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Romans 9-16

Conclusion

Caleb Combs · Sunday, 30 November 2025 · Romans 15:14-16:27 · 41:23 · 6,360 words

Romans S32 · 15:14-16:27 Holly

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon wraps up the Romans series by focusing on Romans 16:17-27. It warns believers to watch out for false teachers who cause division and deceive the naive with smooth talk. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being grounded in biblical truth to avoid being led astray. The message concludes with a challenge to examine every aspect of life—work, family, interactions—to see if it brings glory to God, stressing that everything we do should honor Him.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

victory 13 wanna 12 mystery 8 preach 22 glory 20 clearer 5 basis 7 great 22 bring 19 division 6 goal 9 strengthen 7

Topics

The Gospel 5 Faith 3 Sin 3 Righteousness 1 Sanctification 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Prayer 1 Conscience 1

Scripture referenced 26

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 16 2:35 Romans 1 4:35 Romans 2 4:37 Romans 3 4:39 Romans 1 4:44 Romans 2 4:44 Romans 16 7:41 Romans 16:17-27 7:45 Romans 16:17 7:56 Romans 16:27 9:34 Romans 16 11:28 Romans 16:16 11:28 Romans 16:17 11:51 Romans 16:17 11:53 Romans 15 12:01 Romans 15:16 13:00 Romans 15:17-18 13:02 Romans 15:17 16:25 Philippians 3 17:46 Romans 15:19-20 20:27 Matthew 10 21:52 Romans 12 22:44 Romans 12 22:50 Romans 2 23:01 Romans 12 23:12 Romans 12:21 23:21

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:35. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey, everyone. My name is Mitchell, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

Good morning. Good morning to you that brave the roads, and good morning to you that are at home.

And so that is great. We are still gathered together.

In the name of Jesus, that's why we do this, okay?

And so, so important that our mindset, that our heartbeat is that.

And so, hopefully we want to take you, give you a little sneak peek into the Genesee County Jail.

And so that is, our team's been going, we think about 13 years.

The last 13 years, some of you sitting here today are,

joining us online, have been a part of those teams, walking into, to Gen Pop,

or an area that maybe is, you're isolated in specific cells, or intake.

And so, our goal is, is to do what Jesus called us to do, right?

We want to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the incarcerated.

And that is, man, I think I can list thing after thing after thing that we were able to do in the last couple days

that have been a part of that ministry.

And so, I was talking to Nate, here in almost 200,

there's like 175, 170 families that you were able to feed

and provide a Thanksgiving meal to last week as a church.

And so, just some great things that we're able to be a part of and celebrate.

And so, that's one of the reasons why we want to shoot that video,

literally from inside the Genesee County Jail.

I said, hey, find a spot to let you video grant,

because it'll give people a look at that.

And so, we're going to do that.

I know many of you have been praying for that team or a part of that team.

It is a great, great event to be a part of.

You doing okay this morning?

Everyone's a little, I looked a little, too much to eat?

Everyone ate too much?

Is that what your thing is?

Because your face is like, all right, just preach at me.

That's what your face is saying.

All right, I'm not going to preach at you.

All right?

And so, it's good.

It's good.

And so, if you have a Bible, we're going to finish up Romans this morning.

So, flip to Romans chapter 16, okay?

Bible, a device.

Something to follow along, read along.

We're going to put an exclamation point on the Romans series.

It has been truly a great, a lot of fun to preach.

It has taught me a ton.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Just conversations with many of you have been really great as well.

Just thinking through all the different conversations that,

I didn't know that, or that's challenged me,

or, wow, I understand that a little bit better now.

That's really the goal, is hopefully to equip the saints for the work of the ministry

as we feed the flock with the meat of the word.

And so, that is the goal of what we are trying to do.

Not just get up and sing some songs and preach and then leave.

No, we want transformational change by the word of God.

Because we believe that it brings it.

All right, seven of you agree.

The rest, we've got to figure that out, right?

We believe that.

Come on, let's, that's, that is who,

and what we are.

We're like, we believe the Bible's living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword.

We believe that is the inspired word of God.

We believe there are no errors in the word of God.

We believe it is truth, and that's why we stand on it.

