Romans 1:13-15
Jon Gruss
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 28:09
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· 254 viewsGrace was given, grace must be extended. The gospel is not just for salvation it is for day to day living.
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Intro
Intro
Many Preachers have intros
adversity
shared goals / enemies
What is your best experience with Christian fellowship?
Are you ready to hear
mission trip
service project
church picnic
I am eager to preach!
What do these two have in common, Christians and Soldiers?
first century church
Roman empire / persecution / evangelism
READ SCRIPTURE
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Rom 1.8-
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Romans
PRAY
S.T.A.R.T.
Solemnly praise and recognize the greatness of our God and Savior connected to the Biblical text being preached
God our Father it is only though Jesus Christ that we can come to you. We thank you for all these who are here this morning and for those who would be here with us if they had not been now prevented. We pray for those who are prevented Father not because of physical need but because of a spiritual one. We pray for all those who are not here today not because they cannot make it but because they do not know you. We praise you God that this blessed work Paul speaks of is your work, that his harvest is your harvest. We praise you that this gospel Paul preached to the Romans is also for us, for our loved ones, for our enemies.
Touch upon the subject of corporate sin and confess any shortcomings the body has committed related to the Biblical text to be preached
God we confess to you our sin of complacency, and comfort. We confess to you our sin of unbelief and in-submission. We confess our sin of lukewarmness and repent from our lack of zeal.
Ask God to help the body/local church to hear and apply the truths of the Biblical text to be preached
God will you help us, will you forgive us, will you renew and remake us after your own heart oh God. Impress upon us this day our obligations to you and change our hearts from straining to submission, and from erring to eagerness.
Review and remind the audience of the key related passages to the Biblical text being preached
LORD as we open Your Holy Word to , will you open also our hearts. Amen
Transition to the opening of the sermon and the Biblical text to be preached
Text
Text
What makes the soldiers in those old war movies so close with each other?
brotherhood
adversity
shared goals / enemies
What is your best experience with Christian fellowship?
potluck
mission trip
service project
church picnic
What do these two have in common, Christians and Soldiers?
first century church
Roman empire / persecution / evangelism
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
You Christian are in debt
Thankful for them
Are you eager to pay it?
thus far have been prevented
What is hindering you from doing so?
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.” 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.
in order that I may reap some harvest among you
Debts Must Be Payed
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
God is sovergine over all things and therefore we must rest in His time and plans for our lives.
as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Romans 13.8
I am under obligation
Debts Must Be Payed
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Everyone is in Debt
So I am eager
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
A Debt One Can Never Repay
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
ESVOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
ESVLove does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
to preach the gospel
Believers should be Eager to Serve God
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
to you also who are in Rome.
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Beware False Eagerness
When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.
-EBC Romans
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Romans through Galatians B. Paul and the Church at Rome (1:8–15)
How heartwarming is the apostle’s attitude toward his obligation! Instead of considering it a burden he must bear, a duty he must carry out, he is “eager” to fulfill it.
-John Stott
The Message of Romans 3. Paul and Evangelism (1:14–17)
The reason these affirmations are so striking is that they are in direct antithesis to the attitude of many in the contemporary church. People nowadays tend to regard evangelism as an optional extra and consider (if they engage in it) that they are conferring a favour on God; Paul spoke of it as an obligation.
The New American Commentary: Romans 2. Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome (1:8–15)
“Obligation to him who died produces obligation to those for whom he died.”
Motivation for evangelism
Synopsis
I THINK Paul might have used these words as his motto. We had once a Saxon king called Ethelred the Unready. Here we have an apostle who might be called Paul the Ready. The Lord Jesus no sooner called to him out of heaven, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” than he answered, “Who are You, Lord? “ Almost directly after, his question was, “Lord, what will You have me to do?” He was no soon- er converted than he was ready for holy service and, “straightway, he preached Christ” in the syna- gogues at Damascus. All through his life, whatever happened to him, he was always ready. If he had to speak to crowds in the street, he had the fitting word, or if to the elite upon Mars’ Hill, he was ready for the philosophers. If he talked to the Pharisees, he knew how to address them and when he was brought before the Sanhedrim, and perceived the Pharisaic and Sadducean elements in it; he knew how to avail himself of their mutual jealousies to help his own escape. Watch him before Felix, before Festus, before Agrippa—he is always ready—and when he came to stand before Nero, God was with him and deliv- ered him out of the mouth of the lion. If you find him on board ship, he is ready to comfort men in the storm, and when he gets on shore, a shipwrecked prisoner, he is ready to gather sticks to help to make the fires. At all points he is an all-round man and an all-ready man—always ready to go wherever his Master sends him, and to do whatever his Lord appoints him.
