Turn with me in your Bibles again tonight as we continue our study in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome. We pick up there tonight in chapter 15 and in verse 14. We enter into a portion of the letter where we might consider it something as the beginning of Paul's closing remarks of this letter. We certainly see a personal note that he renders to us in our text tonight explaining, if you will, some of the reasoning behind the letter that he has written to this church. We also hear a statement that is made in our text when he says in verse 15 that he has written more boldly to them on some points. There are some who even take this passage and believe it is something of a defining moment with regard to the Apostle Paul as we view his boldness in Christ and in the gospel of Christ. And certainly that's a worthy thought. As I was preparing for this text and thinking about the boldness of Paul, there was something that came upon my mind and my thought process and my memory, certainly in connection where we have been on Sunday evenings as we had concluded our section on church history and some of those who are associated with the Reformation. And one of the subjects we didn't cover very much in that session was what was happening in England and the English Reformation and the many bold men of God during that time, faithful men of God, who would give their lives for the cause of Christ. And so when I began to think about what boldness would look like many years after the Apostle Paul, one man's name came to mind, and that was the name of Hugh Latimer. Hugh Latimer was a man in England who, at a good portion of his time in ministry, he was the one who was bringing messages before the king, specifically King Henry VIII. And he was doing so in a very bold manner, in fact, much to the aggravation of some. There was a story written on one such occasion where he was attending a reception after one of the services sometime later in the day and as is recorded in his profile it was a monk that came up to the king and said these words sire your new chaplain preaches sedition henry turned to latimer and said this what do you say to that sir because latimer was standing right there Latimer said to his accuser, quote, would you have me preach nothing concerning a king in a king's sermon? Then he turned to the king and said, your grace, I put myself in your hands, appoint other doctors to preach in my place before your majesty. There are many more worthy of the room than I am. If it be your gracious pleasure, I could be content to be their servant and bear their books after them. But if your grace allow me for a preacher, I would desire you give me leave to discharge my conscience. Permit me to frame my teaching for my audience." Now, as we come to find out, he was pleasing to Henry VIII. However, he could also be to such a point of boldness that even King Henry would have a problem with this message. For on one occasion it is said that he was greatly displeased with the boldness of one of Latimer's sermons and told him to preach again on the following Sunday and apologize for the offense he had given. Well, the next Sunday did in fact roll around and after reading his text he thus began his sermon with this. Speaking to himself, if you will, he said, Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch. the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. Therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest, upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty God, who is all present, and who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into hell. Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully." He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceding Sunday, and with even more energy. Now, he successfully, if you will, went on for some time during King Henry's and part, I suppose, of Edward. But then would come a time when Queen Mary would take the throne. And when she did, with the Catholic Church behind her, she immediately had Latera and many others imprisoned. And it would be on October 16, 1555 when this same Hugh Latimer in Oxford, England would be burned alive at the stake with a fellow man of God, Bishop Ridley. It is here that a quote has been attributed to Latimer. Some have said, that may have been said even before him, and he quoted, but regardless, his name is always associated with it. It was at the time when they had just lit the fire. And it was reported that Latimer turned and said to Ridley, quote, Be of good comfort, Brother Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out. I thought those words a bit ironic. In light of the fact that last week we spoke of what would be troubling for the church in Rome even in days to come if what has been recorded is correct. We spoke about the idea that in so many of the churches that Paul ministered to that none of them were perfect, all of them had their troubles. And one of the striking things is that at the time of Paul's writing to Rome and the church found there, we will conclude his letter And we will never hear an occasion at this point where Paul is rebuking the church in Rome. There is no cause for discipline. There is no calling here for a change in behavior or dealing with sin at this point in the life of the church. But if this is known to be well, and in fact, some of the accusations have been made would tell us that much of what was the trouble in the church at Rome would not happen here, but would happen later on. when the encouragement of Paul would be