Mar. 25, 2018 AM Jesus Our Pride And Joy by Pastor Josh Sheldon

In chapter 15 Our text this morning is

verses 17 17 to 21.

But I'll start reading it verse 14.

And we need to be reminded just for a brief part of the message this morning 14 through 16.

But the message will be on 17 through 21.

So we're all at Romans 15 beginning at verse 14.

Again, this is the word

of the Lord.

I To instruct one another but on some points I've written to you very boldly by way of

reminder.

Because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly

service of the gospel Of God so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

You know the beginning of our text this morning 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 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 Spirit of God.

So that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of

Christ 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, but as it is written

Those who have never been told of him will see and those who have never heard will understand.

So the Apostle Paul our author our inspired author.

He's here wrapping up this letter to the Romans.

The rest of this chapter is going to have to do with his immediate plans and how those in Rome Could

come alongside him and help him out and that will Lord willing be our text the next time we come back to this in a couple of

weeks.

We don't know who founded the church in Rome, but we do know it wasn't Paul.

But nonetheless so far as they have been built on the foundation of the prophets and the Apostles.

So long as they are grounded in this gospel of Christ anticipated for so

long and then revealed and Concluded in the person and work of Jesus Christ as long as that

is their basis.

They like any other church established on that basis are an apostolic church as are

we here today at Providence Bible Church as we hold to this apostolic word the scripture

the whole counsel of God.

One of the wonders though of the Christian life, I mean one of the just sheer childlike open

-eyed wonders of being a Christian is Knowing this that God

the God of the universe.

This holy God that we studied his holiness this morning at Sunday school this God who created

everything By simply the breath of his mouth.

Because he willed it all that is came to be this.

God works through ordinary means.

He works through ordinary means people like myself people like yourself the God of the universe

doing these Extraordinary things that he does through these distinctly

not Extraordinary means such as you such as myself.

Such as everyone who's ever proclaimed this God other than Jesus Christ himself who obviously

was Extraordinary God converted me through

very mundane Providences my study of his word my wife's prayers her Christian

patience my friendship with Mike Kelly.

The gospel preached to me by ordinary men.

And many if not most of you can affirm that that yes.

Just through ordinary means God worked an extraordinary thing in me through ordinary means I'm talking about just

words.

I'm speaking words now.

They're just words, and you're just hearing them through the physiological Equipment that God gave you it's all

mundane.

It's all ordinary is it not and yet God works Extraordinary things by it.

The Word of God is powerful to convict the Word of God is powerful to bring us to repentance.

James says that this is a word of life to you.

It's able to save your soul but Through what?

Just men speaking yourself reading it.

God works these extraordinary things through these very mundane type things.

And what God does with these everyday Mechanisms though is anything but everyday anything but

mundane.

The Apostle Paul here.

He makes much of what God by his spirit has accomplished through men like himself.

In fact he makes so much of it that he the Apostle who makes humility.

The key event or the kid the key to Christian trait.

I should say that Apostle says that he takes pride.

Yes, the word is pride in what he has done.

So there's a caveat and it comes in very quickly here.

He doesn't wait very long to drop it on us.

He's takes pride of my work what he personally did of my

work immediately for God and We cannot even begin to think that he

means that he of his own will of his own determination.

Did anything worth boasting of because the very next verse?

Gives us another of these caveats.

And tells us quickly what he's speaking about what Christ has accomplished through me.

And with this he joins Peter who you recall when he he and John Called the lame man in front of the

temple to stand and walk and everyone was amazed and he said men of Israel.

Why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety?

We have made him walk and Immediately sheds all the glory on Christ and he doesn't even

say look what Christ did through me.

He says Jesus of Nazareth did this.

If you think about the whole book of Acts is all about what Christ by his spirit did through the

Apostles men specially chosen men specially endowed by God for this

establishment of the church.

Yet still men with a spirit no different than ours God doing these amazing Extraordinary

even miraculous things through means of non amazing and not extraordinary.

