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[0:00] Well, open your Bibles to the Gospel according to Paul.

[0:24] ! Book of Romans, all right? Turn to Romans, would you?! That was a little bit of a joke. And yet it's not, really. Because the book of Romans has been called by some the Gospel according to Paul.

[0:42] So I didn't just make that up. And, you know, and you thought that the Gospels were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And they are, okay? They're the Gospels.

[0:53] Tell the story of Jesus, most of them from the birth all the way to the death and resurrection. And yet, I think you would have to agree, especially as we get through and go through this book.

[1:06] And it may take some time. But as we go through the book, you're going to discover, I think, that the scholars are right or those who have said that, and I'm saying it, that this is the Gospel.

[1:22] It's about the Gospel. Matthew had his Gospel. Mark, his Gospel. Luke, his Gospel. John had his Gospel. And this is Paul's. All right? Now, when you think of the Gospels, you think of what?

[1:39] Good news. Good news. All right? Well, that's what the word means, doesn't it? The word euangelion in the Greek is the word that appears in the text.

[1:50] In fact, it's going to appear here in verse 1. We'll get to that in just a minute. In fact, we're going to just focus on verse 1 tonight, by the way. And we're not even going to delve into all that verse 1 has to say to us because we'll take that up again next Sunday night.

[2:08] But it's about the Gospel. And it's euangelion. It's good news. Good news. And verse 1 says, good news of God. The good news of God is that Jesus has come.

[2:21] And all throughout the Old Testament, the prophets have been prophesying that Jesus would come. That the Messiah would be coming.

[2:32] And he did come. And so when the angel said to the shepherds there on the mountaintop or out there in the fields as they were watching over their flock by night, he said to them, I have good news for you.

[2:49] Good news. The good news. Everything that God has promised, that which God has promised has come. And so it's good news. Good news of Jesus Christ. And now on this side of the cross, we have the full story.

[3:04] The full good news. That includes now, not only that Jesus has come, the Messiah has come. Not only the eschatological elements of the Gospel.

[3:15] All that's been promised throughout the ages by the prophets. But now we have the fulfillment of it. Jesus died for our sins. Was buried. And was raised from the dead on the third day.

[3:26] It's good news. Good news. And so here in verse 1, we have that word appearing there, don't we? Gospel. Evangelion.

[3:37] Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated to the, what? Gospel of God.

[3:49] So it's something separated to. That's what we're going to discover here tonight. If you skip on down to verse 9, just by way of introduction, just so that you'll understand that I didn't just dream this idea up that this is the Gospel according to Paul.

[4:07] Verse 9. For God is my witness, Paul said, whom I serve with my spirit in the, what? Gospel of his Son. The Gospel of his Son.

[4:18] So it's something you're separated to. It's something you serve. The Gospel. Verse 15. So as much as in me.

[4:30] As is in me. I am ready to preach the. Gospel. The Gospel. To you who are in Rome also.

[4:41] And of course way beyond Rome. As God inspired Paul and he wrote the book of Romans. It certainly was not just intended for some isolated group of readers in Rome.

[4:52] It has branched out indeed into the entire world and over the centuries. And we're reading it today. And the truths of Romans, the great doctrinal truths that God inspired Paul to write down on paper.

[5:07] However, we now have them here for us now. And it's the good news. And so you're separated to it. Serve it. And preach it.

[5:18] It's something to be preached. Right? The good news. And then verse 16. For I'm not ashamed of the. Gospel. Not ashamed of it.

[5:30] Not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. For the Jew first. And also for the Greek. And so it's something that you're honored to be a part of.

[5:46] Certainly privileged to have received that good news. And believed in that good news. And you're honored by it. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[5:58] For that Gospel. That good news about Jesus. Is the power of God unto salvation. There is no other news. That will save. A man or a woman from their sins.

[6:09] Other than the good news of Jesus Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. To all those who believe. All right. So. You. I hope would agree with me now. You know.

