Back to the book of Romans chapter
one. And as you can tell, I've not
been in too much of a hurry to cover too much ground at one
time. Let's review for just a moment
verse 11, then we'll take a look at verse 12. Paul's longing,
his longing, his heart's desire was to come to Rome and to see
these who believe the gospel. Now, who preached the gospel
to them in Rome? I'm not sure, but we consider
this possibility. Many traveled from Rome to other
places, and maybe Paul had crossed their path in another city. And when they went back to Rome,
having heard the gospel, having been convicted and converted
by the power of God, went back to Rome with that message. and
spread that message to their family, to their neighbors. And
Paul says, I long to see you. Maybe he had seen some of them
before and had preached the gospel to them before, that I may impart
unto you some spiritual gift. to the end, that is, for this
purpose, for this cause, that you may be established, established. Believers are rooted and grounded
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're established in Him. He
is the rock of ages. He is that foundation upon which
we rest. Now, he says in verse 12, that
is, that I may be comforted. that you may be established and
that we may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith,
faith that is mutual both of you and of me. When we are established
and strengthened and confirmed in the gospel, through the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are also comforted,
aren't we? When we're established and we
know that all of our salvation is dependent upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are established in Him. And when we are established,
we're also comforted, aren't we not? We are, we're comforted
as well. You see, and the reason that
we are comforted is because Christ is our comfort. Now the Holy
Spirit indeed is called the comforter, right? When he, the spirit of
truth has come, he will comfort you. But now what does God, the
Holy Spirit comfort us with? Christ. Matter of fact, the Lord
said, when the Holy Spirit comes, he shall take the things of mine
and show them unto you. And that's our comfort. Christ
in him crucified is our comfort. We also read this in 2 Corinthians
chapter one, verse three and four. that our God is called
the Father of mercies and He is the God of all comfort. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people, Isaiah said. And our comfort is Christ had
pardoned all our sin, doubly so. Remember Isaiah 40. But now watch this statement
here, the mutual faith. the mutual faith both of you
and me. Mutual faith. This is the grace
of faith and the blessings of faith are the same for all believers. They're common among all believers. Remember in Titus chapter 1 We
read about the common faith. The common faith is the gift
of God that acknowledges and loves the truth of salvation
in Christ. That is called the faith of God's
elect. It is a common faith. It is a
mutual faith that's shared by all believers. Where does that
faith come from? It comes from God. It's the gift
of God. All of God's people saved by
the grace of God all believe the same thing. That's right. They all believe the same thing.
All of his servants who are called and sent of God all preach the
same message. Salvation is of the Lord. So it's a common faith of God's
elect. It's a mutual faith. that believers
have together, bonded together by the bond of love, and faith
is a gift of God. And then Jude calls faith, remember
from our study in the book of Jude, he called it holy faith,
holy faith. It's common faith, it is mutual
faith, and then it called holy faith. Now there's nothing holy
in this flesh, is there? But every good gift that God
gives is a perfect gift. We have holy faith because it
looks unto God, who is holy, and to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is our holiness, who is our holiness. You see, we're not
going about to establish a holiness, establish a righteousness, Why
aren't we going about to establish a holiness, establish a righteousness? Because you can't do it. Do the
best you can. And God said, man at his best
state is altogether. Vanity, zero. All of our righteousnesses
are filthy rags in God's sight. But in Christ, this faith looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our sanctification. In Christ,
we are holy, unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. Think about that.
So this mutual faith, both of you and of me, Faith of God's
elect, loves and acknowledges the truth. Mutual faith, common
faith. Peter calls it precious faith.
Precious faith. We have obtained like, now notice
how he says it, 2 Peter 1, 1. We have obtained like precious
faith through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
didn't earn faith, did we? Certainly don't merit faith,
do we? We obtained it. How? By the gift of God. And
faith is called precious because it looks to Christ, to you who
believe He is precious. It is a precious gift of God. This faith, the mutual faith,
the common faith, the holy faith is called the precious gift of
God. Has the same foundation, doesn't it? What is the foundation
of faith? Certainly not feelings, is it?
The foundation of faith is the Word of God. It never changes. Feelings always do. This faith, this is a mutual
faith, it's the gift of God, has the same foundation, certainly
has the same object, doesn't it? We, the old theologians,
would often use this phrase, And they would say that faith
is objective, not subjective. Now, do you understand what that
means? That means faith doesn't look in here. It's not subject
to what I think or feel about it. Saving faith is objective. It looks to Christ, not inwardly
to self. So it's the same foundation,
saving faith, that we are blessed with, that's a mutual faith. The foundation is the Word of
God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, has
the same object, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
the author and finisher of our faith. And then certainly, this
faith that he says here that's a mutual faith, both of you and
of me, what would the desire of that mutual faith be? Well,
it's His glory, isn't it? Now I can make good on that,
turn a couple of pages to Romans 4 verse 20, Abraham staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. You see that? So saving faith
but only in Christ. You remember the apostle said,
God forbid I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, he was able, God is able to perform. Now back to the text. Romans
one, look at verse 13. Now I would not have you ignorant.
