Ministering By the Grace of God

Transcript

GR 1477
07/03/11
Ministering by the Grace of God
Romans 15:14-21
Gil Rugh

We've been studying the book of Romans together and we have worked out way through the book. Paul started out the letter by giving an introduction. In the first 15 verses of Romans 1 Paul really introduced himself and the letter, greeting the people that he was writing to in the church at Rome. He had never himself been to Rome to visit the church there. So he is writing on the basis of the reports he has heard, those he has had contact with that were from Rome. After those first 15 verses with verse 15 concluded, so for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome also. The gospel basically just means the good news, the message of Jesus Christ and the salvation that God has provided in Him. Paul said, I want to come to Rome and tell you about Jesus Christ, tell you the good news that the eternal God has provided a Savior, His Son. And you can be forgiven your sins, you can have new life, you can become a child of the living God.

And he started this letter in Romans 1:16 by declaring, I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just, the righteous shall live by faith. And then Paul begins to unfold what is necessary to know regarding the eternal God's plan of salvation. And you have to begin with an understanding of why was it necessary for God to provide His Son to be the Savior. Why is it necessary for us to have God's righteousness? So this first section of the book of Romans Paul made clear that each and every one of us is a sinner. We are under the condemnation of a just and holy God. None of us are better than the other. We measure ourselves and see, this person has done worse things, this person has not done some of those bad things. But God says He is evaluating each of us from the standard of His own personal perfect holiness and righteousness. And that's what is necessary to be acceptable in His sight.

So these opening chapter of Romans establish the fact that all of us, every single one of us, Jews and non-Jews alike are sinners. We came to Romans 3:9, Paul asked the question, are we Jews better than the Gentiles? No, we've demonstrated that everyone, no exception, Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. There is none righteous, Romans 3:10, not even one. There is none that does good, and so on. Down to verse 19, we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those under the Law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.

From there he moved on to talk about the righteousness God has provided in His Son, Jesus Christ. It's a righteousness that is credited to us individually when we come to believe, understanding we are sinners, understanding that Christ died to pay the penalty for sin, that there is no hope apart from Christ. We turn from our sin and place our full faith, confidence in Jesus Christ as God's provision for us. I believe He died to pay the penalty for my sin. He was raised from the dead because the penalty has been paid. I believe what God has promised and I bow, acknowledging my hopeless and lost condition and place my faith in His Son. He will credit me with His righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.

And that's what the second major section of the book of Romans was about. Every single person under condemnation, God's righteousness in salvation provided for every single person. But it's made clear, not every single person avails himself of that provision. So even though God has provided righteousness in Christ, that righteousness is secured by the individual only when they come to understand their sinful condition before God and turn from their sin and place their faith in the provision God has made, His salvation.

Then he talked about the holiness of life that comes to those who experience God's cleansing, God's forgiveness. That means, Romans 6 told us, God sets us free from the power and control of sin, to slavery to sin. He sets us free to now live our lives for Him and experience the fullness of His blessings, which as Romans 8 told us includes the promise of the glory of heaven in His presence. Romans 8:18 says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. God has prepared us, is preparing us for the glory of His presence.

He talked in Romans 9-11 about how this plan of salvation includes Jew and Gentile alike and ultimately all His promises to the nation Israel will be fulfilled to the nation, even though at this present time it is primarily us Gentiles who are experiencing the fullness of God's salvation.

Having covered the issues of God's work of salvation with Romans 12 he began to talk about the way we live now as His people. He did that from Romans 12:1 through Romans 15:13. Now he is ready to draw the letter to a conclusion and really the conclusion of the letter is from Romans 15:14 through Romans 16. So you have the introduction to the letter in Romans 1:1-15, now you have the conclusion to the letter picking up at Romans 15:15 through the end of the letter. And we won't be taking time to go back, but you will note if you go back to read the introduction, the first 15 verses of this letter, you'll see Paul picks up some of the things he talked about in the introduction and mentions them in the conclusion, which helps tie the letter all together.

