Thank you for tuning into our Pod Bean subscription. We hope that you enjoy the message and we trust that God will speak to your heart. If you would like to sew into the ministry of rebirth, please feel free to do so. You will find our banking details along with our pay-fossing in the sermon description. Now, let's get straight into this week's message. (all oohs) Now Father, we come into your presence and we say, thank you. Thank you for your authoritative word, your word that is sufficient in errands. Thank you that your word is God breathed. Holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. This morning we pray that you arrest our minds, our hearts, to receive the implanted word, the increfted word that is able to save our souls. Lord, may we walk out here this morning with a new sense of purpose and understanding of what it means to be in the gospel, established in the gospel to be part of the kingdom of God. Blessed is time we have together, knowing just speaker that he speak as a servant of God this morning in Jesus' name and everybody says. Amen and amen. Families get straight into the Word of God. We begin our series in the Book of Romans and I trust that you have been reading your Bible. I did mention to you that Romans takes approximately an hour to read if you were slow reader like myself, 1.5 hours. When you read any particular passage of scripture, I encourage you read the entire book, read it once, read it twice, read it three times a lady. Read it over and over and over again repetition. Is the mother of memory? You'll find it easy to recollect and recall scripture by simply reading it repeatedly. And so this morning we're gonna take a different approach to our preaching in the sense that we are going to look at the passage in a more didactic fashion. In a more methodical way, we're gonna isolate some terms, isolate some clauses and statements and we're reading from chapter one, all the way from verse one to verse seven. This is the prologue and this is found after the book of Acts. When you're there, please give me an amen. Amen. And also, I was writing saying that I am a teacher and I've come to settle that in my heart. I'm called to teach. Amen. Amen. I hope I'm not a boring kind of teacher. You know, the kind that people pass out to. Okay. But if I find you sleeping this morning, I might just do what evangelists, Derek funded one meeting. Walked right up to the brother and rebuked him. Okay. Nobody should be passing out for the word of God. Okay. How boring the preacher is. Amen. Amen. Reading from verse one, Paul. Funny enough, this is his second name, his Roman name, it means little one. Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God, which he promised before through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born 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. Through him, he is the agent, he is the mediator. Through him, we have received grace and apostleship or billions to the faith among all the nations for his name, among whom you are also called of Jesus Christ, to all who are in Rome in this pagan city, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from our God, our Father and Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Congress was reading of his word. What you have just read here is the longest opening and introduction Paul has ever given in any of his letters. Book of Romans is the longest letter ever written in ancient Rome. Amongst all the works of philosophy and literature, the Book of Romans is the longest letter in history. They call it over 7,111 words. Paul's average letters are 1,400 words. So Paul obviously had something to say. Romans is distinguished in a sense amongst all Paul's letters because he's writing it for the first time to a church that he's never had contact with. And this is perhaps the reason why he saw lengthy. Was one of my favorite theologians, Douglas Moore, says that perhaps Paul writes in this way in a lecture manner because he's never visited the church at Rome and he wants to establish his credentials. And so when we look at the historical context of the letter to the Romans, please understand it was written around 55 AD and Paul had already been 20 years preaching the gospel already. At this time in history, Paul was about three months in Greece and he was awaiting good weather so that he could set sail to Jerusalem. Now the reason why he's increased and setting his eyes and his destination towards Jerusalem is because there was a famine in Jerusalem and Paul had raised up an offering to take to those who was stricken with poverty and had suffered the adverse effects of the famine so it raised a huge offering. It's not such a bad thing for preachers to collect and raise up an offering is it? And so he raised up this offering and he sets his eyes and gaze towards Jerusalem and he's not sure if he's gonna make his way back to Rome but it's his desire to visit the church at Rome. And so during this time, he has a bit of time so he takes the time to write out perhaps what is gonna serve as his permanent record of the gospel. And so he gives us this compendium, this comprehensive, a didactic teaching of what the gospel entails. In fact, I said this a few weeks ago that you cannot fully comprehend the gospel without reading and studying the letter of the Romans to the Romans because Paul leaves no stone unturned. No stone unturned. When we look at Rome as a city, you are not oblivious to the fact that Rome was a huge metropolis back in its time. It was a political hub and it was a cultural intersection in the city of Rome. And as you would learn from your studies and from your history channels, that Rome was a hotbed of homosexuality. 