Romans-19- Loving and serving the Lord- ?
Romans 1:10-12
Loving and Serving the Lord
Romans 1:10-12, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
Romans 1:8-16, the apostle Paul opens his heart. He lets us see the motives with which he serves the Lord Jesus Christ. No greater servant ever lived than the apostle Paul, except our Lord Himself.
This passage forces us to look inside and to see what really made him the reasons that he was what he was, that he did what he did, that he thought the way he thought, and wrote the way he wrote. Apparently, it was very important to him as he wrote this epistle to stop at the very beginning after just the introduction in the first seven verses and unbared his heart.
1. Loving Spirit. V 11, For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— Why was Paul so concerned?
What drew Paul towards them? It was not some personal gratification, but it was something that he wanted to give them. "That I may give you some spiritual gift."
What does love always to do? Gives!
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Love gives. That is where we see the loving heart. Paul was not going because he would tour the Rome. See the magnificent the capital of the World. Paul was not going for a shopping. Paul was reaching out.
Colossians 1:27-29, To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labour, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Paul says that, ➢ It pains me. ➢ I agonize over it. ➢ I hurt. Sometimes to have a severe stomachache, a severe pain in the pit of my stomach in anxiety over the response of people to the teaching of the Word of God. Because you want so desperately to give them something of spiritual value. He wanted to give them something. He had a great heart of love.
1 Thessalonians 2:7, But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. Can we think of anything more gentle than a nursing mother and a little baby at her breast?
That is how we were with you. The word "cherish"means "body heat, to warm with body heat."We warmed you with the warmth of our body, our person, like a mother does a little baby, and we were so affectionately desirous, we longed for your presence and fellowship.
Because of that we were willing to have imparted unto you not only the gospel but our own souls because you were so dear unto us. Paul says, I loved you so much I would have given you my soul, let alone my message.
2 Corinthians 12:15, And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. He had a great love. The main characteristic of love is unselfish giving. Such love always seeks the best, and so what he sought was some spiritual gift. "To impart unto you some spiritual gift."
What is this? The word “charisma,” gift of grace, a spiritual charisma, pneumatikon, a grace gift of the Spirit.
It means the source is the Holy Spirit. I want to give you a gift from the Holy Spirit.
What spiritual gift is this? The same term is used in this letter.
Romans 5:15-16, But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of
God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
Here Paul speaks of the great gift of Christ.
Romans 11:29, For the gifts and the calling of
God are irrevocable. Here Paul speaks of the blessings God gave to Israel.
Romans 12:6, Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; Here Paul speaks of the spiritual gifts given to the body, the gift of teaching and so forth.
So, it could be used of Christ. It could be used of the general blessings that God gives to His people. It could be used of specific spiritual gifts.
How is Paul using it? We do not know. ➢ For some, gifts of Christ. ➢ For others, the blessings of God. ➢ For others, to minister my spiritual gifts to you. It encompasses everything. He would present Christ, speak of the gifts of God's blessing, and use his own spiritual gifts to build the body.
What he wanted to give them was not physical, but spiritual. What goes on in some churches we do not know but what we want to impart is something spiritual. Love always gives the best it has.
What is the reason? V 11, For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— Paul wants their feet down solid.
Ephesians 4:13, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Where is the source of all those spiritual things?
It is in the word of God. Using the Word of God and the gifts of the Spirit, Paul wants to impart to them something spiritual. Pastoral visit may benefit you physically but that is not going to ground you firmly in the Lord.
Spending more time in the word of God shows that the Pastor has such love towards you to build you in the word of God. Paul’s heart of love was not just a sentiment. It resulted in wanting to give them a spiritual gift that would firmly establish them in the faith.
That is the true spirit of service. You are not looking for some superficial goal.
2. Willing Spirit
V 10, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.
What is Paul’s request? If by any means! He does not care what it is, at length he might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to them. While Paul is praying for them, he is also asking the Lord somehow by any means just to get him to be with them.
That is a willing spirit. Paul not only prayed but he wanted to part of the answer to his prayer. It is so easy to pray for others to do it. God wanted to know who will go on behalf of them. Isaiah said, "Here am I, Lord, send me."
It is easy to pray for missionaries. We pray for the missionaries to reach the people across the sea. Very difficult to pray for somebody to reach our neighbor. God knows when you are praying safely, and He knows whether you have a willing spirit.
Paul prayed with a willing heart. 3. A submissive spirit. Paul had a very submissive heart. V 10, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. Paul wanted to be with them, and he want to be the instrument if it is the will of God.
Paul says the same thing at the end of the letter as well.
Romans 15:32, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Though Paul was highly motivated, thankful, concerned, and willing, he was regulated by a commitment to the will of God. I am sure Paul learned this lesson from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:39, He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:42, Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Matthew 26:44, So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Not only that Jesus taught us to pray.
Matthew 6:10, Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Jesus life was summarized in one mission statement.
John 6:38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
We are to be conformed to His will. Paul lived his life that way. He was utterly concerned with doing the will of God from the heart. Sure, he was volunteering, but only if that is what God wanted. We can trace through Paul's life so many times when the will of God was the issue.
Acts 21:10-14, And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said,
“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” 12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”
Why do you keep weeping? ‘The will of the Lord be done.’" Paul lived for the will of God. They finally resigned themselves to the fact that that is the way it would ultimately turn out for him.
