In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the introduction and salutation of Paul's letter to the Romans. He highlights the commendable qualities of Paul, such as his humility and devotion to the gospel. The speaker emphasizes that the letter to the Romans expands on the gospel message, presenting it as God's good news for the world. He also emphasizes that the message of the gospel has a divine source, as it was promised by God through the prophets in the Holy Scripture.

This evening on this wonderful, soul-filling, Christ-exalting letter of Paul to the Romans. Starting in this great letter of Paul to the Romans. Can I say one or two things briefly and quickly as an introduction to the best? In the Gospels, in the Gospel of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John and in the Acts of the Apostles, we have the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ preached to sinners. Right through the four Gospels, right through those wonderful passages in the Acts of the Apostles, where we find Peter and Paul proclaiming the Gospel, we have the Gospel of our Lord Jesus preached to sinners. But when we come to the letter to the Romans, we have the Gospel expanded for faith before us. We're going to really see what the Gospel is and we're going to really see whom the Gospel is for. And we're going to really see what the Gospel offers. We're going to really see what the Gospel does positionally and practically. The Gospel is taught to faith in the letter to the Romans. There are no doubts among the scholars about who the writer is. And certainly not Paul at his very best in Rome. The man who would question the writer of this letter would only be revealing his ignorance of the characteristic features of the logic and intellectual genius of the great apostle to the Gentiles. There is not a scholar in all the world who questions the authority and the author of this book. It's Paul. And so it's Paul writing to the Romans, the saints in Rome, and he wants to expound for them the glories and wonders of the Gospel of God and of Christ and of grace. This letter to the Romans was written by Paul, I believe, on courage. I think that we could establish that if we just look for a moment at the last chapter. Have a look at chapter 16. When we come to it in the will of the Lord, we'll expound it properly. But there are one or two things here that make us very sure that Paul is writing this letter to the Romans from Columbus. You see verse 23, Gaius, mine host. That's a nice word. This is the person he was playing with. Gaius, mine host. And when you're at the end of Romans, you're almost at the first chapter to the Corinthians. And if you look at Corinthians chapter 1, verse 14, you'll find this out. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, I thank God that I baptized none of you but Christophus and Gaius. So Gaius really dwelt at Corinth. And he was Paul's host when this letter to the Romans was being told. And in that same verse, 23, the last chapter of Romans, Paul says, Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church salute of you. Erastus, the Timberland of the city, salute of you. And if you want to find out where Erastus dwelt, you go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, and you find that Erastus abode in Canaan. And so there are no quibbles about where it was written from. But we're not exercised with all sorts of details. I'm only giving them for one or two of the students here. We want to get down to the phrases of the chapter, and really see what the Lord has for us. So we're at Romans, chapter 1. Paul is the writer, and he's writing from Corinth, and he's expounding for the saints in Rome the glories of the glorious gospel of Christ. Now we're going to try to do the first 15 verses of the chapter this evening. Because in the first 15 verses we have the salutation from Paul, and the introduction really to the letter. You see, when a letter was written in olden days, it always began with a salutation. It began with the person's name, and then to whom it was written. Watch this. This letter begins with Paul. And then Paul puts a few details behind his name that we'll not look at just now. But in verse 7 we get the next connection. You see, it's Paul, to all that be in Rome. The beloved of God, of course, called to the saints. So the salutation is really Paul writing to the saints in Rome. No denominational flags flying in Rome in those days. No Baptist, no Presbyterians, no Methodists, no Episcopalians, nor just the saints of God. And so it's Paul to all the saints in Rome. That's really the salutation, that's how it begins. With Paul being the mastermind that he was, he has placed a few details in between these two points that we must really look at. Some very wonderful points about himself here. I've called them commendable points about Paul. And then when we have looked at these commendable points about Paul, you will notice that in this salutation, there are some of the marvels of the message that Paul carried, and almost takeable marvels, remember. And so that gives us our two points in the salutation. We're going to look at some of these commendable points about Paul, and then we're going to underline these almost takeable marvels about the message. And then we'll come to the introduction, when Paul has given a few details about himself and about the message that he bears, then