Evangelism arises from a natural response to the grace of God, a concern for those who have yet to hear the good news and a desire to be faithful to the great commission to bring the good news to the ends of the earth. Evangelism is guided and directed by the Holy Spirit.
Motives for evangelism
In talking at this time about Paul’s readiness, I shall, first, dwell for a little while upon the state of Paul’ s mind, as indicated by his declaration, “I am ready.” Secondly, I shall show that this state of mind arose from excellent principles. And, thirdly, I shall point out that this readiness produces admirable results wherever it is to be found.
Recognizing God’s call
I. First, let us consider THE STATE OF PAUL’S MIND which enables him to say, “I am ready.”
(ESV) — 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,
I shall refer you to four passages where he expresses his readiness. The first is our text. Here we have Paul’s readiness to work. “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome, also.” He had preached the gospel throughout a great part of Asia. He had crossed over into Europe, he had proclaimed the Word through Greece—and if ever an opportunity should occur for him to get to the capital of the world, whatever might be the danger to which he would be exposed—he was prepared to go. He was ready to go anywhere for Jesus, anywhere to preach the gospel, anywhere to win a soul, anywhere to comfort the people of God! “I am ready”; there is no place to which Paul was not ready to go. He was ready to make a journey into Spain and if he did not come to this island of ours, which is a matter of question, undoubtedly he was ready to have gone to the utmost isles of the sea, and to lands and rivers unknown, to carry his Master’s mighty Word! Are we as ready as Paul was to go an- ywhere for Jesus, or do we feel that we could only work for Christ at home? Dare we go to the United States, or to Australia, or into some heathen land? Oh, may God keep us always on tiptoe, ready to move if the cloud moves, and equally ready to stay where we are if the cloud moves not!
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If Paul went to Rome, he would be going into the lion’s mouth, but he was ready for that, for lions had no kind of terror for him. He had fought with beasts at Ephesus. In spirit he had died in the mouth of the lion many a time, counting not his life dear to him. I wish we were ready for all danger, all slander, all contumely, and all poverty, all of anything that it might cost us to preach Christ where He is not
(ESV) — 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
(ESV) — 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
(ESV) — 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
(ESV) — 1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
Volume 38 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 1
(ESV) — 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
A divine compulsion
2 Paul, the Ready Sermon #2285
(ESV) — 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
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(ESV) — 9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
known. The apostle was ready to go anywhere with the gospel, but he was not ready to preach another gospel—no one could make him ready to do that! He was not ready to hide the gospel, he was not ready to tone it down, and he was not ready to abridge it or to extend it. He said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” As to the matter of preaching the gospel, Paul was always ready for that! He kept not back any one of its truths, nor any part of its teaching. Even if it should bring ridicule and contempt up- on him, though it should be to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, Paul would say, “As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel” to them all. He did not always feel fit for the work—he did not always find the same openings, or the same freedom in speech—but he was always ready to preach wherever the Lord gave him the opportunity.
(ESV) — 8 The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
(ESV) — 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
If you will kindly turn to Acts 21:13, you will read, in the second place, of Paul’s readiness to suf- fer. He says, “I am ready not to be bound, only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Je- sus.” This is, perhaps, a greater thing than the former one—to be ready to suffer is more than to be ready to serve. To some of us it has become a habit to be ready to preach the gospel, but here was a man who was ready to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus—so ready that he could not be dissuaded from it. He might preach the gospel, but why must he go to Jerusalem? The entire world was before him—why must he go to that persecuting city? Everybody told him that he would have bonds and imprisonment and, perhaps, death—but he cared nothing about all that! He said, “I am ready, I am ready.”
