The Minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the Priestley service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy spirit, 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 Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation. But now, since I no longer have any for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I’ve enjoyed your company for a while. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. The Apostle Paul has brought his well-crafted letter to a close. He He could have easily ended with verse 13, the benediction, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, so by the power of the Holy spirit, you may abound in hope.
That would have been a great ending. But he carries on for another chapter and a half with some personal travel plans and meetings to various people. The question, of course, is, what are we to make of this? What do we do with this? You think about it, if somehow, archaeologies, they unearthed a lost letter of Moses that was a shopping and to-do list. Said something profound like, drop off tunic for robe cleaning, pick up a new set of dress sandals, pound or two of figs and dates, three boxes of cleaning. And you go, Okay, what do we do with that? Think high-fiber diet? You’d have people struggling to say, Okay, this is Moses, but so what? It’s not really important. When we come to this part of Romans, many just want to skip ahead to 1 Corinthians. But actually, there’s much to see here in these personal notes of Paul. All of what he’s been speaking about in chapters 1 to we can now see lived out in this short postcript. His missionary zeal, his desire to see Gentiles helping needy Jews, his plans to go to Spain via Rome, all of this flows out of his faith in Christ.
Justification by faith has motivated Paul. It has given him a desire for the gospel to spread because, as he said, it’s the power of God for salvation. God has reconciled himself to us through his son, Jesus Christ. Paul is passionate to see that all areas of life get lived out under the glorious truth of the good news of the Lordship of Jesus. His life, his plans, his desires, his concern for the churches, they are saturated with this passion to see Jesus glorified in all of it. Because we have been reconciled to God through Jesus, we are to live out our lives in this reality. Community, how we minister to one another, how we make plans for our lives, they flow out of our relationship to Jesus. Now, one of the challenges, of course, we face here, and our Bible reading in general, is distinguishing between What is description and what is prescription? What can the Bible just describes to us? It doesn’t mean that it is prescribing. It’s telling us what we’re to do. And that’s often a challenge. We are told that Philip was taken up in a whirlwind, but no one else traveled that way after him.
We can read about Absalom’s long hair getting caught up in the branches, and because of that, he was killed. We can go, Well, clearly, the message is you hippie, get a haircut. Oh, wait a minute. Samson. He got a haircut and got killed. Don’t get a haircut. David acted like a lunatic to get out of trouble. Paul told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake for frequent ailments. Jesus spit on the dirt, made mud, and put it in a blind man’s eye. How do we determine what are just parts of the history of what happened and what we should be doing now? The interesting facts of Paul’s plan subscribe to us. What do we do with this? I put this in your bulletin, but from New Testament scholar Douglas Moo, he offers us two questions that help in applying biblical text. First, he said, he’s asking the question, is the principle dependent on something distinct to that time, place, culture, or situation in salvation history? Just dealing with that. Or second, is the taught elsewhere in scripture? Do we see it somewhere else or maybe more clearly in another place? As we look at Paul’s principles for ministry and his plans, we do so with an eye to that.
First, here at his principles for ministry in verse 14, he tells these Roman Christians, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able to instruct one another. Here we see Paul’s very charitable heart as he reflects on these Christians in Rome. Now, it sure looked like it had a lot of problems, but he’s extending to them a great benefit of the doubt and acknowledging being their strong qualities. Paul has a courteous heart, a charitable heart. He says they have three marks of a healthy church. There’s a goodness that is lived out. There’s a proper knowledge not filled and puffed up with pride. They have a teachable heart. They’re able to be instructed. It’s a great reflection for us in our own lives as well. A goodness that flows from us, a knowledge not causing us to be proud and a teachability. Those are wonderful qualities for God’s people. Paul goes on, though, but he said, At some point, I’ve written you very boldly by way of reminder, he has pulled no punches with them. He has addressed the visions in the church. Why? He says, Because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ to the Gentiles in the Priestley service of the gospel of God so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy spirit.