2 Timothy 1:1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 Corinthians 1:1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
James 4:13-15, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
We make our plans for the future! The limiting factor in everybody's life is the will of God. The true servant is totally submissive to God's will. So, Paul submits himself. He was resigned to God's will and it did not matter what it brought him, whether it brought him pain or pleasure.
That is not fatalism. That is confidence to know that God has the best plan. Paul prays and he pours out his heart, but he says I only want God's will. People may ask if Paul desired to the will of God then why pray? Ultimately God will do whatever He is going to do anyway then we should pray?
The relationship between our prayers and God's sovereignty and will. There are three levels of knowing and doing the revealed will of God. All of them require the renewed mind with its Holy Spirit given discernment.
Level one
God’s will of command is revealed with final, decisive authority only in the Bible. We need the renewed mind to understand and embrace what God commands in the Scripture. Without the renewed mind, we will distort the Scriptures to avoid their radical commands for self-denial, love, purity, and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone.
God’s authoritative will of command is found only in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16–17, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [c]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Devotion Christians should spend meditating on the written word of God.
Level Two
The second stage of God’s will of command is our application of the biblical truth to new situations that may or may not be explicitly addressed in the Bible. The Bible does not tell you which person to marry, or which car to drive, or whether to own a home, where you take your vacation. Or a thousand other choices you must make.
What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is calling us to do.
This is very different from constantly trying to hear God’s voice saying do this and do that.
Romans 12:2, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
There is a world of difference between praying and labouring for a renewed mind that discerns how to apply God’s word. On the one hand, the habit of asking God to give you new revelation of what to do.
God’s aim is a new mind, a new way of thinking and judging, not just new information. His aim is that we be transformed, sanctified, freed by the truth of his revealed word.
John 8:32, And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 17:17, Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. So, the second level of God’s will of command is the discerning application of the Scriptures to new situations in life by means of a renewed mind. Level Three God’s will of command is the vast majority of living where there is no conscious reflection before we act. About 95 percent of your behavior, you do not premeditate. That is, most of your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are spontaneous. They are just spillover from what is inside.
Matthew 12:34–36, Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every
idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. Why we call this part of God’s will of command? Because God commands things like.
- Do not be angry.
- Do not be prideful.
- Do not covet.
- Do not be anxious.
- Do not be jealous.
- Do not envy.
None of those actions are premeditated. Anger, pride, covetousness, anxiety, jealousy, envy — they all just rise up out of the heart with no conscious reflection or intention. We are guilty because of them. They break the commandment of God.
Is it not plain therefore that there is one great task of the Christian life? Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We need new hearts and new minds.
Matthew 12:33, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. That is the great challenge.
That is what God calls you to.
- You cannot do it on your own.
- You need Christ, who died for your sins.
- You need the Holy Spirit to lead you into Christ-exalting truth and to work in your truth-embracing humility.
God's sovereignty puts out the foreordained tune to be played. Prayer is learning to play in tune. But even when we are out of tune, it does not mess up the celestial orchestra. Fortunately, we hear them, but they apparently do not hear us when we are out of line.
Paul says that I only want what God wills. Today in Christendom where people go around demanding things from God. It is perverted. It is heretical. It is self-will that not only attacks the will of God but attacks the nature of God.
Paul sought the advance of God's glory through God's kingdom and God's will. 4. Humble Spirit. Paul had a humble spirit. V 11-12, For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—12 that is, that I
may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. We will be comforted together with you by our mutual faith. Paul says that he is not coming in as the expert and he is going to reach there and give some spiritual gifts.
No! What Paul mean is that he will reach there and give them, and they will give him which will result in perfecting together. Humility. There are some people who think they have nothing to learn. They have got it all to give.
I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. "Ill will and pride, however, prevent our deriving such fruit from one another."John Calvin From inexperienced beginners, Paul said, I will receive something. Sometimes someone who is relatively a new Christian will come and talk and they will say, "I don't know why I am talking to you, I know there are lots of people that you should be talking to and you should be doing something else."
Personally, I hear that all the time, and the assumption that they have nothing to offer. I love to talk to children because they say it very boldly. The humble teacher says let us learn together. There is nothing worse than an arrogant teacher who treats you as if you knew nothing and he knew everything.
The greatest theologian that ever lived, the apostle Paul, is ready to humbly learn from a bunch of new Christians in Rome that he had never met. The humility of the pure in heart. The humility of the pure in heart.
1 Peter 5:2-7, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The place of humility.
What does it mean to be humble? To be humble means simply to consider the needs of others more important than your own. Jesus considered that our need was so great that He ought to leave heaven to meet our need. He did it.
He humbled Himself. Humility is to look not on my own things but the things of others, to consider others better than myself.
Conclusion
Maybe you have heard the story of the old missionary who was returning home after many years of sacrificial service in Africa. He was on the same ship with the then president, Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt had been in Africa, too, for a few weeks on a big game hunt. The ship docked in New York. Great crowds greeted the president. The press was there to cover the story.
The old missionary and his wife walked off the ship unnoticed, made their way all alone to a cheap hotel to spend the night before traveling on a train to the west. "It just doesn't seem right,"the missionary said to his wife in a rather bitter tone. "We give our lives in Africa to win souls to
Christ and when we arrive home, there's nobody to meet us and there's no reward. The president shoots some animals and gets a royal welcome." As they were praying before retiring, it seemed that the Lord spoke to them and said this, "Do you know why you haven't received your reward yet? Simple, because you're not home."
This is what Paul had in mind. He did not serve because of some superficial temporal acclaim. He was willing to wait until he got home, the ultimate home, to receive what God had for him.
Will you?