Romans 15:18-21
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A MISSIONARY
Intro: We have already seen from this chapter that Paul
was a soul winner. He had a heart for the lost and did
all he could to reach them for Jesus. In ths passage,
Paul portrays himself as a missionary. There is a sense
in which these words are interchangeable. However,
there is another sense in which they are not. In this
second sense, a soul winner is someone who reaches
out to the lost where he lives, in his community, in his
family, at his place of work. A missionary, on the other
hand, is someone who has been sent by the Lord to
another place or another country to share the Gospel
message.
Now, for a church to be considered a real, New
Testament church, that church must be engaged in the
business of carrying out the Great Commission. This
involves our witnessing where we are and from there,
reaching out into the whole world. We are to have a
program of evangelism where we are, and we are to
have a plan that encompasses the entire world in its
scope. This is the mandate of the Lord Jesus, Acts
1:8.
So, whether we are at home, at work, or on the
foreign field, we are to be soul winner/missionaries all
the time. This was Paul's heart and it is the heart that
should be within each of our bosoms this evening. I
want to take a few minutes to look at this passage and
tell you How To Recognize A Missionary. Paul tells
us the traits by which a genuine New Testament
missionary is recognized. May we all examine our
hearts and see if these traits are true of us as well.
I. V. 18-19a BY A MISSIONARY'S CONFIRMATION
(A missionary is Fruitful!)
A. Confirmed By A Heavenly Walk - Paul says
that his purpose was to "make the Gentiles
obedient." That is, he was preaching a
message that had the power to change those
who accepted it and create within them
obedience to God. This has been somewhat of
a theme of Paul's in Romans. Notice Romans
1:5; 16:26. Both of those verses speak of
"obedience to the faith." This is a term that
refers to the evidence of a changed life. Paul is
saying, "I have proof that my ministry is real.
Everywhere I go, I leave a trail of obedient,
new believers."
You see, the only way to see whether our
labors as Christian missionaries have been
successful is to look at the lives of those we
have introduced to Jesus. It is not enough to get
me to make a confession of faith. Anyone can
do that! What we are looking for is the proof of
a changed life. A life that is wholly given over to
the Lord God. God will confirm His
missionary/soul winners through the people they
lead to Him!
(Note: In case you didn't know it, not everyone
who comes to an altar and makes a profession
of faith gets saved. The acid test is to look
follow up on that person in one year, five years,
ten years, and see where they are living. If what
they got was real, there will be a changed life
and a love for Jesus Christ! When those things
are missing, there is a question about the validity
of their experience!)
B. Confirmed By A Heavenly Work - Paul's next
statement is that what he has been allowed to
witness was a work of God in and around him.
He says that he can take no credit for the souls
saved, the churches founded or the lives
changed. All glory, says Paul, belongs to the
Lord Jesus Christ!
There was no padding of the results with
Paul. There were no attempts to impress men
with the number of people he had won to the
Lord. He knew that he was a mere vessel in the
Master's hand. His duty was to proclaim the
Gospel. Christ's duty was to give the increase
as He saw fit, 1 Cor. 3:6.
(Note: Would to God that churches and church
people would get out of the competition
business! Our job here is not to produce a list of
heads that can be counted to win favor with
men. Our duty is to come to the place where we
understand that nothing of an eternal nature will
ever be done but through th power of the Lord
Jesus Christ, John 15:5! When we get there,
we won't care about numbers! We won't care
about the head count. All we will care about is
that Jesus gets all the glory for everything that
He does through us, to us a for us! Would to
God that we could die to self and not care what
others thought about us and the work in this
church. Would to God that we could learn that
this is His work and His business to take care of!
Real missionaries do not care who gets the
credit. Real missionaries was Jesus to get all
the glory!)
C. Confirmed By Heavenly Wonders - Paul
makes three statements is verses 18 and 19
that must be considered this evening. He tells
us that his ministry was confirmed by:
1. Word and Deed - That is, a life that matched
the message preached! That is essential for
success and is the product of God's faithful
work in a person's life. This is a requirement
for effective ministry, 1 John 3:18; Col. 3:17.