14 out of 15 of its imprints practice homosexuality. So Rome was a place that was full of sexually morality and debauchery and there were no moral standards that governed its culture. Rome also faced several political issues, several issues governing the running of the city. And one of them was its tax collecting system, which seemed to have failed because there was an issue with tax evasion. And so they struggled in the collecting of tax and that caused a number of issues for the city. And when we look at church life, when we look at church life in general, in the city of Rome, it's an amazing thought to ponder that God would have a people in the midst of this city, in particular. A pagan city, a city that was the hotbed of every kind of immorality. God would have a people and a remnant. How was the church in Rome started? It was started by those who were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Nobody knows exactly who started it. But from reading Acts chapter 18, we learned that over 40,000 Christians in Jews in particular were expelled from the city of Rome under the reign of Imprechordius. And so we find that Priscilla and Aquila are meeting with the apostles and the apostle Paul in particular in Acts chapter 18 because they've been expelled from the city of Rome. So what we gather from this is that Rome, by the time Paul is writing this letter, may have been predominantly a Gentile church. Another Jewish Christian church. And so Rome, if you, the church in Rome, if you reach chapter 16, you can gather that there were multiple churches in Rome, home churches in Rome, local churches in Rome. And what I appreciate about the historical record of how the church was planted in Rome is that we see the impact of Pentecost. We see that men and women who gathered it on the day of Pentecost and who were filled with the Holy Spirit didn't build up monuments around the experience, but went back to their hometown and took the gospel of Jesus Christ there. To such an extent that 17 years after the day of Pentecost, you have well over 40,000 believers in Rome. That was the kind of drive and intent these believers had from the day of Pentecost. Now I said this a few weeks ago, but one of the most important truths that you can ever come to terms with is an understanding of who Christ is. And this morning, just for a few moments, I wanna do a case study on the identity of Christ. And you'll get to pick this up in a few moments why, why this is necessary. Every truth, doctrine, theology, and scripture rises or falls on the understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done. I put a post up on on Facebook a few days ago that said there's an increasingly dangerous training society today that attempts to separate the name of Jesus from the content and storyline of scripture. And this is not common just in Hollywood and amongst secular society. We see this in church as well. We see this amongst sincere believers, you know? I know Jesus loves everybody. Everybody's going heaven. No, that's not the Jesus of the Bible that everybody's going to heaven, you know? We read selectively and we choose to interpret Jesus very selectively according to our biases and in your syncreties. But when you read the Gospels in particular, you see that Jesus did get angry. Jesus made a whoop over turn the tables, whoop those animals out there. He was close to choking a few individuals, you know? And so you've gotta have a biblical portrait of who Jesus is. And the only way you come to terms with who Christ is by studying the scriptures. You cannot understand who Jesus is apart from the study of scriptures, not the simple reading of scriptures. Because there's a difference from reading the scriptures and studying the scriptures, a big vast difference. And so it's only from an understanding, a study of scripture that we get to put the pieces, pieces together of who Jesus actually is. And so there's a four-piece puzzle that helps us understand who Christ is. And that's from the storyline of scripture, from the narrative of scripture. If we fail in our Christology, we fail everywhere. And the reason why this is so important church, I was really shaken up last night. Last night I had a team's video call with someone abroad overseas who I know that grew up in South Africa. And he's abroad. And he grew up in church all his life in the charismatic Pentecostal churches. He then later was involved in church planting. He was a pre-China teacher. And then he joined one of the mega churches in Joberg. And he was part of that church. And he served it diligently. And I was on this call with him. And I was led into believing this is a discussion around some of the doctrines and truths of the scripture that he questioned. And he began to question the Trinity. And he began to make some damnable claims. He said that Jesus was created. So he has his whole presentations like 1.5 hours. I don't even have an hour. We have 1.5 hours to always looking at me like, "You gotta come to bed now and give me some time." And so I'm on this call and he's going to the scriptures and the way he's bending them and twisting them. He's thoroughly convinced that his interpretation is right. And then he goes on to say, "No, Jesus is a created being and the Holy Spirit. "He is not a person and I'm questioning him. "But how do you get around the personal pronouns "of the Holy Spirit in John 14? "How do you get around collections in Him dwells the fullness "of the Godhead in bodily form? "How do you get around? "John 1 in the beginning was the Word, "the Word was worth God, the Word was God. "How do you get around it? "The Word of God and He's trying to give His explanations "and reasoning. "And I'm telling Him, "Brother, you are using the wrong tools "of interpretation. "You are approaching the scriptures in the wrong. "Where you have these flawed presuppositions, "and you have this flawed understanding of scripture. "And it's thoroughly convinced that I'm in error. "And then I realize that as a church, "we cannot be lax in our theological vigilance, "cannot be lax. "And so I'm going to share one piece "of the four-piece puzzle of the identity of Christ. "And in the next few weeks, "we'll begin to piece it together. "We'll be four weeks in the letter of Romans. "Are you with me, Judge? "The first piece, and I want you to remember this, "the first piece. "Do people still bring no pads and pins to church? (laughing) "Amen, this is Elisha. "Please, I know some of you are going to get the recording, "but make it a habit to write, okay? "The first piece, and I want you to remember this, "to try you and create a covenant Lord "shapes the identity of Christ. "The triune creates a covenant Lord "shapes the identity of Christ. "The triunity of God shapes the identity of Christ. "Christ is the eternal, pre-existence son of God, "and that gives historical meaning and significance "to Jesus in his historical record." When the scriptures refer to Jesus as the son of God, hear me clearly today, family, it is a title. It is a messianic title. It does not mean that because he's called the son of God, he has derived or born from the father by some kind of procreation between father God and mother God. The term son of God is a messianic title, and I'm