SNBS #013 with Pastor Josiah Shipley - ROMANS 1:1-7

Good evening and welcome to Sunday Night Bible Study with Pastor Josiah Shipley, brother Josiah Shipley, but now pastor. I just got voted in as one of the associate pastors at Witten, so that's cool, that is an honor and a privilege and a huge sense of responsibility.

This is my new little office here at Witten. I love it. I'm getting it together, just hung the whiteboard so later on when we need it, it will be in here. You won't see me popping from room to room to room, probably going to do all my videos from in here now.

So it looks a little messy, I'm still getting through the cleats, but I'll get there. Missed you guys last week, I love you all. We had done a couple lessons from Hebrews chapter 12, and I've been telling you guys soon we will be starting a series on the life of the apostles, kind of a biography of Paul and Peter and John and James, several of the Jameses, Jameses-es.

Romans as Paul's First Letter to a Church He Had Not Visited

But before we do that, we're going to spend a little bit of time in Romans. The in-person crew will have some interruptions if you will. We've got really cool things coming up, like next week we have a block party at the church, so we won't be having an in-person meeting.

The week after that I will be on the youth trip, so Brother Richard McGee will be teaching in person. For those of you who can, be in attendance for that, that will be in two weeks, I believe that will be the 26th, 26th or 27th.

So at any rate, we on the online crew are going to spend a few weeks in Romans. We're going to start today in chapter 1, go ahead and turn your Bibles there. And guys, for those of you that listen to these, as you listen to these, try to have your Bibles open if you can.

Now if you're driving in your car, I understand, don't do that. But we're going to be in Romans chapter 1, we'll be elsewhere in Romans later on. So before we get started, let me make sure we're good to go on that.

So yeah, we're going to be in Romans this week, and for the next few weeks, I'm going to try to make sure to get one of these videos out every week in July, because I intend to start on the life of the apostles in August, and then we will finally be back in line with in-person studies and with online studies, okay?

The Greatness of Romans and the Relationship of Faith and Obedience

Alright, without further ado, let's get started. Okay, we are in the book of Romans. First off, in order of the books that Paul wrote, remember he wrote 13 letters or epistles, we have Galatians was written first, in the late 40s, we have the Thessalonians was written, we have the Corinthians were written, and then we have Romans.

So Romans is sixth, I guess. Romans is the first letter Paul has written where he has not visited the church he's writing to. So when he wrote to the Galatians, he had already been to that region of churches, when he wrote to the Thessalonians, he had already been to Thessalonica, when he wrote to the Corinthians, he had already been in Corinth a couple times.

In Romans, he has never been to Rome since he's been saved up to this point. He makes it eventually, in chains, but he's freed later on. At any rate, he has never been to Rome at this point. He probably wrote this in the mid to late 50s, on his third missionary journey is what we call it, before he went back to Jerusalem and was arrested.

So he's probably either still in Corinth or Macedonia, he's somewhere in that region, he's probably left Ephesus in Acts chapter 20, 1, 2, and 3, you can see he leaves Ephesus, he goes to Macedonia, which is where Corinth is, and Thessalonica for three months, and then he goes back to Jerusalem.

So somewhere in that time period, 56, 57, maybe late 55 AD, he's writing the book of Romans, but he has not been to the church of Rome, he's just heard of it, and he has sent messengers. So, some have called this the greatest letter ever written, and it's pretty awesome.

Some of you know, who have been with me for a while, Romans chapter 8 is my favorite chapter in the entire Bible, of course all the Bibles are equally inspired, equally important, but for me personally, in my heart, Romans chapter 8 is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible.

And there's a reason why Romans is called the greatest letter ever written. It starts with who God is and who we are. That thing is so important, knowing who God is in relation to who we are. I think not just for when someone gets converted, but for our sanctification, for our daily Christian life, to remember who we are in relation to who God is, helps us remember what the Bible means when it says he must increase and I must decrease, I must die to myself every day, kill the flesh, and live in the spirit.

