Romans 1:1-4

We pray the word, we recite the word, sing the word, we see the word in the ordinances, and we preach the word.

Paul, in his final letter, wrote to his prodigy Timothy, in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, you're probably familiar.

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

That the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work.

It has its very source as God. It is sufficient for the task of making us holy in Christ.

And then I think, in this case, the chapter break doesn't serve us well because Paul goes on to say to Timothy,

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom.

Right? So there's a weighty thing that needs to be talked about.

Verse 2, he says, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

And then he tells Timothy why.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to soothe their own passions,

and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

So his response to this coming reality, the time is coming and is now here, I'm sure that Timothy experienced in his day as well, is to preach.

To continue to open up the word and to proclaim it.

The spirit of God wields the word of God to bring about transformation in his people for the praise of his name.

And we don't see this most regularly in big and astounding ways, but in little, patient, steadfast ways.

This happens prominently as we study God's word together.

Secondly, I am grateful to be in fellowship with believers who want the word preached and not necessarily preached by me.

The following are five reasons that I don't preach every single Sunday.

It's by design. It's a strategy.

And here they are in ascending order.

That means that this gets more important as I go along.

So least important to more important.

Minor to major.

First, it's simply good for me.

I've been on sabbatical for the past five weeks, and it was good that I could take a time away and to do that.

It's good for my family.

It's good for me to sit with them and sing with them and lead my boys in what it looks like to be churchmen.

For them not to resent the church as the thing that always took daddy away.

Secondly, it's good for me just to have some time to catch up on other things.

I've told you all before that usually the weeks that I don't preach are the busiest weeks because I feel like I have infinite time available to me, and I pack it very full to be in prayer and study, to counsel, to develop leaders, etc.

Third, it is good for us as a church to develop future leaders by giving other men the opportunity to preach.

Men have varying teaching gifts which are improved by practice.

Public gospel preachers are both born and they are made.

So it's good for us to give men opportunity to stretch their legs and to give it a try and to get helpful feedback.

And it's much different to preach a sermon in front of a congregation than in a preaching class.

Number four, it is good for you to hear the gospel preached in other voices and from unique perspectives.

Things said differently.

I'm going to get into a repetition of phrasing, and it's good for you to hear stuff afresh from someone else.

You and I need to witness the manifold grace of God in the life of his people.

How is the gospel at work in us, not just in me?

And fifth and finally, it is good for you to value the word of God preached, proclaimed, not necessarily a particular person doing so.

And this is so very countercultural.

Many churches have become cults of personality.

Praise God that I can go away for five weeks.

Y'all kept coming.

That's amazing.

Maybe you came to hear Zach preach, and maybe you'll leave now that I'm back.

I don't know.

I hope not.

But it's helpful for us to see Jesus Christ as the head of the church.

Pastors are only ever under-shepherds of the great shepherd.

And it's good for us all, including myself.

It's good for me to be away and see the Lord hold it together using the many efforts of y'all.

So it's really good that I don't preach every Sunday.

In fact, I have a constraining quota.

I'm only supposed to preach half the Sundays that we're together.

And it's kept track of.

Your elders ask me, it seems like it's been a little bit.

How many weeks have you been preaching now?

It's good for us to be okay with this.

And I hope you will join me this morning in enjoying God's manifold grace to our congregation

as his word is preached every Sunday, not necessarily by me.

Now, that said, we are going to try something new, a little bit different.

But, although not a dramatic departure, we think as a general habit, the church is best served by verse-by-verse exposition.

So I mentioned we're starting the book of Romans this morning.

But for the sake of continuity, typically what we would do is we would split it up amongst different guys that are preaching.

But it has been suggested as a thing to try that when I'm preaching, I'll be preaching the book of Romans.

And it was asked to me at that time, like, what would you want to preach?

And I said, okay, Romans, that's what we want to preach.

If I get to preach the whole book, I definitely want to preach the book of Romans.

But we will still take some breaks from Romans.

And we'll have some verse-by-verse expositions of text in between my preaching in Romans.

So that's where we're headed.

I wanted you to be both aware of what we'll be doing and why we'll be doing it.

Now to Romans, which I argue is the greatest lever ever written.

It is placed in our canon at the beginning of Paul's epistles.

Some say because it's the longest, but I strongly disagree.

I think because it is the most important.

Martin Luther wrote of the book of Romans,

This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and is truly the purest gospel.

