A Christ-like Heart for the..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, brothers and sisters. I'm going to invite you to please open up your Bibles to the book of Romans, Romans chapter one.

We're going to continue. Last week, I spoke to you about the need that we Christians have of being active proclaimers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The need that we Christians have of being active proclaimers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I did that from the first seven verses. I know that I'm going to have a very difficult day with my English today.

The first seven verses of chapter one of the book of Romans. And I wanted to speak to you about the active need that we Christians have to be proclaimers of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, my heart and my desire, what I want to share with you, brothers and sisters, is that Jesus Christ is to be preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. The church, the local church and the universal church, has been entrusted with the mission of bringing the gospel to the nations. And in that proclamation of the gospel to the nations, Jesus Christ is to be preeminent.

I want to speak to you about the preeminence of Jesus Christ in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. And I want to do that particularly from verse 5 of Romans 1. We're going to be addressing verse 5, 6, and 7, but particularly verse 5. And what I'm going to get you to do, my dear brother and sister, is to read these seven verses of Romans 1. After that, I'm going to invite you to please come with me and read in Acts 1.

After that, we're going to be reading from Colossians 1. We're going to be reading three short passages. The reason why I'm doing so is because that will set the foundation so that we can meditate upon the fact that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. that even though we are so feeble and weak and needy, the Lord has entrusted us this glorious message of the Gospel to be brought to the nations, and Jesus Christ is to be preeminent in that. So let us please, brothers and sisters, read carefully the first seven verses of Romans 1.

Then we go to Acts and then to Colossians. This is the Word of the Lord. Romans 1. Paul. A servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart to the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh.

and was declared to be the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." Pay attention to verse 5. "...through whom..." That is Christ.

"...through whom..." The Apostle says, "...through whom we have received grace and apostleship." to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to be whole or to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now come with me, please, to Acts chapter one. In verse 5, the apostle says that he has received the grace of apostleship to proclaim the gospel to the nations. That's what the apostle says in Romans chapter 1. Now I want us to read together, brother and sister, the mission that the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has given to the church.

This mission is to proclaim the gospel to the nations. So Acts chapter 1, let us read from verse 6. So when they had come together, they asked him, this is the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. Now come with me, please, to Colossians 1. In Romans 1, the apostle says that he receives by grace this apostleship to preach the gospel to the nations. In Acts 1, we hear the commission or the mission that God gives to the church of preaching the gospel to the nations.

The church is to bring the gospel to the outermost part of the earth. Come with me, please, to Galatians 1. Colossians 1, verse 15. Who is He there, brethren? Jesus.

So pay attention to this. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

And He is, that is Christ Jesus, He is the head of the body, the church. Christ is the beginning. the firstborn from the death, that in everything he might be..." What is the word that you have there, brethren? Preeminent.

In how many things? "...that in everything he might be preeminent." Let me please just take a minute to pray once again. Just come before the Lord that He will help us to speak.

Please pray with me. Father, Lord, I ask that you will be merciful to us, that you will grant us of your Holy Spirit. Lord, please give us clarity when we speak. Lord, that the thoughts that come to be spoken and uttered will come from You. O Lord Jesus, please, I ask that You will have mercy, that You will grant us what is needed, so that Your people will be edified, so that Jesus Christ will be exalted.

O Lord, please, for the sake of the glory of Your precious name, I ask that You will do this for the one who is preeminent, Above all things, the head of the church, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Preeminent brother and sister and dear friend, the Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent. And what I want to speak to you about is about the preeminence of Christ in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. And please pay careful attention that I'm not telling you that we as a church or that the church makes Jesus Christ preeminent, as if the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ is something that the church gives to Christ.

I'm not telling you that we Christians make the Lord Jesus Christ preeminent, but rather, I'm speaking about the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ that is not contingent upon what the church does or does not do. It's not contingent upon what Christians know and say and do, but rather, it's contingent upon the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Apostle has told us here in Colossians chapter 1 that Jesus Christ is to be preeminent above all things. And the reason why Jesus Christ is preeminent is because he is both the source and the sustainer of all things. All things have been made by Him, and through Him, and for Him.

The Apostle tells us in verse 16 that He's the firstborn of creation. That is that He's preeminent above all things that have been created. But not only that, He's also the sustainer of all things that have been created. In verse 17, the Apostle says that He, Christ, is before all things, and in Him, all things hold or held together. Christ Jesus is preeminent because he's both the source of all things that have been created, and he is also the sustainer of all things.

God the Father has created through the Son all things, and all things are for him and by him, and one day he will unite all things for him. Ephesians 1, verse 10 and onwards. Jesus Christ preeminent and not only in creation, which is the thought that the apostle has in mind, but most importantly, my dear brother and sister, Jesus Christ is preeminent in the church. That's why the apostle says that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. That means that Christ as preeminent in the church is both the source of the church and is also the sustainer of the church.

