Lesson 2c
Romans 1:1-18 · Mike Doyle · Feb 11, 2018
Romans (2018-21), No. 05
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926198351958

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

So everybody have a lesson two because that's going to J.D. is going to get up here in a minute and start in the lesson two. I didn't want Courtney in lesson one to jump over too fast. The last two questions that we were working on and the reason is because I think it's significant for us.

Question 10 was in numbers 11. 11-15 there's a difference between Paul's attitude and Moses and I think it's really significant for us to understand there really is a difference in just the viewpoint and the attitude about those who are called to serve the Lord whether it's Old Testament people like Moses or somebody like Paul and Courtney read Numbers 11 last week but Moses said to the Lord Why have you been so hard on your servant? Sounds like he's complaining, right? And why have I not found favor in your sight? See the Jewish mentality?

If things aren't going well, I somehow have screwed up. That you have laid the burden of all these people on me. Was it I who conceived all these people? Was it I who brought them forth that you should say to me, carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant to the land which you swore to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me, saying, Give us meat that we may eat. I alone am not able to carry all these people because it's too burdensome for me. So, if you're going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."

Now this Moses is a terrific guy, right? I mean, he's been called of God to lead the Jews out into the promised land. I don't know how many there were, but that's his job. And God took 40 years to get him ready for that job. And he's probably 80 years old when they head to the desert. So you would think he was prepared.

But then you contrast that with the attitude of Paul the Apostle. He thinks he's less than all the saints. And he'd like to become all things to all men, that he might win some. He has a whole different attitude than Moses has. How come? He had a new nature. That's exactly the right answer. You see, this new resurrected life that we have in the Lord Jesus is tolerant. It loves people like God loves people, because you have his very nature. the perseverance and the longevity of your endurance goes on and on and on. He even thought about himself as being a debtor. He owed them. It wasn't the other way around. He owed them. So attitude-wise, we're looking at a totally different viewpoint between a guy like Moses and a guy like Adam. I'm sorry, a guy like Paul.

I think it's significant that we contemplate that because in our life, you know, I mean, how long does it take one of us to be, well, I've had enough of that guy. I've had enough of that circumstance, you know. But Courtney told me when I went to him one day and I said, well, they've asked me to be an elder. What do you think? Because he was an elder at another church, he said, you're going to find out that the sheep are stinky.

I said, well, that's a Moses attitude, isn't it? So it's really interesting, I think, that if you're like me, tolerance, learning to be tolerant of people is a difficult thing at first, but then you realize, well, wait a minute, I don't need to modify my behavior to be tolerant. I'm tolerant because I'm positioned in Christ and I have his life. And he loved every single human being to the point that he gave his life for him. So that's why I thought it was a good contrast.

So what do you think Paul means, a debtor to these people? What do you think he means by that? Do you know what a debtor is? Yeah, so rather than, you know, when you contrast what Moses is complaining about, Paul seems to think that, well, they're not in debt to me, I'm in debt to them.

Why? Well, just as he did to others and other churches, he wanted to also do the ones in Rome, Isn't it interesting that Moses didn't have that attitude. He didn't think he was a debtor. He thought he was burdened with being the leader of these people and getting them out of Egypt into the promised land and then subsequently 40 years in the desert and he's had enough of that. Where Paul, he was a debtor to God because of the gospel. because of the good news and he was a debtor to the people that they might receive the gospel, they might receive the good news.

So the most important thing here I think is to understand the attitude. I have in my notes, and I probably stole this from Newell, how unutterably sad to find many professing Christians shutting their doors in the face of Paul as he comes to tell them the glories of the heavenly message given to him, the unsearchable riches of Christ. So, it's interesting in Paul's last epistle, would he say he's complaining when he says, all the Asia have turned away from me? What's the difference between that attitude and Moses?

He wishes they hadn't. Yeah, and he views himself as their father, that through him they got born anew, but then towards the end of his life they all turn away from him. I find that to be really interesting. And it's not, why do you think that happened?

Why do people, you know, 30 years in the ministry, and you started all these churches in Asia, in Asia Minor, and in Europe, and why are they all turning away? Like the people God mentioned in Revelation, they lost their first love, they just went the way of the world. Went the way of the world. Do they get bored? What do you think happened to them? Have you ever read Arnside's book about the Plymouth Brethren? He writes a book about what happened to them because for a long time, 20-30 years, they had it right.

