Introduction

Before we get to our text, consider Jesus’ last words to his disciples and the church before his ascension. “‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’ And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:8–9). The last command Jesus gave was take the gospel “to the remotest part of the earth.”

For 2,000 years the church has been pursuing this mission. Praise the Lord that we have made incredible progress. But there is a stunning amount of work still to be done. There are roughly 8 billion people in the world, and the Joshua Project estimates that 3.4 billion (42%) of the world’s live among unreached peoples.

To be clear, they aren’t saying 42% of the world is unsaved. That percentage is much higher. No, they are saying that 42% of the world has no indigenous gospel witness. Sure, they can get on the internet and find the gospel, but 42% of the world’s population lacks any sort of self-sustaining, healthy church that can reach its own people for Christ.

This map visualizes this tragedy and the work we must do. Don’t miss the positive. There’s a lot of green on there, and it has almost all come about in the last 400 years and especially the last 200. But look at that massive swaths of our planet that are red or yellow. We have a lot of work to do to fulfill Jesus last command. Therefore, we all must be challenged by Paul’s ambition in today’s text (read vv. 14–21).

Remember that v. 14 begins the conclusion to Romans. Paul is explaining why he wrote such a bold letter to a church he didn’t plant and had never visited. He didn’t want them to think he was just a crazy guy with strong opinions. Rather, vv. 15–16 say Paul wrote boldly because God uniquely commissioned him to establish the Gentile church.

In today’s text, Paul adds that establishing the Gentile church demanded that he go to new places where people had never heard of Christ. And God has called us to pick up the torch, to continue the mission of Acts 1:8. We must reach our Jerusalem, and we must take the gospel go to the ends of the earth. So, I hope you will leave today committed to reach your Jerusalem and the ends of the earth. Don’t let the stuff of life distract you from this most important work. We must advance the gospel. If we are going to do that effectively, we must imitate Paul’s…

I.  Our Method of Ministry (vv. 18–19)

These verses offer a helpful window into Paul’s philosophy of ministry. When Paul showed up in a new city, what did he do and what was his goal? If we want to make a gospel impact, we must embrace 4 principles of Paul’s philosophy of ministry. First…

We minister the Word in the power of the Spirit (vv. 18b–19a). Imagine Paul walking into Philippi for the first time. There are no Christians in town. There’s no local church. No one even knows the name of Jesus. How did Paul even get started?

Paul ministered “by word and deed.” He simply began preaching the gospel and living the gospel. He preached in public spaces like Jewish synagogues and marketplaces. He talked to be people about Christ. And he adorned the gospel with a godly life and genuine love. It’s not complicated. Paul just preached the gospel and lived the gospel.

Sure, God empowered him to do special “signs and wonders.” God did that because Paul didn’t have the New Testament, and Paul couldn’t lean on 2,000 years of church history to make the gospel credible. So, God confirmed Paul’s message with miracles. So, Paul is not saying we should expect the same miracles. We have the NT and 2,000 years of church history. We don’t need miracles to confirm the gospel.

But we do need the next item. Paul ministered “in the power of the Spirit.” That’s far more important than any miracle. A miracle can impress the mind, but it can’t give spiritual life to the spiritually dead. We need the Spirit to transform hearts.

And he does this through simply preaching the gospel. Paul told the Corinthians, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor 1:18; 2:1–2). God saves people through preaching the cross in the power of the Spirit.

So, don’t make evangelism more complicated than it is. Walk in the power of the Spirit. Live a godly life. Then boldly share the gospel. Tell people what Christ did, how he saved you, and how he will save them. You don’t need gimmicks or a slick sales pitch. Just preach the cross and trust the Spirit. It worked for Paul, it’s worked for 2,000 years, and it still works today. Find someone this week and tell them what Christ has done. The 2^nd principle is…

We boast in Christ alone. Remember that Paul is defending his authority as an apostle. The church needed to know that Romans is God’s authoritative Word. So, Paul had to “boast” (v. 17) about his credentials.

But v. 18 quickly qualifies that by saying that the real hero in Paul’s ministry was not Paul; it was Christ (v. 18a). Christ was saving the lost, Christ was transforming lives, and Christ was building his church. All the glory was for Christ, not Paul.

What about you? When people look at your life and your ministry, are they impressed by you or by Jesus? Do you live to display your glory or the glory of God’s grace? I hope you are determined like John the Baptist who said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Live in such a way that your life is a trophy to the grace of God, not to yourself.

And help us be that kind of church. When people visit us, we don’t want them to leave thinking, “Wow, those people are so cool and so talented. Look at their awesome programs and incredible creativity.” No, we want them to leave thinking, “Something is different about those people. There’s a power at work in that church that I can’t explain.” We want them to see Christ. So, talk of God’s grace. Show them Christ, not yourself. The 3^rd principle is…

We call people to genuine discipleship. Notice the goal of Paul’s ministry in v. 18. He labored for “the obedience of the Gentiles.” Similarly, Paul said in 1:5, “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.”