The church does not exist apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is not sustained apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as God created God has created also the church in the Lord Jesus Christ. Eve was taken from one side of Adam. So the church was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

The church exists only in the person of Jesus Christ because He is the beginning and He is the firstborn from the dead. Jesus Christ, my dear brother and sister, is the source. and the sustainer of the church. We don't make Him preeminent. It is not about the things that we do or say or how we do in church and our good things or our bad things.

Jesus Christ is preeminent above His bride and His church. And that is never going to change, never is going to happen, and that is not going to be affected. So when I'm telling you that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel, I'm not inviting the church to make Jesus Christ preeminent in our proclamation of the gospel, but rather, what I'm trying to do is that we will understand that for the professing church there are two ways to proclaim the gospel to the nations. One way is in which Jesus Christ is preeminent, and that is the way of God, and that is the gospel of God, that is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the biblical gospel according to the scriptures, in which Jesus Christ is preeminent, and then there's another way. in which the church makes any other thing preeminent, and it's not Christ, and that is not the way that God desires the will of God for the church to proclaim the gospel to the nations.

Paul knew not only intellectually, but also experientially that Jesus Christ is preeminent. He knew it from his calling. He was a hater of the church. He was a hater of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when he had a confrontation with the grace of the Lord that called him, to be an apostle, then his heart was utterly transformed from hating the Lord Jesus Christ to be a messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's why that he said that he was set apart from the wound of his mother so that when the father was pleased to reveal the Son of God, he did not take any consultation with the flesh or with any other apostle, but he went and preached the gospel because he knew by experience that this message now that I have received, it is not to be understood and comprehended with the intellect only, but it's about this man whom I have now seen, and instead of killing me and giving me judgment for the hatred that I had against him, has forgiven my sins and has opened my eyes to see all my crooked ways from the old ways that I had, and now has granted me the gift of serving him into the proclamation of the Gospels to the nations. Paul knew experientially the preeminence of Jesus Christ, not only in his calling, but in his life. He knew that for him to live was Christ Jesus and to die for him was gain. He knew that the reason why he was going to speak with the brethren was for the benefit of the brethren, but he knew. that it was much better for Him to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the life that now I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, the apostle says. He knew experientially that Christ Jesus is to be preeminent in absolutely all things of our lives as Christians. The Apostle knew the preeminence of Christ in his preaching. He comes to the Corinthians and he says that he has determined not to know anything among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Apostle who knew so many things, the Apostle who had memorized so many doctrines and things of the Old Testament, Now humbles himself before the preeminent Jesus Christ and says all things that now I'm going to do for you are not going to be any other different than for me to point you to the person of Jesus Christ because he's the one that is to be preeminent above all things.

He knew the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ in his sufferings. He knew that when he had much or when he had little, that when he was with cold or that when he had everything that he needed, when he had food or when he lacked food, that in all things the Lord Jesus Christ was the one that was going to give him strength. He knew that even in his sufferings, the Lord Jesus Christ was to be preeminent and is the example of the apostle, the one that sets the path for the church and for the Christian. Imagine just simply that thought, my dear brother, my dear sister. Imagine if indeed Jesus Christ, the one that we say that we love, was preeminent in every aspect of our lives.

Imagine if indeed we will live our lives, our thoughts, our words, our work, our deeds, with the reality that Jesus Christ is preeminent above all things. That He's the source of all things and that He's the sustainer of all things. What a great freedom that will give us from self, brother. Because much of our afflictions, much of our tribulations, much of our difficulties, much of our sufferings from within is because Christ is not preeminent in all things. But we have made ourselves preeminent in many things.

And because we are not the source of all things, and because we cannot sustain of all things, when we realize and we practically come with the fact that we are not able to sustain all things, then we are affected in the deeper parts of the heart. We feel the tribulation and the difficulty of what it is to make oneself preeminent above all things. And if that happens in the soul of a person, that can easily happen also in the collective context of the congregation. And that's why it is very important that if we come before the Lord and we say, Lord, you have entrusted us this mission to bring the gospel to the nations, that we will know that as we bring this gospel to the nations, Christ Jesus is preeminent. Just as he was preeminent to the apostle, that he was willing to give his life and counted of loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know the passage, Philippians 3, verse 7 onwards, counted of all loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is true that Paul is an apostle. It is true that his calling is different to the calling of all other Christians. But He did and said those things, not because of His calling, but because of the Spirit of God that was within Him. So, my dear brother, my dear sister, what I want us to do from verse 5, if you return to Romans, is just simply this.

I want us to see how Jesus Christ was preeminent in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. and that we will learn the preeminence of Christ in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. Because once again, and I'm sorry for the repetition, the point here is not that we make Christ preeminent. It's not that we make Him Lord of the church. It's not that we make Him the head of the church.

