Romans 15:14-21

Open up your copy of God's Word to the Book of Romans.

It's been a good journey going through this book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.

I pray it's been a blessing to everyone's soul.

I'm getting towards those final days, final weeks of finishing up this book.

And today we will be in Romans 15, 14 through 21 will be our text today.

But truly Romans is what some people have said, the gospel according to Paul.

No other New Testament book gives us so much systematic theology and doctrine of what our salvation and our redemption means.

And in chapters 12, all the way up through where we're at today,

Paul is now working out again the practical living implications of the gospel.

So if you have, in fact, believed and had true faith in what he has said in the previous chapters,

if you believe those things, then your life will look like the final chapters of Romans.

So God's saving grace always leads us to a new life in Christ and what it looks like to follow Jesus.

So right thinking lives to right living.

And two weeks ago, at the beginning of the chapter, verses 1 through 6,

we see that Paul calls the strong believers, those who are mature in Christ,

to bear with the weaknesses and failings of weaker believers.

Then last week, we looked at how God, with the help of God, the Scripture, etc.,

helps us to be patient with one mouth and one mind, we may glorify God.

And so we give verses 8 through 13,

Paul gives more reasons for accepting one another,

showing that Jews and Gentiles are in fact one in Christ,

and that that was a part of God's essential outworking of salvation.

That was a part of his great plan for redemptive history,

was to bring all peoples, Jews and Gentiles, into a single group that glorify him.

So Romans is just chock full of gospel salvation.

And again, it's like if our salvation was put on trial, Romans would be our case.

Like that's what we would want to put forward in a legal sense of how we have been saved and redeemed in Christ.

Martin Luther in the Reformation, who obviously, he was sent away to study the Scripture,

and Romans is what actually struck him more than any and kind of brought him to true faith.

But he wrote about the book of Romans,

It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart,

but occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul.

It can never be read or pondered too much.

And the more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.

So something beautiful about the book of Romans.

So again, we're getting into our text today.

We see how God used Paul to establish the churches throughout the Gentile world,

particularly the way he's referring to is the Roman world.

So he explains his unique ministry that God gave him graciously to the Gentiles.

And so this is kind of where we pick up today.

Let's read our text together.

This is verses 14 through 21.

He says,

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,

that you yourselves are full of goodness,

filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,

because of the grace given me by God,

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles

in the priestly service of the gospel of God,

so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable,

sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

In Christ Jesus, then,

I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me

to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,

by the power of signs and wonders,

by the power of the Spirit of God,

so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Iklarim,

I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.

And thus, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.

Not only will Christ have already been named,

lest I build on someone else's foundation,

but also as it is written,

those who have never been told of Him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand.

And that's our text today.

Join me in prayer.

Lord, we again just offer up this time to You.

I pray that You would just use Your Word

to accomplish Your will in our individual lives

and as our corporate body

that You would work in and through us.

It would have the desired effect that You intended on us.

So just help me to communicate clearly

what is here in Your Word.

In Christ's name, Amen.

So, as I said earlier,

Paul is beginning to explain his unique ministry

among the Gentiles

and how he planted churches throughout the Gentile world.

And so I have just four points today

to help you kind of walk through this verse by verse.

But the first one is Paul, the partner in faith.

Paul, the partner in faith.

This is verses 14 and 15.

He says,

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,

that you yourselves are full of goodness,

filled with all knowledge,

able to instruct one another.

But on some points I have written to you very boldly

by way of reminder

because of the grace given me by God.

So it's pretty profound, I think,

that Paul actually wrote his greatest letter

to a church that he had never been to before.

in that kind of while.

Like, he actually had never quite been to Rome yet.

He had hoped to get there,

and that's his plan to come to them.

And eventually, he will eventually go to Rome,

which looked, again,

the center of the ancient world at this time.

All roads lead to Rome, so to speak.

But he had actually never been there.

So I think it's just profound

that he wrote one of his greatest letters

to a church that he actually hadn't met in person.

So he goes out of his way

to assert confidence in them.

He says, addressing them, my brothers,

meaning he assures them that he is satisfied,

that he's fully convinced,

fully persuaded

that God has worked in them.

He says that they are full of goodness,

which speaks to the quality of their moral character,

their godliness,

their godly living.

Not necessarily perfect,

but this idea of just growing in the goodness of God.

And from whom, right,

all goodness comes from.

