This is the first chapter. We recognize and rejoice in the
great, blessed, soul-comforting truths of the gospel revealed
in God's sovereignty in the work of salvation. We recognize that
salvation is entirely the work of our God. Those who are saved,
all who are saved are saved because God chose us in eternity to be
his sons and daughters. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
died as our substitute in our room instead at Calvary and satisfied
the justice of God putting away our sins and because God the
Holy Spirit has given us life, called us from death to life
by the effectual, almighty, irresistible power of his grace. And God saves
sinners by specific ordained means. He saves sinners according
to his purpose by the instrumentality of gospel preaching. No one is
saved without the call of God's Spirit, the redemption of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the election of God the Father. And none are
saved without the preaching of the gospel in this gospel age. In this first chapter of Romans,
the Apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration, deals with
this matter of what it is to preach the gospel, defining both
who it is that preaches it and what the gospel is and what it
is to preach it by his example as well as his instruction. Now,
I want to stress the necessary utility or instrumentality of
the preaching of the gospel in this business of salvation because
it is stressed in Scripture. The issue is not, and I know
hyper-Calvinist and hard shells, they tell us, well, you're limiting
God. The issue is not whether or not
God can save sinners without the use of means. He can. There's
just no question about that. The issue is whether or not He
will. And according to Scripture, according to the plain statements
of Holy Scripture, so plain that confusion in this matter is absolutely
inexcusable. According to the plain statements
of Scripture, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, and that's the preaching of the gospel.
We're born again, not by corruptible seed, but by incorruptible, by
the word of God, which lives and abides forever. God has ordained
then that chosen, redeemed sinners be called to life and faith in
Christ through the preaching of the gospel. That makes this
business of gospel preaching a matter of tremendous importance.
If God is pleased to give life to a sinner, if God is pleased
to grant any everlasting life and faith in Christ, He will
do it through the instrumentality of the gospel of His grace. We
can't speak with regard to things in the past, in previous ages.
We can't even address those issues, though I think certainly the
Scriptures give clear indication that the same was true in that
day. But in the Scriptures, wherein the worship and service of our
God is regulated in the New Testament, it is plainly written that this
is God's means of grace to chosen sinners. The only means of grace. So that it's so terribly, terribly
vital. that we take care to preach the
gospel, and terribly vital that we urge and persuade men and
women to hear the gospel, and terribly vital that we ourselves
hear it. Now turn here to Romans chapter
1, and let's see what the scripture says concerning this. Here are
three questions. I'm going to follow the outline
that I gave you in the study sheets fairly closely today.
Number one, who preaches the gospel? And we can't do better
than look in the example of the Apostle Paul. He says, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel. This man Paul is a man who was
the servant of Jesus Christ. And that man who truly preaches
the gospel of God's grace, that man who always preaches the gospel
of God's grace, that man who preaches the whole gospel and
preaches the gospel exclusively is the servant of Christ and
only he. Now did you get what I said?
That man who truly preaches the gospel, who always preaches the
gospel, and who exclusively preaches the gospel, he is the servant
of Jesus Christ. Gospel preachers are the willing,
voluntary bond slaves of the Son of God. I've called your
attention to this many times, and you see it throughout the
New Testament. Paul does not refer to himself as Dr. Paul or Reverend Paul or Father
Paul or Pope Paul, but rather as Paul. Paul, the servant of
Christ. Not the servant, really, but
a servant of Jesus Christ. He was just one servant among
many, and he counted it his highest honor and privilege to be numbered
among them. called to be an apostle. And
that word apostle certainly refers to those specifically chosen
men who heard Christ and learned the gospel from him in the flesh. Those specifically ordained officers
of the church who had special gifts for inspiration, special
gifts by God's spirit for the gifts of the spirit and so on.
But the word basically means messenger. And that's what a
gospel preacher is. He's a messenger. A messenger,
a man who has received a message from God to deliver to other
men. The gospel preacher is a man
with a message. That makes him a man with authority. That makes him a man with boldness.
