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if you would, and turn to Romans
chapter 15. Romans chapter 15, we're going
to conclude the book of Romans this evening as we read Romans
chapter 15, starting with verse 14, and we're gonna read through
Romans chapter 16. The book of Romans says more about,
by the way, if you have not got the notes, you slip up your hands,
we'll have somebody bring you the notes this evening. If you
do not have the notes, slip up your hands. Somebody's got their
coming around with the notes right now. The book of Romans
says more about the plan of salvation, God's plan for salvation than
any other book that is written in the New Testament. It is a
book that just takes God's simple plan of salvation and just focuses
in on that. Paul's purpose in writing this
book was to make sure that the Romans understood that there
was no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. Every one of us are under sin. Every one of us deserve to go
to hell. It doesn't matter if you're religious It doesn't matter
how good you are. It doesn't matter what type of
religious experience you have. It doesn't matter what your national
background is. It doesn't matter how often you've
gone to church. It doesn't matter if you've been
baptized. It doesn't matter what you have
been or what you have done. You as an individual without
Jesus Christ are a sinner and you deserve to go to hell. Now
that is the message that Paul preached and that was the message
that was unpopular in his day. That was the message that got
Stephen in trouble this Sunday. I'm preaching from Acts chapter
7 about the first martyr, Stephen. I was reading and rereading and
rereading the book of Acts chapter 7 today. Faith walked into my
office and she began to talk to me and she walked back out.
Then she walked back in and she said, is something wrong with
you? And I said, well, no. She said,
you just look so somber. I said, I'm just reading about
Stephen being stoned to death. She said, oh, and she walked
out. Stephen was stoned to death because
he said the message is true. You're a sinner. You put Jesus
Christ to death. You, you, the nation of Israel
rejected the Messiah that was sent to you. You killed the Holy
One. You are sinners just like everyone
else. The problem that we have in our
culture today, by the way, The problem we have in our culture
today is everybody, everybody wants to think they're all right
with God. And the Bible says, no, you're
not all right with God. The worst, most vile person in
the world can die and then they have a funeral for him and they
say, oh, we're all looking forward to see him and we're going to
see him in heaven. That's not what the Bible says.
The Bible doesn't say we all have an automatic pass to heaven. The Bible says we all deserve
to go to hell. That's reality. And that's true
of you. That's true of me. And we need
to understand that. Now the good news is you don't
have to go there. Can you say amen to that? That's
the good news. The good news is that even though
you and I deserve to go to hell, whether we're Jews or Gentiles,
whether we're bond or free, whether we're male or female, no matter
what our nationality is, though we all deserve to go to hell,
there is a God in heaven who loves us, and He doesn't want
us to go to hell. But He is also just, and He says
the penalty has to be paid. the just God and the loving God
said, I'll pay the penalty. And he became a man in the person
of Jesus Christ. He went to the cross. He suffered
and died to pay the penalty of your sin and mine. He was buried
Three days later, he rose from the dead, he went back to heaven,
having paid for our sin, and now he says all we have to do
to get to heaven is come to him and admit we're sinners. Admit
that we deserve to go to hell, ask him to give us eternal life,
say, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, I know that you're God, and I
know that you died in my place to pay for my sin. I know I deserve
to go to hell, but I know you already did that for me, and
right now, in the best way I know how, I'm asking you to give me
eternal life. I'm asking you to save me from
my sin and give me eternal life. The Bible says, at the moment
you do that, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. That is the only way anybody
gets to heaven. Can you say amen to that? Well,
the problem was, you can say amen to that, but the religious
people in Paul's day, the religious people in Stephen's day would
not say amen to that. They would say, Stephen, that's
okay for you because everybody knows how wicked you were. But
I don't need that, see, because I've been religious all my life.
You see, that's true for Ray because everybody knows how bad
he is. That's true for Craig because everybody, including
his wife, knows how bad he is. But That's not true for me, you
understand. I'm a religious person. I've
grown up in the Jewish faith. I've grown up as a Baptist. I've
always, I've just always believed. It doesn't matter what you've
always believed. There has to be a time where you personally
come to Jesus Christ and say, yes, I too am a sinner and I
need to get saved. And I need you to give me eternal
life. I need a savior. I'm telling you today, I was
just listening, just not to, Probably a half hour ago, maybe
45 minutes ago, I was listening to a preacher who said this.
The latest Gallup poll says that 94% of Americans believe in God. That's all well and nice, but
if they don't believe in the God whose name is Jesus Christ,
they're going to hell. That's just reality. I don't
mean to be unkind. I'm not trying to be a hate monger,
but I want you to understand, catch this, that in the weeks
and months and years ahead, the more we proclaim the truth that
the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ, the
more, just because of saying that name, we're going to be
called hate mongers. Because we're saying, no, religious
experience will not get you to heaven. No, we cannot say that
a Muslim is going to heaven because he is sincerely believing in
Allah. No, he can sincerely believe
in the wrong thing and he'll wind up going to hell. I can
sincerely believe that if I put my hand over fire it will not
burn me, but if I put my hand over that fire it will burn me
whether I sincerely believe it won't or not. The facts are not
changed by my sincerity in a belief in the wrong thing. It is my
obligation in love to share the truth even if that truth is unpopular. And the Apostle Paul takes all
of the book of Romans And he explains that salvation is by
grace through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when
he comes down to the end of the book, he answers a couple of
questions. The first question he answers
is this. Why are you writing to us, Paul?
