Sunday, December 29, 2024 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the day that you have made.

We thank you that every day that we live, we live in the light of your truth, in the light of our reigning

Lord Jesus Christ. We give you the praise for you deserve it.

We thank you for what you're doing in the world. We thank you for all the good that you are accomplishing.

We thank you for the way that you strengthen our faith. We thank you for your word that is unfailing and everlastingly true.

And we pray that you would help us to now rejoice in your truth as you show us your son, that you would warm our hearts to his glories by the ministry of your spirit.

And we pray for these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Acts. We're going to be reading from Acts chapter 18, verses 9 through 23.

So Acts chapter 18, verses 9 through 23.

Now, Acts chapter 15, beginning in verse 36 through chapter 18, verse 23, tells us of a three -year -long journey of 1 ,500 miles by land and sea from Antioch all the way to Corinth, and then another 1 ,500 miles on the return to Antioch from Corinth by way of Ephesus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem, Paul's second missionary journey.

The journey featured Paul and Silas, joined at various points by Timothy from Lystra, Luke from Troas, and Aquila and Priscilla from Corinth.

They went by Asia into Europe and back again, proclaiming Christ, hounded by persecution.

And we read through to the conclusion of that journey here this morning. So if you're able,

I invite you to stand with me as we read Acts 18, beginning in verse 9. This is the word of the

Lord. Now, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "'Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in this city.'

And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. When Galileo was pro -council of Achaia, the

Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, "'This fellow persuades me to worship

God contrary to the law.' And when

Paul was about to open his mouth, Galileo said to the Jews, "'If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes,

O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves, for I do not want to be a judge in such matters.'

And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat, but Galileo took no notice of these things.

So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him.

He had his hair cut off at Centuria, for he had taken a vow, and he came to Ephesus and left them there.

But he himself reentered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, "'I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you,

God willing.' And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.

After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.'"

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. That is just one of many journeys that Paul took, just one.

And it is so full of activity, full of risks, full of costs, full of suffering, time expended, relationships strained, choices made.

We're saying yes to this means saying no to that. And all of that cost mounting up together.

Why? Why would Paul do all this?

Why would he willingly go through all this? I was reading through this section of Acts and reacquainting myself with this passage after spending some time preaching about Christmas, and my placeholder title from the very beginning was,

Paul Does Stuff. One thing after the other, Paul did that, then Paul did that, then Paul did that.

What is the point? Luke is writing this to Theophilus by the Spirit for the sake of the saints, and what is the point of this passage?

I see Paul does stuff, but notice why he does stuff. Contemplate why he does stuff. He does stuff for Jesus.

That's why he's doing all this. That's why he's going on this 3 ,000 -mile journey. That's why he spends three years in the field.

That's why he does all this stuff. He's doing it for Jesus. Remember what

Jesus said to Ananias when he sent Ananias to Saul of Tarsus with the gospel?

The Lord said to Ananias, "'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.'"

We just read about that, didn't we, in that passage? We just read about Paul doing that very thing that Jesus Christ chose him for.

"'For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.'"

Paul did stuff, but he did stuff for Jesus. And so my other title is

A Reminder to Slaves. This is why

Paul is doing all of this, going to such lengths, putting himself at such risk, suffering so many things.

He does stuff for Jesus because he understands himself as, not his own, but the slave of Jesus Christ.

That's what he says in Romans 1, verse 1, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. That English word glosses the

Greek word for slave, doulos. Paul says, I'm a slave. I'm the slave of Jesus Christ.

That's the big picture of it, and then he begins to describe what kind of slave he is. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

Now, what kind of slave are you, Paul? Well, he says, called to be an apostle. All kinds of slaves of Jesus, but I'm one of the ones that is called an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.

So, Paul does stuff for Jesus, but this is a reminder to slaves, the slaves of Jesus Christ, about our service for Him, that we do stuff, but we do stuff for Jesus, that biblical word redeemed.

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We sing about this biblical word, but it is a word that comes straight from the slave market to describe the nature of our salvation.

