The Gospel Church
Righteousness Revealed: An Exposition of Romans

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Good morning, church! We’re continuing our series through the book of Romans. We’ve entitled this series, “Righteousness Revealed.” We began this series four years ago, taking four chapters at a time each year. We’re coming close to the end of the journey. We’re finishing up chapter 15 today, and that leaves us one chapter. I have to say, I’m somewhat sentimental about the whole journey. I’ve spent so much time in Romans with you. I hope you feel the same way. We’ve learned so much together. Now, we’re in the latter part of chapter 15.

I’ve titled today’s message, “The Gospel Church.” And a few weeks ago, I titled the message, “The welcoming church.” Maybe, I should have stuck with that because I would have said “The Welcoming Church” and then, the next week, “The Discerning Church” and then, the next week, “The Harmonized Church” and now, this week, “The Gospel Church,” because it really seems like the Apostle Paul is trying, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to help the church in Rome to understand who they are. I think, today, that that’s what he’s trying to do; what the word of God is trying to do for us.

Today, we’re talking about “The Gospel Church.” Now, the word, “gospel,” comes from an old English word, “God-spiel.” “God-spiel” means “a story about” or “a word about” God. So, “gospel,” in the old English, meant a story or a word about God. In the original Greek, which is the language of the New Testament, it was good news, literally the word was good news. We live in a day today, where there’s not a lot of good news. If you tune in to watch the news, it’s mostly bad news. But we have to remember that the news media is a business and they’re in the business to make money and bad news sells. Violence, sells. Sex sells. If it bleeds, it leads, but aren’t you sick and tired of all the bad news? I am.

I believe, as followers of Jesus, as ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus, we are called to tell people the good news. What does it look like for us to be the people of God, proclaiming the good news of Jesus? What does it look like to be “The Gospel Church?” Let’s remember that “The church is not the steeple. The church is the people.” If you want to see our church, you don’t look at the building. It’s kind of helpful that our building doesn’t look like a church building, but you look inside, you look to your neighbor and say, “Here we are. We are the church.” That’s who the church is; it’s the people of God. We’re to be the ones who talk about this Good News; about Jesus.

In Romans, chapter 15, verses 14 through the end of the chapter, the apostle Paul described to the believers in Rome, how they could partner with him, how they could be joined together with him for the sake of the Gospel. I believe today that we are called to partner together, to join together, for the sake of the Gospel.

As we look at the text today, I think we’ll see five ways… Now, don’t let that freak you out. I know, this old man usually has three; if he says five, we’ll never make it out of here. Hang on. If we go around a curve too fast, just hang on. Don’t let me lose you. I’ve got to move fast.

There are five ways that we can join together in the ministry of the Gospel. Let’s read and then we’ll talk about it.

Romans 15:14-33 (ESV) 14 I myself am satisfied about you you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation,but 21 as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spainby way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Amen, this is God’s word.

We’re looking here, at a long reading today; may I say to you, that preaching through a book like Romans, it’s important that we read the long sections of text like this together. It allows you to recognize, even before I start preaching, where it’s coming from. It’s not coming from me, but we’re “unpacking” together that which God has delivered to us through His word. As we read through a long section like this, you might think, Wow, that’s a long section. Well, that’s why we’ve got five ways that we are going to look at today. It’s, also, important that we take this journey together.

As I was reading, I was just thinking, Wow; we’re taking a big bite of scripture today, but it’s important to do this together as a church.

HOW CAN WE JOIN TOGETHER IN THE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL?

1. By understanding that it’s a priestly ministry.

Here is the first of five ways on how we can join together in the ministry of the Gospel. The first is this – by understanding that it’s a priestly ministry, understanding that as a church, we are acting as God’s priests in the ministry of the Gospel.

Gary. Where did you see that? Where’d you get that? In verse 16, the apostle Paul is describing his ministry of the Gospel as a priestly service. Do you see that verse 16? “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” That’s the first way that I see that we as a church are to be a gospel church. We’re to see ourselves as having a priestly ministry.

Before I dig into that, let me just mention a couple of words in support. Paul says “priestly service,” then he says, “so that the offering of the Gentiles…” The word, “offering,” is clearly a priestly word. “…may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Again, the priestly word, “sanctified,” made consecrated, sanctified, set apart. This is all priestly language or what you would call temple or tabernacle language.

