Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Missionaries must desire God to prosper their work, otherwise they would not endeavor to spread the Gospel while enduring the challenges and hardships that ministry brings.

However, this good success in their ministries will evade the most apt servant unless he aptly secures the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

Upon coming through his journey to the place where reflection, rest and fellowship prepares him in anticipation of the next leg of his mission, and having a chance to look back, seeing the good successes of answered prayer, spiritual growth and the full spreading of the Gospel, no temporal happiness compares to the joy and rejoicing of living a life well-spent for the Savior.

At the outset, it is important to observe the clear contextual division that lies between verses thirteen and fourteen of this fifteenth chapter of Romans.

A brief overview of Romans shows that this tremendous treatise on Soteriology known to the modern believer as "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans" has laid forth the Gospel up to this point by Paul in chapters one through fifteen.

This is the Gospel of which Paul was "not ashamed" (1:16), and is absolutely needed by all sinful and guilty mankind (chs.

2-3).

This is the Gospel that is available by faith, whereby the sinner can have the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to him (ch.

4).

This is the Gospel which brings the tremendous benefits of justification before an Almighty God (ch.

5), and guides the believer on how to live in the Spirit rather than the flesh (chs.

6-8).

This is the Gospel of which Paul yearns for the day that his kinsmen will receive it to the saving of their souls through Jesus, the Messiah (chs.

9-11).

This is the Gospel whereby the saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, and desirous to love the Lord who redeemed them through loving service, are imparted such certain spiritual gifts as the Holy Spirit provides them for ministry within the local church, the body of Christ, of which they are members (chs.

12-14).

It is this Gospel that Paul was called to travel abroad, taking it to the Gentiles by the will of God as His missionary church planter.

It will be the scope of this project to discern Paul's mission as understood from an exegetical and expositional pursuit of Romans Chapter Fifteen, and verses fourteen through the end of the chapter.

Having discerned Paul's mission, it will be noted how he planned to carryout that mission, taking the Gospel to the furthest corners of the world in his day and time, and to take care as to what requests he had for prayer regarding his ministry in the Gospel, with an outlining overview of who he considered to be his most beloved partners in that ministry, while gleaning appropriate applications for how to approach missions within our own churches based off of his example.

I.

The Missionary's Mission (Rom.

15:14-21)

Paul here in verses fourteen through sixteen draws the believers at Rome, and believers today, to consider the work of the Holy Spirit when it comes to ministry.

A. Confident in Handling the Scriptures (Rom.

15:14)

“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

(Romans 15:14, AV)

Paul's words as duly ordained to be an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and under the moving of the Holy Spirit of God, by way of application encourage us today to be mindful of the place that the Word of God has in our lives when it comes to ministry.

Paul was confident that the Roman Christians whom he loved were able to take the Scriptures, and remind each other of what God desires.

The "knowledge" that Paul is confident the believers at Rome have a good handle on is that "'knowledge' [which] is the understanding of the Christian faith and is particularly related to the capacity for instruction reflected on in the next clause."

[John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol.

2, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 209.]

A proper handling of the Scriptures will result in a firm grasp of what G. Campbell Morgan called "The Fourfold Commission" in Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:48-49, and John 20:21-23.

His argument is that there is a danger in only seeing one aspect of Christ's Commission, when four different Gospel writers have given us each their respective perspectives.

With the presupposition that there are neither conflicts nor contradictions in each of these four evangelists, Missionary Manifesto is understood in its fulness only when all four are considered in their presentation of Christ's Commission.

Consider Morgan's eloquent synopsis:

It is as we discover the distinctions between these records that we also discover the harmony of the commission.

Each is related to the Person of Christ, and each emphasizes one supreme value thereof.

The King sends us to proclaim His royalty.

The Servant calls us to coöperation in His sacrificial service.

The Perfect Man calls us to demonstrate the possibility of perfection through His victory won in our lives.

God manifest, sends us forth to exhibit “the excellencies of Him” Who has called us “out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

[G.

Campbell Morgan, The Missionary Manifesto (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909), 23.]

B. Careful to Communicate from the Field (Rom.

15:15a)

“Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,” (Romans 15:15, AV)

Even though Paul was confident that they could minister to each other the Word of God in Rome, he also knew that God's grace through his words from the field could be used to help them remember what it was that God wants to accomplish in and through them.

