Welcome to Calvary Chapel, Newcastle verse by verse study of the book of Romans. For other studies from the book of Romans, go to our series on romans@www.ccn.org.au/Romans. Join us now for this week’s message from Pastor Terry Martens as he teaches from Romans. All right, welcome to a very empty room at Calvary Chapel in Newcastle. It’s great to have you join us online. Obviously, Brad and Kylie are here with me taking care of the livestream, which is a blessing. It’s incredibly odd. I feel like I’ve been, you know, appointed to be one of these preachers who was left behind at the rapture of the church. I’m sitting here, kind of looking at my notes wondering where everyone is at or if people have got the time wrong or what have you. It’s a strange experience for me.

As I’m sure it’s odd for you to be at home, looking at me in your living rooms and seeing me on TV and I’m sure it’s as odd for you as it is for me, but it is very odd for me indeed. I was planning on going through the book of Mark after I finished Proverbs. I’ve just finished 89 sermons in the book of Proverbs. And we spent probably about two years total in in the book of Proverbs. My intention was to go to a gospel and and study the book of Mark. But because of this virus, this COVID-19 Coronavirus, whatever you want to call it. I thought it was important to look at another virus that we have. And I really sense that the Lord wanted us to look at this problem called sin that we’re born into that we’re born with and Paul does a master work. He does an incredible job of dealing with this problem we have called sin and the remedy or the cure for it because as men has sinned, each man has been appointed to death, and so we want to make sure that we end up in eternal life and that is obviously through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul does such a wonderful job in the book of Romans doing that.

It’s we’re going to look at the book of Romans verse by verse, I’ll probably be teaching about 45 to 50 minutes, each session each Sunday at four o’clock local time, and eventually getting through the entire book of Romans. And then hopefully, we’re gathering together, one on one for the book of Mark in the not too distant future. There’s a lot to unpackage in the book of Romans, I hope you’re blessed. I’m going to read some of the blessings that other men have had through the reading of Romans. And I’m sure you’ll be encouraged by it as you reflect on your own journey through the book of Romans as you’ve read through the Bible, throughout your lifetime, maybe as you came to the Lord by reading a passage in the book of Romans. Let’s allow the Lord to continue to work through the book of Romans as we sit as believers unpackaging each word and verse as we go along.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much for this time we get together that we get to hang out, not face to face, for me in an empty room for you, maybe with a spouse or with a couple of friends, that we would forget about our circumstances or surroundings just for a little while and look at the content, consider the content that’ll be laid out. That people wouldn’t even really consider the things that I have to say, so much as what your word has to say.

We love you God, we each reflect on the day that we came to you. And we ponder the content of the book of Romans and we’re humbled by it. I’m humbled that I’ve been able to walk with you for nearly 25 years and, and to grow and to see my, my shortcomings and to see, you know, the benefits and the privileges of walking with you, personally. And as we may have the opportunity to grow old, studying a book like Romans, certainly the entire Word of God, may our growth be an opportunity for people to see your grace. It’s an evangelical summation of the gospel at work and the individual and what you’ve called us to as people, as individuals as we go out from this space.

And we enter into the marketplace, as Paul did, as we enter into the religious centres as Paul did, as we just live with friends and family, as Paul did, and as the saints You know, did throughout all of Scripture, we pray that you would use your word now to bless your people that would be built up by it that would be encouraged in dark days or in uncertain days at least. And that you would, in your way, have your way that we would all not be captivated by fear, but with this tremendous hope that we will see you upon death, because we have been atone for our sin has been atone for in the blood of Christ. And we’re so grateful for that. So now as we open up this book called Romans, may we be blessed in Jesus name, amen.

All right. If there was a great title for this book, I would have to say that or primarily for Romans chapter one, it would be something like this, the human race is guilty before God and it’s truly a good headline I think for it because we as humans have sinned and we need a remedy for it. And I think, and I know that Paul the Apostle was someone that addressed it really clearly throughout this book.

