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I’m going to invite you to Romans. Chapter 15 is where we’re at today, Romans chapter 15 that we’re going to be looking at together. We’re getting to the end of the book of Romans. And you can tell by the Apostle Paul’s speech that he knows that he’s about to conclude the book of Romans because it’s in this section of scripture. He’s reminiscing on the things that the church has learned and now looking forward to the future that the church has before them. And he’s acknowledging the good things that God has done in Rome, in this church, and particularly because Paul’s never visited this church, his heart has been to visit Rome. I mean, he’s in the Roman Empire. Paul is one that went to the cities, the the centers for what would bring about the change in culture. Paul went to the larger metropolitan population areas to to then impact the country. That’s the way Paul typically did his ministry and Rome is sort of like the pinnacle of all that that Paul’s heart has been to get to Rome. But to this point, he’s not reached the the city and wanting to encourage the believers there, knowing that, well, Rome started in Rome. Right. So he writes this letter to encourage them. And he’s acknowledging the great things that God has done in this church, even though he hasn’t been there firsthand. He’s just heard of the reputation that they’ve had. But I think his heart is also that they would continue.
Well, and, you know, when I think about the history of ABC, I got to tell you guys, I am I am biased and the history of our church. But when when I look at the way that a life goes in ministries and for other churches, I feel like the history of our church has been one that God has just put us on a on a rocket of just enjoying doing ministry here and and reaching our community and seeing what God grows. And and we’ve done that as a church, really, when you look at starting churches, the expense to start a church, they estimate is somewhere anywhere in our country. The estimation for for starting a church is about a quarter of $1 million that that church will need to to get off the ground and become independent. And and for us to start ABC, we started on pennies and God has just been faithful and seeing what he has brought together for us to have a community to worship, we we, we sometimes describe ourselves as just out of the side of the mountain. The Lord has hewn something here that’s been beautiful and we sure there’s bumps in the road, but for for me, I would not have it any other way. It’s been a delight and a wonderful journey to the point now that after when we started in 2008 as just a Bible study and I’m always bragging about what God has done here and just being able to be a part of it and seeing how God’s moved through people.
But it’s getting to the point now where sometimes you just kind of look over your shoulder and you’re like, When are bad things going to happen? Right? Like, where are the horror stories? It’s not been that way. It’s just been a delight. And I think about when when Paul’s writing this this story to the to the Romans. He’s acknowledging the great things that’s happened. And he he knows that at some point there’s going to be a bump in the road. But he wants the church to remain focused on what God’s called them to to do. And so that’s where we find ourselves in Romans 15 is really the the the backdrop of that story. In verse 14, Paul starts here by talking about the the great things that the the church has done. I don’t know what just happened. Here we go. Verse 14. Thank you, verse 14, It says, I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness and filled with the knowledge and able to instruct one another. And so he’s saying in these verses as he thinks about what he’s heard and the reputation of the church, though he’s not visited just the good things that God has done. And, you know, as a as I reflected on on this passage and thinking about where we are and the history of how God has done things, done things here, I just those, those words that Paul uses here, the goodness of the church filled with knowledge, able to instruct one another.
It’s a beautiful thing. Like, you know, when I think about in terms of goodness, as Paul’s described the the church in Rome, thinking about the good things that God has done in this church. And and, you know, I think about just in our history how many people have come to know the Lord here. And and many of people have come to that that are a part of our church being first generation followers of Jesus. And maybe the only one within their family have known Christ. Just our history and seeing new people come to know the Lord for the first time, maybe coming from a family that doesn’t claim to have followed after the biblical Christ and now pursuing Jesus and carrying that heart for others. And you just you see that reflected in our body, even in the the last few months where we’ve taken trips to Uganda and really loved on them. Well, and sending thousands of dollars and serving the community there. And and even the last couple of months we’ve held a church planters conference for our state here and invested in church planters because our our heart is to see a healthy church in every town in our state and how we’ve just been moving to that.
