All right, I'll go back to Romans
chapter 1 with me. Romans chapter 1. This is God's Word. No scripture
of any private, personal concoction or no man decided
to write this, but God purposed for them to. This is through
the apostle Paul. Verse 7. He says this is to all
that be in Rome. To all that be in Rome. Rome was
the greatest, most powerful kingdom on earth at that time. Rome was the greatest, most powerful
military. on earth at the time. Practically world domination. Rome was the center of the world's
politics, religion, science, medicine, technology. Rome, the
whole world's economy. depended upon Rome. It was a
rich and wealthy nation which exported and imported many things. The whole world depended upon
the economy of Rome. Rome was the seat or the center
of culture, styles, arts and craft music, drama, an extravagantly
rich society, rich nation. wickedly perverse, hedonistic,
meaning given to pleasure. That's all it was about, was
pleasure. They thought life was to gratify
the flesh, pleasure. Hedonistic. To all that be, written
to all that be in the United States of America. that I've
given a clear description of the country we live in. This
is written to all that be in Rome. Verse 7 says, Beloved of
God. You know, whatsoever God's Word says,
it says to them who have it. The carnal mind, John, is enmity
against. He won't have it, will he? Who will hear the word of God?
The beloved. God's people. Beloved of God,
he calls them. For love. Beloved means the ones
he loved before. The ones he foreknew. Some of
these citizens of Rome or America, were just like, and still feel
themselves to be like, those Romans. But God, in love to them, God is rich
in mercy for his great love with which he loved them, even when
they were dead, like these Romans, filled with all of these things,
like Paul wrote, such were some of you, and so forth. God, in
love, purposed to save them. Worthy of death, we read there
verse 32, but God. He says, I'm going to spare them. God. Purpose to save some of
them from destruction. Save them from themselves. Save
them from destroying themselves. We're going to see that in a
moment. How God gives some people over, leaves them alone. And
they destroy themselves. But God. Beloved of God. Romans 8, Ephesians 1 says, whom
He foreknew or beloved of His, whom He loved before the world
began, says He did predestinate. It means He predetermined for
them to be holy, like His Son. The altogether lovely, holy,
spotless, just One. There's just One who is good
and holy and righteous. Well, God purposed, God predestined
a number which no man can number to be just like Him. I love old
Barnard's statement where he said, God got up one morning
and took one look at His Son and loved him so much, admired
him so much, he said, I'm going to have a whole planet earth
full of boys just like him. Well, that is exactly what God
did. Predestined them to be conformed
to the holy image of His Son. That's what salvation is all
about. To save them from sin and destruction, from themselves,
to save them from this world that He's going to destroy, to
make them, to keep them forever in His kingdom for the praise
to the praise of the glory of His eternal love and grace and
mercy that's in Christ. I just told you the gospel. God predestined them. And He
predestined them to have the mind, the heart, and the character
of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loved God. Down
in verse 30 it talks about haters of God. See that? Backbiter. Haters of God. Over
in 2 Timothy it says lovers of themselves. Lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God. Here it talks about them that
don't like to think about God. They don't like to think about
God. Don't even want there to be a
God. They hate God. You talk about
God, they hate that. They don't want a God. Not the
one you, not the one this book reveals. But God predetermined,
predestined to have a people who, like Jesus Christ, love
God. Love God as God. Love God's Word. Love God's character. Love God's
law. David said, Do not I love thy
law, O God? I can't keep it, but I still
love it. Don't you? It's a manifestation, a clear
description of who God is, who's holy. Well, these who love God, in
Romans 8, you know that, verse 28 says, all things purposed
by God, them who love God. It's all good for them who love
God. Well, why do they love God? God
predetermined that they would. predestined them to. We love
Him because He foreknew, He predestinated, and it says whom He predestinated,
He called. Look at verse 6. It says, Among
whom ye are the called of Jesus Christ, all that be in Rome,
beloved of God. Beloved of God. Loved by God
and those who love God. They're the called of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
great shepherd of the sheep. Always has been. God is spirit. God has always dealt with his
people, his beloved, through the beloved. The only begotten,
well beloved. So he's always dealt. See, his
delights are verbatim. were with the sons of men, rejoicing
in the habitable parts of the earth. The Lord who spoke to
man at every time was the Lord Jesus Christ. The beloved, the
firstborn among many brothers, the eldest son, the king, the
prince, the one whom God gave all government and gave this
whole thing to. Before the world began, he said
unto his son, Thou art my Son, I have given all things to you.
