All the nations

As a youth, I lived a hedonistic lifestyle.

My friends and I would get together

and we would boast of our sexual exploits with women.

I was into philosophy

and was actively involved in a sect for nine years.

I began an affair with a young woman

and she was my lover for 13 years

and she gave birth to our son.

I came to Christ, I ditched my lover

and I am famous for my prayer,

grant me chastity and continence but not yet.

Who am I?

There was a certain ambiguity, that's right.

But let me tell you that sects and philosophy did not do it for me

and one day I threw myself down under a fig tree

and I cried my eyes out and I repeatedly said to the Lord,

how long, O Lord, how long, Lord, will you be angry to the uttermost?

Do not be mindful of my old sins

for I felt my past have a grip on me

and it uttered wretched cries,

how long, how long is it to be?

Tomorrow, tomorrow, why not now?

Why not put an end to my impure life in this very hour?

Who am I?

And as I was saying this

and weeping in the bitter agony of my heart,

suddenly I heard a voice from a nearby house

chanting as if it might be a boy or a girl

saying and repeating over and over again,

pick up and read, pick up and read.

And I hurried to the place where I'd put down the book

and I seized it and I opened it

and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes lit

and it said,

not in riots and drunken parties,

not in eroticism and indecencies,

not in strife and rivalry,

but put on the Lord Jesus Christ

and make no provision for the flesh in its lusts.

Romans 13.

And I neither wished nor heeded to read further at once

with the last words of this sentence,

it was as if a light of relief

from all anxiety flooded into my heart

and all the shadows of doubt were dispelled.

Who am I?

And if you are here this morning,

you can help us with the answer.

Augustine.

Look at that, they're trying to be very quiet down the front.

You did a great job.

Augustine.

Bishop of Hippo in North Africa

which is in the country of Algeria these days

and it was written,

God spoke a life-changing message,

a life-changing word to Augustine

in 387 AD

out of Paul's letter to the Romans.

And so as we come to Romans,

we are coming to a book

where God has given us a message

with the power to transform people.

Now we're going to spend a few weeks sampling Romans,

we're not trying to cover the lot,

we're just dipping our toe in,

we're spending a fair bit of time in chapter one

and then we're going to bounce to three other chapters on the way.

In places it is a really difficult book,

it's a wonderful book,

it's the most complete explanation

of the Christian faith in the Bible,

it deals with sin and justification and righteousness

and God's sovereign purposes for his,

God's sovereign choices,

his justice,

God's eternal purposes for his people,

the place of the Jews and the nations

and how they should relate,

how they might live with one another in Christ.

If you go back across church history,

you actually see that there's a whole series

of really famous Christians

that have been converted

by encountering the words of this book.

So people like Augustine

and Martin Luther in the Reformation

and George Whitefield

in some of the revivals

that happened in England

and the United States

and John Wesley who wrote hymns

and was a great preacher,

they all credit the letter to the Romans

with their conversion

and their establishment in Christ.

I can tell you

that when I came to Christ in 1977,

I joined a Bible study group

which I'd never been part of before,

never knew what they were

and our leader took us

through Luke's Gospel that first year

and I think in a way

grounded me in the faith

but the place where he went the second year,

he took us verse by verse,

passage by passage

through the book of Romans

and it was just a life-changing

eye-opening place to come to

in terms of being established in Christ

and established in the Scriptures.

I'd really like you to have it open,

so if you've got Bibles with you tonight,

have it open at Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

And it begins,

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,

called to be an apostle,

set apart for the gospel of God

and then in verse 7,

to all those in Rome

who are loved by God

and called to be saints,

grace to you

and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you see that Paul is a letter

and its author is the apostle Paul.

If you jump to the very end of Romans

to chapter 16 verse 22

and don't go there,

it says,

I, Tertius,

who wrote this letter,

greet you in the Lord.

And so the words of the letter

are the apostle Paul's,

but they are written down

by a scribe by the name of Tertius.

It's a letter which is written

to believers in Rome

and he describes them

as everybody who is loved by God

and who is called to be holy.