Every day, my goal for Christians is to love Jesus more than they did the day before. And the Bible is very clear that you show your love for Jesus not just with your mouth, but with your obedience. That's how you show your faith.

See that's the real relationship between faith and obedience. Works don't save you. Works are the result and evidence of true faith. If someone gets saved and nothing in their life changes, that can't be a real salvation because the Bible doesn't picture that.

The Bible pictures a new creation. And yeah, we're still going to fall, and fall mightily sometimes, but it's a general progression upwards in holiness, in separating ourselves from the world, from our old self.

So Romans spends three chapters with a universal condemnation on the whole world, and then it introduces grace. And for three or four more chapters, it talks about grace. And then it talks about Paul's struggle with sin, and then it talks about the current state of believers compared to the world, or where we used to be.

And then it goes on with how to operate in the church, spiritual gifts, and things of that sort. Governing authorities, government, how we're supposed to relate with them. What is the gospel? It goes on and on for 16 chapters, and it's pretty awesome.

Paul, a Servant of Christ Jesus, and the Gospel Promised in the Holy Scriptures

Today we're just going to spend some time on Romans 1, verses 1 -7. Romans chapter 1, verses 1 -7, and I'm going to read it, and I'm reading this out of ESV. 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 in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son, who was descended from David according to 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 and the Lord Jesus Christ. Familiar introduction in some respects to most of Paul's letters, but there's just so much in there.

Let's just dive in. Paul, a servant or slave, doulos of Christ Jesus, called, I want you to remember that word, called to be an apostle, set apart, holy, sanctified, set apart for the gospel of God. In that gospel, he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

Notice Paul is calling the Old Testament, the Holy Scripture, the sacred writings. And he is saying that the gospel was promised by those prophets. You see, this is where our Jewish friends miss it. The Old Testament foreshadows the coming of Jesus Christ.

Romans right here is saying, Paul is saying that when he reads the Old Testament, he sees the gospel of Jesus Christ being prophesied about for the future events. It's concerning his son, those Old Testament prophets, who 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.

So in the flesh, Jesus was a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah, which is really cool because the tribe of Judah was the kingly tribe, the tribe that kings were supposed to come from. The tribe of Levi was the tribe that priests were supposed to come from.

So Aaron, Aaronic priesthood, if you will, Aaron, one of the sons was Levi. The tribe of Levi is supposed to be where priests come from. That's their job, to be the priest. Kind of similar to pastors in the Old Testament.

If you were born in that tribe, that's what you were called to be for the most part. If you were born in the tribe of Judah, that's where kings were selected from for the most part. A little interesting study for you for another time, we've mentioned here before.

We come across a figure in Genesis 14 that shows up in Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 9 named Melchizedek. And he was a king and a priest, which shouldn't have been possible because you can't be from both those tribes, right?

Jesus is declared in the book of Hebrews. We know by physical descent he was from David, so that's his right to be a king. And then he is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, where there wasn't really an order of Melchizedek, except it's foreshadowing Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is our high priest and our king, which shouldn't be possible. That's why Melchizedek is a type of Christ. By type of Christ, I mean a foreshadowing of. He descended from David, that's his right to be a king.

According to the flesh, he was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. Okay, stop. Guys, there is a difference between being raised from the dead and being resurrected from the dead.

When the Bible says Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren, it's not referring to him being raised from the dead. Because there are people that have been raised from the dead before them. We have the man thrown on the bones of Elisha.

We have, you know, the widow's sons. We have a lot of them in the Old Testament. We have a lot in the New Testament. We, you know, we have Lazarus. When it says he's the firstborn of many brethren, he's the first resurrected from the dead with a glorified body.

At the resurrection, remember guys, God will claim our bodies, our souls for those of us who died will already be with him. As those who have died now, their souls are with the Lord for those who are saved, of course.

But their bodies will be claimed at the resurrection of the dead. Jesus was the first to be resurrected. Jesus' body is not on earth. His body has been resurrected and glorified. He is at the right hand of God right now.

