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Paul opens up his heart and tells the Romans about his thanksgivings, prayers, longings, and obligations. In his comments we have a great example for our own lives.
A Glimpse Into The Heart Of Paul
Romans 1:8-15
When you think about the apostle Paul, what kind of person do you envisage? What do you think made him tick? What kind of personality did he have? Well, I think we would consider Paul to be a driven and zealous man, a type A personality, and we would be right. He was so passionate about Jesus Christ and His gospel that he was willing to die rather than not fulfill his ministry. We might also think of him as an intellect, and we would also be right. Just read the epistle to the Romans, and you’ll come away at certain points scratching your head because of the intellectual depth of this letter. Certainly Paul had one of the greatest minds of his day. He was the theologian of theologians.
However, in this passage we are going to look deeper and see the things that flowed from Paul’s heart and soul. Remember that Paul had never been to this church. He had not met most of these people. Therefore, before Paul unpacks the great riches of the gospel in the remaining portion of this letter, he takes the time to unbare his heart, so that his readers will know that he truly loves them and cares about them. And, by the way, that’s a great principle to remember. Someone once said, “They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Let someone truly be convinced that you love them and want the best for them, and you can any hard and difficult thing to them, and they will receive it.
Paul, in the first seven verses of this letter has told them a little about his ministry, and his gospel, and his Lord, and even a little about themselves – they are called and beloved. Well, now he’s going to open up his heart to them and let them see his thanks and prayers and longings and obligations. What was Paul thankful for? What did he pray for? What did long for? What did he feel responsible for? We’re going to see the answers to those questions, as we dig into our passage this morning.
1. Paul’s Thanksgiving
Who does Paul thank? “My God!” Now that’s interesting. Paul doesn’t simply say, “I thank God”, or “I thank the one true God”, but “I thank my God.” Now, I find that interesting, and a bit unusual. However, I shouldn’t find this unusual. Didn’t the Psalmist say in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”? Didn’t Jesus cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” When Thomas put his hands into the nail prints of the risen Lord, didn’t he cry out, “My Lord and my God”!? Paul wrote this way of God in many places. In 1 Corinthians 1:4 he wrote, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.” In 2 Corinthians 12:21, he said, “I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.” In Philippians 1:3 he wrote, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” In Philippians 4:19 he said, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Then again in Philemon 1:4 he said, “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers.” This was a common way that Paul referred to God – “my God”. I really like that. Paul made his relationship to God personal.
You know, the same should be true of every one of us. Is God your God? Do you see God as a distant, impersonal Being? Or, do you know Him in an intimate and personal way? Can you say, “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine”? One of the great blessings of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:33 is “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” It’s not enough to believe in God. He must become your God. The only way God can become your God is when Jesus Christ becomes your Savior.
How Did Paul Thank? “Through Jesus Christ.” Now, that seems a little odd, doesn’t it. Why would Paul say that he thanked God through Jesus Christ? Why not just tell us that he thanked God? The answer is because Paul knew that he couldn’t approach God for one second, even to praise and thank Him, unless He came through Jesus Christ as his mediator. You and I can’t approach God in prayer unless we come through Christ, and we can’t approach God to thank Him unless we come through Christ. Notice how the author of Hebrews puts it in chapter 13, verse 15, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” We can’t offer up a sacrifice of praise to God unless we do it through Christ Jesus. There are those who say that the Christian should be in unity with the Muslim, because both believe in the one true God. They simply call Him be different names. The problem with that my friend, is that the Muslim can’t approach the one true God, no matter what name He calls Him by, because He does not come to Him through Jesus Christ. The Muslim, or any other person in the world for that matter, can’t have fellowship with God unless Christ is His mediator.
Why Did Paul Thank God? “because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” People were talking about the faith of these Roman Christians all over the world! Their faith was famous. Now, this tells me a couple of things. First, it tells me that their faith was active. It could be seen. Faith, itself, is invisible. It takes place within the soul. But in order for people to proclaim to others about the faith of the Roman believers, there must have been something they could see. So, what was it? Well, Romans 1:5 says that Paul’s goal was to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles. People saw their obedience. They saw their changed lives. The same kind of thing took place among the Thessalonians. Paul wrote in 1 Thess. 1:9, “For they themselves report… how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.” Perhaps the Roman Christians turned from idols, and this news swept through the land, in the same way that news spread about the magicians in Ephesus who burned all their valuable magic books when they were converted.
Another thing I see here is that Paul saw God as ultimately responsible for the faith of these believers which was spreading throughout the world. We thank the person who did the favor for us. If my battery dies, and my neighbor comes over and gives me a jump, I thank him for his help, not someone else who didn’t help me. So too, Paul thanks God for the faith of these believers because God had something to do with their faith, and the visible results of their faith. God was behind it. God was moving in them. God was enabling faith, and feeding faith, and spurring on faith in these believers. My friends, faith is not our contribution to salvation. Rather, faith is the gracious gift of our sovereign God.
It is also interesting to me that Paul was praising and thanking God for the mighty move of His Spirit in Rome, the commercial and cultural center of the world at that time. Yet, Paul had nothing to do with this church. He did not plant it. The church was probably started from people who had been saved on Pentecost going back to Rome, or perhaps by believers moving to Rome. Yet, in spite of the fact that this was not Paul’s work, he was excited and overjoyed at what God was doing in this city. I don’t see a hint of jealousy or envy in him. He was just happy God was being glorified. Yet it is very easy to become jealous of the church in town that is growing like crazy while we are not experiencing the same blessing from God. My friends, if we find ourselves getting frustrated and upset when God blesses another church rather than ours, we need to repent! That only shows that we care more about ourselves than God. Rather, we should be rejoicing wherever we see God saving souls and building up the body of Christ.
2. Paul’s Prayer
Paul’s Prayers Were Secret. The only one Paul can call to witness his prayers is God. That’s because only God saw and heard his prayers. Paul prayed much in secret. He obeyed Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:5-6, “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” This was one of the secret’s to Paul’s greatness. Usually we think of all Paul accomplished for God through his incessant traveling, and preaching, and writing. We forget that he accomplished just as much, if not more, on his knees in prayer. Every great man of God has been a man of prayer. It has been said that Martin Luther set apart his three best hours for prayer. John Wesley once said, “I have so much to do that I must spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” David Brainerd, the missionary to the American Indians in the 18th century, would go out into the woods on a snowy day, and by the end of his time in prayer, all the snow around him would melt because of his body heat and fervent prayers.
Paul was one of the busiest men who ever lived. His life was filled from morning to night in tentmaking, teaching and preaching, visiting people in their homes, traveling, writing, discipling. Yet, he made time for prayer. What is your secret prayer life like? This is convicting, isn’t it? If we are too busy for prayer, we are too busy, and must reprioritize our lives.
Paul’s Prayers Were Ceaseless. He says in verse 9 and 10, “as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request…” When Paul says that his prayers for them were unceasing, he doesn’t mean, of course, that he did nothing but pray for them. Rather, he means that they were always on his heart, and he found himself constantly praying for them. It’s like having a chronic cough – you don’t cough all the time, but you find yourself coughing throughout the day. The smoke of his intercession rose to God day and night. He truly prayed without ceasing. Not only should we have time with God alone, without distractions, but we should also intersperse our whole days with prayer as we remember people and situations that need God’s touch. So, when you are driving in your car, or working, you can send up brief prayers all day long. Paul was praying for people in a far off land that he had didn’t know. We have enough difficulty just praying for our family and friends. We should remember our poor and persecuted brothers and sisters around the world that desperately need God’s grace in their lives.
Paul’s Prayers Were Submissive. What exactly did Paul pray for regarding the Romans? Verse 10 says, “if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.” Paul was praying that God would make it possible for him to visit them. But notice he says, “by the will of God.” Though he wanted to come to them, he wanted to come to them by the will of God. Paul was submissive to God’s will. And, that was a good thing, because God would answer Paul’s prayers, but not in the way Paul imagined. Paul would finally arrive in Rome, but it would be over three years later, and he would go through imprisonment, riots, plots on his life, great trials, years spent in prison, and shipwreck! If Paul were not submitted to the sovereign will of God, he would be frustrated and upset. And folks, one of the reasons we get so frustrated and upset with our situations is that we are not submissive to God’s will. We ought to pray for the desires of our heart, but always remember that God may have willed something else. That’s exactly how Jesus prayed, right? “Father, let his cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.”
We should pray secretly, ceaselessly, and submissively.
3. Paul’s Longing
Paul’s passion comes out in verse 11, “For I long to see you.” This was his ardent desire. Paul passionately desired to see and visit these Roman Christians. Why did Paul want to see them?
To Strengthen the Church. Paul wanted to share the gifts God had given him with them, that they might be established. God had given Paul extraordinary insight into His Word, along with teaching and preaching gifts. Paul wanted to come and teach them God’s glorious truth, that they might be established. What he means is that he wanted to serve them to strengthen them and bring them to spiritual maturity. This is how he puts it in Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” This is what he means in verse 13 when he says, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.” Paul was passionate about serving the church in order to see God’s work in their midst. He wanted to see the fruit of God’s Spirit working in them and among them. Paul not only wanted to see people saved, but disciple, matured, sanctified, and strengthened in their faith.
What I find so fascinating in all of this is how Paul’s attitude contrasts so much with ours today. Why do people today want to come to church? If you ask a person why they go to this church or that church the most common answer is, “In order to get fed.” Paul’s attitude was that he wanted to come to this church to give, to serve, to feed them! Folks, this is a mark of spiritual maturity. If we only want to be part of a church for the benefits to us, we are still very spiritually immature. How about you? When you come to church on Sunday, are you looking for an opportunity to serve and give? Are you looking for a way you can edify the body during the Sharing time? It seems like this is a problem in all churches. It is why there is always a lack of Sunday School teachers. No one wants to miss out on the service. My friends, what spiritual gifts has God given you? Whatever they are, use them to strengthen the body! Seek out ways you can give of yourself and your gifts when you meet with us!