It's a grand letter.

It's about God's really big picture purposes

in Christ.

And it begins again.

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.

So God's message is a person,

Jesus Christ.

And Paul is not politically correct.

He just comes straight out

and unashamedly says,

I am a slave of Jesus Christ.

I think every one of your English translations

says a servant of Jesus Christ,

but it actually says,

I'm a slave of Jesus Christ.

I'm not ashamed to be a slave of Jesus Christ.

I have been called into his servants.

I have been given a mission.

My life has become one

of total obligation to Christ.

I was transformed in a moment

on the Damascus road

when the Lord Jesus confronted me

about my hatred of the Lord

and my hatred of his people.

And I have come to know

and to treasure the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he tells the story about his coming,

not here,

but in numbers of places

in the New Testament.

And in Acts 26,

he says it in a very short way.

He says,

he tells the story again,

he says,

I said when I heard the voice,

who are you, Lord?

And the Lord said,

I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

But rise and stand upon your feet

for I have appeared to you

for this very purpose,

to appoint you as a servant

and witness to the things

in which you have seen me

and to those things

in which I will appear to you,

delivering you from your people

and from the Gentiles

to whom I am sending you,

the nations to whom I am sending you.

He has been brought

from darkness to light.

The Lord Jesus has saved him

for a purpose.

He has commissioned him

for a task.

He's an apostle.

It means a sent one.

He's been sent by Jesus

and God has sent him

to the nations

with his momentous announcement

about the Lord Jesus Christ,

God's great news.

And in verse 2,

it says about this message,

it says,

this is a message

which God 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.

Now it's a mouthful

and it's earful

and this is harder work

than some of the passages

we come to sometimes.

But it's a much anticipated message.

He's saying to us,

this is a message

about God's king

which was promised

in the Old Testament.

The prophets were looking forward

to the day

when God's king

would be revealed.

And this king was born

into a human family.

He was born

into Joseph and Mary's family.

And his human ancestry

goes back

to King David.

But he says more than that,

he's not just got human ancestry,

he's got divine ancestry.

It was proved

when the spirit of God

raised him from the dead.

And so you hear

and you read in this passage

that Father,

Son and Holy Spirit

are all working together.

God's gospel

is about the Father's Son

who became flesh

and died

and was raised from the dead

by the power of God's Spirit.

So,

this is not

impersonal theology.

This is not

dry and dusty stuff.

It's not an academic exercise.

It's not like

bringing Jesus down

and putting him in the slab

and the morgue

and pulling him into bits

and saying,

oh, that's interesting.

He's got vessels

and a heart

and kidneys

and a brain

and

this is very personal.

Paul refers

very personally

to Jesus Christ

our Lord.

He's somebody

that he knew

and he writes

to people

who know him

personally as well.

I think it's

one of the great evidences

of true Christian faith

in somebody's life.

You know,

to be able to call Jesus

my Lord

was a huge change

for me

when I came to Christ

because for the first time

my prayers changed

from being

dear God

to dear

Lord Jesus.

I knew him

and I began

to understand

how important

he is

and I saw

that Christian faith

is personal

and it's relationship

it's not religion

and Jesus

is not somebody

that we know about

and we recite

facts about

he is somebody

that we know

he is not just

God who is out there

he's God

in here.

So Romans

is a letter

which is written

to Christians

who know a person

their Lord

Jesus Christ

but there are also

clues here

to the big picture

purpose of this letter

and it's verse 5

it says

through whom

we have received

grace and apostleship

to bring about

the obedience

of faith

for the sake

of his name

among all the nations

including you

who are called

to belong

to Jesus Christ.

So Paul's been given

this apostolic mission

for a purpose

it's God's purpose

it's not his purpose

and the purpose

expressed here

is to bring about

the obedience

of faith

for the sake

of his name

God's name

among all the nations.

It's an interesting

expression

it's a strange expression

it's only used

in one other place

in the New Testament

and that's in Romans

Romans 16:26

chapter 16

verse 26

and right at the end

of Romans

it says

but this has now

been disclosed

and through the prophetic

writings

has been made known

to all nations

according to the command

of the eternal God

to bring about

the obedience

of faith.

