Sound Doctrine

Guest (Male): Consider this with us next on Sound Doctrine. What is the word? What is the sentence that would sum up your ministry? If Paul was writing about you, what would he say about you? What is the one word? What is the one sentence? It is something to ponder on, to think about. We want to be remembered well, and we have this opportunity to make a mark for the Lord in a big way. He gets the glory for the things that he wants to do in us and through us.

It is time for Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. Today, we will be wrapping up our lengthy study in Romans. As the Apostle Paul puts the finishing touches on this magnificent epistle, he made mention of some faithful friends who were with him in the trenches. Not much is said of them, just a simple but powerful word or sentence. As Jeff mentioned at the top of the broadcast, we will personalize all of this and ask how our life and ministry would be summed up in a word or two. Think about that as we join Pastor Jeff for our final study in this awesome book of Romans.

Jeff Johnson: Gaius and Erastus were probably wealthy individuals because of the positions they were in. It is interesting that Jesus said this about those who are rich: "It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Why is that? Riches stumble people. If you have money, you pretty much can get whatever you want, except your health. You can buy whatever and do whatever. It is hard for a rich man to enter in, but he did not say it is impossible.

There is hope for those who have money, who get saved and give it all to him. They can say, "Lord, give me wisdom on what to do with my money now. I did not have wisdom before, but now I have it. This is going to be to your glory." I have seen God use rich people for his glory, and their lives were transformed. We see these two guys, and then it goes down to Quartus. His name is number four. So we have Tertius, number three, and Quartus, number four.

These guys were slaves. Those were their names. They were only given a number for a name. They were not considered worthy of a name that meant anything but a number. Paul did not think that. He wanted to not only share who they were, but he wanted to give a word about each of these guys in a very unique way. He calls them his faithful brothers who were with him in the trenches. Each person he mentions is given a name and a sentence or a word to sum up their ministry.

What is the word or the sentence that would sum up your ministry? If Paul was writing about you, what would he say? It is something to ponder. We want to be remembered well, and we have this opportunity to make a mark for the Lord. He gets the glory for the things that he wants to do in and through us in a big way. Someone might be called a faithful worker or a faithful husband. She might be a trusted friend or a dedicated mother. That is good stuff.

Verse 24 says, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Is it the end? Not yet. There is more to come. This is his typical ending where he talks about God’s grace. He is closing out with God's unmerited favor to you all, wanting you to experience it. Amen means "so be it." Verse 25 is where I believe the Spirit keeps adding a little bit more to the message because that is the part you need personally.

I am trying to end as best as I can in the Spirit. If that is a word that God speaks to you about, then it was needed. At the very end, Paul says there is more he has to share. He says, "Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." Here is where many believe Paul took the pen out of the secretary's hand to write the closing thoughts in his own handwriting.

I used to collect football cards when I was a kid. I was an avid collector. Some of you know what I am talking about. You had them too, and then you got desperate for money and moved them for cheap. Now you look back and wonder why you did that. If you got some of them signed, they would be worth big bucks. Paul is signing every single one of these epistles with his personal signature and final doxology. It is a final praise to God for who he is.

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 16, he says, "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all." Then it says, "The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every epistle, so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." He signs it off. He did this with every one of his epistles. It is very special. His desire in verse 25 was to see them rooted and grounded in the things of the Lord.

In Romans chapter 1, verse 11, he already said this in his opening statement: "For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you be established." He wants them to be grounded in the truth. He writes this to encourage them to stay steady. In Romans chapter 14, verse 4, he says, "He shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand." He is encouraging them that God will pick them up and establish them.

It is the same as the pastors conference in Miletus when Paul gathered the brethren in Acts chapter 20. He left them with this encouragement in verse 32: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." I am giving you to God's Word. I know the wolves, liars, and false apostles are going to come in, but I give you to God's Word because it built me up and it will build you up.

God's Word is vital in establishing us in his kingdom now and forever. You do not just become a Christian to have a little weekend experience or get goosebumps. It is a life experience. You receive Christ and then start to grow in him. You get established in the things of God, and God starts to use you. God did not save you just to go to heaven. He saved us to be used here on earth. To be heavenly-minded is to be earthly-good.

You are going to affect your loved ones powerfully as you continue to dig into God's Word. Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." It is God-breathed. He breathed this into existence. God created the heavens and the earth, and he created his Word for us. Men did not write this book alone. He breathed into men, and they wrote down what he breathed on them. He had total control of the Word of God.

There are no discrepancies or mistakes. This is God's Word, and it is the best-seller. A lot of people are avid readers, but if you ask them if they have ever read the Bible, they say no. They will read a thick book about Harry Potter and talk about witches and sorcery, yet they never read the Bible. This is the best-seller written by God to you personally. It is God's love letter to you. He loves you and wants you to know.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. This is so the man or woman of God may be mature and established, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Verse 25 mentions "according to my gospel." He is not talking about a different gospel. There are other gospels floating around. People might come to your front door and say they have good news for you.

