The Godly Pastor

The Godly Pastor
Rom 1:8-12
Bro. Charley Buntin
Sunday School Teacher
Trace Creek Baptist Church
Mayfield, KY
270-727-0707
mainto4@ethixs.com
1. Pastor Paul has heard of them and wants to meet them—1:8-10
a. The Pastor’s Heart—Rom 1:8— The Romans were a known church, a bastion of Godliness in the headquarters city of the pagan emperor-god.
(1) Paul was always thanking God—not that God needs a boost, but it is only proper to thank the One who lifted you up.
(2) They were a church with a reputation
(3) Note, that there was talk about this church, but it was not about negative things, but about what God was doing there!
(4) Paul does not thank them for their hard work, he thanks God for what they are.
b. Paul thanks God
(1) Paul continually prayed—he lived in an attitude of prayer
(2) Paul’s prayers were about spiritual matters above all else—Col 1:9-12
(3) "My" God — Paul knew that God knew him and was confident the he knew God—2 Tim 1:12—confident salvation
(a) Results from a demonstration of power in a changed life—see 2 Cor 4:6
(b) Results from growth in Grace—Heb 6:11, Rom 5:1-5, 2 Pet 2:1-11
(c) Results from purity of life—Heb 10:22
(d) A person can be saved (little faith) and be greatly in doubt because they have been beset on the inside and outside
(e) To have full confidence (great faith) requires growth in adversity—2 Pet 3:18
(f) The Centurion—Mat 8:10
(g) The Syrophoenecian woman—Mat 15:28
(h) We can KNOW—1 John 5:13-20

(4) Paul thanks God through Jesus Christ—Eph 2:18, Eph 3:12
(5) Paul thanks God for the grace given to the Corinthians—1 Cor 1:4
(6) Paul thanks God for the whole process of saving and sanctifying the Thessalonians—1 Th 1:2-10
(7) Paul Thanks God for the Romans:
(a) God is the author of their faith—Heb 12:2
(b) God had called them into fellowship with Him and fellowship with one another
(c) They were a church of renown for their faith.
a. Paul the servant of God—1:9a
(1) Being a God called man, Paul invokes God as his witness!
(2) Paul’s service is “in the Spirit…” because we can do nothing without God—Jn 15:5
(a) God accomplishes by His Spirit—Zec 4:6
(b) True salvation is in the Spirit—Rom 2:29
(c) The Holy Spirit indwells us, or we are not His—Rom 8:9
(d) We must walk in the Spirit— Gal 5:16, 25
(e) We must pray in the Spirit— Eph 6:18

b. The Pastor’s prayers — Rom 1:9 “…without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,"
(1) Paul had prayed for them, never seeing them, yet they were constantly in his prayers. He had no doubt heard of their ministry, and he blessed them for their witness.
(2) Paul the man of prayer, Constant in prayer—1 Th 5:17
(3) Paul had “a concerned spirit (v 9-10a)” MacArthur,
(a) A real man of God must be concerned with the welfare of his people
(b) A wise man of God realizes that the best thing he can do is pray for his people

(4) Paul had a willing and submissive spirit MacArthur, (v. 10b), "now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you."
(a) Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father as well
(b) A real man of God will submit to God’s Providence, and the way that Paul finally gets to Rome is definitely a matter of Providence, and one that seems rough on the face of it.

2. Paul’s Goal for them was Strictly Spiritual—1:11-12
a. Paul had a loving spirit (v. 11) MacArthur,,
(1) He wants to see them, But he wants to see them for spiritual reasons—he is interested in their spiritual wellbeing more than anything else. He wants to see them receive strength so that they can be “established.”
(2) “Some spiritual gift,” MacArthur notes that Romans uses charisma in three senses, though I find a fourth. While we often think of one sense—our personal gifts—and sometimes the second—the gift of Godly men to lead the church, there are three senses in this book—
(a) Salvation is a gift—Rom 5:15-18, 6:23
(b) The gifts of God’s general blessings are seen in Rom 11:28-29
(c) The spiritual gifts are seen in 12:6-8
(d) And the sense in which Paul uses it here must also include “gift” in the Eph 4:11 sense of the word