It's not that we give Him the preeminence that He needs. In a sense, in a practical sense, yes, we give Him the glory, but when it comes to be the source and the sustainer of the operations of the church, that is the job of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question is not so much if we are making Jesus Christ preeminent above all things. The question is are we doing things in alignment with what the scripture says so that when we do those things Jesus Christ is preeminent and the gospel accomplishes what the promise of the gospel has said that will reach the nations and people will be saved? because that was what happened in the life of Paul.

He made Jesus Christ preeminent and he was used as an instrument in the hands of the Lord to proclaim the gospel to the nations. So it is necessary, it is very important that we will know how Jesus Christ is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. That is what I desire that we will do together here from verse five in Romans chapter one, that we will consider, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul, how Jesus Christ is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. How is that, that Jesus manifests his preeminence in the context of the church for the purpose of bringing the gospel to the nations? And what I'm going to be doing is using the example of Paul and bringing that connection to the church.

In many instances, you're going to perhaps ask yourself the question, how do you connect that, knowing that Paul is an apostle and that his ministry is very unique and is very special, different to all the ministries of the church. I hope that by the Scriptures that I'm going to show you, I can actually prove from the Scriptures that Christ Jesus was preeminent in the ministry of the Apostle and that Jesus Christ is to be preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations by the church. I'm going to give you a couple of reasons. I'm not sure if it's two or three, but as the Lord leads, I'm going to give you a couple of reasons or a couple of forms or ways in which Jesus Christ is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel. First, my dear brother and sister, and we're going to be focusing in verse 5.

Jesus Christ is preeminent in the calling and in the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel. Jesus Christ is preeminent first in the calling and in the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. The church has been entrusted, Acts chapter one, with this mission of proclaiming the gospel to the nations. And for the church to be able to proclaim the gospel to the nations, the church has to be called and has to be equipped. This calling and this equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel to the nations is in and through the person of Jesus Christ.

Christ Jesus is the one that is both the source and the sustainer of the calling and the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel. That is that the world is not the one that calls or equips the church for the proclamation of the gospel. That is that the church herself is not the one that calls and in a sense ultimate sense equips the Christians for the proclamation of the gospel but ultimately and substantially it is Jesus Christ the one who both calls and equips for the proclamation of the gospel. Here we see it very clear in the example of the Apostle in verse 5 when he says that is through whom through Jesus that he or we have received grace and apostleship. You might be asking who is he referring with the we?

That we there is what we call, is just simply a plural of category. The apostle is referring simply to himself. He's not referring to the people in Rome, because not everyone in Rome was an apostle. And he was not referring to other apostles that were with him, and we know that because of the uniqueness of the ministry of the apostle Paul to the Gentiles. He was called to the Gentiles, the other apostles were called to Israel and to the other parts.

He was a unique apostle to the Gentiles. So when he says we, this is what we call a plural of category. He's referring to himself. But here we have the instruction of the apostle. The apostle says that it's by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ that he has received this apostleship.

Just think about that. That it's by grace that Paul has been made an apostle, that the message that he knows and he proclaims is by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This man that had been sitting at the feet of Gamaliel for so many years, this man who had memorized and knew the scriptures very well, This man who had a reason to say, is all of my knowledge and all of my preparation, the one that equips me for me to go and proclaim the gospel to the nations, this man is now saying that it's the grace of Christ, the one that is now giving him this ministry of being an apostle. Paul knew that both the source and the sustenance of his calling was the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we know, at least I'm going to try to prove to you from the text, that we can take the example of the calling of the apostle to the church for a couple important reasons.

I want to say to you that the church, that both also for the church, the calling and the equipping of the church, it is with Christ Jesus as preeminent. We don't call ourselves. In a sense, yes, we ordain pastors and we ordain elders and we ordain deacons, but if it's not ultimately the calling of the grace of the Lord, that is not going to be either created and it's not going to be sustained. It is the Lord Jesus Christ in his grace, the one that produces and the one that sustains both the calling and the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel The Apostle, in speaking of his calling, this calling that he has received by grace, is also going to refer in a similar way to the Romans. If you pay attention to verse 6, the Apostle says, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

The calling of the Apostle that is by grace in verse 5 to be an Apostle. He was saved, Acts chapter 9, and became an Apostle. The calling of the Apostle was a calling of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle also knows and acknowledges that the Romans, who were among the nations, were also called to be or to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. And they were not only called to be saved, but the life of the Romans was also a testimony of the life of Christ operating in them.

If you pay attention to verse 8, it says, first, in verse 8 of Romans chapter 1, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you in Rome, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. The calling of Paul to be an apostle and proclaim to the nation came from the Lord Jesus Christ by grace, and that's how he's appointed, he's called and equipped to proclaim the gospel to the nations. The calling of the nations, in this case also Rome, is also coming from the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that equips them so that their faith will be heard of and proclaimed in the world. But this is not going to be perhaps the main evidence or point of evidence that I have here in the text.

