Romans 1. After finishing Mark Up, we decided to go through Romans. And I've really, really enjoyed our time of studying in there so far, so we're going to attempt to look at the first seven verses of Romans 1 with y'all this afternoon. Alright, Romans chapter 1, starting in verse 1. 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 faith among all nations for His name. among whom are ye also 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 Lord Jesus Christ." So we kind of have the introduction to this book here. And first off, I'd like to take a look at, and we're just going to go verse by verse through and taking a look at this. But in verse 1, first I'd like us to take a look at Paul's credentials. So Paul is giving his credentials here for writing the book of Romans. And one thing that I found interesting as I was studying through all of this that I had never realized is the name Paul. As we know, Paul's original name was Saul, and he changed it to Paul. Well, the interesting thing is Saul had a significance among the Jewish people. That was the name of the first king of Israel. That would be like naming one of our kids George after George Washington. It has some esteem behind it. Well, the name Paul means little one. So right off we have... just a posture of humility from Paul as he's addressing the Roman church, going from Saul, the name of kings, and changing his name to Paul, or little one. Then next we have a servant of Jesus Christ. And now we're getting into the nitty gritty. A servant So in willing subjection to the Father, and brothers and sisters, that's really the best place to be, is to be in service to the Father. I was thinking as Lewis has been preaching through Psalm 115, I think kind of aligned with the thought on this, but you've got so many people in the world with this mindset of, Well, I will be subject to no man. I'm going to be free. I think it was Frank Sinatra, that song, just let me be me. I want to be free. You're never truly free. There's that old saying, only two options on the self, serving God or serving self. So you are enslaved to someone. It can be Christ, and as He says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Or, as Lewis has preached through Psalm 115, you're enslaved to yourself. And I thought of an analogy actually driving in this morning to think about this, you know, because we all see these people in the world and they've got, you know, it really seems like they've got no cares whatsoever. They've, you know, they're posting, I hate social media, but, you know, these pictures with 150 filters, I think it could even make me look pretty half the time, or if I used half of those. But everything is just so glamorous. It looks like they don't have a care in the world. And when me and Margaret were in the hospital having Freddie, she likes to watch this HGTV, which is remodeling shows. Just because, you know, she enjoys it. I can't, if y'all know me well enough, I can't stand remodeling shows. Rather than a fixer-upper, I'm a putter-offer. Save that for later. But some of these shows, they'll see this house and they'll buy it for a price and they'll go in and try to remodel it and redo it. And there's some of those that will have these, they'll look like a beautiful house. It's two stories, got five bedrooms, three bathrooms. But then when they tear into it, what do they find? Well, the bones are no good. The foundation's cracked. It's suffering under the weight of itself just to keep itself upright. That's what enslavement to yourself looks like. On the outside, it looks like a pretty nice house. It looks like you've got things kind of figured out. But then the bones, it's struggling under the weight because the yoke of self-service and being enslaved to yourself and your own desires, rather than the yoke being easy, the yoke is hard. What do the old timers say when they're comparing their lives to people now? I walked to school uphill both ways and it was raining every time I did it. It's hard. So Paul is willingly a servant of Jesus Christ. And it's a good thing. It's a positive thing to be in submission to, you know, to the master because he is a good master. Next, we'll have called to be an apostle. Paul really had a unique, you know, and a unique was kind of a unique case. He was the only apostle not to walk with Christ during his, you know, during his earthly ministry, but was called after. And it's really interesting to see, you know, his admittance of that, that yes, I was called to be an apostle or he's really giving his credential or his reason for being there is I was called to be an apostle. And we see that in Acts chapter nine, if you'll turn with me there, Acts chapter nine. We're going to read the first 16 verses. Acts 9, starting in verse 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard the voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Lord, who, or he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembled and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into a city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. and Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without sight, neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias, and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street, which is called the straight, and inquire of the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth, and he hath seen a vision of a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake." So I know that's a lengthier section, but I couldn't figure out a better way to split it up without getting everything in there. Paul was specifically chosen and set apart by God to be an apostle. And what was he set apart? We'll see that in the next part. Separated unto the gospel, or set apart to share the gospel. That was his purpose. So what is that gospel then? Well, then we're going to jump right into it. what he's getting to in this first little section. So in verse number two, after we have Paul's credentials, we now have the gospel promised. Isn't it a beautiful reality that we do not we do not worship a man-made God. That this is not a brand new religion that was contrived. You think of some of these, I remember in school learning about, we had a Christian homeschool curriculum and they would teach you about Islam and how it started. The fact that the gospel and Jesus Christ Himself was promised by many men before ages and ages apart, having no contact with each other, being from different walks of life, different situations, and they all collaborated and that there's