Series:
Romans
Title: The
Gospel
Text: Romans
1: 1-7
Date: April 22,
2018
Place: SGBC, NJ
Romans 1: 1: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto THE GOSPEL OF GOD,
Subject: The
Gospel
What is
the gospel? What does God accomplish
through the gospel? For those who believe the gospel, what is our purpose for
being in this earth?
Proposition: In this brief salutation the Holy Spirit of God gave
Paul the words to define in plain, understandable language what the gospel is,
what God accomplishes by it and the end purpose of the believer in this life.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
Romans 1: 2:
(Which [God] had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3: Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh; 4: And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
The
gospel is the message of all God’s holy scripture concerning God’s Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. It is impossible to preach the gospel without preaching
Christ’s person and finished work. That means not sometimes but all the time.
Christ
Jesus is the message of the old testament scripture the same as he is the
message of the new—“(Which [God] had promised
afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)”All the old testament
scriptures are concerning Christ in picture, type, ceremony and prophecy.
On the
road to Emmaus, “beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, [Christ] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself.” (Lu 24:27) He
said, “all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me.” (Lu 24:44)
The prophets of old preached the same message as we preach today. The
Lord Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see
my day: and he saw it, and was
glad.” (Jn 8: 56) How? The gospel
was preached to Abraham, “And the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed.” (Gal 3: 8)
Let’s
look at a few examples of where Christ is declared in the old testament
scriptures. After Adam plunged the whole
human race into sin and death, God promised Christ, the Seed of woman, “And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen 3: 15) By Adam’s sin we all came under the
power of the prince of the air. Christ, the Seed of woman, came forth as Man
like those he came to save to deliver us from the devil by allowing the devil
to bruise his heel on the cross.
Hebrews 2: 14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15: And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.
Then in
the garden, God gave a picture of Christ by making a covering and covering our
father, Adam and our mother, Eve, “Unto
Adam, also and to his wife, did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed
them.” (Gen 3: 21) Not only did God
provide a righteousness for his people in his Son, God also clothed us by
bringing us to faith in his Son—
Isaiah 61:10 I
will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Then we
find the first murder in this world was by a will-worshipper persecuting a
child of grace. Cain brought the works of his hands. Abel came in the blood of
a lamb. That lamb was a type of Christ.
You see what our text means when it says “([God] had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord?”
Who made
the difference between Noah and the rest of the world? “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6: 8) The Lord shut
Noah up in the Ark. God’s flood of
justice came down and justly killed everyone, including Noah. But the Ark bore Noah’s judgment so that he lived
and came out new on the other side.
When God
preached the gospel to Abraham, saying, “In
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22: 18) the
Holy Spirit declares through the apostle Paul that Seed is Christ—“Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to
thy seed, which is Christ.” (Gal 3: 16)
Then when
Abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, we see Christ in
the substitute lamb caught in the thorn bushes who took Isaac’s place. On the
cross, we behold God’s Lamb wearing a crown of thorns. As Abraham told Isaac, “God shall provide himself a lamb.” (Gen 22:
8) That is why John the Baptist pointed to Christ and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world.” (Jn 1: 29)
In Melchisedec we see Christ our eternal great High Priest (Gen 15:
18-20; Heb 5: 6, 10; 6: 20; 7: 1-21)
In the Passover Lamb we see Christ our Passover which is sacrificed for his
people. (Ex 12: 1-13; 1 Cor 5: 7) On the night God passed through Egypt and
slew the firstborn. All the firstborn in Israel died, too! But they died in the
Passover Lamb that God provided—“when I see the blood I will pass over you.”
Christ is our Passover Lamb.
Brethren,
every single sinner in this world shall die under the just justice of God because
God is holy and his justice demands it. We
shall either bear God’s justice in judgment or we bore it in Christ in grace.
Cast your care on Christ now. Call on him while he may be found
Like God
had Moses make a serpent of brass and lift it up on a pole so that all who
looked to that serpent were cured of the serpents deadly bite, God sent his Son
to be made the sin of his people (that very thing that killed us) and Christ healed
us of the serpents deadly bite. That is why Christ said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up: 15: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life.” (Jn 3: 14-15) Out
of brass, God made the very thing that was killing the children of Israel and
lifted it up for the children to look to. So God made Christ the very thing
that was killing his elect, “For he hath
made him, who knew no sin, sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him.” (2 Cor 5: 21)
The
smitten Rock is Christ. (Ex 17: 6; 1 Cor 10: 4)
The kinsmen Redeemer is Christ. (Ru 2: 20; Is 54: 5) The temple, the high priest, the sacrifices,
the mercy seat, even all the furniture were all pictures and types of
Christ.
One of my
favorite old testament types of Christ is the foundation in the tabernacle. God commanded everyone twenty years old and
above pay the pure shekel of the sanctuary to the Lord to make ceremonial atonement
for their souls. Then God told them to melt it down and make the tabernacle
floor out of that redemption silver. (Ex 26: 19, 21, 25; 38: 25-26) It had
sockets in it so that foundation held up the entire house. And everything the
priest did serving God, they did on the foundation of redemption already
accomplished. Each time they moved that
tabernacle they were reminded of the weight of redemption. That is a picture of
Christ our Foundation. The whole house of God is built on this one foundation.
His people serve him on the footing of atonement already made. What a weight our Savior bore to accomplish
the redemption of his people!
