Let's turn our Bibles to Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15, and we will be looking at verses 14 through 19 today. Romans 15 verses 14 through 19. In this passage, starting now, the Apostle Paul is concluding the letter to the Romans. And he has said so much, and he has said so many things about man's inability, about salvation only in Christ, about justification apart from works of the law, about the Holy Spirit enabling you to fulfill the law, something the law could not do, about Jew and Gentile, being one community in Christ, having no boundary markers like there were before of Sabbath regulations or festivals or food boundaries that mark out the people of God. The thing that marks out the people of God is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And so Paul is concluding this great letter, and he's going to talk about the church and reflect on his ministry in this passage. So let's look at starting at verse 14. The Apostle Paul writes, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points that I've written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given to 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. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work, 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 all the way around to the Lyricum, I have fulfilled my ministry. In this passage, the Apostle Paul wraps up by commending the Roman congregation for who and what they are, and by reflecting on his ministry. And if you were to plan a church, if you were to go be a missionary and plan a church, this would be a great passage to set a structure for your work. These are the characteristics that define, I think, a healthy ministry. This passage, what we can extract from this passage, I think shows an ideal exemplary comes from the ministry and the heart and intentions of the minister himself. And so these are, I want to talk about characteristics that we can strive for as a church and that I can strive for as a pastor. Not that these are just relegated to pastors, but these are things that we can strive for as Christians in general and should strive for and would mark out a healthy church. So let's start with, I have four characteristics today I want to give you. Number one, the first characteristic of a good, gospel-centered, holy ministry is a congregation that is growing in character and knowledge. Character and knowledge. Look in verse 14, the Apostle Paul says, I myself am satisfied about you. Now why is he satisfied about them? The word there is patho, and it just means not just happy, but he's confident about something. And it brings him a solid joy, a gospel, a Christ-centered joy. So what is it that he is confident and persuaded about them? What brings him this confident joy? It is that they are full of goodness and full of knowledge. Full of goodness and full of knowledge. Goodness just means upright in conduct, kindness, generosity towards one another. They have a Christ-like integrity. You know, you can tell when a guy or a woman They're full of forgiveness. They're not gossiping. They're not resenting one another. They do not bite and devour one another like the Galatian congregation did. They're full of moral integrity. They're full of faithfulness, generosity towards one another, kindness, the esteem of others higher than themselves. How does Paul know this about the congregation? If you just flip to chapter 16, you'll see he knows a lot of people there. One of those couples is Priscilla and Aquila, who we meet in Acts chapter 15, who are also tent makers like the Apostle Paul, and who joined them in the ministry. So, although Paul did not plant the church in Rome, he knows a lot of people in the church in Rome, and has this reported to him. So they're full of goodness, they're full of moral integrity, not gossiping, backbiting, harboring resentment, but they are full of goodness. Number two, it's not just the moral aspect because you can be good and then you could just be out in left field about what you believe. They're not just full of goodness, they're full of knowledge. That means they're acquainted They're acquainted with the facts and the principles that are derived from the gospel. And Paul has explicated that in the book of Romans. Truths like, there is a God to whom all men are accountable. Truths like, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Truths like, faith was always the way God intended His people to be in proper relationship with Him. Extending back to Adam, that's Romans chapter 4. Truths like, we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ in Romans 5. Truths like, salvation is union with Christ in Romans chapter 6. Truths like, you are now free from sin and death, Romans chapter 7 and 8. Truths like, Jew and Gentile, all of the nations are included in God's plan through faith in Jesus Christ, Romans 9 through 11. Truths like, your life now Your life, the reason for your existence is that you might glorify God with your life by seeking your highest joy, your highest worth in Him and service of Him and relationship with Him. Chapter 12. So those are the truths that they know and that they are growing in and that they cherish. And