Please stand with me to Romans 15, Romans 15. And we'll commence reading from the 14th verse. And the sermon this evening is entitled, Healthy Churches Still Need Preachers. Healthy Churches Still Need Preachers. It will soon be abundantly evident as to why the title sounds like that. Among many reasons, it is to preserve my job in the context of KBC. Romans 15, and we'll commence reading from the 14th verse. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers. that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given me by God. To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We'll pause there in our reading and allow the rest of this section to be handled the next time that we are here. Now last week, we entered into the section that I have just read to you, and it's one that in many ways comprises the concluding remarks of the Apostle Paul. And as I said last week, you will notice how he now begins to speak in the first person a lot more than he has done prior to this. Already he has said, I myself am satisfied. He now says, I have written to you very boldly. And he speaks about the grace given to me and on and on and on he goes, referring quite a bit to himself. We mentioned last time that we mustn't, in our minds, psychologically begin to shut down, because this is also part of Scripture. So we need to take it as important to us as even the preceding. The only difference is that what this section does for us is to take us behind the curtains. It gives us a view of the way church life was happening so that in a way we can begin to understand from the engine room why the outside looks the way it does. That's what it does. And because we are the church of Jesus Christ, it is important for us to peep inside the engine room. After all, the engine is for the church, and it helps us to understand the way in which the church functions. So the first thing that we noted last time was the the way in which a healthy or a mature church looks. And we pulled out three characteristics from verse 14. We saw that it is a church that is full of goodness, A church that is filled with all knowledge and a church in which the members are mature enough to instruct one another. That's what we saw and we asked ourselves the question, are we a healthy church? Are we a mature church? Well, today we go on to look at the next two verses in which the Apostle Paul is saying to the brethren that although he is very satisfied with their maturity and health, he still participated in boldly instructing them in some areas. And what we are seeing from there is the necessity of the ongoing ministry of true gospel preacher. The necessity of this ongoing ministry of true gospel preacher. Because here is a church that was fairly well established. It was, as we saw last week, healthy and mature, and yet the Apostle Paul still sees that there is a role that he needs to play in order for this church to continue growing as Christ would have it to grow. And this is a matter that we as a church should always be praying for. praying that more and more churches may have the inestimable privilege of having individuals that are called to the preaching ministry. That, in fact, we too should have such an abundance of individuals like that, that we would be able to send them out in order to see them planting churches for the glory of God. So we see something of this from what the Apostle Paul speaks about in this text in Romans 15, verse 15 and verse 16. The first lesson that we easily see there from this text is what I've already said, that healthy churches need some issues to be boldly pointed out, boldly pointed out, so that there might be serious change, even when they are healthy and mature churches. We see the apostle Paul referring to this in verse 15 and the first part, when he says, but on some point, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder. The emphasis there really being on some points and also boldly. What are some of those points that the Apostle Paul will be referring to? Well, it's often areas in which culturally we have blind spots. And for the early church, it had to do with Jews and Gentiles. Jews and Gentiles. The Jews had grown up and lived for years with a certain cultural context. And it was important that that life is appropriately challenged. On the other hand, it had to do with the Gentile. They also had their own background, and it was important that individuals coming from that background also got challenged afresh by God's Word. Let's quickly go to see a few of these examples. We won't take too much time, but it's important for us to just peep there. First of all, in Romans chapter 2, Now, if you're familiar with the Book of Romans, you will know that the first part, rather the last part of Romans 1, the Apostle Paul had been really challenging the Gentile world with respect to its need for the gospel, that it was lost in idolatry and lost in the lowest levels of moral living. Complete confusion. And then he sort of imagines the Jewish listeners saying, preach it, brother. Tell them, they need to hear this. And consequently, chapter two, the apostle Paul comes round to the Jews as well, and he points some things out, and he does so quite courageously. I'll just read the first part, and then we'll skip to verse 17. He says, therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you the judge practice the same things. And then verse 17, he takes them on. Listen to this. But if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law, and boast in God, and know His