Latest / HBCWestminster / 9.25.22 Romans 1:1 Pastor Danny Gardner

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9.25.22 Romans 1:1 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, church, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. And Romans is our elephant. And this morning we take a massive bite. And so stand with me, if you would, as I read Romans 1, verses 1 to 7, as we begin our study. Romans 1, and verse 1, and the Word of God says, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets and the holy scriptures.
• 0:30
  concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father.
• 1:00
  and the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, you are glorious and majestic. Your power sustains the highest heavens and your grace sustains the lowliest of souls. Honor yourself, we pray, in the preaching of your word this morning and for the next year as we study your book, the book of Romans, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church.
• 1:35
  I received a lesson in orienteering during my trip to the Boundary Waters a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going on the way in. We paddled for hours, some 10 to 15 miles by canoe and never in a straight line.
• 1:53
  oftentimes paddling in circles quite literally because my son Chase, who was in the front of my canoe, I was the rudder, my son Chase decided, he's 12 years old, decided that his favorite side to paddle on was the right side. And so he only ever paddled on the right, and I told him that was fine. I said, I'll just paddle on the left and try to keep us in a straight line. But there were times when we got sideways, the wind pushed us sideways, or our rowing pushed us sideways. There were times when we really did go in circles trying to figure out,
• 2:22
  where it was that we were going i very quickly became disoriented if it wasn't for the sun i wouldn't have even known what direction we were traveling i had a map i bought one of those maps you're supposed to have the waterproof ones you know because it's going to be in the canoe i could prop it up on my feet so i could tell where i was going however i didn't take the map out
• 2:45
  I wasn't sure where we were on it, and that was a big mistake. I didn't actually take the time to figure out where on the map we were starting. And so when we started at the Outfitters, we got our canoes and all of that stuff, and then paddled out and went for a couple of miles, that's when I thought, I wonder where that Outfitters is on that map that I have in my backpack. I had no idea where we started, nor was I sure of our destination. I knew we were paddling that way.
• 3:13
  And other than that, I had no idea where we were going to end up. All of the campsites that we were aiming for are marked on the map with big red dots. However, in reality, they are not marked with big red dots on the hills. As you're looking around, like, where's the campsite? Where's the big red dot? It's a big red dot on here. Where is the big red dot? I was reminded how dependent I've become on my smartphone. Like, Siri, tell me where I am.
• 3:43
  I was reminded that men like Christopher Columbus and Magellan were geniuses. Actual navigation is difficult. It takes time. It takes precision. It takes study. It takes know-how. And church, navigating the Christian faith is no different. It's easy to become disoriented. It's easy to kind of float through life unsure.
• 4:09
  With no real direction and no real aim, it's easy even to have the map and yet have no idea where you are on it or where you're going. Does that ever feel that way to anyone else? In the year 20 BC, a couple of decades before Jesus was born, then Emperor Caesar Augustus erected a monument that later came to be called the Malario Ereo, the Golden Milestone.
• 4:38
  He put it right next to the Forum, right in the heart of ancient Rome, and that monument, he declared, was to become the center of his Roman Empire, and by extension, the center of the ancient world. Every road in that vast empire was said to originate...
• 4:54
  at that monument every location across the roman empire which as you guys remember encompassed all of europe and the middle east and northern africa that vast empire every location was measured by its distance to that central point thus by the time of the apostle paul when he wrote the book of romans some 80 years later it had become proverbial to say that all roads lead to rome
• 5:24
  Because if you traveled for any length of time on any one of those roads, you would eventually find yourself at the temple of Saturn, at the head of the forum in the heart of the city. Today that sentiment has obviously changed. Rome is no longer the center of the world, nor does the city of Rome bear much significance in the lives of believers. However, the apostle which bears its name is to be valued above all others.
• 5:54
  monikered Paul's term paper. That's the book's nickname, Paul's term paper. It is generally believed to be the sermon that the Apostle Paul would have preached to the Roman church had he had the opportunity. It will be our goal over the next 18 months or so to travel the Roman's road. To take that blessed 16-page pilgrimage that every believer must take at some point.