you need to have knowledge. This is why we're studying theology in Wednesday night. You need to have knowledge because Christianity makes truth claims. And so a Christian will know about those truth claims and apply them to their life. So they are full of goodness and knowledge. Not only that, but they're able to instruct one another. Paul says, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. Notice that this is the complete opposite of the congregation in Hebrews, who were not full of anything good, really. They were lazy, they were spiritually lethargic, and the author of Hebrews says, by now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. So these people had a spiritual lethargy, not only when it came to just simply attending church, like Hebrews says, don't forsake the assembling of your souls together, as is the habit of some, but they were also just passive about growing in knowledge. He says, by now you should be teachers. The Roman's church is the opposite of that congregation. So they are able to help those in doubt. They are able to articulate Christian truths and pass it down to the next generation of new Christians. They're able to use their past to counsel one another in gospel truths and realities. They have the boldness to rebuke others who are not in step with the gospel. They have the love to encourage one another when the other is weary in the gospel, in those truths. So, what we have here is a both-hand congregation. They're not just good and nice and kind, but they're empty-headed, and they're not just filled with all knowledge, because knowledge alone puffs up, and love builds up, right? They're a both-and congregation. They are full of goodness, and they are full of knowledge. I would love to be a both-and Christian, And I want a sober mind and a burning heart. I want my heart to burn within me with zeal and Christ-like fire when I preach and I think. When I preach and I talk about the gospel, but I also want to have a sober and well-thought-out theology of the Christian life. And you can bring those two together. And they don't have to be mutually exclusive. And that's something I strive for myself. That's something I want this congregation to be. And I think it's exemplary that we have systematic theology on Wednesday and prayer on Thursday. That's the way it should be. That's exactly the way it should be. So, we're striving for this as a congregation, to be both and. In Paul's prayer to the Colossians, which is my favorite prayer in the Bible, he says, since the day we heard about you, we have not ceased to pray for you. asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge plus the wisdom to apply them to day-to-day life, and how to preserve those truths in the congregation. But there's knowledge, and there's love, Christ-like, Spirit-led fruit. These two are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they're dependent on one another. But there they are, knowledge and character. So a mature ministry, a mature congregation is progressing in character and knowledge. They're full of goodness and full of knowledge. Number two, the second characteristic of a good minister and a helpful minister is a bold preservation of Christian truths. A bold preservation of Christian truths. In verse 15, the apostle Paul says, but on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given to me by God. So Paul wrote to them boldly. It's not always an invitation. All right? Sometimes well-meaning Christians, kind of the West Coast mentality, it's very invitational. And it's true that it is an invitation, but it's also a command to repent and believe the gospel. Areopagus in Acts 16, he says, the times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now he commands everyone to repent. Boldly. He's not just inviting people to eternal life, it is that, but he is commanding people to repent. and to bring them into obedience to Christ. So, boldness in the proclamation of Christian truth. And Paul says also, too, he wrote them boldly by way of reminder. Preaching is not always telling you new things. Preaching is very often reminding. Reminding you what you know. Bringing So a minister's job and a church's job and a Christian's job coming alongside the ministry of a church is to promote and preserve Christian truth. Jude tells us to earnestly contend for the faith delivered to the saints. for that Christ-centered, apostolically handed-down faith delivered to the saints. And churches are outposts, all right? They're not just hospitals so people can get well. They are outposts for the gospel. They equip the saints. So truth is both protected, preserved, and cherished in a healthy congregation. So Paul is talking about a bold preservation in ministry, a bold preservation in his day-to-day, week-to-week perpetuation of Christian truths. In his teaching, preaching, counseling, he is earnestly the faith delivered to the saints, or in other words, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we need to be reminded, because our hearts are very forgetful, and that is one of the reasons that, I know for Protestants this is a scary word, on Sunday, we show up on the first day of the week at the same time