2. Mighty Signs and Wonders - These were
the common, ordinary experience of the early
church, 2 Cor. 2:12; Heb. 2:3-4. When the
early church ministered in the power of the
Holy Ghost, He confirmed His Word with
"signs and wonders." Guess what, that is
missing in our day! But, men need to see
God working in the midst of His people! Our
God is a miracle working God! He is always
doing the great and the unexplainable!
When we preach His Gospel, we should ask
Him to accompany the proclamation of the
truth with miracles and wonders! It will speak
to the hearts of the lost and draw them to
Jesus!
(Note: This past week, W.A. Criswell went to
be with the Lord. He was 92 years old!
When he had pastored First Baptist Church
of Dallas for 34 years, he said that there had
never been a time, up until then, that he had
preached the word from that pulpit and there
had not been souls saved. He claimed that
God had always honored the preaching of
the Gospel with the miraculous salvation of
sinners! Would to God we could say the
same thing!)
3. By The Power Of The Spirit Of God - Paul
tells us that when he preached, his message
was accompanied by the power of God!
Friends, that is what gets the job done! It
isn't our fancy buildings, our programs, our
perfectly crafted messages, it is the power of
God! Only the power of God can convict the
sinner! Only the power of God can transform
the sinner. Only the power of God move in
the churches, communities and hearts of our
world to bring men to Jesus! May we
determine this evening that we have
operated too long in the power of our flesh!
May we determine that we will settle for
nothing less than having God's power on our
lives, our sermons and our services. Would
to God there we a few who were will to sell
out completely to God so that His power
might rest upon them.
II. V. 19 BY A MISSIONARY'S COMMITMENT
(A missionary is Faithful!)
(Note: There are too many quitters in our day and
not enough people that are whole heartedly sold out
to being Christ's missionary to a lost world! By the
way, that's exactly what we are! (Ill. 2 Cor. 5:20!)
A. A Commitment To Christ's Mission - As Paul
carried out the Lord's call upon his life, he took
the commission seriously! He did exactly what
he had been told to do, Acts 1:8. He began
where he was and then carried the Gospel to the
whole world. Ill. Illyricum is in modern day
Yugoslavia. If you trace the journeys of Paul,
you will see that he traveled over 1,500 miles on
foot and by sea. This is a staggering feat,
considering the way men traveled in the First
Century.
This is the biblical pattern for ministry. We
are to begin with our Jerusalem and expand our
outreach in ever expanding circles until the
whole world is encompassed in our hearts, our
prayers, our giving and our burden. My friends,
our field is the whole world!
(Ill. When I first became a Pastor, a deacon told
me that our church field extended from Canal
Bridge to Linville River Bridge. He told me that
people outside that area were for someone else
to reach for Jesus. Well, he was wrong!
Wherever we can find a lost soul, there is our
church field! May we do our best to begin where
we are and reach out until all have a chance to
hear!)
(Note: Sir William MacGregor, a missionary to
Africa was once asked why Islam was spreading
far mor rapidly than Islam in that part of the
world. His response still speaks volumes to day.
He said, "It's just this: every Muslim regards
himself as a missionary; the majority of
Christians think it is another man's work.")
B. A Commitment To Christ's Message - Paul
had a message to preach and he gave his life
doing just that! When a believer has the
precious message of the Gospel and he does
not preach it to a lost and dying world, he is like
the lepers in 2 Kings 7. A Christian who does
not witness is either a counterfeit or a
contradiction! May we be able to leave this live
and echo the words of the great Apostle, "I have
fully preached the Gospel."
May we not fall into the trap so many have
fallen into today. The trap of watering down the
Gospel to make it more appealing to men must
be avoided at all costs! Let us boldly hold before
them the righteous claims of the Lord Jesus and
trust Him to honor His message to the saving of
souls!