[6:22] To some extent. I mean. Obviously. Paul didn't write. Narratives. About the life of Jesus. Not the Gospel story. In the sense that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are.

[6:34] But. The book of Romans is packed. Full. Of the Gospel. And. To add to that. I would say this. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

[6:45] Paul. Was the one. Privileged. To. Hammer out. The great doctrines of the faith. Not just in the book of Romans. But in other letters that he wrote.

[6:56] In fact. Most of the New Testament. Was written by the Apostle Paul. Where would we be? What kind of Bible. Or New Testament. Would we have. Without. The writings of the Apostle Paul. Now we give God all the glory.

[7:07] And all the credit. Because it was God. The Holy Spirit. That moved upon. The Apostle Paul. To write what he wrote. So that it is. The pure. Inspired. Word of God.

[7:19] And so. Paul. Didn't do this on his own. But Paul. Thought through. God used his intellect. Paul had a tremendous intellect.

[7:29] I believe. And even used his. Great. Vast knowledge. Of the Old Testament. Which he certainly had. And it was Paul. Under the inspiration.

[7:40] And the power of God. Moving upon his life. Who thought through. The theological implications. Of Christianity. We would be missing a lot. Without the book of Romans.

[7:50] Wouldn't we? Now. We're not missing it. And God. Saw to it. That it was there. I just want you to consider. This is Paul. Gospel. In a sense. Paul was the one.

[8:02] Who thought through. All these things. And Paul thought through. The deeper meaning. Of the Old Testament. In light of. Of the gospel. In light of the cross. Brings into play.

[8:12] As. As. As he writes. The implications. Of the Old Testament. In the cross. We'll get to that. As we go along. It was Paul.

[8:24] I think you would have to agree. Who was privileged. To coin the vocabulary. Of the New Testament. All the great theological words.

[8:35] Most of them come from. Paul's letters. Words that had common usages. In those days. And some of them even. Secular and common usages.

[8:46] In our day. And yet. With the writings of Paul. Romans. And Corinthians. And Galatians. As we go on through. The New Testament. God inspired him.

[8:57] To coin these. The vocabulary. Of the Christian faith. Give them significance. Spiritual significance. That's what we get out of. The book of Romans.

[9:08] As well. It's incredible. What we would be missing. In our vocabulary. As Christians. We didn't have the book of Romans. And other writings of Paul. But particularly Romans.

[9:21] It was Paul. Who expounded. The true meaning of the cross. Cross of Christ. And the coming of Christ. And.

[9:31] His present. Glorified position. At God's right hand. Right now. We get this from. From Paul. From the Romans. We get it from God. But through.

[9:42] Paul. And. And so it's. This letter. To the Romans. That. I think. That Paul's grasp. The gospel. Is fully displayed.

[9:54] And. And so we're privileged. To have the book of Romans. One of my favorite books. In the New Testament. Maybe right next to Philippians.

[10:05] I think Philippians. Would have to be my. Most favorite book. In the New Testament. But Romans is. Right there with it. And. Now. There are three things.

[10:16] That I want you to see. In the opening verse. Well. Tonight. Opening verse. But in the next couple of. Of Sundays. The opening verses. Of this awesome letter.

[10:28] To the Romans. And the first thing. Is. If you jot down notes. Somebody asked me. If I had notes. Tonight. To give you. And. I have this philosophy. About preaching.

[10:39] The philosophy is. That. That people are engaged. Should be engaged. To the preacher. Not engaged. To be married. Engaged. With what he's doing. And. And so.

[10:50] I don't typically. Give out notes. On Sunday morning. And Sunday nights. So the people. Can fill out blanks. We'll do that. On Wednesday night. But I want you. To be engaged. In the dynamic. Of preaching. Even though.

[11:01] It's more of a. Teaching style. Tonight. But if you're. Jotting down things. And you can do that. Certainly. Tonight. We want to. Begin to see. The significance.

[11:12] Of the gospel. The significance. Of it. And we learn it. Just in the opening. Verses of. Chapter one. Just in. Paul's introduction.

