Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: Paul's credentials here, humble, servant of Jesus Christ. But then it says called to be an apostle.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador and God's call to Paul and all believers alike.

Brett Meador: What's an apostle? One who is sent by an authority with commission. Have we been sent by Jesus? Yeah, anyone who's a Christian, a believer in Christ, we're given that commission to go into all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples. So in that sense, we're all apostles.

Guest (Male): As Paul introduces himself to begin his letter to the Romans, we quickly learn not only that he chose to serve the Lord, but also that the Lord chose him to be an apostle. And as Pastor Brett Meador reflects on what all this meant in the life of Paul, we're made aware of what we as believers have in common with the ministry of the apostles we read of in today's word.

Brett Meador: Paul's going to start out this letter sort of introducing himself and it's really going to be Romans chapter 1 here in verses 1 through 7, Paul is going to present his credentials to the Romans. Let's take a look at that. Romans 1 through 7. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated unto the gospel of God, which he hath promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom are ye also called the called of Jesus Christ.

To 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. Paul packs a ton of stuff in here. We already have doctrine oozing out of every word that Paul is saying here and and it's pretty heavy when you really break it down. But let's break it down a little bit. He says Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Now, the word servant, it sounds so holy. Oh, he's a servant. In modern days, we as Christians, oh, I'm just a servant of the Lord.

It's become sort of like a a thing you want to be. It's something we go, oh, that's so holy and so wonderful. But the meaning, if you know the word servant, the Greek word is important and you maybe maybe you've heard this, but the word is doulos in the Greek, which means a slave, a bond man, a man of servile condition. That's the Greek word and that's the official definition. So it really should in our culture be translated probably like Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ. But that would not be fully accurate either because there's actually several words in the Greek language for the word slave.

And we've got to discern what kind of slave Paul is. And we'll get to that. He's a doulos. That's important, but we'll get to that more. John 15:15, listen what Jesus said. Of course, these are red letters. Henceforth, I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. Jesus calls us friends. Now, you might say, well, why does Paul then call himself a slave if Jesus said, hey, I don't call you any longer slaves, I call you friends.

So shouldn't it read more like Paul, a friend of Jesus Christ? Well, that's where this doulos has a a unique characteristic. And what it is is it's a slave by choice. Someone who had been freed had the opportunity to go free, but chose to serve his or her master out of love for the master, out of friendship with the master. See, it's because Jesus calls us friends that Paul would say, I by choice I choose to be a servant of Jesus Christ, a slave. So first century common practice, doulos. The doulos idea came from the Old Testament.

I'll just tell you that just right now. I'll I'll show that in a second. But it was practiced even in the Roman Empire, which is kind of interesting. And it's estimated that somewhere around 10% of the slave population chose to continue being slaves. Slaves by choice who said, we want to stay slaves. Who in the world would do that? But if a master was really kind and generous to a slave, there would come a time where they would say, you're free to go. You're free. But the slave would say, I don't want to be I I want to just remain a slave.

And and this is what the Bible defines as a doulos slave by choice. And by the way, this is where I have to talk about that where people say, the Bible condones slavery. And the reason they say that is there's rules around slavery and how you're supposed to keep your slaves in the Bible. So they say, see, the Bible condones slavery. Wrong. You got to understand this is a very simple answer. The Bible doesn't condone slavery ever. It does, however, seek to regulate slavery because slavery was a fact of the world. It's just what people did.

You didn't have prisons to put people in if they and I've always used it, if the Amalekites attacked the Jews and they lost the battle, you kind of had two options. You kill them all or you kill them till they surrender. Well, what do you do with the surrender people? Well, then you're supposed to, you know, imprison them. Well, they didn't have prisons in those days. That that was not an option. So often, so that those people wouldn't reattack you or have the wherewithal to do so, they would enslave the people, not just the Jews, but the Jews were often more enslaved than any of their people in the history of the world.

Before you start saying, see, those Jews enslaving people. No, the Jews spent 450 years enslaved in Egypt. By the way, most of the slaves in Rome were Jews. The Colosseum in Rome was built by Jews. That's important to know, Jewish slaves. But all that to say, the Bible doesn't condone slavery, but it does regulate slavery. And if you do a careful reading of the Bible, what happens is if you go by the rules of the Bible, slavery would be slowly but surely eradicated because you were supposed to keep a slave, but then you'd you were supposed to let them go on the seventh year, which is kind of important.

