WEBVTT 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:26.960 For those privileged elite who made their dwellings in the villas and the estates, the palace properties, with slaves who cater to their every desire, life might have been pretty good in Rome. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.160 And in the Roman Empire in general. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:36.000 But for everybody else, life was a hard thing under the Romans. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.039 In fact, for the Christian, it was made even harder. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:55.119 About three years after the letter to the Romans was written, Nero blamed the fires of Rome on the Christians not having another easy scapegoat. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:00.320 And life became a matter of life and death for the Christians. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:07.439 Life became especially hard and sometimes downright persecuting upon Christians. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:21.280 I want to invite you to turn with me to this book of Romans, a great epistle from Paul, as we look in brief together at an introduction this evening to the series that's coming for the next several months. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:23.439 And so I invite you to turn there with me. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.920 It is so good to see everybody here this evening. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:32.079 And it is a special opportunity for me because I get to preach on a Sunday night, and that hardly ever happens anymore. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:45.680 But I especially do like it, and I especially like uh having looked forward to the kickoff, to this little uh uh this little beginning point to Romans uh and preparing for that now for uh quite some time. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.519 So that is a is a treat for me. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:49.439 I hope that it will be for you as well. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.680 As usual, we do have guests with us, and we appreciate you all coming and being here. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:59.760 And you've started uh to uh come at a good time if you're a guest, because this is the beginning of a series. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:06.719 And I know that uh that uh if you're if you're willing to give it some time, you will just gain so much from it as all of us will. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:20.159 By the late 50s and early 60s A.D., about the time Romans was written, the metropolis of Rome had exceeded, we're told, about a million people. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.319 That is a lot of people. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:28.080 In fact, that is a metropolis for an ancient city, to say the least. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.960 Uh, according to the World Population Review, that's about the size of Austin, Texas. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:37.199 I mean, within the city limits. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:41.520 It's about the size of Dallas or the size of Fort Worth. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:50.719 It's larger, actually, than Washington, D.C., it is larger than Las Vegas, it's larger than Oklahoma City and most other American cities. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:57.120 To hit a million people is really a great achievement, even still among cities of America. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:08.000 About 40% of this population's inhabitants are said to have been slaves or past slaves. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:12.319 Maybe they had done their interim in their slavery. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:22.719 But that's a pretty big portion of those who know what it is to not be free, to not be like most of the Romans. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:34.240 The letter from the Apostle Paul to our brethren who made up the churches in Rome is not just a doctrinal letter. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.360 Uh, it's not just a religious essay. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:39.520 It's personal. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:45.199 It's not like Paul needed some brethren to write to, so he chose these Roman brethren. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:56.080 There's a reason behind the letter, and it's a personal letter, as you see right at the very beginning of it, the way that it is addressed from him and to whom it is addressed. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:12.080 He's not interested really in just personal things, but he begins the letter on that note which tells us he has a great concern for these churches that existed in the city of Rome, to whom he's writing. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:23.360 But it also was a, as a first century custom, where are the thoughts that we read for what we would use as an introduction are also at the end of the letter. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.240 So there at the end of the letter, we see some personal thoughts as well. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:35.519 A greeting from himself, though Paul had not yet been to Rome at this point of the writing. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:45.439 And in chapter 15, verse 14, all the way through chapter 16, he mentions where there had been some intention to come to them. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:52.800 He'd not yet been able to do it, but he still had planned on doing it, and he intends to go there in the future. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:09.920 And then he also mentions, just out of interest from having read from Acts here lately, that there were some people in Rome who held a special place for him, and vice versa, they for him. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:15.040 And uh and the great association that he had with them. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:22.720 Obviously, these were traveling companions from past experiences earlier in Paul's life. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.920 And you can reference some of those names back to the book of Acts. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.439 It's a pretty interesting study. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.639 We take time for that, but don't have it for this evening. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:42.079 As he writes from Corinth, this Roman letter during the third mission trip, which we looked at in our recent series in Acts. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.240 It's actually from Acts 18, is where he is in Corinth. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:52.319 And it's from that point that he writes this letter, from that place he writes this letter during the time that he was there. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:06:04.000 He speaks of his intentions to return to Jerusalem, but then after that to make his way to Rome, and then after Rome to work his way on into Spain. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:27.600 And it isn't biblical recorded history, but secular history records that more than likely he actually did do that, having been freed from the Roman imprisonment that we read at the end of Acts, but then going on at least to one, perhaps two or even three more missions before taken back into custody and then executed by the Romans. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:31.199 So he says he wanted to go on into Spain. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:43.519 It's important to take notice that Paul says he had previously made his way from Jerusalem all the way around this area that you see there on the map, Illyricum. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:58.800 This would include, if you put it in modern understanding, modern places, this would include places like uh the bottom of Serbia or or uh encircling uh Croatia or Bosnia or Albania. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:07.120 I mean, this is a long way from the Jerusalem part of the world. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:22.240 Paul says they covered more territory than we have record of cities between himself and Acts that are recorded where he went. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.319 Isn't that fascinating? 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:37.279 Some of the places that you read of that he says we went to here in this little section of text are actually not recorded for us in Scripture, except right here. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:45.120 And so he you may think, well, we know everywhere Paul went, and then the point I'm making is no, we actually don't. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:53.360 He went places that aren't recorded, he taught things that we don't have record of that were consistent with the things that we do have record of. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.360 But he went a whole lot greater distance than most people realize. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:17.839 I read that if you take just the places that we read Paul went, as we have recorded for us in Scripture, and you take those in the order that he went to those places that we have record of in Scripture, you'll come up with more than 22,000 miles of travel. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.959 Now, in our day, we might not think that's too much. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:30.560 22,000 miles might be two or three mission trips for you or me today as we fly on an airplane or as we ride in a nice car. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:39.679 But that would be a whole lot of mileage under our feet if we tried doing it without airplanes and without cars and without trains or boats. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:41.840 Well, okay, he had boats. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:48.799 If you took the boats and you just walked it everywhere you went or rode it on an animal, that's a long way, isn't it? 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:53.200 That's a lot of travel that Paul undertook. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.679 And where do we read of him as we read of him here in this text? 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.720 We don't see him saying, man, I'm tired. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.840 It's just gonna be, it's gonna be good to just settle down for a little bit. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.080 No, he's looking forward to more traveling. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:12.799 He's looking at more mission trips going on and further work of the kingdom being done. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:25.679 As you look at our opening text this evening, then I want you to consider Brother Paul's brief introduction of himself and then his purpose for writing, and that'll pretty well uh wrap up our time together this evening. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:32.720 But uh, but let's wrote let's notice, beginning there in chapter one of Romans, verse one, as we begin our thoughts with Paul tonight. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:57.279 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, who was uh descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:15.279 Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received the grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:26.480 To all those in Rome who are loved of God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.120 And there's a period. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:32.480 Only 136 words in an English sentence. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:33.919 That's all it took. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:41.440 It's here that Paul answers some introductory questions that it'd be good for us to consider together. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.399 For example, how did Paul see himself, as we said? 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.759 But also, how does Paul want the reader to see him? 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.399 How did he want these brethren in Rome to see him? 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.679 Even still today, we could ask the question, how should we see him? 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.840 When we read of his works, what do we think of Paul? 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:07.039 I want you to notice that he kind of labels himself in several ways that help us to understand who he was. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:12.240 First of all, the text says, a servant of Jesus. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.080 Literally, that word servant is our word slave. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.519 It would have been better to have actually translated it that way. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:25.360 The word is doulos, and it just simply means one who is in bondage to another. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:32.240 Think about how many, again, slaves were there in Rome approximately. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:34.879 It's an identification, isn't it? 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.480 I am like you. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.279 I may not be a slave in the flesh. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:41.440 He was Roman after all. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.159 I mean, he had Roman citizenship. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:49.519 But he says, I am a slave nonetheless of Jesus. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:53.679 And then he says, I am a called apostle. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:57.519 And that speaks to the authority of the Apostle Paul. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:08.799 It's not as though we should ever be of the mind if we don't like what the Apostle Paul wrote, which we ought to understand comes from God, then we just discount the Apostle Paul. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:11.519 He's not allowing the reader to discount him. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:17.759 He has credentials for saying what he says, and he has the power to back that up as an apostle. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.639 Because as an apostle, he says, I'm set apart. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:34.399 He's a messenger, we could say a delegate, he's a representative, we could say an ambassador in the word apostle, but also set apart for the gospel of God. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:42.159 That word separated or set apart describes exclusive devotion on his part. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:50.080 There was no other thing or anyone else that he was so devoted to than that of Jesus Christ. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:55.279 He was set apart by or for him. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.240 We likely have asked about Paul. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.639 I don't know, maybe you haven't, probably you have. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:12.480 I have many times asked myself about Paul, how did that man stay that faithful? 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:22.240 I mean, even his self-description here shows complete and utter devotion, faithfulness to the nth degree. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.480 How does a man do that? 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:31.840 How did Paul keep going in this devotion after having become a Christian? 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.240 How did he say so strong and endure so many abuses? 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.519 Can we just remember the abuses together for a second? 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:49.519 He named some of those off in the 2nd Corinthian letter in chapter 11 and in verse 23 of that text, 2 Corinthians 11 and in verse 23. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.559 Remember how he talks about the imprisonments that he had? 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:59.919 We looked in Acts and we saw several imprisonments just in that section of history. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.519 That's not all of Paul's history. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:08.320 It was only a portion of Paul's history and work for the kingdom. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.200 And so he says, he talks about his imprisonments. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:15.440 He talks about countless beatings, often near death. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:24.000 Can you imagine being beaten almost to death several times? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.799 Not just once in your lifetime. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:32.159 Five times, forty lashes less one. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.919 Three times I was beaten with rods. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:38.879 Once I was stoned. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:47.440 We remember that in Acts and Lystra that happened, where they actually stoned him and left him for dead outside the city gates. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:15:07.440 Three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea, in dangers from rivers, robbers, my own people, Gentiles, from false brothers, in toil and hardship, many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:14.559 And apart from other things, the daily pressure of my anxiety for all the churches. 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:16.879 Who is weak and I am not weak? 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.320 And who is made to fall and I am not indignant? 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.200 Paul deeply cared about the work that he did. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:24.799 It wasn't just a job for him. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.600 It's something for all preachers to keep in mind. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:34.240 All those who serve the Lord's people, preacher or evangelist, elders, deacons? 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.000 Not just a job. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:43.519 Paul is answering from where his faithfulness comes. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.399 Did you notice when you connect these things that we've been discussing, what he's saying? 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.320 He had a clear understanding of one's purpose as a servant. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.080 And so we don't get it wrong. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.399 Let's use the word that he actually uses. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:06.480 He understood his purpose as a slave in bondage to Jesus. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:13.840 I don't always know that I understand that in my service to Jesus. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:23.840 That there is a sense there of actual servitude to the nth degree is what Jesus is expecting. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.000 That's what a master does, right? 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.679 We've read illustrations of that. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:38.559 For example, the parable that G, or the sense in which Jesus would say, when a master comes into his house and he sits down at the table, does he serve his slave or does his slave serve him? 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:40.720 Which one comes first? 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:48.960 I mean, there is a sense there in which Paul is saying, I am an absolute captivity of Christ. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.919 I owe him everything as his servant. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.559 And so it is with us when life gets hard. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.559 It seems that it would help us knowing and remembering who we are. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.480 It makes all the difference. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.079 At least it did to Paul. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.079 And that'll come up again later as we work our way through Paul's letter. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:28.880 This won't be the last time he mentions this concept of feeling like he is indebted, that he is under debt in his service to the Lord. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.240 That can pressure us to keep going. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.960 It can push us to stay faithful. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:46.559 It can force us when other things that just are of ourselves just don't seem to rise to the faithfulness we need to rise to sometimes. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.240 And then notice the word gospel in this text. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.240 Gospel, it means good news. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.680 You might have already known that. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:55.039 Chances are you did. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:22.319 But I wonder if all Christians understood that the gospel is good news if those who cling to fear and timidity and anxiety, as I know we do because we've talked about those things before, and there's been comments regarding, even among us ourselves, of how sometimes it is quite difficult, and we are sometimes even, can I use the word ashamed of the gospel? 