Now reign over it. Rule it. Save them. Bring them. Do all that. He's the great Shepherd
of the sheep. God gave Him a sheep before the
world began. Gave them a sheep. They're goats. They're sheep. God loved the
sheep. They're called sons of Jacob.
Jacob have I loved. They're all black sheep. But
he gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of
the sheep. And he said, My sheep hear my voice." All of them. This is the call. The Shepherd's
call. Our Lord said this, He said,
The great Shepherd is He who calleth His own sheep. They belong
to Him. He calleth them by name and leads
them out. Come with me, sheep. Come with
me. We're going out. I'm leading
you out. You remember over in Exodus where
God said, I am come down. Remember that? I am come down. God came down. I am come down, He said, to lead
them out and to bring them up. I'm bringing you out, out of
sin, out of bondage to sin, out of bondage to Satan, out of bondage
to yourself, out of bondage to the world. I'm bringing you out,
out from under the penalty of the law, the death, the bondage
of death. I'm bringing you out. He calls
them out, out of bondage, sorrow and night. We sing that
song. Out of darkness. You're not going
to be in darkness anymore. He says, I'm bringing you out
into my marvelous light. I am the light. Out of this corrupt
world. He says, you're not of this world.
Oh, but Lord, I'm telling you, you're not of this world. He
keeps telling them that. He keeps showing them that. Brother
Kelly keeps weaning them from it. He keeps showing. He lets
them go a little bit. He says, see? I'm bringing them
out. I'm calling them out. My sheep. calling him out of sin, out of
unbelief, out of ignorance, out of enmity. They were once, you
know, like the rest of this world. Now, God, like old Saul, again,
I can't wait to get to Acts 9. I have to have it. I keep bringing
it up. And Saul said, I will not have this man reign over
in God's dear salvation. God who foreloved this God-hater. God who predestined this God-hater. God who called Himself. Who are you? I'm the one you
hated. He's going to have them. He's going
to have them. Call them out. The Son of God. Verse 4 says
He's declared to be the Son of God with power. He's declared. God said, Thou
art my Son. Ask me and I'll give you it all.
And He did. All authority, Christ says, given unto me in heaven
and earth. Power over all flesh that He should give eternal life
to as many as God hath given Him. All power is in His hands. All souls are mine, He says.
Calleth whom he will. That's what it says there of
Christ. He says he went up into a high mountain and called unto
him whom he would. And they came. They came. The sheep know his
voice. He knows his own. And he calls
them by name. And they come to him. Strangely,
they come to him. He's powerful. All-powerful. the powerful voice
of the Son of God, all power over all flesh, aren't you glad? These impostors, these false
prophets say He has power over this and that and the other,
but He can't do anything about your will unless you let Him.
Aren't you glad that our Christ has all power over that He makes
you willing when in the day of His power. Aren't you glad? There
was a time, John, you didn't believe this, did you? But in
the fullness of time, in God's good time, God sent forth His
Son through the preaching of the gospel and said, John Davis,
you will believe this, won't you? And John said, I will. I do. I'm sorry. I was wrong. You're right. I was dead wrong. The call of the gospel. Verse
16 says it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believe it. Just stating a fact here. Those
that believe, they do so by the power of God. The operation of
God. The grace of God. They believe.
