I would draw your attention back to Romans 1. This morning, Romans 1. Once again, we will read Romans 1, 1 through 7. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you have made. Lord, we would rejoice in it. We would be glad in it. We would seek to honor and extol your name this day. Lord, we long this morning to see Christ, to see our Savior, to behold Him in all His glory. Lord, to have before our eyes the provision that He has made for sinful man, the redemption that He has accomplished on the cross through the shedding of His blood, Lord, we thank you. We praise you that you have made a way where wretched sinners might be reclaimed and brought into reconciliation with you. That we might come before you and into your presence with thanksgiving. That we might enter into your courts and be seen clothed in the righteousness of Christ, that you would not reject us due to the payment that was made on the cross of Calvary. Lord, we do long to see our Savior this morning. Give us eyes to see. It's in His name we pray, Amen. Well, we once again this morning are making our way through this, what we would refer to as the Apostle Paul's greeting here in Romans 1. The greeting that actually starts with an introduction to the letter and then proceeds down through verse 7 there that we read where we find what I would refer to in verse 7 as the actual greeting of Paul to the church there in Rome. I'm not going to take time to go over and really review what we've looked at before. I will most likely make mention of some of these things as we go through verse 5 and 6 this morning. while we cover these verses. That's the intention, is to go over verse five and six. And these verses we'll be looking at, for those of you who, I don't do this much, but for those of you who, keep an outline or that there are certain ways of putting things into an outline that might help you and assist you in remembering what we're dealing with. We'll be looking this morning at a few things. We'll be looking at the origin or the pedigree of what Paul, what his call or his apostleship is. We'll see the purpose in that apostleship. And we will round things out, Lord willing, this morning with the product of all this. So the pedigree, the purpose, and the product. In other words, we're looking at what the source is of Paul's call, his apostleship. What is the purpose and reason for Paul's call? And then what is produced or what is the outworking of all of this that Paul has been called to? I hope you'll keep those things in mind as we look at our text here this morning. I may not make mention of them exactly in that same way, but this is the substance of what we're looking at. And then I trust that our thoughts would be set about to meditate upon these things, not just today, but throughout the rest of the week, and the reality of them in our own lives, which we read about here, the reality of these things in our own lives. If we take time each day to ponder this truth that Paul is making known to the church here at Rome, to his readers, if we take a moment to ponder that, we might come away with what that has done in our own lives as well. This was almost 2,000 years ago that this was written, and we're still seeing this at work today. the outworking of what Paul is stating is still being carried out today. This is a remarkable thing, that the foundation of that which is being laid here in Romans through the Apostle Paul, that foundation is still being built upon. It's still being built up. The structure, to use the analogy that scripture uses, is still being built. The building continues, the foundation is the same, and the foundation has been completed, but the building itself is still being built up. Another pillar laid upon the foundation, rising up into this spiritual household that scripture gives us as an analogy for this, and in reality for the church. This very thing that Paul is making known to us and that we're going to talk about here this morning, I want you to know, is not coming from me. It's not man's ideas. It's not man's thoughts about these things. This is from Scripture. This is the foundation for this, is Scripture. The Word of God is declaring these things to us in this manner and in this way. Well then, Paul begins at verse 5 here with the words, Look at verse five, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. Here is the origin then. Here is the pedigree. It all flows from this source through whom. Who is it that Paul says this of? Who is this? It's the one who we spent a great deal of time looking at and discussing last week, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the one that Paul has written to us about in the first four verses of this epistle to Romans. The one he is the servant of, or the actual translation is that he is the slave of. The very substance and the subject of the gospel is this one that is promised beforehand through the prophets. It's the one declared to be the Son of God, the God-man, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the one Paul is making mention of here, once again, when he says, through whom. Paul is laboring here, you see, as he always does, to point out that this is not from man. This is not for man. Man cannot devise such a thing as this. Man doesn't have the wisdom to think up some scheme like this. Doesn't have the power for such things. But God, in the person of Jesus Christ, is where this comes from. Here is the source. Here is the origin. Think how many times