So he picks up in Romans 15:14 and he says, and concerning you my brethren, you that I have been writing to in the church at Rome, fellow believers in Jesus Christ. I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to admonish one another. Paul has spoken boldly and clearly in this letter. And when you talk to people you have never met personally and you spend the fist part of your letter telling them how sinful they are, how lost they are, they are under the judgment of God, sometimes people take offense at that. Even believers can get upset. Paul was not writing because he doubted their salvation, he was writing so they would understand clearly the truth of the gospel more fully. But concerning their situation personally, all that Paul has heard about them, all that he knows about the church at Rome, he can say, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves. My personal conviction regarding your personal situation is that you are solid, mature believers in Jesus Christ. You are a church that evidences the reality of God's salvation, that you are a people that demonstrates the work of God's salvation in your lives. You are full of goodness, a word that denotes uprightness of heart and life. You manifest God's work in your life, that your heart has been cleansed, that you have been made new, that your conduct has been reshaped as a result of what God has done in your hearts. That's why it means to be filled with goodness.

Come over to Galatians 5. Paul talks about the characteristics of the life of a person who does not know salvation through faith in Christ. And verse 19 he talks about the deeds of the flesh are evident—immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousing, things like these. These are the characteristics of those, Paul said, that I forewarned you about. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will not enjoy God's salvation and the provision of an eternal kingdom for those who have been saved. Sin characterizes the life of a person who does not know Jesus Christ. But the fruit of the Spirit, this is what the Spirit of God produces in the life of one who has come to faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit produces, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. There is our word, a word that Paul said to the Romans, you are full of goodness. The work of the Spirit of God in your heart and mind changed your life, and one of the manifestations of the presence of the Spirit of God in a life is goodness, that uprightness, the character of God being reproduced. Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Verse 24, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Now we are privileged to live under the control of the Spirit and conduct ourselves accordingly. I am convinced you are full of all goodness.

Come over to Ephesians 5. Paul says in verse 5, you will know this with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, now note the contrast, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the light consists in all, there is our word, goodness and righteousness and truth. What a remarkable change has come about in our lives as a result of the saving work of the living God. We were formerly darkness. You understand there are no exceptions here. As we have seen when we started out the book of Romans, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, there is none who does good. We live in the realm of spiritual and moral darkness, we do not know the God who is light. But when we come to place our faith in Christ, the God who is light brings light to our souls and we are brought out of darkness into the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now light permeates us. We know the living God, we know the truth, we've been set free. We are to walk as children of light, we are light in the Lord. 1 John starts out, God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all, no sin at all. Those who have fellowship with God walk in the light. If we say we have fellowship with God and live in the darkness, we are liars, 1 John 1 says.

So Paul can say in Ephesians 5:8, you were formerly darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Live accordingly. And that light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth. What a change that God would take me, a lost, hopeless sinner living in spiritual darkness. I didn't even know I was in such a wretched, lost condition. And bring me to His salvation and the light comes on, the darkness is removed. Now I have a relationship with the living God and He produces His goodness in the heart through the work of His Spirit.

So come back to Romans 15. You are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge. That doesn't mean they know everything, that they know everything about God and His Word. But they are growing and maturing and give evidence of the work of God in their life. The church at Rome was a knowledgeable church. Paul hasn't unfolded the details of the gospel because they were immature, they were shallow. They were a church that was manifesting the work of the Spirit of God in their lives and demonstrating they had a good understanding of the truth of God and of His salvation. You are filled with all knowledge.

You are able also to admonish one another. That word admonish has a breadth of meaning. It can mean to instruct, it can mean to correct. Just like our English word admonish if you look it up in the dictionary, the Greek word here. We've carried it over into English as nouthetic. A counseling program was started called nouthetic counseling. But that's a misuse here of the word. This is not something narrow for a segment of the church or a particular group, this is true of the believers in the church at Rome. Because they are filled with all goodness, the character of God, and full of knowledge, the truth that God has revealed about Himself, they are able then to have ministry to one another. A ministry that sometimes is imparting the truth, correcting and warning those who may be drifting from the path that God has set forth.

