The Angel Gabriel Visits Mary (Luke 1:26-38)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19, 2021

As I think about the Christmas story I wonder, “What if Mary said, ‘No?’” I wonder, “Could Mary say no?”

If Mary said, “No,” what would have happened in Bethlehem?  As you know, Mary was the mother of Jesus, and this event did happen. Mary was told that she was to give birth to the Christ child. You know what? She didn’t even argue. You ask, “Why would she argue?” Well, though it was an honor for her, Mary did face a lot of shame and a lot of trouble for the virgin birth. We are going to look at Luke 1:26-38 and in this passage we will see that Mary is told about Jesus’ birth. I want you to notice the angel Gabriel coming to Mary. I want you to notice Mary’s obedience.

Two weeks ago, we began a series focusing on the angelic narratives in Luke 1. I do not want to so focus on the angel that we miss the point that the angel is conveying. There is only one angel in Luke 1, Gabriel. Gabriel’s name means the greatness of God. He appears in Daniel 9 and 11 as well. It seems that when God has something major to announce He sends Gabriel.

To review: What does the word angel mean? The Hebrew word malak simply means “messenger”; it may refer to a human messenger (1 Kings 19:2) or a divine messenger (Gen. 28:12). The basic meaning of the word is “one who is sent.” As a divine messenger an angel is a “heavenly being charged by God with some commission.”¹ The word is found 103 times in the Old Testament. The Greek word angelos occurs 175 times in the New Testament; however, of men it is used only 6 times. The word angelos is similar to the Hebrew malak; it also means “messenger … who speaks and acts in the place of the one who has sent him.”^[1]

1. In verses 26-29 we see Mary being greeted by Gabriel.
   1. Let’s read Luke 1:26-29: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 
   2. Notice the passage begins saying “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy…” This is connecting this narrative with the previous narrative. In the previous verses the story is told of how John the Baptist came to be born to elderly parents.
   3. Now, the text says that Gabriel was sent to Nazareth in Galilee. Nazareth was the city, a very small city, Galilee was the greater area. Nazareth had 1600-2000 people at this time.
   4. Dr. Rydelnic, Professor of Jewish Studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute, shares: Nazareth was the wrong side of the tracks. It was a poorer area.[2]
   5. Gabriel and Michael are the only angels in the New Testament; these are the most popular angels in Jewish lure.
   6. Now the angel comes to a virgin who was engaged or pledged to be married to Joseph. The Bible says that Joseph was a descendant of David.  Because Joseph was of David’s line and Jesus would be his legal son, Jesus could qualify as belonging to David’s royal house. The New American Commentary tells us that in Judaism, “virgins” were young maidens, usually fourteen or younger. Though Dr. Rydelnic believes she was more like 16 or 17 years old.
   7. Gabriel greets Mary by saying that she is highly favored and the Lord is with her.
   8. How often do you greet someone like that? Not often and that apparently was the same for Mary because she didn’t understand the greeting.
2. So, in verses 30-33 we see Gabriel explain why she is favored.
   1. Let’s read Luke 1:30-33: And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
   2. Notice that the angel starts by saying, “Do not be afraid.” I like this because this verse shows that angels were warriors, they were an image which we usually don’t see. They were not fair skinned feminine creatures that look maternal.  This angel appears out of thin air and was something that she likely had never seen before.
   3. The angel tells her that she has found favor with God.
   4. Now, let’s stop there.  Now, I realize that my questions at the beginning of the sermon were not fair; obviously, God wouldn’t have chosen Mary if she would have resisted. But why did God choose her? She was favored by God. I wonder, was she such a respectful pious young lady that she was favored. Or, does favor simply mean that God is going to bestow on her this blessing of being mother to the Christ child? This could be either or both.
   5. Then the angel tells her that she will conceive and give birth to a son and call Him Jesus.
      1. Look at that.
         1. She is told that she will become pregnant. That is prophetic; in verse 34 she says that she is still a virgin.
         2. She is told that the baby will be a boy. Again, this is prophetic; she doesn’t even know she is pregnant. Besides, you cannot even know the sex of a baby until about 16 weeks.  Yet, the angel knows.
         3. She is told what to name the baby.
      2. Notice the mercy of God. Suppose that God had this plan unfold but did not tell Mary about it ahead of time. God tells Mary that she will be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
      3. Now, this is not unusual in the Scriptures. In the Bible we learn that God controls the womb. In Genesis 17:17 and 18:12 both Abraham and Sarah laugh when they are told they are going to have a baby in their old age. But, God controls the womb. In Genesis 17:19 an angel tells Abraham what to name his son.
      4. In Luke 1:5-25 John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias was told that he will have a son in his old age, and he is told the name for the son will be John.
      5. Now, Mary likely knew that God controls the womb, but she is still a woman around 14 years old who is engaged to be married. If she is pregnant, how? Then, if she is pregnant and not by Joseph it will look like adultery and she could be stoned (Lev 20).
      6. This is the first and only time a virgin gives birth.
      7. Mary had to be thinking:
      8. What will I tell my fiancé?
      9. Now, some of you are thinking, “Who cares? She is not married, but engaged.”
      10. The New American Commentary says the following about Jewish marriage and engagement:

Marriage consisted of two distinct stages: engagement followed by the marriage itself. Engagement involved a formal agreement initiated by a father seeking a wife for his son. The next most important person involved was the father of the bride. A son’s opinion would be sought more often in the process than a daughter’s. Upon payment of a purchase price to the bride’s father (for he lost a daughter and helper whereas the son’s family gained one) and a written agreement and/or oath by the son, the couple was engaged. Although during this stage the couple in some instances cohabited, this was the exception. An engagement was legally binding, and any sexual contact by the daughter with another person was considered adultery. The engagement could not be broken save through divorce (Matt 1:19), and the parties during this period were considered husband and wife (Matt 1:19–20, 24). At this time Mary likely was no more than fifteen years old, probably closer to thirteen, which was the normal age for betrothal.^[3]

1. Mary also must have been thinking, “What will I tell my parents?”
   1. Mary must have been thinking, “What will the neighbors think? I will be the talk of the town. What does it feel like to die by stoning?”
   2. We don’t know Mary’s thoughts but we do know that she doesn’t argue. She is totally obedient.
   3. Gabriel does tell Mary, ^“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
   4. That is a major verse. He will grow up to have the throne of Israel. Now, Mary likely interpreted this to mean that He will physically be the king just as David was in the Old Testament and David was the greatest king of Israel.
   5. But David died and his son Solomon ruled Israel, then Solomon died and Israel was split into a divided monarchy by Solomon’s children, David’s grandchildren.
   6. David and Solomon were mortal kings.
   7. Mary is told that her son will reign forever.
   8. That is a lot of responsibility. She is to be the mother of the future, eternal king of Israel. Wow!
2. In verses 34-35 we see how this will happen
   1. Let’s read Luke 1:34-35:  And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be  called holy—the Son of God. 
   2. Mary does ask how this can be because she is a virgin.
   3. I like how Sproul says: She is saying, “ I may not be a biologist but I know how babies come.” She knew natural law. God governs by natural law. If you drop something it falls because of gravity. That is why historically people called miracles going against natural law.[4]
   4. The angel then explains that “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.^[5]
   5. Gabriel gives telltale clues about the metaphysics of the virgin birth, in that the Holy Spirit will “overshadow” (Greek episkiazō) Mary (Luke 1:35). This verb is used elsewhere for the glorious manifestation of God on earth (Matthew 17:5; Luke 9:34; Exodus 40:35), implying that God’s Spirit is the active agent of the special creation of the human body of Jesus in Mary’s womb.[6]
   6. Now, there are some in our churches that might say that Mary was not really a virgin. I must ask, “If you don’t believe in the virgin birth, than you might as well take all the other miracles out of the Bible.” She was a virgin; verse 34 makes that quite clear. God the Father is the father of this baby, and this happened in a miraculous way.
   7.  I want to take an excurses on apologetics for a moment. Some think that the virgin birth was copied off of pagan myths. Kevin Deyoung answers that in an article with the Gospel Coalition:  

Many have objected to the virgin birth because they see it as a typical bit of pagan mythologizing. “Mithraism had a virgin birth. Christianity had a virgin birth. They are all just fables. Even Star Wars has a virgin birth.” This popular argument sounds plausible at first glance, but there are a number of problems with it.

(1) The assumption that there was a prototypical God-Man who had certain titles, did certain miracles, was born of a virgin, saved his people, and then got resurrected is not well-founded. In fact, no such prototypical “hero” existed before the rise of Christianity.

(2) It would have been unthinkable for a Jewish sect (which is what Christianity was initially) to try to win new converts by adding pagan elements to their gospel story. I suppose a good Jew might make up a story to fit the Old Testament, but to mix in bits of paganism would have been anathema to most Jews.

(3) The supposed virgin birth parallels are not convincing. Consider some of the usual suspects.

Alexander the Great: his most reliable ancient biographer (several centuries after his death) makes no mention of a virgin birth. Besides, the story that began to circulate (after the rise of Christianity) is about an unusual conception, but not a virgin birth. Alexander’s parents were already married when he was born.

Dionysus: like so many of the pagan “parallels,” he was born when a god (in this case Zeus) disguised himself as a human and impregnated a human princess. This is not a virgin birth and not like the Holy Spirit’s role we read about in the Gospels.

Mithra: he’s a popular parallel. But he was born of a rock, not a virgin. Moreover, the cult of Mithra in the Roman Empire dates to after the time of Christ, so any dependence is Mithraism on Christianity and not the other way around.

Buddha: his mother dreamed that Buddha entered her in the form of a white elephant. But this story doesn’t appear until five centuries after his death, and she was already married.

In short, the so-called parallels always occur well after the life in question, well into the Christian era, and are not really stories of virginal conceptions.[7]

1. God created the womb; God can surely provide the baby.
2. In verses 36-37 we see a miracle has already been performed.
   1. Read with me Luke 1:36-37: And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.”
   2. In these two verses we see that her cousin, who was elderly, was pregnant.
   3. Then, I love verse 37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
      1. Do you doubt God?
      2. Do you find it hard to believe in the virgin birth?
      3. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus later would turn water into wine (John chapter 2)?
      4. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus would heal many people (Luke 4:38-44; 7:22; etc)?
      5. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus fed 5000 (Luke 9:12ff)?
      6. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus raised a dead man to life (John 11:43)?
      7. Do you find it hard to believe that Jesus was resurrected and still lives (Luke 24 and other passages)?
      8. Nothing is impossible with God. God can do all things. I am convinced that we all struggle with faith sometimes, even pastors. But why do we want to believe in such a little God? If He is God, He must be greater than we are.
3. In verse 38 we see Mary’s great obedience
   1. Read with me Luke 1:38: And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
   2. Mary doesn’t say, “Well, Gabriel, I really, really, really thank you for considering me for this task. I mean, like, I know that I am a true and godly young lady and that is likely why you chose me, but, you know, I, like, I’m not up for this. I mean, I am still young, and I don’t want the public humiliation and well, just ask someone else.”
   3. No, Mary accepts. Now, could Mary say no? We can’t answer that. But we do know what she says, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
   4. How is your obedience?