In fact, our English word, God,

comes from the old Saxon term

that means the good.

That's where we get God from.

And so it's saying that

the goodness of God has filled you.

Psalm 119, verse 68,

Psalms 119:68

it says that you are good and do good.

Like God does good

out of the overflow of who He is.

He is good.

So His goodness is given

and enabled them

not by their own strength or morality,

but by the Holy Spirit.

He is convinced of their moral goodness

and godliness.

Now as you read in Galatians 5,

like goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

So that moral goodness is seen

visibly in good works,

which God ordains in the lives of all believers.

Then He goes on in verse 15.

He goes,

but on some points,

I've written to you very boldly.

Okay?

So before we do that,

He also mentions,

I messed up my notes here,

so forgive me,

but the rest of verse 14,

He mentions that

they are able to instruct.

That's important to sort of point out.

With all knowledge,

able to instruct one another.

And that word instruct

means to admonish,

to warn,

to give counsel to somebody.

And with the knowledge

that they've been given

about God and the gospel

and the word of God,

from that knowledge,

they are able to counsel

one another inside the church.

They are able to give advice

to one another

and warn against wrong conduct.

So,

He's pointing out

to ordinary believers,

especially those who are mature

and have a greater level of wisdom,

that they ought to give

one another

just practical living,

sound advice

on everyday living.

And so,

I think it's amazing

that I'm thankful

that I see our church

just sort of doing this

in so many ways.

Like,

we have been

blessed with God's word

and for many years

been blessed

with sound teaching

in God's word.

And that has led to

all of you

counseling one another

in God's word.

admonishing one another,

encouraging one another

in God's word.

And that's what the church

is supposed to do.

It isn't just,

well,

you have a problem,

so go talk to the pastors,

right?

It's,

we can counsel one another

according to

the knowledge and maturity

that God has given.

So,

Paul is saying that to them.

Like,

I'm convinced

that you have

all the knowledge

and all the truth you need

to instruct

and counsel

one another.

And then he goes on

to verse 15.

On some of these points

I've written to you

very boldly.

So that word

boldly means

daringly,

decisively,

openly.

So meaning that he hasn't

withheld anything

from them.

Right?

There's some stuff

in Romans that are hard

to wrap your head around

and he doesn't

hold back.

He kind of like just

says it how it is

and lets them

hear the truth.

And he declared

all the truth

that was written

in this letter

to them

very boldly.

So,

then he says

by way of reminder.

So,

in some sense,

the church,

the believers in Rome

did know about

some of the things

that Paul was writing about.

And I was reading

on this

and at least

two different commentators

said this

and I was like,

I don't know

if I really agree with that,

but they said that

he was not necessarily

pointing out

their need

to hear all this

because they knew it already.

And I'm like,

have they understood

Romans already?

Like,

they understood

the whole book

of Romans already?

And,

I mean,

that would be

a bit far-fetched to me.

But what I would say

is that

he knew they understood

the foundational

gospel message.

But his desire

was to build upon,

enhance that knowledge,

to add to it.

And as I said before,

we never move on

beyond the gospel,

only into a deeper

understanding of it,

a more profound

understanding of the gospel.

We greatly increased

their knowledge of it

and added on,

built on,

to what they already knew

in their knowledge.

So,

I think that that's

kind of what we're after

in this text.

So,

there may be things

that it would be good

for you to hear again.

Things for me

to hear again.

And it isn't saying

that I don't think

that you understand

the simple gospel,

but also,

you need to grow

in your profoundness

of it

and never tire of it.

Continue to grow

in your knowledge

of the depths

of God's salvation

for you.

Everything he's written

about in Romans,

redemption,

justification,

reconciliation,

forgiveness,

adoption,

all these things

that he talks about.

Election.

All these things

he talks about

in the book of Romans.

You can spend

the rest of your life

pondering

and never fully,

fully grasp

all those things

that are there.

This moves us on

to point number two.

Another,

this is verse

that Paul played.

Point number two,

Paul,

the priest.

This is verse 16.

It says,

to be a minister

of Christ Jesus

to the Gentiles

in the priestly service

of the gospel of God

so that the offering

of the Gentiles

may be acceptable,

sanctified

by the Holy Spirit.

So you see here,

he calls himself

a minister

of Christ Jesus.

That Greek word

means like

to be subordinate

to a public

administrator,

connecting it

maybe to someone

who served

in the public

worship of God.

