Revelation 1:1

¹  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John

PAUL’S MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES
ROMANS 15:14-21

Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. ¹⁵Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, ¹⁶that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. ¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— ¹⁹in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, ²¹but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.”

Vs.14Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Paul is beginning to explain some things he had written, he greets them as his brothers, and gives a final doxology. At the beginning of his epistle he was writing to all the beloved of God, called to be saints; he thanked God for them and wrote your faith is spoken of throughout the entire world. Now he writes, I myself am confident (plerophoreo)fully persuaded; concerning you, now fellowship is expressed by calling them my brethren. You are also full of goodness, (agthos)describes the moral quality which is being good in character or constitution and is beneficial in its effect to help those who are weak in the faith; filled with all knowledge (ginosko) to come to know, recognize, understand completely the Christian faith; able also to admonish (noutheto)to put in mind, to admonish  one another. The believers in the Roman church were able to admonish one another in love.

Vs. 15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, After the commendation in the previous verse, he is careful to set forth the true purpose of his writing; I have written more boldly to you on some points, or somewhat more boldly, he wanted those in Rome to evaluate the degree of boldness he had exercised. He was reminding you (them), because of the grace given to me by God. It was only because of the grace God had given Paul that he was able to write as he had as he pursues the divine commission and exercises his ministry.

Vs. 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Paul is spelling out clearly, that I might be a minister (leitourgus) Paul’s evangelical ministry, fulfilling it as a serving priest, of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. When the apostle calls himself a minister of Jesus Christ, he is using a term which in its various forms is in many places in the New Testament charged with the sacredness belonging to worship. ministering the gospel of God, Paul is using a word (ministering) occurring nowhere else in the New Testament which may be properly rendered acting as a priest. So, the ministry of the gospel is conceived of after the pattern of a priestly offering. It is not to be supposed that the gospel itself is regarded as the offering. The offering is set forth in the next clause of this verse. The dignity belonging to the office of preaching the gospel is underlined and the kind of priestly action performed in the exercise of the apostolic office is thus shown to be of an entirely different character from that of the Levitical priesthood and also from that of Christ Himself. The offering of the Gentiles is the offering which Paul as an apostle of the Gentiles offers to God in the exercise of priestly activity. The Gentiles as converted to the faith of the gospel are regarded as presented holy unto God. Continuing with the priestly activity the apostle adds might be acceptable. Now for an offering to be acceptable to God it must conform to the conditions of purity. So, in our case here the offering is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The apostle has said enough here to vindicate the epistle and to remove any accusation which his severity might provoke.

Vs. 17-19a Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. ¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient— ¹⁹in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, The apostle just wrote in verse 16 regarding the acceptable offering up of the Gentiles and the ministration of the gospel contributing by God’s grace to accomplish it, says Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus. He is referring to the act of glorying. “Therefore” points back to the previous verses, notice he adds in Christ Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 1:31 He who glories, let him glory in the LORD. Then he adds in the things which pertain to God. Paul is glorying in God’s grace and he can’t be too high spirited. Now the apostle takes a brief look back at what the Holy Spirit has accomplished through him ¹⁸For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient. It is by Christ’s action in him that he has accomplished anything in word and deed, in these he will glory and boast about making the Gentiles obedient. Since Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road and became the Apostle Paul, everything he has done since then was by the activity and authority of Christ, in whom he gladly boasts and glories. In verse 19ain mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God is obviously a continuing of words and deeds of verse 18. When the apostle uses the term, by the power of the Spirit of God he is referring to the all-around agency of the Holy Spirit in virtue of which all series of events in his ministry had been honored with success of which he spoke: And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with the excellence of speech or of wisdom  declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Notice verses 16-19a Paul’s teaching on the three persons of the Godhead, his thinking is conditioned by the doctrine of the trinity and particularly of the properties and prerogatives of the three persons in the economy of salvation.

 Vs. 19b-21so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. ²⁰And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, ²¹but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.” Paul is now making known the extent of his labors as a minister of Christ to the Gentiles, that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. We find that Paul visited Jerusalem several times and actually preached there, also that he had preached the gospel on the island of Cyprus, and several different places in what is now Turkey, Macedonia, and Greece. He performed several gracious acts during his ministry by partially blinding a Jew in Cyprus named Bar-Jesus, healing a man’s legs that had been crimpled from his mother’s womb, restoring life to Eutychus, a young man, that had fallen from a third story window, was stoned and left for dead and had several encounters with those who were jealous of him. Before his death he preached in Rome to the guards. He wrote so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation. The apostle’s concept of his duties, as an apostle, was that he should plant churches and leave them for others to build on the foundation he had laid. When he says not where Christ was named, he explains this According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it (1 Corinthians 3:10). His apostolic duty was directed in the founding of churches and edifying of churches which he had been instrumental in establishing rather than the building up of churches that were the fruit of another man’s labors. Verse 21 but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand. Paul is speaking of world-wide effects of Messiah’s sacrifice and applies it to his own ministry to the Gentiles.

Prayer and Revival

There is a direct correlation between prayer and revival. Both Scripture and history witness that there is a direct connection between prayer meetings and revival. God does not send revival and spiritual awakening to people who do not pray—ardently, fervently, passionately and perseveringly seek the face of God for them. The great prototype of all revival, which began on the day of Pentecost, was preceded by a prayer meeting which was characterized by concentration, perseverance and unity of purpose (Acts 1:14).

Can we expect revival—the blessing of the presence and power of the Spirit of God reviving the church and converting the unsaved—unless we pray? Unless we have meetings specifically for prayer? We must pray, we must pray together, we must pray earnestly, we must persevere, and we must pray with a unity of purpose, laying aside all personal agenda and anything foreign or grievous to the Holy Spirit. What glorious blessings we only obtain through prayer!

Catechism Question 47

Q:  What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?
A:  The sum of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind, and our neighbor as ourselves.

Matthew 28:36-40

³⁶ And Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.