Through Jesus, we have received grace and apostleship, this is Paul talking, to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations. This is exactly like Matthew 28, 19, and 20, someone called the Great Commission.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatever I've commanded you. See, that's the hard part of Matthew 28.

It's not just teach them the commandments, it's teach them to obey them. By the way, for those of you who notice, I've got some scrapes, got some bruising on my eye here. Went out and played soccer yesterday evening since we didn't have four, five, six here at Whitman.

And I was the oldest guy on the pitch. I was the oldest guy on the field. It shows. That's okay. I made it through. Anyway, what was it? Oh, yeah. So, to bring about the obedience of faith. So, the difficult part of the Great Commission is Bible doesn't just say teach them what you've commanded.

It says teach them to observe it. Look here, Paul has been called impossible to bring about the obedience of faith. I thought Paul was called to be impossible. Tell people about Jesus. Yes, but telling people about Jesus is not just going up saying, hey, do you want to get saved?

Okay, good. You're good forever. You don't need any discipleship. You don't need any sanctification. You're good forever. Just trust in what just happened and don't change anything about your life. That's not the gospel.

The gospel includes your sanctification. Paul is called to be impossible. Bring up the obedience of faith. You see, guys, we spent three weeks on the relationship between works and faith. Go back and watch.

We just got done a few weeks ago. It's not that your works or your obedience safe if they are the result of true faith. Okay. Remember our examples, the light and electricity. Okay. When you turn on the light, excuse me, when you activate the electricity, the light shines.

We know the electricity was present before the light. But from our vantage point, they happen at the same time. My point is that real faith will produce works. Your light, let your light so shine before men.

So that real faith, like electricity, when it's activated, produces light, produces good works. It's not the other way around. You know, faith is genuine by obedience. Look again. To bring about the obedience of faith.

Faith is not just with your mouth saying you believe it, showing it. The obedience of faith. Why do we do that? Why do we obey? Why do we bring about the obedience of faith? Why do we tell people about Jesus?

Look right here for the sake of his name. I'm sorry. Are you saying you don't care about the lost? No, of course I care about the lost. But my primary motivation for witnessing is to please God who commanded me to witness.

There is no greater reason to tell people about Jesus than to glorify the name of Jesus for his namesake. Just like in Psalm 23, among all the nations, all the nations, all people groups, not just political boundaries, all people groups, all the nations, including you who are called, there's that word again, to belong to Christ Jesus, called to belong to Christ Jesus.

What a beautiful sentence. To all those who are in Rome, loved by God, called to be saints. Read verse 7 with me again. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. You know what's cool?

I was just reading in my Greek New Testament, the Bible in Greek. It doesn't make me smart that I'm learning how to do this. It takes me like 10 minutes to read one page. But I noticed if you look at verse 7, it says to those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.

The word and is not there in the Greek. It just helps us understand it in English. What it really says, to all those in Rome who are loved by God, comma, called to be saints, because those are the same group of people.

Let me explain. It says Paul was called to be an apostle. Paul says this a lot in his letters. He puts it different ways. Sometimes he puts it as set apart from birth. Called to be an apostle. Called by the will of God.

See how Galatians put it. Not from man or through man, but through Jesus Christ. He's called to do that, right? In the same way, let me find this one. By the will of God. Yeah. In the same way, skip on down in Romans.

I'm sorry, guys. I lost my spot. It says he was set apart from the gospel of God. So when Paul was called by God, if you read in Acts, God says, I am going to show you how much you must suffer for my namesake.

You are my instrument for the Gentiles. Paul is a tool in the hand of God to bring about his name and his glory throughout the world. Paul says he was set apart by birth to do that. God called Paul for a specific purpose, just like God called Jonah for a specific purpose.

Just like Jesus with the disciples in the gospel of John and says, you didn't choose me. I chose you for this purpose. God calls people to be pastors like he has done for me recently, though he really did that before time began.