Isaiah 28:16: Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
1 Corinthians 3:11: For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1: 17: And if ye call on the Father, who without
respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear: 18: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, 19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20: Who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for
you, 21: Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and
gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
On and on
we could go but you get the point, THE
GOSPEL OF GOD, is that V2: (Which he had
promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord
WHAT DOES THE LORD ACCOMPLISH THROUGH THE
PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD?
Romans 1: 5: By whom we have received grace
and apostleship,…6: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
Just as
Christ receives all the glory for establishing us in his righteousness, Christ receives
the glory for putting in us a new spirit in which is no guile and bringing us
to believe on him !
Psalm 32:2: Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth
not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Christ is
our Righteousness and Christ is our Sanctification. We have nothing to do with making
ourselves either one. Paul said, “I am
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2: 20)
This work
of calling his redeemed is performed by Christ through the Holy Spirit by the
foolishness of preaching because it gives Christ all the glory. The messengers he sends to preach and the church
he uses to send them cannot glory that we made disciples for Christ
1 Corinthians 1: 27:…God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty; 28: And base things of the
world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to nought things that are: [why?] 29: That no flesh
should glory in his presence. 30: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31:
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
I have
seen new believers try to corner a visitor and really start arguing
doctrine. You see in that unregenerate
sinner backed into a corner how desperate, depraved and God-hating we are by
nature. We must wait on Christ to do this work through his gospel. It is not us
by Christ filleth all in all! (Eph 1:
23) And Christ does so by the preaching of the gospel.
TO WHAT PURPOSE ARE WE CALLED?
Romans 1: 1::…separated unto the gospel of
God…5: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the
faith among all nations, for his name:
Christ
calls us to obey him in sending forth his gospel into all nations. It is through the gospel that our mighty God,
2 Corinthians 10: 5:
Casts down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
The high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God are Christ’s lost
sheep. Through the gospel Christ brings us down. He makes us willing to rest
entirely in his obedience. He fills us
with love and we love the brethren. He makes us not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ so that we give ourselves to spreading his gospel in truth. The same way we received this ministry, is
the way we faint not but renounce lies and preach the truth.
2 Corinthians 4: 1:
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint
not; 2: But have renounced the
hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word
of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to
every man’s conscience in the sight of God… 5: For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6: For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7:
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us.
Mr
Webster said, “Truth cannot tolerate a
lie without denying itself.” So by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus
Christ abiding within us, we do not compromise the gospel at all!
Christ
called us to support his gospel so that his ministers are sent forth, according
to our text, preaching “For his name.”
When Christ arrested Paul on the road to
Damascus, the Lord said to Annanias
Acts 9: 15: Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, TO BEAR MY NAME before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer FOR MY NAME’S SAKE.
Paul bore
Christ’s name before the Gentiles by preaching Christ to them. That is what
Christ has called us to do, my brethren. The demoniac in the country of the
Gadarenes whom the Lord healed:
Mark 5: 18:…prayed him that he might be with him. 19:
Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion
on thee. 20: And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great
things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
Verse 3 says
we bear his name by preaching he is “God’s
Son”—equal with God, the second person in the trinity—the Son given by God
the Father. We bear his name by
preaching that he is “Jesus”—the Savior—“for he shall save his people from their
sins.” (Mt 1: 21) We bear his name
declaring he is the GodMan—“made the Son of David according to the flesh, declared
the Son God by the power of his resurrection.” We bear his name by preaching he is “the Christ”—God’s chosen, God’s
anointed. We bear his name by preaching
he is “the Lord”—the sovereign savior
who accomplished the eternal redemption of his people and successfully gets his
gospel to his lost sheep and calls them out. Christ Jesus the risen GodMan “doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or
say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan 4: 35)
In every
message if the person of Christ is not preached and he is not declared
victorious having fully established righteousness for his people and fully accomplishing sanctification in his people then the gospel has not
been preached.
By the
grace of God, Paul said “I am separated
unto the Gospel of God” so he told the Corinthians “I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified.” (1 Cor 2: 2) “But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity (singleness) that is in Christ.” (2 Cor 11: 3)
Brethren,
Christ himself said he is the one thing needful. (Lu 10: 42) We should preach
that it matters how the believer lives in this world so that we do not dishonor
the gospel of Christ. But we do so first
declaring that sinners can in no way make themselves righteous or holy by doing
those things. Then we preach Christ our Perfection. Then we encourage the
believer to obey him. But we dare not preach practical things without preaching
Christ and him crucified and shutting sinners up to him alone!
We cannot
mortify our flesh ourselves. Have you ever noticed in Colossians 3, when Paul
tells us to do so, he tells us how it is done. Christ sets our affection on
things above where Christ sits at God’s right hand constantly reminding us that
we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. Thereby, we are made to “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him.” (Col 3: 10) Then the things we once wanted to hear concerning
how we could supposedly make ourselves righteous and holy and the differences
we used to exalt ourselves over others, now leave a bitter taste. When Christ
mortifies our flesh and renews our new man through the gospel in our new man “there is neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ
is all, and in all.” (Col 3: 11) We experience this each time Christ makes
us hear the gospel preached and behold him.
So many
churches are trying to make sinner’s obedient by preaching morality when the
only way to do so is to preach Christ and him crucified. That is how obedient children are made.
My
sincere, earnest prayer for every true preacher and every true church is that
we be taken up with nothing but the glorious gospel of the Prince of Peace. And
God promises to honor those who honor His beloved Son. (1 Sam 2: 30)
Amen!