As a church and even our our food pantry ministry that’s growing and and our Spanish ministries that we’ve just started recently with Robbie and Alexis leading that now and vacation Bible school. And every summer it’s been our pattern as as a church that we typically stop our most of our Bible studies to focus more outwardly as a as a church community to to reach our community. Even while I was I was reflecting on this passage on Thursday evening. I’m sitting in my chair at my house and just looking over this and meditating on this passage. And as I’m reading this, you guys, a group of you are texting me. You don’t know this, but at different times I’m getting different text messages from people in our church and you guys are telling me how you’re sharing Christ with people in your community and some of you will know who you are if you’ve texted me on Thursday evening. But I’m just thinking I’m reflecting on the goodness of God and here I am. I don’t have to think you guys are sending me messages about your concern for your neighbor and your friends and your family about what God’s doing and how the Lord is using him. Just thinking this is incredible. I couldn’t even I couldn’t even plan this. How how that was just taking place. And, you know, I think even in a couple of weeks, we’ll have a group of churches from around the United States coming here for a missions camp that I lead in order to to help people understand how to how to better connect to Utah ministry, how they can support it, how they can share the gospel here and be involved.
And so the Lord is doing just a beautiful work. And not to mention we’re still moving forward on, on, on a on a building project, which hopefully will get all of that lined up to share with you soon. It just feels like it’s taken a bit with working with the city and the planning to to be able to move that ball forward. But but God’s doing a beautiful work here, and not just in terms of seeing good things being done, but but it’s a church that cares about the truth of God, the knowledge of God. I think we started even in the book of Romans as an example, going verse by verse through Romans. Romans. I think we started in October of last year. So you’re about 32 lessons deep in the book of Romans now. And we’ve grown more as a church going through this series than really any other time in our history. I think our average attendance now on a Sunday is over 300 people. And it’s just been beautiful, like the hunger of God’s people to to know the Word of God, because we recognize it transforms our life to then empower us to do the to do the work of God in this world.
And so those things work in tandem. And and so it’s filled with the knowledge of God. And then you’re able to instruct and this word instruct is a it’s a really a difficult word to, to translate. The idea of instructing is a is a component of what this word means, but it also carries this word of of encourage and admonish. It means not only do we understand how important God’s word is, but we want to understand it so well that we can share it with others to the point that we were faithful in it, that we understand that sometimes we’re not always faithful to what God’s Word says. But in the confidence of that, we we need to admonish other other brothers and sisters that may not be walking in alignment with what God’s Word says. And we don’t do that dominating over people, but rather coming alongside in order to encourage. Encourage literally means to pour encourage into someone else. And what God’s word communicates to us to be out of all the things that you could be faithful to. While the world may pressure you, you want to be faithful to what Christ says. And so the Apostle Paul is looking at this church and really under the rule of Nero, who is about to persecute Christians. And he’s he’s reminding them they continue to be good.
They continue to yearn to know God’s word. And they’re faithful to to to instruct and to admonish and to encourage just with this desire to want to see the the community of Christ faithful in what God has called us to do. Because at the end of the day, that’s what matters, because that’s what transforms life both now and for all of eternity. You know, sometimes to follow after the Lord, it can be hard and we can we can move towards that timid over the consequence. But but Paul is reminding us that this church there bold they care and they’re standing in it. But now Paul’s concern is and will they always be faithful to that? Is that enough? And so in the next part of verse 15, he goes on and says, But but on some points I have written to you very boldly by by way of reminder. And so what Paul is recognizing about our human nature is things that take place that are supernatural, which your life in Christ being made known in Jesus, being redeemed, and what Christ has done as you’ve surrendered to him, that that new life that you have, that new birth that Scripture talks about that is supernatural. And so you when you first become a Christian, you step into that with this joy. But over time, what was supernatural tends to become sometimes ordinary, and you forget just how sacred and special that it that it is that you have the privilege to connect to God and to walk with God and to be a light for the Lord in this world.