no contradictions in what they say. Brothers and sisters, it's incredible. And what Paul is telling to the Christians here as well is, He's just reaffirming this is no new religion. This is just the fulfillment or the confirmation of what God had in plan the whole time as He had prophesied, as He had foretold. Turn with me to Genesis 22. Genesis 22. We're going to be looking at verse 18 here. It's a well-known verse. Genesis 22, verse 18. "'And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.'" So this is God speaking to Abraham. And you've got, you know, in thy seed. So, you know, Jesus is of the seed of the nation of Israel. He was an Israelite. And he's saying through him, all of the nation shall be blessed. Well, brothers and sisters, that's us. That's we were brought in. We're the all nations that are blessed of the seed of Abraham. And this was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ is in the picture, but this is all being foretold that it would happen. Kind of along those same lines, turn with me to Galatians 3, verse 8. This is still just looking at that same thought from a little bit different angle. Galatians 3, verse 8. Galatians 3.8, know ye therefore that they which are of faith are the same, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in these shall all nations be blessed. So just, again, that's kind of confirming that thought of you know, through Christ, all the nations were blessed. And this was something that was, you know, that was a prophecy that this would all be fulfilled, you know, way before. You do have, you know, also in Genesis 3.15, you have, there'll be enmity between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise its heel. That's a prophecy of Christ and His work on the cross that was, Way before, that's at the beginning of the world that that was prophesied. And it's, you know, it has come true in Christ. Of course, we've also got last time I was up here, we read Isaiah 53. So I'm not going to read through that again, but that again, Isaiah gives a detailed, you know, a detailed account of the sufferings of Christ and what he's going to be, what he's going to be going through. And it's not the way that you would prophesy if you were trying to be accurate. It's almost like fortune cookies. You open up a fortune cookie, and it's the most vague thing you'll ever read. It's, you're going to have a good day someday, possibly. You have a good day a month from now. It's like, oh, you know, it was right. Isaiah wasn't vague. They'll cast lots for his clothing. Well, that happened. You've got the Scripture, not a bone of his body would be broken. Well, that's highly unlikely. It was common for them to break the legs, but he died before and they broke protocol. If you're trying to be accurate, you'd leave out as much detail as possible. But it's not about trying to be accurate with a man-made, man-contrived idea. It's God-inspired. I'm trying to think of a better term, but God kind of calling His shot of this is the way it is going to happen, and I'm going to tell you, Isaiah, so you can pin it down, and then those that see afterwards will be amazed at how I fulfill exactly as I said I would do it. It's incredible. We do not believe in a... It's not a man-made contradictory doctrine. We didn't have one guy go into isolation in a cave and come out and be the only one and say, I've heard from God and I have this new religion. That's not the way it is. We have many men and all of this is confirmed, prophesied of the prophets. And what were they confirming? What were they prophesying of? Well, the fulfillment of the whole thing is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, as we see in verse three. So we have the gospel promised, and now we have the gospel fulfilled. And this is the culmination, this is the tip of the iceberg, the point of the story, is Jesus Christ. In verse 3, we also see that made of the seed of David according to flesh. So not according to his spiritual heritage, but according to his bodily heritage. He's pointing out that he was of the seed of David. Well, why does that matter? Does it really matter that he was of the seed of David? Yes, because God had promised that he would be. So turn with me to Jeremiah 23. We're going to be starting in verse 5. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Behold, the day has come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up unto David a righteous branch. A king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." So, brothers and sisters, that is Jesus Christ being prophesied many years before that He would be of the seed of David and He would reign among the earth. That's why Matthew 1 has the whole genealogy there. It's because that was important because that is the fulfillment of prophecy. And you also look at just the things that went into Christ in Matthew 1. We're not going to go there for time's sake. But just all of the situations, all of the things that God used, we hear all the time God can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick. There were some really messed up situations in the genealogy that led to Christ. God can take a bad situation and a bad act by somebody and bring about something beautiful from it. He's the only one that can. So that is in verse 3. Now we move on to verse 4. And declare to be the Son of God with power. So if you miss the genealogy of... Paul is just laying out bulletin points here. It was promised afore by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. He was the son of David as promised. And if you didn't see that, then you most certainly saw him proclaiming himself with power. The miracles and things that Christ did, there's no one else that, you know, besides the apostles in certain situations, but Christ was healing sick. As Lewis read this morning, they were astonished that no man spoke like him, that there was no one else that knew the things that he knew, even as a young age. We have the story of Joseph and Mary leaving him in the temple and they come back and They're astounded because these teachers are sitting around being taught by Jesus as a young boy. He was declared to be the Son of God with power. It wasn't just by words, and it was confirmed by the way that He displayed His power here on earth. So we have declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness. And that simply going to mean, you know, being. Quickened by the Holy Spirit. So he was quickened by the Holy Spirit. To what end to the resurrection to the resurrection from the dead? That. There is