 All right, so here we are in Romans chapter 15, one chapter from the end of Romans. Just goes to show that one more week and we've been here for four months. So Romans all the way, Romans one, all the way to Romans chapter 15. So here we are. So basically in Romans chapter 15, Paul's kind of wrapping up his letter to the Romans here. He's kind of wrapping things up. He's giving some parting advice to the church at Rome and he's really kind of talking about some interpersonal stuff. If you remember in chapter number 14, it was kind of the same. Paul was talking about, you know, he's got this church that's got all these different people from these different cultures. You've got Jews and you've got Gentiles coming together and he's basically saying in Romans chapter 14, hey, you know, don't sweat the small stuff. Don't worry about the things that don't matter. Don't worry about the days that other people celebrate and may not others may not celebrate. Don't worry about things that you eat. You know, we all know that we're free in Christ and none of these rules apply to us anymore. But if you have some people that have some of these hangups, just be graceful, be long suffering. And he's just trying to give some interpersonal advice to people to keep the church, which is this blending of all these different cultures to keep them together. And you know, there's some of the same in chapter 15 here. He gives some more overarching interpersonal advice for the members of the church. You know, there's actually three things that I was thinking about that I wanted to preach about on, you know, Sunday morning and then Tuesday night for the New Year's when I think about what we need and what we need to focus on. What are the big, you know, themes that our church needs in order to be successful into the New Year? You know, these are things that you should think about on a New Year, right, before the New Year. What can I do better? How can we get better? And there was three things. I not only really had two sermons to do it, but it's funny because one of them popped up in Romans chapter 15. So we're gonna hit that tonight as well. But basically Paul's kind of wrapping up his letter. He's wrapping up his letter. So let's go ahead and let's just start in verse number 15 or in chapter 15 and verse number one where the Bible says we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. So he's giving some advice on how we're supposed to act towards each other. He's saying, you know, first of all, you know, number one, if you are strong, if you don't have infirmities, infirmities meaning, you know, mental or physical weaknesses, he's saying if you don't have infirmities, you know, first of all, you should be thankful if you don't have infirmities. You know, these are the season, you know, where people should be thankful about the things that the blessings that God has given them. And he's saying that number one, you know, we should be thankful that we're strong if you are strong. But he's saying if you are strong, you ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. You ought to have compassion on those that aren't strong. And people, especially, you know, the brothers and sisters in your church. Okay, this is great advice. Look at verse number two. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. Turn to Philippians chapter two. He kind of carries this a little bit further. In Philippians chapter two, Philippians chapter two, look at verse number three. The Bible says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. He's saying, don't be selfish. You know, if every interaction you had with people in church was to their benefit, we would do well here is what Paul is saying. Okay, look down at verse number three. No, you say this is pretty simple advice, but did you hear what I just said? If every interaction that you have with people in church, with your brothers and sisters in Christ, was for their benefit, we would do well. We would have a great culture here, if that was the case. But you have to try to do these things because you're kind of wired to want to do things for your own benefit, unfortunately, in this world that we live in. All right, look at verse number three. For even Christ, please not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. Christ was reproached, Paul says here. Turn to Psalm 69. Here's a Bible tip for you, wherever you see the words as it is written, he's quoting usually something from the Old Testament in those cases. He's referencing an Old Testament verse or prophecy or something like that. Turn to Psalm 69 and look at verse number seven. In Psalm 69, verse number seven, the Bible says, so we see that Christ was reproached, Paul said. In verse number seven, because for thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face, I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother's children. Remember when John, in John 111 where it says, he came unto his own and his own received him not. So we have kind of a dual prophecy here in the book of Psalms. David is talking about himself, but it's also a prophecy of Christ as well. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. So we see that exact quote from Romans 15 and verse number three. Jesus said, I'll just read it for you. In John 15, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated ye, you. So if you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated you. So look, if the world, Jesus was reproached, if the world hates you, you should not be surprised. If the world hates you because of the beliefs that you hold, and we're gonna talk about this on Sunday morning, we're gonna talk about this on Tuesday night. But if the world hates what you stand for, Jesus is telling you, and the Bible says again and again and again, we're not gonna get too deep into it tonight, but basically don't be surprised. Don't be offended. That's what Jesus said was gonna happen. They hated me first, he's saying, okay? Now look, how many of people do you know that are unsaved in this world that love that you come to a church like this? And we just think of it that way. I mean, there's your proof right there. So you need not be offended by that, is what the Bible is saying, okay? And we'll talk about that more in depth on Sunday morning. Look down to verse number four of Romans 15. For whatsoever things were written a four time, were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. So this is a great verse for the upcoming challenge in January. The Bible says here that the prophecies, that the scriptures, that the Bible will give you hope. Now what better way to start the new year with a big huge dose of hope in your life? So the Bible gives you that hope. Remember in Romans chapter five, tribulation, work with patience and patience, experience and experience, hope. Reading the Bible in the month of January is gonna give you a nice full gas tank of hope going into the new year. Romans 15 verse number five. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. Let's read that again. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a, I wanna kind of put it in park here and I really wanna talk about these two verses that Paul's discussing here. He's saying that we need to be of one mind and one mouth. Now that might seem like a simple command but it's not a simple thing. He's basically talking about, this is kind of the main theme of Romans. If I could wrap up the entire book of Romans for you that's what I would, that's the phrase I would use. One mind and one mouth. Think about it. Think about all the themes in Romans. The first few chapters we have the gospel. Our common gospel, belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. He preaches the gospel again and again and again and again and then in the middle of Romans we see that there's neither Jew nor Greek. It's not about your lineage or your bloodlines or whatever. It's just about the belief in the gospel that he had already talked about. That's why he talked about the gospel first in Romans. But finally at the end of Romans he starts giving us this practical advice. Now here we are, we know, we understand the gospel. We're saved, we're in church. We know that there's neither Jew nor Greek but then he starts in Romans chapter 14, Romans chapter 15 giving us these commands hey, this is how we all need to be of one mind and one mouth, he says. Now look, that's the final goal, right? That's the goal of a great culture of a great church is that we're all of one mind and one mouth. So how do we do that is the question. How do we do that? I was thinking about, Pastor gave a sermon, I think it was either this Sunday morning or the Sunday morning before. But it was basically, I kind of thought about when I was listening to that sermon, maybe this is something I haven't really touched on in this church, but basically it's all about proper communication with each other in the church. Okay, and it's not something that I've talked a lot about but the opposite of proper communication is gossip and backbiting and all of these types of things. We talked about railing, but like a smaller version railing starts out with gossip and backbiting and things like that. Now nothing will destroy the like-mindedness of a church like gossip will. It's a terrible thing. Look, it will destroy friends, it will destroy friendships, it will destroy, you know, it can destroy people's heart towards a church. Just gossip, a simple thing like that. I'm gonna give you a couple examples of proper communication in a church. You know, let's say that there's a church policy. We have a church policy I've talked about here before. It's about how we have personal workers and how when we have a visitor come into the church, we don't just have everybody who sees them first just try to give them the gospel and everybody hitting them in the face of the Bible and all this kind of stuff. So we have some organization to it. We have this personal worker program and all this type of thing. So it's pretty simple and it's pretty understandable but let's say that you don't understand it or you don't get it and then you go to somebody and you say, hey, you know, this personal worker thing, I don't know about it. And I think I should be able to give the gospel because, you know, I can give the gospel and that's what I'm supposed to do is give the gospel and you're talking to someone about that issue that you have who has no control over that situation at all. You are in fault in that situation and here's how it gets even better. The person listening to that is at fault. You see? These types of things destroy churches. They split churches. You notice how it says one mind and one mouth? It said it twice. So I mean, these things can be very, very subtle but we need to watch for these types of things. Okay, look, let's say you're basically in those cases those people are sowing seeds of discontent is what they're doing. And they're just sowing the seeds and those seeds will grow. Unfortunately, I've seen it several times. Look, think about personal relationships like with a friend, right? Say you go up to somebody and you say, hey, you know, so-and-so didn't pay me back for this thing, I took him out to lunch and he didn't pay me back and I'm telling somebody else other than that person about the situation that happened. Immediately I'm sowing seeds of discontent towards the person that has apparently wronged me. So I'm in the wrong and also the person listening is in the wrong. So look, we wanna help protect when I'm trying to get you to understand we wanna help protect the oneness or maybe that's the bad choice of word. Like the unity, how's that? We wanna protect, not the Unitarianism, the unity. We wanna protect the unity of this church. So we need to pay attention to these types of situations. We don't need to jump on people but we just need to be aware of things that are happening because look, all you have to do in cases like that is just say, hey, let's go talk to him about it. Hey, I don't understand why that policy's like this either. Let's go talk to Brother Jared about it or whatever, right? I mean, it's that simple. Look, as far as the church