Together In Power
Notes
Transcript
This is our 4th message on this text. First, we looked at Paul’s thankfulness for the church at Rome. Then we began looking at the theme of “Together” in this text. The second message was “Together in Pray” and how we are brought together no matter where we are by prayer. The third message was “Together in Fellowship”. Paul wanted to be with the church at Rome and to both minister to them and to be ministered to by them. Our physical assembly should be both a blessing to others an a blessing to us. Today, we will consider the topic of “Together in Power”.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
I. Together in debt
Americans are no strangers to debt. We have more cumulative personal debt than some countries. Then, our government is in debt beyond what we could ever repay. The Bible speaks very clearly against this type of debt. That is not what Paul was talking about in our text.
The word debt means “a thing owed”. So, a debtor is someone who owes something to someone else. Paul says that he is a debtor to the Greeks and Barbarians; and to the wise and the unwise. This might seem like a strange statement. We could easily go along with saying that we are indebted to God for his mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, but what could Paul owe lost people? The answer is the Gospel.
Among the Gentiles of his day there were two categories: Greeks an everyone else. It is believed that the word “Barbarian” came from the sound the non-Greek speaking people made when they spoke. The the Greeks it sounded like they were babeling, thus the name Barbarians. Paul is stating that he owes the Gospel to the Greeks, and to those who were not of the Greek culture. In other words, he was to proclaim the Gospel to everyone. This is the same idea behind the Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were the descendants of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and the Gentiles were everyone else. We might think of it as Americans and the rest of the world.
Why did Paul say that preaching the Gospel was a debt? A simple way of thinking about this is that a person of integrity will do whatever it takes, ethically, to pay off a debt. They are not content to owe a person or a company money. That debt nags at them and they cannot be satisfied until they have paid back that which they owe. For Paul, sharing the Gospel was such a nagging burden. He could not be satisfied or content until he had shared the Gospel with everyone he could possibly share it with.
For Paul, he had heard the Gospel from Stephen. That Gospel had convicted him and Jesus had saved him. Now, he felt indebted to share the Gospel with all who would hear, and even some who would not willingly hear. It was a debt that he could never repay, but one that he would try to repay as long as he had breath in his body.
Paul also spoke of the wise an unwise. The wise are those who have received the gospel and the unwise are those who have not received the Gospel. The point here is that we are to proclaim the Gospel to everyone. The saved should never tire of hearing the Gospel and the lost need to hear the gospel as often as possible.
We are together in our debt to share the Gospel with the world
II. Together in power
We do not just talk at people when we share the Gospel. So often that is the way we approach evangelism. That is part of why we fear sharing the Gospel. We think of evangelism as talking to someone. We forget that the Gospel is power. It is the Power of God unto Salvation. When we share the Gospel, it is power. We are all called to share the Gospel. We are all debtors to the lost. We all proclaim the power of the Gospel. We are all united in this power, for it is the very same power that saved us.
Paul also makes a distinction among people in this verse. He says that the Gospel is the Power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why does he make this distinction? Simply because salvation came to the Jews first. Jesus was a Jew. He preached to the Jews, he died and rose again in Israel. The Gospel got to them first. Not only this, but prophesy of the Gospel was given to the Jews to share with the world. It is for this reason that the gospel went to the Jews first. However, it was never intended to stay with the Jews exclusively.
We are together in the Power of the Gospel to save.
III. Together in faith
Just as we are united in our debt to share the gospel, and we are united in the power of the gospel, we are also united in our faith in Jesus Christ.
It is this faith which we are called to live by. It is this faith that empowers us to share the Gospel. It is this faith that compels us to be obedient to God. We are to be obedient to the “Thou shalts” and the “Thou shalt nots” but we are also to be obedient to the commission to “Go”. It is our faith in God that not only makes us obedient but we trust God to provide All that we need. We trust him to provide the way, means, and results. We trust him for protection. We are called to not only have faith but to live by faith. It becomes our very existence. Our trust in God and His promises becomes our everything. Paul took this literally, as we all should, and his faith became his power to fulfill his debt of proclaiming the Gospel to those he was sent to. His faith became his power to endure whatever trials came his way for the sake of the Gospel. His faith became his power to withstand temptation so that the gospel was not hindered. His faith had nothing to do with himself, and everything to do with God. He trusted God and that trust made him obedient to God. That obedience allowed him to submit to God and the power of God worked in him to see people saved. It worked in him to equip him for every situation he would face. It empowered him to withstand the temptation to sin and the temptation to quit.
We are together in Faith.
Conclusion
Together in prayer, together in fellowship, and together in service. That is the way we could sum this series up. The Christian life is to be lived “Together”. We are not in this fight alone. I want to end with this story. While I was in the 10th and 11th grade, I ran cross country. We man 2 miles on a light day and around 5 on our longer days. I have never liked running. I am not built like a runner. I have never liked sprints and I have never liked running long distance. When you are large, it takes a lot of effort to run. However, especially my 10th grade year, I really enjoyed Cross Country. What was it that made me enjoy something that was otherwise difficult and drudgery? I ran with a friend. I had a friend named Nick who was built like a runner. He was under 6’ tall and weighed 100 lbs less than me. The longs miles and the daily struggle were a lot less difficult when I ran them with a friend. Because I was with Nick, I was able to finish my course and I maintained my faith that I could not only complete the task but get better. Since I quit running with Nick, I have not consistently ran since. It just isn’t the same running alone. That is why God gave us the church; so we don’t run along and get discouraged and quit.