At a certain children’s hospital, a boy gained a reputation for wreaking havoc with the nurses and staff. One day a visitor who knew about his terrorizing nature made him a deal: “If you are good for a week,” she said, “I’ll give you a dime when I come again.” A week later she stood before his bed. “I’ll tell you what,” she said, “I won’t ask the nurses if you behaved. You must tell me yourself. Do you deserve the dime?”

After a moment’s pause, a small voice from among the sheets said: “Gimme a penny.” [8]

• God may not be calling you to give birth to His son (which is good if you are a man because that would be a bigger miracle than the virgin birth), but maybe God is calling you to buy Christmas presents for a neighbor’s children.
  • Are you resisting something that God is telling you to do?
  • Maybe God wants you to apologize to someone you offended this past week.
  • Be obedient. Be God’s servant as Mary was.

Pray

¹ Gerhard von Rad, “Mal’āk in the Old Testament,” in Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 1:76–77.

^[1] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 286–287.

[2] Dr. Rydelnic. Open Line; 06.19.2021

^[3] Stein, R. H. (2001). Vol. 24: Luke (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (82). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[4] Renewing Your Mind (08.22.2021)

^[5] The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 1:35). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-the-virgin-birth-really-matter?utm_campaign=Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=102976522&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8B6i-EoeTAR60_IsvW2JEK-EK_5gBu09_qv-osFdFNQozaYr1O2qItn0juk6EV3PEvE6ZPuDcnOYkNBxsLA-pH08JJ-Q&utm_content=102976522&utm_source=hs_email

[7] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/why-does-it-matter-that-jesus-was-born-of-a-virgin/

[8] Swindoll, Charles R. Read in Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN 1998. Page 413. Exerted from Lewis and Faye Copeland, 10,000 Jokes, Toasts, and Stories.  

The Angels in Luke 1 (Gabriel Visits Zechariah Luke 1:5-25)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, December 4 and Sunday, December 5, 2021

The American storyteller Garrison Keillor recently claimed that you don’t have to believe in Jesus to have a great Christmas. Keillor said,

Although you may decide that instead of Christmas carols you are going to hold hands and breathe in unison, Christmas will still live deep in the cockles of your heart—or actually in your neo-cortex, stored as zillions of neuron impulses … It’s [your brain] that sends tears to your eyes when you smell the saffron cookies that your grandma used to make or you sing Silent Night. So Christmas is: number one lights, number two food, number three song, number four being with people you like. You need no more.

Tim Keller comments on Keillor’s quote:

Keillor is saying that it doesn’t matter whether you believe in God or not. You can still hold hands, you can still breathe in unison. All the good feelings of Christmas are just a reaction in our brain. But here’s why that doesn’t work. I know enough about Garrison Keillor to know that he is very upset with cruelty and prejudice. But if it’s really true that there is no God, if there is no supernatural or miracles, and if everything is a function of natural causes—if that is all true, then it is also true that love, and joy, and even cruelty and prejudice are just all chemical reactions stored in our brain. Keillor is against cruelty and prejudice, but if it’s true that everything is just chemistry, then how in the world can you say there’s a moral difference between love and cruelty, between kissing someone or killing someone? They’re both nothing but neuro-chemical responses. So if there is no God, and if Christmas is all about lights, songs, and being with nice people and your neo-cortex going crazy about it, then I don’t see how Keillor can stand up and say that there is something wrong with cruelty and prejudice. He can’t do it. Without the theology behind Christmas, you lose the core meaning of Christmas.[1]

You see, Jesus is the point of Christmas. Jesus is the point of the New Testament. Jesus is the point of Luke’s Gospel. But Luke doesn’t begin His gospel with Jesus. He begins with John the Baptizer. Really, Luke begins with John’s father, Zechariah, and his mother, Elizabeth. Over the next month I want to focus on the accounts of the angels in Luke chapters 1 and 2. To begin the Christmas narrative we see an angel visit Zechariah. What does the word angel mean? The Hebrew word malak simply means “messenger”; it may refer to a human messenger (1 Kings 19:2) or a divine messenger (Gen. 28:12). The basic meaning of the word is “one who is sent.” As a divine messenger an angel is a “heavenly being charged by God with some commission.”¹ The word is found 103 times in the Old Testament. The Greek word angelos occurs 175 times in the New Testament; however, of men it is used only 6 times. The word angelos is similar to the Hebrew malak; it also means “messenger … who speaks and acts in the place of the one who has sent him.”^[2]

God sent the angel Gabriel to announce His plans to Zechariah. This was because Zechariah and Elizabeth were older and did not have children, yet God was going to allow Elizabeth to conceive and John the baptizer would be born. John would prepare the way for Jesus.

Theme:

God sends Gabriel to announce His miraculous plan to Zechariah.

Let’s read Luke 1:5-25:

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

Let’s walk through this passage:

1. Notice the godliness of Zechariah and Elizabeth (verse 6).
   1. The passage says they were both righteous in the sight of God, observing the Lord’s commands. Now, this does not mean they were perfect, but it does mean that they were striving to be. It means that the patterns of their life were following God and His will.
   2. Yet even when one is godly one can still have trouble (verse 7).
   3. Most of you know there is a Christmas classic called It’s a Wonderful Life. In this movie George Bailey is doing everything right, but he comes up with a major problem.
   4. Now, look at verse 7: they are very old and they are childless. Not being able to bear children in that day was a very bad thing. It was quite a curse. Sometimes people may even think this is the case because of some sin they have been involved in. People would think that God has not been blessing them. But in the previous verse we can see that this is not about sin. They are living godly lives. They are righteous. They are observing the Lord’s commands.
   5. We know from context that this is about the Lord’s commands. Zechariah and Elizabeth will be blessed for this trouble. They will eventually still have a child and he is to be the forerunner for the Messiah.
2. God answers prayer (verses 8-17)
   1. Now, as we look at the next few verses, we see that God does answer this situation.
   2. All through the Bible we learn that God controls the womb. Way back in Genesis Abraham and Sarah could not have a child until God fixes that situation (Genesis 17). Later on, Samuel’s mother Hannah could not have a child either, but God gives her a son and he is among the greatest of prophets (1 Samuel 1). God controls the womb.
   3. So now we have Zechariah, who is a priest, and he is selected to go into the temple and burn incense. By the way, this is a high honor. Apparently there were around 13,000 priests and so they chose this person by lot, and no one could do this more than once, but most never got such an honor. But you know what? God was over this process. The Lord was active in every single detail in order to work out His Divine will.
   4. Verse 10 shows us that a whole multitude was outside praying while he is inside performing his priestly duty.
   5. Praise God for prayer warriors. We also need to value prayer in this way. I wonder for all of us who are Christ followers, are we praying for God’s work in every worship service. Are we committing to prayer meetings?
   6. Now, you are wondering, “When do we see the angel?” We are going to see the angel now.
   7. Verses 11-12 show the angel Gabriel shows up. What would this be like? What would I think if I was preparing a sermon and all of a sudden God’s messenger is right next to me? This really did happen. And he was scared. But the Bible says that Gabriel told him not to be afraid.
   8. In verse 13 the angel tells him that his prayer has been heard. Was his prayer for a son? Was his prayer for the Messiah? What was his prayer? Was his prayer right there in the temple or was it a prayer that he had been saying for years? Even if he was praying for the Messiah that is answered in his son performing the role of the forerunner for the Messiah.
   9. God answers prayer, but they are answered according to His Divine will and plan.
   10. We must realize that this is all taking place to prepare the way for the Messiah. All of these details for Christ’s advent.
3. John’s role (verse 16-17). Now, notice what John the baptizer’s role will be:
   1. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is in the womb. In the Old Testament some had temporary baptisms with the Holy Spirit, but John will have the Spirit from the womb.
   2. Remember that we also have the Holy Spirit as Christians. We are never alone (Romans 8:9).
   3. He will turn many of the Jewish people back to the Lord their God (verse 16). John the baptizer had a role in calling the people in repentance.
   4. He will be a forerunner for Him (Jesus).
   5. As a forerunner, he will be in the Spirit and power of Elijah. In Malachi 3:1 God talked about sending a messenger ahead of the Messiah and then again in Malachi 4:5 God talked about the same thing.
   6. Point of importance is that all this happens to prepare the way for Jesus
4. But notice that Zechariah has unbelief (verses 18-20).
   1. In verse 18, Zechariah asks how this will be. R.C. Sproul says it is like he is saying, “I am too old, you have the wrong address Mr. Angel!”
   2. Then in verse 19 look at Gabriel’s response: And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
   3. That is powerful. He reminds Zechariah who he is talking to. Then he says that he stands in the presence of God, wow!
   4. Gabriel’s name means “the greatness of God.” He appears in Daniel 9 and 11 as well.
   5. It seems that when God has something major to announce He sends Gabriel.
   6. Notice that even people who are great models of faithfulness do have problems. Notice also that the Scriptures do not gloss over these problems. God still uses this for His glory.
   7. Listen, God will still use us in our unbelief. God has not given up on any of us and He has big plans!

God sent Gabriel to announce His plans. Prior to this there were 400 years of silence. From the time of Malachi until Luke 1, there were 400 years without special revelation from God.

To illustrate the 400-years of silence prior to the coming of Jesus, Del Tackett compares it to the Apollo 13 incident. On the evening of April 13, when the crew was 200,000 miles from Earth and closing in on the moon, mission controller Sy Liebergot saw a low-pressure warning signal on a hydrogen tank in Odyssey. Alarm lights lit up in Odyssey and in Mission Control as oxygen pressure fell and power disappeared. The crew notified Mission Control, with, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

For re-entry to the earth’s atmosphere, there would be a blackout period, lasting a few minutes. During the silence, Mission Control petitioned, “Apollo 13, this is Houston, do you read me?”

Tackett comments:

The Apollo 13 blackout lasted only a few minutes. Imagine 400-years of silence. Then the silence was broken. At the right time, God brought forth his Son, born of a woman and fulfilled all the promises and the prophesies. For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor; Mighty God; Everlasting Father; Prince of Peace.[3]

[1] Adapted from Tim Keller, “God with Us: Conversations with Tim Keller about Christmas”

¹ Gerhard von Rad, “Mal’āk in the Old Testament,” in Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 1:76–77.

^[2] Paul P. Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), 286–287.

[3] Del Tackett, “Del Tackett Apollo 13 and Jesus,” Youtube

The Doxology of Romans, Glorify God (Romans 16:25-27)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church on Saturday, November 27 and Sunday, November 28, 2021

When Rebecca Pippert was an agnostic, she had one question she continually wrestled with: How can finite limited human beings ever claim to know God? How do they know they are not being deceived?

