Three Perspectives . . . One Passion - Romans 1:14-16

Is this perspective on life was that he was willing and eager to serve and be used by God that I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us.

Then I said, here am I send me see what happens when you have a sense of indebtedness to God for giving you of your sin, eagerness to deliver that is who will go for us.

The triune God shouted at Isaiah said well let it be me how to perspective that mirrored Isaiah's perspective that Stephen was referring to a moment ago. What made Paul's ministry so unique was at the numerous adventures he endured such as shipwrecks, snakebites and escapes from prison was at the many miracles that he performed was at the very provisions in revelations he received directly from God know it was his passion for the gospel that set them apart to Paul.

All these things were worthless compared to the incomparable value of knowing Christ.

He never forgot that he was a messenger of the most powerful message in the world will explore that perspective. Today Jim Taylor was strolling along the aisles of the Tucson gem and mineral years ago when he noticed in one particular been at a vendors table blue violet stone the size and shape of a potato. He picked it up and looked it over and then as calmly as he could, said to the vendor or this particular table. So would you take $15 for in a particular vendor said now it isn't as pretty as of the others. I know you can have it for for 10 bucks. That stone has since been certified as a 1900 carat natural star sapphire about 800 carats larger than the previous largest star sapphire. It was appraised for $2.2 million. Don't go running. The gem shows out there, you won't know what to look for. Neither would I have to be somebody who knows what to look for to recognize the value of something like that. You have to have our eyes to see what no one else yet is seen in Romans chapter 1, we are given a brief yet very powerful account of the apostle Paul and how he looked at people and how he looked at life and how he looked at the church and how we looked at God and it isn't so long before you discover that he looked at life with different eyes than most others.

He looked at at rough-cut people with a different perspective than he saw his relationship to Christ differently.

Frankly, put Paul lived with forever in mind, that is, he sees life as it were an undiscovered sapphire in a rather rare autobiographical moment. Paul says about three things about himself and in so doing, he reveals his perspective caused him to see life with a different purpose. Look at chapter 1 and let's pick up where we left off with verse 14, where Paul gives us the first of three self describing statements. He writes I am under obligation perhaps translated in your text.

I am indebted both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

In other words, his first statement is I am indebted ladies and gentlemen, this is a life changing life altering statement to believe, much less to say for him living for Jesus Christ was not an option.

It was an obligation. It was a debt and he considered himself deeply indebted to God. Perhaps you have come here this morning and you have been mulling over in your mind your own financial debt. Maybe you have been churning away planning inside of how to get out of the financial debt maybe you owe this creditor or that oil company or that organization or that university or that department store. Maybe you are musing over and thinking in planning as to how you can get ahead of the interest on your debtor or maybe how you can erase your mortgage a few years ahead of the schedule a maybe you're simply wondering how to make the next mortgage payment. The average American.

I have read is between five and $7000 in credit card debt. The average community household in our city, spends on automobiles and automobile insurance nearly $1000 a month.

People are struggling over the fact that they are deeply in debt and Paul so lifelike that he is at times in his letters almost weighed down by the debt that he feels only the debt that he thought about a news over a plan to pay was the fact that he was deeply in debt to God and to others. In fact, if you take his letters and compare several passages of Scripture. It reveals the indebtedness of the believer in at least three areas number one. Every Christian is indeed indebted to Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, that you are not of your own for you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body for spending 619 and 20, Paul takes you by way of imagination to the center of the town or village where they are auctioning slave and there you are in your on the auction block, and there are people bidding for your life and then is it as it were the last moment Jesus Christ steps forward with the payment and hand that out bids.

Everyone else and he pays the price and you become his slave. You belong to him. You now live for him. You can say with full understanding the words of Micah who quoted God himself as he spoke to his children, saying, I have ran some you out of the house of slavery.