[11:23] Kind of his. His opening. To his letter. Paul shows. Us. The significance. Of the gospel. Of Jesus. And he does so. In. In two ways.

[11:34] Basically. Two ways. And the first one. We'll see tonight. Okay. You don't mind. If we take a long time. To go through Romans. Well. Some of you might. Might get weary of it.

[11:46] We will go a little faster. At times. But not tonight. All right. So just. One thing. We're going to see. About the significance. Of the gospel. And that is. What I.

[11:57] Want to call. The divine mandate. The mandate. Of the gospel. And it's. Maybe difficult. To see this. But. It comes to us.

[12:08] Through understanding. Three. Words. That Paul uses. In verse one. Words. That he uses. To describe himself. What are those three words?

[12:20] Paul. A. Bond. Servant. There's the first word. A bond. Servant. Of Jesus Christ. Called to be. An.

[12:31] Apostle. There's the second word. Separated. To the gospel. Of God. There's the third word. And I.

[12:42] I. Maintain. That those three words. Come together. Especially when we. Plumb the. Depths. Of the meaning. Of these words. And then. Go beyond. Just what they meant.

[12:53] For Paul. Because. In a sense. They meant something. Different for him. Than they could ever mean. For us. But when we. Apply. The meaning. To us. Then. I.

[13:03] Think. We see. A mandate. The mandate. Of the gospel. To be. Servants of it. And so forth. All right. So bond. Servant. Apostle.

[13:15] Separated. Those three words. And your version. Of the bible. Might have. Servant. Rather than. Bond. Servant. But we'll. Talk about that. But probably.

[13:26] Every one of them. Has the word. Apostle. There. Because that comes. Right out. Right. Straight over. Into the english. From the greek. And separated. Separated. Most likely. Every translation.

[13:36] Has the word. Separated there. And we'll explain. Each of these. All right. So we're talking about. The mandate. And the first thing. We want to look at. First word. Is of course. The one. That appears first. There.

[13:47] Bonds. Servant. Paul said. That he was a. Bonds. Servant. A slave. A servant.

[13:58] Of Jesus Christ. And. We don't need. To pass over that. Too quickly. Now. Most of you. Been in church. Some of you. All your life. And undoubtedly. You've heard preachers.

[14:09] Preach. About the bond. Servant. And. And you know. What that means. But we need. To be reminded. About it. Paul said. He's a bond. Servant.

[14:19] It's the Greek. Word. Do loss. I would. Tell you. A story. I'm not going. To tell you that. How I memorized. The Greek. Word. Do loss.

[14:30] Used word. Association. But I'm not going. To tell you. That story. No. I'm really not. Because. I'm ashamed. Of it. Actually. Shall I tell you.

[14:45] Okay. You might be appalled. When I was learning. Greek. In. Seminary. Greek. Vocabulary. I had to use. Association.

[14:56] So. I just took the word. And whatever it kind of. Sounded like. I made that. Association. Like for example. Example. The word. Artos. Any Greek.

[15:07] People in here. Know what the word. Artos is. No. Maybe I better. Before I embarrass. Our. Well anyway. It means bread. Artos.

[15:19] All right. Now. When I was in seminary. And learning. Greek vocabulary. I was pastoring. Near. Sykeston. Missouri. And there's a very famous restaurant.

[15:30] There in Sykeston. You know what it is. Lambert's. Ever been to Lambert's. They have them of course. Around Branson. And. And a couple of other places.

[15:41] What do they do. That is. Just. So unique. At that restaurant. Artos. Toss. The bread. Isn't that silly.

[15:52] But let me tell you something. I will never forget. What artos is. In the Greek. Okay. Now what that means to me. Spiritually. I don't have. I guess nothing. But. Well.

[16:03] I need to move to this word. Doulos. And you know. There is. An old. Negro. Spiritual. Do Lord. Do Lord.

[16:15] Oh do Lord. Oh do. Remember me. Remember that. An old Negro. Spiritual. When I think of. An old Negro. Spiritual. I think of slaves. And do Lord.

