The Fullness of the Blessing of Christ
“The Fullness of the Blessing of Christ”
(Romans 15:22-29, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 20, 2005)
Introduction: Truth in Support Raising (Chapters 1-15:21)
At the time that Romans was written, the Apostle Paul was intending to continue his work of pioneer preaching and church planting in a new region where Christ was not yet known. This was one of the reasons that he had apparently written this letter, since he planned to have the churches in Rome help him on his way to a new frontier. We have now come to the point in this letter where the Apostle is being more explicit about his plans for the future. There is a sense in which all that has come before this point is Paul’s honest explanation of what he believes the gospel to be, and what some of the more important implications of that gospel are for living the Christian life. He has no interest in tricking people to get them to support him. He wants them to know what he will be preaching in new lands and then to seek their earnest and whole-hearted support.
Another way of looking at the text before us to day is to consider that all that precedes these words reveal a way of thinking that has led to a way of life for the Apostle. That way of life is one of whole-hearted commitment to the plan of God for world evangelization through preaching and church-planting. It is Paul’s complete dedication to this task that explains why he has not yet come to Rome, despite his desire to do so. He had a work to do for God from Jerusalem all the way to the borders of Illyricum. That work is now done. He now sets his sites on the next thing that he believes that the Lord has for him.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 15:22-29 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
(22-24) Spain
Paul wanted to go to Rome and visit the Christians there for many years. He was hindered in doing that because of his obligations in preaching and church planting elsewhere. Now he indicates that there is no more work for him in those regions. How could that be? As a pioneer preacher and church planter, he has left people in various strategic spots in order to see the churches through the point of having their own pastors and elders. We are able to see this through reading I and II Timothy and Titus in particular.
It is clear that his plan is to head west to Spain, which will take him through Rome. The purpose in going to Spain is not novel. It is the same purpose that he had in working in places like Corinth and Ephesus and Galatia. He will preach and he will plant churches.
(25-27) Jerusalem
But before going to Spain via Rome he needs to go to Jerusalem. We read much about how this actually played out in the final chapters of the book of Acts. What we find out there is that Paul was well aware that suffering awaited him in going to Jerusalem. We have that suffering recorded for us in that book, a very difficult ordeal that stretched out over very many months – even years. Despite the fact that Paul knew full well that he was walking into danger, he was completely committed to going to Jerusalem before heading to Spain. Why would he voluntarily subject himself to such trouble? He had a very important purpose that would be a display of the fruit of the work of the gospel through his ministry. He would bring a collection from the largely Gentile churches in modern day Greece and Turkey to the largely Jewish churches in Jerusalem
The Christians in Jerusalem were poor and they needed help. To be sure there were many poor Gentiles in the church as well. Yet we read that the Gentile churches were happy to give. We should pause to consider that something more than a normal human or tribal thing is taking place here. Why would Gentiles help Jews? Is it because of the need of the people? Yes, but there is more. Is it out of a sense of gratitude for the ministry that has come forth from the Jewish churches? I am sure that is part of it, but we should look beyond. Gentiles have opened their purses to bless Jewish Christians because they know that God has made us one in Christ. They know that they have a debt to a Jewish Messiah that can never be repaid. This unusual act of generosity has come about because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(28-29) Rome
As we have said, Paul will go from Jerusalem to Spain via Rome. It will be good to be with them. He will enjoy their company for awhile. He knows that He will bring the fullness of the blessing of Christ with him in his ministry. This is something that Paul wrote of in the earliest chapter of this epistle.
Romans 1:8-15 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
It is this gospel of Christ crucified that is the key to Paul’s confidence. The time they spend with one another will be a powerful blessing to their souls, and then, they will have the privilege of sending him on to Spain.
Again, this fact is worthy of your serious reflection. What do you suppose the average 1st century Roman thought of the Spanish? Remember that subjugated people sent money to Rome. It was not a normal thing for Romans to send their money to Spaniards. Sacrificial care for outsiders can never be assumed.
Again, there is something here that goes beyond tribal communal self-interest. (I’ll help you build your barn, if you’ll help me build mine.) There is something happening here that cannot be repaid. This is what the gospel is all about. It is the way that Jesus lived in winning our salvation. It is also the life that we are called to live. The cross of Christ has not only won for us the bliss of heaven. It has created new and pleasant obligations for those who would call themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
POINT: The Gospel opens Gentile purses to put food on Jewish tables and to send out heralds of the good news to make Spanish disciples.
Application: How we spend the Lord’s money here…
This text has much to do with how Christians spend the Lord’s money. There are at least three options for living in our day. They are, 1) Self-centered individualism, 2) Barn-raising communalism, and 3) An uncommonly pleasant obligation that can never be paid.
Let me show you what I mean by these three options by applying it to the life of a pastor. There are some pastors who seem to have taken on this job as a matter of self-centered individualism. They like doing what they think pastors do. As they considered all the alternatives before them, this seemed like the best one. The pay is pretty good, and they feel good about what they are doing Whatever their particular thoughts may be about the job, it is a job, and a job that they have chosen.
