WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.379 Would you take your Bible, please, and turn with 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:12.359 me to Romans, Chapter 1. Someone has said that 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:18.019 Romans is the epistle of resurrection. The truth 00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:20.980 of resurrection is mentioned at least 13 times 00:00:20.980 --> 00:00:25.379 in these 16 chapters of Romans, including the 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:27.980 text that we will look at today, verses 1 through 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:32.740 7. Romans is the only letter that Paul wrote 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:35.740 to an assembly of believers which he had not 00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:40.740 personally founded. The theme of this book is 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:45.520 the righteousness of God, both his personal righteousness, 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:50.820 the attribute of his perfect righteousness, and 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:54.600 that righteousness which he gives to men and 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:58.179 women. who trusts his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.619 as Savior and Lord. You'll notice in the first 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:06.480 paragraph, which we will read together, Paul 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.760 begins by identifying himself. He's the author. 00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:15.260 In verse 7, he tells us to whom he is writing, 00:01:15.379 --> 00:01:19.099 and then he gives his salute to them and his 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:21.760 greeting in the last part of verse 7. Follow 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.620 along, please, in your Bible as I read. Paul, 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.640 a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.500 and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:37.019 he promised beforehand through his prophets in 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:41.640 the Holy Scriptures, regarding his son, who as 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.819 to his human nature was a descendant of David, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.439 and who through the spirit of holiness, or that 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.180 might be better read, or who as to his spirit 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:58.329 of holiness, was declared with power to be the 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:01.670 Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, 00:02:01.849 --> 00:02:07.269 Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:11.490 name's sake, we received grace and apostleship 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:16.129 to call people from among all the Gentiles to 00:02:16.129 --> 00:02:20.110 the obedience that comes from faith. And you 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:23.169 also are among those who are called to belong. 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:29.099 to jesus christ to all in rome who are loved 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:34.240 by god and called to be saints grace and peace 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:38.240 to you from god our father and from the lord 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:44.639 jesus christ let's pray father in heaven as we 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:49.060 come to the book this morning we confess before 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:52.479 you the frailty of our human minds to grasp the 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.289 content and the meaning and the application. 00:02:57.389 --> 00:03:01.689 Thus we submit ourselves to the teaching of the 00:03:01.689 --> 00:03:07.569 Holy Spirit, the author of these words. We pray 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:10.150 that you will enlighten our minds and hearts 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:14.550 as to what is here for us today. And as we go 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:17.430 away from your house, may our lives be stronger, 00:03:17.629 --> 00:03:23.270 may we be encouraged. May the needs that we have 00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:28.129 spiritually be met through the grace of Jesus 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:37.629 Christ. And we pray this in his name. Amen. Paul 00:03:37.629 --> 00:03:39.930 had never met these people, and so he begins 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:44.250 by introducing himself. He surely did not have 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:46.669 to do that, for he was well known among the believers 00:03:46.669 --> 00:03:49.520 throughout the Roman Empire. But it's interesting 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.520 how Paul chooses to identify himself to these 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:56.439 people whom he had never met. In verse 1, we 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:59.419 see him using three words or phrases to do so. 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:04.400 First, he calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.400 And then he calls himself an apostle. I think 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.819 it's worthy of note that Paul chose to identify 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:16.579 himself first as a servant. and then in the exalted 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:19.480 office to which God had called him in the church. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:23.879 Paul saw himself as a servant. That was his heart. 00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:26.839 When you read through the books that he wrote 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.360 in the New Testament again and again and again, 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.379 this theme comes through from this mighty intellect, 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:42.319 this gifted man. He sees himself as a servant 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:47.680 of Jesus Christ. The idea of a servant is one 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.680 who is given completely to the will of another 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:56.399 person. The verb of this particular noun means 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.620 to bind something. And so sometimes in the New 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:03.000 Testament we see it translated, at least in the 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:07.139 King James Version, a bond servant or a bond 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:12.980 slave. It is one who has voluntarily bound himself 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:18.470 to his master. in this case. And do you know 00:05:18.470 --> 00:05:23.689 the keener we become aware of the purchase price 00:05:23.689 --> 00:05:26.750 that was paid for us on the cross of Calvary, 00:05:26.870 --> 00:05:32.290 the more we are prone to bind ourselves as servants 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:36.629 of Jesus Christ. For we see that we are not our 00:05:36.629 --> 00:05:39.930 own, but we have been bought with a price, the 00:05:39.930 --> 00:05:43.689 precious blood of Christ. That truth so gripped 00:05:43.689 --> 00:05:46.980 Paul. that he identifies himself as a servant, 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:52.879 a doulos, a bond slave, willingly and gladly 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.779 of Christ Jesus. And then notice that he says, 