And that's what

he's kind of

going after here.

It's interesting

when you look at

the different terms

for minister

or ministry

in the New Testament.

You know,

in our day,

being a pastor

can be

a like

cool,

glamorous job

where pastors

get up on Sunday

and they want to be

the guy,

the guy in the spotlight,

the guy getting

the attention

and they're putting

on productions

more or less

to entertain people

and they like that.

They like being

in the center.

If you actually know

me and Nathan,

we don't like

being up here.

It's not our thing.

We'd rather be

behind the scenes

doing things

but out of compulsion

we have preached

the gospel

when there was

no one else

able to do it

for many years here

and we stepped

into that role

but another word

for minister

that is used

in Luke 4.20

and Acts 13

this one fits

the description

well for me.

It actually means

under rower.

How many of you

have ever seen

an old movie

where it's like

the Roman Empire

and they're out

in the ships

and they have the oars?

Anybody seen Ben-Hur?

Anything like that?

It means that

you're down there.

It means that

you are an under rower.

Humble,

lowly,

unrecognizable.

Spurgeon wrote this

about being a minister

of the gospel.

He said,

we are ministers.

The word has

a very respectable

sound.

To be a minister

is an aspiration

of many youth.

I mean that

that's just cool to them.

That's what they want to do.

Get the attention.

He says,

perhaps if the word

were otherwise rendered,

their ambition

might cool.

Ministers are servants.

They are not guests,

but waiters.

Not landlords,

but laborers.

The word

has been rendered

under rowers.

Men who tug

at the oars

on the lowest bench.

It is hard to work

to row a galley.

So meaning like

a galley ship

for like the Roman

or Greek triremes.

Those on the upper

bank

had the advantage

of fresh air.

So those rowers

on the top

had the advantage

of fresh air.

Those who were

beneath them

were more closely

shut in.

But I suppose

that the lowest

bank of rowers

would faint

with heat

as well as

worn out

was sore

and travail.

He says,

Brethren,

let us be content

to wear ourselves

out

in the worst

position possible

if by our labor

we can speed

the passage

of our great

Caesar

and help

the progress

of the trireme

of the church

in which it

has embarked.

We are willing

to be chained

to the oar

and to work

through life

to make his

oar

cleave the waves

with not as captains

nor as owners

of the galley

but as oarsmen

of Christ.

That's what they did.

They chained

the slaves

to the lower oars

so they couldn't

just run.

They had their life

dependent on

how they rowed.

So he goes like

let us be content

to speed

the ship

of Christ.

Lower oarsmen.

So that's what

this word means.

So Paul says

he is a minister

of Christ Jesus.

Right?

He goes,

he's a minister

of the gospel

and the gospel

is used by Paul

but in very rich language.

He calls it here

the gospel of God.

In Romans 1.9

the good news

of his son.

In 1 Corinthians 9.12

the good news

of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4.4

the glorious

good news.

Ephesians 6.15

the good news

of peace.

and in Revelation

14.6

it's called

the everlasting gospel

or the everlasting

representative

of the old covenant.

I am a representative

of the gospel.

And so

to

the Gentiles

remember

and

before Christ

came

Gentiles

were excluded

in a huge way

from any

form of relationship

with God.

furthermore

they were barred

from access

to the holy places

and the temple.

They were seen

by Jews

as unclean

defiled.

Keep in mind

that's most of us

in here

that's

you know

anybody

outside of

the Jewish nation.

And he says

they were

defiled

and unclean.

but Paul

now

is writing

of how

the Gentiles

may offer

he can offer

them to God

in an offering

that is sanctified

and fully

acceptable

to him.

He has been

God's instrument

to bring about

a great change

in the redemptive

plan of God

where he took

not just

the message

the gospel

of God

to the nations

to the Gentile

nations

not just

to the Jews

and in this way

he is completely

different from

Old Testament

priests

who just

mediated

for the Jews

by offering

sacrifices

at the temple.

And so

remember this

like prophets

represented

God

to the people

priests

represented

the people

to God.

What Paul

is trying to say

here is that

he is a priest

on behalf

of the Gentiles.

He wants to

represent

the Gentiles

to God

and that

Gentile

converts

are the

offering

that he

is giving

up to

God

and asking

that it

would be

acceptable

and pleasing

to God

and is set

apart

by the

holy

sanctified

by the

Holy Spirit.