I’ve got a few quotes I want to read to from men that you’ll recognise as I mentioned them throughout the quote, and the first one comes this way, in the summer of 386, a young man wept in the backyard of his friend’s home. He knew his life of sin and rebellion against God left him empty and feeling dead. But he just couldn’t find the strength to make the final or a real decision to follow Jesus Christ. As he sat he heard children playing this game and they called it each other with these words, take up and read take up and read. It must have been some kind of a game that the kids back then played. We don’t know what it was. But that’s what they were saying. And thinking that God had a message to him in the words of the children, he picked up a scrolling near him and began to read it. And what he read was Romans chapter 13, verses 13 through 14 and it says this, not by revelling or drunkenness, nor in debauchery or licentiousness, not in quarrelling and in jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

He didn’t read any further, he didn’t have to really, through the power of God’s Word Augustine gained the faith to give his whole life to Jesus Christ at that moment. In August of 1513, a monk lectured on the book of Psalms to seminary students, but as in her life was nothing but turmoil. In his studies, he came across Psalm 31 One which says, In thy righteousness, deliver me.

The passage confused Martin Luther. How could God’s righteousness do anything but condemn him to hell as a righteous punishment for since. Luther kept thinking about Romans 1:17, which says, The righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith as it is written, he through faith is righteous shall live. The monk went on to say night and date I pondered until I grasp the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by face. Therefore, I felt myself to be reborn and have gone through open doors into paradise. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway into heaven. Martin Luther was born again. The reformation began in his heart.

In May of 1738. Continuing with the introduction, a failed minister and missionary reluctantly went to a small Bible study where someone read aloud from Martin Luther his commentary in Romans. As the failed missionary said later, while he was describing the change which God was working in his heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken my sins away even mine, John Wesley was saved that night in London.

And finally, in 1993, a young man was in a gathering of other young men. He sat quietly as the things of the Lord or discuss. Two nights later as he returned home, he reached for a Bible as mother bought him in the sixth grade. Every hard word spoken by Paul, the apostle in the book of Romans was ointment to a weary soul tired of the world. That night, a young man by the name of Terry Martens was born again. And each of us have that kind of a story. Each of us have opened up the word for the very first time and have pulsed the words that have come and leapt off the page into our hearts and have been either convicted or encouraged by what has been said. And I remember clearly when I first read the book of Romans, how it was ointments. How it served my soul so well. I tried to find gain from what the world had to offer. I tried to find it in relationships. I tried to find it in money. I tried to find it in whatever the world was selling, but it just wasn’t there. But I found it in the book of Romans. I found it in the book of John. I found it in the book of Luke. I found it in the epistles, I found it in even something like eschatology, the end times I saw that there was hope that there was a plan of God for my life and for all of our life.

Consider the testimony of other men that have read the book of Romans, Martin Luther praised Romans this way, he said, it is the chief part of the New Testament and the perfect gospel, the absolute epitome of the gospel, leading to his successor, Philip, who called the Romans, the compendium or the epitome or the perfect submission of or the summation of Christian doctrine. John Calvin said that the book of Romans, he said this of it, he said, When anyone understands this epistle, he has the passage open to him to the understanding of all of Scripture. Samuel Coolridge, some of you know his stuff. He was the English poet and literary critic that said, Paul’s letter to the Romans is the most profound work in existence. That’s quite a statement. There’s a lot been written and a lot been said everything from politics, from the time of the Caesars, and before that, to literary works of Homer, to those even within our time, with great apologists and pastors and teachers and the writers of all kinds of books, but this is what Coolridge said, the most profound work in all of existence. I’d have to agree with him in that.

Frederick Goddard, the 19th century Swiss theologian called the book of Romans, the Cathedral of the Christian faith. And then Richard Lenski wrote that the book of Romans is beyond question the most dynamic of all New Testament letters, even as it was written, written at the climax of Paul the apostles career, obviously before he lost his life to the axe men. In other words, these men were declaring that content can change lives. Even as your content is you’re in the workspace and I’m in the workspace throughout the week, our content, what we say changes people’s lives. And God has given us a clear declaration of what’s to be said, from a book like Romans.

