Encouragement and Being Encouraged: Romans 1:8-15 (Sermon)
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WELCOME
Good morning, church! It is great to see you. This is our second week in Romans. I love the book. If you do, we are not alone:
And to that I say, “Let’s GO!”
CONTEXT
I want to set the stage and provide context. Romans is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church resident in Rome. Paul was writing about the gospel around AD 57. Nero is the Emperor. This letter is Paul’s longest and explores theology and Christian living. It delves into the nature of humanity, God, history, and our hope. The crux of it is in verses 16 and 17, which state,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16–17, ESV)
If you were going to memorize verses in Romans, these would be the ones I would start with. They capture the core of what the letter to the Romans is all about. We can summarize Romans another way. It is a call by God to “Live together in the power of the gospel, for it saves everyone who believes.” Please say that with me: “Live together in the power of the gospel, for it saves everyone who believes.” As we unpack these sixteen chapters over the next year or two, we will discover that God invites us to walk out our days in the strength of the great news about Jesus for our benefit and his renown.
TEXT
A., would you come up here now to read the text for us? Let’s dive into Romans Chapter 1, verses 8 through 15. I am going to have A.N. read for us. Would you please stand with me in honor of God’s Word?
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 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. 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. 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. (Romans 1:8–15, ESV)
PRAYER
Thank you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. Please help us learn from you and follow your teachings. Teach us through it for your glory, in Jesus’s name we pray, amen. You may be seated.
STRUCTURE
This passage is a preface to Paul’s primary purpose, with three parts:
8 - Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
9 - 12 Paul’s Prayer of Petition
13-15 Paul’s Plan to Preach
Let me repeat.
8 - Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
9 - 12 Paul’s Prayer of Petition
13-15 Paul’s Plan to Preach
The specific point Paul was making in these verses was that he was letting the church know he prayed prayers of gratitude for their faith and prayed that God would allow him to visit them, so that he could preach the fantastic news about Jesus for everyone’s encouragement. I repeat: Paul was letting the church know that he prayed prayers of gratitude for their faith and prayed that God would allow him to visit them so that he could preach the excellent news about Jesus, for everyone’s encouragement.
VERSE 8
Let’s zoom in and focus:
8 - Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
Look at verse 8:
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world” (Romans 1:8, ESV).
Paul began by thanking God for all the church because their faith was famous. People around the globe were aware of this band of believers in the capital of Rome. Paul wrote like this to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:1-9), Philippi (Philippians 1:1-10), Colossae (Colossians 1:1-14), Ephesus (Ephesians 1:15), and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4). We read again and again that he was thankful for everyone who put their hope in God, and he constantly interceded on their behalf.
THANKFULNESS
As a parent, one of my greatest joys is seeing and hearing of the faith of my children. Although Paul was not a spiritual father to these Romans, he had great excitement about their spiritual vitality and regularly lifted them to God. [PAUSE]
What excites you? [PAUSE]
What are you thankful for? [PAUSE]
What do you pray about?
THANKFUL
We can be excited and thankful for a myriad of things. Paul was excited and thankful for the faith of these people. Do you have someone whom you are grateful for? [Pause]
Why? [Pause] What did they do?
Often, we are thankful for those whom we love and those who love us. What about someone we have not met? [Pause]
Is there someone whose faith you are thankful for whom you have not met? That seemed to be the case for Paul. [Pause] Why? Why would he pray a prayer of thanksgiving for a people whom he has only heard of?
Well, he may have met some like Pricilla and Aquila. They were from Rome. But he didn’t know all of them.
Another reason was that he was being kind before he was going to be hard on them. But that doesn’t seem like him. I don’t think he is manipulative or insincere.
He was going to ask them for financial support for his mission. But, I don’t think he was buttering them up either. That doesn’t seem like him.
I say that because we can see the whole of his life. He lived to serve. He cared for people regardless of their ethnic background, gender, or class. He suffered for his kindness. He would face betrayal, slander, imprisonment, beatings, and martyrdom, teaching people who Jesus was and what he was about. Why did he care? I believe it was because he knew God’s love. He told the Corinthian church that the love of Christ compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14). We love others because he first loved us. He teaches us to be a people of radical compassion.
HOW WOULD IT MAKE THEM FEEL?
If you were reading this from Paul to Sawyer Highlands, how would you feel? Picture Paul writing, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of Sawyer Highlands, because Sawyer Highlands’ faith is proclaimed in all the world. Hearing that, I would be flabbergasted. I would be honored and humbled. I wouldn’t believe it. Paul, saying that our reputation as Christians has a global footprint? Paul, saying that he thanks God for us? It must have been encouraging.
WHAT PAUL DESIRES
This brings us to the second part of his prayer. His Prayer of Petition. Look at verse 9:
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you” (Romans 1:9, ESV).
He tirelessly prayed for this church. He encouraged them. He thanked God for their faith and prayed for them.