They had the church running as smoothly as any church since the beginning of the church age. And he said the reason was their focus went on how they were meeting rather than why they were meeting. The focus got off of Christ and got on to the ritual circumstances like around here, don't you dare sit in my pew. So as long as the focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ, Things are fine. I think Paul is saying that. Their focus got off of whatever, got off of the Lord Jesus as the center of their environment and their life and got on to religion, tradition, ordinances, identity, all of those kinds of things. And when that happens, they lose their first love. Okay, JD, you're up. Hi. Back there. I see some of you guys come in.

I bring my computer just in case you guys stump me with any tough stuff I have to look up real quick on Google. I do find it easier to find certain, like if I'm thinking about, I don't remember where in the Bible that is. If I search, if I use like my Bible app, it does not find it as quickly as Google does. It's kind of funny, I go to Google to find the verse and then I go back to my Bible to read it, you know?

Okay, so lesson two. We're moving on through the first chapter of Romans. First question. And many of you, except for maybe Debbie, haven't had a chance to look through some of these. So we'll think them through together as a group. But number one, what was the good news Paul wanted to preach to the Romans? Verse 15. Oh, okay. The gospel. And what is the gospel? The Bible. Hmm. The good news. What is the good news?

Jesus died on the cross for your sins and rose again on the third day. Okay, he's buried and rose again. That's right. So we can write 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. So we'll look that up real quick and let's just read that. Just as a side note, yesterday I had this home-going celebration. Roger got up and gave the gospel. He did a wonderful job. Oh, that's great. There was somebody sitting in that audience that didn't know this. Good news, they knew it when they left. That's awesome.

So gospel, meaning good news. This is what Paul was preaching. He desired desperately to connect and continue to communicate what they had already believed, even to those that hadn't heard. And it was the content of 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4. So you can go ahead and read that. I deliver to you as a first importance what I received, that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. So that's the gospel message. When we think of good news, there's a lot of good news in the scripture.

Paul would have wanted to share even more than that content, but it's that content that was of utmost importance to him. That was the essence of what he wanted to share. Mike talked about the nature of Paul versus the nature of Moses, and I think Mark, you mentioned also that Paul had a new nature. What makes him so unique?

We're going to talk about these things, but he is the first of his kind to understand who he is and so he is setting an entirely new story in place a new truth for all of these Romans who had basically been in an environment where it was it was one of Hey, there's this Jew that our country decided was not Right was not truth, did not deserve to live, and they were convinced by the Jews to put them to death. So here you have a Roman.

Think about it in our context. Imagine our country, the United States of America, putting Christ to death on the cross. And us having seen that being televised and being communicated across the world. And you think, how could we be wrong? How could the United States of America be wrong for putting a man to death for a crime that he was he was guilty of according to our country.

This is the Roman environment. Rome could not be wrong. Who are these guys? Alexander, Caesar, these great men. But here you have Paul, someone totally different, a Jew, preaching about a man that was killed in our own country, and it had to have been rightfully so. You see, the idea here of being a Roman was almost as like being an American. There was a pride there. We conquered, we ruled, we reigned. And our country decided that this man was guilty.

And you're telling me he's the savior of the world? You're telling me something that goes against all my country, all my patronage to Rome? And here he's writing a book to the Romans, to the very central of this patronage, right? I was just kind of imagining that in my mind. what kind of man would God need to put in place to go to Rome? It's like going to Washington, D.C. and preaching something that was completely counter-intelligent to everything that we believe and everything that we had heard and everything that the media had put before us.

These Romans were dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, and it had to do with the very essence of the gospel itself, and the good news. So to answer the question, Addy, you're right. It is God's words, but specifically the death, burial, and resurrection. And that was the message that he was bringing to these Romans.

And this kind of rolls into the second question, and kind of painting this picture of the way Rome was. I mean, I was watching Gladiator the other night, Do you think that's how Rome was? I mean, in one way or another, yeah, I mean, these guys were tough soldiers, you know, and the Romans were a very authoritative and capable advanced society, and, you know, again, I mentioned folks like Alexander and Caesar, I mean, yeah, But these men of this whole area, the Greeks, the Romans, the reigning identities that people created statues out of. Have you ever seen a statue of Paul the Apostle? No? So how does Paul stack up against these guys? What's different? gave him a message. A big message.

One that has a word associated with it that we're going to look at here in a minute. But you're right. Here he has the word of the cross. And that's greater than any sword, any troops that could be mustered up and convinced to follow. He has a message. And it's kind of a one-of-a-kind story. the scripture and Paul's words in Romans. It's a one-of-a-kind thing. Here you have the greatest country in the world at the time and he comes with the message of the cross.