So the letter

begins with the expression

it ends with the expression

and you could say

in marketing terms

and I think it's a pretty

crass way to speak

about the scriptures

but in marketing terms

God's gospel

is results orientated.

God has a purpose

and his purpose

is to bring men

and women

and boys

and girls

to himself

we are brought

to the obedience

of faith.

To come to Christ

is to be brought

to the obedience

of faith.

I don't know

if you've ever

talked about

you coming to Christ

in those terms before

but that's a scriptural way

of saying

you have been brought

to the obedience

of faith.

Very strange expression.

He could have said

something like

well you've been brought

to the obedience

of good works

but he doesn't.

He says

to the obedience

of faith

and he's highlighting

for us

that God

wants us

to obey him

by putting

our faith

and trust

in him.

To believe

in him.

So if you ask

the question

would you want

to be obedient

to God

and I think

everybody here

probably wants

to be obedient

to God

well what does

that mean?

You can't live

a good enough

life

believe

the gospel.

Be obedient

to the gospel

believe

what God

has said.

So God

has purposes

he has strategy

and his strategy

is to tell

who Christ

is and what

he has done

as far

and wide

as you possibly

can

into all

the world.

God

but obedience

of faith

is not

about doing

a whole lot

of good

works

to achieve

our salvation

it is doing

the one

thing that

God asks

us to do

in response

to what

Christ has

done

and that

is to

believe him.

