I have been preaching the gospel
of God's grace for 45 years. And I have preached many, many
times from the book of Romans, from every chapter in the book.
But I have never before attempted to preach through the book of
Romans, simply because I've never been so inclined by God's spirit.
But as I started praying about the direction God would have
me to take in ministering to you toward the close of the year. I was strongly inclined to turn
again to this great epistle. And so this morning, we're going
to begin. And if God enables me, I will
be preaching to you on Sunday mornings through the Book of
Romans beginning this morning. Today, we'll look at the whole
book. Our text will be Romans chapters 1 through 16. Long text
makes for a brief sermon, hopefully. But Book of Romans, if you're
taking notes, the title is Romans. God's grace, God's purpose, God's
salvation. God's grace, God's purpose, God's
salvation. that pretty well summarizes this
great epistle. Martin Luther called the Book
of Romans the perfect gospel and referred to it as the true
masterpiece of the New Testament. He wrote, this letter is truly
the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest gospel. It is impossible to read or meditate
on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with
it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes. John
Calvin said, when anyone gains a knowledge of this epistle,
he has an entrance open to him to the most hidden treasures
of scripture. Both statements are exactly right. Read and study the epistle to
the Romans and you read and study the clearest instruction in the
gospel. It is that which gives us in
the New Testament the full scope of the gospel of God's grace.
This book of Romans is considered by many to be the most profound
piece of literature in existence, and I wouldn't dispute that.
It is without question an epistle of pure gold from beginning to
end. This book by God's grace has
powerfully altered the lives of countless millions for 2,000
years. It's given to us by divine arrangement
as the first of Paul's epistles. It certainly was not the first
one written. In fact, it was one of the latter epistles that
Paul wrote. but is placed first by divine
arrangement in the canon of Holy Scripture simply, I think, because
of its great importance. This is the epistle that brought
Martin Luther out of the darkness of Roman Catholic heathenism
and idolatry into the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
and lit a fire that lit the world we commonly call the Reformation. Maybe that will whet your appetite
a little bit for reading the book of Romans many times this
next few months. Paul wrote this epistle to the
saints at Rome while he was yet at Corinth, but he had never
met them. I find that remarkable. He had
heard of their faith. We don't know how they first
heard the gospel of God's grace, how God first established a gospel
church in their midst, but he heard of these believers at Rome
worshipping God, men and women who sought the glory of God and
believed God. And this man, now an aged servant
of God, traveling relentlessly in the preaching of the gospel,
a man constantly writing, writing the epistles of the New Testament
and writing countless other epistles to various churches and individuals
of which we have no record today. He hears about the faith of these
saints at Rome and he takes down his pen and begins to write an
epistle to that congregation, an epistle of great thoughtfulness,
an epistle of considerable length, the longest in all the New Testament
epistles. And he writes this to a people
he had never met, a people whose names he did not know, a people
of whom he had only heard. He didn't have the luxury that
we have today of rapid correspondence by email or even by regular post. He wrote this epistle to them
taking great efforts to write exactly that which he wanted
to write, but more importantly, that which God the Holy Spirit
directed and dictated that he write to them. And as I read
that, I think to myself, what a magnanimous man. What a magnanimous
spirit this man must have been to take the time and the labor
and the effort to write for the benefit of men's souls whom he
had never seen, of whom he had never known face to face. This book is important because
it reveals every aspect of gospel truth. Now, let's begin in chapter
one. Paul begins here by giving us
a clear definition of the gospel. Now the gospel is defined for
us many times in the New Testament. Paul defines it again in 1 Corinthians
15. He defines it again in Galatians
chapter 1. He gives us here a definition
of the gospel. Now understand this, there is
but one gospel. This book does not reveal a gospel,
but the gospel. And the definition of the gospel
is to be determined only by God himself in the book of Holy Scripture. So that all the definitions men
write of the gospel, and I have read hundreds, all the definitions
men give of the gospel, both in casual writing and conversation
and in the creeds of Christianity and the various confessions of
faith. All those definitions must be read and understood only
in the light of what God says in his word. Here God defines
the gospel. God defines the gospel. You'll
often hear folks say, in the gospel it says, and they are
generally referring to the gospel narratives of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. Those are gospel narratives,
gospel narratives containing the gospel, They're called gospel,
good news, because they declare to us the person and work of
our Lord Jesus while he was here upon the earth, his preaching,
his miracles, his person, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. But Matthew is not the gospel,
it contains it. Understand that. So when you
say, in the gospel it's written, no, the gospel narratives are
records of the good news. Here the gospel is plainly and
clearly defined. Look at what the apostle says.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
under the gospel of God. Lord willing, I'll have a lot
to say about that in the future. But understand this, Paul counted
it his highest honor and greatest responsibility to be the servant
of Jesus Christ. Called, gifted, separated by
God to be an apostle, a messenger of the Son of God. and separated
unto the gospel, separated by God to the gospel, and a man
who relentlessly to the day of his death separated himself to
