26-1101sc Transcript

(0:04) Romans, the 15th chapter. Let’s pick up again with the 14th verse of the 15th chapter. (0:12) I know we’re down close to the end, almost ready to get into the 16th chapter, (0:19) which will be the final chapter of the book of Romans.

(0:24) Before we do, let’s go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. (0:28) Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the opportunity for us to get together (0:35) this first day of the week to not only to come together with our brothers and sisters to worship you (0:43) and to observe communion and Lord’s Supper, but we’ve come together to study your Word, (0:50) the Word that the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of our book to write. (0:57) And we pray that we can understand the things that they have written.

(1:02) We pray that you were with the interpreters of the original language, (1:09) that they were quite capable of doing a translation for us to understand. (1:17) We ask your blessings with us to give us the wisdom, the understanding, and the insight (1:22) as to how Paul wrote and what Paul wanted us to understand about the Scriptures. (1:31) We pray that you will be with us, and it’s in our Lord and Savior’s name we pray, amen.

(1:40) I got through reading the book of Acts, which was another inspiring thing for me to do. (1:49) And man, I tell you, if you just read it cursory, you’ll see that Paul went through an awful lot (1:58) in order to do the things that he accomplished for God, and that God accomplished through him. (2:07) So it’s a very interesting thing.

(2:09) And when you look at the start of the letter to Rome, as I mentioned before, (2:19) Paul was one of the first ones to serve his congregation that he established by writing letters to them. (2:30) And, of course, John and Peter followed suit with him, and Luke followed suit. (2:39) But Paul was the first one to actually try to encourage his congregation through his writing.

(2:50) And, of course, they didn’t have his writings at the time, (2:53) so they were using the Old Testament Scriptures for their inspiration and understanding about God (2:59) and how God set up for Jesus to come and to die on the cross and to be persecuted the way it was. (3:09) And, of course, when you read the book of Acts, that’s the first thing he does. (3:14) He goes into the synagogues to point out that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets.

(3:22) And he tries to get them to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the promise to Abraham. (3:30) And many of them believe, but quite a few of them refuse to believe, as he did initially. (3:39) And we know that he refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ, too.

(3:44) And that’s the reason why he was on his way to Damascus. (3:49) He was going to imprison or punish those who had been Jews who converted over to Christianity (3:58) and accepted Jesus as the promise. (4:00) And so he was doing that.

(4:02) And so then when you read the book of Acts, you also get the impression that he was very instrumental in building them up, fortifying them. (4:16) He would go back by and try to give them the inspiration that they needed in order to be able to continue on worshiping God (4:26) and continue on in spite of the persecution that they were getting from their fellow Jews and from the community themselves. (4:34) So Paul said that he was writing to them, trying to bless them with his inspiration and his Christianity, (4:51) and that they would be able to mutually edify one another.

(4:55) And so this is the reason why the letter was written. (4:59) But he was hoping to be able to come in person and to be with them for a while. (5:06) Of course, he got way late on that.

(5:07) We know he got way late. (5:11) Picking up with Romans, the 15th chapter, starting with verse 14, and we’ll go down. (5:19) I’ll be reading from the New International Version.

(5:22) He starts out by—I’ve actually discussed quite a bit of the passage. (5:27) In fact, I’m down almost to the end of chapter 15, but I want to refresh our memory (5:36) and to help us to appreciate his final words that he has to say in chapter 15. (5:45) Because chapter 15 basically is the end of the letter itself of his wanting to instruct them (5:53) and give them the things that he wanted them to get.

(5:56) And you’ll see that he mentions that. (6:00) So, and then chapter 16 is his salutations to the various people who are worshiping— (6:08) that he knows are worshiping in Rome, and then he has a few closing exhortations for them. (6:16) So, starting with verse 14, New International Version.

(6:22) I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, (6:29) filled with knowledge, and competent to instruct one another. (6:36) Yet, I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again. (6:44) Because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, (6:51) he gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God (6:57) so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

(7:08) And so, when we become Christians, you know, obviously, (7:15) when we’re baptized into Christ, we become acceptable to God, (7:20) because that’s God extending to us the right hand of fellowship, (7:24) and he wants us to come to him through God, through Jesus. (7:27) So we become acceptable to God because we are doing that. (7:31) And we’re being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

(7:35) What does that mean? (7:38) We’ve been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (7:42) Set apart? Sanctified? Satisfied with that? (7:49) We’re dedicated to God. (7:51) We are basically given to him, and we’ve become a part of his worship.