It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word by heart,

but also that he should occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul.

We can never read it or ponder over it too much,

for the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.

How phenomenal, right?

Martin Luther said,

At the very center of our practice together,

we ought to be memorizing and meditating on this letter.

I will add that we will have keener minds to understand the rest of Scripture

if we can get Romans right.

So we have both a significant and a delightful work ahead of us.

Paul most probably wrote Romans from Corinth in A.D. 57.

There's a little bit of dispute over this, but most have settled in on this,

and that he intended it to precede a visit to the church located in Rome.

It is his most fully formed theological work,

but it should not be thought to be a complete summary of Paul's theological mind.

It is not Paul's systematic theology.

He does not, for example, address in detail the doctrine of Christ,

like he does in Colossians,

or the church like he does in Ephesians,

or the last days like he does in 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

The thrust of the entirety of Paul's letter to the Romans is this.

If you can get your mind into this,

this is the thrust of it.

This is where he's going.

Salvation by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

And I am looking forward to unpacking this with you in the coming months,

which will likely turn into years.

So all that said,

let's begin with the first four verses of Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Before I read them, let me remind you, beloved,

this is God's word to us,

written for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises

and to obey its commands.

Romans 1, verses 1 through 4.

Romans 1:1–4

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,

called to be an apostle,

set apart for the gospel of God,

which he promised beforehand through his prophets

in the holy scriptures,

concerning his son,

who was descended from David according to the flesh

and was declared to be the son of God

in power according to the spirit of holiness

by his resurrection from the dead.

Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

In the beginning of the salutation

of Paul's letter to Roman believers,

he establishes the authority

by which he writes.

And it is theologically rich.

We'll skip a stone off of it this morning.

This morning's outline will follow three points,

which are available to you on your bulletin,

should you like to take notes.

Number one, the authority of Paul.

Number two, the authority of the Bible.

And number three, the authority of Jesus Christ.

Firstly, the authority of Paul we see in verse one.

In Paul's introduction of himself

as the writer of this letter,

he gives to his readers three titles for himself.

First, he calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus.

The word servant could also be translated bond servant.

Mosaic law provided for an indentured servant

to permanently become a bondservant of a master

that he loved and respected.

A voluntary servanthood.

The term signifies total ownership

and total obedience.

That is to say that Paul viewed himself

as belonging completely to Christ Jesus

and called to a complete obedience to Christ Jesus.

Not a pick and choose kind of faith.

Paul is saying, I belong to him

and therefore I serve at his whim.

And note here that Paul,

as he introduces himself in this letter,

begins, he starts with humility.

Even as he is establishing his authority,

he recognizes that it is a granted authority.

Paul could have begun with his apostleship.

Rather significant position that he held.

He is authoring this letter

toward the end of his third missionary journey.

He could have began with his mission credentials.

Credentials.

Was no greater missionary than Paul in his day.

He had traveled further and accomplished more.

But he doesn't do either of these things.

He begins with his servant status.

He begins with humility

that all praise might belong to Christ.

He says, I am Paul.

I am a servant of Christ Jesus.

He goes on to say that he was called to be an apostle.

The word translated apostle simply means sent one.

So in a sense,

everyone who belongs to Christ is sent into the world,

light in a dark place,

city on a hill.

That's not what Paul is referring to here.

He's specifically referring to his calling

that's only shared with 12 other men.

The calling of apostle as a formal title.

Think capital A, apostle.

And I will say without reservation,

there was nobody else beyond Paul

called to be an apostle in this way.

Paul did not volunteer for the role,

but he was divinely appointed.

And he founds the authority of his ministry

on this calling.

Listen to what he says in Galatians chapter one.

There in verse one,

he introduces himself,

Paul, an apostle,

not from men nor through man,

but through Jesus Christ

and God the Father

who raised him from the dead.

And then he says on in chapter one of Galatians

verse 11 and 12,

for I would have you know, brothers,

that the gospel that was preached by me

is not man's gospel.

For I did not receive it from any man,

nor was I taught it,

but I received it through a revelation

of Jesus Christ.

This calling was not a feeling

that Paul experienced,

but it was an encounter

with the risen Christ.

This is unique and it is significant.

We see a record of this

in Acts chapter nine.

We know that Paul has been commissioned

to go and take captive

those who are claiming the name of Christ

to imprison them.

