 Okay, just waiting for the recording to come. Okay, the recording has started Okay, good morning everyone and welcome to the class today on Romans Hopefully we'll be able to finish the last two chapters today on Romans and We should be Done today if everything goes well, let's pray and get started Can I request somebody to please pray maybe Aaron could you please pray if your connection is okay, and then we will start Okay, man, thank you Aaron couldn't hear very clearly but Anyway, thank you, and let's go to Romans. I welcome everyone to the class So last week Are we covered till Romans chapter 14? we have You know In Romans 12 13 14 the Apostle Paul has been speaking about How we live of a Christian life Christian living especially so as we had seen in chapters 9 10 11 He had taken time to explain to the believers How God was working with both the Jews and Gentiles Okay, no problem Aaron. I can see your message. You're no problem. Thank you um So in Romans 9 10 and 11 The Apostle Paul had explained, you know, how God was still at work with the Jews and the church Now what is God doing? And so it's a beautiful beautiful explanation to us To understand what God is doing in these times that Although the door has been open to the Gentiles God hasn't forgotten His plan and his promise to the Jewish people So having explained that from chapter 12 Paul comes back To speaking to the believers and now he's addressing How believers have to live the Christian life? so chapter 12 he talks about Several different things, you know starting off with you know being renewed in our mind Talking about how we use our gifts to serve people and then just how to relate to other believers, you know being hospitable being forgiving and so on in chapter 12 Chapter 13 he goes into which we saw last week to 13 and 14 but he goes Into talking about how should believers relate to civil authorities government authorities? You know, we saw that last week and especially it is very significant when he's speaking in the context in which he's speaking because There is the Roman government The Roman Empire more I should say it other than just government, but you know, it's an empire It's an there's an emperor. There are kings. There are soldiers that are civil authorities and he still Instructs people believers to walk in submission to do the right thing and You know to to honor the authorities that have been said and then after that He changes a little bit to talk about As we get into Romans 14 to talk about, you know being Sensitive I'm using the word sensitive meaning, you know being mindful of other believers Even as we relate to them, especially those who might be weak in faith meaning they're new They're new and so they don't have the same kind of spiritual understanding that we may have and so for us it is important to be mindful of them that that the the basic thing he says is look Don't do anything by which an Other brother is going to be caused to stumble in their faith in Christ. That's the bottom line so to speak That's the sum. That's what you keep in mind So be mindful of you know things and especially when it comes to things that don't really matter like food and What days you observe? You know, he says look these things don't really matter because the kingdom of God is more than what you eat and drink it is Righteousness and peace and joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. That's that's what the kingdom of God is really about so, you know, we can give up or you know, we can Adjust or accommodate these differences when it comes to non essential things like food and Observing days because each one will have their own preferences. It's okay. We just be respectful of the others preference or others choice and don't let that become something that would Cause you to hurt another Brother another Person in the faith, right? So that's the essence of Romans 14. So now we are going to look into Romans 15 and then Romans chapter 16 is more of the The conclusion like the goodbyes or you know, the thank yous The closing of any letter that would be written typically, right? So Romans 15 Paul the first part of that worse chapter. He's he's teaching us on How he how we you know We can learn from the Old Testament and how we could you know be mindful continue the same thought is there To bear with those who are weak So that's him thought is that the first part of Romans 15 and then from the somewhere in the middle of Romans 15 He kind of moves in towards sharing some about his work and about his ministry and about his plans And then he kind of starts wrapping up the letter by you know, just affirming Recognizing many of his coworkers, so let's please Read Romans chapter 15. Are we going to read the first? 