To all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul begins to talk,
calls himself in verse 1 a servant of Jesus Christ. A bond slave. A servant. Everybody wants to
be served, but very few people want to serve. Everybody likes
to be waited on, but nobody wants to wait on somebody else. separated
under the gospel of God. The only way in the world you
know anything about the gospel is God separates you to it. And
this same gospel is the gospel that he promised before by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Moses spoke of the gospel in
Genesis 3.15, and then you watch it unfold right before your eyes
as you study the Scriptures. And this gospel that he had promised
by the prophets and the scriptures, it concerned his Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, his blessed Son. And he was made, this Son was
made. Made. He existed before he was
ever made. He was the Son of God before
he was ever made. He was the Lord before he was
ever made. But he was made. of the seed
of David according to the flesh. And then the Holy Spirit declared
him to be the Son of God with power. How did he do it? By the
Spirit of holiness, because he is holy and accepted of God by
the resurrection of the dead. The Spirit said, yes, Lord, he's
accomplished the work he was given to do. By whom? By Christ. We have received this
grace and apocryphal obedience to the faith among all nations.
among whom ye also are called of Jesus Christ. To all that
be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and
peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ." I want to
give a fourfold description of a believer here in these verses
that I read. You know, when I read 1 Thessalonians,
the apostles started out, first of all, talking about knowing
their election of God. When you look in the scriptures,
the apostles oftentimes gave a description of the believers.
What they had, graces that was in them, things that they were
taught, what God done for them. Well, that's what happens here.
He gives a four-fold description of a believer. Let me give you
another illustration of that over here in Colossians chapter
1, just a moment. You see, when you go through
the scriptures and you read them, you'll see the saints that he's
writing to describe certain ways. described certain ways, and they
all gave different descriptions of believers in different places.
Here he says in Colossians 1.3, he says, We give thanks to God,
then the Father, by our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you. And here's the one description.
He said, We're here to be of faith. All believers have faith. Now, every man doesn't have faith.
I know that men have been told for generations and generations
that you've got faith, you're born with it, all you've got
to do is exercise it. When God gives you your chance
and your opportunity, the faith is there, you'll just exercise
it. But the scripture says that all men have not faith. That
if you have faith, it's the gift of God. God gives it to you.
You're not born with it. And you'll die without it if
God don't intervene in your life from the time you're born to
the time you die and give you faith. So he says you have faith. And this faith is in Christ.
And you have love. And this love is to all the saints.
So faith and love, they go hand in hand. If you've got faith,
you've got love. If you've got love, you've got
faith. And then look what he says. And the hope. Faith, hope,
and love. So he describes them, and this
hope is laid up for you in heaven. And you heard all these things
in the gospel. Now let's go back over here to
Romans. Let me give you a four-fold description of a believer, a
four-fold description of Christians, of Christians. And you know, there's so many places that I
could go, but here's a very good one. I think this is a very good
one. First of all, we're called saints. We're called of Jesus
Christ. In verse 6 it says, you're among whom are you also the called
of Jesus Christ. The call of Jesus Christ. Now
you know the first thing, and this is one thing the Apostle
said in 1 Corinthians 1.26. He said, for you see your calling
brethren. And what he means by that is
look at your calling. Examine your calling. What kind
of calling did you have? Who was it that was called? Why
were you called? When were you called? Look at
your calling. You see your calling. Look at
it. That's why Peter says, make your
calling and election sure. Now you see, beloved, the call
of Jesus Christ. And our Lord Jesus Christ, He
called people, oftentimes in the Gospels, to Himself. You
know when He called His apostles, He went up into a high mountain
and He called unto Him whom He would. And there were times,
like He told Barnabas, He commanded him to be brought. So Christ
called people. And oftentimes he would call
them, and they would be called to him, to be of good cheer,
and the Master calleth for them. Now, who is it that Christ calls? Who is it that he calls? He don't
call everybody. He calls a certain class of people,
people with certain characteristics. And he says, I'm not come to
call the righteous, and we know that he's not calling righteous.
Why do we know he's not calling righteous? Because there is non-righteous,
no not one. Well, who does he call then?