I want you to pay careful attention to verse 5. Help me please here because my words are coming like bricks and I'm trying to translate every couple of seconds in my head. So pay attention to verse 5, please. The apostle is going to say that he has received this apostleship through whom or through him. Who is that him or whom in verse 5, brethren?

Pay attention. Who is that whom or that he in verse 5? Jesus. But it's not only Jesus. It's the Jesus that the Apostle has presented in verse 4.

And this is going to be very important. It is the incarnate Son of God who came according to the lineage of David who died and then was vindicated by the resurrection according to the spirit of holiness. In other words, it is the victorious, ascended, or the victorious, resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ, the one through whom the Apostle receives, and then there are two important words that we don't see them very clearly there in English, but they are very clear there in the original text. It says, we have received grace, literally, the gift that has been given to me by the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ. The gift of the ministry of being an apostle that the apostle Paul received was the result of the resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ.

They resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ and gave gifts and in this case this gift was given to the Apostle and this was the gift of being an Apostle and to proclaim the gospel to the nations. This is very interesting because when the Apostle is exhorting the Ephesians about their calling in Ephesians chapter 4, The Apostle is going to use not only the same terminology but the same words to speak about the function and the operation of the ascended Jesus Christ in giving gifts not only to the Apostles but giving gifts to the church so that the church will be equipped for the work of the ministry. If you come with me to Ephesians chapter 4 please. This is where the Apostle uses the same language, the same concepts, and the same constructions to explain not only about the gifts that he has received as an Apostle, but the gifts that the congregation of the Church receives. Come with me to Ephesians chapter 4.

What I'm trying to say with very limited words and very entangled thoughts in my head is this, my dear brother and sister, that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the calling and in the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel. But you are not preeminent in that, that the church is not preeminent in that, that the world is not preeminent in that. It's Christ Jesus, the one who calls and the one that equips so that the nations will receive the proclamation of the gospel. It is the victorious, resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ, the one who has given gifts to the congregation, to the church, so that that mission will be accomplished. Ephesians chapter 4, read it with me very carefully.

Here the apostle will use exactly the same concepts and words, but he will explain it in more detail. He says, I therefore, Ephesians chapter 4, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, Urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Now brethren, we have English there, but the construction of what we have in verse 7 is very similar to what the Apostle has said in Romans chapter 1 verse 5.

He said that it's through Jesus Christ that we have received grace or the gift of apostleship. Here we say in verse 7, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Verse 8, therefore it says, when he ascended on high, that is Christ, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. He's going to explain that. In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions of the earth?

That is, that the one that ascended is also the one who died. It is the one that was resurrected so that he will go into heaven and he will be ascended. Verse 10. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he may feel all things. And then pay attention to verse 13.

Using the same construction of gift or giving by grace. Verse 11. And he gave The apostles, the ESV says the apostles, but literally some to be apostles. It says, and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors or shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ. Let me just say it once again in verse 11.

and the ascended Jesus Christ, the victorious Jesus Christ, the one that was in the grave and now has been vindicated by the Spirit, the one that went into the clouds to sit at the right hand of the Father, now when He's seated at the right hand of the Father, He has sent His Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit among the church will give the gifts that the church necessitates and needs to continue the work that the Lord started in the establishment of his kingdom. Verse 11. And how did he do it? And he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists. the shepherds and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and all the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood.

Christ Jesus is the one that equips his bride There's no work, there's no program, there's no Bible Institute, there's no seminary, there is no program that a person can follow and that that person can be equipped spiritually to do the work of the ministry that only belongs to the ascended victorious Jesus Christ. That is what the Church needs to acknowledge, because when we acknowledge that it is Jesus Christ the one that builds His Church, that it is Jesus Christ the one that gives gifts to the Church as He, called by grace, the Apostle Paul, that He has called us all for the work of the ministry in the context of the Church by pure grace, When we acknowledge that, my dear brother and sister, and we know that He is both the source and the sustainer of the mission of the church, if we see that by faith, then that requires surrender. That requires that we say, it is not about me. It is about the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not about my strategies of how am I going to do ministry.

It is not about my strategies of how am I going to be proclaiming the gospel. It is not about my understanding of the environment and the social issues so that I will come with a conclusion of what is the best way to call people to minister and to bring the gospel, but rather Brethren, when we know that he's preeminent both in the calling and in the equipping, this will bring us to surrender. Because if he does not build up his church, we will not build up his church. We can build our own empires. We can build up our own things and call them church.

We can build up our own community of people and think that we are just singing to Christ and we are not. If we do not acknowledge by faith that Jesus Christ is preeminent, very well we might end up just simply doing the work in the flesh. Thinking that we're doing it for Jesus Christ when we're doing it for ourselves. Thinking that we're doing it for the Savior, we're just simply doing it for a repetitious activity in which we create for ourselves a community that provides emotional security and that we can just are able to go with it for a period of time. Jesus Christ is to be preeminent both in the calling and in the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the Gospel.

