According to the Commandment – Romans 16:25-27

 Some of you may be wishing that I’d hurry up and finish this study of Romans. For whatever reason – good or bad – you want to move on, and I understand. But you need to understand that I feel somewhat like a parent. For 18 or 20 years I have been raising this child; he’s gone from 8 pounds to 180 pounds. He was a little more than a foot long, and now he’s over 6 feet long. He once knew nothing at all, and now he is smarter than I am. I have poured blood, sweat and tears into his development. Now he’s just about ready to leave home to start a life on his own, but I don’t want him to go. Yes, there are 65 other children in the family, but this one is the oldest and the next to leave home. I don’t want him to go. For two years we have spent every Sunday looking at one significant scripture after another. That’s about 112 Sundays – 228 messages. I have grown accustomed to this book, and my Bible seems to open automatically to it.

As silly as that might have sounded, this may sound even more silly to you. If the Lord moved me to another church, and then impressed me to preach again from the Book of Romans. I could probably prepare another message to add to every one that I have already preached. By that I mean that there is so much that has been left unsaid. This is our fifth message from these three verses, and we could probably have at least another five – but we won’t.

I won’t keep you long this afternoon, but to show you what I mean what I just said. Let’s just think about the words “according to the commandment of the everlasting God” here in verse 26. Those words say one specific thing, and it’s our first duty to try to discover that message. But then there are also doors opened by these words to other related subjects.

What does Paul mean by his reference to this COMMANDMENT?You’ve heard the old saying, “The man who has one clock, knows what time it is, but the man who has two clocks never knows for sure.” That is because those two clocks very rarely agree. There is a similar situation in my library – where I usually have three clocks, one watch, and lots of books. I have more commentaries on Romans than I have on any other book of the Bible. And 9 times out of 10 when it comes to a matter of interpretation, I refuse to look at all of them. Like all those clocks, they don’t give me the same time. I should throw all but the most trust-worthy out, but unfortunately some of them are in my computer. Let’s just say that there is some disagreement among the self-proclaimed experts on what Paul is saying in this clause. But once again, let me explain to you what I think that he is saying.

Paul was a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That gospel is the means by which God saves and then establishes His saints. That gospel was in times past a mystery and confusing even to the prophets who delivered it to Israel. But now, since the crucifixion, that mystery has been revealed, and by the command of God, it is to be preached to the peoples of all nations, in order that they might believe and be saved. On this occasion, I did look at well over a dozen of my commentaries, and the majority rightly interpret this commandment to be the commission preach the gospel to all creatures. What Paul said was that God has ordained that the gospel be given to the people of Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, London, Paris, Hanoi, Peking, Post Falls and everywhere in between.

Now, remember once again – we are looking at the last verses of the Book of Romans. The last words in any book may be as important or impressive as the very first words. And the closing words of the books of the Bible are like that. What are the last words of the Book of Matthew? “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” What are the last words of the second book of the New Testament – the Book of Mark? “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” We could read some of the last words of Luke and find the same sort of message. “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” How does the Book of Acts conclude? “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”

These are just a few examples. Perhaps the most important theme of the Book of Acts is evangelism. And the book closes with that theme. I Thessalonians opens with Paul’s praise of those people for their evangelism. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad…” Paul’s message to Timothy and Titus was – live clean lives, so that you can “preach the Word….”

Brethren, evangelism is supposed to be toward the peak of our Christian agenda for the glory of God. We are to be witnesses unto Christ; we are to preach the gospel; we are to share the Lord Jesus. And here Paul says that it is the command of everlasting God. Aren’t we living in disobedience, if this responsibility is not heavy upon our hearts? Aren’t we being rebellious if we aren’t supporting missions and witnessing to our neighbors about the Saviour? I know all the excuses against this – because I have tried them all myself. But there is not one excuse that will not explode in flames when we stand before the Bema – the Judgment Seat of Christ.

It is the command of God that the gospel is to be made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.