(Note: Heaven's missionaries are faithful to some
things! Are we faithful to them this evening? Is
Gilead Baptist "fully preaching" the Gospel at our
Jerusalem and to the whole world? If not, let's
renew our commitment to Him tonight and get about
the business of telling a lost world about a saving
Lord.)
III. V. 20-21 BY A MISSIONARY'S CONCENTRATION
(A missionary is Focused!)
(Note: Often, we think of people going to be
missionaries as people who are doomed to a life of
dullness and deadness. Well, the world thinks the
same things about you and me this evening! Let me
tell you, there is nothing drab or dull about a life
lived full out for the Lord Jesus Christ! Think about
Paul for a minute - 2 Cor. 11:24-28. Paul's ministry
was fresh because he was focused on some things.
He shares them with us in this passage.)
A. Concentrated On New Frontiers - Paul was
interested in going to places where people had
never heard the Gospel. He wanted people to
have the chance to hear the good news. Would
to God that our eyes would open to the fact that
all around us there are people who have never
heard the Gospel message. They need to hear.
You meet people every day that have never
heard a clear, biblical presentation of the
Gospel. May we make it our mission to take the
Word of God to them!
B. Concentrated On New Foundations -
everywhere Paul went, he was in the business of
starting new works for God. He didn't try to build
his church on the work of others. He would go to
a town, preach the Word and start a church.
Later, he would leave that town and go to
another, doing the same thing over and over
again! When he would return to those places
years later, he would find them thriving in the
work of the Lord! In other words, he went there,
won souls, taught them how to win souls and he
moved on.
For us, this reminds us that our business
here is not to build this work on proselytes from
other churches. Now, don't misunderstand me,
I am thankful for every person who has felt led of
the Lord to move to Gilead. I mean, we aren't in
the business of actively seeking to steal sheep,
but I want you to know the gate's open! If they
want to run in, then they are welcome! Our God-given duty, however, is to reach out to a lost
world in the name of Jesus and to actively seek
to bring men to Him. We are to help me to come
to know Him!
C. Concentrated On New Faces - God had burned
his message and lost men into the heart of the
Apostle Paul. The message being Isa. 52:15,
and the men being the lost who had never heard
the life changing Gospel of grace. As a result,
Paul felt compelled to tell men about Jesus. He
felt compelled to reach out and to win men to
God.
May the Lord birth the same determination in
your heart and mine this evening. May we get
beyond our ineffectual prayers and our weak
giving. May we realize that God has called each
us to mission work here in our own Jerusalem
and that He has called some to go to the regions
beyond with the message of life.
Conc: I want to close this message with a challenge. I
challenge every person in this room to search his or her
heart this evening and to answer the following
questions honestly. Are you doing everything in your
power to reach the lost in this, your Jerusalem? Are
you doing everything in your power to help those who
are carrying the true Gospel to the ends of the earth?
Oh, we could all do more! The questions is, will we? Ill.
Through the quiet streets of a fishing village that lay at
the mouth of a turbulent river, a cry rang out, "Boy
overboard!" Quickly a crowd gathered, and anxious
eyes looked out over the rushing water to the figure of
the drowning boy. Each anxious mother's heart was
asking, "Is he my boy?"
A rope was brought, and the strongest swimmer in
the village volunteered to rescue the drowning lad.
Tying one end of the rope to his waist, he threw the
other among the crowd, and plunged in. Eagerly they
watched him breast the tide with strong, sure strokes,
and a cheer went up when he reaching the boy and
grasped him safely in his powerful arms. "Pull in the
rope!" he shouted over the swirling waters.
The villagers looked from one to another "Who is
holding the rope?" they asked. But no one was holding
the rope! In the excitement of watching the rescue, the
end of the rope had slipped into the water. Powerless to
help, they watched two precious lives go down because
no one had made it his business to hold the shore end
of the rope. Must millions be left to perish because
there is no one to hold the shore end of the rope?
