I. The Word: Romans 16:21-24

21 Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.  22 I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

II. Reflection Questions:

1. Did you know that Paul dictated this letter and did not write it literally with his own hand? Does that change anything for you about this letter? Does in explain the flow?

2. Take each phrase or word of verse 24: “grace”, “our”, “Lord Jesus Christ”, “be with you”, and “all”. How does understanding the parts help you understand the sum?

I tried to think of something meritorious or brilliant of my own for these verses, but I was found lacking. All I could hear while reading these verses was a sermon I read on them from Charles Spurgeon. Below is the last point he made on this text I really liked. If you would like to read the whole thing, here is the link. Enjoy this excerpt!

And now as this must serve for my parting word for some little time, let me explain, in the third place, what will be THE RESULT TO YOU IF THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL.
First, there will be a blessed consequence to you Godward. As you have this grace of Christ in you you will love God better, you will seek his face oftener; you will pray with more confidence, and more vehemence. You could not have the grace of Christ without being much in prayer, for this eminently distinguished his character. If you have the grace of Christ you will walk with God, even as he did. Your communion with the Father will be closer then heretofore; it will be less interrupted; it will become thorough. O that I might see a church made up wholly of saints who live in habitual intercourse with God! I know it is not so with all in this church. I know there are many out of our four thousand members who walk with God, but I mourn that there are others who follow afar off. May this affectionately-intended remark raise in each heart the personal enquiry, “Lord, is it I?” And if your hearts condemn any of you, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you most effectually, that you may amend your ways.
The next beneficial effect will extend to your fellow church-members. If you have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you, you will love each other with a pure heart fervently. You will have compassion one towards another. No one will seek his own, but every man his brother’s benefit. Suspicion, harsh judgment, envy, and jealousy will cease. Gossipping and foolish talking will come to an end. Alas! how much these things abound, and what sorrow they cause. When the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with us our speech will be to edification. We shall esteem others better than ourselves. We shall rather see their excellences than their faults, while we shall each strive which can be of most service to the rest. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” By this shall all men know that ye are Christ’s disciples, if ye have love one towards another. May we be mutually enriched in all spiritual gifts and graces by loving communion in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Eighteen years and more have we now dwelt together in union and prosperity, and that this same grace may continue with us through twice another eighteen years, if the Lord spare us so long, is my soul’s most fervent prayer.
Another admirable result will follow towards your families and yourselves. If the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, you will personally be much the happier. Your troubles will sit lightly upon you when grace is fully within you. Your joys will have a mellower taste in them than now when they are seasoned with grace. The family altar will become a reality. The servants will find the house a home, and the children will become children of God, when the master and mistress are filled with the grace of our Lord Jesus. Gracious men are a sure blessing to the neighbourhoods in which they live; the sweet perfume of their family piety will blow out at the doors and windows, and spread a balmy influence around. As trades of an ill savor make a whole district nauseous, so saints, who have the sweet savor of Christ in them, render a region fragrant.
Thus a blessing will flow out to the world which lieth in darkness. If the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us, we shall have all our thoughts and feelings towards sinners materially changed. We shall mourn over them with intense compassion. Parents, you will not be able to look upon your unconverted children as you now do, holy sorrow will mingle with natural pleasure. Ah! he is a fine young man; he is growing up, and is quite his mother’s joy. Mother, if his soul is unsaved, do not so much as look at him without a tear. “Ah!” says the father, “there is my girl—what a lovely creature she is!” Is she converted? If not, think what a fallen creature she is. Employers, if you have grace you will not go into your factories as you have done, and think of the “hands,” but you will have pity on the “souls” therein. Many sensations pass through a man’s mind if he stands at a window in Cheapside and sees the rush of the living river. It strikes me that the flow of our crowded streets is one of the most wonderful sights in the whole world. There go the thousands, tramp, tramp, tramp, on, on, on, without a pause. Thoughtful men watch the stream and calculate this and that, according to the manner of statistics; but the right-minded Christian, contemplating the scene, has this consideration uppermost, “All these are immortal. How many, or how few of them, are on the road to bliss, and how many are heaping up wrath against the day of wrath.” Then will he breathe the prayer involuntarily, “Lord, have mercy upon this guilty city; save the myriads of this modern Nineveh, and let transgressors learn thy ways.” Oh! if the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ were with us, we should, like the Savior, often burst into tears over London, as he did over Jerusalem. We should not trifle, as we now do, with opportunities of doing good. We should speak to ones and twos if we could reach no more, and Jesus’ love would be our theme.
Time compels me to cease, but ere I leave you, my beloved flock, I solemnly pronounce this benediction upon you:—”The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” And my heart says, Amen, Amen, Amen.

 

“God help us to have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in every cell of our bodies! Make in us a mind that is set of your grace going to all people! Equip our emotions with the capacity to have joy and peace in the midst of joylessness and stressful people! Give us the eyes to see people as immortal, and to see their burdens as our calling! Holy Spirit, please fill us with your power to love unlovely people, to die for dead people, and to give up all we own and follow Jesus! I ask all this is the risen name of Jesus. Amen.”