Encouragement in the Gospel
Encouragement in the Gospel
Romans 1:8-15
On May 1, 1991, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics got his 939th stolen base. Henderson was known for his power as a leadoff hitter and his speed on the bases. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. Henderson broke the steals record which was previously held by Lou Brock who played almost his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals. As Henderson was approaching the record a reporter asked Lou Brock if he was going to be there. He replied,
I'll be there. Do you think I'm going to miss it now? Rickey did in 12 years what took me 19. He's amazing.
Lou Brock celebrated the gifts and talent of Henderson. Henderson celebrated his own gifts and accomplishment,
Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but I am the greatest of all time.
Brock was there that day and when Henderson broke his record, he said to him,
Today you are the greatest competitor who ever ran the bases in the big leagues. I congratulate you. You are now a legend in your time.
Rickey Henderson gave us a model of how to boast in one’s successes. Lou Brock gave us a model for celebrating the success of others. It is not surprising for those who knew Brock, who after his career became an ordained pastor and helped others to do the same.
Brock did what we shall all do. We should rejoice in how God worked and is working in the lives of others. We see this in the Apostle as he continues his introduction to the church in Rome.
Rejoice in the Faith of Others (v. 8)
Paul did not plant the church in Rome. As far as we know, no other apostle was influential in the founding of the church, but what does it matter? Some plant, some water, but only God brings the increase. God planted the church in Rome. And in these opening verses, Paul wanted to legitimize this church. Romans 1:8,
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
Paul begins with thanksgiving and praise to God through Jesus Christ for all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his saints. He gives thanks as an emissary of Jesus Christ as he has been called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. In his opening words, Paul is legitimizing the church as a true church for their faith.
After the church at Antioch was founded in Acts 11, the church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to check things out. He was greatly encouraged at what he found and went to get Paul to help teach the church. Remember the church was built on the foundation of the apostles as Paul writes to the Ephesians, Ephesians 2:19–21,
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
The Roman church was formed into a holy temple by putting their faith in teaching of the apostles which is the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul rejoiced and thanked God for His work in the church at Rome. And by so doing, Paul gives us a wonderful example to follow to see and rejoice in what God is doing in others. The center of our faith is God not us. Paul heard about the faithfulness of the Roman church and it caused his heart to rejoice in thankfulness. Paul’s gratitude is a reminder of 3 important truths. The first is that the faithfulness of others is a great source of strength and encouragement for us. When a church perseveres through trials or a believer sacrifices and risks much for the faith of others, or they stand boldly in the face of a growing pagan culture, serve as an example for us to do the same. One of the reasons I love missionary biographies is they stir up my faith. Reading Courtney Anderson’s To the Golden Shore, the missionary biography of Adoniram Judson and his family, gave me courage to continue the fight of faith. Hearing the faithfulness of a pastor in Cuba who makes $13 a month and who often goes without food so others can eat and hear the gospel encourages my faith. Hearing how IMB missionaries are living in a 7th floor apartment with two small children without an elevator while struggling to learn a language so they can help win Muslim to Christ, makes me appreciate God’s grace in my life.
Secondly, we want to have such faith. We want to live in such a way that people will see our lives and give glory to our Father in heaven. We never live to be seen. We live for an audience of One. And yet, we know God will use our lives to encourage and inspire others in their faith. When we do what is right and follow the Lord and persevere in trials and risk much for His namesake, others will rejoice in Christ because of us. Our labors are not in vain. God will use your life how he sees fit. He does not show you the whole picture. He does not show all the ways he is using your life for his glory. Live the kind of life that will encourage faith in others.
Thirdly, look for the faith of others. We can look in Christian biographies and listen to testimonies around the world, but we also can look around the church. I have made it a regular practice to look and rejoice in God’s faithfulness in our congregation. Every Sunday I look for at least one way the Lord is using someone in our congregation that has nothing to do with me. Remember, Paul did not start the church at Rome, but his heart was still encouraged by their faith. I could look around this congregation this morning and give countless examples of God’s faithfulness in our members.
Over the past two weeks, I have heard of and/or witnessed how members are persevering through challenging personal times but are continuing to trust the world. I have seen how people are going out of their way to serve people in need. I have heard of the regular faithfulness of so many who visit and encourage our homebound and senior saints. I have heard of people working to share Christ with their families and coworkers. I have heard of how people are meeting with others for Bible study or counsel to help others grow in the Lord. And that’s just in the past couple of weeks. And each one of those stories are connected to names of real people whose faith God is using in this church for the name of Christ.
Do you see the faith of others? So often we are frustrated and discouraged because we are not looking at how God is working in others, but how we think God is not working in our own lives. Take a lesson from Paul. Rejoice in what God is doing in others.
Desire Encouragement in the Gospel (v. 9-12)
Paul had been hearing about the faith in the Roman Church and desired to visit in order to participate in God’s grace in encouraging the church and by receiving encouragement from the church. Romans 1:9–12,
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Notice that Paul’s desire for this church was birthed in prayer. Paul prayed consistently and faithfully for God’s grace for the church and for his ability to come to the church. Paul brought his travel plans to the Lord. This is a simple reminder for us that we should bring our daily schedule before the Lord in prayer. We should allow God to dictate the who, what, and where of our lives.
