The Power of God for Salvation

Your Bibles in turn indeed to
the book of Romans. As promised, I have brought the
booklets this morning with the diagram version of Romans for
you. There is an outline embedded
in it. And I was tempted to hand them out beforehand. But I know
you people. And you would have been reading
these instead of listening. And so you can have your booklets
at the end of church. I will have them at the back
door for you. If you ordered one, they’re there
for you. If you didn’t order one, I do
have a few extra. What I might ask this morning
is if we could just take one per family initiative and then
I’ll bring the remainders into the fellowship hall and you can
get the rest of what you ordered there. And if there still is
a need, we’ll have a second publishing. The book of Romans. It’s kind
of funny as the men and I, John and Trey, were praying about
what book of Scripture to take up. John recommended something
much shorter, like the book of Colossians. Because he fears
that this could be this book of Romans could be the last book
of Scripture that I ever preach. And he may be right, and that
would be OK. But I decided that, well, I’m
going to show them as they these two made sport of me these many
weeks. I’m going to preach the entire
book of Romans in one day and then we’ll come back and take
it. in a more leisurely fashion. I even have a plural noun proposition
for you men of the Institute. In essence, what you have in
the book of Romans is a book from God that presents to us
five great themes. Five great themes, which when
fully treated and considered, impart to us the greatest single
treatment of God’s plan of redemption. I was shocked several months
ago in studying for the book of Romans to read one person’s
testimony of this great epistle. He said the book of Romans has
been called the greatest doctrinal treatise in the New Testament. And I say it was shocked because
to me, that is such a gross understatement. Think of it. If the New Testament
is the final revelation of God’s plan of redemption, then Romans
is the greatest doctrinal treatise in all of Scripture. And if the
Bible is God’s word and we believe it is, then the book of Romans
is the greatest doctrinal treatise, period. With that, I want to
take you into this great book. Just a note, a few words about
the author. Paul, who was a Roman citizen,
was divinely equipped for a ministry to the non-Jew. Paul, as a Jew
and certainly equipped for that element of ministry, a ministry
to his own people, was also fully equipped and divinely equipped
for a ministry to the non-Jew. As one said, when Paul was called
to enter upon his important duties, the world was in a deplorable
condition and yet a most interesting state Both heathenism and Judaism
were in the last stages of decay. The polytheism of the Greeks
and Romans had been carried to such an extent as to shock the
common sense of mankind. A certain and immediate transition
from infidelity to superstition took place. The systems of philosophy
promised more than they could accomplish. They excited feelings
which they could not satisfy. And among the Jews, the state
of things was hardly much better. They had indeed the form of true
religion, but were in a great measure destitute of its spirit. Hence, when the glorious gospel
was revealed, thousands of hearts in all parts of the world were
prepared by the grace of God. to exclaim, this is all our desire
and all our salvation. And Paul, the great Apostle Paul,
was prepared to act in just such a state of society. So wrote
Charles Hodge, the great commentator and a great help in this particular
study. Paul was a Roman. Paul was a
Roman citizen. He was a Jew, no doubt, by ancestry,
but he was a full Roman citizen. You remember when he was thrown
in the jail in Philippi. Paul challenged the treatment
that they were receiving at the hands of these prison guards. And he said, they have beaten
us in public without trial, men who are Romans. Paul laid plain
to his Roman citizenship. He had rights and privileges,
much like you and I as Americans. And just as you and I, if we
were caught across the border and had need of some legal counsel,
we would immediately cite our own American citizenship. So
did Paul. Paul’s arrest and imprisonment
in Jerusalem also outlines and articulates his Roman citizenship. In Acts chapter 22, it says they
had stretched him out with thongs. They had tied him down. And Paul
said to the centurion who was standing by, is it lawful for
you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned? Paul laid claim. to that privilege that he had
as a Roman citizen. Paul laid claim to those rights.