To Be Strengthened By The Church. In verse 12 Paul makes it clear that he also wants to be strengthened and encouraged by their faith as well, “that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Paul did not see himself as the only one who had anything to offer. Rather, he saw every believer as a vital member of a body, each having a unique function and role to play. He wanted to give to them, but he also wanted to receive from them.
Folks, there is something you can learn and benefit by from every member of the body. It doesn’t matter if they are a baby Christian, or a mature believer. If the Spirit of God resides in someone, they can make a valuable contribution to your Christian life. We need to treat everyone with honor. It doesn’t matter what their ethnic background, social status, length of time being a Christian, or anything else. This is exactly Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 14:14-26, “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
4. Paul’s Obligation
Who was Paul obligated to? He tells us in verse 14, “Greeks and barbarians, wise and to foolish.” In other words, Paul felt an obligation to all people, especially the Gentiles, as he was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
What did Paul feel obligated to do? The answer to that question surfaces in verse 15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Paul felt an obligation to preach the gospel to all people, especially the Gentiles.
Why did Paul feel this obligation? Well, we could say he was obligated to preach to all the Gentiles, because God had called him as an apostle (verse 1), and commissioned him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake (verse 5). In other words, Paul was a slave of Jesus Christ, and a slave is supposed to do what his Lord commands. God said, “Do this!” so Paul felt obligated to do it. But, that would really miss the mark. It would imply that Paul really didn’t want to do it, but had to, because Jesus told him to. It would imply that preaching the gospel to all people was a distasteful chore that Paul chafed at, but forced himself to do, because he had to. However, in verse 15, he says, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also.” Paul was eager. He wanted to preach the gospel. The desire came from within him, not forced upon from the outside.
So, if Paul was eager to preach the gospel, why also this sense of obligation? I believe it was because Paul knew the desperate need of all men, and he knew that God had given him the solution to their need. Paul had received salvation from sin by God’s grace. And now he felt under obligation to bring the same cure to others that he had experienced himself.
In 2 Kings 6 & 7, the days of Elisha, the Arameans came up and laid siege to Samaria, so that no one could go in and out of the city. As a result, there was a great famine in the land. The people were starving to death. In fact, one woman made an agreement with another woman that on one day they would boil and eat her son, and on the next day they would boil and eat her son. Only the second woman after eating her neighbor’s son, hid her own son that he would not be killed and eaten. Things were absolutely desperate. There were 4 lepers inside the city who started talking to each other. They said, “Hey, if we stay here we are going to starve to death. Why not go outside the gates over to the Arameans. Maybe they will spare us. If we die, we die, but we are going to die either way. Why not take a chance? But when they went over to the Arameans they found no one there. God had caused them to hear the sound of a great multitude of chariots and horses, and the Arameans figured that the Israelites had hired other armies from other nations to come and battle the Arameans. So, they just up and left everything, including their tents, horses, donkeys, and food. So, these four lepers enter the camp, and start gorging themselves with all kinds of great food and drink. Then they went and started to cart off all the silver and gold and clothes to hide them. But about that time, one of these lepers piped up and said, “Hey, what we are doing is not right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent. If we keep all this to ourselves, God will punish us. We need to go back and tell the people of Samaria.” My friends, this is a day of Good News! And, it’s not right for us to keep this glorious good news to ourselves. People are perishing all around us. They will die and slip into Hell. Not only Paul, but we too have an obligation to bring the Good News to as many people as we possibly can. This is the great work we must be about. Do you feel this obligation? If you noticed that one of your neighbor’s house was on fire, but that they were in another part of the house oblivious to their danger, wouldn’t you feel an obligation to notify them, and make sure they were rescued? Of course you would. And so much we labor to bring the gospel to all we possibly can.
Conclusion
In this portion of chapter one of the book of Romans we have seen Paul unbare his heart. He has told us what he thanks God for, what and how he prays, what he longs for, and what he feels obligated to do.
Do you feel a kinship with him? Do you thank God whenever you see His work going on, even when it is a different church from yours? Even when they may believe somewhat differently from you? Even when there are things in that church that you don’t think are quite right?
Do you pray like Paul? Is there a portion of your day devoted to being alone with God, so that you would have to call God as your witness to it? Do you pray often and continually? Do you pray for people you don’t even know?
Do you long to be with the church, not just to get, but to give? Not just to be fed, but to impart your spiritual gift? Do you desire the ministry of the least of the brethren? Do you honor all those in the body of Christ?
Do you feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to bring the Good News that has saved you to others? Are you eager to witness and tell others of Christ? Are you willing to spend and be spent in this work?
May God work in us, the same grace that he worked in Paul, that we too might bring Him much glory! Amen.
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