on this call last night, and he's saying no, but John 3.16 says no, he's the only begotten. And Psalm 2 says, he's begotten, and he's the first born of creation. I say no, no, no, no, brother. In the Greek, the term begotten is Monegesis, which means unique, and when you compare John 3.16, the only begotten, every translation makes mentions the fact that he's the unique, only unique son, not begotten, not born son, he's a unique son, and then when you get to Psalm 2 verse 7, you realize that John pulled this reference, that Jesus pulled this reference from Psalm 2, which is a messianic Psalm. Today, you are my son, and I have begotten you. This was Psalm 2 verses. The son was already in existence when the father spoke in Psalm 2, and say today I have begotten you. It's for the truth that he is the eternal son that gives life and death. It's meaning and it's significance. Christ cannot be adequately and publicly understood, apart from his relation to the father and to the spirit. The father did not die for our sins. The spirit did not die for our sins. The son chose to die for our sins. The father sent the son. The spirit attended to the hypostatic union of Christ. In other words, when the angel came and spoke to Mary and says, you shall conceive this holy thing, the struggle will overshadow you and you shall be with child. And she said, how shall this be? I've never known a man. She understood the implications of what he said, that she would conceive the messiance of the Holy Spirit, joined and fused both the deity of a pre-existent son of God with human flesh. Christ became fully human and fully God. The son would then go on to bear the sins of the world and bear the father's rod so that we could be redeemed and the spirit of God would empower him and strengthen him to do so. When the scripture says in Deuteronomy 6.4, this was another scripture around the debates because modulus and those who don't believe in eternity would turn you to Deuteronomy 6.4. Where God says here, Israel, the Lord, your God, the Lord is one. But this term, one in Hebrew, is the word Ikhad, which means to be unified if it's not used and expressed in singularity. And this word is used in Genesis chapter 2, verse 24, where God had created an Eve from the side of man and he called him together and says, "For this reason shall a man leave his mother and father to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh Ikhad." God wasn't going to melt Eve and melt Adam and say, "Let's make one body out of you." God is one in the sense that he is unified. The Father does not act independently from the Son. The Son does not act independently from the Spirit. They are so synchronized and unified that they are one in operation. So we have one God speaks to his essence, expressed and revealed in three persons. The second aspect of their puzzle is that the covenant character of this triune God gives identity to who Christ is. In other words, God does everything according to the plan of redemption. Does everything on the basis of covenant? And the Son was appointed by the Father to be the mediator of this covenant. And so the mediator, and what places me and what really illustrates the grace and the love of God is that Christ chose to do so willingly. He didn't have to, but he chose to be the mediator of the new covenant. And so in order for him to be the adequate, appropriate, suitable mediator between a just, righteous God and a rebellious people, he had to represent God and represent man perfectly. And so in order for him to represent man properly and perfectly, he had to be born as the lost Adam, representative of mankind. He could not come through the sinful, tainted bloodline of the first Adam. He had to be born by immaculate conception from the seed of the woman. And so as the mediator of the new covenant, he would willingly and gladly volunteer to be the representative of the Godhead and he would bear all the stipulations and limitations of the covenant upon him. So the covenant would stipulate that Christ would be our mediator and representative substitute, and the last piece of the puzzle is that the lordship of the triune covenant keeping God shapes the identity of Christ. In other words, God alone is the Lord who is uncreative, self-sufficient and needs nothing outside of himself. The allogians refer to this as the acuity of God. He does not need anything outside of himself to exist. He needs nothing out of himself. He exists all by himself uncreated. We cannot perceive that in our limited finite minds. And I like the way a frame put this. He says God is not only self-existent, but he is also self-attistic, self-justifying. He not only exists without receiving existence from something or someone else, but he also gains his knowledge from no one else, but himself, from his nature and from his plans and serves as his own criterion for truth. And since he is his own criterion of truth, his own righteousness is self-justifying. His lordship determines who can be fitting as a covenant partner of his grace, and who can be a recipient of his grace. And that in itself is self-justifying. Who he chooses to be part of his family is perfectly fine by him, and he can be judged by no one because his righteousness is self-justifying. And that's why he said to Moses, and that's why Paul records that in Romans 9, he said, "I will have mercy on whom I want to have mercy." I have compassion wherever I want to have compassion on. And so the truth that God chooses us for salvation is not a comfortable truth, but he's self-justifying. There's no law above him. He does according to his good pleasure. So he is self-justifying. He needs nothing outside of himself to exist. The problem I have charged Yami out with modern day preaching is that we've created this image of a God that is desperate and begging for your affection. He's recklessly seeking you out, begging for your worship. This is a small image of God. God does not need you, man. God does not need your worship. God does not need your giving to be God. God needs nothing from you. And that's the problem with our worship, something that's why I say to the worship team, we've got to scrutinize these songs. God chasing down after you. Who are you? God must be running after you. Like he's this desperate woman looking for love in a telanova series. No, no, no, no, no. That's why Jesus corrected the idea when he says he's disciples. No, no, no. You did not choose me. I chose you. And Paul goes on as far to