b. The goal of the gift is that they might be established, strengthened. The word in the original means to set in place, with the implication of being solid and steadfast—again, the emphasis of Eph 4:11-16
c. The need for stability
(1) There are those of two minds, who can’t make them up—James 1:8
(2) There are people who are ripe to be fooled by false teachers—2 Pet 2:14, Eph 4:14-15
(3) Lloyd Jones comments that there are two words which naturally go together: unlearned and unstable—2 Pet 3:16
d. The word sterizo, to establish
(1) Jesus’ determination to go to Jerusalem—Luke 9:51
(2) The gulf between paradise and hades—Luke 16:26
(3) The ministry of God to believers—Rom 16:25, 1 Th 3:2, 1 Th 3:13, 2 Th 2:17
(4) 2 Th 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one."
(5) If we believe He is coming back, we should be established by that fact—James 5:8
(6) We are established even in persecution—1 Pet 5:10 "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."
e. It is always God’s Word (Jn 17:17) that stabilizes the life of the believer è1 Cor 15:58, 2 Cor 1:7, Col 1:23, Heb 2:2, Heb 3:14, Heb 6:19-20
f. Paul knew the source of this was God, because Paul does not say, “that I may establish you,” the verb is in the passive—“that you may be established.” Paul had a humble spirit (v. 12), MacArthur, "that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."
(1) A wise man of God realizes that sometimes the greatest comments come from the voices of babes
(2) A wise teacher will learn from his students
(3) A wise man of God accepts the ministry of those who love him—he does not try to be “Randolph Scott, riding the Trail alone…”

3. The Example: the Ephesian ministry—Acts 20:18-19
a. The Character:
(1) Paul lived before them as a servant.
(2) Paul's ministry among them was a ministry done through trials and opposition.
b. The Manner:
(1) Paul publicly and privately proclaimed the Gospel as his first priority. Acts 20:20
(2) Paul's ministry was both public and through home study groups.
(3) Paul taught in his sermons and preached in his lessons—2 Tim 4:1-2
(4) Paul preached
(a) Paul Preached in synagogues
(b) Paul preached in pagan cities
(c) Paul preached at church councils
(d) Paul preached at ladies' prayer meetings. Acts 16:13
(e) Paul preached in Jail
(f) Paul preached in marketplaces
(g) Paul preached at Mars Hill
(h) Paul preached in houses
(i) Paul preached in school
(j) Paul preached in the upper rooms
(k) Paul preached to the sanhedrin
(l) Paul preached before kings, governors and princes, etc.
(5) The Central message of the Ministry—Acts 20:21. The Gospel is not a gospel of easy-belief—Psa 34:18, Psa 51:17, Matt 9:13, Acts 17:30
(6) The Dedication of The Ministry — . Paul is bound to follow God in all things in spite of the cost — and he has counted the cost — Acts 20:22-24
(7) The Message of the Ministry is Shaped by the Concept of Grace — "...to testify to the gospel of the grace of God....".
(8) The Message of the Ministry is Comprehensive —
(a) Paul had told it all — Paul's conscience is clear, because he has taught them all he knew—Acts 20:20a, Acts 20:25-27
(b) Paul had taught the Ephesians comprehensively. In his two years as their founding pastor, he thoroughly schooled them in the faith, and could therefore declare with confidence that he had given them the whole counsel of God.
(c) No one could say they had fallen into sin or error because of Paul leaving something out of his teaching.
(9) The Defensive Nature of the Ministry—Acts 20:28-31
(10) Only God Can Make Us Able to Do These Things — Acts 20:32
c. So now, the apostle Paul, a man with the heart of a true teaching pastor, has laid his heart out. He begins in our next lesson to lay out the Gospel he preaches