World. And so Paul, wanting to to make the the focus of what the church is about, to continue to be focused, to not get lost in the fray, to not to not get lost in the mundane. He reminds them of of how important it is. And he says so in this letter, he spoke boldly about about that relationship in Christ and what that means. And so if you remember in the Book of Romans in the first 11 chapters, he lays out for us all of our identity in Jesus, not because of what we do, but because of what he’s done for us. And then he talks about in 12 and on the outworking of the way that we should live in light of that, because of the grace given to us in Jesus. And now here he’s reminding us, don’t lose sight of that. I’ve spoken boldly about this so that in your life priority is given to what matters most. Because in the busyness of life we tend to lose perspective sometimes as to what we should be about as God’s people. In fact. There’s a there’s a story that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien when when he was writing The Lord of the Rings in the 1930, he and C.S Lewis decided they were going to write the kind of stories that they felt people should read, the kind of stories that would encourage others.
And J.R.R. Tolkien and, and C.S Lewis were both Christians, and so their stories have biblical undertones in the way that they proclaim their stories about really who Christ is as you as you read their literature. But when J.R.R. Tolkien is writing The Lord of the Rings, he sees C.S Lewis just pouring out book after book, story after story. Chronicles of Narnia Screwtape Letters and and J.R.R. Tolkien could not keep up with that pace. In fact, he got a little bit jealous about how C.S Lewis was able to write so quickly these these stories. And and he was just trying to work on the Lord of the Rings to the point that he at one point he got so discouraged he actually quit writing for a moment. And it said as he wrote The Lord of the Rings, some of the chapters, as he would write, he got so dissatisfied with him he would rewrite them and rewrite them and rewrite them. And they say some chapters, Lord Rings, he wrote ten times before he was he settled on what he wanted that chapter two to be about. And at one point in this discouragement, the story goes that Tolkien had a dream. And it was a story that he later wrote in a book. And it was called The The Leaf by Niggle.
And in this story, it was about a man who was an artist and the city had commissioned him where he lived to paint a beautiful mural. And he decided he wanted to paint a tree. And as he went to paint this tree, he got so fixated on trying to make this tree perfect that that he he really just began with a leaf. And he never got beyond the leaf. Over and over. He just focused on this leaf. And perfection was driving him crazy and trying to articulate the beauty of this tree for others to appreciate. And as he just works on this single leaf, all of a sudden life got busy and he got distracted. And at certain points he even got apathetic. But then niggle has this dream, and this dream is really a becomes this picture of heaven where he in this dream he he jumps on a train and he rides this train to into eternity. And on his way into eternity, as he’s driving, all of a sudden he looks out the window and he sees this tree. And he realizes it’s the tree that he had been trying to paint. And he gets off the train and he runs towards this tree and he sees the beauty of this tree. And while he looks at the beauty of this tree, he he recognizes he can see it with his eyes. But as he reflects on his own artwork, he realizes he can never fully capture the beauty of the tree.
But he’s been given the opportunity to attempt to do so. And while perfection had been stopping him, he he realized that he just needed to take the talent that God had given him and began to express this beauty. And and when Tolkien told this story, he he used that story as the moment to to recognize that perfection and the business of life was stopping him from telling the story of the Lord of the Rings. And after he wrote the story about Nigel, he he then moves on and goes back to working on the story of the Lord of the Rings, which took him over a decade to complete. But but the point of the story is to remind him of the sacredness of we as human beings have to use our our talents and our abilities to reflect the beauty of who God is. And it’s not going to be perfect. But we shouldn’t lose sight of what Christ has done for us and forsake the opportunity that we have, even in our imperfections, to point to his glory. And the Apostle Paul, thinking about the the life of the church, he’s encouraging us to continue to to move forward and and to do so boldly, as he says in this passage of scripture. At some point, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, encouraging the church to move forward boldly and what God has called them to do.