Come over to Colossians 1:28, Paul says, we proclaim Him, Christ, admonishing every man. Admonishing every man. And there is our word. We do this for everyone. We admonish them because the instruction Paul gives also has correction in it. This is how we are to live, these are the things we are not to do. He's always challenging believers to be faithful, to submit their lives to the Lord in every area. We are admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so we may present every man complete in Christ. For this I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily in me. So Paul says this is part of the ministry we have as God's people.

Come over to I Thessalonians. There are other passages but for time we'll just go to I Thessalonians 5:12. But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction. That word translated give you instruction, admonish you. That's our same basic word we are talking about in Romans 15, to admonish. They admonish you. So that has a breadth. So when you come down to verse 14, we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted. So you see admonishment can have that side to it. When someone is out of line, they are not functioning according as the Word of God says they should, you correct them, you admonish them. Sometimes you admonish in the sense of encouraging and instructing. So it has that breadth of meaning. When you are being corrected, sometimes you need to be reminded to appreciate those who are correcting you. None of us like to be corrected. So in this context Paul is reminding them that they appreciate those who do bring admonishment. And they are responsible to admonish people who are unruly or undisciplined.

Come over to II Thessalonians 3:14, if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him. There is our word again. You see often this word is used in the context of the side where correction is needed, that perhaps they are not functioning as they should, doing what they should. But when you are filled with all goodness, your life is characterized by the character of God, His uprightness. And you have the knowledge of God that comes from His word, and full of the knowledge. Then you are in a position to bring admonishment. Kind of challenging ministries of other people. That's the ministry we are to have together because Paul writes to the church at Rome and says, I know that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge. Able, you as a church, to admonish one another.

So what he is saying is I'm not writing to you because I am the Apostle Paul and since I haven't been able to come and be with you, you have been deprived. But I'll write you a letter because you are not capable of functioning without my involvement somehow. That's not the point. The point is I recognize you are a mature church and able to carry on the ministry to one another that God intends you to as His church.

Come back to Romans 15. Why has he written then? But, verse 15, I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again. So I am writing to you, I want to tell you what you already know, I want to remind you. When I wrote this letter to you, I know you know this. I mean, if you are saved you have to understand and know the gospel. If you haven't come to understand the reality of your own sin and guilt before the Lord, you can't be saved. If you haven't come to understand that there is no way to be forgiven and cleansed from your sin but by placing your faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, you can't be saved. And so on. But Paul is saying, I wrote unfolding the gospel to you, not because you don't know the gospel, I wrote to remind you of these things. Easy for us to look a little bit with weariness when we are told again and again and again what we already know. And that's true with the Word of God.

I've been here as pastor for over forty years. Some of you have been here almost as long as I have. You know the Word of God as well or better than I do, you teach the Word of God, you've heard these sermons over and over again. Some of you have told me, I have the notes from the last time you did this. Why didn't you use this verse? You used it last time. You have heard it again and again and again. I don't have anything new to tell you. It's a reminding ministry, but the church begins to slip because even we who know these truths, if we're not reminded of them, pretty soon they begin to get a little fuzzy. I'm not as sharp on it as I once was. Then it gets fuzzier and fuzzier. Then people who are new don't get grounded in it and people who don't know it never hear it. And pretty soon the church is in a world of confusion. So much of what we have in our Scripture, if you've been studying the Bible very long, you know how often God repeats Himself. He doesn't repeat Himself because He doesn't have anything new He can tell us. He's the infinite God. But in His grace He has revealed to us what He intends for us to know, but He knows we need to be reminded again and again and again.

Come over to 2 Peter, the second letter of the Apostle Peter. 2 Peter 1:12, what does Peter say? Therefore I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I know you are firmly grounded and established in the truth. You know these things well, but I'm going to always be ready to remind you of these things. I consider it right as long as I'm in this earthly dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder. I'm going to do this until the day I die, I'm going to keep reminding you of these great truths of God.

Come over to 2 Peter 3:1, this is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the word spoken beforehand by the holy apostles and the commandments of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. So important that we be reminded, that we not forget, that we not let slip, that we get fuzzy on the wonder of the truth of God's salvation, all He has done for us in Christ.