So he does his work unto the Lord? He does. Absolutely. I'll grab my water. I was going to say one thing about his message and how important that message is. It is the only message that trumps death. He's delivering a salvation message that all promised, which is death. Yeah, does that make sense? Yeah.

We studied the book of James several years ago, and there's a term in there, this idea of truthing in love. We're talking to one another that we are to truth in love. In other words, truth is tied to love, and love is tied to truth. I think that you can have all the philosophy in the world, but when it's not tied to truth, there is no love. I've always said, and having done different kind of mission work and so forth in the past, I've always said that the greatest way for me to love you is to tell you the truth. And the Gospel is the truth of what you just mentioned, Joe, that deliverance from death into life.

It's the greatest way to love. So here Paul comes with the truth, and by virtue of the fact that he desired to communicate it, his love was greater than any other man that was marching and carrying a torch for any other concept or or message. It was here that there was a salvation message, a savior for your biggest problem, and that's your sin, right? And that's what he carried into Rome. Yeah, thoughts? I'm struck by your discussing the Roman Empire and their mentality.

We Americans think that everybody thinks like an American, and they don't. If you look at refugees that come to this country and the military goes to these other countries, or like you go and visit Hassan in Uganda, they don't have the, this is a terrible term, the Judeo-Christian ethic that's built into this country. They don't have that. They don't have just the legal system. especially if they're a Muslim country, their mindset is totally different than ours.

And we say, well, I can't understand why. Well, I can imagine Paul going to Rome. And not only does he have the good news, but he's got a message that they have no idea what he's talking about at first. What does he mean? A Jew dies on a cross in Jerusalem, and he's the savior of the world? Yeah, right. What else have you got to tell us?

Yeah, I mean, we can put ourselves in this situation probably better than anyone else in the world just because of the way that we think as Americans. And I'm not suggesting that patriotism and America is not Not right. I'm just suggesting that because we, having lived outside of the country for five years, I have got the chance to kind of see how other countries view other countries and experience, you know, the patriotism of different, you know, a different country altogether. And so we, this is kind of the way I would sum up, you know, the typical American thinking.

My dad called me up one time when we were in Canada. I was, go, say year four or so, we were there. He said, so when are you coming back to the world? So you take the American patriotism and then you take the Texas patriotism and you add that up together and you got something like what the Romans were.

Anywho. And then you have this total outsider from another country. It's like somebody coming from New Zealand. A small little portion of land that nobody really knows much about. And here he's supposed to have the most important message that I've ever heard in my life. He's not even an Aussie. What do they call him?

But it's the fact that God chose the weak. He chose the weakest to be the greatest. And that's the way God works. you become a debtor rather than one who has riches. Everything in the scripture after Paul starts to identify who we are in Christ and the message of salvation and really the heart and theme of Romans in verse 16 and 17, which is the next portion of what we're going to talk about, this is all contrary to the natural way that we think. It was completely contrary to every Roman, every Gentile, and even every Jew. The Jews didn't think this way either. This is not the way Saul thought. This is the way that Paul was taught. And it was a totally one-of-a-kind different thing.

So here we have, and I'll just read a few things. Here we have Paul going into Rome as a shipwreck prisoner. That's the way he entered. And we have these stories of Paul, he's talking about, he seeks a proof of Christ that speaks in me, to me, he says, to live as Christ. He's starting to communicate things that people are just like, I don't even know what that means.

But this is a one-of-a-kind, unique message. It was the good pleasure of God to reveal His Son in me, he says. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And they're thinking, we don't need grace, we're Rome. We have self. Yeah. We are in control. We're the greatest country in the world. We've conquered. And you're telling me that by the grace of God you are what you are and to live is Christ? No! To live is to have this manor out in the, you know, like the one that the gladiator had. I mean, that was to live to the Romans. It wasn't Christ. Who is this Jew that he speaks of?

He says he's ready to spend and be spent out for our souls. Why would he need to do that? We're fine. We have everything we need. We're Romans, right? But here, he turns everything upside down. That's what Paul does. He does it to us too, right? Every time we get into his epistles, he turns our natural way of thinking, by natural I mean the endemic, the sin nature, and he turns it right upside down.