And so in three points this morning, this is what we want to talk about, is how do we boldly move forward as God’s people? Not to to lose sight, but but rather to continue to to drive forward. And what God has called us to. And point number one in your notes is this We we move forward by position. We move forward by position. Our position is is not one that we have earned, but rather one that we have we have received in Christ. This this position is one of authority, not because of our authority, but because of Christ’s authority in in our lives. When we talk in terms of position, I think it’s important to have an idea of a biblical picture of what position is about in Jesus versus what the world says. When we talk about worldly position, people see themselves as climbing a ladder in order to speak down to others, to get them to do what God or what they want them to do, and seeing themselves more as an authority, as as God. They speak down to people. But but in terms of biblical authority, what God calls us to in him is rather than climb the corporate ladder, to speak down to people, we become servants of servants. Really. It’s a it’s a not a top down kingdom, but a bottom up. We we come beneath people in order to to meet their need to help them become all that God has called them to be.
We serve them in that capacity as Jesus served us. Though he was king of kings, he became servant of of servants. And in the second half of verse 15, Paul reminds us of this, that as he gets ready to talk about his position, it’s not because of anything that he has done, but what God has done for him. And the same is true for all of us, that God gives us authority in this world, but it’s not built on on us. It’s built on him that we are representatives of the position in which Christ has given to us. That’s why the Bible uses the word. Often it describes us as in second Corinthians five terms, like you are an ambassador, an ambassador for Christ, meaning you represent this king called in this position. And it’s not about what you want, it’s about what he wants. That’s the way that an ambassador works in this world. And in verse 15, he says this because of the grace given me by God. To be a minister of Christ, Jesus to the Gentiles and the priestly service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And what Paul is acknowledging in the beginning and in the end of this, that is only by the grace of God sanctified, sanctified by the Spirit of God, that any of this is enabled.
It’s it’s not about me, but in the in-between, God chooses to work through me in order to accomplish this in this world. And Paul uses these titles for him. In this passage, he refers to himself as both a minister and a priest. And I want you to know this morning these these aren’t titles that are just unique to the Apostle Paul. These these are titles that every Christian in Christ are given, that we are all ministers of the gospel and we are called. And in first Peter, chapter two Priests, Royal Priests in the Lord. Now, there is a uniqueness to the Apostle Paul’s position in the fact that he’s he is an apostle and he was called specifically to the Gentiles that when you think in terms of the New Testament, they were apostles and the apostles went to this world. And Paul specifically refers to himself as this apostle to the Gentiles, going to the ends of the earth. So there is some uniqueness to that. And I would say there’s uniqueness to all of our calls because God has gifted us all individually for a particular purpose. He has called us to God has placed us in in position and relationships that others may not be there. And so there is certainly the uniqueness to your call. There’s also the the sacredness of your call, meaning how important it is your work that you do in this world because you’re called to be a light for Christ to represent Jesus.
You think how how much more important can it be than to than to be a spokesman for Christ in this world? But he’s also acknowledging something that that really all of us we have we have this importance of of ministering where we are. You think about your your roles that you might have in this world, whether you’re you’re you’re married or you’re a parent or you hold down some sort of job that wherever that you are in this world in terms of relationship, that is your place of influence to minister. And the way that we we do that in this world is is not to dominate over people. But to lead them to Christ. And that’s exactly how Paul calls this position of of a priest. And I think when he uses this word priest in this passage, he’s not talking about a Jewish priest, but rather he’s borrowing a word from the from the gentile pagan world, acknowledging how the religious beliefs of the day they all had these priests. But the way that he sees his position and sacredness before God is one that that ministers to people and he brings people to the Lord. And meaning in your position in this world, you are this this connector between heaven and earth. And how beautiful that position is to take the truth of what God has done for us as you’ve experienced it in the Book of Romans and now minister it to to others.