Beyond just rights and privileges, though, Paul was deeply steeped
in the thought process of the Roman citizen and in that sense,
greatly equipped by God to be able to sharpen his sword and
to be able to interact with these people, these non-Jews. As one wrote, We feel compelled
to suppose that Paul had conceived the great idea of Christianity
as the religion of the Roman world. In other words, Paul went
about seeking to convert not just cities. Paul went about
the spread of the gospel as it would touch the entire globe.
He goes on and says he thought of the various districts and
countries in which he had preached as parts of the grand unity. He had in mind, he had rather
the mind of an organizer. And to him, the Christians of
his earliest travels were not men of Iconium and Antioch merely. They were part of the Roman world.
Paul wanted the gospel to flourish. This intensely passionate, doggedly
energetic, Single-mindedly tenacious and fervently uncompromising
man was a man divinely equipped by God. When was this epistle written? The Apostle Paul wrote this epistle
to the church of Rome in the midst of his yet unfulfilled
desire to visit the church there. Internal evidence from this epistle,
the book of Romans reveals the fact that Paul desires to visit
Rome that had not yet done so. Romans chapter one. If you look
down at verse 10, Paul mentions that always in my prayers, making
requests, if perhaps now at last, by the will of God, I may succeed
in coming to you. Paul had a desire, a fervent
desire to visit them. For I long to see you, verse
11, so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you that you
may be established. That is, that I may be encouraged
together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s
faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be aware,
brethren, that I have often planned to come to you and have been
prevented thus far so that I may obtain some fruit among you also. even as among the rest of the
Gentiles. At the very end of this epistle,
Paul echoes the same thought. I’ve desired to come. I want
to be there with you. And in 1522 of Romans, he says,
for this reason, I have often been prevented from coming to
see you. His intentions are also captured
in the book of Acts. In the book of Acts in 1921,
it records this. Now, after these things were
finished, Paul purposed in the spirit, which is always a good
way to operate, isn’t it? Isn’t it frightening the way
we talk sometimes? I’m going to go do this. I’m
going to do that. I’ll be back next week. Next
year, I’m going to Cancun. Oh, really? That’s not how Paul
operated. Paul purposed in the Spirit,
but he knew constantly that God was the one that controls our
steps. God is the one that steers providentially, guiding us. Now, after these things were
finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after
he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, after I have
been there, I must also see Rome. Paul passionately desired to
go and to see Rome. But thus far, he had been prevented. The Lord even goes on to affirm
his desire, telling him he will see Rome. He must witness at
Rome. So the desire is there. He wants
to go to Rome, but instead of booking a trip to Rome, Paul’s
preparing to go to Jerusalem. You see, for some time, as you
know from our study in Philippians and in 2 Corinthians, Paul had
been appealing to churches for contributions and gathering the
same. There was a famine in Jerusalem.
And Paul had been fervently appealing to his churches to help alleviate
these saints’ suffering. Now, you pick up most of that
in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Just listen briefly. where Paul
wrote, Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace
of God, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia.
And as I said, the Philippian church there in Macedonia was
one of the great contributors to this project, this relief
effort really in Jerusalem, that in a great ordeal of affliction,
their abundance of joy, their deep poverty overflowed in the
wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according
to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own
accord Nobody pressured them. Nobody twisted their arm. Nobody
manipulated them. Begging us with much urging for
the favor of participation in the support of the saints. When
was the last time we looked at missions in that regard? The
favor of participation in someone else’s ministry. And this, not
as we expected, that they gave first themselves to the Lord
and then to us by the will of God. And so this is the collection.