he really introduces what he's about and what he's going to do. And so we have the salutation and the introduction before us in the fifteen verses this evening. And we're going to look now at some of these commendable points about Paul. You know, I'm never done really being thrilled. I'm always thrilled when I see Paul commencing his letters in the New Testament. He just commences them with one word. The word Paul. I think that was really thrilling. It never, never misses thrilling me, really thrills me. If you go through your New Testament sometimes, I believe that Paul penned fourteen letters in the New Testament. He penned Romans, then 1st and 2nd Corinthians, then Galatians, then Ephesians, then Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Salima, and I believe he penned Hebrews. And that would make fourteen. Now, out of the fourteen letters that Paul penned in the New Testament, you just have a look at it, thirteen of them began with the word Paul. That's good footing, isn't it? Now, the only letter that I believe that Paul penned in the New Testament that doesn't begin with Paul, is the letter to the Hebrews. It begins with God. God who at sundry time. And I believe that Paul left his name out of Hebrews for a very good reason. For the very state these Hebrews were being persecuted at that very time. And the persecutors hated Paul above everybody else. So he left his name out righteously, I think. But you'll find that thirteen letters in your New Testament, over half the writing of your New Testament, comes from Paul, and thirteen letters begin with Paul. Not the very reverend doctor this, that or the other. Now, we get a lot of that nonsense these days, don't we? Yes, but he was a real man of God. He was a man who had travelled thousands of miles for God. He was a man who had borne the toil and the heat of the day. He was a man who had won thousands to the standard of Christ. He was a man who had built churches right over Asia, right into Macedonia, right down to Achaia. He was a man who had grazed the trail for Christ, and had done exploits for God, and yet he prepared to call himself Paul. You could learn by someone who, if you don't call them the very reverend doctor this, they really wouldn't speak to you at all. It's a great pity of them, isn't it? With their miserable, poopish, crazy, optical nonsense. That's what it is. This poopish, crazy, optical nonsense. Here's our lesson. This man of God is prepared to call himself Paul. You should learn the lesson. I think that the very first word of this letter, it shows us the humbleness of this man. This was one of the humble characters of the New Testament. Indeed, this man came in another place that he himself was left the least of all the saints. Why he did take the Lord's place continually. You see, I feel that Paul followed very closely on his master's footsteps, and remember his master made himself of no reputation. And that's the master we all follow. It would be good for all you young folks to learn this. And if God blesses you, and uses you, and works through you, I trust that while you climb into the heights of praise he's named for doing it, you'll always be able to keep your feet on the ground and be found as the humble follower of the Lord Jesus. And so I think that in the very first word we see the humbleness of this man. And then he goes on with this letter, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, and our English word, servant, here, does not do justice to the Greek word that Paul used. Because what Paul's really saying is, Paul, a born slave of Jesus Christ. You know, I think this is lovely. This great man of God, he was actually a slave born to the Savior. He was a born slave. Jesus Christ wanted to get there. He wasn't serving a cat, nor he wasn't the tool of a party. Oh no, no, no, no. This man was the slave of Jesus Christ. You know, there are people working their fingernails off for an old church. Some of them don't even know the Savior. Friend, you always set Christ before you. And go to a prayer meeting for Christ. And take your stand in a marketplace for Christ. And whatever you do, do it for Christ's sake. And you'll find out that God will bless you in the doing thereof. Yes, you can see the humbleness of this man. And you can see the devotiveness of this man. But what's the writing again, Paul? A born slave of Jesus Christ called, the two words to be are in italics and they're not in the original scriptures, called an apostle. You know, this is the gift of man. You know, he was one of the great gifts to the church. Oh, but he didn't put no trust in us. Oh, not a bit. You know, it's good that we recognize the gifts that God has given to the church. And we always should. And we should hold them very highly in love for their works too. Remember when our Lord Jesus ascended on high, he gave gifts unto men. He gave some, just some, apostles. Gave some prophets. Gave some evangelists. Gave some pastors and teachers. These were the gifts from the risen head to chosen members of the church. And Paul was one of these great gifts to the church. He was called an apostle. Why the Lord called the men to the service and gave them the gift of an apostle. At one place he says, and the signs of an apostle were wrought by me. And it would be a wonderful part of the study this evening to go into the signs of an apostle. But I've done that on another evening and