[16:27] Sounds like do loss. To me. And so do loss. Is servant. Now aren't you appalled. Isn't that silly. That's silly. All right.

[16:38] Now I've told my story. But the word here is do loss. And it could be translated servant. And it is. In the King James. Version.

[16:49] Of the Bible. Servant. And it's correct. And yet. We understand. From the context. And other places. In scripture. The other connotation.

[17:00] Of the word do loss. It's used also. To describe. The bond. Servant. And is translated that. In a number of translations. New American Standard.

[17:10] I believe does. Doesn't it? New King James. Of course does. And. NIV. Maybe. Bond. Servant. That's literally.

[17:21] The idea here. Bond. Servant. Or bond. Slave. And. A bond. Slave. Is. A purchased. Slave. Real.

[17:32] Bonafide. Slave. Who has been. Given. Freedom. All right. A bond. Servant. Or bond. Slave. Is a slave. A. Purchased. Slave.

[17:42] But has been. Given. Freedom. And that. Slave. Rather than. Choosing. Freedom. Chooses. To continue. To serve. His master. For.

[17:54] Number of. Motivation. Sometimes. It's because. Of the love. For the master. Love. For the family. And. Oftentimes. In these days. And maybe.

[18:04] Still. In some parts. Of the world. I don't know. That still. Has slavery. There is. The bond. Servant. Who's a free man. Or free woman. But has chosen. To continue. To serve. The master.

[18:15] And. The bond. Slave. Then. Is a beautiful. Picture. Of the Christian. In that sense. And that's why. Paul. Quite often. Called himself. A bond. Slave. He's purchased.

[18:27] And we are. Purchased. People. Because. We're. Christians. But we're free. Purchased. But free. That's the idea. Of a bond. Slave. Free. To serve.

[18:38] The Lord. From a motivation. Of love. And loyalty. And. And. And. Just. Adoration. Of our master. We're.

[18:49] Bondslaves. And that's what. Paul said. He was. And that's what. We ought to be. And we have the knowledge. In our heart. We understand. From scripture. And we also know. In our Christian faith.

[18:59] That we've been bought. With a price. A precious. Price. Of the blood. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. And so that makes us. Cease to be our own. We're bought slaves.

[19:11] To live for Jesus. Who purchased us. With his own blood. And yet has. Set us. Free. We're free. To serve him. All right.

[19:23] Well. So. The mandate. Of the gospel. Is this. We're talking about. The gospel. And the mandate. Comes in. Into this reality. That we.

[19:34] Are slave. Bond slaves. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. Purchased. By his blood. And free. To serve him. From a heart. Not a heart. Of bondage. Or servitude.

[19:45] But a. But a heart. Of love. And adoration. For him. I tell you. That makes. A big difference. I think. In our thinking.

[19:57] In relation. To the gospel. And the task. Of. Of sharing. The gospel. When we understand. That we are. Bond slaves. Of Christ. From a willing. Heart. A heart.

[20:08] Of gratitude. We serve. The gospel. Because we love. Our master. Paul mentioned. Something else. Here. It.

[20:19] Also. The gospel. Also. Made him. An apostle. Apostle. Now. The word. Apostle. Means. One who is sent. I mean.

[20:30] Just the basic. Meaning. Of the word. One who is sent. And it. It. Certainly. Had a secular. Meaning. In those days. And. Of course. The new. Testament.

[20:41] Identifies. Or. Or. Redefined. Apostle. To be a very. Specific. Have a specific. Meaning. One who's sent. Sent by. God.

[20:52] To the work. Of the gospel. To share. And proclaim. The gospel. One who is sent. That's what the word. Apostle. Means. Now. In the text. Here. And. Nearly all. Translations.

[21:03] Have it. This way. It says here. Paul. A bondservant. Of Jesus Christ. Called. To be. An apostle. Does your version. Have that. That way.

[21:14] Perhaps. You also. Noted. Noticed. That. The words. To be. Are in italics. Do you see that? Now. What does that mean? It means.