He's the source and He's the sustainer. A ministry is not sustained by men. A ministry of the Lord is not sustained by the flesh. A ministry, a work of a man is not sustained by the efforts of men. It is sustained by Jesus Christ.

How many times was the Apostle tempted to give up? How many times was the Apostle Paul tempted just simply, why am I going to go with all of this suffering and all of these trials? The reputation that the Apostle had, the place that the Apostle had in his family and in society, the name that the Apostle had, the knowledge that he had. How many times was he not tempted to give up all the sovereigns? 40 times minus 1.

What do you call this? Whips? 39. I don't think that I can do it in one. 39 brothers and sisters.

If the Spirit of God was not only calling him, but equipping him, nobody likes to do this thing. Nobody likes to proclaim the gospel to the nations, brethren, and we can't. We cannot. We cannot. We cannot.

We cannot proclaim the gospel to the nations. We don't have what it takes to proclaim the gospel to the nations. We don't have the words. We don't have the ability. We don't have the charisma.

We don't have the looks. We don't have the accent. We don't have the words. We don't have what it takes to effectively proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the nations. It's Jesus Christ, the one that is to be preeminent.

The one that is to be the source and the sustainer of the mission of the church. Jesus Christ is the one that equips. He gave us apostles and prophets and evangelists. He gave us everything that we need so that all the saints, it says here, will be prepared, will be equipped for the work of the ministry. I am not an apostle, someone might say.

I am not a prophet. I am not an evangelist. I'm not a pastor. I'm not a teacher. He gave those roles and offices to the church so that all the saints will be equipped and prepared for the proclamation of the gospel.

And like it or not, my dear brother and sister, that happens within the context of the local church. The person sitting next to you, you might like her, you might not like her, you might like him, you may not like him. I hope that by grace and by love we will like each other and that we will be able to continue with each other, but by God's sovereignty and providence. the work of the equipping of the saints happens within the context of the local church. Christ is preeminent in how He calls and He equips for the proclamation of the Gospel.

He is the one that rules in the calling and in the equipping for the proclamation of the Gospel. And He does it through prayer. He does it through the Word of God. And He does it in the context of the local church. That is the simple formula of the Christian life, prayer, the Word of God, and in the context of the local church.

So when you acknowledge that, you don't have to go and learn this new system that I saw online of this person that repeats this formula, that you go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So when I'm sharing the gospel, I will repeat the process 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, so I might get the same results that this other person that I saw online. The preparation of the proclaimer of the gospel does not start here. It starts here, brethren. It starts here, at the same place where the Apostle Paul learned that all of these things that he had been going for 30 or 40 years, now he has to throw them to the rubbish and now he has to count them as lost for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The strength of the Apostle in trials and tribulations was not found in his mind and his ability to quote the scriptures and to give an answer for the Old Testament or about the Old Testament. It was found that the grace of the Lord was sufficient for him. that the presence of Christ was everything that he needed, that he was willing to give his life not for ministry, that he was willing to give his life not for the church, that he was willing to give his life not just simply for people, but ultimately that he was willing to give his life for the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever that means and entails for him. Christ Jesus is preeminent both in the calling and the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel. Let me just go to the second.

Let us return to Romans chapter one. I will try to be short. Romans chapter one. Christ Jesus is not only my dear brother and sister preeminent in the calling and the equipping of the church, but Christ Jesus is also preeminent in the methodology. how the gospel is proclaimed to the nations.

You understand this word methodology? What can you say? Like the process perhaps? In the how? Christ Jesus is not only preeminent in the calling and the equipping of the church, But he's also preeminent in the methodology of how the gospel is to be shared.

Now bear with me here, because we're going to be reading a couple of scriptures. Pay attention to the text. It says, through whom we have received grace and apostleship, the apostle says. I have been called and I have been equipped by the ascended resurrected Jesus Christ for the proclamation of the gospel. Now, he's going to tell us something very interesting that in your translations will be translated in different ways.

It says, to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among the nations. That is what my ESV says. Some of your Bibles may say, obedience to the faith. What is the Apostle saying there? Because certainly the Apostle has not used the word gospel there, right?

You've seen that I'm assuming that the text speaks about the gospel. But the Apostle here is saying very clearly in the ESV, we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience to the faith or the obedience of faith. And actually here there is a little bit of a controversy on the understanding of that portion of the text that brings to a controversy on the understanding of what was the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Let me just put the controversy here before you and then I will going to tell you what the biblical teaching is, of course, from the scriptures. There's two positions.

Was the apostle Paul interested only in going to as many cities as possible to gain converts so that people will be converted and that the name of Christ will be heard among the nations and the people will be saved? Or was the apostle concerned with going and preach the gospel that people will be converted and that conversion will always follow a process of discipleship for those who heard the gospel? Is the Apostle, when the Apostle calls the church to proclaim the Gospels to the nation, is he calling us to distribute as many tracts as we can and then just to proclaim the Gospel as much as we can so that as many people will receive the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and they will be saved? Or is the preaching, the proclamation of the Gospel calling us to, yes, desire that people will be saved, but that people will be discipled? And the idea is, in the controversy, those two possibilities are actually found there in the text.