say he chose you to be redeemed before the foundations of the earth were even laid. He chose you. Come tell us. You decided to follow Jesus. No, you didn't. No, the greater truth is that he chose you. And you would have never chose him if he left it up to you. You didn't have the capacity to choose him, the conscious to choose him, the world to obey him. And so he draws you in by his spirit and he conflicts you and it gives you a new heart. And then you are led to repent only because of him. That's why the Scriptures says it's by grace through faith. You are saved. Nothing of you, at least you should boast. And that's why 2nd Timothy 2, Paul says in 19 and 20, nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure having the seal, the Lord knows them that are his. And let every man who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now let's get into our texts. Interestingly, the first seven verses, like I said, is the prelude, the longest introduction Paul gives, and it also represents the summary of the entire book. These seven verses, whether you believe it or not, in the Greek constitute one single sentence in the Greek. Additionally, to have been the longest and most formal introductions of Paul, we know and we've come to learn that Paul had no contact with this church and he goes to great lengths to establish his credentials. And that's what we're going to look at first this morning, the credentials of Paul. In verse one, Paul, the servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. Paul lays down for us a threefold description that sums up his life and his purpose. And the first thing he tells us is that he is a servant of Jesus Christ. Paul chose to use a very strong Greek term to describe his relationship with the Lord when he referred to himself as a servant. He uses the Greek term "tyolos". And if you're from Caesarene, you know the "tyolos" ship. "tyolos" means slave. Now I'm going to dial it down for you this morning, Church. And the term in context is not to be confused or conflated or associated with the idea of cruelty and compulsion that slaves go through. The idea that Paul and Scripture is trying to convey is that the term "slavery" must be associated with the notion of being under ownership. In other words, technically speaking, a slave is someone who belongs to another. Now I've got news for you here this morning. You do not belong to yourself. Your child of God, you are under ownership. Under new management. Interestingly enough, the idea of being a slave of God is not rooted in the... In the New Testament, it's rooted in Old Testament theology and Scripture. And we see this in Leviticus 25 and we see this when God draws the children of Israel out of Egypt. When God draws them out of Egypt, this is what God says to them in Leviticus 25 and 55. For it is to me that the people of Israel are slaves. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. After God sets them free from slavery in Egypt, calls them out of Egypt, the land of slavery for 400 years in slavery. He says, "Now I'm calling you to be my slaves." Do you see the paradox? What is being conveyed to us here? What is implied firstly? The underlying truth that is conveyed to us firstly is that you are a slave of something. You are the slave in Egypt or your slave of God, the doctrine of two parts. You remember that from now, sweet? You are the slave to the world. You are the slave to your habits. You are the slave to Satan or you are a slave to God. Second thing that is implied here is that you are never more at liberty. And at freedom when you are a slave to God. Isn't that a wonderful paradox of truth? Freedom is only truly found in being bound as a slave to Jesus Christ. What did we see in Psalm 2? Family, please go and listen to Psalm 2 again on our part B. Psalm 2 opens up a scene of rebellion. The people are raging. And the psalmist asks, "Why do the nations rage? Why do they take counsel against the Lord?" And verse 4, they say to themselves, "Live us burst our his bonds." The bonds of the Lord and his anointed from us. He caused away his codes. They did not want to be under the restrictions and prohibitions of God. People truly rebel and run away from God because they want to be morally free. Free to do and love however they please and do whatever they want. People stay far from a relationship with God because they truly want to be free from his restrictions. And I've heard this time and time again. Brother, you mean if I must come to Christ, I must give up my alcohol. I must give up my booze. I must give up my weed. I must give up my side business. And so they won't come to the light because they love the darkness. But as soon as the Holy Ghost convicts you, you discover that moral freedom you supposedly had actually had you in bondage. You were bound to sin. You were bound to Satan. You were bound to this world. You were bound by the flesh. People do not want to be under the constraints of God. They don't want to be obligated to the Word of God. But when you understand the nature and character of God, you understand that he is good. When you understand the testimony of Scripture. When you walk with Christ for a while, you begin to discover that his bonds, his boundaries, his restrictions, his prohibitions are liberating. You get to understand after a while that his nose are the greatest blessings in your life. You get to understand after a while that when God closes the door, he is protecting you. And you can look back years and wonder why you didn't get the job. Why you didn't get the guy or the guy? He was protecting you. Even his restrictions are blessings. His bonds are blessings. Don't he tell us that he is yoke? It's easy. Don't he tell us that his burdens are light. And lastly, it's also worth stating that when we come into the Kingdom of God, I want to remind you here this morning, Church. You have entered into a master-servant relationship. Yes. That is to say, he is a master. He speaks, he directs, he decides. We the servants listen and obey him. There is no resistance, no negotiations. We simply obey the master's will. A due loss, a bond-servant, a slave of Christ is completely devoted and committed and willingly obedient to the master's will. One day as children of God, I hope in your heart to hear those words when you stand before him. Well done. Good and faithful servants. Not apostle. Not Archbishop. Not prophet, prophetess. Not pastor. Not well done, pastor B. No, no, no, no. Sure. Well