I love

this story

there's a story

in a biography

of a bloke

called John

Chapman

and most of

you won't

know who

he was

but he

was a

pretty famous

preacher

around Sydney

for a number

of years

he's an

older man

now

and he

tells a

story in

his biography

about preaching

at Sydney

University

one day

and I'm

going to

read you

verbatim

what he

says

you may

have heard

me use

it before

but I

was talking

to a young

bloke

after a

uni meeting

and he

said to me

that what

he was going

to do

was live

it up

until the

end of

his life

have a

really great

time

and then

just before

he died

he would

become a

Christian

and I

said to

him

well how

do you

know

that you'll

be able

to become

one at

the end

and he

said I

could become

a Christian

whenever I

like

and I

said you

can only

become one

when God

says

and he

insisted

that he

could do

it so I

said well

if it's

easy as

that why

don't you

give us

a demo

why don't

you show

me how

you'll pull

it off

how you'll

do it by

becoming a

Christian

right now

if it's

that easy

you'll be able

to pull it

off anytime

wouldn't

you

yeah

but right

now I

don't want

to

come on

you aren't

trying very

hard

if you can

really do

it do it

now should

be a piece

of cake

and he

started to

get a bit

touchy

I don't

want to

try a bit

harder

want to

want to

I don't

want to

well

I said

that's the

problem isn't

it

what makes

you think

you'll want

to at

the end

young man

was having

himself on

he had

seen and

heard the

truth about

the Lord

Jesus Christ

he knew it

was true

he knew it

had consequences

into eternity

but for the

present he

refused to

believe his

heart was in

fact very

hard to

God

he was

outside the

kingdom

he had not

been brought

to the

obedience of

faith

he refused

to exercise

faith

it was an

act of the

will to

say I

don't want

God

big question

for me with

Romans 1

and it's

probably not

even occurring

to you at

the moment

but I want

to take you

there and

it is why

does Paul

want to

minister in

Rome

the gospel

was already

there

the church

had begun

it was

established

without his

influence

in chapter 1

verse 14

he said I

am obligated

both to

Greeks and

non-Greeks

both to the

wise and the

foolish and

that is why

I am so eager

to preach the

gospel also to

you who are

at Rome

who is he

obligated to

it's there in

the verse

Greeks and

non-Greeks

who isn't he

obligated to

people here

this morning

got to keep

quiet

who isn't

he obligated

to

I'm not

under

obligation

to

the Jews

well done

Tashi

he doesn't

say the Jews

I'm not

under obligation

to the Jews

but I am

under obligation

to the Greeks

and the non-Greeks

the barbarians

the babblers

in other words

he describes

the whole of

the world

outside Judaism

and why is he

saying that

because he's

the apostle

to the nations

they're the

ones that I

have been

sent to

even though

I always

preach to

the Jews

when I

first come

to a city

they are

the ones

I've been

sent to

I've been

sent to

the nations

and I

am under

obligation

to them

but at the

end of Romans

in chapter 15

he says

it's always

been my

ambition to

preach the

gospel where

Christ was

not known

so that I

would not be

building on

someone else's

foundation

and you read

that and you

think well he

seems to

contradict himself

on the one

hand he's

saying I

am eager to

preach the

gospel to

you and on

the other my

ambition is to

preach the

gospel where

Christ is not

known but he

knows it's

known there

and I think he

gives some

reasons in

verse 11

I long to

see you so

that I may

impart to you

some spiritual

gift to make

you strong

that is that

you and I

may be mutually

encouraged by

each other's

faith

I do not

want you to

be unaware

brothers that

I planned

many times to

come to you

but have been

prevented from

doing so until

now in order

that I might

have a harvest

among you just

as I have had

among the

other nations

now I want to

explain something

quickly to you

that that is

quite tricky

so I need you

to listen it's a

little bit

different I want

to give some

history in the

year 49 AD

so this is and

the letter to

Romans is written

in 58 AD

nine years before

Romans was

written the

emperor Claudius

kicked all the

Jews out of

Rome and

there's a Roman

historian called

Suetonius who

is no friend of

Christians and he

wrote a note that

the emperor did

this because the

Jews were fighting

over a

Christos

now you need to

know that in

Greek the name

Christ is

Christos

in Acts chapter

Acts 18 · chapter mention

18 this event is

confirmed if you

ever want to think

about you know the

the New Testament

is thoroughly

historical

in Acts chapter

Acts 18 · chapter mention

18 this event is

confirmed because in

verse 1 it says

Paul left Athens

and went to

Corinth and there

he met a Jew

named Aquila a

native of Pontus

who had recently

come from Italy

with his wife

Priscilla because

Claudius had

ordered all the

Jews to leave

Rome Paul went

to see them and

because he was a

tent maker as they

were he stayed and

worked with them

and every

Sabbath he

reasoned in the

synagogue trying to

persuade Jews and

Greeks

so what we're

reading is that

the emperor in

Rome

the king of the

world

was fed up with

the behaviour of

Jews and so fed

up with the

behaviour of Jews