This is what Paul meant in Ephesians chapter 6 verse six when he said we are the slaves of Christ, and we do the will of God from our heart we had better get it right. We had better see life differently than most. Jesus Christ does not owe us anything. We all him everything Jesus paid it all, all to him I soon had left that crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. We are indebted to the one who redeemed us of the auction block of slavery and himself. That's not all of your debts. There's a second one. Every Christian is indebted to the church, the body believers in first Corinthians 12, Paul talks about everyone fitting into the body with some particular resource or spiritual gifting. They have a ministry that they are to invest in the lives of other believers arrived in first Peter 48. Above all, he writes, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins be hospitable to one another without complaint.

As each one has received a special gift employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who was serving by the strength of which God supplies of that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

In other words, every Christian has received at least one gift by God and you're supposed to deposit by life payments deposits of that gift in the body of Christ you receive the gift from God, but it does not belong to you belongs to this assembly.

This local manifestation of the body of Christ. How are you, by the way, and paying that debt to those who worship with as you make your payments to the body in the form of spiritual ministry utilizing your gifts. You then he says serve as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Third, every Christian has a debt to pay to the world: first committee is 916 45 preach deliver the gospel and nothing to boast of four. I'm under compulsion is that sense of indebtedness for woe is me. If I do not fulfill my function. He says in preaching the gospel, for though I am free from all man I have made myself a slave to all so that I may win more Paul says I am a free man in Christ. But then again I'm not a free man.

I'm not free because I've made myself a slave to wall in order that I may wind zone I am indebted to humanity so that I might win some, the Christ. Paul specifically refers to that kind of dent in verse 14 of Romans one back there.

I am under obligation both the Greeks and the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise, literally. I am a debtor.

I am indebted both to Greeks and the barbarians. These are parallel of phrases. A grammatical mayor is and that is the second phrase simply repeats the thought of the first phrase he just chooses different words to say basically the same thing for the sake of emphasis. He is saying here that he is indebted. First of all, of those who spoke Greek, which is his empire in world and those who didn't he call the barbarians that was that so much a slam in his day, the word simply came from those who spoke a language. No one could understand Elyse in his empire. They just seem to say bar bar bar bar bar and so I gave them the name barbarians.

So in other words, he is indebted to all speaking of being is he then repeats the thought and says he is indebted to those who are wise or educated and those who are unwise but as uneducated. In other words, Paul is indebted to every living human being.

The world is May 11. The world owes me happiness. My family owes me respect my wife owes me dinner at six. My kids owe me good grades. My boss owes me a promotion on and on and on. They live as if to say that in fact, some say the truth is, according to the perspective of Paul and anyone who lives with forever in mind, eternity in view. Nobody owes you anything you know everybody everything is different is he so with different Austin is not what our culture teaches us. That's not what our fallen, depraved, self-centered natures say is as it stamps its feet and demands I want to get get get get give me gimme gimme gimme it as it is part of our nature, our fallen, depraved nature, and it shows up early in life. Have you ever heard of four-year-old say I that's my favorite Thai, but you can have no don't think so.

We grownups who grow old in Christ, but perhaps not up in Christ and there is a difference between growing old and him and often think about what we can get from God and what we can get from the church. What we can get from the world. We said of the Lord prayers are nothing more than gimme prayers were gimme this and give me that giving gimme that we save the church will go to the church of the provide this and provide that and do this for me and do that for me within a world that's mine. That's all my stereo and give me more Paul thought in terms of not what he could get the what he could give.

He looked at life with an unusual perspective.

He said I am deeply in debt. I am in debt to God through Christ. I am indebted to the church that I must invest my spiritual gift in and I am a debtor to the world that is never heard the gospel pulse is another thing about himself. In verse 15. Thus, for my part, I am eager to deliver the gospel to you to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome now, if Paul had put in this phrase, we might have gotten the idea that his shoulders were drooping and his head was down and and he was saying well I guess I have to deliver the gospel because I have the sense of the headedness to the world and know how how miserable I am known why I think he had so but I want you to know I'm eager I can't wait to. The truth is he was passionately excited about delivering the gospel. It wasn't just an obligation to him. It was sheer satisfaction he had discovered the fountain of life, and he was constantly handing out cups of it to any body you would reach out. He was always thinking, always dreaming, always planning, always pray is like a minaret about who lives and serve the Lord over hundred years ago, Dr. James nice Smith.