It's a gift. It's the power of God. The working
of His mighty power. They believe according to the
working of his mighty power. That's why they believe. We just
said that. But this gospel call is the power
of God. They all hear it. Jesus Christ
comes into this world. He came once in the flesh, and
He walked about seeking whom He willed in it. He said, I have
come to seek and to save the lost. I have come into this world
to seek my sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I left
the 99, and I am going to find every one that the Father gave
me. And He came, and He said, there
is one in a boat, passed by several boats. Here, the foundation of
God stands assured. The Lord knows them that are
His. He's got their names in a book. He's got them right there.
He went looking for them. There's one. Seven. Andrew. He didn't ask him anything. He just powerfully said, follow
me. Come. Like I would my dog. And
I shouldn't say it in a harsh way. It was effective. Did they? And so did you. When you first heard the gospel,
nobody asked you anything, did they? Nobody asked you. When you first heard the gospel,
nobody said, will you accept Jesus? No, sir. When you heard
the declaration of who Christ is, just this right here, you
started doing the asking, didn't you? Like those people at Pentecost. They're the ones that, what are
we going to do? Well, it sounds like God's already done something.
It sounds like He's already called you. Believe. Believe. Simon, Andrew, follow me. Zacchaeus,
come down. I must abide at your house. Why? Because I must find my people. I shall not be discouraged or
fail. The woman at the well. He must
go through Samaria. Why? That's where one of his
elect is, one of his sheep. Woman, I'm he. Saul, you're a chosen vessel
unto me. And he's still calling his sheep
out the same way. You see, this is far from God's
sovereign love and electing grace and predestinating purpose and
call, the sovereign call of the gospel is far from discouraging
us. It's our hope. See, we talk to
our children, we talk to our parents, we talk to people we
run into contact, we can't convince them of anything, can we? We
can give them the best message we've ever heard, we can talk
to them until we're blue in the face, give them the best article.
We cannot convince them of anything, can we? With man, it is impossible. He said, My sheep will hear my
voice. They will. He tells us, go into all the
world and preach the gospel. Preach. Don't ask. Don't beg.
Don't cajole. Don't try to bribe them. Don't
get all sorts of gimmicks and tricks and tactics and use these
things of foolishness, wisdom. Don't do that. Just declare who
Christ is, who God is, and stand back and you watch me call out
my people. Watch me. You'll be amazed. Yeah, I'll do a work that men
won't believe even if one tells them. Oh, you know, so-and-so,
he won't. You'll never convince him. That's
right. But you know what? God did. Amazing. God did. Old John Newton. He's
the vilest of the vile. The vilest of the vile. Slave trader. Like an animal. Became a slave. Oh, what did
he write? Amazing grace that saved a wretch
like me. I once was lost. What happened,
John? Somebody found me. Somebody called
me. Called to repentance. God calls a man and says, you're
wrong. God is righteous. We're unrighteous.
Look at verse 17, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith. God is right. Man is wrong. Everything about him is wrong.
This is the first thing God reveals to us. I'm right, you're wrong.