The apostle Paul is using a word picture here, to say that his ministry is really acting as a “go between” a priest, between God and the Gentile people. When he offers them the Gospel then, and they believe the Gospel, he offers them as a living sacrifice to God. That’s his offering to God. His offering to God is the people that are coming to Christ. He sees it as a priestly service.

I really believe that Paul is giving the example of his ministry to the people of Rome, the believers in Rome, so that they will see that they, too, are involved in this priestly service, this call of the Gospel.

Before we continue, let’s take a note of a couple of things. One is the word, “gospel.” It’s in the text three times. You’ll see it in verse 16, verse 19 and then again in verse 20. We said the old English word for gospel is “God-spiel,” a word about God. The Greek word is “euangelion.” It literally means “good news.” If you see it written out, you’ll see the word, “angel” in the middle of it; “gelion” has a hard “g” in the Greek. The word, “angel,” means “messenger or message.” It means “good message, good news or good word.” If you hear that word in the Greek, “euangelion,” you’ll recognize that the word, “evangelism,” comes from that word. Evangelism means to share the good news.

What is the good news? It’s simply this– God has accomplished what is necessary, through Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. God has accomplished that; Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, He was raised on the third day and lives today. He’s accomplished all of that, which is necessary to save us from our sins. I can say it even more simply – the Gospel, the good news, is this – God is no longer counting our sins against those who believe in Jesus. That’s the gospel. That’s the good news. It’s not about earning; it’s not about being good enough. It’s about Jesus being good enough in your place and you believing in Him, putting your faith in Him. He’s talking about the Gospel. He talks about his priestly service.

Let’s not forget verses 14 and 15, because I started at 16. In verses 14 and 15, Paul is dealing with something that may be what the believers in Rome had been thinking. They’ve been thinking about it for 14 chapters. Paul has spent 11 chapters giving us propositions, all truth about the doctrine of the Gospel. It is heavy stuff. Then, he spends 3.5 chapters giving us a prescription of what it looks like to live out the Gospel. You have to remember that this is a letter. He is coming to the close of the letter and he’s thinking, I have been pretty bold. I probably should mention something to them about that. He says in verse 14, “I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.” He didn’t write this because he was hearing something unsatisfactory about them. He knows he’s being really bold. “Imyself myself am satisfied about you.”

Verse 15, “But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God.” Paul says, “on some points.” He’s very bold on a lot of points. He’s talking to the readers, the believers in Rome, that this letter would have been read before the church in Rome. Then, it was copied and spread around to all of the churches. He didn’t write it because he was unsatisfied with them. In fact, he hasn’t met them yet, but he has heard that they are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. He had actually heard good things about them. Indeed my friends, Aquila and Priscilla used to live among you until Claudius. The Caesar Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome and so I met them in Corinth and I’ve heard good things about you not writing so boldly because I heard bad things about you. In fact, let me tell you why I’m writing. It wasn’t because of anything unsatisfactory. I’m writing to you first of all, boldly, by way of reminder. You see that in verse 15, it’s to remind you of the Gospel. It’s to remind you of all of its implications and how to live according to it. He’s telling us something here about the purpose of preaching.

Do you know what my job is? My job is to, weekly, remind you what Jesus did for you. You get out in the world all week long. It’s not really like you forgot, but you may let it lose its place of priority in your life. It doesn’t matter that you already know it. You come back together to be reminded of it again; to put it back in its proper focus and place.

He says in verse 15, But on some points I have writtento you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God.” Then he says in verse 16, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

The second reason that I wrote so boldly to you is because it’s my job. God gave me this grace, which means, “a gift,: and he’s called me to be the apostle to the Gentiles. If I don’t do what He made me to do then I’m nothing. I didn’t do it because I was dissatisfied with you. I did it because I wanted to remind you and because it’s what I was called to do. I’m just doing what God told me to do.

Notice a couple of things – Paul says in verse 16, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God…” he’s talking about what it looks like to offer up people to the Lord so that they come into faith.

