WELCOME
PRAYER
SONG
SILENCE
This is the Christmas week AND this is the last verse by verse teaching through the New Testament – having gone through Romans twice actually.
February 6th 2022. So take the whole month off starting next week through in January – go to some other churches – check them out – and if you’re are so inclined as we will begin our verse by verse through the Old Testament. Why not, huh?
Romans 16.17 – end
December 19th 2021
Okay – So let’s wrap the book of Romans up. In the midst of his benediction to the book and recognizing people important to him by way of introduction Paul inserted the following beginning at verse 17
17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
For the last time, one of the primary purposes of his letter to the church at Rome was to promote peace and love between the Jewish and Gentile converts.
And it appears to have been such a difficulty that Paul (even in signing off) just can’t seem to leave the topic alone.
And so he says “mark those who . . .
“cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
The doctrine that they have just learned in this letter was to say there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – and as a means to stop division in the body “mark those” who, again
“cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
See, Satan, as Peter said, was “a roaring lion, seeking whom he might destroy” because he knew his time was short.
They were given signs, have had an entire epistle written to aid them in unity which is the product of spiritual maturity and a true dedication to peace and Paul is warning them one last time to avoid those who are act contrary to his advice.
Scripture provides two general areas where believers are to “mark” and “avoid” those among them who cause division and offenses among the Church Bride.
The first area I that day is those in unrepentant lives of sin.
I say unrepentant lives of sin because all of us are at some point of nearly every given day hitting upon some sin or another.
The unrepentant sinner’s mind is convinced that his or her sin is acceptable to God – when it’s obviously not.
Paul says something interesting about our associations with such in 1Corinthians 5:9:
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
(in other words in the world you are going to rub shoulders with these types, otherwise you would have to be dead to not)
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? (or what do we have to do with judging those who are of the world and sinful?) do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
In other words, Paul is saying when it comes to the fallen world let such sinners alone. God will judge them and believers would have to be dead to get away from them. But in the church bride, he says to part ways with those who do these things – as a means to protect their influence from infiltrating the flock and maybe as a means to change the minds of the sinful about their actions.
Please remember the setting here and do not make the mistake of literally applying this to the gatherings and groups of people today.
We do not have the ability to really know the repentant from the unrepentant – except in extreme overt cases and even then, things today typically take their natural course.
In our 15 years of doing church as CAMPUS, I have watched many people come and go. I have watched antagonists fade away, seekers remain in peace and love, and the natural tone of agape love take people up and say, “we care for you. Stay. Learn. Discuss. It’s all okay.”
Some can accept this freedom some need more structure – and leave.
In my estimation of scripture we do not have to worry about policing and marking – that was for them/then as they were to be the Lord’s Holy Pure Spotless Bride. It would be really difficult to maintain this advice in a reasonable approach to the faith today – though many have tried.
On the other hand, in the environs of Christian liberty many believe that it is their duty to es
I remember a proud homosexual couple attending here for a while and receiving all the love and acceptance that could be offered but when they began to boast and demand agreement with their mindset and the response was from the group, “we don’t care about that,” it took the air right out of their sails and they moved on – having been loved unconditionally, but unable to influence the commitment we have to faith and love alone.
The other type of person to avoid that scripture points out to THEM THEN, which in my opinion are far more deleterious and difficult to manage, are those who cause offense and schizophrenic division (about) doctrines and practice.
This is who I believe Paul is primarily speaking to here as he says in verse 18 that they, “through fair words and good speeches” deceive the hearts of the simple.
We read in
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
And in 1st Timothy 4:6 Paul adds
“ . . . put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”
Foolish questions, endless genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law . . . in my opinion will divide a body of believers quicker than anything else.
The defense against such in that day was to refuse them, and to admonish them first then reject them.
These practices still go on today in many churches – because it is prescribed in the Apostolic Record, right?
But since we are living in the new testament age of God writing on our hearts and minds, and an age where He has taken his bride and all material demands on the faith are gone, we, again, do not have to worry about policing such.
There’s no need if all people are allowed to believe and practice what they want to believe and practice, right? If we allow the faith to actually exist subjectively instead of trying to demand an objective set of beliefs and practices.