[21:25] That. Those words. Are not in the. In the original text. They're added. By the translators. To make it read. Better. And in this case. Is a bit.

[21:36] Interpretive. It's true enough. He's called. To be an apostle. And Paul. Certainly. Was. But. Literally. To be. Is not there. Literally.

[21:48] It is. Kletos. Apostolos. Called. Apostle. Not called. To be. Apostle. An apostle. But called.

[21:59] Apostle. Called. Apostle. And called. Is not a verb. In this case. It's an adjective. It's describing. His apostleship. It makes. His apostleship.

[22:10] Unique. Because. Paul. Was uniquely. Specifically. Called. By God. To be an apostle. He's a. Called apostle. It tells us.

[22:21] What kind of apostle. He was. Because the word. Apostle. Can apply. To other people. Who were not called. In the way. That Paul was called. And this is a big debate. In.

[22:31] In. In the. In the church. Today. In some denominations. In fact. I may have told you. Or if I didn't tell you. I told the committee. The search team.

[22:42] Several years ago. I was. Had the opportunity. To teach. First and second. Timothy. January Bible study. The church. Up in Wyoming. And.

[22:52] The church. Had pulled away. Had made the decision. To. Separate themselves. From the Southern Baptist Convention. Only I didn't know that. Until I got there. And. It was quite an interesting week.

[23:04] But. They had in the church. Some folks. Who. Followed. A different kind of doctrine. Theology. And. To them.

[23:16] We still have apostles. Today. That is. Apostles. In the same sense. That Paul was an apostle. Apostle. In the same sense. That Matthew. Peter. James. John.

[23:26] The other apostles. In the very same sense. We have those kind of apostles. Today. And. I tell you. We. We couldn't get past. The word apostle. In the teaching. I couldn't even go on with it.

[23:37] Because there was this big debate. About. About whether or not. There are apostles. Today. Well. In the sense. That Paul was an apostle. There are not. Paul was a unique.

[23:49] Was uniquely. An apostle. He was. He was. Kletos apostle. Apostolos. Called apostle. A specifically. Called. Apostle. A divinely.

[24:00] Called. Apostle. Just like the other. Twelve. Apostles. Were called. And. Not only. Could Paul. Claim. Valid.

[24:10] Apostleship. Then. Because he could. And he made that case. In some of his letters. He could claim. Valid. Apostleship. But he could also. Boast. That he was.

[24:22] No ordinary apostle. He really could. Because you see. Jesus Christ. Had to make a special trip. To call him. You remember. On the Damascus road. But what is this to us?

[24:36] That's the question. Because we need to apply this. I'll ask the question. Though we've already answered it. Have. We all been called. Divinely called.

[24:46] As apostles. As Paul was called. To be an apostle. No. Not any of us. Have met with Jesus. We didn't witness. The ministry of Jesus.

[24:57] We didn't have a face-to-face. Personal call. As the original apostles did. So we're not called. Divinely called. In the way that Paul was. Paul was the last of the apostles.

[25:08] In that sense of the word. And yet. I want to make an application. The term apostle. Grew to take on.

[25:19] A wider meaning. And usage. In the church. Not. Not so much. But some. And it grew to include.

[25:30] All those called by Christ. Without a divine intervention. In that sense. We are apostles.

[25:44] Though we don't. Do not claim the office of apostle. We are apostles. In the sense that every one of us. Have been sent. We've all been sent. God saved you.

[25:56] And sent you. If there was no. Sending. No need to send you. Then God would save you. And just take you. Some of us.

[26:07] Would. Might think. That would. Been a better deal. Yeah. But. God saved us. And sent us. Go ye into all the world. Make disciples.

[26:19] And so we are apostles. In that sense. Because. You see. The mandate of the gospel. Is always. Evangelism. That's what the word. Gospel. In fact. The word evangelism.

[26:30] Comes from. The Greek word. For gospel. Euangelion. That's where we get our word. Evangelism. Or evangelize. Or evangelization. That's what the gospel.

