WWUTT 1391 Eager to Preach the Gospel (Romans 15:22-24)

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The Apostle Paul was delayed in getting to Rome because the Spirit had other things for him to do, but he stands as a good example to us in persevering for the

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Gospel of Jesus Christ when we understand the text. This is

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When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of Romans chapter 15.

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I'm going to pick up reading in verse 22 and we'll go to the end of the chapter. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome.

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This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 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,

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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.

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At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.

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For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

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When, therefore, I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,

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I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you,

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I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. I appeal to you, brothers, by our

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Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will

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I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

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May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. And just consider that statement there at the end of chapter 15.

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That really brings to a conclusion some doctrines that we've been considering since chapter 14, where Paul has been encouraging the church not to quarrel over opinions, but those who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.

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All of us are called to consider others' needs ahead of our own.

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And so here at the conclusion of those arguments that he's been laying out for two chapters, he says, may the

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God of peace be with you all. We are to be pursuing peace amongst one another, not finding our differences of opinion as a cause for division, but pursuing peace and unity in the bond of peace that we have in Christ Jesus.

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That's specifically the phrase that Paul used with the Ephesians. Ephesians 4, verse 3, be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

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And then Paul lays out some essential doctrines. He says, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one

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Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

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But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

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Where have we seen that? That was said earlier in our study of Romans as well. Romans 12, 3, for by the grace given to me,

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I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

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For as in one body, we have many members and the members do not all have the same function.

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So we, though many are one body in Christ and individually members, one of another.

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So I mentioned that Romans 15, verse 33 brings to a conclusion what we've been looking at over chapter 14 and 15.

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It really brings to a conclusion what we've been looking at from chapter 12 through chapter 15, we get to chapter 16 and Paul has some personal greetings that he is going to share some final instructions that he's going to give and then a magnificent doxology that he's going to give at the conclusion of the letter.

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So we're, we're finishing up with Paul sharing his final plans, but still instructing the

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Christians there at the church in Rome to pursue peace with one another, not to be divided over non -essential matters, which are still very important.

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I want to emphasize that once again, even though these are not doctrines that would disqualify a person from the kingdom of God.

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Nevertheless, they're still very, very important doctrines. You know, those things that Paul had been talking about over Romans 14, like one person esteems one day is better than another while another esteems all days alike.

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Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the

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Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the

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Lord and gives thanks to God. That was verses five and six. So as Paul is talking about differences of opinion there, there's still important things that we do need to discuss because he calls the one who abstains from certain food, weak in faith.

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They actually need to grow up. They need to mature. And the one who is weak in faith needs to be welcome, but not to quarrel over opinions.

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That was chapter 14, verse one, chapter 15, verse one. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the week and not to please ourselves.

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Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up and by building him up and growing him in maturity in the faith, he will come into acceptance of some of those things that for now he thinks he's got a problem with, like eating certain food.

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His conscience makes him feel guilty over that. Well, by growing one another in the faith, we strengthen our conscience.

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You help to strengthen a person's conscience as you grow them in faith. They know for certain, according to what scripture says, this is right for me.

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This is wrong for me. And over those things that are non -essential that scripture is not specific on, we can differ over those opinions and not divide over it.

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So that's what Paul has been calling the church to over the course of these chapters. Still emphasizing, though, these differences of opinion are still important things that we must discuss.

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But let's not be divided. Let's not split the church over things like this. So in Romans 15, verse 22, which is really where we are, where we're starting today on this particular section,

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Paul says, this is the reason why I've so often been hindered from coming to you. What is that reason?

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Well, going back to verse 16, where he says, I've been called to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the

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Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God so that off so that the offering of the

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Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Paul has been called to go and share the gospel with Gentiles, Jews and Gentiles alike, most certainly.

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But he's been called to the Gentiles that there are Gentiles who would come to understand this faith and come to the body of Christ through faith in Christ and be built up in these things as well through the word of God.

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We come not only to faith, but we are grown in this faith. So, again, that the offering of the

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Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit as they've been instructed in the word of God.

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So when Paul goes to these areas and he preaches the gospel, he's not just interested in making converts, but in growing disciples.

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So he goes and he preaches the gospel. People come to faith. He plants a church. He stays there for a time.

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He grows them up in their knowledge and understanding of the word that was shared with them so that they may be sanctified in the

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Holy Spirit. Verse 17 in Christ Jesus, then I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what

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Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the

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Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.

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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.

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But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see. And those who have never heard will understand.