People like us the first five verses for us this morning 5

15 17 and 21 they actually point a couple of different erections if you just look at that as a section of Scripture.

It's finishing the thought of verses 14 through 16, and then it's preparing us for the rest of the

chapter verses 22 to 31 verses 14 through

16 about Paul's satisfaction with the brothers that they are able to

Instruct one another admonish and counsel one another because they're what they're full of goodness.

They're filled with knowledge.

They're able to do these things in.

This Paul takes a certain amount of pride in what Christ has done.

That allows him to make a statement like that that allows him to have that confidence in them.

And this is what he means when he says in Christ Jesus.

Then that word then is up to those verses 14 through 16.

He's taking some satisfaction some personal satisfaction and Pride pride in the Savior

pride in the Spirit of God who through him.

Worked in those people so that he could make a statement like that.

But as we look at the text this morning, he just sees five verses.

I mean first is verses 17 through 18 and they tell of the basis of his pride.

And second verse 19 is going to describe for us the power of the Spirit working through him and finally third

Verses 20 to 21 the biblical foundation for this apostolic ministry and then his

plans for its furtherance.

Now we can make it an alliteration.

It's something I don't do very often and I didn't exactly copy him.

But we do a lot of this to John Stott.

Verse 17 through 18 or pride.

Verse 19 is power and verse 20 to 21 is plans.

So if you want to have a little outline for this morning and an alliteration to memorize this or remember where we're going.

That's it.

The pride the power the plans.

And so the pride.

Paul's pride.

He's not bragging here.

Nor is this a false humility where he points to what he's been able to do and then he gives a nod to the Lord.

He doesn't do something like yes.

Yes.

Well, Jesus was there all the way and see how remarkably well I obeyed him.

And oh, yes, he gets all the glory.

But don't you agree that he was very wise or even clever to have chosen someone like moi for such an important task.

There's nothing like that and what the Apostle Paul is saying here.

Paul can look at what he's done with personal satisfaction and total humility.

And we can so early in this message here We can stop and we can take note of that that there is a

personal satisfaction.

There is a yes.

I am glad to have taken part in this and I am satisfied.

I'm personally gratified even to see what God has done through

myself through me and yet With

complete integrity.

Meaning it 100 % the way it sounds.

Christ is 100 % the catalyst and the glory behind it.

I.

There's nothing wrong with being satisfied or even being proud of our work for Christ.

I mean There's a world of difference between saying with the psalmist David something like for by you meaning

God for by you I can run against a troop and by my God I can leap over a wall.

There's a difference between that and saying I'm able to run against a troop and leap over a wall and that must be why God Chose me.

Do you see the difference?

On the one hand we're saying because of my wonderful attributes and my skills and my talents my intellect God chose me

for this.

On the other hand the more proper hand is Look what God may be able to

do.

For the good of those to whom I did it and all to his glory.

Well Paul is clearly with David for by you I can run against a troop and so

forth.

Because it's all of God the immediate cause of

Paul's Pride is his certainty that his priestly offering of the Gentiles was acceptable to God.

That was verses 14 through 16 as I said it points both ways.

Satisfied you're full of goodness.

You're filled with knowledge.

You're able to instruct and so his pride his boast isn't what Jesus Christ did through him

and his personal Satisfaction in seeing a church well -begun and growing in holiness and

growing in satis in sanctification.

In 2nd Corinthians 11 verses 21 to 33 we're not going to read that right now, but that's where

Paul writes of his labors and his sufferings for the gospel and How does he get through it all?

The shipwrecks and the beatings and so forth.

Was it by his personal determination?

Well read about Paul and remember him as Saul.

Paul the Apostle remembering him as Saul the Pharisee we can say Accurately he was a

determined man.

Yeah, I can imagine if as a boy.

He built those models.

Do you ever try and build models down even if they still have them?

I always tried to build models.

He would have finished them for me.

