Let's open our Bibles this morning
to the book of Romans, Romans chapter one. Romans, the first chapter. The
title of my message is Salvation is of Grace. Salvation is of
Grace. In Romans chapter one, the apostle
Paul begins this epistle in this way. He says in the salutation,
he identifies the writer, he says, Paul, Paul, a servant of
Jesus Christ. He calls himself Paul. The true
servants of Christ are not fond of recognition or titles. or to be held in high esteem. They know that they don't deserve
it. Everything we have is by God's grace, it's a gift. And we know we don't need it
because we're not preaching ourselves, we're preaching Christ. It doesn't
matter what men do with us or think of us or care about us,
but it doesn't matter what they do with Christ, what they think
of Christ. And so Paul just begins this
way, Paul. I believe John the Baptist, the
Lord's forerunner, left us a good example. Turn with me for a moment
to John chapter 1. Now John the Baptist, in John
chapter 1 verse 19, John the Baptist, our Lord said, was among
those born of women, none greater than John the Baptist. He was
filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. He was prophesied
in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years before he was born,
declared to be the forerunner of the Lord. But here in John
chapter 1 verse 19, they came to John, the priest and the Levites. In verse 19, this is the record
of John. When the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? You know, a lot of preachers
today, someone asks them, who are you? Well, I'm somebody. I'm a graduate of this place
or that place. I have several degrees and I've
accomplished many things, written several books and all these things,
you know. But how did John answer? Now
this is one of the, our Lord said, this is the greatest man
born of woman, the forerunner of Christ, the one who came to
prepare you the way of the Lord. He confessed and denied not,
but confessed, I'm not the Christ. And they asked, well, what then?
Who are you then? Are you Elias? He said, I'm not. Are you that prophet? Moses says,
that prophet will come. No. Then said they unto him,
well, who are you, that we may give an answer to them that sent
What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, he didn't even give
him his name. He said, I am the voice. I'm
a voice. I'm here for a little while.
My voice will be heard. Declaring who Christ is, what
Christ did, why Christ did what he did, where he is now. I'm
a voice. Here for a little while. My voice will one day be silent.
And another voice God has sent along to declare the same message. I'm just a voice. I'm the voice
of one crying in the wilderness. And you couldn't more ably describe
our day than that, the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord. Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. Let's see what Isaiah said over
there in Isaiah 40. Turn with me. Isaiah 40, talking
about this man and his ministry in Isaiah 40. As saith the prophet
Isaiah, he referred his heroes, as I am this morning, to the
book of Isaiah chapter 40. And here it is. In verse 6, Isaiah
40, you see back in verse 3, the boy said, Whom that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight
unto the desert a highway for our God. This is speaking of
John, this man we just read about. In verse 6, the boy said, Cry. He said, Well, what shall I cry?
What will be my message? What shall I tell the people
in the wilderness? Three things. All flesh is grass. Man's a sinner, born dead in trespasses and sin. By one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin death passed for all men. All flesh
is grass. All the goodness, the glory thereof
is of the flower of the field. This grass will wither, die,
perish. The flower will fade because
the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, and surely the people
is grass." That's our first point. That's our message, that nothing
to this flesh or in this flesh or of this flesh that makes any
contribution to glory. In the flesh no man can please
God. In the flesh dwelleth no good thing. The flesh is grass. The greater glory of man is the
flower of the field. Here's the second thing. Verse
8, But the grass witherth, the flower fadeth, but I'll tell
you this, the Word of our God. Who is that? Well, that's His
incarnate Word and that's His written Word, the Word of God.
The Word of God. What is a Word? A Word is a vehicle
of thought. I'm standing here using words
to convey, a vehicle to convey to you what I'm thinking in here. There's no way for you to know
what I'm thinking unless I put it in words. And also there's
no way for us to know God except by His words. His written word,
His incarnate word. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Christ is the communication,
the revelation of God. They said, show us the Father.