And in verse three of Acts nine says,

now as he went on his way,

he approached Damascus

and suddenly a light from heaven

shone around him

and falling to the ground,

he heard a voice saying to him,

Saul, Saul,

why are you persecuting me?

And he said,

who are you, Lord?

And he said,

I am Jesus,

whom you are persecuting.

He encountered the risen Christ.

Not only that,

but Paul was also schooled

by the risen Christ.

I just read to you Galatians chapter one,

verse 11 and 12.

The gospel didn't come to him by man.

He received it through a revelation of Christ.

And then in Galatians 1, 15 and following,

Paul says,

but when he would set me apart

before I was born

and called me by his grace,

was pleased to reveal his son to me

in order that I might preach him

among the Gentiles,

I did not immediately consult with anyone.

Now that's the ESV.

That's the end of verse 16.

I did not consult with anyone,

but I prefer the translation

of the New American Standard Bible

in this case.

It says,

I did not immediately consult

with flesh and blood.

Verse 17,

nor did I go up to Jerusalem

to those who were apostles before me,

but I went away into Arabia

and returned again to Damascus.

Then after three years,

I went up to Jerusalem

to visit Cephas.

It's the Greek name for Peter

and remained with him 15 days.

And so it's understood

that Paul is led away

into a school with Christ.

That Jesus spends these three years

teaching him

and he comes back

to confirm the things

that he has been taught.

He comes and he spends time

with Peter a little over two weeks,

being sure that he's clear

and he understands

before he goes on this ministry.

to the Gentiles.

So he is an apostle,

called to be an apostle.

And thirdly,

he says of himself

that he is set apart

for the gospel of God.

Paul was a servant

and a sent one

with a particular purpose.

And it is very easy

to be distracted

with lots of purposes.

But Paul was clear

that he was to be

a proclaimer

of the good news

of Jesus Christ.

The good news,

he will spend

the rest of this book

extolling.

So on these three titles,

Paul establishes

his authority to speak

and he ought to be

listened to.

Significant.

Don't miss

what Paul is saying

about who he is,

who he has been

made in Christ.

This kind of writing

is precious

and we so often

take it for granted.

And I want to read

to you at this point

a short excerpt

from the Pilgrim's Progress.

I commend this to you

all the time

and then I also joke

if you stick around long enough

I'll read the entirety

of it to you

in bits and pieces

but I think you'll

appreciate it

read linearly.

And there's a character

in it

named Christian.

And in the middle

of his conversion experience

he's led to a house

that is the interpreter's house.

And there are lessons

there

taught to him.

So I want to pick up

just a couple paragraphs here

when Christian arrives

at the house

and he says,

Sir,

I am a man

who has come

from the city

of destruction

and I am going

to Mount Zion.

I was told

by the man

who stands

at the entrance gate

to this way

that if I called here

the house of the interpreter

!

You would show me

excellent things

that would help me

on my journey.

Then said the interpreter

come in

I will show you

those things

that will be profitable

to you.

So he commanded

his servant

to light the candle

and then asked Christian

to follow him

to a private room

that when the man's

servant opened the door

revealed a picture

of a very grave person

hanging on the wall.

It was an empty room

with a photo

a painting perhaps

on the wall

of a serious person.

This is what the man

in the picture

looked like.

He had eyes

lifted up to heaven

the best of books

in his hand

the law of truth

written upon his lips

the world

behind his back.

He stood as if

pleading with men

and a crown of gold

hung over his head.

Then said Christian

what does this mean?

The man in this picture

represents one of a thousand.

He can conceive children

travail in birth

with children

and nurse them himself

when they are born.

And Bunyan was not

gender confused

just to be clear.

You see him

with his eyes

lifted up to heaven

the best of books

in his hand

and the law of truth

written on his lips.

All this is to show you

that his work

is to know

and unfold

dark things

to sinners.

You see him

pleading with men

the world cast behind him

and a crown

hanging over his head

to show you

that by rejecting

and despising

the things

of this present world

for the love

that he has

for his master's service

he is sure

to have glory

as his reward

in the world to come.

I have shown you

this picture first

because the man

whom it represents

is the only man

authorized by the Lord

of the place

where you are going

to be your guide

in all the difficult places

you will encounter

on the way.

So pay attention

to what I have shown you

and keep this picture

foremost in your mind

so that if you meet

with someone

who doesn't resemble

this picture's likeness

but who pretends

to lead you

in the right way

you will not

follow him down

to destruction.

