In the ancient Roman world letter writing was quite common. People traveled much more than we generally think, though travel was by foot or by boat and, perhaps, by horseback. Travel was much slower than today, yet it was quite common. This made letter writing much more feasible as merchants traveled all over and would often carry and deliver mail, as would servants sent specifically for this task. The average personal letter was about 90 words in length while the average literary letter—a letter from an important individual that was published for public consumption—averaged about 200 words in length. The apostle Paul’s shortest letter has 335 words while his average letter was over 1,300 words in length! His letter to the Romans was a whopping 7,114 words long! That’s longer than my longest sermon!

Paul had never met the Roman Christians. He knew several of them from elsewhere, yet he had not planted the churches there, nor did the majority of them know him. Still, he was an apostle and was traveling to Rome and so he wrote a letter to them. Priscilla and Aquila were there and Paul had labored with them in ministry in various places. Surely they gave him the “inside scoop” as to the strengths and weaknesses of the churches in that large city.

There is a lot of scholarly debate over the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. A great many books are still being written about this. One thing is quite clear, however, and that is that the Christians in Rome were at odds with one another. They were divided along ethnic lines, with Jews and Gentiles assembling separately. The population of Rome in the first century was about a million people so it would have been impossible for all the Christians to assemble together every week, so various local churches were established all over the city. These tended to divide along the various lines we see today. One huge area of division was food, specifically, whether or not to eat meat. In a city such as Rome the vast majority of meat markets were connected to temples of various gods and the meat being sold was meat from animals that had been offered in sacrifice. Some Christians understood that nothing is unclean in itself (Romans 14:14) and so they had no problem purchasing and eating such meat while others could not, in good conscience, eat meat they knew had been offered to an idol. Paul clearly sides with those who ate meat yet he warned them to love their brothers and sisters more than food and to abstain from eating meat if it caused the other to stumble. His hope for the myriad Christians in Rome is expressed in chapter 15 of his letter:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

In the great scholarly debate over the purpose of Romans are those who say this is the real reason Paul wrote this letter: to urge them to be united in spite of their ethnic and culinary and cultural differences. They have Jesus in common, therefore they should be able to assemble together—”with one voice”—and worship the Lord.

In this chapter he goes on to tell them this:

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Romans 15:14 ESV

He had received reports from various sources, include Priscilla and Aquila, and though he had never met most of them, he knew them quite well. He is emphatic in declaring their competence in the faith. They know their stuff! They have been taught well and they are even able to instruct one another in the faith. This is high praise from the apostle! Yet the very next thing he writes is this:

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:15–16 ESV

This idea of reminding them carries the idea of reminding them again. They know it, but there is a real need for him to spell out these things they know in great detail for them again. What he is really doing is showing them the implications of what they already know. Theodore of Mopsuestia put it this way:

Paul is telling them that he has not received anything new or wonderful which he is writing to teach them. Rather, he is just reminding them of things they have already learned.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, “Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church”

In other words, he’s not really sharing something new with them—just some things they’ve either forgotten or have not yet worked through the practical implications for them. It is really interesting that these words come after a chapter in which he tells them to love one another even though some are carnivores and some are vegetarians. I know the theological issues behind eating meat and abstaining from meat offered to idols is more significant than mere dietary choices, yet Paul is writing this letter to remind them of the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done, and what it means for them on a very practical level.

He tells them that he has been given the “priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable”. What is this offering? It is the same offering that Jewish Christians offer to God. In chapter 12 he tells all of them to present their “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. Paul functions like a priest in this regard. A significant part of his ministry is helping Christians live as living sacrifices. He’s reminding them again of what they already know, that they might offer every square inch of their existence as a sacrifice to the Lord. How they think about food and how they put others before themselves are directly impacted by the gospel. While Paul has spent considerable time writing about the gospel in this letter—the first eleven chapters!—this is no mere mental or academic exercise, and the gospel is not simply the message that “if you believe this, you go to heaven when you die”.