He has never been to Rome. He's been asked to come to Rome,
but he's never been there. People have queried why he has
not come to Rome. And so he's writing to a church
that he did not start, and he's writing to them, He's writing
to them about the basic doctrines. And as he's coming to the end
of this, he's questioning in his mind whether or not they
even understand why he has the authority to be writing to them.
You've had nothing to do with this church, then why are you
writing this letter to us in Rome. So he wants to answer that
question. And then he wants to let them
know what he's heard about them. He wants them to know what he
what he has heard about them. And so he takes the first couple
of words of his conclusion to say, hey, look, I know who you
are and I believe I have confidence in you. He wants to answer the
question. He wants to let them know why
he's taking time to write. He also wants to let them know
why he hasn't personally come to visit because some are a little
frustrated with him. You know, when you have the big
shot guy who everybody knows and he's been invited to come
to your church but he never wants to come, he never shows up, you
wonder why. What's the problem? Do we have
leprosy here? I mean, is there a problem? It's funny, when we
invite people to Las Vegas, preachers that we've invited to come and
speak in Las Vegas, they always come up here and they always
say, you know, I told my people that I was going to Las Vegas
to preach. And they said, oh, and they made jokes, you know,
about the gambling and what are you going to do and are you going
to win us some money to pay off our building fund? It's always
the same thing, you know. You know, people coming to Las
Vegas, when we first came to Las Vegas to start this church, we
tried to get several people to just help start the church, come
and help work with us. I'm not going to Las Vegas. You
know, there's lepers there. I might get their sin on me,
on my shirt, and I don't want that kind of thing. They're wondering
why he didn't come. So he writes to let them know.
He answers the question, here's why I'm writing. He says, he
then lets them know why he did not, why he hasn't come. And then he gives them some parting
instructions. And that's what we're going to
read here as we read through these last several verses in
the book of Romans, starting with chapter 15, verse 14. Before we start, let's pray.
Father, Lead us through Your Word. Teach us from Your Word. Help us to apply Your Word to
our lives this night. Father, help us to not just be
hearers of Your Word, but doers. And I ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Let's start reading. The Bible
says in verse 14, And I myself also am persuaded of you, my
brethren, that ye are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge,
able also to admonish one another. I've heard some things about
you. He says, I've heard that you're full of goodness, that
you're filled with knowledge, that you understand the scriptures,
that you're able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, he
says, brother, and I've written the more boldly unto you, even
though I know that's true about you, I've written more boldly
unto you in some sort by as putting you in mind because of the grace
that's given to me. I'm doing this, I'm writing to
you because Basically, it's my job to do this. That I should
be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering
the gospel of God, that the offering up 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. He said, basically, I'm writing unto you Even though
I know you understand the Scriptures, I know that you're saved, I know
that you have a knowledge of the Scriptures, I know that you
can teach one another, but I'm writing to you because it's my
job. Because that's what God's called me to do, to serve Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles. I am a servant, and I'm supposed
to take Jesus Christ and give him to you so that you might
understand how to walk in the faith, how that you might know
how to get saved. That's what I'm called to do.
And that's why I'm writing to you now, and that's why I wrote
so boldly to you about our common faith." Then he says, he says,
Verse 18 for I will not dare to speak of any of the things
which Christ hath not wrought by me To make the Gentiles obedient
by word and deed through mighty Signs and wonders by the power
of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem And around unto
Israel I've worked on this word all
day long. I just want you to know that.
illicerum. But I have fully persuaded, fully
preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, yea, so that I have strived
to preach the gospel, not where Christ 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 that have not heard
shall understand. For which 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
to you, whensoever I take my journey to Spain, I will come
to you, for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought
on my way thitherward by 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 Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints
which are at Jerusalem. It hath 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. When therefore I have
performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come
by you into Spain. Now, let me just, let's just
stop there and look at your notes for just a minute. Paul wrote
to the Romans because, he says in verses 14 through 16, it was
my job. He says, he says, I know that
you're full of goodness. That is, he's recognizing the
fact that they're saved. We're not good in and of ourselves.
We're good because the Lord Jesus Christ fills us with his spirit.
The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace
and long-suffering and gentleness and goodness. The reason we have
any goodness in us is because the Holy Spirit fills us. And
so, hey, they were full of goodness. They were full of goodness. They
were saved. He recognizes that. He didn't write to them because
everybody in the church needed to get saved. You get saved,
you get baptized, and you become a member of the church. So he
wasn't writing to them because they all needed to get saved.
He knew that they were saved. He says, number two, that they
were filled with knowledge. That is, they understood the
scriptures. They knew what the Bible taught. They knew that
the Bible taught salvation by grace through faith. They knew
that the Jews and the Gentiles were all the same, but there
are times that you start questioning what you believe, and it's good
to have a source of authority come and confirm what you believe. And so he says, I'm writing because
of that. And then he says that you're able to admonish one another.