Pippert writes:

One sunny day I was stretched out on the lawn … when I noticed that some ants were busy building a mound. I began to redirect their steps with twigs and leaves. But they simply bounced off and started a new ant mound. I thought, This is like being God! I am redirecting their steps, and they don’t even realize it!

At one point, two ants crawled onto my hands and I thought, Wouldn’t it be funny if one ant turned to the others and said, “Do you believe in Becky? Do you believe Becky really exists?” I imagine the other ant answering, “Don’t be ridiculous! Becky is a myth, a fairy tale!” How comical, I thought–the hubris of that ant declaring that I don’t exist, when I could easily blow it off my hand. But what if the other ant said, “Oh, I believe that Becky exists!” How would they resolve it? How could they know that I am real? I thought. What would I have to do to reveal to them who I am?

Suddenly I realized: the only way to reveal who I am, in a way that they could understand, would be to become an ant myself. I would have to identify totally with their sphere of reality. I sat upright, and I remember thinking, What an amazing thought! The scaling-down of the size of me to perfectly represent who I am in the form of an ant! I know; I would have to do tricks! Things that no other ant could do!

Then it hit me: I had just solved my problem of how finite creatures could ever discover God. God would have to come from the outside and reveal who he is.[1]

My theme today is:

Paul closes Romans with a sentence worshipping God.

1. Glory to the only wise God
   1. Now, we finally come to the conclusion of Romans. Paul is going to conclude with a beautiful doxology. A doxology a liturgical formula of praise to God. It comes from the mid 17th century: via medieval Latin from Greek doxologia, from doxa ‘appearance, glory’ (from dokein ‘seem’) + -logia (see -logy). Logy has to do with a subject of speech or interest. So, doxology means glory word.
   2. This doxology rehashes some of the themes of Romans. It is even similar to his introduction showing how well thought out the epistle of Romans was.
   3. The final three verses of Romans (one sentence in Greek) form a doxology that is liturgical in character.⁸⁵
   4. Look at verse 25-27: ²⁵Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
   5. Paul begins with, “now,” or “and” which is just moving the thought forward.
   6. To Him…
   7. By context we know that he is writing about God, the Father.
   8. To Him Who is able…
   9. Do you know we could have a sermon on just that phrase? We could have a whole sermon on the idea that God is able. But Paul does get more specific.
   10. Paul says, “strengthen you.” To Him Who is able to strengthen you.
   11. God is able to strengthen you… but how?
   12. “according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ…”
   13. This does not mean that the Gospel is literally Paul’s. No, Paul just had a stewardship in preaching the gospel.
   14. God is able to strengthen you by the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.
   15. I think that is what this is about and he is going to expand on it.
   16. Paul continues: “according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages…” God is able to strengthen you according to the gospel and the revelation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, what is that mystery? In the Bible a mystery was something that had not been revealed but now was revealed. So, in this case the mystery is how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again. Further, I think this mystery is about how God planned to bring all nations together.
   17. Paul says this mystery was kept secret for long ages but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
   18. Remember all those Old Testament passages that Paul has been referencing? Paul has been using all of these Old Testament passages in order to show how the Old Testament prophesied about the gentiles believing. The mystery was kept secret, but now is revealed.
   19. “Mystery” is a common idea in Paul’s writings: Matt 13:35; Rom 11:25; 1 Cor 2:1, 7; 4:1; Eph 1:9; 3:3, 9; 6:19; Col 1:26f; 2:2; 4:3; 1 Tim 3:16^[2]
   20. Paul used the prophetic writings to reveal this mystery. This mystery was revealed to the nations, in other words to the gentiles. The mystery is about salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone, and the salvation is for Jew and gentile.
   21. Romans 1:1-5 is about the mystery of the Gospel, Jesus risen from the dead.
   22. In mentioning the obedience of faith, Paul concludes his letter where he began (1:5).^[3]
   23. This came about according to the command of the eternal God.
   24. This is a theological statement.
   25. The eternal God, God is eternal. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is outside of time (Colossians 1:17; Revelation 1:8; 21:6; and 22:13).
   26. This mystery is according to the command of the eternal God and what is the purpose? To bring about the obedience of faith. God wants Jews and gentiles to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior to have faith in Him.
   27. The Holman Christian Standard Bible is really good here: but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God to advance the obedience of faith among all nations—
   28. One source: When Paul began this letter, he explained that he had received grace and apostleship ‘to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith’ (1:5). Towards the end of the letter he says that he won’t boast except of what Christ has accomplished through him ‘in leading the Gentiles to obey God’ (15:18), and in 16:19 he tells his audience that he rejoices because ‘everyone has heard about your obedience’. The mystery that has been revealed clearly now is that Gentiles as well as Jews should come to ‘the obedience that comes from faith’. What Paul means by ‘the obedience that comes from faith’ is primarily the obedience that consists in faith in the gospel.^[4]
   29. Verse 27: is a powerful statement.
   30. To the only wise God…
   31. As the only God, He is the God of both Jews and Gentiles (cf. 3:29–30).^[5]
   32. God is wise.
   33. Romans teaches that God is wise. Romans 11:28 and the following verses: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
   34. Romans 11:34: Who has known the mind of the Lord?
   35. God is wise.
   36. To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen.
   37. Give glory to God. That statement gives glory to God, because the statement itself says that He is the only wise God.
2. applications
   1. We must recognize that God is able.
   2. God is able to save us.
   3. God is able to take care of our needs.
   4. God is able to strengthen us.
   5. God is able to strengthen you by the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.
   6. We must trust God.
   7. God has revealed Himself and His way of salvation to us.
   8. We must worship God.
   9. He is the only God.
   10. He is wise.
   11. He deserves glory.

God is powerful:

Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? …

On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.

It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.[6]

[1] Source: Rebecca Pippert, Stay Salt: The World has Changed Our Message Must Not, (The Good Book Company, 2020), pp. 39-40

⁸⁵ Dunn lays out the Greek text in graphic form to show the orderly relationship between clauses (Romans, 2:913).

^[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

^[3] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1806.

^[4] Colin G. Kruse, Paul’s Letter to the Romans, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2012), 588–589.

^[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 16:27.

[6] Source: Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk (Harper Perennial, 1988), p. 52.

Paul’s Personal Greetings and Appreciation of Christian Workers (Romans 16:1-24)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, November 20 and Sunday, November 21, 2021

The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable. It is democratic. You can tell people secrets and they usually don’t tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.

With all my heart I believe that Christ wants his church to be unshockable, democratic, permissive—a fellowship where people can come in and say, “I’m sunk!” “I’m beat!” “I’ve had it!” Alcoholics Anonymous has this quality. Our churches too often miss it.

—Keith Miller and Bruce Larson, Edge of Adventure^[1]

My theme today is:

Paul’s final greetings.

We must be thankful for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

1. Phoebe (verses 1-2)
   1. So, we are finishing up Romans this week and next week.
   2. Paul has shared deep theology in Romans chapters 1-11.
   3. Paul has shared a lot about Christian living in Romans chapters 14-15.
   4. Now, Paul is giving final greetings.
   5. MacArthur: This chapter, which has almost no explicit teaching and contains several lists of mostly unknown people, is the most extensive and intimate expression of Paul’s love and affection for other believers and co-workers found anywhere in his NT letters. It also provides insights into the lives of ordinary first-century Christians and gives an inside look at the nature and character of the early church.^[2]
   6. I have heard some share that Paul cannot say “hello” without declaring the Gospel. We see that in this section as we see some great theology in verse 20.
   7. Thomas Schreiner suggests that the repeated phrases “in Christ” and “in the Lord” throughout Romans 16 demonstrate that Paul’s relationships were “rooted in the new life of Christ.” This makes the greetings of Romans 16 far more than pleasantries — rather, they are concrete expressions of the very gospel about which Paul writes so powerfully earlier in the letter.[3]
   8. Let’s read verses 1-2, Romans 16:1-2: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, ² that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
   9. N. T. Wright points out that we cannot prove it, but it is likely that the one who delivers the letter read the letter. In this case that is Phoebe. This would be a woman giving the public reading of Scripture.
   10. Notice that the ministry of women in the Roman church is quite evident in this chapter. Paul referred to nine prominent women: Phoebe, Prisca, Mary, Tryphena, Thyphosa, Persis, Rufus’ mother, Julia, and Nereus’ sister.^[4]
   11. This is really powerful how Paul commends Phoebe and calls her a servant. It could actually be rendered as “deaconess.”
   12. This also tells where she is from “Cenchrea.”
   13. In verse 2 Paul tells them to “welcome” or “receive her,” but receive her “in the Lord.”
   14. Paul wants them to help her in whatever she needs from them.
   15. She has been a patron, or “helper” of many including Paul. Phoebe served as a patron, probably with financial assistance and hospitality.^[5]
2. Other greetings (verses 3-16)
   1. Paul sends greetings to 26 individuals (16:3–16).^[6]
   2. Let’s read verses 3-16, Romans 16:3-16: Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
   3. Paul gives quite a list of greetings, with a few additional details.
   4. Prisca and Aquila (2 people): fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their life for Paul. Paul gives thanks to them and all the churches among the gentiles, including the church in their house. 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; Philem 2^[7] are all similar.
   5. Prisca is given the diminutive name Priscilla in Acts (Acts 18:2–3, 18, 26).^[8]
   6. Epaenetus (total of 3 people now): Paul’s beloved and the first convert in Asia.
   7. Verse 6 mentions Mary (total of 4 people) (This is not the mother of Jesus, but another Mary).
   8. Verse 7: Andronicus and Junia (6 people greeted now). Paul calls them outstanding among the apostles, fellow prisoners and they were in Christ before Him. Junia is a female.
   9. CSB: The word “apostle” can be used in a nontechnical sense, referring to a messenger rather than a commissioned apostle such as Paul.^[9]
   10. Verse 8: Ampliatus (7 people greeted), beloved in the Lord. MacArthur: A common name among the emperor’s household slaves at that time; he may have been one of those in “Caesar’s household” (Php 4:22).^[10]
   11. Verse 9: Urbanus, fellow worker and Stachys (9 people greeted). Stachys is beloved.
   12. Verse 10: Greet Apelles, approved in Christ… that is a powerful statement. Also, the household of Aristobulus (9 people greeted). Since Paul does not greet him personally, he was probably not a believer, although some relatives and household servants apparently were. One noted biblical scholar believes that he was the brother of Herod Agrippa I and the grandson of Herod the Great.^[11]
   13. Verse 11: Herodian, Paul calls him a kinsman. Maybe this means he is Jewish. Household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord (11 people greeted).
   14. Verse 12: Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord; also Persis, beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord (15 greeted).
   15. Verse 13: Rufus (16 greeted). Paul says that he is chosen in the Lord. His mother has been a mother to Paul.
   16. Verse 14: Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas (21 greeted) also the brothers with them.
   17. Verse 15: Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas (26 greeted), and all the saints who are with them.
   18. Verse 16: now greet one another with a holy kiss.
   19. All the churches of Christ greet you.
   20. Paul wants them all to greet each other in an affectionate way.
   21. The idea of a holy kiss is throughout the Scriptures: 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Thess 5:26; 1 Pet 5:14^[12]
   22. The kiss was a way of showing affection then and still is in other cultures.
   23. Notice how important community and hospitality was to the apostle Paul.