Paul constructs it in such a fantastic way that even someone like a lawyer can look at it and just declare it to be a masterpiece as we begin in verse one. Paul introduces himself to the Roman Christians very simply by naming himself Paul, no last name, no title before, really, but a title behind his name, which is so wonderful, so humble, so gracious, may we carry our selves this way, and not be seduced into giving ourselves all kinds of names that would bring us some kind of a superficial power sense of all among the company that we fellowship with. But Paul would rock into these congregations of 10 and 15 people and at times, maybe even five and other times in a fellowship that really despised them probably the largest of all the fellowships, Corinth, and he would kind of walk in there, you know, hunched over and, and, you know, tradition says that he was a bent over bald headed man with a hook nose walking into the congregation, as a man and his His mid 40s, mid 50s. And then in his early 60s before he loses his life, kind of unassuming and, and not not powerful in appearance in any way. Not that Saul complex but a simple man of tremendous faith, doctrine, love for the church, and most importantly love for God, he would walk in there probably with this parchment in suffering of some sort, no doubt. And he introduces himself this way to the Romans that just come to be a servant of come to serve you as I serve Christ. I’ve come to be someone that is, is gentle among you. But my words will have power they will have weight because I am the conduit. I am the conduit of truth. I am not the truth. I’m the conduit of truth that you wish I ever received from God I freely delivered to you. That’s the way that he functions and then on Monday morning, he would go to so his tents and he would earn a living. And on Sunday, he would go to the local church, and he would preach. And then on Monday he would go and so tense, and then he would go to church on Sunday, and he would preach, and he would meditate what he was going to say, throughout the week, so that he would be able to deliver that which would build up the saints, and he also would find himself being built up in their common faith.

He introduces himself as Paul, a very common name, especially today. But a beautiful name. I think if I could be any other name other than Terry, it would probably be Paul. I love the name. I love everything that his name stands for. He’s a legend to me.Even as Daniel is a legend, to me As Moses is a legend to me, there’s so many throughout scripture that are legends to me when I character profile, but Paul is the one that I have the deepest affection for. And he says this, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel or the good news of God. He once was Saul of Tarsus, named after the first king of Israel, someone who was prolific in charisma. Someone who was tall, dark and handsome, he had the swagger he was good looking. He had what people look for in a leader. And he was named after such as parents named him after the Great King of Israel from a carnal or a fleshly perspective. He was the first king of Israel. But then the Lord changes it to saw from Saul to Paul. And he finds that his life has radically changed as he’s walking to Damascus, as a non believer looking to arrest and persecute Christians, something that I believe vexed them. Throughout even as ministries, he looked back on the way that he behaved to those that he now loved.

It’s funny how the gospel can do that. It’s funny how the Gospels done that in your life and how the gospel is done that in my life, how the things that I wants to despise has become very precious to me, the the people that I would turn from when I saw them, have now become the dearest of friends to me. To find a believer in any corner of the earth that I travel is precious to me. It’s precious to you. You can find fellowship wherever you are, whether you’re in a living room in Myanmar, or in Canada, or in America, or whether you’re in Australia sitting and watching this and listening to the unpackaging of these verses in Romans. There’s something beautiful. There’s something powerful about just sitting next to a fellow believer with your Bibles open. That you have like mindedness that you share common worldview. That there’s a brotherhood that I actually would go so far as to say is deeper than blood. And it’s okay to celebrate family family is wonderful, but I think we’ve come into the idolatry of family often. And I think that has gone from generation to generation to generation and Isn’t it beautiful? When Blood family, have a relationship with Jesus Christ that you have fellowship with them spiritually, but you also have blood with them.

But that’s not the case for all of you who are listening right now some of you who are listening are the only believers in your family and you know it. And so when you come here and you gather and you see a bunch of people who are like minded with their Bibles open, and the pastor says, open up your Bibles to Romans chapter one, and you hear the word, Paul, your heart leaps. You’re full of joy. You know, fellowship surrounds you with dead men and living men and women who are with you. I know that when I read my Bible, when I first came to the Lord I, I had fellowship pretty much instantly because my brother exposed his common faith to me on that same weekend. But I know that as I read the book of Romans and I read through the Bible for the first time that I ever, ever opened up the text. I didn’t feel alone. I didn’t feel alone. I could identify with Paul could identify with Peter. I could identify with John and I could identify with Moses. I could identify with Daniel, I could identify with people who are marked with sin, that sin problem. That virus that all humanity has been infected by. I could identify with them. And for the first time, I could rejoice with them that I could identify with their appreciation for forgiveness.