the gospel. Word to God, I could get the
ear of every preacher or would-be preacher in the world. If you
would serve God in your generation, You must relentlessly separate
yourself unto the gospel so that it is that by which you are consumed,
by which your time and talents and abilities and labor is consumed. giving yourself not to entertainment,
not to pleasure, not to society, not to the world, not to business,
not even to your family, but giving yourself relentlessly
to the study and the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse two, this gospel, which
is of God, which he had promised of four by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures, the gospel, is of God. He's the one who gives
us the gospel. It was conceived in his mind
in eternity, and it is executed by him in time, revealed in the
hearts of chosen sinners by his spirit. This gospel is nothing
new. It was promised afore by God's
prophets in the Holy Scriptures, so that all the book of God All
the book of God is that which promises the gospel of God's
grace, the good news of redemption accomplished, the good news of
salvation in Jesus Christ, the good news of life eternal through
the merits of the blood and righteousness of God's darling son. So that
you can read the book of Genesis and say, we're reading the gospel
of Genesis. just as you would read the gospel
of Matthew, so that in the book of God, the whole book is the
revelation of the gospel of Christ. And Paul particularly tells us
here, by the inspiration of God, that the Old Testament scriptures,
the prophets of the Old Testament, again, would to God, I had the
ear of all Bible teachers and preachers, the prophets of the
Old Testament, did not write about the nation of Israel. They did not write about the
USSR or about the United States or about Korea or about China. The prophets did not write about
a future millennial age. The prophets wrote about the
gospel. You understand that? But Brother
Don, aren't those things to be found in the book of God? Oh,
yes. Oh, yes. You can find things in the word
of God addressing everything in the world. But the book is
about the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Read on. This gospel
of God promised in the scriptures is concerning God's son, his
son, Jesus Christ. It's all about Christ, our Lord. Christ is the gospel. You cannot separate the gospel
from Christ or Christ from the gospel, and I don't have any
idea why folks would attempt to do so. To move away from Christ,
one step is to move away from the gospel. In preaching, To
preach anything other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified is not
to preach the gospel, but something else. Preaching is the preaching
of Jesus Christ crucified. I wrote to, if you like what
I'm telling you, I wrote to him just a few weeks ago addressing
the matter of preaching. And I used an illustration of
one that you're very familiar with, by the Larry Criss. I've
known Larry now for, hmm, at least 37, 38 years. I've been
his pastor that long. And I've heard him preach a great
deal, as you have. And I said to Frank, I said,
let me tell you one reason why folks are always anxious and
delighted to hear Larry preach. It's not that he is profound,
deeply learned, highly educated, not that he brings deep, deep
studies that tickle men's ears or digs into mysterious things
that just are hatched in his imagination. I'll tell you why
they always do. He finds his text and runs as
rapidly as he can to Jesus Christ crucified. with utter simplicity, with utter
simplicity, with no effort being made to impress anyone, with
no effort being made to win anyone's applause, just to speak of the
Savior. Oh, what a high commendation
for preaching. That's what preaching is. It
is the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is concerning
his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, our master, which was made of
the seed of David, according to the flesh, made of the seed
of David as a man made as a man. The word was made flesh and dropped
among us and declared to be the son of God with power, not made
the son of God. Declared to be not became the
Son of God declared to be according to the Spirit of holiness According
to the Spirit of God by the resurrection from the dead God the Holy Spirit
declared Jesus Christ the man, the man of the seed of David,
that one who was crucified at Calvary and buried in a borrowed
tomb on the third day, declared him manifestly to be the son
of God when he was raised from the dead. He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification and thereby
God the Holy Spirit justified him, justified all his claims
as the Messiah, justified him from the sin that had been made
his and was imputed to him for which he died and had put away
that sin when he was raised from the dead. Verse five. by whom
we have received grace and apostleship. We who are saved by God's grace
are saved through Jesus Christ and that grace comes from him
and him alone. For obedience to the faith among
all nations for his name. God has made us his apostles,
Paul says. Well, he's talking about himself
and other apostles. Apply that to every messenger
of the gospel. We have received grace and been
made God's messengers for the obedience of the faith so that
men and women chosen of God, loved of God, and redeemed by
Christ might be brought to faith in Jesus Christ among the nations
for his namesake, for the glory of his name, among whom Are ye
also the called of Jesus Christ? Here I have the privilege now
of addressing you who are the called of Jesus Christ. God called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light, out of death into life. out of bondage
into liberty. God called you by his spirit
who was sent by Jesus Christ as another comforter to call
his own to life and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel
then is all about Jesus Christ, God's darling son. It is upon
this great fact the fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead, as
he was declared to be the son of God with power, that the whole
gospel rest. Everything. People sometimes
dabble in theories concerning the resurrection, and men thoughtlessly,
they pretend to be great thinkers, but they thoughtlessly think
little of or begin to question the reality of the resurrection.