In verse 17, he says, “In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.” . Now, the word, “proud,” usually has a negative connotation in our language today. It could have been translated this way as it is in the NIV translation. That same verse is Romans 15:7 (NIV) “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.” It has a better understanding in modern English. It has the idea of, ‘I glory in the calling that God has given me to share the Gospel with people. I glory in Christ. I don’t glory in myself. I glory in the work, I take glory in the work, I take pride in the work that God has called me to.

Let’s deal with this question – Are you a priest? If somebody like you met somebody new and they ask, ‘Hey, so what do you do for a living?’ You tell them, ‘Well, I’m a priest.’ Here’s what the bible says about you– If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a chosen people.

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The scripture says that you are a royal priesthood. That’s who we are. We represent God to planet earth, telling them, ‘Here’s what God did for us and He wants to do it for you, too. “The church is not the steeple. The church is the people.” We’re the people of God, holy nation, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, representing God to the people of this world. That’s the first way that we’re the Gospel Church.

Here’s the second:

2. By recognizing that it’s a powerful ministry.

By recognizing that it’s a powerful ministry. Do you see what I did in the notes today? We have five “p” words for you today. I’m telling you, this is a good sermon. You had better like this sermon.

Look at verses 18 and 19, 18 “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed.” The power word is “accomplished” by word and deed. Verse 19, “by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.” He’s talking about the power that’s been given to us to share the gospel. It’s a powerful ministry. It has power. The word “accomplished,” that he’s talking about is what God has done in him. He says something here that is pretty amazing. He says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.”

I don’t know what you’ve been talking about since you got to church this morning or since you got up this morning. Maybe , you’re an Astros fan and you’re in a good mood. The Astros won the World series. Maybe, you’re from Philly and you barely made it to church. Maybe, you’re talking about the weather; it’s a beautiful day. Maybe you’re talking about politics because we’re voting on Tuesday. I don’t know what you’ve been talking about. Here’s what Paul tells the church in Rome– I’ve decided that the only thing I’m really going to talk to people about is what Christ has accomplished in me. I’m going to tell people what Jesus has done for me. That’s how I’m going to live. I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to talk about. ‘Hey Paul, did you watch the World Series last night? No, I missed it, but let me tell you what Jesus did for me . Hey Paul, who are you voting for on Tuesday? I’m not sure about that, but let me tell you what Jesus did for me.’

That’s the kind of church that Paul is calling the church at Rome to be. He’s saying, ‘Follow me. This is what it looks like to be the gospel church, so that our main topic, day in and day out is, “Let me tell you what Jesus did for me.” Some people say, ‘I don’t know how to share the gospel.’ Do you know what Jesus did for you? You’re the worldwide expert on that; nobody else knows that story except you. Go tell that story. Paul says that’s the story that I tell. It’s a powerful ministry because a testimony has great power. It’s hard to argue with somebody who says, ‘No, wait a minute. I know what I’m talking about, because I’ve lived it. I’ve experienced it.’

Paul talks about his method here–the method of his sharing and talking about what Christ has done for him. He says,”…what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed.” This is not obedience to the law; he’s not saying, ‘Okay Gentiles, you need to keep these Ten Commandments. I need you to start obeying those.’ That’s not what he’s talking about. When he shares the gospel with someone, they hear it and then he draws them to a place where they obey it.

What does it mean to obey the gospel? It means to place your faith in Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to obey the gospel –to hear it and to obey. It means to do what Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (this means to say it with your mouth, Jesus is Lord) and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s obedience to the gospel. Paul says that that’s what I’ve done and the three ”tools in my toolbox.”

The first one “tool” is in verse 18, “by word and deed,” found in the latter part of verse 18. Paul is saying that I share the gospel by word, but not just by word, but by action. I feed the hungry. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I heal the sick, I take in the homeless, I give clothing to the one who is naked. This is Paul; his gospel word matches his gospel activity. To be a church that follows Paul’s method is that our walk and our talk are identical. That’s the first thing that he wanted the church at Rome to know, is that that’s the method of the power of the gospel–word and deed.