He said, you've seen me, you've seen the Father. No man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son hath declared
Him the Word. See that? And the Word of God. Here, number one, all flesh with
Christ. Christ, fit for the burning. But the Word of God abideth forever. Christ is, was, and is to come,
whose goings forth have been from everlasting. He's the living
Word. The Word of God shall stand forever. All right, verse 9, number 3. Here's our message. O Zion, that
bringeth good tidings, get up to the high mountain. O Jerusalem
that brings good tidings, good news, lift up your voice with
strength. Don't be embarrassed, don't be timid, don't be afraid.
Lift it up with strength. Lift it up now, be not afraid,
and say to the cities of Judah, Judah, behold your God. God is God. Sovereign, almighty,
eternal, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come,
the Lord God will come. He'll come into this world, born
of a woman, made under the law, with a strong hand. And His rules
shall rule for Him, His arms shall rule for Him. Behold, His
reward is with Him, and His works before Him. This is our Master.
And He'll feed His flock like a shepherd. He'll gather the
lambs in His arms. carry them in his bosom, and
shall gently lead those that are without with you." That's
our message. I'm just a boy, crying in the
wilderness, three things. Flesh is nothing. All grace. The glory of man is nothing. The Word of our God, His glorious
incarnate Word, His glorious written Word, can't have one
without the other. shall abide forever. Behold your
God." He'll come. He has come with a strong arm,
and He'll redeem His people. All right, let's go back to the
text, or we'll never get off verse 1. Paul, Paul, a serpent
of Jesus Christ. That word is bond slave. The preacher identifies himself
in this fashion. He's a bond slave of Jesus And
that's true of every believer. We're all servants, bond slaves
of Christ. Now, where'd that originate?
Well, turn back to Exodus 21. This is beautiful type here.
The apostle Paul is using such a descriptive phrase of his,
the Lord's servants and the Lord's people. In Exodus 21, this is
a bond slave. Read it, Exodus 21. Now these
are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If you
buy a Hebrew servant, in other words, if a Hebrew, one of these
Jews, got himself in trouble, couldn't pay his bills, got himself
deeply in debt, owed people a lot, he became a servant. He became
a slave to that person to whom he owed this great amount. He became a slave. And it says
six years he'll serve him. He'll serve this man six years,
and in the seventh year he'll go out free for nothing. In the
seventh year, you've got to set him free. He served six years,
a slave, a servant of his master, then you've got to set him free.
If he came in by himself, he'd go out by himself. If he were
married, his wife would go out with him. If his master is a
good master, given him a wife, she'd born him sons and daughters,
wife and her children, she'll be the master. He'd go out by
himself. But if that servant, if that slave, shall plainly
say, openly confess without a doubt, I love my master. I love my wife
and my children. I will not go out free. The only
freedom I want is to serve my master, live in his house, be
his bond slave. A bond slave is a willing slave,
a loving slave, an obedient slave. And that's the way it is with
God's people. We're servants of Christ. We've been freed from
the slavery of the world, but we're slaves, born slaves of
Christ. We're servants of Christ, but
we're willing servants. We're loving servants. And we
love our Master. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. And we love
our wives and children He's given us. Our brothers and sisters
He's given us. Our family He's given us. Our
Lord turned to his disciples one day, the whole crowd was
leaving. Our Lord preached and they said, this is a hard saying,
who can hear it? They were offended and they walked
away. He turned to the disciples and he said, would you go away?
Would you also go away? And Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of life. That's the words of life, of
love, of truth, of beauty. We believe and are sure that
you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. I love my master.
I love his family. I love his service. I wouldn't
be anywhere else. That's a bond slave. And that's
what old Paul was saying, Paul, a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I owed a debt I couldn't pay.
He paid a debt he didn't know, and I became his servant, subject. But I like my master. I love his work." And then he
says, I'm called to be an apostle. I didn't take this on myself.