Paul’s point throughout this letter is that the gospel is the very power of God, and this power of God is used to completely and utterly change us, and that no part of our lives is to be separated from the implications of this truth. After spending eleven chapters explaining the gospel, here is his very first point of application:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

The very first thing Paul says after explaining the gospel in great detail is this: live as if it were true! Let the gospel of Jesus permeate every fiber of your being. Let the truth of Jesus transform your thinking. This renewing of the mind requires that we think of life and this world from the lens that God in Christ through his Spirit is victorious over sin and death. It requires that we see the world and ourselves from God’s perspective, and God isn’t about to let meat and vegetables be a thing that divides the very people for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15)!

It is true that we are both physical and spiritual beings. We have physical bodies with physical needs and we have spirits with spiritual needs, but if we separate these two by thinking that the physical and spiritual needs are not actually intertwined, we miss the importance of the letter to the Romans. We cannot separate the two. We are physical beings united with our spiritual selves, and every last bit of our lives ought to be brought into conformity to the truth of Christ. At the very least, this means how we love one another ought to flow out of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our thinking is what controls our actions. If I understand that God is for me, not against me, that God desires my highest good in any situation, and I can know this because Paul says earlier in Romans that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, then I know that there is nothing good God will withhold from me. If I understand this then I know that whatever obstacles I face in this life, however painful, even if the source of pain is a fellow believer in Jesus, God is working for my highest good. If I truly comprehend the enormity of the good news of Jesus, there is no area of my life that will not be transformed. This will be seen especially in my relationships with others.

The gospel is about God working to completely and utterly transform everything that is, and this transformation begins with you and with me and is seen in how we love one another. It is good to be reminded of this. Again.

In last Sunday’s sermon we saw how God’s real mission and method in the conquest of Jericho is still his mission and method today. While we do not go around declaring cities to be “devoted to destruction” and burning them down after the people flee elsewhere, we saw that God’s real mission was the salvation of many people who were connected to Rahab and that his means of accomplishing this would be through the faithfulness of his people.

It’s interesting that the two spies who had met her were sent into the city to find her and this was after the “battle” had taken place. After “they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword”, Joshua sent the two spies to find Rahab. If this Ancient Near Eastern warfare rhetoric—“with the edge of the sword”—were to be understood as literal slaughter, anyone could have found Rahab and her family: “Just find the only living residents of Jericho and bring them out.” Most of the people in the city survived and most left the city to go elsewhere. It is into this blur of people running to and fro that the two spies have to find Rahab. Only Rahab, however, could identify those who belonged to her—her father and mother, brothers and sisters, cousins and nieces and nephews. Quite a few people were saved because of Rahab, Israel’s first missionary.

As we saw on Sunday, when the Israelites marched around Jericho once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day, this was a culturally relevant way to proclaim something significant, both to those inside the fortress, and to all those who would hear of this: the God of Israel was now here, and the time to worship him is now. Just as the Hittite king would travel with armed soldiers and priests, so the ark of the covenant—the visible throne of the invisible God—traveled with armed soldiers and priests. This royal procession declared that everyone should recognize and worship the one true King, the God of Israel. It was through the faithfulness of his people, the very ones who obeyed him in what appeared to be a silly military strategy, that God would give them the victory. Thus they paraded the goodness of God.

We see a similar parade in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

2 Corinthians 2:14–16a ESV

Paul says that wherever we are, wherever we go, we are being led in triumphal procession. That is, we are being paraded around by God. Notice, however, that we are not the victors in this parade, just as Israel were not the victors in their parade. God is the one who has won the victory in Christ. Paul’s allusion is to the Roman triumphal celebrations in which a victorious Roman general would parade through the city streets with his spoils of war, whether gold or silver or jewels, along with defeated kings and other dignitaries and enemy soldiers in chains. In God’s triumphal procession, we are those defeated, for we once were his enemies. Yet, completely unlike a Roman triumphal procession wherein defeated soldiers were executed at various points along the parade route, we are God’s trophies put on display. Not only are we the vanquished, we are his spoils of war!

Just as God worked through the faithfulness of Israel to give them the land and save Rahab and her extended family, so God works through us to bring about his purposes. Paul says that God spreads “the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere”. We are the fragrance of Christ, for God has rescued us and reconciled us to himself. Paul is clear: whether we’re around those who are also followers of Jesus or we’re around those who do not believe in Jesus, we are the aroma of Christ. To those who love him, we are the fragrance of life, but to those who do not love him, we are the stench of death. What is interesting is that the actual aroma is the same. Our “scent” does not change based on who we are currently around. It doesn’t become pleasant simply because we’re around fellow believers any more than it becomes unpleasant simply because we’re around unbelievers. The aroma stays the same. It is the perception of others that varies. Those who recognize Christ in us as fellow believers love Christ and his people. Those who recognize Christ in us as unbelievers neither love Christ nor his people.