I have seen several people attend CAMPUS and get all riled up – even audibly – over doctrine and practice. But when met with love and acceptance, they choose to depart themselves to other pastures and the need to police them ends.
Because the scripture demands that believers come together of the same mind, we have taken this advice and decided that this means the same views on everything.
I would suggest that the same mind Christians are to share is that of faith and love – and all the rest is set aside IN THE SHARED MINDSET allowing for there to be real peace and unity.
Yes, there are always those who miss the memo and decide to use the gathering time to express their minds on matters that have nothing to do with faith and love and usually have to do with this world, but again, when such are met with loving non-response, non engagement, they realize they are preaching vegetarianism in a steakhouse.
But God wants unity and has directed us to approach the church with a cautious eye on those seeking division.
Paul speaks to this attitude of unity in mind when he writes in 1st Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
(which, I would add, comes in the person of Christ by and through the Holy Spirit).
A great summary of the entire attitude is found in Ephesians 4:2-20 which says:
“With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Then at verse 11 he writes:
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ.”
Within the body, where God wants love and unity, tearing and ripping and avulsions to the body are of the power of the Dark which loves division.
Paul goes on, speaking to the faithful and loving in the church:
19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Now, I want to illustrate why the study of scripture, to the best of our ability, ought to include a reference to original languages.
In the book of Genesis, we read a prophesy (at least in the King James) where God says to Satan:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He (Jesus) will bruise your (Satan’s) head, and you (Satan) shall bruise His heel.
The English word bruise is only used twice in the entire Bible – once in that Genesis passage and once here in Romans.
In the Genesis passage, though it reads bruise in the King James it should read crush.
Then when it is translated here in Romans from the Greek it reads, again, “bruise” (because the King James translators wanted to be consistent with their translation of Genesis) but the Greek word translated to bruise actually means to completely crush and ruin – destroy!
Look it up yourselves – the Greek word is Soon-tree-bo and it is Strong’s Lexicon number 4937.
The difference in English between bruise and crush is substantial! Our child is riding his bike and gets hit by a car and our spouse calls to report it and she said, “he was bruised” verses “he was crushed” make a world of difference.
So, understand clearly what Paul really said here. He said
Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet shortly.
Then to that Greek word translated, shortly. That Satan would be CRUSHED shortly is tachos.
It has one meaning and cannot mean anything else but . . . shortly.
Paul wrote this to them/then, literally and actually, that God would crush Satan shortly.
He was either right or wrong. If right, Satan has been utterly crushed. If wrong, trust nothing else Paul ever said.
So, trust and rely in what I have written you, he seems to say, and the God of peace will crush Satan (who has brought such division among you) under your own feet which stand upon the Rock.
Paul embarks on some more names now, saying
21 Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.
We will be hearing a lot about Timothy in the near future as he was a long companion of Paul’s and Lucius is mentioned in Acts 13:1 though nothing more is known about him.
22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.
Tertius appears to be an amanuensis (or writer) for Paul but we know nothing more about him. (verse 23)
23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.
More men involved in ministry with Paul and mentioned in other places in scripture.
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
And then, another addendum:
25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Remember that these passages were the ones that some versions added between chapter 14 and 15. But it seems like they belong here where Paul concludes by saying Christ will establish you and strengthen you in the Gospel that I preach.
The mystery Paul refers to here is the Gospel (which he says was hid in times prior). This is a biblical answer to weather the Jews of old knew of the Gospel – Paul says no) but (verse 26)
26 But now is made manifest (by the Gospel going out to the whole world), and by the scriptures of the prophets (the Old Testament), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
And He concludes
27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. (Written to the Romans from Corinthus, [and sent by Phebe servant of the church at Cenchrea.)
And the added words are ancillary and not proved or certain. And there we the Letter to the Romans AND the wrap up of our verse by verse through the entire Apostolic Record.
I want to use the remainder of our time and next week to present to you all a summary of what I believe all that we have studied amounts to.
And I want to see if I can illustrate it out on the white board.