God called me. You know, if you'll turn to Hebrews
chapter 5, Hebrews chapter 5, these Aaron, the sons of Levi,
the priest of God, these men didn't take this responsibility
upon themselves. Let me read it to you here in
Hebrews 5, talking about the high priest. Verse 1 says, Every
high priest is taken from among men and ordained for men and
things pertaining to God. And down here in verse 4, it
says, No man taketh this honor unto himself, But he is called
of God. That's what Paul says, I'm called
of God to be an apostle. Called of God, as was Ava. Even verse 5, Our Lord Jesus
Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but
he that saith unto him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten
thee. He made him the priest, our high
priest. And Paul said, I'm a bond slave
of Jesus Christ, first of all. I belong to him. I love my master.
But secondly, I'm called. I'm called to an office. I'm
called to a stewardship. I'm called to a dispensation.
I'm called to a ministry. I'm called to this place, to
be an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at the next
line. He says, I'm separated unto the gospel of God. There
was a time when Paul was separated to religion. He was separated
to tradition. He was separated to rules and
standards and ceremonies. Let's read about Old Philippians
3. He tells us about it. He was obsessed with the ceremony
and the law and the traditions of religion. In Philippians chapter
3, he tells us about his past. his background. He says in Philippians
3 verse 4, Though I might have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh he hath whereof, he
might trust in the flesh, in the works of religion, in the
deeds of the law, I more. I circumcise the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of the
A Hebrew of Hebrews is touching the law, a Pharisee concerning
zeal, oh, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, and they were gained to him. That was his, he was obsessed
with these ceremonies and laws and traditions of religion. They were gained to me. But listen,
I count them lost. I count them lost for Christ.
Yea, doubtless, I count all things, all things that I used to count
and believe to be most important. I count them but lost for the
excellence and the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I suffered the loss of all these things, and I do count
them but rubbish. that I may win Christ and be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness." So he says
here, I'm a bond slave of Christ, I'm called to be an apostle,
and I'm separated unto and possessed with and obsessed with the gospel,
the gospel of God. And then he identifies this gospel.
This is God's gospel. There's only one gospel. It's
God. It's the gospel of God. Charles
Spurgeon one time would preach the sermon on salvation of the
Lord. He took his text from Jonah 2
verse 9 when Jonah cried out of the whale's belly, salvation
is of the Lord. And Spurgeon said salvation is
of the Lord in its planning God purposed it. God planned it before
the foundation of the world. He's the author of it. He's the
author of it. Turn to 2 Timothy 1. Let me show
you that in one verse of Scripture. God planned salvation. He purposed
salvation. He's the author of salvation.
2 Timothy 1. Turn over that. Verse 9. Speaking of God the Father. 2
Timothy 1.9. He saved us. who has saved us. He called us. He saved us. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and plan and grace, which was given to us in Jesus Christ for
the world's foundation and revelation. Isn't that clear? God, it's the
gospel of God. I'm obsessed with, and separated
to, and preach to you the gospel of God." He planned it. And then God's
Spurgeon said, secondly, God not only planned it and purposed
it, but God executed it. God brought it to pass. He sent
His Son into the world, made of woman, made under the law.
He sent the Lord Jesus into the flesh. to be our representative,
our surety, our redemption. He sent Christ to the cross.
