Title: Lion of Blessing
Commentary on Romans 105
messenger of blessing
Romans 15:22-33
Introduction: The apostle Paul saw himself as a messenger of blessing carrying the full blessings of Christ. When he told them to visit the church in Rome, he said, "I know that when I go out to them, I will carry the full blessings of Christ." The servants of God are messengers of blessing, not only the apostle Paul, but anyone else. After the Apostle John received a revelation about what will happen in the end times on the island of Patmos, he sent a letter to seven churches in Asia, expressing the recipient of the letter as a ‘messenger of the church’. The word "messenger" means a sent ambassador. As such, Paul is an ambassador who was sent from Jesus Christ, not anyone else, and when he was sent, he received the full blessings of Christ together.
1. Paul's missionary mission
Paul always went wherever God sent him, confident that he was a messenger of Christ who preached the full blessings of Jesus Christ.
(1) While staying in Corinth, the final destination of the third missionary journey, Paul wrote this letter to the Roman Church. Since Paul preached the gospel widely in Corinth, he now had a new desire to preach the gospel through Rome to the end of Savannah (now Spain). After Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, he became an ambassador for evangelism and spent his life in Asia as an area of evangelism. He preached the gospel in Galatia for three years from 45 to 48 as his first missionary trip.
Next, on his second missionary journey, he lived in Greece from 50 to 53. After that, Paul went to Ephesus on his third evangelistic tour and preached the gospel from 54 to 57. It was during his three-month stay in Corinth during the winter that he came to write this book of Romans.
(2) The reason that Paul devoted his life to the mission of evangelism in this way was because of the debtor's responsibility. Paul says that he is indebted to the gospel. “I am indebted to both Greeks and barbarians, both the wise and the foolish” (Romans 1:14). The Bible tells us that whoever accepted the Gospel first is in a position of debt to those who do not yet know the Gospel.
I have received God's grace. However, there are many souls around me who have not yet received this grace of God. At this time, we have a responsibility to deliver the grace of God that we have received to them. This is what Paul refers to as debt. Debts must be paid off. If you don't pay, anger will come. The debt of the gospel tells us that the responsibility is heavier. “Son of man, I have appointed you to be a watchman for the house of Israel; listen to my mouth and warn them on my behalf. Unless it saves life, the wicked will die in their iniquity, but I will find the price of their blood at your hand” (Ezekiel 3:17, 18). Therefore, Paul feared, “Woe will come upon me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
(3) Paul's zeal to serve the saints of the Jerusalem church can be seen here. Paul was on his way to Jerusalem to serve the saints in Jerusalem before going through Rome and going to Savannah. The church in Jerusalem could be seen as the mother church of all churches at that time. This is because the gospel came from the Jews, and the first church to be established by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the Jerusalem Church. But at that time, there was a great famine in Jerusalem and the believers there were having difficulties in their lives. So, many churches donated money for them and put it in Paul's hands to send the money to the Jerusalem church. After these things were done, Paul told them to go to Savannah via Rome. But God did not let Paul accomplish his plan, but it tells us that he was later arrested in Jerusalem as a Jewish conspiracy and taken as a prisoner to Rome.
2. Messenger of Full Blessing
Although Paul was poor for Christ's sake, he had the full blessings in Christ. He said: “As unknown, yet famous; as dying, and behold, we live, as disciplined, but not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all.” He says (2 Corinthians 6:9). God's servants should at least visit the families of the saints with the pride and pride that Paul has as a messenger.
(1) The messenger of blessing that Paul spoke of refers to the messenger of blessing who conveys the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. The missionary of evangelism is the messenger of the secret of the kingdom of heaven. The secrets of the kingdom of heaven are to be revealed clearly through the gospel. Those who have this mystery become the missionary of evangelism. The value of heaven is greater and more precious than the possessions of the whole world. The servants of God, who are messengers of blessing, must know that they are missionaries who have this secret of heaven and distribute it to everyone.
(2) The messenger of blessing that Paul spoke of is a messenger of peace that delivers peace. When Jesus sent out his disciples to the evangelism band, he said, “As you enter the house, pray for peace, and if the house is worthy of it, your empty peace will come to it; if it is not worthy, it will return to you.” How amazing is the promise that the blessings of God's servants will remain in the homes they visit, and the Lord's peace will come from those families.
(3) The messenger of blessing that Paul spoke of is a messenger who can deliver the word of God. When Elijah came to Zarephath, he saw a widow picking up branches and said to the widow: “Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but make a small loaf of it for me and bring it to me, and then make it for you and your son, says the LORD, the God of Israel, The flour will not run out, and the oil in the jar will not run out.” These words that came out of Elijah's mouth were the words of God. If you preach the word of God written in the mouth of a servant of God, God takes responsibility for the word.