Romans 15:14-21
Paul’s Gratification in Service (vv. 14-16)
A. Satisfied with the current victories
B. Sensitive to the ongoing vision
Paul’s Glory in Service (vv. 17-19)
A. Paul’s accomplishments are purposed for God
B. Paul’s accomplishments are provided in Christ
C. Paul’s accomplishments are powered by the Spirit
Paul’s Goal in Service (vv. 20-21)
A. Preach the gospel faithfully
B. Preach the gospel strategically
More to Consider
In writing to a group of people whom he had never met as a group, Paul showed admirable restraint in avoiding personal references to himself. Only once did he use himself as an example (7:7–25), and his other personal remarks are few (1:8–16; 9:1–3; 10:1–2; 11:1). Now as he closed his letter he felt led to discuss his philosophy of ministry and his plans in light of it.
John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 496.
The class of noisy boys in a German primary school was being punished by their teacher. They were assigned the problem of adding together all the numbers from 1 to 100. The boys settled down, scribbling busily on their slates -- all but one. This boy looked off into space for a few moments, then wrote something on his slate and turned it in. His was the only right answer.
When the amazed teacher asked how he did it, the boy replied, "I thought there might be some short cut, and I found one: 100 plus 1 is 101; 99 plus 2 is 101; 98 plus 3 is 101, and, if I continued the series all the way to 51 plus 50, I have 101 50 times, which is 5,050."
After this episode, the young scholar received special tutoring from his teacher. The boy was Karl Friedrich Gauss, the great mathematician of the 19th century.
Bits & Pieces, April 30, 1992.
Hudson Taylor had definite convictions about how God's work should be done. We can make our best plans and try to carry them out in our own strength. Or we can make careful plans and ask God to bless them. "Yet another way of working is to begin with God; to ask His plans, and to offer ourselves to Him to carry out His purposes.
"Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers, p. 243.
For several years a lawyer and a doctor had regularly played golf together. They were evenly matched, and there was a keen sense of rivalry. Then one spring the lawyer's game suddenly improved so much that the doctor was losing regularly. The doctor's efforts to improve his own game were unsuccessful, but finally he came up with an idea. At a bookstore he picked out three how-to-play golf texts, and sent them to the lawyer for a birthday present. It wasn't long before they were evenly matched again.
Bits & Pieces, March 3, 1994, pp. 22-23.
