THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN THE WORLD

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: ROMANS 1:1-4




INTRODUCTION:


1.     The apostle Paul wrote his famous epistle to the Romans in approximately 60 AD.  Back then Rome was the greatest city in the world, and the Roman Empire dominated the world.

2.     When Paul wrote this epistle, Nero was the Roman emperor.

3.     Nero’s mother, Agrippina, began talking of replacing Nero with his half-brother Britannicus. Nero resented and feared this to such an extent he had his brother Britannicus poisoned (55 A.D.).

4.     Not long after that murder, Nero had his own mother and his aunt put to death (59 A.D).  These were shocking crimes.  Everyone in Rome was talking about Nero’s madness and his cruelty.  But Paul does not refer to Nero at all in his epistle to the Romans.

5.     Back in those days, Seneca was Rome's leading intellectual figure. Seneca was a philosopher, a statesman, and an orator. His tragedies were widely read and influenced great writers such as William Shakespeare.

6.     His philosophy of Stoicism spread across Europe.  He was studied by Augustine and Jerome, and his ideas were a component of the Latin culture of the Middle Ages.

7.     Seneca was read by Dante and Chaucer, and his moral treatises were edited by Erasmus.

8.     But when the apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans he does not mention Seneca or his writings.

9.     Paul’s message was far more important than politics or philosophy.  His message was “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1).

10. The Scofield Study Bible says that “the gospel of God” is the theme of Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

11. There is only one true Gospel, and it is “the gospel of God” (1:1), referred to in verse 9 as “the gospel of His Son” (1:9).  In Romans 1:16, it is the Gospel of Christ.”  Therefore, Jesus Christ is God (1:1).

12. My message this morning is entitled, “The Most Important Message in the World.”  That message is the Gospel (1:16).

 

I.      THE SEPARATION OF THE GOSPEL

II.   THE THEME OF THE GOSPEL

III.THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL

 

I. THE SEPARATION OF THE GOSPEL (1:1).

1.     There is precious little preached these days about the doctrine of separation. Before I go any further, let me stress that separation is not merely a negative doctrine - we are “separated unto the gospel of God” (1:1).  That is positive.

2.     Too many Christians think separation is “don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t go to movies, etc.”  That is one aspect of separation - separation from sin.

3.     But the positive side is what Paul mentions here - “separated unto God” (1:1).  Back in Leviticus 20, we read these words, “I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.  Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Lev. 20:24-26).

4.     This same doctrine of separation is taught all through the Bible (cf. I Peter 1:15, 16).  God is holy and we are to be holy.  And God’s Word is holy - “the holy Scriptures” (1:2b).

5.     We had a member here a few years ago that moved away but we have kept in touch.  Now he is living in Pennsylvania in an area where there are many old-fashioned, separated Mennonites.  He sent me an interesting e-mail the other day.

6.     When I view the strict teachings and guide lines for the life of the community, I find it rather grievous at best to see how far our society has come, not just backsliding a little but out and out denial of authority; decency and biblical truth. The wayward, slack, liberal teachings of my youth are only depressing by comparison when I think of the decisions I made as an adult with or without knowledge.”

7.     This man has been saved now for close to ten years.  And now he is finally beginning to understand the doctrine of separation.  It was the holy living of his Mennonite neighbors that opened his eyes.  

8.     I was talking to the missionary last Sunday night along these lines and he mentioned the importance of memorizing Scripture.

9.     A Christian who is often meditating on God’s Word is not likely to be enamored with this wicked, sin-loving, Christ-rejecting world (cf. James 4:4; I John 2:15-17).

10. Let me remind you that this wicked world hates God.  It hates the Bible.  It hates the Lord Jesus Christ.  Why would we want anything to do with this world’s twisted values and lascivious entertainment and vulgar clothing styles?

11. We are separated unto the gospel of God and we are to be separated from sinners (II Cor. 6:14-7:1).  Sometimes we are asked how can we win sinners to Christ if we are to be separated from them?  Let me emphasize that it is much easier to win sinners to Christ when you are separated unto the Gospel of God.

