tonight we conclude our study in the book of romans i didn't look and see when i usually like to do that and see how long ago i started this but that might be scary so it's been some time tonight we finally conclude it and i think it's been a wonderful study i have i love this book i won't start it again next week but i'm tempted we are going to pick up tonight at verse 21 to the end of the chapter. And if you do have your Psalter hymnals open, we will be considering tonight question and answer 128 and 129 to conclude the Heidelberg Catechism. That's on page 63. We'll confess it in the course of the sermon. This is the word of the Lord beginning at verse 21. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you. So does Lucius and Jason, and so sit Pater, my kinsmen. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greet you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Cortus, greet you. Now, to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. It'll help tonight if we can somewhat put together the scene and the original context of this to understand. It really does give us kind of a window into that life of the first century. And in verses 21 through 23, what we have are a list of names of people who are with Paul in Corinth. That is where this epistle was written. We know Paul in chapter 15 said that before he does anything else, when he communicated anything else of his plans for the future. We know he wanted to get to Rome. But the thing that he emphasized to the Roman church was, first, he had to go through Jerusalem. This was his great goal. He wanted to be at Jerusalem. There's something, though, as I look at this tonight, and I look at the ending of this epistle that's going on here, that, for me, feels a little bit sad. Why do I say that? I didn't reference it last time, but Paul's goal was to go ultimately on after Jerusalem and all this to Spain. But remember he said in chapter 15, I first go to Jerusalem. His heart was set on visiting Jerusalem, Rome, and then to the ends of the earth. But we really do have some idea putting together history of what happened. Acts ends with him, in the very end of Acts, with him house arrest in Rome. And tradition holds that Paul was beheaded there. That's the received tradition on what happened to the apostle. He was a martyr for the faith. What I want you to feel at this point in life, we have some access. We can put things together. We get statements from early church fathers and we can kind of reconstruct this. But when Paul's writing this, if we could step back into that just for a minute, he didn't know anything ultimately that was going to happen. He's making plans, but the Lord didn't whisper in his ear exactly how this would all play out, did he? And I want you to feel tonight the uncertainty of where he is at this point in his life. There's a lot of uncertainty as to what is going to happen. You know what the Holy Spirit told him would happen whenever he went into cities? The Holy Spirit did tell him something. And here's what the Holy Spirit told the Apostle Paul that would happen to him when he went into cities. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. That's what he got. Can you imagine that? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Can you imagine for a moment living this way? I'm ready. I'm ready to die, but we're not talking just any old ordinary death. I'm ready to be martyred. I'm ready to be taken out for Jesus. We all have fears of the future. We all hate change. We fear what's going to happen tomorrow, and we have all sorts of what ifs that we throw around in the mind, and we're worried about this and that, and we're scared about, you know, what could happen economically in the United States. And we have all these things that we're in fear of, and we don't know. We really don't. We don't know how it's going to go and where it's going to turn. And I've said before, in my short time of life, it just seems like things are so much more unstable, maybe just because I'm older now. But maybe it's the news and how misguided and warped it all is. But whatever the case, things are much more unstable. And these things can be scary and they can worry us in times of change. And we don't like change. We feel good when things are steady and calm and normal. But that's not really the Christian life, visit. You may enjoy it for a period of time, but you have no guarantee for that. And we're all trying to hold on to that. We're all trying to create that. We sit comfortable in the U.S., but you think you would live a little bit differently if you were in Muslim countries today and you knew that walking around you could get taken out as a Christian? I mean, this happens every week. Do you think you would be a little bit more uneasy if you thought that tomorrow you could be killed for your faith here in the United States? Do you think that would inform a little bit of your mind and your actions and how you think and what you do? I've seen videos of what's happening to Christians around the world. And I think what we forget when we come to passages like this, we're so disconnected in the West from all of this, that many of these figures in the New testament that we studied were martyred for the faith they were taken out they were beheaded some were sawn in two that to me is the greatest threat to any kind of earthly security not just because of the fear of it of the process of it but but the larger question the larger question being this would i really remain loyal and committed to jesus christ if the knife were put up to my throat? Would I really stand firm to the end? Would I really be there? I raise this tonight because the whole scene, I believe at the end of Romans is fraught with tension. That's what I'm going to try to reconstruct here to show you from Acts and other places, that there is all of this sense of uncertainty and pain, especially now that they're saying goodbye to one another. When