I think the most important place that that should begin in our lives is here in the church and in in your homes that we communicate what should be most important to us. And even think of the privilege it is to serve and to sacrifice for Christ. Now, I know in terms of sacrifice, we are creatures that like comfort. And if someone asks you, do you want to make a sacrifice, you know, and really any aspect of your life where we are often reluctant to say, you know what, help me be uncomfortable. We like our comforts. We don’t we don’t necessarily want to want to get involved in sacrifice unless. Unless the call is important. And in which case we’ll realign our lives in order to make a sacrifice for what we find is important in life. When someone lavishes love and generosity on you. It would be foolish and rude for you as a human being to accept that gift and just simply walk away. To not acknowledge it. To not be thankful for it, to not repay in some sort of kindness, whether it be in word and deed. If someone sees need in your life and they come to you in that need and they just pour out and lavish love upon you, for you to just simply embrace that and walk away.
People would look at that and think something, something was wrong with you. Right? You’re not appreciative, you’re not respectful, you’re not kind. Why Why would you respond in such a way? And I would think in terms of our relationship with Christ, it works in the same way. If God gave you the opportunity and said, He said to us today, you know, I’m going to sacrifice really everything in order that you can find life in me by giving my life for you. But but I’m going to give you a choice. You can respond to that. Having no opportunity to ever do anything or I will give you the privilege of reacting in some way by reciprocal dating the joy of what you’ve received. Right. And what I’m saying is, would you would you like to make a sacrifice in return? Like if you’re given the choice of someone lavishing on you in that way and absolutely doing nothing or choosing to respond in some way in connection to that, not because you’re obligated, but because you want to show your appreciation in love. As believers, we got to got to say, as in our lives, of course, of course we want to reciprocate in that and and demonstrate our thankfulness in the way that we give our lives back to that person who gave so much for us. That God. King of kings. What becomes servant of servants to the point that.
He would endure the weight of sin that we could find life in him. To rescue us from our darkest of hour and give everything that we could find. New life and forgiveness and reconciliation. And the beauty of that. Then he’s giving you a platform to respond a place. To show how blessed and thankful you are. By the way, that you love on others through which Christ created in his image and gave his life for. And Paul is reminding us in these verses church not only has it defined us, but we can’t lose perspective of how sacred that is, that we move forward by position, not by what we’ve earned, but rather what we’ve received in Jesus. And what a beautiful place it is for us to acknowledge the opportunity. It is to honor God. If you remember. This character, Alexander Graham Bell. You may not know what he did, but you’ll be quickly reminded because everyone’s got one of these probably in your pocket or purse this morning. The phone, he invented the telephone. How important that has become and how much of an idol it is and everyone’s life at this point. Right. But Alexander Graham Bell, I don’t know whether to thank him for that now or to curse, but. But the phone became an instrument he created because or in the 1800s he designed he designed the telephone. But one of the things when Alexander Graham Bell, when he when he died, he wanted to make sure happened on his his tomb, on his gravestone, he is described as an inventor and a teacher on his gravestone.
But what’s interesting about Alexander Graham Bell, he was born in Scotland. He died in Canada. And on his gravestone, you can see he acknowledges where he’s born in Edinburgh, in Scotland. Right. But he doesn’t acknowledge where he died in Canada. Instead, he wanted labeled on his tombstone that he was a citizen of the United States. And the reason I think Alexander Graham Bell wanted to acknowledge that is because it was the freedom and the opportunity he found in the United States that gave him the privilege to create the telephone. It became what his identity was about, really, the way people would know him and so on the marker of his grave. That’s what he wanted to acknowledge. The place that gave him the opportunity and the freedom to afford him the privilege to create the telephone. Now, as believers, we should go a little step further than just simply acknowledging a country, though it is important. To recognize the real reason we have any freedom of all at all. To do anything in this world isn’t simply because of a country, but because of our creator. The privilege to to recognize anything that we do in our lives is an opportunity given to us by God. Because of his grace poured into our hearts, which transforms us to give the opportunity to even sacrifice ourselves for His glory in this world.
