The very first word in this epistle
of Paul to the Romans is salutation. Paul identifies himself as the
writer with this one word, Paul. The true servants of Christ are
not fond of titles. They're not fond of recognition.
They don't desire to call attention to themselves, but to their Lord. Paul said we're not preaching
ourselves. We preach not ourselves, we preach Christ. We're not interested
in being remembered. We're interested in remembering
our Lord and being remembered of Him. John the Baptist set
the tone and left the example in John chapter 1. When these religious people gathered
about John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, John 1 verse 19, they
asked him, who are you? Verse 19, this is the record
of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, who are you? Well, John had quite a pedigree.
His father was Zacharias, his mother Elizabeth, his mother
was related to Mary, gave birth to the Lord Jesus. John the Baptist
was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. His father
was struck dumb until he named him what God told him to name
him, John. The Lord Jesus said of John,
none born of women greater than John. John the Baptist was prophesied
in the Old Testament, Isaiah 40, the forerunner of Christ.
He could have identified himself with all of these compliments and words, but listen
to verse 20, and he confessed and denied not, but confessed,
I'm not the Christ. And they said, well, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm
not. Are you that prophet? He said,
No. Then they said to him, well,
who are you? Tell us about yourself, that we may give
an answer to them who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I'm a voice. I'm the voice of one crying in
the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. I'm a voice. crying in the wilderness. I have a threefold cry. You'll
read Isaiah 40, you'll see that threefold cry. And Isaiah, the
little boy said, cry. He said, what shall I cry? He
said, here it is. All flesh is grass. And the goodness
and glory of man is as the grass of the field. The grass withers,
the flower faded. Secondly, the word of God endures
forever. All flesh is grass. The word
of God endures forever. And the third cry, behold your
God. Now he said, that's who I am.
I'm a voice. And when my voice is still and
silent, another voice will take up the same message. It's not
who's preaching. It's who are they preaching.
I'm a voice crying three things. Flesh is grass. The word of God
lives forever. Behold your God in the person
of Jesus Christ. So back to Romans 1, Paul just
identifies himself this way. It's not Dr. Paul or Bishop Paul
or Reverend Paul. It's Paul. And I'm a servant
of Jesus Christ. And that word servant is bond
slave. Over in Exodus, you can read
it yourself, chapter 21, verse 1 through 6, you're familiar
with it. When a Hebrew, back in the days of Moses, when a
Hebrew, man or woman, but especially a man, got in debt so that he
couldn't satisfy his creditors, he sold himself as a slave. He
became a slave, a servant. the man to whom he owed the great
debt, and he served him for six years. But when the seventh year
rolled around, that man was free. You couldn't keep a man over
six years. The seventh year, he was set free. All slaves were
set free, seventh year. But now if this man, Moses said,
this man says, I love my master. I love my master's house. I love
being his servant, he's a good master, and he provides all my
needs, and I'm happy to be his servant. So I don't want to go
far. I want to stay with my master.
Then this man is to go down to the office of the priest, and
they have to bore his ear, and he becomes a bond slave. What's a bond slave? There's
a slave and there's a bond slave. A man can be a slave against
his will, and most of them are. But a bond slave is not against
his will. He's a willing slave. He's a
loving slave. He's an obedient servant. That's
what he wants to be. And so that's what Paul says,
I am. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm a bond servant, a
bond slave of Jesus Christ. He's a good master. I love my
master. And I don't wish to do what I
want to do. Be on my own, I want to be in
his house, serving him. So that's what Paul says, I am
a bond slave. And he says, I'm called. I'm
called to be an apostle. Paul said in Hebrews 5, talking
about Aaron and the priesthood, he said, no man takes this office
on himself. But he is called of God. And
Paul said, I'm an apostle, preacher of the gospel. See, the Bible
says when our Lord went back to glory, He led captivity captive,
and he gave some. He gave some men special offices. He gave some prophets. He gave
some apostles. That's what he gave Paul. He
called him to be an apostle. No man takes this upon himself.