(8:00) We’re not going to be doing anything for Satan. (8:03) We’re not going to be doing anything for any other god. (8:06) We’re dedicated completely to God himself.

(8:11) We’re being sanctified. (8:13) And so, when we became a Christian, what happened to us? (8:18) Acts 238. (8:20) When we were baptized, we also received what? (8:25) The gift of the Holy Spirit.

(8:27) So the Holy Spirit then becomes our companion. (8:33) He’s indwelling us, really. (8:37) And he’s given to us for what reason? (8:38) According to the Ephesian letter, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, (8:48) he’s given to us as a sign or as a token or as an earnest or down payment, (8:55) a guarantee that we are a child of God and we’ll be with him eternally in heaven.

(9:01) And that we are sanctified. (9:06) And so, that’s what he’s pointing out to us. (9:10) We’re acceptable to God now, and he’s given us his seal of an earnest guarantee (9:19) that we are his child and we’re going to be inheriting.

(9:24) We are part of his inheritance. (9:27) So, therefore, verse 17, or is it 12? 17. (9:34) Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.

(9:38) I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me (9:45) in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done. (9:52) By the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God, (9:59) so from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, (10:03) I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. (10:07) It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known (10:13) so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

(10:18) Rather, it is written, those who were not told about him will see, (10:24) and those who have not heard will understand. (10:28) So, Paul is pointing out to us right away that he is not taking credit for the conversions (10:38) and for the building and uplifting of the churches. (10:42) He is not taking credit for that at all.

(10:46) And so, he wants us to recognize that he was not relying on his eloquence of speech (10:55) or his showmanship or his appearance and so on. (11:02) He was relying entirely upon God and what was accomplished, (11:08) it was God accomplishing through him. (11:10) And how does he point out to us how he is doing that? (11:15) And how does he recognize the fact that it is God working through him? (11:21) By signs, wonders, and miracles.

(11:25) That is what he is pointing out to us. (11:29) God enhanced his ability to speak and present the gospel. (11:35) God enhanced that with signs, wonders, and miracles.

(11:39) And so, what was the purpose of signs, wonders, and miracles according to Peter in Acts 2? (11:46) To verify the message and the messenger. (11:51) And so, how would they know that Paul was actually speaking for God (11:57) and that God was working through him? (12:00) Through signs, wonders, and miracles. (12:02) And that is how the signs, wonders, and miracles were used to verify the message and the messenger.

(12:11) And so, he wants us to really appreciate the fact that he is not taking credit, per se, (12:17) for his eloquence or for his charismatic presentations. (12:23) He is giving God credit for the things that he has accomplished in the name of God, (12:28) bringing the Gentiles to Christ and to God. (12:34) Any other observation? (12:38) So, this is Paul assuring them that he is not trying to build himself up.

(12:47) He is humbling himself. (12:50) And he says, and that is why I have been hindered from coming to you. (12:55) And we know that the Holy Spirit and God did direct his steps from time to time, didn’t they? (13:04) Because we know that he was on his way.

(13:08) He was denied of going into Asia. (13:11) They didn’t want him to go into Asia. (13:13) And then he sees this sign from Macedonia.

(13:16) And he knows that that’s God telling him, I need to go to Macedonia. (13:21) And we know that he was used and directed by the Holy Spirit in some of the things that he did (13:29) and the directions in which he went. (13:32) And so, Paul had one purpose and one purpose in mind, (13:36) and that is to make sure that everybody had the opportunity.

(13:40) I’ve heard this phrase before. (13:43) Everybody had the opportunity at least once to hear the gospel. (13:48) So, everybody has the opportunity or the need to hear the gospel at least once in their lifetime (13:56) so they can say, I rejected him or I accepted him, one or the other.

(14:03) And so, those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. (14:13) Any comments along that way? (14:20) Okay. (14:21) Let’s go on.

(14:23) We’ve got at least 20 minutes yet. (14:26) Okay. (14:29) But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, (14:36) and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.

(14:45) I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there. (14:53) After I have enjoyed your company for a while. (14:57) After I have enjoyed your company for a while.

(15:00) In other words, I want you to help me financially or however how you can to continue on in my travels, (15:09) especially on my trip to Spain. (15:12) Verse 26. (15:17) Verse 25.

(15:20) For now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. (15:27) For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. (15:38) They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owed it to them.