done. Good and faithful servants. You have only done what the master has required. Yes. Any servants here this morning? He says, "Paul, I servant a slave of Christ. Call to be an apostle." Do you see that in your Bible? Call to be an apostle. It's intriguing to observe that before Paul refers to his apostolic title and calling, that he first makes mention to the fact that he is a servant. There's a few important things we can learn from that Osborne states, that the source of Paul's authority is not locked up in his apostleship. It's not inherent to who he is, but in the God to whom he belongs, because he's a servant. He's backed by God because he belongs to God. Mary stated that God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life that is yielded to him. He's not going to build a wall around the house that's not his. He's ready to assume full responsibility for the man, boy, child, a woman that would totally yield himself to him. Secondly, this also implies that Paul is communicating to us, that servitude is a deep seated, deep rooted requirement and prerequisite for ministry. Because before he tells us about his apostleship, he tells us about his servitude to Christ. We are not fit for any function of ministry if we're not willing to serve. Serving God may mean that you need to put away your preferences, your style, your side, your need for recognition. Put aside your likes and dislikes. Put aside your attitude. You must speak into someone here this morning. Serving God is not about what you can gain. It's about what you can give. If you're reluctant to do the more menial and unnoticed tasks then you are not assertive. If you're always complaining and grumbling about doing something for the Lord, you're not assertive. If you're always giving your ear to gossip and solving the vision and not working in a synchronized fashion to help proclaim and establish the gospel, you are not assertive. If you cannot submit respect and honor and appreciate God's delegated authority in your life, like respect your husband, like respect your wife, like respect your home, the order in your home, if you cannot respect and honor and appreciate the order at your workplace. And yes, I'm going to say it. If you cannot respect and honor the hierarchy and order in the local church, then you, so, ma'am, are not servants. There's a weight on the idea that Paul is also emphasizing on a particular term when he says he's called to be an apostle. There's a weight on the idea that Paul was called to the office of an apostle. He was a cold apostle because that's how the Greek reads in its original. The Greek doesn't have the words to be "am". So, it reads originally in the Greek Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called apostle. This tells us that Paul did not seek out or presume it upon himself to be an apostle. We sing much of this in the church today, aren't we? Man, in everybody an apostle. Man, I'm seeing people getting upgraded to the apostolic office, like a software, a windows software update. I've known this brother to be an evangelist, a pastor, all his life, and all of a sudden there's an ordination in his apostle. I'm like, "What changed? What changed?" He's going to call you right the first time. Is the apostleship the ranks in promotion? No. He called you an apostle. He's going to tell you when you're young. He's not going to wait for you to go through seven stages of the five-home ministry to become the apostle. No, he called you an apostle. He's not going to wait for you first to be a pastor, first to be a teacher. First to branch the church. No, we're going to tell you. I called you to be an apostle. So everybody's an apostle. Everybody's a prophet. Everybody is seeking out titles with no understanding of the implications and risks of such a presumption. Man Charles Spurgeon put it this way. He says, "There is a great evil for any church to be made the want of a self-appointed minister." To assume that one can be a pastor, prophet, apostle, evangelist, archbishop, whatever you want to think of, by your own world, an intellect is actually an expression of your arrogance. It's not an expression of your submission to God's call. The day you call yourself something, God did not call you, is an expression of your arrogance. You are not being obedient and submissive. They are risks associated with pursuing a minister you haven't been called to. There's no measure of grace assigned to you from God when you seek out an office that he can call you to. What are some of these risks? Number one, constant and sometimes immediate burnout and anxiety. It's like lying on your CV. You say you know sage or you know how to do Java development when it's time to do it. You're sweaty. Yes, a ton of anxiety. Secondly, lack of fulfillment because you're doing something he did not make you to do. So you have this constant sense of dissatisfaction and a sense of emptiness. And then you want to blame the ministry and blame God when things don't turn out the way you plan it would turn out. Thirdly, ineffectiveness. You will struggle to be affected and reach goals. Thirdly, you are really misleading others. You bring people to harm. Also, they are ethical and moral failures associated with you occupying a position you want called to. To be an apostle, to be a prophet, apostle, whatever, there's a high moral standard associated to the office. Are you able to hold your ground morally and ethically to be a leader? And so you could end up shipwrecked and you could end up being an offense in people's lives. And lastly, you neglect your true calling. Imagine calling you to be an accountant. And here you want to be a pastor. Some companies are failing because they need your expertise. But here you are out preaching open ears and churches to people. There's a divine enablement and grace that God assigns you to when you step into your God-given calling. If we call you to teach, He's going to give you the grace to comprehend biblical truth, to apply biblical principles. He'll give you desire to love sound theology. He'll give you the ability to communicate clearly and effectively. He'll give you money to buy books. Come on! You'll have the natural instinct of faculties to comprehend the word of truth. And I mean, people come up to me and say, "Pose big heart, how do you memorize so much good prayers?" I don't know what the grace is. I don't know who. I'm assigned to this. If we call you to be a software developer, he's going to give