all the more important for those that he's writing to, to be faithful, to be bold in Christ, to take what they possess even now and build upon it. For you see, we're reminded as again, as we look at Paul's letter to the church in Rome, that it is Paul who is writing to a church that he did not establish and one that he has never met. We perceive that he knows, such as he did in Colossae, several individuals that were probably products of his ministry in other cities that now found themselves in Rome ministering in this church. But we would understand that Paul, like Colossae, was operating based on the knowledge of the reports that had been given him of these brothers and sisters in Christ meeting in the great city of Rome. We see a wise Paul, as we come into this text, as he was so many times, not wanting to leave them with some forceful exhortation without some message, some testimony of his love and his care and his devotion, that his desire to be an instrument, not simply in their conversion, but in their commitment and their growth as believers. Not only with regard to this writing, but in fact, Paul makes it clear that it is his heart's desire that he come someday to Rome and someday soon. We know that that was something that is always on his heart and his mind. And of course, we have spoken in past studies again, how ironic this becomes because Paul will arrive in Rome, but not in the way that he planned, most likely because he will arrive in chains. So with that in mind, even as we come to this place in Paul's letter, Let us appreciate the words that Paul has for this congregation and pray that these words that he has for them would be applicable to us as well. Beginning in verse 14, Paul writes, Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, but as it is written. to whom he was not announced they shall see and those who have not heard shall understand. So we look to these words and we see in the opening part of our text here in verse 14 that Paul is taken to give a commendation to the church. He commends them in verse 14 as he says I commit I am confident concerning you my brethren that you also are full of goodness filled with all knowledge able to also to admonish one another." Well, let's take these three attributes that he points out here for a moment. One is that he commended them for their goodness. So how is it that we are to determine or to understand what Paul means by goodness? My suggestion is that we're speaking about a measure of their character and their way of living, living in a manner that is striving to please Christ based on what has been revealed to them of God's Word and God's command and desire of their lives. We might get a hint of where Paul is going here with this when we look at such a passage as Colossians chapter 1, picking up there in verse 3, where the Bible says, as Paul wrote, We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." So there's an interesting thing here that happens that we've already read in this text that Paul speaks about that which he is reminding them of. He's commending them of the fact of what they have already received and what they are already acting upon. in teaching and doctrine that has found them as a result of the gospel of Christ not only being preached but being heard in their hearts and in their lives so much so that he begins to see the evidence of it this is a clear commending endorsing and challenge to us about what it means to be about what is often referred to as a progressive sanctification of our lives Meaning that we may be gloriously saved by God. We recognize that we're not perfect and cannot be sinless. However, that doesn't change the fact that we have been commanded and compelled to live a life, to strive to live a life that is pleasing to God. It has been my experience in some that we are far too guilty when we think, even as we acknowledge and rejoice in the sovereignty of God and our salvation, to imagine that when we do sin that we can fall back on the crutch, if you will, of that justification and that assurance that we have in Christ. There's nothing worse than a believer that says, Thank goodness the Lord knows me as I am. He knows I'm not perfect. Because what you're saying, it's not even what you're saying, it's how you're saying it and what the mindset is. You're using the justification of Christ dangerously as a crutch for you to lean upon and take it almost as a license to sin. Now, I didn't invent this phrase, but I've often referred to people who do so as grace mongerers. They talk about grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. They love to hear that word grace because they imagine it is the covering, if you will, the shade and the excuse of their sins. But that unmerited favor of God did not come without a calling and without a responsibility. So Paul makes a statement, as he did to the church at Colossae, that not only had they received the truth, but they began to produce fruit in their lives of that truth. Remember, as Jesus Himself taught us in Matthew, when He told us the parable of the four souls, and He got down to the fourth one, the only one, in which there was fertile ground, in which the seed was received, and in fact, the assurance was made that it would produce fruit. Not the same amount of fruit, 20, 50, 100 fold, whatever the numbers were, was intended to show us that it's not a question that all of us are to be the Apostle Paul, but in fact all of us are to produce that spiritual fruit in our lives. Now, Paul is commending the church at