Bible Reading: Romans chapter 1 verses 1-7
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=nHg09lBuN7qREjI3Mi3MLJWUH5J0gnXt
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/FR9SqycqP1k
SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Paul was a servant (vs 1a).
(2). Paul was an apostle (vs 1b).
(3). Paul was a preacher (vs 1c-4).
(4). Paul was a missionary (vs 5-7).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Sir Winston Churchill (British statesman, soldier, writer and of course Prime Minister).
• On his 80th birthday was given a compliment that he dismissed.
• The compliment said that,
• He was the “lion” who had defeated Nazi Germany in World War Two.
• He told the Houses of Parliament that,
“It was a nation and race dwelling all around the globe that had a lion’s heart.
I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.”
• TRANSITION: I hope you hear the roar in the book of Romans!
• It is like all Bible books inspired of God,
• But the apostle Paul had the luck/blessing to write it and therefore give the roar!
The book of Romans has been called the apostle Paul’s theological treatise.
• Theological: means relating to the study of God or religion.
• Treatise: a written work that is formal and systematic.
• The book of Romans is doctrinal in nature, it explains what we believe as Christians.
• It is not a biography, poetry or a history book,
• But doctrinal!
• If I am honest, it is a hard read in places,
• Most preachers (if they are honest) want to avoid chapters 9 to 11.
• It is a book difficult in places and reads more like a lecture than a letter.
Ill:
You might know the humours definition of a lecture.
“An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.”
• TRANSITION: Well, this letter may be a challenging read in places,
• In fact, the apostle Paul knew that and to liven up this letter by heckling himself!
• He does that by throwing in a number of questions to liven up his monologue.
• So, the book can be difficult in places,
• e.g., Think of a gold mine, lots of digging through the rock to get to the gold nuggets!
• In this letter the apostle Paul brings together all the great themes of the Bible.
• And he explains in one book so much important Christian doctrine.
The book of Romans can be divided up under three headings:
• Doctrinal: How the gospel saves people.
• (Chapters 1-8).
• National: How the gospel relates to Israel.
• (Chapters 9-11).
• Practical: How the gospel impacts on our lives.
• (Chapters 12-16).
Ill:
• One of my heroes of the Christian faith is William Tyndale.
• William Tyndale could speak seven languages,
• He was a 16th century English theologian and linguist,
• He became the first person to translate and print a version of the New Testament in English.
• In his prologue to Romans in his 1534 English New Testament he wrote,
• “The more it is studied, the easier it is; the more it is chewed, the pleasanter it is.”
• He believed every Christian should learn this letter by heart.
• We might find that a little too difficult to do!
• But we could all read it through once a week.
• It will take on average 60 minutes,
• I would suggest that is a very good investment of our time!
Note:
• The letter to the Romans is different than any of Paul's other church letters.
• It is different in the two ways:
• FIRST: Paul had absolutely nothing to do with the founding of the church at Rome.
• He had at this point, never been to Rome.
• This is a big contrast to his other letters i.e., Ephesus, Corinth, and Thessalonica.
• Where he had spent time in each of those cities
• He does one day hope to visit Rome on his way to Spain,
• In chapter 15 verse 24 he hopes one day to, “enjoy their company for a while.”
• And to be, “helped on his way” by these Christians.
Ill:
• We know that he did eventually get to Rome (Acts chapter 28 verses 11-31),
• But sadly, he would be a prisoner under house arrest.
• SECOND: Since he did not know them or their situation,
• He deals with this Church differently to all his other letters.
• In this letter he established doctrine, the why and what of what we believe.
Note:
• The key word in this letter is ‘the gospel’ or ‘the good news.’
• And this good news is much more than a set of beliefs.
• It is a gospel about a person (vs 2-3a).
“The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
regarding his Son.”
• TLB: “It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”
• KJB: “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,”
Ill:
• Before the New Testament was written and bound together,
• Christianity was born in Jerusalem and started to spread all over Europe.
• The reason being we preach a person, Jesus Christ!
• He is the good news, and this letter will explain to us why.
Question: What do you do when you meet someone for the first time?
Answer: You introduce yourself.
• Because the apostle Paul he has not been to Rome,
• And is not personally acquainted with the Christians who live there,
• He takes extra care and more time than usual on this letter’s introduction,
• He needs to establish who he is and what he is about.
• And he does that with a four-fold description.
(1). He is a servant (vs 1a).
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.”
Ill:
• In Hollywood there is a very expensive exclusive school.
• Those who attend are children of movie stars, producers, and directors.
• These children are taken care of everyday by a team of servants.
• Asked to write a composition on the subject of poverty,
• One little girl started her literary piece this way:
"Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her servants were poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor”.
• TRANSITION: If we are honest,
• We would all rather be pampered by a servant, than be the servant doing the pampering!
• In this verse,
• The apostle Paul uses a Greek phrase that was very offensive in Roman culture.