This is the great collection that Paul is gathering in. So
he has this monetary gift and it’s an absolute priority for
him to deliver this gift to those saints in Jerusalem. So Paul
purposes to visit after his trip to Jerusalem to deliver this
collection. And at the very end of the epistle,
Paul tells them this. These verses we just read. For
this reason, I’ve often been prevented from coming to you,
but now with no further place for me in these regions. In other
words, Paul sees that his ministry, his missions ministry is nearly
complete. There was no further place for
me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing
to come to you, whenever I go to Spain, For I hope to see you
in passing and to be helped on my way there by you when I have
first enjoyed your company for a little while. But now, I am
going to Jerusalem serving the saints.” That’s the plan. Now,
Paul’s plans take a fortuitous turn. And for the Roman Christians,
at least, Acts 20 captures that moment. And this, is where we
find, I believe, the epistle to the Romans written in Acts
chapter 20. It just says simply when he had
gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation,
he came to Greece and there he spent three months. Following his departure from
Ephesus, Paul had three long months to winter over in Greece,
and I believe it’s then and there that Paul wrote to this great
church. As one commentator said, it is
virtually certain that it was during Paul’s three months in
Greece to which Acts 20 verses 2 and 3 refer that Romans was
written no other period within the limits set by the indications
of Romans 1 and 15 is likely to have been as suitable for
this, for the writing of something as substantial and as carefully
thought out and composed as the book of Romans. We would like
to think that Paul sat down and just in a flurry and passionate
moment of the Holy Spirit coursing through him, just penned out
the book of Romans. But there is human thought. There
is organization to the text. And he did take time, I believe. For those of you concerned with
a more precise date, the venerable Professor Charles Cranfield has
these remarks that it was written during the period of winter and
early spring in one of the years between late eighty fifty four
and eighty fifty nine is certain. I hope you’re writing. Opinions
of scholars vary. We conclude that the epistle
to the Romans was probably written either during the period comprising
the last days of fifty five early weeks of fifty six or during
that of the last days of fifty six and the early days of fifty
seven. So there you go. For those of
you concerned with a precise date. It’s an interesting thing
to consider from where was this epistle written? We know generally
where. But I believe we can narrow down
to an exact locale where Paul wrote this epistle. In the first
place, he makes a condemnation, a commendation of Phoebe, not
a condemnation. At the end of the book of Romans,
just listen. He says, I commend you, our sister Phoebe. In other
words, Phoebe was likely some kind of an emissary, perhaps
even the official bearer of this epistle. I commend to you our
sister Phoebe, who was a servant of the church, which is at Centria. I’ll tell you about Centria.
Centria was the port city of Corinth. Phoebe was in some degree
a servant of the church that met there. Not necessarily a
deaconess per se, but a well-known servant of the church in the
church. And Paul commends her as such
to the Roman saints, which points to the possibility, the strong
suggestion that she was the official emissary and perhaps the carrier
of this epistle. But Paul goes on in his epistle
to reference one named Gaius, and this too ties him to Corinth.
If this is the same Gaius that Paul baptized and one of the
very few that Paul did baptize. In 1 Corinthians 1.14, it says
this, I thank God that I baptized none of you. except Crispus and
Gaius. Remember, there was this big
controversy. They were trying to form a faction in the church
of who had baptized you, which isn’t the important issue anyway.
Whether you have been baptized into Christ, that’s the real
issue. And in this case, Paul didn’t even want to be part of
that controversy, and so he baptized very few. But one of the ones
that he did baptize, he names a man named Gaius. And at the
end of this epistle, Paul mentions Gaius again at
the end of the epistle to the Romans in 1623. He says, Gaius
host to me and the whole church. After Gaius was baptized, it
seems that Gaius grew up in the Lord and began showing hospitality
not only to great apostles in the midst of their writing campaign,
but to the entire local church. Gaius hosted. these saints. His reference also to a man named
Erastus ties him to Corinth, if indeed this is the same Erastus
that Paul mentions to Timothy as being one who remained in
Corinth. In 2 Timothy 4.20, he just says
simply that Erastus, perhaps some fellow worker in the Lord,
remained in Corinth. And at the end of the book of
Romans, Paul mentions Erastus again. He says, Erastus, the
city treasurer, greets you. No wonder he remained there.
He better remain there with that bag of money here in Corinth.
He served as an important and official capacity in this great
city. And so the epistle to the Romans
you have almost fixed. As being written from Corinth
during Paul’s third missionary journey, probably around A.D.
56. Now, it’s important to point out that though the epistle of
the Romans to the Romans is positioned as first among all the epistles
in the New Testament, it actually was at least sixth in the order in which the epistles
were written. It was preceded by both of the
Thessalonian epistles, both of the Corinthian epistles and probably
Galatians. And so Paul begins to write to
this church, not out of an awareness of any of their doctrinal error,
not out of a desire to impart the gospel to them. But as a
loving and faithful shepherd of the churches and as a passionate
lover of that great heart of the Roman Empire, Paul begins
to write to them, not because they needed anything from him.
Paul even acknowledges that their testimony was already going forth
to all the world Not even so much as appealing to them that
he needed something from them. Although he knew when they got
together, by virtue of the grace of God, there would be a mutual
exchange of blessing in the mere meeting of Christian saints.
As one said, Paul had completed his pioneer missionary work in
the East. Now he proposes, after he takes
these collections by the churches of Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem
to go to Spain and to visit Rome. And that really is the occasion.
Paul has opportunity. He has time on his hands. He
has a heart for these people. And so he writes. But the question
comes up, where did this church come from anyway? Where did the
Church of Rome come from? We know very little about the
founding of the Church of Rome. As one said, history has left
us ignorant of the time and the persons by whom this work was
affected. Nobody recorded it. Nobody thought it was important.
And so now it is traditionally been held notably by the Roman
Catholic Church And largely for its own self-serving purposes
that Peter visited and established this church. Which is an interesting
point or interesting suggestion, given the fact that they claim
that Peter was their first pope, but there is absolutely no proof. The Peter was ever even there,
much less. Involved in any formal involvement
in the establishment of this church in Rome. It’s a little
more than dramatically unsupported tradition. As one said, since
the epistle to the Romans contains no reference at all to Peter,
it is virtually certain that he was not in Rome at the time
that Paul was writing and highly probable that up to that time
he had never even been there. You see, Peter had his hands
full in Jerusalem, right? The first we learn of an official
gathering of God’s people, a church in Rome is this epistle. That’s
the first time that a church in Rome is even mentioned. There
just is no biblical claim that this church was due to any official
apostolic work. And I say that not only as a
clarification, but it is exciting to know that the gospel itself
had begin to go out and to permeate cultures and reach cities, which
is exactly what the gospel is designed to do. In fact, there’s
good reason to doubt. That if another pardon me, another
apostle planted this church, Paul would not have bullied his
way into this work by sending an uninvited letter. As Paul
will go on to tell the Romans, this would be a violation of
the basic principle of apostolic ministry. Paul said this in Romans
15 20. I thus aspired to preach the
gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would
not build on another man’s foundation. Paul wouldn’t write a letter
to a place where other apostles had conducted ministry. So the
church, as far as we know, wasn’t established by formal apostolic
ministry. We also know that it almost certainly
was not due to Paul’s missionary work. It was almost pardon me,
it was already in existence and flourishing. Essentially, Paul
invites himself to Rome so that each would gain a mutual blessing,
as I mentioned. We know from Acts that Paul desired
to go to Rome, but his desire expressed there seems to be more
mission oriented. But by the time he writes them
this epistle. It is abundantly clear that the
gospel was already flourishing, a church was already in existence. In fact, so strong was this church
already that Paul could say in his opening remarks to them at
Romans 1.8, First, I thank my God through Christ Jesus for
you all, because your faith is being proclaimed through all
the world. There wasn’t a need for missional
activity. There wasn’t a need for Paul
to take the gospel there. The gospel had already arrived
and was already flourishing. So this church was already established
and this must have heartened Paul greatly. The gospel had
indeed taken over the spread of the gospel had gone beyond
official mission oriented intentionality. In other words, they didn’t have
to be planned apostolic visits for the gospel to do its work.
