Now, my message today is going
to be taken from the book of Romans. I'm going to speak to
you from Romans chapter 1. I'll be speaking from the first
four or five verses of Romans chapter 1. Let me read it to
you. Why don't you get your Bible and follow along as I read and
bring the message today. I'm going to speak on the subject,
the everlasting gospel. the everlasting gospel. And in Romans chapter 1, verse
1, the scripture says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he promised
afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his
son, who was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh,
and declared to be the Son of God." Now, the first thing I
notice, and you will, too, if you look carefully at the Scripture,
the first thing I notice when I read this passage of Scripture
from Romans 1, verse 1, is that the true servants of God are
not fond of titles. They're not fond of personal
recognition. starts out saying, Paul. He's the writer of this epistle.
And he doesn't call himself Dr. Paul. He doesn't call himself
reverend or the most reverend or even father. It's just Paul. That's all. Paul, a servant of
Jesus Christ. You know, even Moses was simply
Moses. All the way through the scripture
talks about Moses said this and Moses did that. And John the
Baptist replied to those who ask his pedigree and his office. He replied in this fashion, I'm
a voice. I'm the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, make straight a highway for our God. And you
know Isaiah sums up the glory of man and the pride of man. Here's what he says about it.
Isaiah says in chapter 40, all flesh is as grass. and all the glory of man as the
flower of the field. And the grass will wither, and
the flower will fade away. But the word of the Lord shall
endure forever." So it's Paul. And he does identify himself,
though, in a threefold way. I want you to notice how he identifies
himself. He says in that verse 1, Paul,
a servant, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that word, servant,
it comes from Exodus chapter 21, verse 1 through 6. You'll
enjoy reading this if you'll jot that down. Exodus 21, 1 through
6. And the word is bondservant,
bondservant. Now here's where that originated. A Hebrew, if one of the Hebrew
men became a bought servant or slave. In other words, if he
got deeply in debt and couldn't pay or some other problem arose
and he sold himself into servitude or slavery, he only served six
years. That's all he could serve is
six years. On the seventh, he'd go free.
But now, if he loved his master, this is what Scripture says in
Exodus 21. If he says, I love my master
and I love my master's family, And I left to work for him. So
I'm going to stay on, not unwillingly, but willingly. I'm going to stay
on. And so the priest would take
him down to the temple and bore his ear. And he would be a bond
servant. And that means he was a willing,
loving servant. He was there because he wanted
to be. And that's the name that Paul takes for himself. He said,
I'm a servant. I'm a willing, loving servant
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, secondly, identifies
himself this way. He says, I'm called to be an
apostle. Now in Israel, there were three
offices, prophet, priest, and king. And no man, the scripture
says, no man takes any of these three offices upon himself, but
he that's called of God. In other words, no man volunteered
to be a prophet or a priest or a king. only the ones God chose,
and God made them prophets. He made them priests. He selected
them and chose them, and He made them kings. You remember, Israel
wanted a king, and so the Lord told Samuel, so we'll let them
have a king, and they appointed one called Saul, and he was a
terrible, terrible, terrible king, terrible failure. God Almighty
rejected him, and He said, I appoint David as the king. And in Ephesians
4, verse 11, it says, Our Lord, when He ascended back to heaven,
He gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. Men
don't take these offices. They don't covet these offices. They are God-appointed and God-ordained. All prophets, apostles, missionaries,
Pastors are God-ordained and God-chosen. And that's what Paul
said. First, I'm a servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I'm called to be an apostle.
And then thirdly, he says, I'm separated to the gospel of God. I'm obsessed with the gospel.
I'm separated to the gospel of God. You know, before God revealed
Christ to the apostle Paul, he was called Saul of Tarsus. And,
and he was, he was obsessed with ceremonies. He was obsessed with,
with the law and legalism. He was obsessed with traditions,
the traditions of men. He was obsessed with laws and
holy days and ritualism. And, and he, he despised Jesus
Christ. Now he writes, now he writes
in Philippians and says, oh that I might win Christ. and be found
in Him. No longer obsessed with traditions
and form and ceremony and ritualism, but now obsessed with Christ,
separated to the gospel. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. Oh, that I may know Him, Him
and the power of His resurrection. Yes, before God revealed Christ
to the Apostle Paul, he hated the gospel. He hated the gospel
of Christ. You know what he said one time?
