Let us now turn to Romans chapter 15.
We read the Word of God. This is a passage of Scripture that encourages us to look at the life of Apostle Paul in a very focused way, but a broad way as well, but it's also an encouragement to us to realize that God can use us in a mighty way as well. Romans 15, beginning with verse 14. And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in Christ Jesus, I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and round about us, as far as Elikorim, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus, I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation. But as it is written, they who had no news of him shall see. They, and they who have not heard, shall understand.
For this reason, I have often been prevented from coming to you. But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you, whenever I go to Spain, for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while, but now I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaea have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this and I put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Now, I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints, so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now, the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Be seated. Let's pray together. God, our Father, we thank you for the fact that you have given us so much. This is all the work that you've accomplished for us and you offer to the world. It's the work of the gospel, your Word and Spirit changing hearts and lives. And Father, now we see Paul and maybe we even see ourselves in those kind of roles. Lord, use us, change us, challenge us to be your servants. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. This story that we are looking at, I guess in many ways you could say, is the same story that's been read all through Scripture. It's sort of a microcosm of what God is doing just compacted here in the life of Paul because it's the story of God blessing the families of the earth that he said he was going to do to the families of Abraham. It's the story of the mystery of the gospel.
The gospel is actually going to the Gentiles. It's the story of the redemption of Jew and Gentile together and they become one body belonging to Christ and they are united even with their historical and cultural differences. It's the story of the fulfillment of the promises of Pentecost when the nations come to Christ. It's the story of the expansion of the kingdom of God. It's the story of the spread of Christendom around the world.
It's the story of the continuing growth of the church around the world even today. So in this microcosm of Paul's life we're going to see what God has been doing, what God accomplishes, not what man accomplishes. And so we look at how God used Paul in his service and it's how he uses other believers in his service. God is at work. God is ministering to other people through his saints, through his believers. And God has been working in our personal histories.
He's been working all through history. Now sometimes we can get discouraged because we look at the world and we look at history and we think well this is not, this might be the very end, but then again it's not the end. Well I'm sure Noah thought it was really the end when he built the ark, but then there was the rainbow and the promise of God's blessing not to do that type of judgment again. And then it went for several generations and they're back to the same place. God has to split up the people and become confused tongues so he can divide the people worlds to diminish the influence of sin as the people gather together to make themselves gods of their own gods and their own worship.
And we see that over and again. We see God then raising up one family, Abraham. They go to Egypt with 70 people, 70 people, 72 people and there we have, they're there for 400 years and most of that time they're slaves.
What a devastating story. But then they come out and God brings them out and there's the glorious establishment of the nation of Israel and then there's the captivity in the Babylon because of their sin. Over and over again we see this thing, but yet again we see here in the life of Paul and in the church today that God keeps going. His church has not stopped.
It progresses even though you see this ebb and flow in history. So the proposition tonight is this, that God works to change lives through the ministry of God's servants. Now particularly we're looking at Paul's ministry around the Mediterranean basin, but we see also a reflection of what he's doing around the world. But we can be very confident of some things and Paul was very confident of things that were happening there even in Rome as he writes his letters to these Roman Christians whom he's never met. He's confident that God is working in them and we can be confident for every believer here tonight that God is working in you.
If you're in submission to Christ, reading his words, studying and following him, he is going to work in you and use you in his ministry. So we think about that church there in Rome. Paul had never been there.
In fact, none of the apostles had been there. Well you kind of wonder well what was going on? How did that church begin? How did they get there? Well we know that perhaps there were some people from Rome. We know where there's some people from Rome. They're at the day of Pentecost and some of those people became believers and they went back. And we also know that Rome being the center of the Empire, there were soldiers coming and going and there were businessmen coming and going.
So there's a lot of things that were happening. So there were a group of believers, a diverse group of believers in Rome who came together. There was a fellowship there and now they were going to receive this letter from the Apostle Paul who had never been there. So God accomplished the establishment of the church in Rome.
Not Paul, not anyone else. Then we turn to verse 14. It begins to describe what Paul has heard and what others have reported about the Christians in Rome.
And it's a great report. And so he shows Paul's confidence and we can have confidence in what God does in his church. He's doing these things. And verse 14 says, And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.