to do the same things. It's liturgical, it's ritualistic, so that we're inhabiting these realities, not just in our head, but with our bodies. I don't want to get too far into this, but that was part of our spiritual growth campaign, is that you're not just a mind, you're a body and a mind. And that's why you close your eyes when you pray. That's where that comes from. That's why kneeling when you pray. Bring your body to... How did I put it in the Spiritual Growth Campaign? It's putting your body where your mind is, where your spirit is. Or let your spirit take hold of your body. your heart where your stomach is, or your body where your heart is, right? So bring your whole self. All right, that's a rabbit trail. But we need to be reminded of Christian truths, right? And we show up here to be reminded and to inhabit the reality week after week. The reason you specifically need to be reminded is because Satan is going to whisper truths into your heart. He does do this. I have experienced this and I'm confident you have too. The reason you need to be reminded is because the world around you will block out the vision of what lies before you through faith in Jesus. The reason you need to be reminded is because you are weak. And your body is breaking down. And you are weary. And you are tired. And your spirits may come under the false assumption that your whole self is being dragged down with the body, which is not in fact true. What is in fact true is that you are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory. So you need to be reminded. There's a song we sing. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's almost liturgical. And the words are, is all creation groaning? It is. Is a new creation coming? It is. Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst? It is. Is it good that we remind ourselves of this? It is. It is very good to be reminded of these truths, and so that you might hold fast to them and cherish them in your own heart. So if you are in Christ, be reminded, Christian, that you are not your past, nor does your past define you. If anyone is in Christ, he is What has happened to the past? It has passed away. Behold, the new has come in Christ Jesus. You are not your past, but Satan would have you think so. And he will bring to your remembrance what has happened in the past so that he can project it into your future. But these things are not so. Be reminded, Christian, that Christ said, in the world you will have tribulations, but to be of good cheer, because I have overcome the world. Be reminded that when your eyes close for the last time in this world, that you will open them up in the land of the living. And be reminded of what Jesus said, or what's applied to Jesus, that I will never leave you nor forsake you. There's a great closing paragraph in uh pilgrim's progress and if anyone ever gets the chance to watch pilgrim's progress the 1978 cartoon version it is so good um the music is good too i can i can i have to fight back tears every time i watch this this thing um but john bunyan who was played with he was in jail for a emotional distress and even doubts. And Pilgrim was kind of his biography of his journey. And there was doubting castle. There was this bog of sorrows, right? But the way he closes out towards the end is, I just love this sentence, this paragraph. He says, After waking up from his dream, he says, this was the sight from which I woke and looked and looked again. And though their pilgrimage was over, I was still on the plane. And in this rugged wilderness, I looked and sighed in prayer. Oh God, complete my pilgrimage. Conduct me safely there. I love that sentence. It's a plea for God to complete his pilgrimage towards the celestial city and to conduct him safely there. Know where you're going, know who you are, and know who you're following. You're going to the celestial city. You're going to a man, a place where living men and women dwell. You're going to the great banquet it because Christ said, you, follow me. And by grace, you did. You're going there by the mercy of God. And you are wrapped in his love. And there will be no nightmare. It's good to be reminded of these kinds of things. So that point. or it would be, I kind of lost the point here, but it is, what's that, Gary? Character, but the point I'm driving at there is a good ministry is bold, is very bold, but it also reminds the Christians So that they endure with that hope. Hope is very important. And that they cling on to these things. You need to be reminded. I need to be reminded by you, and you need to be reminded by me. Because the heart is tricky, and Satan is a whisperer. Another characteristic of a good ministry is holiness. Verse 16, Paul says that grace was given to him to do what? To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that in the offering of the Gentiles, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So, Paul says a few was sent to be a minister to the Gentiles, while Peter and the other apostles, some other apostles, stayed in Jerusalem and were apostles to the Jews. So Paul was a minister to the Gentiles. And let me put it two ways. Number one, if it were not for the apostle Paul, Christianity