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:00.800 called to be an apostle. Actually, the words 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.279 to be are not in the original language. What 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:08.019 he says here, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:12.040 apostle. The word called is an adjective here 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:15.709 describing his apostleship. He is one who has 00:06:15.709 --> 00:06:19.829 been called of God and sent forth on a mission 00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:23.250 to serve him. That's the meaning of an apostle, 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:27.629 one who is sent forth. In this same sense, Jesus 00:06:27.629 --> 00:06:31.790 Christ himself is called an apostle in Hebrews 00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:36.509 3 .1. For the Father sent him on a mission into 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:40.050 the world. And here the apostle Paul says he 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:45.949 is an apostle who has been called of God. Not 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:48.470 called of men, not self -appointed, but called 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:52.689 of God. And it was this divine call that impelled 00:06:52.689 --> 00:06:58.329 him forward in his ministry, despite the sufferings 00:06:58.329 --> 00:07:02.769 that he endured. And then he says, and set apart 00:07:02.769 --> 00:07:07.470 for the gospel of God. That is a verb there, 00:07:07.550 --> 00:07:10.069 and Paul uses it in such a tense as it means 00:07:10.069 --> 00:07:13.379 it happened a long time ago. but the results 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:16.920 of it are still present in my life today. Paul 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:18.839 is looking back to something that happened in 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:20.879 his life, and he says, that had such an impact 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:24.519 on me that still today I feel the result of it. 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:29.379 He was set apart. Literally, that means to mark 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:34.699 something off from something else, to draw a 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:38.720 boundary around something. Paul is looking back 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:42.420 in his mind to a time when God... set him aside 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:46.639 to a special purpose. And as we think of that, 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.180 we think of the time when he was traveling on 00:07:50.180 --> 00:07:52.220 that road to Damascus. Do you remember the story? 00:07:53.079 --> 00:07:56.939 On his way to that city to persecute Christians, 00:07:57.100 --> 00:08:01.060 to arrest them, because of his great zeal that 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:04.660 he had for Judaism. And on that road somewhere, 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:09.259 the Lord met Paul. Saul was his name at that 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:16.759 time. And there Saul was saved. And then as he 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.759 went on to Damascus, he went to the house of 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:22.839 a man who then on behalf of the Lord told him 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:24.800 what his commission would be, and that was to 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.019 preach the gospel primarily to the Gentiles. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.800 And so as the apostle reflected back upon that 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.679 experience in his life, he said, God set me apart. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:38.840 This was not something that he chose, but God 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:41.740 did it. And so right from the very first verse 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.240 in this epistle, we are confronted with a theme 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.600 that runs throughout it, and that is the sovereignty 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:56.200 of God. God does what he chooses. God does what 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:02.659 pleases him. It was he who confronted Paul on 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:07.039 that road to Damascus. It was he who led Paul 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.919 to faith in Jesus Christ, the one that he so 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.860 hated previously, and it was he, God, who then 00:09:13.860 --> 00:09:18.399 set Paul apart to the special ministry of apostleship, 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:24.279 primarily and especially to the Gentiles. I think, 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:26.559 though, that we can go back even further regarding 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.220 his apostleship, because Paul did. In Galatians 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:32.700 chapter 1, he makes the amazing statement that 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:35.080 while he was still in the womb of his mother, 00:09:35.299 --> 00:09:40.360 God set him apart to his ministry. That's difficult 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:42.960 to reconcile theologically for some of us, maybe. 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:46.299 But the apostle nonetheless declares it to be 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.179 true, that from the time that he was conceived, 00:09:49.340 --> 00:09:54.139 there was a special purpose for his life. May 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:56.379 I say to you that that is true of every Christian, 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:01.320 and not just of the apostle Paul? There is a 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.220 sense of destiny that should fill the heart of 00:10:04.220 --> 00:10:08.200 every truly born -again Christian, because God, 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.440 from before the foundation of the world, as a 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.259 matter of fact, had you in mind as one of his 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:18.039 own. That should fill you with wonder and amazement. 00:10:18.059 --> 00:10:25.600 It does me. The apostle's life purpose, for which 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:29.519 he was set apart, was to preach the gospel of 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:35.450 God. All other issues or concerns that confronted 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:39.330 him were but a drop in the bucket compared to 00:10:39.330 --> 00:10:42.889 that major concern of his life to preach the 00:10:42.889 --> 00:10:48.549 gospel. When he was uncertain as to what to do, 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:53.110 it was this guiding principle that gave direction 00:10:53.110 --> 00:10:57.090 to him. God had called him to preach the gospel. 