From the very beginning in chapter 1, he’s told us that he has a divine calling, one that has been affirmed by the other Apostles, demonstrated in his life and ministry in the churches. In verse 16, he said this Priestley service, reminding us back to chapter 12 when he says we are to be a living sacrifice to God, a part of laying our living lives before God and living to him. Paul here sees his own ministry then as a Priestley service to Jesus. Charles Cranfield, he likes this to the Levi to assist the priest in their service. Paul, coming alongside of Jesus, the great high priest, assisting him in his divine duties of loving and caring for these Gentiles. One of the great ironies of the church and maybe the humor of God, is that the roles of Peter and Paul in the church, it seems like they’re reversed. We would expect the rough and tumble fishermen from Galilee of the Gentiles, that he would be God’s chosen instrument to the Gentiles. The world. But as it was, the refined and Jewish-educated Pharisee Paul, he was the one sent to them and Peter mostly to the Jews.
Now, is that God’s prerogative or is it a prescription? It seems simply to be God’s in how he raised up these two men. I have seen a ministry that went the other way with this. If you were good at working with cars, they put you in the kitchen. If you’re a good cook, they put you in the garage. You had terrible food with broken down cars. You couldn’t go drive to get good fun. I think the reason for doing this is like, Well, we don’t want you to be strong in this area. We want you to be challenged. No, I think that’s a prerogative of God. I don’t think that’s a principle that we want to live by, getting the least qualified person into a position. That’s some of the things we struggle with. Some, as Paul speaks about his ministry and word and deed, in signs and wonders, sometimes people, you’ve heard him say this, We need to be a New Testament church filled with signs and wonders. I think this is one of these description versus prescription moments. In the early church, they recognize that the times of the Apostles look different than their own.
Signs and wonders largely ceased with their passing. It’s a matter of what the Lord has chosen to bring about. He’s the one who determines that. I don’t know anyone who’s against it. Like, Oh, I don’t want signs and wonders. No, it’d be great. But we don’t make those things happen simply because we want them. God is the one who makes them happen. It’s not because of some dubious testimony and special signs and wonders gatherings that Paul did. Wherever they went, these things were publicly seen and demonstrated very clearly. There was no question about it. God is the one who determines that. Another thing we see described by Paul, verse 20, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation. Well, this is somewhat unique to Paul and maybe some other evangelists. There’s nothing wrong with building on somebody else’s foundation, the ministry of others who’ve gone before you. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 3, He says, I planted Apollos water, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants or he who waters is anything, but God who gives the growth.
The principle for Paul is one of the evangelism, telling those who have not heard the good news of Jesus. And Paul takes the gifts that he’s been given and he uses them in a way that’s fitted to who he is and what drives him. Part of his motivation is to go where others have not been. Amen. Bless you, Paul. But he’s not saying this is what has to take place for everyone. What takes place for everyone is a great desire to share the good news of Jesus because of the love that we have received. Paul shows us this, the desire to let others know of Christ that comes out of a changed heart. The other great desire of Paul in his ministry is to see this love offering of Gentiles giving to needy Jews in Jerusalem. He says in verse 24, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped by you. But then he goes on. He goes, At present, however, I’m going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints. Now, this is not a small thing for Paul. It’s super important in his ministry. If you look at a map in your Bible, from Jerusalem to Rome to Spain, that’s a 1,500-mile or so detour.
This is not something along the way. Paul is going way out of his way for this because it is so important to him. Here’s what he says. Verse 26, For Maced and Acheia, the regions in Turkey and Asia Minor, Greece, they have been pleased to make some contribution to the poor of the saints in Jerusalem. He goes, For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in the blessings, spiritually, they ought to be able to be a service in their material blessings. You see, generosity is a great sign of the reality of Christ. These two groups who were once hostile and alienated from one another have now been made one in Jesus. That’s what he says all through the letter of Romans. He’s been telling them both are lost, both stand condemned apart from Christ. Jesus has reconciled them to the Father and therefore to one another. Paul wants to see the power of Christ’s reconciliation publicly demonstrated to the world in this generous giving. It’s not a secondary for him. For the Gentile believers, he tells them, You owe it to your Jewish brothers and sisters to help them.
