Vs 1- 7 – The Reality of the Gospel – Confidence of Paul
Vs 8-17 – The Results of the Gospel – Converts at Rome
Vs 17-32 – Requirement for the Gospel – Condition of Fallen Humanity
Vs 1- 7 – The Reality of the Gospel – Confidence of Paul
Don't need to understand everything
Our faith doesn't lie in the fact that we have answers to all of the possible questions that could be asked but rather our faith is founded upon certainties, we at the moment see through a glass darkly.
Vs 8-17 – The Results of the Gospel – Converts at Rome
We all need encouragement to keep going especially in gospel work
The results of the gospel at the heart of the Roman empire spurned Paul on.
Vs 17-32 – Requirement for the Gospel – Condition of Fallen Humanity
Why do we need the gospel?
Because we are in a terrible state!
Vs 8-17 – The Results of the Gospel – Converts at Rome
Pauls Prayers (v8-10)
Pauls Purpose (v11-14)
Pauls Preaching (v15,16)
Consider the same pattern in Colossians 4:2,3 of prayer and purpose and preaching.
Consider Acts 1:14,21 – Prayer and then Acts 2 Preaching
Why the priority of prayer? Consider the following scriptures:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. “ (John 6:44)
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Rom 9:16)
If we are serious about evangelism – start with prayer!
One of the greatest blessing God can give us is failure, failure in our own strength that we might turn yo Him for strength!
Consider the pattern of failure followed by faith in:
Abraham (Gen 12) down into Egypt but once up and out of Egypt he gets back to the altar and then rescues Lot
Moses – attempts to deliver the nation in his own strength in Exodus 2 only to then fail and to return to God in Exodus 3:11,14 for His strength
Gideon (Judges 6+7) against a back drop of failure in the nation and repression under the Midianites.
Samson (Judges 16) his greatest victory after his greatest failure
Joshua (Josh 7+8) – The nations failure at Ai followed by success.
Pauls Prayers (v8-10)
Note the 3 different kind of prayers here:
v8 – Thanksgiving
v9 – Intercession
v10 – Request / Supplication
v8 – Thanksgiving
v9 – Intercession – on behalf of others, perhaps others who are unable or unwilling to pray for themselves?
v10 – Request / Supplication
Pauls Purpose (v11-14)
“For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;” (Rom 1:11)
Pauls Preaching (v15,16)
v8 – A Faith Worth Speaking About
v9 – A God Worth Serving
v9-10 – People Worth Praying For
v11-12 – A Gift worth Giving
v8 – A Faith Worth Speaking About: Proven Conversion
Does our testimony talk?
Not so much do we talk? We need to of course, but more importantly does our testimony talk?
“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”(2Pe 2:5)
When did Noah preach? Did he actually preach as we would think of it? We don't know but what we do know for certain from the book of Genesis is that he lived out the reality of His relationship with the Lord.
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”(Gen 6:8)
“Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” (Gen 6:22)
Was Noah's life his sermon?
Was he a living message?
Does our testimony talk?
Does our Gospel get Gossiped?
Does our salvation speak?
Lives changed by the power of the Spirit of God by faith in the Son of God for the Glory of God is part and parcel of the NT means of evangelism, cf. 1Thess1:8.
Once a person has been truly converted and led to Christ they take on a spiritual life independent of the person who led them to the Saviour.
Like a child – nurtured and fed but ultimately independent of the parents, a distinct individual with a life of his own.
Christianity is not Guru based nor Imam based nor Rabbi based it is centred upon Christ!
They were a source of praise not a source of problems!
Consider the time the gospel hit the world.
Much of the civilised and populated world was able to speak Latin / Greek: Israel, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, France and Britain.
Therefore: “your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world”
The conversion of the Romans not due to Paul nor to man: “thank my God” and “through Jesus Christ.”
v9 – A God Worth Serving: Passionate Commitment
I emphasise the word “worth” - there is much I could serve with my life but it is not “worth” serving!