will, and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law, and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor to the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you then, who teach others, Do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, dishonor God by breaking the law. For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. You can almost feel the tension in the air as the Apostle Paul takes on the Jews in that way. It is a tension that can be cut with a knife. What about the Jews, rather the Gentiles, who were part of this congregation? Turn with me to chapter 11. and verse 13 downwards. Now, I won't read the whole of it because we don't have time, but just allow me to point out just a few portions there. Listen to him, verse 13. Now, I'm speaking to you Gentiles. Very clear, he's pulling out one category of the congregation. In as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry. in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them." And then he enters into quite a tight argument. We've already gone through this a few years back. But notice what he goes on to say in verse 19. Then you will say, branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Now the argument there that has been developing is that God deliberately hardened the Jews so that the Gentiles would have the opportunity to come into the Christian church. but the Apostle Paul was deliberately laboring in such a way as to make the Jews jealous and consequently come and embrace their faith, which is really the faith of the Messiah. Now, he is assuming that the Gentiles there are having a sense of pride that, look, these guys were cut off so that people like me can actually come in. That's really being special, that someone has been kicked off the table fist so that I can sit there and enjoy the feast. The Apostle Paul grants it in verse 20. He says, that is true. Then he says, they were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand first through faith, so do not become proud, but fear, for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Again, there is a very bold and courageous statement that is being made facing the Gentiles who were in the context of the Christian church and saying to them, this is no reason to be proud. Rather, it is a reason to tremble because of what God can do. Well, one more, and this one is in chapter 14, because remember, that's where he was now dealing with Jews and Gentiles together, and trying to get them to be in one church. That this is not a church of the Jews where the Gentiles are visiting. This is not the church of the Gentiles where the Jews have been welcomed. It is for both. And again, he deals with this matter with a lot of firmness, a lot of courage. audaciousness. Look at the way he begins. And for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him." And listen to this, who are you? to pass judgment on one who hates, for God has welcomed brother. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. Who are you to challenge this? Who are you? In fact, later on, he asks the question in verse 10, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat. So it's fairly clear that the Apostle Paul went in, as it were, with a lot of courage in some of those points because they were threatening the health of the church and they needed to be dealt with so that the church can go on into true maturity. Now, you'll notice he says there that, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder. In other words, it's not as though they lacked knowledge about these things. No, no, no. But rather, it was what is called practical forgetfulness. Practical forgetfulness. It's like, for those of us who are African, we know that we ought to keep time. Nobody can say among us that we don't know. Yeah. But you also know that in reality, we easily forget. In practice, we forget. And consequently, late coming is now called African time. Okay, so it's this practical forgetfulness that necessitates this challenge because it's a cultural scene, so to speak. It's the very air that we breathe. And therefore there is the need for that ministry that spends time in the word, and as it spends time in the word, something of its cultural atmosphere becomes foreign, and then it is challenged that that needs to change. Or, it is also not so much a lack of knowledge, but a failure to apply what we are learning. A failure to apply. So here is the point that, you know, Jew and Gentile, this is our church together, but when the rabbi hits the road, suddenly we begin saying, no, no, no, we can't have that, and we can't have that. Failing to see that, in fact, it's not your church. It's your church together. So you can't make your comfort, your qualms, to be what the church should live by. It is yours together. This need continues all the time in any age. We need every so often to have the kind of ministry that is not at the mercy of the cultural context in which we are. The kind of ministry that comes in with courage and boldness. The kind of ministry which is not just a teaching ministry, but it's a preaching ministry. It is one that is valiant, that is daring that is brave and cuts into our cultural context. But let's quickly hurry on because we are learning from this text also that what makes men to live and die for this is their ministerial calling, their ministerial calling. The Apostle Paul attributes his own courage to this. Look at the way he puts it, and he reminds the Romans about it. He says there, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder. Then he says, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. in the priestly service of the gospel of God. Now, I know that's a lot of words, but don't worry, we'll try and break it down that we might understand what he is referring to here. First of all, he is saying that it is because of the grace that has been given to him. What is this grace? Now, we often understand grace in two ways. The most common one is simply that someone is treating us in the exact opposite of what we deserve, and we say, that person is really gracious. Okay, so if you offended him, and instead of him hitting you back, he instead blesses you with a powerful birthday party, you say, wow, what a gracious person this is. And in that way, the Bible uses grace quite a number of times. We are saved by grace in that sense. But another way in which we understand grace is in terms of an actual power. a power that enables us to do what others cannot do. That again is understood as the grace of God. And so, for instance, in chapter 1 and verse 5, the Apostle Paul refers to this grace as that which has enabled him and others to be apostles. Chapter one and verse five. Let me try and begin some, it's a fairly long sentence, so let's begin just before, let's just go straight to verse five. It says, through whom, that is Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship, and notice what it enables us to do. to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. And when you hear that phrase, the nations, it means the Gentiles. So it's essentially what he is referring to even in this text. Or as it says in chapter 12 and verse 3, chapter 12 and verse 3, He says there, for by the grace given me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought. Again, by the enablement that I have been given by God himself, I am now making this courageous demand upon your lives, that you ought to be humble. You ought to be humble. Now, this grace, if we can go back to our text, the Apostle Paul is saying it's a grace that had been given to him. The tense that is used in this verse is not too obvious in the English, but it is pretty obvious in the Greek, is the aorist tense. It speaks about something that happened at a certain point and is over. And that's the tense that Paul uses when he says, this grace that was given me by God. He's referring to the time of his calling, when the Lord called him to be an apostle. And more specifically, his calling was to be an apostle to the Gentiles. It was a very clear calling. And consequently, because he knows that it's God who has called him to this, he can go into the Gentile world and put the kind of demands that he was putting upon them. We already noticed in chapter 11 and verse 13 when he said, Now I am speaking to you, Gentiles, inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentile. It was a very clear call that he had by the grace of God. We also see the same in Galatians chapter 2. You can quickly turn there. Galatians 2 and verse 9. Notice what it says there. And when James and Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars, in other words, they were the reputable leaders of the New Testament church when it was still in its napkins, okay, in Jerusalem. Listen to this. When they perceived the grace that was given to me, they perceived, they saw there was something different about this person. as he testified before them concerning this call that was upon his life. And he shared with them the testimonies of what had already begun to happen in him in terms of his own ministry. All this has been talked about earlier before we get to this verse. They saw there is the hand of God upon this individual. What did they do? They gave him the right hand of fellowship, both him and Barnabas, and this is what they said, that we should go to the Gentile, and they would go to the circumcised. In other words, they recognized that there was a hand of God upon Paul and Barnabas that was specifically for the Gentile world. So this is what Paul has in mind when he is saying that the grace given me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentile. To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentile. God's enabling upon my life. God holding my life in a way that I cannot, as it were, overlook, that this is what God wants me to do, this is what God wants me to be. Now, the Apostle Paul adds an extra phrase. And he says, in the priestly service of the gospel of God, in the priestly service of the gospel of God, what does he mean? Well, it's quite simple, and I will show you in a moment. All he means is this, that you see, in the Old Testament, the preaching ministry did not actually have an office within the nation of Israel itself. What I mean by that, for instance, is if you wanted to go and see a king, where would you go? Well, you'd go to the palace. It was a very clear place. It was there. You knew where to find a king. And when one king was replaced with another, what happened? Well, the king left the palace, a new king moved in. It was very clear. It was part of the institution of Israel. Well, what about priests? Same thing. They had a temple. That's where you found them. You found the high priest, you found the other priests, you found the Levites. They were working there. And when one high priest was replaced with another, you knew exactly where to find him. It was in that same place. Both of them were remunerated by the nation itself. The king got tributes from everybody, and the priests got tithes from