Rome for the evidence that he sees of that very thing existing in them. Now, the second part that he commends him for is he talks about the church being filled with knowledge. Now, let's look at those words again, for they are important. He says that you are filled with all knowledge. Now, we've had some discussion this morning as we reached that because one was asking the question, what does the all mean? And so we had to wrestle with that phrase, filled with all knowledge. So, if we think about the knowledge itself, I think we can clearly define that. That Paul is talking about a deeper knowledge of God's truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, if we look to Paul's writing to the church at Colossae, chapter 2 and verse 2. Paul writes here that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. So what is all? Does all mean that they know it all? That they grasp it all? That would be hard, wouldn't it? That would not seem to be reconciling with the rest of Scripture that tells us that every day of our journey is a day of learning and exposure. So when we think of all knowledge, I think it's something of a subjective term such that they are equipped to do what Paul is about to commend them for with regard to admonishing. There's another word here, that they are filled. with knowledge. This is a word that's important, I think, in the understanding. It's because it is not that they're not good students of what God has given them, but it's an understanding that that which they possess, and every believer should understand this, is that which God has brought into their hearts and their minds through the ministry of His Holy Spirit. Now, I joked last week, and I'll bring it back to your memory, that there is a charge, a challenge, a calling, and a command for God's people to be students of God's Word. So the Holy Spirit's ministry is not such that you and I can mystically sit in the Bible on the coffee table and pray to God and trust in the fact that the Holy Spirit will somehow move the words from within the covers into our hearts and our minds so that it's so powerful we don't even have to read it. He just drops the knowledge in. That's not the feeling that He speaks about. What He's speaking about is the distinction between the believer and the unbeliever. The unbeliever can read the Word of God. And he can grow more intellectual and more knowledgeable of the things that are found in it. He may even find some moral principles that he's appreciative of. But he cannot be filled with the deep knowledge and understanding of God and His truth without the power and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is the difference between the believer and the unbeliever. Because the believer has already been indwelt by the Holy Spirit and has some measure of understanding of His purpose for existence. has some measure of depth of appreciating what God has done for him in his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. And therefore, as he reads those words, they are not just good advice. They are not just good material to memorize. They are, in fact, the very necessary knowledge of his life's existence as a believer. We love them. We want to consume them. And we want to be consumed by them. that's when we can use the word filled so to be filled with knowledge is paul's understanding not just of information but of spiritual wisdom and how it may be applied such that the congregation that is filled with goodness the congregation that is filled with knowledge is the congregation that is equipped to admonish one another he says filled with all knowledge able also to admonish one another So this idea of admonishing one another. Well, the word that is translated here is nuthateo. Nuthateo. I hope you appreciate that. I rehearsed that quite a bit. When we use that word, that is translated here to the idea of what? The idea of warning? The idea of exhorting? The idea of advising? Excuse me. So truthfully, in its conclusion, it is a word of an encompassing umbrella of a word that we use often, counseling. So the idea is, is that the believing church should be such in unity and harmony that they all would be seeking to grow in their goodness, to grow in knowledge and wisdom of the Lord so that they may look to each other and be received Not only as brothers and sisters, but in fact, counselors in our life. Now again, this really rubs against the culture of which we live. But it is the exact culture that God desires of the body of Christ. Such that we would find ourselves with credibility with one another. Find ourselves with knowledge of one another. Not some homespun wisdom to tell somebody what mama always told me. but in fact to be able to sit down and share with one what the Word of God says to us. Not in a condescending authoritative manner, but it is one sinner saved by grace talking to another sinner saved by grace. In fact, The relationship I believe that Paul is prescribing here is such that one could come to another if it was necessary or if it was invited. To come to them and to be able to share something with them that would be encouraging, even corrective, and at the same moment and say, I trust that I can count on you to give me counseling in my weakness as well. We don't often put that sentence in there either. That even as we come to someone and we give them advice, that we're also willing and look to them as a brother or sister in Christ, wishing someday that they would love us enough to bring said counsel. Now said counsel that comes needs