PAUL'S FINAL WORDS TO ROME
Romans 16:21-27
NKJV 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you. 22 I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith — 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. NKJV
NAS 21 Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.
24[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.] 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. NASU
Introduction
1. The . . Ministers and Dignitaries. 16:21-23
A. Timothy. One of Paul's most constant companions. A mother and grandmother, full of tenderness and faith, piously instructing him in the Scriptures and training him to hope for the Messiah of Israel (2 Ti 1:5; 3:15).
B. Lucius (lu'shi-us; for Lat. Lucius). Of Cyrene, one of the "prophets and teachers" at Antioch who, at the command of the Holy Spirit, ordained Barnabas and Saul (Ac 13:1; Ro 16:21), A.D. 45.
C. Jason ("healing"). He was the man of Thessalonica who entertained Paul
and Silas in that city. The mob, in consequence, assaulted his house
and, not finding his guests, dragged Jason before the ruler, who
released him on security (Ac 17:5-9).
D. Sosipater (so-sip'a-ter; "saver of his father"). A kinsman of Paul
mentioned in the salutations of the epistle to the Romans
(Ro 16:21).
E. Tertius (tur'shi-us, from Lat. tertius, "third"). Probably a Roman, he was the scribe for Paul in
writing the epistle to the Romans (Ro 16:22).
Nothing certain is known of him.
F. Gaius (ga'yus) An inhabitant of Corinth, the host
of Paul, and in whose house the Christians were accustomed to
assemble (Ro 16:23). He was baptized by Paul (1 Co 1:14).
G. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, (e-ras'tus; "beloved").
A Corinthian and one of Paul's disciples whose salutations he
sends from Corinth to the church at Rome as those of "the city
treasurer" (Ro 16:23). This denotes an officer or steward of
great dignity in ancient times (Josephus Ant. 7.8.2);
the conversion of such a man to the faith of the gospel was proof
of the wonderful success of the apostle's labors in that city.
H. Quartus, (kwor'tus; a "fourth"). A Christian of Corinth whose salutations Paul sent to the church at Rome (Ro 16:23).
I. Paul
2. THE MESSAGE V 24-25 b
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25 Now to Him who is
able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, . . .”
A. GRACE TO . . ESTABLISH. v 24-25 a
24 The grace Of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you. . .”
B. GRACE to . . Endure. v 25 b
“. . . according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,. . .”
Illustration
This is a transforming message. Paul, Timothy etc..
Man who handled the T V Station while I preached a weekly program. He said I have to join the church or quit doing this your preaching is getting to me.
Application
The Message: Established, Endures Amen
3. THE MYSTERY. V 25 c - 26
“. . . according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began. 26 but
now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according
to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith —
A. The Mystery . . CONCEALED. v 25c
“according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began”
B. The Mystery . . COMMUNICATED. v 26
26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all
nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to
the faith —
IllustrationGeorge Washington
Carver, the scientist who achieved wonders with the humble peanut, used
to
tell this story: "When I was young, I said to God, 'God, tell me the
mystery of the universe.'
"But God answered, 'That knowledge is reserved for Me alone.'
"So I said, 'Then, God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.'
"And God said, 'George, that's more nearly your size.' And so he told
me."
Illustration Examination Paper
William Phelps taught English literature at Yale for forty-one years until his retirement in 1933. Marking an examination paper shortly before Christmas one year, Phelps came across the note:
"God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Christmas.? Phelps returned the paper with this note: "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year.?
Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 10
Application
The Mystery . . CONCEALED and . . COMMUNICATED.
4. THE . . MANIFESTATION. v 27
27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. NKJV
A. The . . Wise Manifestation.
27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. NKJV
B. The . . Witnessed Manifestation.
“. . . be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”
Illustration Obeying the Holy Spirit by C. Sumner Wemp
A young couple moved to another town several years ago. Across
the street was a 65-year-old man and his 87-year-old mother. For
several years the wife of this couple felt burdened to witness to
this man and his mother, but fear held her back.
This wife took the Evangelism Explosion training for
soul-winning. The burden for sharing the gospel with her
neighbors grew stronger and stronger, but still she put it off.
Finally, ten years after moving in she determined she was going
to give them the gospel. She called a couple of friends and had
them pray for her as she went.
When she got over there fear gripped her heart and she hardly
knew what to say. She told them about taking the training and
needed to practice making the presentation and asked if they
would let her "practice" on them. They consented and she began
the presentation. She said she made a mess of it and mixed it
all up and forgot part of it. When she finished she felt
terrible and just knew they were not interested. She asked if it
made sense to them and they both said it did. It shocked her!
Then she asked if they would like to pray and receive the Lord
Jesus and to her utter amazement they both said they would.
When they finished praying they both said they were now saved,
but showed absolutely no emotion. She left them with doubt as to
whether they were really saved and felt almost depressed and that
she had failed. She asked the dear Lord to somehow let her know
if it was real or not.
Several weeks later she had a knock at her door. A man asked if
this was where the "preacher lady" lived. She said there was no
preacher living there. Then he asked for her by name and she
acknowledged that was she. He then said he was the son of the
man across the street and that he himself was a preacher. He
said he had been praying for his dad, to be saved for years.
Every time he tried to talk to his dad, he would leave the room
and not listen to his preacher son. But now, his dad had called
him and told him about the lady across the street who had come
over and both he and his mother had been saved.
The preacher was so thrilled he had to come over and thank her and rejoice that
his father and grandmother had been saved! They wept together
and the angels of heaven rejoiced together for the great victory
that had been won.
She felt she had fumbled and failed, but God takes the weak
things and does mighty things. As I heard this I wondered how
many reading this may have missed being the answer to someone's
prayers by not obeying the urging of the Holy Spirit to share the
gospel no matter how inadequate they may feel. Obey God. Get in
on it!
Application
The . . Wise Manifestation.
The . . Witnessed Manifestation.
Have you personally witnessed the Manifestation of the Gospel?