A God-given responsibility
Beloved friends, are we ready to be scoffed at, to be thought idiots, to be put down among old- fashioned fossils? Perhaps so. Are we ready, if we should be required to do so, to lose friends for Christ’s sake, to have the cold shoulder for Christ’s sake? Perhaps so. Are we also ready, if it is the Lord’s will, to go home, to be carried upstairs and to lie there for the next three months? Are we as ready as that poor woman who said, “The Lord said to me, ‘Betty, mind the house, look after the chil- dren,’ and I did it. By-and-by, He said, ‘Betty, go upstairs, and cough 12 months.’ Shall I not do that, also, and not complain, for it is all that I can do?” “I am ready.” Do you remember what is on the seal of the American Baptist Missionary Society?—An ox with a plow on one side and a halter on the other, ready for either—ready to serve, or ready to suffer. You have not come to the highest style of readiness till you are ready for whatever the will of God may appoint for you! Unreadiness from this point of view is very common, but it shows unsubdued human nature. It is a relic of rebellion, for when we are fully sanctified—when every thought is brought into subjection to the mind of God—then the cry is not, “As I will,” but, “As You will!”
(ESV) — 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.
Ah, dear friends, while I am talking very feebly to you, I should not wonder but what you are saying to yourselves, “This is above us as yet—we shall need much more teaching of the Holy Spirit before we are ready for unknown sufferings, for lonely sufferings, for suffering that seems to have no good in it, useless suffering, for being put on the shelf, for being laid aside from the holy services of God’s house, and from the little works that once we were able to do for Christ. Are you ready? Can you answer, “Ready, yes, ready”? So it should be with you if you belong to Christ. And so it was with Paul.
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The third passage I must now quote is not exactly the same in words, but it means the same as the others. It tells us of Paul’s readiness to do unpleasant work. I am afraid many of God’s servants fall short here. The passage is in 2 Corinthians 10:6—“And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedi- ence, when your obedience is fulfilled.” The church at Corinth had sunk into a very sad condition. It was a church that did not have any minister. It had an open ministry and nobody knows what mischief comes of that kind of thing. Paul recommended them to try what a minister could do for them, for he said, “I beseech you, brethren, (you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints), that you submit yourselves unto such.” They were too gifted for that and everybody wanted to speak. When a church is all mouth, what becomes of the body? If it were all mouth, it would simply become a vacuum—nothing more—and the church in Corinth became very much that. It was nobody’s business to administer discipline, for it was every- body’s business, and what is everybody’s business is nobody’s business, as we well know! So no disci- pline was administered, and the church became what we call, “all sixes and sevens.” It stands in the Scriptures forever as a warning against that method of church government, or, rather, of no church gov- ernment at all.
(ESV) — 7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
(ESV) — 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
(ESV) — 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
A desire to win the lost
2 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 38
Sermon #2285 Paul, the Ready 3
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(ESV) — 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,
(ESV) — 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul, when he went among these people, determined to administer discipline, and to try to put things right. He was not going to Corinth with a sword, or with any carnal weapon, or with anything of unkind- ness or hasty temper. But he was going with the Word of God. He wrote, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” And he meant to go among the Corinthian professors and pull down the stronghold of heathen vice that had entered the church to such an extent that even at the Lord’s Table some of them were drunk! Paul meant to deal honestly with all who were dishonoring the name of Christ. Now, dear friends, I speak especially to brothers whom God has put into the ministry, or put into office in the church—are you ready for this unpleasant duty? Oh, it costs some of us a great deal to say a strong thing! Perhaps we cannot say it at all without getting into a temper—and then we had better not say it at all! It is not easy to have firmness in the language combined with sweetness in the manner of uttering it. It is easy to congratulate friends. It is not difficult to condemn them in the gross—but it is another think to speak personally and faithfully to each erring one, and to be assured in our own souls that, as far as we have any responsibility in the matter, we will not tolerate an Achan in the camp, and will not have evil done knowingly in the house of God. It should be our endeavor, as God has made us overseers, not to overlook things that are evil, but really to oversee everything that is committed to our charge, and to try to set right whatever is wrong.
