Let's open our Bibles this evening
to Romans chapter 15. Two weeks ago, we looked at the
first 13 verses in this chapter. And tonight I would like to begin
in verse 14, go through the chapter. And at this time, the Lord willing,
maybe bring one more message from this part of the book of
Romans. next week from chapter 16. But
tonight, verses 14 through 33. In these verses, as we look at
them, we will see that the Apostle speaks of himself and of his
ministry. He speaks of himself and of his
ministry. And we may all learn from these
verses what he tells us about himself and his ministry, but
especially man that God calls to preach may learn from this
passage of scripture. First, Paul reveals that he had
written boldly, B-O-L-D-L-Y, he had written boldly to this
church. Notice that in the first two
verses here, 14 and 15. And I myself also am persuaded
of you My brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled
with the knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless,
brethren, I have written them more boldly unto you in some
sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to
me of God." It's almost as if he makes this statement somewhat
apologetically. Some have this, as I have written
too boldly. Now remember, he had never visited
the church at Rome. Although it's clear from verse
14, which we just read, he was knowledgeable of many of the
people in this church, many of the leaders in this church, because
he said that he was persuaded first of their goodness, that
is the virtue, their virtue, their goodness and also of their
knowledge. And the only way he could have
been persuaded of their goodness and knowledge is that he knew
many of these people. And in the last chapter, the
next chapter, chapter 16, we say that he did know many of
them. And he did not write this letter.
He wants them to know that he did not write this letter thinking
that just because he had never preached in Rome, that they were
ignorant of these things that he dealt with in this letter. He's not saying that at all,
because you see, he wrote to remind them of these things,
to remind them that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ
to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering
up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost. I've therefore, whereof I make
glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to
God. He wrote boldly to this church,
a church that he had never visited, because of the grace of God that
was given to him. You see that in verse 15. Nevertheless,
brethren, I have written a more boldly unto you in some sort
as putting you in mind. There it is. Not as though they
were not aware, not as though he was writing to them of truths
that they did not know, but to put them in mind. And that is
much of the work of a pastor. Much of the work of a pastor
is to put believers in mind of truths which we already know. The work of a pastor is not to
manufacture something new. It's not to come up with something
clever, something different. When I was in Bible college,
we used to tell one another, Anything new, as the scripture
says, there's nothing new under the sun. And when you think you
see something new in the Bible, you'd better stop and look at
that real closely. If you think you found something
new, something no one else has ever found, because there's nothing
new under the sun. And that's one of the problems,
I believe, Young men sometimes who enter the ministry probably
never called of God, but they feel like they've got to keep
people's attention and attract people with something other than
the Word of God. The Apostle Paul was very certain
in this fact that he did not want those that he preached to,
he did not want their faith to stand in anything other than
the power of God, the power of God in revealing the gospel to
a person, not the cleverness of the preacher, not his eloquence
or anything like that. For Paul said he was among them
in much the church at Corinth. And he determined, he said, to
do this. Much fear and much trembling,
and his speech was not with eloquence of words. Why? That their faith
not stand in the wisdom of God. You see, if a preacher can talk
you into something and convince you of something, another preacher
can come along and talk you out of that and convince you of something
else. But when a preacher stands up
and preaches the gospel, preaches the Word of God, and God the
Holy Spirit convinces you, no preacher's going to unconvince
you when God convinces you of the truth, when God reveals the
truth to you by the power of His Spirit using the Word of
God. He wrote boldly, notice he said,
I've written more boldly or boldly unto thee because of the grace
given to him of God. Again in verse 15, nevertheless
brethren I have written more boldly unto you in some sort
as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to
me of God." Now, what was this grace that was given to him of
God? Well, he's not talking about
saving grace. We use the Apostle Paul, his
experience on the road to Damascus many times to speak about the
saving grace of God, how it's sovereign, how it's efficient,
it gets the job done when God calls his people. But here the
apostle is speaking of his office as an apostle, this grace that
was given him. And you see this if you look
back into chapter one of Romans and verse five. By whom we have received grace
and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations
in his name. He wrote to them the more boldly
because of the grace that had been given to him, the grace
of the office of an apostle. The office of an apostle gave
him this boldness to write to churches that he had never visited,
churches which he certainly had not brought the gospel to them.