Marcella, who was born to a noble Roman family in 325, was highly revered by Jerome, the 4th-century translator of the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible. This noblewoman offered her palace as a sanctuary for Christians who were being persecuted, and was active in leading Bible classes and prayer meetings among the other noblewomen.

Though widowed at an early age and having no children, she chose to not remarry and instead devoted herself to serving Christ and the church. When Pope Damasus commissioned scholar Jerome to make a newly revised translation of the Gospels, taking the latest available Hebrew and Greek texts and translating them into Latin, Jerome moved into Marcella’s retreat house palace for the duration of his task. For three years, he depended upon Marcella and her other house guests to critique his ongoing work, which eventually became a classic, the Latin Vulgate Bible.

Marcella founded the first convent for women in the Western church, and gave liberally of her wealth to help other Christians, clearly showing to her fellow noblewomen that greater rewards and fulfillment come from storing up treasures in heaven than from hoarding treasures on earth.

• Paul’s appeal (verses 17-20)
  1. Read with me verses 17-20, Romans 16:17-20: I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
  2. Watch out for those who cause divisions.
  3. Notice that Paul says that he “appeals” to them. This is a final instruction.
  4. Watch out!!! This is important.
  5. Those who cause divisions or create obstacles, but Paul does not leave it at that. Paul is talking about those who cause divisions or create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that he has taught.
  6. Paul says to avoid them.
  7. They do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ but their own appetites (verse 18).
  8. They deceive the hearts through what “smooth talk and flattery…”
  9. In verse 19 Paul compliments them. Their obedience is known to all. That is really nice. In Romans 1:8 Paul wrote about this.
  10. Paul rejoices over them.
  11. Paul wants them to be wise to what is good and innocent to what is evil.
  12. Verse 20 is powerful. No matter what you face, the God of peace. God is a God of peace, BUT He will soon crush satan under “their” feet. Notice that? Paul says that God will crush satan under their feet.
  13. One writes: Note Paul’s careful grammar: God himself is the one crushing Satan; he happens to use our feet. We are involved in the fight, but any victories in our fight are not merely our work, but God’s (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10).[13]
  14. It was God who established peace in the church (16:20), not Satan, who probably placed the dissenting teachers in proximity to the body to disrupt it. On the role of believers in judging angels, including Satan, see 1Co 6:3.^[14]
  15. Then, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
• More greetings (verses 21-24)
  1. Let’s read verses 21-24, Romans 16:21-24: Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. ²² I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. ²³ Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
  2. Paul gives more greetings.
  3. ESV Study Bible: In vv. 21–23 those who are with Paul greet the Romans. Timothy is Paul’s most famous coworker (see 1 Timothy) and was probably his most beloved colleague in ministry. Lucius is likely not Lucius of Cyrene mentioned in Acts 13:1, nor is he Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts. Jason is likely the same person named in Acts 17:5–7, 9. And Sosipater is probably the same person as Sopater from Berea (Acts 20:4)^[15]
  4. Timothy, Paul’s fellow worker.
  5. Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, Paul calls them his kinsmen. They were likely Jewish.
  6. Verse 22: Tertius was his scribe, his amanuensis.
  7. Verse 23: Gaius is his host. The whole church greets them. Erastus is the city treasurer and then Quartus also greets them.
  8. Verse 24 is not in the earlier manuscripts.
  9. I need to make a quick note about verse 24: it is not in the oldest manuscripts. Please know that these manuscripts were copied and copyists worked hard for accuracy and we have well over 5000 manuscripts of the Greek New Testament and most all of them do not differ. Where there are differences something like 99% are grammatical and the rest of the differences are not doctrinal. This is one of those cases. Whether this was original or not it does not affect the doctrine of Christianity. What likely happened is that a copyist made a marginal note and the next person copying the text thought it belonged in the text.
• Applications:
  1. Do we give people thanks like Paul does in this passage?
  2. Can we be a servant like Phoebe (verse 1)? She helped many (verse 2).
  3. Do we receive God’s servants like they were instructed to (verse 2)?
  4. Can we be fellow workers “in Christ” like Prisca and Aquila? (verses 3-4)?
  5. Can we work hard for the gospel like Mary (verse 6)?
  6. Are we ready to go to prison for the faith (verse 7; see also 2 Tim. 3:12)?
  7. Can we find something good to say about others? Look how encouraging Paul is in this passage? He is encouraging all of them. He is finding good things to say about them. He is positive.
  8. We may not greet with a holy kiss, but can we love one another (verse 16)?
  9. We must stay away from those causing stumbling blocks and dissension (verse 17). We must stay true to proper doctrine/teaching (verse 18).
  10. We must NOT be a slave to our own desires, but to Christ (verse 18).
  11. We must NOT be deceived and we must not deceive others (verse 18).
  12. May the report of our obedience to Christ spread (verse 19).
  13. We must be wise to what is good (verse 19).
  14. We must pursue innocence in evil (verse 19).

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.  After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.  Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.  As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.  Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.  The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave.  He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.  Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek,  ‘Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the firey sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.’

Prayer

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 92.

^[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 16:1–27.

[3] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/loneliness-limits-ministry?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=138604941&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-82OKv5HnPP_vA63J3gtxgXbM6hM9tTC6Gz639zXI1NrUDael8IXA6Wg8Q8VIseUEbC7WjLbwOGIdRbUjDF7mhNtX6WtQ&utm_content=138604941&utm_source=hs_email

^[4] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 16:1.

^[5] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2184.

^[6] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ro 16:3–16.

^[7] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

^[8] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2184.

^[9] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1805.

^[10] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 16:8.

^[11] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 16:10.

^[12] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).

[13] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/biblical-theology-david-goliath/

^[14] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1770.

^[15] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2185.

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome (Romans 15:22-33)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, November 13 and Sunday, November 14, 2021

Do we care about missions?

A few years ago I stood on the banks of a river in South America and watched a young man in western clothes climb out of a primitive canoe. The veteran missionary with whom I was traveling beamed at the young man and he whispered to me, “The first time I saw him he was a naked Indian kid standing right on this bank, and he pulled in my canoe for me. God gave me a real concern for him, and eventually he came to Christ, committed himself to the Lord’s work and is just returning home after graduating from seminary in Costa Rica.” I could understand the beam on the missionary’s face, and I think Paul beamed when he talked of his men. And he had good cause to be thrilled with them.

—Stuart Briscoe, Bound for Joy^[1]

My theme today is:

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome (Romans 15:22-33)

My application is:

Pray for the gospel impact.

1. Paul’s travel plans (verses 23-29).
   1. Paul has now wrapped up his theology section. That was Romans chapters 1-11.
   2. Paul has now wrapped up his ethics section. That was Romans chapter 12:1-15:7.
   3. Paul has written about his passion to reach the unreached with the gospel. That was Romans 15:8-21.
   4. Now, Paul continues that theme. Paul continues writing about his passion to take the Gospel to those who have never heard the Gospel.
   5. I have told you that it seems that Paul wanted to use Rome as a staging point to take the gospel to Spain.
   6. Read with me verse 22, Romans 15:22: This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.
   7. Why was he hindered? What reason? It seems that he was busy taking the Gospel to the unreached people groups. He wanted to take the gospel to those who have never heard. In verse 19 he was specific about the places he has declared the gospel.
   8. In Romans 1:13 he also referenced this.
   9. Now, look at verses 23-24, Romans 15:23-24: But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
   10. He has no room for work in these areas. It seems this means that his work is either complete or hindered.
   11. He hopes to see them in passing as he goes to Spain.
   12. He hopes they will help him on his journey to Spain.
   13. First, he wants to enjoy their company for a while.
   14. Isn’t it amazing to think of the gospel going from the middle east to Spain?
   15. That is quite a distance in maybe 30 years.
   16. Spurgeon said every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter!
   17. Look at verse 25, Romans 15:25: At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.
   18. Paul wants to do gospel ministry in 2 different directions. He wants to go to Spain but now he is taking aid to Jerusalem. In 2 Cor. 8-10 he was doing a fundraising drive to help victims of a famine in Jerusalem. It seems he is doing the same now.
   19. Look at verses 26-27, Romans 15:26-27: For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. ²⁷For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.
   20. Now, he continues with this by writing about Macedonia and Achaia giving to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Notice how he calls them “saints.” Notice how he says they are “pleased” to contribute.
   21. Then, verse 27 is interesting: they owe it to them. They were gentile believers who received spiritual blessings from the Jewish believers and so now they should give them material blessings.
   22. Look at verse 28, Romans 15:28: When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.
   23. This is Paul’s travel plans. He will take the offering to Jerusalem and then go to Spain, but see them on his way.
   24. We do not know if he ever made it to Spain. It is not recorded in the Bible.
   25. Look at verse 29, Romans 15:29: I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
   26. When he comes… He is confident that he will come.
   27. He will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
   28. Little did he know he would be taken to Rome in custody (Ac 25:11–28:14, 30–31).^[2]
   29. By the first century a.d. Spain was firmly a part of the Roman Empire. Spain provided significant crops to the empire, and it was the fatherland of several important Roman authors (and a few later emperors); thus it would have been a strategic location for Paul to evangelize. No visit of Paul to Spain is recorded in the NT, but it is possible that he went there after his release from prison in Rome (after Acts 28:30–31). There is some historical evidence after the NT suggesting that Paul did preach in Spain, but it falls short of clear proof.^[3]
   30. He represents Christ.
2. How to pray for Paul (verses 30-33).  
   1. Look at verses 30-32, Romans 15:30-32: I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.
   2. Paul is appealing to them and he is calling them “brothers,” or “brothers and sisters.”
   3. There is a sort of natural trinitarianism to v. 30, where Paul speaks of praying to God, but beseeches the Roman Christians through Jesus and through the love which the Spirit engenders in them.^[4]
   4. He is appealing by the Lord Jesus Christ.
   5. He is appealing by the love of the Spirit.
   6. This phrase occurs only here in Scripture and refers to Paul’s love for the Holy Spirit, not the Spirit’s love for him (cf. Ps 143:10).^[5]
   7. His appeal has the power of the Lord.
   8. His appeal is in the love of the Spirit.
   9. ESV Study Bible: Two prayer requests are found here: (1) that Paul would be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and (2) that his offering would be acceptable to the saints in Jerusalem. Some think the first request was not answered since Paul was arrested in Judea at the impulse of the Jews. But it seems his prayer was answered, for the Jews desired to put him to death (Acts 22–28), and this desire was frustrated, so that Paul did go to Rome, even if not in the way he anticipated. Further, Acts suggests that the offering was accepted in Jerusalem (Acts 24:17).^[6]
   10. His appeal is that they would strive, it has the Greek connotation of agonizing.
   11. The language of “striving” together in prayer¹⁹ is “agonistic” language, using the athletic metaphor of the straining of an athlete toward a particular goal (cf. Phil. 1:27; 4:3; Col. 4:12). The Christian is viewed as a spiritual athlete wrestling or striving diligently and earnestly in prayer.²⁰ Paul does not seem to mean simply that the Romans should strive with him, rather than strive in prayer.^21[7]
   12. He wants them to agonize with him in prayer for him. He is praying for himself and he needs them to pray to.
   13. What is his prayer? It is not selfish. It is that his ministry in Jerusalem is acceptable to the saints… He wants prayer so that he is “delivered” or “rescued” from those unbelievers in Judea. It seems that some would want to cause him harm.
   14. He wants that so that he can go to Rome, but only in God’s will.
   15. He wants prayer that the gifts are favorably received. The only indication that it was is found in the cryptic statement of Ac 21:17, “… the brethren received us gladly.” No wonder! Paul showed up with a crate full of relief funds for them.^[8]
   16. He wants to be refreshed by their company.
   17. Are we refreshed by the company of other believers?
   18. I think they were because they faced more difficulties.
   19. Look at the end, look at verse 33, Romans 15:33: May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
   20. That is a caring and wonderful exhortation.
   21. He is asking that God be with them all.