That's why some of you have obedience to the faith, or obedience of faith. Now, let me just show you the biblical truth about that, and that I'm going to submit to you that not just because we like it, but it's actually biblical, that the proclamation of the gospel to the nations requires not only to spread the word of God and to get as many conversions as possible, but actually to be diligent in the proclamation of the gospel for salvation and also with a vision, if you want, of discipleship. These words in the Greek that we have there, obedience to the faith or obedience to faith, sometimes they are used as obedience to the gospel or obedience to the word or obedience to the truth. It means, yes, in an initial sense, to be saved and to be converted to Christianity. If you quickly come with me to 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter is the one that uses this expression most of the times in the New Testament in the different ways.

Obedience to the faith, obedience to the truth, obedience to the Word. And what we mean by that, yes, is to be saved, to be converted to Christianity. 1 Peter chapter 2. Chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1.

It says in verse 22, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. The apostle refers to being converted. There, for the apostle, if someone was going to take this verse and try to understand what Paul did, then that person would say Paul was interested in going to as many cities as possible to get people to say yes to the gospel. Why this is so important? Because many Christian movements, especially in the Christian world, in the Western world, have that mindset of the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.

Let's go in those evangel... I don't know, you know, like I did not growing up in this... in this world, but I think you call it like these evangelistic movements, you know, a missionary or like a, what do you call it, an itinerary preacher will go, right? Itinerary preacher will go from city to city preaching the gospel and having these revival tents and then people will lift up their hands and then I pray the prayers and I became a Christian, let's move on into the next city and let's do, let's do that and then by the end of the year they count and they said we had two million people saying yes for Jesus Christ. That is not the model of the scriptures, and that is not the model of the Apostle.

Yes, being obedient to the truth is to be converted, as the Apostle Peter says here, or even if you go to verse 8 of chapter 2. Yes, being obedient to the truth or obedient to the word or obedient to the gospel entails conversion. chapter 2 verse 8 and says speaking of those who are reprobate and a stone of a stumbling and a rock of offense they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do in other words they did not believe and that's why they are reprobate and Yes, it is true that obedience to the faith or obedience of faith means to be converted to Christianity, but this is not what it means for the Apostle Paul and not for his ministry. The proofs are very simple. Come to Romans chapter 1, and let me just take you through some scriptures, brethren, because what I'm going to do here is not only to show you from the scriptures, that the biblical way of proclaiming the gospel to the nations is one in which the church is not only concerned in distributing the message of the gospel as much as possible, but one in which the church is carefully and intentionally thinking on how we are going to disciple those who receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is very important that we will see that proclaiming the gospel to the nations is not only a matter of just, let's just tell everyone about Jesus, something that many people would say, I'm proclaiming the gospel through the Internet. It is good that people will put things online and proclaim the gospel in that way. But the biblical proclamation of the gospel requires an intentional giving of self for the purpose of discipling those who have hurt and those who have been converted. That was the heart of the apostle, and that has to be the heart of the church. Chapter 1, verse 11 of Romans.

In verse 11, the apostle will give us his heart in his desire to come to the Romans. Brothers and sisters, the Romans had not been planted by Paul. The beginning of the church in Rome is unknown, but it's very likely that you remember Acts chapter 2, all of those people that received and were saved and were added to the church and they returned to their homelands. It's very likely perhaps that some people who, in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, that there were people from Rome that returned to Rome and that's how the church started. The Apostle had not been there, he did not plant the church, but when he relates to the church, this is the heart of the Apostle.

It says in Romans chapter 1 verse 11, this is what he wanted. For I long to see you, that I might impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we might be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. The Apostle was concerned with the spiritual growth of the people of Rome. If you quickly come to Romans chapter 15, the Apostle is actually going to spend there a little bit more his intention and his purpose in coming to preach the gospel to the people in Rome. Pay attention to verse 18, because actually this is the passage that people will use to say that we should preach the gospel as much as we can, and it's a matter of getting just professions of faith, I think you call it, right?

To get professions of faith from people. Let me just read that passage, because this is the passage that is mainly used to defend that view, and then I will show you the context, and then we'll go through other scriptures. It is in Romans chapter 15, verse 18. 1518, hear this, brethren. It says, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience.

So they will say here, to bring the Gentiles to obedience is just to get the Gentiles to say yes to the gospel. That is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Paul was interested in communicating the gospel as much as possible because of what comes after that in verse 19. It says, or by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. For as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.

And these people will say, you see there? The Apostle does not want to go to those places where Jesus Christ has been named. So that is that where Jesus Christ was proclaimed and the gospel was preached and people were saved. Paul did not want to go to those places because people had heard the gospel already and people had already made a profession of faith and they had become Christians. And that's why Paul actually in his ministry chooses to arrive to as many nations as possible and not to repeat those who have already been converted.