Others view it from a more communal aspect. They love the church and they want to do their part. After all, other people work in various ways to do what they do well. They expect that they will receive support from those working in other callings, and in return they will do their part in fulfilling the duties that they have to the church. This is a step up from self-centered individualism, but it still fairly explainable in the world’s terms. It does not send you into danger in Jerusalem or out to Spain where people may not want to hear what you have to say.
Only under our third method, the gospel-minded way, would the cross of Christ take hold of a man’s life and give him a new pathway that he would see as his cross. The man whom God is really calling to be a pastor will be willing to consider dangerous or difficult duties as obligations that are part of the Lord’s good calling upon his life, knowing that he owes a debt that can never be paid.
Of course this teaching is not just about pastors, but about our church and about every Christian. How do you view the privilege of giving to the Lord’s work? Is it 1) Self-centered individualism, 2) Barn-raising communalism, or 3) An uncommonly pleasant obligation that can never be paid?
What we do here in this church is gospel-driven and cross-motivated joyful sacrifice, or we are not operating in the fullness of the blessing of Christ that Paul writes about in this text.
Let’s look at some of the specifics.
What do you think about a South Korean missionary bringing reformed biblical teaching to Transylvania? Will the people of Cluj ever be able to pay Hong Key back?
How do you feel about a lawyer and his family from Maryland patiently serving as part of a church-planting team in France? Will the people of Marsailles ever be able to pay the Gildards back?
What about all those church planters who go to other places where they may not be wanted? There is no particular indication that the Spanish were begging Paul to come and open up the Word of God to them. Will the people of Northern New England ever be able to pay back the Robinsons, the Domins, the Warrens, and the Accardys?
What do you think of a professor from Mississippi teaching students in Uganda during his golden years? Will anyone be able to pay Palmer Robertson back?
What about people like you who give sacrificially to support this church and the missionaries that we pray for and give to? You obligated to do this because of the gospel. Is it an uncommonly pleasant obligation? Anything less than that is not really Christian.
The gospel debt that we have is so large that mutual self-interest as a model for our lives together is an insult to the work of Christ. In the words of the Wesley hymn, “He left his Father's throne above (so free, so infinite his grace!), humbled himself (so great his love!), and bled for all his chosen race. 'Tis mercy all, immense and free; for, O my God, it found out me. Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
Will we ever be able to pay Jesus back? By God’s Spirit we give with no thought of being paid back. It is all we can do. It is the fullness of the blessing of Christ, and it is delightful to see and to experience.
(Romans 15:22-29, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 20, 2005)
Introduction: Truth in Support Raising (Chapters 1-15:21)
At the time that Romans was written, the Apostle Paul was intending to continue his work of pioneer preaching and church planting in a new region where Christ was not yet known. This was one of the reasons that he had apparently written this letter, since he planned to have the churches in Rome help him on his way to a new frontier. We have now come to the point in this letter where the Apostle is being more explicit about his plans for the future. There is a sense in which all that has come before this point is Paul’s honest explanation of what he believes the gospel to be, and what some of the more important implications of that gospel are for living the Christian life. He has no interest in tricking people to get them to support him. He wants them to know what he will be preaching in new lands and then to seek their earnest and whole-hearted support.
Another way of looking at the text before us to day is to consider that all that precedes these words reveal a way of thinking that has led to a way of life for the Apostle. That way of life is one of whole-hearted commitment to the plan of God for world evangelization through preaching and church-planting. It is Paul’s complete dedication to this task that explains why he has not yet come to Rome, despite his desire to do so. He had a work to do for God from Jerusalem all the way to the borders of Illyricum. That work is now done. He now sets his sites on the next thing that he believes that the Lord has for him.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 15:22-29 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
(22-24) Spain
Paul wanted to go to Rome and visit the Christians there for many years. He was hindered in doing that because of his obligations in preaching and church planting elsewhere. Now he indicates that there is no more work for him in those regions. How could that be? As a pioneer preacher and church planter, he has left people in various strategic spots in order to see the churches through the point of having their own pastors and elders. We are able to see this through reading I and II Timothy and Titus in particular.
It is clear that his plan is to head west to Spain, which will take him through Rome. The purpose in going to Spain is not novel. It is the same purpose that he had in working in places like Corinth and Ephesus and Galatia. He will preach and he will plant churches.
