Romans Lesson 25

Introduction

Very pleasant good day and welcome to Let the Bible Speak. I hope that you have a New Testament near you that you’ll be opening with me today to the fifteenth chapter of the book of Romans. If you’ve been studying along with us, you know that we’ve been going verse by verse through this great book. And actually, we observe that the first eleven chapters, the Apostle Paul by inspiration, dealt with the main proposition of the book. That is expressed in chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, that the gospel is God’s power to salvation to everyone that believeth, not just for the Jew, but also to the Gentile. Because in the gospel is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith. He enforced this proposition by approved the proposition by stating, first of all, that man needed salvation.

He pointed out that both Jew as well as Gentile are sinners. And by the grace of God, the provision of the means for redemption or forgiveness of sins has been made. Therefore, we often say the book of Romans is a book that talks about saved by grace through faith. It is not that man deserves salvation or the means of salvation, but God provided it because he so loved us that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. But then after pointing out that it was by the grace of God that this salvation or means of salvation was provided, he then pointed out that it was through faith. Now, sometimes the book of Romans used to describe or to talk about a salvation by faith only, but that’s far from understanding the real proposition of the book.

He’s talking about a system of salvation that is by grace of God, God’s part, but through faith on man’s part. And then he begins to point out that the system of salvation by faith, in contrast to the law or to law-keeping. Man could not keep law perfectly. Man is not perfect. And therefore, the means of salvation is by system known through the gospel as by grace through faith. And as he sets out to prove this proposition, he still talks about obedience and obedience to the faith. The book begins with that, ends with that, and right in the middle of it talks about obedience to the faith. But after showing that proposition and proving it through the first eleven chapters of Romans, the closing chapters of this great book deal with certain admonitions and exhortations to godly living.

In fact, in chapter 12 in verse 1, we pointed out that he said how that uh he was beseeching man by the mercies of God to present his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable or your spiritual service. And really, from chapter 12, right on through to the end of the book, we have some exhortations of godly living. Well, as we’ve come to the 15th chapter of the book of Romans, we’ve observed how that that uh to be a living sacrifice makes many changes in our lives. It changes our own attitudes, of course, to God and to how we conduct our own personal living. We began to live a righteous life, not just selfishly to serve uh our own lust of the flesh, but rather we we abstain from evil and we try to live in such a way it was as will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

But also it’ll change our attitude toward others. In Romans chapter 12, he he talked how that we ought not to return evil for evil. We we even have a different attitude toward our enemies and towards civil government, as good citizens. We know that even the government is the minister of God. And in chapter 14, in our last study, we observed how the exhortation was for Christians in dealing one with another when there are differences. Sometimes there are differences in conviction, conscience about certain matters, and yet we ought to yield ourselves and love one another and treat one another in such a way that those who are weak should not condemn the strong, and those who are strong should not tempt the weak in such a way as to violate his conscience.

1. For the Sake of Unity, We Must Yield Self

Well, really that thought of chapter fourteen continues on into our lesson for today in the first seven verses. So if you have a new testament open, let’s read Romans fifteen, verses one through seven as we continue these exhortations of godly living. The apostle says, We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded, one toward another, according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. You observe in these first seven verses much the same kind of thought as we close chapter fourteen. But it has to do with unity of believers. And those who are strong ought to bear the infirmities or the failures even of those who are weak in Christ. And he says, not to please ourselves. Such an important lesson that there ought to be unity. In fact, the underlying lesson of this all, this chapter 14 and 15 is that for the sake of unity, we must yield self. You remember Jesus Christ in his prayer shortly before his death, recorded in John chapter 17, he prayed for his apostles and those who believe on Christ through the word of the apostles.

When he said, Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou has sent me. A divided religious world only serves the purposes of Satan. A united fellowship in Christ among believers will cause the world even to observe and to be convinced that this must be a way of peace and of love. In fact, Jesus Christ prayed that all who believe be one. But you know, in order to be united, there must be an attitude of submission. I know that isn’t the popular thought in our world today.

In fact, we are in a generation that sometimes we describe as the me generation. It’s a selfish generation. We’ve been taught about our rights, and many people are suing others because of their own personal rights they think have been infringed upon. And so there’s an attitude of pushing for self, and even greediness really characterizes many. But to be a servant of the Lord, to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, just the opposite of that attitude should be reflected. We must yield ourselves. But we have Jesus Christ as the example of yielding. In fact, even this lesson in verse 3 says, even Christ pleased not himself. But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. What he’s saying is, and quoting really from the Psalm 69th Psalm and verse 9, that the sins that were committed by man were committed against God.

Jesus Christ, however, suffered for those reproaches or for those sins that were committed against God. And if Christ was willing to empty himself and to yield himself for us, in order that we might have forgiveness of the sins committed against God, should we not be surely like our Lord and Master, Philippians chapter 2, in verses 3 through 8, there the writer speaks about unity. When he says, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. But in lowness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also in the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. What a passage that describes what Christ has done, and that we ought to have the mind of Jesus Christ. We ought to have a similar attitude. If he could give up the glory in heaven, even his relationship with the Father. In fact, he said that who in the being in the form of God thought it not to be a thing to be held on to, but he emptied himself. He came in the form of man and humbled himself to the death of the cross. Now what’s the point? The point is that we ought to esteem other better than self. That is, count others. Don’t just think selfishly of yourself.

2. Yield to Christ in Doctrine, to Others in Opinion

So that’s really the underlying theme here in the closing words of the book of Romans. He has said in chapter 12, let brotherly love continue. And you see many admonitions along that line in chapter 14 and 15, in fact, say the same. In order to have unity, we must yield ourselves. But what does that mean? Well, first of all, it doesn’t mean that we just ignore doctrinal differences. First of all, there must be a yielding to Christ in matters of doctrine. In matters of doctrine, it does concern us what does Jesus Christ say. In fact, in Matthew 28, Jesus said, All authority or all power have been given unto me both in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

That’s why we spend so much time concerned about what does the Bible say? What does the Bible teach? It matters what we believe. In 2 John verse 9, in fact, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. It matters to whom we yield ourselves when it comes to doctrine. Don’t follow conventions and synods or creeds of men. Follow only the Bible, Jesus Christ. If there’s division over matters of truth, then stand for truth. But in this matter of unity, we must yield to Christ in matters of doctrine, but yielding to others in matters of opinion. There are times where certain matters are matters of liberty. God hasn’t required or restricted or forbidden. And we talked about those really in chapter 14, and in fact, in the closing words of Romans 14, in verses 19 through 23, the admonition was, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

3. Christ a Minister of the Gentiles Also

Verse 23, in fact he said, He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because it eateth not of faith, for whatsoever is not a faith is sin. And he’s saying now, respect the conscience of your brother. Don’t allow him or cause him to violate his conscience. But when it’s matter that God has neither commanded nor forbidden, work out a way that there can be unity. Somebody can yield himself if God has not commanded a thing to be obeyed, or has not restricted or forbidden it from being observed. If God has left it the matter of liberty, then work for peace. Brethren, we must yield ourselves one to another. But now look at Romans 15, verses 8 through 13, where much of this thought is continued. When he says, Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

And again he says, Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again, praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. And again, Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. What you’ve seen here are four different Old Testament verses that have been quoted, and all of them really proving the same point, and that is that Jesus Christ was a minister or a servant, not only of the Jews, the circumcision, verse eight, but also of the Gentiles. And from the Psalm, Psalm 18, Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 117, Isaiah 11, each of these verses simply were quoted to show that even the prophets foretold, the scriptures foretold, that the Gentiles would be included in the salvation provided through Jesus Christ.

Now, if Christ gave himself up for the heathen, even the Gentiles, and the Jew, of course, looked upon the Gentile that way, then should not we work for unity? If Christ so loved all the world that he would die for all men, Jew or Gentile, should not that be our attitude also. Jesus died. The Gentiles might glorify God as well. Well, we’re going to pause for just a moment, and when we come back, we’re going to take a look further what the apostle says in this chapter about how really yielding ourselves to Christ will make many changes in our life. It may even change where we go. It may change indeed what we do in our life. I hope you’ll stay with us. We’ll be back in just one moment.

4. Following Christ May Change Who You Preach To

Far too many people think that following Christ is just a simple matter. A simple matter of just saying a few words that they profess to believe in Jesus Christ and to assemble for worship on Sunday morning if it’s convenient or when it’s convenient. But being a disciple of the Lord involves much more than just lip service and worship when it’s convenient. In fact, it involves total commitment to Jesus Christ. It involves a living sacrifice, Romans chapter 12, as we’ve already observed. And yet there are many people who think that if we really become a living sacrifice or total commitment to Christ, then that’s just going a bit overboard. In fact, you’d hear some of the world who might call you rather fanatical to be of that kind of an attitude and service to the Lord.

And yet, really, through the book of Romans, in these closing chapters, there’s so many different statements that show that the true child of God, the sincere servant of the Lord, is one who is totally committed to Christ. Indeed, following Jesus Christ will change your plans. It may change not only what you do personally, but it’ll change your attitude toward others. It may even change who you preach to. It may change even where you go. And I think as we observe these last few verses of Romans chapter 15, we’ll see how it did change even the life of the Apostle Paul. Read with me now from Romans chapter 15, as we begin in verses 14 through 21, where the apostle said, I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have, therefore, whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ had not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. So that from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation. But as it is written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall see. And they that have not heard shall understand.

And he says, I’m not writing things that you really don’t already know, but rather to put you in mind and to remind you of those of these things. And yet he said, I’ve spoken rather boldly to you. I’ve spoken rather frankly. And sometimes we just need to be reminded of things that we already know. And that’s the reason he spoke to them. But then he begins to show how that indeed the gospel of which he’s been writing in this letter to the Romans is a gospel that is for Gentiles as well as for Jews. Now that really changed, you may say, the plans of Paul. If you verse remember Paul when he’s first introduced to us in the Bible, he was a devout Jew. In fact, he opposed the way of Jesus Christ.

Acts chapter 9, in fact, told us of the of the vision that he saw on the road to Damascus, there going to really persecute Christians, to bring them back to Jerusalem, bound, and to persecute them. But when he obeyed the gospel, when he really came face to face with the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, he yielded himself solely and totally to Christ Jesus. And rather than preaching just to Jews, he then became a minister to the Gentiles. In fact, here is Paul, a Jew, who now is preaching to Gentiles, and many of the Jews thought of him as a traitor. Well, why should he do that? But in verse 16, he says, indeed, this is what God wanted of him, that he might preach Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God to them.

You remember Jesus himself said in the Great Commission, right before he ascended into heaven in Mark 16, verses 15 and 16, he said to his apostles, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. And so it even is true for us today, that we have the same mission to preach the gospel to everyone who will hear. You see, as the apostle speaks here, we can say that a gospel is not exclusive for a select race or class of people. It isn’t just for those who may be white or those who may be black or those who may be Hispanic. Sometimes we have churches that seemingly are made up of just certain class of people for the rich or for the poor or for the educated or the uneducated.

Paul said, I would go anywhere. In fact, everywhere. In fact, he says, I go to places where they have not yet even heard about Jesus Christ. I want to go to places where where Christ has not yet been preached. And really, as we read about the preaching journeys of the Apostle Paul recorded in the book of Acts, we know that that was indeed what he did. He went into territory, territories where the gospel had not earlier been preached. Could that be said of you and me today? That following Jesus Christ would totally change our attitude toward people who’ve never heard the gospel? Are we willing to go into regions and places, no matter what color their skin may be, or what language they may speak, or really even what class of people they may be in our own town.

They may be from across the track, so to speak. Would we be willing to preach to them? Listen to chapter one, in fact, when Paul earlier said in this letter in Acts in Romans chapter one, he said in in verse fourteen particularly, he said, I am a debtor, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I’m ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God and to salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

5. It May Even Change Where You Go

That’s a powerful passage, but it’s easy to read, it’s something else to apply, isn’t it? Indeed, following Christ may change our plans. It’ll change our attitude toward self and toward the Lord and our yielding of self to others. It’ll change maybe those to whom we will speak about the love of God and the grace that is provided through Jesus Christ our Savior. But look also in the closing verses of chapter 15, in verses twenty-two through thirty-three, where it may even change where you would go. It changed where Paul traveled to. I read verse twenty-two, and he says, For which cause I also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you, whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you, for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you.

If first I be somewhat filled with your company. But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it pleased them a Macedonian and Achaea to make a certain contribution for the poor saints, which are at Jerusalem. It it pleased them v verily, and their debtors they are. For the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. And I am sure that when I come unto you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. You notice that I said a moment ago that his plans of travel were changed. In fact, he says that in verse 23 and 4 that he had desired to come to Rome, even years before he went. Why didn’t he go? Well, he said, I’ve been hindered hitherto. He really mentioned even in chapter one how he had desired to come to Rome. He was hindered only in the sense because he put Christ first. He desired to preach the gospel, and and he was called into other regions. Sometimes, if we put Christ first in our life, we won’t do just what we personally may want to do or prefer to do. We try to have priority to Christ in his way.

In fact, rather than going to Rome even now, he says, I’ve got to first go to Jerusalem. He was going the opposite direction. Instead of going westward to Rome, he’s going eastward back to Jerusalem to carry to carry this contribution for the poor saints. I think it’s significant too, verses 25 through 27, that here was a contribution for the poor saints, that were at Jerusalem. It had been written about in 1 Corinthians 16 and also 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and again chapters 9, where this contribution from the saints of the churches of Macedonia and Achaia and even Galatia had been made up to relieve the want or the need of saints. The church as a collective body was not a general benevolent society for all people, no matter where they were.

To reach people was not just through the gospel. Benevolence was the fruit of the gospel, not the means of propagating it. Sometimes even a day there are people, so long as you feed and clothe them, they’ll come. But when you start preaching the gospel, they turn away.

He says their duty is to minister to them because they’ve been partakers of the spiritual. And so it is Paul was going to Jerusalem to carry that contribution. Indeed, we have to say Paul gave priority to the work of Christ, not to self. And Matthew 6.33, in fact, the Bible teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things, the material things of life will be added unto you. And as you know, Paul finally went to Rome. In Acts chapter 28, though, it says he went as a prisoner, not as a free man like he intended. Whether he really ever fully was able to go to Spain on his way, we do not know. Tradition says he probably did. But the main point I hope that we gather from this lesson is that he demonstrated the very lesson he was preaching to be a living sacrifice.

Conclusion

Not simply serving self, but serving the Lord. May God help us all to be of that same mind and attitude that even if it changes our plans, we’ll put Christ first until our next study, we bid the grace and peace of the Lord, shall be with you.