11 For I have a strong desire to see you, and to give you some grace of the spirit, so that you may be made strong;
But now, having no longer any place in these parts and having had for a number of years a great desire to come to you,
Now to him who is able to make you strong in agreement with the good news which I gave you and the preaching of Jesus Christ, in the light of the revelation of that secret which has been kept through times eternal,
And when Paul had put his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they had the power of talking in tongues, and acting like prophets.
Who, when they came there, made prayer for them, that the Holy Spirit might be given to them: For up to that time he had not come on any of them; only baptism had been given to them in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they put their hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying, Give me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy Spirit.
For this reason, my loved ones, having knowledge of these things before they take place, take care that you are not turned away by the error of the uncontrolled, so falling from your true faith. But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever. So be it.
For this reason I will be ready at all times to keep your memory of these things awake, though you have the knowledge of them now and are well based in your present faith.
And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;
Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.
Give you comfort and strength in every good work and word.
So that your hearts may be strong and free from all sin before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Because his heart was with you all, and he was greatly troubled because you had news that he was ill:
For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.
For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men. (Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth? He who went down is the same who went up far over all the heavens so that he might make all things complete.) And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching; For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:
Give me an answer to this one question, Did the Spirit come to you through the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? having made a start in the Spirit, will you now be made complete in the flesh? Did you undergo such a number of things to no purpose? if it is in fact to no purpose. He who gives you the Spirit, and does works of power among you, is it by the works of law, or by the hearing of faith?
For if anyone comes preaching another Jesus from the one whose preachers we are, or if you have got a different spirit, or a different sort of good news from those which came to you, how well you put up with these things.
Now he who makes our faith strong together with you, in Christ, and has given us of his grace, is God;
But about the things of the spirit, my brothers, it is not right for you to be without teaching. You are conscious that when you were Gentiles, in whatever way you were guided, you went after images without voice or power. So it is my desire for you to be clear about this; that no one is able to say by the Spirit of God that Jesus is cursed; and no one is able to say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. Now there are different qualities given to men, but the same Spirit. And there are different sorts of servants, but the same Lord. And there are different operations, but the same God, who is working all things in all. But to every man some form of the Spirit's working is given for the common good. For to one are given words of wisdom through the Spirit; and to another words of knowledge through the same Spirit: To another faith in the same Spirit; and to another the power of taking away disease, by the one Spirit; And to another the power of working wonders; and to another the prophet's word; and to another the power of testing spirits; to another different sorts of tongues; and to another the power of making clear the sense of the tongues: But all these are the operations of the one and the same Spirit, giving to every man separately as his pleasure is.
Now after these things were ended, Paul came to a decision that when he had gone through Macedonia and Achaia he would go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I have a desire to see Rome.
So the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased in number every day.
And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you.
And the heart of David was wasted with desire for Absalom: for he was comforted for the death of Amnon.
And now, it seems, you are going because your heart's desire is for your father's house; but why have you taken my gods?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 1
Commentary on Romans 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
In this chapter we may observe,
Rom 1:1-7
In this paragraph we have,
Rom 1:8-15
We may here observe,
Rom 1:16-18
Paul here enters upon a large discourse of justification, in the latter part of this chapter laying down his thesis, and, in order to the proof of it, describing the deplorable condition of the Gentile world. His transition is very handsome, and like an orator: he was ready to preach the gospel at Rome, though a place where the gospel was run down by those that called themselves the wits; for, saith he, I am not ashamed of it, v. 16. There is a great deal in the gospel which such a man as Paul might be tempted to be ashamed of, especially that he whose gospel it is was a man hanged upon a tree, that the doctrine of it was plain, had little in it to set it off among scholars, the professors of it were mean and despised, and every where spoken against; yet Paul was not ashamed to own it. I reckon him a Christian indeed that is neither ashamed of the gospel nor a shame to it. The reason of this bold profession, taken from the nature and excellency of the gospel, introduces his dissertation.
Rom 1:19-32
In this last part of the chapter the apostle applies what he had said particularly to the Gentile world, in which we may observe,
Now lay all this together, and then say whether the Gentile world, lying under so much guilt and corruption, could be justified before God by any works of their own.