What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Name Jesus Christ? ~ Kay Arthur

Romans (The Constitution Of Your Faith)

Program 1 – What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Name Jesus Christ?

When you hear somebody mention the name of Jesus Christ what does it do to you? I’m not talking about using His name as a swear word. I mean that is so common today but when they refer to Him as a person. What does it do to you when you hear that name? Why is it that secular television doesn’t want to hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can talk about witchcraft. We can talk about everything else but why do they hate the name Jesus? You know as I prayed about this series and we’re going to do a series on the book of Romans, on the beginning of Romans and as I prayed about this do you know what God laid on my heart for you? God laid on my heart that you need to know the Word of God. That you need to know it for yourself. This Bible, this Book needs to become a Book that you are totally and completely familiar with.

One of the things I find is that people have their impressions about the Bible just like they have their impressions about Jesus Christ but they really don’t know what the Word of God says for themselves. And the reason they don’t know it is because they’re so busy. The reason that they don’t know it is because they don’t know what to do. They open the Book. It’s a big Book. Where do I start? How do I do this or they read it and they close it and they, they just forget what they’ve read. I don’t know where you’re at but I believe with all my being the fact that you’re listening to me is a divine appointment and I believe that what God wants you to understand is the Word of God for yourself.

And so this is what we’re going to do. I want you to take your Bible and if you don’t have a Bible then I want you to get the booklet that we’re offering and it’s a booklet that has the first chapters of Romans in it. And what I want you to do is I want you to get it out and I want you to mark it with me as we go along and if you’ll listen to me and if you’ll do what I say, I promise you you will learn the Word of God in a way that you have never learned it before.

And I can tell you this because I’ve been teaching thousands, hundreds of thousands of people to study the Word of God this way. And you know what they tell me? They tell me, “Kay, my life has been changed.” In fact so many of them come to me and they say, “Do you know what? I have been praying and praying and praying that someone would show me how to study the Bible.” Well if you’ve been praying that way then God is about to answer your prayer. Now this is what I want you to do. We’re going to look at Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1 if you don’t have a Bible then you’re just going to listen carefully. And I want you to listen carefully for a word the “gospel,” “g-o-s-p-e-l” and as you hear it what we’re going to do is we’re going to stop and mark it. We’re going to stop and mark it and this is what I do. I draw like a megaphone around it. A megaphone because it is a message that is to be proclaimed. I draw a red megaphone and then I color it green. So this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to read Romans chapter 1 to you. Not the whole chapter. We’re just going to concentrate on the first 7 verses right now.

But this is the way it opens up. It says, “Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” Alright there’s that word “gospel.” So what I want you to do is I want you to mark it. Because when you read through the book of Romans what you see is that “gospel” is a very important word. As a matter of fact we call it a key word. A key word is a word that in the sense unlocks the meaning of the text and you’re going to find that as you go through Romans that this is what Romans is all about. It’s all about the gospel of God. You say, “I don’t understand what the gospel of God is.” Well I’m going to tell you in just a minute but first let me read on.

Now as we read on I want you to know that when we come to any pronoun or any synonym for gospel you should mark it the same way. So if you’re doing this and you don’t have a Bible in front of you just when you hear me say gospel just repeat it out loud and I’ll tell you why. Because the minute that we say something then that hearing of what we have just said puts it in our mind and helps us remember it. As a matter of fact, that’s why I know so much Scripture. It’s not because I’ve set out to memorize it but because I’ve read it out loud so much when teaching it that I have just memorized a lot of it. So it’s, “Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, ...set apart for the gospel of God …,” and it says, “… which He promised beforehand….” Now that “which” refers to the gospel. It’s a pronoun there that is saying alright, this gospel of God, the gospel which He, God, promised beforehand, “through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” Now when He’s talking about His prophets and the holy Scriptures He’s talking about the Tanak. He’s talking about the Old Testament. He’s talking about Genesis to the book of Malachi. So this gospel was promised by God through His prophets in the Scriptures. It’s recorded, whatever it is it’s recorded. We’re going to see what it is in just a minute. And then it says, “… concerning His Son, who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord”.

There’s that word that’s used as a swear word and they get mad and they just say, “Jesus Christ.” Or there’s that word that is used to describe someone who is our Lord, who is our Master. The One to whom we have bowed the knee. The One that we have submitted to. This is the One that people hate to hear His name. This is the name that they don’t want mentioned on television. This is the name that they will avoid at all costs.