He said, I thought that I ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus Christ. He despised. And even when God
met him on the road to Damascus, when Christ revealed himself
to him, he was on his way then to persecute God's people, to
take them to prison who believed on Christ. And after God revealed
himself to the Apostle Paul, here's what he said. There's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. God has given him a name above
every name. That is the name of Jesus. Every
knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he's Lord to
the glory of God the Father. What a difference. What a difference. Once he hated Christ and now
he loves him, preaches him, And he says this, whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.
And he said again, necessity is laid upon me. I must preach
the gospel. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. So here's the way Paul identifies
himself. He says, I'm a servant. I'm a
bondservant, a willing, loving bondservant of Jesus Christ.
And he called me. He called me to be an apostle. He put me in the ministry. He
put me in the ministry. That's right. I obtained mercy.
And he says, I am separated to, and I'm dedicated unto, and I'm
obsessed with the gospel of God. There is but one gospel. Paul
calls it the gospel of God. You see it there, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle. separated to the
gospel of God. It's God's gospel. He said in
Galatians 1, there's not another gospel. There's not two or three
gospels. There's only one gospel. And
if any man preach any other gospel, then that gospel which I preached
unto you, let him be accursed. He said, I'll say that again
now. I'll say it again. I'll say it more positively and
powerfully. If any man, even if it's an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel than the gospel which
I preached unto you. Let him be accursed." It's just
one gospel. And Paul said, I'm separated
to that gospel, and it's the gospel of God. Why is it called
the gospel of God? He's the author. He's the author
and finisher of our faith. Let me give you a four-point
outline here. Listen to me. The gospel is the
gospel of God because he planned it. It originated with God before
the foundation of the world. In 2 Timothy 1-9, the apostle
wrote these words, God saved us. God had saved us and God
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ before the world began. God planned salvation. He purposed
it. He made Christ our surety. He
made Christ our Redeemer. He gave us to Christ, chose us
in Christ before the world began. And then it's God's gospel in
that He executed it. What do you mean executed it?
He carried it out. He executed it. The Jews delivered
Christ to the Romans to be crucified because it was against their
religion to crucify a man. So they delivered him to the
Romans to be crucified. And Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Romans and the Gentiles and the Jews all conspired together
to nail Jesus Christ to the cross. But it was God. They did what
God determined before to be done. That's right. That's in Acts
chapter 4. It says, Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Jews and the Gentiles and the people of Israel and
the priests all got together to do what their wicked hearts
wanted to do, but to do what God determined before to be done. That's right. Isaiah said, we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He said,
all we like sheep have gone astray. We turned everyone to his own
way, but the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He says
in verse 10 of Isaiah chapter 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. Thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. That's right, God did it. These
people were the human instruments that carried out the crucifixion
of Christ, but they did what God said they would do and what
God purposed for them to do. And in Acts 13, the scripture
says, when they fulfilled everything that was written of him, in the
Old Testament that took him down from the tree. That's right.
And then thirdly, listen, God planned salvation. God carried
it out. He executed it. And then God
applies it. It's God who applies salvation. It's God who quickens us, who
calls us. It's God who reveals the gospel
to us. In 1 Corinthians 1.30, you know
this scripture, you can quote it. It says, but of God, are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. It's God that gave us to Christ. When it pleased God, Paul said
this in Galatians 1 15, But when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb, and he called me by his grace, and
he revealed his Son in me, God did that. It's applied by God. And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. And
whom He predestinated, He called. And whom He called, He justified. And whom He justified, He glorified. Now, what should we say to these
things? Well, I say, if God be for me, who can be against me? And Christ our Lord said to those
Pharisees, they said, well, we know you're a carpenter, we know
you're Joseph's son, we know Mary, we know your brothers and
sisters. How come you say that you came
from heaven? Now, he said, let me tell you
something. You listen to me. No man can come to me, believe
on me, receive me, Love me, except my Father which sent me draw
him. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. And every man that hath learned
of the Father, he cometh unto me. That's right. It's the Father
who plans salvation. It's the Father who sent him
to the cross. It's the Father who applies it
and calls us and listen to me. It's the Father who sustains
us. We're not kept by our own power and strength and faith. No, sir. You don't keep yourself
saved. We have been saved by the grace
of God. We're being saved by the grace
of God. And our salvation is nearer than when we believe.