They always turned into a glue spotted disaster and the decals were never quite where they were meant to be and they always had a Bubble in them

and I always had a little glue on my finger when I tried to get them flat and so they get fingerprints on them and

I just lost determination.

I think Paul Would have been as a boy building a model.

It would have turned out to be an exact 150th replica of the ship or the plane or whatever it was he was

making and if it was a tank the turret would turn if Was a plane the props would prop and so forth.

He was a determined man.

Did his zeal Accomplish anything.

I mean we must say yes.

He wrote to the Philippians of his pedigree in Jewish education and the law and how he held to it

blamelessly.

He says zealously.

He was zealous for the law for the traditions of the fathers.

But of none of this do we hear a hint of boasting.

In fact the very resistance he had to bring any of this out Tells us that he's not boasting at all.

It was forced out of him.

You'll remember false apostles those for whom the gospel was a means of gain.

Those who criticized his Qualifications so they could shoulder aside his inconvenient insistence on God's

truth.

When he had to defend the gospel, he set forth his sparkling resume as a Pharisee and as an apostle.

But not to boast not to set himself for for not to aggrandize himself.

But for the gospel's sake when it was absolutely necessary.

Forced him out and only distinguished for the church.

What was a true gospel and the falsehoods they were hearing.

But none of this gets any credit for anything he ever did.

Christ told him my grace is sufficient for you for by my power for my power is made perfect in

weakness.

And so Paul also writes if I must boast I will boast of things that show my weakness.

So in this light we take his words here in Romans 15 17 as a complete deflection of any part of the gospel.

He prays from self to Christ.

He looks back on the results of his priestly work in the gospel.

That was 14 through 16 in this chapter.

He sees men and women trusting in Christ eager to hear and obey his word.

He looks at a church that needs only reminders of the truth that came to them in the gospel.

And he sums it all up as a cause.

For what?

For boasting in the lord.

And so we.

When we do our service for christ when he chooses to honor that effort and bring something of

eternal value through us.

Let us do as the apostle.

Let's do as the apostle paul take pride in our lord who did the work.

All the while being satisfied that we have taken our part.

One of the great satisfactions You can have as a preacher Is when something you say

something through ordinary means something through an ordinary person like even myself.

And i'm only speaking words.

This is just english that's coming out.

And yet what's behind it?

Is the word of god?

And we pray before we come out here for the power of god's spirit to imbue our

words with something worthwhile.

I recall some months ago when I was preaching the first few verses of romans chapter 8.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in christ Jesus and are called according to his purposes and so

forth and one of the points I made there I'm, not going to repreach the whole thing right now.

But one of the points I made there is if we're running running around being self -condemnatory.

If you're condemning yourself you're taking upon yourself something that belongs to christ he

stood condemned in your place.

And therefore you have no right to be self -condemning.

And one of the saints here came up to me later and said pastor that uncovered for me my

spiritual pride my pride in my extra humility and how much I repent and how

condemnatory I am and how much Hubris I took in that.

Well who got the glory for that?

Christ jesus.

Because it's his word i'm proclaiming and all I can do is do my best to make it sensible.

He gets all the credit, but I do have to admit There is a self -satisfaction.

And it's all the glory to god is thank you lord.

For using such as me to do any good for one of your children who you bought with your own blood.

Self -satisfaction is different than boastful or proud or arrogant.

Is simply yes that is in fact satisfying much as the apostle paul here and much as any of

us.

We teach the gospel to our children.

And they start to get it.

You can give all the glory to god which we must because only he gets the glory.

And yet be satisfied that he used you and you can start to see some fruit from it.

In ourselves in our personal walk.

There can be that Satisfaction that yes, I am growing in the way of the lord.

I can read galatians chapter 5 and see the fruit of the spirit and see the The works of the flesh and see

that i'm becoming less and less of the one and more and more of the other.

And without taking any credit from jesus.

And his spirit who's the only way this work can happen in us.

