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Oct 31, 2021

Seeing Is Believing

Passage: Romans 15:14-21

Preacher: John Repsold

Series: Romans

Keywords: gospel, missions, proclamation, clergy, demonstration, laity, unreached of the world

Summary:

Paul demonstrates in this passage his passion to preach the Gospel where it has not been known. But he identifies that such preaching must include both the proclamation of the Gospel and a demonstration of its power in life. This message looks at how that happens both right where we are and around the world.

Detail:

Seeing IS Believing

Romans 15:14-21

Oct. 31, 2021

INTRO:

So, I need to start with a sort of disclaimer…or retraction… this morning.  I chose the title of this message earlier this week and gave it to Jesse to print.  But the more I got to thinking about it, the more uncomfortable I became with it. 

            The nature of life is such that, even when we actually “see” something right in front of our eyes, we’re not forced to believe it.  The author, poet and Christian minister, George McDonald, aptly observed, “Seeing is not believing, it is only seeing.” Seeing doesn’t force belief.      

EX:

  • Economically: We’re being told not to believe what we are seeing right before our eyes today. Is anything you are buying cheaper than a year ago?  Of course not.  Everything is costing more, sometimes a LOT more… like gas (up 56% from a year ago)…or meat (6-20% in a year depending on whether you’re a chicken, pork or beef lover)…housing in Spokane (28% over a year ago)…eggs (up 8%) and milk (up 6.5%).  Yet our policy wonks and “financial experts” in Washington, D.C. are telling us that there is “no serious, long-term inflation”…and lots of people are believing them.
  • The same is true…to some degree…when we talk about spiritual realities. In Jesus’ day, he could perform a miracle in front of a crowd of people and some would see it and accept it as a miracle while others would see it and just shrug it off as something unique or amazing or even ordinary.  Even today

In today’s passage in Romans 15, Paul is talking about the ministry he and every follower of Jesus (that includes US) has been given to function as a priest and pastor/minister.  In the process of telling us what that involves, he uses a bit of “seeing-can-lead-to-believing” language.  It actually comes in the last verse of today’s passage.  So, let’s read today’s paragraph. 

Romans 15:7-21

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”

In the first 3 verses of this paragraph, Paul shares his deep conviction about a group of people in Rome that he’s writing to but has never met.  He’s “convinced” of a few things about them, probably from the reports he received from others about the church life there in Rome.  What’s he “convinced” about?

  • That they are truly his spiritual siblings—he calls them his “brothers and sisters.” (vs. 14)
  • That the Gospel had genuinely taken root in their souls and produced an abundant harvest of “goodness” (vs. 14). That term “goodness” means “uprightness of heart and life.”  It’s what you think of when you know someone who is really a genuinely “good” person—they treat people honestly, justly, rightly; they are kind, caring, loving.  This is precisely what is to be evidenced when Jesus takes over our lives.  It’s a portion of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22).
  • That they had grown to be spiritually mature enough to “instruct one another” (vs. 14). In other words, they were a self-feeding group of Christ-followers, not needing some traveling preacher to get them to the level of spiritual productivity. They were disciple-makers of each other.  This is precisely what God wants everyone eventually to BE in His family, the church—building into, teaching, mentoring, coaching spiritually others.  ILL:  what happens in our Discovery Bible Studies week after week—we’re teaching each other using the Word of God. 
  • But they were also a church, like all of us, that needed “remind[ing]” about “some points” or, as we might say, “some spiritual truths” that would help them be even stronger and more fruitful. Thus the Book of Romans.

Starting in verse 15, Paul begins to talk about his calling to “be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.”  He continues, “He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”  The term “priestly” here is actually means “performing the activities of a priest in the temple.”  He combines it with the term “minister” which is a word that can be used for everything from a civil servant, a minister of state, to a spiritual servant…a minister of God and the Gospel.  The latter is the idea here. 

            One of the great tragedies of modern Christendom is this unfortunate dichotomy/division that we have between what we call “the laity” and “the clergy.”  Now there are certainly different offices and roles for people in the church.  Not everyone has he gift of pastor-teacher.  But, as we just saw, everyone is still to be “competent to instruct one another.”  We’re all to be growing such that we have something to contribute to the spiritual maturity of others in the Body of Christ. 

            But this division that has developed between “professional clergy” like me who both spend most of their time and earn most/all of their income from ministry and the “laity”…you…who earn your living from other types of ministries/jobs in this world and don’t spend most of your time doing so to people already believers, is unfortunate.  If I had it to do again, I’d be more like Bob or Andrew or Jesse were/are—keeping a good chunk of their life in activities and business outside ‘the church’ while functioning as pastors inside the church. 

