The Apostle Paul wrote a mighty treatise and passionate document to a group of Roman Christians. In this letter, most likely read in public in many house churches, he addressed his passion for preaching Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. In Romans 15:14-21 we see how he explains his understanding of God’s mission for him.
Romans 15:14-16
14 I am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 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. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
He was also very sure that God’s grace extended far beyond the boundaries of the Jewish world. In the book of Acts and in further letters written by Paul, we see his commitment to preach the Gospel in places others had not yet gone and some that others would not dare to go. And yet go he did while preaching the Gospel. One scene in particular demonstrates his willingness and ability to go to those completely out of his normal circle of influence.
Acts 17:16-34
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by he man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
What drove Paul was his own conversion experience—a direct encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ. He wanted everyone to know the transforming work of Jesus Christ. It is important to read about this initial encounter now.
Acts 9:1-19
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
(See also Acts 22:6-21, 26:12-18, Galatians 1:11-24, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 15:8.)
How old Paul, formerly Saul, was when Jesus Christ was born can only be estimated. But over thirty years after the Bethlehem shepherds bowed before the infant Christ, the voice of the resurrected Christ stopped Saul in his tracks, reframed his religiously legalistic experience into the New Covenant light, and set him on the trajectory to be part of the distribution of the Gospel message until the whole world would know. From this point in Paul’s we do recognize is that he and his companions, and the many who have came after them preaching, are an essential part of the Gospel reaching all peoples.
God will continually call people to preach his Gospel, of this you can be sure. In our present and troubled world, preaching is just as essential as it has ever been. But there may be some barriers that some encounter. Perhaps it is simply resisting God’s call, or perhaps it is political or social pressures that seek to prevent them from doing so, or perhaps there is fear in how people might respond. Indeed, there may be reasons to be fearful, but God can help them and us to overcome our fears about spreading the wonderful Gospel. We need to pray for all those preaching today, and we need to pray for more preachers to emerge.
Throughout the New Testament and in Matthew 9:35-38 we see the work of Jesus and his preaching. In this passage in particular we also see his call for believers to pray that more people would go out to proclaim the Gospel.
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
You and I may not know the joys of our deeply spiritual Christian experiences today if someone had not preached or presented the Gospel to us. Do you remember your life without Christ? Do you want others to know that freedom from sin, the joy and hope that is found in salvation through Jesus Christ? If so, take some time today to thank God for those who shared the Gospel with you, and pray, pray, pray for those who can preach, should preach and are preaching.
Amen
© M.R.Hyde 2025
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