Now the first verse of Romans
1 begins like this, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Down in southern Mississippi, there's a grave under an old
pine tree. It's an old grave, it's covered
by weeds and wildflowers. No one ever visits that grave
anymore because family and friends are all dead. And no one living
today knew the man buried there. But in that grave is the body
of a soldier of Christ. He rode horseback over the whole
state of Mississippi, back preceding and following the Civil War,
preaching the gospel of Christ. Hundreds of people, hundreds
of people came to the Savior under his ministry. Churches
were organized, churches were formed under his ministry, lives
were changed, Holmes was saved, and according to the reports
of those who knew him, which I have personally read, he saved
the Baptist college of the state of Mississippi from total ruin
after the Civil War when there was no money in Mississippi.
He traveled all over that state raising nickels and dimes and
quarters to save that college. When he was buried on his tombstone,
they wrote these simple words, M. T. Martin, bondslave of Jesus
Christ. And to me, that's what it's all
about. And that's what the Apostle Paul
is saying in the opening words of my text. One of the few men who ever deserved
any recognition, but who sought it not. One of the few men who
deserved and earned degrees and titles, but who sought them not,
designates himself a servant, a bondservant. of Jesus Christ,
and that's all. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus
Christ. Now, where this term, bondservant,
comes from, back in the Old Testament days in the land of Israel, a
man may become, because of debts and other reasons, a slave. But after he had served a master
for seven years or six years, on the seventh year he was allowed
to go free, totally, totally free. But if that man who had
been a slave for six years and who now had won and been granted
his freedom did not want to leave, he should come to his master
and say, I love my master. I love my master's house, and
I don't wish to be free. I wish to remain as a servant
to my master. I wish to remain in his household. This being the case, the master
was to take the man to the priest, and they would put his ear up
against the door of the master's house, and they would take an
awl and bore his ear. And he would wear a sign in that
lobe of that ear designating him, not an unwilling slave,
but a willing slave. Not a slave who was there against
his will, who wanted to be somewhere else, but a willing, loving bondservant,
there of his own will. And that's what Paul is saying
of himself here. I am not a servant of Christ
against my will, not a servant of Christ wishing and desiring
my freedom, not a servant of Christ who would like to be serving
someone else or myself, but a willing, loving, bondservant of Jesus
Christ. Charles Spurgeon, the very young
and powerful preacher of New Park Street in London, became the pastor when he was
about 18 or 19 years old. He had finished the academy equivalent
to our high school, but he'd never been to college, and he'd
never been to the university, and he'd never been to the seminary. And so when he was 19 years old
and pastor of this influential and tremendous church, the New
Park Street Church, where John Gill had pastored for 49 years
and Benjamin Keech had pastored for 51 years, Charles Spurgeon
made an appointment with the president of the university in
London to discuss his entrance into that university. Spurgeon
said that he felt he needed certain credentials, and he needed recognition
from the world of scholars to enhance his ministry. So he made
an appointment with the president of the university to discuss
his entrance into that institution. Well, he came to the place where
he was supposed to meet the president of the university, and the servant
girl showed him to the library. And when the President came,
she showed him to another room. She just made a mistake. So Spurgeon
sat in one room waiting for the President to show up, and the
President sat in the other room waiting for Mr. Spurgeon to appear. Finally, after waiting over an
hour, the President departed. And Spurgeon, sitting in the
upper room, thinking the President had not come, and the President
thinking Spurgeon had not come, they both left. And Spurgeon
said he went out and walked in the garden. And he thought to himself, what
is God trying to teach me? I sought to enter the university.
I sought credentials I felt that I needed, recognition that I
felt would help my ministry. And he said, God seemed to say
to him, in a verse of Scripture found
in the Old Testament, Seekest thou great things for thyself,
seek them not. And from that moment Spurgeon
went back to his pulpit which God had given him, and the door
which God had miraculously opened for him without the aid of this
world, and became a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and ministered
to the whole world without a doctorate either earned or honorary, without even ever
being ordained to the ministry. His books have on them sermons
by the Reverend Charles Spurgeon, but he was never ordained to
the ministry. He was God's servant, and he
was God's bondservant, and that's what Paul's talking about here,
and that's what it's all about. Paul, a bondservant, a bond slave
of Jesus Christ, not of men, but of God. And then he says,
God called me to be an apostle. It was a supernatural, unusual
call. God put me, he said, in the ministry. I didn't volunteer for this place,
God put me there. And then he says, I am separated
unto the gospel of God. I want us to look at that word
for a few moments very seriously, the word separated. I've been
looking at it for a few days while I thought of this message.