an empty tomb. I saw this years ago, but there was a History Channel story of finding Jesus, and they're still looking for the tomb, trying to prove that He didn't really rise from the dead. They haven't found it. And trust me, there have been plenty of people that have desperately looked. The Pharisees would have loved nothing more than to have found Christ's body when He disappeared, because they wanted nothing to do with His claim or with His power. And when they couldn't find Him, they just killed the ones that followed Him, hoping to annihilate the whole movement. You know, you've also got Of course, the Romans weren't too keen on him being an earthly king either, so they were trying desperately to find him. There's so many people that have vested interest in finding him. Well, he's not there. He is gone to be with the Father, as he said, and there were witnesses that saw him risen. So the gospel being fully fulfilled, And that's in verses three through four. And then starting in verse five, we kind of see a shift to the call of people. In verse five, it's by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to faith among all nations for his name. By him, you know, that great gospel that was promised, that all of those men foretold, well, it's now fulfilled and it is bestowed to us, that we have been received grace and apostleship to the obedience that we now willingly, similar to Paul, enter into willing service of God the Father, through Christ, and the obedience of faith that is belief. So we believe what He says. Believing all the things Christ said, all the things He taught, all the things He said about Himself, we believe those to be true. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 2.13. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 2, verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of God, because God hath from the beginning chose you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of truth. And isn't that just a beautiful thought God, before the foundation of the world, drew us out of darkness, or chose us out of darkness, and decided to draw us into His light through the belief of the gospel. That all of this has been working throughout all ages, throughout all times, for God to redeem His people. And it was certainly not of anything that we could have done. As Lewis was pointing out in this morning, we have all fallen short of the qualifications. It's like a kid trying to get on a roller coaster, except we're not even as close as those kids are half the time. You've got, must be this tall to ride the ride. We're way below, we don't measure up. But through Christ, we have acceptance and we have been called to receive this grace, this free gift of God, and it is among all nations. So it's not just one bloodline anymore like it was with the children of Israel. You didn't have to be born of this one sect anymore, but it's all nations, all creeds, all tongues, all that believeth. will come unto Him, that God, without exception, will find His people and draw them to Himself. Me and Robert were talking a minute ago, and that's a beautiful thought, that it's no longer up to us. It wasn't up to us to begin with, so that's a poor choice of words, but it's not up to us. We don't carry the weight of, if I don't share the gospel 24-7, 365, someone's going to perish and go to hell because of me. It's not up to you. And that's a comfort. Because if it was, hell would be full. And no one would be going to heaven because we can't do it. We are incapable if it's left into our hands. So, and why is all of this done? This was one of my favorite parts, for His name, or for the glory of His name. And so it's not that we might receive glory and that we would be standing around the adulterous woman pointing fingers saying, well, we're better than you. That's not the point of it, it's that we might, through our obedience and through our belief, bring glory to God and to His name throughout the whole world. We'll get to that here in the next message. That's a little sneak preview. But the fact that all of this is for the glory of His name, that it is not to bring glory to us, because if we have a proper view of the gospel, we realize that In and of myself, I can do none of this. I don't measure up. We're in the position of the adulterous woman sitting there going, I am guilty. And I'm condemned. These are my last breaths as a living individual. That's a burdensome spot to be, but in Christ we have freedom from that. So we have been. Who? Apologize, we've been received to great to apostleship. And among whom in verse six, among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ? So. Now us reading this now, we're just as called of Jesus Christ as they were back then. we are grafted in, and isn't that a beautiful thought that Christ grafted us in, that we're, you know, the Gentiles, we're considered dogs, and we have been grafted into the glory of salvation, and that the Jews that believed, and now us that believe, we're all gonna have the same heavenly home with Christ. You know, that's a beautiful thought that, you know, The dogs even get the crumbs from the master's table. So we are the ones chosen from the beginning. And in verse 7, as he's closing out, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God. That has been a sweet meditation that. We are no longer enemies of God, but now that we are, we are beloved. He could have said loved, he could have said liked, but beloved, that to me has a deeper, more full meaning. You don't just say my beloved to your kids, that's usually to your wife, right? That's a special, it's a more intimate connotation than just a regular I love you. No, my beloved. the love of God toward us that He would call us beloved, called to be saints. So we are called to be His saints. That's just a beautiful thought. And then, of course, closes out this section, grace to you, peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In reading this, you're probably asking, and this is the next section, but what is the application of this? And I had a thought as I was studying this, but Romans, this is the longest epistle that Paul writes. And it's one of the richest books. Just in this first chapter, there is so much meat packed on the bone that, I mean, you don't have to have much sense to find something out of reading a chapter. So the fact that he starts off with this, brothers and sisters, this is the utmost important thing. If we don't get this, if we don't have the Gospel as our cornerstone and the true foundation, then the