You Who Are Called

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You Who Are Called

QUESTION: How can you be sure that your suffering is not in vain. How can you be sure that your life is not meaningless?

We have begun a journey through the book of Romans. It is the most important letter ever written. It’s an inspired letter - breathed out by God’s Holy Spirit, through the pen of the apostle Paul. It’s a letter that has changed the world. But I don’t want you to forget that it IS a LETTER.

When you write a letter, you follow a format - you know what goes into a letter: Greeting … body of the letter … and your signing off at the end. Letters in the first century followed a different format, we touched on that a couple of weeks ago. In Paul’s day, letters began with three elements: 1) the writer identifies himself; 2) Then comes the name of the people who are being written to; 3) Then comes a greeting.

Romans follows that format. Remember back to the very beginning of the letter, Paul identifies himself … then he gets carried away talking about the good news he has been set apart TO … It’s God’s Gospel, it’s all about a person - Jesus Christ - the Son of God, fully man and fully God, raised from the dead and now reigning in power from heaven. This is the Christ who has saved me … this is the One whom I’m a slave to.

Finally, in vv. 6-7, Paul gets around to identifying the people he is writing to.

“… including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, (7) 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.”

Before we go any further, since this is a real letter, to real people, in a real situation - if we are going to see how the letter applies to us - we need to get a handle on WHO these people are.

Let me introduce the church in Rome. First thing - obvious thing - this church is in the very heart of the mighty Roman Empire.

1. INTRODUCING THE CHURCH IN ROME

Now this is a church Paul didn’t start - he’s never been to Rome. Contrary to what the Roman Catholics will tell you, Peter didn’t start this church, either. In the last chapter of Romans, Paul sends personal greetings to several people in the church at Rome - he shows that, even though he’s never been to the city - he knows many people there. He doesn’t mention Peter anywhere in the letter

- In fact, we have no idea who started this church. Very likely what happened, is that there were people from Rome who were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. They heard Peter preach, they repented of their sins, were baptized and eventually went back home to Rome, now as Christians - - and the church in Rome sprung up. The Christians met together, and shared together and shared the good news … and the church grew.

Paul is sitting in Corinth, preparing to go back to Jerusalem … but first, he writes this letter - it’s between 55-58 AD - he writes this letter, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”

We’ll talk a little bit, next week, about why Paul is writing this letter, but for today, just think about the fact that there is a church - a group of Christians, at the very heart of the Empire.

20 years after Jesus walked the earth … on the far corner, in the remote areas of Judea and Galilee. That was the sticks. Nothing that mattered in Rome - happened way out there. We see Jesus’ life as the very center point of history - and He was. But the Romans didn’t see that at the time. Jesus never made a headline in the Roman Times Newspaper. That Jesus isn’t even physically on earth any more … but there’s a church of his followers, right at the heart of the Empire. That’s a big deal. God is Sovereign.

And He’s working out His sovereign plan.

The Church in Rome is a group made up of both Jews and Gentiles … majority Gentiles. And, at the time Paul writes to them, the Christians in Rome haven’t faced a whole lot of persecution … certainly nothing like they have in Jerusalem … but the persecution is coming. Nero is the Emperor.

Until AD 64, the Romans didn't make a distinction between Christians and Jews. Christians were seen as just another Jewish sect - like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Because Jews were tolerated - - as long as Christians were seen as Jews - they managed to fly under the radar. But it is during Nero’s reign that Christians more and more become seen as distinct. And that’s when the persecution begins.

One of the things that marks them as different, is that the Christians, wanting to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, get together - assemble for worship on Sunday before dawn. These predawn gatherings are seen as secretive … somehow disrespectful ...

We don’t really know how many Christians were thrown into prison and executed during Nero’s persecution .... but there were many. And we don’t do know the methods he used to put the Christians to death .... according to the historian Tacitus:

“Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt to serve as nightly illumination … Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle.”

Persecution is coming … Paul may not see it on the horizon … but God knows it’s coming and He is going to use this letter to prepare them for suffering unimaginable. This is where the letter comes home to us, here today.

When Paul greets the Roman Christians in vv. 6-7, see how he describes what identifies Christians - the Christians in Rome and you and me. “.... including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, (7) To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints ...”.

