Honestly I like the part about I will start my twentieth year at Bethlehem Baptist in July. And I have never preached on Romans until last year. That is, I have never done a series on Romans. And the reason is fear, because it is like a mountain climber who has exercised himself on some pretty steep hills in the Scriptures, but simply stands in awe of the Mount Everest of the book of Romans and with great fear and trembling looks at these sixteen chapters and says: I am not ready yet, Lord. And at age 53, the Lord whispered back: you don’t have any time to wait, because it is going to take you that long to finish it. And so I did undertake with fear and trembling to start the book of Romans and now I am a year into it and I am glad that I did. And it is rich for me, far richer for me than for our people and I hope it is rich for them.
This was the time, I think, it is the end of the millennium. It is the second half of my thirty-year pastorate, perhaps, well into it at Bethlehem. The pace of time is quick for a 53-year-old as compared to a 34-year-old beginner. Time is moving strangely much faster now than it did in those years. And when you think of what you would like to do, the time seems short to do it in. The gospel of glory seems sweeter to me today than it ever has and I know that Romans is the place where it is more fully and thoroughly unfolded than any other place.
I am not as moved by faddishness today. I am not as eager to say anything particularly relevant. I have seen fads come and go. I have seen all kinds of church growth strategies come and go. I have seen all kinds of stresses in the ministry come and go and I fall back again and again and say: If my life is going to count for anything with this body of people, it will be steady state, long term feeding of the word of God. That will be the key. If I leave behind a legacy, it will be perseverance in telling the truth about the Bible.
And so, young people, give yourself to the Bible. Give yourself to know the Bible. It will sometimes seem flat emotionally. It will sometimes feel like soaring emotionally. Those two ups and downs are not the issue. It is steady state, long term, occupation with the infallible, powerful word of God that will make oaks of righteousness out of young people when the winds blow. It is wonderful to have these times of worship. We need them. We need them. But we all know that these are the high times. These are the glorious times and the slog it out times are the times that tell whether you have got fiber in your tree or whether you only a week sapling and get blown over
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