• 6:21
  in their Christian journey. And you may wonder, why would we devote a year of our lives, a year of the life of this church to this book? Perhaps you need a little bit of convincing of the letter's importance. And let me just ask church, where would we be without it? If not for the book of Romans, where would we be left? I can tell you beyond a doubt that you can trace your knowledge of Christianity back to the book of Romans. If you could trace your Christian thinking back far enough,
• 6:52
  Who taught it to you and who taught it to them and who taught it to them? At some point, the source of your Christian knowledge is the book of Romans. Every conviction, every doctrine will find its origins in this 16-page book. It is the Christian's golden milestone. It is the center of the Christian universe. It is how we know what we know about Christ and the gospel. And so let me take five minutes to convince you that Romans really is the center of our faiths.
• 7:21
  First, Romans answers every major doctrinal question that a Christian can ask. I'm going to thank John MacArthur and his commentary on Romans for compiling just a very brief list of questions that this book asks, answers. It is by no means exhaustive, but just listen to this. Romans answers, what is the good news of the gospel? Maybe better than any other New Testament book, Romans gives us the pure meat of the gospel. Is Jesus really God?
• 7:53
  What is God like? How can God, a righteous and just God, send people to hell? Why do men reject God and his son Jesus Christ? Why are there false religions and idols? What is mankind's biggest problem? What is mankind's biggest sin? Why are there perversions and hatred and crime and dishonesty and all the other evils in the world? Why are they so rampant? What is the standard by which God condemns people? How can a person who has never heard the gospel be held spiritually responsible?
• 8:25
  Do Jews have a greater responsibilities to believe than Gentiles? And who are the true Jews? And are there any spiritual advantages to being Jewish? How good is man in himself, if at all? Can any person keep God's law perfectly? How can a sinner be justified by God? How are all Christians related to Adam? How are all Christians related to Abraham? How are all Christians related to Jesus?
• 8:53
  And what is the importance of Jesus' death and his resurrection? And what about his present life in heaven? For whom did Christ die? Where can man find true peace and hope? What is grace and what does it do? How are God's law and his grace related? What is the Christian's relation to sin? Is it important for Christians to obey? Why is living faithfully as a Christian so difficult? How many natures do Christians have?
• 9:25
  What does the Holy Spirit do in the life of a believer? How intimate is a Christian's relationship to God? Why is there suffering? Will this world ever be fixed? What are election and predestination, and why do people argue about them? How does prayer work? How secure is a believer's salvation? What is God's present plan for Israel? Does God have a future plan for Israel? Why have Gentiles been allowed into the kingdom?
• 9:54
  Does the modern-day Christian bear any responsibility for modern Jews and the state of Israel? What is the Christian's relationship to the world in general, to the unsaved, to other Christians? What is the Christian's relationship to the human government? What is genuine love? How does it work? How do Christians deal with gray areas in their lives? What is true freedom? How do I get it? How can the church become unified in a hopelessly divided world?
• 10:27
  And so on, and so on, and so on. In short, the book of Romans answers our questions. But not only that, church. The book of Romans actually saved some pretty major players in the Christian faith. In the 4th century AD, a young North African professor sat hopelessly weeping in his garden because of the realization, because of the sudden...
• 10:54
  occurrence to him that he was wicked and he was powerless against his own sin has that occurred to anybody else have you had an evening like that in the middle of the night where you're just like why do i keep sinning am i even saved what is going on lord help me and he was weeping in his garden while sitting there he heard a young child outside of his garden singing a chorus which repeated this phrase take up and read take up and read take up and read the voice of this
• 11:21
  little kids singing an open scroll lay beside this professor he began to read it and upon reading it he declared and i quote no sooner did i begin reading than light and security infused into my heart all glows of doubt vanished away that scroll turned out to be the epistle to the romans and that professor was the man who would later be known as saint augustine a thousand years later a young augustinian monk and university professor was charged with the task of teaching the book
• 11:52
  of romans in his seminary as he read he became more and more convinced of its truths namely that justification comes by faith alone he said of romans and i quote i grasp the truth that the righteousness of god is that righteousness whereby through grace and sheer mercy the lord justifies us by faith this passage of paul he said became to me my gateway to heaven it's how i was saved
• 12:22
  That monk was Martin Luther. Another 300 years later, during the 18th century, a reluctant Bible study attendee was encouraged to attend a young adult's small group, similar to the one we have here. He was unregenerate at the time, but somehow had already become ordained in the Church of England.