(15:42) For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, (15:47) they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. (15:53) So, what do we have reflected here? (15:57) Just in our memory of what is going on in 2 Corinthians, the 8th and 9th chapter. (16:06) You remember 2 Corinthians, 8th and 9th chapter? (16:10) He’s talking about the contribution that he was going to take up for the poor Jews who were in Judea.

(16:20) And Achaia, I believe it is Achaia, said that they were going to do it because of the fact that Macedonia (16:29) had generously said, we’re going to help, we’re going to help. (16:33) So, this is where we get the concept of having a contribution collected every Sunday on the first day of the week (16:41) when we’re partaking of the Lord’s Supper. (16:44) It’s because he says, I encourage you to lay by in store the things so that you won’t have to take up a collection (16:53) when I get there to meet your vow.

(16:57) You made a pledge to make this much money to give to the poor people in Judea, Jerusalem in particular. (17:08) And so, he’s gone there, he’s gotten the money, and now he’s going to be going. (17:19) According to this, he hasn’t gotten there yet.

(17:21) He’s still got the money, he’s still headed for Jerusalem, and he’s still going to be able to give this money. (17:30) We talked about this last week, I know we did. (17:32) We talked about this, about he’s concerned about whether or not they’re going to accept the contribution, (17:38) and that’s what he points out here in this letter.

(17:41) Because he’s going to bring it to them, and the money is from Macedonia and Achaia. (17:49) And so, he has this sum of money, and he’s telling the church in Rome, (17:55) I’ll see you sometime after I have been to Jerusalem and delivered this money. (18:02) Obviously, he is waylaid.

(18:08) Again, he’s waylaid. (18:10) So he goes to Jerusalem, and so we know that in history. (18:15) So, if you remember 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, he’s talking about that contribution (18:22) and what God will do with our generosity, and how he will handle our generosity, (18:28) and we need to be able to have our money on hand to help the poor.

(18:36) And he’s talking about the fact that he ends up saying there in 2 Corinthians, (18:42) I believe in the ninth chapter, he points out about how the money was readily received, (18:50) and how not only were the Jews blessed by it, but the people of the community were blessed by it (18:58) because they had enough money to give not only to the Jewish community, (19:02) but they also had enough money to give to, it overflowed into their community, (19:08) and the community was so thankful for that, that what happened? (19:18) What happened? (19:24) You know, what happened? (19:30) They glorified God! (19:35) Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? (19:38) Isn’t that what God wants? (19:40) He wants to be glorified. (19:41) He wants to be acknowledged. (19:44) What pleases God? (19:48) Hebrews 11 chapter, what pleases God? (19:52) To believe in him, this is what Enoch did.

(19:57) Enoch pleased God because he believed that God was and that he diligently sought him. (20:04) That’s what pleases God, to believe that he is and that you diligently seek him. (20:10) And so that’s what pleases God, and he wants his name glorified, (20:14) and he wants us to glorify him in every time that we can, (20:18) and that’s part of my prayer almost any time that I pray.

(20:22) I pray that we are glorifying him. (20:24) Thank you, God, for the measure of health and safety that we enjoyed to get us here. (20:30) Thank you, God.

(20:32) I want to glorify your name. (20:35) So we’re here today by virtue of our faith and our health and our safety. (20:43) We’re here.

(20:44) And if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be here. (20:49) Do you believe in divine intervention and providence? (20:53) I do. (20:54) You’ll know that.

(20:56) I believe in it 100%. (20:58) I’m going to share that with you in my sermon today. (21:03) I believe in it 100%.

(21:07) So he’s telling us these things. (21:11) He wants us to understand that. (21:12)

(21:12) So verse 26, (21:19) For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor (21:24) among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.

(21:27) They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owed it to them, (21:31) for if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, (21:37) they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. (21:41) So after I have completed this task (21:45) and have made sure that they have received this contribution, (21:50) I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. (21:57) I know that when I come to you, (22:00) I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

(22:05) In other words, I’m here because God has not given me any other job to do. (22:14) I’m here with his blessing. (22:18) But what else do you see in there? (22:20) Do you see anything else? (22:28) It’s very subtle.

(22:29) You have to be a theologian to see it. (22:34) He talks about the fact that, (22:39) why do the people in Macedonia and Achaia owe it to the Jews? (22:48) Because they rejected it. (22:50) And because they rejected it, (22:52) all is now free to go to the Gentiles.