Come over to the book of Jude, that little, short letter of Jude, just one chapter. Look at verse 5, now I desire to remind you though you know all things once for all. I mean, what would happen if Paul or Peter or Jude would come to speak today? We'd think, we have the apostles here, they're going to tell us something new. Those who go back to the days of Christ, I can't wait to hear what they have to say. They get up and you say, I already knew that, I already heard that. We need to be reminded. I desire to remind you, Jude says. Come down to verse 17, but you, beloved, ought to remember. That's what happens when we're reminded, so we remember. The words which were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what they were saying. You know, we're reminded, it's on our mind. Churches begin to slip, Bible believing churches when they think, we don't need to always be talking about the gospel because we have to talk about sin, we talk about judgment, we talk about salvation. We always want to be talking about what God has said. And the longer you are a believer, that doesn't mean well, I don't need as much of it. Well, I used to go to Bible class and then Sunday morning and Sunday night and a Bible study. But now I've been a believer a long time, I don't need to. We are slipping, sliding. I need to take in the Word of God every opportunity I can, I need to be told the old, old story again and again. I need to be reminded. I am amazed. I am privileged to study and teach you week by week and I am sometimes embarrassed as I'm going through the Word, I forgot about how clear that is there. I think if I am devote myself to study and teaching it and I forget it, some of you remind me of what I taught. And I say, did I really say that? That was pretty good, I'll write that down and use it again. You sometimes remind of things that weren't quite so good, too. But we do slip, and we want to be faithful with the truth and to the truth.

Come back to Romans 15. Verse 15, I have written to you very boldly on some points so as to remind you again. Why? Because of the grace that was given to 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. You know why I am reminding you, the Gentile church at Rome? Because of the grace of God that was placed upon me, given to me to be a minister to the Gentiles. When he talks about, the end of verse 15, the grace that was given me from God, the grace of His salvation. But specifically in this context he is talking about the grace of God and His salvation that gifted him to be an apostle of God. Remember back in Romans 12 he talked about the gifts that God gives to the church? And every single believer in Jesus Christ has been given a gift by God. When they place their faith in Christ the Holy Spirit comes to take up residence in their body. And a manifestation of His presence is a special spiritual ability to function and serve as part of the body of Christ. Paul's special, God-given ability was to be an apostle, an apostle whose special focus of ministry was to non-Jews. It was something unique, remember. For 2,000 years before Christ God's work in the world had centered in the nation Israel, the Jews. Now with the coming of Christ and the death and resurrection of Christ, now the gospel is being carried beyond the bounds of Judaism to the world. And that continues down to today as we have talked about.

So Paul says I want to be doing this because of the grace of God that was given to me. We want to come over again to Ephesians 3. Paul is talking about the fact that God has revealed new truth, new material through the apostles and particularly through him as an apostle. He talks about the mystery of Christ at the end of verse 4. A mystery in the New Testament is something that God had not before made known but now is making known, revealing it. So verse 5 he says, this mystery of Christ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me. That's just what he said in Romans. He talks about the grace of God which was given to him. Here he talks about the gift of God's grace which was given to me which involved to preach, verse 8, to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. To tell the Gentiles you can be saved, there is a Savior for you. He is the Jewish Messiah but He was crucified on the cross to pay the penalty for Gentile sins as well as Jewish sins. He was raised from the dead because He had accomplished that. That's God's grace bestowed upon the Apostle Paul. I'm just doing what God has gifted me to do, given me the responsibility to do by bestowing on me the grace to function and serve as an apostle.

A reminder, the great responsibility given to us in our salvation when God also gifts us for serving Him. It's a privilege and responsibility to carry out a ministry. Paul is going to elaborate on that.

Come back to Romans 15:16, the grace that was given to 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. He talks in the context here of his spiritual ministry. He calls it a priestly ministry. So he says in verse 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. We get the English word liturgy from the word translated minister here, we use it to talk about liturgy in a service, the order of the service and the spiritual pattern set up for that service. Paul here is talking about the spiritual ministry that has been entrusted to him as a believer priest to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. Now note this, ministering as a priest the gospel of God. Now we have to understand this. Paul is not saying he has a unique role that others like the believers in the church at Rome don't have, I'm a priest and you are not. Understand, every believer in Jesus Christ is a priest today. Some churches don't understand this. The Old Testament system in Israel had priests. Do you know what that meant? The individual Israelite could not come directly to God, the individual Israelite had to come to the priest and bring his sacrifice. And the priest was God's representative between the individual and God. So the individual couldn't go around the priest and that structure with the high priest and the individual priest, he had to come to the priest. Today that is not so. Today every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a priest and has direct access to God.