Paul knew what that was like. You likely had a spouse that left him. He likely had relationships, deep fellowship with those within the Pharisaical Sect. Friendships, people, they would play ping pong with people that they would talk sport with people that they would talk philosophy with people that they would eat with people that they would talk children and kids and family with. And to see that all change and to find himself isolated in the Arabian desert for three years, and I’m convinced, was never lonely when he was there for those three years. In fact, I believe that as Paul went along in his life, of suffering for the gospel, he would often take his mind back to those three years where he was isolated with God and would have fond memories of the goodness of those times. I’m convinced of it because I can identify with that. I can identify with the suffering, of saying no to unrighteousness and godliness when it still has a law or a temptation for you.

To have fellowship in it with others concerning the things of sin, and to walk away from it and enter into a life of suffering, simply because you are denying your former practices and conduct. That’s a suffering folks. defined your social circles completely change because you’ve given your life to Christ, that is a suffering. But then to come into the fellowship of the saints, who can identify with that even as Paul did, even as you do, even as I have. It’s precious. And that’s why I find it’s so odd to be sharing from the book of Romans in an empty building. But I know you’re with me. I know you’re with me. Your hearts are with me in the Gospel. Your hearts are with me in Romans in a thank God for that.

This book was likely written between the years 53 and 58 ad. He had winter there in Corinth on his third missionary journey. You can read about that in Acts, chapter 20. He wrote it when he’d been a preacher for already 20 years. And on his way to Jerusalem, he had three months in chorus, chorus without any pressing duties, and he thought, perhaps it might be a good idea to write a letter to Rome preparing them for my arrival, at least they know what I’m going to say and they can read what I have written so that when they hear me teach it and expound it and correlate it with my knowledge of the Old Testament, they’ll really be blessed. And they’ll get a true exposition of what God wants his people to hear. It’s certainly a different book from any of the other letters that Paul wrote.

Paul wrote letters to churches like Thessalonica or Corinth. And yet why are they different? Well, they’re different in the sense that he knew those people. He established those fellowships he had planted those churches, he had visited those people, he knew them. But he had never been to Rome. His desire had been to go to Rome, but he’d never been there. His desire was to be there, because I am convinced he knew that if the gospel had reached Rome and took effect in Rome, that it had the ability to travel out of Rome. Very easily. There’s a saying that goes this way all roads lead to Rome. And if a road leads to Rome, then a road also leads out of Rome. If the gospel was going to be strong if the church is going to be strong in Rome, it would have a good testimony as it went out of Rome. The people there loved the gospel, according to Paul, which you could say is Romans, they memorised it. They would read over it in their church meetings regularly. And they made wide copies, which were circulated outside of Rome, travelling on those roads from Rome, to the various cities that you see mentioned throughout the book of Acts. And so we have here Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle in verse one.

Take a look at two things here in verse one, open up your Bibles or your devices, if you’re not already there.

He identifies himself, first of all, as a servant of Jesus Christ. And then second, he calls himself an apostle, really at the back end of his introduction. I think many men today would put that at the entry of his introduction. But he chooses to place it at the back end. I think it’s a posture of his heart, his knowledge of who he is in Christ, as a doulos as a servant of Jesus Christ, that word servant in the Greek is the word do loss and it means simply this and only this. Others have become fancy with it, but it only means this and it is the word slave. Paul recognised that Rome had a slave reality. Rome was full of slaves. It’s believed that one out of every seven people was a slave master. And six out of every seven was a slave. And so the concept of slavery was very much in their view. And Paul, knowing his freedom that he had in Christ also decides to describe themselves as a slave. To what?

It’s a good question. Why would you as a Christian celebrates slavery, when, after all, aren’t we free?

