Paul s Personal Interest: Romans 1:8-15 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Introduction (1:8 15) We are engaged in an expository study of the book of Romans. o In the first lesson we talked about the author of the letter, the apostle Paul, and the circumstances under which the letter was written. Next we covered the first seven verses of the first chapter, o which encompassed Paul s salutation to the Romans. In those seven verses Paul introduced to us the major themes o that would be used during the whole of the letter. That brings us to today's passage which introduces Paul s personal interest in the Roman church. o This passage will give us some insight into Paul s passion for the church and his burden for the lost. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Paul now explains his purpose for writing. o He starts with his interest in the Roman church and his great desire to visit them. As with most of his epistles, o he included a thanksgiving and a prayer.
He first offered thanksgiving to God o for the good report throughout the world of their faith. Rome is the central city of the empire o and the reports of the growth o of the Christian church in Rome o have gone forth everywhere. What a tremendous testimony for the church in Rome. o Their faith, their Christianity, is spoken of throughout the world, not just the church world but throughout the secular world too. The world noticed what was happening in Rome. o People saw something transpiring there that was noteworthy, lives were being changed, people were being transformed, the very culture of Rome was being impacted by this church. Notice that the church wasn t known for its programs, o they weren t known for their social efforts, o they weren t known for the many ministries of the church they were known for their faith! I have no doubt that the church in Rome o ministered to the poor and needy of their day. I have no doubt that they had a large variety of things o that they did to benefit the citizens of Rome. But it is remarkable that people around the world o are speaking about their faith. The world has taken notice of their Christianity. o The word faith here refers to their body of beliefs. o Their doctrine. o The faith that was once delivered to the saints. o The world is talking, throughout the Roman empire about this radical new church in Rome. o And its not bad press either. o Paul is thankful for the attention that this church is getting. That sounds like the kind of church that I want to be a part of. o A church that is known for the genuineness of what it believes. What we have is real. The power of the Holy Ghost is genuine. o There is power, here, to change lives. There is power, here, to set those that are bound free.
There is power, here, to mend the broken heart. We are known for a lot of things o but what we should be known for is the fact that this is a soul saving station; this is a place where people can get their lives back on track. Above all else, that s what we should be known for! o Above all else, this city, this region, our world o should know that there is a real, o genuine, authentic apostolic church in Lake City! o Let it be noised abroad that Jesus is in the house! That kind of report rises from revival. o That kind of report rises from the fire of a sovereign move of God. The good reputation of that Roman church o came from the fact that they were having a spiritual impact on their world. Let the same be said of us! o Let revival fires burn. o Let the anointing of God permeate everything this church does. By the grace of God, o let s not ever settle for ordinary church and business as usual. Let us strive for genuine apostolic revival! o Perhaps one day it will be said of this church, o somewhere in eternity, that it was noised abroad, far and wide, that Jesus was in the house! I thank my God through Jesus Christ. Just as God offered grace through Christ, o so Paul offered thanks to God through Christ. Christ is the mediator between God and man. o According to Robertson s Word Pictures the word through conveys that idea of mediator. The word literally refers to a conduit. o Paul directs his thanks towards God, through Jesus Christ. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
For God is my witness. After his thanksgiving, o Paul assured the Romans of his great burden for them as demonstrated by his prayer on their behalf. God could bear witness o that he prayed unceasingly for the Roman believers. Oh my, What about us? Can we say the same? o You can fool a lot of people about your prayer life but what if God was called to give witness? o Would He testify that you, like Paul, pray without ceasing? If we want to be the kind of church that we were just talking about Then we must be a people of prayer! That is where the life changing anointing flows from o There are a couple of things to note here about prayer. First of all, this passage is a powerful witness to the importance of intercessory prayer. o Although Paul had never met the Roman believers, he deemed it important and worthwhile to pray for them constantly. There is power in prayer. o It can go anywhere God can go. o It can do anything that God can do. There are no limits to prayer. o If we fail to pray we cut ourselves off from one of the greatest weapons that God has ever given us. Paul obviously believed in the power of prayer o to go where he had never been. He prayed for the church in Rome, o though he had never been there. We should be just as vigilant in our prayers. o There are missionaries in foreign countries where you and I may never visit, o but when we pray, we have the power and authority to have an impact on their world! There are circumstances that are beyond our control, o we can t influence them, o we can t change them,