Ignorant. Ignorant. What are we by nature? We're blind and ignorant. But saving faith, now listen,
saving faith's not born of ignorance. Saving faith is born of right
knowledge. It comes from the word of God.
Believers are not ignorant. They know who God is. They've
been taught of God. Believers are not ignorant concerning
who they are. We're sinners. And believers
are certainly not ignorant of how, the way God saves sinners. How does God save sinners? Well,
listen to what the Apostle Paul said when he writes to young
Timothy from Rome in prison later, when he's in prison in Rome.
He said, it's God who saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to God's own purpose
and grace given us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. We're not ignorant of these things. I have no need
to be ignorant. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren." Now he says this, let's not be ignorant about the
purpose of God either, about the providence of God. He said,
oftentimes our purpose to come to you but was hindered. Notice his parenthetical statement.
purpose to come to you that I might have some fruit among you even
as among the Gentiles but I was hindered." Now if you notice
the reference there on that parenthetical statement it's Romans 15 22 so
turn there. So Paul longed to come and see
them and to make one of his missionary journeys to Rome But he really
never came there as a missionary. He came to Rome later as a prisoner
of, he never called himself though a prisoner of Nero. He called
himself a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you have Romans
chapter 15, look at verse 19. Through mighty signs and wonders
by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem round about
Lycium, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, yea, so
have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. But
as it is written, Isaiah 52, to whom he was not spoken of,
they shall see and they that have not heard shall understand,
and in reference there is to the preaching of the gospel to
the Gentiles, for the which cause I also, I have been much hindered. from coming to you. Now, he was hindered by many
different things. Oftentimes, he was beaten. Oftentimes,
when he preached in Philippi there, they threw him in jail.
Five times he was whipped, lashed, 40 stripes save one, or 39 save
one, according to the law. But, He said, I was hindered,
I was hindered. Paul's desire was to come to
Rome and to preach the gospel. It was out of a genuine concern
and genuine love for their spiritual welfare, wasn't it? But he said,
I was hindered. He was hindered by the providence
of God, by the purpose of God. Oftentimes he thought and always
thought of them and prayed for them and desired to be with them.
And Paul, in his heart, purposed to come, but his purpose was
overruled by a greater purpose, wasn't it? The purpose of God. who works
all things after the purpose of his own will. So the Apostle Paul bowed to
that purpose. We often say when we're gonna
do something or go somewhere or we often say it before after
the Lord willing, the Lord willing, that is in his purpose, his purpose. And he purposed to come but was
hindered from coming and his purpose for coming that he states
there that I might have some fruit or that I might have believers made so by the grace
of God. Preaching of the gospel does
bring forth fruit unto God's glory His desires were noble
for the glory of God that the Lord would call out through the
preaching of the gospel That he would convict and convert
many he says I desire to have some comforts among you some
fruit. He calls it here you remember
over here and You want to turn and read this with me? You can
first Corinthians chapter 3 and Paul went and preached the gospel
in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Who then is Paul? Who is Apollos? But ministers by whom you believe.
Ministers by whom you believe. God will bless the preaching
of the gospel, by whom he believed even as the Lord gave to every
man a minister of the gospel to his people. I have planted,
Apollos watered, but it is God that gives the increase. So then,
neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth anything,
but who gets the glory? God gets glory, but that God
gives the increase. True ministers of the gospel
are known by the fruit of their ministry. If you'll turn to Matthew
chapter five, the fruit of their ministry, Matthew chapter seven,
I want. When the apostle Paul verse 15,
says, I desire to have some fruit among you. He's talking about
believers who have been made new creatures in Christ. Matthew
7 verse 15, beware of false prophets which come unto you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know
them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistle, even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit. Now we're talking about the fruit
of the ministry, but every corrupt tree or every corrupt message,
a false message, does not bring forth a good tree. You see, it
has to be a good message, a true message, that brings forth good
fruit. But every corrupt tree or corrupt
message, false message, brings forth nothing but false fruit,
evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth Every tree that bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire, wherefore by their
fruits." Now he's talking about ministers of the gospel, distinguishing
them that come unto you, beware of false prophets which come
unto you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. No one, I've said this for years
and it is true, I know it is true, no one is brought to a
right-saving knowledge of Christ, listening to a false gospel. God does not use lies. Now think about this. This is just plain country logic.
God does not use lies to teach men the truth. He didn't say,
you shall know a lie and the lie will set you free. He didn't
say that, did he? He said, you should know the
truth and the truth will set you free. So we must preach the
truth. Those who do not preach the truth
do not have any true converts that are saved by the grace of
God. Now they have some church members.