There can be this satisfaction.

Remember in the parable of the talents, you know where the master Gives one servant 10 another five and another

one talent and then he goes off on a long journey.

He comes back and he wants an accounting.

And you remember that the one with the 10 talents gives him 10 more and the one with the five five more.

We're not going to repreach that whole thing either but I want to remind you what the

master which is of course jesus Does not say.

When he receives the 10 or the five talents the two who brought something back to him.

He does not say.

You lousy unworthy servant.

How dare you say i've gained for you 10 more talents when they were my talents that made it possible in the first place.

Why didn't you say you've gained?

I've gained you yourself more talents because you did it all or something like that.

He doesn't say that.

What is jesus going to say?

To ordinary humans.

With a not so ordinary spirit in us, but to just ordinary mundane feet of clay people like you and me.

He's going to say well done good and faithful servant.

And who's he going to say this to.

He's going to say that to those who believe completely what he said.

In john chapter 15 without me you can do nothing.

Can do nothing without jesus.

If we're not in the vine if we're not in him.

Being sustained by him receiving life from him spiritually and physically.

If that be not the case you can do Nothing, and we know that and we believe that

Paul believed that i'm sure Jesus

says without me you can do nothing.

I believe the opposite is true.

With me you can do much.

As we're in christ jesus, not only can we do much we're required to do much.

This whole book of romans and where we've been going lately in these last several weeks as we're closing the series up.

Speaking of we're to edify one another and to weep together and to rejoice together and to build one another

up and to Admonish and encourage and counsel and rebuke and all these other things.

We have to do something.

The christian life is doing stuff.

For each other.

And jesus says without me you can do nothing.

But with me faith is a mustard seed can tell a tree to jump into the sea or a mountain to move.

So let us never think that we can't do anything because we're not worthy.

I know i've been hitting this point quite a bit here in this church.

We know we're not worthy.

You know, jesus sort of says.

It's going to sound a little crass.

He says I don't care.

I know that I know that better than you know that now get to work.

I don't deserve it.

I know that I know that better than you know that I've given you much to do.

I can almost see him saying why do you think I had the apostles put so many imperatives so many commands?

In there because I want you to Do them.

I want you to do them.

He never says you stupid lousy unworthy servant.

You're always blundering.

You're always tripping.

You're always falling.

You're always disobeying.

He doesn't say that.

He just says read the scripture.

Follow the commands do it.

Paul gives us three means here for how god worked through him.

The first two are at the end of verse 18 word and deed and then the third one is in the next verse in

verse 19.

Which is the signs and wonders.

So word indeed, what does that mean?

It's very simple mundane everyday stuff just what we say and do.

With the mouth the god.

With the mouth he proclaimed the gospel.

With his hands and feet he lived it out.

This is so every day.

This is so ordinary.

When we speak for god.

When you speak to your children your friends your family your co -workers.

When you speak and say know the lord.

When the gospel of god's forgiveness forgiveness by faith in his son flows from our unclean lips.

We're not just conversing we're speaking words of life.

They're just words right it's just english whatever language you're speaking in.

It's just sounds no it is a Ordinary everyday

thing that god has chosen to use the god of the universe to use to glorify his son.

Think of how people are saved romans chapter 10 verse 17.

So faith.

Faith.

What does he mean there?

He means saving faith.

He means safe in the lord.

Jesus christ in his sacrifice on the cross in his death his burial his resurrection his ascension his

return.

Faith Comes from hearing and hearing through the word of christ.

It's just words.

God uses those words as those words are his words for extraordinary

things for saving souls.

For giving sinners new hearts.

For washing and regenerating them.

And bringing them to christ and giving them the hope of eternal life.

Just words.

Or so they may seem.

Here paul matches these two up.

The word and deed.

What we say needs to match what we do.

Anything less is hypocrisy.

And it's sort of a valid complaint when people hear one thing and they see another.

But I have to say it's no excuse for believing for not believing.