13 verses Romans chapter 15 Verses 1 to 13 so Paul is kind of getting ready to close off his Epistle his letter and these are more of his is kind of closing closing thoughts So Romans 15 verses 1 to 13 could somebody read that for us, please Dave, but you be able to read it for us if your connection is okay or Maybe anybody else's Thomas or Siddharth if your connection is fine Romans 15 1 to 13, please Great master Roman 15 verse 1 to 30 know those who are mature in their faith can easily be recognized But they don't leave it to please themself but have learned to passionately embrace others in their immaturity Our goal must be to empower others to do what is right and good for them and to bring them into a spiritual maturity But not even the most powerful one of all Anointed one believed to please himself. His life fulfilled the scripture that says all the Instance of those who insulted you fall upon me What has written beforehand is meant to instruct in how to leave the scripture impactors engagement and Mission so that we can live in hope and you endure in all things Now may God the source of great endurance and comfort grace You with unity among yourself which flows from your relationship with Jesus the Almighty one and then with the Unanimous rush of passion you will with one boy if I got the father of a Lord Jesus Christ You will bring God glory when you accept and welcome one another in partners just as the anointed one has fully accepted You and received you as his partner the God of hope for Jews and non-Jews. I'm convinced that Jesus Then Messiah was sent as a servant to the Jews people to fulfill promise God made to our ancestor and to prove God's faithfulness and now because of Jesus the non-Jews people of the world can glorify God for its kindness to them Fulfilling the prophecy of scripture because of his because of this I will proclaim you among the nations and they may even hear you sing praises to your name and in another place it says you who are not Jews Celebrate life right alongside this Jewish people and again praise the Lord all you who are not Jews And let the people of the earth raise their voice in the praises to him and Isaiah prophesied And head to David throne will emerge and he will raise up as a ruler over all non-Jews nations For all their hopes and we met in Now may God the fountain of hope Fill you to all flowing with the Untainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him and all of the holy spirit Continually surround your life with this super abundance until you're radiant with the hope Amen Thank you Thomas Thomas which version is that is that the amplified or Uh, sorry, that's a tpt translation. I forgot to change No, which translation is this that's a tpt Passion translation. Oh, this is the path you read from the passion translate. Okay sounds good sounds good Yeah, that's nice. Thank you okay, so Let's look at what Paul is teaching us what the holy spirit is speaking to us through the writing of the apostle Paul So the first part um chapter 15 versus One two, you know all the way up to verse seven He's still dealing with Being Like we said, you know chapter 14. It was saying being mindful being Sensitive being respectful towards other believers So he's continuing with that same thought in chapter 15 the first few verses. He says, you know, those who are strong Because you're strong in your faith You know, you bear with the weaknesses of the weak that means, you know, uh, uh, those who are perhaps still New in their faith or maybe they may have been in the faith, but they're not really strong in their faith Let them still be growing still in a younger younger stage in their faith. He says, you know, you bear with them So What does it mean by saying you bear with them? He says, you know, don't do things just to please yourself But do what is good to the building up of the weak So how do I know that I am Bearing with the weaknesses of the weak that means I'm not, you know, okay. I may be a believer strong in my faith I've been in the Lord for some time I'm not doing something just to make myself Feel happy or good But I whatever I do I try to build up the person who is weak So he says, you know, don't please your own self But try to please your neighbor please the other person do what is good for the other person In what sense to build them up. That's worse too. Romans 15 verse two right, so he's continuing with that same truth that he had that that was That we read in chapter 14. I remember of course when paul wrote it. It wasn't written Uh in chapter and verse. So this this thought is actually continuing and uh And so this is something we we need to keep in mind Even in in in our, you know, when we relate to others There may be a younger brother person a little newer in the faith And I'll be for those of us who've been in the faith. We may know certain things and you know, how to do it but Maybe we know how to pray We know, you know What language to use in prayer and somebody who's new to the faith may not necessarily pray Uh the way we we would Or use the kind of scriptures we would when we pray because we know the scriptures Maybe they don't know So what do we do? We don't go and you know Make them feel bad that they don't know the scriptures or don't know how to pray. No, what do we do? We bear with their weakness, I mean that Still where they are And we do what we can do to build them up for their edification, you know, gently lovingly show them See, this is what the word says. This is what God has promised This is how we should be praying. Uh, this is how we should be believing God and so on so you You know, you do it for their edification Then he was three. He points us to even to christ. He says, you know, look at jesus I mean he took on The reproaches of those who reproached him. I mean the very people that he was dying for whom he came to say were the ones who Caused him to feel ashamed who, you know belittled him and he took it Right. So it doesn't matter if we temporarily take, you know certain things Because of the benefit that would bring for other people and then he says, you know Uh versus I was for he says whatever things are written in the past that means in the in the old testament Were written for our learning so we could learn from the scriptures We could learn from what has been written and he's going to really point to that in a few verses on You