Then, Paul says , “…by the power of signs and wonders…” This is the third “tool.” What’s Paul talking about now? Well, he had a miraculous ministry. The Holy Spirit used Paul to see people have miraculous life change and healing in their lives. I believe that we’re supposed to be the kind of church that sees transformation in people’s lives and marriages healed. For people to trust Christ; they’re coming into the presence of Christ and things are happening in their lives.

Our invitation is, “Come as you are.” Absolutely, but don’t stay that way. Let the love of Christ change you so that you become more like Him.

The third “tool” was “by the power of the Spirit of God.” He is saying, ‘It’s not my power. It’s the power of the Spirit of God that makes the gospel effective through me. That’s what I’m calling the church to.

Paul says in Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus is talking to His disciples right before His ascension. He says that the Holy Spirit will empower you to do this: you’ll have power.

I remember that Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as CRU, gave a definition for successful witnessing. Here is his definition: “Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” You can’t save anybody. If you think that ‘s your job, you’ve misunderstood what it means to share the gospel. To share the gospel means you go out in the power of the Holy Spirit, it means you’re prayed up. You go out and you’re trusting Him for the results. You just lay out the news, the good news about Jesus, and you leave the results up to God because you never know how God’s going to use that ministry.

Will you recognize the power we have, church? When I say “church,” I’m talking about us. Will you recognize the power that you have as gospel representatives?

Here’s the third:

3. By seeing that it’s a pioneering ministry.

I told you this was a good sermon. We are in verses 19 and following. He starts talking about where he’s been. Verse 19, “… —so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;” He’s talking about how, where he’s been, this is where he has been sharing the gospel and fulfilled it. In other words, he has done it. He has completed it.

He goes on in verse 20, and he says, “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already beennamed lest I build on someone else’s foundation.”

Then, he quotes Isaiah 52:12 that those who have never been told of him, will see, and those who have never heard will understand. He’s basically saying, ‘I want to see Isaiah’s prophecy come true in me. I want to tell people about Jesus who have never heard the name Jesus.’ That’s the pioneering spirit that was on Paul. He’s already carried the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum. When we name place names like this, it demands that we do… What do we have to do? We have to see a map; you know I love maps.

Here’s our first map. I have three maps for you today. I told you it was a great sermon. (Pastor Gary points to the map in this section and discusses the map. He shows his first through third missionary journeys.) He goes from Jerusalem to Illyricum for his first missionary journey. He goes up to Glacier too; that’s where he picks up Timothy. On his second missionary journey, he comes up here (points to map) to Ephesus and he goes all the way up here. He goes over to Thessaloniki, Phillipi, Athens, Corinth and Crete. On his third missionary journey, he gets all the way and bumps up against Illyricum. He goes to this whole area now; everything surrounding the Aegean Sea. He’s got Titus down here working on the island of Crete.

Now that he’s got this area covered, he needs a new place to pioneer. He needs to plant some churches in some new places. This is what he’s talking about now. Why do I take the time, other than the fact that I just love maps, to do this? Because the bible is about real people in real places and so you don’t skip over the names . Go look them up because it’s about real people in real places. It’s a pioneering ministry. Paul says that he has completed that; he has fulfilled that.

Let’s read verse 22, “This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.” He has been working around this area of Corinth and Ephesus. It’s taken him most of his life, but he has been wanting to come. Verse 23, “But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you.” Verse 24 says, “I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.” What’s his heart here? He doesn’t want to build on someone else’s foundation.

When I first planted this church, I was, also, going to seminary. When I was in seminary, we had a chapel there on the campus called Binkley Chapel. In the basement, there was a bulletin board that, every week, I would look at. It would have different posters with little tear off tabs with phone numbers. Pastors were needed to fill the pulpit. There would be a date to cover a pastor’s vacation or a church looking for an interim pastor. While I was in seminary, I was looking for opportunities to preach. And so I would tear those tabs off, start making phone calls and book myself some Sundays. My family would get in our little Subaru and we’d go to this church, this little country church on one Sunday and then we would go to another country church the following week. What I started noticing was, I knew I was called, but I didn’t feel like I was fitting in in these different churches because I didn’t feel the calling of being a chaplain to a group of people that were already saved. That’s not the calling I felt on my life. I got kind of confused there for a season. I thought, maybe, I was supposed to be an evangelist. Then, I started reading about church planting and I hit this passage. It broke my heart; ‘lest I build on someone else’s foundation.’ He wanted me to plant a church, not building on someone else’s foundation. So, the church started in my living room with seven people. I say seven– that counts me and Robin. We had a big Sunday. The first time we got together, five people showed up, but that’s how we started. Before,I thought, maybe, I was going to be an evangelist; I had this big idea. It seemed as crazy as the one I came up with before – we’re going to be traveling musicians and share the gospel. That’s what had in my head. But then, I felt like planting a church. That’s how the church started it. I had a sense of what Paul was talking about. I was thinking, ‘How could I be part of a church that would have a door open to people that were far from God, but wanted to hear more about God. A church that would be a gospel centered church.’ That’s who we’ve tried to be for the past thirty years– the kind of church that’s willing to pioneer in order to reach people far from God.