And we hear this all the time.

I don't want to go to church because it's full of hypocrites.

My answer is well come and join us.

You'll you'll fit right in all of us.

And yet when we have these excuses I said i'm not going

to come to jesus because that jesus follower over there.

I Heard her say this about her husband and I saw her husband go off in this direction.

And then there's that one who was famous and he hit the newspapers and he got involved in

an immoral Situation or absconded with funds and therefore I don't want to be

one of them.

You know.

If you're one like that.

If you think this way I have to tell you.

That when you meet jesus christ and you will.

When you look the lord in the face.

Because he'll be looking you in the face.

You're not going to be able to answer for the bad example that I set for you.

Or anyone else we all try to set as a good example as we can.

But if that's your basis if that's the reason you're going to use to determine your eternal

destiny.

You ultimately don't determine anything.

God does it all so, you know the way i'm speaking of this.

Think of what you're saying.

It says I would rather live condemned for all my life.

Because of what i've assessed this example to be.

That's not going to be the discussion you're going to have between you and jesus.

Jesus say why didn't you believe the gospel?

Did they tell you the gospel?

Did they tell you about me and my death and burial and resurrection and the rest of that gospel.

Well, yes lord, but they didn't match their word and deed up.

You're not the one who gets to Assess that for us.

Though it will be assessed perfectly by jesus.

If your salvation if your eternal destiny depends on my piety or anyone else's you're never going to be saved.

Only christ saves which is a miracle.

He usually accomplishes by means of nothing more amazing than word and deed.

Which he then takes and drives the truth into the heart of the hearer.

Or the observer and grants him salvation, you know in acts chapter 16.

We have an example of this the philippian jailer and again, we're not going to turn there, but you know this this

story.

Where paul and his friends are in prison and they're chained to the wall and their feet are in stocks.

And there's an earthquake and all the chains fall off and they're completely free and the door flies open.

And what are they doing?

They're singing hymns.

They're proclaiming god's word meantime the jailer.

Knowing that they are now able to walk out.

He sees the door open.

He figures that they've all left.

He's a dead man.

He's getting ready to fall in his sword.

Paul says do yourself.

No harm.

We're all here.

He falls down at his feet and says what must I do to be saved.

What convicted him.

And we know it's the spirit of god.

Changing the heart.

What did the spirit of god use?

To bring him to that point paul's words.

The hymns he was singing.

The proclamation of the gospel.

The word and deed in this case the deed he didn't do.

The deed of not departing.

Word and deed matched up.

We have to remember how powerful this can be.

What you say is so ordinary.

It's just english.

It's just words what we do.

Get up in the morning and we pray and we take a shower and we go to work.

We take care of children.

Word and deed.

Can have incredible effect and the god who saved us.

Uses such ordinary everyday mundane things.

For purposes that we can't even imagine.

Verse 19.

Is a third of these means if there's word and deed which need to match up the third means god used through paul.

Is the signs and wonders.

What are these?

These are the miracles that christ did through the apostles.

Peter did so many that people thought that just allowing his shadow to pass over them would bring them healing.

Paul told the spirit to leave that girl in philippi which it did immediately.

And there's so many many more.

And paul says it was how it was by the power of the spirit.

It was a sign and a wonder.

Well sign is a thing that is done and the wonder is the effect that it has.

Signs and wonder are Extraordinary events that god uses to establish new paradigms in redemptive

history.

In exodus chapter 7 and verse 3 god is telling moses how he's going to bring about the freedom of israel.

How he's going to keep his word to abraham isaac and jacob this covenant.

He's going to do it.

I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of egypt.

I speak in there directly of the 10 plagues.

The gnats the cattle disease the hail the river turning to blood and so forth.

I'm going to multiply my signs and wonders.

Amongst those though.

It's not listed as one of the plagues.

Remember to the sovereign guard god in a sign and wonder having told moses he would do this telling

moses at the outset.

He would do this.