I am a bondservant of Jesus Christ and I'm separated unto the gospel. Now, my friends, the true believer
experiences a twofold separation. And I'm not talking only about
ministers now, I'm talking about every true believer. Every true
believer experiences a twofold separation, a separation from
and a separation unto. From something and to something. And it's impossible, it's not
difficult, it's impossible to be separated unto Christ without
being separated from the world. It's an impossibility. Christ
said that. You cannot serve God and mammon. You may be acquainted with both,
you cannot serve both. You cannot be the servant of
the world and self and sin and the servant of Christ. Every
true believer experiences a twofold separation. First of all, in being separated
from the world, we shun evil companions. It's a fourfold separation
from. Now watch this. We shun evil
companions. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15. Now this is very important and
very vital, and I want it to be clearly and plainly stated. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33,
in being separated unto Christ, every true believer experiences
a separation from this world. And when I say from this world,
I mean, first of all, that he willingly shuns evil companions. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33,
do not be deceived. do not be deceived." Evil communications,
and the reason you've got a pastor is to look up words like that.
And that word means companions, evil companions. Evil companions,
and the other word it refers to is associates. Evil companions and evil associates
corrupt good manners or good morals or character. I don't care who the man's character
is. The people he associates with
and the people he socializes with, if they are evil associates
and evil companions, they will corrupt him. They will corrupt him. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
6. Listen to this. 2 Corinthians
6. Verse 14, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with
darkness? How can those two get along well? What concord hath Christ with
Baal? What part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? How do they walk together? What agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? You are the temple of the living
God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them,
and be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come
out from among them, evil associates and evil companions, and be ye
separate. Touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and you shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Evil companions will corrupt
good morals and good characters. The second thing in being separated
from this world, the believer not only shuns evil companionship
and evil associates, but he shuns evil appearances. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
5. 1 Thessalonians 5. Now I'm going to show you in
the next few moments that we are to be directed in our behavior
not only by our own conscience. You say, well, this is all right
for me. Well, it may be. But we are to be guided in our
behavior by the conscience of other people. You say, well, just be what you
are and do what you feel like you ought to do or you're led
to do. No, sir, you're not supposed to do that. You say, well, it's
hypocrisy not to do it. We're to be directed in our behavior
by the conscience of other people. I'm to avoid those things that
will give anyone the impression that I'm doing evil, the appearance
of evil. Look at it. 1 Thessalonians 5,
verse 22. Abstain from all, doesn't say
evil only, it says all appearance of evil. Abstain from the appearance
of evil. Don't give anyone the impression
that you're doing evil. Don't leave the impression with
someone that you're not walking in righteousness and holiness.
We're to be directed by the other man's conscience. I'll show you
that in 1 Corinthians 10. Turn over there with me. 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. In the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians,
verse 28. Now listen to this. Paul is talking here about the
meat that was offered to idols. You're familiar with this. Down
in the marketplace, people back in Corinth and in these places
could buy meat that had been sacrificed to idols. And some
people felt it was all right to eat it. Paul himself said
it was all right to eat it. But some of the weaker Christians
didn't believe it was right to eat meat sacrificed to idols,
even though you could buy it cheap. And so Paul said, if any
man say to you, 1 Corinthians 10, 28, this meat was offered
in the sacrifice unto idols, don't eat it, he said. For his
sake that showed it to you, and for conscience sake. Look at
verse 29. Conscience, I say, not thine
own, but the conscience of the other man. Don't deliberately
and willingly offend him. And then in 2 Corinthians 4,
let's go over there a moment. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 1 and
2. Now listen to this. Therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not. We have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. Now I have a ministry here in
Ashland, Kentucky. It's the ministry of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And you have a ministry here,
you elders and you deacons. And it does matter whether we
pay our bills or not. It does matter where we go and
what we do and with whom we're seen. It does matter. It matters
a whole lot. You say, well, I'm doing nothing
wrong. Well, don't give the appearance that you're doing anything wrong.