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.680 Of reaching out to that one person, of saying that one thing. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:37.599 Maybe that would go away a whole lot more if we would be able to replace it with joy and boldness and courage to share the gospel. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:44.799 If we understood the gospel is nothing but good news. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:50.000 That should help us to understand this is something people want. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.920 I guess I could tack on there if people don't. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:19:01.200 That is their problem, not yours or mine, because it still remains good news, whether someone sees it that way or not. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:02.799 It's good news. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.079 We should be more than excited to share it with other people. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:09.599 It should bring out of us joy and boldness and courage. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:16.400 He'll mention this again down in verses 16 and 17, and so we'll pass by the rest of that right now and move on. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:24.640 I want you to consider that word gospel, though, just a little bit more deeply when we consider that term in the Roman letter. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:30.559 We may be influenced to think only of ourselves in the equation of the gospel. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:34.640 Think about that for just a second and try to follow what I mean by this. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:47.279 The fact of the matter is, though it may end in the message of our salvation, and yes, that is good news, obviously, Paul isn't just saying that it's good because we deem it good. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:52.400 The gospel is good news to me because it's about my salvation. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.359 Well, that's only partly right. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:04.880 I would submit to you the gospel is good news, and what Paul is talking about here is that the gospel is good news because God is good. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.200 Just think of that another way. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:14.559 I want you to notice how it does not say the gospel about us is good news. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:24.559 Paul says it is the gospel, the good news, not of us, but who? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:26.160 Of God. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.279 It's the good news of God. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.480 It was God who sent Jesus to intervene, not me. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:37.599 Not you. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.920 It's the good news because it is about God. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.799 And about what God has done. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:51.440 What God is effective in. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.839 The good news is Jesus has established his reign as King. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:00.400 Remember, we mentioned that word, Christ. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:03.599 Jesus the King, the Christ. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.440 And to him we owe our allegiance. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.759 We owe our life. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:15.839 And that is good news about God, who he is. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:20.559 Jesus came to intervene. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:25.680 And he is king over his kingdom, and to him we owe it all. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:43.920 It's also important to notice as an overview perspective of the book that Paul intends to teach us this good news about Jesus and of God is promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.119 That's not a small statement to overlook in this section of text. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.720 That is quite significant. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:59.359 In fact, more than 50 times in this book will we read either hints or downright quotes from the Old Testament prophets. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:10.400 15 chapters, 15 parts of this letter, and over 50 quotations or references to these prophets of old. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:20.240 For any who may be thinking to themselves, I sure am glad we're studying a New Testament book, because the Old Testament really doesn't matter that much in modern-day New Testament times. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:26.079 Think again, because you're going to get some Old Testament history in this book. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.960 And Paul is not the only one to do that kind of thing. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:39.440 Obviously, the apostles fully understood the Old Testament was a foundation for which, a shadow to which our New Testament time would look and establish itself. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:45.839 It would grow out of that into something even better, as the Hebrew writer would say, time and time again. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:52.400 And so the gospel about Jesus was promised beforehand more than just a few times. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:23:03.680 Well, after confirming that Jesus was Jewish, which a lot of people don't realize, they think he was a white man who was on drugs or something, if you look at modern paintings and so on. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:13.680 The fact of the matter is, he was a Jewish man, and his lineage was linked back to that of David. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:18.160 There's not a coincidence that Paul brings this up. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:25.920 He is tying our salvation through Christ into the king of Israel. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:28.799 The lineage of David. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:33.599 That also was prophesied among all the prophets. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:39.279 Fulfilled prophecies of his kingship and his kingdom will be found in this book. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:53.200 Paul also says his purpose was to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of Jesus' name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:24:00.160 And then he adds down in verse 7, who are loved by God and called to be saints. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:06.000 So he's described himself earlier in the text, and now he's describing how he sees them. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:11.839 What do the readers look like to whom Paul is writing? 