It is so important that we value the word of God as we open it together,

as we teach it, as we receive it,

and as we live it on a weekly basis.

And so, that is the heartbeat of what we are trying to do.

I saw this quote, Romans is described,

as one of the most closely reasoned

and compelling books of the New Testament.

It really is.

It has so much doctrinal truth

and doctrinal cornerstone pieces.

We began with realizing that we as human beings

are broken by this thing called sin.

We see the depravity that sin brings

all the way back in Romans chapter one,

and we see that in Romans chapter two,

and then we culminate in chapter three with realizing

just like we've described all these people

in Romans chapter one and chapter two,

we are all broken and covered, really,

by this thing called sin.

But the great news of Romans,

as well as the great news of the Bible, right,

is God didn't leave us dead in our sin.

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

What a great truth.

What a great understanding.

We look at this idea of becoming justified

or being made,

or being made righteous,

or as we explained several months ago,

is Christ becoming our propitiation, all right?

He became our replacement,

where because of our sin,

we were given the sentence of death.

We deserve death because of our sin,

yet God in his great grace and his mercy

sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross

and took our place.

And so we believe that and we celebrate that,

but then we are not just staying in that.

As we've talked about over the last few weeks,

this process of sanctification

or living out the righteousness of God,

living that out in a true and honest way.

I preached last week this idea of living out our convictions

and understanding that while I feel convicted

to live this out and not judging people

from their convictions,

but I wanted to add,

I did not say this as clear as I wish I would have.

These convictions aren't leading to righteousness, okay?

Well, you know what?

This conviction, well, I will earn my righteousness.

Well, you will never earn your righteousness.

Not one of us can.

You can't do enough good things to earn your righteousness.

You can't give enough money to earn your righteousness.

You can't go to church enough times

to earn your righteousness.

How do we earn our righteousness?

You can't earn it other than receiving

the work of Jesus Christ.

Wow, that's the beauty of the gospel.

And we'll get into that in a little bit.

We also see in chapters nine through 11,

God's sovereignty.

The hand of God,

a part of who we are as human beings.

As I was sitting and thinking

and really having some conversations about

how do I kind of end Romans?

It was really, it was a conversation

I had with Pastor Noble.

He's preaching at our Lake Orion location this morning.

And so we were talking like,

how do we, how do you put like an exclamation point,

a bow, or how do you just finish out on Romans?

And I told him, I'm just going to,

let the Apostle Paul finish Romans.

I'm not going to try to finish it.

What's that mean?

I went to the end and just going to preach that, okay?

Because I'm like, I don't, I don't,

let's just, the Holy Spirit led the Apostle Paul

to write these words,

and we're just going to preach and teach that.

I don't want to make things more complicated

than they need to be.

So in Romans chapter 16,

we're going to look at verses 17 through 27 this morning.

And so again, if you had a Bible device,

hopefully you flipped there.

It's always on the screen as well.

So I want you to read along with us.

I appeal to you, verse 17, Paul continues,

brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions

and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine

that you have been taught.

Avoid them.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ

with their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery,

they deceive the hearts of the naive.

For your obedience is known to all

that I rejoice over you.

But I want you to be wise,

as to what is good

and innocent as to what is evil.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you.

So does Lucius and Jason and Sospiter,

I, Tertius, who wrote this letter,

greet you in the Lord.

Gaius, who is host to me

and to the whole church, greets you.

Eratus, the city treasurer,

and our brother,

Quartus, greet you.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you

according to my gospel,

the preaching of Jesus Christ,

according to the revelation of the mystery

that was kept secret for long ages,

but now has been disclosed

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 all nations.

Then he finishes and culminates in verse 27.

To the wise, God be glory forevermore

through Jesus Christ.

Let's pray and we'll look at that this morning.

God, we love you.

We praise you.

Thank you for this passage.

Thank you for your word.

God, we seek to receive wisdom

and discernment and understanding

as we read through it, as we study it,

as we teach it and preach it.

God, thank you for this series of Romans

that we're able to preach.

We're able to preach over just the several months

that we were able to walk through it as a church.

God, thank you that it's transformative.

