I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Romans chapter 16. Our Sunday school lesson was
about a gospel memorial. Dear sweet Mary, the sister of
Martha, and what a memorial she was. And our Lord commended her
and said, wherever this gospel's preached, This is gonna be told
about Mary. Her faithfulness is gonna be
proclaimed. What honor. But here in Romans
16, I wanna talk to you about a gospel benediction. Here in verses 25 and 26, Romans
chapter 16, Paul gives us a gospel benediction. He said, now to
him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel. Now watch how many times he uses
that word according. And the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret
since the world began. But now is made manifest and
by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the
obedience of faith. A preacher, I wasn't raised in
religion. What is a benediction? What are
you saying when you're talking about a gospel benediction? Well, a benediction is a blessing.
That's what it is. It's a blessing. And here, Paul,
is blessing God. He's saying we owe to God. A benediction is that portion
of the service when a summation is given to the glory of God. He's gonna tell you what he's
already told you. And when all that's been said, this benediction is stated briefly
to the praise of God who gave it to us. Now it's a little known
fact, those of you who have tried to witness to men or talk to
men about the gospel, you know what I'm saying is true. It's
a little known fact that the gospel is God's gospel. It's
God's gospel, it belongs to Him. In the very first verse of Paul's
letter here to the Romans, he made this statement. He said,
I'm called to be an apostle. I'm separated unto the gospel
of God. It's God's gospel. It's his to
give or withhold. It belongs to him. It's his. It's his to make known, his to
keep secret. It's about him. It's about his
person. It's about his power, his mercy,
his grace, his purpose. His glory, it's God's gospel. But Paul also in our text called
it his gospel. His gospel. His, as he was separated
to it, taught it by God and sent to proclaim it by God. How shall
they preach except they be sent? God has to send a man. And few people know that natural
man has an inability to know and understand the gospel. They
think anybody can understand the gospel. You're just not saying it clear
enough. And boy, we break it down and
we sit there. I used to just sit there for hours on end. You
can't make a natural man understand the gospel. Can't do it. Few people know that, few people
understand that. The Bible says this. Paul said,
we preach these things in a mystery. Our gospel's a mystery. He said, for it's written, I
have not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,
but he hath revealed them unto us. by Spirit. Not only is man unable to discern
these things, but he's also unwilling. He tells us in 2 Corinthians
2.14, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. What are the things of the Spirit of God? Well, I just
read to you in 2 Timothy the Word of God. This is God breathed. The Holy
Spirit of God moved these men to write these things, that's
why they're infallible. That's just mind-boggling to
me, that a man, being inspired of God, could sit down and pen
something that was absolutely infallible. Well, you don't have
to go far in my writings about stuff that's upside down, but
not in his. Not in his. All these different
men from different times, over periods of thousands of years,
coming from, one of them's a fisherman, and one of them's a shepherd,
and one of them's a doctor, and you just go on and on. All these
men from all these, they all saying the same thing. They didn't
even know each other. They're all preaching the same
thing. Don't you find that amazing?
That's the word of God. That's the Word of God. A natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, but the foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The gospel of Christ is a blessed thing. It's not something common
and ordinary. It's not just sitting in a place
where you can simply just go get it off the shelf anytime
you want it. It's a rare thing. It's a precious
thing. Read Romans chapter 10. You tell
me what you think. How you gonna call on him in
whom you have not heard? How you gonna hear that a preacher?
And how's he gonna preach if God don't send him? The gospel's sent of God, it's
given of God, it's made known by God, and therefore we bless
God for his gospel. I have five things this morning
I hope to show you from Paul's gospel benediction here, five
things that sum up what he wrote to these believers here at Rome. and also to all the churches
established under his ministry. And the first thing I want you
to see in our text is that there is but one source of power to
enlighten, convert, and establish men and women in the faith. Paul
knew that. He knew that. If you read 2 Corinthians
chapter three, he'll tell you, he said, Not like I can do anything. He made me an effectual minister
of God by His Spirit. And without question, our text
here is referring in particular to our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, whom we just mentioned in the verse above. Turn with
me to Matthew 28. Let me see if I can show you
a few things about this power we're talking about. All this
power, power to believe, power to be established, power of conversion,
all this power, where's this power coming from? Well, Paul's saying here that
it's coming from our Savior. Now after his resurrection and
appearance, he was here for over a month, revealing himself to different
ones, 500 people at one time. And then the day come for him
to ascend into glory and he gathered his disciples on a mountain in
Galilee. And here's what he said to them.
