PAUL - THE MISSIONARY - PART 2 (Romans 15:14-21)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we began the first of the sections that Paul uses to bring his letter to the church in Rome to a close. In the remaining chapter and a half Paul will first speak of his ministry as a missionary, his plans for future missionary ministry in unreached parts of the world, then a large section with personal greetings from himself and others, finally closing the letter with a closing benediction.
We began looking at the first section where Paul speaks of his ministry as a missionary by first defending his reason for writing so boldly in his letter to a church that he had not founded, nor had never visited. We learned that as a missionary Paul wore many different hats, the first role was bestowed upon him by God, who had called him to be an apostle and set him apart for the gospel. It was by his authority as an apostle that he had so boldly written the church in Rome, not of his own motives or desires, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The second hat that Paul wore as a missionary was that of a priest. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles and so ministered to them the Gospel of God so that as a priest he might offer to God new Gentile believers whom God had used him to lead to faith in Christ. Gentiles who were an acceptable sacrifice to God because of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their lives the moment they repented and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
This morning we are going to look at two more hats that Paul wears in his occupation as a missionary. First, the hat of a missionary preacher and second, the hat of a missionary pioneer. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 15:14-21. I will read the whole passage again, but we will be looking specifically at verses 17-21. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 15:14-21,
“And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, ‘They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand.’” (Romans 15:14–21, NASB95)[1]
MISSIONARY PREACHER (Romans 15:17-19)
Paul’s third hat or third role as a missionary was that of a preacher, a missionary preacher. He had told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16, NASB95)[2] Paul had told the Christians in Rome in chapter 1, verse1 that he was set apart for the Gospel of God, he was set apart to preach the Gospel and this was what compelled him in life, to preach the life-giving Gospel to all who would listen.
Speaking of this role of a preacher and concerning his preaching the Gospel of God, Paul could write to the church in Rome both in boldness and with great humility stating in verse 17, “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.” (Romans 15:17, NASB95)[3] His words sound bold, but at the same time we see his humility in that his boasting in not in himself and what he has accomplished, but his boasting is in things pertaining to God. Paul uses the next two verses of this passage to explain the things pertaining to God about which he has reason to boast. Within these two verses we find five features of a faithful preacher.
The first feature of a faithful preacher that we see in the apostle Paul is that he takes no credit for himself. We see this in his immediate statement to what he had just said in verse 17, not wanting to be understood by what he wrote he immediately explained his statement with these words, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…” (Romans 15:18a, NASB95)[4] Paul would never presume to boast about what he had accomplished for the Lord, he understood that anything accomplished in his life for Christ was only by the power of Christ in him accomplishing His perfect will and purpose through Paul. If something is to be accomplished for the Lord, it must be in His power and under His guidance through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We never can take credit for something the Lord has done through us, but we can always boast in what God has done through us. Paul, in both letters that we have to the Corinthians, reminds them, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31b, NASB95)[5] (2 Corinthians 10:17)
Paul always gave the credit to the Lord for anything accomplished in his life. He wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:12-14, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 1:12–14, NASB95)[6] Paul gave all the credit and all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ who saved him and put him into service, even though Paul considered himself the worst of sinners, Paul continues writing to Timothy in the next verses, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:15–16, NASB95)[7] In other words, God would use Paul’s life as an example to unbelievers, that if God could show mercy to Paul and save him, the foremost of sinners, then God through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ could save anyone who comes to faith in Jesus Christ.
There was only one thing that Paul would boast in about himself, and that was his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ might be manifest in his life. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul speaks of a revelation that he received from the Lord and to keep him from exalting himself about the fact that he had received this great revelation, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. Paul asked the Lord three times to remove this thorn in his flesh, in verse 9 Paul gives us the Lord’s response and his reaction to that response, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NASB95)[8] Paul’s boast was never in himself, he boasted instead in the Lord and what the Lord accomplished through him by His power. He boasted in the cross of Christ, and in the grace and mercy of God to save unworthy, undeserving sinners like himself and then he boasted in the power of God to use him to bring other unworthy, undeserving sinners to the Savior.