will not take the time. I'm just letting you see the man. You can see the humbleness and you can see the devotedness and you can see the giftedness. And then he put this phrase in. Paul, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. My, you can see the sincereness. Look, this man really gave himself over, hands and feet and heart and soul, every particle of his being, that the gospel of Christ might be brought forth to the world. Separated unto the gospel of God. My, he was a great servant, wasn't he? You can see the humbleness and you can see the devotedness and you can see the giftedness and you can see the sincereness. And I believe that the Lord is still looking for those who will put their lives on the altar that the light of the glorious gospel might be brought to those that sit in darkness. I think if I'm right, it's over twenty-seven years ago that one evening I was sitting in a little kitchen house and I was reading 2 Corinthians and up the fourth chapter and I came to this verse. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not unless the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine in. And I remember going over it carefully, the God of this world, and I looked at that verse and I said to myself, that's the devil. And then it went on, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. I said, that's what the devil's doing, blinding the minds of them that believe not. And it went on, the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not less. And that halted me. And I said, oh God, oh God my Father, is this something the devil's afraid of? And I came to the conclusion there on day that the one thing that the devil was afraid of was the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. He was afraid of it. And I made up my mind there and then that I would learn every detail of the gospel. My, we go to evangelical meetings and I'm talking about evangelical churches now. We're not talking about modernists now. Not at all, they don't know anything about this. I'm talking about some of the good old brethren meetings. And I'm talking about some of the good old Baptist meetings. And we go to them and there's great preaching, well set out sermons, and there's not a shot of gospel. Oh, often I've watched it. Oh yes, they can talk for a night about many things. But the gospel is not there. We've missed it. Oh, just to batter men about sin and hell. Oh, I know conviction of sin is necessary. Ah, but that's not good news. The gospel is good news. And it's God's good news. It's the gospel of God. Mind you, it's not good advice to be followed, but not at all. No, that's not good guidance. No, it's good news. That's what Paul separated himself to. My every pitiful, every ounce of his strength, every drop of his blood, every day of his life, everything he had was put on the altar that he might carry this wonderful message of the glorious gospel of God to the far ends of the earth. And I'm telling you, there's room for the whole crowd if you can do it. Man has room in his Father's tomb for every one of us. This country of ours, and I'm talking about England and Scotland and Ireland and Wales, there's room for gospel preachers. Room for gospel preachers. And so you can see this man. He's a humbleness. You can see the devotedness, the giftedness, the sincereness. Now when he touched that phrase, the gospel of God, money went on to expand the message now. But let's follow the man. And we'll leave those phrases about the message just for a moment. Have a look at verse 8 there. We'll go back to the other ones. When he begins to introduce what he wants to do, he says, First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. You know, I like this. I want you to get this. You know, Paul had never been to Rome up to this moment. If there was an assembly at Rome, he shouldn't find it. No, no. In fact, it's a great possibility that not one of them belonged to him. There were a great company of saints at Rome, and their faith was known throughout the whole world. I'm really telling you this. Paul was thanking God for them. Why, I have had the joy of planting little assemblies in the country, just one or two. And I thank God for seeing them going on. But thank God for the whole bunch of them, whether you had anything to do with it or not. Why don't we thank God for all the saints? My miss was Paul. Whether they were his or whether they were not his, he was just praising the Lord that they were there. You know, some of the old-type brethren fellows wouldn't recognize you except you were a saint, and there we cornered. God pity them. I wonder, do you think that God shut up to this poor Lord? Well, we should take our lessons from Paul. He was thanking God for the saints at Rome, and they'd never seen the faces. He was thanking God because their faith was throughout the whole world. You can see the thankfulness. And then watch this. Verse nine. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Isn't that lovely? Mind you, this was written under the direction of the Spirit of God, and he's saying, without ceasing. Well, we just didn't pray for them once in the year, you know. No, without ceasing, he said. And I want to tell you this. He says, without ceasing I make mention. He didn't sit before God like a dummy, you know. Talk to God. I make mention. I make mention of you always in my prayers. And if you go through the 14 letters of Paul in the New Testament, you'll find that he almost said the very same for the whole crowd of them. My, he prayed for the saints at Rome. He prayed for them at Ephesus. He prayed for them at Galatia. He prayed for them at Philippia. My, I tell you that he was spending time in prayer. This man was a real praying warrior. I wonder how long we really spend in prayer. Sometimes we grasp a missionary by the hand, and we look into their eyes and say, God bless you, I'll pray for you when you go away. And next Thursday in the prayer meeting, about two dozen of you rattle over the name, and then it fades away, and then it fades away, and then they never mention it. And we forget. That's not Paul. My, this man, this man was really a praying warrior. You can see the humbleness and the devotedness and the giftedness and the sincereness and thankfulness and prayerfulness. And then he said this in verse 10, Making request. Isn't that lovely? Making request. If by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you, for I long to see you. You know, this was his ambition. You know, when Paul sailed out from Antioch, you remember we went over the footsteps of Paul one season in the Bible trough here. And we saw him leaving Antioch, going to Cyprus, then moving up into Asia Minor. And you remember the countless thousands of miles that we followed this man on foot. As he went through Asia Minor, preaching the gospel here, there and yonder, then he had got to Macedonia and Cai, sailed across the Aegean Sea, came to Macedonia, came down into Achaia, came to Turin, came to Athens, and he covered the then almost known world. And yet he longs, and he's fast to go to Rome. I tell you, we're thinking about a mighty servant of God. Sometimes when I look at the exploits of this wonderful character of the New Testament, my, you feel like a schoolboy beside this man. And yet he's so humble. What a man of God he was. And then down the chapter a little bit, he says this, verse 14, And I am better, both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. You know, he got such a revelation of the wonders and the marvels of this message, that he wanted to take it to every corner of the world. He didn't care whether they were learned or illiterate, whether they were kings or popes, whether they were black or white or red or yellow. He felt because God had given him this echo to the whole world. You can see the indebtedness that was felt by Paul. And then he said, I am ready. Verse 15, So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. So there are some of the commendable points about Paul. I think you'll agree they're very commendable. The humbleness, the devotedness, the giftedness, the sincereness, the thankfulness, the prayerfulness, the ambitiousness, the indebtedness, and the readiness. Yes, what a picture we have of the servant of God who has got stuff for us just with a few scrapes of the pen. Only needs a teacher to gather them up for you. There they are. Now we want to get into the unmistakable marvels of the message that this man carries. We're back at the first verse now. And we're back at that phrase, the gospel of God. I think we need to get that firmly into our hearts. That this message that we carry to the world is half our divine force. It's God's message. It's not just the gospel that's taught by some ecclesiastical seminary or some worldly college. This is God's message. This is the good news of God for the world. My God has good news for this world. And when we get into the chapter next week and we begin to see the world and its sinfulness and its wickedness and the scarlet filthy bloodshed that's on its character you would really wonder why God should send good news to us. But let's get this settled that the message we carry it has a divine force. You see this is what he's saying. I'm separated unto the gospel of God which God had promised to afford by his prophets in the holy scriptures. You see this message is in the divine words. Boy, I wouldn't need to take all the prophets tonight to prove it would I because I'd have to take the whole crowd of them. For to the Lord Jesus, to him gave all the prophets witness. So it's in the divine message all right. One would only need to take Isaiah. In fact one would only need to take Isaiah 53, wouldn't they? And my God promised that one would come who would be the delight of his very heart. Yes, he would be despised and rejected of men. He would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Oh, but he would be stricken and smitten of God and afflicted. He would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our inequities. And you can go down the whole chapter and you're getting the gospel of God the good news that God would send us to be the sacrifice for sin to rise again the third day that this old sinful world of ours might have a savior who would be able to save to the very uttermost. That's good news. Yes, it's got a divine source, this message. And it's in the divine words. And then here's what he said about the message. He said it's the gospel of God which he had promised to fool by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son. Ah, that's it. You young fellows who preach sin you'll need to preach Christ and Him crucified. Yes, you're going to be gospel preachers. Because this gospel of God which in the old book concerns his son. And the sonship here is the eternal sonship. Yes, he