(25-27) Jerusalem
But before going to Spain via Rome he needs to go to Jerusalem. We read much about how this actually played out in the final chapters of the book of Acts. What we find out there is that Paul was well aware that suffering awaited him in going to Jerusalem. We have that suffering recorded for us in that book, a very difficult ordeal that stretched out over very many months – even years. Despite the fact that Paul knew full well that he was walking into danger, he was completely committed to going to Jerusalem before heading to Spain. Why would he voluntarily subject himself to such trouble? He had a very important purpose that would be a display of the fruit of the work of the gospel through his ministry. He would bring a collection from the largely Gentile churches in modern day Greece and Turkey to the largely Jewish churches in Jerusalem
The Christians in Jerusalem were poor and they needed help. To be sure there were many poor Gentiles in the church as well. Yet we read that the Gentile churches were happy to give. We should pause to consider that something more than a normal human or tribal thing is taking place here. Why would Gentiles help Jews? Is it because of the need of the people? Yes, but there is more. Is it out of a sense of gratitude for the ministry that has come forth from the Jewish churches? I am sure that is part of it, but we should look beyond. Gentiles have opened their purses to bless Jewish Christians because they know that God has made us one in Christ. They know that they have a debt to a Jewish Messiah that can never be repaid. This unusual act of generosity has come about because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(28-29) Rome
As we have said, Paul will go from Jerusalem to Spain via Rome. It will be good to be with them. He will enjoy their company for awhile. He knows that He will bring the fullness of the blessing of Christ with him in his ministry. This is something that Paul wrote of in the earliest chapter of this epistle.
Romans 1:8-15 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
It is this gospel of Christ crucified that is the key to Paul’s confidence. The time they spend with one another will be a powerful blessing to their souls, and then, they will have the privilege of sending him on to Spain.
Again, this fact is worthy of your serious reflection. What do you suppose the average 1st century Roman thought of the Spanish? Remember that subjugated people sent money to Rome. It was not a normal thing for Romans to send their money to Spaniards. Sacrificial care for outsiders can never be assumed.
Again, there is something here that goes beyond tribal communal self-interest. (I’ll help you build your barn, if you’ll help me build mine.) There is something happening here that cannot be repaid. This is what the gospel is all about. It is the way that Jesus lived in winning our salvation. It is also the life that we are called to live. The cross of Christ has not only won for us the bliss of heaven. It has created new and pleasant obligations for those who would call themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
POINT: The Gospel opens Gentile purses to put food on Jewish tables and to send out heralds of the good news to make Spanish disciples.
Application: How we spend the Lord’s money here…
This text has much to do with how Christians spend the Lord’s money. There are at least three options for living in our day. They are, 1) Self-centered individualism, 2) Barn-raising communalism, and 3) An uncommonly pleasant obligation that can never be paid.
Let me show you what I mean by these three options by applying it to the life of a pastor. There are some pastors who seem to have taken on this job as a matter of self-centered individualism. They like doing what they think pastors do. As they considered all the alternatives before them, this seemed like the best one. The pay is pretty good, and they feel good about what they are doing Whatever their particular thoughts may be about the job, it is a job, and a job that they have chosen.
Others view it from a more communal aspect. They love the church and they want to do their part. After all, other people work in various ways to do what they do well. They expect that they will receive support from those working in other callings, and in return they will do their part in fulfilling the duties that they have to the church. This is a step up from self-centered individualism, but it still fairly explainable in the world’s terms. It does not send you into danger in Jerusalem or out to Spain where people may not want to hear what you have to say.
Only under our third method, the gospel-minded way, would the cross of Christ take hold of a man’s life and give him a new pathway that he would see as his cross. The man whom God is really calling to be a pastor will be willing to consider dangerous or difficult duties as obligations that are part of the Lord’s good calling upon his life, knowing that he owes a debt that can never be paid.
Of course this teaching is not just about pastors, but about our church and about every Christian. How do you view the privilege of giving to the Lord’s work? Is it 1) Self-centered individualism, 2) Barn-raising communalism, or 3) An uncommonly pleasant obligation that can never be paid?
What we do here in this church is gospel-driven and cross-motivated joyful sacrifice, or we are not operating in the fullness of the blessing of Christ that Paul writes about in this text.
Let’s look at some of the specifics.
What do you think about a South Korean missionary bringing reformed biblical teaching to Transylvania? Will the people of Cluj ever be able to pay Hong Key back?
How do you feel about a lawyer and his family from Maryland patiently serving as part of a church-planting team in France? Will the people of Marsailles ever be able to pay the Gildards back?
What about all those church planters who go to other places where they may not be wanted? There is no particular indication that the Spanish were begging Paul to come and open up the Word of God to them. Will the people of Northern New England ever be able to pay back the Robinsons, the Domins, the Warrens, and the Accardys?
What do you think of a professor from Mississippi teaching students in Uganda during his golden years? Will anyone be able to pay Palmer Robertson back?
What about people like you who give sacrificially to support this church and the missionaries that we pray for and give to? You obligated to do this because of the gospel. Is it an uncommonly pleasant obligation? Anything less than that is not really Christian.
The gospel debt that we have is so large that mutual self-interest as a model for our lives together is an insult to the work of Christ. In the words of the Wesley hymn, “He left his Father's throne above (so free, so infinite his grace!), humbled himself (so great his love!), and bled for all his chosen race. 'Tis mercy all, immense and free; for, O my God, it found out me. Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
Will we ever be able to pay Jesus back? By God’s Spirit we give with no thought of being paid back. It is all we can do. It is the fullness of the blessing of Christ, and it is delightful to see and to experience.
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:30 AM
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