know, I think just so he has something in mind. He's saying, you know, what whatever has been written in the past We can learn from it and we receive patience and comfort through the scriptures so there is The ability to be patient or have endurance or perseverance and comfort strength consolation Encouragement it is brought into our lives through the scriptures As we look at what other people have journeyed through Right. So that's why it's good for us. You know when you look into the scriptures, you know, you look at the people in the old testament Uh people in who've journeyed with God and see how you know, they they walked with God We through the through their lives we receive Perseverance the ability to persevere endurance and we receive comfort strength so that we too can have hope or The ability to look forward with expectation through what we go what we are going through So that's that's beautiful, right? We we receive patience and comfort through the scriptures Through the word of God so that we could be people full of hope and then he says, you know, he Ultimately, he wants them. He wants the believers to be like-minded. This is verse five and five through seven He wants them to be like-minded to be of one mind and one mouth, you know, so This is so important one mouth one mind one voice that as believers we we we try our best to Be like this to be like-minded one One mind one voice so that we can glorify God now, you know In today's world Christian world something like this may be so difficult for for the for the people of God to be of to be like-minded to be of one mind and one voice but When we look at the scriptures When we draw when we learn from the scriptures and receive patience and comfort through the scriptures we it's part of our It's something we do or we must do to maintain That unity in the spirit Like what he has already taught us in chapter 14 Don't let the non-essential things divide us Don't you know, uh, don't judge another brother just because you know, he looks at days and food differently from you Okay, that's you know each one like he said in chapter 14, you know, each one is un-thruble to the Lord So he may choose his food and he may choose which day to You know Observe as an important day. That's his choice And if he can't refrain from judging each other on these matters And instead Choose to Build either each other up Then We can work towards being like-minded Then we are working towards being like-minded being of one mind and one voice So that we can glorify God together But you know sadly some of these non-essential things are the things that become so big in the church these days you know people argue and fight and get divided about non-essential things You know each one you make your own choice and don't fight now Just just be peaceful like he said, you know, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind Okay, you know, you want to do this fine. You don't want to do it. Don't don't do it. But Let's not fight about it Instead, let us Please one another or bless one another. Let us edify one another So that we can be like-minded one one mind One one voice and glorify Verse six glorify God and Father for Lord Jesus Christ. It says we're seven therefore See one another Just as so Christ also received us to the glory of God, you know, we're seven It's a very simple verse But I think it's it's so A deep it's so powerful He says receive one another As Christ received us Now he's talking about believers, you know, there may be a strong believer a weak believer believers who have different you know Things But what do you do? We receive one another. We are welcoming to one another And so it's a challenge for you and me So even when we meet believers who are different from us In the sense they may think differently. They may have different positions rather than Letting those differences divide us Paul is telling us receive be welcoming Be you know, if you want to just be embracing Be kind be welcoming To one another receive another Any points to the ultimate he says just as Christ received us and if any if we if Christ could despise anybody would despise us because you know, we are Nowhere like him But he still received us so That's how Paul The Holy Spirit through Paul is telling us we must live and I want to encourage each of us, you know to try to do that Even as we meet believers who may be different to In our persuasions or you know, they may be different denominations They may not always believe everything we believe and so on But it's okay. We can receive one another as long as we are here To follow Jesus and glorify Jesus We can still receive and agree on the important things then Verses eight through the team Paul points back to the Old Testament. He says hey Even though God was working through the Jewish people Through them they were so much that was spoken of that the Gentiles would be blessed And any any quotes, you know, three different three or four different scriptures here Verse 9 10 11 12 Now he's quoting from psalm and from Isaiah And your autonomy. Are you just quoting different scriptures saying look all these scriptures in the Old Testament are saying That the Gentiles would praise God Gentiles will give glory to God so even there We learn That while God was working with the Jews and giving them the promises It is all being done so that the Gentiles would glorify God And that's what God has been working towards. So he's reminding them once again that God is God both of the Jews and the Gentiles His promises to the Jewish people was ultimately to bless the Gentile well the non-Jewish world and so God has got both of the Jews and the Gentiles and then It's almost like a benediction verse 13 made a God of hope The God of hope and it's very interesting to see how he refers to God in verse five He says the God of patience and comfort verse 13 the God of hope the God of patience the God of comfort the God of hope God of patience fills us with endurance The God of comfort fills us with comfort or consolation or strength God of hope fills us with hope So God of patience God of comfort God of hope And he imparts that to us. So he says in verse 13 May God and the God of hope fill you Your joy and peace and cause you to abound in hope By the power of the Holy Spirit almost like a benediction saying I pray this or I bless you with this Joy peace and hope that comes from the Holy Spirit as you believe in him Right, so Paul now is Up to this point has been his teaching or instruction to the believers Then from verse 14 is He's just speaking his heart about his ministry About some of his plans for the ministry from verse 14 So let's read break this up into two sections and we will read Verses 14 through 21 And then we will read the remaining our passage. So Romans chapter 15 Verses 14 to 21 Could somebody read that for us, please? Romans 15 14 to 21 Okay, maybe Thomas Maybe you have to read and that's of the The others Their connection is okay or their mics are okay Yes, sir I continue to read first Okay, Kiran No, no, it's okay. You can Okay, I will read 14 to 21 Now I myself am confident concerning you my brethren that you also are full of goodness Well with all knowledge able Able also to admonish one another Nevertheless brethren, I have written more broadly to you on some points as Reminding you because of the grace given to me by God That I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to all Gentiles ministering the gospel of God that That the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable scientific scientific field by the Holy Spirit therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the in the things which are tamed to God for I will not dare to speak of any of those things Which Christ has not am accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient and mighty Science and wonders by the power of the spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and round about all Like rings I have fully preached the gospel of Christ and so I have made It my aim to preach the gospel not where Christ was named this I I should build one another man's Foundation, but as it is written to whom he was not Announced they shall see and those who have not heard Sell understand Thank you so Paul now is Shifting towards you know Some personal thoughts and then he would bring this letter to a close So he says okay brothers verse 14 You know, I am confident That you are full of goodness You're full of filled with knowledge And you are able to admonish One another right so he says he says brothers, you know, I'm confident that yeah, you will you know You're able to do these things That you are people who are good people You are people who are filled with knowledge. You have understanding of these things And you will truly be there to be an encouragement to each other Right so after he's giving all his instructions and saying look, this is how we supposed to relate to each other and this is how you know, we are supposed to You know relating to the jews and the non jewish people and all of that he's saying okay Brothers, I am confident that you will be able to do this. I'm confident that you all of you are good people You know, you have this understanding you have this knowledge And that you will be there to really encourage And motivate and inspire each other to do these things. That's verse 14 Then he says universe 15, um, but I've been bold In whatever to you because of the grace of god given to me that means You know, some of the things that he stated obviously Well would have challenged Some of their thinking In in terms especially in terms of how they were to relate to each other jewish and non jewish believers How they were to you know, be kind to each other and serve each other and so on so He knows that some of them some of those things that he has written is strong and Challenging for them. So he says look, I've been bold to write these things to you because I know the grace of god given to me And that's something interesting That when you are aware and when you know the grace that god has placed on your life, you can move boldly in your grace right now What do I mean by that? That means that you can operate boldly In the grace that's on your life And you don't and when I say operate boldly, I'm not saying being arrogant being proud or thinking you're better than other people No, that means what we're talking about is that knowing the grace of god on your life You can step out and you can boldly serve people. You can boldly move in that grace Or that it's the ministry of the word or praying for people or when you know the grace of god That's on your life. And that's what paul is telling us there in verse 15. He says, you know I've written boldly But you know, I know the grace that's god has given to me. I mean, this is an air. This is a way god works in my life god can use the things that I speak and teach and Minister and so I'm moving in that grace paul in that's that's a powerful thing for you and me to take Of a move boldly in the grace of god That's on your life. You know that god has graced you Gifted you and so you can just step in and move in that and paul begins to say He highlights this the grace that he's referring to that's in verses 16 onwards He says, you know, I know the grace gods have given to me. What is what is the grace of god in my life? He's made me a minister To the Gentiles I can minister the gospel of god And that you know, the gentiles will be brought in by the power of the holy spirit And therefore, you know, I can speak boldly about this. I'm not ashamed Do you speak of the things god has indeed worked through me and that he begins to talk about how you know that My god has brought the Gentiles to faith in christ through Word indeed through mighty science wonders and miracles so that He's fully preached the gospel from jerusalem all the way to Illyricum Illyricum is is Or war it was a place in the northern part of albania modern day albania, which is in eastern europe So what paul is saying is, you know from jerusalem all the way to illyricum I have proclaimed jesus christ To the Gentiles with the power of the holy spirit And I know that's the grace that god has given me And also his grace on my life is such that I can go to places Now where the gospel has not been preached and I can Establish a work there so that I don't have to build on somebody else's foundation So paul is describing the grace that's on his life Right, and so he says, you know, whatever i'm doing i'm doing boldly because of the grace of god in my life And how does he know that because he's proved that So again, here's a second important lesson for us as you prove the grace of god on your life As you move in the grace of god, that means you are exercising it You're doing it you're practicing it you're living it that's that's your life in ministry You're proving the grace of god on your life And when you prove the grace of god in your life, you can move boldly in that grace Right, so in paul's case The grace on his life was to minister the gospel To the Gentiles from Jerusalem all the way to illyricum Boldly unassamedly I've been science wonders and miracles I'm bringing the Gentiles obedient to jesus christ And to establish work where there was no work You know, so he says i'm not i'm not going and building on anybody else's foundation. I'm going and doing something new brand new a pioneer A ground break breaker sort of speak and so that's the grace of my life. I know it I can talk about it And i'm not talking about it boastfully paul says, but i'm speaking of the things which christ has accomplished through me right, so Too key too key takeaways from that passage here Know the grace of god on your life By proving it over and over again And when you know the grace of god secondly when you know the grace of god on your life You can move in it boldly so you prove the grace Of god on your life by operating in it And then you can move in the grace of god boldly You can step out begin to flow in it, right? So for each of us we must know what is the grace god has placed on our lives And then serve god boldly now i'm not talking about being arrogant and self dependent and Making yourself as some big person. No, that's not what paul is saying here He's saying This is what this is the way christ has been working through me And so I know it and I can speak about it with confidence Okay So Having said that Let's look at the last section of chapter 15 Let's please read verses 22 to 32 He's sharing here about some of his travel plans and his You know desires for the people So verse 22 to 32 somebody could read that maybe thomas you can read it now Okay prince. Thank you for this reason. I also have been much ended From coming to you, but now No longer have been a place in this bird And having a great Desire that this Many years to come to you Whenever I journey to spain I sell come to you for I hope To see you on my journey and to be help on my way there by you if First I may enjoy Enjoy your company for a while But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints for it placed those who messa dunya and akhaya to make a certain Contributions for the poor among the saints And they are their debauchers For if the gentiles have been partakes of their spiritual things Their duty is also to minister to them in material things material things Therefore when I have performed this And have sailed to them This boat I shall go by way of you to Spain, but I Know that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing Of the gospel of Christ Now I beg you brethren Through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the spirit That you stir together With me in prayers in prayers to God for me That I may be believed I may be delivered from those who should Who do not believe and That may service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints to the saints That I may come to you with joy by the will of God and May may be refreshed together with you now the God of peace be with you all Amen, amen so This last passage in chapter 15 last section Paula sharing some of his travel plans and so remember at this time when Paula's writing he's writing from current and It's towards you know the end of his third missionary journey And he's he's planning. Okay from here I'm going to go to Jerusalem because he has collected offering From the churches in Corinth. That's a Kaia refers to the district in which Corinth was and And Macedonia. So that's a district in which we had several other churches across the agency But Paul administered like Philippi and Thessalonica and other places So he had collected offerings from these churches to take back to the church in Jerusalem to help the believers there because At that time the church in Jerusalem was going through difficult time famine and so on so So he's setting his plans. All right, so I'm planning to go To Jerusalem. I'm going to give the offering that I have received I'm going to give it to the believers in Jerusalem And then I'm planning to go to Spain. So Spain is like the farthest part that On on Eastern Europe that Paul would have advanced to so You know he his plan was that But you can see also here that for many years he had desired to go to Rome So he's shedding his plans. He's saying, you know, I desire to come to you My plan is to go to Spain and I will come to Rome and from Rome. I will go to Spain Of course to preach the gospel To proclaim Christ and then he gives this assurance. I mean, are he you know, he's very confident He tells them look when I come to you to you in Rome I know I will come to you in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ and that's in verse 29 The fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ now from it is from that in verse 29 That we get the term full gospel, you know, and so there are churches sort of, you know type of churches that call them full gospel churches That means what do we mean by that? That means We these churches would proclaim the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ The gospel the good news of Jesus Bringings for not only forgiveness of sins, but healing for the bodies deliverance From every demonic power and so on so the full blessing of the gospel of Christ they would preach So that's what they call they call full gospel churches Right and but it's taken here from this verse 29 the fullness of the blessing We're bringing you the full blessing of the gospel it's The good the good news of Jesus that affects the total person spirit soul and body in every area of your life So paul is telling them I will I'm having I am confident that I will come to you with a full blessing of the gospel of christ But I just want to highlight a few things here and it's very interesting paul says in the next verse verse 30 I want you to Strive together with me in prayer So think about look at that phrase you strive with me in prayer That means you engage with me And you are working together with me in prayer So that's very interesting These believers aren't wrong He is in Corinth and he's planning to make a trip to Jerusalem And he's saying Uh, sorry. He's an official at that time. Yeah x-19 And he's saying I want you to strive with me In prayer strive with me so That means we come alongside other people and we lend them our spiritual strength As we pray with them So it's very powerful So when we pray with people I mean we could be in different places But when we pray for them and pray in when you're joining them in prayer Coming into agreement with them in prayer We are striving together with them For the purpose that they are pursuing They're god-appointed purpose So in paul's case, he says, you know, I want you to strive together with me in prayer especially in verse 31 because he says he knows that in Judea So yes, you know the region around Jerusalem There are Jews who are very angry with paul. They don't like paul And they're just waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him So he knows that that's what he says in verse 31 That I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe that means these are Jewish people who are totally against paul because paul was a jew I mean paul a jew has now become a christian. He's a preacher of the gospel So paul's aware of that and he sees he invites these believers in rome to strive with him in prayer Now paul goes to Jerusalem He brings the gift there But in Jerusalem what happens is that he is captured by the jews And then paul raises his defense He's kept for two years in cesarea, which is On the seaport it's a seaport To the east of Jerusalem Along the coast so he sent over there. He's kept there for two years He appeals to cesare and then He sent from cesarea to Rome Now along with this big escort or battalion of soldiers. So i'm bringing him to Rome so situations change Yeah, but paul comes to rome and you can imagine And and the fact is even before he reaches rome the believers from rome are there to you know receive him and and paul has come to rome or he's brought to rome in order to make his appeal To cesare and and so he's kept in house arrest At rome for about two years During which time he you know freely shares the gospel he teaches about the things of the kingdom of god Now to the believers to the people at rome. So In a very different way All desire to be in rome is fulfilled But you know and and he just ministers to the disciples or the believers there At rome and in verse 32 he tells them look You know while he's writing this letter he says you know, I want to be refreshed together with you And sure enough when he's there During that time i'm sure the believers there would have definitely refreshed him and they would have been strengthened As he ministered to them Although the circumstances were very different from what You know He would have imagined at that time But he gets to minister to them for at least two years when he's brought them Okay, so let's pause here. We'll take a break a 10 minute break and we will read through chapter 16 Which is more of a closing chapter But we'll just you know pick up a few thoughts here from chapter 16 and then we will finish Right. So let's take a 10 minute break and we will Uh come back after 10 minutes. Thank you