you the grace to understand programming language. Testing methodologies. He's going to give you the grace to understand on how to design scalable, maintainable, software systems with appropriate architectural patterns. I hope I'm speaking to someone here this morning. And if he called you to be a chef, he's going to give you the grace to acquire various culinary skills and an understanding to know how flavor profiles work and which ingredients relate to which specific ingredients. And you're not going to get into the kitchen and mix fish paste with peanut butter. He's going to give you the understanding. So he gives you the grace, the capacity, and the know-how, and he nuts it and nuts it in your DNA. Just this is what you have been called to do. If you're singing and you're not hitting the notes, it's a sign. It's a sign. You know, if you're leading and nobody's following, it's a sign. You know, idols, for how many seasons idols have rendered, people stole, stole, don't get the message. If you occupy a role that there's no grace to, there's risks, they are risks. And the third close to Paul's threefold identification is that he is set apart with the gospel of God. That Paul was separated. He's saying I'm separated. In other words, I'm a servant of Christ. Called to be an apostle for the sake, for the gospel sake, for the proclamation of the gospel. And Osborne tells us and states that when Paul says he is set apart for the gospel of God, this is an extended declaration of his calling. This signifies the specific purpose of why he was called to be a servant and why God called him to be an apostle. God called and separated Paul for the service of proclaiming the gospel of God, the good news of the kingdom of God. The proclamation of the gospel is inseparably and inextricably tied and not to the apostolic ministry. It is a staggering flaw and contradiction in our time to find an apostle that does not preach the gospel. To find a prophet that has all the prophetic bingo language. Talking about mantles and altars and dimensions and portals and all these occultic lines and not preach the gospel. How does a prophet not preach the gospel? How does an evangelist not preach the gospel like being a mechanic that cannot fix costs? Now count that they cannot balance the books. You are called man to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Martin Luther of the Reformation warned, he said, "Let not us become theologians of glory." Where we express in every subject of Scripture, grace and favor and blessings. And we express it in a variety of different subjects, abstract dispersions of truths. We leadership gurus, motivational speakers. We express on subjects of finance and anointing, but we have no theological cross of the gospel. The allogians of glory, but not the allogians of the cross. And it's sad today that you can go through an entire sermon of your favorite preacher and not hear even the name of Jesus mentioned. Michael Horton in his book, "Christless Christianity," tells a story of Donald Barnhouse. I may have told the story in our church before, but for me to repeat the thing is beneficial for you. And he was a Presbyterian minister and preacher after they asked him, "What would the town in city of Philadelphia look like if it was taken over by Satan?" And so Barnhouse gave a different view that I've never seen or heard before. He said, "If Satan would take over the city of Philadelphia, the bars and pubs and taverns would be empty." Listen to this, pornography would be banished. The streets would be clean and there would be tiny pedestrians and there would be no vulgarity or sweating in the town. And when you walk past the child, the child would say, "Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am." And the churches would be full every Sunday where Christ is not preached. And well-stated, the church's problem is not that it is failing to preach relevant messages, but that it is failing to preach a gospel that is faithful to the Scriptures. Relevance becomes an idol when it supplants the authority and the faithfulness to the Word of God. The centrality of the gospel has been displaced by many preachers today with a therapeutic pragmatic approach that seeks to meet us at our felt immediate needs. Rather than addressing the real need of your reconciliation with Christ. The result of failing to preach the gospel, faithful to the Scriptures, is that we have a gospel that is trivialized and a gospel that is stripped of its power. The gospel that cannot truly change and convert the sinner. And we produce Christians that are high-maintenance and low-impact. You just need to be a year in pastoral ministry to know what a high-maintenance Christian is and low-impact. Christians that don't know how to pray, don't know how to apply the Scriptures to their struggles. The church is not doing this for me. The church is not doing that for me. They seek out the council room before the throne room. Everything you need is in this book. Everything you need is that all the complex issues you are facing with. God put it in the book. There is a saying here in our communities, especially at this advantage community, that if you want to hide something from our people today, put it in the book. Put it in the book. Because we don't like the discipline of reading and studying the Word of God. Paul said in Romans 1, verse 16 and 17, he says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God and to salvation to all those who believe first to Jew, then the Gentile, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, for it is written that just shall live my faith." What does the term gospel mean? Somebody tell me this one. Come on, summary. Good news. And is it amazing to know and learn that the God from whom we deserve nothing but wrath from, and judgment from, has good news for us. What is that good news? What is the gospel message? The gospel is how the Father has demonstrated His love and His power to redeem a fallen creation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Gordon stated that the gospel is not good instructions. It's not a good idea. It's not a good advice. The gospel is an announcement of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. And I love the way Paul phrases his term. He says this phrase he calls it the gospel of God, implying that the Father is the designer and architect of the plan of redemption. And also indicates for us that the gospel is a work of the triune God. The entire