• He actually uses the word, ‘slave.’
Ill:
• When this letter was written,
• There were estimated six million slaves in the Roman empire.
• A slave was looked upon as a piece of property, a living tool and not a human being!
• Quote: Tacitus (Roman historian and politician),
• He was the great historian of the Roman emperor Nero’s reign.
• When he wanted to insult people, he said, “They have the mind of a slave.”
• TRANSITION: What Tacitus used as an insult; the apostle Paul used as a boast!
• All slaves have masters and Paul’s master was Jesus Christ.
• This title also shows the humility of Paul,
• He is not claiming to be a ‘somebody’ above other Christians.
• But rather he is alongside his readers because we are all servants of Christ.
Note:
• The apostle Paul was happy and proud to be the slave of Jesus Christ.
• His master was loving and kind and not abusive.
Ill:
• This title, ‘bond-servant’ reminds me of the Old Testament picture of a slave.
• (Exodus chapter 21 verses 2-6).
• Hebrew people could keep a slave for six years,
• But in year seven they had to give that slave a choice.
• He could go free, or if his master had been good to him or her,
• They could stay for the rest of their lives (almost becoming part of the family).
• To show to others that the slave was staying out of love and not duty,
• They bore a hole in the slave’s ear with an awl (small, pointed tool).
• TRANSITION: Whenever you saw a slave with a hole in their ear,
• You knew they were not serving out of duty but out of love!
• The Christian life is a life of service,
• It is a life of obedience to our master – Jesus Christ!
Ill:
• Last week on our youth camp we had a newly married lady helping.
• She has not seen much of her husband and even her honeymoon was cut short.
• The reason being her husband is in the Navy.
• They are the bosses of his life.
• They tell where he will be, what he will do,
• From what time he will get up in the morning to many other details throughout the day!
• That is the joy and the cost of enlisting in the Navy.
• TRANSITION: That is also the cost for following Jesus!
• Two words that many Christians think are optional but are essential,
• They are, ‘Surrender’ & ‘Obedience.’
(2). He is an apostle (vs 1b).
“…called to be an apostle”
• In modern day language you don’t often hear the word, ‘apostle’ used today,
• It is very much a word reserved for Church services and sermons.
• Although in certain circles and especially on so called Christian TV programmes,
• Many TV preachers are using the term ‘apostle,’
• After all it gives them greater authority in their ministry,
• Then just saying they are preachers!
Ill:
• But in ancient times the word was used to describe someone.
• Who was commissioned by another person to represent him in some way.
• e.g., you might represent the emperor or the king.
• e.g., an ambassador or an accredited diplomat might be a modern equivalent.
• TRANSITION: An apostle is, ‘a messenger or one sent on a mission.’
• In the New Testament, apostles were those entrusted by Jesus,
• To help organize the church and spread the message of His teachings.
THE WORD REALLY HAS TWO MEANINGS, A GREATER AND A LESSER MEANING.
• The lesser meaning is simple,
• A ‘messenger or one sent on a mission.’
• That is why the terms disciples and apostles are often interchanged.
• e.g., Jesus used this name for the twelve disciples (Luke chapter 6 verse 13)
• This term could apply to any individuals,
• Who are sent out to be messengers/ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
• The greater meaning is a little more complex.
• And this type of apostle is not present in the church today.
• Because these types of apostles had to fulfil three qualifications.
• The qualifications of this type of apostle were:
• (a) to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1-2),
• (b) to have been explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15),
• (c) to have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
• These apostles were unique and used by God to lay the foundation of the church,
• Two thousand years later, the Church universal is still working on that same foundation.
The apostle Paul meets those three qualifications.
• (a) He met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9),
• (b) He was explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit to go to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15),
• (c) to have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 13:6-12 & 14:3 & 14:8-10).
• (10 are recorded in Acts - 6 miracles, 3 healing accounts, 1 exorcism, and 1 raising of the dead).
Note:
• So, as an apostle in the greater sense of the word.
• Paul had the authority to write to this Church,
• He had the authority to help them in their understanding.
• Remember the New Testament had not yet been completed,
• e.g., This book of Romans would become part of that cannon of scripture.
• We know from our recent studies in the book of Acts,
• That the early Church, “devoted themselves to the apostles teaching”
• (Acts chapter 2 verse 42).
• And this letter from the apostle Paul is a written down version of some of that teaching!
• The other letters by other apostles would also be written down,
• And eventually become what we call the New Testament.
(3). He is a preacher (vs 1c-4).
“…and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,”
Quote: Revd W A Spooner, the English scholar & preacher who died in 1930,
• He was reputed to have had a dreadful habit.
• Of mixing up his words — or wix up his mords.
• And as a result, ‘Spoonerisms’ entered into the English language.
• e.g., At a wedding he told the groom, 'It is kistomary to cuss the bride.'
• e.g., Calling on the dean of Christ Church he asked the secretary; 'Is the bean dizzy?"