we read in Paul's epistles and especially in the epistle to Ephesians, how many times he makes reference to this, and I hope you don't get tired of hearing this, or hearing me say this, but God help me, I'll never cease from saying this, that Paul makes mention so many times of this being in him, in Christ Jesus, through Christ. It's found everywhere in what Paul writes. He works hard to show us that this is not of man. It's all of God flowing to us in and through the God-man, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is how he starts. How he starts what is regarded as the most important of all epistles, this letter to the church at Rome here. He says, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. right at the outset, and then he spends these first few verses just beating this like a drum. This is of Christ Jesus. This is through Christ Jesus. It's concerning Christ Jesus. This is the sum and substance of the gospel of God, which he later calls in Romans 16, my gospel. It's Christ Jesus. This is how he starts his epistle to the Ephesians. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. This is how he starts his letter to the Galatians. Galatians 1.1, Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ in God the Father. This is what Paul is always doing. pointing to the origin, the source from which all these things that have been given to him and then to us, where they flow from. And let's just let the cat out of the bag here this morning. Paul in our text we are looking at this morning labors this because of the effect of this. The source should receive the glory. The source should receive the glory. And we are not the source. You know, when we give thanks for something, we give thanks for those things that we refer to as gifts, right? Why? Because they didn't originate with us. I don't thank someone for something that I devised, that I constructed, that I made, and that I possess of my own self. I don't give thanks for that. But I am beyond grateful for those things which are gifted to me, those things which are granted to me, especially those things that I have within myself no capability of ever thinking of, much less making. The source of these things receives the glory for these things. Paul says it is through who? Through Christ. Peek ahead just for a moment toward the end of verse 5 and see what it says there. The source, you see, receives the glory for the sake of His name. For the sake of His name. All thanks and honor are to be His. This is not something that came from the brilliant mind of Paul, as brilliant as his mind was. He was actually set against these things, you remember. In his worldly wisdom, in his scholarly brilliance, he was set against the things of Jesus Christ. When Christ appeared to him, struck him down the road to Damascus, where was he headed? To persecute Christians, to persecute the people of the way, the way of Christ. zealous in his own brilliance for persecuting the church. We see a change in Paul, do we not? Was he the source of that change? Well, let's then go on and see if we can arrive in the end to the to him or for the sake of his name. Paul says, through whom, through Christ, we have received grace and apostleship. Now, there's a lot of talk among the theologians about what Paul is including regarding grace here and apostleship and what he is excluding here when he says he has received. There is talk about the plural of this and why Paul uses the plural, whether this is just him referring to himself or him referring to him and the other apostles. It is the privilege, as one of my favorite scholars used to say, it is the privilege of theologians to make distinctions. And often these distinctions are extremely helpful when they are made. Yet at times, I think that they may be distinctions without a difference, at least without a fundamental difference. It doesn't really matter that much if Paul is talking about the meaning of this receiving grace as it regards to the grace of salvation or the grace of apostleship. He didn't earn either one. They were both favored upon him, both gifted to him, both undeserved, all of grace, both of these. Nothing merited. They are gifts from Christ Jesus through whom they came. The same grace that was given to him for salvation is ultimately the same grace that gifted him with the ability and the call of being an apostle. It's all of grace. If you remember back in our study of Ephesians, probably a year and a half, two years ago, we touched on Ephesians 4, 7, which states, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Each of us received a gift of grace that accompanies the gift or the grace of salvation. And in that grace, God has given to each that which is needed to perform that which that person has been called to do. We see this further on in the chapter where Paul says in Ephesians 4.11, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers. And then he goes on to speak of those who are saints, who are in the body of Christ, of which Christ is the head, each part working together, building itself up in love. This is all of grace. It's all undeserved and unmerited. Both the calling to salvation, the gift of salvation, and the gifts with which the saints are outfitted or equipped for that which God has called them to do. Each in our own roles as members of the body of Christ. Some feet, some hands, right? different gifts, all of grace. So is Paul talking about the general grace of salvation here when he