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.799 Called by, belonging to, Jesus. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:22.720 Loved by God, called to be saints. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:29.200 And then he adds another reason for his recognition of them this way and his high thinking about them this way. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:31.039 Down in verse 8 of the text. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:31.680 Look at that. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:42.799 He says, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:47.519 That is a pretty edifying introduction that comes from Paul. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:54.720 Again, he is creating and or maybe he is emphasizing the sense of care that he has for these brethren. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:56.880 But he holds them in high regard. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.480 He's not just flattering them. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.119 These things were actually true of them. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:03.920 That's all pretty edifying. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.839 I hope you realize, brothers and sisters, the same is true for you and I today. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.279 I want you to think about that for just a second. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.200 Are we called? 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.720 Do we belong to Jesus if we're Christians? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:20.480 Are we loved by God? 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:24.240 We're called saints in Scripture. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.839 And our faith is proclaimed. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:32.400 Well, I okay, I'll take a back spot to that just a little bit. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:40.400 Maybe we're not proclaimed throughout the whole world, all the world, but we're proclaimed in a good amount of places. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:41.039 Okay? 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.480 Even in other parts of the world. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:54.240 As being faithful as a congregation, a family of God to our to our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:13.039 So what Paul is doing is he's taking effort to edify with his personal admiration and his thanks for the reputation and the faithfulness, the faithfulness that these brethren had earned in walking with Christ together. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:16.559 I don't think that should be overlooked, do you? 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:24.000 I mean, it's not that we should pat ourselves on the back, but it does mean something when we can say, this looks like us. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:31.200 Paul might have addressed us the same way that he is beginning his address to the Romans. 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:45.359 It should be at least an ideal that every Christian and every church of Christ strive to imitate that standing before God. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:54.960 I'm going to ask you another question on another part of what Paul is saying here in this little section of text. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:00.480 The question is, is it difficult for you to do what Paul is doing here? 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:09.920 Should Christians be free with their thoughts of edification toward other Christians? 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:23.440 Should they be free to be people who compliment one another, who say what is really on their heart and not just keep that in and think to themselves, I'm a little embarrassed about the way I feel about this relationship. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:29.759 I don't want anybody to think I'm being all, you know, foolish or something. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.000 I love how Paul does this in many of his letters. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.200 Paul is a strong man. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:44.799 Again, think of all the things that he talked to us about that he went through in his lifetime. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:46.880 A sissy doesn't do that. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:52.400 A person who caves to every pressure in life, they don't do that. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:57.920 They don't go through those things hardened for Christ. 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:02.559 But yet he had the ability to say things like we're reading here. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:06.000 I consider you to be called. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:10.960 I consider you to be one who belongs to Jesus, like he did. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:17.200 I consider you to be loved by God, which would necessitate that Paul loved them. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:23.759 And saints and faithful being proclaimed to other places. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:36.079 I mean, I'm only trying to get to the point, ladies and gentlemen, that we should consider one another as believers the way that Paul considers believers that he's writing to. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:41.680 No sense of competition there. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:46.720 No sense of throwing one another under the bus or throwing each other down. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:52.559 High standing in the apostle's estimate. 00:28:53.759 --> 00:29:00.400 High standing among one another is how we should see one another, the way the apostle is teaching them to see one another. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:07.039 I have a hunch it was more for seeing one another than him proclaiming to them how he thought about them. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:08.000 Don't you? 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:14.559 Let me ask you: is it difficult for you to do what Paul's doing? 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:21.200 Maybe you are one who never thinks about complimenting other people who make up God's family. 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:30.799 The thought occurs to me that the words of appreciation and gratitude and thanks cost us absolutely nothing to say. 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:39.039 Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't mean them, but I am saying we should say them. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:45.279 Especially for those who need them. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:51.920 The struggling believers in Rome needed to hear Paul say, I do believe in you. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:57.759 You can keep doing what you were doing, and it's having a lasting impact on the world. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.839 We need to be people who are open to one another from the heart. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:10.880 We need to be people who are willing to complement the good that we see in one another and the good that one another does. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:13.519 Why do we need to be that way? 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:16.319 Because everyone needs lifted. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:18.720 Everyone needs to be edified. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:20.720 You are the person to edify. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:22.799 You are the person to give a pat on the back. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.759 You are the person to say, I do appreciate you. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:35.920 I do consider you to be among the great of God's people, because really, all God's people, when they're being faithful, they are great. 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:43.680 Many things to which we can compliment one another and be more and more like Paul was here at the beginning of this letter. 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:52.960 As you notice there in verses 11 through 15, we realize that Paul had a heart of ministry, obviously, and it stands out as we read this little section of text together. 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:53.920 Let's keep going. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.400 Verse 11 of your text there. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:02.880 I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:10.000 That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:27.680 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus, uh thus far have not uh have been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:31.920 And then he restates his God-given mission in brief. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:35.599 I am under obligation, afletes. 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:38.559 It means I owe another. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:52.480 I am in debt to, I am bound to by duty, Greeks, barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:58.799 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.680 Paul saw work for the Lord and his kingdom as something that is mutually beneficial. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.920 I want you to think about that for a second because that also is an important point. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:14.400 The kingdom work is done mutually. 00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:18.880 It's not just a one-sided thing. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:23.920 And I would even say to you, you're probably getting about as much out of it as what you're giving into it. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:29.440 So if it isn't that much, you think in your own mind, then maybe you need to examine how much is being put in. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:32.640 It is a two-way street. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:40.559 And Paul is saying, I want to give you something of benefit, and I want to take something from you that is of benefit. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.000 And that's the way kingdom work is. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:47.839 That's the way God is pleased. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:33:01.440 In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 19, we read Paul saying there, though I am free from all men, physically speaking, yet have I made myself a servant to all. 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:04.240 Nobody made him think this way. 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:10.960 Nobody made him say, I want to benefit other people during my lifetime. 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:17.039 At least apart from God and his own agreeing heart. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:19.440 That made him want to do what was right. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:31.519 Again, let's take the advantage that we have of studying this section of text and consider the fundamentals to proper motivation in the Lord's church. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:34.000 Think on that with me for just a moment. 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:39.200 Do you do what you do for self in the Lord's church? 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:46.799 Or is it more so for the kingdom and for the king and for his family? 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:59.359 I would say to you that such an evaluation is time worthy because, in the words of the Lord Jesus, he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts 20, verse 35. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:10.079 For that to be true in our life, we must rid ourselves of things like laziness, me time, a me first mentality. 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:13.599 Because, brothers and sisters, that does not come from Christ. 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.440 That comes from the world. 00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.519 And it is worldly thinking, and it is a detriment to the faithfulness of a Christian. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:32.000 We cannot allow society to creep in to our own inner thinking and become something other than what we're seeing in Paul and the brethren here in Rome. 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.400 We need to be like them. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:42.559 And I will say to you that I do love seeing how many here have given of themselves the way that Paul is speaking about. 00:34:42.719 --> 00:35:17.920 If we were to break that down in rubber meets the road concepts, it would look like a spiritual family, wherein plates of food are delivered to those who don't have it, where texts and emails and cards are written, where hospital visits are being made, where love and concern is being shown at the end of services and the beginning of services, and various times throughout the week among brethren who make up the family of God. 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:34.320 And sometimes I've even I I would even acknowledge, I've even witnessed that those who are doing so many of those things are moms and dads who make up this family who oftentimes have the least amount of time in the world. 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:40.480 Pulled so many different ways and in and in so many different directions. 00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:44.400 And yet they're busy about God's work. 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:49.199 Or the seniors who are among us. 00:35:50.800 --> 00:36:01.440 And they're dealing with their own frailties and health issues, but busy about the Lord's work among his people. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:10.000 Sometimes it's those who are in need themselves, but they refuse to center on their need and they see the needs of others ahead of their own. 00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:14.239 True Pauline mentality. 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:27.840 Such things are what separates, brothers and sisters, the family of God from the family of the self-absorbed, self-interested, self-motivated world that we live in. 