Serving God
A Sermon on Romans 1:7-15
Originally preached Feb. 17, 1956
Scripture
7To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. …
Sermon Description
The apostle Paul dedicated his ministry to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and making known the glory of God. This singular focus is made clear as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches “Serving God” from Romans 1:7–15. Paul was not a cultural commentator, nor was he a politician, but he was concerned that what God has done in Jesus Christ be known to all. From this, Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that the church should imitate Paul with the great doctrines of salvation and of God. Many preachers have lost this focus on biblical truth and use the pulpit as a platform for nothing more than social or political change. He says that this is in contrast to Paul who said that his ministry was to proclaim Christ and Him crucified, not the changing interests of humanity. This is why Paul writes to the Romans, expounding many great teachings, some of which are hard to understand. The church today should not be content to substitute God’s word with the mere opinion of people, but they ought to stand firm on the truth of God as given by the Holy Spirit in the writings of the apostles and prophets. For it is only God’s word that has the message of salvation.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul confined his ministry to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He determined not to preach anything else.
- The gospel of Jesus Christ includes the whole counsel of God, not just evangelism. It includes doctrine and teaching.
- The church today needs to follow Paul's example and preach the whole counsel of God, not just focus on evangelism. The church needs to teach doctrine.
- Paul was conscious of the power of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. He preached with power and authority.
- The church today needs to preach with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, not just with words.
- By "imparting some spiritual gift," Paul meant teaching and establishing the Romans in the faith through doctrine, not giving them spiritual gifts like tongues or healing.
- Paul's letter to the Romans is a synopsis. If he had been able to visit them, he would have taught them for months. We need to expand on and explore the depths of Paul's teachings.
- It is only through knowing doctrine and the whole counsel of God that we can become grounded, stable, and able to detect false teachings.
- There are no shortcuts to spiritual growth. We must study the Scriptures and doctrine in depth, not rush through them.
- Paul wanted to go to Rome to teach the Romans doctrine in depth so they could come to a place of assurance in their faith like Romans 8:38-39. But that assurance is built on knowing doctrine.
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.