Believers. Those that believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ were taking the gospel as carriers of it. The
gospel now was spreading by natural means. Average believers interacting
with loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, strangers. Fourth century historian
Ambrosiaster believed that the Church of Rome arose among the
Jews of Rome and that the Gentiles to whom they conveyed a knowledge
of Christ had not seen any miracles of the apostles. This was not
an apostolic work, he says. From the earliest moments of
the church on the day of Pentecost, we get a clue where this church
came from. Flip over to the book of Acts,
if you would, Acts chapter two. And you know where we’re going
in Acts chapter two, it’s the day of Pentecost there in verse
five, there were living in Jews, living in Jews, living in Jerusalem,
devout men from every nation under heaven. And he goes on
at the end of this to list them, Parthians, Medes. Skip down to
verse 10. From Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt,
the districts of Libya, around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
both Jews and proselytes. And they were there on this incredible
day, the giving of the Holy Spirit, when men spoke with other tongues. A fantastic display. And following this amazing scene,
as if you needed anything else, Peter lays out the gospel of
Jesus Christ. And the result, remember, was
overwhelming. Remember? Acts 2.41, those who
had received His word were baptized and that day were added about
3,000 souls. Can’t we conceive that perhaps
some of the Jews from Rome and proselytes were among them? We
absolutely can. They received the Gospel that
day and took it. Isn’t that conceivable? It certainly
is. And one reasonable explanation
as to the origin of the Roman church is that these Jews and
proselytes saw the amazing things in Jerusalem that day. They heard
the gospel. Some were converted. They took
this news, this doctrine, this gospel back to Rome, and it took
off like fire. And the next thing Paul knows,
he’s writing an epistle to them. What was the ethnic makeup? I’ve
already mentioned Jews and Gentiles, predominantly Gentile, but there
were Jews there as well. There were Jews in the church,
as one said, and that in substantial numbers, a substantial number
of Gentiles. The church to which Paul is writing
is Gentile in its general complexion, but at the same time, it contains
so many born Jews that he passes easily and freely from one body
to the other. And we’ll see that. The history
of the Jewish people in Rome can be traced back to the era
of the Maccabean princes when emissaries were occasionally
sent to confer. And it wasn’t until about B.C. sixty three when Pompey invaded
Jerusalem and he took prisoners as slaves that the first great
Jewish settlement in Rome was established. The Jewish population
grew there gradually. Do you see God’s amazing providence
here? He took the medium for the gospel
to spread Jews that would naturally create temples and places and
synagogues and places of worship. And the gospel would spread first
to the Jews and then to the Greeks with almost natural procession. And so we proceed to cover the
entire book of Romans in now 12 minutes. When you talk about
outlining the book of Romans, when you begin to consider the
outline of the book itself, you come to major difficulty. It’s
a daunting task, no doubt, but doable, as we will see. The opening
section, obviously, chapter one, verse one, those verses one through
seven rapidly give way to the second section. We’ll see that
in a moment. The difficulty in outlining the book of Romans
falls primarily in chapters one through eight. There are nearly
as many approaches as there are commentators to how to break
this book down. Some would sew up the entire
first 11 chapters into the simple heading of doctrine and leave
it at that. And to me, that is far too simplistic.