A lot of times they have a lot of church members. But where
the gospel is not denied, or where the gospel is denied, there's
no true fruit. Now, is that too hard? That's
just so. Brother Henry would say, that's
just so. And he said that, and he got
that saying from old Ralph Barnard. That's just so. He's saying,
that's just so whether you like it or not. But that's just so.
That's just true. You see, it's the truth that
sets us free. That's why we must insist on preaching the truth.
Now, there's an outline on the back of the bulletin. Don't look
at it now. And I'm going to preach that outline in the message this
morning at the close of the message this morning. Now, let's take
a look at Romans chapter 1 verse 14. Paul desired that God would
save some sinners in Rome. That was his desire, wasn't it?
You see, the gospel is tailored to that end. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners of whom I'm chief. It's tailored to that end, to
that purpose. Why would you change it? Why
would you take the offense off? Paul said, if I would remove
the offense, I'm not the servant of Christ. Why would you take
the offense off the gospel? Why would you try to take the
sharp edge off of the gospel? I'll tell you why preachers do
it, to satisfy the whims and wishes of men. They don't want
to be offensive to sinners. They want to preach the gospel
in a way that's not offensive. Well, when you remove the offense
of the gospel, you remove its power. You remove its power because
you change the message. I would much rather preach the
truth and offend men than compromise and offend God. So Paul says, I'm a debtor, verse
14. I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor to God's mercy.
I'm a debtor to His grace. I'm a debtor both to the Greeks,
the Greeks were the educated philosophers of the day. I'm a debtor both to the Greeks,
even though a man may be intellectual and scholarly, The world by wisdom
does not know God. Most of the time, there's not
many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Doesn't say any, just not many. I don't know many doctors of
philosophy and doctors of this and doctors of that that are
believers. There are some, but not many. But Paul said, these intellectual
Greeks, when Paul was on Mars Hill, among all those scholarly
Plato's and philosophers of men, what did he do? He preached the
gospel to them. He could have got in their intellectual
arguments. You see, the gospel is not to
be debated, it's to be declared. I'm a debtor to preach the gospel
to the scholarly intellectual. What does he need? What does
he need to hear? He doesn't need an exercise in
intellectual freshness or he doesn't need his intellect challenged,
does he? He needs to know that he's a
sinner. If I was invited over to And that college started, you
understand that college started as a Presbyterian Bible college. That's where at one time they
used to preach what we call the doctrines of grace. That day
has long since gone. I ran into a professor over there
one time and he was teaching some kind of course on comparative
religion. And I thought he might invite
me to go over there and give them a lesson on the gospel of
God's grace, but he didn't invite me. But if I would have went
and preached or gave them the gospel to the intellectual crowd,
would I change my message? No, I would even make it plainer
and simpler, so much so that they might be offended by my
plainness." And that's what we need. Paul says, seeing we have
such a gospel, we use great plainness of speech. So, Paul said, I'm
not going to change my message to the intellectual Greek, nor
to the barbarian. To the barbarian. And he mentions
here the wise Greek or the barbarians. The barbarians are the Gentiles
who are just uneducated, unsophisticated. That's me. I'm a barbarian. Paul said, when he talks about,
let me turn and read it to you here over in Colossians chapter
3, he says, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor
uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free, but
in the gospel Christ is all and in all. What does a barbarian
need to hear? Christ is all and in all. What
does the intellectual philosopher need to hear? Christ is all and
in all. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and we are complete in him. All believers
are indebted to the Lord's mercy. We can say with Jacob, Lord,
I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. All believers are
indebted to the Lord's mercy, to the Lord's grace given unto
us. And we are compelled, we are compelled to serve him. We
are compelled to serve him. How does God compel us? Out of
love, out of gratitude, out of thanksgiving. We're compelled
to serve Him. The Apostle said the love of
Christ constrains us. You see, we're in debt to the
Father's electing love. He said, you didn't choose me,
I've chosen you. We're in debt to the Son for
His great, the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Son for His great sacrifice
for our sin. here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sacrifice
for our sin. And we're in debt to the whole
triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We're in debt to the
Holy Spirit for the convicting power, His calling power, His
quickening power that makes us new creatures in Christ. We are
debtors to the grace of God, to the mercy of God. And we're
debtors here to all men, For in this sense, all men are in
great need to hear the gospel, regardless of their station in
life, whether they be wise or unwise, bond or free, young or
old, Jew or Gentile. The Lord is still pleased to
call out His people with the gospel." He pleased God through
the preaching of the gospel to save His people. That is why
the Apostle Paul said that he was ready and willing to do so
in that next verse. For as much as in me is, I'm
ready. I'm ready to preach the gospel
to you who are at Rome. Ready, always ready. We'll pick
up there next week. Always ready to declare the gospel
of God's grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.