OUTLINE
Trees in scripture
Imagery of trees, with roots and branches – new tree – Nation of Isr.
ONBOARD
Seed
Roots
Trunk
Branches
So, let’s talk about this tree.
Roots = Law
Trunk=Lord
Branches = Material Descendants of Jacob/Israel
Writings ended with Malachi and in the LAST chapter of Malachi – which is only six verses long we read at verse 1
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Then we read at verse 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
400 years of silence pass.
Then . . . John the Baptist enters the scene to prepare the way of the Lord. He does this baptizing with water and while doing so the Pharisees come to him in their soft robes and John says:
Mt 3:7 O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
This warning from Malachi and then John, and then Jesus, and then his apostles was fulfilled and the tree branches were cut off (CUT OFF) leaving a stump.
This amounted to the material nation being destroyed and people becoming the Children of Abraham by faith which adopted them into the tree.
All of the former things were completed with Christ having the victory over the Law, sin, death, Satan and hell. The natural branches were cut off and burned in the fire.
And now all that remains (for the whole world to receive and believe) is what has been done – and to receive it by faith.
THE FOREST OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.
To receive all that has been done is to choose, amidst all the trees of the forest of human existence, to rest. To sit down on Him and trust Him to receive you into himself, to engraft and adopt you into the Nation, and to grow you up.
(ADD PERSON ON STUMP)
Those who choose to rest in Him, to sit on all that has been done, do so by faith and this is, of course, the beginning of SPIRITUAL LIVING, caused by spiritual rebirth, which happens when people receive all that He was, is and has done.
Have you ever come up or cut down a tree and left a stump? Its fascinating because after a while a shoot will spring up and out of that stump as a means to bring forth the root system and trunks full potential? In the case of those who choose by faith to sit and rest in the finished work of Christ, we are all waiting for God to engraft us into His Son, into the root system, into true Sons and Daughters of Abraham.
Over time, and through two very specific acts, every individual will be grafted into the stump of Christ. This is a spiritual process, not a material one, and for the graft to be most effective, those resting on him would want to begin to pursue two things – each represented by a leg.
The first pursuit is a from the heart pursuit of . . . LIGHT.
Fundamental to life, existence, creation, perhaps even good and evil, is the notion of light and the absence of light, dark.
Going back to the very first verses of Genesis we read:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Paradoxically, we cannot ignore the fact that describing the fourth day of this creation we read:
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
With this being the case, we might assume that the Light and Dark spoken of in the first verses of Genesis were speaking to light and the dark in a spiritual sense rather than in a physical or literal one.
Just like cold, which is simply the absence of heat, dark is the absence of light.
With God being light, then we might see darkness as the absence of God. It goes without saying then that to grow in truth, being in the Light (or in the power and presence of God) is mandatory
In the material world darkness is typically a breeding ground for what we describe as evil doings, crimes, nightcrawlers, intruders, robberies, and growing mold.
It is no mistake that creatures like rats and cockroaches and other creeping things love the dark and do all they can to stay out of the light.
It is therefore no mistake that in the human experience hiding, secrets, obscurities, lies, false information, snuffing out, deception, evil, murder, misinformation, feigning, and the things like them are akin or synonymous with dark with a capital D.
The Jews knew this relationship with the Dark as God said through them
Psalm 74:20
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Psalm 91:6 speaks of “pestilence that stalks in darkness,” and
And Isaiah 29:15 says
“Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
Scripture ties the dark to ignorance, to failure to comprehend, as Psalm 82:5 reads
They do not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness;
It also ties darkness to tripping, stumbling and falling, as Proverbs 4:19
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
Jesus articulated many things about the Darkness. For instance, to the religious leaders of his day he said in Luke 22:53 when they came to take him:
While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”
He also taught in Matthew 6:22-24
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (then right in line with this teaching he adds)
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
To have an eye single is to have all of your priorities on Him and His will – not on anything else, and when you do, your body is full of light. But try and serve two masters (like God and Mammon) and you will be full of darkness.
Sobering, I know.
Paul added in Ephesians 5:11
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them (with the darkness being personified and capable of producing unfruitful deeds).