Gratitude, it flows out of grace and mercy received. You cannot be a tight fisted follower of Jesus. This offering was one way that this could take place. Now, the description of it looked like this time and this place that he was in. But the prescription remains for us to constantly demonstrate the reality to a watching world of how we love and care for one another. Now, some of you may recall back when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the devastation to that region and so many of the churches were destroyed, we We’re in the middle of our own building plan here for the addition next to us. It was the desire of this congregation to send $10,000 out of our building fund to the PCA relief to help the churches and the churches in Louisiana. As a pastor, what an incredible thing that came from all of you wanting to bless the churches devastated Louisiana, taking away from the building. But that was a wonderful thing in my own heart to see that coming from all of you, a demonstration of the largeness of heart because of Jesus. And that’s what we are called to do.
That’s the principle at work in our ministry. We see them beyond that. Here in these verses as well, we see the plans of Paul. There are principles for the plans, there are principles for the ministry. Paul making plans, verse 24, I hope to see you, passing as I go through to Spain, that you would help me on my journey. Paul is asking them for material help, maybe even to send some people with him, with personnel. His plans include the support of the churches, and he’s not afraid to ask for that. That’s a part of a calling of God’s people to equip those who are going. His plans included their prayer. Verse 28, When therefore I have completed this, this giving to Jerusalem, I will leave for Spain by way of you. Verse 30, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ, by the love of the spirit, to strive with me in your prayers to God on my behalf. To strive with me. That’s effort. That’s coming alongside earnestly. That I would be delivered from unbelievers in Judea, that my service for Jerusalem would be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.
Paul really wanted their prayers. It’s not just a throw away line, I covert your prayers. He said, I covert your prayers. Pray for me. Because he knew the incredible opposition from his own people is and the difficulties in front of him. Traveling in those days with a whole bunch of gold, silver, take somewhere, the dangers that were there. He wanted prayers. We see how all is unfolded in the books of Acts. This wonderfully kind, generous gift, it led to Paul being in prison for two years. It led to him escaping several murder attempts. It led to him being shipwrecked where he almost died at sea. I wonder what Paul was thinking when he was sitting there in jail for two years in Caesarea. I’m sure before he was like, I’m going to make this long but important detour to help my needy brothers and sisters, and then I’m going to be off into uncharded territories in order to tell them about Jesus. And now he’s just sitting there spinning his heels. I know I would have thought, Lord, why am I stuck here? It’s not like there are a bunch of people champing at the bit to go.
This seems so pointless. Why do you have me hold up here when there’s all these people who need to know about Jesus? I’m willing to go. What are you doing? But notice verse 32, So that by God’s will I may come to you. Paul did come to them eventually by the will of God. Acts 28. There he says, And so we came to Rome, and the brothers there, they heard about it and they came all the way out to meet us. And on seeing them, Paul thank God and took courage. He was still under house arrest, but he took the opportunity to speak to the local Jews, the good news of Jesus. Some of them believed and some of them did not. At the very end of the Book of Acts, Paul lived there two whole years at his own expense, and he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with bold boldness without hindrance. That’s how the Book of Acts ends. We don’t know if he made this pain or not. Tradition tells us that he was beheaded in Rome under the persecution of Nero, the Emperor.