This is our Lord's last words spoken on this earth. They're
pretty important, ain't they? Matthew 28, 18. And Jesus came
and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. Go ye therefore. That is based
on this fact, assured by this fact. Go ye therefore and teach
all nations. And the mere fact that he says
baptizing them tells me that our Lord knew about their conversion
because all power was in His hand. And so He gives them instruction
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Ghost. Now I preach and teach here today upon this same
basis. It's on the same basis. That
our Lord has the power to overcome all our inabilities. and establish
his gospel in our hearts and minds and make us willing in
the day of his power. That's Psalm 110.3. My people shall be willing in
the day of my power. So if you have any understanding
of this glorious gospel of Christ, it's owing to him who alone is
of power to establish you. We look to him, we ask him, Don't
you ask him, increase my faith, help me to understand this passage,
help me to, and all that. He alone has the
power. I don't have any. I don't wander
around the house and out in my backyard trying to pump myself
up and get, no, no, it's in his hands. If you want to spend some
time, spend some time asking him. He's the only one who can
give it to you. Well, what about this power?
What sort of, what are you talking about? Turn with me to John 17. Let me show you something over
there. Now, here's what Paul's saying,
unto him that is of power to establish you, him alone, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in John 17, verse one.
These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. Now watch this. As thou hast
given him power over all flesh. Why would he do that? That he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Oh, that's what that power's
all about. That's why the Lord sits in glory
at the right hand of God. What's he doing up there? He's
reigning. That's what he's doing. To this end, he both died and
rose and ascended into glory that he might be Lord of the
dead and the living. And will you live? You live unto
him. Will you die? You die unto him. He's the Lord.
All powers in his hands. And the reason for this power
and authority to be vested of God in Christ is to give eternal
life to God's people, his elect. And he said this, this is life
eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom he has sent. That's eternal life. That's what
this power is about. It's to bring you into a saving
knowledge of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what he does. John also writes in the first
chapter of his gospel, he came into the world and the world
was made by him and the world received him not. And he came
unto his own, he came to the Jews, and they wouldn't have
anything to do with it. But he said to as many as received
him, To them gave he power. He didn't say to them, give I
power, he said he gave them power. That's why they received him.
And what did he give them power to do? To become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name, who were born, not
of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man, but of God. You see what I'm saying? Unto
Him, Paul said. Unto Him. He's the one. He has the power to do it. You
don't have the power. But you say, doesn't that exclude
the Father? No, sir. It says in the book
of Colossians, it pleased the Father that in Him should all
fullness dwell. Pleased the Father. that he might
have preeminence in all things. That's why he created the world. He created a world that's a stage
upon which he's gonna manifest the glory of God. This world
was created by our Redeemer. Ain't that something? Oh, but preacher, I got you now.
What about the spirit? What about the spirit? When he,
the spirit of truth, is come, he'll guide you into all truth,
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Now
listen, he'll glorify me, for he'll take of the things of mine
and show them unto you. Unto him that is of power, to
establish you. There's only one source of power
concerning eternal life, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then secondly, there is but one means, purpose to this end. Look back at our text. Now unto
him that is of power to establish you, are you listening? According
to my gospel. Ain't that something? Well, I
tell you, that just knocked the feet out from under a lot of
people that I've met who told me that they got converted without
any gospel. But here he said, it's according
to my gospel. There's nothing of which this
unbelieving world is opposed to more than the necessity of
gospel preaching. They despise it. You tellin'
me I can't read the book and understand it? That's exactly
what I'm tellin' ya, and I'm gonna keep on tellin' ya till
somebody believes me. The Jews didn't profit by it,
and the prophets were their ancestors. It was their grandpa, their uncle,
their blood kin. He said, so what did it profit
us? No, we're not any better than
the Gentiles, any better than these idol worshipers out here.