Now why? Why do they avoid His name at all costs? So many times they avoid His name at all costs because His name is offensive to some. You say, “Why is it offensive?” Well you’re going to find out. You’re going to find out so you hang in there. So it says Jesus, “… who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom,” speaking of Jesus, “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name’s sake …,” there’s His name again. It says, “… among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ”. Now listen. He’s speaking to a group of people that are not offended by Jesus Christ’s name. He’s speaking to a group of people that absolutely love Jesus Christ. He is speaking to a group of people that have bowed the knee. He is speaking to a group of people who heard this gospel and in hearing this gospel have had their lives transformed.

You know it’s no accident that you’re listening to this program because God wants to do a work in your heart. And it’s a work that is so great and so awesome that if I would sit here and tell you about it you would never believe it. I mean if somebody had sat there and told me about it before I was 29 and this name came to mean something to me I would have said, “You are absolutely insane. Absolutely insane.”

Now he goes on to say, “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father …,” and then His name comes again, “and the Lord Jesus Christ.” You know what? There’s peace when you discover what that name is all about. There’s peace when you understand who the person is behind the name Jesus Christ.

Well, as you look at this, as you get into this Scripture what I want to do is I want to take you and show you what the gospel is because the gospel concerns His Son. The gospel concerns God’s Son. You say, “I didn’t know that God had a son.” Do you know that the Bible refers to God having a son in the Old Testament. That if you and I were to go back to the book of Proverbs to the very next to last chapter that we would read this. Let me read it to you.

In Proverbs chapter 30 it says this. It’s the words of Agur and it says, (SHE QUOTES PROV. 30:4) “Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists?” Who has captured the wind with His fists? And then He says, “Who has wrapped up the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?” and said that’s the boundary, that’s the boundary, that’s the boundary? What is His name? You’d say, “God.” Unless you didn’t believe in God you would say, “God.” But listen to the next sentence. “What is His name or His son’s name?” If you can tell. God has a son. God has a son and that son’s name is Jesus Christ. And I think, in essence, that this is why so many people are offended because they don’t want to believe that God has a son, an only begotten Son and yet what is the gospel of Jesus Christ all about? The word gospel means good news. This is good news for you and for me and what you and I are going to discover over the next weeks is we are going to discover the most awesome news that you have ever heard.

Now, if you want a definition of the gospel what you really need to do is you need to go to the book of 1 Corinthians. Paul’s going to define it in Romans and he’s going to define it from A to Z. But to get a shorter version of what the gospel is we need to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he’s talking about the gospel which he delivered to them. And here you would mark the word “gospel” or “the word” in the same way.

And this is what he says in verse 3. He says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received …,” and he’s saying this is the message that I received. Paul is writing. He’s an apostle and he says, “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”.

What is the gospel? What is this good news? You say, “How could it be good news that a man died?” We have to understand the reason that He died and we’ll talk about that after the break but you also have to understand that it’s good news because of what He accomplished when He died. We’ll talk about that when I come back. Well I left you in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and this is what Paul is declaring to those in Rome. He’s talking about the gospel. The gospel that is from God. The gospel that is about Jesus Christ. The gospel that concerns His son who was a descendant of David. So he’s building on what this gospel is all about. Now why is that good news?

Well let me go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received” in otherwords this is not a message of man’s devising. This is a message that is from heaven. This is the gospel of God and so you’ve got to know this. That there is a God and that this God is a God of veracity. By that I mean He’s truthfulness and whenever He says anything or whenever He promises anything you can absolutely believe Him.

Now you may be one of these people that say, “No, listen. I asked God to do something for me and He didn’t do it and I can’t stand Him.” Or, “I went to church and I was looking and those people were so mean to me and they were so nasty and they were so backbiting, I don’t want anything to do with church and I don’t want anything to do with God.” And yet, God wants something to do with you.

