Dr MJ du Plessis Reformed Church Bellville 14 August 2005 (morning) Scripture NIV

REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 14 AUGUST 2005: MORNING SERVICE

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: Psalm 116:1+9
Confession of faith: Apostolic Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell, the third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, a holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

After the reading of the Law we confess our guilt and pray for forgiveness and a new life before God with Hymn 9-1:1+11

Law
Hymn 9-1:1+11

Prayer:

Doxology
Worship
Confession of sins
- Forgiveness
Gratitude
Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
General prayer
Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Psalm: 86:1

Scripture: Romans 1
Text: Romans 1:6

"And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ."

You are also among those who are saved by Jesus and who are subject to His sovereignty with which He conquered death. He commands you to proclaim His gospel with your whole life.

1.    When and how is one a servant of Jesus Christ.
2.    The contents of Paul's ministry.
3.    Servitude and the spreading of God's church.

1.    When and how is one a servant of Jesus Christ

Paul the servant of the Lord writes to all the called saints who are in Rome. Why does the apostle Paul call himself a servant in verse 1?

The word he uses here actually means "slave" – a slave being the property of his Master.
A slave is somebody without the freedom to do what he wants.
The slave is obliged to do the will of his Master.
The moment he fails to perform the command of his Master and acts contrary to his Master's will he is punishable.
The word "slave" accurately describes the true believer (Paul as an apostle but it applies to all office bearers and believers) in his following of Christ.

Consider Jesus Christ Himself. He was servant or slave. In Isaiah 42:1: He was prophesied as such. "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations".

This verse is very important because here the Lord tells how it happened that this Person became God's Servant.

God elected Him as His Servant.
The Lord reveals that He supports (upholds) the Servant in His ministry.
The servant therefore does not labour in his own strength.
Every aspect of His ministry is upheld by the Lord's power and support.
We must see Paul's servitude against this background.
Hence this qualification – he is not just any servant, he is a slave of Jesus Christ.

Let us consider this passage word by word so that we may understand it fully. See how Paul expands on it.

How did he become a slave of Jesus Christ? He was called to be an apostle.
"Called" here means "appointed" – the same as "chosen" in Isaiah 42:1.
The issue that is clearly defined is that Paul was made a slave and an apostle. He did not become one from his own volition or desire, but he was called by God.

He names himself an "apostle". We may think that the word "apostle" refers only to the Lord's disciples. That would be incorrect.

The word "apostle" means a person sent by higher authority to perform some function.
When Paul (as Saul before his conversion) was sent by the Sanhedrin to persecute the Christians he was their apostle.
Hence he must now identify the Master whose apostle he is. He must identify the Authority of his Sender.
That is why he also describes his mission as apostle.
He is set apart to proclaim the gospel of God.
He must proclaim a message of joy with Godly authority, power and contents.

The words "set apart" have a particular meaning.

The meaning is "designated" or "something particularly marked out within certain limits".
The Lord reveals here the designation of the true believer's calling. In Galations 1:15 Paul puts it as follows "But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles …".

2. The contents of Paul's ministry

The contents of the Gospel is: The Son of God

The apostle tells us how Jesus was foretold and then came.
The unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament is shown here.
How Jesus was promised as being a descendant of David.
The revelation of God as prophesied in the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus being declared with power to be the Son of God.
This declaration was done by the Holy Spirit

The literal meaning of the Greek word for "declare" is "to delineate" to put within boundaries.

The Holy Spirit drew boundaries around Jesus.
He made it clear that the One standing within these boundaries which He drew from out of God's revelation is the Son of God.

Note what is written in verse 4: "and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."

What is being "declared"?

Firstly the promises by the prophets of the Old Testament.
Thereafter it was the Holy Spirit who declared.
This time it was not a prophet who promised.

It was the resurrection from the dead.

Through this all powerful deed the Son of God was designated as:

Jesus: This name indicates the human nature of Jesus. The Son of God who was born and who lived. This is the Name by which He was known in His life on earth. Jesus was the child of Joseph and Mary who grew up in Nazareth. Paul refers to Him as a descendant of David.