12. Worldly Christians are not good soulwinners.   If you saw a man sinking in quicksand would you jump in next to him or would you stay on solid ground and throw him a rope?

13. We have churches and Christians that are more worldly than the devil himself and they think nothing of it!

14. Now it is not difficult to explain what it means to be separated from sin and worldliness, but what does it mean to be “separated unto the gospel of God”?   It means being devoted to the proclamation of the gospel of God - “the Good News from God.”

15. God had separated Paul even before he was born (Gal. 1:15). That in itself is an important matter (consider also, Samuel, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and others).

 

II. THE THEME OF THE GOSPEL (1:2, 3).

1.     This glorious Gospel message was “promised afore by (through) His prophets in the holy scriptures,” i.e., the OT (1:2; cf. Isaiah 53).

2.     It has been truly said that the Messianic promise was the warp and woof of the Old Testament.  Paul quotes the OT many times in this great epistle (cf. Romans 4:3-8; 10:13).

3.     There is the OT and the NT, but there is only one Holy Bible.  Someone put it this way:

The NT is in the Old concealed,

The OT is by the New revealed.

               Or

The NT is in the Old contained,

The OT is by the New explained.  

4.     That is what our Lord did on the Emmaus Road.  He explained to the two disciples “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

5.     Do you recall what our Lord said to the Jewish leaders in John 5:39?  “ Search the (OT) scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:39, 40).

6.     Christ is seen on every page of the Old Testament.

·        Christ is the Passover Lamb. 

·        Christ is the Manna from Heaven.  

·        Christ is the smitten Rock. 

·        Christ is the Captain of the LORD’s host. 

·        Christ is the branch of the LORD - the righteous Branch.

·        Christ is the promised Messiah, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

·        Christ is Emmanuel - God with us. 

·        Christ is the First and the Last, the Hope of Israel, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of Jesse, the Seed of the woman, and the Son of God.

7.     People accused Spurgeon of preaching the same message over and over again.  He said his critics had a point - he said he always picked a text and then made a beeline for the cross.

8.     “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14, 15).

9.     “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord…” (1:3) - specifically that He died for our sins on the cross, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (cf. I Cor. 15:1-4).

10. Furthermore it was prophesied in the OT that our Lord would come through the seed of David (Rom. 1:3).  He is the son of David “according to the flesh” (1:3); and He is the Son of God “according to the Spirit of holiness” (1:4).

 

III. THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL (1:4; cf. 1:16).

1.     Our Lord’s resurrection from the dead (1:4) validated His claim to be the Son of God.  He said in John 10:17 and 18, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

2.     The word “power” is found three times in Romans 1 (1:4, 16, 20).  The Greek language has several different words that are all translated by our one English word “power.” 

3.     But the same Greek word is used all three times here in Romans 1.  It is dunamis, and it where we get our English words, dynamite, dynamic, and dynamo.

4.     The Gospel is a powerful force, a divine energy.  It is the good news of salvation energized by the Holy Spirit.  I remember sitting in chapel in Bible college and my pastor was preaching.  I do not recall his text nor do I remember the message.  But I do remember these words.  He said, “Men, reach the Gospel.  It still works!”

5.     Hallelujah!  The power of the Gospel has not been diminished.  It is the same powerful message that the apostle Paul preached nearly 2000 years ago.

6.     I grow weary listening to politicians talk of better education, better health care, and more social reform.  What we need is more Gospel preaching.

 

CONCLUSION:

1.     One preacher put it this way, “The Gospel message grips the mind, stabs the conscience, warms the heart, saves the soul and sanctifies the life.  It can make drunken men sober, crooked men straight and profligate women pure.  It is a message sufficient to transform the life of any who believe” (John Phillips, Exploring Romans).

2.     If you are not saved, then you can be saved today by the power of the Gospel. 



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