Paul describes the Christians at Rome - and you and me - by focusing, not primarily on what we do, but PRIMARILY, on what God does: he says that we are CALLED and that we are LOVED. That’s what makes you a Christian - that’s what you need to know about yourself. These aren’t the only things you need to know - but there is nothing more important to know than this.

WE are so small. In the city of Rome, when Paul writes this letter - these Christians are not in control of anything - don’t pull the levers of government power .... they aren’t emperor makers or emperor breakers … for the most part, they are nothing in the eyes of their society.

The news being covered on tv and trending on Twitter isn’t about us - there are things going on in the lives of the people of this church family - - - big things .... frightening things .... massive uncertainty. But the world out there isn’t taking notice. The news is about a fallen sports star .... the news is about political turmoil south of the border. The news is about a virus spreading from China, with its massive, 1.5 billion person population. And here we are, in this little church, in this little city … and the world is oblivious to our existence.

Oh, but Paul is telling us - the Bible is telling us, if you are a Christian, it is because the God of the universe has singled you out: He has Called you and He LOVES you.

And if you are a Christian, the fact that you are loved and called by God - that is more significant than whatever is happening in the corridors of power in Washington DC or London, or Beijing or today on the football field in Miami. You are loved and CALLED by the One who spoke the planets into being, set the universe in order and sustains everything that exists in the palm of His All-Powerful hand.

These words are so massively important that we are going to look at them both: CALLED and LOVED. Next week, we will look at ‘loved’ and for the rest of our time this morning, let’s dig into what Paul means when he says that we are CALLED.

He says it twice in these 2 verses: Verse 6, “You who are CALLED to belong to Jesus Christ” .... and, v. 7, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints ...”.

2 WHAT IS THE CALL?

The first thing that we need to understand about God’s Call - is what it is NOT. When Paul says that you are ‘called to belong to Jesus Christ’ … ‘called to be saints’ .... He isn’t saying that God threw out a general invitation to everyone to come to Jesus Christ .... and that’s all He did.

When mom calls out in the house – “Tomorrow’s garbage day – would somebody please take the cans to the curb” … her call doesn’t necessarily mean that the job’s going to get done by anybody.

One evangelist of old speaks for many still today when He described salvation like this: “"The devil and God held an election to determine whether or not you would be saved or lost. The devil voted against you and God voted for you. So the vote was a tie. It is up to you to cast the deciding vote."

In other words, God sent His Son. Jesus died, not knowing how many, if any, would come to Him and be saved … now God has thrown out the invitation and stepped back to wait … and to see. Who will come?

Doris Day, “Que Sera, Sera … whatever will be, will be.”

That’s not what the word ‘called’ means in the Bible. Paul doesn’t say, “I’m writing to everyone in Rome.” He says, in v. 7, that this letter is ‘To all those in Rome who are loved by God and CALLED to be saints (set apart - holy).

The Greek word, ‘kletos’ - the word translated ‘called’ in our verses, is a word that stresses God’s work. He is the One who calls … and He doesn’t call everyone in the same way.

In , Paul is talking about himself, but by implication, he’s also talking about every other Christian, when he says that God, “had set me apart before I was born and … called me by his grace ..”. God CALLS Christians.

, “… in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls …”. Paul is stressing the free choice of God – not influenced by any preconditions on the human side. It’s God’s call alone that brings people to faith and preserves them in it.

, He is the God who ‘gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

- “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good (for whom? For whom do all things work together for good?) ... for those who are called according to His purpose.” So, not all are called. “For those who love God” - For the non called, everything does NOT work together. Some are not called. Not everyone’s cancer works out for their good. Not everyone’s fractured and broken relationships work out for good. Not everyone’s financial struggle works out for good.

So how can you know that your greatest trials and heartaches are part of God’s GOOD plan for your life?

If you love God through Jesus Christ … and IF you love God, through Jesus Christ … Paul makes clear WHY you do … because first, GOD called YOU, according to His purpose. Some are called and some are not.

Look at v. 30, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Not everyone is justified - but all the called are justified;

This is a unique, particular special act of favor and grace directed towards totally undeserving, unholy, unbelieving, uninterested, spiritually dead people ...

… people like Paul.