That makes him a man with determination. Every gospel preacher has a sense
of a messianic call, a messianic purpose, a messianic mission. You've heard many times on television
when they start to talk about various cultic groups like David
Koresh and Sung Young Moon and those fellows, they say, well,
they're always messianic. Well, they're not, but they think
they are. They think they are. And if you find a man who even
thinks, who's convinced that he himself has a messianic mandate. You found a man who can't be
controlled by anybody or anything except that which moves him.
Now God's servants are men who cannot be controlled. by anything
outside this matter of the gospel of God's grace. They will not
be manipulated, they will not be coerced, they will not be
forced, they will not by any means be turned aside from this
mandate. I have a message, the message
of God Almighty by which alone sinners hear from God, meet with
God, and know God. And it's a message you must hear,
a message that must be delivered. Moses, Moses was such a man,
uncontrollable. Why? Because God sent him and
he knew it. A meek man, the meekest man who
lived in his day. A meek man indeed, but a man
uncontrollable. Even by his fears, a man uncontrollable
because he had a message from God. John the Baptist was such
a man. A man who when it cost him his
life could not be controlled because he had a message from
God. Now look at verse 1 again. Let me tell you something about
that man who truly preaches the gospel. Separated under the gospel. God's servants are separated
to this work. Separated in so many ways. Separated
by God's everlasting decree and purpose. In Jeremiah chapter
1, the Lord told Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I
ordained thee and knew thee and ordained thee a prophet. The
apostle Paul said, when it pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb. so that the man who has been
called of God to preach the gospel is separated from among men for
this specific work from eternity. And God Almighty has arranged
all the affairs of his life, all the affairs of providence,
all things even in secret before he ever knows God, to bring him
and equip him and prepare him for the work God has him to do,
putting him in the place where God would have him. He is separated
in the call of the Spirit in the new birth so that those who
preach the gospel like you are sinners saved by God's free grace.
We are all simply sinners saved by grace. And yet the gospel
preacher is separated from among men as well. by the special call
and gifts of God the Holy Spirit upon him, whereby God calls him
out from the other men in his kingdom and puts in him the gifts
which qualify him for the work of the gospel. Those gifts, you
can read about them in 2 Timothy, and you can read about them in
1 Timothy, you can read about them in the book of Titus, other places in
the New Testament, but those gifts certainly include these
things. A man who is separated unto the gospel is one who has
given an understanding of the gospel in all the scriptures.
so that it has a comprehensive understanding of the word, understanding
what the message of the book is. I don't make any pretense
of understanding everything written in this book. There are a lot
of things I don't understand, but I understand the whole book.
I understand the whole book. I know what the message of the
book is. I know exactly what God's teaching in this book.
I know why the book was revealed. And the gospel preacher has that
understanding. Understanding the scriptures.
Our Lord said, I will give you pastors according to my own heart
who shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding. And the
gospel preacher also is a man who is apt to teach. He's gifted
of God to communicate the message. How do I say this? Men have varying
gifts. Not all preachers are alike and
none of them are alike. If they're exactly alike, something's
wrong, because somebody's imitating somebody else. But they all see
eye to eye with regard to truth, and they're gifted of God to
proclaim the truth. So that the gospel preacher has gifts of
God, not only to proclaim the gospel and instruct people in
the word, but specifically to communicate the gospel to those
people to whom God gives him as his messenger, so that in
all things he's separated unto the gospel. But this passage
here, where Paul says separated unto the gospel, speaks more
specifically of a personal, deliberate, determined separation to the
gospel. Paul is saying, I am by my own
ever-increasing devotion and determination separated unto
the gospel. That man who preaches the gospel
of Christ is like Abraham's servant. You remember back in the book
of Genesis, Eliezer went seeking a bride for Isaac. And Rebecca's
brother said, come do this, come do that, and he said, I won't
eat a thing, I won't sit down, we won't talk until I've told
you my mission, until I've given you my master's message. And
God's servant who seeks the bride for the Lord Jesus Christ will
not be distracted from his work, neither by pleasure nor by pressure. Now look here in Romans chapter
1, beginning of verse 9. Let me show you Paul's example. For God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son. I'm talking to you
now, Paul says, as a man standing before God, God's my witness,
and I'm sincere. Without ceasing, I make mention
of you always in my prayers. Making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come to you, for I long to see you, that I may impart unto you
some spiritual gift to the end that you may be established.