the whole truth of the gospel, the whole truth of God's word,
everything God makes to stand or fall upon the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ is not risen, you're
yet in your sins and we're found false witnesses of God. That's
written by the man who wrote this epistle under inspiration
of God. If Christ did not literally rise
from the dead, if he did not in a body come out of the tomb,
walk on this earth, and then ascend in the glory, then the
whole word of God's a fake, a fable. A fallacy. Nothing but a fantasy. Some man has dreamed up. Or a
group of men have dreamed up. No. The whole thing hinges upon
this fact. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And that's the sure and certain
fact that promises the resurrection of our souls and our bodies as
well. He arose the first fruits. And if the first fruits came
forth, then the full harvest shall also come forth and we
shall rise from the dead. And then Paul tells us in verse
five, that it is in Christ and by the gospel that we receive
this grace, this everlasting life that's ours in Christ Jesus. Then beginning in verse 18 of
chapter one, the apostle goes through verse 19 of chapter three. Showing us the universal need
of the gospel. It tells us in chapter one I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm ready to preach the
gospel to you that are at Rome He said he said this gospel.
It's the power of God to salvation This is the gospel by which God
calls me into life and faith in Christ And then he begins
to show us the need the great need of the gospel. He shows
us that all men utterly and totally depraved. Now the purpose for
this is to show us the absolute necessity of salvation by Christ. There's no possibility, there's
no possibility of hope for anyone apart from the gospel. No possibility
of hope for anyone apart from Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, doing
for them what they cannot and will not do for themselves. All
men by nature are condemned, he tells us, and hold the truth
of God in unrighteousness. They suppress, they hold down
the truth of God in unrighteousness. You see that in verse 18? Romans
1, 18. They hold the truth, they hold down, suppress the truth
of God in unrighteousness. The heathen know the truth of
God by the light of nature, by the light of conscience, by the
light of reason. They know that God is, they know
that God is righteous, they know that God is just, and they know
that they must meet God in judgment. Those things all men by nature
know, but they push it down. They suppress it. They suppress
it. In Psalm 14, the wicked say in
their heart, there is no God. Rothbard was exactly right when
he gave a better translation of that. They say in their heart,
no, God, no, God, no, God, not they say there is no God. They
know better than that. The fact is, all men are liars
and they constantly say, no, God, I won't have it. I won't have it. Not there is
no God. You may be sitting there. I don't know if any of you would
imagine such. You wouldn't tell me if you did.
But I don't believe in the existence of God. You're a liar. I don't
care who you are. I don't care who you are. You're
a liar. You're a liar. You know better. You know better.
God stamped that on your conscience. The Jews are like the Gentiles,
the heathen, without the word of God, without the law, without
the gospel being revealed to them. The Jews and you who are
here, you have the light of God, not only by conscience and by
nature so that you know that God is, you have the light of
God's revelation. Paul is writing this concerning
the Jews and the Gentiles. He said the Gentiles, the heathen,
they had the light of God without the revelation of God's law.