I just came to realize that it just came to fruition at the appointed time. But there is another type of calling. That's God's call to salvation. We see this in 1 Corinthians 1. We see it in Ephesians 1 and John 6.

But here we see it in Romans 1. God's call to salvation. Listen, verse 6. So all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. What does that mean? To be called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God, called to be saints. When did God call you to be a Christian? Now, if you're not a Christian, just hold on for a minute. I'm talking to believers right now who have already been redeemed, have been regenerated, have the Holy Spirit living inside of them.

When were you called? Well, you might say, well, I was called on an RA camp or an Awanis camp in 1983. I'm here to tell you the gospel is even more beautiful than that. You were called before then. See, in verse 2, it says that gospel was promised beforehand.

Let me show you another way the Bible puts that. I'm going to give you two passages. First off, Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. I'm going to start in verse 1. Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Christ Jesus, for the sake of God's elect.

That means God's chosen. If you're saved, you're part of God's elect. God's chosen. And the knowledge of the truth, which accords with Godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.

He promised that hope and eternal life before the ages began. And at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching, which I've been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. Before the ages began, that hope and eternal life was promised.

When God makes a promise, does he keep it? The Bible says he can't lie. This one's even better. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. God saved us and called us. There it is.

So here in Romans, same guy who wrote Romans. Paul, same guy who wrote 2 Timothy. Here in Romans, it says, I'm writing to you who are called to belong to Christ Jesus. To all those who are owned, loved by God, and called to be saints.

So what does that calling look like? Look at 2 Timothy 1 .9. Same word. Kletos. Kletos. Verse 9. He saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

When did he give us? He saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. When did he give you that grace? When does it say church? He gave you that grace in Christ Jesus before time began.

Before the ages began. How do you not smile when reading that? Guys, here's what I'm trying to say. When will you say, for the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1. Before time began. You were converted, regenerated, redeemed at your conversion.

When the Holy Spirit came on you. When you realize that, okay? At your RA camp. I don't want his last year, whatever. We had a young man converted this last Sunday. He believed. He came to believe. See, he was saved before the foundation of the world, but he was redeemed.

He was regenerated this Sunday. He was called by God before time began is what the Bible says. Here's what's so cool about that. I've shown this before here in church. I don't know if I've ever done it online.

I want to show you something. Genesis 1 .1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, one way to look at it is that really God's first creation was time, right? See, Genesis 1 .1 says in the beginning.

When you say beginning, that means you've just created time, right? But God existed before time. He's outside of time. Well, 2 Timothy 1 .9 says before time began, before the ages began. You realize what that means?

That means God called you to salvation before Genesis 1 .1. You see, I've told people before here at church, this page right here, this blank white page is my favorite page in the whole Bible. See, here's Genesis.

My favorite page in the whole Bible. You might say, why, Brother Josiah? Pastor Josiah, that's a little dumb, before Luke. Why is that your favorite page in the Bible? Because Romans says, we were loved by God and called to be saints before time began.

We love him because he first loved us. When did he first love us? Not in the Garden of Eden. Not when he said, let there be. Before all that. Before Genesis 1 .1, God still is. He can still say, I am before Genesis 1 .1.

And in that state, before creation, he loved you and me. That's how long ago God loved you. You can't even put a time frame on it. Before time began, he showed that love to us. Before time began. Before the ages began, he called us to that holy calling.

In love, he predestined us to be adopted. Before the ages began. Ephesians 1. Praise the God and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Ladies and gentlemen, God's love for you didn't start when you accepted him as your Lord and Savior. His love for you didn't start in your mother's womb. His love for you didn't even start in the Garden of Eden.

His love for you was already present before time began. Let that sink in for you. All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. 2 Timothy 1, Titus 1, and Romans 1 says those who are saved, God's elect, those who believe or will believe, were called before the ages began.

And they were done. They were called in love. In love. Why did God choose me? Grace. Love. Because it was nothing in me and nothing in you. That's grace. Ladies and gentlemen, if God saw something good in you, and then because he saw that good thing in you, he chose you, well, then it wouldn't be called grace.