I know that you're able to teach one another. There were people
within the Roman church who could teach and who could admonish
and could instruct one another. He said, I know that. But he
said again, it was God, I have a God given job. And that his
job was to be an apostle, a sent one to the Gentiles. He is the
one that God specifically ordained not to go and preach the gospel
to the Jews, but to take it to the Gentiles. D says, I wrote
anyway because it was my job. I wrote to you anyway because
it's my job. Now understand this, that Paul was just like you and
me. Paul had his insecurities as
well. I mean, when you do something
and you think, maybe if I do this, I'm going to step on somebody's
toes. You have to decide, am I going
to do what God wants me to do or am I not going to do what
God wants me to do? Listen, as a parent, There were times, the
Bible says, if you spare the rod, you hate your children.
That is, if you don't spank your children properly, if you don't
discipline your children properly, it's because you think more about
yourself than you do about your children. Now there's, I don't
know any time that I spanked my children and then I thought,
this is a lot of fun. Oh boy. I used to tell my kids,
when I used to tell my kids when they were acting up, I said,
listen, would you settle down because I want to have a good
day today. And I want you to understand that this morning
I did not wake up and say, oh boy, today I get to spend the
day with my children. And today I'll be able to beat
them. I didn't wake up doing that. I don't like spanking you.
But you know what? And there were times that I knew
they needed a spanking, and I didn't want to do it. but the Word of
God rang true in my mind and I thought even though I don't
want to do this I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do because
it's the right thing to do whether it's politically correct and
it certainly was never politically correct with my five children
to spank them and to discipline them the right way it was not
it's not politically correct in our culture to do what the
Bible says to do but But the fact is there are times that
you do what you know you're supposed to do because it's the right
thing to do. Paul said, listen, I'm writing to you because it's
what God has told me to do. I'm doing this not because I
feel like I want to do this to impress you with my great Bible
knowledge or to put some authority over you. But this is what God
has called me to do. And therefore, I'm going to do
what God wants me to do no matter what. You need to allow God to
use who He chooses in your life, and you need to be willing to
be used as God chooses to use you, no matter how you feel about
the situation. So, he says, I wrote to you anyway,
because it's my job. I knew you were saved. I knew
that you have the knowledge of scriptures. I know that you were
able to teach one another, but I wrote to you because that's
what God called me to do. He said, I am a servant of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles. I am a servant. The word minister,
we have the word minister, it sounds like something, some high
exalted position. The word minister in the word
of God, the word minister throughout the New Testament, very simply
means to serve. I am a servant. And he says,
so I'm a servant to the Gentiles, and he says my job as a servant
was to serve the gospel of Christ. That is, look, you may not know
it, but you're hungry for the gospel. When you go into a restaurant
and you're being served something, you're getting something you
need. You might be getting something you like, but you're getting
something you need. You're getting physical nourishment. Sometimes
we go into restaurants and get stuff we don't need. You know,
there's a place in town that has these sundaes that are in great big
goblets. They're big, huge goblets. And
they put inside there all the ice cream, and really nice, like
Haagen-Dazs ice cream. And then they put inside there,
the inside in the middle of the goblet, caramel on top of that,
and then some hot fudge on top of that. And then they put another
thing, huge thing of ice cream on top of that. And then they
put whipped cream, and then they put the caramel, and it just
floods over onto a plate. And it's just ooey and gooey,
and oh! It's great. So sometimes we go
in and we get served what we don't need in a restaurant, but
that's not true with the Word of God. You go to the Word of
God and you get served what you need. What Paul is saying is
this, I'm here, I've been given to serve you, the Lord Jesus
Christ. See, the Gentile world, until Paul started going out,
did not know. that there was one God in heaven,
that He became a man, that He suffered and died to pay the
penalty of their sin. They knew nothing about that.
And so He says to you, Demetrius, He says to me as a Gentile, He
said, Here, here's something that I've come. I'm a servant,
a minister of Jesus Christ to come and serve you the good news
that you don't have to go to hell. Here's the good news. You
get to go to heaven. And He gives us the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is what it means when He
says, I'm called to be a servant to the Gentiles. I'm here to
teach the Gentiles. And then He says, I'm here to
teach the Gentiles to sacrifice. He compares it to the Old Testament.
The Jews already knew about sacrifices. They knew about sacrificing lambs
on the altars and bullocks on the altars and they knew what
that meant. They understood the blood sacrifice. They understood
what it meant to come and give a sacrifice to God. So he says,
I'm teaching, I've come to teach the Gentiles how to sacrifice. But he didn't teach us to bring
a bull or a lamb or anything to him. He said, now that Christ
has already died to pay the penalty of our sin, we are to give ourselves
a living sacrifice to Christ. Romans 12, 1 and 2 says, I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that
you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. He taught Gentiles to be filled with the Holy Ghost,
to give themselves totally and completely to God. Now, this
is really important, because sometimes as we're serving the
Lord Jesus Christ, people reject what we're serving. A waitress
can come and bring something to the table, and they say, I
don't want that junk. A waitress can come and offer
you something, and you say, hey, I don't want that. I don't like
this. And they can reject it. You need to understand that as
servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, as you're serving the Lord Jesus
Christ, people can say, I don't want that. I don't want that,
but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep serving. You're
supposed to keep serving. You're supposed to keep offering.