The Apostle Paul is heart towards us, is to remember what Christ has done and to walk in that sacred privilege. We move forward boldly by position in Jesus and point number two, by by power. And again, it’s not in our self, but it is in the Lord. And in verse 17, he goes on and says, In Christ Jesus. Then I have reason to be proud of my work for God, 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. Again in this passage, just similar to verse 15 and 16. He starts by acknowledging what Jesus has done and he continues to recognize that it’s through the Spirit of God, working in the people of God, that we are able to accomplish the will of God. This does not happen in our strength. It happens in in his. I have no supernatural power apart from what’s given to me in Christ to see God move in the hearts of people. Meaning I don’t birth spiritual life. We we as a church are simply called to point to the truth of God’s word and allow God’s truth to impact the lives of people around him.
And this is what Paul is saying in this passage. Do you know where the power comes from? He says at the end of verse 18, It’s in word and deed. It’s demonstrated as God’s word transforms our life. It’s lived out through our hands, but it’s an indication of the spirit of God that’s moved within the people of God to accomplish his will as as we as we have communicated God’s word. It’s God’s Word that has life. It’s God who calls us to be faithful to that word in order to deliver the truth of God, to impact our hearts to the Spirit of God. And some people, I think, look at a passage like this and they fixate not not on the word of God that transforms lives. But but the result of that, which is what he says in verse 19 by the power and signs that make the whole point about power and signs. But can I can I encourage you, even though verse 19 talks about power in signs, just to be mindful of the way Scripture communicates about power and signs, I would say to you this morning, can God do supernatural things? Absolutely. God can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, as long as it doesn’t violate his nature. Meaning God can’t lie because God is a God of truth and so God will not violate his own nature. But God has the capabilities of intervening and doing things at any time, any moment according to his will.
Right. But when it comes to the idea of power and signs, it’s also important to be mindful of the way it’s communicated in Scripture. And I got just a few points written here, and I don’t think these are in your notes. But but Jesus reminded us, one that false prophets and teachers will also use signs and wonders, so they’re not an end in and of themselves that Jesus and his ministry even criticize people that came to him specifically asking for for miracles and signs as if he was some sort of show. Or the whole point was just simply about the signs and wonders. The apostles and prophets were excuse me, the apostles and Jesus, I should say, were the ones that we’re told in Scripture who did the signs and wonders. There’s one reference in Acts six where Stephen does it, but those signs and wonders were intended to be a marker to recognize the significance of who Jesus was and the apostles who were given the authority to communicate His message. It validated the apostles that were commissioned by Christ. But nowhere in the New Testament does it command us to perform signs and wonders, nor seek them, nor make them the priority. God can do whatever he wants and work whatever miracle he wants, but the point of it isn’t the signs and wonders. The point of it is to know God and to walk with Him.
The truth of God that sets us free. The the truth of God that ministers to the soul, the the truth of God that transforms our lives. And so the Apostle Paul wants us to recognize that the power of God’s people are made known in the Word of God, to understand it and to read it and to grow in it. I had a friend that had done years of ministry in Utah. They they passed away just a couple of years ago. But they said to me, you know, whenever I find someone that’s that’s new in Christ, the first place in the Bible that I want to take them to is Psalm 119. Some 119 is the longest chapter in all of the Bible. Do you know the focus of Psalm 119? It’s the word of God. The longest chapter in the Bible is about the Bible. And they said, you know, the reason I want to take them to Psalm 119 is because I want them to understand and appreciate how important the Word of God is, that the Bible would make a chapter on the Bible. The longest chapter in the Bible. Because once once a believer understands how important the Bible is, no matter where they go in life, as long as they cling to the Bible and learn from the Bible, God can continue to speak into their heart and shape their lives. God’s Word is written in God’s blood, written by God’s love, so that you can understand who he is and walk with him.
This is why the apostle Paul is is writing this letter to the Romans, Right? So they can not only understand the sacredness of the position, but the the God who wants to communicate to them so that he can make themselves known in their lives. When we talk in terms of theologically, there’s two types of revelation that we can learn from as as God’s people. One is one is referred to general revelation, the other is referred to as special revelation. General revelation deals with things like creation. The Bible tells us in Psalm eight and Psalm 19, the evidence of God is made known through his creation. You have this general revelation, the idea of of the existence of a Creator by the divine design and intelligent design shows an intelligent creator. So the evidence that God’s there, you can use more arguments like the cosmological argument, the ontological argument, the this idea of something doesn’t come from nothing and the cosmological argument. There has to be there has to be an uncaused cause that created it all, which theologians argue would be God. And furthermore, because you see an intelligent design, there’s an intelligent designer and not just that, that that God, there’s the moral argument that we have this desire for good to win over evil. That there’s this moral good that people adhere to, no matter where you are in this world, as if there’s this moral lawgiver who tells us right from wrong.
This is innate in our creation as human beings and and theologians argue that points us to a god. But it’s not simply enough to be pointed to a god. Butrillionather the one true God. And the way that you come to know this one, true God is through His Word and understanding who Christ is, that God became flesh in a tangible way, that we could experience Him and know him. And so theologians refer to those as as special revelation. So it’s great if you like, to go on hikes and connect to God in in hiking. Beautiful. Do that this Memorial Day weekend when there’s millions of people up in these mountains have at it right like go go enjoy the outdoors with the crowds but but at the same time to recognize it’s not this generic idea of who God is, but but rather the special idea of of God who became flesh, that you could know him intimately and personally and connect to him through his word that the power of God made known through the Word of God, that we find life in him and in it and breathe and move. And point number three, then purpose by purpose. We could say it also another way, responsibility. And Paul, he’s using his life here as an example when he thinks about the church and he’s trying to encourage the church to continue to move forward.
The Apostle Paul’s life was about moving forward. And Philippians chapter three, verse 14, he’s saying, not that I’ve taken hold of it, but I press on to the mark that I have in Christ Jesus upward the calling that I have in him. He puts the past in the past, and he continues to move forward to know God and connect to God. He doesn’t just simply live on the things that he’s done, but he understands why, while he can appreciate the way God has moved in the past, he wants to move forward to what God has called him to more in him. And I would say the same is true for our church, that we could we could just settle and we could just simply celebrate on what God has accomplished. But we also understand in Jesus, our greatest days are still before us, that as God’s people walk united in Him, that the purpose which God has called us to in this world, we can continue to glorify God the way that we live in this world. We don’t just want to settle for what’s been done, but we want to appreciate what God has done and continue to move forward in what Christ calls us to. Because God gives us purpose every day we get the opportunity to wake up with with this purpose. And he says in the next half of verse 19, he says, In Christ Jesus, then I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I’ve already read that.
Let me skip forward, he says in verse the second half of verse 19. So that from Jerusalem and all the way to excuse me in Illyricum There we go. Illyricum. This is modern day Albania. I have fulfilled the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation. But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. The Apostle Paul sees the sacredness of the mission, which God has called him to into this world, to go to places where people may not know the Lord and to be able to share that John Piper has. I think it’s in his book, Let the nations be glad he has this little statement he gives. He says missions exist because worship does not. Mission exists because worship does not. God has called his church on mission in this world because people aren’t connected to God in worship. And we’re made to be worship beings and we have the opportunity with a purpose to go into this world. And the message of what Christ has delivered to us, to share that with others, that as we live on mission, we can call people into worship, that they can know the reason for which they were created in Christ Jesus.
And the apostle Paul is saying he’s done this from Jerusalem all the way to Albania because he wants to seek after the loss that they would have the opportunity to know Christ. And I think for us as a church, that is our heart. We understand that we don’t exist simply to serve ourselves, but rather to glorify God and bless others. That God calls us on a mission to continue to reach out to that others may be saved in the Lord and come to know him and walk with him and glorify him with their lives. I can think of no better place to spend my life than to to be in Utah and to share the gospel with people around me that they would have the opportunity to to to know Christ, to and to live for him, to see the the privilege it is to stand in the position God has given me, not not because of what I’ve accomplished, but because of what he’s accomplished through his power, not because of what I’ve accomplished, but because of what he’s accomplished. Standing on his word with a purpose in which God is leading me into this world, you and I. For the sake of the gospel to the benefit of of others. There is a responsibility. That comes along with the calling that God gives his people.