Come over to Hebrews 4:14, therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. So what the book of Hebrews is unfolding is that Jesus Christ has replaced the Old Testament system which was just an anticipation of when He would come. He is the High Priest now, He is our High Priest. He has died on the cross, been buried, been raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, whereas Hebrews 7 will say, He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Verse 15, we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted or tested in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Because Jesus Christ is the High Priest of everyone who is a believer in Him, we have the privilege of going directly to the throne of God. It's a throne for us of grace, of mercy. We can come in prayer and bring our requests to Him. He hears and responds. There is no intermediary priest. I am not your priest, I am the pastor of this church, but you have just as much direct access to God as a believer in Jesus Christ as I have. You don't need to come through me to God, you go directly to God. Those systems that set up an intermediary system, like Roman Catholicism and some of Protestantism functions the same way, they put an order of priests in here. And so what happens? You have to go to the priest, he administers grace. Who bestows the sacraments? The priest. To receive grace from God you have to go and receive it from the priest. That's a false system. Every believer in Jesus Christ is a priest because Jesus Christ is our High Priest. We can go directly to God. That's a false system to keep people under control because if you don't do what we say and do it our way, you'll be excluded from the sacraments; if you are excluded from the sacraments, you can't receive grace; if you can't receive grace, you are condemned. But that's not a biblical system.

Come over to what Peter who is often referred to as the first pope, but he is not. I hope this isn't a shock to anyone. 1 Peter 2:4, see what Peter has to say about this. He's been talking about salvation at the end of 1 Peter 1, we've been born again, verse 23, we've been born again, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is through the living and enduring Word of God. Jesus said you must be born again, you must be born from above or you'll never see the kingdom of God. Peter says you are born again by the living and abiding Word of God. When you hear the gospel, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the message of Christ. When you hear that message of Christ and you believe it, you are born again.

Look at what Peter says about those who have been born again. 1 Peter 2:4, coming to Him as a living stone which has been rejected by men but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. I don't need any man to stand between God and me, you don't need any man to stand between God and you. The Man, Christ Jesus, the God/Man, no one comes to the Father but by Me, Jesus said. There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. That's it, one mediator, the Man Christ Jesus. Isn't that awesome, remarkable? When I come to Jesus Christ and place my faith in Him, I'm not only cleansed from my sin, I'm not only born again and become a child of God, I am now one privileged with direct and immediate and constant access to the very throne of God to come and bring to Him my requests, my burdens, everything. I come to a throne of grace and I come with confidence. The Scripture says we come with confidence to the throne of grace. We are a spiritual priesthood, all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. It's not coming to this church that makes you a priest, it's placing your faith in Jesus Christ that makes you a priest so you have direct access to God.

So what do we do? We are built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice. That's what Peter said. Those who claim to be the followers of Peter claim that there is a special set-apart priest and all the rest have to be subject to that. No, that's not the way it is.

So come back to Roman 15. So Paul says in verse 16 he has been given grace to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles and he is ministering as a priest the gospel of God because that's the particular realm of his service in carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. As a priest of God he is serving God, he is serving in the realm of an apostle. Some serve in another realm as we saw in the spiritual gifts in Romans 12. So that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. It ultimately is always God's work that makes our service effective. But Paul says I am going presenting the gospel to the Gentiles, that's my role as the apostle to the Gentiles. And you know what happens? The fruit of my labor is what my offering to God is. These Gentiles that respond to the gospel and are saved are built up and matured through, like the letter he wrote to the church at Rome. That's what I have to present to the Lord. I do this so that the Gentiles that I minister to may be the offering that is acceptable, the end of verse 16, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is not something that the Apostle Paul does, it's what the Holy Spirit does through the Apostle Paul that makes them acceptable. They are set apart for God by the work of the Holy Spirit through Paul.