Thank you that it's building of a base of doctrine

and understanding that is so imperative

for us as believers.

God, we ask that you work this morning.

God, thank you for this wonderful day you've created.

We'll rejoice and we're glad in it.

God, thank you.

We praise you in Jesus' name.

So that was Paul's close to Romans.

And so there's a lot in that.

And so we're gonna pull some things out of that

and look and see what exactly is being taught

or what exactly is the Apostle Paul

really calling the church in Rome,

but also the church in 2025 to live out.

Because we believe the word of God is profitable

for teaching, reproof, correction.

Not just for the old 2000 years ago church,

but we believe in 2025,

we believe the word of God is profitable for that

as well.

I don't care how old, how young,

if you're sitting here as a married person

or a child, a student, as a grandparent,

we believe it encapsulates all of us, okay?

And so it is important.

Paul begins with a warning.

This is an interesting transition.

I on purpose did not preach verse 16 of Romans 16.

It talks about greeting one another with a holy kiss.

And so we're not gonna do that here this morning, okay?

All right.

I was supposed to be funny.

Some of you guys are like,

geez, rough crowd.

So it's okay.

No rough crowd.

It's all right.

But see, I was like, man,

I'm gonna stay away from the holy kiss stuff.

We're gonna jump into verse 17, all right?

And so verse 17, Paul gives a warning.

He's like, hey, you know what?

He commends, he gives a nice long list.

Chapter 15 is a really great chapter

on looking to see how Christ is our example.

It's an echo of the gospels, really.

Matthew, Mark, Luke,

and John of seeing Jesus as the perfect example

that we are to live by.

And so I've said this a few times throughout the series,

and I'll echo this, all right?

If you have a long commute to work

or you like to listen to other sermons,

there are other sermons going to be posted

and preached on these chapters.

I'm not gonna be able to get to all of it.

I'd encourage you to listen to them.

There's some great speakers.

There's some great communicators.

There's some great people that are able to study this

and be led by God.

There's some great people that are able to be led by the Holy Spirit

at one of our other locations.

Listen to them this week.

Listen to them next week as you drive to work

or as you're walking down the treadmill

or wherever you find yourself.

Listen to these messages.

They'll be really, really helpful

as we come to a close in this Romans series.

But in verses 16, or excuse me,

verses 17 and 18, Paul gives a warning.

He says, I appeal to you.

That's just a very clear statement.

Hey, I'm begging you, you need to pay attention to this.

Listen to these words.

Brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions

and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine

that you have been taught.

And then he says, avoid them.

For such persons do not serve our Lord Jesus or Lord Christ,

but their own appetites.

And by smooth talk and flattery,

they deceive the hearts of the naive.

This is very much a similar message

where the apostle Paul gives in Galatians.

He gives a similar message in Philippians.

He gives a similar message in many of the epistles he's writing.

He's saying, hey, pay attention.

There's going to be false teachers.

He describes that, I believe, in 1 Corinthians.

He describes them as ravenous wolves

that'll come after me.

And so you have to understand

that the apostle Paul is trying to warn the church.

There are ones going to come behind me

and they're going to seek to discredit.

They're going to seek to cause division,

which we preached on unity last week.

Isn't that interesting?

But he's saying, hey, you know what?

Pay attention, pay attention.

But if you look at the end, he says,

they're going to cause division

in the hearts of the naive,

meaning ones that are drawn away.

The writer of Hebrews calls the church

to move from milk to meat

so that you will not be pulled away or tossed.

I think the King James says to and fro

of the things of this world.

What does that mean?

Well, we are as Christians,

we as followers have been called to be grounded

in doctrinal truth.

And so we're able to point out and say,

hey, you know what?

That doesn't sound right or that's not right

because of, and you walk out scriptural truth.

What I don't want is to have an entirety of a church

or entirety of believers that come and go,

hey, you know what?

This is only true because the pastor says so.

Guess what?

It doesn't matter what the pastor says.

It matters what the truth of the gospel says.

The word of God.

That's what we want to lean on

in our own and not on our own understanding.

And his understanding.

And it's so important to be equipped

with that truth and knowledge.

And so I'm grateful that you're here

to be led and fed by a pastor.