Paul, heading full-steam ahead toward Damascus … on the hunt for the very people Christ died for … with permission and a plan to grab as many of them as he could - and throw them into prison in his feverish intent to stomp out Christianity before it picked up too much steam.

… This was NOT a man who was spiritually searching. This is not a man who had questions just needing an answer … this is a man filled with hate.

And it was this man, on this road to his own destruction that God called to Himself. The light blazes from heaven, sends him to his face in the dirt, confronts him with his sin and tells him to get up and go to the same city, but this time as his disciple. This is not the picture of gentle, weak Jesus - who stands at the door and knocks, waiting, hoping, wondering if there will be an answer. That picture is a misunderstanding of the - it wasn’t written to unbelievers, it was written to a church.

This is the picture of the God who calls .... the unloveable, the unworthy, unable.

This isn’t theory. This is my life - and yours.

You are a Christian because God called you to Himself. Because those whom God predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

But what does that mean for evangelism and missions? Some people wrestle with that.

“If God is the One who calls and not everyone is called - - doesn’t that mean that we shouldn’t bother to send and support our missionaries in Thailand and Japan and Ethiopia? Does that mean that we should close down our childcare center and stop sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people God puts in our pathway?

No way - God doesn’t just call - - He also sends. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News.” We do exactly what Jesus did. He took the seed and scattered it on every soil. We scatter it on every soil at work, on every soil in your family, over and over and over

… keep on scattering, keep on praying, keep on shedding tears ....

And we spread the universal call to everyone: “Jesus Christ - died for sinners - and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved.”

There are 2 different calls - the universal call - shared with everyone. That’s NOT the call of .

3 THE CALL THAT DOES ITS WORK

The call of , is effective. The last thing I want us to look at, this morning is that God’s saving call … does its work.

Many of you, here this morning, are saved. You have put your trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. You love him. And you know - not everyone does.

Why did you come? Why are you saved? I grew up in a Bible-believing church, we had about 20 or so kids in our youth group. We all went to church on Sunday, had youth meetings on Sunday nights after church, had bible studies on Wednesday nights. We all heard the same message. But now, 3 decades later, I can count on one hand, the number of kids in my youth group who are following the Lord. So what’s the difference between the ones who aren’t saved and me? Don’t you ask that question when you think about why you are saved and you know those people who heard the gospel just as clearly as you did - and who have rejected it? What the defining difference between you?

“Because I’m smarter than the others? Because I’m a better person - lived a better life than the others? Because I had the good sense, when the gospel was presented to me, to believe it.”

No. No. No.

- “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles ...”. We come into this city of Corinth - renowned for its evil - Las Vegas of the Empire … and we don’t hold back. We preach to everyone who will listen:

“The wages of sin is death .... All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And God is holy - He will judge … but there IS a Savior. God has sent His son, Jesus Christ. He has died for sin - and His death is enough - enough to make the worst sinner pure - to cover all of your sin … so come, come turn from your sin and put your trust in the finished work of the crucified and risen Savior. The free gift of God is eternal life … see the beauty of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!”

… and everyone who is called, comes. “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews (most of them) and folly to the Gentiles …” - those who have a couple of years of philosophy classes at university under their belts - this is all foolishness. That’s no way to rescue a world.

BUT, v. 24, “But to those who are CALLED, both Jews and Greeks - it’s not foolishness anymore … “… to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

That’s why I’m saved. That’s why you’re saved … if you are. Because God called me. Because God called you.

Some people say - “Irresistible Grace?! How can you believe that? How can you believe that God brings people to salvation, kicking and screaming?!!” Like a toddler being carried, against his will, to bathtime.

“I don’t want to be saved!” And God says, “TOO BAD! I’m calling you and you’re going to be saved.”

That’s not what the Bible says.

You can resist. You can run from the Hound of Heaven … But if God calls you to belong to Jesus Christ. You will not run forever …

The God of Infinite love and Infinite Wisdom and Infinite POWER - - Imagine that He sets His unearned, unmerited LOVE on YOU!! He sends His Son to purchase your forgiveness - - then He calls you to himself. Will you say “no” to Him?

Well, maybe you will . . . for a time . . . years even. You will run from the Hound of Heaven - - you will reject His love and ignore His call – after all, that’s your nature! You are hostile to Him. But will you get away from His call for eternity? No.