[26:41] Is all about. And I. Will give you one example. In Acts. Chapter. 14. And verse 14. You don't need to turn to.

[26:52] I'll read it very quickly. It's. When Paul and Barnabas. Were preaching in Lystra. Well. They were preaching there. And saved. And a man was healed. And.

[27:03] The Bible says that. They. Thought they were Greek gods. You know. Barnabas. They called Zeus. And Paul. Hermes. And. And so forth. And then. But in verse 14.

[27:14] Says. But when the apostles. Barnabas. And Paul. Heard this. Correct me. If I'm wrong. Was Barnabas.

[27:25] An apostle. No. No. He wasn't. Paul was. But here. In the text. It says. And when the apostles.

[27:37] Barnabas. And Paul. Heard this. They tore their clothes. And ran in. Among the multitudes. Crying out. In this sense. Of the word. The word is not used.

[27:47] In the sense. Of an office. Or a. Divine. Calling. To. Apostleship. As. Was the case. With. The original. Twelve.

[27:58] And Paul. As a man. Born out of. Season. Not the same thing. This is just simply. In the sense. Of a missionary. And that's what Barnabas. And Paul were. Missionaries. So instead of using.

[28:10] The word missionary. Here. Luke. Luke. Luke. Who wrote Acts. Used the word. Apostle. Now. So I am.

[28:20] Perfectly. Correct. In. Applying. The word. Apostle. To every one of us. Because we've all been called. All been sent out.

[28:33] Sent out. For the cause. Of the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. We're missionaries. In the sense. Now you may not go to Africa. And God may not call you. To a vocational. Type of missions.

[28:46] Maybe God will. Some of you. Praise God. If he does. You may never. Do your missionary work. Outside of Bartlesville. Maybe. You don't get much.

[28:57] Out of your. Your. Neighborhood. But. You've been sent. Every one of us. Have been sent. We're all apostles. In that sense. Now don't let that. Get out.

[29:07] That your pastor here. Believes. That there are still. Apostles today. But there are. And I'm looking at them. All of you. Okay.

[29:18] All right. So. We are to be people. Just like Paul. Who are sent. Apostles. So we are. Bond slaves. Bought.

[29:30] But free. Free. Free. To serve. With a pure heart. A heart of love. For God. We are bond slaves. And sent. All for the cause. Of the gospel. Go ye therefore.

[29:43] That's the. Mandate. And make disciples. Paul mentions. Another aspect. Of this mandate. To be servants. Serving ones. To be.

[29:54] Sent. Ones. And then third. To be. Separated. Ones. Separated. That's the word.

[30:05] He uses here. In the text. He said. I'm. A bond slave. An apostle. And I've been. Separated. Unto the gospel. Of God. Separated. Unto it. Separated.

[30:15] To it. That's a very interesting word. This word. Separated. It can mean. A number of things. In the English. Of course. And. But when we get.

[30:26] To the root. Of the. Of the Greek word. It's translated. Separated. It is a word. From which. We get our word. Horizon. And what does that mean?

[30:38] Or is that important? I think it is. Because the idea here is. When Paul said. He's separated. To the gospel. And using that word.

[30:49] The root of which. Is the idea of horizon. Or borders. Paul. Is saying. My whole. Horizon. The whole horizon. Of my life. Is dominated.

[31:00] By. The gospel. Of Jesus Christ. Everything about it. Dominated. By Christ. And dominated.

[31:11] By the mission. He called me to. That's what Paul is saying. Separated. To the gospel. That is all. The boundaries. Of his life. Determined.

[31:22] By the Lord. Should that not describe. Every Christian. It doesn't mean. You have to sell everything.

[31:33] And you know. And join some missions. Organization. And go to Africa. Or I don't know. Why we always say Africa. Plenty of places. That need the gospel. Around the world. I mean that.

[31:45] It just means. That all the boundaries. Of your life. Are. Dominated. By Christ. Separated. To the gospel.

