Romans 16:25-27

Well, good morning. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in Romans chapter 16.

Romans 16 · chapter mention

! Our text for today is Romans chapter 16, verses 25-27.

Romans 16:25–27

! And today, by God's great grace, we finish our study of Paul's letter to the Romans, provided I don't fall over.

Before I read these final three verses and work to turn our attention to its content, I want to first make two initial comments.

First, a couple of weeks ago, I preached verses 1-16 and verses 21-24. These are kind of the greeting verses of chapter 16.

And you likely noted that your Bible probably doesn't have a verse 24.

In fact, at one point in my sermon, I faltered on my verse count because I had a momentary lapse in memory.

I went three verses, and I want to correct that and also bring your attention to it because it's important.

Now, your translation likely has a footnote that reads something like, so we typically preach here from the English Standard Version.

I think many of you have this version. So you can see the footnote there that says,

Some manuscripts, insert verse 24,

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Amen.

Instances such as this give us opportunity to pause and consider the reliability of the Bible.

Before we move on to verse 25, let's think about verse 24 or the lack thereof.

Now, our Bibles, collected together, translated, bound,

are the result of compiling lots and lots and lots of early copies of these writings.

We have reason for confidence that these manuscripts are accurate because of how many there are and because of their great congruity.

They agree there are so many copies and they are the same.

However, from time to time, they do not.

So in this case, verse 24 of chapter 16 is one such example.

Now, you may think that this is a reason for concern, but I want you to know that the contrary should be true for you.

The number of times these early manuscripts disagree are minor.

On these minor little things, there's just a handful of them.

And when they do, careful translators labor to make the discrepancies clear to us.

So no one is trying to trick you.

Here they're saying, look, there are some early manuscripts that also have this inserted verse 24.

They could have just omitted verse 24 and renumbered the text.

Would you have noticed?

I wouldn't have.

I wouldn't have even known that was the case.

But rather, they are honest.

And they are not honest with the goal of eroding your confidence, but with the goal of bolstering your confidence.

Right?

We can know that these are the very words.

In addition, in none of the instances where the early manuscripts disagree,

do they do so in any way that changes the meaning of the text at all.

In this case, we just see an insertion of verse 24 compounding the well wishes of Paul's closing remarks.

And so there you see an example of that.

Okay.

Secondly, I want you to know how very much I have enjoyed studying Romans with you.

And in some ways, as we've spent quite a bit of time in this book together,

and I start to put the commentaries back on the shelf,

it feels like the closing of a chapter.

I consider myself blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to lead you week in and week out,

to partner with other men in that work these past almost 16 years in the study of God's Word.

So thank you for being a people of the book who desire to have it faithfully expounded each Sunday.

Thank you for the healthy pressure to avoid innovation and to simply preach the text.

I'm so glad that that's what you desire for me.

I'm not pushing against your desires and opening up God's Word,

but it's what you want me to do.

And I am hopeful that the Lord will give us lots of future time together

to behold Him from the Bible in future texts.

Okay.

That out of the way.

Let's turn our attention to our final text in our study of Romans.

Romans 16:25–27

Chapter 16, verses 25-27.

Beloved, this is God's Word to us, written for His glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Paul writes,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Paul ends this glorious letter with a doxology, with praise to God, which is befitting.

He has spent the first 11 chapters of this letter doing theology proper.

The first 11 chapters of Romans is Paul's magnum opus of Christian theology.

It is the most extensive and clearest defense of justification by grace alone,

through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

And I have labored to tell you that's why we have studied this book.

It speaks to the Christ followers' adoption in Jesus and identification with Christ as our federal head.

Paul tells us that we are no longer captives of grace.

Paul tells us that we are no longer captives of grace.

He speaks of the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit who intercedes for us,

leads us in holiness, and helps us in all our affliction.

He gives us reason for patient hope as we stand in God's election,

the certainty of coming glory,

the confidence that nothing can separate us from the love of God,

and total assurance in God's continued faithfulness.

He then works out what all this means for unbelieving people and for missions.

Condemnation, justification, adoption, soteriology, pneumatology, missiology.

The final five chapters are applied theology.

He answers the question,

how should we live in response to these truths?

These three final verses are doxology.

And what is the aim of Paul's praise?

It is God's glory.

These three verses in English are only two sentences.

That's a translation choice,

but they are only two sentences in the ESV.