And so

if you want

to

there's just

maybe two

other places

for you to

turn but

I'll spare

you this one

I'll just

read this to

you.

This is

Acts 9

10

through 16

but this

is when

Paul

had been

this is

after

he was

confronted

by Christ

on the road

to Damascus

he was on

his way

to

imprison

and possibly

kill

Christians

in Damascus

he was set

totally against

Christ

and Christ

met him

on the road

and saved

him

so now

he's blinded

and he's

in Damascus

and

God

comes to

a believer

in Damascus

named

Ananias

says

verse 10

there was

a disciple

at Damascus

named

Ananias

the Lord

said to

him

in a

vision

Ananias

he said

here I

am

Lord

the Lord

said to

him

rise up

and go

to a

street

that is

called

straight

and the

house

of Judas

look for

a man

of Tarsus

named

Saul

for behold

he is

praying

and he

has seen

a vision

a man

named

Ananias

come and

lay hands

on him

so that

he might

regain

his sight

but

Ananias

answered

Lord

I have

heard

from many

about this

man

how much

evil

he has

done

to your

saints

at

Jerusalem

and there

he has

the authority

from the

chief

priest

to bind

all

who

call

on

your

name

so

he's

saying

I've

heard

about

this

guy

he's

scary

he's

out

to

get

us

so

I'm

nervous

to go

to him

and it

says

but the

Lord

said

to him

go

for he

is a

chosen

instrument

of mine

to carry

my name

before the

Gentiles

and the

kings

and the

children

of Israel

for I

will show

him

how much

he must

suffer

for the

sake

of my

name

so

Paul

from the

very

beginning

he was

God's

chosen

instrument

to go

to the

Gentiles

and that's

that's

serious

it means

we should

listen to

him

like God

singled him

out for

that

purpose

and of course

he shared

with Jews

along the

way

but his

primary

focus

was for

those who

were outside

the blessing

of Israel

and so

he is that

mediator

in that sense

that he

preaches

God's

gospel

and carries

it to

the Gentiles

and makes

that acceptable

to God

by the

Holy Spirit

those Gentile

converts

would be

his offering

to God

so to

think about

this in

our ways

in what

ways has

God called

and equipped

and gifted

you

directed you

to serve

him

by

serving

others

in what

way

are you

serving

and sharing

the gospel

are you

being faithful

to that

do you

know what

that is

in what

ways

is God

not only

working

in you

through

sanctification

but working

out of

you

through

service

to others

it's

important

to realize

those

things

and like

all these

roles

that

Paul

had

he

was

always

pointing

forward

to

Christ

and

his

glory

this

goes

on

to

point

number

three

Paul

the

preacher

Paul

the

preacher

this is

17

through

19

he

says

in

Christ

Jesus

then

I

have

reason

to

be

proud

of

my

work

for

God

for

I

will

not

venture

to

speak

of

anything

except

what

Christ

has

accomplished

through

me

to

bring

the

Gentiles

to

obedience

by

word

and

deed

by

the

power

of

signs

and

wonders

by

the

power

of

the

spirit

of

obedience

spirit

of

God

excuse

me

so

that

from

Jerusalem

and

all

the

way

around

I

have

fulfilled

the

ministry

of

the

gospel

of

Christ

so

it's

important

to

realize

here

that

Paul's

role

was

extremely

unique

he

was

called

again

to

go

to

the

Gentile

word

a

pivotal

moment

in

redemptive

history

and he

was

God's

instrument

to

do

that

a

huge

role

in

expanding

the

church

yet

he

always

seeks

to

keep

the

spotlight

on

Christ

and

not

himself

a

lot

of

people

would

see

that

as

a

huge

reason

to

boast

in

themselves

like

God

chose

me

to

do

that

in

that

cool

and

that's

not

at

all

he

is

aiming

at

the

word

proud

here

means

to

glory

or

to

brag

to

boast

and

actually

even

means

rejoice

in

Romans

5

the

Hebrew

translation

would

be

hallelujah

to

give

praise

right

so

there

are

legitimate

reasons

to

glory

and

exult

in

his

work

for

God

and

what

he

has

done

on

behalf

of

Christ

that

he

has

accomplished

those

things

he

actually

wrote

in

Galatians

6

but

far

be it

from

me

to

boast

except

in

the

cross

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

by

which

the

world

has

been

