Sermon Tone Analysis

WALK WORTHY

PARTNERS Pt.2

Sunday January 23, 2022

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:1-7 (NLT)

"This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son.

In his earthly life he was born into King David's family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace."

Romans 1:1-7 (NLT)

Intro.

A. Let's begin today by looking at the verses we are studying last week.

(read) I want to take just a few moments to review what we talked about last week.

I realize that with seven verses to study we didn't get very far, but I believe these first words of Paul are extremely important for us if we are to Walk Worthy.

I said last week that introducing yourself as a slave does not seem to be the wisest things to do, but as Paul told the Corinthian church the ways of a follower of Christ seem foolish to those who do not follow him.

Here is what he told them.

"When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.

Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.

14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit.

It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means." 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 (NLT)

1.

Let me say this again because I think it is one of those things where there can be no compromise.

If we call ourselves follower of Jesus.

NO ONE IS A TRUE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST UNLESS THEY ARE ENSLAVED TO JESUS.

Let me remind you again of the five things I said that it means to be a slave of Christ.

I can't elaborate on these today, but if you missed last weeks message, I encourage you to go to our website and watch the message.

First a slave was someone who was owned by his master.

A slave existed for his master and his master only!

A slave serves his master, and he exists to serve ONLY his master.

A slave belongs to his master.

For Paul calling himself a slave meant he had the highest, most honored, most kingly position the world had to offer.

Again, if you missed what I shared last week I would encourage you to watch the message online.

Trans.

OK let's look at one more of Paul's credentials he talks about in this first verse.

I. PAUL'S CREDENTIALS

We have talked about his being a slave, now the second thing he tells us is that he is an Apostle.

A. An Apostle Of God.

1.

Before we talk about what Paul meant by calling himself and apostle there is something else important to note here.

We spent all last week talking about what it meant for Paul to call himself a slave.

In doing so he reminds them of his humility, but in this very next thing he uses to identify himself, he declares his authority to teach them.

Paul had to deal with those in the churches he established who didn't feel he had this authority.

Here in this letter he doesn't explain himself he just declares that he has authority to teach, just as the original 12 apostles.

1.

What this word means is that he is someone who was sent out.

An apostle is an ambassador or a representative, and in this case, Paul is God's ambassador and representative.

Let me point out two important things to know about an apostle.

a) An apostle belongs to the one who sent him.

This follows the thinking Paul was sharing with us about being a slave.

We see Paul's apostleship though out his other letters.

Truly Paul is seeking to represent God and his word not his own ideas or opinions.

b) An apostle possesses the power and authority of the one who sent them.

This is a reminder to us of the Great Commission.

Jesus said, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Matthew 29:18-20 (NLT)

Trans.

Now this is still a part of V.1, but I want to speak about Paul's Calling.

II.

PAUL'S CALLING.

We just talked about Paul being an apostle, but he also tells us in V.1 that this is his calling.

The NLT translates this as "chosen" but the meaning is the same.

Pauls' calling meant several things.

a) First it means that this was not what he chose.

Here is what Paul said God told him in his testimony before King Agrippa.

"Now get to your feet!

For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness.

Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future."

Acts 26:16 (NLT)

b) Secondly this call was not because of his ability.

Here is what he told Timothy.

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work.

He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him," 1 Timothy 1:12 (NLT)

c) Most importantly as we noted in his apostleship, this was Divine call.

This is why as I shared with you in a message a few weeks back that when he was giving his testimony to King Agrippa, he said that He could not ignore this vision God had given him.

Trans.

Now I want us to take some time to talk about what he was called to do.

Which was to preach the good news, the Gospel.

A. To Preach The Gospel.

Then Paul proceeds in next four verses to tell us what this Good News is so let's explore this.

1.

First this Good News is something that was promised to us in the Old Testament.

If you heard my introductory message, I talked about how Paul beautifully and powerfully connects the Old Testament to the New in the book of Romans and here he begins this connection.

I believe that it is extremely important for us to understand that the message of the New Testament does not invalidate or make void the message of the Old Testament.

Sadly, I see a lot of this in churches and even in Christians these days.

Let me remind you of what Paul told Timothy.

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT) If this is true, which it is of course, what scripture was Paul referring to?

The OT. Yes, it is true that some of the Old Testament practices are no longer valid or necessary, but those few things like animal sacrifices do not invalidate the whole teaching of the Old Testament.

Part of Jesus' frustration with the religious teachers of his day was that they had twisted and misused the teaching of the Old Testament for their own purposes.

Jesus is the subject and author of the gospel, but the gospel began long before his physical birth.

Look at these verses.

"This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written: "Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. 3 He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the LORD's coming!

Clear the road for him!' " Mark 1:1-3 (NLT) "For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: 'He was counted among the rebels.'

Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true."

Luke 22:37 (NLT)

2. Secondly this is the good news about Jesus. 3 The Good News is about his Son.

The meaning of Pauls' words here is that Jesus is God.