To be redeemed, praise God, to be redeemed means to be purchased and thus to be owned.

To be saved is to serve. Now, as we think about Paul doing stuff, we got to keep that in mind.

Paul is doing all of this. We're not supposed to sit back and say, way to go, Paul. Never could do what you do.

You're way too special. We're going to sit back and watch you do things and applaud, but we have to think about what is driving

Paul, and shouldn't it be driving us? Now, he was a slave called an apostle. We're other things.

That's okay. Jesus has many whom He has redeemed. In fact, Revelation 7 says, too many for us to count.

But what kind of slave are we? He sorts that out, but let's remember whose slave we are.

We belong to Jesus Christ. So, when looking at this passage, we can observe opportunities for our service to Christ.

We need to give that some thought so that we don't sideline opportunities for Jesus Christ and eliminate opportunities for service to Jesus Christ, specialize them so much that we don't think we do.

We also should consider the complexities of our service to Jesus Christ. Oh, if it was easy, everyone would do it.

Why do things get so complex? Why do things get so confusing? And yet we can rest in the simplicity of service to Christ.

I think we see that in our text as well. And lastly, we should embrace the priority of our service to Christ.

But we should first consider our opportunities. We need to do this because it's easy for us to forget who we are serving.

We easily, in our sinfulness, we forget easily who we are serving, and we forget how this who, being

Jesus Christ, how the who dominates the where and the when, everywhere and all the time.

Indeed, if we would just remember the who, that answers the why. Do you remember the words of 1

Corinthians 6 .20? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify

God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Let's remember that we are slaves and we do stuff for Jesus.

That's the meaning behind the familiar words of Colossians 3 .17. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the

Lord your Master, the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

So, in our service to Christ, we embrace an open horizon and a full calendar.

Let's begin with the opportunities for service. Everything that happens in the ministry of Paul, the missionary journeys of Paul, is underwritten, supported by, brought along by to success, thoroughgoing success, simply by the grace of God.

It wasn't Paul's training. It wasn't Paul's cleverness. It wasn't happenstance.

It was the grace of God. God ensured that it went well, that it had an impact, that good things came out of it.

The only reason why any success was had by the apostle Paul was the grace of God.

How else could what we do matter? You ever read

Ecclesiastes? That'll put you in your place. Read Ecclesiastes.

It's like, oh, man, I thought I was a big deal. How could what we do matter unless God by His grace ensures that it has the impact

He desires? How else could mere dust and vapor etch the eternal slate?

Consider God's providence. God gives a promise to Paul. In verses 9 and 10, the

Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid, but speak, do not keep silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in this city.

So God says, you're going to have success in this city of Corinth, Paul, because I'm going to be with you.

There's a promise. And specifically, I'm not going to let anybody attack you and hurt you.

Because, hey, first of all, that's happened before. Paul has the scars to prove it. He's got the stories to tell about it.

But in this particular case, Jesus says, continue on, be bold, speak out, because I am with you and I'm going to protect you in this city and you're going to have great success here.

I have many people in this city. So God's will is expressed here to Paul. Keep on speaking.

Don't be afraid. Don't be silent. I promise I'm going to be with you. I'm going to protect you. There's the promise. And He keeps

His promise as we see in verses 12 through 18. Now, it's going to be an interesting thing to note how, to observe how

God keeps this promise. Remember, He says in verse 10, I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you.

I have many people in this city. Now, let's think about those statements and then what it looks like when the critical moment comes.

Luke records this for Theophilus. This is what the Lord said to Paul. And here's a perfect example of an opportunity for Paul to get hurt.

But watch what happens. This is God keeping His promise right here in verses 12 and following.

When Galileo was proconsul of Achaia. Now, that means that Galileo was in Achaia the way that Pilate was in Judea.

Okay, so very high up, a lot of power, soldiers obey his beck and call. He's the guy in charge.