Godhead was invested in unraveling the plan of redemption, and the Father planned that the Son accomplished it and the Holy Ghost applies it. And Ephesians 1 tells us that it's the Father who has elected us in Christ. The Son redeems us then by His blood, and the Holy Spirit seals us in our inheritance in Christ Jesus. What is it about the gospel that offends preachers today? What is it about the gospel that offends people today? Why do we avoid the message of the gospel? Why is it so offensive? And I'm going to give you ten reasons why. Ten reasons why the gospel may even offend some of us, even sitting here today. The gospel confronts our pride, reveals our spiritual bankruptcy, and contradicts our idea that we are self-sufficient. The gospel also highlights our inability. It shows us that you cannot save yourself regardless of any of your efforts or attempts. It offends us our need for self-reliance. The gospel teaches a total depravity that our Son has corrupted every aspect of our being, and that we are not inherently good. The heaven is not full with good people. And that's why Jesus said, "How is it you then being evil?" Know how to give good gifts. Because by nature, our fallen nature, we are rebels against God. We are dead in our sins, and there's nothing we could do to ever save ourselves, and that offends us. The gospel emphasizes our need for regeneration at demands that you be born again. It says that truth out very plainly, that in our natural state, if you came into this world, you had one birth, you need another. The gospel also calls for our repentance, demands that return from our Son. And it confronts our love for Son and self. Now the reason why the gospel is offensive to us is because the gospel magnifies God's glory, it prioritizes God's honor. These praise and challenges our self-centeredness in our humanism. The gospel also reveals God's sovereignty. It tells us that God is in control, that God is in charge, and it challenges our desire for autonomy. The gospel also offers us no concessions. It refuses to compromise with Son. It refuses to compromise with pride. It provides no muddled ground. Son will never enter there. And if you're standing on your own righteousness and not he's, you are standing on dangerous grounds. And lastly, the gospel offends us because it presents to us a crucified Savior, and we were so wicked, so wicked, and so rebellious, and so fallen, that God had to come down in the flesh to die for you and I. The crucified Savior is an offense to this world, because it has an exclusive claim attached to it. The world that is so pluralistic and says, "No, many rivers lead into the same motion. It doesn't matter which religion you believe, which God you serve. It doesn't matter just as long as you're serving someone and you're religious. It's fine. You'll make it to heaven. If you are a good person, you'll make it to heaven. The gospel has some very bold, exclusive claims that there is no other way to the Father, but by the crucified Savior. There's no other way. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Nobody comes unto the Father, "But by Me, I am the truth without Me. There is no way of knowing. I am the way without Me. There is no way of going. And I am the life without Me. There is no eternal life." He says, "Without Me, you can do nothing. How is this relevant for us? How is this applicable for us today?" Sir, ma'am, Dad, software developer, call center agent here this morning. I want to tell you and remind you that you are set apart for the gospel. I know you're hearing that from time to time, and you have this question about your purpose and what God called you to. I want to remind you, I'm going to sum it up for you in a nutshell. You're trying to figure out whether you're a prophet, evangelist, an accountant. You're trying to figure out what you call to music. I'm going to sum it up for you. You're called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter where you are. You proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and I'm closing. You have a responsibility to share the gospel. One of the greatest acts of praise and worship and glory to God that you can ever give is the sound of your consecrated feet seeking out the lust to share the gospel. Verse 2, Paul says, "He's been set apart to the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures." Ventura tells us that this particular statement of Paul could be "polemic," a defensive argument for the accusation that he confronted in his time. In other words, he's saying that this gospel was promised beforehand and what the Jews inscribed in Pharisees and Judaism's would claim Paul is doing. He said, "You're preaching a new message, a new revelation, a new fad." This is something new, you're twisting the scripture and Paul said, "No, this is not new news. It's the good news." That he spoke right back in Genesis 3, verse 15 in what was called in Latin, the proto-evangillium, the first reference of the gospel when he judged the serpent and he said, "The seed of the woman is going to crush your head." He'll bruise his heel, a reference to the crucifixion, but he's going to judge you and annihilate you and defeat you at the cross. It's not new news, it's old news. The gospel is not a break with the past, but it's a continuation and a consummation of what God had planned before the world began. And he spoke good in Genesis, in Exodus. He spoke it throughout the Old Testament narrative and Christ became a fulfillment of the law. This tells us a couple of things. Firstly, it tells us that God's plan to redeem the world was driven by divine intent. He wasn't scraping around trying to work with coincidence and trying to... No, his plan was driven by his intentions. Second, it also communicates to us that the gospel is not his plan B. It's his unchanging purpose for the world. He does nothing by accident. He doesn't work by coincidence, he works by confidence. He is never quote of God, he's always on God. He never makes mistakes, he does everything for his namesake. And this also lastly communicates to us that since the gospel is not plan B, and since the gospel is not new news but for good news, that you are not some random product of evolution or mistake of biology and that you are not here today because of some random night when your parents were born and the TV wasn't working and your mom and daddy were winking in each other, no. You are part of God's plan. Okay, in conclusion again, verses