in Rome

that he kicked

them out of the

city by imperial

decree

now when he did

that he did not

make a distinction

between Jews who

believed in Jesus

and Jews who

didn't believe in

Jesus

they're all Jews

and so they're all

out

and he effectively

says I'm sick of

your bickering get

out of here

and what that would

have meant at that

moment was that

that all that was

left of the church

were believers who

were not Jewish to

start with

and so Jewish

customs like food

laws and special

days would no

longer have been a

big deal for Gentile

or international

Christians in Rome

the church in Rome

has suddenly become

an international

church

and they didn't

have to

have to worry

about fitting in

with the believers

of Jewish heritage

now this is not

the same

but think about

this

if

imagine the

Australian government

decided to kick

everybody out of

Chatswood

with Anglo

heritage

get on the

boats

stop the boats

get on the boats

and send them

back to Europe

now I'm looking

around and I

think there's an

awful lot of us

who would be out of

here we'd be gone

and there's a few

of us who would be

left which is

really good

and if only

mainland Chinese

were left

Brian how many

Asians in

Chatswood at the

moment last

census

46%

Asian

percentage

there's more

isn't there

Brian's done all

the statistics out

of the census for

us so we're just

looking at that the

other day I think

it's a really big

percentage in

Chatswood which is

pretty obvious if

you go down the

street on Sunday

but if only mainland

Chinese were left

they may have very

little idea about

our traditions and

our history

they may not even

realise that we

had a book of

common prayer I

would imagine that

many of you tonight

wouldn't even think

twice about what a

book of common

prayer is

and guess what

they would have to

build and run this

church as best they

could with the

Bible in their

hand and with

believers around

them

do you think

they could do

that

of course they

could

if all this was

stripped away

could a church

happen and be run

here in Chatswood

without all the

external stuff that

we've got

of course it

could

and so we

would suddenly

or the people who

were left would

be free from

defending an

institution

and they

would have a

fresh start in

pursuing Christ

it'd be a

blessing to us

sometimes to take

all this stuff

from us this

stuff's a blessing

in one way but

it's a distraction

in others

and so it's a bit

like that in Rome

you don't have any

Jews left or very

few Jews left

confusing things with

issues like

circumcision or

eating prawns or

food offered to

idols

the Roman

Christians could

pursue and

worship Christ

without being

encumbered by the

baggage from a

different culture

and a different

people

and we're not

slandering the

Jews because we

know what the

book of Hebrews

says the book of

Hebrews says that

the temple and

the system of

worship in

Jerusalem was

only ever a

shadow of what

God would achieve

in Christ

Christ

they didn't

need

so the

international

Christians did

not need the

same mindset

change that the

Jewish believers

did

and so I think

that Paul writes

this gospel to

Rome to strengthen

the Christian

church there

they are an

international church

he wants to make

sure that they

know the true

gospel

they've been

established at

the centre of

the empire

God has given

them a strategic

ministry to

believers who

know nothing of

Judaism

and Paul wants

them to be clear

about the freedom

that they have in

Christ

and I think he

helps them

pastorally

some of the

believers of

Jewish heritage

it's nine years

later they're

beginning to come

back into Rome

Priscilla and

Aquila are

mentioned in

Romans chapter

Romans 16 · chapter mention

16 they're no

longer in

Corinth they're

now back in

Rome

and so Paul

spends a lot

of time in

this letter

explaining the

place and the

significance of

the Jews in

God's purposes

which you see

in chapters

9 to 11

and he

explains how

the church

is to get on

with one another

with different

beliefs and

backgrounds and

that's what goes

on in chapters

13 and 14

when it speaks

about the

weak and the

strong you

know you

who are

strong ought

to bear with

the failings

of those who

are weak and

I think it's

very clearly

that he sees

the Jewish

believers as

the weak ones

in that

circumstance

so brothers

and sisters

Romans is a

glorious description

of God's big

picture purposes

and what they

mean it's

about God

it's God's

gospel not

our gospel

and it's

about what

God wants

from his

people

and you

see very

clearly in

this letter

that God

is strategic

he is

purposeful

he's not

muddling

along wondering

what he will

do next

it's been

his strategy

since before

he called

Abraham

and his

purpose is

to bring

all the

nations under

his blessing

and he's

not someone

who looks

at different

nations and

discriminates

like we

do and

we think

why would

God want

them or

how could

he possibly

tap into

them

he said

to Abraham

all peoples

on earth

will be

blessed

through you

Jews

had narrowly

kept the

promises to

themselves

as a

generalisation

and God

and God

seized

one Jew

a Jew

who hated

him

and hated

his people

the apostle

Paul

and he

made him

his own

and he

sent him

on an

international

mission

telling people

what God

had done

in Christ

