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.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Sermon on Romans
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the content of Paul's service according to Romans 1?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, Paul describes the content of his service as being "in the gospel of his son." This is a defining and limiting concept that means Paul deliberately confined his subjects to the gospel message. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that Paul "was not interested in anything unless it came under that heading," even though as a learned man, he could have spoken on many other subjects like philosophy, poetry, or Jewish law. For Paul, the content of his service was exclusively focused on "Jesus Christ and him crucified," which is how he expressed it to the Corinthians.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain what it means to serve God "in the gospel of his Son"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that serving God "in the gospel of his Son" means preaching the whole counsel of God, not just an evangelistic message. He emphasizes that the gospel is "a very large and wide message" that includes all the profound doctrines found in Romans. While it begins with evangelism, it extends to teaching all aspects of Christian doctrine including "justification, sanctification, and glorification." Lloyd-Jones calls it "the unsearchable riches of Christ" and warns against the modern tendency to reduce church activity to just evangelism or moralizing about current events while neglecting deeper doctrinal teaching.
What was Paul's primary purpose for wanting to visit the Romans according to the sermon?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones' interpretation, Paul's primary purpose for wanting to visit the Romans was "that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end ye may be established." This means Paul wanted to strengthen, build up, and establish the Roman believers through his teaching. Lloyd-Jones explains that Paul wasn't referring to giving them the Holy Spirit (as they already had the Spirit) or imparting specific spiritual gifts like healing or tongues. Rather, he wanted to provide them with deeper teaching and exposition of Christian doctrine that would establish them firmly in their faith and prevent them from being spiritually unstable.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the relationship between learning doctrine and spiritual stability?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones strongly emphasizes that spiritual stability comes through thorough understanding of Christian doctrine. He quotes Peter's statement about the "unlearned and the unstable" to show that instability is directly linked to lack of doctrinal understanding. He states: "The spiritual butterflies are the people who don't know doctrine. The people who can be carried away by the slight of men and cunning craftiness are those who are not thoroughly established in the truth and indoctrinated and grounded in the faith." Lloyd-Jones insists that deep doctrinal understanding is what protects believers from being "carried away and without being deluded" by false teachings and cults.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as a key problem in the modern church?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies several key problems in the modern church, particularly: (1) The failure of the church to focus on its specific mission of preaching "Jesus Christ and him crucified" while instead becoming "cultural societies" and social meeting places; (2) An over-emphasis on evangelism to the exclusion of deeper teaching, saying "there is a real danger at the moment with the right emphasis on evangelism, that it becomes an exclusive emphasis"; (3) The lack of "power" and "authority" in preaching, with churches having "a highly educated and cultured ministry" but lacking the power of the Holy Spirit; and (4) The tendency toward superficial teaching rather than deep, establishing doctrinal instruction that grounds believers firmly in their faith.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the "power" that Paul was conscious of in his ministry?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Paul was "conscious of great spiritual power within himself" - not his own natural abilities but the power of the Holy Spirit working through him. Paul described this as "striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily" and preaching "not in word only, but in power in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Lloyd-Jones likens this to being "charged as a battery with spiritual power from the Holy Ghost." He connects this to Christ's promise that the apostles would "receive power" before becoming witnesses, and suggests that this same power is what the modern church desperately needs. Lloyd-Jones uses the term "authority" to describe this quality in preaching that goes beyond orthodox content to include divine empowerment.
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.