Romans chapter 1 and we're going
to look at verses 7 to 15. The text begins in verse 7 by
saying, to all that be in Rome. Paul begins by telling who this
letter is written to. And this letter is not written
to all that be in Rome. You see what it says right there?
That's not what it says right there. It says, to all that be
in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. That's who it's
written to. This letter is not written to
all that be in Rome. And this Bible is not written
to all that be in the world. It's written to all who are beloved
of God. Beloved means chosen to be loved. Beloved. 1 John 4 verse 10 says, Herein
is love. Not that we love God. That's not it. We have every
reason to love God, don't we? He's good. He gives. We have
no reason to not love God. That's not love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us. That's love. Us. And sent His Son, His Child, to be the propitiation for our
sins. That's love. Beloved of God. And He doesn't put any stipulation
on those people. No stipulation. None at all.
This letter is written to anybody who is loved by God. Anybody
who's loved by God. Any friend of his, Paul says,
is a friend of mine. Any friend of his is a friend
of mine. Anybody. Anybody. Turn with me over to
1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4, look at verse 7. For God hath
not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given
unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love,
ye need not that I write unto you. For ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. And indeed, ye do it toward all
the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you,
brethren, that ye increase more and more." That's what I want. That's really what I want. I
want to increase more and more. I pray that the Lord would put
this love in me. This same love that he had for
me, if I'm one of his. God is love. Christ is love. Herein is love. Not that I loved
Him, but that He loved me and everything He did for me. And
if He lives in me, I pray that I might love you more and more. Increase more and more. Well, our text, Romans 1, verse
7, says, To all that be in Rome, Beloved of God, called to be
saints. Grace to you. Grace to you. Paul writes that so much it becomes
familiar. It becomes familiar. But one
of these days we're going to understand what that means. Grace
to you. That's what love says. There's
somebody I love. You know what I want for them?
Free gift. Free gift. Grace to you. I want you to turn with me to
Numbers chapter 6. Numbers 6 and look at verse 22. And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this
wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord will bless you
and the Lord will keep you. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee. The goodness of the Lord shine
upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon
the children of Israel. and I will bless them." You tell
the priests to go tell the people, the Lord bless you, the Lord
will keep you, the Lord will be gracious to you, make His
face shine upon you, lift up His countenance upon you, and
He'll give you peace. He'll give you peace. Alright,
back in our text, Romans 1 verse 7, it says, To all that be in
Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you, and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
8 says, First, right off the bat, before I say
anything else, Let's give thanks to our God.
Let's give thanks. Verse 8 says, First, I thank
my God. He's the object of our thanksgiving. He's the object of all our thanksgiving. Everything that we are. I know what I am. And I know
what I feel like, but I also know what God has said I are. Does that make sense? I know I don't
feel it, and I know that I don't see it. But everything we are
comes from God. Every single thing we have, and
I'm not talking about this watch. I'm talking about forgiveness
from sin. I'm talking about the blood of
Jesus Christ. I'm talking about a place prepared
in glory. I'm talking about His Word. Everything we have, it comes
from Him. Everything we know, He's revealed to us the mystery
of His will. Everything that we know comforts
our heart. Everything we know comes from
Him. So there's only one person who's worthy of all thanksgiving.
All thanksgiving. If one person does something
good for another person, it's God who did it. It's God who
did it. Paul says, first I thank my God,
and then he says, through Jesus Christ. The only reason that
we are allowed to give thanks. We're not worthy to come. We're
not worthy to approach Him. We're not worthy to call on Him.
The only reason we're allowed to give thanks. You know what
a privilege it is to be able to actually give thanks to God? He made this mouth, and all it
wants to do by nature is curse God. What grace it is to give
thanks. The only way we're able to give
thanks is through Jesus Christ. That's it. Through Jesus Christ.
Without Him, we can pray all we want to, but it's not reaching
heaven. It's just not reaching heaven. It's not going into the
ears of God the Father. There's no coming to God the
Father except through or in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life, and no man cometh to the
Father but by me. Turn over to 1 Timothy chapter
2. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Look at 1st Timothy 2, verse
5. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man, Jesus Christ. I can do nothing of myself. I can do nothing. I can't even
give thanks to God. The only way my prayer reaches
heaven is Jesus Christ. That's the only way. The only
way. Whosoever is in Him, listen to
this, whosoever is in Him, in Christ, may approach the throne
of grace Not only will we be allowed to
give him thanks. Able to give him thanks, but
we're allowed to approach the throne of grace with boldness,
and that doesn't mean arrogance. It means we're allowed to approach
the throne without fear of repercussion. That's what it means. Well, our text says in Romans
one. Verse eight. I thank God through
Christ for you. I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for you, for you all, that your faith is spoken of
throughout the whole world. I thank God for that. Paul saying, and I say this,
and you say this, and everybody who knows the truth says this.