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That is a reference to Isaiah 52 15. And that which was prophesied 700 years earlier has been fulfilled or is being fulfilled through the ministry of the apostles to the world, particularly the apostle

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Paul, who's been called to be an apostle to the Gentiles. So by this work, sharing the gospel, people coming to faith, planting churches, growing these

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Christians up in sanctification according to the word of God, and Paul says, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named.

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He says, this is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you, because the gospel has already been preached there in Rome, and they are likewise preaching the more and people are coming to faith there in the capital city of the world.

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So Paul doesn't need to get there to preach the gospel there for the purpose of planting a church, because that's already happened.

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The gospel has been proclaimed there. So he's going to other places where the gospel has not been and making sure that work is done before he then is able to get out there to Rome.

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He still wants to come to Rome, but it's not for the purpose of planting a church. There's already one there.

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It's for the purpose of encouraging that church and building them up in apostolic teaching, and likewise, that he might be strengthened and encouraged by them seeing the work that they have already accomplished and are continuing to do there, though they have not had an apostle to lead and to guide them.

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So he says, this is the reason I've been so often hindered from coming to you because of this other work that the spirit has called me to.

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But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum, and since I have longed for many years to come to you,

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Paul says, 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.

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Now, I've mentioned to you previously that we have, according to church history, evidence that Paul did indeed make it to Spain.

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None of that has been written down in Scripture. So this was a missionary journey that we do not have.

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It was certainly not talked about in Acts, because Acts only goes as far as Paul's first imprisonment in Rome, which happens after this letter is written.

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So Paul's intentions are to go back to Jerusalem, and we know from that trip that he makes to Jerusalem, he's indeed beaten and thrown in prison.

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And when he stands trial, he appeals to Caesar. So Paul is boarded upon a ship as a prisoner, and he's shipped out to Rome.

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And of course, that ship doesn't make it there. It gets shipwrecked. But by the providence, by the sovereignty of God, Paul does make it to Rome eventually, just not on that first ship that he boards, since it was wrecked on the island of Malta.

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But he does get there. And that, as the Spirit had promised him he would do, that he would be delivered from Jerusalem, that he would be delivered to Rome.

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He gets there as a prisoner. He's put under house arrest. He can't go anywhere, but people can come to him.

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So for the time that he's there in Rome, he becomes that guy who's able to strengthen and teach and encourage the church there.

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And he's likewise encouraged by them, so encouraged by them, in fact, that when the

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Philippians took up an offering and sent it to Paul there in Rome, he says to them, I didn't need it, but I'm accepting it so that you have a reason to rejoice, so that you will know that you have helped and aided in the missionary work that's being accomplished here in Rome.

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That's something that he writes to the Philippians in his letter to the Philippians. But he was well taken care of there.

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The church had been taking care of him. He didn't need anything else, most especially because Christ had been taking care of him.

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Hence why Paul said in Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, not win a marathon, but endure this persecution that I am going through.

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So Paul's intention is to go even further west than he's already gone already here.

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What he says here in Romans chapter 15 is that he's made it from Jerusalem. He's gone through Illyricum, and then his intention is to go all the way to Spain.

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That's as far west in Europe as he can go. He wants to get all the way to Spain, and he says,

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I mean to get there by way of you. 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.

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And he enjoys their company for a good while, not just a few weeks. According to the end of the book of Acts, it was two years.

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That's how long he was there in Rome and then journeyed west to Spain. Now that's extra biblical.

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Of course, the Bible does not give us an account of that missionary journey that would have gone to the farthest western regions of the

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Roman Empire. This is something that we have gained from church history.

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So we have a mention of it here in Romans 15. How do we know that Paul actually made it there?

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Well, we don't know for certainty, since the only certain word that we have is the word of God in the pages of Scripture.

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But we do have some indications from church history, from some of those early church writers that Paul did indeed make it that far.

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So there is a guy named Clement, and he's actually mentioned in Philippians chapter four.

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Remember the section there in that chapter where Paul says, well, there's these two women in the church who weren't agreeing with one another.

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He says, I entreat you, Odia, and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Next verse, verse three.

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Yes, I ask you also true companion. Help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

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So we believe that this is the same Clement who wrote at the end of the first century.

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Clement of Rome is how he's known in church history, died in the second century. And we have this letter that is chronicled as First Clement.

