers to go out and persecute those
who claim to be Christians. Go out and take, Mike and I were
talking about this a little bit ago. Think about this for just
a moment. Let's say you had a chance to
sit down with the Pope of Rome, right next, right in front of
each other, sit down and talk to each other. And you told that
Pope, that man who studies the Bible over and over and over
again and still can't see the grace of God in it. You know
he studied, you know he sat there in that little dark room and
just studied the word of God over and over and over again.
And if you were to sit there in a room and tell him face to
face, the gospel, he would get mad
at you, wouldn't he? Can you blame those religious
Pharisees for getting mad at Jesus? He wasn't, he wasn't messing
around, trying to, well, maybe this, no. He plainly told them,
he plainly told them, you don't believe. You're not my sheep. Isn't that what he said to them?
He said, my sheep hear my voice. That's what he said. If you were
a very religious person and you thought so much of yourself,
wouldn't you be a little angry about that? Paul declares himself
now to be a servant of Christ, along with the very ones that
he persecuted. He no longer served the religion.
He serves Christ. He was separated from the religion
by the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, wasn't he? The New Testament does not reveal
a gospel, folks, it reveals the gospel, God's gospel. We have
here the gospel defined by, what we have here, we have here a
gospel defined by a man writing under the divine inspiration
of God Almighty, and anything else, any other definitions,
any other descriptions of a gospel given by men must be judged by
the light of what we see right here. You wanna judge the gospel? You
wanna determine if a man is speaking about the gospel? Is he speaking
about God, or is he speaking about men? Is he speaking about
what God has done, or is he speaking about what men can do? Look with me, if you would, through
verse six of Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one, welcome.
Good to have you with us this morning. We're in Romans chapter
one. beginning today with the first
study of the gospel. Read with me, if you would, verse
six. Read through to verse six. We already read verse one. We'll
begin at verse two. Which he, he was separated unto the gospel,
which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures.
God Almighty promised this gospel through all the Old Testament.
Verse three, 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 of the dead, by whom we have received grace
and an apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations
for his name, among whom are ye also called of Jesus Christ. There you go. We're gonna look
at these words this morning a little briefly. The gospel is of God,
as we read in verse one. It is defined here as the gospel
of God, and I wanna give you four reasons why it's the gospel
of God. Number one, It's not something of man's imagination. God is the author of his gospel. The covenant that was made between
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit was before
anything ever was created. All of creation is part of the
gospel of God. It's the good news. Men who will
become sinners shall be saved by Jesus Christ the Lord, his
Son. Jesus will become a man. And
this is that gospel. God is the subject of it. Jesus
Christ, God Almighty in the flesh, all the fullness of the God had
dwelt in him. He is the subject of the gospel. It's not a gospel of what men
can do. It's not a gospel about man.
It's a gospel of what Christ has done. Thirdly, God is the
revealer of it. Isn't that what we read in the
book of John? How do you call me the son of
the living God? Well, flesh and blood hath not
revealed that to us, has it, Pauly? God the Father is the
one who must reveal his gospel. We can't learn it, I just said
it a moment ago. The Pope can read the Bible all year long
for the rest of his life, but unless the Lord Jesus Christ
speaks to his heart, he will never see the gospel. The gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. And then fourthly, fourthly,
God is the executor of it. Turn over Ephesians with me,
if you would. Ephesians chapter one, that's right after Galatians. God is the executor of his gospel. In Ephesians chapter one, we begin reading at verse three.
Now I wanna tell you, this is the gospel in these verses, complete
and thorough, all the way through it. And I want you to point out
something to me if you can. Feel free to interrupt me. Raise
your hand if you'd like. When you see man's part in the
gospel. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, who? God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Verse four, according as he,
Christ, God, hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of
the world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession,
and to the praise of his glory." Now, the gospel we believe and
preach was promised before by the prophets and the holy scriptures.