puts together grace and apostleship here in verse 5? Or is he talking about this specific grace of being granted the distinct role of being an apostle? Well, I tend to believe He is specifically joining the grace given for the office with the office. But we can leave that to the distinction-drawing theologians and just say that it's all of grace. It's all of grace. It all flows from the same source. We have previously discussed apostleship. and the unique function of that office for the time of the New Testament Church. I won't spend long on this, but I want you to see how this fits in with what we briefly stated earlier regarding the analogy of the building, this building that's still being built up, this analogy that Scripture gives us. Paul is stressing that the source, the call to apostleship, the office is given of Christ Jesus. This is the foundation you see Paul and the other apostles given the unique role of laying the foundation of the building. They are to align themselves and to be aligned with Jesus Christ who is the chief cornerstone. and then lay in line with Christ the foundation upon which the church is built up into the structure, and by the church I mean simply the people of God, the body of Christ. We have two analogies used over and over again in Scripture, the body and the building. This is what Ephesians is making clear to us where Paul says in Ephesians 2, 19-22, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, speaking of the Gentiles, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built, now listen, built, on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom..." You see that again? In Christ. "...in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." In Him. You are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. And the foundation of this is the apostles, with Christ being the cornerstone. This is what Paul has been given to do through and in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the foundation upon which the church is still being built up. The distinct role which Paul and the other apostles were called to has been completed. It's been completed. Yet the building goes on. There is a purpose for which Paul and the other apostles have been called and equipped, and the foundation of the building complete. Now the structure is being built up. The foundation is for that formative period where it begins. The church begins in the New Testament era. The apostles and the prophets building up the building. in line with the chief cornerstone. So what then is the purpose of Paul's apostleship? What is the purpose? If this is the foundation, the apostles, the foundation upon which the church is built, what is the purpose of this apostleship? Well, he tells us, doesn't he? He says in verse 5 here, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith. Now then, what is this obedience of faith? Well, let us start by stating that this goes back to what Paul calls himself in the very beginning of this epistle, a servant, a slave. You will recall, I believe, that we stated even then that we are all slaves of something. Do you remember us saying that? We're all slaves of something, that we're all obedient to something? But here, Paul is stating something particular regarding this obedience. It is an obedience of faith. And I would ask you then, because faith always has an object of faith, what is the object of this faith that Paul is talking about? Does it not point back to the source of all of this? The source of the gospel? The source of apostleship? the one who Paul would draw our whole attention to, right back to the person and to the work of Christ Jesus our Lord. I'm going to say something that may at first sound wrong to you, but I hope you'll understand what I am saying in making this statement. Everyone has faith. Everyone has faith. But it is the object of faith. that makes all the difference. Along with that faith that everyone has, it is also a fact that everyone carries out obedience. But it is the object of their obedience that distinguishes between what Paul is referring to here in our epistle, and what other obedience is. Let me try and illustrate this the best way I can by taking us to Scripture. There is an obedience that comes from faith in the flesh. Romans 13, 14, listen to what Romans 13, 14 says later in our epistle here to the Romans. but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. The flesh has desires, and the one who has faith in his own ability, in his own strength, in his own flesh, will obey or gratify the desires of his flesh. He is then a servant to the flesh, is he not? Galatians 5, another one of Paul's epistles. Galatians 5, 16 and 17, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for they are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." Now, in both of these passages that we just referenced, I want you to understand that there exists in the Christian the flesh warring against the Spirit. the desires of the flesh against the desires of the spirit. But in the unsaved, in the unregenerate, there is no war. There is no opposition. The flesh rules the heart. There is no faith in Christ in the unregenerate heart. There is faith in the flesh. There is obedience to the flesh. In reality, it is wholly set against our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the picture of Paul before being struck down on the road to Damascus. Even though he was religious, unregenerate, unsaved, ruled by the desires of the flesh, set