Now this epistle of Romans is,
I don't hate to say an important, I mean it is an important study,
but I don't mean to say that in a way that's more important
than the rest of the scriptures. It's a very important doctrinal
and practical, what we call practical study for us. Many of the old
saints say this is their favorite of the epistles. Paul so clearly
sets forth That the way of salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That justification is through faith in Christ. And who we are,
what we've done or what we haven't done, cannot in any way contribute
to our salvation. That we're all totally sinful.
Everything we do is totally sinful. That the only hope of salvation
and justification is through the Lord Jesus Christ. That applies
to everyone. Every son of Adam, Jew and Gentile,
heathen or religious, applies to us all. And in the last part
of this epistle, he gives us instruction for the believer's
walk, both in the world and with each other. So I hope the Lord
will bless and make this a good study in this book. I'm looking
forward to it. And Paul begins his letter in
verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated into the gospel of God. And the
apostle Paul is the writer of this epistle. And even though
the Lord called Paul to be an apostle, you can tell through
his writings, he never felt worthy of that calling. While he may
have been the chief apostle, the Lord may have blessed his
ministry above other of his brethren. He never felt worthy. What he
called himself was the least of all the saints. He never felt
worthy of it. So he doesn't call himself rabbi.
He's not Dr. Paul. He's just a servant. But
no longer is he a servant of sin. He's not a servant to the
law, a servant to the traditions of the elders like he was as
he grew up as a young boy and as a young man. He's a servant
of Christ. The highest calling anybody can
be called to be is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this servant of Christ says, He's separated under the gospel
of God. This wasn't any accident that
Paul's an apostle of Christ, that he's a servant of Christ.
He was separated under the gospel of God. Look over Galatians chapter
1. Galatians 1 verse 13. Paul says, for you've heard of
my conversation in time past in the Jews religion. How that
beyond measure I persecuted the church, and I wasted it, and
profited in the Jews' religion, above my equals in mine own nation,
being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers.
But, here he was a servant of the law, servant to the traditions
of the Jews. Verse 15, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me
by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach among
the The same God had separated him from his mother's womb. Separated
him to the gospel. God formed that child in his
mother's womb. Caused him to come forth. Healthy
baby. He's raised, being taught the
Scriptures. You know, that was no accident who this man was
born to. The place he was born in and
he was taught the Scriptures by some of the best teachers
of his day. He understood from his raising, either from his
parents or his teachers, he understood about being a leader. And in
due time, the Lord separated that child from his mother's
womb, caused him to grow to a man so that he could separate him
to preach the gospel to the heathen. That didn't happen by accident.
And Paul calls the gospel, the gospel of God. Now, there's only
one gospel, this one. Look, if you're still there in
Galatians, look at verse 6. He told that church at Galatia,
I marvel that you're so removed from him that calls you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another. There's not another gospel. There's
just one. Any other gospel, any other message
is a lie. There's only one that's the truth.
It's not another, but there'd be some that would trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. There's just one gospel,
and it's the gospel of God. Now if there's just one gospel,
the gospel, how do I know when I'm hearing the gospel? I need
to know that. I want to make sure I'm hearing
God's gospel, the gospel of God. Well, Paul defines it here in
this chapter. First of all, it's the eight
things that distinguish the gospel of God. First, it's the gospel,
the gospel of God. If you hear a message and God's
the author of it, God's the subject of it, God's the blesser of it. God's the revealer of it. It's
not something you can just figure out on your own or through men's
intellect can be explained to you. God's got to reveal it to
you. If God gets all the glory in
it, it's the gospel of God. That's the gospel. It's the gospel
of God. Second, it's the gospel of the
whole Bible. There's not a gospel, there's
not a message that was to the Jews in the Old Testament and
a different one in the New Testament. It's the same gospel. There's
only one gospel. It's the eternal gospel, the
gospel of the whole scriptures. We see that in verse 2. The gospel
of God is that which he promised to for by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures, in the Old Testament. Third, the gospel. It's the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel has as its sole subject
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he says in verse
3. The gospel of God is the gospel concerning His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. Fourth, the gospel. It's the
gospel that is to be obeyed. Somebody that's asking you to
accept Jesus, somebody that's asking you to make a decision
is not preaching the gospel. The gospel is a command that
is to be obeyed. We see that in verse 5. by whom we have received grace
and apostleship for obedience to the faith." The gospel, the
gospel is to be obeyed. And fifth, the gospel is for
everyone. See that in verse 5? For obedience
to the faith among all nations. Everybody, every son of Adam
needs this message. The message of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We need this message because everyone, no matter where
you find them in this whole world, needs the Lord Jesus Christ to
be their Savior. The gospel is a gospel for everyone. It's not just for a few. It's
to be preached to everyone. We all need it. It's to be preached
to everyone at all times. Sixth, the gospel is a powerful
gospel. In verse 16 there in chapter
1, Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is
the power of God. The gospel goes forth in power,
the power of God the Holy Spirit. It doesn't depend on the power
or the ability of the oratory skills of the preacher. And I'm
so glad. It's the power of God. God blesses
us and sends His Word out with power. Where there's no power,
Christ is not present. Where it's the gospel, it goes
forth in power. Seventh, the gospel is the gospel
of salvation. There in verse 16, it is the
power of God unto salvation. The gospel declares salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a finished work. Nothing
left for you to do. You don't have to complete it.