Those three things are highlighted here. So he's confident that God is working in the lives of those believers and we should be confident that God is working in the lives of the believers here tonight. We should believe that. If you're a believer, you're seeking Christ, you're seeking to know him, seeking to please him, be assured he's at work in your life. He says of these people, you are full of goodness, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, kindness and goodness. That's what's in Galatians.
I think Eugene referenced this fruit this morning. Emphasize this kindness that is there, produced by God himself. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and against such things there is no law. So the believers in Rome were filled by the Holy Spirit and motivated by the goodness that he put in their hearts.
And Paul hears that report. Also it says you are filled with knowledge. He knows that these believers know the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are two aspects to knowledge always in Scripture. One are the facts.
Yeah, the facts are the facts that though the prophecies of the Old Testament were true and Christ came, died, he was buried, resurrected, ascended into heaven and is coming again. They knew those facts. They knew that they had that knowledge of the reality of Christ walking on this earth. But they also knew God personally. They knew that he had changed their lives. They knew that his word was true. They knew that he had gave them a hope that they had never had before with all the religions and the philosophies that were in the Greek and Roman Empire.
This man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave them life and life eternal. So they had a knowledge that was personal, a covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ. So Paul knew that was true. But Paul is also confident of one thing.
He was also confident that these people were mature. They could actually be trusted to admonish one another in the Lord Jesus Christ about what was good and right. Paul asserts that they are competent to admonish.
They're competent to counsel because the Lord Jesus is counseling them. It's a fulfillment of what Jeremiah said. Jeremiah 31 verse 34 says this, they will not teach again each man his neighbor each man his brother saying know the Lord for they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more. That was fulfilled in the lives of these people who have been converted, have been covered by the blood of Christ they knew that they were forgiven they had a new life in Christ and so they were able to take God's Word and apply it to themselves have God's Spirit applied and then to admonish one another. Actually it's a fulfillment of what Jesus had said in John 14 to 26 he says but the Helper the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I said to you.
Jesus fulfilled that in that church there in Rome so their personal knowledge was based on the fact that they were a forgiven people they had experienced the converting grace of Jesus Christ. So God had accomplished this Paul had never been there. Philippians 1 says the same thing which you know this verse for I am confident of the very thing that he began a good work and you will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ to the day that Christ returns God is at work in their lives.
So we can be confident that God as God worked in their lives he could also be working in our lives and is working in the life of each believer right now. There's another confidence be confident in the work because God's work in the life of Saul. If we look at what God did with Saul of Tarsus it is an amazing story and it never goes away and never fades it's just an amazing story of God's grace and redemption beyond imagination. So Paul reviews this is in verse 15 through 19 he kind of goes over what has happened in his life and what God has been showing him and he's saying really God accomplished this he didn't accomplish it. God produced the work that Paul was doing God enabled him to do these things and so it's the same thing in us if God God is working in your life he will cause you to accomplish things for his sake and for his glory not for your glory or my glory anyone other humans glory but for the glory of God. So Paul reminds us first of all that it was grace that called him out of that legalism that he was involved in and set him aside as an apostle it was all of grace. Okay then next Paul reminds us that the ministry that he had to the ethnic people of the Roman Empire was God's calling he was an apostle to the Gentiles. In fact if you look at verse 16 he refers to this he says he is ministering as a priest the gospel of God he described himself as a priest of the gospel that is so apropos that is so fitting because you think about what a priest does what does a priest do a priest and the priesthood of believers do the same thing a priest intervenes a priest prays for people he's been praying for the church in Rome he the that's so that's what he's talking about here and it is the gospel of Christ said that the high priest he is our high priest because we know there is as Paul said that Timothy there is one God and one mediator between the man between man and God and that is the man Christ Jesus there is no other mediator there is no one else to forgive sins and so Paul is delighted to share this gospel but also a priest does something else and in the Old Testament we've seen the foreshadowing of what Christ was going to do the priest took the animal sacrifice you came in confessed your sins the animal was slain and the priest put the blood on the altar well now that does not have to be done because when you preach the gospel you say Jesus his own blood is covered on the altar and it covers your sin and so Paul is preaching that gospel that he's a priest to that gospel of proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ so he's declaring what John the Baptist said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world or as