But all of this by the will of God to one who laid out his plans carefully. We know the expression, The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. It comes from Robert Burns’ poem, and it simply means that no matter how well we try and plan, there’s no guarantee of the outcome. Burns, he was writing this poem of a little field mouse who made her nest for the winner, but the farmer plowing his field unknowingly plowed it under. The best late plans of mice and men often go awry. There’s nothing wrong with planning. Scripture gives us many wise principles for doing so. Paul wisely mapped it all out, but it seemed to come apart. That’s by God’s will. By God’s will. Several of Paul’s New Testament letters, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, were written in his time in prison. His imprisonment mobilized the church, and many came to his aid to encourage him, to help him. His imprisonment brought him before King Agrippa, other high officials, and maybe even before the Emperor himself, all according to God’s will. We immediately think of Proverbs, Proverbs 69, The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
The principle we see in Paul’s ministry and plans is to glorify God with his life. He wants to adorn the message of Jesus with a unified church that radiates Christ’s love. How we live our lives, how we spend our money, our time, how we make our plans, all of these come under the Lordship of Jesus. Now, that’s going to look different for each of us. But what should not look different is the heart that has been set ablaze for love for Christ. Again, Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6, You are not your own. You are bought with a price. You belong to Jesus, and that matters. Now, we may not be the evangelist or the church planner that Paul was. We may not have his great knowledge of scripture, these incredible experiences, but we can love as much as Paul. There’s no limit set on that for us. We can set our hearts and our affections on Jesus just as much as Paul did. That wasn’t a prerogative of only being an apostle. That’s given for all of God’s people. There’s no limit to our love and devotions to Jesus. This. The ministry and the plans we have are to be driven by this.
Earlier, Paul LeMay, he asked this question, what they’re doing at Covenant, asking these two questions, who are we and What are we made for? Well, we’re children of God, and we were made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We do so from within the church. That God has given us this body, the body of Christ from which we now flourish and go and extend his message and his ministry. That is what we were called to do. We have now before us, regardless of who we are and our education and our backgrounds and things of that nature, we all have a ministry that God gives to us to bring him glory. We are right in determining and making plans. They may be altered, they may be shifted. Yes. But we allow God to do that. What is setting the priority is following him. He’s not the afterthought. I’m going to do this, and how this and have this as a plan and these goals and this is what I plan to do. I’ll find a church somewhere along the line and do my religious thing. No. Everything that we do is focused upon the person and work of Jesus, that we are participating in his Ministry of Grace.
It’s going to look different for all of us, to be sure. But the heart of it is the same. Because it’s the same Jesus that has regenerated. His spirit is dwelling in us. Now the purpose and the work that we are set to is determined by him. It’s not the fruitless efforts of our own hand that… It could just all fall apart in a moment. But by God’s will, it doesn’t fall apart for his purposes. When we are looking and determining our life according to that. We don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but he does. That should be not because it’s an excitement, but there should be a stability in his steadfastness there. I’m stepping out moving for him. He’s going to bring and cause whatever it is to grow and to flourish. I don’t have to determine that. I get to be a part of it. As I do so, all of us with that, with a heart of generosity and liberality towards one another, a loose hand on all of our possessions that we would be willing to forego those things for the purposes of the kingdom. That’s what we’ve been called to.
That is a beautiful and high calling. As we look at the plans in the Ministry of Jesus, we look at the plans in Ministry of Paul, we look and through history, the woven thread of redemption that the Father has brought together to accomplish through his church. That’s certainly worth following. That’s certainly worth when Paul says, May the God of peace be with you all, that we are not left to our own devices. The power of the living God dwelling in us, moving us from glory to glory, accomplishing his purposes services. Don’t think so small. Think bigger because you serve a big and mighty God. Don’t allow your limitations of what you think you can do or want hinder what God is accomplishing through us. As Paul comes to the end of Acts, he’s preaching unhindered, even while still bound because of the greatness of who he’s serving. Pray with me. Father God, as we come before you this day, we say thank you and amen. All of your promises are yes in your son. Father, we would ask that you would be pleased to use us for your purposes. Expand our hearts, Father. Expand our generosity.
Father, expand our liberality. Lord, we, too, want to be a charitable people. Lord, we would ask, too, that you would use our little plans here at Faith Covenant for your great purposes, for this community and beyond, that you continue, Lord, to knit us together as one. Father, that with the rest of your brothers and sisters here in this place and beyond, that the name of Jesus will be lifted high. We pray and ask these things all through him. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.