four to five. You love me this morning, don't you? Or you love the word more in your meal or in your Sunday lunch? Verse three to four. Says, "Okay, so the gospel, poor set a pot for the gospel, which was promised before and through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his son, Jesus Christ. The gospel concerns his son. The gospel is centered in his son. So the gospel is not about what? Really is about who? God's son, Jesus is the father's game plan to reconcile lost humanity. The father made everything, all of heaven and earth, subordinate to the son, to the Christ events, to the gospel. Creation, revelation, redemption, existence, revolves around who Jesus is and what is done. And Reeve stated, "The cornerstone and jewel in the crown of Christianity is not an idea, a system, a thing. It's not even the gospel as such, it's the person of Jesus Christ, who is the heartbeat of the gospel message." Lloyd Jones put it this way, says, "The ultimate measure of your spiritual life with God really boils down to your amazement at the person of Christ. If we are not focused on Christ, we're not focused at all. You don't follow a church, you don't follow a denomination, you don't follow a movement, you don't follow a rebirth, you don't follow Pentecostalism or Catholicism or Protestantism. No, you follow Christ. You don't follow Christ to be. You follow Christ. Verse 3, verse B, he says, "Concerning his son Christ Jesus our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." Now he tells us that the son of God was the seed of David. God's son entered the seed of history, firstly by natural descent. He belonged to the lineage of David. Now there's two implications here and I'm really going to close, I'm going to cut this short. Okay, firstly, this statement that he was born of the seed of David indicates for us that he assumed human nature, that he was fully human and that he participated in the human family. Why did Jesus, why did the son of God have to become fully human? Question 22 of the new city Catechism asked the question as well and provides the answer that in his human nature he might on our behalf do three things. One, perfectly obey the law as our representative. So the righteousness that God, the Father applies to us in salvation, is the righteousness that Christ demonstrates in his early life. He perfectly obey the law to the team. And it was necessary for him to live as the last Adam, just as the first Adam's behavior. Missed us all up, this last Adam's behavior by his perfect obedience to the law, would be lived out on our behalf. In other words, while Jesus is resisting temptation, he's doing vows. Secondly, he became a human to suffer punishment for our son. And thirdly, that he might sympathize with us in our weakness. So there's only truly one perfect human that ever existed and that was Christ. And he was fit and suitable to be our mediator because he perfectly demonstrated humanity. And I'm going to say this, and you might not have thought about this in this way, but the only person to have been perfectly human was Jesus. Because we've been fallen for so long, we say things like, "Ah, is human to make a mistake? It's just human, what you did." No, no, no, no. That was not the design. And lastly, the second implication is this. That Christ's bloodline can be traced back to David. Do you remember Jacob's prophecy to Judah, Chapter 49? That the scepter shall not depart from Judah. And if you've read that, I never understood it, it means this. That Judah's bloodline and his descendants would be the royal bloodline. That every king that was to sit on the throne of Israel was to be from the tribe of Judah. The scepter shall not, these roles shall not depart from Judah. And that's why when Saul is instituted into the king of Israel, he was not God's choice, and he was not from the tribe of Judah. Indicating is not God's choice. But David was God's choice, who was from the tribe of Judah. And Christ would fulfill the Jacob's prophecy by becoming the lion of the tribe of Judah, the greater Judah, when he rose again from the dead. And so God made the covenant with David. And that's found in 2 Samuel, Chapter 7. And in that covenant and promise he made to David, there were three aspects to their promise. Number one, there was a messianic hope. The Messiah's coming through your bloodline. Secondly, your kingdom will reign forever. The one who sits on the throne of David will reign forever. You'll find in Isaiah 11, Isaiah 9. And then lastly, that eternal kingship, lastly, the restoration of Israel. Jeremiah 33, that the one who reigns in the seat of David will restore Israel back to God. And that will be fulfilled in the eschatological end time period. And the fulfillment of that. And so verse 4, in conclusion for the third time. Bible says, "And he was declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead." In other words, the resurrection of the dead distinguished and declared and demonstrated that Jesus was the son of God. It did not imply that he became the son of God known. It declared that he was truly and already was the son of God. So the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the clear line of demarcation that really separated him from the rest of humanity. It was approved to everyone beyond any doubt his exclusive identity that he is the son of God. And the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal point which marked the end of his humiliation on that. The day he rose again from the dead was the day his humiliation ended. Because for him to even be a baby was humiliation. To walk the earth was a humble experience. To suffer temptation from what was a humiliation. For him to be mocked, rejected and betrayed by man was humiliated. He is our creator. For him to be baptized was even humiliation. But the day he rose again from the dead. That began his exaltation. As king of kings and Lord of lords, amen they stand. Amen. You are such a patient loving people, amen. That's great. You are full, you are full of the words today. You don't need lunch. You don't need seven-color lunches, everybody. Amen, let's pray. If there is anyone that needs to pray, the lying on the hands. Once we are done closing in prayer, I am going to linger along. You are in the front, you are welcome to come through for prayer. I will just be five minutes max. You are welcome to come forward for prayer with us for healing. Any kind of breakthrough we can trust God together with us.
