Romans chapter 1 we begin by
looking at verse 7 for just a moment Romans 1 verse 7 The Apostle
Paul is writing to believers who are beloved of God Who are
called Saints? They live in the city of Rome
and then he makes this statement grace to you grace to you not
to everyone but grace to you and and peace to you who are
beloved of God, who are sanctified in Christ. And all of that comes
from God, our Father. He is the wellhead, the fountain
spring of all spiritual blessings, and they come to us through our
Lord Jesus Christ. These two words, grace and peace,
can only come from one source. And that is the God of all grace. And that's what he's called.
Hold your place there and find 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. You remember
this from our study in 1 Peter 5, verse 10. 1 Peter 5, 10. He
is called the God of all grace. He is also called the God of
all comfort, the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus. After that you have suffered
a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He is the God
of all grace. And then again, Grace comes from
God and then he mentions peace, peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And our God is called the God
of grace and he's called the God of peace. Find the book of
Philippians, Philippians chapter four, several times in the scriptures,
we read about the God of peace. That means peace comes from God. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 4 verse 7, and the
peace of God or the God of peace which passes all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now find Romans 15, Romans 15. The God of all grace, He's a
God of all peace. Romans 15. Romans 15 verse 13 says, 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. Same chapter Romans 15 verse
33. Now the God of peace Be with you all. Amen. He's a God of all comfort. He's a Father of all mercies. He is a God of peace. And He is our hope. Now, back
to Roman chapter 1. Roman chapter 1. To all that
be in Rome, beloved of God, called saints, who calls us saints? I don't call myself a saint,
he has made us saints in Christ. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now verse 8, he says
first, first things first, he says, I thank I thank my God,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. We pray unto our God and Father
through Christ who is our mediator. We pray in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I like the way he begins verse
8 first. First, I thank God, I thank God. Paul begins where the gospel
begins, and that is with God. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. If you'll find 1 Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians, he begins this epistles this way as well. Chapter
one, 1 Thessalonians chapter one. We give thanks to God always
for you all. And that's what we do, we give
thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in
our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your
labor of love, patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in
the sight of God, our Father. We give thanks. Same book, 1
Thessalonians chapter 5, look at verse 16. He said, first we
thank God. We thank God for all spiritual
blessings we have in Christ. Now, chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians,
rejoice evermore, verse 16, pray without ceasing. In everything
give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. First, we thank God for all things
that we have, all things that we know, all things that we are. In everything give thanks. The apostle puts it this way
in 2 Corinthians 9, thanks being to God for his unspeakable gift. And that unspeakable gift is
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now back to the
text. He said, first I thank my God.
Praying unto God with thanksgiving. And then he says, I thank God
for you. For you all. To all that be in
Rome, beloved of God and called. Every believer is chosen of God
unto salvation. We thank God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation. We thank our Lord through Jesus
Christ for every believer born of God, justified in Christ,
called out of darkness, and washed in his blood, and then he says
this, that your faith, your faith, your faith, where did they get
this faith? This faith is a gift of God.
It's called the precious gift that's given to us through the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That your faith is spoken
of. In other words, he's saying here
that these people weren't secret believers. They weren't secret
disciples. Their faith was known abroad. Your faith is spoken of throughout
the whole world. Now what are you talking about
there? Well, the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire, believers there
in Rome, their faith was known abroad. This faith is given unto
you, it is the gift of God. Faith in the true and living
God, our Savior, is not to be kept secret. Believers openly
confess the Lord Jesus Christ and own Him as our Lord and as
our Savior. As Thomas said of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he said, you are my Lord and you are my God. Believers are not ashamed to
own him. Now find 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy,
when Paul later comes to Rome as a prisoner, And when he writes
back his last letter before he is executed for the gospel, he
writes back to young Timothy and says, verse 8, Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God who saved us called us with a holy calling not according
to our work but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began now look
down to verse 11 well let's just read verse 10 11 and 12 but is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed."