00:10:58.009 --> 00:11:01.830 For example, there was a time... when he was 00:11:01.830 --> 00:11:07.669 in Athens by himself. His co -laborers had not 00:11:07.669 --> 00:11:09.850 come as they were supposed to do. He was concerned 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:13.509 about them. Paul undoubtedly wondered, what should 00:11:13.509 --> 00:11:16.929 I do? And yet it was this principle that gave 00:11:16.929 --> 00:11:19.870 him direction for while he was in Athens by himself 00:11:19.870 --> 00:11:23.029 in this state of mind, he preached the gospel 00:11:23.029 --> 00:11:25.149 and delivered one of the masterpieces of all 00:11:25.149 --> 00:11:31.250 time recorded for us in Acts chapter 17. A few 00:11:31.250 --> 00:11:35.049 weeks ago, I was on the West Coast and toured 00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:39.490 on an afternoon the Queen Mary. Some of you have 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:42.730 perhaps been on that ship. It is now permanently 00:11:42.730 --> 00:11:46.110 stationed in Long Beach, California. It's an 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.669 amazing ship to see. It was my first time on 00:11:48.669 --> 00:11:51.409 a vessel that large. One of the things that I 00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:53.669 was especially impressed by was the pilot house. 00:11:54.649 --> 00:11:57.789 As we went up there to the very top deck of the 00:11:57.789 --> 00:12:01.220 ship, We were able to see the instruments that 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:04.220 were used by those skilled pilots and navigators 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:09.460 to direct that ship across those vast reaches 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:13.720 of water when the ship was sailing. And they 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.779 showed us the navigational instruments that were 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:19.860 used and the backup systems in case they failed 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:23.820 because it's extremely important that all the 00:12:23.820 --> 00:12:26.850 time... Those who are guiding that ship know 00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:29.789 exactly where they are, though they may not be 00:12:29.789 --> 00:12:32.909 able to see land. Though perhaps the sky is cloudy 00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:35.049 and they cannot get a reading from the stars, 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:37.549 it is important that some way they know exactly 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:39.509 where they are, and so they had navigational 00:12:39.509 --> 00:12:42.629 instruments to do that. Even in the midst of 00:12:42.629 --> 00:12:45.450 a wildest storm, they were able to use their 00:12:45.450 --> 00:12:47.990 instruments because of certain safeguards built 00:12:47.990 --> 00:12:50.250 in to protect them so that they would be accurate. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:54.759 My friend, I'm saying to you that the Apostle 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:57.120 Paul had some kind of a compass like that too. 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:00.340 And even when he went through tough experiences 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:02.639 in life, there was something that gave him direction, 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:04.820 and that was his commission to preach the gospel 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:08.659 of Jesus Christ. No matter what else was going 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:10.879 through his mind, whatever concerns may have 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:14.139 been his, though as it were he rolled through 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:18.600 the waves of life like we all do, he kept on 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.029 course because he kept before him is commissioned 00:13:22.029 --> 00:13:26.429 by God to be an apostle and to preach the gospel 00:13:26.429 --> 00:13:29.710 of Christ. And I would suggest to you and to 00:13:29.710 --> 00:13:32.169 myself today that we, although we may not be 00:13:32.169 --> 00:13:35.070 apostles, have nonetheless a commission from 00:13:35.070 --> 00:13:38.809 God to be his ambassadors. And though there may 00:13:38.809 --> 00:13:41.269 be times in our life that we wonder what direction 00:13:41.269 --> 00:13:43.649 we should go or what decision we should make, 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:47.389 there are times when troubles seem to heap upon 00:13:47.389 --> 00:13:51.620 themselves in our lives. And we say, God, what 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:55.740 am I supposed to do? Whatever your circumstances, 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:58.259 you have this principle to guide you. Wherever 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:01.200 you are, whatever situation you're in, God has 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.299 called you to be a faithful witness for Jesus 00:14:03.299 --> 00:14:06.720 Christ. If you keep doing that, you'll stay on 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.659 the right course, though you may be in a fog 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:14.340 as far as you're concerned. The apostle's theme 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:17.379 in the paragraph that we've read this morning 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:21.159 is the gospel of God. You'll notice how he leads 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.419 into that. Set apart for the gospel of God, and 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:26.500 then if we skip over verse 2, which is really 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:29.120 a parenthesis, it goes on to say, the gospel 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:34.039 of God regarding his son. That is Paul's heart. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:38.419 That is his theme in these verses. I want you 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:40.620 to notice that he calls it the gospel of God. 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:45.159 There are times when he calls it my gospel, but 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:47.700 when Paul did that, he was simply saying, this 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:51.100 is the gospel that I trusted. And this is the 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:53.840 gospel that I have to give to people. But Paul 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.840 is not saying that he's the originator of it. 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.960 He's telling us here that God is the author of 00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:03.679 it. It is God's good news to the world, the gospel 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:08.259 is. It is his good news that men can be made 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:12.679 right with God. And that, of course, is the theme 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:16.759 of this whole book. The gospel is not good advice. 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:20.899 It is good news from God. And there are four 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:24.039 truths about the gospel that we see in our text 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:26.860 today. I encourage you to use the outline that 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:28.620 you received in your worship folder and follow 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:31.419 along as we look at the four truths regarding 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:36.379 the gospel of God. Truth number one is that God 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:41.240 promised it. We see that in verse 2 in the parenthesis 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:45.840 that we've suggested. He says the gospel he promised 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:49.409 beforehand. through his prophets in the Holy 00:15:49.409 --> 00:15:53.769 Scriptures. That word promised means more than 00:15:53.769 --> 00:15:58.350 just an announcement. There is involved in that 00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:01.049 word a commitment. In other words, God committed 00:16:01.049 --> 00:16:05.029 himself beforehand to bring about the gospel. 