That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual
faith both of you and of me. Now I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, but was let or
hindered hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also,
even as among other Gentiles. For I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor. This is a matter of responsibility. This is a matter that lays heavy
on me. I'm a debtor. I'm under this
load. both to the Greeks and to the
barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much
as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at
Rome also. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the message
of God's grace. I won't be silenced. This is what I've come to preach.
For it is the power, the explosive dynamite power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Now why on earth does Paul use this kind of language
in this context? It's I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
He's talking about preaching the gospel. He's talking about
declaring the gospel to men. Surely, if a man comes preaching
the gospel, folks will know he's not ashamed of it. If you read
1 Corinthians 2, Paul says, I deliberately came to you, not with the excellency
of man's speech, not with wisdom of words, but in power, and in
demonstration of the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, that your
faith should not stand in men, but in God. Now this is what
he's saying. I'm not going to hide the message
of God's grace, I'm not going to try to make the message of
Christ more palatable to me, and I'm not going to try to somehow
take off the rough edges by intellectual argument and intellectual philosophy,
but I'm rather going to simply declare to you the gospel. It is its own power, the very
power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. You see,
when men And it often happens, men who at least intellectually
understand the doctrine of God's grace, they presume that if you
just tell it, men are going to rebel. And they will. There's
no question they will. It's in the heart and nature
of man. No man likes to be told what he is. No man likes to be
told that he's in God's hands. No man likes to be told that
he cannot approach God except through the merits of Christ
and he won't do that unless God gives him faith to do it. So
if we could present historic foundation and historic validity,
if we can present logical arguments compelling men to believe these
things, if we can present the gospel as you would present facts
in history and build things one on top of the other and present
logical arguments, one argument on top of the other, then men
will be compelled to believe the gospel. That is to be ashamed
of it. That is to be ashamed of it.
That's to take the message and cover it up. Take the sword and
put it in a nice velvet sheath so you can't feel any of the
edges. And it doesn't do any good. That's what Paul's talking
about. He says, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel. I'm ready. I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also. All right, now read on. Verse
16. It's the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein, here
is how it's the power of God. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed in this message. Of Christ our crucified Redeemer,
of Christ our effectual Savior, in this message of the gospel
is the righteousness of God revealed. It's revealed from faith to faith
in this way. It's revealed from my faith by
his word to your faith. It's revealed from the faith
of this generation to the next generation as it's set forth
in this word. But it is revealed only, the
righteousness of God is revealed only by the gospel being declared
to men. And who preaches the gospel?