policy goes, this is another thing that I really haven't talked a lot about is actually how the church runs. But look, just come ask, just come ask me about anything. That's, I wanna personally tell you that. Hopefully I know you all well enough and I hope you know me all well enough to know that you can come ask me anything, anytime. You can tell me anything. Look, I'll explain it to you. I'll explain it to you. Look, but ultimately, here's something that you have to understand, okay? There's no deacon board here. We're not voting on policy here. This is a pastor led church. And you know, let me just explain another thing. First of all, here's what you'll never see me do. When there's some kind of policy and I have to bring it up to someone, a policy, what you'll never see me do is this. Yeah, you know, this is just pastor's policy. I don't know. That's just the way he wants it done. I wouldn't do it that way, but you will never see me do that. Okay, because that would be wrong of me to do that. Because I would be gossiping. I would be sowing seeds of discontent against my pastor. Okay, I mean, those types of, that's serious business right there. Okay, look this, one thing pastor said in his sermon was, you know, that being part of a church is a privilege. And look, being in my position where I'm at right now, it's a privilege. There's no guarantee that I can't do something to mess up this position that I'm in. It's a privilege. So we all need to just operate in a godly fashion as far as communication with each other. Look, when we moved from North Dakota to Sacramento, I'm telling you, and many of you, this may be the case for you too, but I'm telling you right now that when we moved from North Dakota to Sacramento, that was the first time in my life that I can honestly tell you that I had been in a Bible run church that was being run the correct way according to the Bible. First time. That's good. That was the first time. And you know, there was a lot of things that I wasn't, I didn't understand why they did certain things the way they did. I didn't understand. But number one, you don't have to understand first of all. But if you want to understand, just ask. Especially for you men, if you're thinking maybe I wanna go into the ministry someday or that's something that's ever crossed your mind, maybe you should ask questions on why certain things. Cause I can tell you, there are reasons for everything that are done. And I didn't understand a lot of it since I've come here, I've understood many things that I didn't understand before, but I was just okay with it. I was just like, you know, whatever. What do I know about running a church? So look, remember what I said about Romans 14, where if you're this kind of person, if you're this kind of person that just, there's all these things that don't even matter and you just have to have everyone agree with you on everything, you're just gonna have no friends in your whole life. You're not gonna have any friends. If you have this whole list of everything that you have opinions on and 50% of them don't matter, but everyone has to agree with you on everything. You're not gonna have any friends. And in the same manner also, if you have to have everything your way, just please remember this. If you're the type of person that has to have everything your way, things are just not gonna go well for you in church, especially with a pastor lit church, a biblical church, okay? So those are just some structural things, but hey, I just wanna let everybody know, ask me anything, I'll tell you. Because there's good reason for the things that matter, there is good reason for the way things run and the way things are to run. Just ask. And then on the things that maybe you think, hey, because look, no two men on planet Earth are gonna run a machine or a system or anything exactly the same way. You just gotta have a little bit of trust in your leadership. That's it. And that was a big part of, to this day, why Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento is so important to me, is because I finally found a man that I could trust to be my pastor in my life. And I mean, you have to have that. You have to have somebody that you can trust. Or it's just, it's not gonna work out, right? All right, so proper communication is huge. That will keep us with one mind and one mouth, okay? So what we say matters, what we say matters. Look at Romans 15 and verse number seven. The Bible says, wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us under the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision of the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. He's talking about the Jews. Verse number nine, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written. There's those words again. Turn to Psalm 18, for this cause I will confess thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name. Look at Psalm chapter 18. Psalm chapter 18, right in the middle of your Bible, the book of Psalms. Psalm 18, look at verse number 48. In the Bible reads, we see that passage. He delivered me from mine enemies, yea thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen and sing praises unto thy name. So among the heathen, among the Gentiles, same thing. David was a great witness amongst the heathen. You know, remember Psalm 51, we talked about on Sunday morning. David was a great, he was always wanting to go out soul-winning and just praise God and just teach people, teach sinners, you know, teach transgressors your ways. David was a great witness. Look at verse number 10, Romans 15. And again he saith, rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and lod him, all ye people. And again, Isaiah says, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, and him shall the Gentiles trust. Turn to Isaiah, of course Isaiah is Greek for the old, the major prophet Isaiah. Turn to Isaiah chapter 11. So let me ask you this, look at verse number 12. It says there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles. Did Jesus ever reign over the Gentiles? Did, was Jesus an earthly king