and so

God's purpose

is to bring

men and

women to

himself

and he

does it

with a

message

and the

message is

the precious

gospel

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ

that's what

Romans is

about

strategy is

not a

dirty word

all of us

think strategically

I think in

our church

we are a

church

we've been

an older

church

which is

probably

in the

process

of renewing

and

when a

church

of 300

people

which might

be our

church

supports

9 or

10

people

doing

ministry

in other

places

that's

actually

a

strategy

for

bringing

God's

message

to the

world

and so

Tim

who was

here last

week

from the

Middle East

and spoke

to us

and Kylie

quietly

teaching

people

in the

Middle East

they are

working

strategically

to strengthen

the church

in a place

where it is

really dangerous

to be a

believer

it's a

great thing

when we

support

strategic

ministry

to other

places

300

people

providing

resources

to many

ministries

beyond here

that's just

terrific

and we

ought to

continue

to do

it

but it's

really important

for us

to be

strategic

in

Chatswood

or in

our

workplace

or in

our school

or in

our

university

community

and I

don't know

if you

go off

to uni

and you

see the

great

mass of

people

who don't

know

Christ

you can

sometimes

throw your

hands in

the air

and say

where do I

start

what do I

do

and I

want to

say

under God

to take

personal

responsibility

for what

God has

given

you

don't

look around

at everybody

else

think about

where God

has placed

you

the family

that you're

in

the sporting

team that

you play

in

the workplace

you find

yourself in

the school

or the

university

he's

taking

you to

I said

to mums

and bubs

the other

day

don't ask

me why

I was at

mums

and bubs

I'm not

really a

mum

and I'm

not a

bub

or I

was a

bub

but it

was a

long time

ago

but I

said to

them I

don't think

that God

is trying

to add

to our

load

and asking

us to

do more

and more

and more

so that we

end up being

burdened

Christians

falling down

all over

the place

with too

much to do

because he's

a hard

taskmaster

he's not

like an

Olympic

God

saying you

he's not

doing that

he calls

us to be

faithful

with what

he has

given us

in the

place

in which

he has

put us

he's a

strategic

God

he's able

to use

all his

people

to his

glory

and so

if every

one of

us

was

nurturing

just one

relationship

where we

were bold

to speak

to our

friend

about

Christ

and I

don't

mean

going

having

coffee

tomorrow

and say

I've

really

got to

tell you

about

Christ

because

the

preacher

told me

to

last

night

night

I

mean

nurturing

friendship

being a

real

friend

being in

relationship

but in

the

context

of the

relationship

being

unashamed

about your

faith in

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

and praying

for the

opportunities

to speak

about him

because if

we all

did that

then 300

people from

here are

going out

into the

year and

into the

week or

wherever

we're going

and we

are having

an impact

all over

the place

with more

than 300

people

it's a

big

gospel

it's a

big task

but not

too big

I took

great

encouragement

another

we war

story

tonight

how's

that

two in

a row

sorry

Joyce

but I

worked for

a while

with a

man called

Gary Stewart

who works out

in Walgett

these days

and we were

chewing the fat

down at the river

for one of our

staff meetings

one day

I think we were

catching carp out

of the river

and talking

ministry

that's my

justification

and I

think he

was feeling

overwhelmed

at the

task

because he

could see

the needs

of people

and a number

who didn't

know Jesus

and he

just said

it's such

a big

job

what do

we do

at church

how do

we minister

and I

think the

grace of

God spoke

to me

and said

one at a

time

we work

one person

at a time

in the

relationships

that we

have

and we

take the

opportunities

that God

has given

us

so don't

be

overwhelmed

be faithful

to Christ

with what

God has

given you

because the

big picture

is accomplished

by doing the

little things

by being

faithful

and taking

the opportunities

that God

has given

you

Amen

I'm going

to pray

we do pray

Lord Jesus

that you

would help

us

to see

the wonderful

task that you

have set

before us

to wonder

at the

gospel

to see

the powerful

transformation

that you

have given

us in this

extraordinary

message

about the

Lord Jesus

Christ

and we

pray tonight

for each

of us

that we

wouldn't

walk from

here

discouraged

and overwhelmed

by the

size of the

task

but that each

of us might

be encouraged

in the power

of your

spirit to

build genuine

friendships

with people

where we

are not

ashamed of

Christ

and where we

bring a word

to bear in

season as you

give the

opportunity

but we do

pray Lord

Jesus

that you

would give

us the

opportunity

that you

would open

doors

and that we

would find

grace and

empowerment

to be faithful

to you

to enjoy

and delight

in your good

gospel and to

see its impact

in the lives

of many people

around us

and we pray

this in Jesus

precious name

Amen

movement

back

and hear

what you

want to

see

if you

find

quelque chose

to be

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to me

to be

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