Um, do you remember Deuteronomy? This is the law of Moses, Deuteronomy 15, 16 through 17. And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, the slave, because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee, then thou shall take an awl Uh, that's like a punch, a whole punch, and thrust it through his ear into the door. And he shall be thy servant forever, and also unto thy maid servant thou shall do likewise. So if you're a male or female slave and you say, I don't want to go, then they would this sounds so horrible, taking an awl, putting it up against the door post.

Uh, it's a pierced ear. That's all it is. But that ring that would be put in that hole in your ear would be a sign that you were a doulos, a slave by choice. This is how God in his word regulating slavery, if you really read this carefully, they get to be free unless they choose to stay. Now, you say, why would anybody choose? Well, in that situation, if you ran to your freedom, where do you go in ancient times? If you're an Amalekite who's been enslaved for six years in Jerusalem and suddenly you can go free, where do you go and what do you do?

Now, if your master was horrible, you'd probably run and try to find somewhere else. But if you had a really good setup and they treated you like kindness and love and family, why not just stay? And that's often the way history records it. So when Paul is using this was a common practice, when Paul says, Paul, a servant, doulos, because my master, Jesus, who no longer calls me a slave, he calls me his friend, but I love him because he loves me. And because of that, I'm going to be a slave by choice. And man, may that be true of all of us.

Where do we go? Remember when Peter said, where do we go, Lord? You know, like we have no else to go. You're the one who has the words of life. You're the one who we're going to follow. That's really where a lot of us. Hopefully that's where you are. You could be free to go and do the old things before you're a Christian, go back to the old watering holes, the bars and the pubs or whatever you were in, the old groups of people if you want to. But a lot of you realize, wow, I just want to hang out with Jesus.

Jesus is my master, he's my Lord and savior, and I choose to serve him. So so far with Paul 's credentials here, humble, servant, he's a slave of Jesus Christ. But then it says called to be an apostle. I've marked that as well in my Bible. That's So there's kind of like three points here. Paul, name, humble, little, servant, speaks of his position as a slave, but he's called to be an apostle. What's an apostle? One who is sent by an authority with commission. Did you know the word apostle was before Jesus and before the the apostles of the Bible?

It was a word used uh in old times. It's a Greek word apostolos, which is this word that means a delegate, a messenger, one sent forth with orders, a commissioner of Christ. So that's that last definition is how we tend to know someone who's been commissioned by Christ. The term apostle didn't start in the Bible. It started by a king who was giving someone a task and saying, you're being sent to do this, so you're an apostle. Apostolos is the word there. So that raises an interesting question. Who, pray, is an apostle? Well, this is important and I'll tell you why in a second.

Well, let me start with why why this is important. Have you ever been in a Christian thing and you hear that somebody's coming and he's an apostle? An apostle of the Lord. He's coming to your church. That should be a red flag right there. I am an apostle. I was raised in Southern Oregon and you have to understand it was where a lot of hippies lived and there was a lot of hippies that moved up to grow pot in Southern Oregon. It's just a long story, but I lived out there in the boondocks of Southern Oregon.

But there was a lot of weird things. But once the church started booming and the Lord grew our church in the country there and but we had a lot of strange people that probably smoked a little too much weed and didn't read their Bible enough. And they'd walk in and say stuff like that, I am an apostle of the Lord. And I have something to say to you. Now, I had a response that I started using and it was very effective. I'll tell you what that response is in a second. But what is an apostle?

Let's go into that. Number one, what is an apostle? Well, the ultimate of all apostles when we're speaking biblically is that Jesus Christ is the ultimate apostle. And the Bible even kind of refers to him in that way. Question, if the word apostle is sent, who sent Jesus Christ? Yeah, God the Father sent Jesus the Son, the two parts of the Trinity, right? And it's the ultimate sending out is God the Father sent by the Father. That 's why Jesus is sort of the ultimate apostle. The second apostles you should know is the 12 disciples.

Now, you say, well, Brett, I have a problem with that because Judas went and hung himself. Well, I believe there were 12 apostles at this level. Now, would you agree that 12 apostles are not at the same level of Jesus the apostle? Wouldn't you agree that's that's like a whole different level you might say. But obviously the disciples are called in the Bible the apostles of Jesus Christ. So we we give them that because it was given to them. But they were sent out directly by Jesus. That's important. That's what's distinctive of the 12. They were literally sent by Jesus officially to go out into the world and do their ministry, preach the gospel, and what have you.