• e.g., Giving the eulogy at a clergyman's funeral, he praised his departed colleague as.
• “A shoving leopard to his flock.”
• e.g., Speaking to a group of farmers:
• Spooner intended to greet them as “sons of toil,”
• But what came out was. "I see before me tons of soil.”
• e.g., In a sermon he warned his congregation
• “There is no peace in a home where a dinner swells.
• Meaning, of courses 'where a sinner dwells”'
• TRANSITION: Any preacher here today has sympathy for Rev Spooner,
• We’ve all wixed up our mords. Sorry, mixed up our words at some time.
It was always on the cards that Paul would be a preacher.
• Before his conversion he was a Pharisee like his father (Acts chapter 23 verse 6),
• And he was educated by a respected rabbi named Gamaliel (Acts chapter 22 verse 3).
• And next to the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul was,
• The greatest and most effective preacher who ever lived.
• He evangelized three continents,
• And he also penned two-thirds of the New Testament’s letters.
• These documents have transformed individuals from Martin Luther to John Wesley,
• They have literally revolutionised the world.
Note:
• A preacher is only as good as his message.
• Preachers are not entertainers (although we hope you find what we say interesting),
• Preachers are first and foremost communicators and informers.
• When you leave this building today,
• You should have understood and learnt something,
• You should also have been challenged as to what you will do with that knowledge!
Notice the apostle Paul’s message – twofold.
• FIRST: It is not a new message (vs 2)!
• “the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures”
• It is all through the Old Testament in types and shadows,
• It is also there in prophecy and can be clearly seen in many, many texts.
• e.g., Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 and chapter 53,
• The book of Isaiah is often called, “The gospel according to Isaiah”
• SECOND: It is a message about a person (vs 3-4),
• “regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David.”
“regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”
THOSE TWO VERSES ARE PACKED WITH THEOLOGICAL TRUTH.
• Jesus is a human saviour - “Descendant of David.”
• He has a family tree; he is the promised one of the Old Testament.
• He is the Messiah that God promised to David many centuries before.
• (2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 7-11)
• Jesus is a divine saviour - “His Son” or “God’s Son.”
• By the resurrection (He died & rose again) he is declared as.
• “The Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead”
• Jesus is a Spirit-filled saviour - “who through the Spirit of holiness.”
• The Bible teaches Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke chapter 1 verse 15).
• All his ministry was conducted in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke chapter 1 verse 35).
• And by the power of that same Holy Spirit, he was raised from the dead.
Quote: William Barclay.
“If Jesus had lived a lovely life and died a heroic death, and if that had been the end of him, he might have been numbered with the great and the heroic, but he would simply have been one among many. His uniqueness is guaranteed forever by the fact of the resurrection. The others are dead and gone, and have left a memory, Jesus lives on, and gives is a presence, still mighty with power.”
• No wonder Paul calls him, “Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• “Jesus” (Saviour), “Christ” (Chosen one/the only way) “Lord” (Jesus is God).
(4). He is a missionary (vs 5-7).
“Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ill:
• Question: Anyone know who this is?
• Answer: John Gibson Paton.
• (born in Scotland, 1800’s he was a Protestant missionary)
• He wanted to go as a missionary to New Hebrides Islands of the South Pacific.
• But the missionary board said it was too dangerous,
• Previous missionaries had been killed and eaten by cannibals.
• Paton replied to the missionary board these great words.
“If I die here in Glasgow, I shall be eaten by worms; If I can but live and die serving the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”
• TRANSITION:
• Our word missionary is the Latin form of the word, ‘apostle.’ – ‘one who is sent’
• Paul like John Paton had a specific missionary call.
• Paul was explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit to go to the Gentiles (other nations).
• (Acts chapter 9 verse 15),
“But the Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
• Paul took four missionary journeys throughout his ministry.
• Paul’s first three missionary journeys are recorded in Acts,
• And the fourth is mentioned throughout Paul’s letters to various churches.
• Using the incredible Roman road network and sometimes by sea.
• He journeyed across Israel, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy.
• Paul the Apostle travelled some 10,000 miles (around 16,000 km),
• On his missionary journeys.
• He would experience hardships that included being trapped in the wilderness,
• Drifting at sea, being pursued and arrested, and being robbed.
• He was also imprisoned, whipped, clubbed, stoned, deprived of sleep and food,
• And had to endure the harsh, cold climate.
• Despite everything, he did not lose his faith,
• And treated all hardships as tests and trials from God.
Quote:
“You are a missionary or a mission field.”
• If you are a Christian, “You are a missionary.”
• The great commission is still, “go into all the world…” (Matthew chapter 28 verse 19).
• If you are not yet a Christian, “You are the mission field.”
• You need to respond and believe the good news about Jesus Christ!
Ill:
That is as easy as ABCD.
A = Admit
B = Believe
C = Consider
D = Do.