How do we expose these unfruitful deeds of darkness? How did God divide the dark in Genesis? By bringing light in!! Shining Him (who called Himself the Light) into every situation. His light will reveal all things!
Paul reminds us of this when he says in Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The way to take darkness out of a room is not to try and cup it in your hands but to turn a light on!
Paul also said in Romans 13:12
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside “the deeds of darkness” and put on “the armor of light.”
John the Beloved talked big about the darkness beginning with 1st John 1:6 when he said:
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
Then in 1st John 2:9
“The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.”
And then adds two verses later
“But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
Earlier in his Gospel, John quotes Jesus as saying:
John 3:19
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
And so it goes with the dark – it always recedes from the light, seeks to obscur, hide, feign, pretend, lie, cover, and do all it can to exist unexposed.
Therefore, it HATES the light.
Jesus seemed to particularly detest religious feigning – which was first manifest among humans in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve made aprons of fig leaves to hide their nakedness.
This imagery is woven throughout the biblical narrative in the words and actions of our Lord, Paul and others.
It is no mistake that in that day Paul said that Satan could “disguise himself as an angel of light.”
Or that Jesus cursed the fig tree covered with many beautiful leaves but bearing no fruit, and that he described the Pharisees as being like whited sepulchers but full of dead, dried bones.”
These are all cases of the dark parading about as light – not a good thing. It caused those religionists to appear as light, but to in reality be black in the heart.
Jesus said something unnerving in Luke 11:35. He said:
“Be careful that the light in you is not darkness.”
He was speaking of the light that never warms, the light that cannot burn or sanitize, a light that does not give life, eternal life, or revel the ways, and will of God.”
Such is a dark, dark light, and it thrives in the hearts of the children of this world, including the worst of them – the religious hypocrites who feign, obscure the truth, hide behind their robes and doors and pulpits but greedily make the lives of others desolate, restricted, dark and hollow.
Contrary to the cold hollow dark, which in my estimation has its fans, friends and inhabitants and will continue to exist in the afterlife realms far outside the New Jerusalem, there are the Sons and Daughters of the Light.
You. You who have taken a place in Christ by faith, who love and seek truth – no matter the cost or price. You who humbly love and serve others.
Commenting on the children of this world and their wisdom here, Jesus said something interesting in the story of the unjust steward in Luke 16:8. He said:
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely, saying: “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
He told his disciples in John 12:36
While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
And Paul, speaking of our past lives in the shadows of dark wrote in Ephesians 5:8:
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Adding in 1st Thessalonians 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
And so to the application – seek the light that warms, illuminates, clarifies, is therefore true, good and holy.
Be the light that says things as they are (unless they are rude and mean); and shine with the light that reveals God, Jesus and your heart to others.
Never ever allow yourself, though we will do sometimes, to obfuscate the light. Be authentic. Say what you really mean, seasoning your words with humility, wisdom and love.
And above all – above all – be honest and forthright with God. Tell him your cares, your fears, your desires, and your faults. Hold nothing back. And bring light into your life – more of it (if its already there), and some of it if you are abiding in the dark, which is powerful. Which has a draw on our carnal fleshly natures but which cannot abide in His Light. The two are mutually exclusive.
In conclusion, the Apostle James said this:
James 1:17 Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Just like God has creatures that abide in the night and thrive in the dark, His Son’s and Daughters are not so equipped.
Choose light.
Be light.
And loving leave the dark to those who love it more than Him.
You might have noticed that The Roots were associated with LAW, and the Trunk with the LORD, and that once the original branches were cut off, we entered into Christian LIVING by the Spirit.
And then perhaps you saw that the First Principle of being engrafted in firmly into Christ is loving, seeking and embracing the LIGHT.
Next week we will wrap this illustration up with three more L words that complete the Tree of Christian Living.
Questions/Comments
Remember!
Next week is the last week before we take a break until Sunday February 6th 2022 where we will embark on a verse by verse through the Old Testament under a brand new brand.
If you want to be a part of the ground floor of that brand, email us with your name, and state or country of residence.
See you next week
PRAYER