What's our spiritual gifts? We're not going off on the spiritual gifts, we talked about that in Romans 12. But the exercising of your spiritual gift is part of your priestly ministry. And the fruit of that ministry you have with your gift is part of what you offer to God as the sacrifice. Our lives are remarkable as those who have been redeemed by God's grace as we serve Him together. It's just not drudgery pound-it-out service, this is part of our ministry as priests. And the fruit of our labors and using the gifts that God has given us in the power of the Spirit of God who dwells in us is part of the sacrifice that is pleasing to God.

Verse 17, therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting. We say, that doesn't sound right. Boasting? But note, I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 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. It isn't about the Apostle Paul, this is about the marvelous work of God in my life, the marvelous work of Christ working through me. That's what I want to boast about. Remember what God spoke through Jeremiah the prophet? A man should not boast about his wealth, should not boast about his accomplishments, but let him who boasts, boast in this. That he knows Me. I want to boast about the God that I know, I want to boast about the God who in sovereign grace works through me to accomplish what no man could accomplish but only God could accomplish, things of spiritual significance, things of eternal importance. Could I ever save anyone? How would I, mere mortal man save anyone? How would you? Only God could save a lost soul, but in His grace He chooses to use human instruments to bring the message of His salvation. How could you bring to maturity anyone who has believed in Christ? You can't, I can't. I can present by the grace of God the Word of God which is food and nourishment so the Spirit of God can carry it to a heart and mind to continue that work of transformation and maturity. Remarkable.

That's what Paul is talking about here. I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me. I'm boasting, but I am boasting in things pertaining to God, I'm boasting about the Savior that I have and in marvelous grace He saved me. Remember what he wrote to Timothy? The most amazing thing is God save me, the worst of sinners. I mean, the things that Paul did, he says, I of all people was the most undeserving and He saved me. And that's so everyone else can have hope. Paul said, if He can save me, He can save anyone. And here Paul is boasting. Here He has not only saved the one who persecuted the church, who was guilty of the death of believers, who did all he could to make life miserable for those who believed in Christ, but by the miraculous transforming power of God he has been born again. He has been made new and now God is working in and through him to do work of eternal significance. That's what God does, that's how complete the change is.

So in the power of signs and wonders which demonstrated he was truly an apostle, we saw that earlier in our study of Romans as well, in the power of the Spirit. This is how it all happened, it's what God was doing through me, it was validated by God as he brought the message from God.

What did he do? From Jerusalem round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached, or I have fulfilled the gospel of Christ. That's it, that's what I did. From Jerusalem all the way around up to Illyricum. Illyricum, sometimes also called Dalmatia in the Bible, modern day Albania, Yugoslavia. You go north and west of Macedonia. Some of you are familiar with biblical areas of Greece in biblical times. Corinth and Achaia and then north into Macedonia where Thessalonica and Philippi is. You go further north and west of that you would be into Illyricum. The Bible never talks about Paul going into Illyricum, so we don't know whether here on his trips out to that region he did go up and it's just not recorded, but whether he is just talking about that arc that goes from Jerusalem and all the way up and around as far up as Illyricum and down.

What his point is, that not that everyone in those areas he got to share the gospel with, but everywhere in that whole region that he went, he was telling people about Jesus Christ. I aspire to preach the gospel where Christ was not already named. I have fulfilled the gospel of Christ, I preached Him in that region. You know the church is easily diverted. What did Paul say marks out the success of his ministry and the marvelous power of God in using him? I preach the gospel of Christ.

I am so sick to death of books and material telling us how to have an effective church. And everybody has a plan and gets a publisher and cranks it out and we have something else to chase after for the next six months until something new comes down the pike. Paul didn't say I have some new ideas, new methods, new things to do. I preach Christ. That's it, I preach Christ. I have fulfilled the gospel of Christ. That's what I'm called to do. But there might be better methods. Then you adjust when you went from one region to another, one culture to another, from Judaism and its insular kind
of . . . No, I went to the Gentiles and I fully preached Christ.

