E410: Reading Romans Ch 1:8-16

Benjamin Lee: Alright, the Bible says in Romans 10 and verse 17, then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So we want to be in God's word. That's how our faith is going to be established. That's how it's going to grow. Will you read with me, please? Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse number 8. We are making our way through the book of Romans, verse by verse, a little bit each day. Here we go, verse number 8. First, I love this, Paul says first. You think about preachers. Preachers often say first, but there may not be a second. He does this ⁓ as well, I believe, in chapter 3. I can't remember though. He does it again in another place. He says first, but there's no second. I find that funny. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. We can learn that Paul had great affection for the saints in Rome. He gives thanks to them. No doubt he was praying for them. What a great example for us to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ and that their faith is being proclaimed. People are hearing about it and people know about it. Let us never be ashamed of the gospel as Paul said in verse number 16 of chapter one. Verse number nine. for God whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of his son is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, verse 10, making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. In verse nine, he calls the gospel the gospel of his son. Notice that he describes it as the gospel of God earlier in verse number one. Paul is persistent in his prayers to the saints. He has a desire to go and be with them. He makes that very clear throughout the letter as well. When we get to chapter 15, I believe he's going to emphasize this as well, this desire that he had to want to see them. In chapter 15 and verse 22, he says, for this reason, I have often been prevented from coming to you. But now with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain, for I hope to see you in passing and to be helped on my way there by you when I have first enjoyed your company." So we see the great love that Paul had for the saints. He wanted to be in their presence. He wanted to be around them. That is clearly demonstrated from the beginning and at the end of the book. What a great example for us to have a natural desire to want to be around God's people, to pray for one another. And I love what he says in verse 10, by the will of God. There were times in Paul's ministry he was prevented. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, he said Satan had prevented him. The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 16 prevented or did not allow him to go to certain regions, at least initially. He's saying, if this is according to God's will, I will be successful coming to you. He knew that this was all going to be about ⁓ God and His will being accomplished. He says in verse number 11, for I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you that you may be established. Was this some kind of spiritual gift through the laying of hands, through the apostles? That's one particular way to think about it. But he wanted to give some kind of spiritual gift to... them so that they would be established or strengthened as well. That is, verse 12, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, very similar to what he says in chapter 15, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. Brothers and sisters, friends, Christians can encourage one another through our persistence, perseverance, our confidence in God. And so he has again this great desire to be with them. Verse 13, 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. So we know that the audience that he's talking to and that the brethren that are there are composed of Gentiles and Jewish Christians as well. And he wanted to be benefited from them to obtain some kind of fruit. among them as well. verse 14, 15, and 16, there are three I AM statements. In verse 14, Paul said, am under obligation, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So for my part in verse 15, I am eager to preach the gospel. He's called it the gospel of God, the gospel of his son. And now I'm eager to preach the gospel. to you also who are in Rome. Paul understood that everyone needed and needs the gospel. The third I am statement is in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. Some believe that this may be some kind of echo going back to the gospel of Mark in Mark chapter nine. If I remember correctly, let me turn back over there. In Mark chapter nine, ⁓ That's not the right chapter ⁓ where Jesus talks about if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you as well. ⁓ Mark chapter 8, verse number 38, for whoever is ashamed of me, in my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Paul is saying, I'm not ashamed of the gospel at all. In fact, I'm proud of this gospel. of Jesus and what it has done for me and what it will do for everyone else. So notice the love that Paul has for the saints, number one, beginning back in verse number eight, as we get down to verse number 16. Notice number two, the eagerness and the desire that he has to be around them, how our faith can encourage one another. Then finally, these three I am statements. I'm under obligation. I'm eager to preach. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Paul's life had been transformed by the gospel when he understood that Jesus indeed is both Lord and Christ and was risen from the dead. Do we ever find ourselves being ashamed of the gospel? We have no reason to be ashamed. In fact, Paul tells us why we should never be ashamed. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Let us never be ashamed. Let us always be eager and let us understand the great opportunities that we have around us. That's Romans chapter one, verses eight through 16. We'll pick it up next time and dive into verse number 16 and 17.