The people that God uses to accomplish His will and His purposes are His instruments and we should never take credit for what God has accomplished through us, but at the same time we should not downplay or deny what God has done through us because to do so is to downplay or deny God’s own work.
The second feature of a faithful preacher that is seen in the apostle Paul is the preacher’s emphasis on obedience to the Lord. Paul goes on in verse 18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,” (Romans 15:18, NASB95)[9] Paul’s preaching of the Gospel did not just call men to faith in Christ but also always included a call to obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul makes clear in Romans 1:5 that, “…we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake,” (Romans 1:5, NASB95)[10] The Gospel that Paul preached always included a call to obedience because that call was essential to his apostolic role as given to him by God. In Romans 6:17-18 Paul reminds the Christians in Rome of their own obedience when he wrote, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17–18, NASB95)[11] In these verses the phrase ‘obedient from the heart” means “saving faith” which leads to becoming slaves of righteousness which speaks of obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord.
In this same verse we have the third feature of a faithful preacher and it is personal integrity. Paul’s preaching to the Gentiles wherever he preached was by word and deed. In other words, he lived what he preached, his life was in line with his message, there was no hypocrisy or self-righteousness. It is important that if the message is to be heard it is also seen in the life of the one who preaches it.
Paul continues in verse 19 and gives us the fourth feature of a faithful preacher and it is affirmation by God of the preacher’s ministry. For Paul and the other apostles of the early church that affirmation was made evident “in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit;” (Romans 15:19a, NASB95)[12] This confirmation by God does not require signs and wonders, but it will always be evidenced in some way by the power of the Spirit when the gospel is rightly preached.
Before the full Gospel message was written down in what we now call the New Testament, God would authenticate the true preaching and teaching of the Gospel, that which He had revealed to the apostles, by signs and wonders. It was through miracles that God confirmed the ministry of the apostles in the earliest days of the church. This is no longer necessary today because we have the full revelation of God in written form, any preaching or teaching can be checked against what we have recorded for us.
The author of Hebrews speaks of this authentication by signs and wonders when telling us to not neglect the teaching of salvation that we have received. The author writes in Hebrews 2:3-4, “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:3–4, NASB95)[13] Paul reminded the Corinthian believers that God had authenticated the message of Paul to them in this way, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:12, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” (2 Corinthians 12:12, NASB95)[14] The same is recorded in Mark 16:19-20, “So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.” (Mark 16:19–20, NASB95)[15]
The most miraculous sign that God uses to authenticate the message of not just the apostles but all those who preach the Gospel, is not a physical sign or wonder, but the miracle of all miracles, the re-creation of a sinner into a saint, from an enemy of God to being a child of God, the transformation from the kingdom of darkness into God’s kingdom of light. This is and will always be the greatest confirmation of any ministry, the salvation of men, women, and children. The truth of the Gospel today is confirmed by God’s completed Word in the New Testament, His full revelation to us in written form, but the power of the Gospel is revealed and made evident in the lives that are transformed by its power.
The fifth and final feature of a faithful preacher that is demonstrated in Paul’s life is that his work is thorough. In other words, he completes what God has called him to do. Paul makes this feature clear by stating in the end of verse 19, “…so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Romans 15:19, NASB95)[16] Jerusalem was in the far southeast and from there Paul had traveled through Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece round about as far as Illyricum, which was a Roman province which stretched across parts of Albania, Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. We are never told that Paul went to Illyricum, if he did it was most likely while he was in Macedonia which bordered it. Paul may have just been using it as the farthest border that he reached. Which ever he meant this was roughly a span of 1400 miles all done on foot or riding on an animal or in a cart or by sailing in a ship.