I’ve got another map for you. Paul wants to go to Spain. Here is what the Roman Empire looked like; it basically had everything around the Mediterranean Sea. The apostle Paul is in Corinth right now writing this letter. He first has to take this offering from the Galatians and the Macedonians to Jerusalem because there’s a famine there and the believers are starving. He is going to take money there and as soon as he finishes that, he will be on his way to Rome. He is only going to be stopping off briefly there because they were already saved. He didn’t get the chance to do that with them. He wishes that he could have been there. He is going to stop off and hang out with them for a minute, but he needs their help because he is headed to Spain.

Spain had become a Roman territory until 200 BC, when Rome overthrew the Carthaginians and they overthrew the general named Hannibal and they conquered Southern Spain. Carthage is down here, then, in 19 BC, Caesar Augustus and next all of Spain.

In Paul’s lifetime, Spain was like the end of the known world. It’s like if you go through the Rock of Gibraltar right here you go out into the place where “there be dragons there.” It’s like you might fall off the edge of the world if you go over here. Paul is saying, ‘Look, I’m going to stop off in Rome and I need your help to partner with me to go to Spain, because nobody’s heard the gospel in Spain.’ That’s how Paul thinks; he wants them to help him. He wants them to partner with him. He wants them to help him get to Spain.

Mark 16:15 (NLT) And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Paul is taking that literally – I’m supposed to go to all the world and take the gospel; take the good news to everyone.

Now , we’ve been on several mission trips to Indonesia through the years. We’ve had missionary partners in Indonesia through the years. Some years ago, on my first trip, I visited Indonesia and I met a young woman named Desak who invited me to her home to meet her family one afternoon. She lived in a very humble little house that had a thatched roof, clay walls and a dirt floor. We went into the house and they had us all seated. They brought out coffee and banana chips. They introduced us to the family; her parents had passed away and her older brother was acting as the head of the house. His name was Maday; he didn’t speak English, but his sister, Desak, was very fluent in English. She’s interpreting for us. It just so happened we had a case of bibles in our car and so I took a couple of bibles in. These bibles had Indonesian on one side of the page and English on the other side of the page. And so I handed a bible to Maday, the older brother, and I said to him, “Would you read this aloud?” He could read Indonesian, so he read chapter three of the book of John. He read about how Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again and then Jesus says to him, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” When he got to verse 16, (I was following along in English and I could sense where he was reading in Indonesian) I stopped him and I asked him what he thought of this and he raised his eyes and looked at me. His eyes got really big and he says to me, “I have never heard this before. I’ve never heard this before.” I had to get a grip on myself and not burst into tears, because I thought, Why haven’t you heard this before? But, what a privilege to be here? We began to talk to him about Īsā; that’s how you say the name, Jesus, in Indonesia and Arabic. We began to talk about Jesus and we left him some bibles behind. Desak and Maday didn’t understand what it meant to be believers that day, but we left them the tools behind that they might understand. I pray, to this day, for them, that they’ve come to Christ.

Have you heard of the 10/40 window? It’s the two latitude areas on the map that shows where the greatest number of unreached people live on planet Earth. We need another map if I’m going to talk about latitude. Here’s what it looks like. According to this map, they have a gospel presence in that part of the world where the gospel is being revealed to them and they have access to the gospel. There’s still a great number of unreached people groups. If you look at the latitude on a map that’s in red, that’s where the greatest number. This is where the Muslims, the Hindus and the Buddhists live. That’s an unreached area where people have yet to hear the name of Jesus.