If he wants to beat Paul, he's going to beat Paul. If he wants to release Paul, he's going to release Paul. When Galileo was proconsul of Achaia, the

Jews with one accord, now this is going to be those that are sticking with the synagogue, maintaining their opposition to Jesus of Nazareth as the

Messiah, because there are a lot of Jews who already have become Christians and are a part of the church there in Corinth.

But these are the religious Jews. The Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, "'This fellow persuades men to worship

God contrary to the law.'" So we have Jewish animosity rising up, and they're bringing their angst before the

Roman proconsul, and they want him to settle the matter. And they know that they can't take too many actions without his say -so, otherwise they're going to get in trouble.

Verse 14, "'And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Galileo said to the

Jews,'..." I like that. I love it when God keeps me from opening my mouth too soon.

Slow to speak gives opportunity for all wonderful things to observe in God's providence. If we're slow to speak, we might be able to observe

God's providence a little better. "'So he was about to open his mouth, but Galileo said to the

Jews, "'If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you.'"

Oh, what a wise thing to say. Isn't this the way that God ordained the civil government?

They're there to punish evildoers. Okay, well, verse 15, he says, "'But if it is a question of words and names and your own law,'..."

Apparently he's had dealings with the Jews before, and they're all upset about genealogies, and particular words, and theological controversies.

He says, "'Look to it yourselves, for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.'"

He's like, I don't want to be bothered with that. You're not going to understand. So he sounds like he's both wise, he's being limited in his involvement, he's not going to mix the civil government with religious concerns, and Galileo was looking pretty good as a pro -council, and he drove him from the judgment seat.

"'Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat, but Galileo took no notice of these things.'"

Well, there you go. What did he say? If it was a question, if it was a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, maybe like beating a guy up right in front of your judgment seat, then

I would be interested. But no, not only is he not interested in quibbles about Jewish law, he's also uninterested in quibbles about civil law, too.

Galileo just doesn't want to be bothered by anything. Leave me alone. I think we're meant to snicker at that.

Isn't it wonderful that we have a much more righteous Lord? Isn't it wonderful that we have a perfect king and judge?

What a great contrast to those who often are in office, civil government.

"'So Paul remained a good while.'" Now, notice all that. That's God keeping His promise. Now, what did the Lord Jesus say to Paul?

He said to Paul, "'Look, you stay, you preach, you keep going here in Corinth, and I'm going to be with you, and I'm going to protect you, and they're not going to beat you up, and they're not going to harm you.'"

He says, "'For I have many people in this city.'" Now, when I hear that promise from the Lord Jesus to Paul, it sounds like there's some kind of Christian mafia.

I have many people in this city. They're not going to touch you. But that's not what happens, is it?

The Christian mafia does not show up and stay Galio's hand with a nifty bribe.

That's not what happens. No Christian militia rides in and gets Paul away from the clutches of Galio.

So, when this is put to us in this way, "'For I have many people in this city,' this is not the reason why

Paul is not going to be hurt, the causal reason why Paul is not going to be hurt. Paul is,

Jesus is saying to Paul, "'I'm going to keep you healthy and moving forward in preaching the gospel because I have many sheep in this city who need to hear my voice and come to me when

I call them by the preaching of the gospel.'" So, this is a target -rich environment, Paul. You're going to preach the gospel here.

You're going to be here a long time, and you're going to see fruit for your labor, and the church is going to grow here. Now, what's the causal reason why

Paul did not get hurt? Galio is a lazy ruler?

The Jews are bad lawyers? No, Jesus said, "'I will not permit it.'"

Right? He said, "'I'm with you, and I'm not going to let this happen.'" That means that Jesus Christ, King of kings, the

King of the rulers of the earth, He decided, Paul, you're going to be safe. He determined it, so it happened.

There is a King over all people, everywhere. Whatever Jesus decides, that's how it goes.

He's in charge. Praise the Lord. So, promise given, promise kept.

And that lesson is driven home in the heart of Paul. As he moves on to Ephesus, and he preaches there in the synagogue, and he reasons with the

Jews, and they say, we want you to stay longer. And he says, no, I can't. I want to return to you, but I've got to go do something else, and I'm going to come again.