(ESV) — 1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
(ESV) — 1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
(ESV) — 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Is it not the case with you who are private members of churches—do you not, sometimes, find it dif- ficult to rebuke sin? Even profane swearing will come under the notice of many Christian people with- out a word of rebuke from them. They say they thought it best to hold their tongue—you mean you thought it easiest for yourselves! Sometimes known wickedness comes before the eyes of Christians and they excuse themselves, and say, “We did not like to interfere.” “Perhaps they were too gentle,” you say. I suggest that they were too lazy, too much inclined to save their own precious skins, too anxious to have the soft side of this life and not willing to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ! Are you ready, as Paul was, to exhibit a holy indignation against sin, and lovingly and tenderly, yet firmly, in the name of the Lord, to see that evil does not go unrebuked? If any man has come to this, I will not say that I envy him, but that I desire to be found in that position, so that, when the Lord comes, none of the evil of this generation may be at my door. When He shall come, and find His church lukewarm, faithless, and adulterated by worldliness and all manner of heresies, I pray that He may not have to point His fin- ger at unfaithful pastors and say of any of us, “You are the man who is responsible for this sad state of affairs.” Oh, may God make us ready for whatever is laid upon us, however unpleasant and contrary to our mind and feeling the task may be, may we be ready to do the Lord’s work, faithful even to the end!
(ESV) — 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,
Now, once more, will you kindly turn to 2 Timothy 4:6, where you have a verse well known to you all, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” Paul was ready to die. He was ready to loose his cable from earth and to sail away to the haven of the blessed! And well he might be, for he could add, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: therefore, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” Beloved friends, we cannot be ready to die unless we have been taught how to live! We who are active, and have talents to use, and health and strength with which to use those talents, must go on with “the greatest fight in the world” till we can say, “I have fought a good fight.” We must go on running the Christian race till we can say, “I have finished my course.” We must go on guarding the Word of God and holding fast the truth of God, till we can say, “I have kept the faith.” It will be hard work to lie dying if we have been unfaithful. God’s infinite mercy may come in and forgive and help us, and we may be “saved, yet so as by fire,” but if we would look forward to death with perfect readiness, having no dread or fear about it— but being as ready to die as we are to go to our beds tonight—then we must be kept faithful to God by His almighty grace. The faith must keep us, and we must keep the faith.
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
A recognition of coming judgment
Thus, you see, Paul was ready for service, ready for suffering, ready for unpleasant duty and ready to die. If I were to go round this Tabernacle and ask of everyone, “My friend, are you ready in these four ways?” how many of you would be able to answer, “We are ready”? I am afraid many would have to shake their heads and say, “I do not know what to say. I am doing my best in some style, but I cannot say that I have the readiness which the apostle claimed.”
(ESV) — 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
A recognition of coming judgment
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Volume 38 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 3
(ESV) — 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
(ESV) — 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Responding to God’s grace
4 Paul, the Ready Sermon #2285
(ESV) — 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
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II. Let me show you now that PAUL’S READINESS AROSE FROM EXCELLENT PRINCIPLES. That is our second point.
(ESV) — 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
(ESV) — 7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
As for Paul’s readiness to preach, I should trace that to his solemn conviction of the truth of the gospel. If a man only thinks it is true, he will not care whether he preaches it, or does not preach it. But if he knows it is true, then he must preach it! I do not think we need find much fault with people, nowa- days, for being too positive and dogmatic about the truth of God. The present current runs in quite an- other direction. A feeble faith which might almost be mistaken for unbelief, is the common thing, and, therefore, there is no great readiness to speak. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “As it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” If I get a grip of a thing and know it is true, then I must tell it to others. The backbone of the preaching of Christ is a conviction of the truth of Christ.
(ESV) — 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
Confidence in the gospel
Paul also had a dauntless courage in this matter. He said, “Woe is unto me if I preach not the gos- pel!” Whatever happened to him if he did preach it, he had counted the cost, and he was quite ready for all the consequences of his action. He had a holy self-denial so that he put himself out of the question. “I am ready for anything; I am ready to preach this gospel if I am stoned, if I am thrown out of the city as dead, if I am imprisoned, if I am sent into the den of Caesar at Rome.”
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul was ready because his courage had been given him of God. Paul was ready to preach the gospel at Rome because he had freed himself from all entanglement. You know how he put it, in writing to his son Timothy, “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.” There are some of us who get so tied up and entangled, that we are not ready to do God’s service because we are all in knots through too much worldly business. Try, dear friends, you who are the servants of Christ, to keep yourselves as clear as you can of all entanglements. You have your living to earn, but serve God while you are earning it. If you see an opportunity of get- ting rich, but in order to do so you will have to deny yourself from Christ’s work—you will have to give up week-night services, and so on—do not thus entangle yourself! Keep yourself as clear as you can. Her Majesty does not expect one of her soldiers to take to farming and then to send word that he cannot go to battle because he has to get in his hay, or he has his wheat to cut. He must come whenever he is called! And blessed is that good soldier of Jesus Christ who can come when he is wanted by his King and Captain. Sir Cohn Campbell, when told that he was needed to go to India, was asked, “How long will you take to get ready, Sir Cohn?” He replied, “Twenty-four hours.” And in 24 hours he was ready to go. A Moravian was about to be sent by Zinzendorf to preach in Greenland. He had never heard of it, before, but his leader called him, and said, “Brother, will you go to Greenland?” He answered, “Yes, sir.” “When will you go?” “When my boots come home from the cobbler.” And he did go as soon as his boots came home. He needed nothing else but just that pair of boots, and he was ready to go! Paul, not even waiting for his boots to come home from the cobbler, says, “I am ready.” Oh, it is grand to find a man so little entangled that he can go where God would have him go, and can go at once!