You don't have to do something to make it effectual. Salvation is complete. It's finished in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the gospel of salvation.
And eighth, it's a righteous gospel. Verse 17, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it's
written, the just shall live by faith. That's the gospel of
God. And I thought, as I was reading
this this week, the first thing that came to my mind, we're not
dealing with a small thing here. This is not a small thing, unimportant
matter, that we meet here and we open God's Word. We read God's
Word. We claim to preach the Gospel
of God. It's no small thing. It's no
small thing to preach it. It's no small thing to hear it.
This is important that we pray that the Lord give us an ear
that would hear, a heart that would believe. This is not something
that we can decide, well, we'll just take it or leave it. This
is life. It's the Gospel of God. It's
no small thing to pervert it, as Paul told them there in Galatians.
It's no small thing to change it because it just fits what
we think better. It's not my gospel. It's the
gospel of God. The gospel of God. It's no small
thing. We're not playing games here.
It's not a social event. It's the gospel of God. Well,
verse 2, Paul says, which he promised to for by his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures. The gospel. is an eternal gospel. It's not new. The gospel didn't
start in the New Testament. It didn't start when Christ was
born in Bethlehem's manger. The gospel didn't start with
the creation of the world. The gospel didn't start when
Adam fell. That's the first time men heard it, that the seed of
woman is going to come and crush a serpent's head, but that's
not when it started. The gospel is the eternal gospel. Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We didn't just
get a message to preach when Christ died on the cross. He's
the lamb slain from the foundation of the Lord. This is the eternal
gospel. God's eternal. This is the eternal gospel. And men, by God's grace, have
had the gospel preached to them our entire history on earth.
God promised salvation through his prophets in the Old Testament.
God gave it to the prophets and they declared it to men. And
these Old Testament scriptures They're not history lessons.
They're not lessons with moral implications, moral lessons for
us to learn. The Old Testament Scriptures
set forth the gospel. The Old Testament Scriptures
show us the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, they show him in type and
pattern and picture, but they tell us someone's coming. And
those Old Testament Jews, the Jews even in our Lord's day,
They knew what the message of the Old Testament was. They knew
the Old Testament was telling them someone's coming because
they were looking for someone. They were looking for the Messiah.
Now, they weren't looking for him as he came, but they understood
the Old Testament Scriptures was telling them someone's coming
and they were looking for him. And that someone is the Lord
Jesus Christ. After our Lord died and arose,
You remember the story. He met those two apostles or
those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. And he walked with
them and he talked with them. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in the scriptures the things
concerning himself, because they're all about him. When he met with
the disciples after he had arisen, he told them, talked to them
about the things that were written in the law of Moses and the prophets
and in the Psalms, all the Old Testament scriptures. the things
concerning me, the things concerning himself. He's the subject of
all the Scriptures. And Christ is the pearl of great
price that's hidden in the field of the Old Testament Scriptures.
He's hidden in type and pattern and shadow. But He is the pearl
of great price. He's the point. He's the treasure.
He's the beauty of it. And you find Christ, you've got
all the riches. You find Christ, you've got the
keys to unlock every mystery in the Bible if you find the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now you know in our day, there's
a Bible to be found in every home in the United States of
America. Unless they just don't want one, they've got one. Most
people have more than one. My brother told me this week,
he said, you can buy a Bible at the dollar store. The dollar
store! Anybody can buy a Bible. People
give them away for free if you don't have a dollar. What a blessing
that is. Do we realize that just not so
long ago, only kings could afford to own a Bible. They had it locked
up in the church. You couldn't even go read it.