C. Ministry Focused on the Gospel (Rom.

15:15b-17)

1. Need for Grace to Give the Gospel (Rom.

15:b)

“Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,” (Romans 15:15, AV)

The missionary's source of power must come "by the power of the Spirit of God."

It is this same source of power that Paul encouraged the Believers in Thessalonica in by reminding them, and believers today that, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

God is faithful even when mankind, including His children, are not, and it is God’s part to call His servants.

However, His servants sometimes offer excuses like Jeremiah and Moses offered while forgetting that God is able to do in us what He’s called us to do.

For example, Jeremiah offered God two different excuses as to why he could not do God’s will in Jeremiah 1:6, “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.”

His excuses were inability, “I cannot speak,” and inexperience, “for I am a child.”

Moses, on the other hand, offered God five different excuses as to why he could not do God’s will: First, he felt that he was simply not good enough when in Exodus 3:11 he replied to God “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Secondly, Moses felt that he just was not smart enough as we read in Exodus 3:13, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?

what shall I say unto them?”

The third excuse that he gave was that he did not think he was believable enough when in Exodus 4:1 he answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.”

The fourth, and possibly most infamous excuse was that Moses did not feel that he was eloquent enough as seen in Exodus 4:10, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

Then, when all else had failed, Moses attempted to discolor his own résumé before God, by saying that he did not think himself qualified enough in Exodus 4:13, “And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.”

Yet, despite all of this, Moses’ excuses only angered the Lord, as seen in Exodus 4:14, “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses...”

The boldness of Paul in this, his defence, pulls back the veil exposing the true framework and foundation, or skeleton upon which Paul's entire ministry and mission is framed, namely, God's grace:

It is all-important to note that the main apology resides in the next clause and in what follows in verse 16.

It is only because of the grace given him of God that he could dare to write as he did.

This is characteristic of Paul.

It is in pursuance of divine commission and the enduement with grace which belongs to it that he exercises his ministry (cf. 1 Cor.

9:16; Eph.

3:7–9).

[John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol.

2, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 210.]

2. Need of Peoples to Hear and Respond to the Gospel (Rom.

15:16)

“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.”

(Romans 15:16, AV)

As seen from this verse, all that is done in missions must be centered around the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The verse begins with a phrase denoting Paul's goals or purpose in ministry (εἰς τὸ with the infinitive εἶναι).

His ministry was by Christ, unto the nations, in a sense, in a priestly capacity...

[When he defines his ministry as “ministering the gospel of God” the apostle uses a word occurring nowhere else in the New Testament which may properly be rendered “acting as a priest”.

John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol.

2, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 210.]

...taking the Good News, resulting in (ἵνα with the Subjunctive mood of γίνομαι) God's good pleasure through the lost being made holy, particularly through them trusting Christ for salvation, and then yoking together with God's called-out-assembly (His church) to be sanctified from the world through the work of the Holy Spirit.

As Paul has discussed the importance of having both God, specifically the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and His Word, that is, as a missionary who is mindful of both the Scriptures and the Savior for whom he ministers, Paul now draws the believers at Rome to consider the great rejoicing that comes from being involved in the things of God, particularly as it pertains to mission work.

3. Need to Give Glory to Christ (Rom.

15:17)

“I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.” (Romans 15:17, AV)

It is a telling observation whether or not a missionary deflects glory to Jesus through what God is doing.

A minister who appears to boast about his accomplishments apart from accrediting the Lord is not a missionary who is currently worthy of financial support, but needs to mature in his walk before going to the field, lest he be setting himself and the churches who support him for failure.

D. Strategy in Mission Work (Rom.

15:18-20)

1. Aims in Mission Work - Obedience to God's Word (Rom.

15:18)

“For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,” (Romans 15:18, AV)

The missionary must be submitted to the power of God if he is to see the people group to which he has been called be fully permeated through and through with the Gospel.

Without God's power, the Word will most likely not find free course.

2. Source of Power in Mission Ministry (Rom.

15:19a)

“Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

(Romans 15:19, AV)

The impact of the missionary is that like to casting a stone into a body of water.

The spiritual impact will naturally resonate from the epicenter of his ministry location, rippling through as far as God wills it to make waves.

3. Goal of Mission Impact - Fully Preaching the Gospel (Rom.

15:19b)

Paul's words here are of great encouragement to the missionary.

How will he know when he has met with good success?