Shortly after Dallas Theological Seminary opened its doors, their doors almost closed because of bankruptcy. Before their 1929 commencement day, the faculty gathered in the president’s office to pray that God would provide. They formed a prayer circle, and when it was Harry Ironside’s turn, he circled Psalm 50:10 with a simple Honi-like prayer: “Lord, we know you own the cattle on a thousand hills. Please sell some of them, and send us the money.”

The time lapse between our requests and God’s answers is often longer than we would like, but occasionally God answers immediately.

While the faculty was praying, a $10,000 answer was delivered.

One version of the story attributes the gift to a Texas cattle rancher who had sold two carloads of cattle. Another version attributes it to a banker from Illinois. But one way or another, it was God who prompted the gift and answered the prayer.

In a moment that is reminiscent of the day Peter knocked on the door of the house where his friends were praying for a miraculous jailbreak, the president’s secretary interrupted the prayer meeting by knocking on the president’s door. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder and president of DTS, answered the door, and she handed him the answer to prayer. Turning to his friend and colleague, Dr. Harry Ironside, President Chafer said, “Harry, God sold the cattle!”[9]

• Applications:
  1. We also must care about the Gospel and even alter plans for the gospel ministry (verses 22-24).
  2. Will we alter our day if it means Gospel ministry?
  3. Will we alter our travel plans for the gospel?
  4. Maybe it is direct gospel ministry of sharing the gospel, or maybe serving.
  5. Will we serve at the rescue mission?
  6. Will we serve a neighbor in need?
  7. Will we get our hands dirty in ministry?
  8. Will we go on a mission trip?
  9. Will we volunteer in the youth ministry, children’s ministry, worship ministry, or help in other ways in the church?
  10. Are we praying for Gospel ministry?
  11. Paul wanted to visit them and then go further to Spain (verses 23-24). Do you want to visit Christian brothers and sisters you do not usually see?
  12. Are we serving? In verses 25-28 Paul was talking about churches that donate to the needs of Jerusalem and Paul was delivering it.
  13. Have you thought about donating to the pregnancy help center or the rescue mission?
  14. Are we praying for Christian ministries (verses 30-33)?
  15. Pray for the praise team.
  16. Pray for the youth ministry.
  17. Pray for the children’s ministry.

A missionary couple came home aboard a ship after many years of faithful service in Africa. It so happened that there was a very important diplomat also on the same ship who got special treatment and special attention. When the ship arrived, this couple stood back and watched from the deck as the band played and the people had gathered and there was great applause. As the diplomat walked down the gangplank and was whisked off in a lovely limousine to the sounds of music and applause, this dear fellow put his arm around his wife and he walked off with her and got into the streets of New York. “Honey,” he said, “it just doesn’t seem right after all of these years that we would have this kind of treatment and here this fellow gets that kind of special treatment.” And she put her arms around her husband and said to him, “But, honey, we’re not home yet.”^[10]

Prayer

^[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 376–377.

^[2] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1805.

^[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2183.

^[4] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 366.

^[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:30.

^[6] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2183.

¹⁹ Synagōnizomai is found in inscriptions from before the NT era with the meaning “strive together with,” referring to a sort of tug of war with ambassadors from other countries. See NewDocs 3:84.

²⁰ See Barrett, Romans, p. 256.

²¹ Against Dunn, Romans 9–16, p. 878.

^[7] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 366–367.

^[8] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1770.

[9] http://www.faithgateway.com/pray-hard/#.Vp6jczY0nq0

^[10] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 377.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles (Romans 15:14-21)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, November 6 and Sunday, November 7, 2021

A small bottle containing urine sat upon the desk of Sir William Osler. He was then the eminent professor of medicine at Oxford University. Sitting before him was a classroom full of young, wide-eyed medical students listening to his lecture on the importance of observing details. To emphasize his point, he reached down and picked up the bottle. Holding it high, he announced:

This bottle contains a sample for analysis. It’s often possible by tasting it to determine the disease from which the patient suffers.

Suiting action to words, he dipped a finger into the fluid and then into his mouth, as he continued—

Now I am going to pass the bottle around. Each of you please do exactly as I did. Perhaps we can learn the importance of this technique and diagnose the case.

The bottle made its way from row to row as each student gingerly poked his finger in and bravely sampled the contents with a frown. Dr. Osler then retrieved the bottle and startled his students with the words:

Gentlemen, now you will understand what I mean when I speak about details. Had you been observant you would have seen that I put my index finger into the bottle but my middle finger into my mouth![1]

We continue our trek through Romans. Today, observe Paul’s passion for the gospel.

My theme today is that Paul desired to take the Gospel to the UNCHURCHED, those who had NEVER HEARD the Gospel.

The Application: I hope we also take care to SHARE the Gospel.

1. Paul’s ministry (verses 14-18)
   1. Paul has written about conscious issues and sacrificing for each other and now he moves on.
   2. The last section really ended with a prayer.
   3. Now, he talks about his mission, his passion.
   4. This is interesting because in Romans we see the mutual need for Jews and gentiles to know Christ.
   5. Romans 1: gentiles need a Savior.
   6. Romans 2: Jews need a Savior.
   7. Romans 3: all need a Savior.
   8. Paul continues weaving these themes in the letter.
   9. Now, Paul talks about his ministry to the gentiles.
   10. Look at verse 14, Romans 15:14: I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
   11. Paul begins by complimenting them.
   12. He is satisfied about them. They are full of goodness.
   13. They are filled with knowledge.
   14. They are able to instruct each other.
   15. It could be that the knowledge he has in mind is knowledge about what food and drink they are permitted to eat and drink. It could be he means that they have knowledge about their freedom in Christ.
   16. Now, look at verses 15-16, Romans 15:15-16: But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
   17. Paul is coming back to his purpose.
   18. Verses 15–16 provide the closest thing Paul gives for a purpose statement for this epistle.^[2]
   19. But… he is inserting a contrast here. He was very satisfied in them, they are full of goodness, but on some points he needed to write boldly.
   20. He needed to remind them of the grace he was given from God, or “by God.”
   21. The grace was to be a minister of Christ Jesus… Who is he to be a minister of? Christ Jesus. To be a minister means to be a servant, or an ambassador. Who does he represent? He represents Christ Jesus.
   22. Who does he represent Christ Jesus to? The gentiles. This means the nations, this means non-Jewish people groups.
   23. What else? He is in the priestly service of the gospel of God…What did a priest do? A priest gives sacrifices on behalf of the people. What did Paul do? Paul told them about Jesus’ sacrifice on behalf of the people. But what else? It looks like he was offering the gentiles. See the rest of verse 16.
   24. So that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. To be sanctified means to be set apart for a purpose.
   25. It seems like Paul wants to reach the gentiles with the Gospel and present them back to the Lord sanctified, that is, set apart by the Holy Spirit.
   26. In Acts 9:15 God says that Paul is a chosen instrument of His for the gentiles and in Romans 11:13 he calls himself an apostle to the gentiles.
   27. Look at verse 17, Romans 15:17: In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.
   28. He can he be proud, but only in Christ Jesus, he can be proud of his work for God. What is his work? Reaching the gentiles with the Gospel.
   29. Are we proud of our work for God?
   30. Now look at verse 18, Romans 15:18: For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed…
   31.  So, look, Paul will only talk about what Christ has accomplished through him as it related to gentiles coming to obedience to Christ.
   32. Paul will expand on this in the next verse, but this verse is about how Paul’s words and actions brought the gentiles to faith.
   33. Do we care that our words and actions bring people to salvation?
   34. Are we able to restrain ourselves to only speaking about what Christ does through us?
   35. Now, Paul is building up to a powerful conclusion which we will see in verses 20-21, but first Paul mentions miracles.
2. Paul’s miracles and mission field (verse 19).
   1. Let’s read verse 19, Romans 15:19: by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ…
   2. Verse 19 is continuing about how God has worked through Paul to reach the gentiles with the gospel.
   3. What this verse makes clear is that Paul did perform miracles, or, better said, miracles were performed through Paul. There are of course various accounts of this in places like Acts 13–14, but Paul is notably reticent to talk about such things, probably precisely because it would lead people to focus too much on himself rather than on his Lord. The same sort of considerations may be in play with this matter as in regard to Paul’s reticence to talk about his social status as a Roman citizen. Paul wants the gospel and the gospel work to speak for itself without the usual honor and status conventions coming into play. What Paul adds in v. 19b is that his preaching has “completed” or fulfilled the gospel of Christ. “As the world is permeated by the Gospel, the Gospel itself comes to fulfillment. It is of the essence of the Gospel that it is not just proclaimed but that it fashions an earthly sphere of validity for the lordship of Christ.”^19[3]
   4. God has worked through Paul by word and deed and also by the power of signs and wonder, further by the power of the Spirit of God. What has this accomplished? From Jerusalem and all the way to Illyricum, he has fulfilled the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. These were 2 key cities, Jerusalem was the home base for the Gospel and Illyricum was a Roman Province on the northwest Balkan peninsula, east of the Adriatic Sea, which included modern Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The northern limit of Paul’s ministry.^[4]
   5. The region that roughly corresponds to former Yugoslavia and current northern Albania. In Paul’s day, this area was more commonly known as Dalmatia (2Ti 4:10). Jerusalem to Illyricum covered some 1400 miles.^[5]
   6. The book of Acts does not mention Illyricum explicitly, but Paul probably went there on his third missionary journey after leaving Ephesus (Ac 19) and before arriving in Greece (Ac 20:1–2). It formed the farthest northwest area Paul reached before going to Rome. In keeping with his call as apostle to the Gentiles, Paul sought to evangelize in previously unreached areas (v. 20), and justifies doing so with a citation from Is 52:15 regarding God’s spread of the renown of the Suffering Servant among the nations.^[6]
   7. So, the power of the Holy Spirit has worked through Paul using signs and wonders, miracles, to bring people to salvation.
3. Paul’s strategy (verses 20-21).
   1. Let’s read verses 20-21, Romans 15:20-21: and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.”
   2. I love these 2 verses: Paul had talked about what God had done through him to reach the gentiles and now he concludes.
   3. “and thus…” Now we see Paul’s goal, his ambition.
   4. He desires to preach the gospel, but NOT where Christ has already been named.
   5. Why doesn’t he want to preach where Christ has already been named? He does not want to build on another’s foundation.
   6. Verse 21 is a quote from Isaiah 52:15.
   7. Paul sees his ministry as a fulfillment of Isaiah 52:15.
   8. The OT quotation refers primarily to Christ’s second coming, but in its broader application it refers to the process of evangelism that began in Paul’s day and continues throughout church history until Christ returns.^[7]
   9. I remember being a child and hearing my World War II veteran great uncle share a joke. He said a priest came to talk with a parishioner about the hereafter. She was upstairs and he saw nuts on the table. So he decided to help himself to some nuts. She eventually came down and he said, “I hope you don’t mind I helped myself to some nuts.” She commented back, “That’s okay, I already licked the chocolate off of them!”
   10. The priest in the story was there to talk about eternity. Eternity matters.
   11. Paul wanted to take the gospel to unreached people.
   12. On a broad scaled, the millennials are unchurched. Unchurched means they have not been to a church in 5 years.
   13. Dr. Tennant of Asbury Theological Seminary said that there was a study showing that 7 percent, just 7 percent, of the millennials claim Christ. If that number is less than 5 percent, we are considered an unreached people group in mission standards.
   14. My unreached people group are for sure this generation. They need Jesus.
   15. I have heard another statistic that said that 15 percent, just 15 percent, of the millennials are Christians.
   16. There are many who have an improper understanding of the Gospel. Many think we are saved by works. They need to understand God’s grace. I read about a conversation John MacArthur had with a man dying of cancer. This was 1985. MacArthur said, “You are dying do you know where you are going?” The man said that he was going to Heaven. MacArthur asked how he knew. He said that he was a good person. MacArthur talked to him about God’s standard and grace and the man accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. The man then asked MacArthur to preach his funeral so that he could share that the man accepted Jesus.
   17. So, an application:
   18. Let all that you do be about the Gospel.
   19. You are on the frontlines of the Gospel. Many times we think pastors and missionaries are the only ones on the front lines. This is not true at all. In Acts chapter 8 Stephen had been stoned and the Christians flee (Acts 8:1). Later the church in Antioch forms and grows, but get this, we don’t know who planted the church in Antioch. It was not Paul or an apostle. It was the lay people. Most of the churches in history were started by lay people.
   20. God has given you a sphere of influence. God has given all of us a sphere of influence. These are people who are in our lives and we are called by God to represent Jesus to them. We are called to share Jesus with them.