The truth is so rare. A believer is so hard to find. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
A true follower of Christ. And Paul says, I thank God for
all believers, true believers. Those who are beloved of God,
called to be saints, all believers. And here's the thing he's so
thankful for. It's the fact that God has caused
them to believe the gospel so strongly. They'll tell it to
the whole world. They'll plaster it all over Sermon
Audio. Come what may, whatever repercussions
come from it, We must identify with the true God of Scripture,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when a person confesses Him,
it becomes known, doesn't it? It becomes known. There's a place
and a group, and they're meeting in truth. And it's encouraging. I thank God for it. Every time
I hear of a little group of people that's popped up somewhere and
they're having men come that I know preach the truth because
they're willing to renounce everything around them and say, we've got
to have this truth. I thank my God for that. I thank
God for them. Thank God. Men and women of true faith,
they're not ashamed to declare it. Look at verse 16. It says,
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. A man may say, I believe it,
but I just can't preach it. That's not true. It's just not
true. It's just not true. People have
these political stances. And let somebody cross that,
and buddy, they will rant and rant. Or any other stance. Whatever you believe, you'll
preach it. You'll preach it. If a person
won't preach it, or if a person's not willing to leave religion
to sit under it, they don't believe it. They don't believe it. So
he says, I thank God for you, brethren. Thank God for you.
Turn over to Luke 9. Luke 9 verse 26 says, for whosoever
shall be ashamed of me, this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking,
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory
and in his father's and of the holy angels. Whosoever shall
be ashamed of me I'll be ashamed of him. Men and women who truly
believe it, they're just not ashamed of it. They're not ashamed
of it. They love it. They live for it. They rejoice in it. It's their
life. It's their freedom. It's their hope. It's everything. They're not ashamed of it. Romans
1 verse 8 says, First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for
you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Now look at verse 9 with me. Romans 1 verse 9, it says, 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." Now, as soon as I read that and
I really thought about what Paul just said, I was convicted. I was deeply convicted. Look at it again. It says, God
is my witness. That's a strong statement to
make. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
gospel of His Son. He said, God is my witness. Now
watch this. That without ceasing, I make
mention of you always in my prayers. When I read that, I felt real
conviction over that. I'm the under-shepherd here,
right? And I thought about this for
a while. I thought, I wish I could say
the same thing that the Apostle Paul says to this congregation.
But I can't. I can't. I'd be lying. I'd be lying. I pray for you. I pray for you. I pray for this
congregation. I pray for this ministry. But
I'm just flesh. I'm just flesh. And I fail at
it. I don't do it like I want to.
I don't do it like I ought to. I wish I did. And this convicts
me to want to do it more. And I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. I prayed the Lord would give
me a great conviction to pray for my brethren. I actually thought
for just a moment in time, I sat in there and I thought about
this and I thought about this and I thought, I don't know what to say about
verse 9. I really don't. Until it hit me. I want you to
turn to Romans 8. or you talk about help me, look
at Romans 8. Verse 26 says, Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities, my infirmities. For we know not
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
The Holy Spirit makes intercession for all of us with groanings
that man's words can't even describe. Verse 27 says, And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
God the Father said they cannot pray as they ought. They know
not what they should pray. They do not pray as they ought.
Holy Spirit, do the work for them. Oh, thanks be unto God. First,
I want to thank my God. Look at verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also, along with
the Holy Spirit, maketh intercession for us. Oh, man. Hebrews 7.25 says, He ever liveth to make intercession for us.
Man, I needed that. In spite of my failure, He is
ever faithful. He prays for you, Chris, all
day, every day, without ceasing. God is His witness. He can say, verse Chapter 1,
verse 9, 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 prayer. He told Peter, Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but you can just rest. You don't
have anything to worry about. I prayed for you. Our text, verse
10, says, Making request, if by any means, now at length,
I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto
you. This is my request. Paul is writing
this letter, making request, if by any means, now at length,
I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto
you. This is my hope, but I bow to the Lord's will. That's what
he's saying. You can turn or listen, whichever
you want to. James chapter 4. James chapter 4 verse 13 says
this, Go to now ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go
into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell
and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall
be on the morrow, For what is your life? It is even a vapor
that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. For
that ye ought to say, if the Lord will. We shall live and
do this or that. We should work that into our
vocabulary. I want to do that. I don't care what it is I'm about
to say. The Lord willing, if the Lord
wills, Lord, thy will be done. Whatever it is, thy will be done.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Well, our text, Romans
1 verse 9 says, 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. Making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you, for I long to see you. That I may impart unto
you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established. Established. Established. Grounded in the Word. We don't
have a new doctrine. I don't have a new message. You
already knew what you were going to hear when you came here tonight.