And I say to you

we know that we

hold in our hands

the inspired word

of God

but I just

on that point

want to commend

Paul to you

as that kind

of man.

A man with his eyes

fixed toward heaven

the world behind

looking to

plead with us

that we might believe

the gospel.

we should listen

to him.

Second,

let's talk a bit

about the authority

of the Bible.

What did Paul

think

of the scriptures?

He had a very

high

view

of the scriptures

of his day

which is what we have

as our Old

Testament.

Paul had been

to the seminary

of his time.

He was trained

as a Pharisee

under the tutelage

of a highly

esteemed teacher

of the law

a man named

Gamaliel.

He knew

what the prophets

of his Bible

predicted about

the Christ

and he knew

that the promises

of the Old Testament

had now been

kept in the person

and work

of Jesus.

Shortly

in this letter

he will proclaim

in verse 16

I am not ashamed

of the gospel

for it is the power

of God

for salvation

to everyone

who believes.

Paul is going

to root

the assertions

of this letter

that we are saved

by grace alone

through faith alone

in the person

and work

of Jesus Christ alone.

He's going to root

that in

God's

word.

We will see him

time and time

again

quote the Old Testament

as an appeal

to see

and savor.

the gospel.

It is astounding

to me

that Paul

as an apostle

carried along

by the Spirit

in the writing

of these letters

still so values

the word of God

already spoken

that it gets

brought into the text

again

and again

and again

This is the

very purpose

that he has been

set apart for

the proclamation

of the gospel

and he has

great confidence

to do so

because of his

belief in the

authority of God

and therefore

the authority

of his word.

So

he will

proclaim it.

He will speak

boldly of the

judgment of God

and he will speak

boldly

of the grace

of God.

He will plumb

the depths

of God's

sovereign purpose

in salvation

and he will

call us

to obedient

faith

all because

he believes

in the authority

of a God

who has given

to us

this gospel.

Paul was a man

uniquely used

of God

in the history

of the world.

He was a man

that by God's grace

turned the world

upside down

as he was accused

of.

He was a man

of conviction

conviction

and we can see

at least in part

where that conviction

came from

came from

his understanding

his illuminated

understanding

of the scripture.

He knew

that the

gospel

the word

of God

was powerful

and it totally

changed the

trajectory of his

life.

He lived for it

he died for it.

the power

of the gospel.

Charles Spurgeon

once said

this is on your

bulletin

if you'd like

to follow along

quote

see what vitality

the gospel

has

plunge her

under the wave

and she rises

the pure

for her washing

thrust her

in the fire

and she comes

out the more

bright for her

burning

cut her in

thunder

and each piece

shall make

another church

behead her

and like the

hydra of old

she shall have

a hundred heads

for every one

you cut away

she cannot die

she must live

for she has

the power

of God

within her

and beloved

we have all

the more

reason to be

confident

in this text

because of

the faithfulness

of men

like Paul

carried along

by the spirit

help us

to understand

we have all

the more reason

to be bold

in the gospel

and bold

in the entirety

of God's

word

so we see

Paul express

his authority

we see his

expression of

the authority

of the scripture

and also

and most

importantly

the authority

of Jesus

Christ

see the last

two verses

this gospel

message

the scripture

declared

was concerning

God's

son

who was

descended

from David

according to

the flesh

and was

declared

to be

the son

of God

in power

according to

the spirit

of holiness

by his

resurrection

from the dead

Jesus

Christ

our Lord

Paul begins

speaking of

Christ

as the

son of

God

which is a

great statement

of Jesus

divinity

he is

himself

God

and this

is an

example

on Paul's

part

of a

fulfillment

of the

prophetic

word

you could

see

Psalm

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

in verse

7

and it is

very difficult

for my mind

not to draw

a straight line

from Romans

Romans 1:2

chapter 1

verse 2

and 3

to Hebrews

Hebrews 1:1

chapter 1

verse 1

and 2

where the

author of

Hebrews

who many

say was

Paul

I think

it was

Apollos

but

that's

neither here

nor there

writes

long ago

at many

times

and in

many ways

God

spoke to

our

fathers

by

the

prophets

but in

these

last days

he has

spoken to

us

by his

son

whom he

appointed

the heir

of all

things

through

whom

also

he

created

the

world

so

for

Paul

to

begin

speaking

of

Christ

as

the

son

of

God

has

a

massive

significance

packed

into

it

which

we

don't

have

all

the

time

we

would

like

for

this

morning

but

we

will

spend

the rest

of

this

life

and

in

the

life

to

come

for

eternity

figuring out

all

that that

means

Paul

goes on

to give

an example

of another

fulfillment

of the

prophetic

word

concerning

Jesus'

