Gospel Unity and Gospel Mission Come From Our Hope In Christ Romans 15:8-21

Good Morning FE, Psalms 122 says “I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord”, I am glad to be here and we are glad that you are here with whether in person or watching on line, welcome. Next week we will take a break from our series in Romans and start a new series entitled “Worth It” in regards to Stewarding well what the Lord has given us. We will be in this series for three weeks and then we will come back to our Romans series.

This week we are in Romans 15:8-21, if you remember Pastor Alfredo’s message from last week, when learned that as a church we should all be pursuing unity, because this bring glory to God.

Romans 15:7

English Standard Version Chapter 15

7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God

7 Por tanto, aceptaos los unos a los otros, como también Cristo nos aceptó para gloria de Dios.

We are to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God.

Paul is continuing the thought of unity in our passage this morning lets read

Romans 15:8-12

English Standard Version Chapter 15

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

j“The root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

in him will the Gentiles hope.”

8 Pues

Paul is continuing his thought on unity, which the first reason to person unity was given last week, which is for the glory of God. In vs 8 Paul begins by giving us another reason to pursue unity, which is based on the reason Christ came.

Let’s look at his argument, First Christ became a servant to the circumcised, meaning the people of Israel to show God’s truthfulness. Christ came to the people of Israel because to prove that God is not a liar, to prove that what God promised will come to pass. When we read through the Old Testament read about the promised one who would come and make things right, these promises were given to Adam and Eve, when God said the seed of the woman would crush the serpents head, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that through their lineage the nations would be Blessed, to David, that someone from the line of David will sit on the throne forever. The Psalms and Prophets are filled with the Lord’s promise to send a savior, a redeemer, who could transform us from the inside out. The Father sent the son so that the world would know God keeps promises. The Lord is a promise keeper. Therefore we can trust him, we can trust his word, because he is faithful to complete it.

Paul continues to say that Christ came to Israel to fulfill his promises to Israel and then he says so that or in order that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. If you remember all the way back in Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes to the Jew only… NO, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Christ came to Israel to fulfill his promise to Israel, and part of the promise to Israel is so that the nations will be blessed. The plan of God always involved blessing the nations through Christ, this is the plan. Christ mission to rescue the Gentiles wasn’t plan B because the people of Israel rejected Christ. Christ mission was to bless the nations by keeping his promise to the people of Israel and that through the people of Israel the nations would be blessed through Christ and his salvific work for both Jew and Gentile.

To prove this Paul quotes OT, passages and there are hundreds of passages Paul could have chosen to prove his point, but Paul selects passages from each division of the Old Testament. For the Jewish person in Paul’s day the divisions of the OT would be known as the Law, The Writings and the Prophets. Paul quotes passages from Deuteronomy, 2nd Samuel, Psalms, Isaiah, and I believe Paul does this to show the unity of the plan of God throughout the OT was to bless the nations through Christ who would come from the people of Israel. The goal was always to unite the Jew and Gentile under one banner, known as the church with Christ as the head because

Christ is Both Our Hope and Our Unifier

Christ is the hope of the nations, of all the nations including Israel. When we say hope, biblical hope is much different than the way we use the word today. Biblical hope comes with a certainty, Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, in other words you hope in Christ because we know he will fulfill his promises. We know there no other name by which anyone can be saved, it is Christ and Christ alone. He is our hope… and he is our unifier, Christ is who brings us together to form his church. A church who is made of people ransomed, redeemed, saved by God, people from every tribe and language and people and nation and one day all these thousands and thousands of people people will be gathered around the throne proclaiming with a load voice

English Standard Version Chapter 5

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing…To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!

English Standard Version Chapter 5

El Cordero que fue inmolado digno es de recibir el poder, las riquezas, la sabiduría, la fortaleza, el honor, la gloria y la alabanza…Al que está sentado en el trono, y al Cordero,

because Christ is our Hope and he is our Unifier.

In verse 13 Paul takes a moment to Pray for the church in Rome and says

Romans 15:13

English Standard Version Chapter 15

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Y el Dios de la esperanza os llene de todo gozo y paz en el creer, para que abundéis en esperanza por el poder del Espíritu Santo.

This is one of the great prayers of the Bible, we should pray this for each other, pray this over all of our Fellowship campuses. Let’s not read over this prayer to quickly, or we will miss the point of the prayer.

Paul prays that the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. Paul prayer is for the people to be full of joy and peace, this is more than happiness, Paul is praying for the people of Rome to be happy, Paul is praying that in every situation, wether good or bad, that God of hope fill them with joy and peace, Paul know hard times, he knows that ay any minute Rome could come and imprison the Christian, Paul says fill them with Joy and Peace, the same Paul who suffered is the same Paul who said rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice, is the same Paul who prays for a peace the surpasses all understanding.

The key is he is not just praying for joy and peace, but joy and peace in believing. Believing what? Paul has been talking about God fulfilling his promises in Christ. When Paul says “in believing” I believe he is talking about believing Christ and the promises he gives us in his word. Jesus said, “ in this world you will have trouble, Take heart, I have overcome the world” Take heart, have joy, have peace, I have overcome the world. Believe the promises of God written in the Bible, in them you will discover they will bring joy and peace.