Sinners. People that don't have anything
but S-I-N, sin. That's who he calls. He comes
to call sinners to repentance. And our Lord Jesus Christ said,
except you believe I am He, you'll die in your sin. He says, they
that are whole, they don't need a doctor. Now, if there's something
wrong with you, you go to the doctor, and he'll treat you. But if there ain't nothing wrong
with you, you're not going to waste your time, you're not going
to waste your money, you're not going to waste your effort going
to a doctor. And that's why most people never come to Christ.
They don't have anything wrong with them. But Christ says, they
that are whole, they don't need a physician. But they that are
sick, sick with sin, sick in themselves, Sick of their own
righteousness. Sick of their wretchedness. Sick
of their pride. Sick of everything that's wrong
with them. And only Christ can heal them.
Only Christ. And why is it that he calls them?
Why does he call sinners? Because they need to be saved.
He calls them to salvation. He doesn't call them, you know
the Baptists are really mad about this. A lot of people are. He
calls you to service. He calls you to salvation. He
calls you to salvation. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall, shall save His people
from their sin. And He calls us to save us. He
calls us to salvation. He calls us to a new life. He calls us to be new creatures.
And in this calling, beloved, there's power to bring us to
Himself. And our Lord Jesus calls us to
glorify God in saving sinners, to manifest His sovereign grace
in saving His people out of this world. Why didn't He save everybody? Why didn't He give everybody
an invitation? Why didn't He make salvation possible for everybody?
Salvation's not a possibility, it's sure! All that the Father
giveth me, what are they going to do? They're going to come
to me! Ain't that right? And everyone that cometh to me,
I'll not lose a one of them, and I'll raise them up in the
last day. Oh my, that's why Paul said it this way, he was on his
way to put Christians in jail, on his way to Damascus, Christ
took him down on the road, and he says, when it pleased God,
Would it please God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me? Called me. How? By His grace. By grace. I mean grace comes and does the
work. Comes doing the calling through
Jesus Christ. And not only we're the called
of Jesus Christ, but we're called to be the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm His, and He is mine. That's
what He sung in the hymn. Look over here in 1 Corinthians
1.9 with me just a moment. Right over to your right, next
book to your right, 1 Corinthians 1.9. And one way you can know you're
converted, and know that you know the Lord, is have you been
called? Have you been called? Or did
you just join a church? Just make a decision. Go to an
altar. Or has God actually come and
by the Holy Spirit of God called you from darkness to light, translated
you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear
Son, called you by His grace, called you from your sin to righteousness,
called you from your self-righteousness to the righteousness, called
you from your pride to humility. Have you ever been called Actually
called of God? I know that you've been called
by the preacher. I know that you've been called
by the church. And I know you've been called
by your mother and father to call on Christ. But have you
yourself been called by the Lord Jesus Christ? Has He ever called
your name? Is that good? Come down. Lively? Come forth. That's what I'm talking about.
Have you ever been called by Him, to Him? And you can know that. And if
you've ever been called, all the devils in hell cannot talk
you out of your calling. He said, boy, you see your calling.
Look at it. Study it. Examine it. Have you
got it? Has it happened to you? And oh,
by the way, come by and call John and James. Immediately they left what they
were doing, Father. When Christ calls you, you're
not going to twiddle your thumbs and switch your blowguns from
one side to the other. You're going to come to Him. And oh, look what it says here
now in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9. Called, not only called, the
called of Jesus Christ. Not the called of the church.
Not the called of the preacher. Not the called of the seminary. The called of Jesus Christ. Now,
it says, God is faithful. by whom you were called under
the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Called to do what? Fellowship,
have union, communion with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? We was called to be Jesus
Christ. We was called to be His in covenant.
Before the world ever began, we were called to be his disciples.
Christ was the surety of those that were given death. We were
called by Jesus Christ by promise. God promised him a people, and
I'll call him people. And all that the Father giveth
me, and then our Lord says that no man, no man can come unto
me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him as you call
him. Draw him and everyone that has
heard and has been taught by the Father. What will he do?