These men who are God's servants, called messengers of God, Almighty,
who has sent them to preach the gospel by His Spirit. Alright,
what is the gospel? Look at verse 2. which he had
promised aforetime by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning
his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
woman according to the flesh, I'm sorry, 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, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience
to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom you
are the called of Jesus Christ." Now, here are several things
plainly described here as distinct characteristics identifying the
gospel. Number one, it is the gospel
of God. That means God's the one who
devised it, God's the one who reveals it, God's the one who
gets the glory for it. But more than that, it is the
gospel that is all about God. It is all about God. The message
of grace is all about God. Altogether, it is a declaration
of God's righteousness, a declaration of God's work, a declaration
of God's accomplishments, a declaration of God's character, a declaration
of God's glory. It is the gospel of God. Look
at the next thing. Which he had promised afore by
his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The gospel revealed in the New
Testament is the gospel promised, portrayed, and typified in the
Old Testament. Now, Lord willing, in just a
few minutes, I'm going to be preaching to you from Leviticus 1 on the
sacrifices of turtle doves and pigeons. Those sacrifices pictured
and portrayed the gospel of Christ. Men and women were not saved
in the Old Testament by keeping the law, but rather they were
saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, just exactly
as we are. Now, I recognize there's a lot
of haziness in the minds of men, and there was some haziness in
the minds of folks in the Old Testament Scriptures. But those
who believed God, those to whom the gospel was revealed, understood
clearly that God spoke in Genesis 3 and promised a Redeemer who
would be himself the seed of woman, who would crush the serpent's
head, and who would put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
and he would be raised from the dead. The scripture says Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And
the scripture says in that same context in Romans 4, Abraham
believed in God who raised the dead. He believed in God who
raised the dead. He said to Isaac, he said, my
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
Isaiah spoke plainly of the incarnation, the death as a substitute, the
vicarious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, his accomplished
redemption, and his resurrection from the dead in Isaiah 53. He
spoke by the Spirit of God. And when the Scripture speaks
about men believing God in the Old Testament, it's talking about
exactly the same thing as it is when it talks about men believing
God today. So those who worshiped God when they brought their sacrifices,
those who worshiped God under the law and the ceremonies, looked
beyond the physical ordinance to Christ represented in the
ordinance. Just exactly as we now look beyond
the physical ordinance of baptism or the Lord's Supper, looking
to Christ, who they represent, who has accomplished those things,
as our substitute. God did not save me in one way
in the Old Testament, another way in the New. Enoch walked
with God and prophesied of the Lord Jesus coming a second time
with 10,000 of his aides. And that was before God destroyed
the world in a flood. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And Moses, who was preeminently
the representative of the law, was saved by God's free grace
through faith in Christ, just as you and I are. And then we're
told here that the gospel is the gospel concerning God's Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now there's several things here,
let me just touch on a few. The gospel is not setting before
men a set of doctrines. You can't have the gospel without
a set of doctrines, but you can sure have a set of doctrines
without the gospel. The gospel is not offering men a chance
to be saved. The gospel is not declaring to
men a wise proposition and good advice. The gospel is a declaration
of accomplished redemption through Jesus Christ, the incarnate God,
who is himself our effectual Redeemer. He is God the Son. Jesus Christ, that man who died
at Calvary, is the everlasting son of the everlasting Father,
incarnate in human flesh, and by means of his death as our
substitute, he has put away our sins, having effectually satisfied
the wrath and justice of God as our substitute. And this one
who is Jesus, the Christ, the promised anointed Messiah, he
is also our Lord. God has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given him. He was made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh. He came from royal stock. And
this one who is of royal stock, who is God Almighty, is declared
to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead. And it is this one by whom
we have received grace through faith and obedience. We have
received his grace by faith because of the merit of his obedience
and because of our obedience to God's call by the power of
his spirit. The gospel we preach is a gospel
for his name, for his name, for the glory, honor, praise, exaltation,
and worship of his holy name. Now what is it to preach the
gospel? Let me give you just one thing. Turn to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. To preach the gospel is simply to declare it. Just
declare it. Just declare it. Oh, would to
God I could persuade men who stand where
I'm standing, just declare the gospel. Just declare it. It doesn't matter what folks
want, I know what you need. Declare the gospel. It is this
that God uses to save sinners It is this that God uses to edify
comfort and instruct sinners. It is this that God uses to reprove
sin It's this that God uses to inspire men with faith and faithfulness
here in first Corinthians 15 verse 1 moreover brethren I declare
unto you the gospel Which I preached unto you which also you have
received wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if
you keep in memory, that is, if you hold fast, what I preached
to you, unless you had believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, that which I also received. How, H-O-W,
that's the key word. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Now this is
how he died. He died for our sins as our substitute. He was buried under the wrath
of God as one who was made to be sin for us. And he was raised
again the third day as an effectual Savior by whose sacrifice the
sins of his people had been put away. Completely, everlastingly
put away. All right. I trust that's helpful
to you. God bless you. Lindsay will be
back next week.