A word of warning, A word of worship

[0:00] Well, as God helps us then, we're going to look at Romans 16, the last bit here from verse 17 onwards. And how does it all end?

[0:14] If you were writing the letter to the Romans, I don't know how long it would have taken him. He dictated it, obviously, to Tertius, who's writing it down frantically, as Paul dictates it. I mean, how long would it have been? Would it have been hours? Would it have been days? Would it have been weeks?

[0:27] Would they have said, you know, after a while, Paul, that's enough. Let's, you know, come back to this tomorrow. Do the next chapter then. I don't know. How would you end it? I suppose he could have said, he could have said, yours sincerely, Paul, at the end.

[0:44] Well, he doesn't do that. For one thing, it wasn't the convention. The convention was to put that sort of greeting right at the beginning. So he doesn't quite end it, yours sincerely. Some things end with very frustrating loose ends.

[0:59] I don't know whether you ever remember seeing the Italian job with Michael Caine. Not a lot of people know that. But it ends up with the gold that they've stolen. I'm not commending this as an activity.

[1:11] It's balanced in a coach which is teetering on the edge of a cliff. And you never quite know whether they managed to get it or not. And lots of things do have frustrating loose ends.

[1:22] But Paul doesn't leave us with frustrating loose ends. It could be, like fairy stories, they all lived happily ever after. And they do all live happily ever after, but not yet.

[1:36] That's not quite how he ends it. So how does he end it? And I think there's three things of which we'll look at too. He ends with a word of warning. And he ends with a word of worship.

[1:51] And he also concludes his greetings. Now I proposed, I mean, the greetings are there, but I'm going to more or less skip straight over those because we looked at quite a bit of the greetings last time.

[2:04] So let's look at these two things, the word of warning and the word of worship. So let's look first of all at this word of warning.

[2:16] He says, I urge you brothers, I encourage you brothers, to watch out for those who do something. So he says, watch out for those who something or other.

[2:33] And we'll find out what the something or other is and what they're supposed to do about it. And it's an interesting point that having gone through 16 chapters, he only at this point comes in on this rather jarring note of warning.

[2:49] And why so suddenly does he take this tack? Well, I don't think anybody really knows, but there's one possibility that after they've been beavering away, writing the book of Romans together for how many days or weeks they've been doing it, somebody said to him, Paul, while you were so busy writing the book of Romans, didn't you know that there's been news coming of such and such and such and such?

[3:14] And you're planning to travel to Rome and apparently they are too. And maybe he's only just heard about it and then he writes it down. Before I finish my letter, I urge you brothers, there are some people who you need to be looking out for.

[3:31] I've heard they're coming your way, so look out. Could be that. Or it could be, if you notice that in that section, he connects it.

[3:43] He seems to connect it. Let's look at verse 18. These people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and good talk, flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people.

[3:58] Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you. I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

[4:09] The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. I wonder if there is a connection there. He's saying you have a good witness. Everyone's heard about your obedience.

[4:21] It's come actually, Church of the Romans, that people are hearing about you. And that's making a difference. They're saying, have you heard what God's been doing over in Rome?

[4:33] And he says, not only that, but you're a source of encouragement to me. He says, I'm full of joy over you. It strengthens me to hear about how you're going on.

[4:48] And every time I think about you, rather than making me think, oh, I'll give up, which some things Paul might have said make me think that, but when I think about you, I don't think, oh, I might as well give up.

[4:59] I think, yeah, this is worth doing. So you're a source of encouragement and a joy to me. And is there a connection that when people get to that point, when something is happening, it's worth noting that there is an adversary and he will resist what's happening because the things that are happening are good.

[5:22] And the evil one will target that. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2.11, we're not unaware of his schemes.

[5:35] So maybe Paul is saying, well, I don't want you to be unaware of his schemes. I don't want you to be naive. I don't want you to be foolish. And I want to forewarn you.

[5:49] And the English expression says, forewarned is forearmed. So if you know that things like this happen, that there is an adversary, you can make sure you don't put down your weapons, but you remain fully armed and fully vigilant.

[6:07] And the weapons for the Christian, as we know, are simply the things of the Christian life, but they're used in this military aspect. So prayer is a weapon.

[6:19] And he says, I urge you just be on your guard. Don't stop praying. And faith is a weapon. We have the shield of faith, don't we? And so don't stop trusting the Lord.

[6:32] Don't think that you can coast on on your own. You need to be trusting the Lord. And keep your integrity, because righteousness is like a breastplate for you.

