Servant of the Gospel   Romans 1:1-4

Sermon by Pastor Dennis R. Gleason -- October 24, 2004

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 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.”

John Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family's housekeeper: 

It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House.

"Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson."

"He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him."

"Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him."

"No, Mr. President. I work for him, not you."

When I called the President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure.

"Tell that woman I want her here in the White House."

Our text speaks clearly about Paul seeing himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.
"Servant" in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms.

Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master's purchased property. Bought to serve his master's needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave's sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one's Savior (1 Corinthians. 6:19-20).
What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the slave's part and washed the disciples' feet.

When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, trouble, and substance to giving them all the practical help possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants (Matthew 25:31-46).

Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to go to college or a training class to learn the know-how or particular branches of Christian work. Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing.

Paul was the writer of this letter. He had been a Jew named Saul who had been brought up as a Pharisee and knew the Law of God. He had been an enemy of the Christian faith. He was a bigoted persecutor, who killed anyone who did not agree with him. Anyone who followed the Lord Jesus became an object of his hatred.  On his way to Damascus to persecute Christian believers there, he was met by Jesus and had a life changing experience of faith in Jesus Christ. It would be through this man who was later named Paul that the gospel would be extended to the non-Jewish or Gentile world.

Paul had been anxious to visit Rome and share with the believers there for a long time. He writes this epistle to the Romans demonstrating two of the greatest promises of the Old Testament: individual salvation and universal salvation.

God had told Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3) and through his seed (descendant) all the nations of the earth would be blessed. (Genesis 22:18). Paul writes this letter from Corinth some time during the years 57 and 58 AD to prepare the way for his visit to them. He was collecting money in Corinth for the poor believers in Jerusalem and after he delivered the money he was on his way to Spain via Rome.

His plans were changed with his arrest in Jerusalem. He eventually appealed to Caesar and made it to Rome as a prisoner.And that is in brief the story of the Letter to the Romans written by Paul. His message: salvation is possible for the individual soul from any stage of sin and ultimately salvation is possible for the nations through the intervention of God in Christ.

The Apostle Paul sees himself as more than the servant that our English text would indicate. The word he uses is one contains a figure of speech that means “bond-servant” in the original Greek text. The phrase he uses here goes back to a ceremony that is described in the Book of Moses. In early Israel there were regulations that were set forth in the Law given by God to Moses governing the situation of a man who got into debt. He became the property of his creditor, in fact, his slave.

However, this slaver had a termination point. At the end of seven years, all of these slaves were to be liberated and would become their own masters once again. Many of these slaves had kind, caring masters who loved them. The Law provided a way for them to remain slaves of their kind masters. One would go to his master and tell him that he desired to remain a slave. The master would then take him to the tabernacle where the priest would lead him to the door post and bore a hole in his ear lobe with an awl. From that time on he would be the slave of his master. He could have been free but he chose to remain a slave of his kind master. He was known as a bond slave. Wherever he went the hole in his ear proclaimed the character of his master.

Paul was a “bond servant” of Jesus Christ. He was totally surrendered to Christ.
Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  True freedom comes when we willingly accept the salvation offered us by God that was paid for by the blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. People must be allowed freedom to be foolish and let them go on in their folly until they are stopped by spiritual hunger. Then perhaps we can help them taste the “bread of Life.”

God will allow men to do as they please religiously. What freedom is there is in love unless there is the consent of the beloved?  God loves us with an everlasting love. The Bible clearly speaks to us of His love:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).  God loves us and wants us to love him freely. He will weep as long as men remain away from him.

Paul describes himself not only as a ‘bond servant” but also as an apostle.  The English word “missionary” will help us to understand what Paul means by the word apostle. Both words mean “one who is sent”. Paul is first of all a bond servant of Christ Jesus and then he is a sent one. Anyone who has been in the army knows the difference between the soldier who kicked against the whole army system and the soldier who yielded himself fully to his duty.  Paul certainly understood this.  He saw himself as a man under orders. He was willing to follow the Word of God as a bond servant of Christ, but also as an apostle to the gentiles. He saw God offering the good news or the gospel to the entire world and the door is now open for all me to come to God in His way if they will.

Notice that Paul recognizes that he was called as an apostle. He does not run by himself. God had chosen him and had equipped him for his task.

The story is told of an old Negro preacher who clearly understood spiritual principles. A young minister, rather cocky and sure of him self, came to preach. After hearing him preach, the old man asked, “Was you sent or did you just went?”

I have been asked on several occasions over the years if I wanted my sons to follow me in the ministry. My answer has always been “No, not unless they are called of God to do so.” If they can be satisfied with anything else, God has not called them into the ministry. There must be for any who would follow Christ in this way the cry from the heart, “Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel.”

Paul was called of God. He had been selected by God to be an apostle and because of that he was able to speak with such authority.Paul was also separated unto the gospel of God. When he was separated unto Christ, he became separated from the world. The word used here is one from which we get our word “horizon”. It is a word which means “off-horizoned”. Once we were traveling through New England and there was a look out point in the mountains. When you looked out at the horizon you could see five states from that point.
What Paul is saying here is that he used to live his life within the horizon of a limited vision. Now he knew Christ and he had become off-horizoned. His horizons had expanded and his life now revolved around an axis so different that it led to a totally different life.

When the new life of Jesus Christ flows through us, the old leaves of the old life will begin to drop off and the new life will come all by himself. This new love of Jesus will push out the old love of self. Paul is separated unto the Gospel. We would use the expression “good news” today. It is the good news of God.

Stop and think for a moment. God is our creator. It is against Him that we have sinned. It is His love that we have trampled. And yet He brings us good news. And the news is that God loves us. He loves us in spite of what we are and in spite of what we have done. God’s love for us is such that when we run from Him He knows the short cuts to the point where He can wait for us in our running. Romans 5:8 tells us “God commends his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

One of the final things we want to note in this section of Paul’s letter is this: there are seven things said here about this gospel, good news in this chapter.

1. It is the Gospel of God
2. It was promised in the Old Testament
3. It concerns the Lord Jesus Christ
4. It must be preached
5. Is the power of God unto salvation
6. It was to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles
7. It is the revelation of the righteousness of God.

This Good news originated in the love of God and finds its center in the Son of God, Jesus. It consists of a definition of who Jesus is and what he has done when he took our place on the cross and died in our place. Paul clearly states for us the method by which this good news will make a difference in our lives in Romans 1:17 when he tells us “the righteous will live by faith."

How have you responded to the gospel, the good news?  If you have expressed that kind of faith in Jesus Christ, having accepted him as your Savior and Lord of your life  you have received a new life in Christ.

Do you see yourself as a bond servant of Jesus Christ?
If you were totally surrendered to Jesus Christ what difference would it make in your life?
Has God called you in some special way to go to others so that they might know Jesus Christ s their own personal savior?

-- Dennis Gleason