Well, you’re either a slave to sin, or you’re a slave to righteousness and pull desire to be a slave to righteousness. And he knew theologically and doctrinally that all of his righteousness came from Christ. It was imputed to Him. He had tried it on his own. And he realised that he had a problem with consciousness. And when he realised he had a problem with covetousness, he knew that he felt short of the standard of God. And he had to find it somewhere else and he found it in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then decides to call himself Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ. I find it fascinating. It is poetic. It is rhetorical mastery. Paul, a doulos, a servant of Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you. I don’t know how you view your life. But I view myself this way. Terry Martens. A slave of Jesus Christ, called not to be an apostle, but called to be a tradesman called to be a teacher of the Bible.

Some of you are called to be electricians and plumbers and doctors and dentists. Some of you are called to live stream like Brad and Kylie. Some of you are called to be mums and do it well and do it with full affection and warmth and desire to spend time with your children, not despising those early years of their lives. Dad you’ve been called to provide for your family. Kids, you’ve been called to honour your mother and your father. Some of you have been called to singleness. Some of you have been called to marriage. Some of you have been called sickness. How will we handle these things? Well, I’m convinced we can only really handle them. Well, if we know that they’ve been sifted through God’s hand and his desire for us, his will for us.

And when we realise that we don’t have to feel like we missed the call of God on our lives, because the only way that you will miss the call of God in your life is if it is intercepted by sin. If sin is allowed to come into your life, and to root itself and your hard heart is not allowing you to respond to that still small voice of the Spirit, you no longer pick up the Word of God and you decide to ruin The Throne of your heart, that is when you know that you are not called to something. But if your heart is right before God and whatever you find yourself doing, whether it is laying tile, or whether it is functioning and serving as a doctor in the hospital, or wherever it is, maybe if it’s even a pastor teacher, why do we elevate these things? Someone is just simply doing what God has called them to do. How can we celebrate that above someone else’s calling?

I am called to be a dad. I am called to be a husband. I am called to pick up my tools tomorrow morning and to provide for my family I am called to pay my taxes I am called to be a good neighbour I am called to honour my king, my Lord Jesus Christ, Wherever I am, and whatever I do and sorry, you. You do it doing those things, you’re honouring your call that God has on your life. But you will miss that call. If you harbour sin. Paul specifically called to be an apostle, a messenger of this good news that has affected our lives. And in one scene, Paul says that he was separated essentially from the world to the gospel of God.

His message was the good news of God. He was the conduit. He was just a bent over man with a hook nosed and a ball head now stately in any way. He was a conduit. If you don’t know what conduit is, it’s just that little plastic protection around a piece of copper wire that allows that electrical current to travel through. There is nothing in a conduit other than that which protects the message delivering through that particular apparatus, ie individual. There’s no glory in the conduit.

The glory is in the Gospel in the work in the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the architect, the Father in heaven. Quoting Clark concerning this separated to the gospel of God, Paul may be referring to his former state as a fantasy which literally signifies a separatist or one separated Before he was separated onto the surface of his own sect, now he is separated unto the gospel of God. In fact, the word God is mentioned 153 times in the book of Romans 153 times God’s name or the word God is mentioned in the book of Romans, that’s a lot. In verses two through six is Paul introduces his Gospel to the Romans, Paul a bondservant of Jesus Christ, call to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God, verse to what you promised before through his holy prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declare to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him, we have received grace apostle ship, for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.