in opposition to the spirit completely. That's why he would persecute Christians. And in this obedience to the flesh, In this obedience to the flesh, the flip side of that is disobedience to God. Do you see that? Disobedience to God and against God. This is This is what transpired as a result of the fall. Do you remember Adam and Eve there in the garden when they fell, in particular Eve? Do you remember what it says in Genesis 3, verse 6? In Genesis 3, 6, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was good for food, and the tree was desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. And after this, Adam took of the fruit, obeying his fleshly desire for his wife and for the forbidden fruit, and plunged all of humanity into what? Disobedience to God. All of humanity is not in obedience to God, but in disobedience to God now. They disobeyed Adam and Eve, they disobeyed the word. They disobeyed the commands of God. and left all of fallen humanity in a state of absolute and utter disobedience. It's only by being made into something new that one can experience the obedience of faith that Paul is talking about here. We see this in Judges 17.6. We see this in judges over and over again. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Obedience to the flesh was what? Disobedience to God. No to God, yes to the flesh. Grace and I have been talking and A good friend of mine have been talking in light of some recent circumstances that when you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. And when you say no to this over here, you're saying yes to this, that is opposite of that. Adam and Eve, fallen mankind, says no to God. unless they've been made into something new. The old creation says no to God. Paul calls these the sons of disobedience in Ephesians 5, 6. He says, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God Because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Disobedient to God, obeying the flesh. And there's an obedience that comes from faith in our enemy. We've already seen this in the example of Eve. when she was deceived by her enemy, taking his word over God's. Obedient to him, disobedient to God. Obedient to what her flesh craved, disobedient to what God says is good and right. Look at Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. If you don't have these memorized and you want to turn there, Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. Here we see I think the best description of this that I'm suggesting to you. And it reads, and you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked. Now Paul obviously is talking about the state of these before their conversion, before their regeneration. but and you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked following, here's another one of our enemies, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, our enemy. The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among whom we all once lived in what? In the passions of our flesh. Carrying out, what does that mean? Obeying. Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Do you see how the obedience to the flesh and to our enemy and to the world go hand in hand? Those things are never really in opposition to each other. They have the same goal. And their end is the same. Never in opposition to each other, but they are opposed to what Paul calls here in our text, the obedience of faith. And by this he means faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So this obedience of faith, is that just some assent to the truths of scripture? Is that what this is? Is it just certain doctrines of the faith which I have to agree with? Or is it something more? Well, it must be something more than mere mental assent to some doctrines or teachings. even if they are teachings and doctrines that are from God's Word. There are those who will one day stand before our Lord and be rejected. Well, they assent to certain things and even did some things that according to Scripture were good. according to what Scripture teaches, but they don't have faith in Christ. And He never knew them. Matthew 7 speaks of this in verses 21 through 23. See how this ends. In Matthew 7, 23, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. You workers of lawlessness. Disobedient to the faith. Obedient to their flesh. They worked lawlessness because they weren't possessors of true faith. They had not been recipients of grace through faith from the Spirit. They had not been united to Christ. He never knew them. They're lost. They're undone. disobedient to the faith, unable to do that which is by faith. And we see here the lack of faith was counted as disobedience. What did he call them? Workers of what? Lawlessness. We see this same thing with Cain's offering. Cain's offering, my friends, was to God. It wasn't accepted. Why? Because it wasn't by faith. Paul will later tell us in Romans, in our same epistle here in chapter 14, verse 23, for whatever does not proceed from faith is what? Sin. You may be doing the right things. There are a lot of people out here doing good things to fellow man. There's a lot of people who are giving of their money. There's a lot of people who are giving of their time. But they're not doing it from faith. Cain's offering was, I'm sure, fantastic fruit, fantastic produce. but it wasn't given in faith. Do you see the difference? It is disobedience to God if it does not come from faith. and that faith which is granted by the Spirit of God to believe