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:09.470 Who promised it? God did. God used the prophets 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:13.509 of old. He's looking primarily here, of course, 00:16:13.509 --> 00:16:15.490 at the Old Testament because the New was not 00:16:15.490 --> 00:16:19.169 written. He's saying that God used those prophets 00:16:19.169 --> 00:16:22.049 of the Old Testament, those writers of the Holy 00:16:22.049 --> 00:16:26.409 Scriptures, to point to the gospel, the good 00:16:26.409 --> 00:16:28.649 news that was coming, that men could be right 00:16:28.649 --> 00:16:33.049 with God and how that could be. Over in chapter 00:16:33.049 --> 00:16:37.129 3, verse 21, we have a parallel verse in which 00:16:37.129 --> 00:16:42.169 the apostle says, But now a righteousness from 00:16:42.169 --> 00:16:46.429 God. apart from the law, has been made known. 00:16:47.570 --> 00:16:50.230 That is, this is the righteousness that God gives 00:16:50.230 --> 00:16:53.169 to men who repent of their sin and trust Christ. 00:16:54.350 --> 00:16:58.269 And he says, to which the law and the prophets 00:16:58.269 --> 00:17:02.070 testify. In other words, as we go into the Old 00:17:02.070 --> 00:17:04.690 Testament, we should be able to see Jesus Christ 00:17:04.690 --> 00:17:08.829 there. Dr. W .A. Criswell, pastor of the First 00:17:08.829 --> 00:17:11.690 Baptist Church in Dallas, in one of the great 00:17:11.690 --> 00:17:15.500 orators. of our day, great pulpiteer, some of 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.859 you have heard him, has a sermon that's called 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:24.740 The Scarlet Thread through the Bible. His deacons 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.200 always teased him that he never quite got through 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.779 with the message, so he would preach for an hour. 00:17:31.299 --> 00:17:33.220 And so one time he said, well, why don't you 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.380 give me an opportunity to preach my whole message? 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:39.700 And they said, fine, do it. And so he said, well, 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:42.920 I'll do it at the watch night service. And so 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.220 in a watch night service, a number of years ago 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:48.460 now, Dr. Criswell started preaching at 7 .30. 00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:53.900 And he concluded sometime after midnight. And 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:56.339 what he did during that message was to trace 00:17:56.339 --> 00:17:58.660 the scarlet thread of the promise of redemption 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:03.019 from Genesis to Revelation. You know the amazing 00:18:03.019 --> 00:18:07.619 thing? When he began at 7 .30, people had packed 00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:10.900 the auditorium. By the time he finished, after 00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:15.279 midnight, they were standing in the aisles all 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.160 the way around him as he traced the theme of 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:23.579 the gospel from Genesis to Revelation. That sermon 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:26.339 is available in a book now that you can purchase 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:29.400 called The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible. 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:33.420 You see, from the book of Genesis, God promised 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:35.799 redemption for man. That's what he's saying here 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.079 in our verse that we're looking at, verse 2 of 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:42.119 Romans 1. God promised it through the holy prophets 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:45.579 of old as they wrote scripture that redemption 00:18:45.579 --> 00:18:50.880 was coming. I'm asking you to turn now to Luke 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.980 chapter 24 as we come to a resurrection scene. 00:18:58.140 --> 00:19:01.420 Only Luke records this particular incident that 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:06.650 occurred on that day of the resurrection. Two 00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:09.369 of the followers of Christ, not of the immediate 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:12.150 group of disciples, but of the broader group, 00:19:12.329 --> 00:19:16.970 were returning to their home in Emmaus, which 00:19:16.970 --> 00:19:20.950 was about seven miles or so from Jerusalem. They 00:19:20.950 --> 00:19:25.690 had heard the reports of the resurrection. Of 00:19:25.690 --> 00:19:29.269 course, they had not believed that. And Jesus 00:19:29.269 --> 00:19:32.089 came and walked with them. They didn't recognize 00:19:32.089 --> 00:19:37.750 him. And it says in verse... He said to them, 00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:42.130 how foolish you are and how slow of heart to 00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:46.329 believe all that the prophets have spoken. These 00:19:46.329 --> 00:19:48.089 are the words of Christ to these two disciples. 00:19:48.910 --> 00:19:52.789 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things 00:19:52.789 --> 00:19:58.349 and then enter his glory? Look at verse 27. And 00:19:58.349 --> 00:20:02.369 beginning with Moses, Moses wrote the first five 00:20:02.369 --> 00:20:06.640 books. And all the prophets, he explained to 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.500 them what was said in all the scriptures concerning 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:15.980 himself. You talk about a Bible commentary. They'd 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:18.680 only had a tape recorder with them on that day 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:21.859 and could have recorded the words of Jesus himself 00:20:21.859 --> 00:20:24.880 as he explained in the scriptures of the Old 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:28.400 Testament how they pointed to him. Then look 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:33.009 down a few more verses to verse 44. where he 00:20:33.009 --> 00:20:37.630 says to all the disciples now, this is what I 00:20:37.630 --> 00:20:40.589 told you while I was still with you, that is, 00:20:40.609 --> 00:20:43.210 still in my physical body before the crucifixion. 00:20:43.710 --> 00:20:46.630 Everything must be fulfilled that is written 00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:51.730 about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and 00:20:51.730 --> 00:20:54.890 the Psalms. Those are the three divisions of 00:20:54.890 --> 00:20:57.289 the Old Testament scriptures as the Jews commonly 00:20:57.289 --> 00:21:00.960 divide the Old Testament. In other words, Jesus 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.180 is saying, in the Old Testament, I am spoken 00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:09.519 about. Now, we're not going to take time this 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:11.700 morning to trace this through the Old Testament, 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.380 but we will look back at one verse in Genesis 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:20.220 chapter 3, because this is the initiation of 00:21:20.220 --> 00:21:22.259 the scarlet thread that runs through the Bible. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:25.960 If you have a study Bible, you may have study 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:30.319 aids. in your Bible which will help you trace 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:34.359 the theme of redemption. What a marvelous systematic 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:38.019 study of the Bible that would be. In Genesis 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:40.759 chapter 3, we have the account of man's fall 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:49.000 into sin. In chapter 3, verse 15, we have these 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.700 words of the Lord, and we're coming really into 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:54.880 the middle of a statement to get the verse we 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.450 want. He says, I will put enmity between you 00:21:58.450 --> 00:22:01.009 and the woman. He's speaking here to the serpent. 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:06.730 And between your offspring and hers. Now notice 00:22:06.730 --> 00:22:09.109 he's talking about the offspring or the seed 00:22:09.109 --> 00:22:15.230 of the woman. And he says, he will crush your 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:19.529 head. The seed of the woman will crush the head 00:22:19.529 --> 00:22:23.710 of Satan, the serpent. And you will strike his 00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:27.720 heel. Well, that's the story of the crucifixion. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.980 Because there, as it were, Satan, like a serpent, 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.660 struck the heel of the Lord Jesus. Pain and suffering 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:39.559 was inflicted upon him. But as a result of his 00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:43.299 death and his resurrection, he crushed the head 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:47.720 of the serpent. Absolutely destroyed his power. 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:51.299 The sentence that was pronounced upon that day 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:53.420 is yet to be fulfilled, but Satan knows that 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:57.859 he's finished. God has already proven and accomplished 00:22:57.859 --> 00:23:02.039 the victory over Satan. And from this point on, 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:05.819 we have the record of God providing clothing 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:09.799 for Adam and Eve by the killing of an animal. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.579 The skin of the animal was taken to be clothing 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:17.539 for them. The shedding of the blood of that animal 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:21.859 was for them. The clothing given to them is a 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:24.240 picture of the righteousness that God gives to 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.940 the believer. who trusts in the shed blood of 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:30.400 God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. So right here 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:32.980 in Genesis chapter 3, we have the beginning of 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:36.559 the whole theme of redemption that runs throughout 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:40.299 the Bible. And so now going back to Romans chapter 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:43.420 1, we have a little bit of an idea as to what 00:23:43.420 --> 00:23:46.940 Paul is saying when he says that this gospel 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:51.900 was promised beforehand through the prophets 00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:58.150 in the Holy Scriptures. The gospel, folks, was 00:23:58.150 --> 00:24:04.470 not an afterthought by God. The death, burial, 00:24:04.569 --> 00:24:06.890 and resurrection of Christ was not a reaction 00:24:06.890 --> 00:24:13.349 of God because of man's sin. As a matter of fact, 00:24:13.349 --> 00:24:15.230 the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus 00:24:15.230 --> 00:24:18.009 Christ was the plan of God from eternity past. 00:24:20.670 --> 00:24:23.630 It was part of God's plan before the world was 00:24:23.630 --> 00:24:26.630 ever created. that Christ would die for the sins 00:24:26.630 --> 00:24:29.269 of man who was yet to be created, that he would 00:24:29.269 --> 00:24:31.390 be raised again, and that men could be redeemed 00:24:31.390 --> 00:24:34.670 through him. God knew all of that. God planned 00:24:34.670 --> 00:24:39.890 all of it in advance. A marvelous truth. Mysterious, 00:24:39.890 --> 00:24:43.769 but marvelous. God promised the gospel. Now, 00:24:43.769 --> 00:24:45.589 the second truth that we see about the gospel 00:24:45.589 --> 00:24:49.269 in our text today is that God fulfilled it. As 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:51.549 Jesus said, the Father sent the Son to be the 00:24:51.549 --> 00:24:56.519 Savior of the world. The Son is the subject of 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:58.740 the gospel. You'll notice that. He talks about 00:24:58.740 --> 00:25:01.880 the gospel of God, verse 3, regarding his Son. 00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:08.339 The gospel is all about Christ. Yes, it deals 00:25:08.339 --> 00:25:11.240 with man. It shows man's sinfulness, man's inability 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:14.339 to save himself. But the message of the gospel 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:19.000 is that Christ saves. And notice how he describes 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:24.470 the Son of God. In verse 3, he says, human nature, 00:25:24.589 --> 00:25:29.750 he was a descendant of David. That's his humanity. 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:33.609 But then in verse 4, he covers the other side 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:37.710 of Christ's person, and who through the Spirit, 00:25:37.910 --> 00:25:41.730 or who as to his Spirit, or his divine essence, 00:25:42.089 --> 00:25:46.130 was declared the Son of God. And so there is 00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:50.130 his deity. Jesus Christ was a unique person. 00:25:51.329 --> 00:25:54.640 No one is... was ever like him, and no one ever 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:59.079 will be again, because he was both God and man. 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:05.059 Sinless humanity and fullness of deity in one 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:10.279 person. He came as a man born of the Virgin Mary. 00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:14.759 He was a descendant of David, as the Old Testament 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:18.640 said he had to be, not only of the seed of Abraham. 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.480 but more specifically than that, of the family 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.279 of David. And significantly, two times in the 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:30.980 New Testament, genealogies are recorded regarding 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:33.799 Christ. One in Matthew 1 and another in Luke 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:38.700 chapter 3. Both of them relate Jesus Christ back 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:43.859 through David. Matthew stops with Abraham, but 00:26:43.859 --> 00:26:47.599 Luke goes all the way back to Adam to show the 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:51.420 genealogy. of the Lord Jesus Christ through Mary. 00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:57.180 He was fully human. That is the miracle of the 00:26:57.180 --> 00:27:01.019 incarnation. That's Christmas and what we think 00:27:01.019 --> 00:27:04.440 about then especially. That God came into the 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:08.279 world and became flesh, became as we are but 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:11.839 without our sin upon him. That's why the virgin 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:16.279 birth is a fundamental doctrine of the Bible. 