Who bruised him? You say the Roman soldiers. No,
they did what God determined before to be done. Let me show
you that. Turn with me to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 53 verse
10. Now listen to this. Salvation
of the Lord in his planning, in his execution. Verse 10 of
Isaiah 53, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He put him
to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Christ not only suffered in body
but in soul. God made his soul an offering
for sin. He made, he was made flesh. He was made under the law. He
was made a woman. He was made sin. And His soul
was made an offering for sin. That's right. He shall see His
seed. He shall prolong His days. The
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands. The Father gave
the Son a work to do. And He came down here. And men,
unbelievers, religious leaders, They were the infamous Roman
soldiers, false witnesses. All these people, Herod, Pontius
Pilate, all of them figured in the death of this man. But all
of these people, doing what they wanted to do, what they willed
to do, what their evil hearts led them to do, but they did
what God determined before to be done. Preacher, can you make
good on that? Yes, sir. Turn to the Book of
Acts. Acts chapter 2, Peter on Pentecost
said this to those Jews who had crucified the Lord. This was
just 50 days after Christ died on that cross and Peter was speaking
to these people. They came there to the Feast
of the Passover and nailed Christ to the cross. They came back
here for the Feast of Pentecost. 50 days later and he preached
to them. Now listen to Acts 2 verse 22. You men of Israel, now hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, approved
of God, sent of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know,
you, you fellows. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by wicked
hands the crucified slave." You did what God determined before
to be done. Turn to Acts 4, and here he is
again. Acts 4, verse 27. Acts 4, 27,
listen to this. Verse, Acts 4, 26, the kings of this earth the leaders of this earth. And
the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, against His
Christ, for I have a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, with the people of Israel, were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before And it says over here in the
book of Acts, let me read it to you, Acts 13, 29, And when
they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him
down from the tree and laid him in a grave, and
God raised him up. I love that scripture. If you
want to mark it in your Bible, it's Acts 13, 29, 30. Acts 13, 29,
30. We in faith had fulfilled everything
God prophesied and purposed and wrote about him. They took him
down from the tree. Not until he fulfilled everything
God took him down, laid him in a grave, rolled a stone in front
of it, said we're through with that fella. But God raised him
from the dead and he's appointed the day in which he's going to
judge this world. by that man whom he raised from
the grave." God purposed it, and God executed
the gospel, and then God applied it. You're here this morning,
hearing this gospel, loving it, believing it, because God opened
your heart and revealed Christ in you. That's the reason. Turn
to Galatians 1, and let me show you what Paul says about that,
talking about his own conversion. in Galatians 1 verse 15. And you know, he said he was
a rebel. He said he was obsessed with works and ceremonies and
law and traditions. But, verse 15, Galatians 1, when
it pleased God, not when it pleased me, but when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's I belonged
to Him before I knew Him. He knew me before I knew Him.
He loved me before I loved Him. Who separated me from my mother's
womb, He called me by His grace. And He revealed His Son in me. God planned your salvation. He executed your salvation in
the person of His Son. And He came one day by His Spirit
and Word. And you rebel, you're trying
your best to go to hell, you're trying your best to perish in
your works, and the Lord arrested you. He said, that's far enough.
That's far enough. And he called you by my gospel,
called you by our gospel, and revealed Christ to you, and stripped
you, and humbled you, and broke you, and brought you down to
the feet of Christ, and gave you love for Christ. And God
sustains this this salvation. You know, he purposed it, he
executed it, he applied it, and he has sustained it. Turn to
Hebrews. First Peter, I beg your pardon.
Turn to First Peter. First Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one, verse
three. Now listen to this. You say,
I'm holding on. Well, I tell you somebody's holding
better than you are. He's holding you. A friend of
mine told me he was walking across the church parking lot coming
in this church one night. He had a little daughter, about
three. He had her by the hand. It was
icy snowing. And he said, I'll be careful.