This is not a volunteer situation. This is God gave men to be prophets,
gave men to be apostles, called men to be missionaries. evangelist,
that word is missionary, evangelist, called him, gave him a ministry,
sent him, and called me in to be pastors and teachers. That's
the same office of pastor as a teacher. Somebody said one
time, well, he's a good teacher, but he's not much of a preacher.
Well, I'll tell you this. If a man's not a preacher, not
a teacher, he isn't much of a preacher. He's not a teacher. Pastors are
to teach. And Paul said, God, call me to
this office. He called me. And then he said,
he separated me. He separated me to the gospel
before Paul was separated to the law, obsessed with the law. Paul was a religious man before
God saved him, before God called him, before God revealed Christ
to him. He was very religious. He was a Jew. He said, I'm a
Hebrew of Hebrews. He said, my mother was a Hebrew
and my father was a Hebrew. He said, I was born of the tribe
of Benjamin. Concerning the law, I was blameless. He said, I was
a Pharisee. I was a member of the highest
Jewish court in religion, the Sanhedrin. He said, I was zealous
for the law, tradition, ceremony. Zealous, obsessed with the law,
obsessed with religion, obsessed with all the traditions of the
fathers. But when it pleased God, when it pleased God to reveal
His Son in me, He delivered me from that obsession with the
law and the ceremony and the tradition, and I became obsessed
with Christ. I'm obsessed with, I'm separated
to the gospel. My one purpose in life is to
preach the gospel. He said in Philippians 3, Oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. Oh, that I may know him, know
him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering
to be conformed to his image. I'm separated unto the gospel.
Which gospel? Well, there's only one. He identifies
it here. He says, I'm separated to the
gospel of God. It's God's gospel. It's God's
gospel. It's not the Baptist gospel or
the Catholic gospel or the Presbyterian gospel or the Nazarene gospel.
All these denominations have their gospels. It's God's gospel. Before there were any of these
divisions and organizations, there was the gospel. God's gospel. God's the author of it. He said
over there in 2 Timothy, if you want to turn to 2 Timothy chapter
1, God's the author of this gospel. In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse
9, He saved us. The church didn't save us, the
priest didn't save us, we didn't save ourselves, God saved us. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, He saved
us. He called us with a holy calling. Not according to our
works. But according to his own purpose,
it's his gospel, his purpose, his grace, given us in Christ
before the world began. Everlasting gospel, eternal gospel,
gospel of God. He purposed it. He planned it. It's his gospel. It's his way
of life. And not only is he the author
of the gospel, he's the executor of it. When Jesus Christ went
to the cross, sure, the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes delivered
him into the hands of Pilate and Herod to be crucified. Sure,
Pilate and Herod delivered him into the hands of the soldiers
to be nailed to a cross. But I'll tell you this, the one
who delivered him into the hands of the Jews and Pilate and Herod
and the soldiers was his father. it pleased God to Bruce him.
The things that these men did in nailing Christ to the cross,
they did fulfilling the will of Almighty God. That's what
it says over in Acts 2. Turn over there with me in Acts
2. Acts 4, it is, verse 26, Acts
4, 26, "...the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord, and against this Christ,
of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the people
of Israel, to gather together to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before it to be done." Christ was the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Everything that
these men did against our Lord was prophesied in the Old Testament.
When they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took
Him down from the cross. Everything He said, everything
they said, everything that was done at Calvary is in the Old
Testament, prophesied by God. before it took place. God's the
executor of the gospel. He's the applier of the gospel.
It pleased God to reveal his son, didn't it? Our Lord asked Peter, whom do
you say that I am? He said, you're the Christ. He
said, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My father
revealed that to you. And then our God is the sustainer
of the gospel. Paul, a bond slave of Jesus Christ,
called of God to be an apostle, a preacher. and obsessed with
and dedicated to and separated to the one gospel, the gospel
of God. And in verse 2, he shows us that
this is the everlasting gospel. Listen to this. It's the gospel
which he promised, which God promised afore by his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures. It's the everlasting gospel.