It does matter how you talk. It does matter how you dress.
It does matter where you go. It matters a whole lot. We've
got a reputation for Christ's sake to maintain in this town.
And Paul says, we have this ministry, and we have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. We do not walk in craftiness,
nor do we handle the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation
of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. So we shun the appearance of
evil for the sake of other people, for their conscience's sake.
And then thirdly, we shun evil places. Now let me say this.
Lot was in Sodom, but he didn't belong there, and he shouldn't
have been there. And every believer has no business
in places where the name of Christ is blasphemed. A believer has
no business in the places where the world gathers to do evil. We've got no business there. What fellowship hath the believer
with the infidel? What fellowship hath light with
darkness? And we ought to shun evil places. The believer has no business
in a place where the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is blasphemed,
and where the corrupt of this world gather to do evil. And
then in the next place, the fourth thing, we shun evil reports,
we shun evil companions, we shun evil appearance, we shun evil
places, and fourthly, we shun evil reports. Now character is
what you are, and that's I know the most important thing. Character
is what I am, and that's most important, but reputation is
what men think you are. And my friends, according to
this book, that's important too. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3.
It's very important. Reputation is very important.
In 1 Timothy 3 we have the We have the requirements for
a pastor and deacons and elders. And it's one of the requirements
is, and what you expect of me, you ought to expect of yourself,
shouldn't you? What is required of me or the
elders or the deacons ought to be required of you. And one of
the requirements is, verse 7, he must have a good report of
them which are without. You know what that's saying?
The businessmen of this town ought to regard him as a fine
man, trustworthy, a man of honesty, a man of integrity, and a man
of his word. That's a good report, not only
of those in the church, but those outside the church, the people he works for. the
people he banks with, the places of business where he trades,
the folks he drives to work with, the waitresses who wait upon
him. He ought to have a good report of every one of those
people. Now turn with me to 3 John, chapter
1. It's just one chapter in 3 John,
and I want you to listen to verse 11 and 12. 3 John I'm talking to myself as well
as to you. I'm not preaching down to any
of us. I'm simply saying what God's
Word says. Separated. Let's don't get separated
unto a doctrine. Let's don't get separated even
to a plan of salvation. Let's get separated to Christ.
And when we're separated to Christ, we've got to be separated from
something. You can't serve God and mammon. As I said, you can
be aware of the existence of both, and you can know something
about both, but you can't serve both of them. And in 3 John, verses 11 and
12, Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which
is good. He that doeth good is of God.
He that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good report
of all men. Isn't that something? He has
a good report. Now, our walk in our lives, we
may be doctrinally sound. We may be orthodox and fundamental. We may hold and preach what's
called the truth. But we may, by our walk and by
our lives, destroy everything that we preach, and everything
we believe, and everything for which we stand. And it's possible,
while a man in his head holds to the truth by his life, can
become an enemy of that very thing he believes. Now I'll show
you that in Philippians 3, verse 17. Now this is very important
that you turn over here. I'm saying that a preacher who
holds to the truth and who preaches the truth, and who is orthodox
and fundamental in his message, can become an enemy of the very
thing he preaches. And so can the members of the
church. They can actually be allies of Satan while holding
to the doctrines of God. And that is by their walk and
by their talk. Look at Philippians 3. 17. Brethren, be followers together
of me, and mark them which walk, so as you have us for an example. For many walk, and this walk
is the tenor of life, it's the way I behave when I'm not in
the house of God. For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, and now tell you even weeping, they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their
God is their belly, and their glory is their shame, and they
mind earthly things. That's what they're interested
in, that's what their mind's on, the things of this world. Our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So every believer who is separated,
Paul says in our text, I'm a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and I'm separated
unto something. But in order to be separated
unto something, there has got to be a separation from. Got
to be. A man who is separated by law
from one woman cannot live with the new wife and the old wife. It can't be done. And if we're separated unto Christ,
we're going to be separated from evil companions, we're going
to be separated from evil places, we're going to be separated from
evil appearance, and we're going to be separated from evil report. Evil report. I know we're going to be misjudged
enough as it is without giving people fodder for their cannons,
without deliberately giving them ammunition for their guns, without
deliberately being seen where we ought not be seen, and doing
what we ought not be doing, and saying what we ought not be saying,
and associating with whom we ought not be associating. And
we've got to consider the conscience of other people. Well, you say,
my friends will understand, it doesn't matter about my enemies.