This is the everlasting gospel. It was conceived in the heart
of God from all eternity past. It was ordained before the world
was, and it was hid in Christ, the wisdom of God, from the very
beginning. You can read that in Proverbs
8. It was revealed to the people
of God and promised by the prophets in pictures and in types and
in ceremonies in the Old Testament. Listen to the words of Hebrews
1, verses 1 through 2. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners spake in times past under the fathers by the
prophets. It was the prophets. It was the
prophets who set up the old ceremonies, the old types where they were
used as the types of Christ, pictures of our Lord, of the
gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Hath in these, this
one who had in diverse manner spake in times 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 world. Now God's gospel was manifested
in time by the coming of our Lord. Turn over to 2 Timothy
to the right, if you would, just before Hebrews. 2 Timothy 1,
beginning at verse 9. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9, who hath
saved us, speaking of our Lord and Savior, who hath saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given in
Christ Jesus before the world began. Here we go. This is the
gospel that was set up before the world began. This is God's
gospel. Verse 10, but is now made manifest. Now it's made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life. Here's the gospel. Our Lord abolished
death and has brought life, our life, and our immortality to
life through the what? Through the good news, through
God's gospel. This gospel is concerning his
son. That's what we read in verse
three. The gospel of God, let's read that again, verse three,
back in our text of Romans chapter one. Concerning his son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made the seed of David according to
the flesh. This is the one that was promised before by the prophets,
the gospel of God. The gospel of God is all about
Christ. It's not about baptism. It's not about morality. It's
not about religious reformation or ritualism of any kind. The gospel is all about our savior
Christ Jesus. This is why Paul said, let me,
I wish to know nothing of you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I don't want to know about all
your good works, Paulie. I want to know what Christ has done
for you. I want to know whether he'd do that for me. This is
the good news because I know I'm a sinner. I need a savior. The gospel is all about Christ.
Christ is expressed in the solitary object of it. In fact, Christ
is the gospel. The gospel concerns his person
and his work. The whole gospel is found in
Christ. And if man removes one step, if you try to take over
one step, now that's called mixing works with grace. If you try
to mix any works with the bread of life, you've ruined the whole
lump. It's all about Christ, who was
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. That's what we
read in verse four. Be sure you get this, folks. Christ became
a man. He became the seed of David,
as we can read about in Galatians 4.4, if you would, but he was
not made the Son of God. He was made the son of David,
but he was not made the son of God. He has always been the son
of God. He was declared to be the son
of God in John 10, verse 30. Turn over and look at that real
quick if you would. John chapter 10, verse 30. And
we won't be much longer here. I apologize for going a little
long this morning. John chapter 10, verse 30. I and my father are One. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power, and you can read about that in Hebrews chapter
one, or Matthew chapter 28. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by whom
he is justified when God raised him from the dead. That's in
1 Timothy 3, verse 16. He was declared to be the son
of God by the resurrection from the dead, and it is upon this
great fact, this great fact, his resurrection, of his resurrection
from the dead that he, that the whole gospel rests upon. Look
over at 1 Corinthians, just the other side of Romans, 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. We're gonna read a couple verses
there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. No, I gotta get to 1 Corinthians.
I was about ready to read Romans 15. Look at Romans chapter 15, beginning
at verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that
he arose 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 Christ is not risen. 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 in vain, ye are yet in your sins. then by 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. Our Lord's resurrection from
the dead declares visibly and undeniably that he is all that
he claimed to be. It is the acceptance of God that
the sacrifice was accepting to our Lord. His resurrection is
the declaration of our justification. We can read about that in Romans
chapter 4, also in Romans chapter 5. We'll get to those in deeper
thought in another time, and His resurrection from the dead
is a guarantee of ours. Now lastly, Paul tells us in
verses five and six that it is in Christ and by the gospel of
Christ that we receive grace unto the obedience of faith being
called of God by the irresistible grace and power of his spirit.
It is against this backdrop that Paul declares in verses 15 and
17 of this very same chapter. You can look at it if you'd like
with me over verse 15 and 17 of chapter one, Romans chapter
one, Verse 15, and we'll look at this
a little deeper too at another study. So as much as in me as
I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Folks, I never get
tired about talking about it. I never get tired about hearing
about it. I've heard six different messages this week on Sermon
Audio, and every one of them, guess what it was? About Christ. That blesses my heart. Is there
more to the scriptures than that? No. Christ is all of the scriptures. I'm not ashamed, writes Paul,
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. What is it in? It's in the gospel of Christ.
The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, that just shall live by faith. Now the word gospel
means this, good news. And the gospel of Jesus Christ,
God's gospel, is good news indeed to a sinner. Because I am a sinner,
revealed to me by God, I am not ashamed to proclaim his gospel
to whom he will bring my way. Amen.