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And in chapter five of First Clement, he writes the following. Because of jealousy and strife,

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Paul, by his example, pointed out the way to the prize for patient endurance. After he had been seven times in chains, had been driven into exile, had been stoned and had preached in the

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East and in the West. He won the genuine glory for his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world and having reached the farthest limits of the

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West. Finally, when he had given his testimony before the rulers, he thus departed from the world and went to the holy place, having become an outstanding example of patient endurance.

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So what this section tells us from Clement's letter is that he made it to the farthest limits of the West. That would have been

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Spain. That's as far West as you could have gone in the Roman Empire. And it says even that he gave his testimony before the rulers.

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That may not mean Caesar. I think that would have been significant enough to say that Paul had given his testimony before Caesar for Clement to have said that that would have been hugely significant.

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But but it rather says that he gave his testimony before rulers. That could be the trials that he had prior to going to Rome the first time, or it could mean that even in his second imprisonment, he appeared before rulers of higher position than he did in his first imprisonment.

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That could have been what Clement meant by that. We don't know for sure, but at least by Clement's letter, we have that indication that Paul did indeed make it as far as Spain as he had intended to do.

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There's also something called the Muratorian fragment. And this is one of the earliest writings that we have record of listing the books of the

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New Testament. I think there's a couple of books that aren't mentioned there. But for the most part, all the books that we have in the

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New Testament are listed in that fragment. And there's also some minor commentary notes.

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Among those commentary notes, there is a mention of Paul having made it to Spain. It says there that Luke wrote the book of Acts to most excellent

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Theophilus. Theophilus is addressed at the start of both Luke and Acts. And here, quoting the fragment now, quote,

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Luke compiled the individual events that took place in his presence, as he plainly shows by omitting the martyrdom of Peter, as well as the departure of Paul from the city of Rome when he journeyed to Spain, unquote.

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So there's a second century writing that mentions Paul made it to Spain. We also have fourth century writings from Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, Jerome, all that mention

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Paul having made it to Spain. So that's not given to us in scripture. We have Paul's intention here in Romans chapter 15, but nothing about him actually making it to Spain.

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It's from church history that we come to that understanding. But that's been the belief in the history of the church that Paul was able to receive that God gave him what

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Paul intended to do. And that's make it as far west in the Roman Empire. He went as far east to as far west, journeyed as much as 10 ,000 miles in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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That's incredible, an incredible accomplishment, especially when you think of it being done in the first century, not with a plane and train and and all the kinds of travel that we've got today.

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Certainly not with the Internet or anything like that. Paul did this by ship and on foot to cover that much area for the gospel of Jesus Christ and suffered much in that as well.

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I come back to Clement's letter where Clement said this. Finally, when he had given his testimony before the rulers, he thus departed from the world and went to the holy place, having become an outstanding example of patient endurance.

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And my friends, we need a little bit of that now. We need those examples of endurance in the face of persecution for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because even here in our

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Western culture, the threats are increasing against the church and Christianity that we are going to be persecuted for our faith.

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We are going to be persecuted for righteousness sake. And Jesus says, blessed are you when that happens.

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Matthew five, verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

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Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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We have outstanding examples of those who underwent persecution far greater than anything you or I are probably ever going to face.

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And yet they endured for Christ to the very end. Friends, we need to do the same. You need to be going to church.

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No matter what the state says to you, they do not have the authority to tell you not to go to church.

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Our authority is Christ. He is king, even over the state. So obey Christ, gather as the church, proclaim the gospel, be a witness to the world.

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If the state comes against you for that, well, they're going to have to answer before God. And so will you.

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So be faithful to the very end. We need each other in these days, and the church needs to be that place where we know we can go and what we find there is love.

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The world is going to give us plenty of conflict. Let us not be in conflict in the church, but doing again, as is said in Ephesians 4, 3, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

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I mentioned this back when we were in Romans 12, verse 15, where it says, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

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In the context of that instruction, you had Christians there in Rome who were being persecuted for righteousness sake, for the

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Christ whom they loved. And they could come to the church and weep over some of those things that were happening to them and be encouraged and built up in the church.

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At the same time, there were also those joys that could be celebrated in the church when somebody was out there sharing the gospel and more were coming to faith.

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So therefore, in sympathy and brotherly love, we weep together and we rejoice together.

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That's what the church needs to be in these days, not another place to experience conflict in strife, but brotherly love, encouragement, building up one another in sanctification, admonishing if needed.

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But all together as the church, we understand this greeting in Romans 15, 33, may the

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God of peace be with us all. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt

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.com and click on the give tab in the top right corner of the page. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our