The reason I'm happy to put 12 there, anybody know the answer to that? Paul the apostle. How is Paul numbered with the 11 if you would? And you guys know the story. Remember they voted in another apostle after Judas was gone. I think that was a mistake. They didn't really seek the Lord as much on that one. They just kind of said, oh, we need a 12th guy. So they voted. And voting is never the right way to do things. And you see that in the Bible. Who was really the 12th apostle? It was Paul.

But Brett, you said he had to be literally physically sent by Jesus. Well, isn't that what happened when Paul was knocked down on the road to Damascus and Jesus was there shining brightly and Paul says, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, the one whom thou persecutest. And that's when Jesus sent Paul on his mission. So Paul makes a list. So I 'm going to put the little asterisk or whatever we're including Paul in that one. And then question, who are the other apostles? Well, that might be controversial, but I 'm going to still say it's it's this right here, you.

You are apostles. Why are we apostles? Now, like I said, the 12 disciples aren't at the same level of Jesus the apostle, right? I would say in the same way, you and I are not apostles in the same way the 12 including Paul were sent because they were literally sent by Jesus literally in a powerful way. But I believe we're all apostles in that sense because look at verse 5 of our text that we just read. In verse 5, Paul says, by whom we have received grace and apostleship. We meaning more than one. It's not just Paul who's an apostle, but he's referring to some of the other guys.

Now, this is kind of interesting because beyond the unique 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, there were also other apostles numbered in the Bible. Anybody want to remember who's one of the other people called an apostle in the Bible? Barnabas, yes. Barnabas was an apostle. Acts 13:2 and Acts 14:14, he's referred to as an apostle. Some of the lesser known guys that were called apostles, Andronicus and Junias were mentioned as apostles in Romans 16:7. And then also the same Greek word usually translated as apostle is used to refer to Titus in 2 Corinthians 8:23 and also Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25.

So there's definitely seems to be room for the term apostle being used kind of on a next level. But I think that 's also where you and I are included in that group, the greater group of apostles uh is all of us because Have we been sent by Jesus? Yeah, you know, the the great commission is to go into all the world. That's to us. Anyone who's a Christian, a believer in Christ, we're given that commission to go into all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples, teaching. You know, this is what we're called to do.

So in that sense, we're all apostles. So what do you do when the creepy guy floats up to you and says, I am an apostle of the Lord? I go, so am I. Awesome. We're all apostles, Christians who believe in Jesus and that awesome. And they look at you and go, no, I am an apostle. No, you not. We're just like each other. Watch out for these guys that want to call themselves uh apostles. I think they're often misguided and they don't understand apostleship and the way it works biblically. So um I should say it this way.

There's not a specific apostleship after Paul. After Paul, it becomes a general apostleship to the true Christians of the faith. So back to Paul's credentials. You got humble, his name means little, servant, slave, an apostle. And then it says an apostle separated. Would you mark that one? That's like the fourth thing here in this verse, separated. And it says separated unto the gospel of God. We learn more about what this means in 2 Corinthians 6:17. Paul kind of I think articulates what he's talking about there. It says in uh 2 Corinthians 6:17, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.

This is by the way is sort of a quote from Isaiah 52:11. So Paul's quoting the Old Testament, but this is Paul as he says, I've been separated out from others by the gospel. And so this is what Paul's saying, come out from among them. Be ye separate, saith the Lord. Isaiah says, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence. Don't touch any unclean thing. Same kind of thing. Separate from what? Uncleanness. You and I as Christians are called to be separate out of this world. We're in this world, but not of this world.

We're not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the Lord himself. He wants to transform us. So we're called out of the world to be separate. Question for you, for me, is uh perhaps the greatest challenge for Christians in America to be separate from the world? I think that maybe in history if if you love history and you know history, which I love history, it might just be one of the hardest things because of integration, the way we've been integrated with digital connectivity. We've been integrated with the world. Like do you ever wonder if like Paul the apostle showed up in our house and saw what we watch or what we listen to or what we're into or the podcasts, would he just go, what are you guys doing?

Why would you listen to such a thing? I think that we might be shocked. You know, Paul was saying, I I'm separate from the world. I'm convinced that the early church to hear that in modern day Christianity, 2,000 years later, Christians would send their children to be educated by a bunch of pagans, secularists, academics that think they know more than the Bible, professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. And we willingly send our children to have them educated. You The early church would have known nothing of that. Are you kidding? Send your kids to be educated by a bunch of pagan non-believing people?