Because he said, before proof, we're all under sin. In Romans 1, verses 15 and 16,
Paul said that as much as was in him, he was ready to preach
the gospel to them at Rome also. and that he was not ashamed of
this gospel, for he said, it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it. You see what Paul's saying there
in this benediction? Unto him that's able to establish
you according to my gospel. Why is that so important? Because
it is the power of God unto salvation. As there is but one source of
power, there is but one means by which this power is conferred. Well, does that mean just in
special cases? Does that mean just in certain
situations? Does God use other means to save
sinners? Well, it says in Romans 1 16
that it applies to everyone that believeth. Men despise this means because
it shuts them up to the sovereign grace of God. That's why they
despise it. Takes salvation out of their
hands and puts it where it belongs, in his hands. And they hate this
because it gives all the glory to God and doesn't give them
any. Paul wrote to the Corinthians
and he said, who then is Paul? Everybody bragging, I saved under
Paul. And then somebody else said,
well, I saved under that orator, Apollos. I've met people like that. We've
got renowned preachers, Don Fortner, Henry Mahan. I'm not worthy to
carry their Bibles. But these people were saying,
boy, we were born under them. And he said, well, who is Paul?
who is Apollos, were ministers, now watch this, by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every
man. In James 1.18 it said, of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
and slow to get angry. You saying that God cannot save
any other way? No, sir, I'm saying God will
not save in any other way because this is the way he purposed to
do it. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. You can read it for
yourselves all over the New Testament. So there is but one source of
power to establish men and women in the faith, and that is the
Lord Jesus Christ. And only one means whereby this
power is conferred, that is the gospel. And then thirdly, there's
only one message worthy to be called the gospel, the preaching
of Jesus Christ. Romans 16 verse 25, that comes
next. It's according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ. This is Paul's gospel. The gospel's a person. I didn't
know that. I thought the gospel was a system.
Bought it for years. Didn't realize till I heard the
gospel preached. The gospel's a person. He's the
way. Christ said, I am the way. They
said, we don't know the way. We don't know where you're going,
and we don't know the way. He said, I am the way. I don't know if I know the truth.
He is the truth. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in him. In Acts 13,
38, Paul said, be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, all that believe
are justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Nobody's gonna be converted or
established into faith here in the gospel, so-called, of works
and will and decisionism and on and on it goes. Forgiveness
of sins is preached in a person. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. The gospel has to do with the
glorious person of the God-man, Jesus Christ. his eternal appointments. We know that God appointed him
as our substitute. God appointed him as the one
mediator between God and men. God appointed him, selected him,
sanctified him to be our high priest. Gave him the position
of king. It all has to do with the glorious
person of Christ. has to do with his life and his
death and his resurrection and his present reign and glory.
You can't preach the gospel without preaching the person of Jesus
Christ. I think Paul called it beating
the air. Beating the air. And then fourthly,
what happens in the hearts of chosen sinners when they're called
by this gospel? Romans 16 verse 25. This thing he said is according
to my gospel. And watch this. It's according
to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the
world began. When the Lord Jesus Christ is
pleased to call a sinner to himself, he causes him or her to know
something nobody else knows except another believer. Nobody else
knows this. Our text said it is a revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began.
Paul said we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world under our glory. And nobody will ever believe
unless God the Spirit reveals the mystery of Christ crucified
to us. And then suddenly, the Bible
becomes a hymn book. H-I-M. Now you understand it. Now you can see it. Boy, it's
on every page. Now, I couldn't find it for the
life of me. Just struggled and hunt and labor and work and try
to find this and try to find that, and as soon as I thought
I had something established, it just get blown out of the
water. And then the Lord revealed Christ to me. Man, that book
just opened up. Isn't that amazing? What happens in a sinner when
God calls him to the city? He fills him with light. He enlightens
him. He's able to see things he never
saw. The false gospel, the world's gospel, is not a mystery. Nothing
mysterious about it. Accept this, accept that, come
here, do this, sign this. Nothing mysterious about that.
Listened to a man this morning, he was talking about how that
you could overcome your mind and fit in better into society. Well, brother, you can be president
of the United States and not know God. I don't care if you
fit in society or not. There's nothing mysterious about
this false gospel. There's nothing divine in it.
