Romans 13; Romans 14; Romans 15; Romans 16
Boldness To Share About Jesus
Scripture
Romans 15
15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.
Observation
Have you read through the book of Romans lately? Paul makes the statement in verse 15 of chapter 15 that he has written to those in Rome quite boldly…what an understatement! He has never been to Rome and yet he writes to them just as boldly as he did to the church in Corinth a church that was filled with strife and sin.
After you go through what I have gone through and have died at least 2 or 3 times and by the power of God’s church have been brought back from the pit of death you can begin to understand why Paul had the boldness that he had. He went through way more than I have gone through just listen to this description of what Paul endured while he served His Lord:
23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
At Thanksgiving this year we just had our children and grand children over normally we have 30 to 40 people over and it is wonderful chaos. We love having everyone over at Thanksgiving. Before the meal our tradition is for everyone in the room to share something that they are thankful for and this is what we have done for years. This year I knew that I had to talk to my family about why God created them and how they were supposed to living their lives. I shared how there was a time in my life when I didn’t love God. When Kathy and first got married my life was a mess and the only thing I thought about was doing everything that would please myself, drinking and other things much worse than that. The second year of our marriage God changed my life through the influence of a godly Sunday School teacher. God became the love of my life and for the past 40 something years He has remained the love of my life. And I challenged my children and grand children to live their lives in a love relationship with Jesus Christ.
There is boldness in my life that wasn’t there before. I realize that I have been given extra life. I have been given a little more time. I know that there may not be another Thanksgiving to talk to my kids. I know that life is short. And I sense the urgency of challenging every person I talk with about their responsibility to serve and love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
This past Thursday night I was able to tell everybody about my good doctor reports on Thursday and how well the doctor thought I was doing. Then yesterday (Friday) while my nurse was here checking me out and was just getting ready to leave my blood pressure once again crashed and this time it dropped down in the 60’s and he had to lay me down on the floor. It scared him, it scared Kathy and it scared me. Once again he said that I need to go to the hospital and once again I told him “no”. My blood pressure did return to what is normal for me and the rest of the day it was fine. I even walked down the street later that afternoon with some friends that had come to visit me.
I mention that just to say that life is short. There is no guarantee for you or me that we will live and make it through the year 2012 or for that matter even through 2011. We must be bold and share Christ now and challenge everyone we meet to live for God. Some of you will get upset that I wrote this paragraph and you will think that I am discouraged or that I am worried about dying. I am not worried about dying. I am just trying to let you know that every day God gives us to live He has given it to us for us to further His Kingdom. And our days are numbered! Believe me when I say this I hope to live for many more years and it is my desire to die on the mission field in some country that hasn’t heard about Jesus and die serving the Lord.
Application
I will boldly talk to people about their relationship with Jesus Christ and about their love for God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I know there will be people that will read this and not understand what I am trying to say. You have put so many people on my heart. You know all the people that I am praying for. You know my heart. I pray to You knowing that You are sovereign and that You are totally in control. Help me never lose the boldness, the urgency of challenging people in their walk with You. You have helped me understand how precious life is and how short it is. I know that You delight in me and I know that I am the apple of Your eye. And I know that You feel that way towards me not because of anything that I have done, but because of Your great Mercy and Grace. I pray for Pastor Bruce and Heather today. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit, give them the desires of their hearts, answer their prayers and make their plans successful. You are Worthy of Praise.
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