Think about how important it is to take the gospel to people.

Dr. Witherington III shares:

Yet there is something especially inspiring about stories like that of Jim Elliot, the missionary who lost his life working with the fierce Auca Indians in South America, giving the last full measure of his devotion by pouring out his life. Shortly before Elliot died, when he was asked about why he kept risking his life with such an inhospitable and seemingly ungrateful and unpromising audience, he said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” Recently, one of the Auca tribesmen spoke at an evangelistic event in Florida. After Elliot died, this man was converted to the Christian faith, in part due to the enduring impact of Elliot’s witness. Now there is a significant group of Christians among the Aucas. There is then still truth to Tertullian’s older claim that “the blood of the martyrs is seed for the church.”^[8]

Prayer

[1] https://insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/observation

^[2] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1769.

¹⁹ Käsemann, Romans, p. 394.

^[3] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 356.

^[4] Michael S. Guyer, “Illyricum,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

^[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:19.

v. verse

^[6] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1769.

^[7] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:21.

^[8] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 358.

Christ, the Hope of Jews and Gentiles (Romans 15:8-13)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October, 30 and Sunday, October 31, 2021

Think about something different about the church.

Philip Yancey shares: As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than [diversity]. Beginning with Pentecost, the Christian church dismantled the barriers of gender, race, and social class that had marked Jewish congregations. Paul, who as a rabbi had given thanks daily that he was not born a woman, slave, or Gentile, marveled over the radical change: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

One modern Indian pastor told me, “Most of what happens in Christian churches, including even miracles, can be duplicated in Hindu and Muslim congregations. But in my area only Christians strive, however ineptly, to mix men and women of different castes, races, and social groups. That’s the real miracle.”

Diversity complicates rather than simplifies life. Perhaps for this reason we tend to surround ourselves with people of similar age, economic class, and opinion. Church offers a place where infants and grandparents, unemployed and executives, immigrants and blue bloods can come together. Just yesterday I sat sandwiched between an elderly man hooked up to a puffing oxygen tank and a breastfeeding baby who grunted loudly and contentedly throughout the sermon. Where else can we find that mixture?

When I walk into a new church, the more its members resemble each other—and resemble me—the more uncomfortable I feel.[1]

My theme today is:

Christ is the hope of both Jews and gentiles.

Application: Don’t look down on anyone because Jesus is the Savior of all who believe.

Remember that the previous chapters have been about conscious issues. Now, Paul is bringing this to a conclusion that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is our hope. This is true of the Jews and the gentiles.

1. Christ came for the Jewish people in order to show God’s promises to the patriarchs, and so the gentiles will glorify God (verse 8).
   1. Read with me verse 8, Romans 15:8: For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs…
   2. Paul is continuing from the previous verses.
   3. In verses 1-7 Paul used the example of Christ in order to motivate us to love others and not judge one another over conscious issues.
   4. In verse 8 Paul continues to give the example of Christ.
   5. Witherington III: It becomes apparent in vv. 8–9 that Paul is thinking back to and building on the discussion in chs. 9–11. There are especially echoes of 9:4–5. One could argue that 15:8 and 9 sum up much of the argument and rhetorical aims of the whole deliberative argument. ^[2]
   6. Christ became a servant.
   7. We know that, right. In Philippians 2:3-11 Paul writes about how Jesus left His heavenly abode to become a man and die on the cross for us.
   8. Christ became a servant to the circumcised.
   9. Who are the circumcised? The Jewish people. Going all the way back to Genesis 17:10-14 the Jewish people have been required to circumcise their males.
   10. So, Christ came as a servant to Israel.
   11. For what purpose: to show God’s truthfulness.
   12. Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah.
   13. Jesus confirmed all of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are identified as the patriarchs.
   14. This continues into verse 9. Paul is about to mix together Jesus’ purpose to the Jews and to the gentiles.
2. Paul uses the Old Testament to show God’s promises to the gentiles (verses 9-12).
   • Read with me verses 9-12, Romans 15:9-12: and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”
   • Verse 9 continues on from verse 8. Christ had a further purpose.
   • MacArthur: To show that God’s plan has always been to bring Jew and Gentile alike into His kingdom and to soften the prejudice of Christian Jews against their Gentile brothers, Paul quotes from the Law, the Prophets, and twice from the Psalms—all the recognized divisions of the OT—proving God’s plan from their own Scriptures.^[3]
   • Christ had a purpose that the gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.
   • “as it is written…” This means Paul is about to quote the Old Testament.
   • Verse 9 quotes: 2 Sam 22:50; Ps 18:49: God will receive praise among the gentiles. If you look up that passage and the following in your Old Testament you will find out that most of the time it is translated as nations. Gentiles are all those nations other than Israel. In Ps 18:49 the Messiah stands among converted Gentiles and offers their praise, along with his own, to the Father.^[4]
   • Romans 15:10 Quoted from Dt 32:43. Rejoicing from the gentiles with His people. This would be Jewish people rejoicing with gentiles.
   • Romans 15:11 Quoted from Ps 117:1. Again, praising the Lord from the gentiles and all the nations.^[5]
   • Romans 15:12 Quoted from Is 11:10. root of Jesse. A way of referring to Jesus as the descendant of David, and thus of David’s father Jesse.^[6] From the descendants of David there will be a ruler over the gentiles, and He will give the gentiles hope. This is clearly about Jesus.
   • Paul strung together these Old Testament quotes in order to show that God is being consistent with His Word.
   • Paul’s prayer (verse 13)
   • Read with me verse 13, Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
   • It seems that in this verse Paul is back to his prayer from verses 5-6.
   • This is really more of an exhortation.
   • He identifies God as the God of hope.
   • Is our hope in God?
   • Is our hope for salvation in God?
   • Is Jesus our ultimate hope? Is He your daily hope?
   • Someone wrote: Someone without hope lives without a sail to drive him, without ballast to stabilize him, without a rudder to guide him, without an anchor to hold him. In every relationship, he is driven by the stormy winds of disappointment, conflict, and self-pity. But we hope in God. If that hope is real, it will slowly erode, and then wash away, the awful bricks sin builds between us in love.[7]
   • Paul asks that God, the God of hope, fills them with all joy and peace…
   • Do you have joy in Jesus?
   • Do you have peace in Jesus?
   • Paul asks that the God of hope fills them with all joy and peace in believing…
   • Luther comments that “the Apostle places joy first and then peace, because it is joy that gives peace to men, engendering it in their hearts” (Romans, 198–99).^[8]
   • Are you believing?
   • Then Paul gives a purpose.
   • May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, [and here is the purpose] so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
   • Wow!
   • Through the power of the Holy Spirit… There is power in the Holy Spirit.
   • Through the Power of the Holy Spirit, he asks that they abound in hope.
   • God is the God of hope.
   • God fills them with all joy and peace in believing.
   • The joy and peace are connected with believing. Believing what? John 3:16 and what he has written about Jesus saving Jews and gentiles.
   • Again, let’s continue to break down verse 13, I am starting from the beginning again:
   • God is the God of hope.
   • God fills them with all joy and peace in believing.
   • Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit Paul asks that they abound in hope.
   • We get the hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not get just a little bit of hope, but Paul prays that they abound in hope.
   • We also get the hope by God filling us with joy and peace in believing, but this all comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Applications:
   1. Don’t look down on anyone because Jesus is the Savior of all who believe.
   2. Remember that the previous chapters have been about conscious issues. Now, Paul is bringing this to a conclusion that Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is our hope. This is true of the Jews and the gentiles.
   3. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order to show God’s truthfulness (verse 8).
   4. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs (verse 8).
   5. We must be encouraged that Christ came as a servant to the Jewish people in order that the gentiles might glorify God for His mercy (verse 9).
   6. We must see these Scriptures from verses 9-12 and remember that God is faithful, we can trust Him.
   7. God has acted in a way that is consistent with His Word.
   8. May God be our hope (verse 13).
   9. May God fill us with all joy and peace (verse 13).
   10. May we receive this joy and peace because we are believing the promises of God (verse 13).
   11. May we seek the power of the Holy Spirit through believing the promises of God so that we abound in hope (verse 13).

Christians come together in unity and we make a difference:

In 2011 New York Times editorialist Nicholas Kristof wrote a column praising the work of many evangelical Christians. Kristof begins by noting that at times evangelical leaders act hypocritically and don’t reflect Christ. However, he also goes on to write:

But in reporting on poverty, disease and oppression, I’ve seen so many others. Evangelicals are disproportionately likely to donate 10 percent of their incomes to charities, mostly church-related. More important, go to the front lines, at home or abroad, in the battles against hunger, malaria, prison, rape, obstetric fistula, human trafficking or genocide, and some of the bravest people you meet are evangelical Christians (or conservative Catholics, similar in many ways) who truly live their faith.

I’m not particularly religious myself, but I stand in awe of those I’ve seen risking their lives in this way—and it sickens me to see that faith mocked at New York cocktail parties.[9]

Pray

[1] Philip Yancey, “Denominational Diagnostics,” Christianity Today (November 2008), p. 119

^[2] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 343.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:9–12.

^[4] Paige Patterson, “Salvation in the Old Testament,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1804.

LXX Septuagint

MT Masoretic Text

^[5] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004).

^[6] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:10–12.

[7] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-love-the-hard-to-love?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=80509707&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–pckFz68aJvhZnx0cZIBjtVMMnaQZ_K7FpaaB8RYlVr9yhY9d7smR7L8L4bBa9WBwaNotedH0WjopFkgDPuITpLgoWcQ&_hsmi=80509707

^[8] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[9] Source: Nicholas D. Kristof, “Evangelicals Without Blowhards,” The New York Times (7-30-11)

The Example of Christ (Romans 15:1-7)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, 2021

Joni Eareckson Tada shares:

My husband, Ken, serves as a track-and-field coordinator for Special Olympics. There is always band music, colorful banners, and flags everywhere. Scattered across the infield are teams of mentally disabled young people.

A few years ago at the games, Ken blew his whistle to signal the contestants for the 50-yard dash. A girl with Down syndrome with thick glasses and a short, stocky boy in baggy shorts were the first to line up. There was a moment of stillness, then a “bang” from the starting gun. Off they sprinted six contestants bobbing and weaving down the track.

Suddenly the boy in baggy shorts began running toward his friends in the infield. Ken blew his whistle to direct him back to the track, but it was no use. At that point, the girl with Down syndrome, who was just a few yards from the finish line, turned around, ran toward him, and gave him a big hug. Together they got back on the track and completed the race arm-in-arm, long after the rest of the contestants had crossed the finish line.

We must run the race not to please ourselves, but to please the Lord. That often means taking time to stop and put our arms around a weaker friend who needs to get back on track.

Have you watched a fellow believer get spiritually confused, and yet you’ve kept on going? Jesus doesn’t seem as preoccupied with “winning” as we do. The important thing is how we run the race. And we are called to run it, bearing with the failings of those who are weak.[1]

We are going to talk about a passage that deals with that subject; we must love and support each other.

My theme today is:

We are to accept others following Christ’s example.

1. The example of Christ (verses 1-4)
   1. Witherington III: Origen offers a telling comment on this section of Paul’s discourse: “Eating meat and drinking wine are matters of indifference in themselves. Even wicked people may abstain from these things, and some idol worshipers, in fact, do so, for reasons which are actually evil. Likewise quite a few heretics enjoin similar practices. The only reason abstinence of this kind is good is that it may help to avoid offending a brother.”^[2]
   2. Let’s read verse 1 (Romans 15:1): We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
   3. Remember that in context Paul has been talking about conscious issues. Paul has been encouraging them to respect their conscious and respect the conscious of each other.
   4. The conscious issues they are dealing with seem to be either Jewish dietary laws or food sacrificed to idols. Paul had said that as Christians they are free to eat the meat, but if their conscious is not comfortable with it then follow their conscious.
   5. Paul has encouraged them to respect each other.
   6. In Romans 14:13 Paul said never to put a stumbling block in front of another.
   7. So, now Paul continues this discussion.
   8. Paul says “We who are strong…” What does he mean? The strong are those that feel free to eat without following Jewish practices. Paul includes himself among the strong.
   9. Paul says they have an “obligation” strong term, they have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.
   10. It seems that the lack of a true understanding of the weak is viewed as a failing. The weak feel that they must follow certain dietary laws because they do not know better.
   11. Paul says that they are not to please themselves.
   12. MacArthur: to bear: The word means “to pick up and carry a weight.” It is used of carrying a pitcher of water (Mk 14:13), of carrying a man (Ac 21:35), and figuratively of bearing an obligation (Ac 15:10). The strong are not to simply tolerate the weaknesses of their weaker brothers; they are to help the weak shoulder their burdens by showing loving and practical consideration for them (Gal 6:2; cf. 1Co 9:19–22; Php 2:2–4).^[3]
   13. Look at verse 2, Romans 15:2: Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
   14. So, instead of pleasing ourselves, each of us is to please his neighbor, why? For his good. Of course, “his” could also be “her.”
   15. We are to be about building up our neighbor.
   16. In Luke 10:30-37 Jesus answered “Who is my neighbor” with the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
   17. Now, verse 3, Romans 15:3: For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
   18. So, now we have the example of Christ.
   19. Christ did not please himself. Now, he quotes the Old Testament with “as it is written.”
   20. That is a quote from Psalm 69:9.
   21. Reproaches of those who reproached God fell upon Him.
   22. MacArthur: “Reproaches” refers to slander, false accusations, and insults. Men hate God, and they manifested that same hate toward the One He sent to reveal Himself (cf. Jn 1:10, 11, 18).^[4]
   23. Let’s look at verse 4, Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
   24. So, he gives the example of Jesus and then talked about former days. Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.
   25. Through endurance and encouragement of Scriptures we might have hope.
   26. Do you ever think about endurance?
   27. Do we endure through hard times while walking with the Lord?
   28. The Christian life is a marathon, not a short race. We must have endurance to keep going.
   29. Endurance gives us hope. Enduring through difficult times gives us hope.
   30. Also, encouragement of the Scriptures gives us hope.
   31. Are you in the Bible?
   32. The Word of God is endorsed here for our encouragement.
   33. Do you have hope, do you need hope?
   34. Read the Bible and focus on endurance.
2. Paul’s prayer for the people (verses 5-7)
   1. Verses 5-6 read, Romans 15:5-6,: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   2. Let’s break down these two verses. Now, Paul has a request: May the God of endurance– remember we just talked about endurance- and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another. So, Paul considers it important that we are in harmony with one another. That is why he has been saying not to argue over dietary issues.
   3. Paul continues, and this is VERY important. Live in harmony with one another, IN ACCORD WITH CHRIST JESUS. That is very important. They are to live in harmony with each other in Christ.
   4. To use another church metaphor, Christ is the groom, and we are the bride.
   5. But Paul is not finished yet. We are to live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus with the purpose that with one voice we glorify God the Father.
   6. MacArthur: God and Father: This expression emphasizes the deity of Christ. Jesus is not an adopted son of God; He is of the same essential being and nature as God. This is such an important connection that it appears frequently in the NT (2Co 1:3; 11:31; Eph 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Pe 1:3).^[5]
   7. Isn’t that powerful? Are we united in harmony?
   8. In Harmony we worship the Lord (Rev 7:9-10).
   9. We come together and worship the Lord with one voice.
   10. I love it when I can look out on the congregation, and everyone is worshipping the Lord with one voice.
   11. Now, look at verse 7, Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
   12. We might say, “Any friend of his is a friend of mine.”^[6]
   13. This verse wraps it up.
   14. Welcome one another.
   15. Christ has welcomed you.
   16. Christ welcomed you for the glory of God.
   17. Some translations say “accept one another to the glory of God.”
   18. ESV Study Bible: Such mutual acceptance will bring great glory to God.^[7]
3. Applications:
   1. We who are more mature in our understanding must bear with the failings of the weak.
   2. This is about conscious issues. This is NOT about specific things that the Bible is very clear.
   3. In matters of conscious we must not flaunt our freedom. We must love and support one another. This is very clear. We have an obligation to bear the failings of the weak.
   4. We must all think of how to build up our neighbor (verse 2).
   5. Our neighbor includes our enemy (Luke 10:29-37).
   6. We must really think of how to build up our neighbor. Do we do this? Do we really think about how to build up others?
   7. Christ did not please Himself (verse 3).
   8. We must be in the Scriptures (verse 4).
      1. Are we lacking in our Bible time?
      2. Are we meditating on the Scriptures?
      3. Are we ruminating on the Scriptures?
      4. Are we studying the Scriptures in Sunday School/small groups, etc.
      5. Those of you who are not in Sunday School, why not? Are you in a small group to take the place of Sunday School? Someone once told me he did not like any of our adult classes. My thought was, “So you are saying that no Sunday School is better than a class you do not like.”
      6. We must be in the Word and in the Word with the community of Christians.
   9. We must focus on persevering in the Christian life. We must focus on endurance (verse 4).
   10. Are we living in harmony with other Christians? Do we realize how much it glorifies God when we worship in unity (verses 5-6)?
   11. We must welcome others as Christ has welcomed us (verse 7).

Dr Witherington III shares:

Philip Hallie’s Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed recounts a story of the transforming, subversive power of shared living—what the author terms a “kitchen struggle”:⁸⁹ Nineteen hundred years after Paul wrote Romans, André Trocmé, a Huguenot pastor in the village of Le Chambon in the Haute-Loire region of France, underscored the recognition of commonality. Refusing to ostracize the Jews of France despite their religious “otherness,” he affirmed, “We do not know what a Jew is. We know only men.”⁹⁰ Pohl asserts, “When, by acknowledging difference, we only endanger, then we must only acknowledge our common human identity.”⁹¹ Trocmé’s commitment and that of his village to such a way of living made Le Chambon the safest place in Europe for Jews during WWII. Through the subversive practice of Christian hospitality, a kitchen conspiracy of goodness, this small, impoverished village of three thousand in occupied France saved an estimated five thousand Jewish refugees from the Nazi extermination camps. Like the Israelites before them, the Huguenots of Le Chambon recalled their own history of persecution and realized that Christian faith demanded a refusal to participate in oppression and violence, always the first fruits of focusing on differences.^[8]

Prayer

[1] Devotion 05.26.2021

^[2] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 345.

^[3] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:1.

^[4] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:3.