He joined the international YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, and when he joined the staff he soon learned that a problem with the winter months.

They had a hard time gathering groups of young men for those outdoor games because nobody wanted to be outdoors and there wasn't very much they could do indoors and so there the crowds would drop off and those whom they could preach and deliver the gospel to diminished and so he thought and he thought and he thought what could we do that on December 21, 1891 he came up with an idea to create a game for indoors. He asked the janitor to find two sturdy boxes that could be attached to opposite wall. The janitor looked and couldn't find any. But what he did find two peach baskets Naismith on the put them on the walls. About 10 feet high. They think they knocked the bottoms out and got a soccer ball and he sat down and made 13 rules rather quickly, and, and thus began again because there put the ball through a peach basket. He named it extremely clever this morning trying to hold off and giving any clues until the very end basketball. The crowds were drawn to the game and they won many young men to Christ, and of course since that date still draws a crowd will know if it still has the original intention for when he was interviewed on his inspiration. Years later, not having patented. The game never having received the die. He said these words. I invented the game to lead young men to Jesus Christ. Not great. I have in my study, a booklet that I've given away 100 times written by businessman wanted to get the gospel to his employees and wasn't a talker speaker other shy and introspective, but he had an idea. He said that I wrote a little booklet out in the cold of the reason why we gave little stories of how to seemingly prove that God existed in Christ love them from Scripture and just use some logic and and good exegesis in an put the book together and gave it to his employees for Christmas one year and many can defame that little booklet has been printed. Now more than 25 million times over, and in 30+ languages now use those rather intimidating illustrations knowing that probably none of us are gonna invent an international sport has none of us are probably going to be published 25 million times over in 30 languages but that that's not the point. The breadth of our message and the depth and context of how we deliver the message is all up to God. We are simply faithful to deliver and it may be delivering it to one child, just a group of children or teenagers or maybe wanted all to carpool with her.

Maybe one student or one faculty member and beyond that it's it's up to God. The believer is under obligation to you live with that sense, you must if you have that sense of obligation. There will come that accompanying sense of desire, Isaiah tells his own personal story in a familiar passage, but as I read this again. The I want to listen little governors. I want to listen to his story that talks about his gratitude and indebtedness to God for forgiveness and then the eagerness okay in the sixth chapter he writes in the year of King's eyes death.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple. Serafina stood above him, each having six wings with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

And one called out to another and said continually, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundation of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said whoa is me, for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean sinful lips and I live among a people of sinful lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand which he taken from the altar with tongs.

He touched my mouth with it and said, behold, this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us. Then I said, here am I send me see what happens when you have a sense of indebtedness to God for giving you of your sin comes this accompanying sense of eagerness to deliver the news. Who will go for us. The triune God shouted and Isaiah said well let it be me one more thing Paul says about himself in Romans one he is told us he was indebted, he was eager and I notice for 16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel you a lot of times we try to get people to reach that point. First, though be ashamed will be ashamed will be ashamed what you know. Either shame because it on the sense of indebted, which produces eagerness but those who have that sense of indebtedness to God into the world and eagerness. Then they're not ashamed. Maybe somebody in Rome. I hear Paul writing or they greeted he says I'm eager to preach the gospel you are Roman they think themselves wrong when it comes around as anyone ever tell you around Paul. This is a place that would despise some gospel story of a felon who supposedly rose from the dead. This is the high-minded society. This is the intellectual hub of the Empire. This is the greatest city of the greatest empire on earth, not to mention the most pagan, immoral, perhaps square footage and all of the kingdom sides ball. They worship Nero here. They burned their incense to Caesar and they claim that Caesar is king and I think too highly of you. Perhaps Paul was thinking of David's words in Psalm one 1946. I will speak thy testimonies before kings and I will not be ashamed.