[31:55] The good news. Of God. That mean. You can have. A secular job. Sure. But everything. You do. In that secular job. Fits.

[32:06] Within the boundaries. Of Christ. Controlled. By him. So that you do. Your work. As unto the Lord. As the Bible.

[32:16] Says. In another place. Whatever we do. In word. Or deed. Whatever it is. We do. For his glory. That's another way. Of saying the same thing. That all the. The horizons.

[32:28] All the boundaries. Of my life. Now. Because. I'm a. Bond slave. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. And he's sent me. Out into this world. And so all the. Boundaries.

[32:38] Of my life. Are dominated. By Christ. And the mission. He's called me to. You could make. The same application. To a church. And. And. And.

[32:48] Think of it. In this sense. That all the. Ministries. Of our church. From the. Janitorial. Ministry. John. It is a.

[32:59] Ministry. Isn't it? Very appreciated. Ministry. Working in the nursery. Singing in the choir. Teaching a Sunday school class. Serving as a deacon.

[33:10] An elder. Whatever it is. All of the. Ministries of the church. Fit within the. Horizons. Dominated by Christ.

[33:20] So that if anything. Doesn't fit there. Then we ought to get rid of it. We ought to not do it. Alright. So. This is what. Paul is saying.

[33:31] To. Be separated. Under the gospel. And. We can see this. To be true. In Paul's life. Before his conversion.

[33:41] At his conversion. After his conversion. In fact. I'll just point. All three of those out. In the life of Paul. Galatians. See if I can find it here.

[33:57] Galatians. Chapter 1. Verse 15. Listen to what Paul said here. But when it pleased God. Who separated me. From my mother's womb.

[34:08] And called me. Through his grace. That's. That's. Paul saying. That. My horizons. Have been dominated. By Christ. Even before my conversion.

[34:21] Even before I was born. Incredible. At his conversion. Acts chapter. 9. And verse 15.

[34:33] Listen to this. He doesn't use the word. Separated here. But the idea is here. But the Lord said to me. He's. He's giving testimony.

[34:44] Said to him rather. This is the record of his. His conversion. The Lord said to him. Go for. He. Or he said to Ananias. Excuse me. Let me back up here a minute.

[34:55] I'm getting confused. Speaking to Ananias. And you know the story. Of Paul's conversion. And Paul was blinded. And Ananias. Was. To go and lay hands on Paul. And the scales would be removed.

[35:05] And Ananias. Rightly so. Is a little bit intimidated. By this whole idea. I mean. Paul was the persecutor. Of the church. And so. The Lord said to him. Go. For he is a chosen vessel.

[35:17] Of mine. To bear my name. Before Gentiles. Kings. And the children of Israel. For I. Will show him. How many things. He must suffer. For my name's sake. Now that part. We don't really want to hear about.

[35:29] But that's also a part of it. So at his conversion. Then. After his conversion. A number of places. We could go there. Acts chapter 13. Verse 2.

[35:42] As they ministered. To the Lord. And fasted. The Holy Spirit said. He's speaking to the church here. The church at Antioch. The Holy Spirit said.

[35:52] Now separate. To me. Barnabas. And Saul. That's Paul. For the work. To which I have called them. Before his conversion.

[36:04] At his conversion. After his conversion. You can truly say. And Paul. Was speaking. Out of the testimony. Of his heart. It is a true statement. That.

[36:14] My entire horizons. Are dominated. By. The sovereign Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. And. We better begin to realize. That God. Is sovereign.

[36:25] In our lives too. In the same way. And he has dominated. Actively. Our entire. Boundary. Of life. Ephesians.

[36:37] Chapter 1. Ought to be a familiar passage. Ephesians 1. 4. Listen to this. Just as he chose us.

[36:51] In him. Before the foundation. Of the world. That we should be holy. And without blame. Before him. In love. Having predestined us.

[37:02] To adoption. As sons. By Jesus Christ. To himself. According to the good pleasure. Of his will. To the praise. Of the glory. Of his grace. By which he made us. Accepted.