At the outset of the letter, Paul wanted to communicate his affection and love for the church. Paul longed to be with this church. And notice the reason why, “that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Paul has spiritual gifts that he wants to use to build up the church in Rome and Paul knows the church in Rome has spiritual gifts to build him up. God does not give individual Christians every spiritual gift, but he gives them to the church as a whole.
I often say here during our membership interviews that if God is calling you to our church then you have some spiritual gift that we need if we are going to be mature in Christ. God assigns good gifts to his church and in God’s sovereign wisdom, He is assigning your gifts to this body for our good. He doesn’t primarily give you spiritual goods for you but for you to use to serve others. But it is not one sided. When people join Park, God wants to use the varied gifts of the members in this congregation to build them up in Christ. We want to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
Verse 11-12 is one of my favorite sentences for the church. We see a deep longing Paul has to be with the church and a deep longing to help the church grow in Christ. Does that sentence epitomize your life? Do you have a deep longing to be with the church and a deep longing to see others grow? I know the context is Paul desiring to visit and encourage another church in another city, but I believe the principle should be even more true for your own covenant community. Do you desire to be with the body and to serve the body? If one of those is off, you need to focus on why.
Why do you not desire to be with the body? Have you been hurt? Are you harboring bitterness against someone? Do you not feel seen or heard? Are you so discouraged in life that it is hard to gather? What does your lack of desire reveal about your relationship with Christ? Ask God to reveal where your lack of desire is coming from. It may be sin down to you or sin from within you. It may be an overloaded schedule or an anxious heart.
I would also take this time to encourage those of you who have been visiting for a while to consider joining the church. Paul’s aim in Romans to bring about the obedience of faith for Christ’ namesake. I believe church membership is a matter of obedience to the faith. God wants you to commit to a local congregation so that you may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. God wants you to use your gifts to serve the body and God wants our body to use its gifts to serve you. This is the church. The church is God’s design for spiritual growth. The church is God’s design to care for your soul and to help you care for the souls of others.
How has God gifted you to serve the church? Has he given you skills of administration? Has he given you the gift of teaching? Has he given you discernment? Has he given you the heart to serve quietly behind the scenes or to encourage those who are lonely? If you need help finding where to serve, do not hesitate to seek help. I usually offer this counsel if you are looking to discover your spiritual gifts.
Pray - seek God in prayer to reveal how he has made you and how he wants you to serve the church.
Ask Others - Ask others in your life what they think your spiritual gifts are. Sometimes we are blind to our strengths and need others to help us see them. Our elders would be happy to meet with you to help you discern your gifting to serve the body.
Look for what you naturally are good at and enjoy - Sometimes the Lord asks you to serve in ways you do not particularly enjoy, but I believe more often than not he gives us gifts we enjoy using. Do you naturally love to serve food at fellowship events? Do you love to clean? Do you enjoy the preparation of teaching? Do you enjoy visiting and talking to people? Look for how God has made you and what you enjoy.
Try - if you are not sure, maybe God wants you to start trying that gift. You may find you actually enjoy it and people benefit from your efforts. You may realize you like a certain aspect of the serving but it doesn’t perfectly fit. It may lead you to an even better fit for your giftings.
Regardless of what your spiritual gifts are, you should use them to serve others and allow others to serve you with them. None of us are so spiritual that we do not need help. We all need each other. This is God’s design.
Rest in God’s Sovereignty (v. 13)
God knows best. He is sovereign, powerful and wise. One of the most comforting truths in all the Scriptures is Proverbs 16:9,
The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
The Lord will get you where you need to go, when you need to go there. Life can be frustrating when it does not happen the way you want. Paul had desired to go to Rome for years but was never able to. We have already seen from the previous verses he had a deep, prayerful longing to visit and encourage the church in Rome. And for whatever the reason, the plans didn’t work out. When plans do not work out, it can be frustrating, but we need to rest in God’s sovereignty. Romans 1:13,
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
Paul does not reveal now he was prevented in coming to Rome. We know in Acts 16 he had a desire to go to Asia but the Holy Spirit prohibited it and then gave him a vision from the Macedonian man asking him and his companions to come there. We do not know the circumstances God used to prohibit him from coming, but we do know why he was prohibited, “in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” Paul writes in Romans 11:13
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry.
And Galatians 2:7
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised (or Gentiles), just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.
Paul was given a specific ministry to the Gentiles. Knowing Paul’s disgust and hatred for the Gentiles prior to his conversion, his passion to reach those outside of the Jewish heritage is only explained by an act of God. It’s a miracle. Paul had not yet come to Rome because God wanted him to reap a harvest among the Gentiles first. God had a plan. We need to trust his timing.
After leaving Washington, D.C., I had a brief 3 month stop as the Assistant Camp Director of Camp Lon in Aiken, SC. When I got there, it didn't seem like my position was needed. I was told I was being hired as the director of an alternative high school for kids expelled from school. On my first day, I saw one of my colleagues' business cards with that exact title. So instead of running the school, became the driver to pick kids up from the school. It was not what I moved down for and yet it was where the Lord had me. God used my time in the car those three months to listen to lots of lectures on Biblical Theology and hours to witness to one of my colleagues. After one of my colleagues seemed to be convinced of the Christian faith, I was transferred from Aiken to Summerton, SC to become the director of a group home of teenage mothers in the foster care system.
