Dale Partridge - Roman 15_22-33 When God's Will Rewrites Your Plans： Paul's Final Mission

00:00:00.000 Over the past few weeks, we have seen Paul push for unity within particular groups of people. 0.89

00:00:13.560 First, it was between strong and weak Christians, calling the strong to limit their liberties for the sake of the weak, 0.66

00:00:23.240 and calling secondarily for the weak to limit their sensitivities for the strong. 0.92

00:00:32.180 Next, we saw the unity between Christ-believing Jews and Christ-believing Gentiles.

00:00:39.700 And we worked through the prophetic evidence of the legitimacy of the Jews, 0.82

00:00:46.440 even though they were persecuting Christians and the vast majority of them had rejected the Messiah. 0.92

00:00:53.240 and the legitimacy of the Gentiles, who had no right to the kingdom of God outside of God's mercy.

00:01:02.620 And again, this effort was to bring a oneness and a unity in the early New Covenant church. 0.91

00:01:11.940 Now, I want to just spend a minute before I start just talking about unity, just for a minute.

00:01:18.800 Unity is a vital witness of the church to the world.

00:01:24.860 Jesus in John 17 says that our unity is the means that the world will know that God sent the Messiah.

00:01:36.820 And in fact, I've even found to the pagan world, unity is often more convincing than truth. 0.62

00:01:46.100 which is a weird thing to say but it's why the cults are so extremely attractive 0.72

00:01:52.980 it's why people run to mormonism it's why people have run to islam

00:02:01.720 unity is powerful it's why many people right now are running to roman catholicism or eastern

00:02:11.560 orthodoxy. There's a perceived sense of unity in a chaotic world. There's a perceived sense

00:02:20.820 of order in a world that seems so divided. There's a perceived sense of unity where you

00:02:30.480 feel like you have no place or belonging. Unfortunately, Protestants struggle with this

00:02:39.520 type of unity. I think

00:02:43.560 our application of the doctrine of sola scriptura, which is an

00:02:47.360 excellent doctrine, has one, eliminated

00:02:50.820 our authority in the church

00:02:55.360 for non-denominationalism. So the application,

00:02:59.740 the execution of sola scriptura, it's created a kind of a

00:03:03.160 self-interpreting world where

00:03:07.360 we have gone to non-denominationalism. And number two, it's driven people away from these historic

00:03:14.540 confessions into more of what I would call doctrinal minimalism. Now, as a result,

00:03:23.400 it's left many of the Protestants autonomous, unaccountable. It's left us to interpret 0.78

00:03:32.720 scripture for ourselves, and it's nearly impossible to cultivate unity among all these denominations. 0.69

00:03:41.340 Instead of producing reformed Catholicity, we produced reformed cannibalism. 0.66

00:03:49.260 The Baptist calls the Presbyterian a heretic, and then the Bible church guy over here calls

00:03:54.940 the Lutherans false teachers, all because they lack this kind of unifying church authority

00:04:01.620 and a shared confession of faith in which they can align on primary matters

00:04:07.040 and then also work together around secondary and tertiary matters.

00:04:13.000 Now, this is why Kingsway is a confessional church.

00:04:18.720 We're joining a denomination right now.

00:04:21.380 By God's grace, we will make it.

00:04:24.100 And we are a confessional church.

00:04:28.020 And we don't simply hold to Sola Scriptura, but we also hold to the Westminster's interpretation of Scripture.

00:04:35.740 Which is very helpful.

00:04:37.860 Because if we all just have our Bibles, try to find unity without a confession of faith.

00:04:45.260 Every one of us is going to come to our own emotional response and interpretation based off of our own experience and maturity.

00:04:53.040 But when you can unify under a confession, it allows us to be unified even while we might not all understand every dimension of that confession.

00:05:07.040 And that is okay. That is okay.

00:05:11.340 We ought to remember Augustine's quote,

00:05:13.860 In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. And in all things, charity.

00:05:23.040 I think that is a great quote to remember as we interact not only with other churches, but with one another.

00:05:30.220 Now, as we get into the content of the sermon, I began preaching through Romans in March of 2022.

00:05:42.820 And it was just a few families, a few of you were there.