[37:12] In the beloved. And skip on over there. To verse 10. For we are his. Chapter 2. Verse 10. For we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. For good works.

[37:23] Which God prepared. Before hand. That we should walk in them. Now. I just read that passage. Because. That is. Clear proof. That all the boundaries. Of our.

[37:34] Life. Dominated. By him. Before conversion. He hath chosen us. Before the foundation. Of the world. At conversion. He made us. Accepted. In the beloved.

[37:46] After conversion. We are. Created. In Christ. Unto. In Christ Jesus. Unto good works. That we should walk in them. The entire horizon. The whole borders.

[37:57] Of. Of who we are. And will be. Dominated. By Christ. And so. All of this. Emphasizes.

[38:08] The sovereignty. Of God. And at the same time. I would say to you. That it does. No damage. To the freedom. Of human choice. This is the beauty. Of God's sovereignty.

[38:21] That we can still be. Free. Where. Does this. Freedom. Come into play. Well. The idea begins. With the word. Servant.

[38:31] Let's just go back over. The words here. The idea. Is. Exists. There. Even. Sovereignty. Of God. Yes. But. Also. The freedom. Of man. Servant.

[38:44] Bond slave. That is a slave. Out of choice. I serve him. Out of choice. I choose to serve him. Because I love him. It's based upon.

[38:55] My love for him. And. That love. Is based upon. My. My. A heart of gratitude. That springs. From. The reality. Of my redemption.

[39:05] At what a great cost. He has saved me. And I. Love him. And I. Choose to serve him. See. And then the idea. Of freedom.

[39:16] Comes out. I think. Strongest. In. The. Word. Separated. Separated. I mean. The one.

[39:26] Who would be. The most effective. In service. To the Lord. Who would be. Separated. Unto him. So that all the. Horizons. Of my life.

[39:36] Every. Area. And aspect. And context. Of my life. Is committed. To him. And dominated. By him. I willingly. Submit. Myself. To his. Rule.

[39:47] And lordship. In my life. See. You know. If you're going to. Be effective. In your service. Of the Lord. Then. You need to.

[39:57] Maybe burn. Some bridges. Bridges. Bridges. To that old life. Bridges. To things. That allure. You away. From. Him. Being control.

[40:08] In control. Of every area. Of your life. Like Cortez. You know. When. They got to the. Shores of Mexico. And he ordered. All the boats. To be burned. You know.

[40:20] Victory. Or death. And I. You know. They chose victory. They were quite motivated. And so. The mandate. Of the gospel. Caused Paul.

[40:30] To cut himself. Adrift. So to speak. From any possibility. Of compromise. Or anything. That would damage. His witness. And that's a part.

[40:41] Of our. Choice. Our decisions. In life. That we need to make. And we must. Do as Paul did. See. So.

[40:51] To put all this together. To serve the Lord. By choice. We do so. Out of love. And gratitude. To be. Sent. By the Lord.

[41:03] With his message. The good news. Of Jesus Christ. We. Do that. By participating. Getting in line. With him. He sent us.

[41:14] But we rely. Upon him. And we. Get our marching. Orders from him. And we. Stay close to him. And we. Study his words. So that when we're. Sent. We have. The right message.

[41:25] To give. That's part of our. Our. Spiritual discipline. The choice of our life. It's important. And to be separated. From everything. That could. Compromise.

[41:35] Or would compromise. The message. Of the gospel. And I. Say. This is the mandate. Of the gospel. This is the demand. Upon you. And. We could. Write.

[41:46] This letter. Just as. Paul wrote. This letter. And we could. Or should. Say. The same. Things. About ourselves. Though. In somewhat.

[41:57] Different fashion. But we ought to be able. As Christians. As believers. We ought to be able. To say. I am. A bond slave. Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. An apostle.

[42:08] That is. He sent me. Sent me. And. I am. Separated. To the gospel. Of God. All. Every.

[42:18] Every. Every. immersed in Christ. That's verse 1. Can you apply that to your life?