I invite you to turn in your
Bibles this morning to the Book of Romans, chapter 1 of the Book
of Romans. I'm going to be speaking to you
on this subject, the preacher and his gospel, the preacher
and his gospel. And our text is found in Romans
1, verse 1. It begins this way, and I'll
be using the first 3, 4, or 5 verses of Romans 1, but this will be
the text. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle separated unto the gospel of God. Doesn't it seem significant
unto you that the only preacher who really deserved a title,
and Paul deserved one if any preacher ever did, he's the author
of 14 books of the New Testament, saved in a miraculous way. called
to be an apostle to the Gentiles, Christ appeared to him on the
road to Damascus. But this man who, if any preacher
ever deserved a title, refused to be called by any title at
all. Throughout the scriptures he refers to himself as Paul. Nothing more, nothing less, just
Paul. And the other people called him
Paul. It wasn't Reverend Paul, it wasn't
Dr. Paul, it wasn't Bishop Paul,
it wasn't even Pope Paul. It was only Paul, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ. You know, my friends, the grace
of God is not only saving grace, it saves us. We're saved by the
grace of God. It's not only sovereign grace.
God said, I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious. It's
not only sanctifying grace, but it is humbling grace. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, and yet he made himself
of no reputation, but took on himself the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of flesh, sinful flesh, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. True saving
grace is humbling grace. And we hear Paul as he begins
this epistle to the Romans, calling himself, not by title, not by
self-exalting title, but just Paul. You know, I think of all
pride, there's none so inconsistent with salvation and there's none
so nauseating as religious pride. Somebody said there's several
kinds of pride. There's pride of face and pride
of race and pride of place, but the worst is pride of grace. It's totally out of character
for a redeemed person. Our Lord said, he who would be
greatest among you Let him be your servant. And again, God
resisteth the proud, James said, but giveth grace to the humble. And Paul on another occasion
said, For in nothing, neither in gifts, nor ability, nor open
doors, in nothing, am I behind the very cheapest apostle, though
I be nothing. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos?
Who is Cephas? But ministers by whom you believe.
God giveth the increase. We plant, we sow, we water, but
we're nothing. So he begins this epistle with
this statement, I'm just Paul, and that's all I am, and that's
all I want to be in your sight, just Paul. But he says I'm a
servant of Jesus Christ. Now the word servant here is
bondslave, or bondservant, and it's a term which comes from
the Old Testament, where a man who had then granted his freedom,
offered his freedom, preferred to remain in service to his master
whom he loved. In other words, when a Jewish
slave had served a certain number of years, he, by the law, was
to be set free. But if he loved his master and
loved his master's home and loved his master's service, he could
say to his master, I choose to remain a slave. I don't want
freedom. I choose to serve you. And so
I remain with you as a willing, loving, obedient servant." And
he was called a bond servant, a willing, loving, obedient,
and lifelong servant from then on. He was a servant and a slave
of his master. Now this is what Paul calls himself.
He says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. And while the believer
desires to serve others, and he's concerned for and seeks
the happiness, comfort, and well-being of other people, he is first
and foremost a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his
first allegiance. He is a servant of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If a woman is married to an unsaved
man, an unbeliever, the apostle tells her to submit herself unto
her own husband, as it is fit in the Lord. She's first obedient
to Christ. She is in subjection and submission
to her husband only in the Lord. And then it says, children, obey
your parents in the Lord. Our first and foremost obedience
is to Jesus Christ, not to nations, not to denominations, and not
to associations. Our first and foremost obedience
is to Christ, and this is what the Apostle is saying. While
I want to serve the Church, I'm not the servant of the Church.
I'm the bond slave of Jesus Christ. And while I'd like to bless men
and help men and be congenial and kind and compassionate with
men, my first allegiance is to Jesus Christ and his word and
not to anyone else. And if his word and his will
comes in conflict with my denomination or with my friends or with my
family, then those things have to be in subjection to the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is what he's saying. I'm
Paul. I'm not anything special. I'm less than the least of all
the saints. I'm the chief of sinners. I'm not worthy to be
called an apostle, but I am a bond slave of Jesus Christ. And I
shall serve him in my first and foremost allegiance. shall be
to the Son of God and to his word." And then notice there
in verse 1, he continues. He says, I'm called to be an
apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ
called Paul to faith first, not to be an apostle, but to faith
first. For a man cannot preach what he has not experienced.