You're supposed to keep bringing the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether
He's accepted or He's rejected, you're supposed to keep on going.
You're supposed to keep offering. He says, I want you to take your
bodies and lay it out. Paul said, I've been called.
And the reason I'm writing to you, Romans, is because I've
been called to teach you. I've been called to teach you
how to give yourself totally to Him. How to give your body
to Him and say, God, use me any way you want. Several years ago,
my wife, when our church was first started, my wife and I
were dealing with a lady who is now in heaven, but her name
is Claudia. Claudia was an alcoholic, and
we loved her husband who came to our church, and we loved her
kids, and we were trying our best to help her kids, and her
husband was just a faithful in our church, just loved him. But
Claudia was an alcoholic. And Claudia would call up my
wife, and she would talk to my wife on the phone for hours at
a time. And my wife would try to help
her. We were just really young. We were 24, 25 years old. We
were very young in the ministry. But my wife would try to help
her, and try to help her, and try to help her. And she just,
she loved my wife. She'd call her Annie. Oh, Annie,
you're my Annie, and I love you. But there was just never a response. There was never a response. Several
years went by and Claudia died. Before Claudia died, however,
she asked Jesus Christ to be her Lord and Savior and God.
When she did that, it didn't change a whole lot outwardly. I mean, she still had her problem
with alcohol. But the fact is, she asked Christ
to save her. And the way you get to heaven
isn't by becoming good, going to church, being baptized, or
anything else. It's by coming to Jesus and saying, I know I'm
a sinner, and I know I deserve to go to hell. Claudia did that.
She trusted Christ. It was after that, she died. And my wife and I were talking
one time, and she said, honey, do you think that that was a
waste of time? I said, oh no honey, it wasn't
a waste of time. First of all, Claudia got saved. I said, secondly,
all we're to do is what God told us to do. If I'm faithful to
do what God wants me to do, if I'm faithful to share the truth,
and it's totally and completely rejected by everyone, I've not
wasted my time as long as I've done what God told me to do.
Stan, if you as a parent do exactly what God wants you to do and
you raise your kids, Kathy, you raise your kids exactly the way
you know God wants you to do it, you do what God wants you
to do, and one of your kids choose to do the wrong thing, have I
wasted my time? No. I have done what God wants
me to do. I've been what God wants me to
be. As long as I am doing what God wants me to do, I can leave
the results to God. It may not work out the way I
wanted to work out. I may not be ministering to all
the people I thought I was going to be ministering to. I may not
be doing everything that I thought I was going to be doing. But
if I've done what I know the Bible tells me to do. I have
given my body a living sacrifice to God. I've asked God daily
to fill me with His Spirit. I've walked according to His
Word the best way I know how. And listen, when I stand in front
of God, I'm not going to think I wasted my time. He's going
to look at me and say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
You think that He looked at Noah when Noah stood in front of Him
and said, Hey, Noah, you really did a bad job. mean you got on
that ark and the whole world died. The whole world was flooded. The whole world was gone. The
whole world was wiped out because you did a bad job. No. Noah, the Bible says, was a preacher
of righteousness for 120 years, maybe less or maybe more, but
he was out there preaching the Word. The Bible says he was a
preacher of righteousness. Okay? We know that. We know that
God said that my spirit's not going to always strive with man
but for 120 years. We know that. We know this. We know this. Look, that when
he got in the ark, there were only eight people that got in
the ark. Everybody else got wiped out. Everybody else got destroyed. The whole world, the whole population
of this earth was totally destroyed. You know what? Noah was a success. Why? Because he obeyed God. It's
not the results. It's not the results that make
us successful. It's our obedience to God. Can
you say amen to that? So the Apostle Paul said this.
Paul said, listen, I want you to know I'm just doing what God
told me to do. God has told me to preach the gospel. God has
told me to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Now, then he
goes into why Paul had not visited the Rome, why he hadn't come
to Rome. And we've read these verses, so let me just explain
them. He says, again, look at your
notes, Romans 2, Paul had not visited the Romans because he
was doing his job. He was writing to them because
He was doing His job, but He had also not come to visit them
because He was doing His job. What do you mean? He said, I
glory in one thing. He says that I have obeyed Christ
in giving the gospel. And he says, that's A. B, I'm not willing to take credit
for anything that God has not done through me. There are people
who would take credit and would do anything they could to get
glory from man for doing things that other people have done.