Peter put it knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers but with precious blood as a lamb unblenished and spotless the blood of Christ this is the gospel that Paul is preaching he has a priestly role in that and it's a good description so the work of Paul was bringing peace between God and man these people became believers they were no longer enemies of God they were at peace with God and God was at peace with them there was this universal offer of forgiveness but there was only one who could forgive you that is the Lord Jesus Christ so next we turn it we see this activity of Paul Paul rejoicing and what Christ has done to redeem his life when he was certainly not looking to be redeemed but God did now then we turn to he talks about how he was called to bring in the Gentiles into the kingdom of God and that's really if you if you turn to that that passage there he's it's really what he was saying is is all of our callings as believers but he was going to do that for the Gentiles and what does he says therefore I urge you brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship he said that there in Romans 12 and that's exactly what he was wanting to see in the life of all of these Gentile believers that they would come to Christ if they would present their lives is that acceptable sacrifice to God a life given to him and to his worship and service so this is actually a fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah chapters 6 chapter 66 verse 20 it says this and they will bring all your brothers from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord so there's a fulfillment that promise people were coming to worship the Lord Jesus Christ now the believing and ethnic people of the world we're not made holy by Paul not by his teaching he was they were not made holy by him they're made holy only by the work of God's Word and Holy Spirit in their lives they are sanctified that word sanctified it actually means hope made holy by the Holy Spirit God God's Spirit and that's what is taking place we have all been changed if we were a believer we've been changed we've been brought out of darkness into light and God is sanctifying us he's making us more and more holy more and more like Jesus Christ all along but we have to be declared holy and made holy by the work of God's Word and Spirit why as one person put it this is no unholy thing ever enters into the presence of the holy God no unholy thing will ever be allowed into his presence that's why we need a washing cleansing and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ but it is God's work that makes us acceptable it is God's work that makes us holy it makes us his children he redeems us so Paul is confident that the gospel is going to do its work in fact that's what he talks about he says he's not going to boast in anything but the work of God nothing and he says in verses 17 and 18 he says therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reasons for boasting in things pertaining to God for I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word indeed he is boasting about everything that God has done he sees it he knows it's God's work and Paul is says he will not take any credit he will not presume any credit that because he was educated so well because he was he did this or did that because of his background or heritage he said no that's a loss I I have nothing to bring and so he says it is all the work of the Lord Jesus Christ it's all glory to him not to Paul a Paul Paul wrote the same things he wrote the same things in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 and I'll read a little section there he says this to those Corinthians he says and I when I came to you brothers I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech and wisdom for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of the power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God Paul was sold out to Christ he says he is the one who's doing this work not Saul or Paul of Tarsus it is God's work in the hearts of believers the Gentile believers that made them gave them faith and obedience to the gospel it's his work in your life that makes you faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ Paul repeatedly pointed to Christ and Christ's power as the his work of salvation Galatians 6 14 says but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world Christ was preeminent in his heart and thoughts and salvation and Christian growth comes only by the work of God in your heart and life there is no room for boasting none whatsoever now I've seen some people humbled and broken and I haven't been humbled and broken like them and I will give you an illustration and it's come from the same country but if you're a pastor in a war-torn country inflation is 600% and you wonder how you're gonna feed your family you've got members of your congregation how are you gonna even physically help them to find food when there's nothing coming in the offering place because no one has jobs what do you do and so last week I was talking to this pastor and he said to me he said he was worried about whether he would be able to continue in the ministry could he do ministry at all and then he said he realized the great truth he said this this is his ministry not our ministry let that sink in this is his ministry not our ministry and that points out the fact that this is always true I work in this church or any church it is not us it is Christ's ministry he is the one who works in us he accomplishes his will so the various ethnic groups of the world heard these messages of the gospel from from Paul and from others and and God moved in their hearts and they became believers and joined the church and and we see this happening in this non Jewish population throughout all the Roman Empire God is building his kingdom and it was God's power at work it always is God's power at work it is never our power at work and there's no DIY in this at all this is God's doing at that time God used miraculous