It's impossible. Someone said one time, you can't
tell what you don't know. any more than you can come back
from where you haven't been. So when Paul met Christ, he met
him as a sinner, not as a preacher, nor as a candidate for the ministry. He met him as a sinner on his
road, not only to Damascus, but to hell. And he said in Galatians
1.15, God who separated me from my mother's womb, that's true,
but he called me by his grace and he was pleased. to reveal
his Son in me." So a man can't preach repentance who's never
repented, and he can't preach faith if he's never believed,
and he can't preach Christ if he's never met Christ as his
Savior and Redeemer. The Lord called Paul, first of
all, to faith, and then he called him to preach as an apostle. We don't have apostles today,
let's face it. There were 12 apostles and no
more. In the church, God gave, first of all, prophets, apostles,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The apostles, there was a two-fold
mark of the apostle. First, he was a man who saw the
Lord. He was a personal witness of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, Paul saw the Lord in a special
revelation. An apostle was a man who saw
the Lord. Men today have seen him by faith,
but they have not witnesses of his resurrection. nor are they
witnesses of his glory, eyewitnesses, as John said, that which we've
seen and that which we've heard declare we unto you. And not
only were these apostles, first of all, men who saw the Lord,
but they were men who received their gospel directly from Christ. You know, Paul said that he did
not, after he was converted, confer with Peter, James, and
John, but he went into Arabia. And there, for several months
and years, he was taught the gospel by Jesus Christ. He said,
I didn't receive my gospel from men, but I received my gospel
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I received my gospel, the
gospel I believe, from men, from Paul, Peter, James, and John.
They wrote the New Testament, from Isaiah, Moses, Abraham,
others who wrote the Old Testament. That's where I got my gospel.
But Paul received his by direct revelation. I'll tell you another
mark of the apostles. They were men who were endowed
with special gifts. They could speak in other languages.
They could lay hands on the sick. They could bestow the Holy Spirit.
They could take up serpents, drink any deadly thing. They
were men who could raise the dead, give sight to the blind. That's right. These were men
who were granted as signs and credentials, evidences that God
sent them, special powers. Paul was one of those men. He
said, I'm an apostle. But Paul was separated. He was
separated unto something. You know, this is the day in
the religious world of negative separation. Everybody's talking
about the separated Christian. You know what they mean by that?
They don't go to the show, they don't play cards, they don't
watch television, they don't do this, that, and the other.
They're separated from something. But Paul wasn't just separated
from. He was separated to something. And this is what's missing today.
Everybody's talking about what he's separated from, but very
few people are separated to anything. They're just anti, they're just
negative. They know nothing of and preach
nothing about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said, I'm
separated unto the gospel of God. Entirely and completely,
I'm separated to the gospel of God. I am determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. He
could have known several things. Paul was a brilliant man. He
was an educated man. In fact, one of the rulers accused
him of studying too much. He was well-known. He was well-known
in the temple and well-known in the political circles as a
man who had much learning. And one of the heathen rulers
accused him of studying so much he'd lost his mind. He said,
much learning hath made thee mad. Paul could have known something
else. But he said, I am determined.
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He left politics to the politicians, and he left education to the
educators, and he left sports to the athletes. He said, woe
is unto me if I preach not the gospel. I am determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul, of their simple name, but
a man who is a bondservant, a willing, loving, lifetime slave of Jesus
Christ, called of God, specially anointed and sent to be an apostle,
separated, unto, not just from, but unto the gospel of God, the
gospel of God. That's my message, he said. And
I'll tell you this, if preachers would preach this glorious gospel
of God to the people in their churches who are politicians,
It'd do more for cleaning up politics than entering politics
yourself. If preachers were declared from
the pulpit and over the television the glorious gospel of Jesus
Christ, it'd do more for straightening out education than serving on
the board. If we declare the gospel, our
people will come to know the gospel, and those in these official
capacities will act as men who have been redeemed by the grace
of God. But now watch verse 2. He said this gospel was promised
before. by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Paul, an apostle, a bond slave, separated to the gospel of God,
which he promised afore in the prophets, or by the prophets,
in the Holy Scriptures. Now the average person, the average
religious person, thinks that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of divine forgiveness,
Began at the manger. Did you know you'd be surprised
maybe some of you listening to me believe this that Jesus Christ
and his glorious gospel of free grace began at the manger or
even at the cross of Calvary Well, my friends that's wrong.