But this is what he said, I rejoice in the fact that he has used
me to preach the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum. I think that's the way to say
it. He said, I've preached the gospel. I want you to see this
so that you have an understanding of this. Paul starts off right
here in Jerusalem. And Paul traveled back and forth
all over here, all up into Asia. Illyricum is right there. And so he's traveled all through
here, and he started churches all through here. That is probably
between 1,000 and 1,500 miles of traveling. Not in your car. not in your four by four, not
in your motorcycle or bicycle. That would either be by donkey
or walking and sometimes by ship. And the Bible says over and over
he suffered shipwreck. He's saying to, he's writing
to those in Rome. Rome's right here. He says, I've
never been there. He said, but I want you to know I'm planning
on going to Spain right here. So he says, I've already preached
the gospel in all these places. I've preached the gospel in all
these places. I am planning to go here. And
the reason I haven't come to you is because you already heard
the gospel. you've already been saved. I
heard all about what was going on there so you didn't need me."
But he said, I've wanted to come and see you and so I'm going
to go to Spain because they haven't heard the gospel in Spain yet.
So what I'm going to do is on my next trip as I'm going past
you, I'm going to stop there and see you before I go to Spain.
But then he says, I'm not gonna come to Spain first. He said, I'm not going to Spain
first. First, I'm gonna head down to
Jerusalem. Because I've heard, because I have a gift from people.
While he was traveling, right here above Corinth, there's a
place called Macedonia. Corinth is right down in here.
Right above this is a place called Macedonia, right there where
the red dot is, if you can see it. he said, the saints that
were there gave me a gift to take back to the saints that
are in Jerusalem. So I'm going back to Jerusalem
first. When I get to Jerusalem, I'm
going to deliver a gift for the suffering people that are in
Jerusalem. Look at verse 27. It says, It hath pleased them,
and verily their debtor they are, for if the Gentiles had
been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty also was to
minister unto them in carnal things. The church in Jerusalem
had been persecuted and was being persecuted because they were
standing for truth and they were saying, giving this gospel that
Christ died for you, that the Jews need to put their faith
and trust in Christ. They were being rejected, they
were driven out of Jerusalem, but there were still some Christians
in Jerusalem and they were persecuted and they were hunted And so Paul
said, I'm going to take a gift back. And he said, it's right
that I should take this gift back to those that are suffering
in Jerusalem, because if it wasn't for the saints that are in Jerusalem,
the people in Macedonia had never heard the gospel. You see, the
gospel started in Jerusalem. And and Christians were sent
out from Jerusalem all over the world to tell people how to get
saved. So he said it's right if they've
taken care of, if they've given you their spiritual things, if
you've prospered from them, if you're saved now, it's right
for you to take care of them materially and take care of them,
meet their carnal needs, take care of them financially when
they're in need because they took care of your spiritual needs.
He teaches us the principle of repaying those who minister to
us spiritually. When therefore, he says, I've
performed this, in verse 28, and have sealed to them this
fruit, I will come by you into Spain. So he said, I'm going
to stop by you. I'm going to visit you on the way to Spain.
Let me finish Roman numeral number two. Look at D. I strive to preach
the gospel where Christ was not named." He said, I didn't want
to come and preach the gospel to you. I wanted to go to places
where nobody has heard the name of the gospel. He said, I wanted
to go where they have not heard. He says, this hindered me from
coming to you. I was going to come to you, and
I wanted to come to you, but lost people were more important.
I had to get the gospel. People are going to hell, and
I had to get the gospel. So doing that hindered me from
coming to you. But look at Roman numeral number
three. Paul planned to visit now that his work was done in
other places. He planned, since his work was
done elsewhere, he could now come and visit them. And he said,
I'm coming to Spain and I'll stop by. He says, on the way
to Spain, I'm going to stop by and I'm going to visit you. First,
I'm going to go to Jerusalem. Why? to do what he always did,
to serve. He said, I'm going to serve the
saints, and then I'm gonna drop off a gift from the people that
were in Macedonia. And that's what he's talking
about at the end of chapter 15. He says, and then I'm going to
go to Spain, to Spain, and then I'll drop by and see you on the
way. So all of that is said in verses
14 through 28. Now let's read on in verse 29. The Bible says this, and I am
sure that when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness
and the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beseech you,
brethren, for the love of the spirit that you strive together
with me in your prayers." Now, Paul is this great servant of
God who's been used to write this entire letter. And I want
you to grab a hold of who's speaking here and what he's saying here.
He has written this entire letter to the book of Romans, or to
the Romans. He has written numerous other
books. He's got the anointing and the
power of God on him. He's been used in miracles. He's
testified thus far, that God's done miraculous works through
him. But I want you to note what he
says. He says in 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. He said, Would you please pray
for me? Would you please pray for me? Paul realized that what
he was doing was a dangerous deal. where he was was dangerous. And though he walked with God,
he coveted the prayers of God's people. I think it's interesting
in the New Testament, in the book of Acts, and we'll read
this in a few weeks as we get that far in the book of Acts,
that the power of God was falling in a tremendous way. And Peter
and James and John get thrown in jail, they get let out of
jail, get thrown in jail, they get beaten, and they get let out of jail.
But afterwards, James and Peter and John get thrown into jail.
This time, James gets killed. James is killed. And then the
Bible says, the people began to pray to God for His protection. Now listen, this is very interesting.