This is what Paul says here, but his words open the door to several other important doctrines.For example, not only is evangelism the command of God, but as some of the commentaries prefer to say, this command of God was from eternity past. Not only is evangelism the command of God from before the foundation of the world, but so is each and every aspect of the salvation of souls. In eternity past, it was the unfathomable will of God to permit sin, when that was not something necessary. It was not the will of the Lord to destroy the first sinners, but to permit them to go and multiply filling the world with millions and billions of sinners just like themselves. And even though God could have permitted every last one of those sinners to be cast into Hell – no, He chose to save an innumerable company. So He decreed, or you might say, “He commanded” to save specific wicked and undeserving souls. And He decreed that His own begotten Son should die on the Cross of Calvary bearing the sins of those wicked people. He commissioned and commanded that they be told about what Christ did – the gospel. This “commandment of the everlasting God” could be made to include, not just evangelism, but the whole counsel of God which leads up to evangelism. There could be an entire message, or series of messages, on this subject.

And then there is that wonderful word “everlasting” – which could lead to another sermon. I hope that you don’t have any problem with understanding this word. It should be simple enough for any 6-year-old to grasp – God is eternal – He has always been and He always will be. God was not born, and He will not die – He cannot die – it is impossible. I’m not saying that the principle is easy – it must be believed, even though not necessarily completely understood. But the word is easily understood – “everlasting” means “lasting for ever.” Oh, but if someone refuses to believe the obvious, there is always room for debate – and sin.

“Aionios” (ahee-o’-nee-os) comes from the root word “aion” (ahee-ohn’). Unbelievers like the Jehovah’s Witnesses use aion (ahee-ohn’) to try to say that eternal hell, is of a limited duration. They sometimes even point to my King James Bible and correctly say that 71 times it is translated “ever” but 38 times merely as “world.” Some of them will then say that aion (ahee-ohn) lasts for the imprecise period of “an age.” I have had those people try to use their misunderstanding of the word to argue that there is no such thing as the Lake of Fire as we believe it to be. Ah, poor fools, if they are going to say that, then they are going to also have to say that Heaven is temporary and even God will live only for “an age.” Romans 1:20 – “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” Genesis 21:33 – “And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.” Deuteronomy 33:27 – “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” I Timothy 1:17 – “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I’ll conclude this point with Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Not only is our God eternal, but he is eternally unchangeable. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Also this reference to Hebrew 13:8 and the Lord Jesus takes us to another theme in Romans 16:26. It was the commandment of the everlasting God that the gospel be preached among all nations. Who is the speaker and commander in Matthew 28:19-20 which I quoted earlier? “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Who is the commissioner in Mark 16? “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Who was it who spoke to the disciples in Acts 1? “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Who was it who spoke to Paul shortly after his conversion and commissioned him to carry the gospel to the heathen nations? Without neglecting the will of the entire God-head, it was the Lord Jesus that we hear giving us the commission to evangelize the world. And by implication we have what I believe is a testimony of the deity of Christ – He is the everlasting God.

As I perused those books in my library on Friday, there was a comment made in one, which was unique. The title of the book is “A Hebrew Christian looks at Romans,” and it was written by Sanford C. Mills. Even though it wasn’t corroborated or repeated by anyone else, I think that the man made a good point. “According to the commandment of the everlasting God” “To this writer these words reveal the true source of divine inspiration. ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God”… “but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ “The plan and program of salvation is not something new that God brought to pass because an emergency had to be met. It is an eternal plan (See Ephesians 1:4; I Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8). It is all centered in God’s eternal Son.” The gospel was shared with us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The commission to preach the gospel was given by the inspiration of the Spirit. The Book of Romans was given by God’s holy man, through the Spirit.

Then Mr. Mills concluded his comments on verse 26 quite appropriately, and I will use his conclusion as mine. “Have you accepted God’s eternal Son? To know Him is to love Him, and (to) be loved by Him for ever.” Have YOU accepted God’s eternal Son as your Lord and Saviour?