That’s fascinating because we Americans love statistics. We love stats about new conversions, baptisms, and attendance. Obviously, conversions and baptisms are vital to our mission. But they are only the first steps toward a far greater purpose. God is not looking for stats; he’s looking for worshippers who honor him in all of life.

That means that obedience is God’s will for your life. It must begin with obedience to the gospel. The Bible teaches that you don’t begin a relationship with by turning over a new leaf or making yourself acceptable. No, it begins by admitting that you have sinned against your Creator and Lord and that you need his grace to save you. You need new life. You need the saving grace Jesus provided on the cross.

So, the first act of obedience is not to go to church or get baptized; it is to put your faith wholly in Jesus for your salvation, to receive him as your Lord and Savior. If you’ve never done that, please receive him today.

But God’s will for you has only begun when you get saved. He wants to transform your entire life. So, obey him, and grow your obedience. By the grace of God, grow into a mature disciple who displays Jesus and who can lead others to Jesus. This is God’s will for your life.

And I especially want to emphasize that bringing about this obedience is the goal of our ministry. God hasn’t merely called us to make converts; he has called us to grow mature disciples who love Jesus and reflect Jesus in all of life. He has called us to make worshippers of Christ.

Remember that as you serve. Your goal in discipleship, at your Awana table, in your class, and at your dinner table is to minister in the power of the Spirit for the purpose of seeing people grow into lovers of God and obedient disciples. Call people to love Christ and to glory in his grace. Challenge them to maturity and to full obedience.

I hope you are excited about the work of discipleship. Helping people see the glory of Jesus and walk in his grace is the best gift you can ever give. Show them Christ! The 4^th principle is…

We establish gospel-preaching churches. Paul makes a very important and impressive statement in v. 19b. (Map) You probably know where Jerusalem is, but where is Illyricum. It was a Roman province to the north and west of Macedonia, in the area that this map calls Dalmatia. It’s roughly 1400 miles from Jerusalem to Illyricum. It’s a massive area. Yet Paul claims that in around 25 years he has “fully preached the gospel” in this massive area. That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

Paul can’t possibly mean that he had literally shared the gospel with every person in that region. And he certainly can’t mean that everyone in that region was saved. That’s obvious in his letters to the churches.

Rather, Paul means that he has fulfilled his God-given mission. But what was that mission? Verse 20 says his mission was “to preach the gospel…where Christ was (not) already named.” And we can add, based on v. 18, with the goal of bringing about “the obedience of the Gentiles.”

So, we can surmise based on this text and others that Paul’s goal was not merely to see as many people saved as possible. No, he visited strategic cities in areas with no gospel witness. He preached the gospel. He won people to Christ. He discipled them into maturity, he trained leaders, and he organized them into local churches. He established gospel lights. Then he entrusted them with the task of reproducing themselves in their regions.

We know this in Asia Minor. Paul started a church in Ephesus. Then he spent 3 years training leaders and maturing the church. Before long, they sent church planters to Laodicea and Colossae.

That example is important because we call a lot of things missions that have little to do with planting and establishing churches. Churches spend oodles of money putting up mosquito nets, building houses, and giving out food.

They may give out some tracts and preach the gospel, but there’s no plan to build a self-sustaining local church that can impact the community. Yes, everything that happened is good, but it’s not missions in the NT sense. It’s not prioritizing self-sustaining indigenous churches in every part of the earth. It’s not leaving behind a gospel light that will make a lasting impact.

So, when we think of world missions, we must stay focused on starting and establishing indigenous churches. Praise the Lord that we can partner with the Tilsons and the Roberts as they establish new churches in places with little gospel impact. And I’m so thankful for how the Vintons are helping immature churches reach a place where they can effectively impact their own people. These are invaluable works.

Looking to the future, we want to stay focused on church planting and church health. That’s not to say the world doesn’t need mosquito nets and safe housing, but the greatest need is local churches who can maintain a long-term gospel impact. We need churches throughout all the earth.

And I’ll add that healthy local churches are the greatest hope and the greatest for our region of the world. Yes, SoCal has many needs, but it needs healthy churches above all else. We support 3 families who serve at Ironwood, and I appreciate their focus on supporting churches, not just having a big ministry. Afterall, healthy churches are the best way to impact a community.

And looking to the future, God has placed Life Point in a very strategic spot to build healthy churches throughout a very needy part of the country. We should pray that God would raise up pastors from us who can take struggling churches to health or who can start new ones. As the Lord provides, we’re not looking to build the Hagia Sophia. We have modest building plans because the goal is to reach our town and reach our region for Christ, not to make something that glorifies us or makes us comfortable. We must stay razor-focused on the Great Commission.