You see, a pastor, a pastor has the care of one church. Now,
when I'm preaching here as a pastor of this church, I may use boldness
in speaking to us, but I wouldn't use that same boldness in speaking
to another church that has another pastor. But that's not true. That wasn't true rather of an
apostle. He wasn't just the pastor of
one church. Remember, he speaks of having
the care of all the churches. And that was true of apostles,
not pastors. He wrote the more boldly. He used boldness in speaking
to them, not because they did not know these things, but to
remind them of these things. And he did so because he was
an apostle of Jesus Christ. He had this power, if I might
use that, that word power. He was given this grace, this
apostleship to be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Notice again verse 16, that I
should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering
the gospel. of God that the offering up of
the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost. He says something similar in
Ephesians 3 in verse 8. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given. What grace? The grace to be an apostle. This office Is this grace given
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches
of Christ? Remember, Peter is referred to
as the apostle of the circumcision to the Jews and Paul to the uncircumcision
to the Gentiles. When he says that in Ephesians
3, unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace
given, this office of an apostle, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. What a definition
that is of the gospel of Jesus Christ. the unsearchable riches
of Christ. What a definition that is of
the gospel. Unsearchable, unfathomable, the
depth and the message in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you take his person, for instance,
speak about his deity. Speak about His deity and all
the attributes of deity that were true of Him as the eternal
Son of God. Of His humanity, the fact that
He was made of a woman, that He took into union with His person,
His Godhead, that body that was prepared Him of the Holy Spirit
from the Virgin Mary. sinless, the unsearchable riches
of Christ. You can preach a lifetime on
the person of Christ. And then you think about his
work, his offices first, his offices as a mediator between
God and man, the only mediator between God and man. And he stands
between God and man. And all the blessings that God
has for men will come to them through Him, through Christ. All the blessings of salvation,
He mediates. You see, that's one of the things
that came out of the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation, because
the people had been taught that the church was a mediator, that
the priests were mediators. And to go to God, you had to
go through the church. And to be saved, you had to go
through the church. And they were kept in darkness
and kept in bondage. And the truth of the matter is,
it's only through Christ, he's the one mediator between God
and man. And if we go to God, we go not
through the church, not through some mortal man, but through
the God-man, Jesus Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ. Preach about his life. Don't
you love to read the gospels, read about his life? The scripture
says in Acts, Peter I believe said this in Acts, he went about
doing good. He went about doing good. Did anyone, and you know this
is so, no one ever came to Christ with a need that he did not meet that need. What a privilege to stand up
and preach the gospel. No matter to whom, no matter
where, we bring the message of Jesus, the unsearchable riches
of Christ. You come to him with a need.
I was speaking with one of the brothers the other night about
this after the service, and I thought about that rich young ruler.
Now he came to Christ and he went away sad. But you see, he
didn't come with a need. He really didn't. He came with
a pocket full of money. And he thought, not only did
he have a pocket full of money, but he had a life of morality. All these commandments I've kept
from my youth up. He went away sad, but the leper
came and said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And the Lord said, I will, I
will. The unsearchable riches of Christ. What a definition of the gospel
is that? Unto me, Paul said, who am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given, this grace,
to be an apostle to the Gentiles, to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ? What about his death, not only
his life, but his death, when he took our sins in his own body,
the sins of his people, and bore them on the cross? And he carried
them away, didn't he? He carried them away. He put
them away. He is the one atonement, the
one atoning sacrifice for the sins of his people. And they're
covered. That's what the word atonement
means, isn't it? Covering. And they're covered,
and they're covered in such a way they can never be found, never
be seen. The unsearchable riches of Christ
and his resurrection. and his ascension and his intercession,
ever living to make intercession for all who come to God by him. Now, some writers have tried
to use the word that is translated minister here in this text, verse
16, that I should be the minister. Some have tried to use that word
minister, the meaning of that word, to teach that ministers,
like myself and like the Apostle Paul and other preachers and
pastors and missionaries, that we are somehow priests. Now,
all believers are made priests. who loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood and hath made us unto God kings and
priests." Made us kings and priests unto God. All believers, we're
all priests. There's no difference like a
hierarchy and they talk about the laity. You know, the laity,
people that are not pastors. And then you've got the priesthood.
That's a lie out of hell. The Bible never refers, the New
Testament never refers to ministers of the gospel as priests in the
sense that we offer a sacrifice to God. Never. But this word, Somehow men have
used to teach such a lie. New Testament preachers are referred
to as elders, as bishops, and as pastors. Take your choice. Take your choice. Whichever one
suits you, that's fine. They all come to the same thing.
A man who's called, and it is a man. God doesn't call women
to be pastors. The Apostle Paul made that clear.
He would not suffer a woman to usurp authority over the men. And that hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. That's still
God's order. Man was created first and then
the woman. Man is the head of the woman.