(22:57) And God wanted the Gentiles to receive it in the first place, didn’t he? (23:03) Because Abraham is not only the father of the circumcised, (23:11) he’s the father of the Gentiles. (23:15) He is a representation of the Gentiles. (23:20) Because the Jews did not exempt at that time, (23:24) and circumcision was not being practiced at the time Abraham became a Christian.

(23:32) And so Abraham was a sample, or he was a Gentile. (23:41) There was no distinction between Jews and Gentiles at that time. (23:46) He was one of them.

(23:48) He was a part of them. (23:50) And so God came to Abraham and said, (23:53) from your seed, I will bless the world. (23:56) And so Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.

(24:00) But, you see, when the Jews rejected Christ, (24:08) it gave them the opportunity to open the doors to the Gentiles. (24:13) And the middle wall of partition was [broken down]. (24:16) We see that when Jesus was crucified, (24:18) what happened to the curtain in the temple? (24:24) It was torn in half.

(24:26) Which opened it up. (24:28) Which was symbolic to opening it up to all, everyone. (24:36) It doesn’t matter who you were.

(24:38) It was opened up to you. (24:40) And so we have that. (24:41) So this is what he’s pointing out to us.

(24:44) And so they were pleased to do it. (24:47) This is verse 27. (24:49) They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owed it to them.

(24:52) See that? (24:53) Just very subtle. (24:54) You could pass over that, couldn’t you? (24:55) Unless you’re theologically inclined to think. (25:00) What is he saying to us? (25:04) Am I looking for that particular point of view? (25:08) I am.

(25:10) But it can be easily passed over, can’t it? (25:14) So, for if the Jews have shared in the, (25:18) or if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, (25:22) they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. (25:29) So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, (25:37) I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. (25:41) I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure and blessing of Christ.

(25:50) So, have I sufficiently done all that? (25:55) I hope I have. (25:57) So, anyway, let’s keep on going, because we’re going to finish 16 here today. (26:03) And we’ll be looking at a new Bible study.

(26:09) So, verse 30. (26:13) I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, (26:19) to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. (26:26) Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea, (26:32) and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, (26:41) so that I may come to you with joy by God’s will and in your company be refreshed.

(26:51) The God of peace be with you all. Amen. (26:55) What is he asking for? Our prayers.

(27:03) And he wants us to pray for his safety. (27:07) He’s been getting signs all along that there’s going to be trouble in Jerusalem. (27:15) As he’s traveling along, especially when you’re reading the book of Acts, (27:21) you will see that Philip’s daughters come to him, they’re prophets, (27:27) and his daughters come to him and tell him, (27:31) you’re going to have problems in Jerusalem.

(27:34) And another prophet comes down, takes Paul’s belt and wraps his hands up, (27:53) and what does he say about that? (27:58) You haven’t read Acts lately, have you? (28:02) He says, the person whose belt this belongs to is going to be wrapped up like this. (28:09) In other words, he’s telling Saul, look, you are headed to trouble, (28:16) and trouble you’re going to get when you get there. (28:20) So what has happened? (28:24) The prophet is telling him that Paul is determined to do what? (28:32) What was Jesus? (28:33) Jesus had knowledge that he was going to be crucified, he was going to be handed over, (28:41) and he was on his way to Jerusalem, (28:44) and he was purposely going to do that for our purpose in it, for our sake.

(28:52) And they kept telling him, don’t go, don’t go. (28:57) But what did Jesus do? (29:01) What does it say in the Gospels? (29:04) He set his face to Jerusalem. (29:07) What does that mean? (29:10) He set his face to Jerusalem.

(29:16) I’m going. I don’t care what you say. (29:19) I am going.

(29:21) You can do all you want to persuade me, (29:25) dissuade me from going. (29:26) I am going. (29:27) He is setting his face, he is determined to go to Jerusalem.

(29:33) That’s what it means. (29:35) He set his face to Jerusalem. (29:39) What does the Hebrew letter point out to us? (29:43) The Hebrew letter points out to us that he welcomed the opportunity to become flesh (29:48) and to dwell among us for the purpose of going to the cross, to die for us.

(29:56) He knew when he, what does the Philippian letter say? (30:02) Philippians 2, I believe in verse 5. (30:06) Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, (30:09) who thought it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God, (30:14) that he took on the form of man with the purpose of dying on the cross (30:20) to provide the sacrifice that is necessary to pay our penalty, our debt. (30:29) So he had that. He had that in mind.

(30:32) So what is Paul doing? (30:37) He’s doing the same thing, isn’t he? (30:41) He has one purpose in mind, and that is to set the world straight about who Christ is. (30:52) That’s his whole purpose. (30:53) He wants to set the world straight on who Jesus is.