The first sentence begins with now in verse 25

and ends with Christ in verse 27.

You'll notice there the second sentence is amen.

So most of these three verses is just this one sentence.

And if we take it and simplify it,

that sentence could read,

now to God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.

Now the idea of glory is not a simple idea to understand.

Some words are simple and easily defined,

like the word apple.

If you had never heard this word and asked me to define it,

I could explain to you what it looks like,

its size and color and texture,

give you some idea of what it tastes like.

In fact, I could probably define the word well enough for you

that if you then saw an apple for the first time,

you could say,

this is an apple.

It was well explained to me.

Think about the definition of apple

in juxtaposition with the word awe.

Apple and awe.

It is much more difficult for me to define this word.

After all, it's a bit of a feeling, isn't it?

What moves me to awe

may be different than what moves you to awe.

We recently took a vacation to the beach,

and I am not moved in awe at the beach.

But I watch a lot of people do that,

stare out at the horizon.

It's amazing.

But put me in the mountains,

and I may experience some awe.

Further, I have only ever felt my awe.

I can only explain to you what it feels like to me.

I have never felt yours.

This word is much, much more difficult to define.

Glory is more like the word awe

than apple in this way.

So, what is it?

We can't just not define it.

Here we have it in our scripture,

and we have it in our scripture aplenty.

So, what is it?

Allow me to take you just to one other text

to try to understand its meaning.

Put some bearing on the word glory for us this morning.

So, turn with me, if you will,

to Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

in verse 3,

where Isaiah has a vision of heaven

and sees one seraphim,

a heavenly being,

calling out to another seraphim.

And this is what he says.

Isaiah 6, verse 3.

Isaiah 6:3

You may even be familiar with this verse.

The one seraphim calls out to the other seraphim,

Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord of hosts.

Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord of hosts.

God's holiness

is his eternal and infinite perfection

and worth.

We have been taught, rightly,

that holiness

can be understood as separation,

as being set apart.

God is unique

in his perfection

and worth.

It is intrinsic to him.

It belongs to his very nature

and it is not granted to him.

It is who he is.

God is holy.

The seraphim says

that the Lord of hosts is holy,

but not in Hebrew of saying

that holy, holy, holy,

which is a grammatical way

in Hebrew of saying

that he is completely holy,

without any failure

in his holiness

and he is without compare.

So what does this seraphim

go on to say

in the rest of the verse?

You may note,

I hope you have it in front of you,

I only read the first half.

Then what does he say?

The whole earth

is full of his glory.

So, I take this to mean

that God's glory

is God's holiness

put on display.

That's the way it's tangible to us.

It is holiness beheld,

understood,

experienced.

God's glory

is the radiance

of God's infinite perfection

and worth,

like the sun's light and warmth

is the radiance

of its combustive power.

power.

When we behold

God's holiness,

the proper response

is that God

has glory.

Like we understand

that he is glorious

because he is

holy.

So, glory,

holiness on display,

received,

understood,

experienced,

appreciated,

loved.

So, with that definition

in mind,

let's go back

to our text

and my compounded sentence.

Now,

to God

be glory

forevermore

through Jesus

Christ.

And the implication

here seems to be

that Paul

wants glory

to be

granted

or given

to God.

God.

But if glory

is the radiance,

the display

of God's holiness,

then how could

he be

given it?

I think that

what Paul

is saying here,

it's not that we

add to the glory

of God,

but that we merely

recognize

the glory

of God.

We behold

the glory

of God.

In the original text,

the verb

be

is not

in this

verse

at all.

It certainly

helps us

understand it

in English,

but just

says,

now to

God

glory.

Now to God

be glory

forevermore

through Jesus

Christ.

And we

began our

study about

this time

of year

two years

ago.

If I'm not

mistaken,

it was on

October 9th

of 2022

that we

picked up

this text

for the first

time.

We had some

interruptions in

there.

We didn't

stay with

Romans the

entire time,

but it was

about them.

We believe

that slow,

careful study

of God's

word is

of great

benefit to

us,

but sometimes

in the

process,

we can

lose the

forest for

the trees.

You may

not realize

that glory

is a major

through line

of Paul's

letter.

I'm sure

we talked

about it.

Some,

we may

not have

dealt

with it

well enough,

but almost

every chapter

of Paul's

Roman letter

contains the

word.

And I venture

to say,

with slight

trepidation,

that every

chapter contains

the idea.