humanity

so his

divinity

and now

his

humanity

an

example

Jeremiah

23

in

verse

5

behold

the

days

are

coming

declares

the

Lord

when I

will

raise

up

for

David

a

righteous

branch

and he

shall

reign

as

king

and deal

wisely

and shall

execute

justice

and

righteousness

in the

land

so he

is

God's

son

and he

is

in

the

flesh

descended

from

David

he's

hearkening

back

to

these

types

of

predictions

of

who

the

Christ

would

be

Paul

then

says

in

verse

4

that

his

confidence

in

the

authority

of

Jesus

Christ

his

confidence

that

he

is

in

fact

the

Messiah

comes

in

power

from

the

spirit

of

holiness

through

Jesus'

resurrection

just

think

about

it

Paul

was

a

success

in

terms

of

the

religion

of

his

day

he

had

prominence

and

he

had

esteem

he

was

a

high

achiever

top

of

his

class

kind

of

guy

he

had

been

educated

in

the

best

school

he

was

being

given

important

assignments

he

had

a

platform

and

he

had

a

following

what

would

cause

a

man

like

that

to

give

up

all

of

it

everything

Paul

encountered

the

living

Christ

he

knew

that

all

he

had

believed

was

realized

in

Jesus

he

knew

that

Jesus

was

the

fulfillment

of

the

promises

of

God

because

he

was

crucified

and

buried

but

rose

from

that

grave

three

days

later

Paul

encountered

him

spent

time

with

him

this

risen

Christ

and

it

radically

transformed

him

by

the

spirit

here's

Paul's

words

from

Philippians

chapter

three

he

is

making

the

case

to

the

Philippian

believers

that

we

can't

have

confidence

in

our

flesh

in

our

works

and

he

says

beginning

in

verse

three

and

following

for

we

are

the

circumcision

who

worship

by

the

spirit

of

God

and

glory

in

Christ

Jesus

and

put

no

confidence

in

the

flesh

he

says

then

though

I

myself

have

reason

for

confidence

in

the

flesh

also

if

anyone

else

thinks

he

has

reason

for

confidence

in

the

flesh

I

have

more

circumcised

on the

eighth

day

of

the

people

of

Israel

of

the

tribe

of

Benjamin

a

Hebrew

of

Hebrews

as

to

the

law

a

Pharisee

as

to

zeal

a

persecutor

of

the

church

as

to

righteousness

under

law

blameless

top

of

his

game

then

he

says

in

verse

seven

but

whatever

gain

I

had

I

counted

as

loss

for

the

sake

of

Christ

indeed

I

counted

everything

as

loss

because

of

the

surpassing

worth

of

knowing

Christ

Jesus

my

Lord

for

his

sake

I

have

suffered

the

loss

of

all

things

and

count

them

as

rubbish

garbage

in

order

that

I

may

gain

Christ

radically

encountered

the power

of the

risen

Christ

Paul

through the

intervening

work of

God

came to

believe

that all

his effort

to be made

right before

God

was worthless

apart from

faith

in Jesus

Christ

again

we are

saved

justified

made right

before God

by grace

alone

through

faith

alone

in the

person

and work

of

Jesus

Christ

alone

this is

the good

news

of the

gospel

every

world

religion

invites

its

adherents

to

climb

a

mountain

that

they

might

know

the

God

or

gods

of

that

particular

religion

lays

forth

the

philosophy

and the

rules

by which

adherents

must

obey

our

God

because of

his great

loving kindness

and mercy

in the

accomplished

work of

his son

and by

the power

of his

spirit

comes down

the mountain

to us

and offers

to carry

us to the

top

to abide

with him

forever

this

is good

news

it is because

of this

accomplished

work of

Christ

that he

is called

Lord

that he

reigns

now

and

forever

more

this is

such good

news

it is

news

worth

living

for

as

Paul

did

it is

news

worth

dying

for

as

Paul

did

it is

a news

that he

would have

you hear

and believe

and give

your whole

self

to

beloved

I am

eager

to talk

with you

each

Lord's

day

given

the

opportunity

Lord

willing

about

this

good

news

let's

pray

together