(31:00) Because at one time, he did not believe it. (31:04) It took his trip to Jesus appearing to him on the road to Damascus (31:09) for him to be convinced that Jesus was really the Christ. (31:15) Up until then, he was crucifying people (31:18) because he was dead set on the fact that Jesus was a fraud and Jesus was a fake.

(31:26) And so he had no intentions of becoming a Christian. (31:30) How would you like to be a missionary trying to convert Paul at that time? (31:38) He’d have you flogged. (31:43) And that’s when God came to him, when Jesus came to him and said, (31:48) Saul’s waiting for you, and he’s been told that you’re going to come and help him get his sight back (31:54) and tell him what he must do.

(31:58) Oh, [Ananias] balked at that, didn’t he? (32:02) [Ananias] says, have you heard what he’s got? (32:04) He’s got a letter saying he can commit us all to jail. (32:09) He came with the purpose of crucifying us. (32:15) So Ananias didn’t really want to go.

(32:19) Jesus said, I assure you, he’s waiting for you. (32:24) He’s a changed man now. (32:27) And Paul is a changed man.

(32:32) And so he’s got his whole purpose set on going to Jerusalem. (32:37) And what is his concern at this point? (32:41) We talked about this last week ahead of time before we got to this particular passage. (32:46) What was he concerned about? (32:52) He was concerned about whether they would accept the contribution.

(32:59) He was concerned about them, whether or not they would accept the contribution. (33:03) Listen to this. (33:06) Let’s pick up with verse 30 again.

(33:07) I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ, (33:11) and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. (33:18) Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Jerusalem, or in Judea, (33:23) and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there. (33:39) What is he saying? (33:42) There’s a possibility that they will reject it.

(33:48) Why would they reject it? (33:52) They’re rejecting Paul, but not only that. (33:55) They’re rejecting the Gentiles. (34:00) Because that’s a contribution coming from the Gentiles.

(34:02) It doesn’t matter how much it was. (34:05) They’re going to reject it. (34:06) It was a huge sum of money we’re talking about.

(34:10) But there’s a possibility that they would reject it. (34:13) Why would they reject it? (34:16) Because then that would mean that if they accepted it, (34:20) they were saying that the Gentiles were in their brotherhood, their fellowship. (34:27) They were favorably received.

(34:31) And what did the average Jew believe about the Gentile who was not a Christian? (34:40) Just exactly what Paul thought about them when he was crucifying them. (35:02) I talked to you about the fact that people have approached me many times (35:10) about the possibility of finding a lottery ticket that was worth a lot of money. (35:18) I gave it to the church.

(35:23) What’s the question? (35:24) Should I receive it or should I reject it? (35:31) And I pointed out to you the fact that God wants us to get our money through labor, (35:46) through industry. (35:48) He doesn’t want to share His glory with lady luck. (36:01) That’s one of the reasons why we don’t gamble, do you? (36:07) You don’t buy a lottery ticket, do you? (36:12) Do we gamble? (36:13) Do we go to the casinos? (36:15) Do we put a dollar in? (36:17) Do we do gamble? (36:21) We don’t because we are gambling.

(36:27) And not only that, we’re pressing. (36:30) And if we get the money, are we going to glorify God? (36:34) Or are we going to glorify Satan or lady luck? (36:39) But the person who is standing next to you, is he going to think in terms of, (36:46) oh, weren’t you lucky? (36:51) Or is he going to say, God just blessed you. (36:55) The chances are people are going to say, you got lucky.

(37:00) And you’re going to share. (37:02) You’re going to make God share that with lady luck. (37:08) And He doesn’t want to share.

(37:11) He wants us to get our money through industry. (37:16) He wants us to get it honestly without lady luck. (37:22) And if He’s going to bless us, He’s going to bless us through industry.

(37:25) He’s going to bless us through our skills and our ability. (37:28) He’s going to bless us in those ways. (37:31) He’s not going to bless us with lady luck.

(37:35) Any comments? (37:39) Okay. (37:40) As far as I’m concerned, work through Chapter 15 and we’ll go into 16 next week. (37:47) Think in terms of what you would like to study next week from now on, afterwards.

(37:52) Let’s put it that way. (37:53) Think in terms of what you would like to study afterwards. (37:56) Maybe it’s the book of Acts.

(37:58) Thank you so much for your attention. (38:00)