Somebody had to read it. They kept it in language you didn't
understand. They kept it hidden from you. Now everybody only
wants to own one. That's a blessing to have God's
Word so available to us. Us, right here. We have the gospel
preached to us three times a week, 52 weeks a year, some weeks more
than that. I mean, what a blessing. People would go a long time without
ever hearing the gospel. You had to wait for a preacher
right through town on a horse. I mean, just what a blessing. We've got it so easy. But now
listen. Don't allow the fact that God's
grace has been abundant to us to cheapen it. the value of this
in our estimation. Just because a Bible can be bought
down at the dollar store, don't think it's worth a dollar. That's
God's blessing that it's available to us. But it's not cheap. Christ
is still the pearl of great price. He's everything. He's everything
to the believer. This is the gospel of God. And
I'm telling you, it's precious. It's valuable. And we need to
be a thankful people. that he's given this to us. What
a blessing. He didn't give it to everybody. They gave it to
you. We should be thankful, shouldn't
we? Well, verse 2 is a parenthetical
statement. Let's take that out for a moment.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
under the gospel of God, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel concerns God's Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. And really, the gospel doesn't
just concern Christ. The gospel is the Lord Jesus
Christ. You take him out, you've got
no gospel. None whatsoever. Christ is the sole subject of
the gospel. Christ is the power of the gospel. He's the beauty of the gospel.
Christ is the sweetness of the gospel. You can talk about sound
doctrine all you want, but if you're not exalting Christ, there's
no sweetness there. He's the sweetness of the gospel.
Christ is the wisdom of the Gospel. The wisdom how God can be just
and justified. He's the righteousness of the
Gospel. We're made righteous in Him. He's the life of the
Gospel. Life is found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if you move one step, just
lean away from Christ, you can entirely depart from the Gospel.
Because Christ is the Gospel. And every time Paul begins to
talk about His Savior, you get the feeling how much He enjoys
it. Our Lord Jesus Christ. It's impossible
for Paul to mention even the name of Christ without discussing
about who He is and everything we have in Him. Paul says He's
our Lord. Now He's the Lord of everyone. But He's not just our Lord by
creation. He's not just the Lord of His
people by creation. Although He is Lord by creation,
He spoke it all into existence. He's our Lord. He's our Lord
by redemption. He bought His people with His
own blood. By shedding His blood for our
sins, He bought His people. He bought us and made us His.
Christ is our Lord by choice. Not our choice. His choice. He elected a people. He chose
them. He came and bought them. Now
we choose Him, don't we? I choose Him, but only because
He chose us first. Only in response to His choice
of us. He's our Lord by choice. He's
our Lord by love. Not that we loved Him, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. He came to be the sacrifice for our sins because He loved
His people. We're His by love and we love Him in response to
His unspeakable love for us. And the gospel of God clearly
reveals Christ to His people. And Paul tells us, now there
are many Jesus's, there are many Christ's talked about today. Paul tells us which Christ it
is, which Jesus it is that the gospel of God declares. He says
here in verse 3, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared
to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead." If you look in Isaiah chapter
9, that was spoken of in the Old Testament. That was spoken
of by the prophets. In Isaiah 9, verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
a baby boy is born, and unto us a son is given. The son wasn't
born. The Son is eternal. The Son was
given in that baby that was born. And thus, a child is born and
God's Son is given. And the government should be
upon His shoulder. And His name should be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
The Everlasting Father was born as a child. That's amazing, isn't
it? He's both God's Son and David's
Son. Look at Luke chapter 2. That's
what the angels declared when our Lord was born. In Luke chapter 2, verse 7. And she brought forth her firstborn
son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." That
child that was born is the Lord. He's God Almighty laying in that
manger. And they went and worshipped
Him because He's God. Now if you look at Matthew 22, this
is what the Pharisees didn't understand. They were looking
for someone, but they weren't looking for him like he came.