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:19.960 One cannot be a Christian and deny the virgin 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:24.140 birth of Christ, because the virgin birth is 00:27:24.140 --> 00:27:27.160 essential to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:32.359 as well as his humanity. But then he talks about 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:34.759 the deity, and he says that as to his divine 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:39.180 essence, or the spirit of his holiness, he was 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:45.180 declared the Son of God with power. When it says 00:27:45.180 --> 00:27:47.380 this, it does not mean that he became the Son 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:52.740 of God after his resurrection. As one writer, 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:55.440 Thayer, says, for although Christ was the Son 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:58.039 of God before his resurrection, yet he was openly 00:27:58.039 --> 00:28:02.559 appointed such among men by this transcendent 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:08.119 and crowning event. He was the Son of God from 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.339 eternity past, but he was officially designated, 00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:17.009 appointed, Son of God among all men by his resurrection 00:28:17.009 --> 00:28:21.509 from the dead. God fulfilled the gospel in the 00:28:21.509 --> 00:28:25.430 death and resurrection of Christ. And it says 00:28:25.430 --> 00:28:27.990 that his resurrection came about with power. 00:28:28.849 --> 00:28:33.210 With power. He's talking here not just about 00:28:33.210 --> 00:28:36.829 the power of the resurrection itself. And it's 00:28:36.829 --> 00:28:39.349 impossible for us to understand the kind of power 00:28:39.349 --> 00:28:43.069 that that took. We look at the space shuttle 00:28:43.069 --> 00:28:46.730 go up, and we are amazed at the sight, the awesome 00:28:46.730 --> 00:28:50.230 sight, of that vast amount of weight being shoved 00:28:50.230 --> 00:28:54.289 up through the sky into space. And it seems on 00:28:54.289 --> 00:28:56.609 television even, you can almost feel the vibrations 00:28:56.609 --> 00:29:00.549 of that, the gigantic engines that produce the 00:29:00.549 --> 00:29:03.369 thrust to get that up. And yet, that kind of 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:07.609 power is but a thimble compared to an ocean when 00:29:07.609 --> 00:29:09.890 we talk about the power of the resurrection. 00:29:11.049 --> 00:29:15.369 It took to bring one back from the dead, glorified 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:20.049 as he was. The Son of God declared, appointed 00:29:20.049 --> 00:29:23.930 the Son of God with power. And that power, folks, 00:29:24.029 --> 00:29:27.069 is still expressed today. We see it expressed 00:29:27.069 --> 00:29:30.309 in the early church in a lot of ways. We see 00:29:30.309 --> 00:29:32.509 it expressed, for instance, in Acts chapter 4 00:29:32.509 --> 00:29:36.809 over disease. As they heal a man in the name 00:29:36.809 --> 00:29:41.710 of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see it in Acts chapter 00:29:41.710 --> 00:29:45.390 3 in the same way. We see it expressed in Acts 00:29:45.390 --> 00:29:48.289 chapter 5 for salvation through the living Christ. 00:29:48.950 --> 00:29:51.470 God's power to salvation, and that's what verse 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:54.690 16 of the same chapter says. I am not ashamed 00:29:54.690 --> 00:29:57.190 of the gospel because it's the power of God for 00:29:57.190 --> 00:30:01.829 the salvation of everyone who believes. He is 00:30:01.829 --> 00:30:05.450 the Son of God with power over demons. In Acts 00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:08.490 chapter 16, the Apostle Paul is... preaching 00:30:08.490 --> 00:30:10.650 the gospel there in Philippi, and there's this 00:30:10.650 --> 00:30:16.730 little maiden who has been victimized by evil 00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:21.289 men, who is demon -possessed. She walks around 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:24.829 behind Paul and Silas, and she says, these people 00:30:24.829 --> 00:30:26.849 are declaring to you the message of the Most 00:30:26.849 --> 00:30:31.529 High God. Listen to them. What's wrong with that 00:30:31.529 --> 00:30:34.230 statement? What she said was absolutely true. 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.500 The problem was that her saying that identified 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:44.200 her with the gospel, you see. And after several 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:46.160 days of that, Paul finally turned around and 00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:49.099 said to the spirit, get out of her. And the spirit 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:51.099 left that fast, and the girl was delivered from 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:55.319 her possession. The power of Jesus Christ to 00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:57.279 deliver from demonic possession is absolute, 00:30:57.539 --> 00:31:05.289 complete, total. And then in Acts chapter 17, 00:31:05.349 --> 00:31:07.529 we see that he is the Son of God with power and 00:31:07.529 --> 00:31:12.109 judgment. Looking to the past, the apostle says, 00:31:12.250 --> 00:31:14.349 in the times of this ignorance, God overlooked. 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:18.589 But now he commands all men everywhere to repent 00:31:18.589 --> 00:31:22.730 because he has appointed a day in which he will 00:31:22.730 --> 00:31:27.750 judge the world by that man whom he has appointed. 00:31:28.750 --> 00:31:31.130 And he has given assurance to all men of this 00:31:31.130 --> 00:31:34.750 truth because he raised him from the dead. The 00:31:34.750 --> 00:31:38.130 power of the Son of God to judge. Someday Jesus 00:31:38.130 --> 00:31:41.009 Christ will judge every person who's ever lived 00:31:41.009 --> 00:31:42.710 in the face of the earth. He'll be your judge 00:31:42.710 --> 00:31:47.109 and mine. Every person will see him face to face 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:52.049 and stand before him, either saved or lost. Will 00:31:52.049 --> 00:31:54.289 stand before him either to have his works examined 00:31:54.289 --> 00:31:57.750 for reward or stand before him for condemnation. 00:32:04.870 --> 00:32:10.329 He was appointed the Son of God with power. And 00:32:10.329 --> 00:32:12.910 then we see a third truth in our text today as 00:32:12.910 --> 00:32:16.369 we move along regarding the gospel. First, that 00:32:16.369 --> 00:32:19.950 God promised it. Secondly, that God then fulfilled 00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:24.329 his commitment. And the third truth is that God 00:32:24.329 --> 00:32:29.569 is declaring this message. It is the only message 00:32:29.569 --> 00:32:32.369 that I know that God has committed himself to 00:32:32.369 --> 00:32:37.289 publish to the whole world. It's the only message 00:32:37.289 --> 00:32:39.869 that God has given to us to disseminate to the 00:32:39.869 --> 00:32:43.789 whole world. That is our purpose for being here. 00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:48.210 And how is God declaring it? He's declaring it 00:32:48.210 --> 00:32:50.490 through his church, through his servants. He 00:32:50.490 --> 00:32:53.309 was declaring it through Paul. Paul says in verse 00:32:53.309 --> 00:32:56.700 1 that he was called to be an apostle. And then 00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:59.339 in verse 5 he says, Through him and for his name's 00:32:59.339 --> 00:33:03.259 sake we've received grace and apostleship. So 00:33:03.259 --> 00:33:05.519 Paul is talking about himself here, but by way 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:08.299 of application we can talk about ourselves and 00:33:08.299 --> 00:33:12.519 the fact that God has chosen to declare the message 00:33:12.519 --> 00:33:17.240 of the gospel through us. That's kind of amazing 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:21.539 when you stop to think about it. We would think 00:33:21.539 --> 00:33:25.980 that perhaps God would use angels. I mean, wouldn't 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:27.960 it be a lot more spectacular to come to church 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:29.859 this morning and hear an angel stand up and preach? 