Very, very great error. Pay attention to what the puzzle says there in verse 20. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel not where Christ has already been named, pay attention to this expression, lest I build on someone else's foundation. lest I build on someone else's foundation. When the Apostle Paul says, lest I build on someone else's foundation, he says, I don't want to get people saved in that city where there are already Christians.

Or is the Apostle speaking about the growth of the Christian that he does not want to go to the city and disciple those people because there's someone there that is already discipling that people? I'm going to submit to you that the Apostle uses this expression if you come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Speaking of Apollos, you remember Apollos and Paul? Exactly the same expression of building on the foundation of those who have been saved, the Apostle will use it there. And I'm sorry that I'm making all of these scriptures reading, but it's just simply because this is a very important thing for us to understand in the proclamation of the gospel.

So go please to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. if I find it in my Bible. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And bear with me here in the reading, because in the Greek, it's exactly the same way that the apostle has mentioned in Romans chapter 15, building on someone else's foundation. Chapter 3, verse 5.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed. as the Lord assigned to each. Pay attention to how the apostle assumes that believing happened through both of them.

Apollos and Paul are servants through whom you have believed. Believing in the New Testament is not only the initial conversion, that is true, but you continue to grow in your faith. Verse six, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. he who plants and he who waters are one and each will receive his wages according to his labor for we are God's fellow workers you are God's field God's building according to the grace of God given to me which by the way is the same construction of Romans chapter 1 verse 5 Through him we have received grace for apostleship.

It's the same construction. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skill master builder, I laid a foundation. The same language of Romans chapter 14. And someone else is building upon it. That is Apollos.

Let each one take care of how he builds upon it. Brethren, Christ Jesus is preeminent not only in the calling and in the equipping of the Church for the proclamation of the gospel. Christ Jesus is also preeminent in the methodology of the proclamation of the gospel. the way that the gospel was proclaimed in the early church through the Apostles was that the Apostles will come and preach the gospel, people will be saved, and that churches will be established for the discipleship of those who were saved, and that's how the Great Commission was actually fulfilled. This is the example that we see in the life of Paul.

Paul traveled many times to different churches, what? With the purpose of strengthening the brethren in their faith. Paul discipled Timothy to be and to complete the work of an evangelist. You remember that verse, 2 Timothy 4, verse 10? He says, fulfill the work of the ministry, the gift that has been given to you.

Have you read the verses that come before that? Preach the word, in season and out of season, exhort and train. That was the ministry of Timothy. That was the ministry of the evangelists to nourish the body of the Lord Jesus Christ so that they will be edified and they will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 6 verse 7 that you can read in your own times.

After the church had appointed the deacons to serve the tables and to help with the operations of the church, we are told in verse 7 that the word of the Lord was increasing and that even some of the Jews were obedient to the faith. And you know what the word calls them in that verse 7 in Acts chapter 6? Disciples. that these people that were being added to the congregation, that more disciples were being added, and that even some of the Jews who were some of the disciples were obedient to the faith. And my dear brother, my dear sister, there's no other point greater than this, that this is how the Lord gave us the Great Commission.

Please come with me to Matthew chapter 28, and we will conclude with this. Matthew chapter 28. verse 19. Now brethren, bear with me the last three or four minutes on this. Matthew chapter 28 verse 19.

It says the Lord Jesus Christ, go therefore. He doesn't say make believers, right? Or getting converts. He says go therefore and make disciples of all nations. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the name of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. If someone was going to say that this work is only for the disciples, brethren, you can truly go and see what Paul did with Titus, Paul did with Timothy, you can see what the early church did in Acts chapter 6, in Acts chapter 8, you can go through the book of Acts and hear the many times in which obedience to the gospel, obedience to the faith, it is the same as discipleship. Christ Jesus is preeminent in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations and in the way that the gospel is to be proclaimed. And what Christ Jesus desires for his church is that when we proclaim the gospel, we will not be contempt and satisfied only by just distributing as many tracts as we can, but that we will have a heart that when people are saved, they will be inserted into the context of the local church, so that that person will grow in conformity to Jesus Christ, my dear brother and dear sister. Remember the day of your salvation, and you will see that that is a very nice thing that happened when you were saved, but the Christian life is more complicated than day number one.

The Christian life is much more complicated than day number one of your conversion. We need to be conformed to Christ. We need to die to self. We need to bear fruits of righteousness in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that happens through a process of discipleship.

And once again, where do you think that that happens, brother and sister? Do you think that that happens in front of your computer, watching YouTube videos? Please tell me. No, this happens in the context of the local church. We disciple each other.

We help each other grow in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We equip ourselves so that we will go and proclaim the gospel to the nations. We help each other in our shortcomings. We encourage one another. We are disciples in the context of the local church, and this is the way that Jesus Christ is preeminent.

