Section 3
15:13 and the last three verses of chapter sixteen which are a melody of praise to God and which should not be neglected. Recently, however, the Holy Spirit brought me into the forest and showed me some of the treasures concealed beneath the shadows cast by the trees. Now I believe that the conclusion is the most precious and valuable section of the entire book of Romans. The prac tical church life is hidden under the shadows of the trees. We may say that the greetings to the individual saints are the trees and that under the trees are the churches as the treasures—the church at Cenchrea, the churches of the nations, the church in the home of Prisca and Aquila, the churches of Christ, and the church which re ceived hospitality from Gaius. Now I want to con sider these hidden treasures in some detail.
THE OFFERING OF THE NATIONS
We need to read 15:16. "That I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, minister ing as a priest the gospel of God, that the offering of the nations might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit." Paul was a minister of Christ, a public servant serving people with Christ, ministering Christ into the Gentile be lievers. He was like a waiter serving people at the