But the truth of the matter is,

my goal is to equip you

so you're able to go, whoa, that doesn't sound right.

This is why, and this is where to find it.

And so that is important.

That doesn't just happen for 40 minutes on a Sunday morning.

That's what growth communities are for.

As we have a community that comes around one another,

hey, you know what?

I heard this.

I heard this on TV or I heard this online

or I saw someone post this or someone said this at work.

Is this true?

And then you're able to chew and understand that

and go, hey, you know what?

Maybe partial of it is true or you know what?

It's not true at all.

And it's important that we do that as the body of Christ.

And so we must understand that there are ones

that are seeking to cause division.

And so Paul is, he's really calling them out

in other passages.

He calls them out by name,

but he is really in verse 17.

He's marked those or watch those who cause divisions,

whether that's by gossip or lying

or other things that that way.

But then he shifts and says,

they're creating obstacles contrary to the doctrine,

the doctrine that the apostle Paul is teaching

as well as the other apostles.

And so they're being taught and go, hey, you know what?

Make sure you follow this teaching.

Then he says, avoid them.

Simply as saying, turn away from them.

In the other passage, he says, don't give them an opportunity.

Don't give them a root hold of your life.

Don't give them an ear.

And he says, they are doing it for self gain.

What does he say?

But they're doing it for their own appetites.

I thought it was an interesting thing.

I'm like, I don't understand what this actually means.

What he's saying is they're doing it so then they can have.

They're doing it out of selfish ambition,

self glory, self gain,

so that they can be seen and heard.

That's what is being shared here in this passage.

Hey, you know what?

So you pay attention to me.

No, no, no, no.

He's saying, hey, I want to highlight the Lord.

And we're going to get to that in a little bit.

And so these false teachers are doing it out of self gain,

He echoes this in Philippians chapter three.

Brothers, join in imitating me

and keep your eyes on those who walk

according to the example you have in us.

For many of whom I have often told you

and now tell you even with tears,

walk as enemies of the cross.

Of Christ, their end is destruction.

Here it is.

This is a great echo of this.

Their God is their belly

and their glory in their shame

with mindset on earthly things.

What is it?

It's selfish ambition, selfish glory,

It's so that I can have.

And he says, how do they do that?

Well, smooth talk and flattery.

So that means fine speaking

or words that are finely spoken.

But untrue, untruth.

And so that's important for us to grasp

and understand that.

Second Timothy, for the time is coming

when people will not endure sound teaching,

but have itching ears.

They will accumulate or by,

but having itching ears,

they will accumulate for themselves

teachers to suit their own passions

and will turn away from listening to the truth

and wander off into myths.

What is happening here?

Paul is saying in Romans,

he's saying in first Timothy,

he's saying,

there will come teachers that just want to,

King James says, tickle your ears, by the way.

I don't want to tickle anyone's ears.

That sounds super weird.

Back with the holy kiss stuff, all right?

But this idea that Paul is saying,

hey, pay attention.

There's some gonna smooth talk or flattery.

One translation I read, give false blessing.

They're gonna bless your actions

when truth should happen to be spoke to you.

Like, hey, you know what?

This is wrong for you to live out.

I say this very,

very commonly and I really truly mean it.

If everything I preach and teach on a Sunday morning

makes you feel good,

we need to have a conversation.

Like, really?

Yeah, because I shouldn't say everything that you go,

Pastor Kibble, I needed that today.

That was exactly everything that I wanted to hear.

Guess what?

Somebody goes, oh, that didn't feel good.

There's conviction in truth.

Wow, I need to apply that in my life.

I need to change.

I need to transform some things.

I need to relent some things.

I need to confess some things.

These are wrong things that I've been doing.

I need to do what I've done in my life.

That's you and I included

because that's what the word of God

shines a light on our lives.

And so ones that are being deceived

by these false teachers speaking smoothly

or fine speaking of lies.

But then Paul shifts in verse 19 and 20.

Paul shifts to an affirmation.

I love this affirmation.

For your obedience is known to all

so that I rejoice over you.

But I want you to be wise

as to what is good and innocent

as to what is evil.