And in the order of the ministry, men are put into the ministry,
not women. I remember someone told me this
story several years ago. This young girl was visiting
a family. They used to be part of our church,
and they had a young son, I believe, in the family there. And this
girl said, I can be anything I want to be. And of course,
the boy said, no, you can't either. She said, oh, yes, I can. Said,
my mama told me I can be anything I want to be. And he said, you
can't be a pastor. And she ran to her grandmother,
this boy's grandmother too, I believe it was, and said, Mimi, he told
me that I can't be anything I want to be, that I cannot be a pastor. And grandma said, that's right,
that's right, that's what the scripture teaches. Yes, when
God calls men and puts them into the ministry, he doesn't make
them priests, he makes them servants. That's what a pastor is, he's
a servant. Paul ministered, this word is
a figurative statement here, and to think that Paul was made
a minister, to take that literally, made a priest rather, would mean
that the offering up the Gentiles was a literal sacrifice. That's
not what he's saying at all. The Holy Spirit is the one. He's
the one who set them apart. That is, the Gentiles set them
apart. Notice being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit. He's the one who set the Gentiles
apart, who were saved, that are offered up unto God. Paul didn't
offer them up as a sacrifice. He wasn't a priest. The Holy
Spirit set them apart in effectual calling so that they might be
offered up as an acceptable sacrifice, as it says in chapter 12 and
verse 1. Paul asserted that he was an
apostle to the Gentiles in these next six verses, verses 17 through
22. And he shows his assertion was
valid. It was valid, and he shows it
by the fact that God had used him greatly. God used the Apostle
Paul greatly in the salvation of Gentiles. He said, I have
therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those
things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak
of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me,
to make the Gentiles obedience by word and deed. Paul had been
used greatly to show that he was an apostle, that this grace
was given him, therefore he could write boldly to this church. He proves his apostleship here
by the fact that God had greatly used him in the ministry, that
many Gentiles had been saved under his preaching. And not
only that, he says, not only that, but signs and wonders,
notice that, through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the
Spirit of God. So that from Jerusalem and round
about unto Icrium, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Yea, so I have strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was
named, He's going into new places preaching the gospel. He did
not desire to preach where Christ had already been preached, lest
he be accused of entering into someone else's labor, taking
credit for a ministry that was not his. He had labored widely, striving
to preach the gospel where it had not been preached before. And in doing this, he tells us
in verse 21, in doing what he had done, his ministry, it was
a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. And he quotes from
Isaiah 52 and verse 15. And if you look that verse up,
it says, so shall he sprinkle many nations. He shall sprinkle
many nations. How do we understand that? Sprinkle. The Word of God is compared to
rain and sometimes to dew that falls. The Apostle Paul had carried
the Word of God, and in carrying the Word to Gentile nations and
to places where Christ had never been named before, the Word came
down upon these people. The gospel came down and God
saved his people. I want you to look at Isaiah
55, just a moment. In Isaiah 55, beginning in verse
eight, God speaks, for my thoughts are
not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. God is all the time teaching
me this lesson. He's all the time. I'm always
learning and still needing to learn. That my thoughts and God's thoughts
My ways and God's ways are not the same. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts and your thoughts. One of the things that Satan
tries to use to hinder people from coming to Christ, from trusting
in Christ, is by telling them, insinuating to them, you're too
sinful. God's not gonna forgive you.
You're too sinful. And he's got a hundred tricks
in his bag to try to keep people from coming to Christ. And that's
the reason we see here God's thoughts and God's ways are not
like our thoughts and our ways. You know, we have a limit, don't
we? We have a limit. We'll bear with someone as a
long way, maybe. A long way, but we've got a limit. We've got a point where we break
down. God doesn't. God doesn't. My thoughts are not your thoughts.
My ways are not your ways. And though man would not forgive
you for what you have done, whatever it is, however sinful and wicked
it might be, My thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are
not your ways. God, but notice the next word. For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, So shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto
me void. But it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. Now, the prophecy is, so shall
he, that is Christ, so shall he sprinkle many nations. Many nations, in other words,
Gentile nations, not just the Jewish nation, but many nations. This was foretold. And Paul,
yes, as an apostle preaching the gospel, had fulfilled that
prophecy. God had used him in fulfilling
that prophecy. The next thing that I want to
call our attention to. So first of all, Paul speaks
boldly to this church, writes to them boldly. Why? Because
he was an apostle. That's why. He used boldness. And to prove his apostleship,
look at the number. Look how God had used him, he
says, in preaching the gospel to many people, many people being
saved. And not only that, but the signs
and the wonders, the miracles which were wrought. by the Apostle
Paul. Now, going on in verses 23 and
24, Paul reveals his plans to visit them. But now having no
more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many
years to come unto you, whensoever I take my journey into Spain,
I will come to you, for I trust to see you in my journey and
to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat
filled with your company." Evidently, the apostle believed or knew
that in those parts, there was no other place where the gospel
had not been preached, where Christ had not been preached.