Christ: That means Messiah. The Anointed Saviour. That is the Saviour's Name of Office, because this name indicates His ordination, anointment and mission by God.

Kurios: We translate this with "Lord". This word has a particular and proper meaning. It indicates Jesus Christ in His eternal sovereignty and rule. The Romans knew and understand the meaning of the word "Kurios".

It designated the leader of an army returning in triumph.
The Kurios rode at the head wearing royal attire and behind him came his triumphant soldiers.
At the rear came the conquered king in chains and the prisoners of war who were to be sold as slaves.
Jesus Christ is Kurios.
This word also explains Paul's servitude – the triumphant Kurios, Jesus Christ, captured him and now he is a slave of this Kurios.

Our Kurios. We too are involved.

It is not only Paul and the other apostles who were captured by the Lord Jesus and saved by Him. We too are part of this body of saved.
What is the result?
It means that we too are missionaries to carry the gospel of Jesus into the world.
We have received grace and apostleship – so it is written here.
Note the word "receive" – we did not acquire it, it was given to us.

What did we receive?

We received grace and apostleship.
These are not two separate things. They are the same, because apostleship is simply an extension of the grace we received.

Apostleship: We too are missionaries to carry the gospel.

We too must plant churches.
Our ministry is also under the authority of Jesus Christ's command to us.
In that sense the apostleship is an explanation of the kind of grace intended.
To receive the apostleship.
A command is contained in this grace and that is to show obedience to the gospel.
You too are people called to belong to Jesus Christ.
That means that we all stand under and share in the love of God.

What is the characteristic feature of people who are loved by God?

They are holy.
From verse 7 it is clear that the letter is aimed at the believers personally and collectively. The whole church at Rome is encompassed in three issues:
The love of God;
To be called ones.
As saints.

There is an intensified description.

God loves mankind.
Those whom He loves He calls.
Holy means people set apart by God. They are saints.
"Saints" here means the church.

The word "saints" here describes the relationship in which these people stand to God.

It also shows that these people persevere in a strict Christian lifestyle.
The word also looks to the future, because it indicates that in the hereafter these people will be declared without sin in Jesus Christ.

3. Servitude and the spreading of God's church

The preface to this letter explains our position in God's plan.

We are saved in Jesus Christ.
We are saints who shall enter the kingdom of God through the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In all of this we remain servants of Jesus Christ.

In this letter we have a few examples of how people show their servitude in their lives.

We could certainly look at the apostle Paul's servitude.
But let us rather look at the servitude of two other people: Priscilla and Aquila.

Aquila is a manufacturer of tents at Rome. He and his wife are Christians.

They are not ordinary believers who carry on without anything particular happening around them.
No. They have a congregation meeting at their home. They were true to their servitude to the Lord Jesus.
They preached the gospel and many people from among the heathen who converted were gathered around them.
They planted a church.
That is why Paul writes that they are to be greeted personally and also the church that meets at their house.

The emperor Claudius subsequently ordered that all Christians in Rome should be killed and they then fled Rome.

We read of them again in Acts 18:1-3. Now they are in Corinth.
They still are Christians and Paul stayed with them.
When Paul left they went with him as far as Ephesus.
In Corinth they continued to preach the gospel. They remained slaves of Jesus Christ.
We read in 1 Corinthians 16:19 that Priscilla and Aquila and the church that meets at their house send greetings to the Corinthians.
They were then living in Ephesus and again had a congregation meeting at their house.

Brothers and sisters, these passages in the Bible are also aimed at us.

We are miserable people. We sin many times.
Yet we are not lost, because we too have received the grace of apostleship.
We too are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and are always subject to His sovereignty.

Let us then reflect on our worship and adore our Tri-une God as the Eternal and Almighty.

We must glorify and worship Him as the One who was declared by the Holy Spirit as the Resurrected from death.
He is the Son of God with Power.
He sends us with His authority to teach the world with our entire life (apostleship) the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen

Closing Prayer
Closing Psalm: 84:2

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
14 August 2005 (morning)
Scripture NIV