^[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ro 15:6.

^[6] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 261.

^[7] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2182.

⁸⁹ Philip Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed (New York: HarperPerennial, 1994), p. 9.

⁹⁰ Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, p. 170.

⁹¹ Pohl, Making Room, p. 83.

^[8] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 348.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble (Romans 14:13-23).

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17, 2021

It was 2018. I was ready to start my first and my only Tough Mudder competition. This is a 10 mile competition with super muddy obstacles. It is something in which you work as a team. So, one has to work with others to climb over 10 foot walls and crawl through mud under barbed wire. There are obstacles in which one is literally swimming through mud. I wore old shoes because I knew how muddy it would be. That was a mistake. I was at the starting line. It was crowded. It was sunny and it was hot. I look down and I see that the toe of my shoe was split open. I asked around for duct tape and no one had any, so I tied my shoelaces around it. I go through the first obstacle okay. The second obstacle was one in which we run and jump to climb over a wall. There were things sticking out of the wall to hold onto. I run and as I go to grab hold of the wall my foot slams into the wall. That would have been okay, but the toe was now opened. I got over the wall. But my toe was broken. I kept going and by the 3^rd or 4^th mile I was swimming through mud and got mud splashed into my eye. To make matters worse I had contact lenses in. My brother was ahead of me trying to pull me out, but I could not see. My eye was burning and my toe was throbbing. I had to reach into my eye and pull the contact lens out, throwing it on the ground. It is probably still there. Maybe they will find it in an archaeological dig in the future. At mile 5 I left the competition.

What I just described was a competition in which I experienced multiple “Stumbling blocks.” These caused me to exit the competition before the finish line. In today’s passage Paul will exhort the Christians not to cause a stumbling block in another Christian’s path.

My theme today is:

Do not cause another to stumble.

1. Do not cause another to stumble (Verses 13-15).
   1. In Romans 14 Paul began to talk about conscious issues.
   2. Last week we talked about that. Paul was talking about disagreements about whether it was okay to eat certain meats. It seems that the issue was whether or not it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols. Though some think it could have to do with Jewish dietary laws. Some, who Paul calls “the strong,” thought it was okay to eat food sacrificed to idols and not follow the dietary laws. Others, Paul calls “the weak,” thought it was not okay. Yet, Paul calls everyone to live at peace with one another. Paul continues that idea in these verses.
   3. Remember, last week I shared that Paul is saying that we are not to judge in matters of conscious.
   4. Let’s read verses 13-15, Romans 14:13-15: Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
   5. Paul says, “let us” and this is including himself. We are not to pass judgment on one another.
   6. We are not to put a stumbling block in the way of another.
   7. Paul gets more specific; we are also not to put a hindrance in the way of another.
   8. What is a stumbling block? Obviously, that would be something that makes a person stumble.
   9. I have ran many nights after dark. There have been at least a handful of times that I have stumbled on uneven sidewalks. That is what I think of when I read these verses.
   10. We do not want to make another stumble.
   11. We do not want to hinder their faith. We do not want to put an obstacle in another’s faith. “Hindrance” could be translated as “obstacle” or “snare.” I was fishing with Mercedes and she thought she caught a big fish. No, she caught a big rock. That is a snare.
   12. We do not want conscious issues to be a snare in someone’s faith journey.
   13. We do not want conscious issues to be a stumbling block in someone’s faith journey.
   14. Paul said something similar in 1 Cor. 8:13.
   15. In verse 14, Paul shares truth. He knows, and he is persuaded by the Lord, that nothing is unclean in itself. The food is technically clean. However, if someone thinks it is unclean, then for them it is a conscious issue which they must take seriously.
   16. In 1 Cor. 8:7 Paul builds on this.
   17. Later in verse 20 of this same chapter Paul will explain more of why this matters.
   18. In verse 15 Paul starts the “why” question which we will continue in the next point.
   19. We do not want to destroy a relationship. We do not want to harm someone’s faith. If we flaunt our freedom then we harm someone’s faith and Christ died for that person.
2. Remember love (verses 16-18).
   1. Let’s read verses 16-18, Romans 14:16-18: So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
   2. It seems now Paul is exhorting them to move beyond these things.
   3. So, do not let what is spoken of as good, what would that be? That would be the meat that some are offended by. Don’t let that be spoken of as evil. Why would that be? It would be spoken of as evil because it harms a relationship. Further, the other person’s conscious considers the meat as evil.
   4. In verse 17 Paul says the Kingdom of God is way more than that.
   5. Paul shares what the Kingdom of God is NOT and then what the Kingdom of God is.
   6. What is the Kingdom of God? I like how one person defined the Kingdom of God: God’s people in God’s place under God’s universal ruler, King Jesus, whose unique earthly ministry announces the already inaugurated but not yet consummated Kingdom of God/heaven.[2]
   7. The Kingdom of God is NOT eating and drinking. Moody: Drinking anticipates drinking wine in v. 21. Wine was used as libations in the temples, and Jewish believers refused to purchase and drink wine just as they did meat.^[3]
   8. Here Paul says the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
   9. The Kingdom of God is not what they are arguing over.
   10. The Kingdom of God is about righteousness. This is pursuing living God’s way and recognizing that Jesus has made us righteous.
   11. The Kingdom of God is about peace.
   12. Paul has been exhorting them to be at peace with one another.
   13. The Kingdom of God is about joy, but the joy is in the Holy Spirit.
   14. Verse 18: whoever serves Christ… this means whether they eat the meat or not, is acceptable to Him and approved.
   15. So, Paul is telling them both sides are okay in this matter.
   16. Paul is telling them to let this go.
3. Pursue peace (verses 19-23).
   1. Let’s read verses 19-23, Romans 14:19-23: So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. ²⁰Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ²¹It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²²The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
   2. Verse 19 encapsulates this whole argument.
   3. Paul makes an inference, “so then…”
   4. “pursue peace…” Now, that is a way to live, isn’t it?
   5. How many of us pursue peace?
   6. Paul then gives more detail about how to pursue peace. He gets more practical. Pursue what makes for mutual upbuilding.
   7. How are we doing with this?
   8. Are we critical of others?
   9. Are we trying to build one another up?
   10. In verse 20 Paul gives the truth again. Everything is clean, remember verse 14? In verse 14, he said something similar to what he shares now.
   11. IVP: The issue here is not eating meat or drinking wine per se, but that Gentile meat (suspected of having been offered to idols or not having the blood properly drained) and Gentile drink (some of it possibly used for libations to gods) were suspect to Jews. But like a good rhetorician, Paul calls his readers to concede his point even in the most extreme case, requiring abstinence from all meat or wine (and if it applies to the extreme, “how much more”—following a standard style of argument—to all lesser cases). (Although some Jewish groups abstained from wine for periods of time—Num 6:3; cf. Jer 35:5–6—diluted wine was a normal part of meals; thus the language here is probably hyperbolic.)^[5]
   12. Do not… this is a command.
   13. “For the sake of food…” In other words, there are more important matters to champion. But look at the rest. For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God. Wow! God is at work and when we argue and separate over conscious issues, we are hurting what God is doing.
   14. Even though it is clean it is wrong to make someone stumble.
       1. Now, I want to spend a few minutes on this verse.
       2. It is wrong to knowingly make someone stumble.
       3. I don’t think Paul expected them to go to the marketplace looking around and self conscious that they would make someone stumble.
       4. A contemporary example might be if you know someone is offended by alcohol don’t drink alcohol in front of them. Or, if you know someone is an alcoholic don’t drink alcohol in front of them. Don’t do anything that would trigger their alcohol addiction.
       5. However, I have heard people take this too far. One person might think they are free to drink alcohol and said person only has 1 glass of wine. However, others would say they better not even buy alcohol because suppose the cashier is offended by it.
       6. That is not the point of this passage. We ought not to knowingly be a stumbling block.
   15. Verse 21 goes into more detail. If meat is a stumbling block, or wine, or anything, don’t partake.
   16. We willingly alter our pace of walking while leading a small child by the hand so he or she will not stumble. How much more should we be willing to alter our Christian walk for the benefit of a weaker brother or sister in Christ whom we are leading.^[6]
   17. Verse 22: This is interesting. The faith you have keep between you and God. In other words, if you feel that you have the freedom, keep it between you and God.
   18. Blessed… that is nice. Blessed is the man who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. In other words, blessed is the one walking blamelessly, not causing strife.
   19. Verse 23: whatever does not come from faith is sin. In other words, if someone’s conscious says it is wrong, they must abstain.
   20. Cicero (De Officiis 1.30) says: “It is an excellent rule that they give who urge us not to do a thing, when there is doubt whether it is right or wrong; for righteousness shines with a brilliance of its own, but doubt is a sign that we are thinking of a possible wrong.”^[7]
   21. “Faith” here as in verses 1 and 22 does not refer to the teachings of Christianity but to what a person believes to be the will of God for him. If a person does what he believes to be wrong, even though it is not wrong in itself, it becomes sin for him. He has violated what he believes to be God’s will. His action has become an act of rebellion against God for him.^[8]
4. Applications:
   1. We must not cause harm over conscious issues.
   2. We must not be judgmental of another believer over things that the Bible does not clearly condemn.
   3. If someone does not feel free to eat or drink certain substances we must respect them.
   4. At the same time, we must understand that we are not bound by a law, and all things are clean (Romans 14:14, 20; 1 Timothy 4:4).
   5. We must be walking in love and be less critical (verse 15).
   6. We must not allow the freedom to be spoken of as evil because of our lack of love (verse 16).
   7. We must seek God’s Kingdom, knowing that God’s Kingdom is about right living, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (verse 17).
   8. We must be seeking peace (verse 17).
   9. We must be seeking peace more than discord (verse 17).
   10. We must be walking by the Spirit (verse 17 and Galatians 5:22-23).
   11. Verses 19-23 seem to be a restatement for emphasis and that reminds us of how important these matters are.
   12. We must not destroy the work of God, in other words because trivial matters harm what God is doing in a believer’s life.
   13. We must obey our conscious so long as it accords with Scripture (verse 23). Further, we must not cause another person to go against his or her conscious.

I began this message talking about the Tough Mudder. The Tough Mudder is a competition that tries to put stumbling blocks in the path of each person. There is one in which you slide down into ice water. There is another one in which you get electrocuted. My brother is crazy, he has finished three of them! I, on the other hand, have competed in normal races. I have ran 10k’s and 5k’s and three marathons. In those races we run with no unnatural obstacles. The Christian life is a marathon and the goal, in the Christian life, is that we try not to put stumbling blocks in each other’s spiritual lives.

Pray.

^[1] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 339.

[2] Dr. White, Cedarville University Chapel message on 09.17.2021

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^[3] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Romans,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1768.

^[4] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

^[5] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Ro 14:20–21.

^[6] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:21.

^[7] Ben Witherington III and Darlene Hyatt, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004), 341.

^[8] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ro 14:23.