Don't fall. She says, I'm holding on to you,
Daddy. He said, honey, you don't know it. Your safety is not in your holding
on to me, it's me holding on to you. I got you. You'll learn that someday, that
He's holding to us. He keeps us. Read this verse,
I Peter 1, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten
us. His mercy. He hath begotten us. Born us. Borned us. again, born
again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. It's an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that faith is not a way, reserved in heaven for
you. Listen, there's no period there. That's a comma. He's not for
talking. He's got reserved in heaven for
you, comma, who are You are saved and you are called
and you are kept by the power of God. You know the reason you
don't leave the gospel? He won't let you leave. You know
the reason you don't leave Christ? He won't let you. He won't let
you and you won't go. That's the combination. We are
preserved and we persevere. But we have persevered because
we are preserved. Who are kept by the power of
God through faith, not without faith. through faith. Not by
faith either, through faith. We're kept by God. We're not
saved by faith, we're saved by God, by Christ, by His blood,
through faith. And we're kept not by faith,
we're kept by God, through faith, not without faith. Well, man,
if he's elect, he's going to be saved whether he believes
or not. That's not so. Ain't a word of truth in that. The man who is God's elect, he
will be saved and he will believe. He will hear the gospel. All
that my Father giveth me shall come to me. They shall. And him that comes, I won't cast
out. He's going to come. Willingly,
lovingly, bondslave. And then fifthly, the virgin
said, this is the gospel of God. He purposed it. He executed it. He applied it. and he sustains
it, kept by the power of God, and then he perfects it. One
of these days, we're going to come out of the grave. Who's
going to do that? He is. One of these days, these
old natural bodies are going to be no more. We're going to
have a new body, a new body of flesh, glorified flesh. We're going to be just like Christ.
Who's going to do that? He's going to do that. We're going
to see him as he is. Who's going to give us eyes to
see? He is. Salvations of the Lord. Salvations of the Lord. Let's go back to our text, Romans
1. Paul said, I'm separated to that gospel of God. Gospel of God. God's gospel. And he says something in verse
2. It's just one gospel. It's the
gospel of God, and it's the everlasting gospel. Verse 2 says, "...which he promised
afore by his prophets in the Holy Scripture." Who were these
prophets? Well, one of those prophets was Abraham. Abraham. Our Lord said, before Abraham
was, I am. They said, You're not 50 years
old. How could you know Abraham? He said, Before Abraham was,
I am. Abraham saw my day. Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
Abraham preached the gospel. Turn to Genesis 22, and let me
show you Abraham preaching the gospel. Genesis 22. Preaching
the gospel just as And here Abraham and Isaac are
walking up the mountain to worship God. In Genesis 22 verse 7, verse
6, And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid
it upon Isaac his son. This boy was about 20 years old.
He wasn't a little bitty boy. This was a pretty good-sized
young man, able to carry this wood and the fire and assume
his responsibility. A knowledgeable young man. He
took the wood and laid it on his son Isaac. He took the fire
in his hand and a knife. They both went to them, went
together to build an altar and sacrifice to God, worship God. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father. And he said, My father? He said,
Here am I, my son. He said, Behold the fire and
the wood. Where is the lamb? This young man had been taught
of his father that there had to be a lamb. The lamb that Abel
offered, the lamb that God promised, the lamb slain for the foundation
of the world, the lamb of God, without the shedding of blood,
no remission. He said, Father, here's the wood and the fire. Where's the lamb? You can't worship
God without the blood. It's the blood that makes atonement
for the soul. That's what's written over in
Genesis or Leviticus 16. Where's the lamb? Listen to Abraham.
Abraham said, My friends, you never heard a clear gospel message
in this one. My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide. Almighty God
will provide. Listen. He'll provide himself. He's going to be the lamb. He's
going to provide himself. He can't be an angel. He can't
be a sinful man. Can't be a seraphim or cherubim.
Who's he gonna be? Gonna be his son. God will provide
himself, his son. And God will provide himself the lamb and provide
for himself a lamb. When the blood was offered in
the Old Testament, it was offered unto the Lord. Our sins are against
God. And when Israel came to put the
blood on the mercy seat, it was the blood before the Lord, before
the Lord. It was an atonement to the Lord.