Nothing could be further from the truth the Bible Old Testament
and New Testament is one book It's not two books with two messages
Old and New Testament is one book with one message and And
that one message is salvation by grace, by the grace of God,
through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. You can find that in
several verses. Acts 10.43 is one of the keys. It says, To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his blood and by his death we
have the remission of sins. And then in Luke 24, verse 44,
our Lord is teaching two of his disciples about his death and
burial and resurrection, and he went back to the Old Testament
and showed them how the things written in Moses' writings and
in the prophets and in the Psalms were fulfilled in him. You see,
Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
And those who were pardoned and justified in Old Testament days
were pardoned and justified and saved by faith. Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed
in the coming Redeemer. Moses believed in the coming
Redeemer. Moses wrote of me, Christ said.
The Pharisees of Christ's day said, well, we have Moses. He
said, if you'd believe Moses, you'd believe me. Moses wrote
of me. And then he accused them. He said, you search the Scriptures,
for in the Scriptures you think you have life. But they are they
which testify of me. He's talking about the Old Testament
Scriptures. You see, when our Lord said that, the New Testament
wasn't written. The New Testament was written
after Christ died, and while he was here on the earth, he
said to the religious people, he said, you search the scriptures,
you study the scriptures, you pour over the scriptures, for
you think in the scriptures you have life, but they are they
which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you
might have life. Our Lord in the Old Testament is pictured,
prophesied, promised, and typified. Look back yonder when Adam and
Eve came out of the garden. And there were two boys born
to them, Cain and Abel. And they brought their sacrifices.
Cain brought the fruit of the field. Abel brought the firstling
of the flock, a lamb. And there built his altar, slew
the lamb, put the blood on the altar, and sought through this
blood sacrifice the cleansing of his sins, an atonement for
his guilt. What is that? Do you think that
the blood of that animal could put away the sin of a man's soul?
Of course not. What was Abel saying? Abel was
saying, I believe that someday God will send his Lamb, the Lamb
of God, and his blood will be shed, and until he comes, I offer
this sacrifice as a picture of Christ's death and of Christ's
blood. That's why John the Baptist,
when he stood there on the riverbank of Jordan River, when he saw
Christ coming, pointed and said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God. That's the Lamb. And then the
Lamb in Egypt, when they put the blood on the doorpost and
on the little, that blood is typical of Christ's blood. and
then the brazen serpent in the wilderness. Our Lord himself
referred to this when the people were bitten by the fiery serpents
and they were dying and they came to Moses for help and Moses
went to God and the Lord said make a serpent in the likeness
of the one that bitten the people, raise it on a pole and Christ
said as Moses lifted up that serpent, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish
but have everlasting life. You can go through the whole
Old Testament. That rock that was smitten by Moses, That rock,
the scripture deliberately says, was Christ. That rock was Christ. That Passover lamb, Christ is
our Passover sacrifice for us. The priest, the priesthood in
the Old Testament, when the high priest would bring the sacrifice
once a year, the atonement, into the Holy of Holies and put it
on the mercy seat, that pictures Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then
when Philip met the eunuch in the desert, and the eunuch was
reading the scriptures, that is Isaiah 53, he was reading
this scripture. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. By his stripes we're healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Who's that talking about? Well, that's the very question
that the eunuch asked. He said, Philip, of whom does
the prophet speak? Of himself or some other man?
And Philip began at the same scripture and preached to him
Jesus Christ. In his glorious incarnation,
in his glorious representation, in his glorious suffering and
sacrifice, and in his resurrection, and in his glorious intercession,
he preached Christ to him from Old Testament Scripture. You
see, Christ said, Abraham saw my day, and he was glad. These
men knew more than you think they knew. They believed God.
Now notice, the law was never given to pardon. The law cannot
put away sin. The law can only reveal sin. The law can only point out sin.
The law is like a mirror in which you look and see your imperfections.
The mirror can't do anything about it. If you look into the
mirror and your face is dirty, you can look until doomsday and
it'll stay dirty. You've got to go to the water.
You've got to go to the fountain. And you look into the law and
you see your imperfections. The law, you see, was not given
to save. It was not given to put away sin. It was given to
reveal sin. It was given to shut men up to
Christ. That men would look at the law
and run to Christ, run to the fountain filled with blood drawn
from Emmanuel's veins. And then the sacrifices and ceremonies. They were never given to save,
but to picture the person and work of Christ who does save.