He'll come to me. That's a calling. He draws you. He teaches you. And when he teaches
you, he brings you to Christ. And he promised Christ his people.
And we're here because he purchased us. Bought us and paid for us
with his own precious blood. He laid down his life for the
sheep. He said, this blood is shed for those of the New Testament. I shed my blood for you. And
then where He is by power, He comes in power in this calling
and brings us. And then, beloved, because where
He is, He's going to keep us. Oh, I'm not losing one. And when
he prayed to the Father right before he went to his cross,
he says, Father, all that you've given me, I've not lost a one
of them, except the son of perdition. Oh, called by the Lord Jesus. Called for Christ's sake. So
we're called. Then look in verse 7. To all
that be enrolled, not only are we called, but we're beloved
of God. Oh, beloved of God. I remember
years and years and years and years ago, that just jumped out
at me, beloved of God. Loved of God. You know, I find it astounding
that anybody could love anybody else other than their own families. But for God, holy, infinite,
eternal, immutable, righteous. To say, I love them. To say,
I love them. I'm going to love that person.
I'm going to love that person. There's nothing about them worth
loving, but I'm going to love them. I'm going to set my affection
on them. I'm going to set my heart on
them. Beloved of God. I call you all
beloved all the time in my preaching and articles that I write. I
say beloved. Because I love you. But to be
loved of God Almighty. That is the pure eyes of the
beholden iniquity. Can't look on evil. And yet,
before time ever was, as old Scott Richardson said, before
time was, God had a people that He loved. He said in Jeremiah 31.3, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love, and with cords of loving
kindness have I drawn thee. He told Jeremiah before he was
formed in the belly, I knew you. I knew who you was, I knew who
your mother was, I knew who your granddaddy was, I knew you before
you was ever formed in your mother's belly, before time was and we
were people, before Adam's race ever come into existence in this
world, before you and I existed as individuals, God had a people. All over this world, he said,
I'm gonna love that one, I'm gonna love that one, I'm gonna
love that one. I'm gonna love Jacob! I'm gonna love Jacob!
But he's a worm! I'm gonna love Jacob! He's a
deceiver! I'm gonna love Jacob! He's a
supplanter! I'm gonna love Jacob! But what about his brother Esau?
I ain't gonna love him. I'm not gonna love him. I'm gonna
hate him. But I'm going to love Jacob. And for God to say that about
you, and you went home alive to sorry. You're so sorry, you're
a lot sorrier than Jacob ever was. There's not a person in
this building that's much sorrier than Jacob ever was, and the
only difference that you're not an Esau is God said, I love you. That's the only difference. I'll tell you, preachers have
lied to you, and lied to you, and lied to you, and lied to
you, telling you God loves you. If God loves every member of
the human race, then you've got absolutely nothing to worry about.
If He loves you, He's not fixing to send you to hell. If He loves
you, He's sent Christ to die for you. If He loves you, Christ
put your sin away. If He loves you, He's called
you to Himself, and there's no danger you going to hell if He
loves you. And if he loves every member of the human race, there
ain't nobody gonna perish. What good is the love of God
for people already in hell and for people that's gonna die today
that never hears of the love of God? You think about that. The love of God ain't gonna do
anybody any good until it comes to them as individuals. And you cannot I can't, no other
preacher can, and be honest with the scriptures and be honest
with his hearers, and get up and look at the whole congregation
and say, God loves every single one of you. Can't do it. Can't do it. Failure. This can't do that. Why? Because
Christ didn't say that. No, the apostles said that. God
didn't say that. He said, I love you. He didn't
say I love everybody. Ain't that right? I can just see it now, you know,
the way it is. These big ol' smiley faces. Smile,
God loves you. On the ark, you know, there's
a big ol' smiley face while those folks are perishing. Oh, God
does love you. He really does. While they're drowning. Oh, when men find out that God
Almighty does not, that He is hard, He loves whom He will,
calls whom He will, and He loves men in Christ, and when they
start hearing the truth about what God is really like, that
pride, that arrogance, that enmity that's in their heart against
God, when they hear about it, that'll be slain. When you find
out that God may not, don't have to love you, He don't have to
do anything for you. Christ may not have died for