Why is it that we have to wait for a tragedy to take place before
we start begging God for His protection? I really believe
that James could have been spared if they had been praying ahead
of time. Peter gets thrown into jail after James is killed, and
you know what happens? They have all-night prayer meetings.
in a home and they start praying. And you know what happened? God
delivered them because God delivers Peter. Peter comes out of his
cell and he knocks on the front door of the house where they're
praying. And a little lady named Rhoda comes down and opens the
door and says, and she shuts the door on Peter's face, and
she runs up and says, Peter's at the door. They said, don't
bother us, we're praying that Peter will be delivered. And
they pray, and they keep praying, and they said, no, you don't
understand, Peter's out there. And they said, that must be a ghost. And they
all go down there, and there's Peter. And they can't believe
that God answered their prayer. Now, what was the difference
between James and Peter? The difference between James
and Peter, I believe, is that they were praying for Peter.
They were taking for granted that God was gonna take care
of the apostles before then. But, and so it's important. I
know when we came out here from Las Vegas, I went to start a
church here in Las Vegas 31 years ago, I went to everybody I knew
and said, please pray for me, please pray for me, please pray
for me. If I had a picture of me, I would give it to them and
tell them, put it on your refrigerator and pray for me. Pray for me,
pray for me, pray for me, pray for me. We came out here 31 years
ago, we had absolutely nothing, and God supplied our needs. and
God took care of us. I never had to work a secular
job, and just week by week, God provided our needs. And I really
believe it's because there were some people back east that were
praying for me on a regular basis as we started this church. At
the beginning of this year, I've asked you, take this prayer card
and pray through this prayer card. Now, no doubt some people
have taken this prayer card, stuck it in their Bible, and
forgotten about it. Others have taken it and prayed through it
a couple of times a week. Others are praying every single
day through this prayer card. I want you to know that to the
degree that we pray, we will see the power of God. Can you
say amen to that? These people, Paul says, look,
I want you to understand, I need your prayers. I am pleading for
Jesus' sake that you pray for me. I beseech you, brethren,
for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, that His name might be glorified
through my life, that He might be honored. I'm begging you to
pray for me, that you strive together with me in your prayers
for me." And this is what he prays, 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 by the saints." He
says two things. I want deliverance from unbelieving
Jews who have threatened to kill me. I'm going into a very dangerous
spot and I want you to pray for me because they're threatening
to kill me. And for acceptance of the believers.
I want the believers to accept what I'm going to deliver to
them. now the God of peace be with you all. Amen." He said,
I'm praying that your joy may be that that I may come unto you with
joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed." He said,
I want you to pray that I might have joy as I come back to you.
So pray for these things. He says, specifically, I want
you to pray that God will protect me, that God will work through
me so that the people that I'm speaking to that are genuinely
His people will receive what God has for me, and that I might
have joy as I'm serving the Lord, and that I might be able to come
back to you. you. That's what he's asking for prayer for. I
want you to know it's so important that we pray one for another.
It is so important that we pray one for another. And Paul is
making that clear. Now we come into chapter 16,
and Paul gives several things in concluding. And chapter 16
is basically just a conclusion of everything that he's saying.
He says, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant
of the church, which is in Caesarea. that ye receive her in the Lord,
as becometh the saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business
she hath need of you. For she hath been a succorer,
or a helper, of many, and of myself also." Pursilla and Aquila,
my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have who have for my life laid
down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also
the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church which
is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Apinas,
who is the firstfruits of Achaia, unto Christ." Now, he goes then
in a list. I want you to note this. First
of all, he says, this is what I want you to do. He says, I
want you to help my fellow servants. He talks about Phoebe, who was
a faithful servant in another church. And he says, listen,
she's coming there. Let her serve. Let her be faithful.
Let her serve there. And Aquila and Priscilla, obviously,
were all using their house. They were fellow helpers. They're
the ones that helped Paul along. They were tent makers with Paul. And he says, I want you to help
them that have helped me. help them. They're letting people
meet in their home. They've opened their home up
for church services. They didn't have buildings like
we have. They had to find a place to meet.
And Aquila and Priscilla had acquired enough funds to where
they had bought a house in Rome. And they said, okay, the church
has no other place to meet. You can meet in our house. And
so they were allowing their home to be used as a church. And they
said, you need to be a helper to those that are helping me.
Those that are servants of Christ, help them. And then in verses
5 through 16, and we're not going to take time to read them, it's
just a list of names. But it's a very important list
of names. He just, he goes on and he says, salute Adronicus, salute Junia,
salute my fellow prisoners, salute and he goes on and on and on
and on and on and on. Salute my brethren. That is to give love to the brethren. We need to understand this, that
this deal of Liberty Baptist Church and he was saying this
thing about the church in Rome, Alan, is not just about the Apostle
Paul. And it's not just about Aquila
and Priscilla. And it's not just about Phoebe,
his servant, this fellow servant. It's not just about those people
that are on the platform or those people that are teaching the
classes. This is all about all of these
people. And he lists just a dozen or
more names. and he says, hey, make sure you
tell them hi. Let them know that I love them. The word salute
that is used over and over and over again was a term of endearment. It was saying, what they did
was they would grab them and kiss them from neck to neck.
