Introduction to Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Passage: 2 Peter 3:13-18

Think of the books of the Bible as a mountain range of 66 peaks.  We have climbed several mountain peaks together over the past 15 years, some of them taller than others.

We started 15 years ago with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  I still look back on that climb with fond memories, our first adventure together in the Word of God.  We spent a few years in the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospel peaks.  Those were some good hikes.

I remember being afraid of Revelation, but we tackled it and managed to get to the summit without too many falls or loss of life.  We followed that with Daniel.  We also did a series of smaller peaks, James, I and II Peter, I, II, III John, Jonah, Ruth and Esther.

Ecclesiastes wasn’t as tall as Revelation, but it presented a tricky, challenging climb.  But again, I am thankful we did it, and the summit was particularly satisfying.  Acts wasn’t as hard a climb, but it was a long one, so daunting in its own way.

With every climb, I have been aware of a peak looming in the distance, overshadowing every other peak.  The Mount Everest of the books of the Bible, The Book of Romans.

I have avoided it for my thirty-nine years of ministry.  I have held it off with a certain trepidation and great respect.  I have doubted myself; I am not that good a climber, I said.  It is best left to the great veterans, John Calvin, Charles Hodge, Martin Lloyd-Jones, John Piper.

But I have prayed over the years that God would prepare me and show me when it was time.  In the meantime, I prepared, I gathered and collected climbing gear, climbing aids, over fifty books, numerous sermons, articles, internet links, too much actually.  There is no way I can carry it all up the mountain with me.

The Book of Romans is a vast mountain filled with pure gold, and over the centuries there have been countless gold rushes.  Innumerable saints have come away from the Book of Romans far richer for it.  The book of Romans has changed more lives for eternity than any other book.

This morning I want to share with you some of those gold rush stories as a way of encouraging you to join me on this journey with a great expectation that we too will find gold.  With these stories I hope to prompt you to actively participate in this climb and this dig.  I guarantee you the view from on top is breathtaking and you will be richer for it.