These chapters are doctrinal, no doubt, and chapter 12 and
following do articulate a more practical approach to the application
of doctrine. But the doctrinal sections of
chapters one through 11 can and should be effectively broken
down. Others would assign a major point to each chapter. That’s
their outline is each chapter presents a different and that
really is no outline at all and not helpful. Many break the first
eight chapters into it. Chapter four, verse twenty five,
beginning the second chapter, second section, rather a chapter
five, verse one. But in doing so, I think they
overlook the clear transition from the subject of sin In chapters
one, two and three to the positive subject of salvation, which begins
clearly in chapter three, verse twenty one. And a great many. Myself included, see it clear
transition there in chapter three, verse twenty one, a transition
from the discussion of sin to the subject of salvation, as
I will point out in weeks to come. And so the second section,
if you are now taking notes, the second section is a lengthy
discussion lasting nearly three chapters. Chapter one, verse
eight through chapter three, verse 20, I would label section
two as sin and the judgment of God, sin and the judgment of
God. In the opening chapter, Paul
discusses His relationship to the Roman church. But then he
moves in verse 13 of chapter one to the grand motives of preaching
the gospel. Why do it? The grand motives
of preaching the gospel are two, and they are very simple and
very clear. First is the righteousness of God by faith, the gospel itself. the nature, the subject matter
of the gospel. And the second great theme is
the sinfulness of humanity. And that will take all the way
from chapter 1, verse 18, all the way down to chapter 3, verse
20. Let’s move on to another easy
section first. Jump down to Roman numeral 6
in your outline, if you would. It begins in chapter 12, verse
1. It is arguably the most clear and most agreed upon break in
all of the book of Romans. If people break it out into just
two sections, it’s chapters one through eleven and chapter twelve
and everything else. Paul’s great doctrinal discussion
is drawn to a close there in chapter eleven, and he abruptly
transitions to the practical application of those spiritual
truths. We could label this section service to God, service to God. Paul wraps up his practical section in this epistle in chapter 15,
verse 12, and he transitions to his closing words in the conclusion
of the epistle in the following verse. Now, it’s noteworthy to
point out, especially if you begin to take up other treatments,
that a great many commentators begin this conclusion section,
section 7. They begin it in chapter 14,
not 13. The reason I take the opposite
approach starting this final section on verse 13 comes down
to the little word now in verse 13. It clearly indicates a break. The thought is it the transitional
thought there and that coupled with the end of verse 14 indicates
to me that the transition to the conclusion begins right here
now. OK, so those are the easy sections.
Let’s get to the hard stuff. We’ve established sections one
and two, six and seven. The introduction, section two,
sin in the judgment of God, section six, service to God and section
seven, the conclusion. Those are the easy ones, except
that I’ve even already told you where the break is at the end
of section two. It’s chapter three, verse 20,
so the third major section begins in chapter three, verse 21, and
I would simply label that as the salvation of God. And I’m
not trying to be silly here. God doesn’t need saving. It is
the salvation that comes from God. Salvation itself is of God. It is from God. If God didn’t
affect it, there would be no salvation. That third section
I would call the salvation of God. Paul wraps up his discussion
in chapter 3, verse 20, establishing with absolute clarity the utter
sinfulness of all humanity, both Gentile and Jew, but the news
cannot be all bad. He has to transition to the great
news of the gospel, salvation of God. And that he does in section
three, a discussion that carries all the way down through chapter
five, verse 21. And in this great section, he
covers the means of salvation, justification by faith. He talks
about the glory of salvation that all boasting is denied.
He talks about the example of salvation by faith, that of Abraham,
and the blessings of salvation that flow from it in chapter
5. And then he begins to contrast
Adam and Christ in chapter 5, verse 12-21. And so there comes
another strong transition in chapter 6, verse 1. It is a transition
to the subject of sanctification. That discussion carries all the
way through to the end of chapter 8, verse 39. And many overlook and downplay
this transition in chapter 6. This section I would call sanctification
by God. Another little fact that we so
often forget that the same God that initiates salvation in the
life of a believer will carry it through in the process of
sanctification. We should expect results. We
should expect change. We should expect growth in Christ
likeness and godliness. Sanctification by God. Paul illustrates
that at the opening of chapter six with his illustration of
death to sin, the pictures of baptism down, dying, being buried
with Christ, coming up. to rise in newness of life. He talks about mastery and the
Christian. What is the Christian’s master
from this point forward? Chapter six through the very
end, beginning in verse 15 through 23. The law in the life of the
Christian. Chapter seven and the Spirit
of God in the life of the Christian in chapter eight. The believers
security in Christ as he wraps up. And so we come really to
the last section, the only section that we really need to pencil
in. Paul returns in chapter nine
to the great subject of Israel’s sin. He had dealt with it fully
in the early chapters of the epistle, chapters two and three.