signs he did all kinds of things remember when Paul he'd go he'd gone to Jerusalem he's going to go to Jerusalem and he ends up getting arrested he expected that could happen but he didn't want it to happen but anyway remember he was being carried to Rome on a ship and these and of course now here's here is a religious teacher an evangelist telling the ship captain and the soldiers that have arrested him or accompanying him said you shouldn't go because of this it's going to be tragic for the ship of course they're not going to listen to him but they get out there and yes and it's tragic and they're all going to be lost and then he says don't cut any boats away don't anybody get off ship if you stay on board everybody will be saved they are they get on boards they run in that reef and they go into shore just like Paul said then they start listening to Paul and then he reaches over gets a piece of firewood and the Viper bites him and the Vipers hanging that's poisonous snake is hanging onto his hand he shakes it off in the fire and people said he's gonna drop dead he didn't drop dead all these particular signs things that God was doing Paul was not doing these God was just leading him along the way and so it says there are miraculous signs and wonders that that were happening people who coming to faith in Christ people being delivered from from from the oppression of evil spirits that was happening but it was not Paul doing it it was God's Word and God's Spirit doing those things so it was none of Paul's abilities to accomplish this work it was not if you look at verse 14 it makes a reference to the fruit of the Spirit if you look at verse 16 it refers to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and then verse 19 speaks of the power of the Spirit in verse 30 tells us of the the love of the Spirit in believers hearts then you reiterate wait a minute this is talking about the work of the Father the Son and the Spirit the triune God is doing this not the Apostle Paul so the extent of God's power and work is seen even geographically when you look at this at the map here you think about a map Paul traveled over a good portion of the Roman Empire but it was more of the eastern side and if you can imagine your map on a map up here is illicrium or southern Croatia and then you go this way southeast and you goes all the way down Jerusalem was all this side the east side that Paul had been ministering that was the region in which he had worked he had seen the gospel and and it was God directing him because he was going to go further into Turkey further into Asia Minor but God said no and God sent him north to Macedonian on up to illicrium because that was God's plan not Paul's plan and so he had been there and so now he's been praying can he go to Rome and then can he go west for the rest of Spain that's what's going on here and God was in total control of where Paul was hitting and how Paul was getting there and so that it was God's plan it was God's power it was God's accomplishment through his servant the Apostle Paul well if you look down at verse 21 Paul is talking about what's being accomplished and he starts these quotes this Old Testament passage from Isaiah look at what it says he says but it as it is written they who had no news of him shall see and they who had not heard shall understand notice the extreme contrast those who knew nothing they're the ones who see those who had no opportunity to hear now they're the people who actually understand it didn't just go in one ear and out the other but they actually understand and they believe what God has done we can be confident in God's working because why it is literally true we see it in the life of Christ that the blind had their eyes opened but some people had their eyes open so they could see Christ who would never seen the Lord Jesus on earth others are deaf they cannot hear they may hear the words of the gospel but they may not comprehend it but yet God's spirit could open their ears so that they have a spiritual understanding and they receive the gospel that's what Paul is talking about here he is confident that God is going to fulfill this prophecy of Isaiah and is being fulfilled in his life and he's proclaiming it this is what's happening here around the Roman and the unreached peoples are actually going to come to Christ those people who have had no opportunity are now having that opportunity so Paul is confident that God has called him to serve others now but God calls us also to serve others but he says there's two ways one is with the strict definition of the gospel preaching of the word but it's also there is a way you serve others materially and that's what he's talking about here in this section Paul is gonna has plans for serving people both ways now look at verse 25 Paul says he's writing to the people in Rome and he says look now for right now I am going to Jerusalem serving the Saints okay do you think Paul is a servant you think Paul is a deacon well the word for serving in verse 25 is daikonio where we get the word deacon and so Paul the Apostle is doing deacons work he's he's deaconing so to speak he's doing that work because he's serving others pastors elders deacons evangelists missionaries around the world have have always been doing some kind of diagonal work a tangible way of showing the love of Christ to other people maybe even just to get an opportunity to share the gospel well we know among believers that that's that that's what comes when God enters your heart you care about those other believers as James put it if a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food and one of you says to them go in peace be warmed and be filled and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body what is that even so it it is it has no works if it is no works it is dead by itself so Paul is looking at this situation he's been in Macedonia has been up in a Chia and these people have heard the gospel they believed out of their poverty they have been collecting funds and