00:05:47.880 And it was in our house in Cottonwood, Arizona, as we planted this church.

00:05:53.040 And I say that because today we start the closing discourse or the epilogue of Romans.

00:06:02.620 And in fact, I expect that we will complete Romans within less than six weeks.

00:06:08.700 And I just thought it would be helpful to give you a brief overview of Romans since we've gone through nearly 15 chapters.

00:06:18.660 Chapters 1 and 3 focused on man's need to be righteous.

00:06:25.960 Being totally depraved and in need for righteousness.

00:06:29.720 Chapters 4 and 5 addressed justification through Christ alone, by faith alone and Christ alone.

00:06:36.120 Chapters 6 through 8 covered sanctification.

00:06:40.180 And chapters 9 through 11 discussed the doctrine of election.

00:06:44.280 I think about all those sermons that I preached through those sections, and what a blessing that was.

00:06:51.960 In chapter 12, Paul's transition from belief to behavior.

00:06:57.520 And we saw in chapter 13, he was dealing with the Christian conduct towards civil government.

00:07:04.360 And chapters 14 and 15 are conduct with unity between one another.

00:07:11.100 And then the remaining chapter, verses half of 15 all the way through 16, will be on the closing discourse of Paul on this epistle.

00:07:22.900 Now, during my study over these three years, I have listened to many sermons from other pastors, including R.C. Sproul, including John MacArthur,

00:07:33.700 Some of the other great reformers, commentaries, Charles Hodge, lots of stuff from Banner of Truth.

00:07:42.820 Really, really wonderful journey.

00:07:45.160 But I probably listened to the most of Martin Lloyd-Jones sermons, who preached 366 sermons through the Book of Romans.

00:07:54.920 Which, if you calculate how many years that is, it's what?

00:07:59.220 Many years, right?

00:08:00.740 What are we going here?

00:08:01.380 Someone do math for me.

00:08:02.440 Six and a half years.

00:08:03.380 There we go. Now, what's interesting is that Martin Lloyd-Jones stopped preaching at Romans 15, verse 4.

00:08:15.260 He just ended right there. So, my sermon two sermons ago would have been the last sermon.

00:08:21.740 Why did he stop there? Now, in his own words, he felt that he had already addressed the major

00:08:28.560 theological and doctrinal matters of the book of Romans and that the rest of the book was really

00:08:32.700 just dealing with closing remarks and discourses on the epilogue. Now, I believe the doctor,

00:08:39.800 as he is affectionately known in theological circles, got this wrong. And I believe that

00:08:47.120 as we finish these final sermons, you're going to see what great beauty there is,

00:08:53.180 even in these closing discourses on chapter 15 and 16. Now, before I read verses 14, I want you

00:09:01.720 to see that it doesn't function without the context of verse 13. So go ahead and open up

00:09:08.640 your Bibles, and we are going to read chapter 15, verse 13 and 14. So in verse 13, Paul says,

00:09:20.620 May the God of hope fill, keep that word in your mind, fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

00:09:28.740 So that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.

00:09:34.980 Then in verse 14, Paul says, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness,

00:09:51.680 filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

00:09:58.320 Now, I want you to notice Paul's use of fill in verse 13, and then his use of full and filled in verses 14.

00:10:08.700 A little bit of a connection point here.

00:10:10.440 So what Paul is saying here in verse 14 is that he's content.

00:10:14.680 He's even pleased with these Gentiles that God has filled them with all joy and hope and believing. 0.91

00:10:23.940 Because they are, what?

00:10:26.040 full of goodness. What that really means is they're full of the fruit

00:10:30.100 of the Spirit. They're full of it.

00:10:35.080 And that they are likely filled with knowledge, which

00:10:37.740 means they're able to understand the fundamentals of the Gospel.

00:10:44.400 And so in a sense, this is a compliment.

00:10:46.460 This passage, verse 14, is a compliment.

00:10:51.780 But even in their fullness, they are still lacking

00:10:53.820 something is what we see in verse 15. It says, but on some points I have written to you very boldly

00:11:03.380 by way of reminder, way of reminder, because the grace given by God to be a minister of Jesus

00:11:14.920 Christ to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God. So that there's your purpose

00:11:22.240 clause, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy

00:11:28.080 Spirit.

00:11:31.400 So here, Paul explains that even though the Romans are full of hope, they're full of

00:11:38.360 goodness, they're full of knowledge, able to instruct one another, that there is still

00:11:44.940 needed a bold set of reminders.

00:11:48.060 In other words, Paul is clarifying the entire purpose of why he wrote this letter.

00:11:56.800 He wants them to know it's not because he thinks that they're spiritually immature or incompetent.

00:12:04.180 It's because he wants to remind them of vital, important truths that will strengthen them.

00:12:14.540 that's why he wrote romans it's not because they don't know anything it's because they know a lot

00:12:23.340 but they need a reminder now this is an important pastoral distinction because

00:12:29.980 sometimes i offer sermons as a pastor

00:12:34.580 to emphasize certain points not because i don't believe that the congregation

00:12:40.200 knows the content, but because the congregation

00:12:44.120 needs to be reminded.

00:12:50.060 My

00:12:50.500 calling as a pastor, Acts 20, verse 28, it's one of my

00:12:54.560 favorite verses. It says, pay careful attention to yourselves

00:12:58.380 and to all the flock. This is speaking to the elders in Ephesus, in which the Holy Spirit

00:13:02.520 has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own

00:13:06.460 blood. Proverbs 27, 23 also says, know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to

00:13:19.880 your herds. It's a pastor's job to know the condition, spiritually, of the congregation,

00:13:29.200 which is hard to do when you have a thousand people. And another reason why we want to keep

00:13:35.460 this church somewhat small, and we have put even limits on our

00:13:39.580 growth.

00:13:45.200 Paul is considering

00:13:46.440 not only what the Christians in Rome already know, but

00:13:51.440 what they need to be reminded of. And now this is an excellent

00:13:55.220 application even for fathers and husbands.

00:13:59.900 What truths do your families, your wives,

00:14:03.540 your children need to know?

00:14:08.560 What do they already know that they might need a reminder? 1.00

00:14:14.920 Men, how often do you fight battles with your wives 1.00

00:14:19.420 without thinking about washing her mind with the water of the word?

00:14:26.160 Sometimes fixing your marriage is actually just opening your Bible

00:14:29.180 and reading scripture to your wife.

00:14:33.540 So according to the Apostle Paul here, the purpose of this entire epistle is to remind the Gentile believers

00:14:43.480 in the largest and most influential city on earth at this time,

00:14:48.920 the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:14:53.840 Then in the latter part of verse 15, we see this word because.

00:14:58.200 Now we're smart Bible interpreters here, right?

00:15:00.300 We know how to read our Bible.

00:15:01.260 We're not going to be 20 years in and still not understand how to interpret scripture.

00:15:04.880 Okay, it says, because look at the latter part of verse 15, because is a causal clause.

00:15:13.380 It gives you the ground, the reasoning, the cause for why he said what he said.

00:15:22.340 It says, because of the grace given to me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles

00:15:31.320 in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that, purpose clause,

00:15:39.400 the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

00:15:45.100 okay first i want to point out paul's recognition that his ministry is not a burden but a grace

00:15:52.460 his ministry is not a burden but a grace now if you've ever read second corinthians

00:16:00.060 where paul talks about his burdens it's a pretty amazing statement what he's saying here

00:16:04.480 now this is personally convincing or sorry convicting for me

00:16:09.960 because as a minister at times ministry can feel like a thousand pound weight not like a grace

00:16:21.180 but when you step back when i step back and i look at the impact the lord has made

00:16:28.020 through my ministry through this church you can see the grace you can see the grace

00:16:38.780 To use a fallen instrument, fallen instruments, the other pastoral staff here, to bring about redemption or order in a broken world is a real mercy, especially when you know my story and my past.

00:16:54.820 Now, R.C. Sproul caught something really beautiful in this text.

00:16:59.720 But the apostle goes on to say that by grace, he is a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles and the priestly service of the gospel of God.

00:17:12.400 All right.

00:17:14.120 Now, I know I could feel like eons ago that we were in chapter one of Romans.

00:17:19.040 A lot of you weren't even here.

00:17:21.560 But Paul wrote this letter likely in a couple of days.

00:17:26.720 He just sat down and started going.

00:17:29.720 Now, I'm a writer, I've written several books, and I often try to do a mention in my conclusion or a call back to my introduction.

00:17:42.380 It's pretty common in writing, is that you bring the end back to the beginning.

00:17:50.080 Now, Paul does exactly that here.

00:17:55.760 The last time the apostle used this term gospel of God was in verse 1 of chapter 1.

00:18:04.400 He didn't use it the entire time in all 16 or all 15 chapters in between.

00:18:10.280 But he mentions it in chapter 1 verse 1, which is the prologue.

00:18:14.660 And now he's mentioning it here again in the epilogue 15 or chapter 15.

00:18:23.060 So, what this signals is that the wraparound theme of the book of Romans is the gospel of God.

00:18:35.200 What is Romans about? It's the gospel of God.

00:18:41.520 And second, I want you to look back just a few words before gospel of God.

00:18:49.560 And you're going to see this really interesting phrase, priestly service of the gospel of God.

00:18:58.040 All of you with a Catholic or Anglican background are going, there it is.

00:19:02.060 There's the word priest.

00:19:04.640 Now, much of the Reformed world rejects the idea that pastors are priests.

00:19:10.360 We use the term presbyters.

00:19:12.700 We use the term bishop, pastors, overseer, elder, minister.

00:19:17.400 but the word priest outside of the Anglican tradition generally is not typically used,

00:19:25.460 and obviously the Roman Catholic position.

00:19:29.400 So why does Paul use this term?

00:19:32.140 So first, I want you to point out, or I want to point out to you,

00:19:35.960 that this term is what's called a hapax legomena.

00:19:41.220 It's a Latin word, and it means that it's only used once in the New Testament.

00:19:47.740 So there's a handful of these words that are only used one time in the New Testament.

00:19:52.160 And every time I see one, I go, I want to do a word study on this.

00:19:56.220 There was not a better word.

00:19:58.260 There was not another word he could have used.

00:19:59.980 He chose to use this word that doesn't exist in all of the rest of the New Testament.

00:20:05.680 Now, the Greek word is irigeo.

00:20:11.760 And it is the Greek usage of the Hebrew word to describe the intercessory work of a priest.

00:20:22.560 In other words, Paul is trying to communicate the mediatory aspect of his ministry to the Gentiles.

00:20:29.220 So what does that mean to us as Protestant, Reformed Christians?

00:20:34.820 one pastor said

00:20:38.600 Paul uses this word to speak of his ministry of preaching

00:20:42.720 the gospel as a priestly ministry of

00:20:46.620 equal value and sacredness to the ministry of

00:20:50.700 the priesthood of the Old Testament end quote okay

00:20:54.360 great quote I don't buy it I think there's something deeper than that

00:20:58.460 that was the beginning of my study of this and I thought oh that's pretty good that's a great

00:21:02.760 answer. It's not, actually. I think that that's something significantly more, and we're going to

00:21:08.440 get into that. So let's just read all of verse 16 again. So look down your Bibles,

00:21:13.460 down your Bibles. Paul says, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly

00:21:24.220 service of the gospel of God, so that, pay attention here, why is he doing all this? So that

00:21:32.360 But the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 0.97

00:21:40.600 Okay.

00:21:42.320 Paul does not view himself as a priest by identity.

00:21:51.480 But he views himself as a priest by function.

00:21:55.620 Follow with me here.

00:21:57.380 He sees himself as a priest by function.

00:22:00.600 not offering animal sacrifices to the lord on an altar but as he is offering the gentiles

00:22:09.580 as a sacrifice on an altar that's what's being said here one scholar said way better than i

00:22:18.760 could have he said quote though he is involved in the dusty mundane business of traveling the

00:22:25.320 ancient world on foot, suffering from exposure, threats, beatings, and rejection. In Paul's heart

00:22:32.120 of hearts, he sees himself in priestly garb in the temple, lifting up the souls of the Gentiles

00:22:38.760 on the altar, which then ascend as a sweet-smelling fragrance to Christ. Fully apprehended and

00:22:46.480 appreciated, this is a dazzling picture, end quote. Now, I thought that was beautiful. And

00:22:55.360 what is really being said here? That's the question. What is really being said here?

00:23:03.540 Paul is writing this epistle as a reminder, by the grace of God, as a priestly service

00:23:14.800 of the gospel of God

00:23:17.320 offering up the souls

00:23:20.640 of the Romans, of all the Gentiles 0.99

00:23:23.800 to the Lord as an acceptable sacrifice. 0.88

00:23:28.020 Now, I'm going to give a little bit more explanation

00:23:30.400 because a lot of us don't understand

00:23:31.900 the world of an old covenant priest.

00:23:38.560 Now, before I do that,

00:23:40.400 this gives us a little bit more color

00:23:42.340 to Romans chapter 12, verse 1.

00:23:44.800 that says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a

00:23:49.500 living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. In other words,

00:23:58.700 Paul sees his ministry. This is very fascinating as a pastor. It might not be as fascinating to

00:24:05.560 you, but here it is. Paul sees his ministry as more than evangelistic labor.

00:24:14.920 He sees it through this priestly lens where each soul is gathered, it's sacrificed,

00:24:24.380 it's a burnt offering, which means the burnt offerings were that you would burn the whole

00:24:28.800 thing up. It's a complete sacrifice. As a fragrant offering upon the altar of his ministry.

00:24:35.560 It's very rich in Old Covenant language and would make total sense for a man like Paul who understood the Old Covenant practices of the Pharisaical and the Levitical rites.

00:24:59.560 And so, notice how it closes, though, in verse 16. I want you to look at it for a second.

00:25:04.880 This is a little bit of a Bible study today. 0.72

00:25:07.320 He says, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable.

00:25:12.780 Sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

00:25:14.460 Paul makes it clear that even though he views his ministry as a priestly way,

00:25:19.580 this kind of priestly veneer,

00:25:22.780 he's not like the old covenant priests who were responsible for making the sacrifices acceptable to God.

00:25:29.880 instead he points out that it's the holy spirit who does the real work he understands that the

00:25:39.020 holy spirit is making his sacrifice of the gentiles sanctified the holy spirit does the

00:25:48.780 cleansing the holy spirit sets them apart to be holy the holy spirit makes them acceptable

00:25:56.240 Which is why he says in the next verse, verse 17,

00:26:02.240 he says, in Christ Jesus, pay attention, the emphasis is on the first part of the sentence.

00:26:09.360 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

00:26:14.860 he's not saying

00:26:20.620 that

00:26:22.960 I have reason to be proud of my work

00:26:25.700 because it was the Holy Spirit

00:26:28.080 who did the sanctifying

00:26:28.940 to make it acceptable

00:26:29.820 he says in Christ Jesus

00:26:32.180 then I have reason to be proud

00:26:34.220 of my work for God

00:26:36.320 for I will not venture to speak

00:26:39.820 of anything except what Christ

00:26:41.160 has accomplished through me 0.97

00:26:42.200 to bring the Gentiles to obedience. 1.00

00:26:47.460 But by word and deed, by power of signs and wonders,

00:26:50.560 by the power of the Spirit of God,

00:26:52.280 so that from Jerusalem and all the way to Illyricum,

00:26:58.760 I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.

00:27:03.960 Verse 20.

00:27:05.780 And therefore, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.

00:27:10.820 Not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation.

00:27:16.400 But as it is written, citing a passage from Isaiah, he says,

00:27:20.840 Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.

00:27:30.340 There's an old saying in leadership.

00:27:34.700 When things go well, look out the window.

00:27:40.160 And when things go wrong, look in the mirror.

00:27:46.520 It's the principle of ascribing glory and absorbing fault.

00:27:55.640 It's the principle of ascribing glory and absorbing fault.

00:28:02.660 This is the heart of a true minister, of a true priest.

00:28:08.420 and the mark of every faithful pastor.

00:28:13.160 They understand that their work is only effectual

00:28:15.620 because of God's power working through them.

00:28:18.920 When the fruit comes out, they look out the window towards God.

00:28:26.480 They don't look in the mirror towards self.

00:28:31.000 As Paul puts it, I planted in Apollos waters,

00:28:34.580 but God gives the increase.

00:28:39.080 Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10, 17, he says,

00:28:42.820 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

00:28:48.860 Now, the book of Romans, the book of Romans is considered the magnum opus of the New Testament.

00:28:56.820 Possibly the magnum opus of the entire Bible.

00:29:00.160 Even secularists counted as one of the most magnificent pieces of literature to ever cross the earth.

00:29:08.420 It is truly a literary and theological masterpiece.

00:29:15.400 So for Paul to close this epistle in the epilogue by reminding his audience that any fruit-bearing words spoken by him are truly the work of Christ in him.

00:29:30.440 To me, it authenticates his ministry and it verifies his motives.

00:29:35.220 And it gives us a great example of how we ought to be as Christians proclaiming Christ.

00:29:43.240 Lastly, he closes by saying, therefore, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named.

00:29:50.940 Fascinating statement.

00:29:53.680 Lest I build on someone else's foundation.

00:29:55.520 But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see.

00:30:04.400 And those who have never heard will understand.

00:30:08.740 Okay.

00:30:12.760 Because the force behind his ministry is God, Paul makes it his ambition to preach the gospel.

00:30:24.280 I remember when I became a Calvinist.

00:30:28.940 When I became the idea that God is sovereign over salvation.

00:30:33.460 And that when I preach the gospel, it's not me persuading him into the kingdom of heaven.

00:30:39.340 But it's God who through my words, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ,

00:30:45.760 makes that work effectual in the heart.

00:30:48.900 He's the one that raises the dead.

00:30:50.520 I remember when I learned that lesson, I wanted to go tell everybody about Christ.

00:31:00.240 You know why? Because I'm batting a thousand.

00:31:04.940 I'm batting a thousand because anybody who is intended to be saved through my ministry will be saved.

00:31:13.460 All I have to do is just be faithful.

00:31:15.920 It actually makes evangelism easy.

00:31:18.500 Just preach the gospel. 0.75

00:31:20.520 Let the Lord do the rest. 0.99

00:31:23.720 Instead of turning to some pragmatic pageantry garbage

00:31:28.860 where I'm going to try to apologetically convince you 0.97

00:31:32.220 that Jesus Christ was real

00:31:34.120 and that you should maybe believe in him because you're a sinner.

00:31:38.560 No, you're not going to persuade people into the kingdom of God.

00:31:43.500 You preach the gospel faithfully.

00:31:46.660 Good news that's matched up with bad news.

00:31:50.160 In fact, the good news is only good because the bad news is bad.

00:31:58.780 There's nothing that builds more confidence in a preacher

00:32:02.060 than knowing that if I'm just faithful, the Lord's going to do the work.

00:32:07.840 It's like a farmer.

00:32:10.720 Who knows that he doesn't have to make the seed grow.

00:32:13.340 No, just water it, plant it, water it, and wait.

00:32:22.800 God will bring the increase.

00:32:25.480 Now, a lot of you maybe are striving and toiling over loved ones.

00:32:31.700 Let me try to convince you of Jesus.

00:32:35.340 No.

00:32:37.120 All you do is you just tell them that they're sinners.

00:32:40.300 Show them the scriptures that tell them that they're sinners.

00:32:43.340 tell them that they must turn to Christ

00:32:46.860 tell them

00:32:48.840 that they must repent

00:32:50.600 tell them that they need a righteousness

00:32:52.740 that's not their own 0.51

00:32:53.840 that they need an alien righteousness

00:32:56.640 that's only given through Christ

00:32:57.840 tell them they must be forgiven

00:32:59.380 and then pray

00:33:01.400 and if you want more

00:33:05.120 tell them again

00:33:05.800 keep watering

00:33:07.920 keep waiting

00:33:09.860 keep watering

00:33:12.820 Keep waiting.

00:33:14.480 It's the Lord who brings the increase.

00:33:18.380 The reality that God does heavy lifting shouldn't make us lazy, it should make us bold.

00:33:24.080 It's amazing.

00:33:27.160 People always go, if you're a Calvinist and you believe everybody's predestined,

00:33:30.820 why would you ever evangelize anybody?

00:33:34.620 And I'm like, are you kidding?

00:33:37.180 If God isn't sovereign, why would you ever evangelize?

00:33:39.720 If God's not sovereign, it's up to me to persuade somebody

00:33:43.640 I'm not going to evangelize because I'm not going to be able to do it

00:33:46.740 I can't resurrect dead souls

00:33:49.780 Because if God is the one who gives the growth

00:34:00.740 In every letter, in every book, in every sermon, in every conversation, every act of evangelism

00:34:05.940 It's charged up with divine potential

00:34:09.300 you know what it does also

00:34:12.880 it levels the playing field

00:34:14.920 every one of you

00:34:18.520 every one of I don't care how old you are

00:34:21.020 or how young you are if you preach

00:34:23.160 the truth of Christ

00:34:24.440 God will use it

00:34:26.080 you don't need to be ultra

00:34:28.840 skilled

00:34:29.320 to preach the gospel

00:34:32.160 you don't need to be

00:34:34.480 do you know Charles Spurgeon was saved

00:34:36.600 when he walked into a church

00:34:38.400 and some random layman got up because the pastor couldn't make it in the snow.

00:34:44.320 He starts delivering a message that you would never, ever believe is evangelistic.

00:34:48.880 And all of a sudden, Charles Spurgeon, the great evangelist of London,

00:34:53.380 is sitting there and boom, the Lord resurrects him

00:34:57.720 through the preaching of some random guy.

00:35:03.340 It levels the playing field when God is doing the work.

00:35:06.480 All you got to do is be faithful.

00:35:09.060 Preach the gospel.

00:35:10.460 Let the Lord have the results.

00:35:15.040 And then he qualifies this, and we'll get ready to close here in a second.

00:35:18.060 He qualifies this.

00:35:19.400 He says, I aim to preach not where Christ has already been named.

00:35:23.300 What a fascinating statement.

00:35:26.400 Now, this is actually a really common desire.

00:35:29.200 If you've ever met a missionary, especially a young man.

00:35:32.860 and he goes 1.00

00:35:35.440 I want to go to this far off

00:35:38.160 place that you've never even heard of

00:35:39.780 pull out your map man

00:35:41.240 look at these mountain ranges

00:35:42.640 Jesus has never been preached here

00:35:44.420 I want to go there

00:35:45.620 they want to reach those who have never been reached

00:35:52.080 this is what I would call

00:35:53.960 an apostolic gifting

00:35:55.580 now when I say that

00:35:56.560 I mean little a apostolic gifting

00:35:59.160 not capital a apostolic gifting

00:36:02.040 like the twelve

00:36:03.560 But little a, apostolic gifting.

00:36:05.540 The Greek word for apostle is apostolos, and it just means sent one.

00:36:10.420 Sent one.

00:36:11.760 But it's a gifting.

00:36:13.360 It really is a gifting.

00:36:17.240 These men are not settlers.

00:36:19.120 They're pioneers.

00:36:21.580 They're not taking over churches.

00:36:23.560 They're planting churches.

00:36:26.200 They're not coming into territory that is already chopped up.

00:36:30.620 they're the ones doing the chopping. I always think there's a quote

00:36:34.320 and it's like, the settlers come in

00:36:38.280 and they find out that roads have already been built.

00:36:42.480 They don't realize that the pioneers are the ones that had the arrows in their back.

00:36:47.160 Truly. You come in to

00:36:50.280 America and you go, wow, this is already kind of a Christian town. We sing

00:36:54.440 Christian Christmas carols for the courthouse lighting

00:36:58.340 every Christmas. I'm building here, in a sense, on generations before us, their faithfulness.

00:37:07.100 Now, in another sense, we planted this church in our home. And so there's a little bit of

00:37:14.360 pioneering and there's a little bit of settling. But Paul says he wants to build where no one else

00:37:20.900 has. Now, this aligns with Paul. 1 Corinthians 3.10 says, according to the grace of God given

00:37:27.620 to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building

00:37:35.140 upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. End quote. So again, you can start

00:37:41.280 to see the systematic nature of Paul. He knows what he's talking about. He is consistent

00:37:45.320 throughout all of his corpus or his group of letters. 2 Corinthians 10, 15 through 16,

00:37:52.060 it says, we do not boast beyond the limit of our labors of others, but our hope is that

00:37:56.560 we may preach the gospel in lands beyond

00:37:58.600 you.