Back up now to verse to a, where Paul references God’s promise before through the holy prophets in the Holy Scripture. He’s introduced himself. Now he gets into it. Okay, I’m coming to you not delivering anything new. I’m coming to you to deliver what was prophesied by the holy prophets who, well, Isaiah, even Noah, even Adam, you can go through all of the characters of the Old Testament specifically the prophets. I shouldn’t say all the characters, but many of the characters prophesied concerning this delight that God would have in bringing the Messiah Jesus Christ. It’s not a new gospel. It’s not a clever new invention as Paul’s critics and Athens criticised him of introducing. Okay, you had two schools primarily at that time, the epicureans and the stoics. The epicureans. At that time were the disciples of a man named Epicurious who delighted in sensual enjoyment. Specifically concerning food and wine. I think we’re living in that same age. We are obsessed with food and wine. We are obsessed with food and drink. It’s like as soon as there’s any kind of niggle within our tummy. We start thinking about what restaurant we’re going to go to, or we start rummaging in the drawers or in the cupboards, or in the fridge. At least I did. It’s almost as if our God is once again our belly impulses that ought not to be case is epicureans, who were essentially living for pleasure criticise Paul of this new idea called the gospel of Jesus Christ and there was a stoics who were members of the ancient philosophical School of stoicism. A people who could endure pain without showing their feelings or complaining now you’ve seen them. Often they package their spirituality as being sombre or depressed looking or just kind of like whoa is me and it’s kind of like this. Oh, we can’t show any kind of emotion because that’s not good. It shows weakness. Listen, we’ve been created to be emotional beings. We’ve all been created equally, but uniquely, in some of us are more expressive in the way that we communicate our emotions and others are more subdued and also And those who are more subdued, are described as being stoic. And I think that’s somewhat of a compliment to tell you the truth in today’s day and age of self glorification. But those who two particular schools dominated Athens at that time, and Paul just wanted to remind the Roman world that it’s not about coming up with something new. What I’m delivering to you guys here is something really quite old. But there’s been enlightenment in what was shared, or from what was shared earlier in the Old Covenant. In verse three concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord was the centre of Paul’s Gospel of course, it’s the centre of Christianity, certainly not a trend or or a hyped up environment, or even some kind of a moral teaching. It’s funny. I’ve just spent two years teaching the book of Proverbs. And the name of Jesus was not mentioned once in the book of Proverbs. But there was a lot of good counsel, there was a lot of good instruction for godly living and for just living in society. But never was Jesus mentioned. And that’s okay because we know that Christ was involved with everything that was delivered to those who were writing down the scripture by the Holy Spirit’s.

He’s obviously he’s God. But the gospel that Paul delivered now shines a light on to the reality of the second person in the Trinity called Jesus Christ. He is the one that Paul brings highlight to certainly his sinless life, his virgin birth and other epistles. Certainly his work at the cross His miracles. His resurrection was a highlight of Paul’s teachings. And then obviously eschatology, Paul reminding the church that Christ was coming again and a new kingdom would be established. And we’ll see more of that as we get on into the book of Romans, particularly when we get into the middle part of this book in Romans 910 and 11. Paul came to declare Jesus Christ is our Lord. Fascinating. He doesn’t say anything less than that. That he deserves our adoration that Jesus Christ deserves our homage was highly controversial in the time of Rome when Caesar was Lord and none other than Caesar and to see Say that Jesus was Lord was a certain death sentence, depending on how long you were willing to make that statement and if you were willing to recant on that statement in verses three B, and four, this Jesus whom Paul preached was born to the seat of David, according to the flesh, and declare to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Again, theologically, doctrinally, we need to know that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man, it’s called technically the Hypostatic Union. It just means that 100% God and 100% man that he existed as a man he wasn’t an apparition. He wasn’t a fable. He wasn’t Legend. He was tangible.

In all you would have to do was ask his mother or Joseph, who likely passed before even Jesus did, but we can’t be certain about that. But those that touched them and held them as john declares in his writings, Jesus was born a man according to the seed of David, and if you’re interested in his genealogy, I encourage you to look at specifically I think, Luke chapter three. Matthew chapter one is great, but it follows the lineage of David to Jesus through Joseph. But in Luke chapter three, it follows the lineage of Mary, to Jesus from David. And that’s significant. They’re both significant. But I encourage you to do some private study on why Luke went the marry route in Luke chapter three.

The evidence of His deity as in his resurrection from the dead. Morrison, his commentary wrote this, there is a sense in which Jesus was the Son of God and weakness before the resurrection, but the Son of God in power thereafter now I understand what he’s saying. And I agree with him. But to another extent, I disagree with him. And so I’ve added this. I’ve never seen any weakness in Christ, anywhere.

Even in his death, I see meekness. And the word meekness is fascinating to me because it simply means Power under control. It’s borrowed from an ancient word where horses would be caught and broken. And when it had been broken and was no longer wild, a man could jump on the back of that horse with a simple bit and a string or a cord attached to his hands.