Everything you thought about me is wrong. Everything you thought
about yourself is wrong. Everything you've ever done wrong. You're headed wrong. You are
wrong. I'm right. The only way you're going to
be right, I'm going to make you right. Right? Right? Repentance. Faith. Repentance toward God. You're right. I'm wrong. Faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. God says, now here's my mercy,
here's my grace, here's my salvation, here's my righteousness, here's
the way, here's the truth, here's the life, here's your mediator,
here's your intercessor, here's your prophet, your priest, your
king, your lord, your salvation, here's it all, it's in all, all
of it is in Him. Go to Him. I'm not going to accept anybody
any other way. I'm not going to speak to you,
be spoken to. I don't have anything to do with
you ever. You can't come into my kingdom. But if you just go
to him, Joseph has it all. The storehouses, all mercy, grace,
love, it's in him. And if you go to him, you'll find out I predestined
it all along. And I always did love you. There
he is. That's what faith toward the
Lord Jesus Christ is. Call to belief. I believe. There
was a time when Saul of Tarsus said he hated this way. He went everywhere persecuting,
hating this way. What way? Christ. Those who said
that it's not your religion, it's not your works, It's not
what you know. It's who knows you. It's not
you doing things for God. No, no, no. It's Jesus Christ
doing something for you. It's all hated this way. It's hated this way. Oh, I've
worked all my life. I'm not good. I'm blameless. Not knowing he's wearing a rag
that God sent. Like that prodigal son not knowing
Thanks. He's in the hog pen until God
said, bring him home. He's one of mine. Bring him home. The first thing he did, what
did he do? Bring the best robe. Take that stinking garment off
him and cover him. And so I'll have shoes on his
feet. I'm going to walk by faith from here on. I believe. Finally, Saul said,
I tell you, I'm determined not to know anything. Now, he was
determined, John, to go all over the world and do away with this
way. Now he said, I'll die for this
way. This is the way for me to live,
he says. He's Christ. There is no other
way. And he died because of it. He
united. He lived. A sovereign call to
follow, to follow these beloved, these believers, these followers.
Verse 7. Actually, this is the meat of
the message right here. Verse 7. They are called to be saints. They are called saints. God calls
His people saints. We don't call ourselves that,
do we? But God calls all of His people saints. God is the one
who makes them saints. The Roman Catholic word is canonized. They all get together and decide
who is a saint. God has purposed who were His
saints long ago. God is the one. And there are
saints called Saint Amy. Have you ever heard of Saint
Amy? I'm sure you have. She's over there. Now she's sitting
there saying, it doesn't sound right to me. Right? St. Stanley. You know a St. Stanley? I can't find one in
history. There is one written in a book. Uh-huh. He's saying hi right
now. He's hanging his head. Everyone, you don't call yourself
St. Stuart. What do you call yourself? Senator.
Old Jacob. He said, I'm the God of Jacob.
Jacob have I loved. Jacob, what does that mean? Supplanter,
cheat, no good. God said, you're not called Jacob
anymore. I'm calling you Israel. Prince
of God. What do you reckon he called
himself from that day forward? What's your name? Jacob. I don't think he ever got used
to Israel. Nor do we saints, but God calls
them saints. You think he's a saint, don't
you? Don't you, Brother Gabe? I think he's a saint. His mother
thinks he's a saint. All of God's people think he's
a saint. Except him. God says he's a saint. All in
Christ is a saint. Beloved of God. Called saints. What does saint mean? What does
a saint mean? It comes from the word sanctify. The word sanctify means separate. Set apart. Set apart to be holy. Sanctify means set apart for
God's holy use. To be holy. To be for God's holy
use. Set apart. Sanctify. Different. What sets them apart? these saints. What makes them to differ? Who
makes them to differ? They don't think they are. God
says they are. Here's what Christ said in his
high priestly prayer. He said, Father, sanctify them
through thy truth. Didn't he? Thy word is truth. This is what's going to separate
them. They're going to know the truth. They're going to know the true
God. All of them. They'll be all taught
of God. All thy children shall be taught
of God. What? Who the living and true
God is. And every man that hath heard
and learned of the Father does what? When it comes to Christ,
he says, I am the truth. Ask me a question. Ask any question
you will, you'll find the answer in me, Christ said. I'm the way,
I'm the truth, I'm the life. I'm it. The truth. They're all
taught the truth. Second Thessalonians says this,
Oh, I thank God. Oh, thanks be unto God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord. Beloved, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you through sanctification of the spirits
and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. Sounds real similar, doesn't
it? It is. The same message. Sanctify the separated ones to
believe the true God, the true Christ. The faith, it's called.