you. See, as long as you think that if you believe that God
will love you, and Jesus died for you, and now it's up to you,
in order for you to make the decision to make the love of
God real to you, And to make the death of Christ real for
you, you'll sit and go to hell while you're waiting to make
your decision for Jesus. But that's why Paul wrote, he
said, Beloved of God! Oh my! And in time, we were separated
from our mother's womb. And called, called. And I'll
tell you something, beloved, when we get into eternity, God
won't love me no better then than he did before I was ever
born. Ain't that something? Before
I ever was, and while I was yet in my sin, while I was yet in
my sin, when I lifted my hands to God in Vietnam, and done like
that, and said, oh God, I hate you, and if you did anything
to me, you'd kill me. And done just like that, standing
very chested. Why didn't he just fight me down
dead? I had as much hatred for him as anybody had for anybody
else he could ever have. And yet, in time, he put me down. Just like he did Paul on the
Damascus Road. Why'd he do that? Because He
loved me before I was. What could induce Him to love
me or love you? When you look at yourself and
you see the lowliness of yourself, what would induce God to love
you? Could it be your sin? Could it
be your righteousness? Could it be your words? It's
just because He willed to do it. In love, he predestinated us
to the adoption of children. And oh, listen, this is, you
know, this, that's what, that just blows, that just, that blesses
me, for I can't, I don't know what to say. That before I was,
that when I get into eternity, and right now, the love of God
toward me does not change. Never changes. Does not go up,
down. Whenever I do something wrong,
His love don't get lower. When I sin, He don't love me
less. When I do something good, He don't love me more. His love is always the same.
He don't get mad at me when I do something wrong and slap me upside
the head. No! And He don't pat me on the head
when I do something good. The love of God is constant and
sure, and it's in Christ. You see, He gave us His Son.
Why? Because He loved us. He sent the Gospel to our hearts.
Why? Because He loved us. Because
He loved us. Alright. Called of Jesus Christ. Beloved of God. Now watch this
next one. Called to be saints. We're called
of Jesus Christ, beloved of God, and called to be saints. That
word called there to be saints means commissioned to be saints. Commissioned to be saints. You
know, the Catholics, I was reading a history book here a while back,
and a guy named Anselm, he's the father of Catholicism. He
began to teach that the saints, that there are people that live
such holy lives and still such good lives, that they have enough
merit to share some merit with you. And that's what made people
start calling on saints. The Catholics told them, Saint
so-and-so here, he's in glory now, so if you'll call on him,
he's got enough merit, and he'll give you some of his merit. That's
why they call on Mary. Mary's got so much merit, she
can give merit to everybody. But you know what? If you're
called to be Jesus Christ, you're called to be a saint. And you
can't be a saint without being called to it. They're saints
if they're Christ, and if they're not Christ, they're not saints.
I don't care how many medals people wear about their necks
and call them this saint, that saint, the other saint. But oh
beloved, saint just means a consecrated one. It means a sanctified one,
a separated one, one dedicated to God, one belonging to God,
and God called us to be saints. St. Donny, ain't that so? Ain't
that so? Oh, let's hear somebody. Oh, St. Donny. Oh, St. Nick. Oh man, can you just imagine
somebody calling, and that's what it's to the saints, call
to be saints. Now let me tell you something,
saint doesn't mean one who is specially holy, especially holy. All of the holiness is state
of being, and in Christ we're holy. And it doesn't apply to
a spiritual condition that you rise to this certain spiritual
condition. Right now, the last pope, they're
investigating to see what they have to do to make a saint. In
some churches, they have to investigate them, go through their whole
lives, see how many miracles they performed, how many people
were healed by them, and how many good works they've done.
They've got to investigate them. They've got to get all these records
and all that. And if they meet the criteria, if they meet all
the specifications, then they call them saints. And then they're
elevated to this place and say, now take a medal, strike a medal,
and you can buy that medal, and you can call on that fellow from
then on. And get some merit from him. Get some good from him. Now that doesn't apply to a spiritual
condition. You know, that's what Arminianism teaches, you know.