(ESV) — 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
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Paul had, besides, such love for men, whether they were Jews, or Romans, or any other people, that he was ready to go anywhere to save them. He also had such zeal for God that it was happiness for him to think of going to the furthest region if he might but preach Christ where He was not known—not building on another man’s foundation, but laying the first stone of the edifice himself. This, then, ac- counted for his readiness to preach—a holy conviction of the truth of what he had to preach and of the need of preaching it.
(ESV) — 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
But what helped Paul to be ready to suffer? Some here will have to suffer for Jesus Christ’s sake, though they may never be called to preach. Well, I should say, dear friends, first, that Paul was com- pletely consecrated to the Lord. He was not his own—he was bought with a price—and that led him to feel that his Master might do whatever He liked with him. He belonged to Christ, he was Jesus Christ’s branded slave and he was absolutely at Christ’s disposal. Moreover, he had such trust in his Lord that he felt, “Whatever He does with me, it will be good and kind and, therefore, I will make no conditions, I will have no reserve from Him. It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.” He had resolved to serve his Lord and, therefore, if he had to be bound, or to die, he would not shrink back. He could have sung, as we sometimes sing, but he could carry it out better than we do—
(ESV) — 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(ESV) — 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
“Through floods and flames, if Jesus leads,
(ESV) — 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
God directs and guides evangelism
Divine guidance in evangelism
4 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 38
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(ESV) — 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
(ESV) — 6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Sermon #2285 Paul, the Ready 5
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(ESV) — 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
(ESV) — 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
(ESV) — 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”
I’ll follow where He goes.”
(ESV) — 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.
A whole-hearted consecration, a child-like confidence, a deep-toned submission—these will make us ready for suffering, whatever it may be.
(ESV) — 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
(ESV) — 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
But how did Paul prepare himself to be ready to exercise discipline? That is, to me, the ugliest point of all. How could he bring himself to be able to do that? I think it was because he had not received his gospel from men, nor by men, and he had learned not to depend upon men, nor to look for their approval as the support of his life. He was able to lean on the Savior and to walk alone with his Lord. So long as he had Christ with him, he needed nobody else. Paul had learned the fear of God which casts out the fear of man! “Who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forget the Lord, your Maker?” Remembering man leads to the forgetting of God! If we learn to speak very plainly, yet very lovingly, habitually cultivating frankness towards all Christian people, and even towards the ungodly, and do not know what it is to ask of any man leave to speak the truth, how much better it will be all round! May the Holy Spirit deepen in us the fear of God and so take away from us the fear of man! Then, with Paul, each of us will be ready to say, even con- cerning the most unpleasant duty, “I am ready.”
God opens the door for evangelism
But how came he to be able to say that he was ready to die? I will not dwell upon that. I have al- ready told you that he felt ready to die because he could say that, as far as he had gone, he had finished the work God gave him to do and he had kept the faith. Ah, dear friends, it is nothing but keeping faith- ful to God that will enable you to treat death as a friend! One dereliction of duty will be sufficient to rob you of comfort. When a traveler is walking, a very small stone in his shoe will lame him—and a very small offense against the integrity that God requires of His servants may do us great mischief. Did you ever notice, in Gideon’s life, that he had 70 sons, his own legitimate sons, and that he had one son who was the child of a harlot, and that one, Abimelech, killed 69 of his father’s 70 sons? So it may be that a good man has 70 virtues, but if he tolerates one wrong thing, it will be enough to rob him of the comfort of all the good things of this life, so that, when he comes to die, he may go limping and lame! Yes, and all his life long he may go, like David did, halting even to the grave. May the Lord in mercy and love keep us right! If He teaches us how to live, we shall know how to die.