And that was my ambition. Verse 20, thus I aspired, I had as my ambition to preach the gospel. ______________ more focused. Paul had a specific goal—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 and they who had not heard shall understand. I wanted to go to Gentiles who had never had opportunity. What he is leading into, and we'll get to in our next study, is why hadn't he been to Rome before. I mean, this is the Roman Empire, Rome is the capital of the known world. Why had Paul been so long in going to visit the church at Rome? Because the church at Rome was already the church at Rome, they had already heard the gospel, they had already believed in Christ. So he is going to say, verse 22, when we get here, for this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you. When we get into that section, do you know what the reason was? Opportunities came up where I could go and tell people who had never heard. So I put off coming to Rome every time I had such an opportunity. You know what else he's going to tell them? Even coming to Rome this time now, that's not my ultimate goal. You're just a stop off because I'm on my way to Spain where there are Gentiles who haven't heard. So Paul says I am consumed with doing what God has grace gifted me to do. Period. Everything gets put in that context.

They who had no news of Him, verse 21, shall see, those who have not heard shall understand. Paul says that's what I see myself doing. Remember where he draws that from? The prophet Isaiah. We'll close with this. Come back to Isaiah 53, we're really going to the end of Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52:13, the end of Isaiah 52 and all of Isaiah 53 go together, as many of you know. Look at Isaiah 52:13, behold My Servant will prosper. He's talking about Jesus Christ here in prophecy, we'll see that more clearly in a moment. He will be high and lifted up, greatly exalted. His appearance, verse 14, was marred more than any man, His form more than the sons of men. Talking about His suffering in the crucifixion. Thus He will sprinkle many nations, provide the application of His finished work of salvation. Just like they took the blood of the animal and sprinkled on the person, denoting that the effect of that death was being applied to them, it was applied to the altar as their representative and so on. Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him, for what had not been told them. They will see what they have not heard, they will understand. It's those last two lines of verse 15 that Paul has referred to, quoted, from the Greek translation, the Septuagint of the Old Testament. To a people, the Gentiles weren't the focal point until after Christ's death and resurrection. Now those who hadn't been told, that didn't know of the saving God are going to hear and know. And Paul says, now I am privileged to be part of that.

What's he doing? Come down to Isaiah 53:5, referring to Christ. This is the message Paul brought. He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell on Him. You see it was for us that Christ was at the cross, for our transgressions, for our iniquities, our sins, for our well-being so that we could be made well. By His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Paul says, this is what I am doing, I am doing what the prophet prophesied. I am carrying this message of God's salvation to people who haven't heard and my ambition is to keep at it, to tell others who haven't heard and others who haven't heard. That's his particular focus—the message of salvation.

There is no other way to be saved. The prophet prophesied it hundreds of years before Christ came and now Paul says I am giving out that message. And here we are studying the book of Romans. And what is it? An unfolding of what Isaiah 53 said would take place. He was pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. Why? All of us like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. There is only one Savior, but He is a Savior for Jew and Gentile alike. You only need one Savior, do you know why? He's the Savior of the world. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Doesn't mean every person in the world will be saved, but every person in the world who will turn from their sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone will be saved. So it's narrow. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. That's about as narrow and exclusive as you can get. But it's as broad as you could get. Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. All of you who want, come. You can partake of His salvation free, without cost. Have you ever trusted Christ? I'm not asking did you join this church. Were you baptized here? Do you come here every Sunday? That won't save you, only faith in Jesus Christ saves you, but it saves you completely when you place your faith in Him.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the message of salvation. Thank you for the Apostle Paul and his consuming ambition to be faithful in using the grace you bestowed upon him. Thank you for the letter to the Romans that unfolds so clearly and in such detail the wonder of the salvation you have provided in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for the provision of a Savior, thank you, Lord, that He is a Savior for all. Thank you, Lord, this salvation is available to all, provided for all and offered to all. I pray for any who are here who do not know the Savior that this would be a day of salvation for them, that the Spirit would open eyes to see and understand and believe that Jesus Christ died for them. May we who have believed in Him have as our ambition to be faithful with the grace that has been bestowed upon us, serving you as priests. Lord, the fruit of our service is acceptable as an offering to you and we are faithful. We thank you. In Christ's name, amen.