Boy, I'd like to be as holy as she is. I'd like to be as dedicated
as they are. I'd like to live as close to God as they are.
Listen, in Christ you can't be any closer to God than you are.
See, grace destroys all that stuff. Just absolutely and utterly
destroys it. Oh, I'd like to be as good as
they are. Listen, when ain't nobody no good, don't make no
difference who you good as. No, so when it talks about a
saint, it doesn't apply to a spiritual condition or a state. But I ain't
saying it has to do with our spiritual position, us being
in Christ. Us being called of God. Related
to God. We belong to God. Been set apart
by God. Been set apart to Christ. Been
set apart. That's our calling. Called to
be saints. Just like when you saw that tabernacle
in the wilderness with all those badger skins over it. Just looked
like a tent. You said, well that's a... Surely
God don't dwell there. Well I've made it the place where
God will. Cause this God said, this is
where I'll put my name and my power. And that's what he does
with his people. This is the people that I'll
separate and dedicate to myself and consecrate to myself. And
we seek to honor him who gave us such a glorious, glorious
position. Saints. Saints. Then look what else it says about
him. Called of Jesus Christ. Beloved of God. Called to be
saints. And then it says to all that
be in Rome. You know, a believer's got to
be somewhere. And he just addressed the ones in Rome here. And you
know, he wrote a letter to us. He said to the saints at the
church of Lantana Grace, or the church in Cumberland County,
or the church of Tennessee. And he said, wrote to the church
in Rome. And He said to the saints called
of Christ, beloved of God, to the saints in Rome, not to the
saints in the monastery, not to the saints who dwell in seclusion,
not to the saints who have attained a certain spiritual height, but
He says to the saints that be in Rome, surrounded by heathens,
Surrounded by paganism. Surrounded by temples. Surrounded
by all kinds of gods. And yet they're saints. Beloved
God. Call them Jesus Christ. And oh beloved, lots of different
Christians in Rome. You know that? There's no telling
how many different types of people were in Rome that were believers.
There were those who held high positions. Paul talked about
those who were in the household of Caesar. I mean, they worked
in Caesar's household. Caesar was the emperor. Caesar
was worshipped. But God had some people that
dwelt and worked in Caesar's household, and did not worship
Caesar, but worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there
was slaves. There was more slaves in Rome
than you could ever imagine. They were always afraid of being
overthrown. And then there was multitudes of slaves in Rome.
Slaves, and slaves, and slaves, and more slaves. There was wealthy
ones, and there were poor ones. Yet it says, all are in Christ,
and they may dwell at Rome, high or low, rich or poor, educated
or uneducated, great positions and low positions. Yet all of
them are in Christ. All of them beloved of God. All
of them called God. All of them saints. And all beloved
in Rome, you know. Christians were blamed for everything
that went wrong. If they had a drought, they blamed
it on believers. If they had a flood, they blamed it on Christians.
And they used them for sport. And yet Paul says to all them
that be in Rome. He wrote to those in Colossae.
He wrote to those in Thessalonica. But in Rome, Wherever our Rome
is, we're right now, we're here. We're here. Rome's gone. How many Christians are in Rome
now, I have no idea. That's where the Vatican is,
that's where the Pope is. So there'd be very, very, very
few Christians in Rome now. Very few. But in Rome, no matter what the
troubles you may have, no matter what the trials you may have
to endure, no matter what sorrows you may be called on to have,
no matter what difficulties, no matter what temptations, we're
Christ. We're loved of God, and we're
separated under Him. We're saints. Now let me give
you this in closer. Two-fold greeting. Four-fold
description of a believer. Called, called of Jesus Christ. Beloved of God. Called to be
saints. And had to live somewhere, and
he's lived in Rome. And then look at the two-fold
greeting from him. Grace to you and peace from God our Father,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you. and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These two words, these
two words sum up the gospel. Grace is the cause of all things. Grace is the cause of everything.