00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:36.660 I think it would. I know it would. Or we might 00:33:36.660 --> 00:33:40.559 think that God would appoint kings and presidents 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:48.460 and rulers of the world to be his voices. Because 00:33:48.460 --> 00:33:50.440 surely people would listen to them more than 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:52.319 they would listen to a commoner like most of 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:57.150 us. Or perhaps God would choose the wealthy. 00:33:57.250 --> 00:33:59.690 They could afford to get the gospel out where 00:33:59.690 --> 00:34:03.430 some of us of more meager income perhaps cannot 00:34:03.430 --> 00:34:06.650 get it this far. We might think God would choose 00:34:06.650 --> 00:34:08.869 the really wealthy people of the world because 00:34:08.869 --> 00:34:10.929 they could use all that wealth to get the message 00:34:10.929 --> 00:34:17.329 out. You see, God has done none of that. What 00:34:17.329 --> 00:34:21.369 God has done, he's chosen the weak. Pardon me, 00:34:21.369 --> 00:34:24.179 now we have a commentary on what we are. It says 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:27.659 in 1 Corinthians 1, God's chosen the weak and 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:30.679 the foolish, as the world counts foolishness, 00:34:30.820 --> 00:34:37.500 the despised to carry the message of the gospel. 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:44.360 That's you and me. Why has he done this? So that 00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:46.300 no one can get the glory and honor for it but 00:34:46.300 --> 00:34:49.780 him. He will have no flesh glory in his presence. 00:34:51.340 --> 00:34:54.079 God has done just the opposite of what men think 00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:59.440 that he should do, and he always does. He has 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:02.139 chosen the unlikely to preach the unsearchable 00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:07.639 message of Jesus Christ. And you'll notice that 00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:11.239 Paul says it is through him that we've received 00:35:11.239 --> 00:35:15.159 this grace and apostleship. It's not something 00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:17.360 that we take upon ourselves. God has given it 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:22.289 to us. Nor is it something we can accomplish 00:35:22.289 --> 00:35:25.889 in ourselves. It is only through him that we 00:35:25.889 --> 00:35:28.550 can be sufficient for the job God's given us 00:35:28.550 --> 00:35:33.010 to do. And he says that it's on behalf of his 00:35:33.010 --> 00:35:36.849 name, too, that he's called us to do this. On 00:35:36.849 --> 00:35:40.050 behalf of his name. Now that's an interesting 00:35:40.050 --> 00:35:42.849 thought. That comes out of the Old Testament. 00:35:44.130 --> 00:35:47.449 It was an expression among the Jews when they 00:35:47.449 --> 00:35:51.800 spoke about the name of God. They signified all 00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:57.820 that God is in his being. When they spoke about 00:35:57.820 --> 00:36:02.280 the name, what they thought about was God's righteousness 00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:05.760 and God's holiness and God's majesty and God's 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:09.400 power. Because when they spoke about the name, 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:15.099 which they never pronounced, they would never 00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:18.880 pronounce the name of God. Too sacred for them 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.889 to do that. When they thought about that name, 00:36:21.949 --> 00:36:25.889 they thought about all that God is. Now the Apostle 00:36:25.889 --> 00:36:32.230 Paul, converted Jew, completed Jew, says, and 00:36:32.230 --> 00:36:36.130 for his name's sake we have received his grace 00:36:36.130 --> 00:36:38.590 and apostleship. See what he's really saying 00:36:38.590 --> 00:36:44.190 here? He's saying that God has called us to advance 00:36:44.190 --> 00:36:49.519 his name, his reputation in the world. We speak 00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:51.920 about so -and -so having a good name in the community. 00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:55.780 What do we mean? Well, he has a reputation for 00:36:55.780 --> 00:37:01.239 being honest and upright. And when it says that 00:37:01.239 --> 00:37:04.260 we have been called to declare his name and for 00:37:04.260 --> 00:37:07.460 the sake of his name, what it means is essentially 00:37:07.460 --> 00:37:10.460 that we are called upon to advance the reputation 00:37:10.460 --> 00:37:13.820 of our God in our community. How do we do that? 00:37:14.739 --> 00:37:16.679 Well, we do it in part by talking about him. 00:37:19.659 --> 00:37:22.960 But tied together with that is the kind of life 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:26.920 that we live. We're not going to advance the 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:29.579 reputation of our God out there in the office 00:37:29.579 --> 00:37:35.360 where we work if we live like the devil. You 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:37.780 see, the kind of lifestyle that we have is very 00:37:37.780 --> 00:37:43.139 significant because that lifestyle reflects upon 00:37:43.139 --> 00:37:49.420 the character and the reputation of God. So God 00:37:49.420 --> 00:37:51.539 is declaring that message still today through 00:37:51.539 --> 00:37:55.059 you and me who are his children. We were a part 00:37:55.059 --> 00:37:58.780 of the church. And the fourth truth that we're 00:37:58.780 --> 00:38:01.780 looking at today in our text is that not only 00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:04.960 is God declaring the message of the gospel, but 00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:07.260 God is using it. And what is he using it for? 00:38:08.420 --> 00:38:13.179 Well, God is using it to call people to himself. 00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:17.059 Notice how he says it here. Through him and for 00:38:17.059 --> 00:38:19.440 his namesake, we've received grace and apostleship 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:26.559 to call people from among all the Gentiles. Folks, 00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:29.260 it is the preaching of the message of Jesus Christ 00:38:29.260 --> 00:38:35.460 that God has chosen to use to call men to himself. 00:38:37.380 --> 00:38:43.780 That's it. A simple message, and yet a profound 00:38:43.780 --> 00:38:48.539 one. The message of Christ's death for our sins, 00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:51.320 his burial, his resurrection from the grave, 00:38:51.539 --> 00:38:57.219 for our justification, that message is the power 00:38:57.219 --> 00:39:00.699 of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. 00:39:03.219 --> 00:39:07.619 What he says here is that God calls people to 00:39:07.619 --> 00:39:11.780 salvation. Did you know that the human heart 00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:15.360 is so depraved? and belligerent and rebellious 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:19.559 in sin, that if God did not call us to salvation, 00:39:19.780 --> 00:39:25.079 we would never respond. There is in the scripture 00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:29.159 a sentence in which God calls all men by his 00:39:29.159 --> 00:39:32.159 grace. But there is definitely in scripture, 00:39:32.380 --> 00:39:34.840 as I understand it, an effectual call of God. 00:39:36.059 --> 00:39:38.920 For by the Holy Spirit works in a man's heart 00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:41.800 so that he is rendered willing to obey the gospel. 