The Great Commission is not fulfilled just by sending as many messages in bottles to the world so that they will open them and read them and be saved. Yes, that happens. And many times many people are saved and praise God for that. But the kingdom of Christ is established upon the earth by the establishment and the building up of biblical churches in which brothers and sisters come together to be made more like the person of Jesus Christ. And it does not matter that there are four of them, five of them, six, ten, twenty, or whatever are of them, the more that they become like Jesus Christ, the more powerful that that lampstand becomes.

The more powerful that they are in their speech. their interactions with people the more powerful that they are against darkness and this is the way that Christ Jesus is preeminent brothers and sisters you see that even I'm telling you in the flesh one is tempted to think about many different ways on how we can make the church work How we can make our brothers and sisters to be more encouraged? How we can make our brothers and sisters to be more devoted to prayer? How can they be more devoted to the Word of God, brothers and sisters? The answer is always this, and please remind me when I forget, Christ Jesus.

Christ Jesus is the head of the church. He's preeminent above all things because he's the source of the church, and he's the sustainer of the church. In the end of the day, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes and when he divides and he chooses and he divides, the question is not going to be if the church was really good or bad or what they did. It is what Christ Jesus has accomplished, because he is going to bring to that day the ones that are truly his. And the question is, who were the ones that were willing to submit to the preeminence of Christ?

Who were the ones that took the book and were willing to submit themselves to the words of the Savior? Who were the ones who, instead of choosing themselves and instead of choosing their preferences and instead of choosing the wisdom of the world, chose the Lord Jesus Christ and His preeminence? Because in our flesh to submit to the Lord and Savior, it is very difficult. And that's the greatest message of the gospel, that everything is about Him. And when we have that realization, my dear brother and sister, the burden is taken.

Because He is the one that begets the Christian, and He is the one that sustains the Christian. And then even when we proclaim, when we teach, when we preach the gospel, when we disciple each other, it's still the grace of the Lord. Because if he was the one that initiated, he is the one that is going to continue to sustain. So even for me to be able to continue to minister, or for you to be able to continue to minister, is not about our talents. It's not about our charisma.

Yes, we need to grow in those. But it's upon reliance on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know, together with the Apostle Paul, that he is preeminent above all things. Let me just simply tell you these couple of things, my dear brother and sister. What an incredible message we have. Think about this.

Think about this. God has chosen the futile, the vile of this world. I mean, there is, like you don't even know what my city is. Like if you knew what my city represents in my country, like if you knew. But God chooses the vile of this world.

The despised of this world. That which is not to bring to shame the things of this world. And you know what? This is us. This is us.

He's the vile, the rejected, the despised, the silly ones, the ones that look so different to the rest, or I don't know, but the ones that are despised by the world to bring to shame the things of this world. And now, many people today, right now, are so involved in their enterprises and thinking how to build these empires and all of that. He has made us partakers of these great enterprise that is called the kingdom of God. When we look back, 75, 80, 80, 90, whatever your age is, but when we look back, the only thing that counts is what we've done for Him. Truly, brethren, the only thing that counts is what we have done for our Savior.

We're all going to die. We're all going to die. Gone. In the end, what counts is what we have done for the Savior. And if the Lord extends our days tomorrow, we're going to open our eyes and we're going to breathe.

And that is an opportunity for us to do something for our Savior. the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 300 tracks we gave out last week. Nobody called us. Jasmine said, nobody called us.

It's okay. We have shared the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know what he's doing. We don't know what He will do, but we are to give ourselves to the proclamation of the gospel. And when the Lord grants us one person that is saved, you know what we ought to do?

We need to disciple that brother. We need to disciple that sister. We need to put our lives upon that person so that that person will grow in conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. So my dear brother, my dear sister, Let me encourage you, instead of paying so much attention to the things that the world is doing and will do, and try to interpret what will come next week and the next month, think about the things that Christ has done. Think about the things that Christ is doing, and think about the things that Christ will do, because at the end of the day, He's victorious and He's already reigning.

And our Lord and Savior is the one that is going to bring glory to the church that does not deserve. Hope, brothers and sisters, that the Lord will renew in us a genuine desire to be submitted to the preeminence of Christ. in the calling, in the equipping of the church for the proclamation of the gospel, and that we will be submitted to him in proclaiming the goodness of salvation, and that when that happens, someone is saved, that we will want to pour our hearts upon that person. Just as the apostle says to the Romans, you are beloved of God. sometimes so difficult that it's for us just to acknowledge even the love that God has for us, to say, you are a beloved of God, he says to the Romans.

You are called of Jesus. You are called to be saints, that the heart that the apostle had for these people, of counting it all loss, for the excellency of Christ Jesus in them, will be the spirit that will be in us, my dear brother and sister, so that the blackness of Pacific pines, The darkness, you've seen the darkness of what is going on around us will be impacted with the light of Christ. We can do it. We don't have the words, we don't have what it takes, but Christ Jesus among us is the one that can do that.