In his letter to the Colossians, He spoke of the gospel coming
unto them, and then he says, as it is in all the world. Now, Paul did not take the gospel
to Colossae either, but he's writing to them from prison and
tells them of the fact that the gospel had come to them as, now
notice, as it is in all the world. That's 2,000 years ago. The apostle is saying the gospel
has come unto you as it is in all the world. Look with me in Acts chapter
13. This is a pivotal point in the history of the church here
in Acts chapter 13, beginning in verse 44. This is in Antioch. where the
apostle had preached, Antioch of Pisidia, where the apostle
had preached in a synagogue, and there were some Jews, I mean,
some Gentile proselytes in the synagogue, and they desired to
hear that message that Paul was preaching. Unto you all that believe in
Christ are justified from all things from which you could not
be justified by the law of Moses. There was Gentiles who desired
to hear this, And the Jews, they were okay with that. You know,
a few Gentiles come in here, a few Greeks come into the synagogue. But what happened on the next
Sabbath, the whole city turned out. And they could not, they
could not bear that. Notice in verse 44, the next
Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word
of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
you would think, and they would if these Jews had been saved
Jews, they would have rejoiced. Can you imagine the rejoicing
that you would experience if next Sunday the whole city turned
out to hear the gospel? How that would thrill your soul.
They don't come together just to be entertained, but they desire
to hear the gospel of Christ. These Jews, it didn't thrill
them, not at all. They were filled with envy and
spake against these things which were spoken by Paul. What was
Paul speaking? He was speaking of Christ. He
was speaking the gospel. And so they began contradicting
and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you, you
take the liberty to put this message from you. You reject
this message, and seeing that you do, you judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, and we turn to the Gentiles. This is a pivotal point in the
history of the church. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles. that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout the region. Paul is now writing to the church
at Rome and telling them, I have desired for many years to come. But I've had other places to
go where Christ had not been preached, but now I have the
liberty to come to you and that is my purpose. And it almost
sounds like Paul is saying, I'm going to take a leisurely trip. I'm going to go into Spain and
on my way, I'm going to come by Rome. and stop over and visit
with you, have fellowship with you. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Man proposes,
but God disposes. Whether or not Paul ever went
to Spain, we're not told. It's not important. He did come
to Rome. He did come to Rome, but he came
as a prisoner. It wasn't a leisurely trip. He
came there as a prisoner. Third, Paul reveals the ministry
to the saints in Jerusalem. He tells them, but now I go unto
Jerusalem to minister. Now what kind of ministry is
this, Paul? This ministry that I'm going
to now, I'm going to take the offerings, The offerings that
the churches of Macedonia have taken up, and I'm going to take
that to the poor saints in Jerusalem. That's the ministry that I'm
involved in now. That's what I'm doing now. What a ministry is this. take the offerings from the saints
of Macedonia. And you know, in second Corinthians,
when Paul encourages the church at Corinth, which was a wealthier
church, they were Grecians on that great Greek peninsula where
Corinth was located. They were in a much more prosperous
place than the churches of Macedonia. But yet the churches of Macedonia,
they gave And Paul, there in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, he says
they gave more than we could have ever expected. And it's
that place where Paul says, God loveth a cheerful giver. And brother told me this morning,
you know what that word cheerful means? I said, yeah, I do. Hilarious. God loves an hilarious giver. And Paul used the example of
the churches that came from these poor people. They gave such an
offering to encourage the richer church to give likewise to the
poor saints. And he makes this point. He said,
if we have partaken, the Gentiles have partaken of their spiritual
good, it's only right that the Gentiles minister to their material
needs. Salvation is of the Jews. Our Lord said that, didn't he?
Salvation is of the Jews. And so the Gentiles had partaken
of the spiritual benefits of the Jews. It's only right, Paul
says, now that we minister to their physical, material needs. The last thing, Paul reveals
his need for prayer in verses 29 through 33. His need for prayer. And he gives them three things
for which he especially desired their prayers. His safety. He desired that they pray for
his safety because he knew in Jerusalem There were many people
there, many of the unbelieving Jews and many of the believing
Jews who did not care for Paul. He asked they pray for his safety
and for the ministry that he was going on, that offering that
it be accepted and that he might come to them with joy. Verse
29, and I am sure that when I come unto you, I shall come in the
fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. And I beseech
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love
of the Spirit, that you strive together with me. Pray for me.
Pray with me. Strive together with me in your
prayers to God for me. Pray for me. Amen. That's something every preacher
asks. Pray for me. That I may be delivered
from them. Here's the safety, that I may
be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. Number
two, that my service, that offering that I'm taking there may be
accepted of the saints. And number three, pray for me
that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God. And may
with you be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with
you all. Amen. May the Lord bless this
word of truth, a word that especially I think is helpful to preachers,
to pastors as we read what kind of man the Apostle Paul was and
his ministry. Let us take our hymn books and
we'll sing a hymn, and with the hymn we will be dismissed.