And yet that's just our culture. That's what if you're an American by and large, you send your kids off to education. Now, in our defense, it used to be reading, writing, and arithmetic a few generations ago. And those were the good old days. Yeah, those are things that are helpful to learn. But man, it's not an education anymore. It's an indoctrination. And uh you know, even 20 years ago it's kind of still a proponent. Let our kids be salt and light in the public schools. I I went to a secular college to get a degree in education and I I wanted to be in a secular school, but uh man, I have to I'm just going to say I have to admit that battle's been lost.

My kids largely went to secular public schools and I'm glad because my kids were solid. They weren't going to be moved by the wacko stuff of the school system. But even back then, you know, it was touch and go and it was a lot of work. Debbie spent half her time in the school helping to know exactly what they were teaching and to sort of push back. Our family wanted to be salt and light, but uh it was borderline back then. Today I just can't recommend it at all. I can't recommend Christian people willingly sending their kids because it's just it's so contrary.

And if there's one thing you need to understand, mom and dad, especially at the college level, if you're sending your kid off to a secular school, be careful, mom and dad. The idea of being separate, that college, that university, that high school, that junior high, their whole thing is to make your kid not be separate, but to be fully immersed in their worldview. And they they've got lots of dollars, lots of skilled people trying to indoctrinate your children. And we're losing that battle. People, why are our young people departing from the faith? Why are we having people deconstruct their faith?

What's going on? And we're asking this question, duh. It's the dumbest thing. If you just think about it, it's not even you don't even have to think about it for 10 seconds. Be careful, mom and dad, today and and for all of us. Come ye out from among them and be ye separate. I love how Paul he says, I'm separated unto the gospel of God. By the way, how do you stay separate? Just I think I can. I think I can. No, not that. Not not that. How do you stay separated from this world? Especially you and I integrated so uh with our all of our podcasts and all of our media and news and music and Hollywood, how do we do that well?

I think the answer is given to us in the word of God and it is the word of God. John 17:17, sanctify. That's a fancy word that means separate. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. You got to make your word the standard. Boy, can I just say, be careful, Christians, because man, it's so easy now. You got your iPhone that's linked to all your podcasts and man, it's such a go-to. You can go to all your favorite podcasts. And you can listen. And man, they're just going to talk about stuff and you're How much Bible reading did you do that same day?

You know, it's you got to be in the word because you're sanctified by the word of God through thy truth and thy word is truth. You know, you'll see that stuff that what you're listening to for what it is if you're immersed in the word of God. That's what sanctifies. And man, I believe in these last days I think we're living, we need to be sanctified of the Lord.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador has been providing great insight for the scriptural meaning of the apostleship while maintaining God's call to live sanctified unto the word of the Lord. And there's more to this verse by verse study of Romans coming next time in today's word. And I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment. If you've missed any portion of our time today, you'll find all of his messages online at todayswordradio.com. Today's word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church in the Portland, Oregon area where Pastor Brett Meador is the senior pastor.

Each day Pastor Brett will dive deep into God's word with a verse by verse look into scripture. We invite you to find out more by going to todayswordradio.com. All right, I have Pastor Brett with me. You know, Jesus shared many parables during his earthly ministry, which is really a story with a lesson built in. In fact, he gave dozens of parables when he was here on Earth. Brett, do you have a favorite parable of Jesus?

Brett Meador: Yes, I do. I think because I have a Bible teacher, I have to go to the parable of the sower of the seed. It's helpful for me. You know, when I teach the Bible, I've noticed there's different kinds of soil in the congregation as I'm teaching. And some of the soil is the wayside and is hardened trodden down by people and the birds of the air pluck out the seed of the word and the thorns choke out some of the seed. But I do love the parable because Jesus talked about how some of the seed did take root and found fertile soil.

Actually 25%, which is an interesting number, because there were four conditions of soil and only one of those four were actually bringing forth much fruit. So when I teach the Bible, I see that ratio sometimes. There's people that they come to church, hear the word, and the seed is plucked up by the fowls of the air, which is Satan, the enemy. Others choked out by the cares of the world like the thorns or off of the wayside. But I love to see the 25%. And I found that ratio really does seem accurate that 25% of the people that hear start to bring forth really good fruit.

So that's an encouragement to me. So as a Bible teacher, I think the parable of the sower might just be my favorite.

Guest (Male): Well, thank you Pastor Brett for sharing that. And it's always good to get to know you a little bit better and some of your favorite things in this situation, your favorite parable of Jesus. Well, if you'd like more information about today's word radio or Pastor Brett Meador, you can visit our website at todayswordradio.com. Well, that's all the time we have. Next time Pastor Brett will share how being a Christian often means you're going to be contrary to the world. Today's word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.