The God who is good and innocent

and the God of peace

will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

John and Angela,

I am not singing that song this morning, all right?

I was thinking every time I read this passage,

we did a lot of kids ministry together.

There's a kid's song that's gonna happen that way.

You can save that for later, okay?

But this call for us and affirming

your faith is known around the world.

That's such a good thing.

That's what we wanna be known by, right, church?

Okay, thank you.

Thanks, Anthony.

Everybody else is gonna work through that.

We wanna be known by our faith, right?

There we go.

All right.

Right, we wanna be known by our testimony,

our trust in the Lord.

We don't wanna be known by things that we've done.

We don't wanna be known by things that we've accomplished.

Man, I had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

and he did this and I can't believe he did it.

I trusted in him and that's their reputation.

That's their testimony.

Then he says, be wise at what is good

and innocent of evil, challenging them.

Really echoing the words of Jesus

in Matthew chapter 10.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep

in the midst of wolves.

So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Do good is a common theme

and a call to followers of Christ.

Live out the goodness of God.

Live it out, do good.

That's much of what we talked about

in the last few weeks, right?

Living out the righteousness of God.

Wanna do good to one another.

Wanna do good to our neighbors.

Wanna do good to local leaders

that we agree with or we don't agree with.

We wanna do good to ones that have hurt us.

We wanna do good to everybody we interact with.

Why?

Because we've received the very goodness of God

and we wanna represent that.

We wanna live that out.

This common theme, call to do good,

much of chapter 12 really is,

Pastor Noble was like,

maybe I'll just preach chapter 12 again

as an exclamation point.

And I say, you probably could get away with it

because it's so good.

It really is a summary of Romans.

Romans chapter two, right?

Do not be conformed to this word,

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

By the testing, you may discern what the will of God is,

what is good and acceptable and perfect, right?

What is good?

Romans 12, nine.

Let love be genuine.

Of her, what is evil?

Hold fast to what is, what's that next word?

Good, right?

Verse 21 of the same chapter.

Do not be overcome by evil,

but be overcome with, overcome evil with what?

Good, right?

Live out the goodness of God.

Live that out.

Live it out.

And so be innocent.

Don't be a part of things that you shouldn't be

as we live out the goodness of God.

And then he gives a promise, which is a victory promise,

a call to the believer.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.

This is a military metaphor expressing a resounding victory.

I love that description.

It's a resounding victory.

It's not like, hey, I'm unsure.

This is a little gray area victory.

No, no.

He will soon crush Satan underneath.

There is a victory coming for those that have followed Jesus Christ.

Those that have confessed with their mouth and believed in their heart

that Jesus Christ came, died, and rose again.

There is a victory coming for those who have confessed their sin.

That victory doesn't come by ourselves.

That victory doesn't come by something we can accomplish or fight for.

That victory comes by the work of Jesus Christ.

That's what it comes through and comes for, right?

And we must understand that that victory,

that promise is something we cling to, that we hold on to,

and so we must be reminded of that.

I'll tell you this.

This world can be heavy to carry, right?

The things that some of you are dealing with on this daily basis,

wow, victory doesn't feel right in our face, does it?

It doesn't.

Man, this is hard.

This is difficult.

I feel defeated on a daily basis more than I want to admit.

And the promise we must cling to, hold to, grasp to, live out is saying,

wow, just as the apostles,

Paul's writing to this church in Rome,

feeling surrounded, feeling overcome by the things of this world,

we can find victory in Jesus by the gospel

and live it out in a real practical way.

And so some of us need to be reminded of that on a,

maybe a daily basis, minute by minute basis, hourly basis,

writing ourselves a note.

You know what?

No matter what the world throws against me,

I can find victory through the plan and the work of Jesus Christ.

The next few verses.

The mission team's given shoutouts.

Really is.

This is, I actually find this really, really exciting.

You're like, really?

Yeah.

Paul wasn't at work alone.

He wasn't alone in his work.

He's, he describes the, the, the ones that are with him.

I read a commentary this week.

I thought it was really, really profound.

He said, the way I read this passage is I'm picturing they're all sitting around a table

and they're saying, hey, make sure to say hello for me.

