A Great Doxology - Part 1

In Romans 16:21-27, Pastor Gordon reconstructs the emotional closing scene of the epistle, with Paul and his companions gathered in Corinth for the last time before Paul departs for Jerusalem, where chains and suffering await him. Rather than ending with a simple benediction, Paul breaks into doxology, praising God as the one who is able to strengthen and establish believers amid uncertainty, change, and painful goodbyes. The sermon emphasizes that God's power to keep his people is not found in dramatic experiences or new ideas, but through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which bookends the entire book of Romans. Just as Romans opens with the declaration that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, it closes with the assurance that this same gospel is the means by which God upholds and preserves his people in every trial. Christians facing an uncertain future can respond as Paul did, not with anxiety, but with praise, trusting that God alone is committed to establishing them to the end through his glorious gospel.