Notice in verse 21, he says, "'I will return again to you.'" What does he say? God -willing.

Now, that's not an empty -vein additive to Paul's speech.

This is the same sentiment that James talks about, let us not be lofty and proud, and think that we can schedule everything out for a year, two years, five years.

I have a five -year plan. This is how it's going to go. It's as if the Lord wills, as if God wills.

He's the one in charge. Look at the submission. Now, remember, Paul is the slave of Jesus Christ.

He's been put into the field. He's made it to Corinth. This is the apex of his missionary journey. He spends a year and a half there preaching the gospel, and Jesus says,

Paul, you're going to have success here because I've arranged that success, and you're going to have protection here because I've arranged that protection, and you're going to come and go according to my pleasure, and Paul recognizes all of that.

Do you see that the slave succeeds according to the provision of his master?

The slave has no tools of his own. The slave has no field of his own. The slave has no seed of his own. The slave has no livestock of his own.

It all belongs to the master. He's simply there to do the work, and when it's all said and done, he can give all the praise back to the master.

That's what Paul is doing. The only reason why he has success is that Jesus arranged for it all as his

Lord. You should remember that. Not only does

Paul's present success and future success remain utterly dependent upon God's providence, but it's the same for each and every one of us.

We're that dependent. We're that dependent upon God's providence, that dependent upon the grace of Jesus Christ.

He said, well, I can understand about Paul. He's away from home. He's out there in the field. He's in cities where the gospel has never been preached before.

He's there at the front lines risking himself. Death was just around the corner for Paul time and time again, and it makes sense that he's in such utter dependence upon the

Lord in those situations. But you know, I'm just doing my next load of laundry here.

Don't have to depend upon the Lord for that. I can handle that myself. Let your washer break, and then how do you feel?

All of a sudden, Lord, I need patience. No, no.

We're the slave of Jesus Christ no matter where we are, no matter what time it is, no matter what we're actually engaging.

Who's our Lord? Who's our master? Who do we belong to in this wonderful salvation?

We recognize that God is the shepherd of all history. We remember the encouragement.

He works all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. We know that he is the shepherd of all of history, and he is guiding all of history and shepherding all of history into his fold, and his fold is in the shape of Jesus Christ.

And it is this good that our attention is drawn. Now, we know Romans 8 .28,

and we know Romans 8 .29. They are familiar. Let's put them together.

Let's contemplate it just for a moment. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love

God, who are the called according to his purpose. Now, we can say that that's true in Corinth when

Paul had a year and a half off of getting beat and lots of success, many people coming to Christ.

That was true there, but it was also true in Iconium. It was also true in Lystra when he was getting hounded and beaten to death, almost half to death, and then not having a lot of people turn to Christ.

It was true there in the poor regions of Galatia. It was there in the rich valley of Corinth that God is working all things together for the good of those who are the called according to his purpose.

Now, what is that good? How can it be good to be stoned and left for dead?

How can it be good to be dragged before the Gentile procouncil and accused of all sorts of things?

Explanation, verse 29, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined, here's his flawless plan, to be conformed to the image of his

Son. That's the good. We know that all things work together for good to those who love

God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Well, what is his purpose? What had he known long before? What had he predestined?

What had he planned? What had he arranged for? In all of these things, whether we're going through the times of Job or we're on the heights of Solomon, what is the goal of God in our lives that we will be, what is the good?

It is to be conformed to the image of his Son. More like Jesus, more like Christ.

Christlikeness, which is godliness. That he, Christ, might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The exaltation of Jesus Christ by the progressive conformity of our lives, by the sovereign, gracious hand of God into the image of his

Son, that we're more like Christ, more like Christ, more praise to Christ, more exaltation to Christ. That's the good.

That's the good. God arranged it in Iconium. He arranged it in Corinth.

He arranges it here in our lives, in our homes, in our church, and so on.