without the law and the prophets and the testimony of the sacrifices
and ceremonies of the Old Testament Scriptures. But you, you who
are Jews, you who have God's Word given to you, speaking now
to you sitting here, you have the light of the Word of God
in your hand and the Word of God clearly and distinctly preached
to you. Now, what a responsibility that
is. You have the word of God given to you. Did you hear that? You have the word of God given
to you. You've heard it. Most of you, all your lives. This is called Lexus's eye next
year going off to school. Don't forget your whole life
long. You've had God's witness given
to you. And to sin against it is to sin
against the greatest light there is. And our Savior describes
it as being greater evil than the wickedness of Sodom and of
Gomorrah. To go to hell with your fingers
in your ears saying, no, God, I won't have him. To go to hell
saying, God, shut up, I won't hear you. is to go to hell with
your fist shoved in God's face, trying best you can to push God
out of your way, and hell shall have its deepest pit reserved
for folks who sin against the light of the gospel of God. Oh,
what a desperate need there is for men. Paul tells us that the
whole of this is to show us, verse 19 of chapter 3, the whole
revelation of this. He declares thou an inexcusable
old man in chapter 2 verse 1 then in chapter 3 19 verse chapter
3 verse 19 Now we know that what things whoever the law saith
it saith to them who are under the law That every mouth may
be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God Those words refer not just to
the Ten Commandments, but Paul is in this context specifically
addressing the wicked, the ungodly, whose mouths are full of cursing
and bitterness. They're inwardly ravening wolves. They're just The way of peace
is not before them but just destruction and misery in their ways. That's
how it describes them. None doing good, none knowing
God, none capable of doing good in chapter 3 verses 10 through
18. And then it says the law is given. The revelation of God
is given. So that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world become guilty before God. Now hear me. Oh God help you to hear me. God help you to hear me. There's no excuse for you not
to believe God. No excuse for you not to trust
Christ. No excuse for you not to seek
the Lord. No excuse for you to go to hell. No excuse. If you go to hell,
it will be altogether your own doing. Altogether. Well, what about
election, predestination, and purpose of God? If you go to hell, it will be
altogether because you have chosen not to bow to Jesus Christ the
Lord. And that's the issue. That's
the issue of faith. It is the surrender of your life
to the rule of the crucified Savior, trusting Him alone for
all things. And if you say no, if you say
no, and some of you sitting here right now say no. I ain't going
to listen to that. No. I'm not going to trust the
Son of God. No! I'll live my own life. I'll do what I want to and I
will not bow. You will bow. You will bow. Either now in this day of grace
and seek his mercy or at last in the day of judgment and acknowledge
his justice in your own everlasting damnation. Now forget that if
you can. Go ahead and forget it if you
can. And I'm praying God won't let it happen. I'm praying that
you can't forget it. And in the deep recesses of your
heart, God constantly screams your guilt to you until you seek
refuge in Christ the Lord. Then beginning in chapter 3,
verse 20, Going through the fifth chapter, the apostle teaches
us how men are justified by the free grace of God in Jesus Christ
the Lord. He gives us the declaration that
God's salvation is a matter of righteousness and justice. Verse 26 of chapter three, to
declare at this time God's righteousness. that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So Paul said, now I'm
going to tell you how God saves sinners. I'm going to tell you
how God saves sinners in complete consistency with his own holy
character. He does it by satisfying justice
on the behalf of sinners through the person and work of his son.
He does it by fulfilling all righteousness, bringing in righteousness
and satisfying justice for his people, putting away their sins
so that it is right for God. It's right for God to justify
all who believe on his son. And he gives us two examples
in chapter four, Abraham and David. He tells us that Abraham
and David believed God. And believing God, we're told
in verse three of chapter four, Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. It was imputed to him for righteousness. Now justification is not accomplished
by you believing on the son of God. No, no, no, no, no, no. Justification is received. It
is experienced by you believing on the Son of God. Justification
was accomplished when Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. When he finished the work of
redemption, justification was done. We were made right before
God because justice was fully satisfied. When we read in Romans
4, 22, that God imputed the righteousness of Christ to Abraham, Paul tells
us this was not written for Abraham's sake alone, but for us also to
whom it is being imputed if we believe on him who raised up
the Lord Jesus from the dead. Now look at chapter 5, verse
1. Therefore, being justified, being justified, and put the
comma right there, that's where it belongs. Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. The sinner looks out of himself
to Christ and believes on the Lord Jesus and has peace with
God because he's justified. His conscience declares him not
guilty. His screaming conscience that
tormented him. terrifying him with everlasting
damnation, now is silent. His conscience says, yonder,
the crucified Christ. That's enough. Justice is satisfied. And we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the apostle describes
two men, Adam and Christ. The reality is God only deals
with two men, just two men, the first Adam and the last Adam.