He had something to do with pharaoh's heart.

Did he not?

It's not listed as one of the plagues and yet this god in a sign and wonder saying moses.

Here's what i'm going to do with pharaoh the greatest king on earth at that time.

And then he did it.

With signs and wonders.

Israel's exodus then was this climactic event in redemptive history.

In fact the greatest event and the most often recalled event in redemptive history.

Until what?

The cross of jesus christ.

The advent of jesus christ.

And that exodus Was accomplished by god's might working through no less a sinner.

A man, just as ordinary as the rest of us named moses.

If we think of the prophets there are two Elijah and elisha who together are really one prophetic cycle

these two work miracles the dead bring being brought back to life.

Leprosy being healed armies being vanquished and more and more and more Extraordinary events

signaling an extraordinary movement of god something

extraordinary something climactic.

Dramatic something new.

Peter said in acts chapter 2 verse 22.

This is great pentecostal sermon.

He said men of israel hear these words.

Jesus of nazareth a man attested to you by god.

With mighty works and wonders and signs that god did through him in your midst.

What are the signs and wonders do.

They attested the jesus of nazareth was the son of god.

You see the advent of our lord was more than just A shift in regard god's redemptive purposes for

mankind.

It was the shift.

And it was attested.

It was attested by god through his son by the sons signs and wonders that he the son

did.

And then acts chapter 1 verse 8 will tell you passed on to the disciples or the apostles.

See signs and wonders by their very nature cannot be thought of as common events.

You know, it's a variation of the adage.

If everything is one thing then nothing is.

If every day is special then no day is special.

If the signs and wonders of the exodus or the elijah elisha cycle or jesus or even the

apostles.

If those signs and wonders are every day or common events.

Then the event they attested to is not attested to or at best it's diminished.

Why is the parting of the red sea so profound.

It's because it's never been done before.

Because when god parted the red sea it was to deliver this people who had been Chased out of egypt because

of the signs and wonders of the plagues.

It's not like we just walk up to a creek every time.

We don't get our feet wet and it parts for us.

It's a sign.

It's a wonder.

It's signaling something something huge something dramatic.

Something new.

Joel prophesied about christ coming and the sending of the spirit this way.

He said I will show sign.

I will show wonders in the heaven and on the earth.

Blood and fire and columns of smoke.

If they had seen blood and fire and columns of smoke the day before.

And the weather channel said it might come again next week.

Then we'd have to ask Where's the wonder?

What's being signified by this everyday event?

Which on channel 5 kpix weather.

They said we can expect again pretty soon.

You see my point signs and wonders.

John chapter 9 the man who jesus healed.

Do you remember what he said when he was brought before the sanhedrin?

He said why this is an amazing thing.

You do not know where he comes from speaking of jesus and yet he opened my eyes.

Excuse me.

We know that god does not listen to sinners.

But if anyone is a worshiper of god and does his will god listens to him.

Never since the world began.

Mark those words.

Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.

Which of course jesus had just done.

If this man were not from god he could do nothing if eyes were opened every day.

Where's the wonder?

If you or I could anoint blind eyes and make them see then how would that?

Miracle attest to christ.

And hear this attest to christ and him alone.

John the baptist asked whether jesus was the one he sent his disciples.

Are you the one we expected or should we wait for another.

And how did jesus answer him?

It says go and tell john what you hear and see.

The blind receive their sight in the lame walk lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up.

And the poor have good news preached them and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Now listen.

If john could have heard that and answered something, well, that's all pretty amazing.

But you know just yesterday I healed a man of leprosy.

And brother mordecai over him, you know him he just last week touched a lame leg and the guy jumped up and

danced a jig.

And it was um, who was that?

I can't remember who it was because it happened so often that that guy came up out of the grave.

I don't remember who prayed for him, but pop i'll be no.

That's not it at all.

These are signs and wonders.

They signify something.

In this case signify that jesus christ and in him the kingdom of god the advent of the messiah had come.