• 12:42
  He was confused about the meaning of the gospel. He was searching for a genuine conversion experience when he came across an explanation of the book of Romans. Their young adult's study was going through the book of Romans. The pastor began to preach the book of Romans, and when John Wesley heard it, he said, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for my salvation. Assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins. In short, church, Romans changes lives.
• 13:13
  But not only that, listen to just a few more tributes offered to the book. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the famous author, has said, I think St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, the most profound work in existence. Can you imagine that? The best book ever written. It is the greatest book in the greatest book. The Bible is the greatest book in the world, amen? Romans is the best book in the Bible. That's what he's saying. It is the best book in the best book in the world.
• 13:41
  William Schaaf, it is the most remarkable product of the most remarkable man. It contains his theology, theoretical and practical, for which he lived and died. It gives the fullest and clearest explanation of the doctrines of sin and grace and the best possible solution of the universal dominion of sin and death and the universal redemption by the second Adam. It is the epistle of epistles. Best book in the New Testament, he says. Friedrich Godet says, when the epistle to the Romans appeared for the first time, it was to the church in season.
• 14:10
  Every time in the course of the ages it has recovered the place of honor which belongs to it. It has inaugurated a new era. And then he calls it this. He says it is the cathedral of the Christian faith. Imagine the Christian faith being a cityscape. The cathedral of the cityscape. What dominates the landscape of the Christian faith is the book of Romans. Later in his commentary, he says that chapter 8 of Romans is the highest, tallest spire in the cathedral.
• 14:41
  If you've ever read Romans 8, you'd say amen right there, right? It's the best chapter in the best book in the best book in the world. It is the cathedral of the Christian faith. William Tyndale, he's pretty famous. For as much as this epistle is the principle and most excellent part of the New Testament, and most pure evangelion, that is the gospel, that is to say glad tidings, and also a light and way unto the whole scripture, I think it meet that is necessary.
• 15:08
  that every Christian may not only know it by rote and without the book. Stop right there. What did he just say? We should memorize it. All right. Not only, he says, do I think you should memorize it? No, we are as a church going to memorize every verse. No, we're not going. If you decide that you're going to do that, man, good for you. We'll help you with it. That's great. But we are going to memorize some sections of it. If you guys turn around in your chairs and look along the back wall, what Pastor Sam has done for us.
• 15:36
  is selected strategic portions of every chapter in the book we've printed them they're on the back walls as reminders we are over the course of this year going to challenge you to memorize along with us and the staff is actually meeting this coming tuesday morning at 8 30 to start with romans 1 16 which is right up there on the left and as we go we will memorize large portions of the books of book of romans i would encourage you to do that along with us more details
• 16:04
  Next week. But you go back to William Tyndale. Not only that we should know it by wrote and without the book, but also, he says, exercise himself therein ever more continually as with the daily bread of the soul. Read the book of Romans as if it is your food. Deal with it daily. That's what he says. No man can verily read it too often or study it too well. For the more the study, the easier it is. The more it is chewed, the pleasanter it is. He's just making up words now.
• 16:34
  The more groundly it is searched, the precious things are found in it. And finally, the big man himself, Martin Luther. This epistle is the real chief part of the New Testament, the very purest gospel, which indeed deserves that a Christian not only know its word by heart, what did he just say? We should memorize it, but deal with it daily as with the daily bread of the soul.