Make sure to say hi to me.

I'm cheering them on.

I'm praying for them.

And that is such a beautiful thing of the church.

You are not called to live for the Lord by yourself.

By yourself is not a good thing.

We need one another.

And I could preach on the gathering of the church every single week

because there is value there.

There's importance there.

There's glorifying God there.

As we realize where two or more are gathered, he is here.

We're gathered in his name.

He's here.

We need one another.

The old Testament highlights that two are better than one.

That's not necessarily a marriage.

That is the call for us to need and rely on other people

to help carry our burdens as Galatians says.

And that's a beautiful thing where Paul is sending and talking about

Timothy, his fellow worker, Jason, Lucius, and the others

greeting you, saying hello.

They're cheering you on.

It's beautiful.

Then Paul gives his conclusion.

Some describe it as Paul's conclusion doxology.

Could be sung, could be clearly communicated,

but verses 24 through 27 now to him who was able to strengthen you

according to my gospel and to the preaching of Jesus Christ,

according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages,

but has now been disclosed to 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 forever more through Jesus Christ.

Closing doxology, and this is really where I wanted to get to

as I begin to go, let's let the apostle Paul close his book.

It says, now to him who is able to strengthen you.

You may have a different translation in front of you.

Some read as establish you.

That word strengthen, establish is, as we read it,

is where we get the root word prop, to prop something up or to hold something up.

And this is so important as we come to the culmination point,

of Romans, but as we come to the understanding of how to live out for Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is what holds us up.

Okay, this is so important.

I may have just should have preached on this passage.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the thing that props us up.

Not our ability, not our understanding, not our strength, not even one another.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is what establishes, strengthens,

and holds each and every one of us up.

You're sitting here and go, man, Caleb,

you share the gospel every single week,

every single Sunday and every single one of your messages.

You're right.

You're right.

You know why?

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which strengthens,

establishes, and holds us together.

It is.

Don't get mixed up.

Hey, you know what?

It's great together.

It's good to sing.

It's good to get up and preach and open the word.

It's good to celebrate great things.

It's good to watch baptisms.

It's good to do ministry together.

It's good to...

We were able to be a part of a parade on Friday night.

It's great to do all these ministry things, but guess what?

If those become the focus, we've missed what Jesus Christ said is propped and establishing us,

is the gospel.

The gospel is the forefront of who we are, what we do,

and we've been called to live it out in a real practical way.

Man, if I could emphatically preach that over and over and over and over again,

I would because I want you to convince you, as Paul says,

I appeal to you.

I appeal to you.

Gather together as we realize we are established by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is that gospel?

It's realizing that we were dead in our sin.

We were separated from God because of our sin.

Yet God in his great grace and his great mercy sent his son, Jesus Christ,

to die on a cross and rise again and has promised to come back again to receive his children.

That's the simple, basic gospel of Jesus Christ.

Realizing that you and I are sinners.

And we confess our sin and believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is who he says he is

and did what he said he'd do.

That's how you receive and become a child of God.

That's the beauty of the gospel.

Strengthened by it.

Restraintened by the word.

Restraintened gathering around the gospel.

But then he continues and describes this mystery.

This mystery was that the gospel had not made its way to the Gentiles.

It's not made its way to the world.

And the beauty of this is Paul opens up.

All of Romans verse 5 says,

Through whom we have received grace and apostleship

to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations.

The spreading of the gospel.

The scales are falling off eyes.

And the gospel is becoming clearer and clearer.

And the message is spreading further and further.

This mystery is no more.

The salvation message.

Is being proclaimed to the world.

And people are receiving and understanding it.

That's our prayer as a church.

It should be.

That's our prayer as you get together with family.

Over the last couple days and the next couple weeks.

Is that the gospel will be clearer and clearer and clearer.

And it will be proclaimed through your actions.

Through your words.

The way we live out.

And this mystery will be no more.

He says, how has this happened?

Well, it's been disclosed through the prophetic writings that have been made to all nations.

That's the word of God.

That's the word of God.

That's the word of God.

That written to bring about obedience.

The Bible is our guidebook to live out the very righteousness of God.

The last verse.

We'll finish the Roman series on the last verse.