The One who called the sun into being ... The one who spoke the continents into existence by the word of His mouth, alone . . .

The One who spoke into the inner recesses of a dark, dank tomb and called the name of a corpse named Lazarus. Lazarus has been there ... DEAD for 4 days. John, chapter 11 tells us that Jesus didn’t care that the stench had already set in. He commanded him back to life:

“Lazarus, come out.” Does anybody object to that call? “Hey, Jesus, what about Lazarus’ free will?! Maybe he didn’t want to come out. Lazarus didn’t mind. He was DEAD, now he was alive!

Martin Luther, in his classic work, “The Bondage of the Will”: “When God works in us, the will, being changed and sweetly breathed on by the Spirit of God, desires and acts not from compulsion but responsively.”

George Whitefield: English evangelist from long ago. Whitefield lived in the 1700s and even though he was from England, he spent years of his life, crossing back and forth across the Atlantic, from England to America, to preach the Good News of Jesus on both continents. He crossed the Atlantic ocean 13 times for the sole purpose of preaching the gospel. He spent almost 3 years of his life on a ship. In his 34 years of ministry, Whitefield preached some 18 thousand sermons, often to thousands and thousands at a time. Three sermons a day were common, four were not in common. In a day that was known for dry, moralistic sermons with zero emotion – Whitefield came with fiery proclamations of the gospel that awakened their need for Christ.

And did his life ever make an impact. During one summer (when Whitefield was only 24 years old), in London and its surrounding counties – Whitefield preached to as many as 1 million people.

In America, it’s estimated that 80 percent of the people in the colonies heard him preach. That means Whitefield was seen by far more American settlers than George Washington. His name was more widely recognized in America than any person alive – except for the British royalty. He preached, in total, to more than 10 million people over the course of his ministry – a staggering number.

Spurgeon: “Other men seem to be only half-alive, but Whitefield was all life, fire, wing, force. My own model, if I may have such a thing in due subordination to my Lord, is George Whitefield. With unequal footsteps must I follow his glorious track.”

John Newton: “As a preacher, if any man were to ask me who was second-best I had ever heard, I should be at some loss; but in regard to the first, Mr. Whitefield so far exceeds every other man of my time that I should be at no loss to say.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones called 18th Century in the English speaking world, ‘The greatest manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit since apostolic days.” It was a season of evangelistic zeal and spiritual renewal unknown since the last of the apostles died. And leading the way, was George Whitefield.

Just because he was famous, don’t think that his road was easy. It wasn’t – “I received many blows and wounds; one was particularly large, and near my temples. I thought of Stephen … I was in great hopes that like him I should be dispatched, and go off in this bloody triumph to the immediate presence of my Master.” Whitefield had financial troubles … began an orphanage in Georgia and always seemed to be struggling to pay off debts.

So what can keep a man going on that kind of a preaching schedule, with sometimes deadly opposition? Obviously, a heart on fire for the lost and the conviction that there is no greater need that any human has, than the need to know and treasure Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

But also the unswerving conviction that when he preached the Good News, God would be calling sinners irresistibly to salvation.

The will of every man is imprisoned in sin and bound by Satan, and cannot break free unless the Holy Spirit liberates him to believe in Christ. Therefore, the beginning, middle and end of the new birth are entirely the work of the triune God … But

“O that He may call you by His Spirit, and make you a willing people in this day of His power! For I know my calling will not do, unless He, by His efficacious grace, compel you to come in.”

“The sinner can no more raise himself from the deadness of sin than Lazarus, who had been dead four days, until Jesus came and cried out, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’”

And when God calls -

The effective of God! What a comfort this doctrine is to me, as a preacher of God’s Word. Week after week I open the Scriptures and point people to the cross of Christ – and their need for HIM. And so many times I go home and collapse on the bed, overwhelmed by my own inadequacies and wondering: “IS ANYBODY LISTENING?!” So many are stony-hearted. So many hear the invitation to come to Jesus and find rest for their weary souls. And still, there they sit, unmoved ... resistant ... proud ... freely choosing to waste their lives chasing after empty promises.

Do you know those feelings?

What comfort from Jesus’ words: “If the Father has chosen you, If Jesus has paid your price on His cross - - - then HE WILL HAVE YOU!”