they're going to send those to Jerusalem through the Apostle Paul and these are their love gifts to those people in Jerusalem and these love glyphs demonstrate a biblical principle here that's really operating and it's seen seen in other parts of Scripture and that is this the principle is that those who have been at this spiritually from the Word of God from the the the Old Testament heritage or whatever if those who have benefited from all this preaching and teaching that has been going on down through the centuries they also have a responsibility to share materially with those who have been feeding them who have been bringing this word to them and that's exactly what motivated these Christians in Macedonia and a Chia they they really wanted to show their love for these brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who were in a famine and who were going through a great stress so they had this collection and Paul is taking it so serving the Saints is a blessed work it's a great work and you think about it think about the the schools and the hospitals and orphanages all over the world that have been started by people who are motivated by the gospel of Jesus Christ to serve other peoples and you end up with places called Mercy Hospital Presbyterian Hospital Baptist Hospital where did that come from that came from the heart of believers who were motivated by the gospel to help other people materially and physically so it's a very strange what we see happening here in Apostle Paul he's taking a risk when he takes us through to Jerusalem but you see the spiritual fruit in let Paul's life when you think of Saul who became took the name Paul because this character had changed Saul of Tarsus when did we first meet him oh yeah that's right he was in Jerusalem arresting people breaking up families and putting people in prison and then he was going to go to Damascus to do the same thing but this time what is Paul doing Paul is going to Jerusalem to risk his life and arrest so he could give material aid to probably some of the same families that he had accosted that is a changed man that is the power of the gospel working Paul using him in God's service to the glory of God he said to the people in Rome he says he had plans to go west of a licorium and and Jerusalem to go to Rome in the Spain he said he wanted to do that but he needed to take this gift to Jerusalem first he says in verse 23 I have had many for many years are longing to come to you speaking of the church in Rome and in chapter 1 of Romans he says I make mention of you always in my prayers making requests if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you for I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you I don't have that kind of heart but Paul had that had a heart that God put it on his heart that he wanted to go minister to that particular congregation and then go beyond that to a place where no one had ever been with the gospel we are sent to share the gospel with others we are sent to share even material aid to others as we come to the end of this section scripture we come to the part where bound verse 31 and following Paul is talking about his own needs he says that we as God's servant need the prayers of other believers to complete the work that God's called us to we need the prayers of others now who is making this statement Paul the Apostle why does he need prayers he's already been gifted he's already gifted in languages he's he's has the ability to to heal people God's given him those gifts and he is the of the Apostle he is the missionary of the New Testament and he says pray that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the Saints a humble man before the living God because he is God's servant again that word diacon Nia is used because Paul is doing diagonal work and he wants the believers the Gentile believers to know that it is God's who's doing this work and he wants them to pray that he will not be arrested but that he'll be able to satisfactorily meet efficiently some of the needs there in Jerusalem that's his prayer so Paul is teaching us to walk in the spirit he is Paul is teaching us to to walk by the word and Spirit of God he he says he wants it them to act a certain way says by the love of the Spirit he puts it in verse 30 and again he says is God is accomplishing this God is going to motivate you God motivates him he's going to motivate the people in Rome as it motivated the people in Achaea and Macedonia to give that's what it says in Philippians 2 13 he reminded the Christians there for it is God who is at work in you both are willing to do of his good pleasure it's God's work he said the same thing I found a another verse in Thessalonians kind of about the same thing says to the Thessalonians second Thessalonians chapter 2 he says but we should always give thanks to God for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth believing the gospel and the work of the Spirit is how these people operate that's how we live that's how he's urging these people to pray to pray for him to pray for those in Jerusalem and he's praying that he will soon make it to Rome and Spain so Paul is urging us to strive together at the end in prayer he says prayers for the gospel to go far and wide prayers for the gospel to go broad and deep even right where we live or where those believers lived in Rome but also prayer for the gospel go from generation to generation he wants the Word of God to go out and he says pray and pray that his work will be effective and we should pray that our work would be effective pray that God will change lives through the ministry of Grace Church through the ministry that God gives you that God gives me pray for that divine appointment that God would give you that opportunity to share his word and to do a deed of kindness in the name of Jesus Christ this is accomplished by God's grace by God's Word and Spirit so we could pray this come Lord Jesus change us mature us and minister through us to your service and to your glory amen