So let's look in verse 16 and 17, if you don't mind reading that. We're going to look at number 3. If we were to describe in one sentence the book of Romans, this would be it. So this is what we would call the theme of Romans, by and large. I think in one of my Bibles in the past I kind of like outline these two verses to make sure that I remember that this was the central theme of the entire book. So someone go ahead and read 16 and 17.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for God's righteousness is the principle of faith to such as have principle of faith, and such as have faith is revealed in it, the gospel, just as it is written, the righteous on the principle of faith shall live. Okay, so verse 16 and 17, it starts off with, I am not ashamed.

Okay, we're going to talk about that in the next question, but what is he not ashamed of? Why do you think he says that? Because people, like, reject him and say, he's a believer, you're not like us, we don't like you. Okay. So he's not ashamed of it. Okay. What do you guys think about that? Pretty good. Have you ever been ashamed of something that was associated with your faith? Anything. Yeah? You've been ashamed? Tell me about it.

I had lunch with a lawyer one time. We were talking about the gospel. He wasn't a believer. And I guess I was ashamed that I didn't persuade him. We're going to talk about that. For sure. Because the gospel has, this message of the cross has something inherent in it that no other message has. We're going to talk about it. It's the power. That's right. We're going to go into that in a minute. It's actually not us. It never is us, right? It's the power of the gospel to save. It's not our power.

But, I've been in that position too. What's wrong with that thinking? Well, I think as I assessed it later, there was too much Mike and not enough gospel. I was trying to persuade out of my own ability to be persuasive rather than just letting the words do the persuading. Has anybody else been in that boat before?

I think because I was a brand new Christian I was always trying to share the gospel. I figured out that God has prepared some people and they're ready for it. Bang! I thought, well, it's a slick, I'm going to save the world. The next guy goes, you're insane, buddy. You know, it's God has got the heart ready. That boy's heart may have been just not quite enough people working on God's pride and everything. You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean.

God saves people and we don't. We're the tool he might use. But he's the one that does the saving. Through this word of his that's incredibly powerful and I think it takes a while to recognize how powerful the word is and that if you just use those words you don't need anything else. You rely on those.

If you tell me one more thing I had a lady say to me that if you became one of those Jesus freaks, and so she said to me, I want to talk to you the rest of my life. Guess what? To this day, she hasn't. Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted to share the gospel and you didn't?

Yeah, I was kind of thinking along the lines of what Mike was saying and probably making it where you're going, but I always thought it was eye opening when I finally figured out that it's God's message that you're going to share. And if it's rejected, I think a lot of people don't share out of fear that it's not going to go well or they'll be embarrassed or they'll get their feelings hurt because someone may respond so negatively to the truth. But just to be able to put yourself aside and realize that it's His message and His word and whether they accept it or not, it's not about you. Something that you guys shared with our family a while back is sometimes the fear of sharing the gospel may come with, I'm not prepared, or I'm not ready enough. or I'm not learned enough in the Word to share the Gospel.

And you guys told us something that's stuck with us since then is God has you exactly where He intends to have you. Where you are in your understanding of the Gospel and of the Word, God has you there, and that opportunity that He has you, that seed and he's the one that does the growing. Yeah, no, sounds like a really smart guy. Just kidding. The thought I was having was when you look at that Roman attitude, you know, free white and 21 and the goal is to be totally self-sufficient. That's what we're taught from an early age.

And then the gospel comes along and says, a need. And the spirit convicts you that way. That you need someone outside of you. And the perception by the world is that we're weak. Yeah. The American dream gets hit right upside the head with the gospel. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, that's where we're at.

Yeah, I was thinking a little bit along these lines of, you know, Obviously this content is very focused on by mission evangelical minded people, which we all should be to a degree, right? Whether or not we're sent across a border or across the sea, we should all have the mindset of desiring folks to know the truth about who they really are and what Christ has done for them. That's loving them.

And that's what I've always reminded myself of is that if I'm being rejected, it's not because of what Les was saying. It's not because of my message. I'm an ambassador. And Paul was not ashamed because it wasn't his idea. It can't offend me. It's not my message. I'm an ambassador. The only person you can offend is the one who sent it. And that's God. I mean, you can offend Him by not believing it, and that's where you are. Your sin offends Him. But there's a solution. He's loved you and offered a way out. You know, you've heard the term, don't kill the messenger? Well, that's true. I mean, that's what an ambassador really is. An ambassador is one who speaks on behalf of. It's not my message, but I'm bringing it on behalf of the one who sent it.

Let's look at 1 Peter 3.16, I think. I think I got the reference right. Let's double check. Oh yeah, it's 15.