Don't test me

on that.

But at least

the word is

in almost

most every

chapter.

In the most

wonderful of

ways,

it would seem

that Paul

was riding

his way

to this

doxological

conclusion.

Perhaps he

was.

I argue

at verses

25 and

26 that

these are

Paul's

summation

that leads

to such

praise.

He's pulling

the ideas

together for

this glory

that he

wants God

to be

recognized

as God's.

So,

join me.

I know

before I

read large

sections of

Romans to

you.

We're not

going to

do that

today,

but join

me in

taking a

brief tour

back through

the book

with particular

intention

toward the

thought of

God's glory.

I just want

to show you

this through

line through

the text

and think

about what

Paul has

taught us

throughout

this book

together.

So,

I have a

number of

passages

here.

You're

going to

need to

turn all

the way

back to

Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

We're

going to

start with

a verse

that doesn't

have the

word glory

in it,

but the

idea is

there,

and you'll

understand

why in

just a

moment.

And my

intention is

just to make

some comments

about these

verses as

I remember

preaching them.

I decided it

would serve you

for me not to

go back through

each of these

sermons and

copy and

paste a bunch

of text,

because we

don't have

time for that

this morning.

But I

thought I'd

think,

what did

we learn

as we

looked at

these verses

and walk

through a

set of

them together?

We're

thinking about

God's glory

throughout the

book of

Romans.

So,

chapter 1

and verse

5,

Paul's

talking about

his

apostleship

being received

through whom

Christ,

we have

received

grace

and

apostleship

to bring

about the

obedience

of faith.

The bell

should be

going off.

The obedience

of faith,

for the

sake of

his name

among

all

the

nations.

So,

there's the

idea,

for the

sake of

his name

among

all

the

nations,

that all

peoples,

this is the

goal of

his

apostleship,

that all

peoples

would know

the glory

of God.

Now,

I said that

your bell

should be

going off.

Why?

Because at

the end

of verse

26,

there he

talks about

bringing

about

the

obedience

of

faith.

That very

same phrase

found there

in Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

and verse

5.

So,

notice what

Paul is

saying in

our text,

verses 25

and 26.

This God

we're going to

ascribe glory

to,

recognize the

glory of,

is able to

strengthen you

according to

my gospel,

Paul's gospel,

the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

According to

the revelation

of the

mystery that

was kept

secret,

Old Testament,

but now

has been

disclosed,

and through

the prophetic

writings has

been made

known to

all nations,

according to

the command

of the

eternal God

to bring

about the

obedience of

faith.

He's just

saying there,

right?

God begins

us and he

keeps us by

the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

And it was

the thing

that we

did not

fully understand

Old Testament,

but we

now do

New Testament.

God's glory

would be

known through

Jesus Christ.

It's not

too many

verses later

that Paul

says in

Romans chapter

Romans 1:16

1,

verse 16

and 17,

two verses

that we

spent three

weeks on.

There he

says,

for I am

not ashamed

of the

gospel,

or you

could read

it in the

positive,

I am

proud of

the gospel.

Why?

Because it

is the

power of

God for

salvation to

everyone who

believes, to

the Jew first

and also to

the Greek.

For in it

the righteousness

of God is

revealed from

faith for

faith, as it

is written,

the righteous

shall live by

faith.

We are justified

by grace alone

through faith

alone in the

person and

worth of

Jesus Christ

alone.

And this is

the summary of

what Paul is

trying to

teach us

theologically

throughout the

entirety of

this letter.

And so,

he launches

shortly after

those two

verses into

helping us

understand why

this matters.

Why is it

important that

we hear this

good news of

the gospel,

that we care

that it's the

power of God

for salvation?

Why does it

matter?

Why do we need

the righteousness

of God?

And he tells

us it's because

we are not

righteous.

in and of

ourselves.

We are not

righteous.

And he treats

two groups of

people, the

Gentiles and

the Jews.

First, he

addresses the

Gentiles, which

certainly includes

the Jewish

people through

23.

Supplicitly, the

Gentiles.

Notice Romans

Romans 1:21–23

1, verse 21

through 23.

He says,

therefore, although

they knew

God, they

did not honor,

and this is

the very same

Greek word,

it could be

translated, they

did not glorify

him as God

or give thanks

to him, but

they became

futile in their

thinking and

their foolish

hearts were

darkened.

Claiming to be

wise, they

became fools

and exchanged

the glory of

the immortal

God for

images resembling

mortal man and

birds and

animals and

creeping things.

rather than

recognizing the

greatness of

God, they

instead said,

we have

instead said,

we want to

minimize God,

we want to

maximize other

things.

I don't know

that any of

you have ever

carved an

image and

bowed down to

it, but we

certainly worship

other things

than God.

Exchange the

glory of the

immortal God

for stuff

that's not

glorious and

not

immortal.

He goes on

to indict the

Jews in

Romans chapter

Romans 2 · chapter mention

2 and

verse 24,

for as it

is written,

the name of

God is

blasphemed

among the

Gentiles

because of

you.

They, just

like the

Gentiles,

just like

us,

were idolaters,

believers.

And because

of that,

God's glory

was not

made known

amongst the

Gentiles the

way it was

meant to be

made known.

And then we

come to Romans

3 and

verse 23.

Paul's

bringing

together Jew

and Gentile.

Let's make

no qualms

about it.

Two categories

of people.

Those not

saved by Christ

and those

saved by

Christ.

There he

says,

for all

have sinned

and fall

short of

the glory

of God.

Do not

have,

cannot

possess.

We think

this verse

is speaking

of the

future glory

that will

be ours

in Christ,

but because

of our

sin,

we need

God's

intervention

to bring

this about

in our

lives.

So there's

a problem,

a great

problem,

and it's

a problem

that desperately

needs a

solution.

What is

that solution?

We saw it

back in

Romans 1

Romans 1:16

verse 16

and 17.

By grace,

through faith,

in the

person and

work of

Jesus Christ.

We can

have the

salvation of

our soul.

So in

Romans chapter

Romans 4 · chapter mention

4, Paul's

making this

case and

he's using

Abraham as

the archetype

of believing

God by

faith.

And he

says there

in verse

20,

no unbelief

made him

waver

concerning

the promises

of God,

but he

grew strong

in his

faith as

he gave

glory to

God.

As he

recognized,

a scribe

understood the

greatness of

God and the

promises he

had made to

him, his

faith was

increased.

Now,

we go on,

chapter 5.

Many of

us walk in

this in-between

time.

We walk in

this time

where we

have been

set free

from the

bondage of

our sin.

We've been

justified by

grace through

faith in

Christ, and

yet we find

ourselves still

with the

indwelling

sin, always

at our heels.

We struggle

in this life.

We are

pressured from

without.

Not an easy

thing to live

in this life.

life.

Paul does

some beautiful

things in

chapter 5 and

through the

end of

chapter 8.

Talk about

the way we're

freed from

sin, the way

we're empowered

by the

Spirit.

Look what he

does in

chapter 5,

verse 1 and

2.

He says,

Therefore,

since we

have been

justified by

faith, we

have peace

with God

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Not only a

status peace

with God,

we're no

longer his

enemy, but

we also

experience peace

with God.

Through him,

verse 2,

says,

we have

also obtained

access by

faith into

this grace

in which we

stand, and

we rejoice

in hope of

the glory of

God.

One day,

on the other

side, forever.

The life, we're

going to behold

him forever.

The hope of

the glory of

God.

And he

elaborates on

this quite a

bit, and we'll

skip ahead to

Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8 and

verse 18.

He says,

Therefore, I

consider that

the sufferings

of this

present time

are not

worth comparing

with the

glory that

is to be

revealed to

us.

Not even

worth setting

on the

scale the

glory so

outweighs

all of the

momentary

affliction we'll

experience in

this life.

And Paul

had a place

to speak

to this.

Things in

the Bible are

true.

Whether or not

you think

they're true,

they're there,

and so we

should believe

them.

But I know

often we

think, well,

you couldn't

possibly understand

what I've

experienced.

I think Paul

has suffered

more than

you or I.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11.

He says,

five times I

received at

the hands of

the Jews

forty lashes

less one.

Three times I

was beaten

with rods.

Once I was

stoned.

Three times I

was shipwrecked

a night and

a day.

I was adrift

at sea on

frequent journeys

in danger from

rivers, danger

from robbers,

danger from

my own people,

danger from

Gentiles, danger

in the city,

danger in the

wilderness, danger

at sea, danger

from false

brothers, in

toil and

hardship, through

many a sleepless

night, in hunger

and thirst, often

without food, in

cold and

exposure.