would not have spread like it did. Put another way, God used the Apostle Paul to spread Christianity to almost the whole known world at that time. So, Paul was a missionary for Christ, but he talks about his ministry in terms of the priesthood. He says, look in verse 16, he was a minister to the Gentiles to do what? in the priestly service of the gospel, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." So Paul envisions his apostolic ministry as a priest offering sacrifices to God. Those sacrifices are the converts, Gentile converts. But it's not just that them the Jesus film or get them to say a prayer or raise their hand. What does he want to do? So how does one give an acceptable offering to God for a people, a congregation, a church plant? What would a pleasing offering look like? They should be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And if you look down at verse 18, Christ accomplished through him bringing the Gentiles to obedience, by word and deed. So, Paul's aim was to bring the Gentiles to the obedience of faith, which is exactly what he said in Romans 1. I love that phrase because it gets at real Christian faith. It involves discipleship. It involves action. It involves a Christ-like pursuit, trusting Him and obeying Him in spite of your proclivities. So obedience is integral to the Great Commission, which is, after all, as I've said many, many times, involves teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. So the obedience of faith. In Colossians 1, 28, Paul says, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present them mature in Christ. So maturity, growth in Christ, that's an acceptable sacrifice. So a ministry that is geared towards faithfulness is acceptable, is another characteristic of a good ministry. Next, another characteristic of a good ministry is a ministry or a minister or a Christian that relies on Christ. Paul says in 17, in Christ Jesus then I have reason to be proud of my work, 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. A ministry that relies on Christ. Paul in Colossians 129 says, for this I toil, struggling with all his might, that he powerfully works within me. So Paul has an awareness that he is not doing his ministry on his own, by his own might, or by his own strength. But he is struggling with all of Christ's might, that Christ powerfully works within him. Do you have an awareness that you're struggling with Christ's might? I think I know I'm tempted. I am tempted personally to struggle with my might. To, before I take something to prayer, figure it out in my head. To feel like I just need to get up and do it. by myself. But that is a non-Christian way of being. Because the essence of being a Christian is the life of God in the soul of man, as we've said. And so that means that you're not only not your own, but you can do nothing by yourself. And so you must ask and rely on His strength within you to do that which you are called to do. To defeat that sin in your life. You cannot do it on your own. You cannot do it on your own. But you can do it. by His might that He powerfully works within you. So what you need to do is fall on Him in prayer. Ask Him for strength and might, not of my own, but of Him. Ask that His vitality, His life, His strength might flow through me in this matter. This church on the principle that we're useless without Christ. Founded on that principle. Jesus said, apart from me, you can do nothing. That's in the same passage, he calls himself the vine. I am the vine, you are the branches. And so, we are a church, an ecclesia, a congregation, who is united to the vine. Which means that it is his, to us, the branches, that allows us to produce fruit, not in ourselves, but through our union of Him. I've told you, some of you, about a prayer that John Piper talks about called Aptat, an acronym for, what's an acronym for? Oh, it's an acronym for prayer, yes. Oh, So I believe it's, you're asking, you're praying, you're trusting, you're acting, and you're thanking. Okay, and so this is, oh, you're acknowledging, rather. The first A is you acknowledge that apart from Christ, you can do nothing. So I want to acknowledge that I can do nothing. And sometimes before I come up to preach, I'm aptating. So apart from Christ, I can do nothing. P, pray. Pray a promise in scripture. Pray a promise in scripture about Christ always being with you. About when Paul says, struggling with all his might, may I struggle with all your might. Then you're trusting that God is gonna answer that prayer, and then you act, okay? And then afterwards, no matter the result, you thank God, knowing that He is working in you, if you trust Him. So, that's how you can go through life with an awareness, with an awareness that you are dependent upon Christ's strength to do that which you are called to do. I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So that Paul says, now Paul says in verse 19 that he brought the Gentiles to obedience by the power of signs and wonders. So this is one of those passages that show me that the Apostle Paul is someone we probably should listen to. Because it's not everyone that was producing signs and wonders in the New Testament. It's only specific people. We're going to talk about this in our systematic theology course, but it's not everyone's shadow that was healing everyone, that was healing people. It's not a napkin that touched everybody. that was healing people. Not everyone was raising the dead. It seemed to be peculiar to a group of people called the apostles, which is just so happens we have their writings in scripture in the New Testament. So this gives credence to the notion that you should come under the authority of Paul's apostleship. And we'll talk about that in our systematic theology class. But he was bringing the Gentiles to obedience by signs and wonders. I just read a passage in Acts that says that Paul was doing extraordinary works by the hands of Paul, or God was doing extraordinary works by the hands of Paul, by the power of signs and wonders, by the Spirit of God. So you might not be able to do signs and wonders, but you do have the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God produces that which is a-natural to you, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. So, in a very real sense, since those things are not natural to you, they are extra or super-natural to you, they're above you, and something that you can only do by the power of the Holy Spirit. by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all around to Elyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel." That is the last mark of a healthy Christian congregation or minister, to fulfill your ministry. Your ministry may not be going to Elyricum, or to Athens or Greece to plant churches. You might not know the languages. But you do have a ministry. There are three ways you can figure out what your ministry is. Ask yourself, who are the people in my life? What are my possessions? And what opportunities do I have? People, possessions, and opportunities. current ministry is and how you can steward it. I am the people in my life make me a father. The people in my life make me a husband. That's ministry. That's my ministry. And so I must love my wife as Christ loved the church. I must be a spiritual leader in my house. I must disciple my children in the way. That's my ministry. I can fulfill that ministry. I was just talking to, I think, Ben the other day. Everyone wants to change the world today. Everyone wants to go out and change the world, but I think too few of us start with our ministry right here, our ministry. What am I? I'm a husband and I'm a father, first of all. Next, what do you have? And this might be getting touchy, but what do you have? Do you have money? Do you have cars? What do you have that you can use to sow into the gospel? I'm not talking about offering and tithing. I'm talking necessarily. I'm not just talking about donating to missions, necessarily. What do you have? I don't know what you have, but me and Lydia have received cards from people that have very much helped us out in times of need, and we want to be that kind of couple now that can turn around and in the name of Jesus, because they're a brother or a sister, help them in times of need, possessions. Opportunities. Why, maybe I told you this before, why did that one young man come up and challenge me to a basketball game? when I was shooting hoops at Montgomery. Why? To beat me. It's an opportunity. It's an opportunity. So take your opportunities to be a faithful Christ-centered witness. And remember, we did say this at Bible study, God talk is easy. And everyone will agree with you. Yes, God. Yes, that is good. But as soon as you talk about Christ, the air gets thick in the room. And people tense up. There's something weighty about the name of Jesus Christ. And so when you talk about Christ, He is the one who has revealed God to man. Revealer. He is the one through whose death and resurrection we are reconciled to God. He is the reconciler. And He is the one that the Father has appointed to judge the living and the dead. And the one that we must be obedient to. He has taught us, the Greek commission, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. He is the ruler. He is the revealer, reconciler, and ruler of the world. Talk about Jesus with people. You don't have to blurt out the substitutionary atonement. But talk, get to Jesus first and have a conversation around him. All right, that is how you can fulfill your ministry. People, possessions, and opportunities. With that, let's close in a word of prayer. Again, this passage has shown us that character and knowledge typifies a healthy minister and ministry. That a bold preservation of Christian truth is a characteristic. That a good ministry will be geared towards holiness and faithfulness. that a good ministry and Christian will be reliant on Jesus Christ to do that which he can or she cannot do on their own. And a good ministry, church, or Christian is one who fulfills their ministry, the one that God has given them. Let's close in a word of prayer. Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling, his glory with great joy to the only wise God in glory and majesty and power and dominion now before all time and forevermore amen and amen if anyone would like prayer i would love to pray with you god bless you