The Motivation & Humility for Gospel Ministry

About this sermon

Introduction: The knowledge of truth— exposure to the Word of God — should always affect us personally. We can organize God’s Word into theological categories, and in that way, we can study it and disseminate it. We can rejoice in the knowledge that the Word of God shapes the life of the church as a whole. But if we are not careful, AS WE DO THAT, we can be guilty of thinking about the truth in a way distances it from our own life. We can rejoice over the truth for others, we can rejoice over the truth for the church (and include ourselves in the whole), and still neglect to think about the personal application of that truth. We can fall short of thinking about the truth FOR ME. “What difference should that truth make in MY LIFE?” The truth of God’s Word should never be considered in a way that partitions it off from my own heart, my own mind, my own decisions. We have been learning about how to understand the current rejection of Israel, and the outpouring of salvation among the Gentiles. We have seen that the judgment of God and the mercy of God are both on display, but that there is an emphasis on mercy. Israel’s stumbling doesn’t represent a final fall. The failure of Israel has meant riches for the Gentiles. But even those riches will be used by God for greater riches that God will put on display when the fulness of Israel is manifested. Judgment has led to mercy, mercy is meant to lead to jealousy, and that jealousy will lead again to mercy. Those are doctrinal facts. This is what God has revealed about the current events. But now, in the verses that follow, Paul discusses how all that affects him and his readers. He talks about what these truths mean FOR HIM and his ministry. And he talks about what these truths should mean for any believing Gentile. These truths should affect us in a personal way. And, when they do, Paul identifies two godly results. When we receive these truths rightly, we will find, in these truths, a MOTIVATION for gospel ministry, and a HUMILITY for gospel ministry. On a personal level, the knowledge of what God is up to in His world, in the realm of salvation, should both motivate me and humble me. This morning we especially set our focus on the motivation found in God’s dealings with Jews and Gentiles, and then tonight we will see the humility that should be the result of this teaching. I. GOSPEL MINISTRY SHOULD BE MOTIVATED BY THE PURPOSES OF GOD (vs.13-14) Now, I want to begin by stating that this is true in every realm of doctrine and ministry. What is true of this doctrine, should be true of all doctrine. As God reveals His plans and purposes to us, as He brings us into the knowledge of His eternal purposes, that is meant to motivate us. It is meant to motivate us on the level of personal living, and personal living includes ministry. Gospel ministry, on the part of God’s people, should be fueled by the knowledge of God’s plans. AND WE SEE THAT ILLUSTRATED IN OUR TEXT. A. THE PRIMARY AUDIENCE FOR PAUL’S MESSAGE (vs.13a) Paul makes plain that his primary audience for this message concerning what God is doing with Israel and with the world, is a Gentile audience. It is important for saved Gentiles to recognize what God is doing at the present time — what God’s dealings with Israel mean for the world. You might think that a message about a rejected people would be for the rejected people. Instead, the message about a rejected people is aimed at those who have been received. B. THE PRIMARY AUDIENCE FOR PAUL’S MINISTRY (vs.13b) He also makes clear that this is not an anomaly. Paul speaking to Gentiles is now the standard for Paul. He has been called by God to take the gospel to the world of the Gentiles. He is an apostle to the Gentiles. What he is doing in the book of Romans represents what he does with life and ministry. He takes the gospel to the world. AND, despite the scorn and the suffering that he meets with because of his ministry to the Gentiles — despite the loss of everything he had accrued in terms of respect and standing among the Jewish people — Paul GLORIED in that ministry calling. HE IS NOT ASHAMED OF HIS GENTILE BROTHERS. HE IS NOT ASHAMED OF THE IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF GOSPEL TRUTH FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JEWS AND GENTILES. HE IS NOT ASHAMED TO BE KNOWN AS AN APOSTLE TO GENTILES. This was tested, in a very personal and practical way, during Paul’s time in Antioch. He tells the story of it to the Galatian Christians.

Topics

• Humility
• Service & Ministry