But Paul returns to the great subject of Israel’s sin and their
standing before God, which he established in the opening chapters
of the epistle. The problem is that while salvation
is provided through justification by faith and that salvation is
secure, Israel largely rejected the Messiah of that salvation. And Paul purposes here in this
section, chapters 9 through 11, to discuss the status of the
nation of Israel. He talks about their unbelief
and their rejection in chapter 9. At the end of that, he talks
about righteousness by works. If there is such a thing and
he treats it accordingly. Then he begins to discuss Israel’s
purpose in restoration and finally closes with a doxology at the
end of chapter 11, that is just overwhelming. And that’s a lot of information.
For you this morning, I know that that was a very quick treatment
of the book of Romans. The entire book of Romans and
there it is for you in less than 45 minutes. My question for you. Devotionally this morning, because
I know that was a lot of information. I want to take you back in your
mind’s eye, not even to the book of Romans. But to a statement
that was made in the book of Acts. Where it is recorded that after
these things that were finished, these things were finished, Paul
purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed
through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there,
I must also see Rome. There, Paul’s intentions are
simply, clearly and intensely stated. He must see Rome. What are your intentions? What
must you do with your remaining days? What if the Lord returned tomorrow?
What would it be that would be sadly and disappointingly uncompleted? Notwithstanding that you would
be in heaven, notwithstanding that you would be with the Lord
and those thoughts would quickly fade. But what is the Lord called
you to do? What are you passionate about?
But if you failed to take up that cause tomorrow, it would
be it would be a sad disappointment. To have not honored the Lord
by serving him in that capacity. What is God calling you to accomplish?
Because considering Paul’s words, I must see Rome. What must you
see? Keep in mind that for Paul, this
was no desire for a sightseeing tour. Paul didn’t want to walk
through the streets of Rome and view all those great architectural
accomplishments. Paul’s great concern was the
spread of the gospel. Is it ours? Is it ours? What must you see with regard
to the gospel before your days are complete? Do you have a passion
that someone, some family members, some friends, some coworker would
hear the gospel in your day? Is it a nation? Is it a people
group? You know, in supporting the Donatos,
we participate in the spread of the gospel, not only there
in Honduras, But even to the greater part of South America,
is that enough? I leave you with this, that if
Paul was passionate, so passionate that for him, if it was the last
thing he did, he wanted to go to Rome and see Rome and minister
there in Rome to those people to assure himself that the gospel
was spreading effectively. Is it Paul only? that’s been
called to ministry? Is it Paul only that has the
corner in the market on a passionate desire to see the gospel fulfilled? Let’s examine our hearts. Our merciful King, you are so
patient with us and we are so thrilled and excited to begin
to get into this amazing epistle, this portion of God’s Word that
is so rich and full in its articulation of the gospel. I pray that you
would nourish these saints as we go along. And Father, stir
in us those passions as to how this gospel would be fulfilled
in and through each of us. Lord God, clarify in our own
heart What those passions, what those things we must do. In whatever
days you’ve laid out to us and then grant us the grace that
we set about doing that. With the same fervor with which
the apostle attacked his. God, grant us your grace as we
study this great epistle. Be glorified in and through us,
we pray. And may your testimony go forth
to those who do not know you. The great gospel of the grace
of God. The salvation of justification
by faith alone in Christ alone. We thank you and we praise you
in Jesus name. Amen. you.