[6:44] So keep your integrity. And above all, stick with the gospel, because the gospel gives you those sandals, those boots, that can keep you moving on with the Lord.

[6:59] So, a word of warning. Why does it come? Well, for those reasons, perhaps. So what about these people that he's referring to?

[7:11] Who are they? So they are, they're described in terms of three verbs. It might be tempting to give them a name, but he doesn't give them a name, actually.

[7:24] He just says, these, this group, these people. And the three verbs, number one, is what they make. So I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who make divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.

[7:46] So this is their end product. What do they do? What is the result of these people? And he says, they make two things. They make division. In other words, they cause divisions, they make divisions, they disturb the working unity of the churches.

[8:05] And the working unity of the churches is tremendously important and tremendously valuable. because if Satan can use these people to divide a church, a church can use tons of time and effort trying to mend divisions and is therefore distracted from the main work of the gospel.

[8:31] So he says, don't let that happen. Beware of those who make divisions and who spoil the working unity of the churches.

[8:44] And what else do they make? They make stumbling blocks, translated here, obstacles.

[8:56] And what are stumbling blocks or snares or traps? So I thought in modern terms, because you don't usually use snares and traps, you might use, the modern equivalent would be landmines.

[9:07] Excuse me. And these are things that you could step on or trip over and an obstacle, a scandal on a stumbling block has huge potential, potentially fatal to the Christian life.

[9:26] So he's not just saying, you know, you get a bit tired or you end up with a cold or something like that. He's saying, these are things that these people make in churches and in the Christian life which would potentially just blow up and ruin the spiritual life of people.

[9:51] So there's potential spiritual damage and potential ruin. And he says, watch out. It's a very stern warning, isn't it? Watch out for these people because that's what they make.

[10:04] That's their end product. And then another verb, they serve. This is to do with their motive. What are they there for? What are they in it for?

[10:15] What is their real deep motive? And he says, verse 18, such people, these people, whoever they are, are not serving our Lord Christ but their own appetites.

[10:34] So it's to do with who they serve. And if push came to shove, if you really looked in deep, it is not the Lord Jesus Christ that they're serving.

[10:45] They're not doing it for him. That's quite a serious thing to say. Literally, he says, they're doing it for their own belly. their own stomach, if you like.

[11:00] So it's translated as their own appetites. And what might that be? Well, I suppose it might be food. You know, they're doing it for the food, although even though Catherine potentially seems to be prey to this temptation.

[11:19] That was so harsh, wasn't it? But, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that, should I?

[11:35] People can be in it for the money. I was reflecting on, was it Benny Hinn, who I remember seeing on YouTube or something or other, justifying the use of his own private jet because he needed it for the gospel.

[11:52] And I, I would, I would find it difficult to present the same argument to the deacons, I have to say. I know, there is always that suspicion that people are, what is their motive?

[12:07] They make a lot of money. It's certainly in the New Testament, there's lots of warnings about being a religious expert, being a Christian leader just for money.

[12:20] it could be for fame and celebrity status because, let's face it, you get to stand up in front of a lot of people and they give you quite a lot of their attention and, you know, how Jesus warned the religious leaders of his day who wore their flowing robes and liked to be seen walking through the marketplace, Rabbi, nice to see you, how are you, sir?

[12:46] That's a wrong motive for service. The power to control others, you know, it comes down to all the basic things, doesn't it? Money, power, and sex is the one I'm going to mention in a moment.

[13:00] But, to be motivated by the power you have over other people, that's not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. and, perish the thought, but for sexual gain, people, it does happen that Christian leaders acquire, as it were, groupies, ladies who are attracted to them, and he says, this is not the right motive.

[13:36] Serving the Lord Jesus Christ is the right motive, and these people, this is their motive. And then thirdly, their method.

[13:47] Their method is deception. This is the third verb, verse 18. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive their minds.

[14:00] Did it really say minds? I haven't brought my original with me. haven't I thought, did it say minds? Didn't bring it.

[14:17] They deceive the minds of naive people. The word for the naive means unevil, you know, good people, and here they are then.

[14:32] They use, he says, smooth talk sounds suspicious, doesn't it? But the word he uses is almost like the word for blessing, good talk. And then he uses another word like kind talk.

[14:46] By good words, good words inverted commas, kind words, even evlogia, it can mean blessing, by words that in a sense seem blessed words, they deceive.

[15:04] So there's something about these words which is not true. It is not truth words that they're giving. They might be good sounding, they might be pleasant sounding, they might be kind sounding, but they are not true.