They didn't understand that he'd be the God-man. They were looking
for a glorious king, not a man. In Matthew 22, verse 41, while
the Pharisees gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What
think ye of Christ, whose Son is he? They say unto him, He
is the Son of David. He saith unto them, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord? Saying, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies
thy footstool. If David then call him Lord,
how is he a son? How is David's son the Lord which
sits on the throne? No man was able to answer him
a word. Neither dared any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions. They didn't understand. How is
it David's son, a descendant of David, gets the Lord, the
Lord of Glory? The Lord has hidden these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. That's
the only way you can explain it. Christ was made to be the
seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the
Son of God with power. He was made to be what he was
not. And he was declared to be who
he is. Henry must have said that because
I got that written here in my Bible. That wasn't me, that was
somebody else. He was made to be what he was
not and declared to be who he is. He was made to be what he
was not, a man. So that his people could be made
who we're not. He was made to be the seed of
David. He was made to be a man so he could be a substitute for
men. He was made to be a man so He could be our sin bearer.
That's what Paul said over in Galatians again, chapter 4. Galatians 4, verse 4. For when the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law. Why was He made under a woman?
Why was He made under the law? Because He had to be like us.
He had to be our substitute. But why did He come that way?
Verse 5, "...to redeem them that were under the law, that they
might receive the adoption of sons." He was made to be what
He was not. The Son of Mary. That Virgin
Mary. So we could be made what we're
not. God's sons. He was a real man. 100% man. Yet, at the same time, he was
completely holy God, the eternal Son of God. And he was declared
to be the Son of God with power. And Paul says that power is by
the resurrection from the dead. Now, it took the power of God,
first of all, to make Christ incarnate, to be born in Bethlehem's
manger. Only God could have done that.
It took the power of God to make Christ, the holy Son of God,
guilty of the sins of His people. It took the power of God to be
able to judge His Son and to be able to kill the Prince of
Life. It took the power of God to raise Him from the grave.
And that's just what He did. Paul says He did it through the
Spirit of holiness. By God the Holy Spirit coming
and raising Him from the grave. And the fact that God raised
Christ from the dead shows us plainly He's everything He claimed
to be. He is God's Son. He is the Eternal
Son. He is the Savior of His people.
He is the One who arrives with healing in His wings. Now we
see the power of Christ in creation. H.B. Thompson, I was talking
about this this week, he was on a cruise recently. He said,
you just get out of that ship and everywhere you look, you
don't see anything but water. He said, and the water was still
one day. We're just looking at it. He said, God did that. And then the water was chalky
one day. He thought about that time The disciples, the apostles
were out there in that ship and the storm was raging. And the
Lord said, peace be with you. And it was instant glass again.
That's a God of creation. That's His power. He spoke it
into existence. Without Him, there's not anything
made that was made. Everything you see was made by the power
of Christ. We see His power and providence.
I see these pictures of space. You see the earth hanging out
there in space. You know, they go out to the
moon and they take a picture back of the earth. I don't know
why that thing stayed there. The power of God is ruling. How on earth has man not just
utterly imploded on himself and wiped this whole planet out?
The power of Christ ruling and reigning, restraining us from
what we do. We see the power of Christ in redemption. There's
power in the blood. His blood has put away our sins. We stand before God wholly. The
power of Christ in redemption. We see the power of Christ in
calling His people to Himself. We'll look at that call here
in just a second. He calls His people and we come running. That's
power. We see the power in Christ giving
life to His people. One day you're sitting there
dead. Just dead. And one day you believe. He gave
life. Life from above. We see the power
of Christ in causing His saints to persevere to the end. Why
don't you just quit? We've got nowhere else to go. He keeps us by His power. And
we see His power in the resurrection from the dead. He rolled that
stone away and walked out. And one day, He'll use that same
power to raise these vile bodies from the grave. He's the first
fruits and we're going to follow. Look in Romans chapter 8, just
over a few pages. Romans 8 verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you, by his Holy Spirit that
raised Christ from the dead. Look over 1 Corinthians chapter
6. Verse 14, and God has both raised up the
Lord and will also raise up us by His own power, the power of
His Spirit. We were at a funeral, Janet and
I were at a funeral one time. We came to the cemetery, and
I'm thinking as we walk up, here's the place of this person's burial.
Do you know what the preacher said? He's come to the place
of her resurrection. He's not going to stay there.
Nobody, believer or unbeliever, is not going to stay there. He's
going to raise us up by His power. The same power that raised Christ
from the grave. And we can rest in the power
of our Lord, can't we? He's done everything for us.