rest of this book, we can pack it up and go home. It means absolutely nothing that we understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have full belief and confidence. And that's why he writes all of this, that it was promised of his prophets. that he was the seed of David as was promised, that he displayed his power and his lordship through his miracles and his works, and through the resurrection of the dead as the utmost thing. So to believers, what do we do with this? Well, we have confidence. We have full belief and confidence. that Christ is who He said He was. And no matter what people throw against us, the bulwarks that assail us, that say, you know, there are contradictions here, there are things that don't add up here, like Lewis said a couple weeks ago, that most of the time you can say, well, show me one. And they can't. They just heard somebody, somebody who knew somebody that said there was. we can have full confidence that this is true. That it is no new man-centered creation or gospel. That all of this has been foretold through Scriptures and it's the same God in Genesis that is in Revelation. The same God throughout the whole Bible. And that all the writers agree and confirm that it's true. And even more, that we may have hope that if God cared enough to work all of this, to work in the Old Testament, the prophecies and everything leading up, the intricate detail, He will continue to work now just as He did back then. Turn with me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 3. We're going to be reading verse 15. Again, a well-known verse. but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and fear." And that is ultimately what hope leads to. The gospel message, we've all heard it many times if you've been a believer long. And yet, it seems a million times a day we forget it and have to remind ourselves of what work has been done in us through Christ. And the ultimate reason for that, the reason that we have to constantly preach that to ourselves is that our hope may remain full, that we can fully anticipate. When we lose track of the gospel, our eyes move from upward to ground level. and that's when people get depressed about politics. There's so much depression in the world today. Americans, we've got more than anybody's ever had and we're the unhappiest anyone's ever been because the eyes have dropped from heavenly expectation and hope in the gospel of Christ to we're so tempted to drift downwards and go, You know, I need a bigger house. I need a better car. I need a better job. I need, you know, all of these things. You get the point that in the end, they don't create hope, they create anxiety. And so we should be so full with the gospel and so ingrained with it that we constantly beat it into our minds that we may have hope. And what is that hope for? It's for our own edification, but it's also that people will see our hope and we can glorify the name of our Father to those that are without. That we can go through hard times and have hope and people will see us and say, Why do you have hope in this? Joe Biden was elected president. We can explain how we have hope, how we have a greater anticipation that this is all temporal. It doesn't matter. That we have a greater expectation in Christ, that we strive to be servants unto Him, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light, rather than serving ourselves where, as we discussed earlier, the yoke is hard and the burden is heavy. And of course, if anyone in here, if there's any that have not believed, then the simple question is, why not? You have the evidences here. God has given His word and you have all of the gospel agreeing and working together. And it is the most accurate book that exists. That you have different writers, again, from different education levels. Just in the gospels alone, you have fishermen, tax collectors, People from different walks of life, different educations, different time periods, and they all agree and say the same thing. And the thing that they're saying is, God is real, and His son Jesus is the only way. In John 7.37, I think Brother Lewis has probably read this about 500 times when he was going through John 7, so I won't bore you by turning back to it. But Christ says, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. So if you haven't believed, believe. If you're thirsty, come and drink. You'll find that service unto him is not like service unto self that leaves you depressed and run down and feeling alone. In thinking of that, you think of Tom Brady. Those of you that are not sports people, I apologize. Tom Brady is considered one of the best quarterbacks ever, has six Super Bowl rings, millions and millions of dollars, and they interviewed him a couple of years ago, and he said, there has to be more to life than this. There's got to be more to life. He has everything. Brothers and sisters, we're in bad shape if we're chasing after what he has, and he already has it and says, there's got to be more. There has to be more. And there is. Jesus Christ is more. He is the answer. He is the escape from that prison cell of self-service, because you're in bondage, in service to somebody. So let it be that we strive to be in service more to Christ, that we would have the hope of the gospel that it would so fill us that we can't help but let it glow out and express what Christ has done for us, and to tell others to come and drink. There is satisfaction for the broken soul, and it is Jesus Christ. So, that's what I have. We'll close in prayer real quick. Our gracious Heavenly Father, Father, we just praise Your holy name this afternoon. We thank You for Your Word. And Father, we thank You for the reality of Scripture that You prophesied of Your Son coming and that You were faithful and that You showed Your power in sending Him in the exact way You said You would, Father. and that He came and He did fulfill His mission to save unrighteous sinners and to draw them to Yourself, that we would be called sons of God. Father, we pray that You would just bless us to latch on to that reality, that You might increase our faith, increase our hope, that we might have full confidence that You are God, and that there are no others above you and that you hold the world in your hand. Father, we just praise you for that reality. We thank you so much for for your saving mercy. And now that we pray that you would bless us as we begin our new week, bless each one here with the grace to endure what what is to come. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen.