Dale Partridge - July 08, 2025


Romans 15_13–21 Unity, Reminders & the Gospel of God： Paul’s Final Charge to the Church


Episode Stats


Length

43 minutes

Words per minute

124.54476

Word count

5,369

Sentence count

286

Harmful content

Toxicity

2

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Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, we continue our series on unity in the New Covenant Church by discussing the importance of uniting the church under a common confession of faith. Join us in Epilogue as we discuss the closing discourse of Romans.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
00:00:00.000 Over the past few weeks, we have seen Paul push for unity within particular groups of people.
00:00:12.940 First, it was between strong and weak Christians, calling the strong to limit their liberties for the sake of the weak,
00:00:22.620 and calling secondarily for the weak to limit their sensitivities for the strong.
00:00:30.000 next we saw the unity between christ-believing jews and christ-believing gentiles and we work
00:00:39.900 through the prophetic evidence of the legitimacy of the jews even though they were persecuting
00:00:49.200 christians and the vast majority of them had rejected the messiah and the legitimacy of the
00:00:54.520 Gentiles who had no right to the kingdom of God outside of God's mercy. And again, this effort was
00:01:03.480 to bring a oneness and a unity in the early New Covenant church. Now, I want to just spend a
00:01:12.780 minute before I start just talking about unity, just for a minute. Unity is a vital witness of
00:01:22.500 the church to the world. Jesus in John 17 says that our unity is the means that the world will
00:01:32.160 know that God sent the Messiah. And in fact, I've even found to the pagan world, unity is often more
00:01:43.980 convincing than truth, which is a weird thing to say, but it's why the cults are so extremely
00:01:51.800 attractive. It's why people run
00:01:55.920 to Mormonism. It's why people have run
00:01:59.980 to Islam. Unity
00:02:03.220 is powerful. It's why many people right now are running
00:02:07.720 to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy.
00:02:12.620 There's a perceived sense of unity
00:02:15.140 in a chaotic world. There's a perceived
00:02:19.800 sense of order in a world that seems so divided. There's a perceived sense of unity where you feel
00:02:30.120 like you have no place or belonging. Unfortunately, Protestants struggle with this type of unity.
00:02:42.080 I think our application of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, which is an excellent doctrine,
00:02:47.800 has, one, eliminated our authority in the church for non-denominationalism.
00:02:57.660 So the application, the execution of Sola Scriptura,
00:03:00.680 it's created a kind of a self-interpreting world where we have gone to non-denominationalism.
00:03:09.800 And number two, it's driven people away from these historic confessions
00:03:14.680 into more of what I would call doctrinal minimalism.
00:03:20.140 Now, as a result, it's left many of the Protestants autonomous, unaccountable.
00:03:30.460 It's left us to interpret scripture for ourselves,
00:03:33.720 and it's nearly impossible to cultivate unity among all these denominations.
00:03:38.860 instead of producing reformed catholicity we produced reformed cannibalism
00:03:46.840 the baptist calls the presbyterian a heretic and then the bible church guy over here calls
00:03:54.320 the lutherans false teachers all because they lack this kind of unifying church authority
00:04:01.000 and a shared confession of faith in which they can align on primary matters and then also
00:04:07.740 work together around secondary and tertiary matters.
00:04:12.400 Now, this is why Kingsway is a confessional church.
00:04:18.100 We're joining a denomination right now.
00:04:20.840 By God's grace, we will make it.
00:04:23.780 And we are a confessional church.
00:04:27.300 And we don't simply hold to Sola Scriptura,
00:04:30.960 but we also hold to the Westminster's interpretation of Scripture,
00:04:34.260 which is very helpful because if we all just have our bibles try to find unity without a confession
00:04:43.180 of faith every one of us is going to come to our own emotional response and interpretation based
00:04:50.300 off our own experience and maturity but when you can unify under a confession it allows us to be
00:05:00.080 unified, even while we might not all understand every dimension of that confession. And that is
00:05:07.460 okay. That is okay. We ought to remember Augustine's quote, in essentials, unity, in non-essentials,
00:05:18.900 liberty, and in all things, charity. I think that is a great quote to remember as we interact not
00:05:26.880 only with other churches but with one another. Now as we get into the content of the sermon
00:05:32.060 I began preaching through Romans in March of 2022 and it was just a few families a few of you were
00:05:44.800 there and it was in our house in Cottonwood Arizona as we planted this church
00:05:51.140 and i say that because today we start the closing discourse or the epilogue of romans
00:06:00.480 and in fact i expect that we will complete romans within less than six weeks
00:06:06.600 and i just thought it would be helpful to give you a brief overview of romans
00:06:12.860 since we've gone through nearly 15 chapters.
00:06:18.060 Chapters 1 and 3 focused on man's need to be righteous,
00:06:24.840 being totally depraved and in need for righteousness.
00:06:29.100 Chapters 4 and 5 addressed justification through Christ alone,
00:06:33.620 by faith alone in Christ alone.
00:06:35.500 Chapters 6 through 8 covered sanctification.
00:06:37.960 and chapters 9 through 11 discuss the doctrine of election
00:06:43.660 i think about all those sermons that i preached through those sections
00:06:48.280 and what a blessing that was in chapter 12 paul's transition from belief
00:06:54.560 to behavior and we saw in chapter 13 he was dealing with the christian conduct towards
00:07:02.120 civil government. And chapters 14 and 15 are conduct with unity between one another. And then
00:07:11.360 the remaining chapter, verses half of 15 all the way through 16, will be on the closing discourse
00:07:18.420 of Paul on this epistle. Now, during my study over these three years, I have listened to many
00:07:27.460 sermons from other pastors, including R.C. Sproul, including John MacArthur, some of
00:07:33.900 the other great reformers, commentaries, Charles Hodge, lots of stuff from Banner of Truth.
00:07:42.180 Really, really wonderful journey.
00:07:44.420 But I probably listened to the most of Martin Lloyd-Jones sermons, who preached 366 sermons
00:07:50.160 through the Book of Romans, which if you calculate how many years that is, it's what?
00:07:57.460 many years, right?
00:08:00.140 What are we going here?
00:08:00.760 Did someone do math for me?
00:08:01.800 Six and a half years.
00:08:02.800 There we go.
00:08:05.040 Now, what's interesting
00:08:06.140 is that Martin Lloyd-Jones
00:08:08.680 stopped preaching
00:08:10.780 at Romans 15, verse 4.
00:08:14.680 He just ended right there.
00:08:17.020 So my sermon two sermons ago
00:08:18.520 would have been the last sermon.
00:08:21.000 Why did he stop there?
00:08:24.500 Now, in his own words,
00:08:25.640 he felt that he had already addressed the major theological and doctrinal matters of the book of Romans
00:08:30.280 and that the rest of the book was really just dealing with closing remarks and discourses on the epilogue.
00:08:37.220 Now, I believe the doctor, as he is affectionately known in theological circles, got this wrong.
00:08:44.440 And I believe that as we finish these final sermons, you're going to see what great beauty there is,
00:08:52.320 even in these closing discourses on chapter 15 and 16.
00:08:58.420 Now, before I read verses 14, I want you to see that it doesn't function without the context of verse 13.
00:09:06.920 So go ahead and open up your Bibles, and we are going to read chapter 15, verse 13 and 14.
00:09:16.800 So in verse 13, Paul says,
00:09:18.500 May the God of hope fill, keep that word in your mind, fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
00:09:28.540 so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
00:09:34.620 Then in verse 14, Paul says,
00:09:36.740 I myself am satisfied about you my brothers that you yourselves are full of goodness
00:09:50.120 filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Now I want you to notice Paul's
00:10:00.000 use of fill in chapter or verse 13, and then his use of full and filled in verses 14. A little bit
00:10:08.640 of a connection point here. So what Paul is saying here in verse 14 is that he's content. He's even
00:10:14.360 pleased with, uh, these Gentiles that God has filled them with all joy and hope and believing
00:10:22.560 because they are what full of goodness. And what that really means is they're full of the fruit
00:10:29.480 of the Spirit. They're full of it.
00:10:34.480 And that they are likely
00:10:35.560 filled with knowledge, which
00:10:37.120 means this, they're able to
00:10:39.580 understand the fundamentals of the Gospel.
00:10:43.800 And so in a sense, this is a compliment.
00:10:45.840 This passage, verse 14,
00:10:47.580 is a compliment.
00:10:51.180 But even in their fullness, they are still lacking
00:10:53.200 something, is what we see in
00:10:55.440 verse 15. It says, but on
00:10:57.280 some points,
00:10:58.480 I have written to you very boldly
00:11:02.740 by way of reminder
00:11:05.800 way of reminder
00:11:07.900 because the grace given by God
00:11:11.280 to be a minister of Jesus Christ
00:11:14.840 to the Gentiles
00:11:16.140 in the priestly service of the gospel of God
00:11:19.480 so that, there's your purpose clause
00:11:21.980 so that the offering of the Gentiles
00:11:24.500 may be acceptable
00:11:25.540 sanctified by the Holy Spirit
00:11:28.380 so here Paul explains
00:11:33.640 that even though the Romans are full of hope
00:11:37.280 they're full of goodness
00:11:37.980 they're full of knowledge
00:11:39.660 able to instruct one another
00:11:42.020 that there is still needed
00:11:44.720 a bold set of reminders
00:11:47.440 in other words Paul is clarifying
00:11:50.840 the entire purpose
00:11:52.960 of why he wrote this letter
00:11:55.120 he wants them to know
00:11:57.820 It's not because he thinks that they're spiritually immature or incompetent.
00:12:03.720 It's because he wants to remind them of vital, important truths that will strengthen them.
00:12:16.020 That's why he wrote Romans.
00:12:18.760 It's not because they don't know anything.
00:12:21.260 It's because they know a lot, but they need a reminder.
00:12:23.680 Now, this is an important pastoral distinction because sometimes I offer sermons as a pastor to emphasize certain points, not because I don't believe that the congregation knows the content, but because the congregation needs to be reminded.
00:12:45.940 my calling as a pastor
00:12:50.740 Acts verse 20 verse 28
00:12:53.000 it's one of my favorite verses
00:12:54.540 it says pay careful attention
00:12:56.160 to yourselves and to all the flock
00:12:58.920 speaking to the elders in Ephesus
00:13:00.380 in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers
00:13:03.220 to care for the church of God
00:13:04.720 which he obtained with his own blood
00:13:06.260 Proverbs 27
00:13:11.240 23 also says
00:13:12.240 know well
00:13:13.380 the condition of your
00:13:16.380 flocks and give
00:13:18.600 attention to your herds.
00:13:21.860 It's a
00:13:22.580 pastor's job to know
00:13:23.840 the condition, spiritually,
00:13:26.920 of the congregation,
00:13:28.620 which is hard to do
00:13:30.400 when you have a thousand people.
00:13:33.160 And another reason why we want
00:13:34.500 to keep this church somewhat
00:13:36.580 small, and we have put even limits
00:13:38.620 on our growth.
00:13:43.380 Paul is considering not only what the Christians in Rome already know,
00:13:50.540 but what they need to be reminded of.
00:13:53.420 And now this is an excellent application even for fathers and husbands.
00:13:59.200 What truths do your families, your wives, your children need to know?
00:14:07.960 What do they already know that they might need a reminder?
00:14:14.300 Men, how often do you fight battles with your wives without thinking about washing her mind with the water of the word?
00:14:25.460 Sometimes fixing your marriage is actually just opening your Bible and reading scripture to your wife.
00:14:37.180 So according to the Apostle Paul here, the purpose of this entire epistle is to remind the Gentile believers
00:14:42.860 in the largest and most influential city on earth at this time,
00:14:48.260 the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:14:53.120 Then in the latter part of verse 15, we see this word because.
00:14:57.580 Now we're smart Bible interpreters here, right?
00:14:59.480 We know how to read our Bible.
00:15:00.740 We're not going to be 20 years in and still not understand how to interpret scripture.
00:15:04.280 Okay, it says because.
00:15:06.300 Look at the latter part of verse 15.
00:15:09.220 Because is a causal clause.
00:15:12.860 It gives you the ground, the reasoning, the cause for why he said what he said.
00:15:21.680 It says, because of the grace given to me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles
00:15:30.700 in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that, purpose clause,
00:15:38.780 the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable.
00:15:42.860 Sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
00:15:45.800 Okay, first I want to point out Paul's recognition that his ministry is not a burden, but a grace.
00:15:53.520 His ministry is not a burden, but a grace.
00:15:57.540 Now, if you've ever read 2 Corinthians, where Paul talks about his burdens, it's a pretty amazing statement what he's saying here.
00:16:05.660 Now, this is personally convincing, or sorry, convicting for me.
00:16:09.340 because as a minister at times ministry can feel like a thousand pound weight not like a grace
00:16:20.560 but when you step back when i step back and i look at the impact the lord has made
00:16:29.260 through my ministry through this church you can see the grace you can see the grace
00:16:38.140 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.
00:16:54.180 Now, R.C. Sproul caught something really beautiful in this text.
00:16:59.100 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.
00:17:11.820 All right.
00:17:13.540 Now, I know I could feel like eons ago that we were in chapter one of Romans.
00:17:18.440 A lot of you weren't even here.
00:17:20.980 But Paul wrote this letter likely in a couple of days.
00:17:26.160 He just sat down and started going.
00:17:29.100 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.
00:17:41.760 It's pretty common in writing, is that you bring the end back to the beginning.
00:17:49.440 Now, Paul does exactly that here.
00:17:55.120 The last time the apostle used this term gospel of God was in verse 1 of chapter 1.
00:18:03.760 He didn't use it the entire time in all 16 or all 15 chapters in between.
00:18:09.700 But he mentions it in chapter 1 verse 1, which is the prologue.
00:18:14.040 And now he's mentioning it here again in the epilogue 15 or chapter 15.
00:18:22.420 So, what this signals is that the wraparound theme of the book of Romans is the gospel of God.
00:18:34.560 What is Romans about? It's the gospel of God.
00:18:40.860 And second, I want you to look back just a few words before gospel of God,
00:18:48.920 And you're going to see this really interesting phrase, priestly service of the gospel of God.
00:18:57.400 All of you with a Catholic or Anglican background are going, there it is.
00:19:01.440 There's the word priest.
00:19:04.000 Now, much of the Reformed world rejects the idea that pastors are priests.
00:19:09.740 We use the term presbyters.
00:19:12.080 We use the term bishop, pastors, overseer, elder, minister.
00:19:16.760 But the word priest outside of the Anglican tradition generally is not typically used.
00:19:24.960 And obviously the Roman Catholic position.
00:19:28.780 So why does Paul use this term?
00:19:31.540 So first, I want you to point out, or I want to point out to you, that this term is what's called a hapax legomena.
00:19:40.640 It's a Latin word, and it means that it's only used once in the New Testament.
00:19:47.120 So there's a handful of these words that are only used one time in the New Testament.
00:19:51.540 And every time I see one, I go, I want to do a word study on this.
00:19:55.580 There was not a better word.
00:19:57.620 There was not another word he could have used.
00:19:59.360 He chose to use this word that doesn't exist in all of the rest of the New Testament.
00:20:05.120 Now, the Greek word is irigeo.
00:20:11.140 And it is the Greek usage of the Hebrew word to describe the intercessory work of a priest.
00:20:21.940 In other words, Paul is trying to communicate the mediatory aspect of his ministry to the Gentiles.
00:20:28.580 So what does that mean to us as Protestant, Reformed Christians?
00:20:34.200 one pastor said
00:20:37.980 Paul uses this word to speak of his ministry of preaching
00:20:42.100 the gospel as a priestly ministry of
00:20:46.000 equal value and sacredness to the ministry of
00:20:50.080 the priesthood of the Old Testament end quote okay
00:20:53.740 great quote I don't buy it I think there's something deeper than that
00:20:57.840 that was the beginning of my study of this and I thought oh that's pretty good that's a great
00:21:02.120 answer. It's not, actually. I think that that's something significantly more, and we're going to
00:21:07.820 get into that. So let's just read all of verse 16 again. So look down your Bibles,
00:21:12.840 look down your Bibles. Paul says, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles
00:21:21.380 in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that, pay attention here, why is he doing all this?
00:21:30.340 So that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
00:21:39.980 Okay.
00:21:41.600 Paul does not view himself as a priest by identity.
00:21:50.760 But he views himself as a priest by function.
00:21:54.900 Follow with me here.
00:21:56.420 He sees himself as a priest by function.
00:22:01.320 Not offering animal sacrifices to the Lord on an altar, but as he is offering the Gentiles as a sacrifice on an altar.
00:22:12.620 That's what's being said here.
00:22:15.500 One scholar said, way better than I could have, he said, quote,
00:22:20.400 Though he is involved in the dusty, mundane business of traveling the ancient world on foot,
00:22:26.740 suffering from exposure, threats, beatings, and rejection,
00:22:29.520 In Paul's heart of hearts, he sees himself in priestly garb in the temple, lifting up the souls of the Gentiles on the altar, which then ascend as a sweet smelling fragrance to Christ.
00:22:44.100 Fully apprehended and appreciated, this is a dazzling picture, end quote.
00:22:50.880 Now, I thought that was beautiful.
00:22:54.120 And what is really being said here?
00:22:58.400 That's the question. What is really being said here?
00:23:02.920 Paul is writing this epistle as a reminder,
00:23:09.080 by the grace of God, as a priestly service of the gospel of God,
00:23:18.200 offering up the souls of the Romans, of all the Gentiles,
00:23:23.540 to the Lord as an acceptable sacrifice.
00:23:27.440 Now, I'm going to give a little bit more explanation because a lot of us don't understand the world of an old covenant priest.
00:23:38.020 Now, before I do that, this gives us a little bit more color to Romans chapter 12, verse 1, that says,
00:23:45.200 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
00:23:49.980 holy and acceptable to god which is your spiritual worship in other words paul sees
00:23:59.100 his ministry this is very fascinating as a pastor it might not be as fascinating to you but
00:24:05.240 here it is paul sees his ministry as more than evangelistic labor
00:24:11.560 he sees it through this priestly lens where each soul is is gathered it's sacrificed it's a burnt
00:24:24.920 offering which means that the burnt offerings were that you would burn the whole thing up
00:24:28.760 it's a complete sacrifice as a fragrant offering upon the altar of his ministry
00:24:35.800 It's very rich in Old Covenant language and would make total sense for a man like Paul
00:24:44.460 who understood the Old Covenant practices of the Pharisaical and the Levitical rites.
00:24:58.940 And so, notice how it closes, though, in verse 16.
00:25:03.160 I want you to look at it for a second.
00:25:04.260 This is a little bit of a Bible study today.
00:25:06.700 He says, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable.
00:25:12.160 Sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
00:25:13.820 Paul makes it clear that even though he views his ministry as a priestly way,
00:25:18.960 this kind of priestly veneer,
00:25:22.160 he's not like the old covenant priests who were responsible for making the sacrifices acceptable to God.
00:25:29.260 instead he points out that it's the Holy Spirit who does the real work
00:25:36.060 he understands that the Holy Spirit is making his sacrifice of the Gentiles
00:25:43.220 sanctified the Holy Spirit does the cleansing the Holy Spirit sets them apart to be holy
00:25:52.440 the Holy Spirit makes them acceptable which is why he says in the next verse verse 17
00:25:58.740 He says in Christ Jesus
00:26:03.460 Pay attention
00:26:05.880 The emphasis is on the first part of the sentence
00:26:08.160 In Christ Jesus then
00:26:10.000 I have reason to be proud of my work for God
00:26:14.240 He's not saying
00:26:20.000 That
00:26:22.320 I have reason to be proud of my work
00:26:25.080 because it was the Holy Spirit who did the sanctifying
00:26:28.280 that make it acceptable.
00:26:30.180 He says, in Christ Jesus, then I have reason to be proud
00:26:33.600 of my work for God.
00:26:37.620 For I will not venture to speak of anything
00:26:39.700 except what Christ has accomplished through me
00:26:41.600 to bring the Gentiles to obedience,
00:26:46.880 but by word and deed, by power of signs and wonders,
00:26:49.940 by the power of the Spirit of God,
00:26:51.580 So that from Jerusalem and all the way to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.
00:27:03.440 Verse 20.
00:27:05.140 And therefore, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation.
00:27:15.660 But as it is written, citing a passage from Isaiah, he says,
00:27:20.220 Those who have never been told of Him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.
00:27:29.680 There's an old saying in leadership,
00:27:32.720 When things go well, look out the window.
00:27:39.560 And when things go wrong, look in the mirror.
00:27:42.680 uh it's the principle of ascribing glory and absorbing fault okay it's the principle of
00:27:56.640 ascribing glory and absorbing fault this is the heart of a true minister of a true priest
00:28:07.780 and the mark of every faithful pastor.
00:28:12.520 They understand that their work is only effectual
00:28:15.000 because of God's power working through them.
00:28:18.300 When the fruit comes out, they look out the window towards God.
00:28:25.840 They don't look in the mirror towards self.
00:28:30.380 As Paul puts it, I planted in Apollos waters,
00:28:33.940 but God gives the increase.
00:28:38.460 Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10, 17, he says,
00:28:42.220 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
00:28:48.240 Now, the book of Romans.
00:28:51.220 The book of Romans is considered the magnum opus of the New Testament.
00:28:56.180 Possibly the magnum opus of the entire Bible.
00:28:59.540 Even secularists count it as one of the most magnificent pieces of literature to ever cross the earth.
00:29:07.780 It is truly a literary and theological masterpiece.
00:29:14.740 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.
00:29:29.800 To me, it authenticates his ministry and it verifies his motives.
00:29:34.580 And it gives us a great example of how we ought to be as Christians proclaiming Christ.
00:29:42.600 Lastly, he closes by saying,
00:29:44.480 Therefore I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named.
00:29:50.300 Fascinating statement.
00:29:52.900 Lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written,
00:29:56.940 Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.
00:30:08.100 Okay.
00:30:12.100 Because the force behind his ministry is God, Paul makes it his ambition to preach the gospel.
00:30:23.660 I remember when I became a Calvinist.
00:30:28.320 When I became the idea that God is sovereign over salvation.
00:30:33.060 And that when I preach the gospel, it's not me persuading him into the kingdom of heaven.
00:30:38.700 But it's God who through my words, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ,
00:30:45.240 makes that work effectual in the heart.
00:30:48.280 He's the one that raises the dead.
00:30:49.900 I remember when I learned that lesson, I wanted to go tell everybody about Christ.
00:30:59.620 You know why? Because I'm batting a thousand.
00:31:04.300 I'm batting a thousand because anybody who is intended to be saved through my ministry will be saved.
00:31:12.840 All I have to do is just be faithful.
00:31:15.200 It actually makes evangelism easy.
00:31:17.880 Just preach the gospel.
00:31:19.900 Let the Lord do the rest. 0.99
00:31:23.100 Instead of turning to some pragmatic, pageantry garbage
00:31:28.220 where I'm going to try to apologetically convince you 0.98
00:31:31.600 that Jesus Christ was real
00:31:33.500 and that you should maybe believe in him because you're a sinner.
00:31:37.940 No, you're not going to persuade people into the kingdom of God.
00:31:42.880 You preach the gospel faithfully.
00:31:46.020 Good news that's matched up with bad news.
00:31:49.540 In fact, the good news is only good because the bad news is bad.
00:31:58.200 There's nothing that builds more confidence in a preacher
00:32:01.440 than knowing that if I'm just faithful, the Lord's going to do the work.
00:32:07.240 It's like a farmer.
00:32:10.120 Who knows that he doesn't have to make the seed grow.
00:32:12.720 No, just water it, plant it, water it, and wait.
00:32:22.180 God will bring the increase.
00:32:24.860 Now, a lot of you maybe are striving and toiling over loved ones.
00:32:31.080 Let me try to convince you of Jesus.
00:32:34.720 No.
00:32:36.500 All you do is you just tell them that they're sinners.
00:32:39.700 Show them the scriptures that tell them that they're sinners.
00:32:42.720 tell them that they must turn to Christ
00:32:46.240 tell them
00:32:48.220 that they must repent
00:32:50.000 tell them that they need a righteousness
00:32:52.120 that's not their own
00:32:53.220 that they need an alien righteousness
00:32:56.020 that's only given through Christ
00:32:57.220 tell them they must be forgiven
00:32:58.760 and then pray
00:33:00.760 and if you want more
00:33:04.500 tell them again
00:33:05.180 keep watering
00:33:07.300 keep waiting
00:33:09.240 keep watering
00:33:11.220 keep waiting
00:33:12.820 it's the Lord who brings the increase
00:33:15.620 the reality that God does heavy lifting
00:33:19.680 shouldn't make us lazy it should make us bold
00:33:21.400 it's amazing
00:33:24.360 people always go
00:33:27.500 if you're a Calvinist and you believe everybody's predestined
00:33:29.940 why would you ever evangelize anybody
00:33:31.600 and I'm like
00:33:34.860 are you kidding
00:33:36.040 if God isn't sovereign why would you ever evangelize
00:33:39.120 if God's not sovereign it's up to me to persuade somebody
00:33:43.000 I'm not going to evangelize because I'm not going to be able to do it
00:33:46.120 I can't resurrect dead souls
00:33:49.160 because if God is the one
00:33:59.020 who gives the growth
00:34:00.140 and every letter and every book and every sermon and every conversation
00:34:04.200 every act of evangelism it's charged up
00:34:07.000 with divine potential
00:34:08.680 you know what it does also
00:34:12.260 it levels the playing field
00:34:14.300 every one of you
00:34:17.900 every one of I don't care how old you are
00:34:20.380 or how young you are if you preach
00:34:22.540 the truth of Christ
00:34:23.820 God will use it
00:34:25.440 you don't need to be ultra
00:34:28.220 skilled
00:34:28.680 to preach the gospel
00:34:31.520 you don't need to be
00:34:33.840 do you know Charles Spurgeon was saved
00:34:35.980 when he walked into a church
00:34:37.780 and some random layman got up because the pastor couldn't make it in the snow.
00:34:43.700 He starts delivering a message that you would never, ever believe is evangelistic.
00:34:48.280 And all of a sudden, Charles Spurgeon, the great evangelist of London,
00:34:52.740 is sitting there and boom, the Lord resurrects him
00:34:57.080 through the preaching of some random guy.
00:35:02.720 It levels the playing field when God is doing the work.
00:35:05.860 All you got to do is be faithful.
00:35:08.440 Preach the gospel.
00:35:09.840 Let the Lord have the results.
00:35:14.420 And then he qualifies this, and we'll get ready to close here in a second.
00:35:17.460 He qualifies this.
00:35:18.780 He says, I aim to preach not where Christ has already been named.
00:35:22.680 What a fascinating statement.
00:35:25.780 Now, this is actually a really common desire.
00:35:28.580 If you've ever met a missionary, especially a young man,
00:35:32.220 and he goes
00:35:34.820 I want to go to this far off
00:35:37.540 place that you've never even heard of
00:35:39.160 pull out your map man
00:35:40.620 look at these mountain ranges
00:35:42.020 Jesus has never been preached here
00:35:43.800 I want to go there
00:35:45.000 they want to reach those who have never been reached
00:35:51.460 this is what I would call
00:35:53.340 an apostolic gifting
00:35:54.940 now when I say that
00:35:55.940 I mean little a apostolic gifting
00:35:58.540 not capital a apostolic gifting
00:36:01.420 like the twelve
00:36:02.020 but little a. Apostolic
00:36:04.660 gifting. The Greek word for apostle is
00:36:06.640 apostolos, and it just means sent
00:36:08.600 one. Sent one.
00:36:11.120 But it's a gifting.
00:36:12.760 It really is a gifting.
00:36:16.600 These men are not settlers.
00:36:18.500 They're pioneers.
00:36:20.940 They're not taking over churches.
00:36:22.940 They're planting churches.
00:36:25.560 They're not coming
00:36:26.560 into territory that is
00:36:28.460 already chopped up.
00:36:30.000 they're the ones doing the chopping. I always think there's a quote
00:36:33.700 that's like, the settlers come in
00:36:37.660 and they find out that roads have already been built.
00:36:41.860 They don't realize that the pioneers are the ones that had the arrows in their back.
00:36:46.540 Truly. You come in to
00:36:49.660 America and you go, wow, this is already kind of a Christian town. We sing
00:36:53.820 Christian Christmas carols for the courthouse lighting
00:36:57.720 every Christmas. I'm building here, in a sense, on generations before us, their faithfulness.
00:37:06.480 Now, in another sense, we planted this church in our home. And so there's a little bit of
00:37:13.740 pioneering and there's a little bit of settling. But Paul says he wants to build where no one else
00:37:20.260 has. Now, this aligns with Paul. 1 Corinthians 3.10 says, according to the grace of God given
00:37:26.980 to me like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building
00:37:34.520 upon it.
00:37:35.400 Let each one take care how he builds upon it, end quote.
00:37:39.680 So again, you can start to see the systematic nature of Paul.
00:37:42.160 He knows what he's talking about.
00:37:43.220 He is consistent throughout all of his corpus or his group of letters.
00:37:47.980 2 Corinthians 10, 15 through 16, it says, we do not boast beyond the limit of our labors
00:37:54.300 of others, but our hope is that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you.
00:38:00.140 Paul is a pioneer.
00:38:03.500 Maybe some of you men in here, some of you young
00:38:07.600 boys in here, will one day be a pioneer
00:38:11.440 bringing the gospel somewhere that has not been preached.
00:38:17.800 Maybe you'll be a settler and you'll come in and work
00:38:22.040 upon the work that is already done by the men
00:38:24.300 that have came before you.
00:38:31.900 But Paul reveals that this desire
00:38:34.260 for unreached territory is actually
00:38:35.960 his ability or his
00:38:38.060 call to fulfill the prophecy
00:38:39.740 in Isaiah 52, 15 that says
00:38:42.080 those who have not been told of him will see
00:38:44.280 and those who have never heard will understand.
00:38:47.020 So Paul
00:38:48.040 is saying
00:38:49.560 And my work is actually fulfilling that prophecy.
00:38:54.660 I'm that guy.
00:38:56.540 It's pretty amazing.
00:38:58.080 Imagine seeing yourself as the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy.
00:39:05.440 So what's the takeaway?
00:39:07.800 What's the takeaway?
00:39:08.700 It's kind of an interesting passage of Scripture.
00:39:10.660 What's the takeaway?
00:39:12.620 Well, I'll say it's this.
00:39:15.100 It's both man, it's the man and the model.
00:39:17.400 i want us to pay attention to both the man and the model
00:39:20.960 all of us are in some degree of ministry formally and informally but all of us have
00:39:30.180 some ministry some of it's just ministering to those toddlers at your feet and those little
00:39:33.900 kids in your house some of it is ministering to those men at your work some of them is like me
00:39:42.580 who's ministering as a calling.
00:39:47.920 But
00:39:48.440 it's not wrong to learn from the man, Paul.
00:39:55.340 In fact, 1 Corinthians 11 says,
00:39:57.500 imitate me just as I imitate Christ.
00:40:02.240 It's actually something I think that it's even faithful to say for pastors.
00:40:06.060 I should be able to say, congregation, imitate me as I imitate Christ.
00:40:10.160 that's the whole concept of shepherding
00:40:13.320 that's the whole concept of covenant heads
00:40:16.740 now we can learn from the man Paul
00:40:21.800 just the character and who he is
00:40:23.540 we can also learn the model of Paul
00:40:25.840 what's unique about Paul
00:40:29.960 is that he boldly preached Christ
00:40:32.420 where he was not known
00:40:34.400 he sought no glory for himself
00:40:38.780 and all that he did.
00:40:43.120 He built carefully on the foundation of Christ alone,
00:40:47.500 Christ the cornerstone,
00:40:48.600 and he continued to build out that foundation
00:40:50.420 around Christ, that cornerstone.
00:40:53.680 He ascribed all of the glory and the fruit
00:40:56.600 of his ministry to God,
00:40:59.860 and he absorbed all of the fault for himself.
00:41:05.380 His ambition was never applause.
00:41:08.780 or comfort.
00:41:14.600 His ambition was Christ.
00:41:21.160 To go to the nations at whatever the cost.
00:41:24.560 You know, Paul's the apostle to the Gentiles.
00:41:27.620 The word Gentile is just the Greek word for the word nation.
00:41:32.460 Paul was given the most monumental task.
00:41:38.780 Literally go preach the gospel to every other nation but Israel.
00:41:45.560 Go and preach the gospel to the entire world.
00:41:49.840 And so let's learn from the man and from the model of Paul
00:41:53.200 as we continue through his epilogue over the next few weeks of this beautiful book of Romans.
00:41:58.500 Amen? Amen. Let's pray.
00:42:00.800 Father, we thank you, Lord, for the work that you've done through your servant Paul,
00:42:06.560 by the grace and mercy of the Holy Spirit.
00:42:11.600 Lord, we ask that you would pull out
00:42:13.360 great clarity in this epilogue for us
00:42:16.400 as we go in the next few weeks.
00:42:19.080 We ask for your blessing that we would apply
00:42:20.980 some of the principles that we see in Paul
00:42:22.640 and his model of ministry into our own ministries.
00:42:27.000 We ask for your favor in this congregation
00:42:29.040 and in this city here in Prescott
00:42:31.100 for many generations.
00:42:32.320 In Jesus' name, amen.
00:42:36.560 Thank you.