I'm reading to you from the book
of Romans, in God's Word, Romans chapter 1. It begins this way,
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
unto the gospel of God. Paul, he begins all of his epistles
this way. Paul, no prophet or apostle ever
used a title before his name. The Word of God speaks of men
like Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simon, Peter, James, John, and
then Paul, never any title used before their name, not even the
prophet, not the apostle Paul, not doctor, not reverend, because
the Lord alone deserves a title. The Lord is that prophet. The
Lord is that priest, that apostle. He is the king of kings. Psalm 111 says, holy and reverend
is his name. He alone deserves the title before
his name of reverend, to be revered and respected and feared by all. You need to reject all so-called
reverends, all so-called doctors and bishops and cardinals and
popes and priests. They are not of God. Paul, he began. Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ. Paul said, I serve his name.
I serve the name of Jesus Christ. I serve his honor. I serve his
glory. I serve his cause. I serve his
church. That is my service. That is my
ministry. That is what I do. And so it
is with all of those who are called of God to be his preachers
and servant. He said, I am called to be an
apostle. Called. No prophet, apostle,
pastor, or teacher, or preacher ever applied for the job. No,
no. You don't go to a school to obtain
credentials and degrees to get the job of a preacher. In Ephesians
4, It says that when the Lord ascended on high, the Lord Jesus
Christ, says he gave gifts unto men. He gave, and here are the
gifts that he gave to men. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, and teachers for the work of the ministry. These men
are equipped, men mind you, there are no women preachers. There
are no women apostles. None. They were all men. And
they were called of God, called of Jesus Christ, put into the
ministry by Him. They didn't apply for the job,
but they were called. In Galatians 1, Paul says this,
Galatians 1, he said, Brethren, I certify the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
So he says in Romans 1, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God. Paul said, I am separated. I
am set apart, called and set apart to this one work, to preach
the gospel. The calling of the true apostles
and true pastors and teachers and preachers is to do this one
thing, that is, preach the gospel. One time Paul said, though I
preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory in, for necessity is
laid upon me. He said, yea, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. A preacher of the gospel, the
apostles and every pastor and teacher and preacher, every man,
is sent to do one thing, and that is preach the gospel. He's
not sent to do humanitarian efforts, social causes, to build habitats
for humanity, missions and organizations for the relief of the poor. Now
all of these things are well and good and needed, and there
are organizations for that purpose. But the job of the preacher,
the pastor, the apostles, was to preach the gospel, because
the gospel is the one thing needful. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Men and women are dead and dying
and need saving. They desperately need to hear
the gospel. Well here it is. Here is the
gospel. He said, I am called to be an
apostle separated unto the gospel of God. Now the gospel means
good news. Gospel means glad tidings. Gospel
means declaration of good things, or glad tidings. He said it is
the gospel of God. It is God's gospel. It originated
in the mind and the heart and the purpose of God himself. We sing a song, Tell Me the Old,
Old Story. For the gospel is an old, old
story. It is as old and as ancient as
God. It is the gospel of God. Well, in verse 2 he said it is
the gospel which he promised, which God promised before by
his prophets in the Holy Scripture. Paul is talking about the Old
Testament. That's the only Bible they had to preach from, the
apostles. He's talking about the Old Testament
and he says it is the gospel, the gospel in promise. From Genesis
to Malachi is the gospel concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ. Yes
it is. All of the Old Testament types,
pictures, shadows, stories, men, and even women, represents the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ said as
much. He said, they are they which
testify of me. To him give all the prophets
witness. In Genesis, he's the creator.
He's the woman's seed. He's the light of the world.
In Exodus, he's the Passover lamb. Leviticus, he's the great
atonement. Numbers, he's the brazen serpent. And Joshua, he's the scarlet
lion in the window. And on and on it goes. Ruth,
he's the kinsman redeemer. On and on it goes. Christ is
the Old Testament. He is the Gospel. it says in
verse 3, the gospel concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel is concerning the
Son of God, the Son of God sent by God to save the people of
God. It means good news, it means
glad tidings, it He was sent to save the people of God, the
elect of God, to bring them to God. It is concerning him, Paul
said. The gospel is concerning him,
concerning who he is and why he came and what he did. It is
not concerning you or me, what we do with him. No, no, the good
news, the glad tidings, the gospel of God completely, 100% concerns
Jesus Christ. All the concerns of man, all
the concerns of God's people were placed in the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And our salvation depends upon
Jesus Christ completely. This is the good news. The good
news is that Christ did what he came to do. He finished the
work that was given him. Hanging on the cross, he said
so. It is finished. When he was a young child, a
12-year-old boy in the temple, he said, I must be about my father's
business. First recorded words as a man. His last are, it is finished. He finished the work that was
given him by the father. He brought in an everlasting
righteousness. everlasting kingdom. He bruised
the serpent's head of which God spoke in Genesis 3. He was made
sin for his people. He bore the sins of God's people
and he put away all the sins of God's people. Yes, he did. The Lord Jesus Christ finished
that work. And he's called the Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, our Lord. The gospel,
he said, is concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. His name is Jesus, as the name
Joshua meant Savior, so is he. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior of Israel. All Israel in the days of Joshua
crossed over the Jordan and went into the promised land. And so
it is, all those in Christ, all those whom Christ came to save,
cross over the river of death, pass through this Red Sea, this
world, and they all enter the promised land because of Jesus
the Savior. the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He's called Christ because he
is that prophet. He is that priest, the priest
of God, the high priest of God. He is the Messiah of God, sent
to save God's people. Not try to save them, but to
save them. He is the covenant head, all
that he did for his people, God accepted on his behalf. He's the covenant head. He is
the mediator. everlasting covenant, an eternal
covenant, ordered in all things and sure, given to him to fulfill
that covenant, and he did it. He did it all. He is the surety
of that covenant, that salvation of God's people is sure and certain
because Jesus Christ is the surety, and he is Lord. He's King of
kings and Lord of lords. He is the ruler, he's the sovereign
ruler and reigning over all of his people. This is not the poor
Jesus men speak of today, wanting, wishing, hoping that people will
let him in their hearts, accept him as their savior, standing
outside their heart's door. No, no. The gospel is concerning
God's Son, declared, verse four, to be the Son of God with power. Christ said, all power is given
unto me in heaven and earth. says all power over principalities
and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, Jesus Christ,
all power. He powerfully and sovereignly
accomplished the salvation of all of God's people, and he's
declared to be the Son of God, according to the seed of David. He's the king of kings. He's
the king sent like David was to lead God's people, to defeat
that foe that was against him. And Christ did that, defeated
Satan, the arch enemy of his people. And verse four says,
he was declared to be the son of God by the spirit of holiness
and by the resurrection from the dead. The spirit of holiness
is the only truly holy man who ever lived, the only man without
sin, the only holy man, holy, harmless, separate from sinners,
because he was not born with the seed of man. He's the sinless
one of God. He's the holy one of God. And
he's declared by God from heaven to be his only begotten son. very God of very God, the express
image of God the Father, declared to be the Son of God with all
power, the Spirit of holiness, and declared by the resurrection
of the dead to be who he was. Yes, he is who he He is who God
says he is. He is who scripture says he is. He did what he said he would
do, what scripture says he would do, because, and how do we know
this? Because he arose from the grave. Proving everything he did is
true. Everything he said is true. Proving
that he is the true God and eternal life. Do you know him? I pray
that the Lord will reveal himself to you. Until next Sunday, good
day.