Saving faith is not something that we need to be ashamed of,
and believers aren't. We're not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed, I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. And saving faith has
committed everything unto the Lord Jesus Christ in the accomplishment
of our salvation. Now back to Romans chapter 1.
on this same idea that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole
world. Faith is not something that is to be kept secret. It's
something that we confess publicly, our faith in Christ. Look at
verse 16. Romans 1, we quote this verse
all the time, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
or because it is a power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believes the gospel to the Jew and also to the Greek for therein
is a righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith As it is
written, the just shall live by faith. That's given four times
in the Word of God. The just shall live by faith. Notice the marginal reference
if you have the Cambridge Habakkuk 2.4, Galatians 3.11, Hebrews
10.38. We can say with the Apostle Paul
that we're not ashamed of the gospel. People in that day in
Rome, The people in that day were talking about the church
there in Rome and how they were standing for the gospel. Now
you think about Rome. Rome was a pagan city. The Roman government was full
of those who were idolaters. People in that day were talking
about their church in Rome, believers in Rome, standing for the gospel
in that pagan city, contending for the faith once delivered
unto the saints, and taking a stand for the gospel in that day often
brought great persecution and even death. You remember the
Roman Colosseum? And the sporting events that
went on in those days, oftentimes people who professed faith in
Christ were thrown to the lions. They were eaten and they made
a sport of it. We don't know anything about
that kind of persecution in our day, do we? I don't. I don't
preach the gospel with the threat of death upon me. Or if someone
says to me, if you don't stop preaching, I'm going to kill
you. I've never had that kind of threat. Not that I would stop,
but we don't know anything about persecution like the early church
did in their day. Even Paul himself severely, severely
beaten, stoned, whipped. Five times he was beaten with
whips. almost to death. We've got it
easy in this day. I'm thankful for the Lord's grace
that he's given to us that we have the liberty and the freedom
to worship that we have in this country. It's not afforded that
way in every country. In some countries, if you name
the name of Christ, it'll cost you your head. It did in that
day in Rome, but these folks, and the point I'm trying to make
is they weren't ashamed. We're gonna throw you to the
lions. Okay, go ahead. I'm not gonna recant. You recant
or we're gonna burn you to the stake. Okay, go ahead and burn
me to the stake. That's what saving faith does
not shrink, does not back down. Now, he says in verse nine, for
God is my witness. whom I serve. Paul called himself
the servant of Jesus Christ. He didn't serve the Lord for
profit or gain or popularity, did he? The apostle Paul was
not a popular man. He was hunted and hated, persecuted,
jailed and killed for the gospel. For God is my witness whom I
serve with my spirit or in my spirit in the gospel of his son. The gospel, remember the gospel
of God is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. How that he died
for our sins according to the scripture. For God is my witness
whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his son that without
ceasing Remember we read a moment ago, pray without ceasing? Without
ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers. Now, what kind of prayer would
he pray for those in Rome? Well, I think we have a good
indication of that. Turn over here to Philippians
chapter three. What kind of prayer would he pray for those people
in that day? Notice carefully in Ephesians
chapter 3. Did I tell you Ephesians chapter
3? I hope so. Sometimes I misspeak. Look at
verse 14. Ephesians 3, 14. For this cause
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What
is he doing here? He's praying. of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with
might by his spirit in that inner man, that new man created in
Christ, a new creature, that Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the
length, and depth, and height." You see how he's praying for
these people? For their spiritual need. "...and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. So we give thanks unto God, and
we pray for one another. We pray for one another. He served
without ceasing, always about the Father's business, praying
and preaching in sincerity and truth, and we are to pray for
one another. You remember from our study in
1 Samuel chapter 12, verse 23, don't turn, let me just read
it to you. Moreover, as for me, this is God's prophet Samuel.
Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the
Lord in ceasing to pray for you. We're instructed to love one
another, to pray for one another, to forgive one another, even
as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. Moreover, as for
me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord and cease
even to pray for you, but I will teach you the good and right
way to fear the Lord. Now, look back to Romans chapter
1. For God is my witness, whom I
serve with my spirit, or in my spirit, in the gospel, of his
son that without ceasing I make mention of you in my prayer."
He prayed for their spiritual well-being. He didn't pray that
you might be wealthy and healthy and happy. He prayed for their
spiritual well-being. That's our greatest need, is
it not? I don't need a full bank account, but I do need to be
found in Christ. That's essential to salvation.
Now, look at verse 10. He says here, making demands
upon God. That's not what he said, is it?
When we pray, we don't make demands upon God, do we? What poor puny
creatures we are. God has given us the privilege
to take everything to God in prayer, but when we go, we don't
demand God to do this or God to do that. God forbid. We make
our requests. If by any means, God willing,
God permitting, now at length or at last, I might have a prosperous
journey by the will of God. We make requests by the will
of God, don't we? That chapter will be read just
a moment ago over in Philippians chapter 4. right on down where
it says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. And then he says this, make your
requests be made known unto God. And we do, the Lord says, ask
and you shall have, seek and you shall find. So we do make
requests unto the Lord, but we don't demand an answer. Do we?