Now, I don't want you to salute me that way. I mean, I'm an American,
all right? Shake my hand, hit my arm, but
not too hard. But that different culture, I don't
need the hugs. I mean, I really don't. From
time to time, we see people, we hug them, and we love them.
But I'm telling you this. In fact, I always tell the teenagers,
this thing about greeting one another with a holy kiss has
nothing to do with you and what you want to do. This is talking
about holy kissing, and you don't know anything about that, and
you won't for several years. But what he's saying is this. He's saying, I want you to make
sure that those within the church know that I have a deep affection
for them, that I love them, that I care about them. And I'm telling
you, and he's also saying, you need to understand how important
every Stan Mitchell is, every Rick Burkett is. You need to
understand how important every Mike Bowman is and how important
every Dave Wilkins is. You need to understand that this
isn't about Mr. Big Shot here, Mr. Big Shot there,
and somebody doing this or somebody doing that. This is all about
the people. And it's about us loving one
another. And it's all about us caring about one another. And
it's all about us ministering to one another. And it's all
about us all being important within the body. And He says,
I want you to understand, it will be this is important. And
this is what it's all about. So don't miss out. Make sure,
he says, that you greet and he lists name after name. It's important
that we understand that. And they're names that are hard
to say and hard for us to pronounce, but the truth of the matter is,
he lists them so that we understand, Lorraine, that every single person
is important. that you're as important to God
as the guy that stands in the pulpit, and you're as important
to God as the deacon who's serving, and you're as important to God
as the usher, and you're as important to God as the singer, and you're
as important to God that we're all important to God. and he
says, I want you to make sure that you salute them all and
love them. So he says, first of all, help
my fellow servants. There are people that are serving
within the church. Help them. Don't criticize them.
Don't run them down. Help them. He says, give love
to all the brethren. And then in verse 17 through
19 he says this, very important, Now, you're supposed to love
the true brethren, but he says, now I beseech you, brethren.
Now he says, I want to beg you to do something. The word beseech
means I'm imploring you, I'm pleading with you to grab a hold
of this. Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary
to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. He says,
two things I want you to do with people who teach false doctrine,
who believe false doctrine, and who propagate false doctrine,
and who cause division within the church. He says, this is
what I want you to do. I want you to mark them. It's
like going up there, and you don't really want to go up there.
Here, hold still for just a minute. I've got something to put on
you. But He says to mark them. And then He says, to avoid them."
There are people that are Christians that we should avoid, yes. Those
who teach and believe things contrary to the doctrine which
you've learned. That's what he says. If their teaching causes
division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have
learned, avoid them. For they that are such, and this
is God's Word, serve not their Lord Jesus Christ, but their
own belly. and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the heart of the simple." You see, there can be somebody
who teaches false doctrine, but they sound so good. Oh, God loves
you, and God cares about you, and everything's going to be
okay. Listen, with their good words
and their fair speech, they deceive you. He says, for your obedience
has come abroad unto all men. I am glad, therefore, on your
behalf, but I would have you wise unto that which is good
and simple concerning evil. He says, everybody knows about
you believers there in Rome. Everybody knows that you've got
an open spirit. Let me tell you about Liberty
Baptist Church. Let me tell you what preachers say when they
come to Liberty Baptist Church. When they're up here and they're
preaching, they say, afterwards they say, your people are so
receptive. They just drink in the Word of
God. When you're teaching the Word
of God, they're just so receptive to the Word of God. I can have
a preacher who's here just one time, James Rushing, who came
here and preached and then three months later went to heaven. After he preached here, he said,
ìMan, Iíve been in churches all across this country.î He said,
ìYour people are some of the most receptive people Iíve ever
heard.î Thatís what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, you've got open
spirits to this church. You're willing to receive truth,
and for that reason, he said, I'm afraid for you. Because somebody
comes in with false teaching, you could be easily led astray. Why? Not because you're dumb,
but because you have an open spirit to the Word of God, and
the Word of God can be twisted, and you can be taught the wrong
thing. and he said, I don't want that. And he said, I'm concerned
for you. So he gives them this solution.
He says, you need to mark those who teach false doctrine. And
by the way, you don't have to be Mr. Theologian to hear false
doctrine and say, hey, wait a minute, that's wrong. I don't want anything
to do with that. You hear something and you say, wait, the Spirit
of God will say, that is wrong. A few weeks ago, A lady in our
church came up to me and said, Preacher, I turned on this guy
on TV, it's called the Shepherd's Chapel. And he said, I want her
to know something about it. She said, I listened to him for
a little while, and some of the things he said was good, but
some of the stuff just, I just was uneasy about it. Can you
check him out? Well, I didn't know anything
about him, so I checked him out. He doesn't believe in the deity
of Jesus Christ, doesn't believe in the Trinity, doesn't believe
in the local church. And so I just got a little thing off of his
website and gave it to her. I said, here's what he believes.
And I said, I'd be very careful. I wouldn't be listening to him.