The first man and the last man. All who were in Adam, that's
the whole human race. All who were in Adam died in
Adam. When Adam sinned, we sinned.
Explain that, Brother Don. I'll tell you what, you take
that up with God. You take it up with God. God said it. That makes it so. God fixed it
so that you lived in Adam. He didn't create men one at a
time. That baby you're expecting, that
baby in your womb right now, was not immediately created by
God. That baby comes from your husband's
seed planted in your womb, made by God, but not immediately created.
That baby was created in the garden when God made Adam. You
understand that? That baby was created in the
garden when God made Adam. And when Adam sinned, that baby
sinned. And when Adam died, that baby
died. And when Adam was put under the
justice and wrath and judgment of God, that baby put under the
justice and wrath and judgment of God because of Adam's sin,
because of his sin in Adam. Therefore, the child, that baby
is going to come out of your womb, speaking lies. You won't
have to teach you how to do that. It just comes natural. It just
comes natural. That's what total depravity is
all about. Boy, I don't like that. Oh, that's
wonderful. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. You see, the angels that sinned,
the angels that sinned, each one, one by one, said, I'll follow
Lucifer. I'll follow Lucifer. I'll follow
Lucifer. And his revolt laid in heaven
against the throne of God, against his Christ on his throne. Read
about it in fourth chapter of Revelation. And they're cast
into the earth and reserved in chains of darkness under the
judgment of the last day with no hope of mercy. No fallen angel
will ever be retrieved from the fall. They're forever reserved. They fell one by one. There's
no hope of life for them. But that baby fell in a representative
man. That baby fell in a covenant
head. That baby fell in another person. Maybe. Maybe. Oh, just maybe,
maybe there's another representative man, another Adam, another federal
head, another covenant surety in whom life might be found. Well, look at Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5, verse 14. Verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not seen, what's this,
after the submittitude of Adam's transgression, he was the figure,
the type, the symbol, the picture of him that was to come. So Paul tells us by divine inspiration,
Adam was created in the garden and all this transpired Adams
fall I fall in Adam Adams death I death in Adam Adams ruin I
ran out of all this happened because Adam was the figure of
another Adam That man was the figure of another man that Represented
the figure of another representative and that last Adam is Christ
the Lord That last Adam is the man Christ Jesus. And Paul tells
us in this fifth chapter that as an Adam all died, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive. By one man's disobedience, the
many who were in him were made sinners. By one man's obedience,
the many who are in him are made righteous. So that all who are
in Christ In Christ, we are made new creatures in Christ as we
come in the experience of the new birth. But the creation was
done when Christ stood forth as the surety of the covenant
people he represented in eternity. So that as he stood forth as
our life, we had life in him. And now by his obedience unto
God, not for himself, but for us. By his righteousness, we
obey God. By his death, we died. By his
satisfaction of justice, we satisfied justice. And now we live in him
in complete free justification of life. In chapter 6, Paul gives
us a brief explanation of the meaning of believers' baptism.
Declaring that we're buried with Christ, risen with Christ, and
the intent of that is to declare that we shall walk in the newness
of life. And then beginning in the middle,
the next verse is chapter six, verses 12 and following, he talks
to us about us reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God,
living in this world for God, living without the bondage of
sin's death, living without the bondage of sin's curse, living
without the bondage of the law's constraints, living without the
bondage of the law's terror, living without the bondage of
the law's fear, we're free in Christ to live for God. In the seventh chapter, he describes
for us the experience of those who are born of God. While we
live in this world, We live with a constant struggle with sin. This is not a matter of theological
precision. It's not a matter of debate.
Frank Hall, as long as you live here, you're going to live with
a constant warfare in your soul, flesh and spirit, warring against one another so
that you can't do the things you would. Just can't. Just can't. Why is that, Brother Don? I don't
know all the reasons, but I know this. As long as we live here,
God's fixed it so that we are compelled to cry from our hearts,
as Celeste sang for us a little bit ago, oh, here's my heart,
oh, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above
for this reason. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave. the God I love. So he keeps us looking to Christ,
knowing that what we are, we are by the grace of God. If we
stand, he holds us. If we're lifted up, he lifts
us up. If we're preserved, he preserves us. If we're kept,
he keeps us. If we don't behave shamelessly,
if we don't do something, forget we. If Don Fortner doesn't do
something today to make you ashamed to know his name, it's only because
God keeps me from it. You understand that? You understand
that? And the same is true of you.