And he would declare that that horse was now make, hadn’t lost any of its power as powerful as ever. But the power had been subdued and had been made or brought under control. And we know that with Jesus, he did all that the father asked of him to do.

He was completely submitted to what the Father had asked him to do in the work of redemption for you and I as we sit here listening to the book of Romans in verse four Paul used the word declared.

It’s the ancient word horizon, which comes from the idea to bound to define, determine or limit and hence, our word horizon. The line that determines the furthest visible part of the earth in reference to the heavens. It is this place the word signifies such a manifest and complete exhibition of the subject as it as to render it impossible to doubt. Folks, in this day and age in which we live Christian apologetics have become such an incredible weapon for defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let me caution you with these words. Be lovingly bold. Be lovingly bold

We have been blessed with resources concerning philosophy. We’ve been blessed with resources concerning bibliology, we’ve been blessed with resources concerning eschatology. Any kind of study within the framework of a biblical worldview, and even a secular worldview, we have access to all of the world religions and worldviews that are out there, and I encourage you to know them well.

Understand other worldviews because I’m convinced that if you don’t, it’s going to hinder and limit your outreach in a post Christian world. So know them. Spend your time studying other worldviews but most importantly, know the Christian worldview and know bibliology, know how we got our Bible, know how and why we can trust the scriptures, that you can defend them with love and with patience and with kindness with the fruit of the Spirit so that you can win them over with content and delivery.

And that they would not look at you or judge you as being obnoxious. They may reject your gospel, but they might say this view that wow. He was a delightful man to talk to. She was a wonderful woman to talk to. She really knew what she believed. But she was kind and gentle in the way that she delivered it. That’s awesome. That’s how you outreach that is how you have evangelical events in this day and age. It is one on one in the marketplace. People are watching you even as they were watching Paul and Paul said, You are living epistles known and read by all men. I love that verse because he’s speaking to a generation that is so similar to the generation in which we love. Few people would congregate, but those few people would go out. And they would enter into the evangelical realm called the workspace, or the social circles, or the sports fields, and people are watching. And the delivery is critical, but so is the content.

Know your stuff. Know what you believe?

And ask God for all the grace that He has for you, working with your personality to be able to deliver it in a way that That is palatable. And you will find that people will approach you when they are ready because they trust you. And they liked you. Do you want to be liked? Yeah, it’s great to be liked in the church setting. But are you liked?

Not a Facebook like not a cyber like, but are you liked on the construction site? Are you liked by your neighbours? Are you light at the grocery store? By the checkout man or lady?

We need diplomacy. We need knowledge. But we need diplomacy. We need love. We need tenderness we need the fruit of the Spirit to make the message potent In this time we live here in Australia. And wherever you are listening, let’s finish there.

I’ll pray. God bless you. I encourage you that if you’re sitting with anyone else talks amongst each other about what is impacted you discuss it. Think about it, go to bed thinking about Paul and what he has to say read ahead. correlate within your mind of some of the things that Paul has said in other spaces of Scripture. But if you can discuss it with each other, even now, whether it’s with your kids, whether it’s with your spouse, or whether it’s with some friends that are sitting next to you,

God bless you. I miss you already. I love you.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much for Word thank you so much for this fellowship that I know.

Thank you so much for Paul the apostle, a man who suffered much, but boy do I look forward to seeing his reward. Lord, I’m excited for this study through the book of Romans and all that you’re going to say and teach us and convict us of and challenge us in. You’re going to build me up and you’re going to pull me down. You can going to stretch me and you’re going to give me relief.

You’re going to do that in our hearts. You’re going to make us uncomfortable. And you’re going to bring us great comfort through the book of Romans. Lord, we love you. We are so excited for your return a while we have day We’ll be about your business. I’ll be on the tools tomorrow, you’ll be on the tools tomorrow.

You’ll be doing your thing in the space and the calling that God has for you. And maybe we use this week as an opportunity to rejoice in our circumstances. primarily in the reality of our salvation in Jesus Christ, we pray this in your name Jesus, amen.

* Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.