And she came back and said, wow, you know there was something
just in my spirit that said I shouldn't, this is wrong. Well, that's exactly
right. You have the Holy Spirit living
inside of you. And the Holy Spirit will confirm in your heart, hey,
that you shouldn't be listening to this guy. Well, He's saying,
look, mark those people. Mark them and avoid them. And
if it's within the local church, avoid them. That is, get them
out of the church. Then He says this, He says, I want you to
know this. First of all, help fellow servants,
give my love to the brethren, mark and avoid false teachers,
and then remember this, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan
under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. He somewhat concludes there
by saying this, remember this, God's on your side. I like that. He just very simply says, look,
don't worry about the fact that somebody's going to get mad at
you, that people with false teaching are coming your way. Don't worry
about the fact that what we preach is unpopular. Don't worry about
that. Just remember this. God's on your side. and he's
going to bruise Satan under your feet. And that's going to happen.
It's not going to be too long. God's going to take care of all
those things. So just do what God wants you
to do. Remember, God's on your side.
And then verses 21 through 27 says this, Timotheus, my work
fellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sophitar, my kinsmen, salute
you. I, Terturus, who wrote this epistle
salutes you in the Lord. By the way, very important that
you note this just in case somebody ever asks you, does that mean
that a guy named Terturis wrote it instead of Paul? No. Paul
had a scribe that wrote what he told him. So it was his secretary. He very simply told Terturis
what to write and write and Paul and Terturis is writing at the
end, hey, I'm the one that wrote this for Paul and I want you
to know that I'm saying hi too. I'm saluting you. Gaius, my host,
and of the whole church saluteth you. This is Gaius, the guy whose
house we're meeting in where we are, salutes you. Erastus,
the chamberlain of the city, saluteth you. That is, this chamberlain
had gotten saved, and he salutes you. And Cordus, a brother, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now, he stops there. Now, why
is all that important? Because He's saying, listen,
I want you to know, number one, God's on your side. And He said,
number two, there are brethren here that love you. You're not
by yourself. It's a good thing to know that.
It's a good thing to know. I was in, when I was in Mexico
a few weeks ago, or was it last week, I don't know, a week and
a half ago, I was speaking on a Thursday evening and I said,
you know, it's amazing. I've met people here I've never
met before and I may never ever see again until I get to heaven.
It's an amazing thing to travel somewhere and see that there
are brethren in Africa that are serving God. That there are brethren
up in the hills of Mexico that are serving God. There are people
out in Germany that are serving God. There are people in the
big cities in Mexico. There's a little church in Acapulco
I never have seen before and I'll probably, I hope, never
see it again. there's a church that's there
that I'll never see again. The fact is, and some of you
will never ever see it, the truth of the matter is, they're serving
God. It's a wonderful thing to know
that our God is being served by other people around the world
who love us. And by the way, there are people around this
world who love Liberty Baptist Church. And when I see them,
when they grab my hand and they say, Tell your people we love
them. Tell them we're thankful for
them. And they say it in broken English, tell them we're thankful. Tell them we love them and we
pray for them. Man, you don't know what that
does to your heart. That'll rip your heart out. And you think,
man, these people are praying for us. And it's a wonderful
thing to know that there are people around the world that
love you. And he's writing here and he's saying, he's writing
here and he's saying, He's saying, I want you to understand, I've
wanted you to greet everybody there, but there are people with
me, they love you and they love me, and we're together on this
thing. We're doing what God wants us to do. So remember that there
are people that love you. And then he says this, lastly,
look in verses 25 and on, it says, now to him that is of power
to establish you, that is, he's the one that's able to hold you
up. to, according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret
from the world began." That means that the people were saved, both
Jews and Gentiles, and were all part of His body. Now, but now
is made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets according to
the commandments of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith. I could preach three messages
on those two verses, but I'm not going to, because we're just
roaming through Romans. So he says to the only wise God,
be glory through Jesus Christ forever and ever. He says, lastly,
you need to remember, Remember this, that to help those who
are fellow servants, remember to give my love to the brethren. Remember to mark and avoid false
teachers. Remember God's on your side.
Remember there are brethren that love you. And then remember to
honor God above all else. Honor God above all else because
He alone is worthy. Can you say amen to that? Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank
You, Lord Jesus, for the truth that's in the book of Romans.
We thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to this earth and suffering
and dying to pay the penalty of our sin. We thank You that
we have the privilege of carrying Your truth here and around the
world. We thank You for the privilege
of being part of missions and helping people preach the gospel. Thank You, Father, that that
didn't stop with the apostle Paul. Thank you, Father, that
it's going on today and that we get to be part of that. Help
us to just be faithful to do what you've called us to do as
Paul was faithful in his life to do what he was called to do.
Help us to be your servants in all that we say and all that
we do. Father, we pray that you would
work tonight now in this service. If there's someone here that
does not know you as Lord and Savior, I pray before they leave, they
will. And I ask this in Jesus' name.
Paul's Final Thoughts to the Roman Church
Series Roamin' Through Romans
| Sermon ID | 21509211513 |
| Duration | 56:59 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Romans 15 |
| Language | English |
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