Here we are nearing the end of Paul’s letter to the Romans, and Paul takes some time to offer some personal reflections on his work among the Romans.
As he writes about his work among them, he does not forget the gospel mission to which God has called him.
This sermon is entitled “Paul’s Gospel Mission.”
As we look at Paul’s gospel mission, we’re going to see three aspects of his mission in this passage.
Before we go any further, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Let’s look at the passage together, and then let’s see what the Lord will teach us.
Look at Romans 15:14-21:
14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. My purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God. 18 For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles, 19 by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. 20 My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but, as it is written, Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
Ok, so let’s look at these three aspects of Paul’s gospel mission.
First, we see Paul’s . . .
I. Gospel Encouragement (14)
Don’t you just love encouragement?
Good, godly, genuine encouragement can lift your spirit.
This week I had two pastors who reached out and encouraged me. One said that he thought I was humorous, and the other said that he thought I was I was doing a good job as a pastor. Let me tell you, that little bit of encouragement warmed my soul.
Listen to what Paul says to the Roman Christians in verse 14.
Paul says, “My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.”
Paul doesn’t say to the Romans, “Well, you all are just a bunch of idiots, and you really need some help!” No! He encourages them.
Paul says that the Romans are full of goodness. He says they are filled with knowledge. He says they are able to teach one another.
Paul will go on in just a minute to remind the Romans why he is writing to them and why his mission is important. However, before he does, he wants to reach out to encourage them.
Listen, church: this is not the main point of this passage, but we ought not to miss this reality, either: part of our gospel mission should include encouraging people.
There’s so much discouragement in the world right now, and there has been for thousands of years.
Countries are at war, prices are sky high, there’s about twelve different viruses floating around in our community, our country’s leaders don’t get along . . . there’s lots of discouragement in this world.
However, the encouragement found in the gospel message and in gospel people can blast through the discouragement of the world.
Doesn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ encourage you, church?
Let me take just a moment to encourage you as your pastor:
As a church, you are friendly and welcoming to people. As a church, you care about the well-being of one another. As a church, you care about what the word of God says for your life. As a church, you give when you hear about a need. As a church, you have a reputation for caring about the community. You’re doing great in those areas, and I’m so proud of you.
Take some time this week and think about how you can be a gospel encourager.
Thanksgiving brings together family and friends, and oftentimes, that (unfortunately) brings discouragement. Some of you may have faced that recently. However, going forward, you can be an encourager.
Think about Paul’s Gospel encouragement and seek to be a gospel encourager yourself.
The second part of Paul’s gospel mission that we see is Paul’s . . .
II. Gospel Explanation (15-19)
Notice how Paul starts off verse 15. He says, “Nevertheless . . .”
Paul does think well of the Romans. He does think that they are smart, good, and helpful to one another.
However, he also thinks that he has some important information to share with them.
You see, Paul makes it clear that God, by His grace, has called him to a particular type of gospel explanation that is specifically for the benefit of the church in Rome.
Paul says, “I have written to remind you more boldly on some points.”
He says, “I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”
Paul believes that he is called to explain the Gospel to the Romans and to others.
Notice also that Paul doesn’t think that there’s anything special about him in and of himself. What is special about Paul is what God is doing in and through Paul.
It’s not about Paul; it’s about the grace of God.
Paul says, “ . . . because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus.”
He says, “I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God.”
He adds, “For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed.”
As Paul continues to clarify, he feels that his calling was specifically to explain the gospel message to the Gentile (non-Jewish) people.
However, even though Paul’s main focus was on the Gentiles, what we end up with in Romans is one of the most beautiful explanations of the gospel of Jesus Christ ever recorded in human history.
Church, as gospel people, we must not only be open to having the gospel explained to us, we must also be open to explaining the gospel to other people.
What God did through the power of His Holy Spirit in the life of Paul, the other apostles, and countless men and women through the centuries has produced a fountain of wisdom and knowledge that gives us a greater view of the goodness, beauty, mercy, grace, and majesty of God.
The gospel has been beautifully explained to us and to many others throughout the world.
So also, we must explain the wonders of God as Paul explained the wonders of God. We must explain the gospel.
The gospel mission includes the gospel explanation.
As Paul said elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2: “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
The gospel mission involves pointing people to the gospel message. Paul said that he had come in part to explain the gospel to the church of Rome and to reach the Gentiles with the gospel message.
That takes us to the last aspect of Paul’s gospel mission in this passage. Finally, we see the . . .
III. Gospel Expansion (19-21)
Look again at verses 19-21:
19 by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. 20 My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but, as it is written, Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
Now, let’s first be clear that there’s nothing inherently wrong with proclaiming the gospel somewhere where it has been proclaimed before (if that’s the case, we all need to get out of Bartow). However, Paul states that his calling was to expand the gospel beyond the regions where it had already been proclaimed at the time that he wrote the book of Romans.
Paul pointed out that, by God’s grace, his ministry had reached all throughout the regions between Jerusalem and Illlyricum.
This expansion of the gospel was huge. The gospel had traveled a long way (show map).
This is like moving from modern-day Israel and Palestine, up through Syria, up and over through Turkey, over through Greece and Macedonia, and into modern-day Croatia and Bosnia.
This is a huge gospel expansion, yet Paul is not done. We’ll see in the weeks to come that Paul spoke about the continued expansion of the gospel.
Paul understood that a gospel mission involves gospel expansion.
The person on mission for the gospel believes Jesus when He said in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The person on mission for the gospel understands that heaven will be filled with people caught up in the gospel expansion. As Revelation 7:9-10 says, “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
When we are on a gospel mission, like Paul was on a gospel mission, we will have a heart for the expansion of the gospel, not only in Bartow but to every reach of our earth.
When we are on a gospel mission, we will do our part to give, go, send, pray, and teach about the expansion of the gospel.
So, Paul was on a gospel mission, and that involved the expansion of the gospel.
Let this bottom line summarize what we are learning in this passage today:
Bottom Line: Paul was determined to fulfill his gospel mission.
Paul encouraged the Romans. Yet, he knew that God had called him to a specific mission.
Part of Paul’s mission involved explaining the power of the gospel to the believers in Rome, and part of that mission involved expanding the reach of the gospel throughout the ancient world.
Paul had confidence in God’s call in his life, and he was determined to fulfill that mission.
What about you?
To what mission has God called you?
Are you confident in that call?
Are you determined in that call?
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Ask God to make your gospel mission clear.
The same Holy Spirit of God that compelled Paul and equipped Paul can call you, compel you, and equip you.
So, spend some time asking God to make your gospel mission clear.
All of us are called to be on mission with the gospel. However, God may be calling you to something very specific. Are you open to listening?
If you’re open, take this next challenge:
Weekly Challenge #2 – Commit to live out some aspect of your gospel mission.
Commit this week to live out some of that which you know God is calling you to do.
We know, minimally, that God is calling you to encourage others in the gospel, explain the gospel to others, and expand the gospel. How can you do that this week?
How can you be more faithful to what God has called you to do?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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