Turn with me to Romans 15. Romans 15. The Apostle Paul. Thankful for the manifold blessings
of Almighty God upon the church of Rome. He expressed a great desire for
that assembly. It is what we looked at last
week in verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. God Almighty who is the author of our grounded hope, who is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember, hope is future. Faith is now. that in that day, as Job says, with these eyes I'm going to
see Him. There's coming a time when you'll look on Him. You'll
see Him. You'll look on Him. And you'll know Him. That's hope. reveals our hope. Faith is the evidence. It's the substance of things
not seen. Faith. The God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace, the gifts of Almighty God. That hope that
creates in the midst of despair. If I truly know that all things
work together for good, if I know that He has loved me with an
everlasting love, He gave His Son, Jehovah Father sent Jehovah
Son and died for me, took my guilt, will
He not forever. Do me good. I like what you said since I
heard the good news. I've never heard any bad news.
Well, you know, you can settle down right there. My flesh wars
against it, I know. God of hope, fill you with all
joy and peace that you may abound in hope. That is, that you may
Long have a greater desire that you
abound, that you excel in hope, in that expectation. You know, we go through this
life where we say that we know Him, but Paul who said, I know
Him, said this, ìOh, that I might know Him, that I might know Him
more, that I might know Him. This is
life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.î And how do we have this
hope? How do we abound in this hope?
Well, Paul says through the power of the Holy Ghost, ìExpectation
in Christ Life is but a vapor. For a moment, it is Almighty God that gives
hope. Father, Son, and Spirit. God.
In the glorious persons of His revelation of Himself. But He
gives it through the Spirit of God. Having made that desire known,
that Paul was praying of a God of hope. He says in verse 14,
he said, I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye
also be full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also
to admonish one another. Well, having made that prayer,
exhibition of that prayer unto God for them to abound in hope.
He sets forth a desire for them. He says, I am persuaded, my brethren. He set forth something concerning
an attribute that he sees in them. It's an attribute of graciousness. He says, I'm persuaded of you,
full of goodness, filled with knowledge, able to admonish one
another. Paul said, basically, a believer is gracious in his
expectation of others. Now, I'm telling you, I know
that it's the easiest thing in the world to pick out the faults
of others. And there is a nature in me,
and listen well, if you want to see the flesh, if you want
to see the old nature in me, just listen to what I say. when it comes to picking out
faults in others. You want to see the old man speak. And I'm telling you, I'm good
at it. I'm good at it. But the new man sees the best, sees the mercy
of God. Paul said, I myself also am persuaded
of you. I'm convinced. God has done something
for you. And here's some confidence that
he had. He says, number one, that you're
full of goodness. That is, kindness. Now, you think
about this. God Almighty who looked upon
men and saw that how many were good? None. None. There is none good but God. Therefore, if there is any goodness
seen in anybody, You just read it. I in them. It is Christ in you. The hope of glory. I am persuaded
that you are full of goodness. None good in any man born and
out of, but one born of God. One made a new creature. There
is an exhibition of God's work that has been imparted. Ephesians 2.10 says that we are
His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, unto the
works of God that are set forth as being the fruit of the Spirit. It's God's work. It is God that
worketh in you to will and to do. The Lord said, and this never
changes, He said, without Me you can do nothing, nothing,
nothing. If there's any goodness seen,
if anything that is right is honorable, if there's anything
seen, it's God that worketh in you. Why do I even want to be here
this morning? What reason in the world would I truly have
a heart to be here? Why? Why? Why would I be here? Because He has given me a heart
that longs to be where He is. He has manifested Himself. I
want to be where He is. I want to be where His people
are. I want to be where He is pleased
to bless. By the grace of God, you'd have to drive me away from
here. Martin, why don't you go on down
to that other church over there? You can go over there and you can
worship just as easy. No, I cannot. No, I cannot. No, sir. No, sir. Why don't you want to
go down there? I don't want to. Why are you
here? I want to be. It's God. And I'm so thankful. The Spirit of God that lives
within God's people. The Lord Jesus Christ that lives
in His people. God. God. He said, I am persuaded
that you're full of goodness. Look at this. Here's another.
exhibition, grace that has been shown exhibits graciousness. When God has shown grace, that's
what I named this, I think, grace shown, graciousness revealed. When God shows grace to one,
it just shows on them. It just comes out, just there. How is it? Well, Paul says that
you're full of goodness, filled with all knowledge. They'd been taught and taught
well, instructed. Let me tell you, I've told you
this before, that I'm able to be here by the grace of God.