It was not the job I had in mind when I left DC. I had a passion to teach and train men for the gospel but the Lord wanted me to reap some harvest among those young women first. As I have looked back at my life, I can see God’s hand of providence. I can see how certain conversations turned into gospel fruit years later. I have seen how apparent ‘red lights’ were merely yield signs for a season. I planned my course but the Lord directed my steps. This is what Paul was trying to communicate to the Romans.
There may have been some in Rome who were upset with Paul for not visiting sooner. They may have felt slighted that he had not visited the capital of the Roman empire, indeed the capital of the world. He wanted them to know it had nothing to do with his desire to be with them. His heart’s desire was to come to Rome but he was providentially hindered in order that God could use him elsewhere first. Beloved, God knows what he is doing. We have to trust him, but sometimes it's hard to hear the word, “No or Not yet.” I remember telling one of my children no to something they asked and they replied, “I really hate that word.” Don’t we all? We want what we want when we want it. That’s the heart of our forefather Adam. Adam and Eve did not like the word, ‘No’ so they took of the fruit and ate. And humanity has been hating that word ever since.
We need to learn to trust the ‘No’s’ and the ‘Not Yets’ from the Lord. We plan our course, but the Lord directs our steps. Beloved, I still hate waiting for things to happen, but we should not rush the Lord. We should not rush him in our job or ministry opportunities. We should not rush him in our relationships or the desires of our hearts. Psalm 37:4 is a wonderful verse to meditate on:
Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
We often don’t even know the true desires of our heart. Our wants are not our deepest desire. God knows our hearts better than we do. And he wants to give them to you. And in order to get your deepest desires it is to delight yourself in the Lord or as Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you,” (Matthew 6:33)
Paul was providentially hindered to reap a harvest for the gospel among the Gentiles in the world and among the Romans. God wanted Paul to bless the church in Rome, but in his time. Why did God wait? We do not. It may be because he wanted a strong church that wasn’t planted by an apostle. It may be that he wanted the apostles to see how God doesn’t need them to do his work. Who knows? God does not reveal every detail of the plan, sometimes only the next step. So take the next step.
Fulfill your ministry (v.14-15)
Paul was close to death when he gave Timothy his last charge in his last letter, 2 Timothy 4:5,
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Fulfill your ministry. We all have been given different gifts to fulfill different roles. Paul encouraged Timothy to fulfill his ministry not only by his words but by his example. Romans 1:14–15,
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul was commanded by God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. His aim in life was for others to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He felt compelled to preach the gospel to Greeks and those outside of the Greek speaking world (or barbarians). He spoke to the wise and well educated and to the fools. He did not discriminate against who he shared the gospel with because the gospel is the power of God for all who believe.
I do not know where you are today with the Lord. There may be some here who have never repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus Christ. Our church exists to preach the good news of the gospel to everyone in the world. We want everyone to know there is a way to be right with God. If you are not a Christian, you may not even have a desire to be made right with God, but I believe you know deep down that you are not right with him. The Bible says we are all sinners and we know we are sinners because we all have felt guilt, shame and regret. We may try to justify ourselves with others but in the quietness of our own thoughts we are condemned. We know we are sinners. And once you know you are a sinner and therefore unrighteous, the question that should stir in your mind is how do I become righteous? The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer. It is what the whole letter is about. It does not matter if you are wise or foolish, rich or poor, you are a sinner and need a Savior.
Jesus did not come to save the righteous but the unrighteous. He came to save sinners. And he offered his perfect record of righteousness for anyone who would call on him in faith. For he lived a perfect life and willingly laid his life down to die for sinners. He was crucified, died and was buried. But God raised him from the dead. Jesus is alive today. He is at the right hand of God and is willing and able to save. If you turn from your sins, and believe, you will be saved. It does not matter how sinful you are, his mercy is more. Come to Christ. He will save you.
Beloved, the gospel is not only for those who have yet to believe, but it is for us. As some have said, the Gospel is not the diving board but the whole pool. The gospel of righteousness is what continues to sanctify us. Meditating and believing the gospel is the path to righteousness and a righteous life. We are saved by the gospel of righteousness in Christ and we are sanctified by the same gospel. We never outgrow our need for the good news. This is why we talk about the gospel each and every week. We need to be reminded that we are sinners, but we are not in despair. Because God has paid for our sins in Christ. We are forgiven. What a glorious truth.
This is why Paul wanted to preach the gospel in Rome. Not because they didn’t know it, but because they did know it and they knew it was the solution to all their needs. The Christian life is not about us and where we are and what we are doing. It is all about Jesus. It is about his glory. We should spend the rest of our lives talking about and celebrating the work of the greatest of all time. Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, who stole life from death and victory from defeat. Jesus proved his greatness in his resurrection from the dead. So let's rejoice and celebrate what he has done and labor to help others do the same.