crucified

to

me

and

I

to

the

world

so

there

is

a

permissive

form

of

boasting

it

means

to

brag

and

to

lay

it

on

thick

about

that

you

love

and

appreciate

and

so

this

is

a

permissive

form

it's

a

humble

acknowledgement

of

everything

he

has

achieved

and

accomplished

through

Christ

by the

power

of

the

Holy

Spirit

so

let me

just

pause

here

for

a

second

what

is

it

we

all

do

it

okay

even

if

you're

not

a

big

talker

you

do

it

other

ways

what

is

your

boast

what

is

your

brag

what

do

you

brag

about

what

do

you

make

a

big

deal

out

of

is

it

something

that

honors

God

and glorifies

God

is it

something

that you're

seeking to

get attention

for yourself

are you

more focused

on

your position

or role

in God's

kingdom

rather than

on God

himself

are you

concerned

more about

the temporal

rewards

of a

position

that you

might hold

versus

seeing

the

Lord

himself

as

your

reward

I

think

very

few

people

in

the

scripture

maybe

it would

be a

tie

between

these

two

guys

but

John

the

Baptist

and

Paul

Jesus

said

about

John

there

is

no

man

born

of

woman

greater

than

John

so

contemplate

that

and

remember

when

John

first

came

on

the

scene

like

he

was

the

stuff

like

all

the

people

were

going

to

see

him

they

were

flocking

to

him

from

everywhere

he

had

the

big

crowds

he

was

like

the

man

everybody

was

going

to

watch

and

his

baptism

for

the

remission

of

sin

and

eventually

right

Jesus

came

on

the

scene

and

all

the

people

stopped

going

to

see

John

and

started

to go

see

Jesus

instead

so you

pick up

on that

so put

yourself

in

John's

position

oh man

I'm like

not as

popular

or not

as cool

anymore

and that's

not

that was not

John's

attitude

but his

some of

the men

who

John

discipled

came to

him

and basically

said that

though

they came

to him

this is

John

4

and they

said to

him

Rabbi

he who

was with

you across

the Jordan

to whom

you bore

witness

look

he is

baptizing

everybody

now

meaning

like

they're

all

going

to

him

now

not

coming

to

see

our

cool

show

anymore

and

all

are

going

to

him

and

John

answered

a

person

cannot

receive

even

one

thing

unless

it is

given

to

him

from

heaven

so

meaning

that

any

good

thing

that

comes

is

only

a

gift

of

God

and

if

it's

a

gift

you

can't

boast

about

it

it

was

something

given

that

I

am

not

the

Christ

but

I

was

sent

before

him

the

one

who

has

the

bride

is

the

bridegroom

the

friend

of

the

bridegroom

who

stands

and

hears

him

rejoices

greatly

at

the

bridegroom's

voice

therefore

this

joy

of

mine

is

now

complete

he

must

increase

but

I

must

decrease

this

is

Paul's

attitude

as

well

he

only

wants

to

boast

in

glory

and

the

fact

that

God

has

done

things

through

him

for

his

own

glory

he

is

quite

content

to

be

kind

of

behind

the

scenes

and

not

be

the

one

up

front

all

the

time

if

you

actually

know

Paul's

personality

if

you

read

about

it

he

wasn't

like

that

kind

of

guy

he

wasn't

like

what

the

Roman

and

Greek

world

was

used

to

they

wanted

a

warrior

king

like

guy

but

he

pointed

all

things

to

Christ

and

so

do

you

cherish

your

role

in

the

great

wedding

more

than

the

wedding

itself

you

rejoice

when

you

hear

the

bride

groom

are

you

angry

that

you're

not

getting

the

attention

anymore

be

very

careful

about

all

these

things

and

Paul

goes

on

and

he

says

in

the

next

part

of

this

verse

18

he

being

very

careful

to

point

to

where

all

this

comes

from

for

I

will

not

venture

like

meaning

I

won't

even

get

close

like

I

won't

even

try

to

get

close

to

speak

of

anything

except

what

Christ

has

accomplished

through

me

so

meaning

all

of

God's

enabling

grace

all

of

God's

strength

and

power

that

he

gives

to

his

people

as

we

humbly

!

go

to

!

him

and

!

to

carry

out

and

accomplish

his

will

for

the

purpose

to

bring

the

Gentiles

to

obedience

so

he's

summarizing

his

entire

ministry

here

at

this

point

by

saying

God

has

accomplished

all

this

work

through

him