180923 Mutual Encouragement

Romans 1:11-15 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 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. ¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

We know from the book of Acts that Paul intended to visit Rome. I believe that this letter was sent to Rome to encourage and inform the believers there prior to his coming. His intention was to visit Jerusalem and afterward visit Rome (Acts 19:21). He may have been very discouraged when he was arrested in Jerusalem and then imprisoned by the Romans. Discouraged except for the encouragement he received from the Lord Himself.

We can learn a great deal from studying the life and writings of the Apostle Paul. He had been brought up in the religious strictness of the Pharisees. He had never hesitated in anything he believed to be right. He was on the road to Damascus to bring believers back to Jerusalem for prison and execution when he met the living Lord Jesus for the first time. (Acts 9) After that encounter, he laid aside everything he had lived by and began the road to Rome. Little did he know that 20 to 30 years later he would arrive in Rome. At the time of his conversion, he could not have known where he would end up.

He entered the city of Damascus and after three days met one of the men he had come to arrest. Ananias, after a short debate with Jesus, brought…

Paul’s commission. Let’s look at how Paul described his call Romans 1:5-6. Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Back in Damascus, the commission had sounded a little different. Ananias had explained to Jesus that this man had come to do much harm to the believers in Damascus. Jesus told Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15-16) In debate with the religious crowd in Jerusalem, Paul had added an encounter some three years later in which Jesus told him “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” These words immediately caused the crowd to attack him with the intention of taking his life.

Paul spent the next several years attempting to fulfill the commission he had received from the Lord Jesus. He returned to his hometown where he preached the gospel faithfully throughout the region of Cilicia. Then he went with Barnabas to Antioch to strengthen the church there. Afterward, he and Barnabas went on a missionary journey to carry the gospel across much of what would become modern Turkey.

After coming back to report to the church in Antioch, and in Jerusalem, he went on his second missionary journey. During that time he carried the gospel into Greece and Macedonia.

Returning from a third missionary journey he wrote this letter to Rome and then soon found himself in the hands of the Roman army.

In fulfilling his commission it was his desire to carry the gospel where Christ had not already been named. He wanted to fulfill his commission. He had seen the great possibilities of bringing the gospel to Rome and from there on to Spain! We see from his own words…

Paul’s compassion. Let’s read on Romans 1:7. To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace showed his compassion. Though he had not yet been to Rome a quick reading of chapter 16 tells us that he knew a lot of people who were there. He asked the Roman Christians to welcome Phoebe, who was a servant of the church at Cenchreae. He sent greetings to Prisca and Aquila, his faithful friends, as well as the church in their house! He went on to send greetings to nearly 30 more! Yes, he should have been well known in Rome. And obviously, he cared for these people who were called to be saints. He greeted them with God’s grace and prayed for peace that can only come from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. His compassion drove him on to fulfill his commission. We see…

Paul’s commitment. Let’s read Romans 1:9-10. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Even though Paul had not been to Rome he had a plan that would have provided encouragement for them. In his prayers, he mentions the Christians in Rome continually. Most of us can never say “without ceasing” when we talk about our prayer life. I really don’t know how much the average believer prays but I suspect their plan involves, at most, beginning and ending each day in prayer. On the other hand, we should constantly recognize the presence of God in our life. I often find myself praying the prayer that John Wimber said God always answers, “HELP”! Or, the simple prayer, “Father where did I put it?” In fact, our ongoing life should be characterized by conversational prayer.

If we are in the presence of another person it would be awkward, or even rude, to exclude them from the conversation. We are in the presence of the living God! He promised he would never leave us nor forsake us (Matthew 28:20). God hears everything we say why not include him in the conversation?

So, through Paul’s prayer life he committed himself to visit Rome. And when he arrived he expected to be encouraged and he expected to be able to encourage the believers there.

Certainly, when Paul wrote this letter, he would not have known exactly how it was going to get to Rome! But he knew for certain that he was going to get there. Let’s look at…

Paul’s confidence. Going to the historical account we find part of Paul’s testimony concerning his salvation. Let’s read Acts 23:11. The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

First, let’s imagine his disappointment on that night. As he and his companions traveled to Jerusalem they were confronted by prophets who had repeatedly told him that when he arrived in Jerusalem he would be beaten and turned over to the Romans. His reply to these detractors was simple. “I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13) So we see that Paul not only expected to die in Jerusalem but he seemed to have been looking forward to it. Rather than being turned over to the Romans he was rescued by the Romans from the hands of his fellow Jews. After the rescue, he found himself in prison, and I believe, disappointed that he was still alive.

Second, his disappointment melted away in that jail cell. We don’t find him singing and bearing witness as he had Phillippi. We find him alone and probably somewhat confused. And then, the Lord stood by him! Can you imagine? The Lord stood by him! The Lord gave him a powerful promise. He would not — no could not — die until he had borne testimony in Rome. Later, he would find himself swimming in the Mediterranean after a two-week long storm destroyed the ship they were on. But he could not die! At the end of that experience, he was bitten by a very poisonous snake and he just shook it off into the fire and went on about his business because he could not die yet! (Acts 27:39-28:6)

I’m reminded of an instance of the life of an evangelist by the name of Manley Beasley. God chose to use physical suffering in his life as a major framework through which He would display Himself. Having been an active, strong, handsome evangelist with a wife and four children, suddenly in 1970 Manley, at age thirty-nine found himself in the hospital stricken with several diseases, three of them “terminal.”

As I remember the story. He had been told that he really had no hope of remaining alive. He said that he entered into prayer asking the Lord what to do. He was willing to die is that was God’s plan and he was willing to go on. While he was praying he was also reading from Psalm 128 when his eyes fell on the last verse, “thou shalt see thy children’s children.” Since his son was young and certainly had no children Manley was confident that he would live on. For the next twenty years, he baffled the medical community as he trusted the Lord to sustain and use him in mighty ways.

Paul’s gospel. Let’s look at Romans 1:16-17. 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. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul wanted the Roman Christians to know what God used to guide him through life. It was the gospel! He was not ashamed of the gospel. This gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Later, in chapter 10, Paul spelled out the substance of the Good News.

He wrote, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (10:9) “with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (10:10) and, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (10:13)

Things did not work out the way Paul had planned. But they certainly worked out the way God planned! Not only did Paul go to Rome but the Romans paid his room and board as well as his travel tickets. The word of God says “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” (Proverbs 20:24) We should learn from the apostle to accept God’s direction for our life. Nothing comes our way that doesn’t pass by Our Heavenly Father first! We cannot know in advance what God is up to. We can see from Paul’s life that he did not know God’s plan. He knew what he wanted to happen, and by the way, that coincided with what God intended. When things do not go our way we should praise God that he knows the way for us to travel. We can rest in him and rejoice in the knowledge that nothing happens by accident. Have you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Today could be your day to commit yourself to him.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton, Ill, Standard Bible Society.