But we're not kept by our own strength and power. Listen to
the scripture. We're kept by the power of God
through faith, not without faith, not apart from faith, but through
faith. Listen to Jude's doxology. Now
unto him, now unto him who is able to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless, blameless, holy before his presence
with exceeding joy to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory,
praise, and honor forever and ever. Salvation's of the Lord. In his planning, it's of the
Lord. In his execution, It's of the
Lord in its application. It's of the Lord in its sustaining
power and value. And it's of the Lord in its perfection.
That's right. The only one who can raise you
from the dead is God. The only one who can take you
to glory and make you like Christ is God. Salvation's of the Lord. It says in Philippians 1-6, I'm
confident, Paul said of this very thing, that he that hath
begun a good work in you." Who? He, God, who hath begun. It's not finished yet. It won't
be finished till we stand in the likeness of Christ. As David
said, I'll be satisfied when I wake with His likeness. He
that hath begun a good work, where? In you. Not just for you,
but in you. He'll finish it. He'll perfect
it. He'll perform it until the day
of Jesus. Oh, Paul says, I'm separated
to that gospel, the gospel of God. It's the everlasting gospel. And in verse 2, he said it's
the gospel of the Old Testament believers. It's the gospel of
the prophets of old. Look at verse 2. I'm separated
to the gospel of God, which He promised before by the holy prophets
in the scriptures. Abraham rejoiced. Christ said,
to see my day, He saw it, and he was glad. He said to his son,
Abraham did, God himself will provide a lamb. That's right. Moses, Moses wrote of me, Christ
said. If you'd have believed Moses,
you'd have believed in me because Moses wrote of me. Job, Job said,
I know my Redeemer liveth. He'll stand on this earth, and
I'm going to see him. David said to the Lord, said
to my Lord, sit down on my right hand. Have you read Psalm 22,
David's Psalm 22? That's the psalm of the cross.
Read it. Read it today. It starts out,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? He talks about they pierce
my hands and my feet. He talks about they compass me
about and shoot out their lips and laugh at me. He talked about
they cast lots for my vesture, for my robe. It's all there in
Psalm 22. It's the psalm of the cross.
This gospel is the ancient gospel. It's the only gospel. It's an
everlasting gospel. Isaiah said, listen, the Lord
will give you a sign. He wrote this hundreds of years
before Bethlehem. The Lord himself will give you
a sign. A virgin shall be with child and bring forth a son and
call his name Jesus. That's right, Emmanuel, God with
us. Under us a child is born, under us a son is given, and
the government shall be upon his shoulders. And Paul said,
move over, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. It's the ancient
gospel. It's the everlasting gospel. He was buried and rose again
according to the scriptures. That's what the Old Testament's
all about, the coming of Christ. What is this gospel under which
Paul is separated? What is this gospel of God, this
everlasting gospel? What is this gospel of the scriptures
in promise, prophecy, and type? Look at that next line in Romans
1, verse 2 and 3. It's the gospel concerning His
Son. The gospel concerning His Son. My friends, the sum and substance
of the gospel of God is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the whole gospel is included
in Christ, who He is, what He did, why He did it, where He
is now. And as a person, preacher or whomever, as a person removes
one step from Christ, just one step from Christ, Jesus, he departs
from the gospel. For the gospel is concerning
his Son. Look at this next line. The gospel
of God is concerning his Son who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. The gospel concerns his humanity. The Son of God was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. In the
fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, tempted, tried, tested in all points as we are,
yet without sin. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon
himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and became obedient unto death, even to the death
of the cross." So this gospel is concerning Jesus Christ, who
was made what He wasn't. He was made flesh. He was made
a man. He was made of the seed of David.