Verse 5. I've got to hurry. Verse 5. He
says, I'm an apostle to the faith. Verse 8. He says, your faith. Your faith. Your faith. Something He gives you. But it's
still the same faith. The faith. 12 says the mutual faith. See that? The mutual faith. And in another
place he calls it the faith once delivered to the saints. The faith once delivered to the
saints. He says it's a common faith. The faith. He says here in one Lord and
there's one faith. One hope of their calling. One father who loved them, gave
them to Christ, teaches them, brings them to Christ. It's one.
One faith. What is the faith? I've already
said it. It's Christ. It's Christ. And
he says in verse 17, the just, whom he did foreknow, he predestinated,
whom he predestinated, he called whom he called, Jesus declares holy, unblamable,
unreproachable. Why? Because he did. Because he put them in Christ.
Because Christ died. Because Christ lived, justified,
made them right. They believe him because they're
justified. And they're justified because
they believe. No contradiction there. The justified
ones, the beloved, live by faith in this world, in this God-forsaken, wicked
world. And then he goes on here, and
you read it with me. And we were going to go through. He begins to describe the world,
the people whom he leads alone. And God Almighty, His beloved, His
elect, we know why we're saved, that the purpose of God according
to the election must stand. The love of God. The blood of
Christ. It has nothing to do with us
but the will of God. The purpose of God. Don't we?
That's why. Because God, in mercy, set us
apart. Set us apart. Called us out.
Called us out. Verse 18 talks about the wrath
of God. I've dealt with this to our young
people. It says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. The wrath of God clearly seen. Hurricanes.
Tornados. Things that come from heaven,
wind, fire, rain, sun beating down. Revelation 16 says, in
the last day, the angel of the Lord will be sent to scorch them
with a burning heat. It says they curse God, but do
not repent to give God the glory. Don't even think about God. Here
it says, verse 28, don't even like to think about God. God's
not in all their knowledge. They've got a lot of knowledge,
but He's not in it. Not yet. The wrath of God coming down
from heaven against all. You know, I thought about the
Egyptians. See, all of the plagues came
down. The wrath of God. What was it?
It was the wrath of God upon the Egyptians, and the world
is always Egypt has always represented
an idolatrous world. Egypt worshiped idols. But God
had a remnant, an elect, right in the middle of Egypt. They
worked for the Egyptians. Oh, but they're coming out. God
called them out because God loved them. He set his love on them.
Were they different than the Egyptians? Oh, no. But God made
a difference. God made a difference. He went
and revealed Himself to them. Revealed the way, the truth,
the life to them. Called them out. Well, the wrath
of God fell on the Egyptians in the manner of how many plagues?
Nine? Nine? Nine? Help me. Laura, how many was
it? Nine? Well, anyway, these plagues of
God came down on the Egyptians, and you won't find anywhere where
one Egyptian said, God's judging us. Not one. Not one of them said,
God's angry with the wicked every day. Not one of them who believed,
God hateth all workers of iniquity. Not one. Every single Israelite did. Every single Jew knew this is
the wrath of God. And God sent something into Sodom
and Gomorrah and wiped it out. And there was a man and his daughters
that he brought out. He had to drag him out, didn't
he? That was his salvation. God said,
He's mine. He's coming out. And He did. Well, here came a wind, a powerful
wind. A hurricane came up through the
Caribbean, dodged this island, that island, went up through
there and made a direct hit on Sodom and Gomorrah in the state
of Louisiana. A city that prides itself in
being in its wickedness. Wiped it out. Who says that's
the wrath of God? Not the Egyptians. We all do,
don't we? But it could have hit Roanoke,
Virginia. Because it's not one way better. Rocky Mountain. Right? It's just hidden. The wrath of God revealed from
heaven. It goes on to talk about creation. Clearly seen. Clearly
seen. We discussed that with the young
people. Clearly seen. His creation. Let me give you
just one illustration. Computers. I think man, you know,
verse 22, he professes himself wise, he became a fool. I think
he thinks somehow or another we're just going to become superhumans.