And watch this. all the redeemed in glory, Moses,
Abraham, Abel, whoever they are, all the redeemed in glory, Old
Testament, New Testament, whatever dispensation, all of them sing
one song, and that is unto him who loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own precious blood and made us kings and priests
unto our God, to him be glory both now and forever. Paul separated
to the gospel of God no new gospel. the same old gospel, separated
to the gospel of God which he promised to forward by his prophets
in the Old Testament scriptures. Now listen, concerning his son. You see verse 3? Concerning his
son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This gospel of God, this good
news of mercy, this gospel of ancient days preached and believed
by Old Testament prophets and believers, this gospel of grace
and forgiveness is concerning not what you do, of what Christ
did. It's concerning not man or mankind. It's concerning Jesus Christ,
his Son, concerning his person and his work. Now, I want to
make this as simple as I can, and I want you to listen to me.
This is what I call the simplicity of the gospel, the simplicity
of Christ, from which we must never depart. Number one, men
are sinners. That's a fact, declared by the
word, declared by the law, declared by the gospel, declared by conscience. Men are sinners. All have sinned
and come short of God's glory. You're a sinner and I'm a sinner.
And don't flee from the word. Christ died for sinners. He's
the friend of sinners. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He came into the world to save sinners. All we like
sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. There's none good. No, not one. We use that word
so carelessly and recklessly. He's such a good man. Now you
listen to me. He may be good compared to the
bad men. But he's not good in the sight
of God. He's not good in the eyes of
the law. He's not good before the throne
of God. He's a sinner. All have sinned.
There's none that doeth good, no, not one. Christ our Lord
said to the man who called him good, Master, why do you call
me good? There's none good but God. If
I'm not God, I'm not good. That's what he was saying. Now,
there's no way that a man can please God. I don't care who
he is, what his background, he cannot please God or justify
himself before God. No man. The scripture tells us,
in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. In the flesh no man can
please God. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Our righteousnesses are filthy
rags in God's sight. So there are two statements.
All men are sinners. All men are guilty sinners. There
is no man who can please God or justify himself before a holy
God. Now, you can please men and please
yourself and please your own laws, but you can't please the
holiness of God. But God determined before the
fall to redeem a people. This thing of salvation originated
not in the counsels of men, but in the counsel of God. He chose
to redeem a people. God, from the beginning, chose
to save a people for his glory, to manifest the riches of his
grace. to reveal his love. And this
covenant, in the beginning, from before the foundation of the
world, you run upon this all the way through the scripture.
Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, the everlasting covenant, that's
what it's called, an everlasting covenant. What they did on Calvary
to Jesus Christ, God determined before to be done. God said he
declared all things from the beginning and from ancient times
to things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand,
I'll do all my good pleasure. This is called the everlasting
covenant. I know there's a covenant made with Adam, there was a covenant
made with Noah, there was a covenant made with Abraham, there was
a covenant made with David. But the covenant of grace, the
everlasting covenant, preceded all covenants and is the basis
of all promises. And Jesus Christ is called the
surety of an everlasting covenant. His blood is called the blood
of an everlasting covenant. And spiritual Israel are called
the people of the everlasting covenant. So man's a sinner.
He cannot please God. God determined to save people
for his glory and the manifestation of the riches of his grace. So
he chose to send his son, Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time
into this world. And before Christ came, born
in the manger, born of the virgin, incarnate in human flesh, God
showed what he would do, and what he would be like, and what
sacrifice he would make in the Holy Scripture. And when Christ
came, he came and died according to the Scripture. He came and
suffered according to the Scripture. The lamb died. The lamb shed
its blood. All of the righteousness of the
law was fulfilled in him. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under this law. The law
didn't change. God didn't change. Men didn't
change. Christ met the law as a man,
head on and pleased God. And he reconciled fallen men
to God. You see, there's one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And he was made,
look at verse 3. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. That is, Jesus Christ became
a man. He came as a Jew. He came as the rightful heir
to David's throne. He came God incarnate in human
flesh. He was declared. Now, he was
made of the seed of David according to the flesh. He was declared
to be the Son of God. Not made the Son of God, declared
to be the Son of God. Unto us a child is born, a son
is given. And he was declared to be the
Son of God by the Spirit of holiness and by the resurrection of the
dead. His holiness, his power, his works, his resurrection all
declare his deity. What think ye of Christ? Who
is he? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. What did he do? He was wounded
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. He was made
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Why did he do it? that a holy God might be holy
and justify sinful means, that a just God might be just and
justifier of them who believe. Where is he now? He's at the
right hand of God, where he intercedes for those for whom he died. God
gave him a people, made him their surety, entrusted their care
unto him. He came and fulfilled all that
God demanded. Suffered that justice might be
satisfied went back to glory He said to prepare for you a
place and this is the gospel under which I am separated Under
which I am called and the gospel of which I am not ashamed and
my friend. This is your hope He said go
ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth
not shall be damned