00:38:00.760 Paul is a pioneer.

00:38:04.100 Maybe

00:38:04.640 some of you men in here,

00:38:07.140 some of you young

00:38:08.220 boys in here

00:38:09.740 will one day be a pioneer

00:38:12.060 bringing the gospel somewhere

00:38:14.500 that has not been preached.

00:38:18.420 Maybe

00:38:18.940 you'll be a settler

00:38:19.720 and you'll come in and work

00:38:22.660 upon the work that is already done by the

00:38:24.640 men that have came before you.

00:38:26.560 but Paul reveals that this desire for unreached territories

00:38:36.040 actually his ability or his call to fulfill the prophecy

00:38:40.380 in Isaiah 52 15 that says those who have not been told of him will see

00:38:44.900 and those who have never heard will understand

00:38:46.640 so Paul is saying my work is actually fulfilling that prophecy

00:38:53.980 i'm that guy it's pretty amazing imagine seeing yourself as the fulfillment of an old testament

00:39:02.060 prophecy so what's the takeaway what's the takeaway it's kind of a interesting passage

00:39:10.620 of scripture what's the takeaway well i'll say it's this it's both man it's the man and the model

00:39:18.040 i want us to pay attention to both the man and the model

00:39:21.600 all of us are in some degree of ministry formally and informally but all of us have

00:39:30.800 some ministry some of it's just ministering to those toddlers at your feet and those little

00:39:34.540 kids in your house some of it is ministering to those men at your work some of them is

00:39:42.220 like me who's ministering as a calling

00:39:45.820 but

00:39:49.060 it's not wrong

00:39:53.020 to learn from the man Paul

00:39:54.340 in fact

00:39:56.540 1 Corinthians 11 1 says imitate me

00:39:58.940 just as I imitate Christ

00:40:00.960 it's actually something I think that it's even faithful

00:40:05.080 to say for pastors

00:40:05.980 I should be able to say congregation imitate

00:40:08.980 me as I imitate Christ

00:40:10.800 that's the whole concept

00:40:13.260 of shepherding

00:40:14.700 That's the whole concept of covenant heads.

00:40:20.280 Now, we can learn from the man, Paul, just the character and who he is.

00:40:24.300 We can also learn the model of Paul.

00:40:29.300 What's unique about Paul is that he boldly preached Christ where he was not known.

00:40:37.660 He sought no glory for himself and all that he did.

00:40:43.960 He built carefully on the foundation of Christ alone.

00:40:47.940 Christ the cornerstone.

00:40:49.120 And he continued to build out that foundation around Christ that cornerstone.

00:40:54.120 He ascribed all of the glory and the fruit of his ministry to God.

00:41:00.880 And he absorbed all of the fault for himself.

00:41:05.940 His ambition was never applause or comfort.

00:41:13.960 his ambition was Christ.

00:41:21.800 To go to the nations at whatever the cost.

00:41:25.200 You know, Paul's the apostle to the Gentiles. 0.93

00:41:28.260 The word Gentile is just the Greek word for the word nation.

00:41:33.100 Paul was given the most monumental task. 0.95

00:41:37.100 literally go preach the gospel to every other nation but israel

00:41:44.620 go and preach the gospel to the entire world and so let's learn from the man and from the model of

00:41:53.580 paul as we continue through his epilogue over the next few weeks of this beautiful book of romans

00:41:59.060 amen amen let's pray father we thank you lord

00:42:02.500 for the work that you've done

00:42:06.180 through your servant Paul

00:42:07.200 by the grace and mercy of the Holy Spirit

00:42:10.260 Lord we ask that you would pull out

00:42:13.980 great clarity in this

00:42:16.180 epilogue for us as we go in the next few weeks

00:42:18.320 we ask

00:42:20.320 for your blessing that we would apply some of the principles

00:42:22.340 that we see in Paul and his model

00:42:24.240 of ministry into our own ministries

00:42:25.700 we ask for

00:42:28.300 your favor in this congregation and in

00:42:30.300 this city here in Prescott

00:42:31.720 for many generations. In Jesus' name, amen.

Dale Partridge - July 21, 2025

Roman 15_22-33 When God's Will Rewrites Your Plans： Paul's Final Mission

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