It's the only gospel. There never has been but one
gospel. Paul said, if any man preach any other gospel, let
him be accursed. I say it again. Though we are
an angel from heaven, he said, preach any other gospel. Let
him be accursed. There's one gospel. It's the
gospel God promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scripture. Who were the prophets? Abraham.
Abraham walking up the mountain with his son Isaac who held the
wood and the fire going to the mountain Moriah to worship God
This young lad probably 20 22 years old 18 19 20 Strong enough big enough to carry
wood for an altar He said father here's the wood
here's the fire where's the lamb Where's the lamb for the sacrifice?
Where's the lamb for the blood? Where's the lamb without a lamb
without the blood? No man can worship God. Abraham
said, my son, my son, God himself will provide a lamb, and God
will provide himself a lamb, and God will provide for himself
a lamb. That's the gospel. That's what
Christ said later. He said, Abraham, Abraham, rejoice
to see my day. Abraham saw my day, he was glad,
he prophesied of my coming. Before Abraham was, I am. Moses,
Moses said the Lord will raise up a prophet and the Lord will
put his words in that prophet's mouth and he'll speak to you
through that prophet and he that heareth that prophet heareth
God. Moses wrote of me, Christ said. Old Jacob was blessing
his son before he died down in Egypt. He blessed Reuben, he
blessed Dan, he blessed different ones. Then he came to Judah,
and he said to Judah, he said, Judah, thy brethren shall bow
before thee, and the scepter shall not depart from Judah till
Shiloh, the Messiah, comes. Down in Egypt, old Jacob died. Blessing that boy Judah, the
kingly tribe of Israel, from which the priest did not come,
but the king, David, was of the tribe of Judah, Solomon, Judah,
Christ, tribe of Judah, born in Bethlehem. He said, the scepter
will not pass from Judah till the king of kings comes, Christ. Job 19, Job said, my redeemer
liveth. This is hundreds of years before
Christ was born. My redeemer liveth. My savior,
my redeemer, he'll stand on this earth. And though worms destroy
this body in my flesh, I'm going to see God. My redeemer is God
who will stand on the earth. God's going to stand on the earth.
The heaven of heavens will contain him. But he's going to stand
on this earth in the flesh. Job said that. Isaiah said, Behold,
God himself will give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child. And you call his name, Emmanuel,
God with us. Through that virgin under us,
a child is born, a son is given. The government will be on his
shoulders and his name will be wonderful, Counselor, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. That's way
over here in Isaiah's prophecy. and he'll grow up as a tender
plant, as a root out of a dry ground, no form, no comeliness
that we should desire him, no beauty, despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, but he'll bear our
sins and sorrows, sicknesses and diseases, wounded for our
transgressions, and by his stripes we'll be healed. Please the Lord
to bruise him, made his soul an offering for sin, all of that. Everlasting gospel. which he
promised afore, prophesied, promised, typified by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures. Look at verse 3, concerning his
son, concerning his son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. I got a letter the other day
from a man in California who heard our television program
and resented my preaching on the Trinity. He said, the Trinity,
as you call it, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, is nothing but tradition. Well, call it what you want to.
