Welcome to the Carey Baptist Church radio broadcast entitled Thy Word is Settled in Heaven. Carey Baptist is in Athens, Alabama. I'm the pastor there. Brother Donahue, today we begin a study in the book of Romans, written by the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul had not visited the church when he wrote this epistle, He's going to write one of the great theological works of the New Testament. Perhaps the two greatest theological books in the New Testament would be Romans and Hebrews. And we're going to take a look at Romans chapter 1, at least a portion of chapter 1 today, begin this great book, the book written to the Romans. It says a lot about justification, but it also says some other things about sanctification, about the future of the Jewish people, a lot of things in the book of Romans. We're going to begin in chapter 1, read a portion, and then get into the sermon. Romans 1, beginning in verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which God hath promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom ye also are the called of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request, if by any means, now at length, I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you, for I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the purpose that you might be established, that is, that I might be comforted together with you by the mutual faith, both you and me, Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I proposed to come to you, but was hindered hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the other Gentiles. For I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. We're going to stop reading there in verse 15. Oh, that's about halfway through chapter 1 of Romans. We begin this study of this magnificent book, this book that is so full of glorious and helpful theology. And we're going to let the Bible speak to us as we go word by word, verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph through this epistle. And we're going to take it in the order the Holy Spirit gave it. That's the beauty of expository preaching. You're not jumping around the Bible, but you're following the order given by the Holy Spirit. We'll begin in verse 1 of chapter 1. Paul begins by saying he is a servant. First he's a servant, then he says he's an apostle, a servant of Jesus Christ. All saints are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he begins with his servanthood. Then he says he's called to be an apostle, which means a commissioned one, a sent out one. And he adds this, he's separated unto the gospel of God, separated away from other things, set apart to one thing, the preaching of the gospel, the manifestation of the gospel, the defense of the gospel, the proclamation of the gospel, the definition of the gospel, the guarding of the gospel, separated unto the gospel. God wouldn't have him doing other things. He would have him doing this one thing, proclamating, proclaiming the gospel. He's the servant, he's the apostle, he has a purpose, and he is appointed by God to preach the gospel. He says the gospel that he preaches was something that was a promise before time in the holy prophets, in the holy scriptures. The prophets alluded to the coming messiah, his kingdom, his gospel. It says the gospel is concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. The gospel centers on the person, the work, the offices, and the grace of Jesus Christ. And he begins in speaking of Christ by calling him his son. Jesus is the Son of the Father, and the Son always partakes of the nature of the Father. And if the Father is divine, the Son is divine. The Son, Jesus Christ, Jesus means Jehovah's salvation. Christ is his title, the Anointed One. He is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Master, our Sovereign. And it says, Jesus was made of the seed of David. He is a result of the Davidic promise. God said to David, one of your descendants would be a king on the throne forever. Jesus is the king who sits on the throne of David forever. He's the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. God made a covenant with David. God fulfilled that covenant ultimately in Jesus Christ, who is forever the Son of David. When Jesus was on this earth, people called him, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And that was a covenant, the Davidic covenant, the Jews knew well, and they spoke to the Messiah as the Son of David, the greater David, the greater King. Paul calls him the Son, and he calls him the seed of David. And then he says in verse 4 that Jesus declared to be the Son of God with power. Jesus exercised great power on the earth, not to do signs in the heavens, but in healing people of the wounds and diseases and problems they had. Physical diseases were healed. Leprosy was healed. demons were cast out paralysis was overthrown blindness was cured with power jesus showed himself to be the son of god by the great miracles he did according to the spirit of holiness power and holiness what a combination a holy life and divine power that was jesus but especially as he declared to be the son of god by verse four the resurrection from the dead price raised from the dead according to his promise showing that he is indeed who he said he was. Resurrection proved him to be the conqueror of death, and when Christ promises a man life, he can give life because he's the conqueror of death. Now, he speaks to the believers at Rome next in verse 5. Notice, by whom, or by Jesus, we have received grace. We have received grace. The result of Christ coming into the world was that we might have grace and be put right with God, be forgiven of our sins. We have received grace. Brother, the best thing you receive down here is grace. Grace before peace. You can't have peace until you have grace. We have received grace. He says of himself he's received apostleship. We