INTERCESSION
Do you pray? [Pause] Prayer is just talking to God. I was talking with some friends this week. And we were saying that talking out loud our prayers is better. It’s not easy, but it helps us stay focused. And I think that with so many cell phones using Bluetooth headsets, people will be more likely to believe you are on the phone than crazy. But who cares what people think, if you are talking to God? So, talk to God like Paul. We have prayer requests in our bulletin. You can take them home, and when you’re at a stoplight, brushing your teeth, or at the dinner table, you can talk to God about those things. In our day, saying we are praying for people can be just something people say. We can really pray. Recently, I have heard people move away from saying they are praying for each other, but instead say, “I am thinking of you,” or “Sending you positive thoughts,” or “Positive vibes.” What is a vibe? How do you send it? And I am not talking about a Pontiac. Paul was not sending vibes, positive thoughts, or just thinking; he was praying for the Roman church. He was thanking the Lord for the church. We can too. When was the last time you prayed like Paul? [Pause]
AFTER SERVICE
The other week, someone came up to me and said she was praying for whoever was preaching. She didn’t know who it would be. She was pumped afterward and felt like God answered her prayer. And when she left, I was pumped too, because I don’t know how my preaching landed. Without knowing it, she prayed for me. Wouldn’t it be humbling to find out that the apostle Paul was praying for you? Not only that, but he said he prayed without ceasing. He had you on his mind. That would be so encouraging. It could be like hearing Forest Frank, Tim Tebow, Joni Erickson Tada, or Jen Wilkin interceding for you. It would be so neat to look at one’s email and see some famous person write to say they are praying for you or me. Wouldn’t it?
DR. WOODS
On July 5, 1929, in Battle Creek, Michigan, John Woods was born to missionaries Harry and Emily Woods. They were on furlough from Beijing, China, with a group called OMS. The stock market crashed in 1929. But that didn’t stop their evangelistic efforts. They traveled back to the field with their one-year-old John. He grew up and became fluent in Mandarin. He was a teenager in China when, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese executed a surprise attack on the island of Oahu, killing 2,403 people and wounding 1,178 more. President Roosevelt said it was a date that would live in infamy, and the United States entered World War II against the Axis powers, specifically Germany and Japan. The empire of Japan was on the move. They swallowed up neighboring islands and conquered mainland China. Six days after this surprise attack, Japan demanded that all the Americans, including John Woods and his family as well as the famous Chariots of Fire Olympic runner Eric Liddell, move into an internment camp. Eric died there. But John and his family survived. In 1943, the Japanese sent the Woods family back to the US. John grew up and attended Asbury College. He met his wife and gave his life to Christ. He graduated and attended Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio to pursue a career in surgery. He became a plastic surgeon and did mission work in Panama and Ecuador. In 1960, he did a residency at the Mayo Clinic. He then traveled to the Twin Cities for more training and practiced in Boston. In 1969, he relocated to Rochester, Minnesota, and began working for the Mayo Clinic. He co-authored over 200 publications, co-founded a food bank, and a medical mission that utilized outdated or used Mayo Medical supplies to send to the neediest places on the planet. He started a men’s Bible study that grew into an interdenominational community bible study. He led prayer meetings with staff from all levels of employees. For sixty-some years, he attended the church where I grew up. I went off to college and seminary. I returned to the summer to serve as an intern with the youth, and then I spent a year and a half as a resident, working with junior high school students. Eventually, I left to speed up my seminary training. When I went away, John and his wife Janet gave me a card and told me they were praying for me. I was digging through my things this week and found more cards,
I recall them telling me that they prayed for me daily. I couldn’t believe that someone so important would make time to petition on my behalf, and I was encouraged, and still am. I think the Roman church may have felt the way I did. A stranger or someone you barely know prays for you. Someone famous prays for you. Paul, the apostle, the set apart one, a slave of Jesus Christ, constantly thanking God for you and praying for you. That is what they read. WOW!
WHAT?
What else did he pray? Look at verse 10.
“Always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you” (Romans 1:10, ESV).
He asked God for the opportunity to visit them. He wanted to spend time with them. He was not content with writing thank-you notes and theological lectures. In the book of Acts, we read:
“Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome’” (Acts 19:21).
Paul wanted to travel to Rome not as a tourist but as a friend and fellow follower of Jesus. He cared for this church. How cool is that? Why didn’t he go right away? Look at verse 13. What does it say?
“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented)” (Romans 1:13, ESV).
Who prevented him? It was God. God didn’t allow him to go. Why? He had other plans. Man plans his steps, but the Lord directs his ways, Proverbs says. Once, Paul intended to go to Asia, but God stopped him. Why? As far as we can tell, he was in the right place. He wanted to encourage them and preach to people who needed to hear what he had to say. However, God had providentially orchestrated it so that he went in the opposite direction. He went east instead of west. We don’t know why God closed doors and opened others. But he did. His ways are higher and greater. He is wiser and smarter. That is how life goes. It may not always make sense at the time. But we know this: God cares for us, and Paul cared for this foreign church. He asked God repeatedly to visit.