No revelation needed, no gospel needed, no power needed. Just
make your decision and then go on your way. The gospel is a
declaration of the revelation, but it still remains hidden to
the world until they receive eyes to see and ears to hear. First Corinthians 2.14, that
natural man, he just will not receive the things of the Spirit
of God. They're foolishness to him. But neither can he know them
because they're spiritually discerned. They're not gonna be discerned
apart from these means that God has ordained are gonna happen. So what have we established so
far? Well, we've established there's only one source of power,
the Lord of glory. One means by which this power
is conferred, the gospel. Only one gospel, the preaching
of the person and work of Jesus Christ, and only one effect,
the revelation of the mystery in our hearts. We know the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul said we know that when Jesus
Christ came, he gave to us an understanding. that we might
know him that's true, that we're in him that's true, even in his
son Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal
life. And then lastly, there is but
one foundation. Look back at our text again in
verse 26. This mystery. is now made manifest. This gospel
is now made understood. It's made manifest by the scriptures
of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting
God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. There was no New Testament at
this time, just the Old Testament. It doesn't really matter what
someone you love has told you, or someone you were impressed
with growing up, or someone with letters after his name. Paul
said, let God be true and every man a liar. Let's see what God
says. What God, that's what's gonna
make a difference. It's not what you think, it's
not your opinion, it's not my opinion, it's what God says. The apostles had only one basis,
one foundation to support their declaration of Jesus being the
promised Messiah. And that is the Old Testament
scriptures. To him, Peter said, give all
the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. How many of the prophets said
that? All of them. He's the woman seed, Genesis
3, 15. He's the seed of the virgin,
according to Isaiah. Isaac, then a boy of around 15,
looked about and he said to his father Abraham, I see the wood
and the fire, where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? Abraham said
the Lord will provide himself a burnt offering, and indeed
he did. When John the Baptist saw Jesus
walking down that path, he said, behold, the Lamb of God. Huh? And what is the whole of the
Levitical priesthood but a picture of Christ? Hebrews 9.9 said they
were a figure for the time then present. And they stood in meats
and drinks and various washings and carnal ordinances. imposed
on men until the time of reformation. But Christ, Hebrews 9, 11, being
come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle that is not made with hands, not of this
building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered into the holy place once, having obtained
eternal redemption. for us. These things were patterns
of things in the heavens and shadows of good things to come. My pastor, Henry Mahan, said
this years ago. He said the Old Testament weaves
a garment that'll just fit one man. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me read you this over
in Luke 24 and I'll wrap this whole thing up. Our Lord, after
his resurrection, appeared to his disciples, and they were
forlorn, to say the least. They were upset. They thought
he was going to reestablish the Jewish nation and return it to
its former state of glory and all that. Their head was so filled
with religious nonsense. And the Lord was just steady
telling them what he was going to do and who he was. And he
had to die and all these things, but it didn't fit what was in
their head. And they were still trying to
take the scriptures and make it fit this idea they had in
their head. And he appeared to them, but
he appeared as a stranger. They didn't know who he was.
They were walking along there on the road to Emmaus. And it
said, he said, old fools and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have said. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them and all the scriptures,
all the Old Testament scriptures, the things concerning himself.
And then he revealed himself to them, and he sat and ate with
them, and then he vanished out of their sight again, and they
said, oh, didn't our hearts burn as we walked along the way? And
he opened to us the scriptures. And then he appeared to them
again in verse 44, and he said unto them, these are the words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses,
that is, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and in the prophets, and in the
Psalms concerning me. Now listen to this next line.
opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. Isn't that so? By the scriptures of the prophets
according to the commandment of the everlasting God. Who said
his gospel has to be preached? God did. Well, did he present it as an
option? No. He says here it's the commandment
of God. Well, how long is that gonna
be enforced? Well, this God who commanded
it is the everlasting God. By the scriptures of the prophets,
according to the commandment of the everlasting God, these
things are made known to all nations. Why? For the obedience
of faith. For the obedience of faith. God
commands and believe. He's not asking
you pretty please, he's commanding you to believe on his son. And yet what a gracious commandment
that is. What a gracious commandment.
Lord take the things we prepared this morning and especially those
verses from the word of God that we read and quicken them in the
hearts of all of us who are gathered here today Make us to understand
these are your words, beautiful, wonderful words, powerful words. And oh, be pleased to establish
us in your grace and in your gospel and in your son. We ask
it for Christ's sake. All right, let's take our hymn
books. Let's stand, please, for our closing hymn. Turn to hymn number 42. Hymn number 42, we just sang the first
and the last verses of All Hail the Power. All Hail the Power, hymn number
42. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song
and crowned him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crowned him Lord of all. Thank you. You're dismissed. Thank you.