everybody. What about the prophets? Where did you go to find the prophets? Where were their offices? Zero. died and another one showed up, was it the same office? Did you go to the same place? No. They were not part of that institution as such. Similarly, how were they supported? Were they getting tributes? Were they getting tax? No. Nothing. They were not part of the institution. But when you go into the New Testament, Those that are called to the preaching ministry are not outside the church. They are within. and they play that priestly role that was being played by the priests who were functioning within the temple. In other words, now you cannot only say, I know where to find them, you also know exactly the way that they are being supported. They're supported by the church. Now let me quickly show you that from 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. I begin reading from verse 13. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple? And those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? The answer is obviously yes, we know. The priests were supported through the temple itself. Listen to verse 14. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. in exactly the same way. So the New Testament preachers of the gospel are not outside the context the way in which the Old Testament prophets were. In fact, they fulfill the priestly service in the sense that they are supported, recognized, first of all, by the church and supported as such. And that's the reason why the Apostle Paul is able to command Timothy and say, those elders who labor in the Word especially must receive double. Those who labor in the world especially must receive double honor. You sin when you don't do it because it's commanded by the Lord. They are fulfilling a priestly function. Now, before we open it up further, just a quick point. There are some churches that wrongly believe that God no longer calls. men to be either missionaries or pastors. As far as they're concerned, that's gone from the beginning of the early church, and now there's no such a thing. Thankfully, at Baptist, we've been fairly consistent. If there's an area we have failed, it has been when we have removed the position of elders and we just have a pastor and deacons. which is one extreme that Baptists have gone to. Another is where the elders are there, but the pastor is above the elders. Again, that's happened in church history, but largely speaking, it's been rectified. It's been understood that those who have such a call are within the eldership. And that's seen from apostles themselves. You will remember that the apostle Peter would say that I'm speaking to you as a fellow elder, not as above the elders, but as one of you. And we also easily see it from Acts 15, when Paul and Barnabas went back to Corinth to settle the doctrinal issue. It says over and over again that they went to meet with the apostles and elders, the apostles and elders, and there was no sign that the apostles were functioning on top and the elders were functioning at the bottom. They functioned together. And so, clearly, our task, brethren, must never be one of arguing. with church denominations that don't recognize this. Rather, it is for us to pray. We ought to pray that God will give this grace that the Apostle Paul is referring to here in his own experience, the grace that enabled somebody to be a minister of Christ Jesus to a particular place, a particular people, in the priestly service of the gospel of God, we ought to be praying that God will give us more and more such men. Those who genuinely know this calling, who are willing not only to live but even to die for the sake of the gospel as they preach it and as they see the Christian church born, matured, growing, multiply, and so on. We ought to be praying and praying and praying that God will give us such men. Well, the Apostle Paul doesn't end there. He goes on to speak about these true preachers as those who seek one thing. the sanctification of God's people, God's elect. Back to our text, back to our text. because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that, and here's the point, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul there is describing his priestly goal. Remember, the grace of God that had been given to him, which had even been noticed by the other apostles, was that he had a calling to establish the Christian church among the Gentiles. It was very clear. But it was not enough. For Paul, it was that he would see the Gentiles consecrated to God. The Gentiles being genuinely holy transformed lives that would be pleasing to God. And that's the reason why in chapter 12, he puts it this way in verse 1. Having opened up the gospel, having said in chapter 11 that I'm speaking to you Gentiles because I'm an apostle to the Gentiles, he comes and says in chapter 12 and verse 1, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. He could say that because that was his goal. Not that they simply become fat tadpoles, by that I mean all head and no body, therefore they know sound doctrine, but they live like the devil himself. No! He wanted that knowledge to so transform their lives individually, so transform their lives collectively, that their lives and their worship would be accepted by God. That was his goal. And remember, that was what the apostleship was all about. Back to chapter one and verse five, through whom, that is Jesus Christ, we have received grace and apostleship, listen to this, to bring about the obedience of faith, there it