And apart from

these things,

there's the daily

pressure on me

of my anxiety

for all the

churches.

That's where Paul

speaks from when

he says, I

consider the

sufferings of

this present

time not even

worth with the

glory that's

going to be

revealed to us.

And he goes

on, right, he

speaks about our

groaning and

longing for the

glory of God to

be revealed to

us.

In verse 21 of

chapter 11,

8, he says

that the

creation itself

will be set

free from its

bondage to

corruption and

obtain the

freedom of the

glory of the

children of

God.

That's an

amazing phrase

at the end of

verse 21.

One day we

will be set

free from

this flesh.

We no

longer have to

sin, but we

carry around this

baggage, sinful

flesh.

And one day it

will be gone.

And we will

only be able to

honor God with

everything that we

do.

I hope you

long for that

day the way I

long for that

day.

And Paul here

says, calls this

the glory of the

children of God.

We will become

more perfect

image bearers of

our God.

God.

We will be

clear reflections

of who he

is, having

redeemed us

from our sin.

Completely,

totally,

delivered

forever.

The creation

itself is

longing for

this day

to come.

And this

status is not a

thing that we

achieve on our

own.

It is a thing

that God

begins and it

is a thing that

he accomplishes.

Paul tells us

further in Romans

Romans 8:30

chapter 8

verse 30.

Those whom he

predestined he

also called.

And those whom

he called he

also justified.

And those whom

he justified he

also glorified.

Guaranteed,

future tense,

thing that

will happen.

Chapter 8 is

the very center

of this letter.

It is a

wonderful,

wonderful chapter.

Mull it over.

Read it through.

Memorize it.

I promise.

It will serve

your soul.

Long for the

glory that will

be revealed to

us.

To behold God

fully and to

reflect perfectly

that glory is

going to be the

great joy of

eternity.

And Paul begins

to wrestle after

that with the

state of lostness.

He's particularly

concerned about

Israelites,

his brethren in

the flesh.

He launches into

that in Romans

Romans 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 and

completes those

thoughts through

chapter 11.

In verse 22

and 23,

he says this of

chapter 9.

verse 23,

verse 23,

what if God,

desiring to

show his wrath

and to make

known his

power,

has endured

with much

patience

vessels of

wrath prepared

for destruction

in order to

make known

the riches

of his glory

for vessels

of mercy

which he

has prepared

beforehand

for glory.

So the sad

state of the

lostness of

this world,

we rightly

understand,

is also

for the

glory of

God.

God to

show himself

as just

but also

to show

himself as

merciful.

Then at the

end of Romans

11,

Paul works

through all

of those

implications for

the Gentiles

and the Jews

and we gave

much time

to all of

that.

He launches

there into

a doxology

and in

verse 36

he says,

for from

him,

God the

source of

all things

and through

him the

sustaining

power of

all things

and to

him the

goal of

all things.

To him

be glory

forever.

Amen.

Or to

him glory

forever.

Amen.

Sounds much

like the

end of

our text

today.

Then he

goes on in

chapter 12

to talk about

the Christian

life and

the way that

life is

supposed to

bear out in

light of

all of

this truth.

And there's

a particular

emphasis

which kind

of comes to

a head in

chapter 14

and then into

chapter 15

about Christian

unity.

Bearing with

one another

in love.

Expressing love

to one another.

Building the

church.

Why?

For the

glory of

God.

Paul writes

in Romans

15

and verse

7,

Therefore,

welcome one

another as

Christ has

welcomed you

for the

glory of

God.

God would

be made

known as

glorious.

glory of

glory of

Jesus Christ.

Through this

great work

that he's

doing,

showing himself

to be

merciful in

the person

and work

of Jesus

Christ.

How is it

that God's

holiness is

most readily

displayed?

in that,

his most

lovingly

expressed act,

the person

and work

of Jesus

Christ.

Theology,

beloved,

rightly done,

always leads

to doxology.

We are not

doing theology

well if it's

just facts

and figures,

things to

debate with

one another.

It should

bring us

to praise

every single

time.

It should

bring us

to humiliate

ourselves

and a

magnification

of our

God.

All that

he's done,

all that

he's promised

to do,

his very

person,

right,

to God

glory.

It should

be our

earnest

desire to

praise God

and to

see him

praised

amongst

all

peoples.

And Paul

says,

Amen.

May it

be.

Let's pray

together.