[15:20] And the truth that I think is implied in this is gospel truth. truth. It's not gospel truth. And he says, watch out for these people.

[15:32] They sound so convincing but you need to test it. Is it gospel truth? Is it according to the teaching you have learned?

[15:45] Verse 17. And here are these innocent people with lots of smiles on their faces thinking this is great. Like this new teacher we ought to get him back again.

[15:56] He's so kind. He's so nice. It all sounds so good. It all sounds so blessed. So I ended up thinking nice but I don't know whether nice is going to characterize it.

[16:10] Deceptive is what characterizes it. So here are these people in their end product they produce divisions.

[16:21] In their motive they serve their own appetites deep down and their method they deceive people and what are we to do about these people because he has a remedy for it.

[16:37] So he's saying watch out verse 17 for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way land mines in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.

[16:48] Keep away from them for such people are not serving our Lord Christ but their own appetites. By smooth talk and good talk they deceive the minds of naive people.

[17:02] Everyone has heard about your obedience so I'm full of joy over you but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. So what is remedy?

[17:12] Well he doesn't want them to be preoccupied with evil. I want you to be innocent about what is evil. evil. You don't have to be experts in evil. I remember Dick Lucas saying this brothers you don't have to be experts in evil.

[17:26] That's such a relief isn't it? We don't have to know all the things that people can get into. We don't have to know all about that. He says you can be innocent about what's evil.

[17:38] You can be completely naive about that. You don't have to know about that. So don't get preoccupied with evil. Please don't make it your business to know every heresy and to be trying to spot every heresy.

[17:54] Please don't make it your business to know all the unpleasant things that people can get up to. Don't be preoccupied with that. But rather be wise about what's good.

[18:06] And I think he's extending that to the idea of being wise about these people. Just have your head screwed on when somebody comes to you.

[18:18] Just have your head screwed on so that you're thinking. Now, as we've said, he's speaking in general terms. So please don't say, ah, Phil sounded as though he was saying some nice things the other Sunday.

[18:34] He must have been a false teacher then. Not everybody who speaks kindly is automatically an instrument of Satan. and he's just saying that a kind approach is one of the things that Satan's prepared to use.

[18:49] But he does very definitely say, what they say, just notice it here, is contrary to the teaching you have learned.

[19:01] That's what he gets at, isn't it? They can speak kindly, deceptively, but the thing that you notice is it's contrary to what you learned.

[19:13] Okay, so many of you here have learned gospel truth either in this church or in some other church and you've learned things that you've come to depend on and count on and value.

[19:29] And if you find that you are being taught contrary to that, that's the time to watch out. Contrary to healthy gospel-based Bible teaching.

[19:46] Now, if you ever heard such a thing, you might possibly have an inkling inside you and say, I don't know, that didn't quite sound right.

[19:59] Or you might, over a period, say, do you know, I've listened to that chap, he's such a nice fellow, but I've listened for six months, you know, he never ever mentioned the cross, for example.

[20:14] And you might say, I think this is actually not like the teaching that I got from the Bible, the teaching that made me a Christian, the gospel.

[20:25] So I've got a few observations about this. So, brothers and sisters, do grasp and know the main features of the message you learned.

[20:41] Okay? Discern and grasp the main features of the message that you learned. So you can't memorize every single thing that you ever heard in preaching or Bible study or somebody came and prayed with you and read a bit of the Bible.

[20:59] You can't possibly learn every single thing. what you have to do is pick out what were the main features that I was taught. It's a good exercise and the church down through the centuries has constantly been doing this and refining it.

[21:15] What are the main features of the message that we speak and whether we're speaking from Romans or Mark's gospel or the book of Isaiah or in answer to a question, there are main features that we keep coming back to and I'm thinking about things like this.

[21:30] the character of God. What sort of God are we talking about? Are we talking about like the Hindus who have many gods?

[21:41] Well, no, we're talking about the one God. Are we talking about a God whose main capacity, like the Hindu gods, is to do supernatural things and to make people levitate and fly through the air?

[21:56] Is that his main attribute? Well, no, it isn't because one of the main attributes of the God of the Bible is his holiness. Do you notice that?

[22:06] He's not actually particularly interested in making people levitate or climb up ropes or dangle from the ceiling. His main interest is for people to be holy.

[22:17] That's one of the main features of the God of the Bible. And then you learnt about Jesus. Now, what sort of Jesus did you learn about? You learnt about a Jesus who was human, a Jesus who was God himself.

[22:34] Would you notice if somebody suddenly started teaching you that Jesus wasn't divine? What would you look for? How would you tell? One of the main features of the gospel is grace.

[22:49] So this is God being kind to people who don't deserve it. And would you notice if you were being taught contrary to that? If you were being taught that the main thing that God wanted you, he would accept you if you tried harder.

[23:05] And things like that. Would you notice the feature of grace? And of sin. The fact that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's what he's there for.

[23:17] And if you were suddenly being taught that Christ Jesus came into the world basically to heal people who had bad backs, would you notice the difference? Because Jesus has come to save us from sin.

[23:30] And another main feature of what Paul taught and what the gospel is is the cross. Jesus died on the cross. So I have a friend who blogged.

[23:45] For me the main thing about Christ is not that he died but the sort of life he lived. For me to follow as an example. I'd say well please don't come and teach that in our church because the main thing that the Bible says about Christ is of course the life he lived but that he came to die on the cross.

[24:07] This is what he has come for. He died on the cross bearing our sin, bearing the wrath of God against sin so that we could be set free.

[24:19] That's a main feature. Grasp the main features. And of course the hope that is yet to come that we're looking forward not to making the world a better place.

[24:30] We try to make the world a better place but our sights are not set on that. Our sights are set on the new heaven and the new earth. That's what we're looking forward to.

[24:41] And so all those things and I've just mentioned a few of them. Faith and so on. Know the main features. So if somebody else came teaching you something different you'd realise it was different.

[24:55] Recognise the pattern of what you learned. So the things that you learned were connected in certain ways and you might begin to grasp those and you might think that's a bit odd if somebody connected it up a different way and started to put before you a different pattern.

[25:19] Well I've just put a few things there that the pattern of the gospel has a historical pattern doesn't it? It starts with creation and then the fall and then the promises of God and the way they developed through history and now through Jesus Christ and you discern that.

[25:39] And then one other piece of advice. Do rightly measure the proportions of what you learned. It's a typical thing for young Christians not to be able to measure very well the difference between big things and little things.

[25:57] So a Christian might... No let's start that again. The big issues the basic issues like the things I've said.

[26:09] Somebody's going wrong on those they really are teaching contrary to the things you've learned. If they used a different Bible version to the one that you use that is a much smaller issue and you shouldn't expel somebody from the pulpit all other things being equal simply because they're not using the same Bible version that you used when you became a Christian.

[26:30] Do you see what I mean? The proportion. Some things are big and important. Some things are less and smaller. Some things might be... Big things go wrong on that.

[26:42] It's false teaching. Smaller things, well it might be woolly thinking. It might be your woolly thinking. It might be an innocent mistake. All sorts of things. But it's a plea from Paul to watch out.

[26:59] There are such things, such people that cause divisions, put landmines down for you. And what they do is teach contrary to the teaching that you've learned.

[27:14] And he says, watch out and incline yourself away from them. Verse 17, keep away from them, steer away from them.

[27:28] So please don't invite them as a speaker. prayer. And I would counsel great care in reading their books or downloading their sermons from YouTube.

[27:44] What is basic, you know, you might need to know some things, but you don't have to be an expert in evil. people. And Paul's basic advice and command really is, incline yourself away from those people who are teaching you in that way.

[28:06] So that's pretty much the word of warning. And it is rather a stark warning, isn't it? But it's a necessary warning.

[28:17] And I hope, brothers and sisters, that you would be as discerning as he wants the Romans to be. I mean, we live in a world where you can get all sorts of stuff off the internet.

[28:28] You can download sermons and books and all sorts of things, put them on your Kindle and etc. But it is, it's a needed warning.

[28:41] There's lots of stuff out there which is not according to the teaching that you received from Paul. If you watch the God channel, or there's loads of these satellite channels, aren't there, with Pastor Such and Such and Brother So and So and they've got handheld microphones.

[29:00] It's always a giveaway, a handheld microphone. And look for the hair as well, because there's some sort of hair I would never trust. But actually, that's a silly thing to say.

[29:14] It's what they teach that's the important thing. And look out for what they teach. Don't just be so naive as to think anything that says Christian, you know, on your satellite or on your YouTube, that it's all equally useful.

[29:30] Because it isn't. There's some rubbish and there's some destructive stuff that will cause divisions and blow you up like a land mine. Paul finishes this word of warning with the assurance that victory will be yours.

[29:48] So verse 20. I'm not sure why in my translation in front of me, it's a new paragraph because I think it follows directly on. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet.

[30:03] You know, we're not on the losing side. It isn't as though it's a sort of fairly evenly balanced. Two's going to come out on top. It's a fight. You need to be forewarned and forearmed, but you can be assured that we're on the winning side.

[30:19] The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet with rapidity. Now, whether soon means actually within the next few months, or soon means categorically, or soon is looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he says the victory will be yours.

[30:40] So don't get downhearted. Don't feel you're banging your head against a brick wall. And he said victory will be yours and grace is yours. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be, present tense, be with you.

[30:56] So, don't be naive. Be discerning. Get to grips with the things that you're being taught. Do do that. And don't think that everything that says spiritual is going to help you, because it isn't.

[31:10] Some of it's going to be destructive. But, don't despair, because victory will be yours, and grace, the goodness and kindness and the help and the favour of God, is yours now.

[31:28] So, a word of warning. And then, the greetings, which I'm going to pass straight over. They're rather lovely, though, aren't they? Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings, as do Lucius, Jason, Sisypita, my kinsman.

[31:44] And then, the guy has been, you know, his arm is probably aching, he's probably got repetitive strain injury from writing faith and justification so often. And he says, can I write a bit, Paul?

[31:54] And Paul says, yeah, go on, I'll have a cup of tea. And Tertius writes, I who wrote down this letter send you greetings. things. And then, Gaius, whose hospitality I enjoy.

[32:08] So, perhaps the guy whose house he's living in. And Erastus, who's the city's director of public works, literally says, the steward of the city. There's other references to this chap.

[32:18] He was probably a council officer in Corinth, which proves that not all council officers are rogues. I didn't think they were anyway.

[32:30] And our brother Quartus send you their greetings. So, I'm going to pass right over the greetings. And I'm going to go on to the word of worship at the end. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, actually, it's worth doing a whole sermon on this.

[32:44] But I'm just going to break it down into its very, very, very, what am I going to break it down into? Its components, just the fewish components possible.

[32:56] And it begins in verse 25, now to him, and it finishes in verse 27, to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ, amen.

[33:10] To him, to the one wise God, glory. That's how he ends. And I think that's a terrific ending. That's the way to end, isn't it?

[33:23] Glory to God. That's a great way to end anything. And it's a great way to end everything. And this is what's meant to be written over the whole of the Christian life.

[33:37] Why are we doing what we're doing for the glory of God? Let everything be done for the glory of God. Why are you writing this letter, Paul?

[33:48] For the glory of God. Why are you doing the washing up? for the glory of God. Why are you pursuing your studies?

[34:01] For the glory of God. Why are you looking for work? For the glory of God. Why are you pressing on in the Christian life? For the glory of God. It actually is over everything, isn't it?

[34:15] For the glory of God. And if it isn't, then we've really made a serious mistake. Doxology, which I might accidentally say, means, the logos means word and the doxa means glory.

[34:31] So it's a word of glory. So this is a doxology. It's a set of words which say glory to God. So it really could do with some more time than is available to us.

[34:45] Let me point out to you that Paul is so carried away that he forgets to put in a verb. It's according to the, I looked it up, it's what's called an analkuthon which means an uncouth Greek sentence.

[35:01] Do you know what uncouth means? It's sort of rude or unsophisticated. And it's an unsophisticated Greek sentence because he's forgotten to put in a verb.

[35:16] To him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him to the only wise God.

[35:38] Glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen. Paul, you forgot to put in a verb. You should have said glory given or glory be. He didn't actually put the be in.

[35:50] The translators put that in for him. So he's actually forgotten to put in a verb. Glory to God. Let's just say two things. Why glory to God?

[36:03] Two things about it. Number one, he's able to establish you. This is how he begins. He's going to say glory to God. To him who is able to establish you by my gospel.

[36:17] Then he gets carried away by gospel, proclamation, revelation, revealed, the prophetic writings, the command of God, all nations believing. But he began saying he's able to establish you.

[36:32] The word establish means to make stable, to make constant. So when we went to the Weatherspoons yesterday for the men, women and children's breakfast, which we had a really good time, didn't we?

[36:50] It was a good breakfast and I learned about Tim's gliding, which is another story, but I'll try and restrain myself from my raptures of enthusiasm for Tim's gliding.

[37:02] Out there in the marina, they are putting piles down into the sea floor to build more platforms.

[37:15] I don't know if they're going to put flats there or just enlarge Weatherspoons, but they want this to be stable and fixed and established.

[37:29] They don't want it wobbling round in a high wind. You know, can I have a small breakfast, please, and the cappuccino. They want it to be steady.

[37:42] And Paul says that's what God is able to do for you. The same word is used of Jesus fixing his face when he went to Jerusalem.

[37:54] And the same word is in Revelation 3.22 strengthen the things that remain. Tie them down. Tie them to foundations.

[38:04] Make sure they're not wobbling around. And he says, here's a reason for glory, because God is able to strengthen you.

[38:16] And I think that's a wonderful thought, isn't it? Because here's the Christian, and the Christian thinks, oh Lord, I'm flapping around.

[38:27] Lord, I'm wobbling here and there. Lord, I'm zigzagging through life. all these sort of unattached, I seem to be up one minute down the next.

[38:42] And Paul says, here's a glorious thing. This God is able to fix you and make you a constant person and make you strong and make you stable.

[39:02] That's a wonderful thing for God to say, isn't it? I can take these people who flap around all over the place and can't never get them to sit still. I'm able to make you a stable person, stable spiritually.

[39:19] And I think you might not notice it. You might find it difficult to see what God's been doing. And it might take a while to do it.

[39:30] But Paul says, here's glory. This God is able to establish you. And I think that's such a brilliant thing for him to end up with.

[39:44] And there may be somebody who would have liked to have been here this morning, but they flapped around so much they couldn't even get themselves to come to church. And maybe they're listening on the internet and I can say, as it were, across the internet, God is able to establish you.

[40:04] And how does he do it? How does he do it? Well, this is where Paul sort of goes off because he's so enthusiastic about it, but does he say, God establishes you by some secret extra teaching?

[40:24] And he doesn't say that. And does he say that God is able to establish you by some little-known technique that only a few ministers who have a YouTube channel can tell you because nobody else is going to tell you this?

[40:42] Paul doesn't say that. Let me fetch my pen while you work out what fits into that. You can look in the text as well. Excuse me a second.

[40:52] So what means does God have to establish even you?

[41:10] Anybody suggest the word that would fit something? that's what it is, isn't it? By the gospel.

[41:21] That's what he says. Who is able to establish you by my gospel. That's what it says. It's black and white, isn't it? The gospel of Paul, the apostolic gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the Bible, the gospel that you were taught going through Mark's gospel or John's gospel or wherever you went through it.

[41:45] This message has the power to take someone like me and you and make us stable, constant, strong in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[42:03] That's a miracle, isn't it? The gospel, as Paul goes on to say, and this is the bit I don't have time to unpack. He says it's the gospel of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

[42:14] It's there in the prophetic writings, it's there in the apostolic teaching. He says it's the gospel commanded by God. He says you see it there, the command of the eternal God.

[42:28] It's not a sort of accidental thing, it's something God says, I want to speak this into the world, I want to command people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gospel that he's talking about and it's the gospel of now.

[42:44] I don't know whether you notice there's a sort of time frame thing going on in there. He says it was the revelation of a mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God so that all nations might believe.

[43:01] and he's saying it's there in the Old Testament and in some quite subtle way there's a step change in the New Testament that now it's clear, now all the connections are there, now the things that you could only ponder about in the Old Testament made totally clear in the New Testament, now we have it, now through Jesus Christ, now through the cross, now through the resurrection.

[43:28] And he says glory to God who's able to stabilize you by this actually fantastic message of Jesus Christ that for thousands of years people thought, what's all that about?

[43:42] And now you've got it, you've got it, it's clear to you. So I think what a project, what a project for God to say I'm going to command all the nations to turn to me and their jolly well going to do it and there will be Greek people and Italian people and Swiss German people and all the rest of it, what a project, that's what's going to happen, the obedience of faith of the nations and what a kindness, what a grace of God to say people like them, I know what they're like, I know how fickle they are and I know how, how, I know all about them but I'm going to bless them and what a result to produce a new humanity, a new race, a new people and what wisdom

[44:44] Paul says, he's a wise God, I mean if you were going to save the world, what would you do and where would you start, any ideas, you know, you think you could do anything like God's planning, see God has wisely planned this down through the ages, wisely planned the revelation of himself in scripture, wisely planned where you would be, who you would meet, what they would say to you, what it would go in, what you would think, how you would react, wisely planned, it's all a product of God's wisdom and it's totally unique, he's the only wise God, he's the only God with such a plan, all the other gods, claimed gods, totally incompetent when it comes to something like this, they're totally incompetent, this is the

[45:47] God who has planned salvation, salvation, this is the God who will take people like us to establish us through the gospel to God be the glory, amen.