No. Matter of fact, the Lord told
us to pray this way. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. Now this is not the Lord's prayer. This is the disciples' prayer. After this matter, Matthew 6,
9, Therefore pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Thy will be done. That's the way we pray. Prayer
is seeking the will of God, having that will being made known unto
you, what the will of God is, and then submitting unto it.
Submitting unto it. Prayer is not making a demand
upon God. Paul doesn't use that kind of
language. Making requests. Making requests. If by any means
God might provide the means, now at length, that I might have
a prosperous journey, that I might come to you by the will of God. By the will of God. Prayer is seeking the will of
God, bowing unto his will and the purpose. The steps of a good
man are ordered of the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Paul prayed and desired that
he might come to Rome and to personally meet them, but he didn't come the way that
he thought he would come. He came as a prisoner to Rome,
remember? Paul was arrested for the gospel
and sent off to Rome for trial. He came there as a prisoner,
but even while he was in prison, if you look just back a page
or two to Acts chapter 28, when Paul is winding up his ministry
in Acts 28 verse 23, Acts 28 verse 23, even while he was in jail for
two years there in Rome before his life was taken for the gospel,
he was busy preaching the gospel. Acts 28, 23, and when they had
appointed him a day, There came many to him into his
lodging, to whom he expounded the word of God, testified about
the gospel of the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, both out of the law of Moses and out of
the prophets, from morning till evening, and some believed the
things which were spoken, and some believed not. From morning
till evening, there was an all-day sermon. Now, in the same chapter,
Acts chapter 28 verse 30, Paul dwelt two whole years in his
own hired house, received all that came unto him, now he's
under house arrest, Preaching but he kept on preaching two
whole years preaching the kingdom of God Teaching those saying
what's concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence Being
in prison knowing that he would be executed and sentenced to
death He still had confidence in his God forbidding no one
Who wanted to hear the gospel? He said you come and I'll preach
to you. I Now, look back to our text, Romans chapter one. For I long, making request, if
by any mean, now at length, at last, I might have a prosperous
journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long, I
long to see you. Now, I'm sure they exchanged
letters, but communications in that day is not like this day.
We have instant everything in this day. Instant coffee. We
can cook things instantly in a microwave. We have come to
expect everything instantly instead of waiting upon the Lord. But
communication in this day was slow. Weeks, maybe months. For I long to see you. Can't
you just see the love of the Apostle Paul for these believers?
He longed for their acquaintance. He longed to see them face to
face. I long to see you. I long to
have fellowship with you, to worship with you, to preach the
gospel unto you, that I may impart unto you some extra money, spiritual
gift. You see how he's always looking
out for their spiritual well-being. that I might impart to you and
help you in this thing of your spiritual life, giving you a
spiritual gift or imparting unto you through the gospel by the
grace and mercy and love of God, a spiritual gift to the end that
you may be established, established in Christ. Paul's interest was
not to come to Rome as a tourist to see the sights, but to visit
the church there and minister the gospel to these dear people,
to learn of their spiritual welfare, of the saints there in Rome,
and to be an encouragement unto them. What an encouragement it
would be to these people to have the Apostle Paul there and to
preach the gospel unto them. I remember in the early days
here of this ministry, this started in 1986, and often times Pastor
Mahan would come up here and we would always look forward
to his coming, to his preaching, that he might impart to us some
spiritual gift or to help us learn more of Christ, to sit
at his feet. And these spiritual gifts here
are gifts of the Spirit, which is through the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, that the church there
would be established, established, that is rooted and grounded upon
the rock of ages, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are secured in Christ
with an everlasting salvation, Remember, he's able to keep us
from falling and to present us faultless before the presence
of his glory. We are secured in Christ with
an everlasting salvation. We cannot lose our salvation,
but we as frail sinners, we often need, what do we need? We need
encouragement, don't we? We're to encourage one another.
And when we encourage one another, what do we use as the tool or
the means to encourage one another? It's His Word, is it not? His
Word is an encouragement unto us. How the Lord has used His
Word in the time of trial, and the Lord has taught us through
that trial, and given us good instruction from the Word, how
we're to wait upon the Lord, and how His grace is sufficient
for our trial, is it not? And then we're able to help one
another and to comfort one another, that you may be established,
verse 12, that is, that I may be comforted together with you
by the mutual faith, both of you and me. And we'll have to
leave that verse till next time.