The phrase “fully preached” can refer to preaching the full Gospel message or refers to preaching throughout the full geographical area in which Paul was called to minister. In Paul’s case it most certainly refers to both, that he preached the full Gospel message in the full geographical area that God had called him to preach in. Paul did not let anything prevent him from fulfilling his selfless and bold ministry wherever the Lord sent him.
Paul truly was the master missionary preacher. Paul was humble, faithful, a man of integrity, thorough and unswerving in the fulfillment of the ministry the Lord had called him to do. This is why he could say near the end of his life in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7–8, NASB95)[17]
MISSIONARY PIONEER (Roman 15:20-21)
The final hat that Paul is seen wearing as a missionary is that of a pioneer. Paul was a pioneer missionary, a pioneer evangelist, and a pioneer church planter. In other words, he preached the Gospel where it had not been preached before. He wrote in verse 20, “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation;” (Romans 15:20, NASB95)[18] The New Testament makes clear that Paul preached the Gospel in more unevangelized areas than any other apostle or preacher. More than any other person, Paul reached the unreached and this is because his calling and his desire was to preach the Gospel where Christ had not already been named. He did not want to build on another man’s foundation.
It is not wrong to build on another man’s foundation, that is the process that God uses for establishing and maintaining His church. Paul explained this to the church in Corinth, that this is the process that God uses, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6, NASB95)[19] In this case, Apollos was building on Paul’s foundation, which worked because of the calling of each of the men. God still uses some believers to lay the foundation by bringing unbelievers to faith in Christ for salvation (evangelists) and then other believers to build up those new believers by ministering to them the Word of God (pastors).
Paul uses Isaiah 52:15 as his support for going to unreached areas with the Gospel. He writes, “but as it is written, ‘They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand.’” (Romans 15:21, NASB95)[20] In the immediate context of this passage in Isaiah it is primarily referring to the second coming of Christ. But Paul using it in its broadest application shows that the evangelism that began in Paul’s day and will continue throughout the history of the church will find it ultimate fulfillment at Christ’s second coming. Paul the pioneer missionary took the name of Jesus Christ to the unreached peoples of the Roman empire, shared with them the full Gospel and planted churches because this was his calling from the Lord, and he was faithful to fulfill that calling.
CONCLUSION:
Beginning last week, we began looking at four different hats that Paul wore as a missionary. The first was the hat of an apostle which was his calling from God, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God. As an apostle he had the authority from God to boldly proclaim the Gospel. The second hat Paul wore was the hat of a priest, as a believer he belonged to the holy priesthood of the church, to which all believers belong. As a priest he ministered the Gospel to the Gentiles that he might offer to God an offering of new Gentile believers made to be an acceptable offering by the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Third, Paul wore the hat of a missionary preacher faithfully preaching the Gospel to anyone who would listen. Paul demonstrated for us the five features of a faithful preacher: First, he never took credit for himself. Second, his preaching emphasized not only saving faith in Christ but also obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord. Third, he was a man of integrity, living what he preached. Fourth, his ministry was authenticated by God. Fifth, his work was thorough, he completed what God called him to do. Then we looked at Paul’s fourth hat that he wore as a missionary, the hat of a pioneer, going to the unreached places of the Roman empire to preach the full gospel to the unreached who had never heard the name of Christ.
People who have had no news of Christ and have never heard the good news of salvation are found everywhere. They are in every country in the world, they are in every city and town, they are in every community and even in your neighborhood. Now I understand that God does not call all believers to be evangelists, just like he does not call all believers to be pastors, but he does call us all to be His witnesses. Our prayer and desire as believers, as followers of Christ Jesus, should be that the unsaved in our sphere of influence would receive spiritual sight to see Christ as their only hope of salvation and that they would receive spiritual hearing so that they understand the Gospel and come to saving faith in Christ and that God would use us to be a witness in their life of the transforming power of the Savior in a person’s life.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[20]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.