was the eternal son. My dear friends, I think this is wonderful. We've got a divine savior, you know. The message we preach has got a divine source. It's in the divine words. And it reveals a divine savior. I like the way the apostle uses these words continually. Verse 3 he says, concerning his son. Then he says, Jesus Christ. And then he says, our Lord. Now, when we think about the sonship we're thinking about the eternal sonship here. You'll see it clearer in a moment. My, that's Him eternally. If you just think about Jesus Christ you might only think historically. When we think of our Lord we're thinking about His supremacy Hey, spiritually. What a person. Eternally the Son. Yes, historically Jesus Christ. Yes, but supremely sovereignly is our Lord. My, the apostle can really use the language can't he? And so we see this and then, you know, he he says, which was made of the seed of David? Which was made, I the Son. No, He didn't just become the Son. He was the Son before He was made of the seed of David. Oh yes. We're getting down to the humanity now, aren't we? Yes, He was the perfectly human Savior. He was the Son which was made of the seed of David. You know, this is really tremendous. I think that I went through this once for you on a Sunday evening and I let you see that He was away in the bosom of the Father before the world was. Then He was made. A little lower than the angels. Well, you'll agree with me. He must have been higher before He was made Lord. And so the One who was there was made lower than angels. And then when we come to Galatians when the fullness of the time has come God sent forth His Son made of a woman. And then when we go to the cross of Calvary He was made sin for us. And then when you go back to Isaiah 53 the soul was made an offering for sin. And then the third day He came back from the dead and went right back again and through the clouds again and past the angels again and He was made our Savior. I say, Hallelujah. What a Savior. This is a wonderful Savior. My, this is what Paul's preaching about. You see, he's given over to this message the Gospel of God as a divine source. It was in the divine words. Yes, it concerns a divine Savior and yet a human Savior who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. Perfectly human. And then this is a very wonderful gift. I'm declared to be the Son of God with power. That's twice we've got this phrase the Son of God very quickly. And I want you to get this. This word declared is a tremendous word. It's the old Greek word horizon. It's actually the word that we get our English word horizon from. It's the old Greek word horizon. You see, the Son of God came down and was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and then He was horizoned so that the whole world might really know that we had a powerful Savior. And He was horizoned as the Son of God with power by two things, by two things. First of all, one, indeed, by the resurrection from the dead. So that the Savior we're talking about is a divine Savior, is a human Savior who went to Calvary and paid the price, the tremendous price for sin and then rose again the third day and then He's declared to be the Son of God with power. You know, when we look at the sonships of Christ as really tremendous, we need to go way back before the foundation of the world and He was in the bosom of the Father. My God never had a son like that before. You know, He wasn't made. He never was made. He was the only begotten Son. He wasn't made. No, He was the only begotten Son. There never was one like that before. And then when He came right down here and entered into the virgin and took upon Him the form of a servant and He was born in Bethlehem, God never had a son like that. And then when He dragged Him across and went into the tomb and the third day He rose again with power. God never had a son like that before. And that's the sonships. It's tremendous. My, this is no ordinary person. This is the unique, eternal, everlasting Son. And you know, it's a thrill when I can stand and say this. The Son of God loved me and gave Himself to me. Do you think I need any other argument? Do you think I need any other treat? It is enough that He died for me. Wait a minute, I've missed a bit, haven't I? What He's declared, or He's arisen as the Son of God with power, now watch this, according to the Spirit of holiness. You see, both of these things declared Him to be the Son of God with power. And one takes place before He dies and the other takes place after He dies. You see, every step He took down here before He went to Calvary, my, He was absolutely holiness itself for the Son of God. And that Spirit of holiness that enveloped Him, declared Him to be the Son of God. And then when He died, when He came out again, so this is well attested to. Our friends, Paul really knew who he was talking about. That's the thing. He knew the message, all right. We need to get to know it, you know. Now you can see this. The message is a divine source. The message is in the divine Word. The message reveals the divine Savior. The message heralds the human Savior. The message proclaims arisen Savior. Declared, or arisen to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Now, watch this. Once He's got this great personality over, He says in verse 5, By whom we? Now, I want you to notice when He comes to verse 6, He says, Among whom are ye? So