is, the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name among the nations. Now there's no doubt that this is the fruit of the Spirit of God because it's him who called. And one of the ways in which you know that somebody has been called by God is that the Spirit of God is evidently upon his life. You can see the fruit from the teaching and preaching that is taking place there. that God really has called this individual. So there is the aspect, no doubt, of the Spirit of God at work. But there's another aspect, and that's the one I want to emphasize in my message. And it is this aspect of hard work. Hard work. You see, when somebody has a goal, And the goal is not simply the monthly salary. The goal is individuals transformed, church transformed, church multiplied, or whatever else it might be. You can't miss it from the hard work. To the Colossians chapter 1, verse 29. And I must hurry on after that, time is not with me. Colossians chapter 1, verse 28 and 29. The Bible says this, Him we proclaim. warning everyone and teaching everyone. We represent everyone much in Christ. There it is again. Okay, this sacrifice that's acceptable to God. And then he says, for this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. So he is working it in me by grace, by his spirit, but the result of it is that I'm toiling, I'm working hard, I'm laboring in order to achieve this goal. Why am I emphasizing this? It's because we have too many men who want to be called ministers and pastors. who claim that they have such a call. But you can't see the hard work. They seem to be on some kind of paid holiday, especially when they're missionaries, because they know they are far away from the individuals that would be saying to them, what are you still doing in your pajamas in the middle of the morning? And so as a result, the goal is not being achieved. And it doesn't bother them at all that the goal is not being achieved as long as the salary is coming in, the salary is coming in, the salary is coming in. And I'm saying a thousand times no to that. That's not the grace of God that's being spoken about here. It is a grace that empowers, a grace that enables, a grace that keeps an engine going because a goal has to be achieved. And we're losing out on that. We've got too many people that cannot go to school, failed long ago, they cannot get a job, they've tried one or the other, failed. or they've been fired, just laid off, we fall wrong, I've got a calling. I've got a calling, send me. I've got a calling. And when you trust and you send them, it's excuse after excuse after excuse. And this year with COVID-19, it's a powerful excuse. Brethren, that's not what was happening here. Paul was saying, there's a lot I have to commend you for, but in those few areas where I'm still seeing some cracks, I've moved in because change must happen to the glory of God. I'm going to preach it so that you may genuinely change. Well, brethren, that's what I'm saying. Even healthy churches need preaching. We still need that kind of clarion call, that voice in the pulpit that never leaves us comfortable, that voice that still says there are higher heights that we still need to reach, and we must keep going and keep going for the glory of God. That's the reason why this is still necessary. So, even when a church has been established, And the missionary is saying, well, my calling is really to church planting. Therefore, I must move on. The church that remains should not say, well, look, since we have enough elders around, let's just continue. No, no, no. You must still say, we need somebody who can occupy this pulpit. and preach, and preach, and preach to His dying day. We need somebody upon whom we can say there is the grace of God unmistakably. And we must be praying for that, praying for that. I've already said, it's in my conclusion, but I've already said it, that sadly, we have too many men, and unfortunately, even women now. in this pastoral space who should not be there. Who should not be there. And I want to repeat, when God calls you, the hand of God upon your ministry should be unmistakable. The dust around you must be unmistakable because you are not willing to compromise for anything other than that there must be a holiness here that glorifies God. Where are we hearing testimonies today? lives that are being transformed through the preaching of the word. Where? Where? Of individuals getting converted as the word is proclaimed. of individuals breaking away from sin, their lives being molded into responsible husbands, responsible wives, responsible children, responsible workers wherever they are, and it's bringing glory to God. Way! May God help us. because we need true gospel preachers. We still do. Let's pray to the Lord of the Harvest that he will send forth such liberation until we too can say, how lovely on the mountain are the feet of him who bring good news. Let's pray. Eternal And gracious God in heaven, thank you that you have not left us without that grace that calls men out of their jobs in order for them to spend and be spent. in proclaiming your word. And thank you that when you call, the fruit is evident. It's evident. Lord, we pray as a church, raise such men among us. men with a real sense of call, men who know where you are sending them, men who labor with every ounce of energy in them to raise churches that will bring joy to your heart. Oh God, we plead call such men. May we rejoice in seeing them in tens and hundreds going out to proclaim, Your God reigns. For Jesus' sake, we pray.