In Conclusion
Notes
Transcript
The Beginning of the End
The Beginning of the End
We have now come to the beginning of the end of the letter to the believers in Rome. From this point to the end of of the book we will see a lot of personal details, individual greetings, and some final nuggets of encouragement and truth. Let us read Rom. 15:14-33
Now I myself am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and also able to counsel one another. But I have written rather boldly to you on some points as a reminder—because of the grace given to me by God to be a servant of Messiah Yeshua to the Gentiles, in priestly service to the Good News of God—so that the offering up of the Gentiles might be pleasing, made holy by the Ruach ha-Kodesh. So in Messiah Yeshua, I have reason to boast before God. For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Messiah accomplished through me, to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem and around even to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the Good News of Messiah. In this way I make it my aim to proclaim the Good News not where Messiah was already named, lest I build on another person’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand.” For this reason I was often hindered from coming to you. But now with no place in these regions, and since I have had a desire for many years to come to you, I hope to see you while traveling through when I go to Spain—and to be helped on my journey there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a bit. But now I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the kedoshim. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are under obligation to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they also ought to serve them in material blessings. So when I have finished delivering the collection safely to them, I will head for Spain by way of you. Now I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Messiah. Now I urge you, brethren, through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and through the love of the Ruach, to press on together with me—with prayers to God on my behalf. Pray that I might be rescued from the unbelieving Judeans, and that my service for Jerusalem might be acceptable to the kedoshim. Then, God willing, I may come to you in joy, and together with you find rest. Now may the God of shalom be with you all. Amen.
Boldly Written
Boldly Written
Paul begins today’s passage by acknowledging that the believers in Rome are well able to teach from the Scriptures and encourage one another. This is a congregation that was started almost immediately after the Shavuot that the Ruach HaKodesh fell on the Believers in Jerusalem. And from that time, they have been counseling one another from the Scriptures, and have become filled with the knowledge of God. When Paul speaks of goodness, he is, without a doubt, bringing to mind the fruit of the Ruach. Goodness is the moral excellence brought into a person life by the working of the Holy Spirit. Paul acknowledges these attributes, and in a way is counting on them, because of the boldness which which he has spoken.
The reason for the boldness, is that Paul’s calling was to take the Good News to the Gentiles as Yeshua said in Acts 9:15-16
But the Lord said to [Ananias], “Go, for [Saul] is a choice instrument to carry My name before nations and kings and Bnei-Yisrael. For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Paul’s desire was to see the Gentiles obeying Adonai, and he recognised that this was his service, his priestly service before God. Paul uses a variety of ritualistic terms. Just as he had written earlier in Rom. 12:1 He reminds his audience that his role, his specific calling, is to help Gentiles throughout the world to become a “living sacrifice” that is pleasing to Adonai.
I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service.
Boast in God
Boast in God
Paul makes it completely clear that boasting in ourselves, in our abilities, our accomplishments is not acceptable behaviour for believers. If you do a quick word study on the word “boast” you find that Paul uses this word in the most negative of contexts. Here is a quick summary of how Paul discusses boasting:
Rom. 1:30 - Being boastful is a part of what it means to be an unbeliever,
Rom. 3:27 - Boasting is excluded because our salvation is based upon faith in God, not our works,
Rom. 4:2 - Not even Abraham can boast before God, and
Rom. 11:18 - Gentiles must not boast against the Jewish people.
And Paul has been consistent throughout his ministry. One of the first letters that Paul ever wrote was 1 Corinthians, and there he stated the same:
1 Cor. 1:29 - No human can boast before God,
1 Cor. 5:6 - Boasting is not good especially as it affects others, and
1 Cor. 13:3 - Laying your life down so that you can boast, if there is not love is nothing!
So if this has been Paul’s message from the beginning, then why does he now talk about boasting? Well like many actions, the context or the focus, determines whether or not an actions is moral or immoral. Boasting is no exception. Paul makes it absolutely clear that he will only boast in what Messiah Yeshua has accomplished through him.
And this is the point, If we boast, it must only be in others, and especially in Adonai. Here are some examples:
Rom. 5:2 - we stand and boast in the hope of Adonai’s glory,
Rom. 5:3 - we boast in the suffering we experience from following Adonai, and
Rom. 5:11 - we boast in Messiah Yeshua and the reconciliation we have recieved through him.
And by the way Paul is consistent. In 1 Cor. 1:31 Paul quotes from Jeremiah and states:
so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in Adonai.”
So coming back to Rom. 15, Paul is speaking of the ministry that Adonai has accomplished through him in Jerusalem and all of Asia Minor. He points out that his personal calling was to preach the Good News in areas that had never heard as it says in Isa. 52:15
So He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him, for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will perceive.
Ends of the Earth
Ends of the Earth
Paul’s desire was to evangelize to the full extent of the Roman Empire, which in Paul’s day was from Jerusalem to Spain, the entire Mediterranean Sea. As you can read about in the book of Acts, Paul had already visited the Roman Provinces of Macedonia, Achaia and Illyricum, which corresponds to the modern-day countries of Greece and Turkey. And many other believers in Yeshua were also establishing congregations throughout the known world.