that He's making a difference between the we and the ye, and I want you to make the difference. Then He says, By whom we? I believe He's talking about the apostles and pictures of the early church who were companions with Him. He says, By whom we? We have received grace and apostleship. Now, you've got it, haven't you? That's who He's talking about. Talking about the apostles. So you'll notice this. That He puts grace before gifts. Now, that's lovely, isn't it? He says, By whom we have received grace? Now, you need to be saved first before you start preaching. He says, we have received grace and apostleship. You see, this wonder-working Savior who came and died and rose again is able to save and then able to give gifts to them that He saves. Oh, He just gives the gifts out. Now, what's this? He says this, By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith. You know, the Lord Jesus that gave Him grace for salvation and gave Him gifts of apostleship gave Him faithfulness. My, He became obedient. And it was the Lord that really made Him faithful. And then I want you to get this. Among all nations by the fidelity and the feats came from Christ. Oh, you need to go wherever He sends you. Do you remember what we were up in Sunday morning? Hmm, we'll go for us. You know, He might just send you home, that's all. Go home and tell your friends the great things the Lord has done for you. Remember, that's all He wants you to do. That's the field for you. Or He might say, Go quickly into the byways and hayways. That's the thing He wants you to do. Or He might say, Go to the far front field. Oh yes, field, a point of field. And then I want you to get this bit. He not only gives grace and gifts and faithfulness in the points of fields, but I want you to get this. Watch this, verse 5. By whom we have received grace in the apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name. Oh, brethren and sisters, we must not forget this bit. You know, it's always for His name. Sometimes, you know, some of the old Baptists get annoyed with me when I say, You could join all the Baptist churches in Ireland and then die and go to hell. And I say it, you know, and I'll never stop saying it either. Oh, listen, we're not trying to build a party. My endeavor is to get sinners to trust the Savior. It's for His name's sake. Not our name. Forever may our name perish. And forever may His name be magnified. It's always for His name. My real apostle was a great man, wasn't he? He knew this. You see, he's talking about the we in that verse. And then he says in verse 6, Among whom are ye also the cause of Jesus Christ. You see, he didn't only save Paul, a Jew, but he saved these Romans who were Gentiles. You see, this is bringing out the suppression, say, of the Savior that we're proclaiming. That's it. Oh, he's a marvel of the message. Did you see him? Now, we must get into the introduction now. And there are some very valuable remarks made about the Romans here. Now, we're beginning in verse 7. And he says, I'm writing, To all that be in Rome. Not to everybody in Rome. To me, he qualifies that by saying, Beloved of God, Call saints. The two Bs in my Bible. So that he's writing to all the saints in Rome. You know, Paul was writing to them because they were in Christ. But he was recognizing that they were in Rome. And when you get along a little bit, you'll find he recognizes that they're still in the body. My, these are little points, but they're very wonderful ones. You know, when you know you're in Christ, My, that gives you pleasure. But you're in work, you know. And that may bring you a problem. And you're in the body. And that may bring you pain. But Paul was recognizing it all. It's very nicely how it's put. Now, he's writing to these saints in Rome. And I want you to get what he says. He says, Beloved of God. You know, I think that this is something that we should never cease to teach the faith. That once you've come to Christ, Maybe tremblingly, You've put the arms of your faith around him. And you've made him your own and personal savior. I want you to get this. And I want you to get it that you'll never forget it. From that second, you'll be the beloved of God. And it will never cease. You say, if I fail, it won't cease. You see, when we get along a bit in this letter, You'll find Paul saying, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate me from the love of God. Boy, that's wonderful. Death can't do it. And life can't do it. And principalities and powers can't do it. And angels can't do it. And things present can't do it. Nor things to come can't do it. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. My, you'll always be the beloved of God. My, this is something to keep in your heart. Because there may come dark days in your life. There may come sorrows upon sorrows. And the storm may howl, and the lion may roar, and the fiery darts of the wicked may fall, and you may find yourself in the snares of the devil. But no matter where you are, will you remember that you're the beloved of God. God workers all things together for good. For them that love him. Friends, I think that's a great title. But he didn't only call them the saints in Rome. And the beloved of God. But he says, called. Called of Christ, you see, in verse 6. Among whom are ye also the called of Christ. Called saints, in verse 6. My, we've been called, haven't we? You know, we've really