Patience, Encouragement & Hope
Notes
Transcript
A Brief Summary
A Brief Summary
For the last chapter, Paul has been focusing on those who are strong in faith and those who are weak in faith, and how there needs to be unity within the congregation. Paul has addressed 2 specific areas that causes stumbling blocks between the strong and the weak and between Jewish and Gentile believers. The first area was the food that was eaten and the second was the days that were celebrated.
Paul is now wrapping that topic up as well as reminding his audience that Salvation is for both the Jews and the Gentiles. Let us read Rom. 15:1-13
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the powerless and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, for building him up. For even Messiah did not please Himself, but as it is written, “The insults of those who insulted You have fallen on Me.” For whatever was written before was written for our instruction, so that through patience and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God of patience and encouragement grant you to be like-minded with one another in the manner of Messiah Yeshua, so that together with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Therefore accept one another just as Messiah also accepted you, to the glory of God. For I declare that Messiah has become a servant to the circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy. As it is written, “For this reason I will give You praise among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Your name.” And again it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise Adonai all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him.” And again, Isaiah says, “There shall be a shoot of Jesse; and the One who arises to rule the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope.” Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and shalom in trusting, so you may overflow with hope in the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh.
We Who are Strong
We Who are Strong
We are not called to simply please ourselves. Paul includes himself with those who are strong of faith, but points out that we are called to lift each other up. We live in a world that is consumed with self-pleasure and self-gratification. But it is not this way within the Kingdom of God.
Yeshua pointed this out in multiple ways. In Mark 10:43 He said, “Yet it is not this way among you. But whoever wants to be great among you shall be your servant,” or in Luke 14:14 that when we bless others who can not return the favour that “you will be blessed, since they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.””
Paul had lived by this example, as he would later explain in Acts 20:34-35
You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own needs as well as for those with me. In all things I have shown you an object lesson—that by hard work one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
In this passage in Romans 15, Paul points to the example of Messiah Yeshua by quoting a Psalm of David, Psalm 69:10
For zeal for Your House consumed me— the insults of those who insulted You have fallen on me.
Yeshua was not attempting to please himself, but rather laid is life down for Adonai and for those around him. And we are called to walk in his footsteps as Yeshua said in John 13:15, “I have given you an example—you should do for each other what I have done for you.”
Patience, Encouragement & Hope
Patience, Encouragement & Hope
Paul now explains how we can have hope. How many people need hope in this day and age? I know I do. Paul tells us that in order to grown in hope, we really need to grow in patience. Not impatience, but in patience. Don’t you love English?! Patience is one area that I certainly struggle with. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my wife. But in truth, every decision that I made without patience I have come to regret. Patience is linked to Trust because when we truly trust that Adonai will provide for us we are willing to wait on the Lord. This is Patience.
The second ingredient for Hope that Paul gives us, is that we need to rely on the Encoruagement of the Scriptures. Remember that when Paul is refering to the Scriptures, he is refering to the Hebrew Scriptures (because none of the New Covenant was written yet.) All the stories from Genesis to Chronicles remind us that not only is God faithful to save us when we call out to Him, but he also has a much longer perspective. We ask Adonai for something, and if we have not got it by Friday, we think that He no longer cares about us. Adonai makes promises to Abraham that are not fulfilled until Moses, 400 years later. Or he makes a promise to David that is not fulfilled for almost 1000 years until Yeshua. But the fact remains, Adonai is faithful to His word. And we can be encouraged that Adonai will provide for us, just as he provided for all who have gone before us.
This leads us to hope, and to the purpose that Paul refers to in Romans 15:6 “so that together with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.”
One Voice
One Voice
Paul now jumps into a prayer for the congregation in Rome. This prayer sums up Paul’s purpose for writing the entire letter. Paul wrote this letter becasue he saw that serious divisions between Jewish and Gentile Believers were begining to hit the congregation.
Paul is longing that by the grace of God and by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, that the entire body would be “like-minded” or as the ESV puts it “in such harmony with one another.”
English Standard Version Chapter 15
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with [Messiah Yeshua], that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord [Yeshua the Messiah].
Not only are we harmonising with each other, but we are in one accord with Yeshua. This harmony, this being in one accord, is exactly what Yeshua was talking about in John 15:9-12
“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full. “This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.
The results of this harmony is that, with one voice we will give glory to Adonai.
Salvation for the Gentiles Too
Salvation for the Gentiles Too
Paul now wants to wrap up the main theme of his letter that he started in Rom. 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts—to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So now Paul closes in the inverse order. Yeshua is the Messiah that was promised to all the Patriachs. Yeshua is the servant of the Jewish people as a fulfillment of all the promises that Adonai had made throughout the ages. Yeshua, Himself, stated in Matt. 15:24
But He responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
And this was a response to a Gentile who had thrown her life at Yeshua’s feet, literally. Yeshua came primarily to fulfill Adonai’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, Israel, Moses and David. The the secondary reason, and Paul quotes from 5 passages to make this point, the secondary reason is so that the Gentiles will glorify the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel for His mercy!!
Paul quotes from the words of David in 2 Sam. 22:50, Ps. 18:50, from the song of Moses in Deut. 32:43 and from the prophet Isaiah 1:10. This is certainly 2 or 3 witnesses and confirms that Adonai’s plan all along was to reach the Nations through the work of the Son of David, the root of Jesse.
This was not an after-thought, and in fact one of the greatest evidences that Yeshua is the Messiah, is that He is responsible for turning more hearts of more Gentiles toward the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob than any other Jewish person in history.
Link between Yeshua and Paul
Link between Yeshua and Paul
Before we move on to the conclusion, there is a link that I want to point out between what Paul quoted of Yeshua, and what Yeshua was quoting at the time.
Earlier we discussed where Paul used Psalm 69:10 to show how Yeshua was an example. I think that there is more to it than just that. The other time that this verse of David is quoted is by John in John 2:17.
Paul is quoting the second half of the verse and pointing out that Yeshua willingly took on the insults that were being leveled against Adonai, and willingly lifted up those who were weak, but Paul is also bringing to mind the context for when this verse was used. Why do I say that?
The passage in John 2:17 is the first time that Yeshua cleaned out the Temple from the money changers. During this first cleansing, Yeshua did not give much explaination for why he was doing it, and you can read about it in John 2:12-25.
However, the second time that Yeshua cleaned out the Temple, was the week before he was put to death. During this second time Yeshua quotes from 2 passages of Scripture as an explaination for why he was doing this. The story is found in Matt. 21:12-13
Then Yeshua entered the Temple and drove out all those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of thieves’!”
The first passage that Yeshua gives is from Isa. 56:6-8
Also the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai, to minister to Him, and to love the Name of Adonai, and to be His servants— all who keep from profaning Shabbat, and hold fast to My covenant— these I will bring to My holy mountain, and let them rejoice in My House of Prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar. For My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations.” Adonai Elohim, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “I will gather still others to him, to those already gathered.”
Now having read the passage in Romans 15, and looking at this passage in Isaiah, what similarities do you see? Do you see that Yeshua is pointing out to his audience that salvation and turning and worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, was also for the Gentiles?
Not only that, but the second passage that Yeshua quotes is from is in Jer. 7. This whole chapter speaks about how Israel is not saved simply because they are Jewish and simply because they have a Temple to worship at. In fact Jeremiah is pointing out that just like the Tabernacle in Shiloh had been destroyed, so also would the Temple made by Solomon be destroyed. And Yeshua is saying that just like the Temple of Solomon was destroyed, so also would the Second Temple be destroyed. And the main point that Yeshua, and Paul have been making is that salvation come from a heart change, not because of who your Ancestor was.
These 2 passages, Isa. 56 and Jer. 7, both make the same case that Paul makes in Romans 15, and in fact throughout the entire letter of Romans. Salvation is available to both Jews and Gentiles. For the Jewish people, it is a matter of returning to Adonai (or in other words Repenting) and recognizing that Yeshua is the Messiah who was promised by the prophets. For the Gentiles it is a matter of turning to Adonai (or in otherwords Converting) and revognizing that access to God is through Yeshua, the shoot of Jesse.
Paul’s Initial Conclusion
Paul’s Initial Conclusion
Paul now summarises, or at least begins to summarise his letter with Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and shalom in trusting, so you may overflow with hope in the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh.”
This is what Paul longs for these believers in Rome. When I look at all these characteristics, this is what I long for you all as well:
Hope,
Joy,
Shalom,
Trust, and
The Power of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh.
The verse that Paul quoted from Isa. 11:10 that speaks of the Hope that we all share is a powerful Messianic prophesy, that speaks of what Yeshua would do for both the Gentiles and for the Jewish people. This passage speaks of Salvation for the Gentiles, and a Return of all Jewish people to the land of Israel; it speaks of shalom in the time that Messiah shall rule, not only between nations, but also in the animal kingdom. And all of this will be accomplished through the Root of Jesse, Yeshua the Messiah. Let’s close by reading Isa 11:10-12
It will also come about in that day that the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek for Him, and His resting place will be glorious. It will also come about in that day that my Lord will again redeem— a second time with His hand— the remnant of His people who remain from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will lift up a banner for the nations, and assemble the dispersed of Israel, and gather the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