The blood's not toward the people, it's toward the Lord. And God
will provide Himself the lamb, and He'll provide for Himself
a suitable lamb, for Himself. a blood sacrifice that will perfect
forever those for whom it's offered. Not like the blood of an animal,
which can't take away sin, but the blood of God, which is sufficient
to put away all sin for whom it's offered. And listen, God
will by Himself, without any help, provide a life. That's
the gospel. God will provide Himself the
Lamb. This is my Son in whom I'm well
pleased. I am the Father of One. God will
provide for Himself a Lamb that will enable Him to be just and
justified. And God will do it all Himself
without any help from anybody. He'll walk the winepress alone. That's right. Genesis 49. Turn over there. Genesis 49. This whole Old Testament
says someone's coming. Someone's coming. Genesis 49
verse 9, verse 8. Here Jacob is blessing his sons
before he dies in Egypt. Jacob is blessing the sons of
Jacob. And he comes to Judah. Now Levi's
the tribe where the priest came from. No priest ever came out
of Judah. But the king came out of Judah.
David's the tribe of Judah. Christ is not from the tribe
of Levi because he's not a priest after the order of Abraham. He's
a priest after the order of Melchizedek forever. But he's the king priest,
the royal priest. And so before Jacob died, he
blessed Judah. Listen to what he says. Judah,
verse 8, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hands
shall be on the neck of your enemies. This is, he's talking
about Christ. Thy father's children will bow
down before thee. Judah, the lion's from the prey,
my son, thou art gone up. He stood down. He couched as
a lion, as an old lion. Who shall rouse him up? And the
scepter, the reigning rod, the ruble, shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet. To Shiloh the Messiah
comes." Shiloh the Messiah. And Shiloh comes, and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be." That's gospel, y'all. That's
old Jacob, old Jacob. Then to Bethel, back again, up
and down, in and out. God's chosen one over. He said
to his son, Judas, your brothers are going to worship
you. God's people are going to fall down before you. Your enemies
are going to be under your feet because you are shallow, some
call it, shiloh, the Hebrew calls it, the Messiah's coming. It's
all the way through the Old Testament. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. Job is said to be the oldest
book in the Bible before Moses, before Abraham. And he said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. And he'll stand on this earth. The worms destroy this
body. In my flesh I'll see the Lord.
That's gospel. And that's what Paul's saying.
Here, let's look at it again. It's the ancient gospel. He promised
it afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. I'll show him,
Brother John, two hymns in our book. Take your
songbook there a minute and turn the number in your songbook number
58. I know you sing this song. We sang it last Sunday, and I
point this out to our people. This gospel we're preaching,
it's the gospel of the Old Testament. It's the gospel of the apostles.
It's the gospel of the early believers. This song was written
by Bernard of Clairvaux. You see up here in the left-hand
corner of your book the name of the author. Right under Jesus,
the very thought of the left-hand corner, that's the author, attributed
to Bernard of Clairvoy, who was born in 1091. This hymn is 900
years old. God's people have been singing
this hymn for 900 years that we're singing it. The man that
wrote the music is over here on the right side. The man that
translated it is underneath Bernard of Clairvoy. They sang the same
thing we sang. Look over here, number 60. See
hymn number 60? This is the earliest known Christian
hymn. This is attributed to Clement
of Alexander, who was born in 170 A.D. and died in 220. That's 1,800 years old. And this
hymn, the words, we sang it last Sunday. It's beautiful, talking
about Christ our King, Christ our Redeemer, Christ our Shepherd.
Christ our triumphant King, Jesus, thou Christ of God, by thy enduring
Word, lead us where thou hast trod, make our faith strong."
That's the gospel. I'm not preaching something new. It's ever new, isn't it? It's
new. You heard it last Sunday when you passed the preacher.
It's new, though, but it's as old Eternity. It's the everlasting
gospel. And we'll show you one thing,
and then I'll bring the message to a close. Verse 3, it's concerning
His Son. This gospel of God, which He
promised to pour by His servants in the Holy Scripture, is concerning
His Son. Now, my friends, I got a letter
last week from a fellow who listened to our broadcast television somewhere,
he wrote, he said, your doctrine of the Trinity is a tradition.
Talk about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that's
a tradition. You need to read up on those things. Well, call
it what you want to. But listen, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things were made by him,
without anything him was not anything made that was made.