00:39:42.329 --> 00:39:47.630 and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks 00:39:47.630 --> 00:39:51.389 about that here. He says, we have received grace 00:39:51.389 --> 00:39:54.750 and apostleship to call people to the obedience 00:39:54.750 --> 00:40:02.170 that comes from faith. There's not a one of us 00:40:02.170 --> 00:40:05.230 who can boast in the fact that we have trusted 00:40:05.230 --> 00:40:10.090 Christ on our own. If in fact we have trusted 00:40:10.090 --> 00:40:12.230 Jesus Christ today, and I hope all of us have, 00:40:12.469 --> 00:40:16.989 it is because of the grace of God and because 00:40:16.989 --> 00:40:20.949 of the power of God working in our hearts to 00:40:20.949 --> 00:40:24.690 make us willing to trust the Savior. Salvation 00:40:24.690 --> 00:40:28.650 is of the Lord. He says that we've been called 00:40:28.650 --> 00:40:32.869 to obedience. In verse 6, he says we are called 00:40:32.869 --> 00:40:36.190 to belong to Jesus Christ. What a tremendous 00:40:36.190 --> 00:40:44.619 statement that is. There's a sense in which the 00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:48.340 Lord Jesus Christ is God's love gift to the world. 00:40:50.039 --> 00:40:54.780 But listen to me. You and I who trust Jesus Christ 00:40:54.780 --> 00:41:02.500 are God's love gift to his son. We are special. 00:41:02.679 --> 00:41:07.699 We are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Now 00:41:07.699 --> 00:41:09.679 something that we can claim we've done in ourselves. 00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:14.320 And then he says in verse 7, to all in Rome who 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:20.039 are loved by God, beloved of God. We are the 00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:23.679 focus of his affection. We are the delight of 00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:27.380 his heart. And then he says in verse 7, we are 00:41:27.380 --> 00:41:30.900 called saints. Again, to be is not in the original. 00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:34.139 Called here is an adjective describing the saints. 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:40.210 We are called saints. We are saints. Saints are 00:41:40.210 --> 00:41:42.409 not those who have been declared to be saints 00:41:42.409 --> 00:41:47.010 by men. The word saint in the Bible refers to 00:41:47.010 --> 00:41:51.610 every person who has trusted Christ. As Bruno 00:41:51.610 --> 00:41:53.849 McGee has said, there are two classes of people 00:41:53.849 --> 00:41:58.429 in the world, the saints and the ain'ts. There 00:41:58.429 --> 00:42:00.829 are those who are the called of God, the saints, 00:42:01.030 --> 00:42:06.210 and there are those who ain't saved, who have 00:42:06.210 --> 00:42:10.090 not responded to the gospel. Are you a saint? 00:42:10.769 --> 00:42:12.889 I'm not asking if you live a perfect life. That's 00:42:12.889 --> 00:42:15.690 got nothing to do with it. I'm asking, do you 00:42:15.690 --> 00:42:18.309 belong to Jesus Christ? Have you been set apart? 00:42:19.409 --> 00:42:22.289 This is a holy calling that we have. God has 00:42:22.289 --> 00:42:25.190 separated us to himself, to belong to himself. 00:42:25.929 --> 00:42:30.190 God is using the gospel to do that work. And 00:42:30.190 --> 00:42:35.909 it does work. It does work. The oldest sister 00:42:35.909 --> 00:42:38.929 of Daniel Webster. was married to a man named 00:42:38.929 --> 00:42:43.590 John Colby. It is said that John Colby was the 00:42:43.590 --> 00:42:47.929 wickedest man in his neighborhood as far as swearing 00:42:47.929 --> 00:42:53.329 and impiety is concerned. One day news came to 00:42:53.329 --> 00:42:57.309 Daniel Webster that a change had taken place, 00:42:57.510 --> 00:42:59.409 and so he went to visit his brother -in -law. 00:43:00.849 --> 00:43:04.030 On entering the house, he saw a large print Bible 00:43:04.030 --> 00:43:10.380 open. which Colby had just been reading. The 00:43:10.380 --> 00:43:14.639 first question Colby asked Webster was, Are you 00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:18.559 a Christian? And then he suggested they both 00:43:18.559 --> 00:43:22.079 kneel and pray. When the visit was done, Webster 00:43:22.079 --> 00:43:26.260 told a friend, I would like to hear what enemies 00:43:26.260 --> 00:43:29.860 of religion say of Colby's conversion. Here is 00:43:29.860 --> 00:43:32.360 a man as unlikely to be a Christian as any I 00:43:32.360 --> 00:43:36.059 ever saw. And he had gone his godless way until 00:43:36.059 --> 00:43:39.179 now, with old age and habits hard to change. 00:43:39.500 --> 00:43:44.219 Yet see him, a penitent, trusting, humble believer, 00:43:44.420 --> 00:43:51.079 nothing short of the grace of Almighty God. You 00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:52.980 don't have to be a young person to be saved. 00:43:54.159 --> 00:43:56.400 It's interesting that most people are saved when 00:43:56.400 --> 00:44:00.099 they are young. By far the majority are saved 00:44:00.099 --> 00:44:03.440 before they ever reach 20. From that point on 00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:05.719 in life, the statistics dropped dramatically 00:44:05.719 --> 00:44:08.099 of people who trust Christ because of the effects 00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:14.940 of sin and hardness upon the heart. But one doesn't 00:44:14.940 --> 00:44:18.940 have to be young to be saved. I remember a delightful 00:44:18.940 --> 00:44:23.900 old man in Kentucky who came to trust Jesus Christ 00:44:23.900 --> 00:44:28.860 in his 70s. Up until that time, hardened in sin. 00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:32.510 A life that was ungodly and then... Suddenly, 00:44:32.829 --> 00:44:37.849 he responded to the gospel and was saved. And 00:44:37.849 --> 00:44:40.530 that gospel changed his life. He is now in heaven. 00:44:41.849 --> 00:44:46.329 What about you? The gospel is the power of God 00:44:46.329 --> 00:44:49.989 to everyone who believes. Have you believed? 00:44:50.670 --> 00:44:55.409 Have you trusted Christ? If not, will you do 00:44:55.409 --> 00:44:58.210 it today and experience the power of God in your 00:44:58.210 --> 00:45:02.219 own life? You may feel you're hopeless. You may 00:45:02.219 --> 00:45:05.300 feel there's too much to change. You can't change 00:45:05.300 --> 00:45:10.659 it, but God can. And God wants to. Will you hear 00:45:10.659 --> 00:45:16.099 his call today? Let's pray together. Heavenly 00:45:16.099 --> 00:45:22.119 Father, we thank you today for the gospel, this 00:45:22.119 --> 00:45:24.400 message of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection 00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.860 for our sake. We thank you that in grace you 00:45:28.860 --> 00:45:33.280 have called us. to belong to Jesus Christ, how 00:45:33.280 --> 00:45:38.679 we desire to live worthy of that calling. Wherein 00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:40.599 we have failed you, we ask your forgiveness. 00:45:42.340 --> 00:45:45.000 And to be some child of yours here today who's 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:48.960 far away from fellowship with you, who has strayed 00:45:48.960 --> 00:45:53.920 into the world, whose lifestyle does not bring 00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:57.820 honor to your reputation. I pray that you will 00:45:57.820 --> 00:46:00.400 call that child of yours today back to a place 00:46:00.400 --> 00:46:05.039 of faithfulness. If there be some friend here 00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:07.579 today who's never trusted the Savior, who's never 00:46:07.579 --> 00:46:08.519 known the power of God,