Illust: Santa Pola, boys making sand castles, then elderly chap, huge sand castle, moats, turrets, bricks, men, steps, the lot, tremendous but just till the next tide!
Is what I am serving worth serving?
It doesn't matter how big the sandcastle is, it is just a sandcastle and it goes with the next tide! In fact the paradox was the bigger and grander the sandcastle the greater the folly in investing time and talents and treasures in it!
Why is it that when men are presented with something transient and trivial it is so often pursued with such energy and enthusiasm: sports, football teams, pop idols, hobbies and yet when presented with the God, the person of Christ and salvation they treat the things of God with mediocrity and half heartedness!
“with my spirit”
Not with “eye service as men pleasers” (Eph6:6)
Not to please “itching ears” (2Tim4:3)
An all or nothing service!
Don't mess about!
God takes service personally!
God takes a snub personally!
God takes mediocrity personally!
For the gospel is the “gospel of His Son”
It's not just; 'the meeting' nor 'prayer' nor 'hearing the preacher'
It is the “gospel of His Son”
Today we have: 'gospel meetings' and 'gospel preachers' and 'gospel efforts' and 'gospel hymn books' and 'gospel halls' but do I have a 'gospel heart'?
v9-10 – People Worth Praying For: Prayerful Concern
If they are worth praying for then they are worth keeping praying for (v9b)
Your best friends are the ones that pray for you.
A 3 fold prayer:
v8 – Thanksgiving – praise and rejoicing
v9 – Intercession
v10 – Request
The great advancement in the gospel in the NT days was linked with a great burden in prayer, consider 1 Thess, begins with prayer, ends in prayer and in the middle there is a prayer (1Thess1:2; 3:10; 5:17).
Do we ever think at times that some don't need our prayers?
Perhaps they need them most: “brethren pray for us,” (1Thess 5:25; 2Thess3:1)
v11-12 – A Gift worth Giving: Prosperous Journey
Cf. Rom12:6 – variety of gifts that he could have imparted
It is easy to abuse communications and fellowship
2 Thess 3 and 1 Tim 5:13 – warns of gossiping and unprofitable visiting
There is a possible profitable use of our time and communications – to build one another up.
Not a gossipy nor a social thing, Paul's vision is much higher than that!
To 'establish' them (v11)!
Ought to make it our ambition / goal to: 'encourage,' 'help,' and to 'lift up,' someone today!
We need to be spiritually in tune for this task: “mutual faith.”
Visiting others when we are away from the Lord will generally not be a source of spiritual uplift to anyone! We may prove more of a hindrance!
The believer ought not to be someone who:
'Gives a piece of my mind' – rather ought to be one who brings the gospel of peace (Rom10:15; Isa 52:7)
'Tear a strip off of...' - Rather build up and establish us (Rom1:11; 14:20)
Not so much insisting on his rights as bearing others wrongs – Rom 15:1-3
'Sort them out...tell them a few home truths' – Not for us to be judging our brothers conscience nor his weaknesses (Rom14:12), the assembly is bound by God of course to judge His sins (Rom14:13)
The Roman epistle begins with the attitude of a spiritual man and ends by examining the attitude of the unspiritual man.
Examine your motives / words / attitude of heart – is it of the flesh? Of the Spirit?
Never underestimate the importance of an encouraging / building up ministry (1Co12:28).
Where are we going?
What are we doing?
Living with a purpose?
Gods purposes are not always the same as our plans (v13).
It is “by the will of God” (v10)
God has a definite agenda with evangelism (Acts 8:29; Acts 10:19; 16:7)
Paul hindered in his coming to Rome by the gospel work elsewhere (Rom15:22)
Notes from our bible study teaching series of messages preached systematically, verse by verse, through Paul's letter to the Romans. Free to download audio mp3 recordings of this sermon and other sermons are available at the end of this blog and on the website page.
Yours by Grace in Christ
Dr J Stewart Gillespie