Because grace is getting something good that you don't deserve. Romans 3 says there is no good in any human being. No one on their own is even seeking God. No one has the fear of the Lord. But God, who is rich in mercy because of his unfailing love he had for us, made us alive even though we were dead in sin.

We were saved by grace. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. On that blank page before Genesis is where God was loving you before time ever began.

He showed that love by calling you, just like he did with the saints in Rome. Okay, let's reiterate. Make sure we didn't miss anything. We'll wrap it up here. Paul is a servant or a slave of Jesus Christ.

He used to be a slave to self. Now he's a slave to Jesus. He's called to be an apostle, set apart with the gospel of God. God promised this gospel through his prophets in the holy scriptures. The Old Testament is the inspired word of God, just like the New Testament.

That's where the New Testament authors often went to to prove their point. Jesus was born from the line of David, gave him the right to be king, and that was according to his flesh that gave him the right.

But he had the right to be the son of God by the power of the spirit of holiness through the resurrection of the dead. First one to be resurrected. Not the first one to be raised. First one to be resurrected.

He is Christ our Lord. Through that Lord, we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith. True faith will have obedience followed. For the sake of his name, it is all for his glory, not our own.

Among all the nations, with a bullhorn to the whole world, Jesus Christ is Lord, proclaiming that, including those who are called to belong to Christ Jesus. You are his. He bonded people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works.

His sheep. He has other sheep not of that fold. Those are the Gentiles among all the nations. Not just Jews, but Gentiles also, non-Jews. Specifically, Paul is writing to those who are called in Rome, who are loved by God.

How do they know they're loved by God? Because they were called by God to be saints. Remember, the word saint doesn't mean really super Christian. Damn. Sorry, Roman Catholics, that's not what it means.

Love you guys. Saints is anyone who's a believer, anyone who's a believer. When Paul wrote to the Church of Philippi, he said to all the saints in Christ Jesus, all of them, the saints, those who believe, the saints in Christ Jesus, including the pastors and deacons, the overseers and deacons.

The overseers and deacons weren't the only saints. All the saints, including the pastors and deacons. Grace to you and peace. Kairis kairin, from God, Deus, Pater, God our Father, and the Curios Jesu Christos, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Awesome. From God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, very good. We will stop there. I hope that was beneficial to you. We're going to stay in Romans for a few weeks, not just because we're stalling, but because I haven't taught out Romans in a while.

And then we will probably be starting, finally, the Life of the Apostles, those biographies, in August, okay? So, share this with your friends. If this is beneficial to you, share it on your Facebook.

That's the best way. We need to get the YouTube channel for Witton bumped up a little bit, guys. I need you, please, please, please, subscribe to Witton Media Ministry on YouTube. Witton Media Ministry.

And get others to subscribe to that. We need to build up that ministry so we can use it more. Facebook's great. YouTube is also great. We want to be able to use both, okay? We haven't had any new subscribers in a while.

We need to build that up. Witton Media Ministry. It's really good and organized for these kind of videos, okay? Don't forget our other media outlet things. Remember, Monday mornings. Actually, probably right now is because I'm filming this on a Monday.

Sorry, guys. It's time out with Pastor Ben. Tuesday night Bible study with Brother Jeff. Wednesday, hymn history with Brother Andrew. Thursday, wow moment with Miss Vicky and Miss Mercedes. Fridays off.

Saturday, question and answer session. Sunday morning, we have the sermon from the previous week. Sunday night, we have Sunday night Bible study. All right, guys. I read every comment. Anything, any help you want to have, we'll probably do...

Like I said, after we do the Life of the Apostles, in some time in September or October, we'll start the Canon of Scripture. Why some books in the Bible aren't included, why others aren't. All right. If you ever have questions you want submitted to the question and answer that you want answered, I need some more.

I'm out of them. Send a message to the public Witton Facebook page or put a comment on here and I'll write it down. All right. Finally, love you guys very much. See y 'all next week.