So, vv. 18–19 describe 4 massively important principles in Paul’s philosophy of ministry. Parents and disciple makers, stick to God’s plan. Preach the Word in the power of the Spirit, keep all the focus on Christ and the gospel, and don’t stop when someone gets saved. Grow mature disciples. And as a church, let’s stay focused on the only hope for this world, healthy churches reproducing healthy churches. That’s Paul’s method of ministry. Then, vv. 20–21 describe…

II.  Our Passion for Ministry (vv. 20–21):

Notice that we must specifically be passionate about the fact that…

We want to go new places (v. 20). A few weeks ago, we had a missionary couple here who are planning to take the gospel to Morocco. I was very impressed with them. They were thoughtful, passionate, and mature. I’m confident that they will share the gospel.

But they are taking on a hard work. They may not see a lot of fruit. So, are they wasting their gifts on a hard field? Shouldn’t they go to Sub-Saharan Africa where they would probably see more fruit? They could, but Jesus told us to take the gospel everywhere. He demands worshippers and gospel lights in every corner of the earth.

You see this passion so clearly in Paul. It would be far more comfortable for Paul to lay down roots in Ephesus, but he was compelled by the reality that Christ is not named in many places. Christ is receiving no worship, and people have no hope of hearing and responding to the gospel.

It’s tragic, and that tragedy compelled Paul (vv. 23–24). Paul had done a lot, but he was not content. He was ready to pioneer a new field. Doug Moo says, “Like the early American pioneers who pulled up stakes anytime they could see smoke from another person’s cabin, Paul felt ‘crowded’ by too many Christians.” He had to keep moving.

To be clear, he’s not diminishing the importance of building out healthy churches. Paul stayed in strategic places for longer periods, and he revisited many of his church plants several times. Maturity matters.

But our hearts should yearn for places with no gospel witness. Take a look again at this map. It should bother you that Jesus receives little if any worship in massive swaths of his creation. Your heart should break for people who have little practical hope of believing the gospel.

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 67. May this be your prayer (read). We want all the peoples to praise and fear the Lord. It’s not just for God’s glory. There is gladness and joy in knowing him. So, we want God to bless us, not for our benefit but that “all the ends of the earth may fear Him.” I hope that fires you up. I hope you want your neighbors and this town to be glad in the Lord, and I hope you want it for all the world. And I especially hope…

We believe God will work (v. 21). This is a quotation from Isaiah 52:15. Paul’s primary point is that his passion for pioneer missions was God’s passion also. God prophesied that someday God’s fame would spread to the ends of the earth. People everywhere will believe and the nations will be glad and sing for joy.

So, don’t think of pioneer missionaries as quacks who are throwing away their lives. And don’t let yourself even begin to imagine what we could do locally with our missions’ budget. World missions is God’s passion, and it must be ours also.

And we must believe that it will be successful. We have much proof that it will (map). Consider again how far the gospel has gone in the past 400 years, many times against incredible odds. Sure, the road will not be easy or fast in a place like Morocco. But God will build his church. The gates of hell will not prevail. You can be sure. So, I’d like to close with 5 quick applications.

III.  Application

Receive Christ as your Savior. You will never know true gladness and joy until you know that Christ has forgiven all your sin, that you belong to God, and that you are headed to heaven. The gospel is the best news in all the world. It’s the greatest need for all the world. And eternal life is dangling before you now. Please believe the gospel.

Share the gospel. We are surrounded by people who must know who Jesus is, and what he has done. Christian, you have the remedy for man’s greatest need in an unlimited supply. Are you selfishly hiding it under a basket, or this week will you put the gospel on the lampstand for all to see? Determine by the grace of God to share the gospel this week. Identify someone you will pursue.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest. “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matt 9:36–38).

I hope you feel Jesus’ compassion for the nations, but you aren’t sure what you can do. You can’t go, and you don’t have much to give. You can pray. Pray that God will raise up laborers. Pray for those who have gone. Pray for a mighty harvest. God will hear your prayers.

Consider going for the gospel. I realize that going is not possible for most in this room, but it may be possible for some. Don’t dismiss that possibility too quickly. If God is stirring your heart for the nations, talk with me because I’d love to help you evaluate what God might be doing.

Give to gospel work. Our missions giving has really dropped the last couple years. Maybe that’s because people are just giving it to the general fund. I don’t know. I’m thankful for the generosity of many in our church.

But maybe you should be doing more for the advance of the gospel. Maybe the Spirit is challenging you to squeeze your budget in a couple places for the sake of the nations. I’d love to see us grow our missions’ commitments as the Lord provides. Consider what God may want you to do.