And the Word was made flesh, the Word was made and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. You can't have an eternal father
unless he's got an eternal son. And you can't have a son without
a father. And listen to the Scriptures.
God so loved the world, He gave His Son. John 3.35, The Father
loved the Son and hath given all things into His hand. Matthew
3.17, When He came up straightway out of the water, the voice from
heaven spoke and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased. When our Lord was with his disciples
on the Mount of Transfiguration and his clothes glistened, Moses
and Elijah sat and talked with him. The voice from heaven said,
This is my beloved son, hear him, hear him. And Hebrews 1, God spake to our
fathers by the prophets, hath in these days spoken to us by
his Son, by whom he made the world. who's the brightness of
his glory, the exact image of his person, who by himself purged
our sins and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high, and God said to him, Thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. It's concerning his son, Christ
Jesus our Lord. Read this verse. Now here's a
very important thing, the gospels concerning his son, who he is,
what he did, died on the cross, obeyed the law perfectly, where
he is now at the right hand of God. He was made of the seed
of David according to the flesh. Two things must be found in Christ
in order that he might save his people. Two things. Number one,
deity. Number two, humanity. Deity and humanity. Man can suffer,
but man can't satisfy. God can satisfy, but God can't
suffer. But the God-man, the God-man
can both satisfy all that the Father requires, all that He
commands, all that He His law holds forth, and as a man, a
perfect man, he can suffer. See that? Christ suffered for sin, that
just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. So he was made, look here, concerning
his son who was made of the seed of David. the house and lineage
of David. That's what Mary and Joseph were
doing in Bethlehem. They were there to be taxed because
they were of the family of David. Mary was a great, great, great,
great, great granddaughter of David, Jesse. He was made, he
was made what he wasn't, a man. But look at the next verse. He
was declared to be what he was, son of God. He was made to be
what he wasn't, never had been, a man walking this earth in flesh. He was made to be the seed of
David. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
what about the Christ? What think ye of the Christ?
Whose son is he? They said he's the son of David.
He said, well, if he's the son of David, how did David call
him Lord? How can he be David's son and
David's Lord? And they didn't ask him any more questions. They
couldn't handle that. Can you? Sure, of course you
can. He's David's Lord. He's declared to be the Son of
God. But he's David's son. He was made sinful flesh, made
of a woman, made under the law, made sin for us. See, this gospel of God, to which
I'm separated, gospel of God, is concerning his son. who was made the seed of David
according to the flesh, a man, and declared to be, according
to the Spirit of holiness, the Son of God with absolute power. He's not the weak, insufficient,
feel sorry for Jesus. He's the Son of God with power.
The Son quickeneth whom He will. All judgment is committed to
the Son. And verse 5, I'll close, and
by Him, by Him, by whom we have received grace and apostleship
for obedience to the faith among all nations. God sent us to preach
this gospel to every creature for His name. And dear folks
and beloved friends and brothers and sisters in Rocky Mount, Virginia
at the Central Baptist Church, among whom also the year of the
call of Christ Jesus. Isn't that a great gospel? Salvation is a grace. It's of
God. It's a gift of God. It's His
eternal gift. It will never be taken away. Oh, we thank You for Your Word.
How thankful, thankful, thankful I am that I can stand here this
morning and preach, thus saith the Lord, not what men imagine
or even what men want to hear in this world, but Your Word,
the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read Your Word. You've given us hearts to believe
it. understand it, given us an understanding
and ears to hear it, eyes to see the glory of Christ, and
we're so grateful and ask you to bless your Word this morning
to all who are assembled here, those who know you and love you
and those who yet have not come to know you and love you. Make
your Word to be effectual to our families. Bless our dear
pastor as he travels and give him journeying mercies and and
the liberty and power of your spirit to preach your word today,
and we'll give you the glory and the praise. For thine alone
art worthy, for Christ's sake, amen.