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:32.960 It's different here. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:41.840 Paul had an eagerness to give and to help his brethren any way that he could. 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:50.960 And though oftentimes, as we saw, for example, in Acts 18, when he entered into Corinth, he didn't always have all that he needed himself. 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:56.000 True spiritual service. 00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:00.880 It's found in thankfulness for what God has done. 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:04.800 It's found in being concerned for what is yet to come. 00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:12.559 It's found in being willing to be the conduit through whom God can work if he so chooses to do it. 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:16.880 Always open for his purpose. 00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:23.280 Before we conclude tonight, you know we we haven't gotten down to verses 16 and 17. 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:24.800 It'd be wrong not to get there. 00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:30.239 That is, if we're going to do an overview of Romans, that's the thesis statement of the book. 00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:36.239 That's his purpose for writing, and it's what he's going to hone in on throughout the rest of the book in a variety of ways. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:47.519 So down in verse 16, Paul says that he's looking forward to what had what he had come to them when he came to them, what he planned to preach to them in Rome. 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:48.880 Why? 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:50.400 Verse 16. 00:37:50.719 --> 00:38:01.199 He says, for because I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:05.760 For in it the righteousness of God, yep, that's the gospel. 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:14.480 It's about God, is revealed from faith to or for faith, depending on the version you're reading from. 00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:22.000 I take that to mean from the pre-Mosaic covenant to the post-Mosaic covenant. 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:23.760 That'd be what we're living in. 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:31.199 So, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, what did it take for them to be who God wanted to be? 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:31.840 Faithful. 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:32.960 Faithfulness, faith. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:34.000 It took faith. 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:36.320 What about under the Mosaic law? 00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:42.960 Moses, Joshua, the others that we read of who were Israelite people under the Mosaic covenant. 00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:46.320 What did it take for them to be faithful Israelites? 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:48.239 It took faith. 00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:50.159 What does it take for us today? 00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:51.280 Faith. 00:38:51.679 --> 00:39:04.559 And so from faith to faith, God makes it clear that he's never made a covenant which fails to address the overriding need for prominent faith in his believer, in his child. 00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:13.360 Paul says the gospel is the most life-transforming truth ever put into human hands. 00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:26.800 If we really understand and respond to the gospel, time and eternity becomes totally and completely altered for us. 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:39.679 I want to say to you that these two verses present to us the theme for the epistle to the Romans, and I'd like to expound on that just for a second before we close in service together. 00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:46.320 Like this short statement, the book or the letter describes two basic truths that we need to understand. 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:55.199 First, Paul's going to give a discussion or a discourse regarding the gospel of Christ of which he's not ashamed. 00:39:55.280 --> 00:39:56.880 That we can see clearly. 00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:03.679 And then in concise terms, he says, I'm going to tell what that means. 00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:06.960 What the gospel looks like in the life of a Christian. 00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:10.400 And he names off here in our text three things we can notice. 00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:13.679 One, it is the power of God for salvation. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:18.559 Two, in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. 00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:24.239 And three, by it, the righteous shall live by faith. 00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:35.119 Everything in the letter falls under these two headings, the gospel and what the gospel, what that means when we say, I believe in the gospel. 00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:36.880 What does that mean? 00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:40.079 What does that actually look like in a person's life? 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:47.199 He's going to describe that to us in quite a bit of detail throughout the letter, especially the tail end of the letter. 00:40:48.159 --> 00:41:01.760 If we don't elevate the gospel in our lives, ladies and gentlemen, as Paul did, maybe it is because we fail to call on the power of God as a means of salvation in the gospel. 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:07.360 We may get to ride on, I think of myself all the time. 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:09.360 Maybe you do as well. 00:41:09.920 --> 00:41:11.679 Just along for the ride with the Lord. 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:13.840 I mean, I'm just kind of hanging on to his coattails. 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:15.679 We're going where he wants to go. 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:17.440 We're doing what he wants to do. 00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:19.760 We're just, we're there as instruments, right? 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:23.199 So we get to ride on his coattails, so to speak. 00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:26.480 But brothers and sisters, let us never be mistaken. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:29.760 It is God who is the power behind his word. 00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.360 What do I mean by that? 00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:37.599 I mean it is he who will reveal his truth. 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:48.559 I think about this with regard to the kind of work that we all are involved in as God's people with outreach, for example. 00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:52.800