I couldn't help but think of this as I listened with amazement troubled spirit to a political appointee over these last few days before Senate confirmation committee get lambasted and ridiculed in question pummeled by the media. Consider flake a fanatical weirdo. Why because he had some immoral skeleton in his closet because he was a member of some strange apparition some cold no because he made the statement in a speech a few years ago.

There is no king but Jesus, but I thought one recently defeated vice presidential candidate mention got all the time his prayers. I saw printed in the news and Observer so positive, the darling of the media's religion was a badge of honor, and everybody was trumpeting his character and besides, the leaders, the times like that always talk about God.

God bless America and God bless this dog do this in. We trust in God and all that it's it's okay to say something about God.

Just don't mention Jesus Christ, then you've gone over the deep end and your fanatic whatever you do don't ever even imply that song about Jesus Christ is sovereign, you really want to come to Rome to get a brand you as some strange person Christianity will be unpopular here. It will be offensive. It will cause scandal. The cross will be an offense, William R. Newell wrote these very wonderful words Paul was little of stature.

We know he had a weak bodily presence is speech or delivery ability was not considered of any account he said himself in here is Paul utterly weaken himself and with his own physical thorn get ready, eager to go to Rome and preach what a Christ that the Jewish nation had themselves rejected a Christ who had been despised and crucified by Roman soldiers at the order of a Roman governor talk of your brave men. A world where in history. Can you find one like Paul Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon marched with the protection of their armies to enforce their will upon men, but Paul marched with Christ to the center of this world's greatness into an empire which shook the world with nothing less or more than Christ alone. And here comes Paul and he says before he ever gets there. I am not ashamed of the gospel that you should ashamed about your head in the cafeteria you're in the restaurant to thank your Lord for your food or you ashamed to tell anybody that you are in church today. Are you ashamed to carry your Bible around the put on your desk. Jesus Christ delivered some haunting words at one point when he said whoever is ashamed of me and my words. I will be ashamed when I come in the glory my father with the holy angels stand before him and have him be ashamed of me to you. Paul wrote years later to a son in the faith Timothy therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner.

But join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. It was saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. For this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed. Paul why are you not ashamed. He goes on because I know whom I have believed I am convinced that he is able to keep that which I've committed him against that day. What is that day, that day is when we see him face-to-face. You see possible the future until he saw the present different eyes because he saw people differently.

He lived differently than most others would see lumps of rock were the handful of coins up also star sapphires fit for the crown of his cane. What you see, if we took the statistics of missions organizations as to how many people are churched and how many people are unchurched. By that, how many are redeemed, how many are redeemed.

Of course we know that necessarily a connection. Religious organizations tend to lump everybody into that Christian term if they believe in trinitarianism and there lumped in doing so, I think the numbers are inflated, but even with the numbers they provide just the population growth alone between last Sunday when you left here in this Sunday morning when you showed up more than a million people were born, but 138,000 everyday you had those unredeemed to the unredeemed of the world and if you were to put them in a line. A single file line would stretch around the world eight times. If you can get in your car and drive 60 miles an hour, 10 hours a day and never stop. Even though you wouldn't be able to hardly focus on the face, driving by so fast. But if you just drive past all those people in that line, never stopping 10 hours a day, 60 miles an hour it would still take you nearly 5 years just to drive past you drive around town when you see you go to the mall. Please go to that sporting event go to school on the campus police.

Paul would have seen people to whom he owed everything to see my friends. He lived and obligated life that was ready and eager and ashamed of the gospel of the soon coming King of Kings and Lord of lords for the day would see that face-to-face and he lived in the light of that coming.

Another way of saying Paul lived with forever on his mind that determine the way he lived in the present. He was intent. He was and he was unashamed that perspective is ours if we live like Paul lived living with forever in mind since were simply passing through this world.

We need to learn to live with heaven and eternity in mind were going to explore this further in the remaining two lessons in this series and that'll be next Monday and Tuesday you're listening to wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi. Stephen is the pastor teacher of colonial Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina.

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