to be one that is worth giving. According to the Word of God, one that hopefully is found out in our own experience in one form or another, not because we've committed the same sin, but maybe we have the same weakness, the vulnerability that we've dealt with that somebody else is. Now, the measure and how we manage this counseling with one another is not as a one, two, three formula. It happens in the fleshing out of the relationships and the fellowships that we have with one another. It happens as we earn credibility with one another. Now, is there an exception to that? Yes. If somebody pulls out a gun and starts to shoot somebody, I would expect you to admonish them whether you know them well enough or not. Clear enough? There's a difference. We need to have some common sense and understanding of what is important, what is imperative, what is an emergency, what is a necessity, what is something that we need to pray about before we approach. Is there something we need to pray about and we need to seek out? Even some other person, a brother and sister in Christ that we know has great credibility, one we know has the opportunity, or maybe it is that this is the person that we need to talk to. Paul is looking at the church of Rome and he's trying to encourage them to be that kind of church with one another. One that would have such confidence and concern and care and compassion for each other that they are looking to not only grow in their goodness, grow in their knowledge, but grow in their fellowship and understanding as they advise or counsel one another. So as we think of this, and the presence that Paul is giving us in verses 14 and verse 15 he now tells them in verse 15 he said it's not my intent to imagine that I'm giving you something you don't already know excuse me thank you so now here's a here's a fascinating thought if we were to take this in the entirety of the letter Paul has now been teaching them tremendous, tremendous truths with regard to the Gospel, with regard to the status and the situation of the Jews and Jewish converts, of that of the Gentiles. He has now been teaching them in these past few weeks about how to have unity and harmony, how the strong believer deals with the weak believer. And then he looks to them at this point of the letter and he says, I'm not coming to tell you something you don't already know. But I sense that I come boldly to you to remind you of some things. Remind you of some things. Now one, to me that is staggering, because we now need to understand that though the Apostle Paul has not had his sandals on the ground, as it were, in the city of Rome, the message and the teaching that has been established in his ministry, as well as others of the Apostles, have found themselves to the city of Rome. within the church, such that he can look at them and say, I want to remind you of the things you need to know. So when he puts this truth out to them, it is an endorsement of where they already are, where that Paul hopes them to be. When we began the study, we talked about the idea of troubles to come for this church. Troubles such as we found in Corinth. Troubles that we are finding in Galatia and Ephesus, except in the city of Rome, it is life and death. It is the idea of the great persecution that is to come and how they're going to act or react to it. So what Paul is giving them and reminding them is the means by which they should Stay together, bond in unity, strength in the knowledge that has been given, strength in the goodness that they are endeavoring to carry on with in the face of that which is the enemy. So we think in those terms, Paul is trying to steady them for the real storm that is coming in their experience and in their lives. It's incredibly important, not only for them, but it is for us too. When we think about the challenge of the Church of Jesus Christ that I think that we're so easily facing in the year 2025, with all that is swirling around us, there is a grave temptation for you and I to stray from our full confidence in the Lord. To stray from our full confidence, if you will, and assurance that is found in His Word and the ministry of His Holy Spirit. Stray from looking around at each other and know that by God's hand, Some of the most important people in our life are the ones we share seats with in this room. Important such that we lift them up in prayer. Important such that we stand shoulder to shoulder as we both endeavor to grow in Christ. Important to us such that we care about what's happening with them and what is happening to them. Such that we want to be there to counsel with them when given the opportunity. Because I assure you, there are only two people groups in the world, as far as God's view is concerned. The saved and the unsaved. The church and the world. When I say the world, I'm not talking about simply geographically. I'm talking about the world system. And they are to be distinct from each other. Therefore, the church is to be the salt and the light. Now the salt and the light, it sounds good depending on its application. It preserves meat, but it causes great pain when it's rubbed into a wound. Light can help you from stomping your toe, but light also exposes sin, and wrongdoing, and wickedness, and evil. And so you see, the church is not here to be popular with the world. The church is here to be found faithful before God. Helping one another, strengthening one another, because we all are to be standing with one another faithfully. Imagine the test of faithfulness that awaits the church in the city of Rome when the real persecution comes down. When Nero starts putting someone's wife, children, cousin, brother, and makes them a human torch in his garden. When someone has turned over someone because of some grievance that they've had in years past, and he's thrown to the lions in the Colosseum. As they say, that's when the rubber hits the road. That's what defines us as God's people. When that day, if that day arrives for us, would Paul be able to commend us for our goodness in the face of it? Commend us for the knowledge that strengthens us. Commend us that to our dying day that we remain faithful to God and faithful to God's people as we stand as salt and light to the world. Because that may very well be the real thing, the real basis here in context of the letter that Paul's giving to Rome. Now, don't misunderstand. Romans is a pillar of God's Word. I mean, all God's Word is profitable for us. But there's no mistaking that God has inspired the Apostle Paul to give us more than a letter to a single congregation in the city of Rome, as important as that is. It is one to the church, period, and one that we must study again and again and again for its value, for its profitability to us as his children. So Paul wanted to remind them and remind us of these incredibly important truths. Verse 16. He now says that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. What a beautiful verse. Now, when I read the New King James, you'll see that it doesn't say the word priest or priestly. But in fact, the wording here lends itself to exactly that. Paul, the priest of the gospel, specifically to the Gentiles. Now, here we need some clarification. Make sure you understand what I'm not suggesting. The Bible clearly shows us, and we know it as Christians, as believers, that Christ is our perfect and eternal High Priest. There is no other. But we also know that in application we find in 1 Peter 2 and verse 5 that it speaks of all of us as believers being a part of a priesthood. So we understand there's a work here and a ministry going on. So how does that apply to Paul? Well, listen to the words that he speaks again in verse 16. Let's examine them one more time. He said, I might be a minister of Jesus to the Gentiles ministering the gospel of God Then he says that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So what we find here is Paul distinguishing himself in the priestly role of the apostle, if you will, because he symbolically or figuratively serves the Gentiles in a priestly way. However, unlike the traditional role of a priest who stands between men and God and offers sacrifices, instead, Paul would see his priestly duty to proclaim the gospel. To proclaim the gospel, and you think of it, when he speaks of this idea of the Gentiles being presented to God as converts, gloriously saved. That's a very special note that Paul uses in other writings as well. That he desired someday to see them standing before God in offering, perfect, established, complete. Charles Hodge, when he was writing in this particular passage, made the statement I think is apropos. He said, in this beautiful passage, we see the nature of the only priesthood which belongs to the Christian ministry. It is not their office to make atonement for sin, or to offer a propitiatory sacrifice to God, but by the preaching of the gospel to bring men, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, to offer themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. So Paul considered the converts to be an offering to God, and rightfully so. because God the Father has given us to His Son. So when we see verse 16 and we see Paul the priest or Paul the minister of the gospel as it were, as the New King James puts it, we see something of a turn here of appreciation that Paul has even to a church congregation that he is yet to meet. And yet he understands the bond and the kinship that he has with them, not only as an apostle, but as a minister, as a brother in Christ. Now, as we approach verse 17, Paul now takes our attention to Paul the preacher, if you will. Because he tells us in verse 17, he says, therefore, I have reason of glory in Christ Jesus in the things, excuse me, which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient. in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." So Paul, who was a priest in figurative sense, makes it clear to us that he was a preacher in the literal sense. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 16, Paul writes these words, he says, for if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of. for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. So in verse 17, as we come into this, he says, I have, therefore I have reason of glory in Christ Jesus and the things which pertain to God. And then he follows by saying, For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed. And he will follow up to make the Gentiles obedient. So the first thing that Paul wants us to understand here is that he does not boast in his accomplishments but those that Christ has accomplished through him. Now how do you divide the two? Well, we have often said in our lives as believers, anything of us that is bad is totally ours. Anything that is good is totally God's. I think it's a pretty good process. Because indeed, it is in our fleshly nature to sin. It is only by the power and the grace of God that we turn away from it, even as we desire to and make effort to. Anything we accomplish is by the grace of God, through the power of God, the strength of God, guided by the Word of God. So, as Paul would put it, there's nothing for me to boast about except that which is Christ. Because anything else is not something I want to crow about, to say the least. In verses 18 and 19, Paul, in a sense, gives us a bit of a list here of what it means to be a faithful preacher. Now you say, well, I'm glad we got on this list because that's your problem, not mine. You're the preacher. I'm not. But in fact, the requirements of a preacher and the attributes of a preacher is to be reflected in the congregation as well. Or otherwise, what's the purpose? So he is an example and a teaching example. So let's look at the first one. The first one we've already touched on is that he does not seek recognition for his contributions. Therefore, what does he boast in? He boasts in the Lord. He boasts in what the Lord does. So, it is not simply self-deprecating, it is sincere self-deprecating. Secondly, the dedicated preacher underscores the importance of obedience to the Lord. Now, this is interesting. When we look at this, Paul is saying that nothing not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient. So he understands the importance and the priority of anyone who stands for a congregation as a man of God, that one of the things he greatly desires, outside of preaching the gospel and seeing God work in salvation, to the discipleship of believers, he emphasizes greatly obedience to God, which means obedience to God's Word. Once again, I think this is a hallmark and a critical understanding of worship. That worship is not intended to be, nor should it be driven toward the idea of you and I feeling better about ourselves. In fact, in all practical occasion, beyond the idea that it's supposed to be a sacrifice of praise and an offering to God, it is intended for us to feel better about God. Because the better we feel about God, the better off we are. For it is God who has saved us, it is God who has set us apart, it is God who has secured us, it is God who has given us the very commandments that we should obey that is not only glorifying to Him but quite frankly it is a blessing to us when we're obedient to it. There is a need for the diligent preacher to uphold personal integrity of himself. Paul preached as he said to the Gentiles by both word and deed. And then there is number four where he speaks about the faithful preacher is affirmed by divine approval of their ministry. So when he says here in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. So that from Jerusalem and roundabout to a Lyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Well, we know something is distinct with regard to Paul as an apostle. And that was the signs and the wonders that God allowed him to do to have the power to do. to affirm and render credibility to his ministry. So, in point of fact, for the faithful preacher today, he is not equipped, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to do signs and wonders. It's not just that I'm weak, it's God didn't intend for me to do it. Understood? So, can I pray for you that God, in His wisdom and according to His will, would bring healing to your life? Physically? Absolutely. Does God still heal people? Yes, but not on my command. But in fact, according to his will. And you should be thankful for that. There's nothing these men didn't did that God didn't account for and God didn't provide for them in their lives. They did it according to his will, not according to their own. The same is true today, except that it's not the credibility and the affirmation of the ministry for the faithful preacher who stands before you. It's not going to come through signs and wonders. It's going to come through the faithful teaching and preaching of God's Word and the effort given by that same faithful preacher to live by that which he preaches. Integrity is not sinless perfection. Integrity is striving for such. And it involves not simply trying to do what is right but acknowledging and confessing that which is wrong. So we think about the importance of such integrity in the ministry and the divine approval that is brought upon a man in that faithful ministry and look for how it is seen or how it is shown. I think Paul gives us an indication here when he talks about going from Jerusalem round about Illyricum, fully preaching the gospel of Christ. I told our group this morning that I'd seen somewhere of an accounting of Paul's mileage and probably may have even undershot it. It may just been talking about a particular journey. But on one occasion it spoke of the idea of him covering in the circle of 1400 miles. Now, 1400 miles isn't much of a plane ride. In fact, by the way, if you're determined to do it, you could do it in a car. over a span of a fairly short period of time, but when you're hoofing it with some sandals or riding on the back of a donkey at best, that's a journey. But Paul speaks about his faithfulness and endeavoring to do that. Now, if Paul had been able to make that journey in the sunshine, maybe an occasional rainstorm, but otherwise with no fear, no problems, no issues from town to town, that would have been one thing. But when we begin to read the list that is given us in 2 Corinthians, it may change our perspective. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, as we look there, picking up in verse 23, we find Paul in a very unusual situation. He is giving something of a defense of his ministry. And in fact, when we look at 2 Corinthians, it is also always associated with this somewhat, that 2 Corinthians in this letter is in some ways Paul's defense to the church at Corinth, to the enemies that are coming to discredit him and set him apart. And I would offer, in some respects, that this is an uncomfortable writing for Paul. Because Paul is the one who does not desire to boast of anything except in Christ. And so it is an incredible challenge to be able to share the facts, if you will, of his ministry. And not have it received as such a boasting. And you'll see in his writing how he's careful to deflect from that image. So when we look, in fact we even back up to verse 22. He says, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. And in verse 22 he says, Are they ministers of Christ? He says, I speak as a fool. I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil. sleeplessness often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness besides the other things what comes upon me daily my deep concern for all the churches now he would go on in the latter part of these verses to express his weakness his humanity his frailty look at what he adds here Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my affirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king was guarding the city of Damascenes with a garrison, or I probably messed up that pronunciation, with a garrison desiring to arrest me. But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands." There's a reference point here to Paul's experience saying that the reason why I'm standing here, why do you tell this story? Why do you say if anyone's weak, I'm weak and so forth and so on and tell this one story about being let down over the wall in a basket and being rescued? Well, there's nothing macho about being let over the wall in a basket, is there? In fact, he didn't even want to go. They insisted that he go. Those first few verses that he said about all the beatings and being left for dead and the shipwrecked, when you're standing there having survived them, everybody's oohing and aahing. And he said, hey, I stand here today by the grace of God. Who's weak and I'm not weak? Who's frail and I'm not frail? So Paul wants us to see his faithfulness and his thoroughness in taking time to follow the path and the calling that God has given him. And having learned at the point of his writing of 2 Corinthians, having learned in the greatest of ways, I will stand till the day God wants me to stand no more. The same Paul who makes the list is the same Paul who writes to Timothy and says, I fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. And he says, I'm, I'm ready to be poured out one more time to the end. For he sensed, not that he was finished, but he sensed the time was near that God was finished with him. I try to sense, and who can know, but I try to sense the mind of an aged, weary, but not defeated, Apostle Paul. Here's the same Paul who wrote to the church at Philippi in chapter one and say, I'm in a bind. I'm in a straight betwixt two. I think enthusiastically as he said it, death would be a welcome result because in death I would be with Christ. He said, but I understand that for this moment, for this day, for this time, it is better that I remain with you. He said, it is better that I would remain with you to do the ministry of giving. What an incredible thing it would be for a man of Paul's experience, of Paul's service, of Paul's faithfulness, of Paul's ministry, to come to a point where he's writing to young Timothy. Young Timothy with a bad stomach. and a tremendous challenging ministry ahead of him. Paul's son in the faith, and you're looking up to your spiritual dad and your dad's writing, he said, I'm ready. I'm ready to go. My time is at hand. Not so much the bind anymore does he talk about. He senses it and he rejoices in it. as something he welcomes coming, not because he simply wants to be with Christ, but he welcomes coming because he desires to be found faithful when the Lord comes. In all his writing, Paul is sharing so personally with the church at Rome and with us. He implores us to be commended in our goodness, the character of the life we live according to Christ, He desires that we be commended because we have been filled with the knowledge as we seek to remind ourselves of what God has already given over and over and over again. He desires that we be commendable for the fact that we have not simply been willing, but we have been faithful to take the goodness and the knowledge and equip ourselves so that we may counsel and admonish one another. All looking to be found faithful by God the Father in His Son Jesus Christ. Faithful in the ministry and the calling that He's given us, whether it be the pastor, or whether it be the congregant, whether it be the Sunday morning Bible study teacher, the member of the choir, because in all of these things, folks, we have been called to be ministers, both within these four walls and when we leave them as well. We have been called to be the salt and the light. And if we're going to be the salt and the light, we're going to be able to preserve that which is good and we're going to be aggravating that which is wrong. We're going to be illuminating the truth and the path that God wants us to follow for those who are being saved. And we're going to be grievously exposing sin to those who won't be. And we hope that God will change that. and bring them to salvation as he brought us. What a tremendous, tremendous few words here that Paul gives us in this letter when we take them and we closely examine them and meditate upon them.