Ill:  Story of Denny F. coming to Spokane as GM of the DoubleTree Hotel with a vision God had given him to see his employees and clients as his "congregation" to pastor every day.  The difference that made to his work...and for Spokane as he began a city prayer team that would pray, block by block, for the 600 blocks of the center of our city...and later our State...and later the nation.  

            All that to say, when Paul talks about being a ‘minister’ and having a “priestly duty” of proclaiming the Gospel, he’s not thinking career or ‘vocation’ as we so often do.  He’s thinking about God’s call on his life. 

            Peter goes on to tell us in 1 Peter 2:5 & 9 that we are and are being built into a “royal priesthood” as believers…ALL of us who know Christ. 

  • If someone comes in here today asking for “the priest/pastor”, biblically we should ask them, “Which one? Most of us here today are the priests and pastors in this place.” 

APP:  That’s one reason I’m so excited about this church—SO many of you are actually living that reality out.  So many of you are teaching the Word in this community.  So many are mentoring newer believers. So many are instructing children, guiding coffee-talk, facilitating groups, vitally engaged in Bible studies where you are adding real value and insight every time you gather. What you get from Bob or Andrew or Jesse or me is truly just the ‘tip of the proverbial iceberg’ of ministry in this church…as it should be!  And IF you are one of those people, you know how much ministering to others is contributing to your own faith and growth.

             It is in this process of pouring the Gospel, pouring the life of Jesus, into the lives of others that THEY actually become an acceptable offering to God. 

Vs. 16—"He [Christ Jesus] gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

            All of us as priests/pastors in Christ’s body are to “proclaim the gospel of God” for a reason:  so that OTHERS will become the right kind of ‘offering acceptable to God, sanctified [set apart] by the Holy Spirit.’  Yes, we grow when we minister to others.  But our real motivation is that OTHERS will become what God designed and destined them to be—people who belong to Christ, who are clearly ‘made holy’ and ‘set apart’ by the Holy Spirit in this life. 

            And don’t ‘dumb-down’ “proclaiming the gospel” as merely ‘sharing the plan of salvation.’  It’s much bigger than that.  It’s about a whole-life vision for people that includes the whole calling of God on the whole of their lives.  It’s about both getting them into the family of God and keeping them growing in that family.  The Gospel isn’t just “good news” about eternal salvation, great as that is.  It’s “good news” about every day of our lives when we’re led of the Spirit, growing in the nature of Christ and enjoying fellowship with our Heavenly Father as he talks with us and we with Him. 

            So just what is the PROCESS of ‘proclaiming the gospel’ that actually leads to a fruitful, godly, good church and Christians?

            Paul answers that in vs. 17-18--17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 

            Notice where Paul’s focus is even in seeking to develop a strong, healthy church. It’s what we talked about last week on making much of Christ and his glory even as we love people.  It isn’t on what he, Paul, is doing…or even what the church is doing.  Even in his ‘service to God’ in ministering the Gospel, it’s all about glorying in Jesus and what Jesus is doing, albeit through him and in the people he’s ministering to. 

            But back to the PROCESS.  Paul says that God leads people (Gentiles here) “to obey God by what he (Paul) said and did.”  The Greek says literally “by word (logos) and deed (ergon).”  We could say that the Gospel comes effectively to people when it comes by a.) proclamation, and b.) demonstration.  One without the other is NOT enough.  Simply presenting the message of the Gospel with words is not enough… just as never telling people about the salvation message but hoping they will figure it out by your good living is NOT enough. 

Paul repeats this in his closing quote in vs. 21 from Isaiah 52:15 (The LXX)-- “Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”  Again there is a combining of proclamation and demonstration, of explaining truth and living truth. 

Too many churches, too many Christian parents, too many pastors and priests fail to embrace BOTH ends of this teeter-totter. 

  • Families where the kids hear the Gospel but don’t see its power in the parents’/family’s life will usually not impart the passion and power of the Spirit to their offspring.
  • Churches that embrace all the good deeds of a Christian or the church but fail to teach the whole Gospel about sin, righteousness, judgment, mercy, grace, submission, etc. will lose the next generation to the humanism rather than giving that generation the fire of Christ.

ILL:

  • My grandmother on my mother’s side knew the gospel and had accepted Christ as a child. But she never shared that message with my mother.  It was only after my mother met the Lord when she was 45 years old that she discovered her mother knew the Lord.  That’s the “doing” or demonstration of Jesus without the proclamation or message of the Gospel. 
  • On the other hand far too many 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation kids in Christian homes hear the message of the Gospel in church but don’t either see or appreciate the demonstration of the Gospel and Jesus in their homes. That may be why 3 of 4 church-going young people leave the church and the faith in their young adult years in this country. 