So this is the message that he delivered. “That Christ died for our sins.” Now all the way throughout Romans what we’re going to see is we’re going to see that, “… all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We’re going to see that there’s none righteous, there’s none that understands, there’s none that seeks after God. We’re going to see that all mankind is helpless and hopeless and ungodly and without God and enemies of God.
And yet God invades mankind. God invades space. God invades time. And what He does is He sends His son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s go back to Romans chapter 1 so listen, “Paul … called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which He …,” God, “… promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures”. In otherwords this gospel is written in the Old Testament. It has been promised. It’s not realized until Jesus Christ comes to earth but it is promised and it is promised from Genesis all the way through the book of Malachi. There are Scriptures that show us. I’m not going to go into it now but there are Scriptures that show us hey, there’s good news coming, there’s good news coming, there’s good news coming. Why the good news?

Well, listen to what it says, “Concerning His Son …,” this is the gospel which was promised in the Scriptures and it concerns His son. It concerns God’s son. “…who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh”. Now what he’s saying is this. He’s saying that God in the person of His son had to leave heaven, had to be born on the face of this earth, had to become flesh and blood. Why did He have to become flesh and blood? He had to become flesh and blood because you’re flesh and blood. He had to become a man, mankind, a male a female, He had to become mankind because you and I are mankind. Because we’re of the species of man and so Jesus, God’s son, became a man.

Now what was His genealogy? Well if you would trace the genealogy of Jesus Christ right back and the Old Testament, is full of genealogies of people you would find out that His genealogy on His human side, on the side of Mary His physical mother, led back to Him being a descendant of David. Now that’s very interesting because God promised David in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. God promised David, He made a covenant with David, that David would have an heir that would someday sit on the throne. And as you look at this Davidic covenant as you study it you find out that this is where Messiah is going to come from. You talk to any Jew and you talk to them, “OK, what about Messiah? When Messiah comes what will He be?” Well they will say, “Messiah will be a man.” All right. Where will Messiah come from? Well, Messiah will have to come from the genealogy of David and David was from the tribe of Judah. In fact sometimes you can say to them, “And where will Messiah be born?” And they will say, “Oh. Well the Bible tells us that it’s going to be in Bethlehem, Ephratah. That’s what the prophet Micah says.”

So Jesus was born. He was born as the Son of God and “…a descendant of David according to the flesh”. Now watch this. He’s going to tell you two “according to’s.” And it says, “… who was declared the Son of God….” He was declared the Son of God. Jesus, Jesus, this name that many people don’t like, this name that has been misused, this name that has been abused, this name through which many, many Jews were put to death and wrongly so because it’s not according to what that name is all about. But this name is the name of the Son of God. Now we saw that God has a son. All right.

So it says, “… who was declared the Son of God with power …,” How? “…by the resurrection from the dead …,” and now watch. Here you have it again. “…according to the Spirit of holiness , Jesus Christ our Lord”. This is who Jesus Christ is. And you know the reason that a lot of people hate the name of Jesus Christ when they really understand it, is because if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, if He is the One that has been born of a virgin, the One who grew up and grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man, who for three and a half years had a ministry on the face of this earth healing and showing all sorts of signs to prove that He was the Son of God, if He’s the One then whom they nailed to the cross, the One who died and yet the One who rose from the dead, if that’s who He is then you know what? You and I have to bow the knee. You and I, if we really believe that, have to say, “You’re the Lord, you’re the Master, you’re the One that deserves my obedience. You’re the One to whom I am accountable.”

You know what the problem is don’t you? We don’t want to be accountable. We don’t want to be accountable to anyone. We want to run our own life. We want to call the shots. You know why? Because we don’t trust anyone other than ourselves. And yet I want to ask you a question. What are you doing to your life? I mean, are you excelling that well? You say, “Well, I’m trying.” I want to ask you a question. If you could have God behind you, if you could have that confidence that God would take everything in your life and this is what Romans says, everything in your life and weave it together for your good, wouldn’t you want to know that?

You see, when you understand who Jesus Christ is, when you bow the knee, when you understand, “OK, here is a man who has lived as I have lived. Here’s a man who was without sin, here’s a man who never blew it, here’s a man who always and only did what pleased God and here’s the man who loved me so much that He died for me. Here’s the man that God raised from the dead. He’s got to be God. He’s got to be the Son of God and I owe my obedience to Him.” When you say that, Precious One, when you bow the knee then you’re acknowledging that Jesus Christ is who He says He is. He is God and that is the obedience of faith that is going to bring you grace. The peace that you so long for because He is Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace.