Thank you. Please be seated. And do turn with me to the Book of Romans, Chapter 16. The Book of Romans and Chapter 16. Just to repeat an announcement that I made this morning with respect to the book that has just been published, and that is Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage. which is really a compilation of the three messages that were preached during our 2019 seminar in the month of November. And basically the book just came out in the course of the week. who is being sold by the book ministry and it will be sold outside there. If you've come with some extra cash, do make use of it so that this book can reach further afield. More and more people might benefit from it. It's teaching the biblical position with respect to marriage, the biblical position with respect to divorce, the biblical position with respect to remarriage, but ultimately its goal is to help us rescue our marriages. Okay, thank you. Let's read chapter 16 of the book of Romans and beginning with verse 25. The Bible says there, 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 has now 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. Well, today is a special day because of the fact that we have finally come to the end of the series of messages that we had been going through in the book of Romans. I will be the first to confess that I would have never expected when we began this series some 22 years ago that we would in fact reach the end. I have the words that I said on that occasion that was on Sunday, the 27th of June, 1998. And I quote, I said, today we commence a very important study in the book of Romans. This is a series that I have hesitated to take for many years because Romans is a magisterial book. And I said, a pastor who begins his ministry with Romans, is doomed to failure. Even as I take it now, I do so with the realization that I will not complete it. Evidently, I'm not a prophet, because I was wrong. Thankfully, here we are today. reaching the end of this entire study. We spent the last 12 weeks looking at Paul's personal concluding words to the Romans, which began in chapter 15 and verse 14. We have seen how he has spoken about his own ministry, how he has sent greetings to the brethren, how he has warned them against those that cause divisions, and how he has passed on the greetings of his co-workers. And finally, having finished that, he gives us this glorious doxology, and it is the one that I have put as the title of my sermon, which is Soli Deo Gloria, which simply means, to God alone be the glory. And you can't miss it as we come to look at the words that I have just read to you at the end of Romans verse 25 down to verse 27. The main message there is that our salvation was deliberately engineered by God, not so much to enable us escape from hell to go to heaven and enjoy ourselves. Yes, that will happen if we are saved, but it was engineered primarily to bring glory to God himself. In other words, it is meant for soli deo gloria. Now, one of the ways in which we can appreciate this is to see that, in fact, the end of the Book of Romans is exactly the same as the beginning of the Book of Romans. And so I want us to keep our fingers on either the chapter 1 or chapter 16. because we will do a quick comparison. In fact, To help us, I have asked the team to just show something of the relationship. Now, sadly, the one behind me is a little chopped off, but hopefully the deacons now can see why it needs to be put right. But on the two sides, you can see the bit that has been chopped off. So what you have on your left side is Romans chapter 1, the first five verses. And what you have on the right side is Romans 16 and the end. And what I want you to notice is that everything that you have at the end of Romans is actually at the beginning. So the phrase, now to him who's able to strengthen you, according to my gospel, actually has its parallel in Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. In other words, in both of them, it's about the gospel. Secondly, you have the preaching of Jesus Christ. Actually, there is an entire section there, which is verse 3 and verse 4, which is about Jesus Christ concerning his son. So this gospel is concerning his son, who was descended from David, according to the flesh, and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. So he is the content of the gospel. After that, he says, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations. Well, that's exactly what verse 2 is about, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. And then there is according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith. Well, trust me, that's what verse 5 is all about in Romans chapter 1. through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith. So as you can see, in each of those there is to bring about the obedience of faith. And then the last, which is, to the only wise God be glory forevermore. through Jesus Christ, which is ultimately what the doxology is about. Well, if we go to the end of verse 5 in Romans 1, it is for the sake of His name among all the nations. The reason why I want us to see that is to show you that this was no mere accident. The apostle Paul was not just writing and writing and writing, and then sort of got tired and said, well, look, let's just sort of go and have a cup of tea or coffee. He was bringing out the mind of God. concerning the gospel. And when he had reached the end of this revelation, you could see that he tied the two together. What he had intended to say as he began, he introduced it, is exactly what he intended to say as he closed, as he wrapped up what it was that he was saying. And that's a glorious thought, that it is to achieve the obedience of faith, it is ultimately to achieve the glory of His name. Having said that, I want us then to get back to our text. that is Romans chapter 16, and notice three things. First of all, God's immediate achievement in the gospel. God's immediate achievement. And his immediate achievement is to strengthen believers to live by the obedience of faith. It is to enable us to live a life that was previously utterly impossible. and hence the words at the very beginning of verse 25, now to him who is able to strengthen you. To him who is able to strengthen you. He's not simply saying God is able to strengthen you. He's saying we are now coming back to the one who is able to do that, which is absolutely impossible. And then he begins to go through a number of in accordance with this, in accordance with this, and so on. So I would just want us to quickly look at another slide. And in that slide, I want us to see the way this doxology has been put together. In Bible study, They are what are called chiastic arrangements, especially in Hebrew poetry. But it is not limited to Hebrew poetry. It was an ancient way of writing that enabled people not to forget the primary emphasis. of what is being said. And so there is a chaotic arrangement with respect to the doxology there. You will notice that it begins with now to him and it ends with to the only wise God. In other words, it's to him and it ends again with to him because that's the primary emphasis. And so in the writing, the whole idea is that we must not forget that which is being primarily talked about. There is what is it now that is being talked about in detail. And that's where you can't miss according to, according to. according to. So once you appreciate that, it becomes fairly easy for you to decipher in the midst of the many words what it is that the Apostle Paul wants us to go home with. As I said, that's a chaotic form of writing. I have an example here of a chaotic statement which is more ordinary and then I'll talk about the straightforward way of speaking. So a caustic statement can be something like this, you cannot fight with a bulldog because bulldogs are stronger than human beings. What has happened there is I've begun with you, and then I've gone to the bulldog, and then I've spoken about the bulldog, and I've come right back to you as a human being. That's a chiastic form of speaking. And so it's A, B, B. A, you cannot fight with a bulldog because a bulldog is stronger than you as a human being. So all I'm trying to speak is don't do it, you, don't. That's a caustic form of writing. Now, the straightforward way, it would have been something like this. You cannot fight with a bulldog because we human beings are weaker than bulldogs. That's a normal way in which we speak. And the Greeks and the Hebrews had a way of speaking that brought you right back to where they started from so that the emphasis cannot be missed. Let me give you a final one, an example, and that's right in Psalm 1. Okay, because a lot of it is found in the poetry. So Psalm 1 and the way it ends, verse 8 and verse 9. Psalm 1, did I say 8 and 9? Sorry, 5 and 6. I think whoever is in charge of lights, if they could switch them on and begin the struggle here. Look at where it begins. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Listen to this now. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. So you have the wicked not standing among the righteous, And then you have the righteous, God knowing the way of the righteous, and then the wicked perishing. So you can't miss where the emphasis is. The emphasis is don't be among the wicked because you'll perish. And all it does is it begins with one, goes right round, and finally comes back. to where he started from. Okay, so that's exactly what the Apostle Paul has done in this text. He's, as you can see from the structure, he's beginning with God, goes for a while, but he wants to come back to God so that we can see that it is about God. And then as he's wrapping it up, he tells us what it is he had in mind when he began to speak about to him. He now comes back to him and then says to him, be the glory. That's what he wants us to go home with. And I want us to make sure we capture that. Okay, so we can forget about the slides now. which is a very rare thing for me to do, but I just felt very strongly that I needed to give you an actual imagery for you to see. Otherwise, explaining all that without a drawing, I'm sure by now you'd have been asking yourself, what on earth is this guy been talking about? But I hope as you get back to see various passages, especially of poetry, that you will see this caustic form of arrangement. Now, back to our text. The first description that the Apostle Paul is giving about God here is to draw our attention to God's strengthening ability. Strengthening ability. Now to him who's able to strengthen you. Strength for what, you ask? Well, it's strength to enable you to live a morally upright and godly life in this same wicked world. That's what salvation does. It comes to us in the midst of our enslavement to sin, changes us around, and enables us to live a life that was previously absolutely impossible. Remember the way in which the Apostle Paul in chapter 5 described, still in Romans, chapter 5, describes how God found us. Chapter 5 and verse 6, Romans 5 and verse 6, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. In other words, our weakness had to do with being ungodly, being morally depraved, being slaves of sin. And what the gospel did to us was to turn that around entirely and give us the ability to live a life that was previously absolutely impossible. Chapter 6, still in Romans, verse 15. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. And here it is, what the gospel has done. But thanks be to God. that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and listen to this, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. That's what has happened. You have been given a fresh ability that was not there before. Before your conversion, you loved sin. You lived in sin. You were enslaved to sin. But the day of your conversion, God turned you around completely and gave you a new capacity that you never had before, a capacity that makes you love righteousness. want to live in obedience to God and you keep going higher and higher and higher for the rest of your life. Or to borrow the way he had written to the Ephesians, he said that you were once enslaved, that is Ephesians and chapter 2 beginning with verse 1, and you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which he once walked, following the course of this world, in other words, enslaved to the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, in other words, a slave to the devil, and then thirdly and lastly, among whom we all lived in the passion of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind. In other words, enslaved to the flesh. That's the way we were before salvation came to us. And because of that, we were by nature children of wrath. But God is the one who has changed that. Verse 4, but God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions in this way, what has he done? He's made us alive together with Christ. It's a real change. And so he says in verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." It is this strengthening, this change, this moral change that God brings about through the gospel. And brethren, it's important for us to come to terms with this. that you are not yet converted to Christ if you still love sin. You are not. It doesn't matter whether you answered an altar call or repeated a sinner's prayer or you were baptized by a truly godly man or you are a member of an actual church. If in your heart of hearts you know that you love sin and still walk in it. And accept that, of course, when you are among people that you respect, like church leaders and believers, that then you begin to sort of live what looks like a morally upright life, but left to yourself in the darkness, you are a lover of sin. Stop claiming to be a Christian. Stop it. Instead, go to Christ and say to Him, save me. Save me. Because trust me, not everyone is a hypocrite. They are real Christians, real Christians who actually love righteousness from the inside out. They would rather die than continue in the ways of sin. And we need to recognize that so that we can go to Him for this strengthening, this immediate achievement, because God is able. He is able. He has washed many sinners clean them up and put them onto solid ground so they can begin to live a life for his glory. How does he do it? Comes those according to, according to, according to. So let's quickly go to that. How does he do it? The only means by which God achieves this strengthening This moral transformation is the preaching of the true gospel. The preaching of the true gospel. So those three statements that we have there, according to, according to, according to, are all saying literally the same thing, but from three different angles. OK? He speaks in terms of this strengthening is in accordance with, in line with my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. In other words, as I preach the gospel, and gospel simply means good news. As I give this good news that I have been sharing, that's why he refers to it as my gospel. It's not like it's peculiarly his. It's simply this is the good news that I've been sharing wherever I've gone. And what is that good news? Jesus Christ. As I have been preaching him, lives have been transformed. There has been a moral foundation that has been set into the hearts and lives of individuals who previously were enslaved to sin. That same message now is referred to as the mystery. The mystery. Still within verse 25, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations. Again, all he's saying is that this message, the gospel, Jesus Christ, is nothing new. That's actually what God revealed to the prophets long ago. So all you need to do is to go to the same Old Testament scriptures and with renewed eyes, you are seeing Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. Remember this morning we were studying Miriam's rejoicing upon the deliverance that took place when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. And remember what I said, that Moses is a type of Christ that crossing over from Egypt into the wilderness and heading towards the promised land. The primary application is our actual salvation from sin and so forth. So again, it's about Christ. And all that the Apostle Paul is saying here is that it's this same message typified in the Old Testament writings, fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. That as I have been proclaiming it, lives have been changed because it is all about Christ. It's amazing, especially in 1 Corinthians 10, the way in which the Apostle Paul speaks about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians 10, beginning with verse 1. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. And listen to this. For the drunk from the spiritual rock that followed them, the rock was Christ." The rock was Christ. as they were being sustained through the wilderness, Christ was sustaining them. Those are the spiritual eyes looking back into the text. And that's why even the Lord Jesus Christ said that the scriptures were testifying about Him, all about Him. All they needed were eyes to be opened to see that, the revelation of the mystery. But thirdly, it is this command of God, the command of God to bring about the obedience of faith. Let's read halfway through verse 26. It says there, according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith. What is this command he is now referring to? It is fairly simple, and it is this, that preachers are not volunteers. Individuals who then say, I have been called to the ministry, are not people who thought it was just a good idea to make a little bit of money. No. There is a sense of call upon their lives that actually makes them quit what it is they are doing in order to fulfill the command of God. It's fairly easy because now, if we can go to the first chapter, we can ask ourselves, what is the command there? Remember, it's the parallelism that was there. And here is the command in verse five. Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith. according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith. So you can easily see that what he means by the command is this grace and apostleship that they had received that enabled them to turn the world upside down with this glorious message, the message of salvation. And brethren, it continues to the very present day. Jesus is not leaving his work to mere volunteers, individuals whom we have to convince that you're going to have a car, you're going to have a good salary. Actually, you're going to have a very nice house. You're going to have very nice church members. Come on, join us. He said, no, no, no, no, no. A thousand times no. And what is amazing when you read church history is this, a typical example. As missionaries were coming from Europe and America, coming to Africa, they were dying like flies from fever, which we've since come to know was literally malaria. And as they were dying, and caskets, Coffins were being put on ships going back across the ocean. Guess what was happening? More missionaries were coming over to replace them. How can you explain that? How do you deliberately go with your young family to a place where actually many others are dying and coming back in caskets? The answer is in our text. according to the command of the eternal God. These were not mere volunteers. These were individuals who were saying, I believe this is God's call on me to live and go over to serve. On my last trip to the US, I, which was last month actually, October, I was staying in the home of a young couple that are getting ready to come to Africa to serve. And so as we're having dinner, I asked them, I said, so how did you two guys meet? So they talked in terms of, you know, being in the same church or Bible study or something. And then the lady smiled. And she said, actually, what brought us together was not so much being in love with each other. It was the call to missions. And then she says, I told him when he came with his proposal that if you're not thinking about going out of America into a place like Africa to save, forget it. And I looked at him and he goes, yeah, that's what she told me. And because I also had the desire to go out to Africa as a missionary, there it was. We had it made. And it's now been, I can't remember how many years, they've gone through all kinds of training. And by the time I was staying with them, they had sold literally everything. In fact, even their house, they had sold it. While I was there, the estate people were coming to finish off issues to do with bank loans and so on for those that were buying it. In fact, I was sleeping on their bed. They were sort of hanging somewhere. in the house in the middle of the nights and so forth. They're ready to go out to Africa. Now, who does that? Who does that? It's the command of God. And the day should be there, brethren. When we ourselves will say, forget it. We're going out to Chitawe. We're going out to the bushes to take Christianity there, real biblical Christianity. My wife and I have been talking about it. We're going. And the parents would say, come on, you can't do that. Look at what you're living. And it will be this, the command of the eternal God. He's given us grace. He's put this call and gifting upon our lives. We are going. Friends, that's what has pushed the agenda of the gospel forward. And what Jesus says to us as a Christian church is this. The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few. What does he say? Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he may send forth laborers. That's what we should be doing. It is crying out to God that he might send forth laborers, that he might call individuals by name and then say to them, go. And they become unstoppable. because they are saying, I am doing what God has commanded me to do. It is through these three urgencies, the gospel revealed across all the scriptures and preached by those whom God has called to do this work. that sinners in their multitudes are being brought to their knees before Christ. Brethren, this is what brings about the obedience of faith, the obedience of faith. Remember what we already touched on concerning strengthening, the strengthening to enable us a life that is morally upright, that which is godly in this present world. In other words, I'm not doing this in order to earn my salvation. No, I already believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has already saved me. Now I want to obey Him. I want to live for Him. That's the obedience of faith. This is why I love the good old gospel. Friends, it's not about us. being champions. It's not about us being clever. It's not about us engineering anything. It's not about us. It is about Him. him, to him who is able, to him who is doing this in accordance with the way in which he works through this glorious message. And if you were to ask me what the book of Romans is all about, it's that same message. It is. Remember the way he began. How did he put it? He said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why? It is the power of God. for the salvation of those who believe. It's God's power to transform lives. It is the power of God. And then from there, all he does is begin to show us the content of this message. But I'm running ahead of myself because that's where I want us to rush to. What is the ultimate achievement? We've seen the immediate achievement, the strengthening of lives that were once weak, making godly those that were wicked. We've seen the means by which God is doing it. It is through this message that has been the same right across human history. God now placing it upon individuals and saying, go and proclaim this message. And with that, there is a bringing about of this obedience of faith. What's the ultimate achievement? That's where everything is going. Remember the chiastic arrangement where we began? Now to him, well, what is this to him? Well, we've gone visiting quite a little bit. We are now back again to him. And what is it about him now? to his glory. It's the ultimate goal of the Christian message, the glory of God. But what I want you to notice is that where as previously our attention was drawn to his ability, God is able, now it is being drawn to his wisdom. God alone is wise, to the only wise God. Why has he moved from God's ability and now to God's wisdom? It's quite simple, brethren. It is with respect to the content of this message, to the content of this message. It's amazing. It's amazing. If you, if you studied the book of Romans, Well, you must say, you know, this has now been my 269th sermon. So if you are with me for 22 years, that's how many studies we have done in terms of depth. Why? It's the amazing content. to borrow the Apostle Paul's own words in Romans and chapter 11. He pauses after he's opened up this message before he goes to its application into the 12 own words and he says, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his words. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? The answer is nobody. No one. It's an amazing message. I mean, anybody who tells me that they get bored with the gospel, they don't know the gospel. They don't. Because the more we study it, the more it should cause us to go, wow! Wow! This is glorious! It's glorious! Who would have ever, ever thought of how to bring guilty sinners, enslaved sinners, to be reconciled to a righteous God, a just God, a holy God. How could these two have come in together? How? It was absolutely impossible. And even when God sent his son into the world, the devil and all his armies would have never guessed that by rushing him to the cross, we are being defeated. Why? It's because of the infinite wisdom of this eternal God. He dribbled, the demons dribbled, the devil dribbled, the Pharisees dribbled, the Sadducees dribbled, the elders of Israel dribbled everybody. to bring about this glorious salvation to the only wise God. Be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Isn't this that which leaves us amazed? that which causes us to, as it were, fall on our knees in absolute adoration when we are amazed at what the Lord has done and what he continues to do to bring in the bride of Christ. It's this sense of, how did he do this? Of late, one of the ways I've been sort of spending my time is looking at these little clips of America's got talent or England or Britain has got talent and so forth. I think they have quite a number these days. And a lot of them have to do with magic, which is really just tricks, but they call it magic. That's beside the point. But often, the judges, as this person is sort of playing with cards, take this, and then, are you sure you've seen what it is? Yes, yes, okay, just put it on the table, and then the next it pops up here, and you know, doves disappearing or appearing, the person who's right in front of you turns around, looks the other way, and then when turns back, it's a different person. And then someone taps you, you look, it's the same person who was there a few minutes ago. And they keep saying, and they're looking at each other. How do you do this? They keep saying each time this whole thing is happening. And literally, without anybody saying so, they stand up and start clapping. Why? Because of the question, how do you do this? Well friends, that's exactly what we say to God. How on earth have you done this? How? And especially because we are not bystanders. No! We are part of the drama. I'm able to say I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see I was dead. Now I'm alive. I hated you, but I now love you. I'm willing to die just so that I might glorify you. How? God, how on earth have you done this to me? Born A totally depraved sinner, now longing but for only one thing, that you might be glorified in me, whether by life or by death. How on earth have you done this? There's only one answer that my heart gives to you. Solely deal glory. To you alone be the glory. And when I get to heaven, and Lord, you see my labors, and you bring my reward, the crown of righteousness, and you try to put it on my head, I know what I will say. I will say, Lord, it doesn't belong here. I'll take it off and put it at the foot of my Savior, the Lord Jesus, and say, thou art worthy and thou alone. To you alone be the glory. Well, friends, that's exactly what he wanted to achieve. That's exactly what he wanted to achieve. He engineered a salvation. that makes any true child of God do exactly that, to worship Him, who alone is worthy to take the scroll and to open the book, to worship Him. And it is with that that I hurry on to close. Brethren, never forget this lesson. As we wrap up 22 years of studying this epistle, never forget this lesson. And what is the lesson? Our salvation is for the glory of God and for him alone. It's not primarily about a sinner getting to heaven and saying, it's about arriving in absolute amazement. and wanting only one thing, that he might indeed receive the praise, the glory from my lips and indeed everything else. As the hymn writer puts it, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. Who, like Thee, His praise should sing? He's fixed me. He's fixed us. We've been ransomed and healed and restored and forgiven. We just have one desire, to ascribe glory to And therefore, it only makes sense that if you are saved, and you really are, that you should have only one passion in life, just one, not three, four with the main one, uh-uh, just one passion in life, solely dear Gloria. To God alone be the glory. To God alone be the glory. And if he wants me to die today, if I can only be assured that through my death he will be glorified, Lord, may I breathe my last. There's only one desire that should be in the soul of a true child of God. To God alone be the glory. Hence it makes sense that this should be a fitting clause to a book, an epistle that displays the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus. That our hearts should simply well up with but one song. To God be the glory. great things He has done. Amen. Let's pray. Eternal and gracious God in heaven, words have failed me, even this evening, to bring out the grandeur, the splendor, the magnificence of what you have done to turn sinners into saints. How can I speak of such majesty? How? With fallen lips as mine are. Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and unscrutable His ways. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? has given to God that God should repay him. For from him and through him, and ultimately it is to him, to God be the glory forever.