Before we look at some very practical implications of this, one more observation.  In vs. 19 Paul also points to “the power of signs and wonders through the power of the Spirit of God” as also being the MEANS by which Christ led the Gentiles to obey God. 

18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.

            Divine “signs and wonders” have a place in the living out of the Gospel of Christ.  By “signs and wonders”, we understand that phrase to mean miraculous demonstrations of the power and presence of God.  It may be healings.  It may be weather-related events.  It may be ‘power-encounters’ with demons or the darkness of principalities and powers.  “Signs and wonders” are just that—events that are signposts pointing to the truth and power of God or ‘wonders’ that cause people to notice, stop and perhaps marvel at the wonderful things God did.

I have my own personal opinion that “signs and wonders” are more prevalent where the Gospel is first being established in settings and cultures where people often have lived for centuries in fear of the powers of darkness but not knowing the superior power of Jesus Christ.  So God, I think, often grants signs and wonders that stop people, show them the greatness of our God and help them believe the message of the Gospel.  From the missionaries I have talked with and the stories I’ve both heard and read, God seems to do this more at the front end of the entrance of the Gospel to a people. 

But that is not to say that God will not perform signs and wonders all along our spiritual journey.  But IF you are demanding that God continually show you his ‘signs and wonders’, I can pretty well guarantee you that he won’t. We are called to a life of faith from start to finish.  God is all about building your faith in Him, not your dependence upon visible signs or miracles.  Here’s where I will frankly depart from some in the ‘signs-and-wonders’ camp who declare that signs and wonders should be a regular and frequent occurrence in every church.  That kind of theology leads to weak Christians and phony, faulty experience.  If you see signs and wonders a handful of times in your life, I’d say that is the far more the norm than monthly or annually.  (But you’re free to disagree and try to persuade me otherwise.)

Before I bring one of our missionaries and his dad up here to interview about this and some other things related to this passage today, I want you to notice Paul’s passion when it came to proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel.

19 So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum [Ill-ur-ee-com], I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”

Here is a little window into how God works differently in different people.  Paul’s “ambition” was to preach Christ where Christ was not known in this world.  He was more ambitious to go to places that had no concept of the love of God in Christ than to go places where people had some notion or idea of Christ, wrong though it may be.

ILL:  While I have a drive in me to see the Gospel go to the 2.5 billion people on planet earth who have never even heard the name of Jesus, my ambition in life has been for the church—people who have already heard, seen and responded to the Good News of Jesus.  Maybe that’s why I really admire people with Paul’s sort of call on their life.  I marvel at people who will bury their lives in some corner of the world that has not had a clear Gospel witness living or speaking among them.  Both types of people are desperately needed…because even where the Gospel has already penetrated, the church is always just one generation away from extinction.  Like a fire that burns out if you don’t keep adding fuel, the church goes dormant if we aren’t constantly proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel of Christ. 

            But we live in a day similar to Paul.  There are plenty of places in this world where the Gospel still has not gone either in word or deed.  And that is why we send out missionaries from Mosaic.  That is why Bruce Anderson is going back to the village in PNG where he grew up as a kid…where his parents had brought the Gospel to a people who were basically unreached with the Gospel.  That’s a different culture, different environment than living in a nation that has had the Gospel for 400 years like ours. 

So, this morning I want you to grasp a bit better why we need to still be sending today’s “Pauls” with the Gospel to places that haven’t heard the Gospel AND sending today’s “Timothys & Barnabases” to places where the Gospel still needs to be deepened and cultivated. 

 

INTERVIEW:

  1. NEIL:
    1. What was life like for the Fotapa people before the Gospel arrived?
    2. If I remember the story correctly, when you arrived, the Gospel had already come to this village through a native evangelist, right? But what did they still lack in ‘word and deed’?
    3. Give us an example or two of how your family’s presence brought both the word of the Gospel combined with the deeds of the Gospel? e. why did the village people need more than the verbal Gospel? 
    4. Did you see any ‘signs and wonders’ along the way those 34 years you lived in the village? What was the response of the people to that?
  2. BRUCE:
    1. In what ways do you see that the village/people still need both the teaching/word of the Gospel AND the demonstration of its power/deeds?
    2. How will your upcoming ministry seek to address both of those needs?
    3. What remains to be done/met for you to get to PNG? When? (Support needs, etc.)
    4. (I’ll invite those who are committed to supporting you financially & prayerfully to the dessert at Jodie’s Friday, Nov. 5th, 6-8 p.m.

CLOSING PRAYER