I've long since heard of Katie Baptist Church. I've been hearing
about Katie Baptist Church for years and years and years. And
you know what I knew of Katie Baptist Church? It's what I knew. There was a pastor that God had
raised up and God had blessed him. Not because he was worth anything,
though I love him as much as I love myself. I guess that's
the right thing to say, Scott. But I'm telling you, I also knew
this, there was a well-taught people here. They were taught
well. There wasn't any foolishness
going on. There wasn't any frivolity. They
weren't playing games. There were some people that God
had saddled. filled with all knowledge. They
had been taught of God. God had blessed them. They had received the knowledge
of God through a pastor that God had sent, but they were acquainted
with what had been preached by the Spirit of God. They were
taught well, not because of a man's ability, but because a man's
being the ambassador of Christ, the means, the Spirit of God
was pleased to teach them. And they were taught of God.
Thirdly, Paul says you are able to admonish one another. You
are able to warn and to exhort one another with gentleness. Paul said you are being filled
with a knowledge of your own infirmities." He said, "...of your own dependency
upon His mercy." You were able to counsel, to encourage, to
sympathize with one another. Do you know why it's so easy
for me to be honest with you about the way that I know you
think, how frail you are, and how frivolously you think. You know why I know so much about
your frailties? Because that's the way I am. I know how you think. We all
are frail creatures. We are but dust. Paul says, I'm
persuaded of you, my brethren, that you're full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, Brethren, verse
15, I have written more boldly unto you in some sort as putting
you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of Christ.
Paul was convinced that the believers at Rome were well acquainted
with the truth of Christ. He knew that. They knew it. But
there were some areas of their understanding that he felt it
was necessary to speak to them on. I have written to you the
more boldly unto you in some sort." What he's saying is there's
some aspects concerning the truth that I want to instruct you on.
He wasn't fussing at them. He wasn't reprimanding them.
What he was doing is he said, let me just speak to you by the
revelation of the Spirit of God to him on some things that are
needful. Do you know what the spirit of
graciousness is? Whenever Paul said he wasn't
trying to be mean to them, he wanted to help them. Have you
ever been in a situation, maybe at work or something like that?
And let me tell you about the nature of man. There may be someone
that you work with, I'm sure that you're going to be able
to relate to this. Have you ever been in a situation
where somebody, one of your peers or Somebody that works with you
and they're trying to say something to make you look stupid. They're
trying to make you look silly. They're trying to elevate themselves
in the boss's eyes or other people. And they're trying to say something
to you to make you look foolish. That was not what Paul was doing.
He truly wanted to be a help to them. We are selfish people
by nature and we don't want to spill our guts. To let somebody
else know what we think we know. Because then we start looking
at them or other people will look at them as smart as we are.
I can't tell you everything I know. Teachers are like that. Teachers. I'm talking about not for myself,
you know, teaching like art. I don't want to tell you everything
I know, Gary, because see, then in my mind, you'll know as much
as I do. In my stupidity, I have to kind of be just a little bit. This is not what Paul was doing.
He truly wanted to be a help. He said, Nevertheless, brethren,
I have written the more boldly unto you as putting you in mine. Why? Because of the grace that
is given to me of Christ. He said, I am telling you this
because I am his ambassador. Because the Lord has sent me,
though we are frail creatures, God has been pleased to teach
us some things. This brings me to our next reason
of the exhibition of graciousness. Here it is. A believer is gracious
because he represents the God of all grace. I do not stand here today as
an elevated creature. We are fellow servants. You remember when John was speaking
to the speaker, the angel. It's never told who he was speaking
to. They're in the book of Revelation.
And the speaker, Got through. And John was going to kind of
reference it. I understand the thinking, you
know, but the preacher, the speaker said, don't do that. I'm a fellow
servant like you are. We're together. We're brethren. It happens that God has laid
upon me, it has been my lot. My lot is to prepare and preach. But if it be your lot, where
Paul speaks in the book of Corinthians as the comely parts, those that you think are not
necessary, let me tell you one. Let me tell you of a need that
I have that you might be a help to me. I'm going to, Lord willing,
preach on this in the next few weeks. concerning prayer. Prayer. Almighty God has been pleased to bless His people through the
prayers of others for each other. And I'm going to show you that
in Scripture. Paul, and it's in this book,
It's in this book. In fact, I'll tell you what,
I'm not going to preach that message, I don't think. But, he says,
look in verse 30. We're in Romans 15. Look in verse
30. Now, I beseech you, brethren,
for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit,
that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for
me. The other day, Brother Scott,
I was talking to you. about three or four days ago.
And you made this statement and you'll never know what the Spirit
of God taught me. You said this. You said, I'll
be praying for you. Let the Lord bless the message.
I'll be praying for you. And you know what? I believed
Him. Almighty God is pleased. I pray that God shows us this,
that it's through the prayers of the saints for each other. It is to God Almighty that we
pray, but we're praying for each other. I covet your prayers. Pray for me. And whenever you
tell somebody, pray for me, you've got something in your mind, tell
them all that you can about what you want them to pray for. That's
another thing that's in verse 31, if you don't look at it,
but I... Well, I better get back to where I am. Verse 16 of this
chapter. A believer is gracious because
he represents the God of all grace. Grace shown, graciousness
revealed. Look at verse 16. Paul says that
I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. ministering
the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." Paul asking. He said, I want to share something
with you. I want to share something in
verse 13. I've written to you boldly, put
in your mind, because of the grace of God. I want to teach
you something that God has taught me. I want to be a help to you.