(ESV) — 12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord,
It is not dying that is the great difficulty—it is living. If we are but helped to fight the good fight of faith, to finish our course, and to keep the faith, we shall die right enough. As Mr. Wesley said when the good woman asked him, “Do you not sometimes feel awe at the thought of dying?” “No,” he replied, “If I knew for certain that I was going to die tomorrow night, I should do just exactly what I am going to do. I am going to preach (I think it was) at Gloucester this afternoon and this evening. And I shall go to lodge with friend So-and-So. I shall stay up with him till ten o’clock and then I shall go to bed. And I shall be up at five and ride over to Tewkesbury and I shall preach there, and shall go to friend So-and- So’s for the night. And I shall go to bed at ten o’clock and whether I live or not, it does not matter at all to me, for if I die, I shall wake up in glory. That is what I am going to do, whether I live or die.” It was said of Mr. Whitefield, that he never went to bed at night leaving even a pair of gloves out of its place. He used to say that he would like to have everything ready in case he might be taken away. I think I see that good man standing with a bedroom candle in his hand, at the top of the staircase, preaching Christ the last night of his life to the people sitting on the stairs—and then going inside the room and com- mending himself to God and going straight away to heaven! That is the way to die! But if you do not live like Wesley and Whitefield lived, you cannot die like Wesley and Whitefield died. May God grant us grace that we may be perfectly ready to die when the time for our departure is at hand!
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(ESV) — 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
III. Now I finish by saying that THIS READINESS PRODUCES ADMIRABLE RESULTS.
(ESV) — 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
First, it prevents surprise. It is always bad to be taken by surprise. He who lives unto the Lord shall not fear evil tidings, for his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. If you are perfectly submissive to God’s will and, as you crossed your threshold tonight, you heard that your child was dead, or that your dearest friend was smitten with sore sickness, you would say, “Well, I stoop to the surrender. When I had my children I did not think they were immortal. I knew they would die and I have stood ready for anything that might happen to them.” Oh, brothers and sisters, it is because we are not submissive, not sanctified, not fully resigned to God’s will, that we get tripped up, every now and then, and do not quite know where we are! May the Lord give us the grace to be prepared for every emergency.
(ESV) — 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
(ESV) — 8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
Areas of ministry assigned by God
Volume 38 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. 5
(ESV) — 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
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(ESV) — 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
6 Paul, the Ready Sermon #2285
The Holy Spirit empowers evangelism
(ESV) — 8 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.”
Again, when a man is ready, it prevents loss of time and opportunity. Many a sportsman has lost his bird because he was not ready to take aim. Many a fisherman has lost his fish because he has not been ready to grasp his rod and put the line into the stream. Many a preacher has, no doubt, missed the mark because when he might have said a word for Christ, he was not ready to say it. Have you not often gone home and said to yourself, “Now I remember what I ought to have said! That man made an observation and I could not tell, at the moment, what to reply to it. I now know what I should have said”? It is a fine thing to be wise when it is too late, but it would be much better if we waited upon God and asked Him to make us ready—always ready—to speak for Him in every place, at any time and whenever an oppor- tunity occurs.
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Readiness also helps us to make good use of every occasion. He who is ready as each occasion comes, not only snatches the first part of it, but all the rest of it. He is prepared to deal with the whole thing as it proceeds. He who is always doing his Master’s work learns how to do it well—but he who only does it occasionally is like a bad workman who half forgets his craft because he is so much en- gaged in doing something else. God keep us all ready! May you be ready, tonight, to say a good word to somebody on your way home and to serve God in your family when you get home!
(ESV) — 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
(ESV) — 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
To be ready puts a bloom on obedience, and presents it to God at its best. Some Sunday school chil- dren were once asked what was the meaning of doing the will of God on earth, as it is done in heaven; and they gave some very pretty answers. One said, “In heaven they always do God’s will.” Another said, “They do God’s will cheerfully.” But one said, “Please, sir, they do God’s will at once.” That is the thing—that is how it is done in heaven—at once! May we be in such a state of heart that we are ready to do the Lord’s will at once!