It's complete. I'm utterly helpless. I'm utterly
powerless of myself. That's fine. He's got all power. And we can rest in Him. And you
know, our Lord came as royalty. He's the son of God, and he's
the son of David, the king. He's king of kings and lord of
lords, but he came through Judah, that royal tribe. Now, men didn't
see him as king. They can only see him as out
by eyes of faith, but that's who he is. Now, verse 5, I've
got to hurry. By whom we have received grace
and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations
for his name. Paul was made an apostle by Christ. He received that from God as
one, he said, born out of due time. And none of us ever received
that apostleship. But we received grace. Everything
we received, we received from the Lord Jesus Christ. His grace. Undeserved favor from God. Amazing
grace. Grace greater than all of our
sins. By grace are you saved through faith and very not of
yourselves. It's a gift of God. All the graces that a believer
has, meekness, temperance, goodness, love, joy, thanksgiving, they
all come from the Lord Jesus Christ. Every talent and the
ability that we have, the ability to take your next breath, is
a grace that Christ has given us. And our gospel is the gospel
of grace. That's the gospel of God. It's
the gospel of grace. And this is the gospel we preach
the whole world, to all nations. Jude called it the common salvation. Because everybody that God saves
is saved one way. In the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the Gospel of God is not only to be preached, it's to be believed. The Gospel is not an invitation.
Well, will you come or won't you come? No, the Gospel is a
command. It's a command from the King.
And my friends, it's to be obeyed. It's not to be debated. God said
it. I'm not going to think, You know,
I don't know that I like that. That's not what that means. Every
single word of this book is to be believed. It's God's Word. You can decide whether you want
to take or leave. I say, you don't have that choice
for God's concern. It's to be obeyed. The obedience
is the faith. And true faith always obeys. Even when you don't understand.
It's just to be obeyed. And we have the obedience of
faith by coming to Christ the way He tells us to come, as an
empty sinner who's totally dependent on Christ to give us everything
that we need. The obedience of faith is to
look to Christ, just like those Jews, those children of Israel
bitten by those fiery serpents in the wilderness. They look
to that brazen serpent. We're to look to Christ. and
live. Look to Him with faith and believe
that He will do what He said He'd do. The obedience of faith
is to submit to the righteousness of Christ. Not because you're
forced to. Not because you have to. Not
because you don't have no choice. But because you love Him. I love
Him. I submit to Him. And receive
the righteousness that He imputes. Because that's the only righteousness
there is. The obedience of faith is to confess Christ and believe
His baptism. to walk after him as he's commanded. And you can't have true obedience
without faith, because without faith it's impossible to please
God. In verse 6, we'll end here, "...among whom are ye also the
called of Jesus Christ." What a blessing to be numbered among
those who are the called of Jesus Christ. It's a blessing, because
not everybody's called. And we're not called because
we deserve it. We're not called because we're better than anybody
else. We're called because of the free grace and love of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The mercy that God has to us
in Christ. And this isn't a call that comes
from the preacher that's preaching. Although, generally, that's where
it happens. This is a call of God. It's an eternal call from
God. It's the personal call of God
the Holy Spirit to God's elect. calling them to saving faith
in Christ. It's one thing to hear everybody
repent and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
another when God says, Jason, come unto Me. That's an irresistible
call. I don't know why you'd want to
resist it. When God says come, we come.
It's a factual call. It's a call to righteousness.
It's a call of holiness is a call out of darkness into the marvelous
light of the Lord Jesus Christ. And ultimately, it's a call to
glory. He calls His people. He calls
them to faith in Christ. And one day He says, that's enough.
Come home. It's His call. And quickly, I
want you to turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 3. What's our response
when the Lord calls? 1 Samuel chapter 3, verse 1. And the child Samuel ministered
unto the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious
in those days. There was no open vision. And
it came to pass at that time that Eli was laid down in his
place, and his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see.
And there the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord,
where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.
that the Lord called to Samuel. And he answered, Here am I. And
he ran unto Eli and said, Here am I, for thou callest me. And
Eli said, I called not, lie down again. And he went and lay down.
And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel rose and went
to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered,
I called not, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet
know the Lord. Neither was the word of the Lord
yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again
the third time. And he arose and went to Eli
and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived
that the Lord had called the child. He didn't call him. The
Lord called the child. Therefore, Eli said unto Samuel,
Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt
say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and laid down
his place and the Lord came and stood and called us at other
times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak for
thy servant here. That's the obedience of faith.
What's our response when the Lord calls? Speak, Lord, for
thy servant here. I pray that the Lord give us
that heart, that desire, Speak, Lord, for thy servant here. And
just like Jason prayed when he began, Lord, speak to us. Speak
to us for thy servant here.