And that god was doing this new and remarkable work.

And that's why jesus points.

He doesn't say the blind received their sight like it happened last month.

Or remember this other guy who could do it?

No.

It's all about him.

The signs a new work of god an advancement in the revelation of his son.

Jesus.

Signs and wonders open the door of hearts to see and wonder and believe the gospel.

When israel saw the smoke and the fire and the thundering on sinai, you know, they didn't yawn.

They feared they worshiped they believed.

We speak about it so often we sing about it we need to stop and think about this for a moment.

Here you are camped out.

There's that mountain.

And The top of it just shrouded in lightning and thunder and fire.

And after 40 days and 40 nights still alive here comes moses.

It's not an everyday occurrence.

It meant something.

You know pride is proper.

When pride is in christ.

When we look at with proud exclamation at what jesus christ has done.

We take ourselves out of the equation.

It's it's it's a screaming silence that puts.

That ends up putting the attention on myself.

In other words if we don't if we pretend as if I had nothing at all to do with it.

It's a way actually of Putting more attention.

On the self we can be honest.

We can be realistic about what god has done through us.

When we remember that any good we do is possible only by the power of his spirit.

Which of course ephesians chapter 1 verse 19 says is being worked toward us who believe

signs and wonders.

Signs and wonders then to attest to the apostles.

Who are attesting to christ who was attested by those signs and wonders also and they carry on in that

line.

But they're not something that happens every day.

You don't find them on page one and then page three and then page five of the front page.

As they get less and less amazing because we've seen it so often

signs and wonders signifying this new work of god this new advancement.

In redemptive history this new revelation of his work in his son jesus

verses 20 to 21 then Paul tells of his plan or his

plans where he wants to go what he's going to do next.

In verse 23, he'll tell of his plan to go to spain.

But here in verse 20, it's simply to his plan to preach the gospel where it hasn't already been preached.

Verse 21 the quote from isaiah chapter 52 15 gives us his

biblical mandate for this.

Those who have never been told of him will see and those who have never heard will understand and

so.

On that basis.

He he makes it his ambition to preach the gospel where christ has not been named.

He doesn't want to build on someone else's foundation.

I don't want to say here that Preaching where someone else has already been labored is not wrong.

That what paul's saying here is not something that's supposed to be normative for every ministry that anybody ever does.

He's saying here.

This is his ambition.

This is what he wants to do.

He wants to go to new ground.

Some of the great church fathers like chrysostom say that he wanted to go there before the false apostles got there.

And made things so confused that paul would have to then correct things before he could get the gospel to be made clear.

It's an interesting idea paul simply says here that He wants to go

where no one else has gone before.

Sort of like that star trek theme in the original series where no man has gone before but he's not saying here.

That if you go where other people have gone.

You're not doing good ministry or you're somehow wrong or sinful.

This is what he did.

You know if that were the case that you couldn't go where another man had been.

That I oughtn't be here at all building on what pastor george did before me or pastor downing did before him.

Paul's charter and therefore the basis of his basis of his plans was to break new ground in fresh

Territory and not everyone's called to do that.

Not everyone is equipped for that.

That's what paul did.

We do ourselves no service if we ever try to make that normative

anyone actually.

Anyone who labors in the gospel?

I mean all of us not just full -time workers all of us if we labor in the gospel.

We're building on a foundation that we didn't lay Ephesians 2 20 we're

laying.

We're building on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles.

So we have to stand on someone else's work.

It's not something we did.

It is christ who is building his church so of necessity we build on someone else's labors.

Paul's charter to go to places where the gospel hadn't been heard is appropriate for some today.

But it's not mandated.

His use of chapter 52 chapter 52 and verse 15 of isaiah sort of wraps it all up.

If they in rome were wondering why he did things the way he did.

Or why he was willing to accept so many delays in coming to them in rome.

It's right here those who have never been told will see.

And those who have never heard will understand.