been chosen. My dear friends, this is one of the thrills for every believer. God has chosen you. High away before the foundation of the world at all. You know, the God who knew the end from the beginning. Looking down the ages. Yea, countless thousands of years before you came. My, it was in you. And he picked you out. You were really chosen. You were one of the chosen. And because you were chosen, it's an amazing thing. Oh, just take it, that's what it is. And so there are great remarks here about the Romans. You notice that Paul was not a bit afraid in verse 13. Now I would not have you ignorant brethren. My, he called them brethren, doesn't he? He didn't know anything about who planted the assembly. He didn't know exactly when it began or who began it. But he knew they were the beloved of God. He knew they were saints. And over a bit you'll find he knew they were washed in the blood of the Lamb. And he's not one bit afraid to call them brethren. Oh, let's get a wee bit broader view. Oh, that we could see all the saints. The dear children of God. Marked by the blood of the Lamb in the body of Christ. Members of Christ's body. Oh, that we would learn to call one another brethren. My, we might come a wee bit closer. It will do you no harm. Paul was not afraid. You know, I think this is a lovely thing here. Verse 8. He says, First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. That your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. You know, they were in Rome, these dear saints. Oh, they were really in the lines then, weren't they? But you know, they were shining as a light in a darkness. Oh, that we would shine. You know, sometimes I get letters from every part of the known world. I get letters from Canada. I get letters from the United States. I get letters from Africa. I get letters from Alaska. I get letters from Spain. I get letters from Italy and all over the whole known world about the messages that come out from this little place. And your faith, you know, it's spoken of. My, we need to shine Jesus, you know. Oh, it's great to see a company like this. But this old message will go to the far ends of the world. On tape. And your faith is spoken of. Oh, that we would keep this standard flying high. Yes. Did you notice the little phrase, and I'll stop. Verse 11. For I long to see you. You know, they were the beloved and longed for. Paul says, I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. And we're not to mix the word spiritual gift up here with the gift given in Corinthians. This was a spiritual blessing or tonic that Paul wanted to bring them that they may be established. To the end that you may be established. That's what it was for. You see, he realized that God had given him this message with such clarity and he could expound and explain and set forth that he longed to go, that he might establish them. You know, sometimes I get a letter from a little place away in the heart of the country. It's only a tin hut, you know. And I know it's a tin hut too. And the people say, now Mr. Mullen, I wish you'd come down and give us two or three nights. You know, we haven't very much down here. And when I'm free I just love to go. Because I feel it's a gift. I'm saying this humbly, I tell you. I feel that the gift that God has given me to open the word and explain the unspeakable things of Christ will help these dear saints. And you know, I ought to do it and you ought to let me go. But you don't own me. Not for one minute. I don't ever think you do. Because you don't. No, no. I'm one of the gifts. Just a thing that the Lord lifted out of a gutter. And he gave me great gifts. And I'm one of the gifts to the church. Now this is my home. And I'm proud to be here. And I belong here. But then it's possible. Why shouldn't I take these gifts? It would be a blessing to establish a ministry. And so we've got the salutation and the introduction over. He's going to go to Rome that he might establish them in the faith. And next week we'll get into the real teaching of the chapter. Shall we bow together before the Lord? Let's just be still for a moment. We're not saying anything again tonight. Just let's be still in the Lord's presence. Dear Lord, we have sat at Thy feet this evening. And we have heard Thy words. Lord, we pray that Thou will teach us to walk humbly after Thee. And we pray, Lord, that those whom Thou hast gifted to preach the gospel may be really separated unto the gospel. We pray that Thou will put it in our hearts tonight that this gospel concerns Thy sons. Concerns His coming to earth and going to Calvary and rising again the third day. And being absolutely sufficient to save Jew or Gentile for time and eternity. And to bring them into the fullness of the blessing of God. O God, we pray that Thou will help us to recognize one another in this day and hour when so many flags are flying and so many flags are falling. Help us, Lord, to realize that some who maybe do not come to where we come to really belong to Thee. That they're born of Thy Spirit washed in the blood of the Lamb saved by grace. And they're our brethren and sisters. And, O God, in these last days give us, Thy children, a love for one another. And may we long, long in the depths of our hearts to be a blessing to all the saints. Lord, these are great blessings. May we not be heroes only but part of love in Thy fear with Thy blessings for Thy holy namesake. Amen.