Our role in this is to make sure we are not producing our own odor. We produce our own stench when we pursue idols, seeking to find our identity in something other than Jesus. For many, their unwavering allegiance to either a political party or a politician imparts a distinct aroma. Like the aroma of Christ, some will find this aroma pleasing and others will find it offensive, depending entirely on whether or not they agree. Whether they agree with your political party or not, no one will find the aroma of politics to be a thing that draws them to Christ. Since God’s work in this world is to draw men and women to Christ, unwavering allegiance to a political party is not the work of God.

Whether a person finds his or her identity in politics or power or pleasure or possessions or popularity, this is what that person’s fragrance will be. If you roll around in a pile of rose petals, you’ll take on the fragrance of roses. If you roll around in a pile of dog poo, well, you get the idea. We all recognize that one of these is pleasant and the other is not. Neither of these, however, is the fragrance that God is spreading around the world. As he was doing in the conquest of Canaan, so God is doing in the world today— working to bring salvation to every tribe and language and people and nation and his method for spreading this knowledge of Christ is the faithfulness of his people.

God is at work in this world, spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere, and the very means he uses to accomplish this is us. God is calling us to be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ and him crucified. We must strive to not bear the aroma of a political party or of a sports team or of our own annoying habits. We must strive to bear the aroma of Christ, and this comes about through our faithfulness to him. God’s method of revealing himself to the world hasn’t changed. He still uses the faithfulness of his people, whom he parades around in triumphal procession as trophies of his grace and mercy. If God can claim a guy like me as his own, that’s good news for the entire world.

We all know the Great Commission. Jesus instructed the apostles—and therefore he instructed us—to make disciples by baptizing new believers and by teaching them to obey his commandments. This process is often referred to as discipleship—making disciples. Our mission is not simply to get converts, but to form mature followers of Jesus. This requires that we proclaim the gospel to unbelievers, but it also requires that we proclaim the gospel to believers. The gospel is not simply “how we get to heaven when we die”, but is the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord and is victorious over sin and death. This means all the pain and chaos and suffering of this present world will end one day, and we have a part to play in this by seeking his kingdom above all others. We ourselves must believe the good news of Jesus’ victory. We must recognize that his righteousness has been given to us through faith. We are accepted and beloved by God because of Jesus and what he has done. We are adopted into his family and given a new identity that is rooted in him. This is good news, and this gospel ought to permeate every area of our lives. The process of making disciples is really the process of helping one another see the truth of the gospel infiltrate our thinking.

We often have the idea that discipleship is one-on-one mentoring. Discipleship certainly involves mentoring. We all need that person with more wisdom and experience to walk along with us through the various seasons of life. Discipleship is much bigger than one-on-one mentoring. though. Consider Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

The Roman Christians are to give their whole lives to God as a living sacrifice, as their act of worship. Notice that worship comes before his instructions to not be conformed to the ways of this world, but to be transformed, and notice that this transformation comes through the renewal of their minds, their thought processes and ways of seeing the world. As we saw last Sunday, God calls us to worship and it is through our worship of God that we begin to see things from his perspective. As we worship God we begin to recognize true beauty and we become captivated by it. God is the only one who causes us to increase our desire for him and always satisfy that greater desire. Everything else we pursue, whether money or pleasure or fame and popularity will ultimately fail us. We seek more and more of and more and more from these things, yet these things will always fail us. They will leave us empty and never satisfied. However, when we seek more and more of God, we will always get more and more of God. This is because God is infinite. There is no limit to him. As we pursue him, he gives us more and more of himself. It’s like that scene in the Chronicles of Narnia where Lucy tells Aslan he is bigger. He corrects her and says that as she grows, she will find him bigger and bigger. So it is with God. As we worship him, we become more aware of him, and as we become more aware of him our desire for him grows and as our desire for him grows we worship him more. It’s a never-ending cycle that can never end, because we will never come to the end of God!