It says, "...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts." So, set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. with gentleness and reverence." So this is Peter giving us a little bit more insight into not being ashamed and the process of sharing the gospel message. I've always reminded myself that, and I think this ties to what Joe, you mentioned earlier, we need to be prepared to present the hope that is in us. What does that mean? What is our hope? It's what Papi said earlier. It's the death, burial, and resurrection. It's the gospel message, right? We need to know what that is.

If you're a believer, you are prepared to tell that story. If you're a believer, you already are prepared to tell the story because you believed it, so you know it, right? You've comprehended it enough to believe it, so at least at that point you're able to communicate it. You may not be able to to deal with all the apologetical issues that may come about and that kind of thing that comes with time. But here Peter is saying just be prepared to give a defense when you are what?

When you're asked. That's something that has always struck me is I don't have to go force myself on to someone and share their gospel. A lot of times, like Jerry was saying, it's waiting for them to ask. That there's a need that arises. We talk about needs all the time. And unbelievers have needs. And the moment those needs arise and there are questions or inquisitive natures, we've seen it in the neighborhood.

It's taken several years. for questions to start being asked. Well, now they're being asked. And they want to know. And they're working through the message that Paul shared with the Romans. They're thinking stuff like that through. But it took a long time for them to start asking. It did. You think about the Jews on your block. The... Aesthetics. Aesthetics, yeah. Catholics. Catholics on your block. Whoever's on your block. Whoever's around you at work.

There will come a time when they'll ask a question, I believe, and that's when you can be unashamed, as Paul was unashamed of the gospel, because that is the only way you can truly love them. You can take care of their dog and help them out in a time of financial trouble. You can do all kinds of things that would conjure up the idea of being a really good friend. But the greatest way to both be a friend and one who loves another human being is to tell them the truth about who they are and what Christ did on their behalf.

At the end of the day, that's where it's at. I was wondering, you know how Jesus said, they hated me first. Somehow I think that fits in. Is there a paganism that gets to the gospel? There is. And I think that that hatred that Paul received for his message, we're telling Peter that we're going to suffer alongside with Christ. We're going to be a part of his sufferings. And what a privilege that is. And that was Peter's point, is that it is a privilege to suffer alongside Christ because of what He did and who He is.

That is merely an expression of love. That's the kind of love that God is communicating through Paul and to the Gospel and to the Romans. It's a Gospel that gives. It's a kind of love that gives and serves rather than gets and uses. We often talk about the world's type of love. They'll love you as long as they can get something out of it or use something that you have. There's always something there.

As long as you perform the way that I expect you to perform, I'll love you. I love this new car, this new truck. I've got the back-up rear-view mirror. I can see 360 degrees all around my car now because I've got mirrors on every part of the car. It basically drives itself. It can park itself. I don't ever have to worry about reversing into a parking spot. This thing is awesome. You're driving it down the highway and you hit a flat. And you get it fixed and you love it again. But as long as it's useful to you, you love the thing, right?

That's the way the world works with love. It's like, as long as I can use it, I don't mind having it around. But once you stop being useful, I don't need to be in this marriage anymore. We don't need each other anymore. It's done. At the end of the day, that's kind of the way that... That's an over-generalization. God's love is not getting and using, it's giving and serving.

And there's no reason to be ashamed about communicating that. Yes, we stand in contrast to the rest of the world, as Paul stood in contrast to the Romans, but there's nothing to be ashamed of. And when rejected and when despised, again, we are ambassadors and it is He who is being rejected. and despised, not us. And not to overthink this, but what a privilege it is to be able to truth and love with the Gospel message as Paul did.

It's truly a blessing and we all will get that opportunity and the Lord has us right where He needs us, right where He wants us, around the folks that need it the most. earlier talking, you were talking about how could people believe this Jewish guy, Paul. And when I think about the fact that he was Jewish up to here until he wasn't, and all of his Jewish, all the Jewish nation, most of them couldn't stand him. So you're trying to tell Gentiles say, you know, my message about Jesus is right, but your own people hate you.

How do you overcome that? Yeah, and that's the environment. But it was overcome. It was overcome. Alright, let's pray. Father, we do thank you for your message, the cross, and not merely the message itself, but the truth of all that it entails, the very fact that we were redeemed, we were set free, and we now as being both sons and daughters of the Lord, we are thankful for that very adoption that you've placed us in Christ and that all of our riches and all of the things that we possess are in you in the heavenlies and we thank you for Paul's message to the Romans and the gospel itself and the fact that it is the very power to save. Lord, we love you dearly and we thank you that you have loved us first. In your name we pray. Amen.