WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.919 Romans 1 and verse 1, we first see that Paul is a saved man. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.719 He does not introduce himself as Saul. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.000 Secondly, he is a servant of Jesus Christ by declaration of his own mouth. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.679 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:16.640 He's a sent one. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:18.879 He's saved, he's a servant. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.399 This morning we're talking about him being one sent out. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:26.879 And here finally, I hope the alliteration is obvious. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.199 He is separated unto the gospel of God. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.399 So this morning, the the second two pieces. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:36.960 Called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:42.000 And so we begin by looking at this phrase, called to be and apostle. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:53.520 And I think that God has given us his word in English, but we know that he's preserved his word through a line of manuscripts through the received text. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:03.200 And we find this English word, apostle, translated from a Greek word that got brought into the English as apostle seventy-eight times. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:05.280 Okay, just think about that with me. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:11.840 This word apostle got brought from a Greek word into English as apostle seventy-eight times. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:21.200 But two other times it got brought in as messenger, and one other time it got brought into the Bible as he that is sent. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:29.359 And so biblically, this word apostle is used to describe someone who is a delegate or an ambassador or a messenger of God. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:36.799 That same word was translated in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 25, referring to Epaphroditus as messenger. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.239 Look at it with me on the screen. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:55.280 It says, Yet I suppose it necessary to send unto you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier, but your messenger or apostle, as it's translated in Romans 1.1, and he that ministered to my wants. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:59.200 I just want you to see that connection to messenger. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:07.200 And the reason for that is because in the most basic and devotional sense, we are all messengers of God, aren't we? 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:12.639 God's given us his word, and we're to take his word and have that message brought to the world. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:14.319 That's what we've been seeing about. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:15.840 But I want you to think about this. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:22.159 The most basic and devotional use of the word apostle is to describe us as messengers. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:27.599 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20 might be a very familiar text to you. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.360 It says, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.800 We pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.280 That is the mission of the church today. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:42.879 That we would be ambassadors for Christ. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.680 Okay, however, hold this thought. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:03:02.719 The word apostle is used to describe a very specific role in the early church, and so that's why in the book of Ephesians we see a historical progression of certain gifts, and this would also be able to be seen in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:11.840 But for example, here, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11 it says, and he, God, gave some apostles. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:20.719 He set in the church first apostles, that's 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:31.520 And if you were coming out of the context in verses 9 and 10, you'd find that there's a historical progression here that Paul's giving about how God initially got the church established. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:40.000 And that's why, as we've talked about in this conversation of context, the book of Acts comes before the Pauline epistles. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:48.479 Because the Acts of the Apostles are the works that established God's initial dealings with those that would be in Christ. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:56.639 Okay, so in the most basic and general sense, devotionally speaking, we are all messengers, ambassadors, or apostles of God. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:06.240 Okay, but secondly, I want you to see that in a more general sense, but specific one, the word apostle means sent one. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.199 And to be sent means you're brought out of something. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:15.039 Meaning it's not just that we all as Christians are to go out into this world with the message. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:25.279 It means that you're actually a part of an assembly, and then there's a unique role where somebody's brought out of that assembly to carry a message for a specific purpose or manner. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:32.800 And that's why, and again, I I do confidently believe that English is sufficient, but etymology does matter. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:37.040 Like it helps us understand why we have the English words we do. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:50.160 This Greek deverbal noun, meaning a noun apostle, comes from a verb, and that verb in the Greek means send. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.040 It is translated 110 times this way in the Greek. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:02.399 Apostle, the word we get to this this noun, is a deverbal noun coming from a verb mean to send. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:07.360 And it's it comes from a word that appears 110 times in the Bible. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:15.279 It's translated fifteen times send forth, four times send away, and two times send out. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:28.399 And so you can quickly see that the word apostle is describing this individual who is sent away from the church or sent out from a local assembly for a specific call on their life. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:33.439 And certainly that's what was true of the apostle Paul. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:40.240 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:55.759 And so I want you to see, in a general sense, we can use the word apostle to describe not only all of us, not only a missionary, someone that maybe is a church planner or somebody even before us as an apostle. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:02.800 But you you probably heard him him catch the doctrine as he was sharing that he's an apostle. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.000 He says, I'm not an apostle, which is also true. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:15.360 Because the Bible isn't just devotionally talking to us about apostles, and it isn't just talking to us about people that are missionaries. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.600 The word in the Bible has a direct reference to the twelve. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:30.879 And those men and women, even, that were in the early church used of God to be separated unto specific tasks to see the church established. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.920 This is the language that the Lord Jesus Christ used, referring to the twelve. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:49.040 John chapter twenty and verse twenty-one, he said, Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:50.959 This is the twelve. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:56.399 Jesus Christ himself saying, I'm sending you twelve as apostles. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:09.759 And so, when the Bible uses this word to describe believers, it's describing believers in the early church and a very specific group of them associated with carrying the gospel to the world. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:21.600 Sometimes, like in the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then John 20 and 21, the apostles were sent ones for the gospel of the kingdom. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:31.279 And we're going to talk about that here in a few weeks, talking about how there was a different message that the twelve disciples were carrying in their tongue than the Apostle Paul. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:40.639 How is it that the disciples were preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ if Christ hadn't died and risen again yet? 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.040 There's no way for them to carry that message. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:44.720 Yes, they were preaching Christ. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:50.480 Yes, they were preaching the kingdom in which Christ would set over as King of kings. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.240 Yes, that's true. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.439 But they were given a unique task and purpose. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:04.959 And that's what I want to ultimately reveal, or at least give you some ideas on this morning with respect to Paul's unique message and apostleship. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.959 If you can stick with me, I hope you're not lost already. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:22.160 I'm making a simple point here, and that is that the phrase, the apostles, has a direct connection to the twelve disciples that Jesus sent out, not Paul. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:32.000 Paul is called to be an apostle, but he is not Judas's replacement, as we find in Acts 1, and that's that some would claim. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:37.360 This is why when Judas dies in Acts chapter 1, they replace him with Matthias. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:39.519 You can read about that. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:51.919 Judas hanged himself, and then the twelve that were sent out by the Lord Jesus to be witnesses, go to make sure that they can satisfy the twelfth position. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:09:00.399 But what you don't see is that after James dies, this same group of twelve men don't go to replace him. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:08.240 Because there was an apostolic period in the early church where God was using specific men for the specific task of getting things established. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:13.360 I believe you can read about that in uh Acts chapter twelve. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:17.679 You you see a change of God's plan there. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:24.559 It may all seem irrelevant, but the key thought is this God is doing something very different with Paul than he is with the twelve. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:31.600 They were called to a specific purpose that God had in mind, and Paul was called to something else in mind. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.679 And I know that may seem insignificant, but on it hangs so much heresy. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:52.639 I mean, even this week I was just littered with maybe it was because I was doing word searches and you know on the word apostle, but man, I was just getting littered online with people that are claiming apostleship today, modern day apostles. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:10:02.159 And I'm telling you, in a devotional sense, that's true, we're all messengers of God, but in a doctrinal sense, there are not apostles today. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:09.840 Not in the same sense, not given the same apostolic authority that twelve were given in the gospels. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:20.559 And so if you ever find moments in your reading and study of scripture where you think, man, what God told the disciples just doesn't seem to reconcile with what Paul says. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:23.360 It's probably because it doesn't. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.879 It doesn't mean that those are contradictory. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:44.320 It just means that God is working out his everlasting plans to reconcile the heavens and earth back together, Ephesians chapter 1, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he would gather together in all things in himself, even in Christ, the things in heaven and earth. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.080 I mean, that's a wonderful thing. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:49.840 That's God's plan forever, to bring it all together. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.159 But he's doing different things through time to get that accomplished. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:02.639 And if you if you don't acknowledge this, then you're just going to wrestle with your understanding of passages in Scripture. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:06.639 So I want to just have you consider two questions this morning. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:11.840 The first is how do we know that Paul is not one of the twelve? 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:24.080 That when Judas died and the men forced Matthias into the bank, that that was actually not a man-made play, and God intended Paul to be the twelfth. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:24.879 How do we know that? 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:27.919 How do we know that Paul is more like the thirteenth? 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.759 And how do we know that Paul is still legitimate because of that? 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:39.360 First, I want to talk to you about this idea that Paul is different or distinguishes himself from the twelve. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:48.879 You find this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, in verses 5 through 8, it says, and that he was seen of Cephas, that is Peter, then the twelve. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:54.399 This is Jesus seen post-resurrection from Cephas, then the twelve. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:04.559 After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remaineth into this present, but some have fallen asleep. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:17.279 After that, he was seen of James, then all the apostles, and then verse eight, and last of all, he was seen also uh of me also, as one born out of due time. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:18.240 Okay? 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:23.679 Paul expressing his apostleship in contrast to the twelve. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:36.080 The twelve saw, all the apostles saw, verse seven at the end, and last of all, he he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:44.000 He never places himself inside this group of twelve, and and again that's important because God's doing something unique with that group. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:45.600 Now that's the first example. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:58.960 The second is that after the dispensational transition takes place in the book of Acts, and James, the brother of John, is killed, which reduces, I mentioned this example just a moment ago, which reduces the number of apostles to eleven. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:06.720 There is no attempt to replace him and get the number back to twelve by the same group that thought it necessary in Acts 1. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.480 So consider the change. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:18.720 It was important in Acts 1 to get the number back to 12, but by the time you get to Acts chapter 12, there is no issue at hand, because it's not important to God anymore. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:26.480 God has changed the way he is working, and he has ushered in a mystery that was a secret in his heart until he revealed it to Paul. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.519 Moreover, Paul is a unique apostle, yet legitimate one. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.000 Unique let yet legitimate. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:46.000 I know I'm sharing a lot, and I hope that I haven't lost any of you, but I want these ideas to at least be seeds that grow up into fruit in your Bible study. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:52.879 The second point here is that not only is Paul distinguished from the twelve, but he is still a legitimate apostle. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:14:08.080 This may seem like a silly or unnecessary point, but there are a lot of people who cast doubt on Paul's doctrine by ultimately claiming that he invented his own doctrine and leveraged apostolic authority to teach a false gospel. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:24.080 Like just this week, I was listening to a teacher who said, Don't listen to Paul's letters, because Paul claimed apostolic authority by writing letters, calling himself an apostle when he wasn't one to begin with. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:32.240 And so this whole idea of Pauline distinction actually causes people to have a lot of frustration in the Bible. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.519 And so you end up on one side or the other. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:41.360 On one side of the conversation, you're an heir because you say nothing that Paul wrote matters at all. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:42.639 It just doesn't matter. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:43.919 He's not a legit apostle. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:53.039 He made it all up, he invented it for his own purposes to accomplish some grace message that is contrary to everything else God was doing through the covenant. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:59.840 But then on the other side, you have a group of people who take Paul's letters and they say, We are to accept Paul's letters. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:00.879 They're great. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:08.879 The 13 epistles are for the church, and they have to be harmonious with everything else that's written in the Bible. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:10.879 This is also an error. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.480 And the error is this failing to rightly divide the Bible. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:18.960 God told you to divide things. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:25.120 And so seeing the distinction and allowing it to remain harmonious is very important. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:41.600 And this is what I want to express to you in another key point, and that is that learning to rightly divide the Bible will allow you to see the discrepancies not as contradictions, but the harmonious symphony of the manifold wisdom of God. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:44.960 A symphony. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:16:09.759 Things functioning with different purposes and different melodies, different tones, different rhythms, different different intentions, different context, all yet coming together in a harmonious or manifold uh opportunity that's woven together to display God's wisdom. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:30.080 That's what God's doing through the Old Testament, through the way He's dealing prior to the giving of the law, to the giving of the law, to those that are actually rejecting the law and God still working with them, to the twelve, to the early church and the transition, to the introduction of a thing that God's never talked about until Paul. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:41.200 To the church and the mystery of it and the revelation of it as it gets built up and edified, to the reinterjection of new doctrine in the Hebrew epistles. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:46.080 All of this is coming together and displaying the manifold wisdom of God. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:54.639 It's like an orchestra, not opposed, the discrepancies like between, let's say, Romans chapter 4 and James chapter 2, right? 00:16:54.799 --> 00:17:00.080 James chapter 2 says that you're saved by faith and works. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:01.519 What know ye not? 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.039 That your faith is dead without works? 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:06.880 Have you ever heard somebody make the argument? 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:14.160 But see, in Romans chapter 4, it says that your salvation and justification is apart from works altogether. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:15.440 So which is it? 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.279 Should we just reject Paul? 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:17.920 No. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.200 Should we make it all forced together? 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:26.559 And James is saying the exact same thing that Paul says, see, you just don't understand it, you need to look at it a new way. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.039 No. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:34.799 They're saying different things for different audiences for the same everlasting purpose. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:36.559 That's a really cool thing. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:41.599 It all comes together in a beautiful way to display the manifold wisdom of God. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:46.480 Okay, so why is Paul's apostleship legitimate yet distinct? 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.119 Because it came directly from Christ. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:18:14.160 Unlike many false prophets today, in the new apostolic Reformation, or the NAR, the Pentecostal movement, or the hypercharismatic movement, or in those circles where people would say, I'm a modern-day apostle, I have secret or special authority from God, unlike them, Christ directly came to Paul and called him into the gospel of God. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.559 Paul did not appoint himself. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.920 And men in the church did not appoint Paul. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:26.240 See, that's the argument of the new apostolic movement is that there is an apostolic succession. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:36.319 And that if we can just get the church today to be like the early church and we can get closer to what God intended in Acts chapter 1, then we'll be filled with the power of the Spirit of God. 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:44.160 Here's the problem Paul's apostleship is not through apostolic succession. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.839 Paul's apostleship is given directly from Christ. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.240 And he wants to make that pretty clear in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 1. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:19:00.720 He says, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.440 But then look, verses eleven and twelve. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:08.880 He says, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached unto me is not after man. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:17.440 For I neither received it of man, neither was taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:21.119 And you can sense why people get frustrated with Paul. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.240 Paul's got this special message that nobody heard about. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.559 Easy for you to claim, Paul. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:27.920 It is true. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:36.720 Easy for, you know, seemingly on the outside for Paul to just say, I've got a special revelation that nobody's ever heard about, and God's using me. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:43.039 Paul ends up proving that he's a true apostle by his life. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:49.519 And I think once again that's why God's given us the book of Acts, to show that he's a legitimate apostle. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:59.119 God has to convince the Jewish mind that Paul's legitimate, and so he gets all of the apostolic gifts that the apostles got in the Gospels. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:09.200 Philippians chapter 3 in verse 14 it says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:16.880 I want here to just say in passing that just like Paul, we have been called, and we've been given a heavenly vocation. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:26.000 Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1, it says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the voc uh vocation wherewith ye are called. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.000 We are called of God. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:29.440 I mean, that's an amazing thing. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:37.279 There is certainly overlap there, but you and I don't have the same apostolic authority as the twelve or as Paul. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.480 And I th I hope that's obvious, but it is important. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:53.440 Romans 1 1 teaches us that this unique and distinct call on Paul's life to be an apostle was different and specific for a unique task. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:21:04.880 And so the second thing I want to talk to you about here is that Paul is a legitimate apostle because he's directly given that apostleship from Christ, but secondly, because he's born out of due time. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.480 We just read this verse. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:11.440 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 7 through 8. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:24.960 It says, after that, he was seen of James, then all of the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as one as of one born out of due time. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.640 Not at the time appointed. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:33.039 And so understand the language here I know is a little strange. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.680 As of one born out of due time. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.640 Well, what would it mean to be born in due time? 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:43.920 Well, it would mean to be born in a typical nine-month period of labor. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:50.000 But to be born out of due time means to be born prematurely. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:52.480 Now that's really interesting, isn't it? 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.920 Because right before this, he says, and last of all. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.680 And so Paul is. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.880 Born premature maturely, but received it last? 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:06.880 That doesn't make sense. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.400 What is he saying? 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:09.519 Do you see that? 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:18.960 And again, let me just show you in the verse, in verse 8, and last of all, he was seen of me also, as one born prematurely. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.240 Last, but before? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.240 Before what, Paul? 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:28.720 He is saying here, God offered to me something ahead of schedule. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:36.559 And that gift is specifically Israel's national rebirth as promised, yet still future. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.319 Romans chapter 11. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:48.480 Paul is saying, God saved me as a Jew ahead of schedule to be a foreshadowing or a precursor of his mercy that he's desiring to extend towards Israel. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.160 Isn't Israel the enemy of the gospel? 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.960 The enemy of the gospel for our sakes? 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.839 I think that's Romans chapter 11 and verse 26. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:08.160 Paul is a foreshadowing of God saying, I can take the very person who's persecuting me and rejecting the gospel and use him for my very cause. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:10.240 So Paul is born out of due time. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.279 He's given the mercy of God when he doesn't deserve it. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.920 That's an amazing thing. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:17.920 Last yet before. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.119 It's strange language, but necessary. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.480 Isaiah 66 and verse 8. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.279 If you just want to jot these down or I'll give them to you later. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.920 Isaiah 66 and verse 8. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.519 Ezekiel 36 and verses 24 through 28. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:41.680 Jeremiah 31 speak of this national rebirth that God wants to bring Israel through and giving them a new beginning. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:48.240 Paul's receiving that ahead of schedule as an individual rather than that national rebirth. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:56.160 Again, the specific phrase born out of due time can even be seen as an offering given to Nicodemus. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.599 Follow with me. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:06.160 The doctrinal application of John chapter 3 is often given for spiritual rebirth, being born again, getting saved. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:07.680 We've talked about this idea. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:18.319 In John chapter 3 and verse 3, it says, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:19.119 Is that true? 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:21.119 A man needs to be born again? 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.039 Absolutely. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.720 You have to be born again. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.640 You need to be baptized in the Spirit of Christ, otherwise you are none of his. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.200 That's Colossians 2 and Romans chapter 8. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:32.480 But it goes on. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:34.079 The conversation continues. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.160 There's some other things that Nicodemus is wrestling with. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:45.839 Marvel not, Jesus says to him, that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:49.680 A man has to be born to see the kingdom of God. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:56.400 But the nation, ye, all of you, need to be born again if you're going to enter in. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:00.000 And that's the message of John chapter 3. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:08.000 And Paul is one born again before prematurely, out of due time. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:10.079 Due time would be nine months. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:16.960 God is saying, I brought you a little bit forward on the timeline to actually provoke Israel to jealousy. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:26.319 And I'm going to use you, Paul, to be the apostle to the Gentiles to really, to really show Israel how merciful I am. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:29.759 That's the conclusion of the whole matter in Romans chapter 11. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.079 Oh, the wisdom of God. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:40.160 It's God showing his manifold wisdom through his mercy towards Paul, but Israel. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:55.519 God would show Israel that he was merciful by turning to the Gentiles, and he's going to show us, the Gentiles, that he's merciful by allowing Israel to have a place in the offer that he gave them, despite them rejecting it. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:01.440 Here, fourthly, Paul's apostleship was unique in its focus and audience. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:02.720 And that's what I just mentioned to you. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:15.279 Galatians chapter two and verses seven through nine, it says, But contrary wise, when they saw the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:24.480 For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of circumcision, the same, was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:40.000 And when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace was given to me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:41.839 All one thing God's doing. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.359 God is accomplishing one singular mission. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:56.640 Nobody gets saved, whether or not, you know, the only way that men and women get saved, whether Jew or Gentile, is by believing and trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:58.079 That's the only way. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:26:59.920 That is the only way. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:07.519 But through that very singular mean, God is getting people there through different apostleships. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:23.839 One, he gave to those apostles, as we read in Galatians chapter 2, those core three, James, Peter, and John, which by the way, you have epistles written from those men following the book of Hebrews. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:34.000 And then you have a unique message given to Paul and Barnabas, or really Paul, but then Barnabas has his right hand to go to the heathen. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:36.960 Romans chapter 11 and verse 13, we've looked at this verse. 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:47.200 It says, For I speak unto you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:57.599 Colossians chapter one and verses twenty-five through twenty-seven, whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation that is given to me to you to fulfill the word of God. 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:03.119 That same word fulfill is brought into the English as complete and or perfect. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:08.240 Paul was given the unique task of completing God's word. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:25.519 Verse 26, even the mystery, which hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:33.359 So understand, Paul is saying, God had a secret, and he has intentionally revealed it to me. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.240 It was not known before. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:44.079 To accomplish the same purpose in the long term, but through different dispensational means. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:50.880 Ephesians 1 says that long-term goal is to bring all things together in Christ that are in heaven and earth. 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.880 And so, again, I just want to be very, very clear. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:29:00.240 Jesus Christ alone redeems and saves Gentiles and Jews. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:08.000 And if anyone is going to be saved or justified, it is going to be through the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:09.599 There is no other way. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:15.599 That's why God has dedicated the book of Hebrews to us and to the Jewish mind. 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:21.119 For them to understand that the only way that they're going to be redeemed is through Jesus Christ. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:26.000 Not the old sacrificial system, but what God fulfilled in his Son. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:32.480 Okay, one singular plan of redemption accomplished through different economies or dispensations. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:45.839 The same object of faith, the blood of Jesus Christ, but different messengers and different messages to different ages, the same overarching and grand story unfolding. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.400 So Paul is not only a saved servant who sent, but he's separated. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:58.000 And here's just some closing points, really more devotional at this point than anything, but he is separated unto the gospel of God. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:01.279 This is the apex of verse 1. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:02.880 Separated. 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:05.039 God separated Paul. 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:10.160 He didn't harmonize him or unify him with whatever else God was doing. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:13.680 He separated him, gave him something distinct. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:29.440 Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15 through 16, it says, But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, a reference there to the Jews, and called me by his grace, verse 16, to reveal his son in me, that I might preach among the heathen. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:31.119 There's the context again. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:33.680 A separation from Israel to the heathen. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.799 Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:41.519 Separated from something, but unto something. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:49.680 Paul is not just separated from his national or natural identity as a Jew, he is also separated unto the gospel of God. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:52.160 And that's how we see the verse close. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:58.559 Here's our the our key thought, which you hopefully can see on the back of the bulletin this morning. 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:13.599 Many times as believers, we we focus only on what we have left behind, all while God is trying to get us to focus on what is before that we might press toward it and see the calling on our lives. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:17.200 I don't know if I have that key point in the PowerPoint. 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:18.480 But here's the idea. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.720 As a Christian, a lot of times we talk about being separated from the world. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:24.000 I got saved. 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:25.599 Praise the Lord, you got saved. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.440 God delivered me from my old man. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:28.160 Wonderful. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:29.839 You don't have to go back to the flesh. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:32.160 You're not a servant to your flesh anymore. 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:34.480 God's given you a new identity in Jesus. 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:35.759 Wonderful. 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:37.519 That's not it. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:42.720 God hasn't just separated you from your old identity and given you a new one. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.839 He's calling you unto something. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:51.200 He's always doing that, separating you from something to bring you into something. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:56.799 So that's why Paul in Philippians chapter 3 says, I count all things but loss, that I might win Christ. 00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:00.400 I press toward the mark of the high calling that's in Christ God. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:02.319 That's in Christ Jesus. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:03.680 He looks ahead. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:09.920 He presses on, he presses forward, separated from something, unto something. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:10.880 It's important. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:12.319 You can see some references there. 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:16.079 For Paul, he is separated from Judaism. 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:20.000 You can see that in Philippians chapter 3 distinctly. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:25.599 And he's brought unto the gospel of God, the grace of God and the Gentiles. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:32.160 To turn not only from sin, but turn towards the Savior and a mission that God's given him. 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:46.319 And so, as Ephesians chapter 4 says, and as we conclude our message, I want to just encourage you this week to consider what you need to put off and what you need to press into. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:48.079 Where are you going? 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:49.359 What do you need to put on? 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:51.680 Do you need to put on the man Jesus Christ great? 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:52.960 What does that mean? 00:32:53.200 --> 00:33:02.720 What would it mean for you to put away the sins of your past or just your old life and press forward or move on? 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:09.359 Paul, Romans chapter 1 and verse 1, Paul a saved man, no longer Saul. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.119 He is a servant, no longer bound to sin, but Jesus Christ. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:24.240 He is sent, called into a unique apostleship, distinct from the twelve, and he is separated under the gospel of God, commissioned to carry God's message of grace to the Gentiles. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:35.599 By the time Paul teaches the first verse of the book of Romans, the Holy Spirit has already established why the church should listen to every chapter that follows. 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:37.759 God is doing something new. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:39.839 Are you willing to hear it? 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:44.400 Romans is not merely another letter in the New Testament. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:53.839 It is the authoritative doctrinal exposition or expression that God's given through Christ's chosen apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. 00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:57.599 From this foundation, the entire epistle unfolds. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:05.039 As we enter into the book of Romans, I want you to just consider Paul is given a unique apostleship. 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:06.799 God is doing something new. 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:10.719 Are you willing to consider what that message might be?