in the person and the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His life, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension. Obedience and true faith, true obedience, let me say, and true faith are inseparable. They are inseparable. They are described by William Hendrickson who's one of my favorite commentators, as inseparable, identical twins. He says, when you see one, you see the other. Where there is genuine faith, there is the obedience of faith. Where there is true obedience of faith, you will find true, living, spirit-wrought faith in the person and the work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let me give you another picture here from one of my favorite works, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Bunyan pictures for us this character Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, and he's awakened by this book and what he reads in this book, and this book in reality is the Bible. And the spirit makes him alive to who he is and the state that he is in as he is living in the city of destruction. And we know this to be true because there's a burden on Christian's back. And he just cannot relieve himself of this burden. And it's the burden of sin. He sees his state and he believes, he is given faith to believe in what the book says. It's not just like some of the other characters, a mental ascent to some certain things that he reads. He believes and he turns in obedience to what the book tells him to do, which is to seek the foot of the cross. He obeys by faith, in faith, of faith. He sets out to come to the foot of this cross The cross of Calvary, the cross of Christ, told of this way by help and by evangelists and by the book that he reads, where they point him in the book to the way in which he should go. And Christian meets one worldly wise man. He's a minister in good standing in his community. And he uses the same book which the pilgrim has, which Christian has, but only when it's of use to him. You see, he's not obedient to the faith. He seeks to use other means than that which the good book says. His is a way of disobedience to the faith and obedience to the flesh. And he would find another way for Pilgrim to rid himself of his burden. And he could live in a city other than the Celestial City and just be content. He doesn't have faith. He doesn't have true faith that results in true obedience. Obedience to the faith that Paul is talking about here is to be under its grip. The Spirit so pressing the word into our hearts and giving us such a view of ourselves and who we truly are and how in the flesh we are all together utterly helpless and hopeless. The Spirit making us alive, opening our eyes to see all of this. where true and genuine spirit-wrought faith exists, there is no other way but the obedience of faith. The gift of true faith will be inseparably linked with obedience to God, to His Word, to Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer. inseparably linked. This is why Paul has been called to be an apostle. I gotta hurry. To bring this message that this obedience of faith might be brought about in those who hear the message and believe, those who are enlightened by the Spirit through the message of the gospel of God, this message of Jesus Christ our Lord. This is also, you remember, what Paul states in the close of this epistle. In Romans 16 verse 26, when he speaks of the gospel and the mystery made known in the gospel of our God, of His gospel. But it has now been disclosed, Paul says, and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith. He starts and he ends with this, like we said last week. God, you see, has chosen the message. He's chosen His message to be revealed to lost and fallen man. 1 Corinthians 1, 18-21, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, to the worldly wise men. In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the preaching of the cross of Christ to relieve the burden is foolishness. But to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. In the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." And what is it that Paul preaches? Jesus Christ and His work. What is it but that which Paul preaches and refers to as Christ and Him crucified? That's how Paul refers to this in 1 Corinthians. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is the foundation of which was laid by the apostles. And Paul warns us through another letter to the Galatians not to listen to any other gospel. Don't listen to worldly wise man's gospel. You'll never be rid of your burden. You'll never be free of sin. You'll never have the obedience of faith. Don't listen to any other gospel. He says in Galatians 1, 8 through 9, But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one which we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Paul repeats this twice. just to make sure we get it. Don't believe in any other gospel. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what we preach. That's our gospel. That is where you will find salvation. Why is this so important? It's a matter of life and death. It's heaven or hell. It's obedience to the faith, the obedience of faith, obedience to God, or disobedience to God. It's God's grace or God's wrath. That's why this is so important. It's truth versus lies. So important that the persecutor of the church once being made aware of these things, once seeing these things, once being regenerated to understand all that is contained in the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, would face beatings, shipwrecks, hunger, cold, weariness, stoning, martyrdom. Real quickly, what is the product of this apostleship and the bringing about of this obedience of faith? Glory, praise, honor, but not man's, God's, Christ's. What does Paul state here? For the sake of His name, For the glory and honor of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Paul says, let His name be lifted high. Let His honor and glory be extolled through the earth and among the inhabitants of heaven. Here is one worthy of praise. Here is one worthy of glory. Not to man, but to the God-man. To Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory and honor and praise. This is why so often when Paul, even before he gets to his application in some of his epistles, he so often is dealing with these deep theological truths. And he states something just miraculous that God has done. And it leads him right to doxology. His love for Christ just flows out of what he ponders. Out of what our Lord has done on behalf of vile, wicked, rebellious sinners. We see this in Ephesians. In Ephesians 3, 20-21, now to him. who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, amen. We see this in Romans. In Romans 11, 36, for from him and through him And to Him, what is there left? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. The writer of Hebrews does this. Hebrews 13 21 equip yourself with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen all the wisdom and the greatness of our God who has done all of this that the son might receive all glory and all honor and all praise. Nothing of us. It's not by our effort, by our power, by our wisdom that anything for the Christian is achieved. Anything that we have the innate mankind ability to produce leads to death. Anything. Anything that raises us up, anything that strengthens us, anything that gives us wisdom, anything that gives us power, anything that is salvific, anything that produces faith comes from God. Period. And this, lastly and quickly, here is for the sake of His name among all the nations. Among all the nations, that from every corner of the world the name of Christ might be named. Dead souls made alive, blind eyes might see the Savior. Pagan idolaters from every nation might cast down their idols and turn to serve the living God. We see here how Paul includes those he wrote to in Romans 1-6, the sixth verse here. Including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Including you, Paul says, you in Rome who are called to belong to Christ Jesus. Oh, there's a call going out to the ends of the earth. There's an outward call even. but it will not bring about in all who hear the outward call the obedience of faith." Listen to me here when I say this. The outward call of the gospel will not bring about in all who hear it the obedience of faith. but all who hear the inward call of the gospel. Those who hear the voice of Christ. There are many who heard Christ speak. Were there not? They went away. Many followed for a while. And many ceased to follow. But Christ said, My sheep hear my voice. and they follow Me. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." There are those who Paul speaks of in our text, including those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. And you, what of you? You who sit here this morning, what of you? Are you of the called to belong to Jesus Christ? Have you by the power of the gospel and the inward work of the Holy Spirit been brought to experience the obedience of faith? Have you seen your need? Have you seen your helplessness and your hopelessness in yourself and have been brought to abandon obedience to the flesh, that you might be obedient to the faith. Are you still striving in your own effort? Are you still clinging to the desires of the flesh, being a servant of the flesh and the devil, loving the things of the world more than Christ? or are you free for His name's sake, that He might receive the glory and the honor and the praise? There are only two things. There's only two. Obedience or disobedience. It's one or the other. There's faith in Christ or there's faith in something other than Christ. There's life or there's death. There's heaven or there's hell. there is seeking to make a name for ourselves. You remember back in our study in Genesis? Those that would construct that tower, the Tower of Babel? Let us make a name for ourselves. Or do we name the name of Christ? Which side of Psalm 2 are you on? Which side of Psalm 2 are you on? Are you among those who rage and plot in vain against the Lord and His anointed? Are you among those who are blessed because they take refuge in Him? Have you kissed the Son? Are you serving the Lord with fear and rejoicing in Him and His provision? that His name would be praised. For His name's sake, as Paul would say here in our text, there are way too many who want their own name lifted up. But the obedience of faith is for His name's sake. I wish we had time we turn to Revelation We see a couple instances of how this plays out in John's vision. How he sees a myriad of people from every nation, every tongue, every tribe. Are they praising men? Are they praising angels? Are they praising the elders? They all fall on their face, take their crowns off and throw them at the foot of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb. Is it any wonder that Paul would say once again in Romans 11, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.