Which is always a good thing to do.

To the only wise God be glory forever more.

Through Jesus Christ.

The goal of our lives is to bring God glory.

Should be.

Right?

The goal of our lives.

The goal of creation was to bring God glory.

The goal.

The goal of God to send Jesus Christ is to what?

Bring God glory.

I believe the theme of Romans.

As we see the whole salvation message and doctrinal truth progress is to bring God glory.

Over and over again in the Bible, we see this truth.

See, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created man and that he created him for his glory.

Therefore, the ultimate purpose of man is to simply glorify God.

Church, my challenge for you this morning.

Whether you're here in person or online.

Listening at another time.

That's okay.

Is this beginning to examine my life.

Am I bringing God glory?

Are my actions, are my responses, is my marriage, is the way I do my job.

Every, everything about my life.

Am I glorifying God with this?

The first Corinthians even messaged that whatever you do in word or deed, whatever you drink,

whatever you eat, what do all for the glory of God in whatever I do.

I love that because it encapsulates.

Whatever, you don't got to be a reviled theologian.

It's not like, Hey, you know what?

Half of my life or just when I become an adult or when I become married or just when I'm a part of church things, that's when I have to glorify God.

Nope, you've missed it.

Everything we do should bring God glory.

You're like, if I go to work, can I bring God glory there?

Raising my kids.

Driving down the road.

Like, are you saying what I think you're saying?

You've got me.

Whatever I do, every interaction, every thought, every process, everything, everything that I do, God, am I bringing you glory?

See, as you begin to examine that, as you begin to introspectively look at the things that I do in my life, I began to be convicted about this week.

Begin to go, man, am I bringing God glory and everything that I do?

I can answer that very, very concisely.

No.

Then I begin to ask God, God, how can I do that?

I'm thankful for his grace and his mercy.

But as you.

Sit here today and proclaim to be a child of God.

You begin to ask yourself, or you must begin to ask yourself, am I glorifying God?

I want to read you this.

This was good.

I read this week.

You can glorify God by reflecting his character and attributes in all aspects of your daily life, actions and attitudes.

Glorifying God is about acknowledging his greatness, power and love and living in a way that points others to him.

I thought, wow, that's very concise, very clear.

I didn't like the beginning.

I thought, you know, life and actions are good, but can I keep my attitude?

Right?

It's just inside.

No, it's reflecting his character and attributes in all aspects.

Life, your actions and your attitudes.

I wrote down this and I really was, I believe it's really kind of the concise theme of Romans.

Whatever I do, I seek to bring honor to you.

I wrote that in my notes, a big font.

I really felt like the Holy Spirit was going, hey, here it is.

Big flashing lights.

I need that at times.

Whatever I do, I seek to bring honor to you.

I think what an important, clear and simple message for us to live out on a daily basis.

God, this day, whatever I do, whatever I come across, whatever triumph or defeat, whatever thing that I anticipated or didn't anticipate, whatever thing that I come and deal with today, God, I seek to bring honor to you in it.

That's what we've been called to do.

That's the action.

That's the response.

May that be the heartbeat of us as a church, us and our families, us as individuals, as we live that.

God, whatever I do, I seek to bring honor to you.

God, I come to you this morning and we praise you.

We love you.

We glorify you.

God, this message of Romans is so clear.

As we give you glory, we give you honor with everything that we do.

God, we seek to do that.

Forgive us when we fail.

Forgive us when we stumble.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for your mercy.

God, I begin to package that theme and apply it in my life, and God, I feel ashamed.

So many failures.

God, your mercy is new today.

So tomorrow, take my head off my pillow.

Whatever I do, God, I seek to honor you.

God, may that be the heartbeat, may that be the challenge, may that be the call of the

church for self-glory as the false teachers have described, self-gratification.

God, this isn't about self.

It's not about us.

It's all about you.

It's all about you, Jesus.

God, we seek to honor you.

Thank you for the gospel.

Thank you for the hope.

God, may we seek to do good, and in that goodness, we realize it all comes from you.

God, we praise you.

God, we love you.

God, thank you for this morning.

God, help us to honor you.

In Jesus' wonderful name.