You need to ask what good news they have because you already know the good news. All of a sudden, you find out they are from a cult pushing their own stuff. But Paul says, "my gospel." In other words, he has taken it to himself. It has affected his life and he owns it. It is like Mary in John 20 when she cried out that they had taken away her Lord. Thomas the Doubter stopped doubting and said, "My Lord and my God." It became personal and real.

This gospel is the power of God unto salvation as mentioned in Romans 1:16. It is the power of God only if you believe it and receive it personally. Then this mystery will be revealed to you. The mystery is simply that Jew and Gentile have been brought low to be brought together. They have been humbled. Think about the greatest thing God could do to blow people's minds: that Jews and Gentiles would come together as one in Christ. That is incredible.

God is doing miracles. He brought Jews and Gentiles together. That is the mystery he is talking about. When a car show happens, they cover the car and everyone wants to see underneath the veil. The designer knows what is under there. God knows what he is going to do before he does it because he knows everything. When they take the veil off the car, now everyone knows. This is exactly what God has done with Jew and Gentile. Everybody knows now that God did incredible things.

The fact that he saved a wretch like me is even more incredible. When you think about personal testimonies, God is awesome. Paul's confidence is great in verse 25. He is so confident in his God that everything is going to be all right. Do not panic. It is going to be all right for your kids and your grandkids. It is going to be all right for your situation and the circumstance you are going through right now. God is in control.

I am resting in his power to establish his work by his Spirit to reveal something God talked about from the beginning of time. It is steady because God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. Verse 26 says, "But now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Everything has been revealed. The secret is out.

It is through his Word to those who believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Romans 10:9 says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, you will be saved. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be delivered and freed. It is very simple. You are no longer a child of wrath or disobedience. Because you have received Christ, you are now a child of God. He gives you the power to become a child of God.

Do you want to be a child of God? He had me for 20 years and used this body in a wicked way. I hurt a lot of people. Yet he somehow changes a person when they receive Christ and makes them a new creation. You are a new person in Christ. It is powerful. You are now a representative of God, living by his power and his Spirit. He does the work in you so he can do that incredible work through you to be a witness.

We are called the church, the bride of Christ, and the new race called Christians. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:23, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." He says he was made a minister according to the dispensation of God to fulfill the word of God. The mystery which has been hidden from ages is now made manifest to the saints. Verse 27 says, "To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen."

God would make known what the riches of the glory of this mystery are among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. You realize this is not a program. We do not just join a program. This is not a works trip where we work our way to heaven. This happens as soon as Christ comes within you. It begins when Christ comes in. That is when the miracle takes place and you become born again. It is a miracle.

Paul had confidence in this gospel. He who started the work is going to finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. The definition of hope is the absolute expectation of coming good. It is not that we just hope; we know our kids are going to be all right and our grandkids are going to make it. We know this situation will be dealt with. This too will pass because we know our God. Nothing is impossible for him.

All things are possible through him who died for us. We have that total, absolute expectation of coming good. We can trust him with our kids and their sins. Let the Lord work with them. Believe in a God who knows everything they are doing right now. By his Spirit, he can reach them as you continue to pray and intercede for them. Sometimes it takes time, but God's time is perfect. Sometimes they need to go through things.

As they go through those things, that is when they wake up. Sometimes we have to let go. It has nothing to do with what we are doing or our faithfulness. None of us are truly faithful, but he is faithful. Christ in me is the hope of glory. That is it in a nutshell. That is what we hold onto. He makes dead men alive and he is going to carry us through. I love what Jesus said in Luke chapter 4 in the synagogue at Nazareth.

He opened the scroll and said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." That is what he sent Jesus to do. Now he is saying to us to go and do the same thing. Christ in us is the hope of glory.

We can pray for people to get saved and healed because of Christ in us. We should be encouraged. The Spirit of the Lord came down upon Jesus. He was seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and now he is in heaven. Jesus overcame our enemies: sin and death. He overcame them both. The same power that lives in me conquered the grave. The same love that lives in me rescued this world. He walks with me and talks with me. It is my gospel and my hope. So many are without hope today, but God is all about hope for every situation.

Guest (Male): On that glorious note of hope, we will draw today's Sound Doctrine and our study of Romans to a close. It is our sincere hope that you have been blessed by the word spoken today by Pastor Jeff as we continue verse by verse through the great book of Romans. The 16 chapters in this amazing epistle from the Apostle Paul contain some of the most important lessons we can learn about being a believer in the 21st century.

If you would like to hear this study again, there are several ways to do that. The first is online at sounddoctrineradio.org. You can also donate to this radio ministry right there. The second way to listen is through the Sound Doctrine Radio podcast app. Look for us in your favorite app store. The podcast version of Sound Doctrine can also be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Join us for another study in Romans next time we meet for Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff. In the meantime, have a blessed day in the Lord.