We have a position of authority representing Christ, but with authority always comes responsibility. To make Christ known in this world. Responsibility. To the needs of others. I don’t think there’s maybe a greater example that demonstrates that than the life of a of a soldier. I think about this being Memorial Day weekend and I think about the way that the apostle Paul often wrote in the New Testament. He repeatedly used the illustration of a soldier to reflect on the life of a Christian. And the reason I think the apostle Paul did this is because, just as a soldier might fight a battle because he sees it as worthy. So as Christians being soldiers in a sense before the Lord, we are called to fight a spiritual battle and to demonstrate the characteristics of what makes really a soldier a good soldier, one that is a person of dedication, one that is a person of of service and and valor and sacrifice. A Christian is called to live that sort of life before the Lord who is our king representing him in this world as we war against spiritual battles. I think in terms of of soldiers, especially on Memorial Day weekend, one of the places I often think about is the Arlington Cemetery Cemetery just outside of Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Virginia. Arlington Cemetery today has over 400,000 soldiers that are buried there. And one of the things within Arlington Cemetery that I often think about is the soldier of the Unknown tomb.
Or the Unknown Soldier and the Unknown woman. And this soldier represented here he was. There’s three soldiers that are actually in this this unknown tomb today. But the first soldier that was placed there was placed in 1918. And this this soldier that was placed there was a reminder of of men and women who have really sacrificed to the point that some of them were not even sure who they were. But we want to remember them and what they they gave for us. Willing to show that valor for for for the sake of others, for protecting them and defending them and honoring honoring life by giving of their life. And so the soldier and this this unknown tomb, they in 1936, they decided in 1937, they decided that while they they had soldiers that watched over this tomb, that when it was built in 1918, they decided in 1937 that a soldier would always be present 24 hours a day, seven days a week, recognizing those that gave all for you and for me, and even to the point that you see in that top left, that’s Hurricane Sandy that went past or went over the Arlington Cemetery and these soldiers stood outside of the tomb, even during Hurricane Sandy, to give honor to the life of this unknown soldier. But written on the inscription of this tomb, it says, This here is in honor honored glory, an American soldier known but to God.
The soldier, the first soldier that was put within this tomb in 1918. Another one I think, in 19 in the 1950s. And again one more in the 1980s as a reminder of those who give their lives even when we don’t remember their names. God does. And because I think in terms of the Christian life, that not everyone is always aware of the battle that you’re fighting. And sometimes those battles seem difficult. But God knows. God knows the battles you face. And we know in Christ how important those battles are as we live for his glory in this world. And it’s to remind us that even when we fight those battles, even when they may be difficult, God knows and he knows exactly where you are and he knows exactly what you need. And it’s on the backdrop of the picture of a soldier that in second, Timothy the Apostle Paul writes it like this. You then my son. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Let me just summarize it like this. When a soldier is going into battle, the last thing that you want is for that soldier to get distracted.
And the reason you don’t want to get that soldier distracted is because life is on the line. His life, his fellow soldiers in arms with him and those he’s fighting to protect. The call of the life of a soldier to defend in that moment is too sacred to get distracted because what they’re doing matters and the defense of life and protection of their other brothers and sisters in arms they may be fighting with. You don’t want to be in battle with someone that’s distracted. You want their eyes to be on the goal. And guys, the same is true in the life of the believer. The mundane of life. The distractions of life can pull away from the sacredness of what Christ is about. What you’re called to do in Jesus is paramount in comparison to anything else this world has to offer. To lose sight of that is to lose perspective of who we’re called to be as God’s people. That’s Paul’s concern for the church. Rome. You’ve done great things in Jesus. You’re good. You’re knowledgeable in Scripture. And God has done such a great work that we can appreciate. But don’t lose sight. Of the sacredness it is to represent God in this world. And as your heart is reminded of the beauty of that position, the power of Christ made known through His word and then the privilege that is to live for that purpose Each and every day. You’ll continue to make a difference in this world.