BIG DEAL
What do you care about? [Pause]
What do you long for? [Pause]
What do you pray for over and over and over again? [Pause]
Eventually, Paul arrived in Rome, although the circumstances were quite different. We must be patient, persistent, and not give up hope. Keep talking to God. He may be holding you back from your desire for a good you don’t know or preventing you from a harm you cannot foresee. Your unmet desires might be a proverbial Uber bringing you to your knees in prayer to God. He can work many things out through one flat tire and understands the conclusion of history, because he is the author.
WHY
I mentioned that he was raising support and possibly knew some in the church. Why did he want to see them? Look at verse 11.
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you” (Romans 1:11, ESV).
He wrote that he wanted to encourage them. He tried to strengthen them spiritually. Being present will amplify Paul’s impact. Proximity creates opportunity. We benefit from being in a relationship. We need coaches, mentors, cheerleaders, and friends. Paul had Barnabas. Rome had Paul.
Who encourages you? [Pause]
How do they do it? [Pause]
If you don’t have someone to encourage you, ask God to send someone.
VERSE 12
That was not the only reason Paul wanted to visit. Jump to verse 12:
“That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 12:12, ESV).
Paul also hoped to be encouraged. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35). We are made to give and receive. In giving, we receive. Paul observed that if he went to encourage them, he too would be encouraged. If all we do is serve ourselves, we will be the most depressed, dissatisfied, disconnected people on the planet. God wants us to share, love, listen to, and care for each other. He wants us to be encouragers and encouraged. Paul was. He was spending his life for strangers and friends, praying in the hope of encouraging them. And he believed they would encourage him back. Their faith already heartened him.
Who has God put in your circle for you to encourage? [Pause]
What would it look like to be an encouragement? [Pause]
Are you willing to step out and write a note, send a text, post something, make a visit, and say something to encourage you? [Pause]
Do you have margin in your life to spare? [Pause]
If you don’t, why is that? [Pause]
For the busy, what must you cut out of your life so that you can be an encouragement to others?
That is what Paul wanted.
FINAL SECTION
That was Paul’s Prayer of Petition, and now we get to the last section, Paul’s Plan to Preach. Paul communicated a desire to see them and preach. Go to verses 13 through 15:
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. 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. (Romans 1:13–15, ESV)
Paul hoped to help share the gospel with those who didn’t know it, while also blessing those who did. He earnestly wanted to be a blessing.
HARVEST
He wrote to the Corinthian church that he had planted, Apollos had watered, and God had caused the increase. Jesus used the parable of the sower to illustrate how the Word of God, the good news about Jesus, is shared, sometimes grows, and bears fruit. People respond in various ways. People have different roles in sharing Jesus. Some are people like me who preach. Others share their story. Others love and ask how they can pray for people. Others share resources and friendships. Others listen and ask questions. Paul had the privilege of sharing wonderful information about Jesus with people who had never heard of him. Some responded by accepting what he said and turning their lives around. They wanted to hear more. He would encourage them with the Bible. He saw a harvest of righteousness over his lifetime. Jesus taught that the fields are ripe for the harvest. People may not realize it, but their most profound need is a healthy relationship with God, their Creator and Savior. If you trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior and are following Jesus, then you have what the world needs. [If you haven’t, it is not too late. Acknowledge in your heart that you have disregarded God in your thoughts and actions, been selfish, and prideful. You can’t get to heaven by being good. Jesus came to pay the price for us to get to heaven by his blood. If you believe that, then heaven is yours, and God transforms you from a wandering rebel to a humble friend. It is that simple.] Jesus said we need to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out the workers. Paul was one of those workers. And he was praying for God to send him out. A prophet named Isaiah, from around 700 BC, had a vision, and God spoke to him, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah replied, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8, ESV). Paul responded similarly. What is our part in this ripe time of history? I would say, let us ask God.
APPLICATION
What do you ask God about? [Pause]
What are you grateful for? [Pause]
Is there someone that you could encourage? [Pause]
What prayer do you want God to answer? [Pause]
God knows both the past and the future. He knows our thoughts and feelings. He knows all things. He has plans. He may or may not reveal them. They will unfold. In the meantime, he wants us to talk to him about what is going on inside of us. Perhaps he has instilled this desire within us because he wants us to discuss it with him. Let’s pause and take a moment to pray quietly to God for those desires. [Pause] Paul shared his desire with God to be sent to Rome to encourage them and be encouraged. He shared his desire with the church as well. Eventually, God answered his prayers.
Let us ask God to send us out, quietly in our hearts right now. [Pause]
In your bulletin, there is a blank note; additional notes are located in the back. The Lord may inspire you to write a note of encouragement to someone who comes to mind. You don’t have to use the blank note, but I wanted to take away one more barrier to doing so.
If you find God answering that prayer, I would love to hear about it. Please email, text, or call me. Let’s see what God will do. I am excited.
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