I want to be an instructor. And I'm doing this because of
the grace of God. He said that I should be the
minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. The Jews were prejudiced people.
Boy, we are too. We are too. Oh, God couldn't
save one of them. Oh, you're one of those? Jews thought that Gentiles were
dogs. They were just beyond help. Paul said, I want to teach you
something about graciousness, that I should be the minister
of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul recognized it was by the
grace of God that God had appointed him to that sacred office. And it is a sacred office. because it's an office that he
appointed. Paul wouldn't claim any honor
for himself. He said, I'm the minister of
Jesus Christ, the servant, the servant, bondservant. We are
ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. God speaks. God speaks. I've said before, these are not
my words. If these ever If I ever stand
here and start proclaiming my words, then it's not the gospel. It is my gospel. It's your gospel
that believes. It's yours. But this is God's
Word. If I speak of Him, I'll speak
honorably concerning Christ, because that's who God has spoken
of. He says I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of God. That's how. That's how we minister. How are we ministering? Listen,
all of these other areas that religion wants to minister in,
well, we've got to ministry to this. We are ministers of Jesus
Christ, ministering the gospel of God,
laboring in this sacred office. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3,
9, For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry,
ye are God's building. Here is the building of God together,
united, believers, chosen, called. Paul says that the offering up
of the Gentiles should be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost. Paul, by the revelation of God,
knew that the Lord had chosen those people, Gentiles of which
we are. He chose them out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. Every time we read of the Jews,
the Gentiles, every time we read Gentiles, be thankful because
that's us. We are. All the Gentile nations
represented within the bride, Paul refers to the offering up
of the Gentiles, meaning their conversion. That's what he's
talking about, offering them up. By the quickening power of God
that they would be acceptable, being sanctified, set apart by
the Spirit of God. Paul actually saw the Gentiles
who had been brought to a sense of their lost condition by the
Spirit of God to be offerings, presenting their bodies living
sacrifices. You are, by the grace of God,
offerings. You present yourself. You give of yourself. What do
you call it? This is what I desire. I give
of myself. I come to Him. You say, well,
that's what they, that's what, you know, those free willers
say, come to Christ. No. Who said that? All that the Father
giveth me. Because false religion has abused
it and made it to be a work of self-righteousness does not take
away the truth of it. Let me tell you this. All that
the Father giveth me that they cometh." You're coming right
now. You're coming to Him right now.
You've come to Him, and you're coming to Him, and by the grace
of God, you will come. You come. You're here. You're
desired. And then lastly, believers are
gracious. They're gracious in their attitude
of themselves. They're gracious toward each
other. They're gracious because They
desire to be helped. And then lastly, a believer is
gracious toward the God of all grace. Verse 17, I have therefore
whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which
pertain to God. Paul said in Galatians 6.14,
but God forbid that I should glory. God forbid that I should
have some attitude. God forbid that I should think.
God forbid that I should do anything that would draw any attention
to myself. Glory. Save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. God forbid. God forbid. God forbid that we should glory
that we should have an opinion of anything above Him. God forbid that we should think
of anything, excel anything, give ourselves to anything above
Him. God forbid. Paul said, that the glory of God is my hope,
the mercy of God, the person of God, the Savior of God. God
Almighty, I thank God, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath
enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into
the ministry. Not that he saw in me anything
that was worthy. I am what I am by the grace of
God. But if God has shown mercy to
you, four things Paul said on graciousness
that's revealed. Graciousness in your perception
of others. Paul said, I'm convinced of you.
I truly believe God's done something for you. Full of goodness. Filled with knowledge. You're gracious as you admonish
each other. You want to be a help to them. I don't want to try to make you
feel that you're not smart. I truly want to be a help. If you have a question, I truly,
if I don't know, if I don't know, I'll tell you this. First one
I'm going to go ask. I'm going to go ask Brother Scott and we'll
talk about it. We'll look at Scripture, Scott.
I'm serious. I do. I do want to be helped. Thirdly, gracious because of
the one that you represent. I seek wise counsel. That's what
Scripture says. Seek wise counsel because I represent
Him. Fourthly, gracious toward the
God of all grace. Recognize any hope that I have. What will I do? It's God that worketh in you
the will to do of His good pleasure. Graciousness. that has been shown,
grace of God's been shown, exhibits itself in a spirit of graciousness. You're respectful. You're respectful
to Almighty God and you're respectful to those that God's raised up. You want to honor Him for Christ's
sake. Gary, I want you to come and
lead us in this closing.