Well, it does matter too. It does matter. I don't want
to willingly give the enemies of Christ a reason for rejecting
what I preach. Do you? Now Paul goes on and
says, I'm separated unto the gospel. And it's the gospel of
God. Turn to Galatians chapter 1.
Galatians, the first chapter, verse 11 and 12. Turn over there
with me a moment. This gospel to which we are separated,
I'm not asking, when I talk about us being separated from something,
and Christ said, if you love father, mother, brother, sister
more than me, you're not worthy of me. It's that big a separation. If a man loves his own life more
than me, he's not worthy of me. A man that will not take up his
cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." I know that most people today
want a Sunday religion. They want something that demands
nothing of them. Come to church and honor God
for a few minutes on Sunday morning. read their little devotion in
the evening, and say two or three words of prayer, and then go
to sleep. They want nothing to do with this union with Christ
that demands all of them. All of them. And I wouldn't, really, the most
religion that I hear preached today, I wouldn't ask you to
be separated to that. I wouldn't ask you to give up
the things that you by nature love for that. But what I'm saying,
Paul says, I'm separated to the gospel of God. This is big business. This is more important than the
world. This is greater than the world.
This is more magnificent than the world. This is God's gospel
I'm separated unto. I'm not separated to the Baptist
denomination. I'm not separated to some little religious formula or plan of
salvation. I'm separated to the gospel of
God. And in Galatians 1, verse 11,
he says, brethren, I certify you that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. I didn't receive it of man. I
wasn't taught it by man, but I received it by a revelation
of Jesus Christ. a revelation of Jesus Christ. This is the gospel of God. This is the kingdom of God. This
is the family of God. This is the presence of God.
This is the salvation of God. Salvation of God in its planning,
in its execution, in its application, in its sustaining power, in its
ultimate perfection. Most churches and most religions
are nothing in the world but social clubs and social centers. But what I'm talking about to
you this morning, that for which Paul says, I am a bond slave,
that to which I am called, that to which I am separated, that
for which I'm willing to give up all things and all people. even to bringing my own body
into subjection." This is the gospel of God. And it's the everlasting gospel.
Verse 2, he said, "...which he promised to for by his prophets
in the holy scriptures." This is the everlasting gospel. They're
not, and listen to me carefully here, they're not two or three
gospels in the Bible. They're not two or three ways
of saving sinners. They're one gospel. Christ is
the Bible. In the Bible we have Christ in
the promises. Go back to Genesis 3, and God
said, The seed of woman shall bruise the head of the serpent.
That's Christ. We have Christ in picture. April's
sacrifice, the brazen serpent lifted up, the Passover lamb.
There's Christ in picture all the way through the Old Testament.
We have Christ in prophecy. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. By his stripes we're healed.
God will send you a prophet. Like unto myself, Moses said,
him you shall listen to. In the Bible we have Christ not
only in promise, in picture, in prophecy, we have Christ in
type. Every Old Testament sacrifice, every Old Testament priest, every
day of atonement is Christ in type. And then we have in the
New Testament Christ in person. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were born under the law. This is the gospel which
God promised and which God prophesied and which God pictured. And watch
it, verse 3, it's the gospel concerning his son. Now in verse 3 it tells us he
was made of the seed of David, that is, Christ became a man,
a Jew. And God made him a body. God
made him of the seed of David. God, back yonder before the world
began, made a covenant in which He decreed and determined and
purposed to save a people. And He determined that His Son
would come down here to this earth and take on Himself a human
body. And He was made of the seed of
David, but verse 4 says He was declared to be the Son of God.
He wasn't made the Son of God. When he came down here into this
world and walked here in human flesh, God made him a body. God made him of the seed of David. God made him a Jew. God made
him a man. But He didn't make him His Son.