o We cant do anything about them, but our prayers can! Secondly, there is some scriptural basis here for prayer lists. o Paul always mentioned the Romans when he prayed. That implies that he was somewhat disciplined about his approach to prayer. It wasn t just a haphazard affair o where he prayed about whatever happened to pop into his head. If that were the case, o one would have to reason o that he would have, occasionally, o failed to mention the Romans. Yet, he always prayed for them. There is nothing wrong with maintaining a prayer list. o If you take the time to become disciplined, not just about your prayer time but also about the things you pray about, you will never regret it. o Paul can say with confidence that God knows that he never fails to pray and he never fails to mention the Romans in his prayers. o That, my friend, is a remarkable thing. Whom I serve in the spirit. Paul served God in spirit, o implying service of the whole man o and not just the body or soul only. He did not serve God merely from the human personality o but from the innermost depths o of his spiritual being. Adam Clark "Paul probably opposes, here, spiritual service to external service. o The Jewish service to God was carnal but his was spiritual. o He is saying my religion is not a religion of ceremonies o but one in which the life and power of the spirit is acknowledged and experienced. This service unto God is a spiritual service that affects my whole being. o Not just a carnal service that is empty and hollow. Let us strive to serve God spiritually. o Too many are serving him carnally. o In ceremonies and traditions.
o Stir up the gift! In the gospel of His son. Paul served God in the gospel of His Son. o David Bernard writes about this verse: o The only way we can truly serve God today is by obeying and spreading the gospel of His Son the good news that God came in flesh as the Son o and that the Son died for the sins of the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the death burial and resurrection o as signified by repentance, baptism in Jesus Name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. 10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. By the will of God. At the time of this letter, o Paul was praying that by God s will he could somehow come to Rome. This demonstrates not only the importance of prayer, o but the importance of praying for the will of God. All prayer should be subject to the condition, o Your kingdom come. o Your will be done o on earth as it is in heaven. All plans should be subject o to the condition of the Lord s will. Paul wanted, fervently, to go to Rome and then to Spain o but Paul was an humble servant of God, and he recognized that his future was in God s hands. It mattered not what Paul wanted, o it mattered what God's will was. We should live our lives in the same manner. o Let us strive to walk in the will of God in everything we do! 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Verses 11 and 12 go together.
We learn in verse 11 o that Paul desired to visit the Roman church to impart some spiritual gift. o The spiritual gift that he wanted to impart was a fuller understanding of truth. o This spiritual gift will help establish them in the truth. Verse 12 starts with the phrase That is o which is a grammatical tool to introduce further explanation of the previous verse. o Instead of just saying that he had a spiritual gift for them, Paul wanted to clarify that they also have one for him. o He desires to be blessed by them, even as he desires to bless them. Their mutual faith would encourage each other. We need Christian fellowship. We need the blessing of communion o with those of like precious faith. In many ways, Christianity is about community. o Together we encourage one another. o Together we strive to make heaven our home. o Together we comfort one another in the hardships and trials of this life. Paul recognizes this and has a great respect for it. o He wants to make sure the readers of his letter understand that his visit isn t just about what he will impart to them, it is about what he will receive from them as well. It could have been tempting for Paul to assume, o on the basis of his status as an apostle, that he had much to give but little to receive. Paul was wiser than that. o Not only was he humble in his service toward God, but he was also humble toward those to whom he preached. Despite his great wisdom, experience, and apostolic calling, o he did not treat them o as being beneath him in any way. He believed that he and they could mutually encourage each other. o Paul recognized the blessing of Christian fellowship