you said goodbye in the ancient world, when you said goodbyes as Christians in the first century, you knew that may be it. You know, how many books do I read of different times and in different places where even today, you know, we could travel anywhere in the world. We fly anywhere we want, and we just safely assume we're going to come back, you know. But there were, when fathers left households for periods of time, they had to sit down their children and explain to them how serious it was they might not return. We don't know that. We've never lived that. We've never experienced that. And as we close the book of Romans tonight, putting together this scene, I believe what we have here as we look at this window into the first century and what's going on here, a basic message for us, an encouraging message for us that no matter what happens in the future, the Lord has the power. The Lord has the power to keep us. The Lord has the power to preserve us. The Lord has the power to strengthen us. everything that he's spoken to us. And this is, I believe, the scene. What we have here at the end of the book of Romans is a final gathering actually in Corinth. In fact, this is Acts 20, verses 1 through 3. Let me read this to you. After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews, as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. So it is A.D. 56 or 57 in this scene. Paul has spent the winter there, three-month period, there in Corinth. Most likely this is his third and last visit to Corinth. It is this brief period in Corinth that the epistle to the Romans is drafted. And Paul is ready now. I mean, imagine, you talk to, I don't know how many pastors I've read over the years in biographies and say, well, if I had one book of the Bible, one book of the Bible to take with me on a desert island, it's Romans. Romans. Here you are concluding this great epistle that would be read by how many people for how many years in the future. Just a glorious epistle that has been drafted. Paul is now moving to a close to this. He's moving on. He knows the goal is Jerusalem. You can imagine this at Corinth. It's cold. The boat is docked. Probably some of the men here who are mentioned are ready to board the boat with Paul to head that way. They have a series of stops that if you follow Acts 20, you would run into Ephesus being also next. But I want you to think of this. They're in Corinth for the last time. It's his third and last visit. And how do you end this? How do you end this epistle. You can hear the discussion, can't you? You can hear the discussion, probably in the house of Gaius. Paul is looking around at these brothers there, Phoebe's there, and he's looking at them and he says, do any of you want to greet your brethren in Rome? Paul looks up. Timothy has just arrived. And three of his relatives have come, Lucius and Jason and Sosipater. Paul, they say, would you tell the brothers and sisters in Rome that we greet them? Can you feel this? The love? Would you tell them that we greet them? Another man was sitting there. His name is Tertius. Tertius was the scribe. So when these epistles were given by inspiration, Paul would speak. it was an act of speaking and they would have scribes and they would write down everything that the apostles were speaking under inspiration paul looks up tertius do you want to greet your brethren tertius says i do paul says include it i tertius who wrote this epistle greet you in the lord all this is happening from the household of one named gaius gaius excuse me Corinth. Gaius was obviously a wealthy man who had the whole church in Corinth meet in his home. Remember, churches met in homes in those days. And you can imagine what a wonderful fellowship that was in the house. And here is this rich official in Corinth. He was the city treasure. In fact, they've actually found inscriptions with Gaius' name on a pavement in Corinth, which is really fascinating. And Paul speaks. Tertius writes, Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church here in Corinth, greet you in this public sidewalk. It's really fascinating to read about this. It reads, actually this is Erastus, excuse me. Erastus is the one who hears the treasure in Corinth next. He's the one that has his name on the sidewalk. It reads this, Erastus, in return for the idol ship, laid this pavement at his own expense. He was the treasure in Corinth. Well known, Erastus. It's pinned. Erastus, the treasure of the city, greets you. And Cordus, a brother, greets you. I really love sections of Scripture like this. It gives us such a window into that world, but you really sense the affection and the love and the understanding that goes with this of all of the uncertainty. But I can really feel the emotion of this. Why do I say that? Because you can construct this and you can put this together from other places in the New Testament. Everything is moving forward. They're gathering for the last time. Everyone's about ready to go their way. the epistle is going to be handed to Phoebe, who's going to take this to Rome. And there's almost, I mean, we experience this. When something good comes to an end, what do we feel like? Sad. It's hard. In some sense, I'm discouraged to leave Romans. It's a wonderful thing to preach a book, but it's kind of sad to end a book. everybody's going their way, and you know the feeling. When a loved one dies, the goodbyes are awful. It's a pain. When life comes to an end, it's a pain. When you have to, from experience, leave one church where you've developed, you know, a family for eight years and then moved to a new family, it's a pain. It's hard. And that's part of living under the sun. That's part of living in a world that has fallen and we're not home yet. And goodbyes and endings of things and endings of long runs of wonderful things. Everything moves. Everything's moving. Nothing is ever staying the way it is. You ever notice that? Everything's going somewhere. And you never want the good things to end. There's something wrong with it. There's something painful about it. And one of the most painful things I believe we see here is that the body of Christ is not all together. We're spread throughout the whole world. And notice the love and affection of your brothers and sisters elsewhere all over the face of the world that God has put all in all sorts of countries. And they are regenerated and born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus died for them. They're your brothers and they're your sisters. Now, Paul had never been to Rome yet. They were united. And his love for this church is really remarkable, but the whole scene is full of uncertainty. Paul now has to stop speaking under inspiration. In other words, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. So when this happened, Tertius is writing, Paul is speaking. It's all coming to an end. What are your last words? What do you say? You could say many things, but you do realize, you know, the last words really stick. don't they? The last words can be a powerful punch. The last words really mean something that, you know how fickle we all are. Most of you don't remember most of my sermons in Romans by now. That's okay. I understand that. Last words are really important, aren't they? Well, at this point, what does Paul do? He gives a benediction. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen that would be a wonderful ending wouldn't it i mean that's that's a great ending a benediction but you know what he doesn't i'm i'm curious about that i'm looking at this because this is really uh this is abnormal in the epistles this is an abnormal ending in other words my assumption here, and I realize it's an assumption, but I believe it's a correct one or I wouldn't preach it, is that there are a lot of tears going on right now in Corinth. In fact, in just the next city over, when he goes to Ephesus and he writes in Ephesus and he stays there for a short stay. Do you remember how that ends in Ephesus? This was happening everywhere Paul went. And this is what happened. It's more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things he knelt down and prayed with them all then they all wept freely and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke that they would see his face no more why would it be different in Corinth they accompany him to the ship here's my assumption as they're leaving the house the benediction is given the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And Paul, filled with emotion, can't stop there. He can't stop there. A benediction, boys and girls, is when we receive a blessing from the Lord. And through his servants, the Lord communicates that. You see this in numbers. Remember, when the hands go up, the Lord always wanted his people to understand that he loved them and that it was desire to bless them. So when he told them in numbers to give the Aaronic benediction, he says, this is how I want my people blessed. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, hands up, and give you his peace. He's blessing you. So when the minister stands up and does that, That's a really big moment. I don't know that I've ever stopped enough and emphasized that as a pastor. You know, I think sometimes growing up in the Reformed Church, we just did this thing and, you know, you get a question around, well, why does the guy raise his hands? You know, that's kind of interesting. And visitors come in, why is that guy raising his hands up there? That's kind of weird. No, this was biblical. The Lord wanted His servants to teach His people that they were blessed and that that blessing as he sent his servant. He was blessing his people, hands raised, to communicate that. There's a debate. You can ask some of the professors whether it should be like this or like this, but I won't get into that. Paul doesn't do any of that. I mean, Paul does that, but he doesn't stop there. He stops there, and then he moves to something else. What does he do? He gives a doxology. Now, I go through many of the epistles. Tonight I was thinking. Galatians. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. Ephesians. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. And you could keep going. Philippians. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. All these benedictions. And you keep getting these benedictions. Here we get a doxology. What is a doxology? It's a praise. In a doxology, we are now blessing God back for His blessing to us. A benediction often begets a doxology, doesn't it? In other words, when you're so moved by the grace of God, the natural response to that, it's not anything that's conjured up. It's not anything that's forced. When you're really taken with God's grace, the natural response is doxological. It's praise. What's the right time for a doxology? Here's my assumption. When Philippians was written, Paul gave us a principle when you're very stressed and discouraged or overwhelmed with emotion or even anxious or worrying about certain things. What did he tell you to do? Well, he said, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and he'll do something for you. I'll come back to that. That first word there is a kind of doxological word of bowing. it's a praising prayerful word and the antidote to a stressful time the antidote to a time of uncertainty the antidote to all of your stress in life the antidote to all of the trials and afflictions that we face as god's people living under the sun in a hard world is when we experience and understand and receive His benediction and grace and praise. And when we are facing these moments, the antidote is to praise Him. To sing praise to Him. Everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And what's He going to do for you? Well, He made a promise in that. He's going to guard your hearts and your minds. He will surround your hearts and your minds with peace. And I believe Paul's going to refer to this here in a moment of how that happens. But notice here then, Paul breaks into this beautiful doxology after the benediction was given. And what is the doxology? This is the end of it. Verse 25. Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, stop. That is remarkable, isn't it? To him who is able to do what? Make you stand, establish. You know this word means strength. You ever been overwhelmed to the point of distress and you have no idea how you're going to be able to get through it? To him who is able to strengthen you. And to do what? Well, we're going to look at here for a moment the things that he's able to do through this and how he does this. But imagine the accumulation of things that have hit him at this moment. This is why I believe it's important to put this together. He's leaving for Jerusalem, not knowing what's going to happen. He's leaving all these people knowing it'll be probably the last time that's what he's telling people. The Spirit has told him, chains await him, persecution awaits him. You talk about stress. And you can learn so much from the endings of these books. What do you feel anxious about? Well, here's the answer. He's able to preserve you. He's able to keep you. You have this language everywhere. And it's something that he wanted this impressed upon them. The apostle realized what the Heidelberg said last week in Lord's Day 52, that we are unable to hold our own for a moment. And I think that's absolutely important for realizing the struggle of the Christian life. You can't hold yourself. You can't keep yourself. And what is my frustration when times of stress and concern and worry overtake? Well, everything that I was firm about and strong about yesterday seems to be gone. And what is my problem? Well, there are things. You ever come out of worship sometimes and you feel like you're on top of the world? And we think about all the stuff that Paul said in Romans. I mean, the wonderful truths of Romans, justified by faith, you have peace with God. It's a free gift of grace. He's going to complete the work that he started. In other words, this whole life of sanctification, he's given you the Spirit. You're going to be mortifying the deeds of the body by the work of the Spirit. Nothing can separate you from his love. On and on and on and on and on. And you hear all this and you come out with real confidence until the stress and the trial of it all, the trial of life, if we're honest, one minute we can see clearly. And the next minute, a dark cloud looms over us and we don't see much of anything. That's why enthusiasts about Christianity sometimes are very wrong in the way they present it. Because it's hard. it's wilderness life and all that i've learned in romans can be quickly forgotten all that i've learned in romans can be quickly forgotten unstable tossed to and fro you feel like a sometimes like a ship on us on a wavy ocean confused we remain dull our hearts often seem downcast we feel our we find ourselves depressed we find ourselves when we should be happy and were sick that it even goes on like that. What holds us? What keeps us? Is all of the doctrine now gone that we've learned? The psalmist would cry out about weariness and aloneness and forsakenness they felt. Paul leaves this church with the most glorious doxology. I love the ending of this. Here's the sense. Lord, you're able to strengthen us. You're able to keep us. Through all that you have in store for us, whatever's ahead of us, you have the power to uphold and strengthen and keep. This is said everywhere. Jude's is also very powerful. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. And not only do that, but present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. He can do it on that day when you're filled with absolute joy. He will present you that way and has the power to do it all the way through. He can guard your life. He can preserve you. And whatever it is, He can strengthen you. I've always loved 1 Peter. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance, listen to this, incorruptible and defiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are what kept by the power of god through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly rejoice though for now a little while if need be you be grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of jesus christ that's all future judah's future peter's future paul is present he's able to strengthen you how is he able to do that well there is this ever-present power that is made available to us to strengthen you how do you think you're really strengthened in the christian life This is a scary question. I don't really want to survey tonight. How do you think you're strengthened in the Christian life? There's a lot of things that we do. And when we do home visitations, we ask many things. First things we ask are always, are you reading your Bible? And everyone says, well, I should be reading it more. Yeah, you should. Bookstores are filled with all ways to help you be strengthened. How are you strengthened? Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. Now of all things to hit with the last punch with. Of all things. He goes back to Romans 10. Of all things in the book of Romans, this is the way He's able to strengthen you. This is what He's chosen. You ask, how does God strengthen us? Of all the things He wanted impressed upon Rome, in all the struggles of life, in all the ways that you are continually vexed and turned this way and turned that way, it's the preaching of Jesus Christ. there is a power there that we have yet to accept. The way God upholds you, the way God keeps you standing, you're getting to the heart of Christianity tonight. Christians are so up and down. Christians are low and then up. And the weariness, you know, and it's troubling because we say this and agreed, it needs to be done well. It needs to be preached for this to happen. But I had a pastor years ago in the church when I was attending and every time someone was through a trial or every time someone was going through some kind of hardship, where was the last place they would show up? Church. They always ran from it. There was no understanding of what really happened and what really the Lord was doing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by what? The Word of God preached. We need this. And Paul is essentially assuring this church to this doxology that would be read, I know God is going to keep you. I may be taken out. But you know what's so exciting about the ministry of the gospel? There's one thing that remains and abides forever that never falls. And what is that? It is the Word of God. And I'm going to continue. Paul knew this. The Lord is communicating this. I will always continue to raise up preachers. I will always, till the very end, continue to raise up those who are committed to preaching Christ and Him crucified. And that will be His chosen means for strength. So whatever happens to me, whatever happens to the apostles, God will always do this for you. God is always committed to this. God will always continue and continue until the very end to help his saints be strengthened this way. I believe that. There's no ending in this life to the almighty word that he has committed to treasure up in your hearts. Do you know that? The grass withers, everything else falls, what? The word of the Lord endures forever. He is able to establish you according to my gospel, this deposit that was entrusted to the apostles, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest by the prophetic scriptures and made known to the nations. What he's saying is this, this preaching of the gospel, God's doing something. He is unveiling for you right now, making very clear to you everything that you're studying in the Old Testament, everything that God had ever planned and purposed, that you were to be included in it and that you are his children and he wants you to know that you are blessed with that. I believe what Paul was saying is that in the midst of all the hardships, God will continue to uphold you and encourage you and strengthen you and help you through this powerful message. Now, how does that perspective help us as we then as individuals go out into another week? Well, doesn't that inform your prayers a little bit? Heidelberg tonight. What does the Lord want from us personally when we're facing great trial? What is to be our way of trusting the Lord through life? Well, you've got a great avenue of help. And as we hear the word and ask the Lord, we're going to Him, asking Him to apply what we've heard to the heart. And notice then what question 128, and I want us to read and I'll ask the question, have you respond with the answer. And we'll close with this tonight. This is question 128. What does your conclusion to this prayer mean? For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever means. We have made all these requests of you because as our all-powerful King, you not only want to, but are able to give us all that is good. And because your holy name and not we ourselves should receive all the praise forever. here's the perspective we pray we go to the lord we receive his implanted word we ask him that these things give us this day your kingdom come all of these things make us strong what perspective when you go to the lord does he want you to have did you notice the heidelberg how it captured it there what perspectives does the lord want you to have in this glorious relationship that we have. Paul would say it here. The Lord's desire is to bless you. And notice this. We ask the Lord as our king because what? He wants to give us all that is good. Do you ever stand back and think that's his desire? That he wants you to know his intents and purposes to you is to give you all that is good and what does that lead to what then when he gives us all that is good and blesses us in that way what does that lead to it leads to doxology leads to praise question 129 what does that little word amen express amen means this is sure to be it is even more sure that god listens to my prayer than that I really desire what I pray for. God listens. God is able to strengthen you. And that's the summary of really the Lord's prayer at the end. God desires to do this for you. God desires to strengthen you. And Paul affirms that. And he closes out this epistle tonight again with this by saying to God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. God is alone wise and most glorified through the person in the work of his son as that says his spirit testifies of him in our hearts. So then he gives this tonight in summary this benediction and lest there be any pain in ending this. He turns it then to a doxology to remind us that God Himself is committed to keep us through the preaching of the gospel, to keep us with this message, to strengthen us in the revelation of His Son, reassuring us of His love. And every time we pray, we should always go to Him believing that. What a wonderful summary to put these two together tonight in closing. this is Romans. The book of Romans has shown us the way. Let us hold fast what we've heard and hear this Jesus who has preached to us with full delight because He is able to establish, strengthen, and perfect you according to His glorious gospel. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise and respond to such a blessing with praise. That our God is all-powerful. That our God is worthy of all praise. And that whatever we are tested with and tried with, you can keep us. You uphold us. And so may then we value and listen to what you just said. Of where that great deposit of truth is given and where the strengthening comes. and let us always love to hear Your beloved Son in whom You are well pleased. Thank You for assuring us tonight that You desire to do this for us. And we say together tonight, all of God's people said, Amen.