Grace is the cause of our salvation. Grace is the gift of God. Look
at Romans 4.4, just a moment. Grace was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world ever began. Now grace is something that's
given, it's not earned, or it wouldn't be grace. Look what
he says here in Romans 4.4, now to him that works is the reward
not reckoned or accounted of grace, but it's of death. What
he's saying is if you want to work your way to heaven, if you
want to earn salvation from God, then he owes it to you. Now you
reckon you could ever put God in debt? You reckon you could
ever do enough works? Ever live good enough to get
God in debt to you? Huh? It's not reckoned of grace. The reward is not reckoned of
grace. But now watch this. But to him that worketh not,
we're not going to. It's not of him that willeth.
It's not of him that runneth. But it's of God that showeth
mercy. But to him that worketh not, but believes! on him that
justifies, gives a righteousness to the ungodly. God says he's
righteous. Oh my, you go to work, you're
going to get paid for your work. You're going to get paid for
it. If you want to work your way to heaven, you must wait
for your payday and see what you'll get. What do you reckon
you'll get? Huh? If you work your way and
you get before God and say, now here, pay me what you owe me. Oh my goodness. What do you reckon
you'll get? You reckon he'll say, well, come
on in, you've really, really done good. After he nailed his
son to a cross, made him to be sinned, turned his back on him, Put Him in our room and place
and wound Him for our transgression, bruised for our iniquity, turn
His back on His own Son. Do you think for a minute He'd
do that and then let you in? Because you've done something
good after He crucified His own Son to save sinners from their
sin. What's the death of Christ got
to do with anything if you can get there by your works? But oh, grace. Grace is the cause. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that not of yourselves." What is it? It's the gift of
God. And, oh, listen, peace. Grace is the cause, and peace
is the effect. When grace comes, it brings peace
with it. Oh, beloved, peace. Peace is
the result of the work of grace in us. Oh, and God, oh, what
peace. Peace, and joy, and belief. Peace
is the result of the work of grace in us and the work of grace
upon us. What peace of mind we have since
we know that we've been reconciled to God, that the enmity has been
slain. What peace of mind that we have
in this world with all of this turmoil. and all of its wars,
and rumors of wars, and all of its pestilences, and all of its
works, and all of its stuff. What peace of mind we have in
all this world of turmoil because of grace. And what peace of heart
we have, no matter what goes on around us, no matter what
news we get, no matter what shape our bodies get in, no matter
what shape our mind gets in, no matter what shape our home
and children get in, we still got this peace of heart. Our
hearts don't get into turmoil and uproar. It stays peaceful. And not only that, but to know
that we have peace with God, that God Almighty and us, we
fellowship and there's peace between us and Him. Christ made
it through the blood of His cross. God is not angry. God is appeased. God's wrath is turned away from
us. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. And these blessings, these blessings
of grace and peace, they come from God our Father. God our
Father. And from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul puts Christ in the Father, one and the same. He makes the
Son equal with the Father. Huh? Oh my, no human being could
ever be so closely associated with the Father. He didn't say,
God the Father and me. He says, God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. One place he called Him our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. No human being can be so closely
associated with God the Father. So here God is, Paul is making
the Lord Jesus Christ equal, equal with the Father. Now, delivered,
if he's equal with the Father, and you're called of him, redeemed
by him, and purchased by him, then he's to be worshiped the
same way you'd worship the Father. Trust him the same way you'd
trust the Father. You can't have the Father without the Son. Ain't
that right? And you can't have the Son without
the Father. They go together. And you know
when we get to glory, I've said this so many times, the only
God we're going to see with these eyes is the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father is Spirit. So
how are we going to see God? Made of a woman. made of a woman. We could see God with eyes. We
could handle Him. We could touch Him. He took on a human form, a human
nature, and dwelt among us to save us from our sin. Our gracious, gracious Father, Thank you for allowing us, giving
me something to say today, and I pray that what's been said
would be a blessing, would be an encouragement, would be a
strength, brought some light to some darkened soul, brought
some understanding to some mind, brought some peace to some heart,
brought some hope to some soul. Lord, you can do those things
through the voice of a mere man. And I ask that you do it for
Christ's sake. Amen. Let's turn to number 67
in the hymn book.