Are we involved? Well, we have two families right now that are our church partners living in Turkey, I can’t name them because we go out online and and it’s not a good idea to reveal names on the internet when you have people working in a closed country. Turkey has one of the greatest numbers of unreached people that have never heard about Jesus. We partner with them; we pray together and support them.

But, you don’t have to go to Turkey; you just have to go next door. If you go next door, you’ll often meet someone that maybe has moved here from another country or maybe they’ve just never heard about what Jesus has done for them.

Here’s the fourth:

4. By grasping that it’s a partnering ministry.

We’ve said that it’s a priestly, powerful ministry and a pioneering ministry, where you take Jesus where no one’s heard. It’s, also, a partnering ministry. Look at verse 24, “I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.” He’s already saying, ‘I have to go to Jerusalem first, but when I come through, I’m going to need your help. I’m asking for your help in advance.’ He does a little segue here. He says, ‘Once I’ve enjoyed your company for a while, hanging out and fellowshiping with you, I know I’m satisfied with you, that you have knowledge, you’re living according to the goodness of the gospel and you’re able to teach each other. What I really need from you is when I come through there, I need you to partner with me for Spain.’ He’s casting a vision for Spain; let’s take the gospel to Spain and Roman believers get ready to help me when I come through.

Then he tells him a story about what he’s going to be doing at present, in verse 26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.” Why is he doing that? Well, there’s a famine in Jerusalem and believers are dying there of hunger. He’s collected money among the churches that he’s already been working in. He’s showing them by example; he’s giving them a vision, by example, of what it looks like to partner for the cause of the Gospel. This is not accidental, he’s not just telling them what he’s doing for no point. He has a point. This is the apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit is speaking through him; he’s telling them the story, so they’ll recognize this is what it looks like to be the church–we take care of each other, we partner together and we collaborate together.

We’re not trying to be the only church in Wilson; we collaborate with other believing churches, gospel believing churches, for the cause of the gospel. Paul is telling them the story, I really believe, in order to give them an example. He says in verse 27, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.” What ? There’s that word, “owe,” again. We picked that up at the end of chapter 13. If you owe taxes, pay taxes, if you honor, pay honor, if you respect, pay respect. Then, in verse eight of chapter 13, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other”

Here’s the word, “owe,” again. He’s talking about how we really owe support to the Jews because Jesus came to us through the Jews. That’s really the case he’s making, “For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.” If they’ve helped us spiritually we should be willing to do the lesser thing because the spiritual thing is the great thing. We should be able to help them materially. Here again, he’s telling them this, as a teaching, because the church in Rome is predominantly Gentile at this time because the Jewish people have been expelled by the Roman Caesar Claudius.

Paul is preparing them how to think about support and how to partner. He says, 28 “When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.” I’m going to come with a spiritual blessing and, by the way, that implies you’re going to help me because I know you’re good people, that you’re good, that you’re well taught and you’re going to support me on the mission to Spain. He’s helping them understand partnering.

Here’s what he says, when he writes to the church at Philippi. He says, Philippians 1:3-5 (ESV) 3 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” He calls us to partner together for the sake of the Gospel so we partner together financially.

We support several local ministries. Just this weekend, we will have a booth at the Whirligig festival. All the proceeds will go to The Hope Station. I understand that we raised over $900 in one day yesterday, selling $3 cotton candy and raffling off some things. We’ve already raised that much. Every penny that we raise goes to the Hope Station to help feed the hungry. We partner with so many locals and internationals for the sake of the Gospel. We’re always looking for Gospel partnerships.

We partner not only financially, but physically, by going and visiting them. Don’t you want to go on an international mission trip? I have not been on an international mission trip since Covid. I usually take one or two trips a year. We would take people; I mean that’s who we are. I hope to get back to that soon, don’t you? If you can’t go, you can give. If you’re unable to give it this time, you can always pray.