and, even more than that, he wasn t too proud to acknowledge his need of it. We take great pride in being autonomous. o We take great pride in being self-sufficient. But if we aren t careful, o our pride will cut us off from one of the greatest resources that God has provided us with. o Paul needed it. If Paul needed it, you need it! We need each other. o We need the fellowship of the body of Christ. o We need the comfort of community. It is a resource that we can t find anywhere else! o You get something here, that you can t get anywhere else. That s why it worries your pastor o when you fall into the habit of casually missing church. You need this! I need this. We all need this. We are comforted by our mutual faith. 13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. Paul used one of his favorite expressions to start this passage: o I do not want you to be unaware o or I would not have you ignorant. The thing that he wanted them to know o was that he had often planned to visit Rome but had been hindered. Thats what "let hitherto" means His motive for wanting to visit the Romans was simple. o As the apostle to the Gentiles, he wanted spiritual fruit in this foremost of Gentile cities just as he had in other Gentile areas.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. Paul labors under a great obligation o to preach the gospel to all mankind. He considered his ministry o as not just the impartation of a gift, but as the payment of a debt. A debt is compulsory. o You are obligated to satisfy it. Paul sees himself as a debtor to the gospel. o He is compelled to reach the lost. What a powerful idea. o We received grace that we did not deserve. We owed a debt that we could not pay and Jesus paid that debt for us. Now we owe a debt to the gospel of Jesus Christ. o We owe it to the whole world, to share this wonderful truth with them! By mentioning both Greeks and Barbarians, Paul includes everyone. o To the Greeks everyone else was a Barbarian. The inclusion of both Greeks and Barbarians encompasses the whole world. As does the wise and the unwise. No one is excluded. o Paul is a debtor to everyman to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Because of his intense God-given burden o to preach to the entire world, Paul was ready with everything in him to preach in Rome. He eagerly desired to witness in the capital o and the largest city of Paul s world, people from all across the world lived in Rome. For someone who had a worldwide burden, o this multinational city had an irresistible attraction to Paul.
As much as in me is. Paul is saying that o everything in me desires to preach the gospel! The preaching of the gospel is in his blood, o and he cannot refrain from it. He is never off duty. o He must constantly be at it, o persistently discharging a little more of his debt to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Close There is a contrast of sorts o between verses 14 and 15. In verse 14 Paul presents his burden to the ministry as a duty, o as something that he is obligated to do. One would look at a duty as a compulsion o as something that is not born of desire but is born of necessity. However, in verse 15 we see Paul s attitude toward his obligation. o Instead of considering it a burden he must bear, a duty he must carry out, o he is eager to fulfill it. He is ready, o with everything that is within him, to preach the gospel. He desires the opportunity to preach the gospel. o He is yearning for the chance... The prophet Jeremiah said that the word of God o was like a fire shut up in his bones. It was impossible to deny, it was impossible to ignore, and he was compelled to share the word that God had given him. Paul, too, was duty bound to preach the gospel o but, like Jeremiah, it was a duty that he embraced with passion. o He is eager to go, eager to share the gospel, eager to preach to anyone
who will hear the saving message of Jesus Christ. Stand The question for us, this morning, is simple: How could we be any less faithful to gospel of Jesus Christ? o We too have been saved by the incredible grace of God. We didn t deserve it any more than Paul deserved it. o We are just as much debtors to the gospel as Paul was and we too should feel compelled to reach our world with the gospel. We ought to be just as eager as Paul was o to reach someone, o to tell someone, o to share what God has done in our lives. This is our primary calling. o This is why we were born into the family of God. Our commission is to go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations! This is what you were saved for. I believe that herein lies the key to understanding how you are serving God. o Do you serve him in the spirit? o Or do you serve him in vain tradition? o The spirit will compell you to reach your world. o Tradition will be content to go thru the motions while the world slips into eternity. o The spirit will drive you to prayer. o Tradition will drive you to ceremony. The gauge, today, is your passion for the lost. o That is spirit driven. o Perhaps we need to find a place of prayer this morning o And stir up the spirit. o Perhaps we need to pray until we are seized by the same passion that seized Paul.