That is the good of providence. That's the good that God arranges. So we should have faith that God does this, and we should believe the promises that he makes, and we should trust in his providence and hold to his priorities, and by doing all of this, that's what it means to walk by faith.

I don't know what step two is. I know what step one is. I have no idea what step two is, but I know what step one is.

I know what direction I'm heading, and I know that God is going to work it together for good. And we can live in that peace that passes all understanding, our hearts guarded by the mind of Christ.

These are the priorities of the Lord. What is Paul doing in this missionary journey?

What are the priorities of his labor? Well, there's teaching. There's teaching, verse 11.

He continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God. Among them is a long extended time for Paul to teach the

Word of God, to teach Scripture. And then, of course, we have in verse 19 when he comes to Ephesus, he enters the synagogue and there are reasons with the

Jews. And now, rather than systematically teaching the

Scriptures to the church in Corinth, the fledgling church in Corinth, now he's entering into the synagogue of the

Jews and he's reasoning with them and he's contending with the things that they say. So there's two different examples there.

One, long -term discipleship, and the other one, a confrontational refutation. There's the plowing and there's the pioneering.

That's what Paul was doing. Why did he go on such long journeys to such faraway places and risk his life so that he could take up the

Word of God and talk about Jesus Christ? Priority, a godly priority to teach, to not just know

Christ, but to proclaim Him to others. How many different ways, different venues, different opportunities do we have for that in our lives?

We don't have to go to Corinth to teach. Paul did. He was told to by his master.

Where has your master told you to teach Christ? To whom has your master told you to teach

Christ? And there's just the simple obedience in the life of Paul.

Look at verse 18. Verses 18 to 21 are interesting. So Paul remained a good while there in Corinth, but then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria.

And Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Centuria, for he had taken a vow. We're going to come back to that.

And he came to Ephesus and left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the

Jews. When they had asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but he took leave of them, saying,

I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you, God willing. What is going on here?

Apparently, he's taken a vow that he's got to make it to Jerusalem, probably for the Passover, and there celebrate and rejoice with the saints, with the

Christians as they recognize Christ as God's Lamb, and they celebrate the right way.

Paul's looking forward to that, and he's taken a vow. Now, that's the same thing as an oath. Jesus said, don't take oaths, didn't he?

In Matthew chapter 5, verses 33 to 37, he said, don't do that. So what is Paul doing taking a vow?

Here's the difference. A vow is a promise to God. An oath is a promise by God. A vow is a promise to God.

God, I promise I'm going to do this. An oath is a promise by God. By God, I swear

I'm going to do this. That's a difference. That's a difference. And Jesus said to Christians, let your yes be yes and your no, no.

He told Christians, well, this is very Christ -like, isn't it, to tell the truth. It's very

Christ -like. He's the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus would amen his statements before he said them.

He said, verily, verily, amen, amen. He would amen what he said before he even said it. It's very

Christian to tell the truth, to be conscious of what we're saying, why we're saying it, and consider whether or not it's the truth.

Another reason to be slow to speak. When we're about to open our mouth, am I going to be saying the truth?

Now, a promise to God is not the same thing as a promise by God. And Paul says, I have made a promise to God.

He's taken a vow. He cut off his hair. He has humbled himself before the Lord. He says, I am going to do this.

Apparently, he's going to make it back to Jerusalem in time for the feast. And he's going to keep his word, keep his promise.

He's going to be obedient. Now, the strengthening is the last thing we see in verses 22 to 23.

This is the priorities of the Lord. Verse 22, when he had landed at Caesarea, port city, and gone up, that means

Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is up, and greeted the church. That's the church there in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the

Christian church at this time. And then he went down to Antioch. Antioch's north, but you're going down, because you're going down out of Jerusalem to Antioch.

After he spent some time there, he departed, went over to the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

Went back to Derbe, went back to Lystra, went back to Iconium, went back to Antioch of Pisidia, went back to those areas, strengthening the churches there.