He was born to Israel. Now what's the next line? The
gospel is concerning His Son who was made flesh and made according
to the seed of David. But He was declared to be the
Son of God. He wasn't made the Son of God.
He was made a Son of Man. He was made flesh. He was made
a man. But He was declared to be what
He is, the Son of God. Now, I don't have the time nor
the patience nor the desire to debate the doctrine of the Trinity
because it's so clearly is so clearly stated in the Word of
God. I and my Father are one. That's pretty clear. If there's
a Holy Father, there's a Holy Son. If there's a Holy Son, there's
a Father. And I and my Father are one.
That's clear. Christ said, I will pray the Father, and he'll send
you another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. So there's the Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. And John says there are three
that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Spirit, and these three are one. God is one God, and yet He's
revealed in the Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So Jesus Christ is declared to be what He is, the Son of God,
according to the Holy Spirit, by the resurrection of the dead.
The Holy Spirit conceived Him in the womb of the Virgin. The
Holy Spirit anointed him for his work as mediator. He said,
the Spirit of God is upon me. He hath anointed me. The Holy
Spirit raised him from the dead. That's right. Acts 17.31, God has appointed
a day in which he'll judge the world in righteousness by that
man, Jesus Christ, whom he hath ordained, whereof he has given
all men notice. He raised him from the dead.
This gospel of God, this ancient gospel, this everlasting gospel
is concerning His Son who was made flesh of the seed of David
and declared to be the Son of God. Who is Jesus Christ? The seed of David, the tribe
of Judah. He's the Messiah. He's the Redeemer. He's the God-man. And two things
must be found in Him if He's to be your Savior and my Savior.
Two things. He's got to be God. He's got
to be a man. What did He do? He put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. I want you to turn to Hebrews
1. I want to read to you about who
He is and what He did. This gospel is concerning who
He is and what He did, where He is now. It says here in Hebrews
1, verse 2, God, who spake to our fathers by the prophets,
He spake about this gospel. He revealed the gospel of the
coming Messiah to our fathers by the prophets. HE HAS SPOKEN
TO US IN THESE LAST DAYS, AND WE'RE IN THE LAST DAYS, HAVE
BEEN SINCE CALVARY. WE'RE IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE
LAST DAYS, TOO. HE HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON
WHO WAS MADE FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, HIS SON WHOM HE APPOINTED
HEIR OF ALL THINGS, HIS SON BY WHOM HE MADE THE WORLDS, HIS
SON WHO'S THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY. His Son, whose exact image
of God Himself. He said, you've seen me, you've
seen God. His Son, who upholds all things by the Word of His
power. Listen now, when He had by Himself,
without any aid or help or assistance, by Himself, and by the sacrifice
of Himself, and by His perfect life, and by His ignominious
death on the cross. When He had by Himself, purged
our sins, put them away, cast them into the depths of the sea,
paid for them. He sat down at the right hand
of Almighty God, the Majesty on High, our Advocate. If any
man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the Righteous. Our Mediator is one God, one
Mediator between God and man, and that's the man Christ Jesus.
Our Intercessor, Christ died, rose again, ascended to heaven,
and is at the right hand of God, and ever lives to make intercession."
He's my advocate. He's my mediator. He's my intercessor. He's my high priest. And our
high priest, Jesus Christ, entered not the holy place made with
hands, but heaven itself, not with the blood of animals, but
with His own precious blood, and put away our sin. He's our
high priest. We have a high priest, Jesus
Christ. And not only that, but He's our
forerunner. You know what a forerunner is?
It's one who goes ahead and prepares for those who will follow. He's
our forerunner. And our forerunner is seated
at the right hand of Almighty God in glory. My friends, by
man came death, Adam. By man came the resurrection
from the dead. The first Adam was made a living
soul. The last Adam, Jesus Christ,
a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth
earthy. The second man is a Lord from heaven. That's the everlasting
gospel. If you want that tape, send two
dollars. We'll mail it to you. Until next
week, God bless you, everyone.