over the Gentiles? No, Jesus was not an earthly king. He came to earth, he died for the sins of the world. So what is this talking about? Look at Isaiah chapter 11, let's start in verse number six. In verse number six, the Bible reads, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed, and their young one shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. And this sounds like a weird time. And the suckling child shall play in the hole of the asp, a very poisonous snake, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day shall there be a root of Jesse, that shall stand for an ensign of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. This is talking about, and Paul is making reference to the millennial reign of Christ right here, where Jesus rules over the Gentiles, the Jews, everybody, okay? And of course, the millennial reign of Christ, there's gonna be no animals that are eating each other. You know, I'm probably not gonna be any steak, which is a little depressing, but that's the way it's gonna be. The Bible says that the animals will be changed, and this is a reference to that verse in Isaiah. All right, look at verse number 13. Verse number 13. And we talked about verse number 13 also on Sunday morning, but the Bible reads, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost. And I myself am also persuaded, view my brethren that you're also full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God. He is being bold to them, he says, out of love towards them. That's another thing that we need to recognize being in a church like this, especially heading in to a new year. How do you take preaching? Is a good question to ask yourself, heading into the new year. How do you take preaching? Do you walk out after sermons mad and hard hearted? Or, you know, because Paul is saying here, he's like, I've written boldly to you out of, because I'm putting you in mind, Paul said. And if you can't take, look, if you can't take bold preaching, if you can't take bold preaching from the word of God, you'll go nowhere in the Christian life, unfortunately. And you'll benefit, and here's the biggest one. You'll go nowhere in the Christian life, and you'll benefit no one. That's the worst part of it. Right, because what's the point? I mean, you're saved, right? Nothing anyone can ever do, including yourself, can make you not saved anymore. But if you do, if you don't listen to the word of God, and someone preaches the word of God at you, and you just get hard hearted and angry, not only are you not gonna grow in the Christian life, but you're not gonna do anything for anyone else, including those people of your own family, those people going out soul winning, and affecting the people in this community, you're not gonna wanna do any of that stuff either, you're just gonna get hard hearted towards all of it. It will happen. So watch yourself, watch yourself how you're taking the preaching. So if suddenly something happens where all of a sudden the preaching is really bothering you, it's really, you know, there's a problem there. I'm not saying it shouldn't bother you, but you should be like, oh, it should convict you. It should not just make you hard hearted and mad, okay? But look, the sad fact is, is that most people can't take bold preaching. That's the truth. There's lots of saved people out there. There's a reason that we don't have 500 people in this church, we're all really nice people, but the bottom line is, people don't wanna hear bold preaching, because it convicts them, and they wanna keep doing things the way they're doing things. But unfortunately, those people will benefit no one. That's why you see these churches, these liberal churches going on mission trips, where they're going out and they're building a shed or handing out diapers to people. It benefits no one. Diapers do nothing that has eternal value. Now I'm not against, you know, being gracious to those who are needy, but the bottom line is, in this Christian life, if you are someone who can take Bible preaching, if you're someone who's gonna be in your Bible and you're gonna change your life according to what you hear and what you read, you are gonna be a great blessing to people with your short time on this earth. That's the bottom line. Look at Romans 15 verse 16. Paul continues that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God, for I will not dare to speak any of those things which Christ had not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. He's not just gonna go out and he's gonna start giving orders and trying to just lord over people with, you know, things that the Bible doesn't teach. Which people do that today too, okay? Verse 19, through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, that from Jerusalem and round about into a lyrice, Garrett messed me up, I had this. Elyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, I have strived to preach the gospel, not where I was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. But as it is written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see and they shall not, they shall have not heard, they that have not heard shall understand. Now, verse 20 and 21, isn't that true? Where he's talking about, you know, he doesn't wanna go and preach. It doesn't really apply to us, verse 20. It's a little bit different for us today. We actually actually go and tear down somebody else's foundation and then build up the real foundation is what we have to do. But he's talking about, you know, I don't wanna go and just give the same gospel and do the work where somebody else is. I wanna go where they haven't even heard it before. That's why when we do get out in that when we are of one mind and one voice and we're getting strong in this church and everybody's a strong soul winner and the church grows and we go out to a foreign mission field, it's going to be easier than it is here. Because there's no foundation laid in a lot of these places that we're gonna go. We don't have to tear down this foundation and clear all the rubble out and get the wrong building out of the way before we can start building the true building and put the right cornerstone in. We don't have to do that. It'll just be a blank greenfield site that we can just start building on. That's why it's so great when you go to these foreign countries and these people they just, they just haven't really heard of any of this stuff before. It's so easy. Even here you'll find people who just aren't religious. It's so easy if they have the right heart to get them saved because they don't have a false foundation built up. All right. Look at verse number 22. For this cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now having no more place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come unto you. Look, Paul wanted to go to Rome for a long time. Verse 24. Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you for I trust to see you in my journey and be brought on my way thitherward towards you. If first I be somewhat filled with your company but now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Ikea to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. And it pleased them verily and their debtors they are for if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. So basically Paul is bringing this offering just physically saying what he's doing. He's bringing this offering from Macedonia and Archaia to Jerusalem to the saints there. And he's basically saying that, you know what? It's right for them to do that to give them these ties and offerings and bring that to Jerusalem because they were partakers in the spiritual things that came out of Jerusalem. The apostles that came out preaching the gospel. They were partakers of it. So it's right that they would do what they can to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who were poor. Look at verse 28. When therefore I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit I will come by you into Spain still talking about how he wants to go to them. And I'm sure that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Verse 30. Now I beseech you brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. And that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. So look, he's first going to Jerusalem. Okay, here's what he's actually doing here. He's first going to Jerusalem to meet with the saints there and bring this offering there. And he's like, hey, just pray for me for them that don't believe he knows what he's walking into. Paul, he knows that he's walking in to a dangerous situation in Jerusalem. Okay, look in Acts 23 they try to kill him in when he actually does make this trip to Jerusalem because the Bible documents it. In verse 32, let me just finish up. Then I may come to you with joy by the will of God and it may be with you to be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with you all, amen. So Paul, he knew what he was walking into but he went anyway and then he just has this thing where he's just like over and over and over he wants to go to Rome as well. And Rome was quickly becoming the most dangerous place for a Christian on the planet, okay? Now look, I just want to make three main points to just wrap up this whole chapter, okay? The first one is this. We need to be of one mind and one mouth here. Think about that. Think about that saying as we go into, as Verity Baptist Fresno goes into the new year together. We need to be of one mind and one mouth, okay? And we do that through proper communication. If you want lasting friendships in your life, exercise that. If you don't want to just be friends with somebody for six months and then be friends with another person for six months and friends with, I mean that's what happens when people who operate this way. They just go from friends to friends to friends to friends. They just end up offending everybody. I mean, nobody would like someone talking about them behind their back. I mean, this isn't rocket surgery to figure out why this doesn't work, okay? It ruins relationships. We want to have a good church atmosphere. We talk about the culture a lot here. We want to be friendly to those that come in. We want to be friendly to each other. We want to be proper to each other. So again, I just want to say this. Nothing happens here. Nothing's done here that matters by accident. Everything is done decently in order for very good reason. If you have questions, there's no issue at all with that. Please ask, okay? All right, bold preaching. It's another thing that comes up in this chapter. Look, the next couple of sermons before the new year, I'm going to speak to you boldly. Warning. Okay? Because I want to say certain things that are for your benefit and for the benefit of this ministry here, okay? I've written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind. I'm putting you in mind when I preach these sermons to you, okay? And here's why. I want to prepare us for what's coming in the new year. I want to prepare us for what's coming in the future of this ministry. And number two, I have you in mind and this church in mind, okay? I make zero dollars a year doing this. I'm here because I have you in mind. That's why I'm here. So I'm going to preach to you boldly, especially in the next couple of sermons, okay? Acts chapter 20. Turn to Acts chapter 20. Let's close with this. I just want to close. I want to get some attention to Paul's eagerness to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. Because it's found throughout the New Testament. It's not just in the book of Romans. Look at Acts chapter 20 and verse number 20. And the Bible says, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall be following me there. He knew it was dangerous going there. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me. Neither count I, my life, dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry, and I have received, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. He was given the ministry of the Lord Jesus. He received it from the Lord Jesus personally. And nothing would move him. And he knows bonds are coming, afflictions are coming. He knows everything's coming. Turn to Acts 23. He knows even Jerusalem was not a friendly place. I'm gonna read for you Acts chapter 19. While you turn to Acts 23. Acts chapter 19 verse 21, the Bible says, after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem. Saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. He was convicted. He was going. Look at Acts 23 verse number 10. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing less Paul, should have been pulled in pieces of them. Now this is where he's there now. He's in Jerusalem now. This is how things are going for him right now. It doesn't sound that great. Fearing that he should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. And the night following, the Lord stood by him and said, be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou had testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also in Rome. The Lord Jesus Christ told him to go to Rome. That's another thing. Look at Romans chapter one in verse number 14. I want you to turn there, because I want you to see this phrase. I know we already went through Romans chapter one, but I want to point something out. We're gonna go to Romans chapter one and then we're gonna go to Acts chapter nine after that. In Romans chapter one, look at verse number 14. Paul says, I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. As much as in me is, this is why God chose Paul. Because what that means, as much as in me is, he's like, everything that I have inside me, no matter what, I will never stop until I get there. That's what it means. And if he's dead, physically, he probably can't get there, but he's saying as much as in me is, I'm going there. Look at Acts chapter nine. This is the kind of, but look, Paul had this characteristic in him even before he got saved. Look at Acts chapter nine in verse number one. And Saul, this is before he got saved and he was Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, Christians, whether they be men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. He went on his own to the leaders and is like, give me letters, give me power, and I will find them all. This is Paul. This is how determined this man was. In Acts eight, it says he made havoc of the church because he wouldn't stop. And then he went and he got more powers and more letters, give me more power, and I will go and I will find all of them, men and women and children. I'll get them all. These are the kind of people that God uses to do great things. Paul obviously was pointed in the wrong direction here. That's why Jesus visited him on the road to Damascus. But do you think that it is an accident that there are people like this? Do you think that people just become this way? No, you have to learn this. You have to push yourself. You know, these are the people that do like these great, I mean, think of just secular examples. Think of the Navy SEAL that goes through the hardest training in the world. That just, he's able, he's somehow found a way to tell his mind that the pain doesn't matter. That it just doesn't hurt. That I'm gonna keep going. My legs are still gonna keep moving and I'm never gonna stop. I'm never gonna quit. This was Paul. This was who Paul was. Look, if every Christian only had this attitude, I mean, what in the world could we accomplish? Can you imagine if every Christian had this type of attitude? You know, there are people out there that have this attitude in the secular world with business, with their jobs. They're incredibly successful because they'll never stop, they'll never quit. They just keep going and going and going. Something doesn't work, they get up and they keep going. Nothing will ever stop them. Ever. Because they've told themselves that as much as in me is, I will succeed. When God needs someone to do something big, he finds someone like this. Look at Jehu. They knew who Jehu was, just how he rode. Because he wasn't like, no, he drove like Jehu, the Bible said. And you see it, because when Jehu pulled his bow back and he pulled his bow back so hard, he shot an arrow straight through the man. I mean, he drove, I mean, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. I mean, this is who God chooses to do great things, to do big things. We'll see another example of this on Sunday morning. And I bet you've never thought of this guy in the Bible, this poor guy. But I'm gonna show you another example of this if you wanna be used, look, if you wanna be used by God, you need to become this type of person. Or you can just coast through. You can just coast through life. You can just coast through the Christian life. But the thing is, if you're not driving hard in the Christian life, you're usually falling back because there's so much pressure against you. So you kinda need to be this type of person that just overwhelms all that pressure and pushes through it. And that's who these men were. That's what I'm trying to get across. It deserves some attention because Paul is talked about so much in the Bible, but he was a serious character. I mean, thank God, I mean, for men of action like this in the Bible. I mean, thank God, it's made us, it gave us the Bible. God used men like that to pen the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit. So one mind, one mouth, be ready for bold preaching in your life in general. Just not just for the new year, not just for January, just in your life in general. And I thank God for the apostle Paul and men of action like him. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this church. I thank you for all the men and women in this church. Lord, I pray that you give us boldness, Lord, in our Christian lives. I pray that you just help us understand the type of men that we're reading when we're reading books like Romans and we're reading books like Acts and the things that these men did and the great tribulations that they were up against, or yet they just kept going and it didn't move them. Lord, I pray that as we head into the new year, you always remind us of this. Lord, I thank you for this church and everyone in it. We love you in Jesus' name, amen.