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul says this:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Ephesians 4:17 ESV

They must no longer walk like the nations do, for they are now part of God’s holy nation which knows no borders. That nation exists wherever his people are. They should, therefore, act like citizens of his kingdom rather than like all those around them who are citizens of this world. The way the nations walk is “in the futility of their minds”. Their thoughts are corrupted. They don’t think correctly. Paul goes on to say their “understanding is darkened”—they don’t have the light of Jesus. Then he tells the church in Ephesus to put off their old way of life, for they, too, once walked in darkness, and he tells them,

…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

These are the things they were taught: put off your old self, be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self which is created in the likeness of God. Notice how central the renewing of the spirit of their minds is to this. This is what Paul told the Romans! They need to be renewed in their minds. He told the Colossians to set their minds on things above, not on things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2). He doesn’t mean ignore what is going on the world. He means to see the world from God’s perspective. The writer of Hebrews reminds us one of the central promises of the new covenant is that God will put his laws into our minds and will write them on our hearts (Hebrews 10:16). We will be transformed in our thinking.

This is the essence of discipleship: helping one another see the world from God’s perspective. When we see him and we see things from his perspective, the entire world changes. When we see the world as God sees it, our minds are renewed. We can face our childhood traumas head-on. We can face our financial difficulties without flinching. We can await the medical tests without being overcome by fear. We can grieve and lament the loss of a loved one without despairing. We can overcome sin knowing the power of God to save us in this particular moment. We can face our own mortality knowing the power of his resurrection. We can apply for that new job or that promotion knowing that our identity is firmly rooted in who God is. We can live together in unity because love covers a multitude of sins. We can deal with that irritating family member because we recognize God’s incredible patience with us. We can take business risks knowing that God is the one who holds the future in his hands. We can face loneliness and marriage struggles and singleness struggles and parenting struggles and all the stresses of life because God in Christ through his Spirit has given us his church, and his church is the means he uses to renew our minds.

Phil Newton, in his book “The Mentoring Church”, quotes Matt Sliger (whom, he writes, attributes his thought to ideas he gleaned from Jeff Vanderstelt):

If the ultimate goal for a trainer [learner] is to become like his mentor, then one-on-one discipleship is sufficient. However, if the goal for a trainee [learner] is to become like Jesus, then he needs mentoring by Jesus’ body.

Phil Newton, “The Mentoring Church”, p. 126

Discipleship is far bigger than a mere change in behavior. Discipleship is about learning to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. It’s about learning to be like Jesus, who—literally—embodies God. Not a single one of us does this, yet his church embodies Christ. We are the body of Christ and if we are to make disciples—to form fully mature followers of Jesus—we need the entire body. As we point one another the glorious gospel of Jesus, the one who is victorious over sin and death, the one in whom all the promises of God find their Yes, the one in whom we live and move and have our being, the very one who began a good work in us and will be faithful to complete that work, our minds are being renewed. As our minds are renewed for seeing Jesus more clearly, we are transformed from one degree of glory to another—we become more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). It really is about making disciples. Period.

The book of Daniel is an intriguing book. Many know it because of the first half of the book. That’s where we read about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that only Daniel could interpret. That’s where we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace and God protecting them in the midst of the fire. Then Daniel interprets another dream for Nebuchadnezzar. There’s also handwriting on the wall that Daniel is able to interpret. Then through deceit and guile Daniel finds himself thrown into a lions’ den where God protects him, much to the king’s delight. Daniel has a vision of the “Ancient of Days”, an image we’re all familiar with. Then the book gets weird and the childrens’ storybooks stop.

In the second half of the book of Daniel, Daniel is no longer the greater interpreter of dreams and visions. He has great and terrifying visions of things he cannot understand. In chapter 7 after a vision Daniel says his spirit within him was anxious for the vision he had. In chapter 8 the angel Gabriel shows up to explain what Daniel has been shown. And he shows up again in chapter 9. Daniel has more visions that are great and terrifying, and he cannot understand them. Near the end of the book we read these words:

I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.

Daniel 12:8–9 ESV

The book ends with Daniel, the great interpreter of dreams and visions, utterly perplexed and clueless about what was to come. When he pleads for understanding he is told that understanding will have to wait. This was probably a blessing for Daniel, for if he were to understand all that would happen in the future, it may crush him. So it is with us. If we knew all that would happen or the depth of suffering headed our way or the pain tomorrow may bring, how could we face it? Just as much, how can we face today and today’s challenges and struggles? It’s too much!

