God’s Mission for the Church at Rome
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We have two lessons remaining in the book of Romans, and for the past several weeks we have moved out of the theology section of Romans, and in Romans 12, we began the application section of the book of Romans.
Chapter 12 discusses life in the church
Chapter 13 discusses life in the world - our relationship with the government and the people.
Chapter 14 moves back to the church on the subject of Christian liberty - The freedom to love one another despite our differences.
Now, Chapter 15 continues that conversation about liberty and what it calls, “receiving the weaker brother.”
We are going to go half way through chapter 16 tonight, and we are going to look at how Paul is building the church at Rome and the people that God uses to do it.
I. God’s Mission for Rome
I. God’s Mission for Rome
Bring others to Christian maturity.
v. 1-2 - The charge.
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
What Paul is saying here is “brace for impact.”
And I want you to notice that he does not place the burden on the new Christians to conform to the standards of the mature Christian, but instead he instructs the mature to “bear with the scruples weak.”
I want to define some terms here because I want you to see his point. The reason I want you to see his point is because this is the next phase of ministry that God is moving Providence towards.
“We then who are strong”
This is talking about spiritual maturity, not physical strength. When you’re 70, you’re not as strong as you were when you were 40. However, you ought to at 70, if you were saved at 40, possess a greater moral strength.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
And what is this inward man? This inward man is your regenerated spirit.
More importantly, I want you to note that the word “strong” is the word dunatos (doo-nah-tose)
It does mean “strong”, but more commonly it means “possible”.
“to bear”
This doesn’t mean “to deal with them”. This means to support them and to lift them up. Specifically, it means to “take up with the hands” or to “put them on yourself.”
You’re going to see Paul illustrate that in a minute.
“with the scruples (infirmities/failings)”
The word “strong (dunatos)” means “possible”. This phrase here is the Greek word, adunatos.
a meaning without, dunatos meaning possibility.
For instance, an atheist, would say they don’t have a theology. The don’t study God or seek to study God. They are absent of theism.
These weaker Christians Paul is talking about here are absent of power and ability because they are immature.
Now there’s a lot of illustrations here of what Paul is saying, but I want you to think of a carpenter and his apprentice:
The carpenter has all abilities to do his woodworking, his apprentice does not. The carpenter doesn’t just let the boy show up and have nothing to do with him…what he does is he seeks to train this apprentice so that he will be valuable and productive.
And what’s going to happen….the apprentice is going to be ignorant. He’s going to cut boards at the wrong pitch, he’s going to cut them short, he’s going to measure wrong…not that he isn’t a hard worker, he just has a lot to learn.
What is possible for the carpenter is, at times, impossible for the apprentice. But the carpenter has to do more than just put up with him. The carpenter has to “bear with him”. He has to “put that apprentice on himself”, which means he has to make right all those boards the apprentice cut wrong. He has to tell the guy, “Hey, you can do this job, it’s just going to take practice.” He’s got to run interference for the apprentice when the foreman comes around…this master builder has to bear with and advance the proficiency of his apprentice if he wants him to become a mature carpenter.
This is where Paul leads us in v. 2
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
For that carpenter to be patient with the apprentice, he has to get on his level and teach him. For the Christian to build up the immature, we have to get on their level and teach them.
Now, I used the illustration of a carpenter for a reason, because Paul illustrates this by using Jesus Christ.
For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Translation, “It’s hard to love the weak and to turn them into mature Christians, but that’s what Jesus did for us, and that’s what we need to do for others.”
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
He writes this because he quotes ps. 69:9, in v. 3, and is saying, “because the scriptures of the Old Testament were written to encourage us and to give us assurance that we will be like Christ, we can have assurance that if we place their burdens on our shoulder’s like Jesus did for us, they will become mature believers too.
Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,
that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
This is the summary of Paul’s point in v. 1-4. That when we receive the weaker and train them, love them, are patient with them and not harsh, then we are glorifying God.
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.
How is God moving Providence to this arena of living and ministry?
We are praying that God will send us out into the harvest, and we are praying that God will bring our community to Him through our church.
When this happens, we don’t get to choose who God sends to us.
Our job is not to tell God, “we don’t want that type of person.” Our job is to receive them even if they are weak in the faith, and then to “take them up with our hands and to place them on ourselves and carry them to Jesus.”
Already we are seeing God move, already we are seeing an influx of people who are weakened in their faith, and they want to know God more, but they don’t have the possibility of knowing Him fully.
What we have and what we are going to receive are a bunch of apprentices, and we need our master builders to impact them and to build them up like Jesus built us up.
Which means that sometimes, you more mature Christians may not be learning anything new or getting anything out of preaching, of Sunday School, of whatever, because we are tailoring our church for these apprentices…we are creating a church that promotes maturity, not stifles it.
This means, that for you who are mature, we are going to have to develop, according to the Scriptures, something deeper that will move you to be more like Jesus.
So many of you are doing so much that I cannot take the time to talk about all of it, but I just want to encourage you to keep seeking those that are lost, keep reaching people in our community that others have cast off, keeping praying for me and for our church that we will do all that Scripture commands us, and move others to Jesus….
But most importantly, as we move others to Jesus, let us do it with the same patience and comfort that Jesus has given us even when we miserably fail him.
Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,
and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.”
And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”
And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”
And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
II. God’s Mission for Paul
II. God’s Mission for Paul
Paul begins in v. 14-21 that his mission is to preach to the Gentiles
Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,
that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
When you read Romans, you might get the idea that the people here were immature, but Paul seems to point out that he is confident in them, that they aren’t immature.
What he is doing here in v. 14-21 is discussing his mission and his calling.
“the offering of the Gentiles” are the people that are saved who are not Jewish. Paul is saying that he is responsible for moving the Gentiles to Christian maturity so that they will be acceptable and sanctified.
Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.
For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—
in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation,
but as it is written: “To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand.”
Paul is not going to use compulsion to make these Gentiles obey. He is not going to brag on himself at all. He says very plainly that the way to make others obedient to Jesus is to take all of them emphasis off yourself, and to place all the emphasis on Jesus.
Sometimes, when we are moving people to Christian maturity, we have an expectation that they will be exactly like us. But if that’s our aim then we aren’t moving them to Christian maturity, we are preaching another gospel.
I don’t want you to be like me, I want you to be like Jesus.
Now, look where Paul says, “in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God.”
You’re going to see in Acts 3 that the Apostles have the ability to perform signs and wonders. This was only so that their position and calling was confirmed. This, in no way, reflected their own power, their own status, or anything about them, but it just pointed others to Jesus through them.
So, Paul here is saying that not even the miracles and signs I produce come from me, everything I do is point to Christ.
Then he says, “from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Now, the city of Rome is in Italy. Illyricum was on the North-West side of the Balkan (Grecian) peninsula, running from about where modern day Slovenia is down to Albania. It is across to Adriatic sea from Italy.
So, Paul’s missionary journeys have brought him from Jerusalem which is just north east of Egypt, north east of Africa…all the way to Illyricum which is accross the way from Italy, back down through Greece and back to Jerusalem. Now that’s a lot of ground to cover.
And he says that his goal in doing all of this wat to preach the Gospel of Christ.
He then says, “I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation.”
Basically, I haven’t come to Rome yet because you already have the gospel, I am going to people who have never heard the Gospel.
In v. 22-29 he says that his mission is to build
For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you.
But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you,
whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.
But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints.
For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.
It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.
Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain.
But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
Paul is giving a course trajectory. He is saying, “guys, I have a financial gift from Macedonia to give to the saints in Jerusalem.”
That is, I am not done building up the Jewish people. I have a desire to build them up, I have a desire to increase their faith.
Then look what he says, v. 28, “when I have sealed to them this fruit (the financial gift), I will go by way of you to Spain.”
He’s saying, “Guys, I have to go to Spain to preach the gospel, to begin building the kingdom there, and you’re going to send me. You’re going to encourage me, and you are going to finance me.”
and in v. 29, he says, “don’t worry, I will come with something for you too, I am going to come and build your church in the gospel.”
This final part of his mission is to go.
Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,
that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.
Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Paul has given every instruction that he can give until he arrives, he is just saying, “pray for me until I am able to go. Pray that I will be freed from persecution, pray that I can effectively build the church at Jerusalem, and pray that I can come to you…it’s time for me to go.”
III. God’s Equipping of the Saints
III. God’s Equipping of the Saints
We have seen God’s Mission for the church at Rome, God’s mission for Paul, now we are going to see how Paul, through the sovereignty of God, is going to equip the saints there at Rome until he is able to arrive.
What we are going to see here in these opening 16 verses are the names of 19 men, and 10 women…first of whom is Phoebe.
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,
that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
Now some people get hung up right here because that word, “servant” in v. 1 is “deaconess”. They’ll use that to say that women need to serves as deacons…but this isn’t in the office of deacon, this is just a generic term that means minister or servant.
It’s also a word used to describe the government official in Romans 13, as a “minister (deacon) of God.” It’s also used as a generic word for servant. When Jesus turns the water to wine, it says, “His mother said to the servants (deacons), whatever He says, do it.”
Obviously, just because Phoebe didn’t hold the office of deacon, doesn’t mean that she wasn’t vitally important and trusted by Paul. She was solely entrusted with hand delivering the most significant epistle in the New Testament. This book that we call Romans is an in detail look at the Gospel.
By now, you should know that because I’ve preached roughly 36 sermons just from this book, and I didn’t do as many as I could, I just did as many as were tolerable. I think Jerry Vines preached nearly 90 different sermons from the book of Romans. It is an important book, and Phoebe was an important person.
Paul writes this in Ephesians…
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Here in the Romans 16 list, we see those who God is sending, has sent, or have been present at the church at Rome.
As I mentioned before, this list of 29 contains the names of 10 women.
It begins with Phoebe, and she was the one to hand deliver this letter to the church at Rome.
Paul writes that she is from Cenchrea which is about 750 miles away from the city of Rome. This would have been about a three week journey for her, two by sea, one by land.
I think this is striking because the church at large has been very confused lately about the role of women in ministry. That is, what exactly can women do for the Kingdom of God?
Obviously, these 10 women here made a tremendous impact, being 10 women that greatly influenced and enhanced the life of Paul and the church at Rome…
so what is their role in the equipping of the saints?
Now, I could do a whole sermon on just that subject, but I just want to make a few key observations here so we can see the importance of this and why Phoebe is at the top of this list.
Obviously, the Bible says that women are not to have authority over a man. They are not to serve in the office of pastor, they are not to serve in the office of deacon, they should not hold a teaching position where they are instructing a man.
Why? The Bible says that Eve was deceived by the serpent. 1 Tim 2.
Now, why is this relevant?
The reason that Eve was deceived is because women are naturally more trusting, they are nurturing, they more likely to be people pleasers, they are more devoted in disciplined in many areas…and while these things can be great strengths they can also be great weaknesses.
I think of a victim of domestic abuse….a woman will tolerate a man who is a bum, she will put up with his abuse, she will be devoted to him and let him run all over her.
But when a woman falls deeply in love with God, her devotion to God will be unquestioned.
Nik Ripken tells a story of faithful Christian women who lived in China. China’s government compromised the church and began to install their own teachers. There were these women who had already been imprisoned for their faith, and when these false teachers would stand up to teach, the women would turn their backs to him, lock their arms, and protest his false teaching.
Now, these women were totally devoted to God.
I think of Lottie Moon who served as an unmarried woman and a missionary to China for 40 years to reach people that never heard the gospel.
I think of a missionary that has come to this church and from our community is serving on the mission field to reach people who have never heard the gospel.
But not just missionaries, but about matriarchs of faith. It was Timothy’s mother and grandmother that discipled him.
In my family, my nana is the matriarch of faith. If it wasn’t for nana, maybe I wouldn’t be here today.
I think of a lady who is in Heaven named June Stickler. She taught 2nd grade boys Sunday School for well over 40 years, I’m going to say closer to 50.
Do men do this as well? Yes, they do…I think of Billy Graham, maybe the most devout man of our time.
However, women, generally speaking, are more prone to being absolutely submissive to God. And by their submission to their husbands, in the church, and to God, they will live as an example of Jesus Christ, because Christ was totally submissive to God.
Submission does not mean less, because Jesus submitted to God but was equal with God. Submission means willing and faithful living.
This is not a popular teaching.
Well, neither is Mark 8:34
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Submission and self denial are not qualities that the world sees as grand, but are qualities that God sees as Christlike.
I believe that the other 28 people on this list were also submissive, first to God, then to their brothers and sisters in Christ.
What’s the point of saying all that?
The point is that God equips the church to bring people to Christian maturity, when those of us who are mature submit ourselves to God, and then submit ourselves to others, showing them exactly who Jesus was and what He did for us.
I want to read this one final scripture: Ephesians 5:17; 21.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
To submit to one another in the fear of God.