Paul prayer continues, may the God of hope fill you with joy in peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. The purpose of Paul’s prayer is the God provide joy and peace in believing the promises of God so that through the power of the Spirit we may abound in hope. The question to ask is how does the Spirit use joy and peace in God’s promises to help us abound in hope. I found that I have gotten older, my hope in God has increased, my joy and peace have increased and part of the reason is I became a believer at 16, which means I have a history of 34 years serving the Lord. When I look at my life and can see the times I failed and the Lord was faithful to continue his work in me, I can see the times where we struggled and the Lord was faithful to provide, I can see all the times the Lord has been faithful in my life through the good, the bad and the ugly and the Holy Spirit uses the Lord’s faithfulness to provide hope, so we can abound in hope. Ultimately what we need to understand is that

Joy, Peace, Faith and Hope is a Supernatural Act of God in our lives.

Which is why we need to pray this over our lives, over our families over our church, over all our campuses because we need the Lord to provide joy, peace, faith and hope in our lives because only God can do it.

After Paul prays for the church in Rome, he transitions from unity to missions. Listen to what Paul tells the church in Rome,

Romans 15:14-21

English Standard Version Chapter 15

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. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder,

English Standard Version Chapter 15

14 En cuanto a vosotros, hermanos míos, yo mismo estoy también convencido de que vosotros estáis llenos de bondad, llenos de todo conocimiento y capaces también de amonestaros los unos a los otros.15 Pero os he escrito con atrevimiento sobre algunas cosas[g], para así hacer que

Aquellos a quienes nunca les fue anunciado acerca de Él, verán, y los que no han oído, entenderán.

We have to remember Paul has not visited Rome and has only met a few people from the church of Rome but he has heard many good reports, which Paul commends them for, they are full of goodness and knowledge and are able to disciple one another.

But then he says there are somethings I had remind you and spoke boldly to you. Which after reading Romans we can all say ouch, as Alfredo mentioned last week. There are things I was reminded about as I read Romans, but that is the beauty of the Bible, the Holy Spirit uses it to speak to us as encouragement and correction, for equipping and reproof.

Paul continues,

English Standard Version Chapter 15

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

English Standard Version Chapter 15

por la gracia que me fue dada por Dios, 16 para ser ministro de Cristo Jesús a los gentiles, ministrando a manera de sacerdote[h] el evangelio de Dios, a fin de que la ofrenda

Paul was chosen by God to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul uses the imagery of priest again from Romans 12, and Paul is referring to this idea of presenting your whole life all that you do as a living sacrifice, as an offering of thanksgiving to God for the salvation he has given to us. Paul is saying because of the hope I have in Christ given to me by God, I present my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles as an offering of thanksgiving for what you have done in me because it is all from you and for you.

This is the mindset we need to have when we are serving in the church, when we are at our jobs, when we are with our families, Lord everything I do, for my church, at work, for my family is offering of thanksgiving for what you have done for me.

Paul continues that his ministry to the Gentiles was done

English Standard Version Chapter 15

—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;

English Standard Version Chapter 15

en palabra y en obra, 19 con el poder de señales y prodigios, en el poder del Espíritu de Dios; de manera que desde Jerusalén y por los alrededores hasta el Ilírico he predicado en toda su plenitud el evangelio de Cristo.

Here is one of those passages where many people miss the point because they focus on the phrase “by the power of signs and wonders”, and the conversation turns to signs and wonders and everyone misses the point, what is Paul’s point? Paul’s point is everything I did as an Apostle to the Gentiles I did it as a thanksgiving offering to God for what he has done for me, this is his first point, his second point is that everything I did, whether it was teaching, serving, or miracles, everything I did, it wasn’t me but it was the power of the Spirit working through me to proclaim the work of Christ among the nations, Paul’s focus isn’t the signs and wonders, Paul’s focus is that gospel of Christ being preached among the nations. This is why Paul says

English Standard Version Chapter 15

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, 21 but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand.”

English Standard Version Chapter 15

20 De esta manera me esforcé en anunciar el evangelio, no donde Cristo

Paul made it his mission and ambition to preach Christ among the nations, he wanted to go to the places where Christ has not been named, the island Pastor John talked about many weeks ago that has no Gospel presence, Paul would have said, I am going there because for Paul,

Hope in the Gospel of Christ is the Fuel For Missions.

Hope in the Gospel, was the fuel for Gospel advancement, it was the fuel for him to share the Gospel. It should be our fuel to share the Gospel as well, wether that is with our neighbor or in Italy, Africa or Honduras, hope in the Gospel of Christ should be the fuel for the Gospel.

Hope in the Gospel of Christ is the fuel for missions and I know it was fuel for Bill and Ann Parkinson, throughout there years of ministry. Bill Parkinson was one of the founding pastors of Fellowship Bible Church, and I have had the privilege of serving along side him on the Teaching and Doctrine Elder team for the years I have been serving as an elder. There are some men I meet and I as I get to know them, watch them, see them serve and teach, encourages me and builds a desire in me to serve God and I think God help me be like him because he is like Christ. For me, Bill Parkinson is one of those men and today we want to honor him, for his many years of service to the body of Christ known as Fellowship Bible Church, and we praise God for all the work the Holy Spirit accomplished through the lives of Bill and Ann Parkinson may God be glorified with their work and lives.