• 16:59
  As we introduce our study, we view it as preparation for a long journey. Imagine this morning's sermon as putting on our hiking shoes, as filling up our water bottles, as making our sandwiches and stuffing them in our backpack. As we consider a number of introductory matters. Notice first, the author, the very first word of the first verse is what word? You guys have your Bibles?
• 17:28
  The very first word isn't a word at all. It's a name. Do you see that? Paul, he introduces himself from the very first verse. What is really cool is that verse 1 is an introduction of Paul. Verses 2 to 6, and what will be our study next Sunday, are an introduction of the God on whose behalf he writes. So he's going to introduce himself this week, and then the God of the universe next week, Paul.
• 17:55
  The apostle Paul actually began as the persecutor Saul. During the time of the crucifixion, the resurrection, Pentecost, when the church was born, Saul was a hater of Christianity. He believed Christianity to be a sect, a cult, a perversion of true Judaism. He hunted Christians to imprison them. He made every effort to stamp out the spark of the Christian gospel before it could become a flame.
• 18:25
  Acts chapters 7 and 8 record Saul standing by, holding everyone's coats, while an angry mob made of the newly appointed deacon Stephen, the first recorded Christian martyr. Saul stood by, holding everyone's jackets. He was educated in the finest Jewish schools. He was trained in rhetoric and logic. He had an unsurpassed zeal for the purity of his religion, to the point that he was willing to persecute those who would corrupt it.
• 18:54
  He said of himself in Philippians 3, these are his Jewish credentials according to the world. He later calls them all rubbish in Christ. But he says, if anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day. That's an interesting place to start. Circumcised. He says, I am part of the covenant.
• 19:17
  of abraham but let me ask you church why would he start here it's it seems relatively random it's not where we would start if somebody were asking our credentials if we were filling out our resume that doesn't make the resume why would he start there because it says something about not only him but also his family whose decision was it for eight day old saul to be circumcised was it his own no it had nothing to do with him what he's saying is not only am i part of the abrahamic covenant
• 19:48
  But so are who? My parents. He's bragging about his genealogy, his lineage. I come from a faithful line. He says, I'm from the people of Israel, and not only that, I'm from the tribe of Benjamin. Now, we typically, as New Testament believers, because we understand Jesus and the Lion of Judah, we tend to give preference to Judah, thinking that is the kingly line, and certainly it is, but that's not what the ancient Hebrews believed.
• 20:15
  They looked to the tribe of Benjamin. That is from where their heroes came. They were their toughest warriors from Benjamin. In fact, when the people of Israel had opportunity to choose their first king, who did they choose? Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. It wasn't from the tribe of Judah. And here Saul, who would become Paul, says, I'm from the same tribe as King Saul. In fact,
• 20:44
  i'm named after him right i share his name he says i'm a hebrew of hebrews i'm the definition of what it means to be jewish as to the law of pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless saul was on the road to prestige notoriety and fame among the religious elite he was a jewish celebrity
• 21:11
  People would invite him into their synagogues to teach. People would travel around following him to hear what he had to say. And then you read Acts chapter 9. And verse 1 says that Saul was in the middle of breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord when Jesus interrupted.
• 21:32
  The Lord Jesus stopped Saul in his tracks, he rebuked him, he blinded him, and he claimed him for himself. In short, Jesus gloriously and triumphantly ruined Saul's life. Anybody else been ruined by the Lord Jesus like that? Just stopped you in what you were doing. You had a great plan for your life. That now, with some kingdom perspective, would have ended in disaster.
• 22:01
  right but in the moment you thought this is where i'm going this is what i'm going to do and then jesus interrupted and claimed you for himself he changed his name from saul to paul paul became the primary missionary of the gentiles to all people and from that conversion forward he began adopting other titles of himself three of which we have here in verse one he calls himself verse one a servant
• 22:29
  of Christ Jesus. And if you're looking at the ESV, you'll notice a little hypertext. Number one, there is a translator's note. There's a footnote. You guys all see that? Little number one, go back down to the footnote. The words for servant could also be translated what? Slave. The Greek word doulos is really slave.