spoke about that before. Paul said, I'm a servant and apostle. He lists the purpose in verse 5 for obedience to the faith among all nations. Now, when you see the phrase, the faith, that's different from faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is our trust and belief in him. The faith stands for the body of truths that we believe, the doctrines that are given to us. Paul's saying one of the reasons he's been given an apostleship is so that the nations would learn obedience to the doctrines, the bodies of truth, that has been given to the Church and to the world through the New Testament, through the Lord Jesus Christ, for obedience to the faith, the body of truths, that we would be faithful to the truths given to us among all nations. preach the gospel to every creature make disciples of all nations for the glorification of his name verse five and he says among whom ye also are the called of jesus christ now paul's going to call the saints in Rome many different names many different things he'll call them the elect he'll call them the faithful brethren but here he calls them the "Called" because each one individually was called by God. Salvation includes a calling. Those that are called, He justified. Those that He justified, He glorified. Paul would say that in Romans chapter 8. So believers are called by God. They have a divine calling, not a worldly calling. And in the end, they do receive the gospel from men. They hear the preached gospel, but they're actually called with a divine calling. That's frequent in the New Testament. You're the called. You're called of God. It's a divine calling. God has called each member of his family into his family. You are the called. You're the saints. You're the elect. You're the called of Jesus Christ. Then he says, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God. Now here's a second designation for the people of God. They're called the beloved of God. They're beloved because of the sake of Christ. Jesus was saying in the Gospels, God loves you because you love me. They're beloved of God. Those that are saved are the called. They're also beloved of God. God loves his people, gave his son for them. Then he gives us another term, beloved of God, called to be saints. Saint means a separated one or a sanctified one. Both meanings are just gloriously good. Set apart, sanctified by God. Called by God, beloved of God, called to be set apart. Set apart by God. All these things are great names for the people of God. And if a man is not called or beloved of God or set apart, he's not a Christian. Each Christian is called, he's beloved, he is sanctified. That's what Paul says in Romans 1, 6 and 7. And he says to the called, he says to the saints, the beloved, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the first word to the Romans. God says grace to you and peace. We mentioned before, we never tire of saying it, peace comes after grace. You don't find peace before grace. First you receive the grace, unmerited favor of God, which comes through Jesus and what he did for us. When you have the grace of God, the unmerited favor of God, then and only then do you have peace with God. If you have no grace, you have no peace. And if you truly have peace with God, then it's because you have his grace. Remember he said you have received grace from God? They were receivers of grace. God grants men that are sinners, undeserving sinners, his unmerited favor, grace. Some people like to make a word game out of the word grace, G-R-A-C-E, God's riches at Christ's expense. That's how they spell grace, G-R-A-C-E. God's grace, God's unmerited favor comes through Jesus Christ. We have peace with God. Men that are lost do not have peace with God. They're at enmity with God, Paul would say later in this book. Paul goes on to mention some things about himself. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. He's telling them that he has been faithful to offer up prayers of thanksgiving for their salvation. And he's praising God that their faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. The saints at Rome were careful to spread the gospel, to preach the gospel, to teach it to their children. to teach it to their households. Masters taught their employees, if you allow me to use that word. The gospel was spread throughout the whole world by their faithfulness. And God put it in their hearts to spread the gospel, to preach the gospel. And Paul is commending them and saying, I'm giving thanks to you all. Because you have spoken the gospel. Now verse nine, for God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Now he hadn't been to Rome. Most of these people he had never laid eyes on did not know, but he was nevertheless praying for the saints in Rome. He's an apostle for sure. Apostle wants to see people saved, those that are saved. He wants to see them grow in grace. And he prays for them. Your pastors and teachers, whether you know it or not, are praying for you. And he says, without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers. He's so glad there is a faithful church in Rome, the capital city of the empire. And he goes on to say, making a request, if by any means, now at length, or after this long duration, I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you." He had hoped and planned and was asking God that he might have the opportunity to go to Rome to speak to them and to visit them and to be encouraged by them. Yes, ministers who have a lot to preach are nevertheless, when they go to a good church, are encouraged. Whether they preach or not, they're encouraged. Now, they're called to preach, and they want to fulfill their ministry. But they're also encouraged when they show up in a good church. It encourages their heart so much to see a faithful church. They're not just there to preach. Though they are there to preach, they're not just there to preach. They're there to be encouraged as well. Paul says, I'm looking forward to coming, if it's God's will. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. By his preaching, by his teaching, by his example, to the end you might be established to build upon the foundation you already have, that is, that I may be comforted together with you." He's looking forward to being comforted. And here's an apostle who loved all the things of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus he loved his church, he loved Christ's people. Even though these were Gentiles and had their rough edges, They weren't as polished as the believers in Jerusalem. They were Gentile. Still, he wanted to go to be encouraged by them. After all, these people were an important place. They were in the center of the Roman world, the Roman capital. They had a powerful place to witness for Jesus Christ, and they did so, and Paul wants to be encouraged by that kind of church. And preachers like to go to good churches where they're eager to serve God and are about the business of reaching the lost and teaching their children and loving one another. They want to be encouraged by that good church. Now, I would not have you to be ignorant, verse 13, brethren. There's another word he calls them brethren. that oftentimes are proposed to come to you but was prevented here too he had wanted to come to the church in rome it had been prospering he wanted to go and see he had been hindered from coming he was so busy sometimes he had things to do and he couldn't leave his present occupation he says that i might have some fruit among you also that is the romans in general he might be able to preach and see souls saved in the big city of rome he might have fruit that is preaching that souls would be saved even among other Gentiles. The other Gentiles in that city was a Gentile city, and he wanted to see souls saved and added to that church. And he goes on to say, and we're about done, I am a debtor, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both the wise and the unwise. I'm going to preach to all people. They may be ignorant. I'm going to preach to them. They may be well-educated Greeks, as opposed to barbarians. In that day and age, people thought that Greeks were educated. Greeks, more than other people, loved culture, theater, language, and that were to be learned back in the days of the Greeks. We're talking about the first century. The Greeks were considered cultured. The barbarians that lived north of the Greeks The Teutonic peoples, that was what they called the people of Germany at that time. There was no Germany in the day of Paul. There was no Britain in the day of Paul, but those people in those areas were considered barbarians compared to the Greeks, because they were less cultured, cared less about language and mathematics and theater. But Paul says it doesn't matter, barbarian or Greeks, learned or unlearned, those that are cultured or uncultured, I'm going to preach the gospel to them, God willing. And Paul knew what it was to preach to unlearned people and to learn people. You remember he once went to Athens, Greece, to Mars Hill, and there he met a lot of philosophers who were always talking about the latest new philosophy. And Paul just preached as hard to them as he did to folks who knew nothing about those things. He's going to preach the rich and poor, the learned, the unlearned. And the Gospel is the same for the Greek and the barbarian. Same for the philosopher at Mars Hill in Greece as it is for any other person. And Paul says, I want to have fruit among you by preaching to these Gentiles. And we're going to end with verse 15. So as much as is in me as I am ready. to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. He knows he has a duty. He's not just coming to be comforted, to have a good time with the church, though that's going to happen. But because he's an apostle and he's obligated, God has charged him to preach the gospel to every creature. He's going to be sure to do that. You know, Paul is going to be imprisoned in Rome. He's eventually going to be put to death in Rome. You remember the Roman emperors, beginning in the end of the first century, the second century, began to persecute and kill Christians. There was a horrible persecution. Paul was killed in the persecution of Nero, that Roman emperor, an evil man. He killed Christians, but Paul was never deterred. He was going to preach to these men in Rome, whether he's put in prison or not. because christ has commanded him to go to the gentiles and to preach to every creature and he's going to do that and if he is thrown in jail here gets thrown in jail he knows god's going to take care of them that's the possible paul brother were about through today were about out of time we just started this book of romans and you see already that paul is already commending these believers in rome he's called in the call these call them the beloved he's called in the saints he's called them The set-apart ones, he's just commending the church. It must have been a good church. It was a good church. But he wanted to give them more of God's truth that they might be established. Brethren, we are about out of time. We better close it up here. You've been listening to the Carey Baptist Church radio broadcast. Carey is in Athens, Alabama, We're next to Huntsville, south of Nashville. I'm Pastor Ben Donahue. Carey Baptist began in 1923. We've been in existence as a church family, a congregation, for 102 years. We want to thank you for listening. We hope you join us again next time, and until then, we'll say goodbye. Thank you for joining us on today's broadcast. If you have any questions or want more information about Carey Baptist Church, you can find us on the web at careybc.com. May the Lord richly bless you as you tune in again for Thy Word is Settled in Heaven.