But we want to be, and believers need to be, established in the
Word. Established in the Word, right?
Strengthened in the Word. Verse 12 says, That is, that
I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith, both
of you and me. What he's saying is, I want to
come there and worship with you. I thought about a Bible conference. Don't we love Bible conferences?
Don't you look forward to them? You know what church is having
them, and you know what time of year they have them, and you
know what brethren usually attend there and travel to be there,
and you know what speakers. You've got the flyer, and you
know who's going to be there. I can't wait to come over there
and worship with you. That's what I long for. When we come here to Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church, I'm here for you, but I'm here for me
too. I'm begging, Lord, would you
bless it to me? I know I got all the notes. I know I have
all the pages, but would you bless this to me? Bless it to
my heart. The preaching of the gospel is
food for the soul. And when we miss the service,
we miss the meal. And when we miss the meal, we
get weak and frail and sickly. That's just what happens. I need
to be here. I need encouragement just like
you need it. Verse 12 says, that is that I may be comforted together
with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. The Lord
has promised us where two or three are gathered in His name,
He said, I'm right there with you. I need to be where He is. I want to be with Him. I want
to be in His presence. How is that possible? Wherever
two or three are gathered, I want to be there. I want to draw nigh to God with
you. Maybe He'll draw nigh to us.
Verse 13 says, 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. In Acts 16, Paul wanted to go
to Bithynia, and he couldn't go there. The Holy Spirit wouldn't
allow it. That's what it says in Acts 16.
And then, in another text, he told the Thessalonians, I wanted
to come back to you. But the scripture says Satan
hindered it. And here it says, I wanted to
have some fruit among you. And what that means is, he was
hoping to personally witness the conversion of sinners there.
That's what it means. Fruit of the Spirit. Is there anything that encourages
us more and strengthens us more and picks us up more and causes
us to rejoice more than hearing that the Lord has converted one
more sinner? Really? Is there anything happier
than that? One more sinner. Turn over to
Luke 15. This has always been one of my
favorite texts. Look at Luke 15, verse 3. And He spake this parable unto
them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he
lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,
and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he
hath found it, he laith it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And
when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors,
saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
which was lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Either
what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece,
doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently
till she find it? And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with
me, for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise I
say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth. I'd like to see that. The angel desires to look into
these things. And they see these sinners going
about their sorry business. And all of a sudden they see
a work of God. And confession is made. And with the heart man
believeth, and rejoiceth, and breaks out
in heaven. Nothing brings greater joy than
seeing that the blood of Christ was shed for one more sinner.
One more sinner. All right. Back to our text. It says, verse 13, 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. I'm debtor both
to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. He's saying, I wanted to be there
with you, but I'm called to do one thing, preach the Gospel. And it's my responsibility And
it's my joy to preach it to whoever will listen. He said, I'm a debtor
to the Greeks. It's my responsibility to go
preach the gospel to them. I'm a debtor to the barbarians.
I must go preach the gospel to them. I'm a debtor to the wise. I'm a debtor to the unwise. I
must, by the commandment of God, preach the gospel unto all the
world. I must. Verse 14, I'm debtor both to
the Greeks, to the barbarians, to the wise, to the unwise, so
as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. He says, as much as in me is. I'm ready to preach as the oracles
of God, and I'm ready to preach who is
sufficient for these things. as much as in me is. I can of myself do nothing. It's only Christ in us that causes
us to do anything, especially preach the gospel. Who can preach
the gospel? Who can know the mind of God and the will of God? If the Lord Jesus Christ is not
in me, there is no gospel. He is the gospel. Paul said,
I'm determined not to know anything. I don't care. I don't care. If it's not Jesus Christ and
Him crucified, don't bring it to me. I'm determined not to
know anything but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I am what I am by the grace of
God. That's our gospel. This is our
gospel. I was what I was by the wickedness
of my sin. But in Jesus Christ, now I am
what I am by the grace of God. By the free gift of the blood
of Jesus Christ poured all over me, making me acceptable in the
presence of God Almighty, I am what I am by the grace of God.
That's good news to me. It's called the gospel. All right,
stand together with me.