• 22:48
  The ESV has softened it a little bit by saying servant. Some translations say bond servant. There's nothing inaccurate about those words. It's taken from Exodus 21. Exodus 21 describes when a slave would be set free. Maybe it's the year of Jubilee and all of the Hebrew slaves would be set free.
• 23:09
  Those slaves could, should they determine to do so, turn back around and forfeit their freedom and bind themselves to their masters. They would become a bond servant, piercing their ear and doing other things with kind of a tag that would say who they worked for, who they bound themselves to. And they would do this gladly, willingly, wantonly, and this is the word that Paul uses of himself.
• 23:37
  Are we, he says, am I a slave of Christ Jesus? Yes, but not reluctantly, willingly. I'm proud to bear the name of Christ, but notice it also says he's an apostle, verse 1, called to be an apostle. An apostle is one who is sent. Certainly Paul was a sent one. He was sent as the second greatest missionary of all time, if you count Jesus as number one.
• 24:05
  He was the second greatest. Paul would travel to the extremes of the Roman Empire, proclaiming the good news, winning converts, planting and strengthening churches. He was an apostle. Not only that, this says that he was a purpose-filled missionary. It says set apart for the gospel of God. For the remainder of his life, Paul's focus was the gospel. His friendships, his travels, his daily encounters were all filtered through the gospel. They were gospel-driven.
• 24:36
  Career choices, his money spent, his willingness to endure hardship were ensconced, enveloped in the ministry. When he encountered Christ, his very purpose for living changed. And beloved friends, did you know that each of us bears those same titles? Are we not also slaves, servants, bondservants of Jesus Christ? Galatians 1.10 says, For am I now seeking the approval of men or of God?
• 25:10
  Am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. It's the same word. I don't try to please man. Now I please God. Every decision I make, my career choices, the spouse that I choose, how I will raise my kids, how I will go to work, and to whom, for whom I will work. He says all of that is determined by Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 5, For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.
• 25:37
  with ourselves as your servants same word for jesus's sake we also are slaves of christ but not only that we are also apostles of christ now not in the same way that the apostle paul was i'll say that his was a capital a apostle which means he could write inspired text and he could prove that inspired text with the doing of miracles that is not the kind of apostles we are we are lowercase apostles in that we have been sent
• 26:06
  Matthew 28, the Great Commission, go therefore and make disciples. Baptizing, teaching, all over the world, in every nation, Jesus says, go. We also have been sent. Acts 1 and verse 8, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. When that verse was written, I can't imagine that they had any idea that 2,000 years later we would all be sitting here in Westminster, Colorado.
• 26:33
  right proclaiming the same good news literally on the other side of the world to the very ends of the earth we are also apostles and that we have been sent but not only that we've been given purpose our lives also changed when we encountered christ ephesians chapter 4 and verse 15 speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into
• 26:57
  Christ. Everything we do now, different than before we knew him, but everything we do now is through the Jesus grid. We bear the same titles, but not only does this give us our author, it also gives us our audience. Look down at verse 7. It says, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The book is simply addressed to all in Rome who are loved and called.
• 27:29
  The first century church was wildly divided. The enemy of our souls was intent on destroying the newly founded church in its infancy. 2,000 years later, this is still his strategy. Division so that he can conquer. Perhaps the approach he takes today, and maybe you'll agree with me on this, maybe not. How does he divide the church today? I think by social and political issues. Dividing close friends?
• 28:00
  breaking churches, dividing churches, splitting churches. Has anybody else? I have. Has anybody else lost good friends in the last couple of years because you just could not agree on what was going on in the country about how people were handling certain things? I mean, I have. People that we would worship together with, people that we were raising our kids with are now saying, I can't even worship with you anymore. Wait, what? Division. Division. And I believe from the enemy, divide and conquer.
• 28:30
  The approach he took in the early church 2,000 years ago was a little bit different. He attempted to divide them along ethnic grounds. Can people from different races and ethnicities actually worship together? And this was the struggle of the early church.
• 28:48
  It's the issue that Paul dealt with in every single one of his letters. Go through and read his letters. He is dealing with the Jew versus Gentile debate. Can Jews become Christians or must they first become Jewish? Did Jesus come for Gentiles as Gentiles? Or do they first, is there a double conversion where they have to convert to Judaism and then convert?
• 29:13
  to christianity and that doctrine which is universally accepted today that christ broke down the dividing wall of hostility between jew and gentile that everybody agrees with now that he took two men and made one man that doctrine they didn't yet know it took generations for them to develop that truth the truth that we all enjoy now can people of different races and ethnicities worship the lord together in the same church yes
• 29:42
  Amen and amen. Nobody questions that at all in the modern day church. But it was ravaging the church 2,000 years ago. Let the Gentiles find their own Jesus. That was their attitude. They don't get ours. He was Jewish and he came for Jews. This is why he so strategically reminds them of this issue with his greeting in verse 7. He says, grace to you and peace from God.
• 30:13
  What's he say? Our father. We all share the same dad. Not your father. Not their father. He says our father. And he uses these two words, grace and peace. And you've noticed in his writing throughout the news, this is always his greeting. Grace and peace. And church is strategic. The word grace, charis, was a commonly used Greek salutation.
• 30:40
  When Gentiles greeted each other in the marketplace, very often they would either say grace, charis, or they would say rejoice, chiare. They were derivations of a very similar word. That was the Greek salutation. Jews were a little bit different. What word did they use? They still use it today. Shalom. Peace. Peace. And so he combines the Greek salutation with the Jewish salutation. You know what I'm going to say? Grace.
• 31:10
  and peace from our father the lord jesus christ he enjoins here jew and gentile notice finally the book's major theme skip across to verse 16 we will cover all of this again as we go through we'll hit verse 16 again but just notice the theme of the book verse 16 for i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes and let me say this church
• 31:37
  If it was not the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, if it had no power, could we be ashamed of it? Sure. What if the gospel didn't work? Would you be proud of it? Would you preach it? Would you proclaim it? Would you devote your life to it? Would you ruin your life for it? No. And I wouldn't ask you to. The very fact that it is the power of salvation is the reason we will not be ashamed of it. Does that make sense? Verse 17.
• 32:08
  For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. That is the theme of the 16 chapters. God is revealing his righteousness in two ways. First, he reveals the righteousness that he possesses.
• 32:26
  God is righteous because everything he does is right and every action of his is right and every word he speaks and every declaration made is right and therefore he is a righteous God. Now the problem with that truth is that because he is righteous and we are not, we can't go to heaven, right? That is the problem, isn't it? And so there is a second righteousness revealed in the book of Romans and that is the righteousness that God...
• 32:57
  He gives us his righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. God's righteousness is revealed in Romans. And listen, church, every verse, every verse in the book, I'm going to say with a couple of exceptions in chapter 16 when he gets to the greetings, every verse in the book hinges on one of these two types of righteousness being revealed.
• 33:18
  As God is saying, I'm going to condemn the world because I have to condemn the world. You've got the righteousness that God possesses on display. I have to condemn them because I'm righteous and he's not. But as we are justified and now have peace through Jesus Christ, that is the righteousness that he provides. As we go through the book, pay attention to those two types of righteousness. And as we take...
• 33:42
  a year of our lives to study the 16 chapters of the greatest book ever written allow those theme verses to become your theme verse as well allow this book to become our map allow it to become the center of our faiths allow it to become the malaria areo our golden milestone it may not be the case any longer that all roads lead to rome but in the case of the christian faith it is still true
• 34:12
  that all roads lead to Romans. And Lord, I pray, as we kick off a new study at our church, that you would bless it. Lord, that you would be glorified in the preaching of your word. Lord, that you would bless us as we commit our way to it. In Jesus' name, amen.