The gospel is concerning his Son, the Father's Son. For God so loved the world, he
sent his only begotten Son. That's what Scripture says. The
Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
When our Lord came to the river Jordan to be baptized of John
to fulfill all righteousness, the heavens opened. The Spirit
of God descended upon him, and the Father said, This is my beloved
Son. No trinity, my friend, only a
fool. Well, read those verses and say
no trinity. Only a fool, only a man wrapped
in ignorance and tradition and rebellion. The Father said, as
the Spirit of God descended upon him, this is my son in whom I'm
well pleased. Hear ye him. And when our Lord
went to the Mount of Transfiguration with three of his disciples,
Peter, James, and John, and his clothes glistened The glory of
God surrounded them and Moses and Elijah appeared with him
discussing his death at Jerusalem. The voice again said from heaven,
this is my son. Here he is. In Hebrews 1 verse
8, the voice of God said to the son, thy throne, O God, is forever. There are three that bear record
in heaven. the Son and the Holy Ghost. And this gospel, this
gospel of God is concerning his Son. This everlasting gospel
is concerning his Son, his person, his work. The whole gospel is
included in Christ. And as a person removes one step
from Christ, he departs from the gospel. As a person who's
one step from Christ, he departs from the gospel. Listen, it's
concerning his son, verse 3, which was made of the seed of
David. He was made of the seed of David. He was declared, verse 4, to
be the son of God. He was made what he wasn't, a
man. He was declared to be who he
is, son of God. They didn't make Him the Son
of God. He's declared to be the Son of God. He is, He was, He
always... His goings forth have been from
everlasting. He's declared to be the Son of
God. He was made of the seed of David. The Scripture says He was made
of a woman. Scripture says He was made under
the law. The Scripture says the Word was
made flesh. and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the only begotten of the Father." The Jews often
referred to their Messiah and our Messiah as the Son of David. He's called the Son of David.
Turn to Matthew chapter 22. This is interesting. Matthew
chapter 22. Now here's what the pastor is
saying this morning in the most simple language. God became a
man. God took on himself the form
of man, the form of a serpent, the likeness of sinful flesh,
he became a man. God came down to this earth and
dwelt among us, and our hands touched him, John said, and our
eyes beheld him, and our ears heard him speak the word of life. Now here in Matthew 22, our Lord
asked the Jews this question, Matthew 22, verse 41, While the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what
think ye of Christ, the Christ? Whose son is he? They said unto
him, he's the son of David. Now Christ is not asking him,
what do you think of me? He's asking them, these religious
leaders, what they think of the Christ that Abraham promised,
Moses promised, that Job promised, that Isaiah promised, the Christ,
the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Emancipator, the King. Who is
he? They said he's the son of David.
He's a man. He's of the house and lineage
of David. He's the heir of David's throne. He'll be born in Bethlehem. That's what they told Herod.
Herod says, Where's this king supposed to be born? They said,
Bethlehem. Tribe of Judah, family of Jesse, son of David. And that's
what they told him. He's the son of David. And then
our Lord asked them this question, verse 43, Then how did David,
in spirit called him Lord. If he is his son, why did he
call him Lord? David wrote, The Lord said to
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, and I will make thine enemies
thy footstool. Now he said if David calls him
Lord, how is he David's son? How can this Christ be David's
son, born of a woman who's of the house and lineage of David,
Mary. How's he David's son, and yet he's David's God? And he
says, no man was able to answer that question. I can answer it. I can answer it. This Son of God was made flesh. He didn't have a human father.
Mary said, I can't have a son, I don't know a man. The Father
said, the Holy Ghost will come upon you. The power of the highest
shall overshadow you. And that holy thing which is
born of you shall be the Son of God. So Jesus Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth, had a human mother. He was conceived in the womb,
stayed there nine months and was born in Bethlehem. But he
didn't have a human father. God's his father. Joseph was
his foster father. He was born without sin. If he
had had a human father, he'd been born like us with sin. Evil. Told my Sunday school class,
a little boy down in Mississippi said to his mother, who's my
wife's niece, he said, Mama said, if there was no God and no policeman,
I could be as bad as I wanted to be, couldn't I? Now, our Lord wasn't born that
way. Our Lord was born without a human father. He had a perfect
heart. We got imperfect sinful natures. From a child we're sinners. From
a child he's perfect. He's David's son by human birth. He's David's God by everlasting deity. You see that? So back
to our text. He was made This gospel is concerning
his son, who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God. How was
he declared to be the Son of God? Well, he was declared to
be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness, by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit conceived him.