During Christmas this season, as every year, we’re going to be taking up our Christmas missions offering. All the proceeds of that goes to our international partners; we know we have one partner in Turkey right now who has been walking because they live in the downtown area, but they need a car. We’re looking to raise some extra money this year to help them get a vehicle this year. This is a family that grew up in our church and was called out of our church. This is us. After all, Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, right? When you’re thinking about gift giving, think about how you’re going to give the best gift you can to Jesus, Who calls us to carry the gospel.

Here is the fifth way:

5. By perceiving that it’s a prayerful ministry.

We’re all the way up to verse 30, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.” To strive together in your prayers to God. He’s calling the church in Rome to pray for him as he finishes this work; to pray for him so he can get up there and be with them and carry the gospel to Spain. He doesn’t want weak-kneed prayers; he wants some striving prayers. He wants them to strive together with him in prayer. He recognizes that he’s risking his life going back to Jerusalem because he has many enemies there. He’s being very specific; he’s very vulnerable here. He’s never met the Roman believers, but he shares a heartfelt prayer request here.

He says, in verse 30, “strivetogether with me in your prayers to God on my behalf 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,” He knows he’s going into the lion’s den, but he’s going there because he feels called.

If you read the book of Acts, you’ll see people coming to Paul and saying, Don’t go to Jerusalem. I had a word from the Lord. If you go to Jerusalem, it’s not going to be good. He goes. I know, but the Lord has told me that’s the road to Rome. I have to go there. Sure enough, he got an all expense paid trip to Rome, albeit in change, because when he goes to Jerusalem, he does get imprisoned and brought before a Roman court. He appeals to Caesar and he’s put aboard a Roman ship and carried to Rome. His ship is shipwrecked, he gets snakebit on a beach and finally ends up in Rome, but when he gets to Rome, he ends up being in house arrest for this long period of time. During this time he’s preaching to Roman soldiers who can’t leave. They are a captured audience because they’re watching over him under house arrest. We read, in the scripture, that he influenced many people that worked in the palace and worked in the Praetorian guard, which was Caesar’s guard that he had at this time in Rome.

Now, we don’t know if he had a fourth trip. We don’t know if he ever made it to Spain. But when I read the pastoral letters, when I read the prison Epistles, when he’s talking to Timothy and Titus, there seems to be something different about him between 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, where I think perhaps he did get to go to Spain. We don’t know for sure, but I think he did.

I think that there are really two imprisonments at Rome and the second one was when Paul was beheaded by the Roman Caesar Nero. On this first trip, though, I think he still got loose there for a while. I’d like to think so; someday when we get to heaven , I’m going to ask Paul, ‘Whatever happened with Spain? Did you get to go?’ Going to Spain would have been like telling the church, ‘I’m going to the ends of the earth, like Jesus told me to do.’ That’s, I’m sure, what Paul wanted to do.

Then, he closes with this prayer, 33 “May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” “May the God of peace,” in verse 33, is Paul’s third benediction in chapter 15. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another…” is in verse 5. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace…”is found in verse 13. He asks for prayer and begins to close in prayer.

He wants them to pray for them. He says in Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” We are to strive together in prayer. If you can’t go, you can give and if you’re not able to give, you can always pray. Besides, prayer is the strongest of the three. Many of us, I think, are called to do all three, as we think about carrying the gospel to those places where people have never heard the name Jesus. Church, we are called to be a gospel church.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this calling on our lives and we pray that it would be so. First of all, I pray for that one that may be here with us today and you have never received the gospel. You’ve never trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior. It would be remiss of me if I didn’t offer you that opportunity right now. So, right in your seat, would you pray with me? I know that the Holy Spirit has been talking to you, that H has desired that you would come to faith in Christ. Would you pray with me? You can pray like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I believe You died on the cross for my sins, You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sin and make me a child of God. I want You as my Lord and Savior. I’m ready to follow You today.” If you’re praying that prayer, believing, the Lord will save you and make you a child of God. Others are here today and you’re a follower of Jesus. As a follower, He’s called you to be a priest. He’s called you to be an ambassador representative of the gospel in this world. Would you say “yes” to that right now? Would you say, “Yes, I want to tell people. I want to be involved with partnering with my church and with other churches, not just in this city, but around the world, to see the Gospel proclaimed to the whole world until everyone has heard.” If you want to be part of that, just say, “I want to be part of that ” to the Lord right now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.