He was already His Son. He declared Him. He declared
Him to be His Son, and declared it He declared it with power. In John chapter 5, our Lord said,
John the Baptist bore witness of me, who I am. The miracles
I did bear witness of who I am. Search the scriptures, they tell
you who I am. The Father has spoken from heaven
and told you who I am. The resurrection from the dead
tells you who I am. Of all the religions of this
world, only the Christian has these three things. Only the
Christian. You can take Buddhism, and Mohammedism,
and Hinduism, and all these other isms, and only the Christian
has these three vital, essential things. Only the Christian has
a substitute Savior. Only the Christian. who died
for his sins, who makes him holy and without blame, without reproof,
in the sight of God Almighty. Only the Christian, secondly,
has a risen Lord. You can visit the grave of all
these other so-called great messiahs, but you can't visit the grave
of our Lord. He's not here, the angel said. He's risen. And only the Christian
as a living mediator at the right hand of God, only the Christian. I can go to him with my cares
and with my sins and with my trials and with my needs, and
he makes me acceptable to the Father. A living high priest,
only the Christian. That's the gospel to which we're
separated. It's the gospel of God. It's
the everlasting gospel. It's the gospel concerning His
Son, His Son's deity, His Son's holiness, His Son's glory, His
Son's work, His Son's mediatorial intercession, His Son. That's
the gospel to which we're separated. It's a great gospel. It's God's
gospel. It's worthy of all acceptation. I'm just thankful that God And
here it brings me to the last thing, verse 5. By whom we have
received grace, I'm just glad that God made me a part of that
kingdom. I didn't earn grace, I received
it. I didn't buy it, I received it.
I didn't deserve it, I received it. By whom we have received
grace. Paul said, I obtained mercy. Noah obtained or found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And that grace is sufficient.
It's sufficient. There are three areas where I
need God most. Without Him, I can do nothing.
I know that. I can't breathe without Him. I can't hear or see or think
without Him. In Him I live and move and have
my being. By Him all things consist. Without
God I can do nothing. I know that. But there are three
areas where I need His grace more than any other areas. Number
one, I need His grace. And it's sufficient. He said,
My grace is sufficient. I need His grace for all my sins. My sins. Though your sins be
as scarlet, double-dyed, red like crimson, I'll make them
white as snow." That's what he said. I need it. I need it. I need his grace for all my sins,
my S-I-N and my S-I-N-S. I need his grace. And secondly,
I need his grace for all my trials. Paul prayed that the thorn in
his flesh would be removed, and God said, I won't move it, but
I'll give you grace to bear it. And then thirdly, I need his
grace in the day when I come to die. That's going to be a
difficult time. When I come to the river at the
ending of day, when the last winds of sorrow have blown By
His grace, there'll be somebody waiting to show me the way, and
I won't have to cross Jordan alone. I'm going to need His
grace desperately then. Oh, I need His grace day by day,
the grace of love, the grace of forgiveness, the grace of
compassion, the grace of affection. I need His grace even to accept
a sermon of reproof and rebuke. and instruction. You need His
grace. I need His grace. I need His
grace when the Word of God convicts me and condemns me. His grace
to convince me. I need His grace to believe.
I need His grace to keep on believing. I need His grace to persevere
and keep on persevering. I need His grace for every moment
of every day. But I need His grace most for
all my sins. And for all my trial, and for
that day, may he find mercy in that day. And it's not long,
it's not long, for some of us it might be soon, but we'll need
his grace when we come to die. Our Father in heaven, Make thy
word a special blessing to every one of us this morning. We're
not left to ourselves, to our own thoughts. Our thoughts are
not thy thoughts, and our ways are not thy ways. How far removed
are our ways from thy ways, and our thoughts from thy thoughts.
But thou hast chosen to speak to us through thy word and through
thy messenger. And we pray that we may receive
with grace and humility the word that has been spoken to us. Give us a greater love for thee.
Give us a deep and sweet and precious fervent love for one
another. Give us a love for those who
know not Christ. Give us a love for our enemies.
give us a deep and sweet and abiding love for those even who
crucified the Lord. But our Father grant unto us
a life of separation unto the gospel. Let us weigh and measure
the things that we do and the places we go and the people with
whom we associate by what influence and effect it will have upon
us and upon our testimony and upon our church and upon the
gospel of our Lord, help us to be an influence for Christ with those with whom we live. Forgive our sins and teach us
and minister to us, and when we are personally confronted
by thy presence and thy power. Let us, like thy servant of old,
say, It's the Lord. Let him do what he will. For
it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.