So, why does Paul keep doing all this stuff? He wants to teach the word of God, wants to teach

Christ to others. He's being obedient to the call of God upon his life. He's wanting to strengthen others.

He wants to see others doing better. He wants to help others follow Jesus better. How does he do that?

He greets them. He spends time with them. He fellowships with them. He's in communion with them. That's how he strengthens the brethren, because he's with them.

These are the things that Jesus would have us to do. These are godly priorities. It's doing stuff, yes, but it's doing stuff for Jesus.

Who has our master told us to teach? What has our master told us to do? Who has our master told us to encourage and to strengthen?

Are we following him? Discipling others, following Christ as his disciple, gathering with other disciples, that takes effort, requires energy, requires forethought, planning.

It takes time. It requires patience and a willingness to bear up with one another and love one another.

These are not easy things. These are not casual things. These are things that please our master

Jesus Christ. How worthy he is of all that. Isn't he worthy of that?

He is worthy of all of those efforts. It's easy to think, well,

I want to do stuff for Jesus, but I can't do it unless I'm an apostle like Paul. I want to do stuff for Jesus, but I can't do that unless I'm a missionary like dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ that we know and support and love.

You're thinking of missionaries right now in your mind who have your heart. You pray for them, you love them, but you know they're his servants doing things where he's told them to be.

You're his servants. Let us be doing the things he has called us to do where we are.

As Christians, we are a brotherhood among families, a brotherhood among families.

Jesus said that sometimes it'll split a family. He said, because people follow me, there's going to be controversy within families sometimes.

There's going to be between father and son, between mother -in -law and daughter -in -law. There's going to be splits right down the middle of families because some of them are going to be following Christ and others are not.

A brotherhood among families. We are a priesthood among churches.

I don't know if you know this or not, but there are other Christians outside these four walls who are not on our church rolls.

There are a multitude of saints. I rejoice in how well

Jesus Christ is building his church. He is building the new covenant temple from the quarry of the nations and he has got people all over this planet and all throughout history.

There's going to be a number too many for us to count. He's doing a wonderful job as the head of the church, building his church, and we are a priesthood among churches.

We're not the all in, in all, be all of church. I rejoice in brothers and sisters in Christ abroad.

We are a brotherhood among families. We are a priesthood among churches and we are a kingdom among nations.

We are the kingdom. We are in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, his subjects. We are his citizens. We follow him. He is our king and he is our

Lord. He is our master and we are scattered amongst many empires. Christ is the one who has our fidelity.

Christ is the one who has our loyalty. We are his slaves amongst the families.

Greek word, oikonomos, we get our word economy from that. Wherever we work, whatever we do, we work in our family business, in somebody else's family business, whatever it is, if we're in the household, in the home, whatever we're doing, we're his slaves in the oikonomos, in the household.

We are the brotherhood amongst families and we are his slaves in the ecclesia, in the church. There is each local church that Paul visits, all part of one great church, one great priesthood of the saints.

We're here to serve in our way that we can, as Christ calls us to do. And we are Christ's slaves in the autocratoria, the empires.

Part of his kingdom, but we're in amongst the empires. You know who has my first loyalty? Jesus Christ does.

And we live in a city, we live in a county, we live in a state, we live in an empire.

Okay. But we belong to Jesus Christ and he's the one who determines how we act and how we live and how we interact with everything that goes around us.

And what a blessing. What a blessing. And how Christ is changing the world and how

Christ is changing history and how he's bringing things to a culmination of his victory, to the glory of God, that he has his people as a brotherhood among families, his people as a priesthood among the churches, his people as a kingdom among nations, and that we are all his slaves.

We're all serving him, living for him, doing for him, doing stuff for Jesus. His priorities need to be our priorities that we would teach, that we would obey, that we would strengthen, and that we would be persistent in that.

That's what else we should observe about Paul's opportunity for service, that he persisted. He kept going.

If you stop, where's the opportunity for service? But Paul persisted.

Just when you think he's going to take a break, off again. Why'd you stick around? Nope, off again. Well, why?

Because that was his job. He was the apostle. He was one sent out with the message.

That was his role. He had to get going because that was his role. And he persisted in that role every which way that he could.

There's the plowing and the sowing and the watering that went on in Corinth in verse 11. But we see that it is

God who gives the increase in verses 17 and 18. And he didn't stay in Corinth.

He went on down to Ephesus, didn't stay in Ephesus, went on back to the church in Jerusalem, didn't stay there, went back to Galatia, went back to Phrygia, and he just kept going and kept on preaching the gospel.

Why would he do that? Well, how did he put it in Romans chapter 1?

He expressed his desire, he expressed why it was that he kept on doing stuff for Jesus, why he kept on traveling, why he kept on moving.

In Romans chapter 1, he said, I'm a debtor. He said,

I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.

So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

Where does that come from? Where does that debt come from? Is Paul weighed down like, oh,

I'm never going to pay off my debt? Is that that kind of debt? No. Just like being a slave of Jesus Christ is not like being in chattel slavery in the

American South in the 1800s, right? Don't infuse those two ideas.

Being a slave of Jesus Christ, as we've already been talking about this morning, is liberty. Isn't it liberating to have one master instead of 10 ,000?

Isn't that liberating? I have one master to be loyal to. I don't have to worry about 10 ,000 of them, keep happy. I've got one to keep happy, one to please, one to live for.

That is liberating. And this debt is not a debt of, oh,

I'm never going to get paid off and it's just going to keep on mounting and interest and so on. No, he has this obligation.

What kind of obligation? A gospel obligation. Paul, this Saul of Tarsus, who was a persecutor of the church,

Jesus Christ confronted him, stopped him, turned him around, and Paul says,

I'm a debtor. I was once on the road to go travel with the authority of men to destroy the church, and now

I'm with the authority of Jesus Christ on the road proclaiming the glory of Jesus Christ to the world. I'm a debtor, both to Greeks and to barbarians, with the wise and the unwise.

And he says, I want to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. Did you know that the church in Rome already knew the gospel?

Paul says as much in the letter that he writes to Rome. They already knew the gospel.

You know how you knew they already knew the gospel? They were already a church. There were already saints there. There were already

Christians there. There was already preaching going on there. There was already worship going on there. They were reading the scriptures.

They were loving one another. All sorts of wonderful things were going on in the church in Rome. And Paul writes to them and says,

I am obligated. I'm a debtor. I want to come preach the gospel to you too. And Paul, they've already got the gospel, which is a reminder that the gospel is not the door of entry that we use to get ourselves saved and then we leave behind forever.

We never outgrow the gospel. It may be the old, old story, but it's the new song that we sing.

It is the good news of Jesus Christ, His person and His work,

His reign. He is our Redeemer. He is our shepherd. Jesus Christ is the good of the good news and He is the news of the good news.

And we're never going to stop sharing with one another, teaching one another, encouraging one another in terms of that gospel.

Paul knew exactly what the church in Rome needed. They needed the gospel. He knew what the church in Jerusalem needed.

They need the gospel. He knew what the churches in Galatia and Phrygia needed. They needed the gospel and they all had it, but they needed some more.

And we've got the gospel, but we needed more. And so we need to persist, persist.

Don't leave this behind. We need to persist in proclaiming the gospel, applying the gospel, knowing the gospel, encouraging one another in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why would Paul do all this stuff? Because he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.

And Jesus Christ is worthy. He's worthy of it. The what is our service.

The why is provided to us in the who. Why we serve is because of who

Christ is, and thus we easily have the when and the where. It's whenever and wherever.

In this, we're even provided the how. We do so persistently.

So this has been a reminder to slaves, a reminder that we are the slaves of Jesus Christ and that we do stuff.

We do stuff for Jesus. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the time you've given us in your Word. Thank you for these observations that we have made of who

Paul is and what he was up to, but honestly, the changes that you have made in his life and reminded of the changes that you make in our life.

And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be those who rejoice in this liberty of being purchased by Christ to serve him.