In chapter 10 Daniel reveals to Cyrus something about a great conflict that was to happen. We read these intriguing words.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.

Daniel 10:2–3 ESV

Daniel’s response to confusion and heartache and suffering was to pray and fast. In this case he was mourning because he saw what was to come and it troubled him. He mourned because of it. Again, it’s a blessing when God does not reveal everything to us! He fasted for three full weeks and spent that time praying. After the three weeks he had another vision. One who looked like a man—an angel—appeared to him and spoke. He told Daniel that he had been sent to him. Then we read one of the most amazing things in all of Scripture.

Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

Daniel 10:12–14 ESV

Did you catch the timing indicated in these words? The angel told Daniel that from the very first day he sought the Lord through prayer and fasting, Daniel was heard by the Lord and from that very first day the Lord sent the angel to him. Then he describes some of the unseen battles that happen in the spiritual realm. The prince of the kingdom of Persia—a demonic being—fought against the angel, preventing him from going to Daniel right away. The battle appears to have been fierce as it lasted twenty-one days. The angel says it wasn’t until Michael, “one of the chief princes”, came to help him that he was able to leave and go to Daniel.

So follow the timeline. Daniel begins praying and fasting, crying out to the Lord. The Lord immediately sends an angel to Daniel but is blocked for twenty-one days. During this Daniel continued praying and fasting for three full weeks. So the angel was involved in a spiritual battle with forces of darkness for twenty-one days while Daniel was engaging in a spiritual battle through praying and fasting for three full weeks—twenty-one days. What would have happened if Daniel had stopped praying on day twenty?

A survey taken a few years ago revealed that more Americans believe in ghosts than believe in demons and nearly twice as many believe in aliens than in demons. The unseen world around is engaged in a battle. As Paul put it in his letter to the Ephesians, we don’t battle against flesh and blood. Our struggle as followers of Jesus is not primarily physical. Our enemies are not other human beings. Our struggle is “against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. The thing is, whether Americans believe in them or not, demons are real and they are powerful. Our response to all this should be Daniel’s response: we must pray and fast, seeking the Lord to fight for us.

We must do what we can. If you’re sick, see a doctor. If your plumbing leaks, call a plumber. If you have electrical trouble, call an electrician. If you have spiritual struggles, however, there is only one to call upon. In chapter 8 Daniel is perplexed about a vision of rising and falling kingdoms and of a king who was to come would be great and powerful—and destructive. Daniel said he was “appalled by the vision and did not understand it” (Daniel 8:27). He had received this encouragement, however:

By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.

Daniel 8:25 ESV

As great and powerful as wicked people may seem, they shall be broken—but by no human hand. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, nor should we wrestle with flesh and blood. The weapons at our disposal cannot be seen or felt. We must wrestle with the forces of darkness as Daniel did, through prayer and fasting. We must seek the Lord and his power, for only he can break the greatest of foes.

Regardless of how spiritually mature you think you are, or how much wisdom you may have gained, or even just how stubborn you may be, the truth is each one of us is overmatched in the spiritual battles we find ourselves in. When we’re being slandered online or we struggle with health problems or with financial problems or our temptation to sin doesn’t last all that long because we didn’t resist all that long or when we hate our jobs and want nothing more than to tell off our boss, we’re overmatched. We deal with these problems in the ways we can, whether seeking spiritual advice or a counselor or avoiding temptations or simply practicing self-control, but at its core, the battle is spiritual. And we cannot win. The promise given to Daniel in this obscure section of his book is this: when the enemy is overwhelming and unstoppable and brings death and destruction and deceit everywhere, know that he will be broken—but by no human hand. When the Lord of heaven and earth fights for us, the battle is over before it even starts.

Our response, our responsibility, is to pray. When we see the overwhelming odds stacked against us, prayer is God’s gift to us through which he unleashes power we cannot even see, to bring about our rescue. We must devote ourselves to prayer. Join us on Sunday mornings an hour before the service. We spend time battling in prayer together. Pray in your City Groups. Pray at home. Pray at work. Pray on the way to work. As Paul said, pray without ceasing. The forces arrayed against us are too big to not pray.