Paul now explains that he would like to use Rome as his new base of support as he journeys out to Spain. Now it is not certain that Paul did actually make it out to Spain, because as we see in the end of the book of Acts, Paul is arrested and travels to Rome and remains under house arrest until he sees the emperor. However, the letter of Clement, written about 30 years after Paul’s death, indicates that he may have be able to get there.
5By reason of jealousy and strife Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance. 6After that he had been seven times in bonds, had been driven into exile, had been stoned, had preached in the East and in the West, he won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, 7having taught righteousness unto the whole world and having reached the farthest bounds of the West; and when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance.
Spiritual & Material Blessings
Spiritual & Material Blessings
There were several times that Paul took up a financial collection from the Gentile congregations. One of those times was during a famine in the land of Israel, and another was this time. Paul points out that there is an “obligation” from the Gentile Believers and the Messianic Jews. When we think of the Spiritual blessings that have been bestowed on the world by the Jewish people, this includes:
The sharing of the Word of God,
The beauty of Davidic Dance and worship,
and ultimately, the Jewish Messiah Yeshua.
Everything that Followers of Yeshua hold of greatest value, have come from the Jewish people. Paul points out that there is therefore an obligation to bless the Jewish people in material or financial ways. Paul was specifically collecting an offering to take to the Messianic Jewish people in Jerusalem, and I think that is still a good practice today.
As a congregation we send a tithe to organisations involved in Messianic Ministry. And as I have mentioned before, not all of us can go as missionaries, but we can help support, both financially and with prayer, those who are able to go.
Paul Requests Prayer
Paul Requests Prayer
Paul is writing before he sets out for Jerusalem, and here he specifically asks for prayer. The Ruach is already telling him what awaits him. In fact, the closer that Paul got to Jerusalem, the more warnings he recieved, warning him that chains awaited him there. We see in Acts 20:22-23 that Paul says,
“And now, look, bound by the Ruach, I am going to Jerusalem—not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Ruach ha-Kodesh bears witness to me from city to city, saying that bondage and afflictions await me.
Now many of us, if we received warnings like that, might find a way to walk the other way, but not Paul. Instead he continues by saying, Acts 20:24-25
However, I don’t consider my life of any value, except that I might finish my course and the office I received from the Lord Yeshua, to declare the Good News of the grace of God. “Now, look! I know that none of you, among whom I have gone proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again.
Just because God warns us of bad times coming, does not mean that he will rescue us out of those times. In fact, the opposite is often true. Adonai is warning us, so that we know that He is with us regardless of what we are about to walk through.
And when we look at Paul’s final prayer in Romans 15:32 where he says “Then, God willing, I may come to you in joy, and together with you find rest.” We know from the Book of Acts 28 that Paul not only makes it to Rome, but becomes a huge encouragement to the believers that are there.
Application
Application
Paul has used this chapter to re-iterate his calling from God. Paul was called by the Lord Yeshua to reach the Gentiles of his time. And here we see that Paul had a specific personal desire to do this in places that no other apostle had gone. Sometimes Adonai will tell us what he wants us to do, but will leave it up to us as to how we do it. I know, in the case of Eleanor and me, Yeshua first called us to leave our home (or at least be willing to). Then, once we were obeying Him in that area, and were preparing to leave, then he revealed what the need was in the place that we were going. And when we saw the need , we raised our hand to the Lord and told Him that we were willing. Then the Lord confirmed that we were to start a congregation. But Adonai never told us how. And we have been working out the how as we go. The same was true for Paul. He desired to visit Rome and then Spain, but the Lord did not share with him how Paul would get there.
The next area of application I would like to look at is Paul’s boldness. His boldness came from knowing that he was doing exactly what the Lord, Yeshua, had asked him to do. This is also true with us today. As we obey the Lord, we will find that the boldness follows. We are not to be led by fear, but only by the Joy of Adonai and the Shalom of the Ruach HaKodesh. In every case where we are acting out of fear, even in doing good things, we will find our selves wounding others.
I think that the lesson on boasting is fairly self-explanatory. the Scripture says in Prov. 27:2
Let another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips.
If you find yourself needing other people to know what you did and why, remember the words of Yeshua in Matt. 6:2
So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full!
One final area of application, is the area of God’s warnings to us. Paul was warned again and again of the chains that awaited him in Jerusalem. And yet, nothing would stop him from accomplishing his service to Yeshua. Nothing would cause him to run away, hide or seek the comfortable life. He knew his calling, and he would not be swayed. Sometimes God’s warnings to us are not given to us so that we change our direction. Rather they are given to us so that we know He will be with us in the middle of the storms of life. Yeshua might be reminding us as it says in Deut 31:6 Heb. 13:5 ,
Chazak! Be courageous! Do not be afraid or tremble before them. For Adonai your God—He is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”