Now that's isaiah 52 15 as I said.

That's the beginning of the fourth and last of what we call the servant songs in the prophet isaiah.

It speaks of the effect that god's servant that's jesus that he's going to have on nations that had

previously been ignorant of him.

Paul is not suggesting that he is that servant.

Because that would border on blasphemy that servant is christ.

Rather what he's saying is he stands in that path of redemptive history where god uses ordinary

people to complete his commission to his son jesus.

The effect jesus has on people comes about by people.

It is not the people themselves.

It is him it is god by his spirit choosing to work by means of them.

I think the days of signs and wonders.

Of the type that paul speaks of in romans 15.

That the apostles did in establishing the church and that god did so many years ago in delivering

israel.

I think those days are over.

That's my personal opinion.

We can support that from the bible.

I don't want to turn this into a lecture on that.

I think those are over.

I think they're over largely because of the Dramatic significance that they're supposed to have and the new

work that they're supposed to indicate they signify something.

Not just an everyday occurrence.

By jesus hand and then by the apostles the gospel.

The truth of this apostolic word has been attested most importantly.

The death the burial and resurrection of our lord.

Jesus christ that if you should repent of your sins.

That because of christ's life his perfect life before god.

Because of his death on the cross wherein he suffered god's wrath for your sin.

And his resurrection which confirmed all the promises of god to be yes and amen in him.

That if you should believe in him if you should repent of your sin and come to him.

And him alone for salvation.

All this attested by the previous signs and wonders which prove that this gospel

that the apostles preached Wrote down in this word in this gospel that i'm trying to make clear this day

will save you it has been attested by those signs and wonders.

It has been attested by the death the burial and resurrection the greatest sign the greatest wonder of them all.

But if i'm saying that the days of those kinds of signs and wonders are over.

Their passing does not leave us bereft of any resources.

The spirit is with us he's with us individually he's with us as a body.

Anytime we do anything of any value for the kingdom.

It is it is proof that he's working through us.

Differently than he did through paul and the other apostles, but no less the spirit of god working extraordinary

things.

Like faith like repentance like obedience like growth and sanctification like desiring to be like

jesus things like that the love and the unity of the brethren

Is a sign Of the spirit working amongst us that same spirit who worked those miracles through paul

Is working strides and holiness in us strides and sanctification advancement into the image of

christ.

And he's doing that through means no less ordinary Than myself.

Standing here preaching the gospel as well as I can Make it sensible to you yourselves as you testify

to each other as you encourage one another in all these things.

And I tell you dear ones That's enough.

Jesus said at the end of the parable the rich man and lazarus.

If they do not hear moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced that someone should rise from the dead.

It's not the sign or the wonder but it's god changing hearts and bringing eternal good through the

working of his spirit.

And if he chooses now to work through something so mundane so ordinary As

spoken language and observable deeds To work eternal good in someone

brethren.

That's enough.

And the spirit of god doing that through you Is no different.

He is the same spirit of the same god Who worked the miracles and the signs and the wonders through paul

and peter and john and the rest?

And through moses so many centuries before even that.

And that's enough.

And god does something through you or me something like that through means such as ourself is something that we can

like paul take pride in.

Pride in a savior like jesus pride in a savior like jesus the one who john said

john the baptist and here's Our motif here's our charter if you will I must

become less and he must become greater.

We could take a Take pride in a in a savior like jesus

Who becomes greater and greater because he humbled himself to become like us.

He secured our salvation dying on the cross and who from heaven he continues through us to do

this glorious work amen.

Gracious heavenly father.

We again.

Thank you for the day that you've given us for the time that we have together.

And father just for your word and for your spirit and for the strength that you give us.

And for the incredible fact that you do choose to work extraordinary things by your spirit through

ordinary means such as men and women like ourselves Through what we say what we do as we hold

faithfully to your word.

And do all things to please our savior jesus christ and bring glory to your name.

And we thank you for all this in christ's name amen.