The Holy Spirit anointed him. The Holy Spirit came upon him
in baptism. He said that God The Spirit of
God is upon me. The Holy Spirit raised Him from
the grave. He declared to be God with power
according to the Spirit and holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. I want you to turn to Acts 17. Acts 17. When our Lord Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead, God is saying in his resurrection,
he's all that he said he is, he accomplished all he came to
accomplish. He pleased me on your behalf
and I raised him from the dead. In Acts 17 verse 31, because
God hath appointed a day in which he hath judged the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained. whereof he hath given proof and
assurance unto all men in that he raised him from the dead."
Every religion can go to the grave of their
so-called messiahs, prophets, founders. All Mohammedans can
go to the grave of Mohammed, it's right there. All Buddhists
can go to the grave of Buddha, whoever he was. All Confucius
can go to the grave of Confucius. The Christian scientists, they
have Mary Baker and he has a grave. Just keep naming all the religions
and all of the so-called messiahs. But I say to you who are planning
a trip to Jerusalem to visit the grave of the Son of God,
he's not there. Why? Those people came to the
grave. The angel sat on the stone that
had been rolled away. And he said, why seek ye the
living among the dead? He's not here. He's risen. And he arose to be the first
begotten of the dead. He arose to give assurance to
all men that God accepted him and us in him, that his blood
does indeed make atonement. His righteousness does indeed
give us perfect holiness. He is indeed our great high priest
at the right hand of God who intercedes for us, and in him
we are saved and redeemed forever. That's the proof. God raised
him from the dead. And verse 5, Paul said, and by
him I have received grace, I have received grace, and I have received
a commandment. For obedience to the faith among
all nations, I have received the command to preach this gospel
of God's Son to all nations for His namesake, for His glory,
to glorify Christ. This gospel is a faithful saying
to be received and obeyed by all men by faith that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.
It's my duty to preach it," he said. It's your duty to believe
it. It's my duty to proclaim Christ, it's your duty to fall
at His feet and worship Him. And verse 6 says, among whom
also, among whom are you also, the called of Christ Jesus. You're
called. God called us by His grace. God
called us to be saints. Let's read a few verses of Scripture,
then I'll close. Go to Romans 8. Romans chapter
8. God called us. Called us. He called me by his
gospel and he called you to be saints. In Romans 8, verse 28, And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, to them who are the
called, according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, his
son, that he, his son, might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he called, and whom he called,
them he justified, and whom he justified, them he glorified."
Now, what shall we say of these things? When I said, God be with
us, who can be against us? He called us. He called me to
be an apostle Called you to be a saint. Look at 2 Thessalonians. I want you to read this now.
2 Thessalonians. This is important as I close
the message. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2, verse 13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Two things about these people.
Paul said, you're beloved of God, you're beloved of God, and
he called you, he called you by our gospel. called you to
the obtaining, to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ, called you to faith. I go to Romans 1, what I read
a moment ago, Romans 1 verse 6, my text. Among whom are you
also the call of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, and called to be saints. What are they? They're beloved
of God. I love him because he first loved me. Herein is love,
not that we love God. He loved us and gave his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. That's the key. Loved of
God, beloved of God, and called to be sanctified. I recall from
this gospel to the obtaining of the glory of God. If you're
beloved of God, you're called of God. And he says you'll have
grace and peace. from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the great old writers
wrote this hymn from which I took my title for the message, Salvation
is of Grace. He wrote, how sovereign is the
love of God to his favored race. Paid is the debt we owe, salvation
is of grace. His love from eternity knew each
chosen sinner's case, and sent his beloved Son to show, salvation
is of grace. Christ Jesus would not have bled
and died, nor suffered in our place, except this be true, O
sound it wide, salvation is of grace. We would not know or love
the Son, nor would we sing his praise, Had he not the work begun,
salvation is of grace. And yes, when this flesh and
heart shall fail, and my mortal life shall cease, I will walk
within the veil, enjoy a life of joy and peace, because my
salvation is of grace. Not of works, but by the grace
of God.