(ESV) — 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
Evangelism as a result of persecution
In this readiness, our obedience is multiplied. I mean that any one act is multiplied, for the man who is ready to do the right thing has already done it in the sight of God. The Lord accepts it as done and then, if the man still remains ready, he does, as it were, the thing, again—and when it is actually done— he is still ready to do it again! If the act is only one, yet to God’s eye it has a teeming multitude of obe- dient actions swarming around it!
To be ready, especially to be ready to die, removes all fear of death. I wish we could all sing as she did, who died in her sleep, and left this verse written on a piece of paper by her bedside—
(ESV) — 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
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“Since Jesus is mine, I’ll not fear undressing, But gladly put off these garments of clay.
To die in the Lord is a covenant blessing,
Since Jesus to glory through death led the way.”
(ESV) — 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
If we are ready as Paul was, all fear of death will be gone from us.
And I think it takes away a thousand ills if we are ready for service, ready for suffering, ready to die.
(ESV) — 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.
(ESV) — 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.
I will tell you one thing, dear sister over yonder, you would not be so ready to stay as you are if you were ready for the Lord’s work and the Lord’s will. And you who are ready to perish would get out of that sad kind of readiness if you came and trusted Christ and became ready to suffer or to do the Mas- ter’s will. The Lord is ready to pardon! May we be ready to believe! May we come at once to Him, ac- cept salvation through Jesus Christ, and then all through the rest of our lives say to the great Captain of our salvation what good sailors reply to their captain’s call, “Ready, yes ready! Ready for storms and ready for calms; ready for whatever You command. Ready for whatever You ordain!” The Lord bless you, dear friends, and give all of you this readiness, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
(ESV) — 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
Goal
We too are under obligation therefore we too must be eager to fulfill it.
Application
CLOSE = S.H.A.R.P.
E.N.D.
Exalt God in relation to the Biblical truths that were just taught
God we exalt you for your grace! This grace and mercy that is the Gospel of Christ has no limits. It is for man, woman, boy, and girl, slave, free, wise and foolish, rich or poor. This gospel, your gospel is not merely for salvation but for each and every day of our lives, this gospel is that which saves but also that which sanctifies your people. Oh that your harvest might be plentiful among us just as Paul’s desire was for those in Rome.
Name the Biblical principles preached and ask God to help the local church body to obey these truths
Father keep us clear to the cost of the gospel of Christ. WE ARE DEBTORS just as Paul, oh God give us his eagerness as well!
Draw people to the cross of Christ by proclaiming hope and help in the person and work of Christ for salvation and sanctification
Father for all those who do not understand the JOY of this debt, for all those who have not yet felt the pull of your irresistible grace upon their hearts, for those who have not yet understood the gravity of your grace, Father we pray that now, even this instant your Spirit might draw them to the cross of Christ, where yes we find debt and obligation yes, but freedom! freedom of sin, shame, guilt, and oppression of the evil one. Your cross where we exchange the debt of a sinner for the debt of a saint.
Name the Biblical principles preached and ask God to help the local church body to obey these truths
Father keep us clear to the cost of the gospel of Christ. WE ARE DEBTORS just as Paul, oh God give us his eagerness as well!
Benediction
Benediction
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.” 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.
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
Rom 15.20-24
Eph 3
17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
1 The 2.18
May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Jhn 4.36
16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
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1 Cor 9.16
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Romans through Galatians B. Paul and the Church at Rome (1:8–15)
How heartwarming is the apostle’s attitude toward his obligation! Instead of considering it a burden he must bear, a duty he must carry out, he is “eager” to fulfill it.
-John Stott
The Message of Romans 3. Paul and Evangelism (1:14–17)
The reason these affirmations are so striking is that they are in direct antithesis to the attitude of many in the contemporary church. People nowadays tend to regard evangelism as an optional extra and consider (if they engage in it) that they are conferring a favour on God; Paul spoke of it as an obligation.
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P. S. Minear, The Obedience of Faith (London: SCM, 1971), 104.
The New American Commentary: Romans 2. Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome (1:8–15)
“Obligation to him who died produces obligation to those for whom he died.”
May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
-Robert Mounce
The New American Commentary: Romans 2. Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome (1:8–15)
Most important was Paul’s obligation to carry the message throughout the world irrespective of national origin or intellectual sophistication. The truth that all people are sinners before God levels the only ground of any eternal significance. All come with the same need of forgiveness. Those who accept the grace of God stand together on even ground. God shows no partiality, an insight that needs to be heard once again in churches where social position and secular skills tend to determine leadership.
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