Computers. Computer is an amazing thing
and it's amazing. It keeps getting more amazing
all the time. How did computers get here? You know what I think? I think that there was an explosion
seven billion years ago. Out flowing in space were chips
and circuit boards and huge bang. And there you have it. Foolish,
isn't it? Utterly ridiculous. Say, you
don't have good sense. That's what God says about man. What created computers? This
thing right up in here. This is the most amazing computer
on earth called a brain. Who made that? Who made that? God. The fool has said, nope, there's
no God. What a fool. What a fool. Creation of God clearly seen.
And you know what it says here in verse 23, it changed the glory
of God. Verse 21, became vain and their
imagination began because they weren't thankful, didn't glorify
God, refused to believe there is a God. Therefore, they made
up all sorts of things about God. false religion. They couldn't be without a God.
So they made one up. First thing it says they made
him like was what? A man. God says, you thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself. What a fool. What a fool. Needing things. Unable to do
things. Just like you. Dependent upon you. No, I'm not
like you. I made you. That's what Paul
said over at Mars Hill. We shouldn't think that God's
like us. In Him we live and move and we have a brain because of
the Creator. And on and on it goes. It glorified
Him not as God. It says, so God, verse 24, gave
Him up. Alright? Think you're so wise? I'm going to leave you alone. Now watch this high and mighty
and wise creature. Watch him become like a base
animal. He says he begins to dishonor
his body. He's so ignorant. He's so corrupt
that he begins to mark his body all over. Print his body all
over. Stick holes in his body. What
a fool. What's he doing? Showing off. Isn't he great? Isn't he one?
He's an idiot. This started with reprobate,
hardened, death row criminals who marked themselves all over
their bodies. Well, they got to, you know,
they're going to die soon. And it pervades our societies
of now. It's the norm. What's happening? I used to think that these things
would bring the judgment of God until Brother Dan Parks corrected
me from Romans 1. He said it is the judgment of
God because of false religion, because men and women become
idolaters. The leading religions in the
world are Hinduism, Buddhism, and Roman Catholicism. They're all idols. Full of idols. Nothing but idols. You see them
all over there at temples, don't you? Idols. It says in verse
25, it says, "...that changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshiped and served the creature." Man, the earth, everything
else. The sun, the moon. Not the Creator,
who is God. God bless you forever. What do you say? Amen. And then it goes on to say homosexuality. Not natural beasts don't even
do that. Animals don't do that. It says they're filled with it. Until the whole earth, like he
said in the days of Noah, God looked down upon men and said,
they're corrupt. Man has corrupted himself. He
said, I will destroy man. Christ said this. Jesus Christ.
I'll destroy him. He's corrupt. I left him alone. Leave him alone. Our society. But, God, let's go back where
we started. Let's leave here with the good
news. Here's the gospel. And I'm not
ashamed of it. Are you? This is it. It's our
only hope. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love, God, the
Beloved of God, rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were like them, dead and trespassed
and sinned, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. It's by grace. What are we preaching?
It's by grace. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. By the grace of God's sovereign
electing grace, I didn't choose Him, He chose me. By God's restraining
grace, I'm not left to myself. You know it so, like old Philpott.
Leave you alone? He showed Peter to leave him
alone. You think you're something? Without me, you can do nothing,
Peter. Nothing. He left him alone. What did he
do? He came just like that. Everybody
else. Oh no, here's it. Saint called
to be saints. Separated, called. Thank God
for His sovereign electing, sovereign love, sovereign predestinating,
justifying, calling grace. Aren't you? I know. That's the
good news. What does it all mean to me?
Do you believe this God? Do you believe His Word? Everything
He says is right. Everything He says about man
is right. Everything about you is wrong.
Justify God and condemn Him. Do you believe you have one hope
of salvation? And that hope is Jesus Christ.
Do you believe that? I got good news. That's the good
news. God, your beloved God. Okay.