Jerry Sadler, if today you don't do something to make that woman
ashamed she ever met you, it's only because God keeps you. That's all. Because the evil
is in you, and it's in me. Oh, how wonderful it shall be
to then be free from this old man when at last Adam is put
in the grave. And Christ alone lives in me
and I in him in heaven's glory. But we get chapter eight and
the apostle is continuing with this thing of sanctification.
He's saying there's therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. to them who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. And then it says, you are not
in the flesh, but in the spirit. Your life, your life, child of
God, is not this dying flesh. Your life is not this old man. Your life is not this corruption. Your life is that immortality
that God's put in your soul that shall at last bring forth your
body out of the grave in the glorious liberty of the sons
of God. And beginning in chapter eight,
Going through the end of the 11th chapter, the apostle tells
us this is a matter of certainty. This is a matter of certainty. Every sinner, every sinner loved
of God, every sinner chosen of God, every sinner redeemed by
the blood of Jesus Christ, every sinner who believes on the Son
of God, everyone. Would you know your election
of God? Would you know that God Almighty loves you with an everlasting
love? Would you know that God's chosen
you to be one of his own? Would you know that Jesus Christ
died in your stead? Would you know that you've been
called of God? Believe on the Son of God. Believe Him. For every sinner
who believes on the Lord Jesus Alive in the spirit He walks
not at the flesh, but after the spirit he's born of God and shall
at last Live with Christ forever in the glory of heaven's bliss
Whatever that is Whatever that is folks folks often ask me about
heaven More often, they ask me about hell. I don't know why
folks love to talk about hell. I don't understand that. It's
some kind of a morbid thing about religious folks love to talk
about folks going to hell. I hope you don't. But I'll be honest
with you. I know even less about the glory
of heaven. But whatever that is, Lindsay,
infinitely beyond what you've ever imagined. Whatever that is, is a matter
of absolute certainty. Because God purposed it. And
that's what Romans 8 28 through chapter 11 verse 36 is all about.
God purposed it. God purposed it. Now people talk
about God planning this and God planning that. Let me tell you
something about God. God doesn't plan anything. I make plans. I just told you
a little while ago about some of my plans for the next couple
of weeks. I make plans, but my plans are easily disrupted. They're
easily disrupted because I don't control anything. God doesn't
make plans, Bobby. God purposed everything. And
his purpose is the salvation of his people in all things.
That's his purpose. And he will bring it to pass
exactly as he's purposed. He raises up nations and tears
them down to accomplish his purpose. He gave the light of the gospel
to a people, the nation of Israel, whom he had ordained to destruction. But he gave it to them. For 2,000
years, Israel alone had the light of the gospel. And God preserved
his truth in the world through that nation. And when Christ
Jesus came, that proud nation nailed him to the cursed tree
and said, crucify him, crucify him. Let his blood be on us and
on our children. And they got what they asked
for. They got what they asked for. And God cast them off. But
it wasn't by accident. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
It wasn't by accident. That was so that God would send
the gospel to the heathen. to gather his elect from among
the Gentiles out of the four corners of the earth. And so
all Israel shall be saved according to God's purpose. Now, look how
Paul concludes that in Romans chapter 11, verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Oh, God, give
me some folks who hear the word rather than fussing and fighting
and trying to choose up and take sides, bow down and worship. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He's too big for you
to figure him out. How unsearchable are his judgments,
his ways past finding out. For who had known the mind of
the Lord or who had been his counselor? or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again. For
of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom
be glory forever. Amen. And then we get to the
12th chapter, on to the end of the book. Paul says, now in the
light of all these things, I had just one reasonable conclusion. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Devote yourselves utterly to
Christ. Utterly to Christ. Devote everything to Him. Everything
to Him. Let nothing come between your
soul and your Savior. Devote everything to Him. Rex
Butler, that's the only thing under God's heaven makes any
sense for you or me. That's the only thing under God's
heaven makes any sense. What's the most reasonable thing
a man can do? Live for Christ. What's the most reasonable thing
a man can do, woman can do? Live to God. That's all. That's all. Utterly consecrated
to Him. And live to God with this blessed
promise. Verse 20, chapter 16. and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your
heels, under your feet shortly. That fiend of hell who has caused so much havoc
and so much trouble that fiend of hell, of indescribable power to perform
wickedness soon. It will be long now. I'm going
to stand with my feet on his neck triumphant. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.